February Contest: Gossip

[evo2slo]

Don't be so sure! For now I have voted! Mua ha ha ha!

Thanks for the points... I think...

Are you sure you're from Texas? I'm starting to think you must live in a hollowed out volcano on your own personal island.

[D.H. Miltz]

Thanks, evo2slo.

And thanks for the comments in the voting thread, gorgorgathgorgorgor. Somewhere, S.HUSH is looking down and smiling (he's not dead--I'm fairly certain--he just likes looking down).

[Wopelka]

Nice to see Gorgo with such a cool attitude.


and thanks pljones for the details, much appreciated

[gorgorgathgorgorgor]

Are you sure you're from Texas? I'm starting to think you must live in a hollowed out volcano on your own personal island.

One must have something to work towards...

[Laguna Rising]

Laguna Rising - Freaky-tune Happiness
Oh god no. This is terrible, and not in any kind of good way. I actually almost liked certain parts of it, but you successfully tapped into my virulent hatred of christmas carols. Truly painful.

Thanks so much
I'm so glad I succeeded !
I reached my goal, at least with one listener I was succesful and I could convey the vibe I was after. From the repulsive/ironic intro, into the naive melody that follows.

Many thanks to Mister Natural and Knockman for the votes and appreciation

Cheers

[GMoneh]

Ok, here I'll share the notes I wrote down while listening and preparing my voting list. For each song, I tried to summarize in one word the general mood it put me in, mostly as a guidance in a month where the theme was highly dependent on mood.

As always, the opinions expressed are highly subjective, so please do not take hard if I don't say nice things . The important thing is the happiness you felt while making it (how corny can I get?? )

Highland Stomp - DocJon
Exhilarant
Despite the over the top hillbilliness, this is the one that makes my kids get up and dance. And the fact that the production is excellent doesn't hurt either, all the instrumentation is spot on and authentic sounding and the yeehaw samples fit perfectly to create the mood. I think you succeeded in your quest, my friend...

Happiness - Gorgorgathgorgorgor
Chuckling
Here is where this would have placed for me if not for the DQ. Each time I listen to this one, it doesn't fail to give me a chuckle. I guess I choose to interpret the somewhat menacing lyrics in a "funny-ha ha" kind of way. The general mood of the song doesn't let me to take the words seriously. Loved the bass and vocal performances and the clavi sound.

Everything's Just Ducky - Peterhud
Amused
Loved the brass counterpoints throughout the song. Can't stop finger snapping to this one.

Snappy Joe - nikp2000
Fresh
Loved the guitar tone and swinging feeling. Cool production.

Happy Melodies - jackoo
Content
Simple melodies in this composition, but with a general uplifting mood that goes in total agreement with the theme. Like the change of rhythm halfway through to keep things interesting.

Beltane Dance - kryptonaut
Entertained
How to describe this? Electro-celtic? Love the blend of styles. It gets a bit repetitive after a while, though, a little more variation might have kept it more interesting towards the end. But the happy feeling is done very well.

BossaHappy - Beardedone
Impressed
Was this an improv? Very elaborate and pleasant. The guitar performance shines over all the rest here.

Thing That Makes you Happy - offthewall
Fulfilled
Man, the happiness that family brings shines through the performance and the song. Just listening to it, one can't help but feel happy for you. Congratulations.

Happy - knockman
Earnest
I'm glad you posted this one. It doesn't convey the sound of happiness at least in the conventional way, and that gets it a bit back a bit. But it's a very good song nonetheless.

Simply - EmeraldTablet
Hopeful
I really like this song, but for whatever reason, it doesn't raise the happy bar for me (I guess I am one of those box minded folk?). The feeling conveyed for me is the wishing to be happy, not the happiness itself, so it all comes down to a matter of interpretation. You and I must always interpret the theme differently, because checking months back, my notes for your songs are similarly worded: great tune, but pushed back in the ranks because of the theme adherence criteria. Proof of how subjective this judging thing is…

Happy Honey Bee - beanpole
Rocking
Nice song, but like a previous reviewer I also felt the vocals slightly out of tune with the rest of the tracks, and that take somewhat out of the song, in my opinion.

Dandelion Wine - evo2slo
More Rocking
Cool sounds… especially that funky bass, ohhh... I guess that Alchemy is getting a good work out . My only quip is that I always have problems understanding the words in your songs. I don't know why, I guess the vocal track is not pushed forward in the mix, or maybe my hearing is just bad (plausible explanation considering my own music ). I'm not saying that's wrong, it's definitely an artistic choice on your part, I just wanted to point it out, for whatever it's worth, that I wish I could understand the lyrics.

Ode and die Freude - Wopelka
Incomplete
I am a big fan of classitronic music: new reimaginings of classical songs. However, in this case, it didn't leave me fulfilled. In fact, I wouldn't have recognized the Ode to Joy in it (lyrics being in german) if you hadn't referenced it in the submission… I do recognize some bits of Beethoven's melodies in the background, but the lyrics are delivered with a new melodic line, which is also fine, but is also a bit disappointing. You mentioned that this is an unpolished version, and I'd love to hear it again if you ever finish polishing it.

Happiness - Patrick9
Feisty
The song starts very happy sounding. It gets a bit chaotic and messy towards the end, there seems to be much stuff going on, and none of the lines seem to win over the others.

Friday's Hashish - Mister Natural
Mysterious
Pleasant and listenable. Happy? Not quite there for me...

Freaky Tune Happiness - Laguna Rising
Freaked out
It gets lively after that freaky start, but doesn't quite recover...

Happiness is… - shrikant
Exotic
I enjoyed the rhythmic track, very lively and different. Some of the lead (guitar?) sounds are quite strident, to the point where I had to lower the volume of my speakers, which made the rest of the elements hard to appreciate in turn. The cut at the ending leaves you with a sense of unfinished…

It's a New World - pljones
Frantic
Man, those are some fast drums. I know you didn't play them at that speed, but phew… the rest of the tune takes a back seat to the drums, but the frantic rhythm is not enough to bring it up.

Formation of a Diffuse Nebula - robojam
Relaxed
I like this track, but it doesn't inspire the happy emotions on me… it's more like a relaxing track to do yoga to...

Racket for Six Hands - D.H. Miltz
Confused
Sorry, but I didn't get this one… it flew right over my head, I guess.

Happy Sounds - rachmiel
Scared
On the creepy themed month, this would have been right at home. Happy? I guess not for me, sorry.

[GMoneh]

Ok, now to look forward to the next one...

Next month's theme: Hypnotic.

What does that mean?

Will we be doing "trance" next month?

[Mister Natural]

mad respect to all who commented / critiqued my non-sober piece this month.

It's genesis & production came about in one sitting ending around 5am. Came back to it the next couple of days for arranging and mix. Not my usual way of working but . . . I was "inspired" that evening by an old friend. In hindsight, the guitar work was a little sloppy & I think the piece could have used another high-pitched synth line in the middle to help "take to the air"

regards,
Eric

[Beardedone]

BossaHappy - Beardedone
Impressed
Was this an improv? Very elaborate and pleasant. The guitar performance shines over all the rest here.

Thanks GMoneh. The head was composed but all the rest was all improvised over the completed track.

Cheers,
Gordon

[evo2slo]

Dandelion Wine - evo2slo
More Rocking
Cool sounds… especially that funky bass, ohhh... I guess that Alchemy is getting a good work out . My only quip is that I always have problems understanding the words in your songs. I don't know why, I guess the vocal track is not pushed forward in the mix, or maybe my hearing is just bad (plausible explanation considering my own music ). I'm not saying that's wrong, it's definitely an artistic choice on your part, I just wanted to point it out, for whatever it's worth, that I wish I could understand the lyrics.

I really want my lyrics to be understandable (I usually spend more time on them than anything else) so it's not so much an artistic choice as it is inexperience. These music cafe contests are my first attempts at recording my own voice, and it's been a real learning experience how best to process it and mix it. Feedback like this is incredibly helpful to me... Thanks so much!

[D.H. Miltz]

Ok, now to look forward to the next one...

Next month's theme: Hypnotic.

What does that mean?

Interestingly (or annoyingly?), the text to be posted, not counting the standard rules, reads in its entirety:

This month you are asked to submit a hypnotic entry. What does that mean? Let's find out.

Also, thanks for the comments/reviews.

[shrikant]

GMoneh

Happiness is… - shrikant
Exotic
I enjoyed the rhythmic track, very lively and different. Some of the lead (guitar?) sounds are quite strident, to the point where I had to lower the volume of my speakers, which made the rest of the elements hard to appreciate in turn. The cut at the ending leaves you with a sense of unfinished…

I am terribly embarrassed at the volume level on the guitar piece and also the tail end getting cut abruptly. I was in a hurry to catch the deadline and did not check to see whether everything was alright.

Sorry for that.

Thanks for listening and the review.

Shrikant

Also thanks to Laguna Rising and evo2slo for the HM
and to Mister Natural,offthewall,and Gorgorgathgorgorgor for the vote

[gorgorgathgorgorgor]

Laguna Rising - Freaky-tune Happiness
Oh god no. This is terrible, and not in any kind of good way. I actually almost liked certain parts of it, but you successfully tapped into my virulent hatred of christmas carols. Truly painful.

Thanks so much
I'm so glad I succeeded !
I reached my goal, at least with one listener I was succesful and I could convey the vibe I was after. From the repulsive/ironic intro, into the naive melody that follows.

Oh good. I was actually a little concerned that some might take offense to my voting method, and consequently my harsh reviews. Glad to see we all have a healthy sense of humor here!

[farlukar]

Ok, now to look forward to the next one...

Next month's theme: Hypnotic.

What does that mean?
Will we be doing "trance" next month?

not necessarily

[Emerald Tablet]

Thank you sooo much for the votes everyone
also for all the reviews!
wooooaaaaaah a 1 one from Patrick9! Thanks you soo much