I'd like to thank everyone who has participated in the song writing game. It is now two years old and I hope to keep it going as long as possible. I've found it to be a great creative output for me, and I hope everyone else feels the same way. Even if I am not making any legitimately "good" songs, I am still happy to be creating, and to have other people join me, and to have even a small handful of people willing to listen to these creations. So, thank you everyone!
I have decided that I will be making a change to the format of the song writing game, starting with this month. From now on, all the song subjects will be optional. That way, it is more open and hopefully will attract and encourage others to join in. I, personally, like having the subject and will most likely continue to work with it, but it is strictly up the to the individual. The genre should be enough of a common theme to have an even playing field to compare when voting on your favorite.
So, enough of my long winded rants. It is time to announce the genre and subject for the first songs of 2014:
Genre: New Wave
Optional Subject: Bugs (yes, bugs. Like, insects. Or spy equipment if you want)
New Wave is a very broad genre, but there are a lot of fun directions you can go with it. For some information about the genre, check out this Wikipedia article. You can go more for the early punk based version, or the later electronic pop version. I think I will opt for the latter with a side of dance.
Here's a dancing bug to get you in the mood. Thanks Adventure Time for making my Google Image search come up with something worthwhile!
To honor all things Thanksgivukkah, November's song were in the style of Klezmer and about Turkeys! Thanks to everyone who took the time to listen to these ridiculous songs and voting for your favorite. The winner this month was Danny Imig with his song, Too Much Turkey! Congratulations Danny and thank you again for the awesome idea for the theme of the songs in the first place!
Have a listen to Danny's song here:
Don't forget about your songs for December, either! It's the infamous DO WHATEVER YOU WANT month!
For the first and last time for quite a few years, we had the elusive THANKSGIVUKKAH! That's right, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah were on the same day. To celebrate this, we wrote our songs accordingly. The subject was turkeys and the genre was Klezmer, or Jewish wedding music. Listen to the songs and vote for your favorite!
Danny Imig - Too Much Turkey
My comments: Danny caught the Klezmer sound right off the bat with the horns. Very authentic and fitting on the subject of too many leftovers. He even mentions homebrewed beer in it, so bonus points there! Good job Danny!
Brian Salapek - Is Turkey Kosher?
My comments: No, turkey is not kosher. Well, I guess it depends on who you ask. Anyways, I ended up mistaking Jewish for Gypsy/Russian on this one. They are pretty similar but the gruff Russian vocals kinda put it over the edge into that territory. At least I got to borrow and play an accordion on this one!
Rene - Zansman - The Turkey
My comments: Rene expanded on his fake TV show (and great song) "The Moptop Family" and made this song as the theme for episode 6 of "The Moptop Family", the Thanksgiving Special! It starts out with a snippet of another song "Marie Antoinette was the Teacher's Pet"(?) but the real song kicks in after about 20 seconds. I have a hard time hearing any Klezmer in here until the little breakdown about 2 minutes in with a little keyboard accordion going on.
I am posting this a little late and am sorry for that. Either way, I realize December is a busy month for everyone and that is why we will be having no guidelines for this month. That should make it easier on us to get a song done. Last year we had the same "do whatever you want" theme and it worked out really well.
Congratulations to Danny Imig for being voted favorite TV Show Theme Song from October's song writing game! I thought that the song really captured the style well. The background music was really cheesy and awesome. There was almost an island feel to it with the steel drums and then WHAM! insert huge guitar solo.
Great job Danny! Keep up the good work!
Don't forget about the songs for November. Remember, we are doing Klezmer songs about turkeys. Weird enough for you?
You may remember that these songs were supposed to be for September. As it turned out, I was far too busy all month and ended up pushing them to October. Anyways, the idea here was to create a sort of theme song or jingle for a fictional TV show. This is a really open ended concept and didn't offer a whole lot of direction, oh well. I had a specific idea for my song when I came up with the notion. Every song is significantly different as you will hear. Have a listen and vote for your favorite below!
Danny Imig - Floyd "Rosy Fingers" Hamer: Private I
My comments: This theme song has so much that I love going for it. First, it's got an amazing cheesy 80's feel to it, with ridiculous drum rolls. And then it is also completely and wonderfully over the top. All of this makes for a good theme song for a show with the title "Floyd 'Rosy Fingers' Hamer: Private I". Good job, Danny!
Brian Salapek - Code Name: Riptide
My comments: I wanted to make my song sound like a song from a cheesy action show from the 70's. Messing around on the guitar quickly made me decide it should have a surf feel to it. After writing it, the hardest part was coming up with a title for the show. I just wish I had some horns to have thrown in to the recording.
Oiwind Wulvig - Biker Charlie
My comments: This is the first entry from Oiwind and it is for his TV Show "Biker Charlie." Charlie is a cat who likes to ride his Harley and has friends who like to party. Pretty awesome concept that reminds me of Toonces The Driving Cat from SNL. The music for this song is really great although it doesn't have a theme show feel to it.
Rene Zansman - The MopTop Family
My comments: Rene not only wrote this song for the fictional "MopTop Family" TV Show but also has come up with summaries for 5 episodes of the show. That's dedication lol! The song definitely has the cheesy theme song vibe to it, which I love. It's also pretty sloppy and silly but that's to be expected. I think it's a good concept here and could be great with more work.
Back on track with the monthly songs, we have an interesting happening in November this year. For the first time since 1888 we will have a THANKSGIVUKKAH! That's right, Thanksgiving and Hanukkah are on the same day. It's a pretty rare happening, too. Next time will be in 2070, then 2165 and then again in 76695. That's right, after 2156 this will not happen again until the year 76695. I did not mistakenly put an extra decimal in there, it's really 76,695. SO! In honor of this super rare occurrence, we will be doing songs accordingly!
Subject: Turkeys
Genre: Klezmer
Klezmer is best recognized as the dance music played at traditional Jewish weddings. There is a really great wikipedia article about it here with very specific information about the genre, it's history, types of songs, tempo, song structure, musical keys and the instruments traditionally used to play it.
This will be a very interesting month of songs but I really look forward to it. As Danny Imig points out:
"It's a weird genre but it's like Jewish wedding music, and, to my ear, sounds gypsy, Greek, Mariachi, or even Ska."
The style really has a lot in common with most eastern European music and is pretty open ended from there. Good luck everyone!
About half way through September, I had realized that my schedule was getting very busy and I wouldn't even have the time to start my song for the month, let alone finish it. Because of this, I pushed the songs off to October to make things easier. I figured, if I wasn't even able to do my own song writing game thing, I shouldn't expect other people to do it. As of now, things are on track for an October arrival of the TV Show Theme Songs.
One thing that I didn't even realize I had forgot was announcing the winner of August's Zombie Folk Songs! By a landslide, the clear winner was Danny Imig with his song, "I think I'm Married to a Zombie." I hope you don't think I was trying to not give you credit, Danny! Life just got in the way. Anyways, enjoy this catchy song again here:
And don't forget about the songs for October. Two months should be more than enough for some real materpieces!
For August we focused on the under appreciated musical style, Post Zombie Apocalyptic Love Songs, to the tune of Folk Music. Specific enough? Jesus, that is a mouthful. Okay! So there are a good handful of songs and they are all a lot of fun. Have a listen and vote for your favorite below!
Look at that shitty zombie drawing over there. Don't you just fall right in love with him? Forget the half face and the bloody fingers. I mean look at HIM. He's beautiful. You can now relate to these songs.
Jack Eggleston - The Comedy
My comments: Jack wrote a real epic here. It's just almost 6 and a half minutes long and has a pretty melancholy sound to it. I really enjoy the sound and feel but like most times with Jack I have a hard time understanding the lyrics.
Danny Imig - I Think I'm Married to a Zombie
My comments: Danny's song is both great and hilarious. The folk sty-lings come pretty well to him and the song has a great sound to it. I especially love the "giddy up" feel of the chorus. I love the lyrics and their potential double meaning. Am I looking too much into it? Maybe, either way. Great job as always!
Brian Salapek - My Zombie Girlfriend
My comments: Not very folky on my part, but I really like the sound of it. Add in a joke from Mr. Joe Ullo ("If I could write songs mine would have the title, "I used to go down on you but now you're the one who wants to eat me."") and WHAM-O! I can't help but to feel that the main guitar lead part feels like a Jack Johnson song. Oh well
Rene Zansman - Zombie Apocalypse Song
My comments: This is a two-part epic from Rene. The first part is called "Talking Zombie Apocalypse Blues" and takes up the first minute or so. It has a good sloppy folk feel with the harmonica and the vocals. After that it flows really well into part 2, "Zombie Love Song." This part is right along what I've come to expect from Rene. It's a pretty poppy acoustic song and is really catchy at times.
I had an interesting idea for September's song. Lets see how it work out and if it has results that are as interesting...
TV Show Theme Song or Jingle
There is no "subject" per say since there is no specific style of theme song or jingle to write. It could be an instrumental where there would be no real subject.
I plan on studying 1970's action show theme songs and making something really cheesy lol
For July we did cover songs and had as many songs as we've ever had, SIX! With all that great competition, it was hard to choose a winner. After two weeks of voting, the winning song was...
Rene Zansman - All the Small Things (Blink 182 Cover)
Great job Rene! I thought you did a great job translating this into a piano piece and obviously other people did too! I have to leave for work in a few minutes so there is no time to draw you a prize in MSPaint. Sorry! I really have been slacking on the "prizes" lately. Ugh.
And don't forget about the songs for August, the month is half over!
July's a busy month just like December so I cut everyone a little slack. Instead of having to write AND record a song, everyone could relax a little and just focus on the recording. For July, we did cover songs. It was strongly suggested that a significant change be made to the song from the original. Here is what our song writers (coverers?) came up with. Vote for your favorite below!
Jack Eggleston - Peggy Sue (Buddy Holly Cover)
Here is the original:
My comments: Jack took a classic and went with punk rock for the new genre. It's a great song that translates really well to the style. It even has a great lo-fi feel to it all. Jack says he thinks it's pretty crappy but it's crappy in a great punk sense of the word.
Curt Himes and Friends - Galway Girl (Steve Earl Cover)
Here is the original:
My comments: Curt was in town from Washington and I was bugging him about recording a song. It was quickly decided what song to do. One evening after work we had our only chance to record something before Curt headed back west. Leslie (drums), Curt (guitar and vocals) and I (banjo) sat in my backyard on some rocks and recorded this in a single take. I normally record the separate tracks and mix it all so this was a fun way to do a song, live. To add to the live experience, you can hear my son screaming in the background while playing on the swings.
Kayce Kelly and Leanne Bailor - Bad Angel (Dirks Bentley Cover)
Here is the original:
My comments: Kayce has the voice of a country singer no matter what he's singing. Even when it's a reggae song about Cthulhu. He called upon his friend Leanne to lend some vocals onto this track. I am not familiar with the original song but think they did a good job singing together. The song is a little sloppy at times but all in all I am happy with it and hope they work together again in the future.
Danny Imig - Something for Nothing (RUSH cover)
Here is the original:
My comments: I think Danny did the biggest change up for his cover song here. He took a pretty rocking RUSH song and translated it into a very pretty flamenco cover. The original lends itself to this style pretty well. I can just envision a beautiful dark haired and skinned woman dancing and clicking clam shells.
Brian Salapek - I Don't Want It (Ween cover)
Here is the original:
My comments: I really didn't change much of this song at all. I always felt it was a really beautiful song but it had a lot going on in it. Stripping it down to the bare bones was my attempt to put focus on the song itself and away from the layered approach of the album and studio version of the song. By the way, WEEN rules.
Rene Zansman - All the Small Things (Blink 182 Cover)
Here is the original:
My comments: Rene has been a Blink fan for a long time. I think any of his pop punk roots come from this band, so it's only appropriate that he did a cover of one of their hit songs. I love the approach of it being all on the piano. It has a few slip ups but that just adds to the charm of it all. I think Rene did a great job. The way he did the song was unexpected and I love it.
I thought that June had a really fun theme and hope that you enjoyed hearing the new old songs. When the voting was all said and done, the winner was Jack Eggleston with his song Tracks. Good job, Jack! You had my vote! Listen to the song again below and bask in it's glory. BASK IN JACK'S GLORY, I SAID!
What does Jack win? Hmmm...I kinda forgot that I was making up prizes still. Okay, okay. I've got it. Jack wins a....
AN ANIME GIRL PILLOW! Here is Jack enjoying taking it out to dinner!
Alright, that was kinda mean. Was it any meaner than writing a song about him and pre-pubescent Olsen twins though? I'm not sure. Please send all hate mail to:
Brian Williams
c/o NBC News
30 Rockefeller Plaza
New York, NY 10112
OKAY THEN. Don't forget about the July Cover Songs! I just finished setting up my new PC and am looking forward to recording it on upgraded software! Woohoo!
A little while back I found a few tapes and CDs of music that friends of mine and I wrote and recorded in college. On the one CD was the first song I wrote that I can remember. That got my gears turning and decided to rework old songs for June's song writing game. I was the only one who had a copy of my original song so I posted it as a compare/contrast. I hope you enjoy them!
Jack Eggleston - Tracks
Jack's comments: Essentially it;s about a guy discovering that his girlfriend/wife/whatever is sleeping around on him, and trying to make the decision between suicide, heroin, or acceptance and growth.
Brian Salapek - Jack Wants to Nail the Olsen Twins
The original version from 2001:
My comments: Even though it's a ridiculous and kinda crass song, it is still a love song at heart, so I decided to rework it that way. With the use of a friend's keyboard and the strings section in GarageBand, I tried to make it as pretty as possible. It's a love song, it should be pretty! To pair with the beauty and love of the song, I attached the stupidest picture of Jack and I that I could find. I think he's licking me.
Rene Zansman - Everybody is so Crazy
Rene's Comments: I'm thinking of doing a song called Everybody is so crazy that I wrote
right after I turned 12 after 9/11 and how I felt the world was, it's
kind of a weird song, but it's 12 years old almost and it's been half my
life since I wrote it...I had just discovered blink 182, I had found out what the
word "pills" meant and I loved using Norwegian words in english songs
and the South Park movie was on tv all the time and it was my favorite
movie. So
it was me trying to write a blink 182 song, but the lyrics are kind of
like I'm super by Big gay Al and it was inspired by terrorism and a
movie I saw about drugabuse.
Summertime is a busy time for everyone and it seems no one has any free time especially in July. Because of this, we will be doing cover songs for July. It saves a lot of time to not have to actually write the song. The only stipulation is that the song is changed from the original version. Have a genre change, write your own lyrics, whatever. Each song will be posted side by side with the original song. Good luck everyone!
Thanks to everyone who took the time to listen to the songs and vote this month. I am honored to be voted the favorite. I guess you guys like the pentatonic scale and the extra cheese, baby!
Everyone loves a pizza party. Everyone love to dance. Put these things together and you are sure to break through to the Top 40 Radio Charts in no time. Oh wait, what? We didn't get on the radio. Well, fuck em. It's cool to be in the indie scene. What? Not enough an indie following? This must be some hardcore underground shit then. Yeah, all you hipsters know what I'm saying. Now I am just babbling.
Okay! There are three songs! Have a listen and vote for your favorite as always!
Danny Imig - Dean Us de Bi-Lo
My comments: I love the pun on the name and the song too. Throwing in "That's Amore" is a great way to add the pizza theme without it getting CHEESY. Did you see what I did there? It's got a sampled Little Ceaser's guy in there too. Add a rocking guitar track and you have a winner!
Brian Salapek - Extra Cheese
My comments: The cheese is both literal and figurative about this song. I feel like I phoned in the song though since I did all the instruments through my drum machine program. That way I had the perfect rhythm for the song to be dancey without having to record the tracks over and over again. Oh well. I think it's pretty fun though. As a side note, the bass is super low in this song and sounds like shit on computer speakers. If it sounds bad, try headphones.
Rene Zansman - Eatin' Pizza
My comments: Rene described his song as a monstrosity. I don't know if I would go that far but it is really busy and weird. I think this may have been the first time hearing him use an electronic drum beat. It gets kinda trippy after awhile with the vocals slinging back and forth from speaker to speaker. Weird, yes. But I like Rene and his weird songs!
I recently came across a slew of recordings that my friends and I made in college. While wading through all these terrible and hilarious songs, I found a recording of one of the first songs I ever wrote. After hearing it, I came up with the song theme for June.
I want you to revisit and rework the earliest song you wrote that you can remember. I think it will be fun to dig up these old songs. Bonus points if you have a recording of the original to compare to the new one!
I think it came with no surprise that Danny Imig was voted the best Alt-Country Robot songwriter! Great job, Danny! It was surely a great song and deserved all of it's votes! In case you missed it, you can hear it again here:
For a prize, Danny wins a pair of those wrap glasses similar to what his friend has in the picture! What a treat! Watermark and all!
For April, the songs were Alt-Country songs about Robots. Alt-Country is a very vague genre to throw in there but that's okay. Reflecting this, we have four very different songs. Go check them out and vote for your favorite below!
Jack Eggleston - Untitled
My comments: Jack did a weird kinda hybrid song here. The lead guitars say country to me but the rest of the song is a sort of 50's pop love song thing. And then you've got the spacey keyboards in the mix too. I'm bad at describing things, good thing I write these comments like I have some sort of authority, right?
Danny Imig - Robot
My comments: What a fun, weird song this is. It's got a definite country feel from the way the guitar is played and the vocals, but there are cool almost-punk things going on here with a touch of sci-fi, too. Danny really didn't skimp on the "alt" part here.
Brian Salapek - Old Glory Robot Insurance
My comments: I never made a decision on how to make my song "alt" and next thing I knew, the month was up and this is what I ended up with. Oh well. It's based on an old SNL skit on Robot Insurance. Because robots kill more old people than heart disease these days. Also, I can't seem to write a country song without ripping off Johnny Cash.
Rene Zansman - If a Song were a Robot
My comments: This song starts out and it is a definite Rene song. The vocals are distorted, adding to the robot theme. After about the second minute, it starts this build which is awesome. It almost takes on a sad and kind creepy vibe, which is weird to say.
I am not really sure what happened for the voting in March but it was a fraction of the normal number of votes we have had recently. Maybe people just don't like cultural music? Oh well. For any of you that didn't listen to the songs, you can hear them here.
EITHER WAY, the winning song was the awesome instrumental sitar track from Danny Imig, Gunga Dingleberry Goosestep.
Great job, Danny! I loved the song and you deserve the win. As a prize, you get to meet Bill Clinton!
Don't forget to turn in your songs for April. They are alt-country songs about Robots so the results should be the most amazing songs you've ever heard. Not to put any pressure on anyone.
For March there was an interesting combination of subject and style for the songs. Danny Imig had suggested East Indian music, which is an awesome suggestion, but I don't know anyone else with a sitar. I decided to widen it to cultural music, meaning traditional sounding music from any culture or country. The subject came from Kraig Kelly and was An Epic Journey after a Long Night of Drinking. Putting these two together makes perfect sense, right?
We ended up with three songs for the month. Have a listen and vote for your favorite below!
Danny Imig - Gunga Dingleberry Goosestep
My comments: Danny gets a lot of bonus points for the title of his song. He also gets bonus points for tuning up an 18-string sitar for the song! Bonus points aside, the song has a really great Indian feel and sound to it. Danny did a great job with the style, which is good since it was his suggestion!
Brian Salapek - Tetris and Vodka
My comments: There was a skit on Sesame Street with Grover as a waiter in a Russian restaurant. There were Russian muppets playing music and I thought I wanted to go for a Russian/Gypsy song. In keeping stereotypes alive, I wrote my song about drinking vodka by the pint and playing Tetris. That's what Russians do, right? ...Right? Oh, and I have a terrible accent.
Rene Zansman - Journey Out In My Backyard
My comments: Rene wrote a song about a dilemma as old as human kind. What would happen if you were drunk with a time machine? You would hit on girls from the future, of course! He said he was going for a mixture of tribal music and Norwegian traditional music. This song has a real Daniel Johnston feel to it, if Daniel was really into Screeching Weasel.
I'd like to take this opportunity to announce the subject and genre for April 2013's songs!
Genre: Alt-Country
Subject: Robots
Alt-country is a pretty wide ranging genre to use. Basically, it is any country style music that deviates from mainstream country music. So in other words, GOOD country music. You can incorporate influences from many other genres, rock and roll, bluegrass, even punk rock!
Also, how is that robot playing guitar with his cold metal claws?! The world may never know... Good luck everyone!
In what I considered a pretty awesome month of songs, there was a clear winner that nabbed up a majority of the votes. The winning song was Swamp Grass by Mark Maze, Nate Mahaffey, Graham Mahffey, and Steve Cummings! Great work, guys! The song was truly top notch, I really enjoyed it!
As first time participants, they were unaware of the amazing riches and prizes that awaited them as winners! What a surprise it must have been to win such a wonderful prize!
It's a grabber thing to get the last pickle out of the jar! Wowza! I wish I had won this month!
Also, don't forget about your songs for March! Soon the April song announcement will come out as well.
February has come and gone and with it came some great songs! As you may remember, the style (not genre) was All-Acoustic and the subject was "Craziness is like Heaven" which is part of a Jimi Hendrix quote. I thought the quote was interesting and unique enough to make for an interesting addition to a song. Basically I was just looking for that one line, or some variation of it, to be a lyric in the song.
So here are the songs for the month. Have a listen and don't forget to vote for your favorite below!
Jack Eggleston - Pistolero
My comments: A few days ago I asked Jack how his song was coming along and he said he wasn't happy with it but would still turn it in. I don't know what happened, but I would be thrilled to write a song this good! There is a lot of great stuff going on here both musically and lyrically. I think Jack's songs have only gotten better! So I guess what I am saying is, Jack is a liar.
Danny Imig - It's All Easy Stuff When You're a God
My comments: This is the first song Danny has turned in for the game and I am always excited to have new participants! His song fits the style (all acoustic) but doesn't take the subject into consideration since it was written a few years ago. That's okay though. It's got a great Neal Young feel to it, both with the vocals and the guitars. Great job, Danny! I hope to hear more from you in the future!
Kayce Kelly - Squirrel World
My comments: I knew I would get some good diversity in the songs with the subject, but I never expected to get one so cute. Ladies and gentlemen, this is a squirrel love song. They DO exist! This song is great in it's simplicity and content. Good job, Kayce, you adorable bastard!
Mark Maze and Friends - Swamp Grass
My comments: Mark (mandolin and vocals) teamed up with his friends Graham Mahaffey (banjo), Nate Mahaffey (guitar) and Steve Cummings (guitar) to write this great blue grass song. Did I mention that I loved the diversity this month has brought? This is the first song Mark has turned in and I just love it, right down to the bong rip at the beginning. Bongs are acoustic instruments too, right?
Brian Salapek - Ballad of the Trashcan Man
My comments: I am currently reading The Stand by Stephen King and the Trashcan Man is a character in the book. He is a schizophrenic pyromaniac and I thought he would be great to write about. The lyrics of this song for the most part are taken from one of his chapters of the book. I tried to make a brooding and anxious building in the song that dissolves into a chaos at the end ("...and soon the day will burn"). I am very happy with the result!
Rene Zansman - Craziness is like Heaven
My comments: Like so many of his before, Rene's song this month is straight up pop punk. He said that he had issues with his microphone so it sounds like an early Woody Guthrie recording without the talent and if he tried to sing like Ben Weasel. I don't agree with the lack of talent because I think this is one of Rene's better songs. I am a sucker for pop punk and like this one.
I am probably a couple days late with announcing this but that's okay. I've decided on the song for March!
Style: Cultural Music
Subject: An Epic Journey (after a night of drinking)
Cultural Music? Basically, try to emulate traditional music from a specific culture, or country. There are a lot of possibilities here. I am going to go for Russian/Gypsy sounding music myself.
Thanks to Danny Sleeve, who suggested Indian music, for giving me the idea for the style, and thanks to Kraig Kelly for the idea on the subject!
Also, I hope everyone's acoustic songs are coming together, there are only a few days to turn them in!
