Okay, this is a good one. Well, good is a relative term here. I am excited about it though, so I'll call it a "good one." I am not sure how anyone else will handle the news though. Might as well stop dicking around and just spit it out. Here it is:
NO INSTRUMENTS.
Yep, that's right. This is a spin on an idea to go a capella. You are allowed to use anything that is not an instrument. Your voice, rubber bands, paper towel tubes, smack your belly. Whatever! Just don't you dare touch that guitar or keyboard!
EVERYONE'S A WINNER! It's true! When the voting came to a close, there was a tie with both Rene and I receiving 4 votes making everyone a winner! Woohoo! Congrats to Rene and thank you everyone who took the time to listen to the songs and vote last month. Have another listen to the songs here.
Brian Salapek - Hush Little Baby
Rene Zansman - Sleep Sleep (NU Rap-a-Bye)
And don't forget about April's songs. There is just over a week left in the month!
So, it's a few days later than normal, but here are the songs from March. The genre was Nu-Metal and the subject was a lullaby. I know it's a pretty ridiculous combination but the songs usually are. Anyways, there only ended up being two songs this month. BUT there is a silver lining here, we hit our 100th song in the song writing game! The honor goes to Rene who turned his song in before me, so that's pretty awesome! Anyways, here are the songs. Have a listen and vote for your favorite below!
Brian Salapek - Hush Little Baby
My comments: I tuned my guitar down to BEADGB to get a slinky sound with the loose strings. The structure of the song was all planned out and the music recorded and I didn't have any lyrics written. In the end I decided to rap for all the vocals, to make it more nu metal. In the end it just wasn't enough so I growled a little in the break down. Oh yeah, you have to have a break down.
Rene Zansman - Sleep Sleep (NU Rap-a-bye)
My comments: I think this is the first song Rene used a real beat in and it added to the song a lot. Right from the start there is a great hip-hop feel to it mixing with some rocking guitars. I also really appreciate the multiple vocal tracks bouncing off each other in each speaker. There are still enough woah-oh's to make this a Rene song. All in all, I really enjoy this weird and hilarious song.
March is winding down and when the songs are turned in we will have had two consecutive months of hard-rocking tunes. First there were the alternative rock/dancing babies songs from February and then the upcoming nu-metal/lullaby songs for March. I've enjoyed making these songs but part of the song writing game is to be diverse. We will (maybe) slow things down a bit for April and it's song.
Genre: Bluegrass
Optional Subject: Unintended consequences of drinking
I really enjoyed re-living some of my teen days through writing and recording a mid-90's alternative rock song. When the end of the month rolled around and all the songs were in, I was very happy with the work everyone did. The votes were tallied and at the end of the day, the winning song was...
Brian Salapek - Dancing Babies
Holy moly! I don't think I've won two songs in a row. This will surely mean that I put out three or four terrible songs in the near future just to balance it out. Thank you everyone for voting and listening to the songs. I hope you are enjoying writing a Nu-Metal Lullaby! This should be very strange. IN A GOOD WAY!
Alternative rock in the early 90's was the first genre of music that really clicked with me. Bands like Nirvana, Blind Mellon and the Smashing Pumpkins were the first albums I had ever bought (other than a Jeff Foxworthy CD and the Jurassic Park soundtrack, true story) with my own money. After a few years, The Smashing Pumpkins took center stage with their album Mellon Collie and the Infinite Sadness and I was a fan for a very long time after. So in honor of some of my favorite music in my early teen years, we did Alternative Rock. Specifically it was mid-90's but that's just because I was looking to do a SP style song.
Another throw back to the mid-90's was the optional subject of "Dancing Babies." Anyone with the internet in the 90's will remember this gem:
Danny Imig - Baby on Board
My comments: Danny's track is a rocking instrumental and a guitar vanity project. He's got the talent and really shows it off here. The song definitely is fast, fun and really rocks but it feels more like an 80's hair metal song to me. Not to say I don't like it, I do. Also, where do you get those stickers? That's awesome!
Brian Salapek - Dancing Babies
My comments: I originally wanted to do a Smashing Pumpkins style song but realized I'm not very good at guitar. I opted for the formula Nirvana used in so many of their songs: clean-ish verse, rocking chorus. When it's all said and done, I am very happy with the song, especially the chorus. Normally I am very self conscious about singing but am happy to share this one!
Rene Zansman - On the Floor
My comments: Don't let anyone ever say Rene isn't a trooper. He wrote and recorded this song with a broken right hand. He definitely worked the babies into the song with lyrics about missing being a kid and a baby dancing on the floor. It has a sad feel to it, which I like about it. Like Danny's, I don't think it's right for the genre but I still like it.
Sometimes I get hung up trying to think of something new to do for the song writing game. It feels like I've used up all the genres I can think of (hardly, actually) and then ask someone for input. This input comes from Matt McCray who you may remember won the 2012 Song of the Year with his song Walter Sobchak. When he mentioned it, I instantly loved the idea. My problem is only thinking about genres that I enjoy, that's not fair. We need to sometimes write music that EVERYONE hates! So here it is, ladies and gentlemen...
Genre: Nu-Metal
Optional Subject: A Lulliby
You know the stuff, nu-metal. That weird genre brought out in the late 1990's by bands like KoRn and Limp Bizkit. Clunky down tuned guitars play crunchy chords over growling vocals or EVEN BETTER, over rapping vocals! BONUS POINTS TO ANYONE WHO INFUSES RAP, which very well may be the direction I take. Believe it or not, I actually really enjoy writing raps. Braided hair and lip piercings are entirely optional for this month.
So there it is, everyone. Have fun and dont forget about your songs for February.
