Again, I am super late here! Sorry, sorry, sorry! BUT I will have you know that the extra days gave us a few more songs to post, which is always appreciated! You may remember that for December, we always do a theme of "whatever you want" for the songs. I know I'm too busy to dedicate much time to a song and just assume everyone else is too. So these songs have nothing in common and no central theme to tie them together or judge them against one another based on. It all comes down to who you like the best! Check them out and vote for your favorite below!
Rene Zansman - I'm Such a Fool
My comments: Rene actually sent me two versions of this song (one fast and this one) and asked me to pick my favorite to post. This one obviously won me over. It's super fitting for the holiday season and the keyboards just have an overwhelming Christmas feel to them. There is a really great full feeling to this song. I enjoy it a lot!
Brian Salapek - Live on the infanet with Brian
My comments: This was recorded live with my new toy, a Boss RC-300 loop pedal. My normal recording process is a slow, stretched out one with many takes and a lot of work organizing the song, so this was a big change for me. It's a little redundant, but I tried to switch it up as much as I can and make the song a short and sweet one. Listen for me banging a paper towel roll against my knee at about 55 seconds in!
Ryan Kinal - Empty Sheets
My comments: Here's a huge change of pace for not only this month, but the song writing game as a whole. It's not often that I am able to post a sincerely beautiful and sad song like this. The guitar plays a finger picking pattern that is soft and simple enough to meld together with the vocals and add to the mood of the song. He probably hates to hear it but his vocals are really pretty, too.
New Contender - Destruction Z
My comments: New Contender is the band of Matt McCray who won the 2012 Song of the Year. It's not often that we've had whole bands submit a song, but the rest of the members are named simply Rick (drums) and Dallas (bass) according to their Facebook page. I am not real into emo/screamo music but enjoy this song a lot. When the heavier guitars kick in about 45 seconds in, it just has a great vibe to it.
Joel Forsgren - Stellar Road
My comments: Joel recorded this song under the name The Enlightenment Junkies, but I am pretty convinced he did the whole song himself (a la Prince). What I like about this song so much is the changes to it. There are at least three whole and distinct ideas in this song that could be split out and turned into their own song, but Joel seamlessly melds them all together into one awesome track.
Jeff Coral - Your Song
My comments: Jeff and his acoustic guitar just work so well together. I don't think he's turned in a song that had anything else to it, but he doesn't need anything else. His song is good all the way through but really hits it's stride in the chorus. The chorus is really catchy and could be on repeat itself.
Brendon Burgess - Mabababo
My comments: I have no idea what Mabababo is but I'm a fan! This song has such an awesome groove to it that it could go on forever. Brendon's bass really is the highlight and holds it all together. There is a great funk/Caribbean/reggae feel to this song. It's different and I love it!
Oof! I have been super slacking with all the holiday shenanigans and totally missed the ball. I usually like to announce the following month's song stipulations with a good week left in the month, but this time it will be 4 days INTO the month!
One of the leading influences for this Song Writing Game came from a similar one that would sporadically take place on the Pop Punk Message Board. The main difference is that they would list specific chords that you needed to use for your song. With that influence in mind, we will tap into those rules for January's songs!
CHORDS TO USE:
G C D Emin Bmin F#sus Amin
These are pretty easy and common chords, so everyone should be set. They can be used in ANY order, you do not need to use them all but you cannot use any others. Good luck everyone!
To those who took the time to listen to November's Songs, Stank you all! Stank you smelly much! For those who DIDN'T, you can always go back and check them out here. We had a couple weeks of open voting for your favorite 1980's-Themed Pop Song. When the voting closed up, the winning song was not a 1980's-themed song at all. It was a TRUE 1980's song! Danny recorded it in 1988! Your votes showed that you can't beat the real thing!
Danny Imig - Serial Monogamy
Congratulations Danny! Also, I hope you haven't forgotten about December's "Whatever" songs. The month is winding down (maybe I should start mine...)
November has come to and end and hopefully everyone is doing a good job to shovel themselves out of the heaps of leftovers you've been buried under. With the start of December comes a slew of 1980's themed songs for you to check out! I honestly really enjoy all three of them so my vote will be a difficult one, for sure. The optional subject was a doctor's appointment and only one of the songs uses it. Either way, have a listen to the songs and vote for your favorite below!
Danny Imig - Serial Monogamy
My comments: This song of Danny's is not just in the style of the 80's, it's FROM the 80's! It was recorded in 1988 and has a cool new wave-y ska feel to it. It's an upbeat, bouncy and fun song. 1980's Pop Music is such a vague genre, which leads to songs like this that I would never have expected, and I that's what I love! Good job, Danny!
Rene Zansman - Doctor's Appointment
My comments: Rene went total Casio on this song and it sounds great, even for a song about a butt rash! He told me that the lyric "doctor's disappointment" was an accident, but I think that is a brilliant lyric. All of Rene's songs have such a huge basis in pop music that this song is a great fit for the song writing game. I really love this song!
Brian Salapek - Doctor Dance
My comments: All of my songs start out with pure intentions of fitting the genre as well as possible. But then I hit a niche and the song veers off into no-where land and ends up far from the original idea. Not that that is a BAD thing though! I had a lot of fun writing this song and especially love that harmonic note at the end of the chorus. It just makes me happy each time I hear it!
I hope everyone had a good thanksgiving! With the holidays officially in full swing, it can be hard to find the time to write and record a song, let alone a song that fits the stupid stipulations I throw at you every month! So we will follow in the tradition of December's past and say that you can...
DO WHATEVER YOU WANT!
That's right. Do whatever you want! There is no criteria at ALL for your song. If you send it to me, I will post it and it will go into the voting poll! It could be a 43 minute spoken word piece or a 30 second thrash metal song, I do not care!
Thank you to everyone who took the time to check out the songs from October! I can see that both songs were well enjoyed since they ended up having almost FOUR TIMES as many views as the September songs! Whew! Awesome!
When the voting was all said and done, the song I wrote along with Joel Forsgren ended up being voted favorite! Thank you so much to everyone! The song felt like it wrote itself and when it was all done, I was thrilled with the result. If you hadnt had a chance to listen to it yet, check it out here:
Almost four years ago when the Song Writing Game started, the very first genre was none other than Jug Band music! Since then we had done bluegrass and country a few times, but had never touched back on Jug Band, which started it all. Until now! I am not sure what put me in the mood for Jug Band, but it jumped into my mind and I am glad that it did. There were only two songs, but they are both cool. Check them out!
Brian Salapek and Joel Forsgren - Jug Band Muzik
My comments: After taking September off, I had a really hard time getting into the mode to write a song. When I finally did, I had a completely different lead melody picked out, but scrapped it when I improvised the lead you hear in the song now. With that, it lost a lot of it's jug band feel, but I like the song so much more now. I had Joel over who recorded the electric guitar track as well as the banjo intro. All in all, I have to say that this song is one of my favorites. I am really happy and proud of it!
Rene Zansman - Yatzy Pursuit
My comments: Rene went the same route as me, giving his song the jug band feel through a harmonica track. The song itself has Rene's trademark catchy pop punk vibe with an awesome chorus in it, which I really enjoy! And to boot, he kept with the gambling theme by singing about my new favorite fictional game, Yatzy Pursuit. Great job, Rene!
