I've never seen such a great team of wise men!

Alright, I'm in... who said something about busting out microphones? ... Yep, I'm singing this month, so run for cover, everyone...

Turns out my non-participation last month was due to a vacation trip to Costa Rica, where, unbeknownst to me, I spent 3 weeks doing research for this month's contest (kinda like evo2slo's research trip). When this month's theme was announced, the inspiration was so fresh that I just had to write some lyrics...

ah yes, just like my research trip...

Costa Rica beach:


New Jersey beach:

ꜛ
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LOL

Hey, man, have you been going thru my vacation pictures?

Ahem, if I can drag everyone's eyes back from the Costa Rican beach scene...

Here are some of my thoughts on the entries so far - purely subjective of course, to be taken with a pinch of salt, etc. etc... Anyway, in alphabetical order:

AdagioCm Small Stone on the Beach
It's a brave move trying to emulate someone as successful as JMJ! The sounds are very authentic although in places it feels to me as though the melody is not quite as strong as it could be - as though I'm listening to the harmony part without the lead, if that makes sense? But a very convincing hommage!

beanpole I Cant Wait For The Summer
The clean intro belies the brash punk-ish sound that follows it! A well-constructed song, I found myself wanting to shout a "1-2-3-4" lead-in to the verses after each chorus! Only (very mild) criticism is the abrupt fade at the end, I think I'd have liked a bit of a held chord or something just for a second longer.

bzur I prefer a walk on the beach in winter
Lovely piano playing, and some nice sounds sprinkled on top - both synthesised and recorded. The bass that comes in at about 1:00 is a nice sound, but it seems to do something odd to the piano transients - perhaps a compression issue? I like the sense of space in the mix, and the contrasts between the fuller sections and those with just the piano.

DamonBroussard Lost in silence
An enjoyably melancholy entry - I love that quiet piano intro with the atmospherics behind it. I think in general that the 'musical' sounds are mixed rather quietly, being dominated by the percussion and wind effects - I would have liked to have heard more of that pensive melody coming through over the powerful rhythmic elements.

evo2slo Ocean Foam
A nice clear mix, and I appreciate the multi-layered vocals which give the song a very polished feel. Good work!

GMoneh SandBetweenYourToes
I like the organ playing in this track, and the guest vocalist at the end is a nice touch! Some of the instrumentation is occasionally a little unconvincing, and the brass feels like it's outside its intended pitch range in places, but it's a happy song that brings a smile to the face and gets my legs moving.

JackSolium Lorsque Nous e�tions Enfants
Without seeing the photo you provided, this doesn't really say 'beach' to me until the wave effects appear. The repetitive melody is quite hypnotic, and enjoyable for that. Reminds me of Waltz in Black by The Stranglers' - which is no bad thing!

LagunaRising TheLooseSong
Tasty guitar sound, intermingled with some cool organ playing. And ten seconds of weirdness at the end to round it off nicely. Good stuff.

me109 Exit 6
A very polished and professional sound. Well put together, well sung, although I have to say that I have no idea what a parkway is, or the significance of exit 6!

mellotronaut beaches like peaches
This one is somehow really infectious, I love the way it progresses from one section to the next, the relaxed feel of it, and the lyrics that don't quite make sense but seem right anyway. Very enjoyable!

mvrasseli rolling waves
A nice, happy song, mixed rather quietly. I do like the sound of that flute layered with the guitar, a tasty combination.

nikp2000 the tide rolls in at sunset
Mmm... mellow! Fits the title nicely, I can visualise myself on that beach...

offthewall BeachParty
Authentic-sounding surf rock, I like that old-skool mix of organ, guitar and drums. Sounds as though this track was fun to make.

Patrick9 Smile
Shame about the cold - hope you've recovered now! You've put a nice track together despite that. The arrangement near the end with the brass, strings, guitar and vocals works very well.

sovarozum beachday surf race
Some nice sounds you've used here, reminiscent of TD in places. I felt at times the surf sound could have been turned down a bit to let the music shine through some more - I liked what I was hearing!


Ok, you can all go back to the photo now!

Thanks, that'll make her day! It was her debut performance too

Actually, I didn't take anyone's advice. My body decided it want to spend time in the hospital so it gave me pancreatitis. I am getting over that, so no entry this month.

@JJBeiner: Well that's a summer bummer. Sounds awful. Wishing you a speedy recovery.

@kryptonaut: Thanks for the comments!

Thanks for the review! And since you kind of asked...

I grew up on the New Jersey shore. And we saw examples of both of GMoneh's photos there, but the beach was much nicer than the Jersey picture. Anyway, I've been back there about three times since the early 70's and the last time was 22 years ago. Sometimes it seems like I never really lived there.



In case you've never seen a boardwalk (don't be silly, boards can't walk - forgive the local humor)I lived a couple of blocks from the amusement pier pictured here:


The Garden State Parkway is a well maintained, tree lined toll road that goes from the New York metropolitan area down to Atlantic City at, I think, exit 42, and at the bottom of the peninsula, North Wildwood (exit 6), Wildwood and Cape May, where you can get the ferry and cross the Delaware Bay for about 90 minutes to - you guessed it - Delaware. Most residents of New Jersey, at least on the eastern side of the state, identify where they're from by the exit number.

Actually, my band in high school played for a party on the ferry. I learned that when you're out in water that far and you have a couple of 100 lb speaker cabinets, it's a really good idea to take the casters off!

And in case you're still not sorry you kind of asked, Bobby Rydell had a hit single about Wildwood in '61. - Here's a YouTube of it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xixd7GH6XKM

OK, class, Jersey Shore 101 is dismissed.

Huh? There is a beach in that scene? Oh, right, I didn't even notice!


Much appreciated, thank you!

Thanks for the lesson, sir

Thanks for the review Could you please be a little more specific with the transients issue? I'm very interested on this - maybe I've solved in a second version I couldn't submit.

I'm not sure if it's the bass that has a brief transient on it, or if there's a low percussive sound that's in there, but it seems to me that from around 1:15 there is a corresponding brief dip in the piano volume with each of the low frequency transients. To confirm whether the effect was real or if it was my ears, I tried putting it through a high-pass filter set to around 250Hz - it does sound to me as though the piano 'hiccups' slightly at the points where those bass transients happen even when the transients are removed. If it's not audible in your master then I guess it could be some kind of MP3 compression artifact?

It's not disastrous by any means, I just found it slightly distracting

Thanks again

thank you very much for the review(s)! i'm yodely happy, you're infected
just a note to the lyrics: they were like a self fulfilling prophecy. i just visited my mother in France and (unfortunately), it was a horrible experience again, but i've learned a lot from this 'vacation'. "Beaches like peaches, you promised to me ... "