This is the third July for the Song Writing Game and again we are doing cover songs. Generally it works out better since it's a busy month. Have a listen to the songs below and vote for your favorite!
Egypt Hollow - Pumped up Kicks (Foster the People cover)
The Original
My comments: This is the first (of hopefully many) songs turned in by the local band Egypt Hollow. I work with Ciara, the female vocalist and talked to her into submitting a song. I think the song lends itself really well to the folk-style that the band has. I really enjoy having multiple singers in the song. It's a great song from the first timers!
Danny Imig - Mr. Motto (The Bel-Airs cover)
The Original
My comments: This is a live recording of Danny's band, The Elektra Kings, featuring Gavin Paterniti on bass and Jim Sturdevant on drums, from last New Years' Eve. It's a really cool cover of a surf rock classic by The Bel-Airs. I especially appreciate that it is a live track knowing how many takes I generally have for my studio recordings. Very well done Danny, Gavin and Jim!
Brian Salapek - Lowrider (War cover)
The Original
My comments: I used to be half of a kazoo based band in high school called Cock-A-Doodle Kazoo and Lowrider was the only song we did. Toby Anderson sang and interestingly enough is not using that as part of his platform as he is currently running for public office. We played in front of people, sometimes a lot of people. It was a lot of fun in a riduculous way and I wanted to tribute those days with this song. There is no kazoo but I still had fun making the song.
Rene Zansman - I'm Not the One (Teen Idols cover)
The Original
My comments: Rene did what he does best and did a pop punk song, this time from the (very cool) band Teen Idols. He spiced up the song with some harmonica and I thought it worked really well. It had some sloppy moments but by the time it ended, he had really hit his stride and it was great; I had to listen to it again!
It's a little later than expected so I'll keep things short and sweet. The genre for August's songs is...
ARENA ROCK!
Yes, arena/stadium rock! The kind of (generally) hard rock song that is triumphant in it's rocking and rolling and would get a crowd at a sporting event into the game. I want you to summon your inner Gary Glitter!
When the judging came to a close for June's R&B Songs, the winner went to the collaboration I did with new-comer, Jen Robinson. Jen was a great spirit in singing such a ridiculous song and I am happy she agreed to! If you haven't already, have a listen to the song...
Sometimes I feel like I am going full force Weird Al mode with having songs that are written about food. Last year we did Pizza Party Songs, Turkey Songs, and I did songs about snacks and McDonald's. To add to this long lasting theme, we had R&B Songs about Fruits and Vegetables!
Have a listen to the songs and vote for your favorite below!
Danny Imig - Sad Words {insert here}
My comments: Danny's song starts off and right away there is a weird almost "dangerous" sound to it. The combination of the bass line and the keyboard come together and really drive the mood of the song, which is great. I feel like it is a little redundant and would be just as effective if half the length but still enjoy it as a whole.
Jen Robinson and Brian Salapek - My Love is Growing in your Garden
My comments: I wrote all of the music for this song pretty quickly but was struggling with lyrics. Jen had agreed to sing for me so one day I just buckled down and wrote them pretty quickly. It's a pretty silly song and I appreciate Jen humoring me and singing it. With her help it came out 100 times better than if I tried to sing it myself.
Rene Zansman - My Life as a Carrot
My comments: Rene's beat is back on this one! He described it as a 60's pop song accompanied with 80's synth pop and I think he nailed it. This song would have fit perfect in with the New Wave songs we did earlier in the year, but there is a lot of overlay with synth pop and RnB, I think. I especially love around the 3:15 when it drops down to just vocals and the music slowly picks back up. Very cool!
It's become a tradition that for July we do cover songs. The reason is that July is usually a very busy month for every one and it will (ideally) take less time to just rework an existing song than write a new one. The only stipulation is that you make some sort of change to the song. Sing it in French, meld it together with another song so it is a medley, whatever. So there you have it, the song announcement for July...
Squeaking in and winning by a single vote was Danny Imig with his awesome song "Teenbeat Heartbeat Backbeat." Danny really achieved what I wanted from everyone in May with singing and smacking his stomach and a box. It came out to be a great recording. Congratulations Danny!
If you hadn't heard the song, here it is!
Don't forget about your songs for June! The month is winding down!
I think my inspiration for May's "no real instruments" stemmed from those Jimmy Fallon videos where they use toy instruments and cover popular songs. Only in the instance of toy instruments, a lot of those could be made at home, so that was the idea. After getting it in my head, I started hearing sounds I wanted to use everywhere. From the texture on the side of a red solo cup to the sound floss makes when pulled out from between your teeth (seriously).
Tom Waits was talking about the "organic" sound of his album Rain Dogs once and said:
If I want a sound, I usually feel better if I've chased it and killed it, skinned it and cooked it. Most things you can get with a button nowadays. So if I was trying for a certain drum sound, my engineer would say: "Oh, for Christ's sake, why are we wasting our time? Let's just hit this little cup with a stick here,sample something (take a drum sound from another record) and make it bigger in the mix, don't worry about it." I'd say, "No, I would rather go in the bathroom and hit the door with a piece of two-by-four very hard."
I wanted to include technology in the scheme as well since I planned on using some looping in mine. So I included sequencers, drum machines and just for the hell of it, kazoos would be allowed.
Anyways, enough of the explanation. Here are the songs that were submitted. I hope you enjoy them and make sure you vote for your favorite.
Danny Imig - Teenbeat Backbeat Heartbeat
My comments: Danny made a cool call and response, megaphone cheer type song. Using a box, his stomach and vocals only (and all recorded at once in a single track) it definitely is what I envisioned with the songs. It may be a simple song but it's very effective. I like it!
Eric Peabody - The End of Depression
My comments: This song does have the sound of real instruments but Eric created the entire thing on a sequencer, which I allowed. With a more focused ear, those "guitars" really just are some sort of a crunchy sounding keyboard. Either way, Eric did a great job as usual with his songs. It is catchy, fun and short but to the point.
Brian Salapek - Ketchup Covered Kids
My comments: I think the most fun I had with this song was making the "instruments." I built a tongue drum, filled 7 glasses with water and "tuned" them, and just had fun finding sounds I wanted to use. I think it gets a little chaotic but wanted it that way. In the end, some elements are a little sloppy but I am happy with the whole.
Rene Zansman - Self Realization (a capella)
My comments: Rene took the original a capella idea behind this month's song and ran with it. I was very happy to see that he took that route and ended up with a pretty successful song. Rene has always done well with backup vocals so this was a natural progression and I really like the end result. Great job!
