SpinTunes 4 Begins!

SpinTunes 4 is now in progress! And once again, Dr Lindyke is judging! That's right, not having learned his lesson, SpinTunes organizer Travis Langworthy has called Dr Lindyke back as the first returning judge. We're so proud.

First things first:

• Here are the challengers!
• Here is the Round 1 Challenge!

Night Terrors - Write a song about a childhood nightmare. Include significant use of rubato. (2 minute minimum) (your submission is due January 29th 11:59PM)

Example: "Love Of My Life" by Queen
Definition: Wikipedia 

I'm personally pretty jazzed about the challenge, if for no other reason than we're sure to see a lot of creative responses to this call to dip into Dreamland. "Rubato" is a technical term for "stolen time", and describes the technique of varying from the strict tempo for dramatic effect. It's a technique pioneered by Frédéric Chopin. The Queen's "Love of My Life" is a fine example, moreso because you don't notice the rubato unless you're listening for it. Try to keep time by tapping along with the beat. At the point where you think you've screwed up, that's rubato. It's otherwise unnoticeable because the entire band engages in the same expression of the song.

I like the Queen example because it's so elegant and subtle, but in popular music the master of rubato was, in my opinion, Frank Sinatra. Listen to any Sinatra-sung tune and you'll hear it easily. As Nelson Riddle's orchestration keeps strict time, Sinatra weaves ahead and behind like the Moon dogging Earth in its solar orbit.

This is going to be a fun round.

---/o\---

A few notes about the way I judge, and these thoughts apply to me and me alone... I do not speak for any other judge. If you were around for SpinTunes 2, you'll remember that my rankings aren't necessarily sympatico with the other judges'. I view SpinTunes as a songwriting competition first and foremost... not a "battle of the bands". So I put a lot of stock in the song. As I've said before,

THE ARRANGEMENT ISN'T THE SONG
THE SINGER ISN'T THE SONG
THE CHORDS AREN'T THE SONG

You can read more about my thoughts on that in this previous post.

The "song" is lyrics + music. It can simply be the melody ("Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star"), or it can be complex rhythms ("Lose Yourself"), but an instrumental piece will get you disqualified unless the challenge specifically and explicitly allows it. You must submit the lyrics with your entry.

No portion of the challenge is optional. If you fail to meet the challenge, no matter how incredibly awe-inspiring your song, you will be disqualified. It broke my heart and that of the other judges to have to disqualify Ben Walker's "When I'm A Hundred And Two". It's beautiful, it's funny, it's an exceptional song that now permanently resides on my mp3 player. I'm thrilled that he wrote it... but it didn't meet the letter of the challenge. YOU ABSOLUTELY MUST MEET THE CHALLENGE.

Often there's a "performance gap" between what a sigle person can imagine as a composer, and what he or she can produce as a performer. I always attempt to judge the song according to the intent of the composer in the best possible light. Today I've got a couple of videos that really illustrate why I do that.

Nina Paley, on her "questioncopyright" YouTube channel , made a cute little 1-minute animation to make their point. Note the simple, child-like feel of this song.

(side note: whatever your views of copyright, it is a plain statement of fact that copyright infringement is a distinctly separate thing from theft. Knowing this doesn't make copyright infringement legal, but it gets you talking proper English so you don't sound like a fool). 

In true collaborative fashion, Nina had simply set out a plea to the Internet to score the animation. Nik Phelps and Connie Champagne delivered! Now here's the same video, in the same tempo, with the same song, simply given an arrangement:



I know, right?!  Big difference! But it's still the same song.

It's exactly this kind of thing that makes me feel justified in taking a little extra time per song to interpret what it could sound like if the performance gap didn't exist. It also explains what's going through my head when you occasionally see me place a song with a kazoo solo in front of one performed by a semi-professional band.

That said, you'll get out of this competition what you put into it (with a little extra as a learning experience). We've got a LOT of contestants (43 of them!) and I have to critique each and every one of their entries, plus shadows, so there's a limit to the amount of time I can spend on each song. The more you give the judges to work with, the better your song is likely to fare. We don't know your mind, and can't "hear" your intent. Communicate as much of that intent to us as you can, in the lyrics, in the best arrangement and performance you can manage, and in a song biography.

I can't say I don't take the performance into account... I do. It's just not the be-all and end-all of my assessment. You lyrics count. Your melody counts. It's a total package. If it's just a really good song, and if the other judges are swayed by it, you still have a finite chance of getting through the round even if you can't play a note, but the later rounds are always harder, and the competition is always tougher. Also, there are a lot of potential challenges you might face. Some of them may be more performance-oriented than others. Consider any of the advice I'm giving here to be flexible.

One last word about song bios: I love 'em. So do the other competitors. It's nice to hear from the creator what was going through his head when he wrote a piece, or what a particularly clever bit of lyrics may refer to. Without the bio, you're going to have to just trust that we're going to pick up on those subtleties, and your's might be the 43rd song a tired pair of ears will be listening to.

Have fun!

Daytime City Nervous

This number is about a man asking a woman who lives in the country to come join him in the city. She doesn't want to, as the city makes her nervous. Now she has a choice.

I guess I could be more specific about that and say that it's about this particular man asking this particular woman, and I could name names. But that would be invading someone's privacy wouldn't it? Suppose I just tell you that they were real people, and she chose to join him, and they were very happy until death them did part. And that's the truth.



Daytime City Nervous
william hoover - 21 Nov 2007

Daytime city nervous

Sunset country calm

I could sit up all night with you

But I need to write this song

Lord have mercy

You’ve been by my side

Durin’ all these tryin’ times

Take your pick and just decide

Do you want to be daytime city nervous

Or sunset country calm?

Do you want to come home to me

Or just stay here alone?

Do you want to give up this life

We’ve wrapped ourselves around?

Is this where the river splits

Or comes together on higher ground?

You gotta know I love you

I gotta know you’re mine

And if you say it’s still all so

Well, that would just be fine

Do you want to be daytime city nervous

Or sunset country calm?

Do you want to come home to me

Or just stay here alone?

Daytime city nervous

Sunset country calm

I could sit up all night with you

But I need to hear this song

Lord have mercy

You’ve been by my side

Durin’ all these tryin’ times

Take your pick and just decide

Do you want to be daytime city nervous

Or sunset country calm?

Do you want to come home to me

Or just stay here alone?

Dan, the Atheist Killjoy

OK, so this song has an interesting pedigree. For Christmas of 2008, Ken Plume posted the following challenge to the Masters of Song Fu

Tis the season and all that, right? Well, your challenge is to create a brand new character for this holiday season, and write a holiday song for him/her/it. Think Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer, Frosty The Snowman, etc. Now you can add your own musical contribution to the festivities. That’s it. The only other directive is that your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 45 seconds.

Sounds simple, right? And in fact, the challenge did yield some nice results, such as my hands-down favorite, "Twangles, the Christmas Squid" by Jason Morris. (Follow this link for others.)  As it turns out, it ain't so easy. Although I'd sort of halfway thought about it, I never seriously tackled the challenge until now, and that was as a result of an off-hand comment that the only idea I could come up with was "Dan, the Atheist Killjoy". Someone said "do it", so I did.


Here's the song. Stick around (especially if you hate it) and I've got some more commentary below, after the lyrics.

---

---

Dan, the Atheist Killjoy
by Dr Lindyke

[pattern 1]
Dan, the Atheist Killjoy
Loves to celebrate Christmas
By making fun of the Christians
And generally being a dick.

Should you bow your head in reverence
Don't look to God for deliverance
Because Dan is highly litigious
And he usually makes the lawsuit stick 

 [pattern 2]
(And Dan says,) 
"There can be... a holiday tree,
"So long as it doesn't have angels on it
"Or Supernatural references that might 
"Imply the existence of God."

(And he says)
"You can't pray within sight of me,
"Or anywhere in my vicinity,
"Because First Amendment guarantees
"Are for me and me alone." 

 [pattern 3]
But Ramadan is a gas,
And Kwanzaa gets a great big pass,
Because multicultural Dan is also
A hypocritical ass (but don't get me started...) 

 [instrumental break]
 [pattern 1]
Dan the Atheist Killjoy
Was set upon by wild pastors
Who hacked off both his arms and legs
With a flaming sword of Justice and Truth

Because Everyone has their Reasonable limits
and in All fairness Dan exCeeded his by a wide 
Margin... by Any conceivable 
Measure you wish to apply. 

 [pattern 2]
Then with a double touch of irony
Dan filled the air with heartfelt screams
"Oh, God! Oh God! OH GOD!" cried he,
...But no one actually... came. 

 [pattern 3]
Some see this as evidence that Dan faked his conversion
At least that's what SHE said, but I don't want to cast aspersions
And I didn't mean to suggest some kind of sexual perversion...

And now I'll have to write a fam'ly oriented version 
Of this song... 

 [pattern 1]
Now, I must admit the true events of this story
Are not quite so violent and not quite so gory
And by "not quite so" I mean...
Not in the slightest detail 

 [pattern 4]
In truth, the preachers looked to the Heavens above
And poured out upon Dan unconditional love
And prayed for the soul of that poor heathen schlub
Nestled safe and secure in the arms ... 
of Beelzebub 

 [outro. pattern 5]
Sing Hallelujah
And Dan will sue ya
He's got a lawya'
He can destroy ya

Sing Hallelujah
And he'll stick it to ya
He's gunnin' for ya
Dan's an Atheist Killjoy, bay-bee!
 
[outro. pattern 6]
Dan...!
He's an atheist killjoy!
Oh Dan!
For Pete's sake don't tell him santa means saint!
Dan...!
He's an atheist killjoy!
Oh Dan!
Can't celebrate Christmas around Dan....!

---

OK, There are a few odd things about this song. It's a hypocrite sieve, designed to offend anyone who deserves to be. It's a joke, and if you're overly serious you're going to miss it. On the surface, it takes up position on the Christian Right, and overtly makes fun of atheists. But not just any atheist... only the overly litigious, hypocritical sort as described. So taking offense for being made fun of means you've selected yourself as exactly that sort of person. On the other hand, if you're Christian, there's a point in the song at which you should become extremely uncomfortable. It's the only Christmas song I know of with a feigned orgasm and a "that's what she said" joke in it. Granted, it's in a "fantasy sequence", but you don't know that until the cat's out of the bag.


So while it insults atheists from the Christian Right, if you're an atheist who takes offense, there's something wrong with you. And if you're a professed Christian who likes the song, there's something wrong with you, too.  And oddly enough, that's by design.


Happy Christmahanakwanzika, everyone.
And Merry Christmas to you, Dan.

---

Other composing notes: 

At one point I'd written that Dan was "set upon by wild preachers", which looks much better on paper, having that "in your face" fire-and-brimstone kind of vibe. However, in performing it, it became clear that "preachers" is nearly indistinguishable from "creatures" no matter how carefully you pronounce it, so it just confused people.


The style is deliberately reminiscent of Tom Lehrer or Tim Minchin, both noted atheists. That's part of the joke. BTW, I love the work of both of them, and I'm Christian. It's not intended to be so close as to be a parody or pastiche, but just a nod in that direction. It's not the easiest style to replicate, as you have to just ramble away from the meter and somehow still hit the rhyme on time, as well as spend a bit of the song acting as well as singing. I mess that up a few places in this performance, but it's written to do that if I play it well.


The weird capitalization in the "reasonable limits" verse is simply to remind me which syllables to stress. Those are the ones that have to hit the mark, and the rest have to be deliberately relaxed, not forced or mechanically precise.


This performance is simply a draft to get the idea across. That's why it's recorded raw, on my cell phone. I might do a better performance later, maybe even with instrumentation and a pre-thought arrangement... then again, maybe not. In either case, the song is licensed as Creative Commons (non-commercial share-alike attribution). Use in non-commercial stuff with my blessing; and contact me for permission before using it commercially (as if!)

 

Dan, the Atheist Killjoy by Dr Lindyke is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Based on a work at music.cratchit.org.

Heart of Glass (not quite)

Those who know me well know never to turn the car radio to a music station while I'm riding. I have the worst habit of changing the lyrics. I don't usually write them down (Billy Jean being an exception), but I'm making another exception for this rendition of "Heart of Glass" only because there's a tiny Easter egg in it for +Julia Sherred . By the way, this is astoundingly predictable and puerile, even for me. Quite suitable for your next karaoke party. Feel free to flip the gender. Oh, and I apologise profusely for this. Don't read it. 

Instead, watch the original by Blondie.

Once I had a love, but she had gas
It wilted flowers, and killed the grass
Smelled like a dead cow
(the rotting kind)
Keep your nose clear Of her behind

Once I had a love, but she had gas
A smelly green cloud came out of her ass
Smelled like a fishpond
(I'm being kind)
Keep your nose clear of her behind

She cut the cheese
Can't get this kind of limberger at Applebee's
The miasma around it drops me to my knees
I wish I had a mask 'cause it don't do no good
To filter with my hood-ie....

Once I had a love, but she had gas
A smelly green cloud came out of her ass
Smelled like a fishpond
(I'm being kind)
Keep your nose clear of her behind

This hellish scent
Pepe Le Pew thinks that she's Heaven-sent
The things I'd like to say! (I'm glad it isn't Lent!)
[alternate line: It's like she's some mad scientist's experiment]
My lungs are close to bursting, ye-ah.

(La la la)
(lalalalala)
(la la la)
(lalalala)
(la la la)
(lalalala)
Yeah, riding high, oxygen deprivation!
[alternate line: Yeah, riding high on methane concentrations!]
Ooh ooh whoa (x4)

Once I had a love, but she had gas
So I hired BP to plug her ass.
Smelled like a dead cow
(the rotting kind)
Keep your nose clear Of her behind
Ooh ooh whoa (x4)

Photo Finish

OK, we didn't make it past the SpinTunes rap challenge... although I personally think we hit the challenge square on, I'm not surprised to see the judges score entries more highly that ventured outside the box.

The challenge for the last round is a photograph of  a rusty 1960 Cadillac DeVille abandoned in a wood in Austria. Specifically, this photograph by Reinfried Marass (I'd embed it if I had rights to do that. Why we'd use a photograph that's not licensed under Creative Commons is one of the Great Unsolved Mysteries of the Universe, which will never, ever be explain in accordance with common sense).

It's the actual wording of the challenge which interested to me: "Write a song inspired by the Reinfried Marass photo below" Now, keep in mind that this is the revised challenge. The original challenge read, "Write a song about the Reinfried Marass photo below".  Note that it didn't say "inspired by", but "about", and not about the car, either, but about the photo. THAT's what got our brain spinning... not the challenge as it is, but as it was when it was posted.

It interested William as well. He happened to have been born in 1960, at the same time as the car in question. The lyrics he sent me, with a title inspired by the original challenge, deal with a man and a car approaching decrepitude at the same time. Both are "broken eyed"... one with headlights, the other with color-blindness. An odd thing, to have your fate entangled with that of an object.

PHOTO FINISH

wmh 7.26.11

Two old horses have run the race

Both aging but undiminished

A little rusty, and lost of some spark

But crossing the line in a photo finish

I remember the past days like they are tomorrow

As fresh as a meadow in spring

Put out to pasture - no regrets and no sorrow

Looking forward to the promise the future would bring

Broken eyed - but not blind

Both victims of the ages and sun

But classic things never go out of style

They just get recycled around and return

Mettle or metal, which wins the battle

Relics of the past, neither one with the will to survive

Except into memories and fantasy

And the history of what walks or what rides

One dies a pauper- one retires to a museum

There’re some who would say they’re the same

Each of them sent to his own mausoleum

Never again to run on the tracks of the game

Broken eyed - but not blind

Both victims of the ages and sun

But classic things never go out of style

They just get recycled around and return

Politics and Promises

This is for SpinTunes 3, Round 3. The challenge is to write a rap. Sooo... we decided it would be most difficult to avoid nerdcore and hit the challenge head-on. So here it is.

Production-wise, absolutely nothing went our way this week... the instrumentation entirely unlike what we had hoped to do, but we make do when things fall through.

I'll follow the lyrics with a bit of song bio...

POLITICS AND PROMISES

william hoover

Politics and Promises

I lie awake each night

And think of all the lucky men who died before the fight

And those who still are with us

Who revel in delight

To use our simple apathy to get ahead in life

Six a.m.Thursday how late this city sleeps

A stray dog chases pigeons up and down the empty streets

There the Hyland donor wrenches out his wrinkled hands

Counting all his needle marks and wishing they were friends

Just up the street, on 23rd and Main

There stands an all glass building where our laws are made

Transparent to some, mirror-like to most

Who cater to the press and wear those fancy clothes

[Instrumental break]

You can sing me to sleep

With your billy club in hand

But does the riot become quiet

With the silence of just one man?

Breathe your words on me

Have me lay my weapons down

Find a compromise to satisfy

The hatred we found.

I can take a piece of you

You can take a piece of me

Someone dies - someone cries

Maybe friends or enemies.

Brother let me tell you now that your hatred is wack

If it's ok to you then you're on the wrong track.

[instrumental break]

Beside the all glass building there stands a golden steeple

A symbol of religion to all god-fearing people

People who confuse beliefs and making laws

Who bend the system far enough to grease some local palms

Yeah, go ahead, does it make you feel better

Read a selection from the Good Book's letters

Read me the part about love thy neighbor

And read me the part about a baby saviour

But read for your own how to cast the first stone

And read for your own how friendship is sown

So yeah, go ahead, did it make you feel better

Did the baptism take or just make you wetter?

[Instrumental break]

Broken glass promises

In the shadows of the Big House

The White House

It doesn't matter what louse

Is makin' 'em

they're fakin' 'em

they're takin' 'em

and breakin' 'em

they're tellin' us

they're savin' us

and all the while

they're playin' us

Six a.m. Thursday how late this city sleeps

The politician awakes from his adulterous deceit

Political ambition taken from the donor's hands

And the promise of reform ain't gonna change his plans

(and he's got plans, baby)

Politics and Promises

I lie awake each night

And think of all the lucky men who died before the fight

And those who still are with us

Who revel in delight

To use our simple apathy to get ahead in life

. 

Song Bio

We started out determined to do this as a straight rap and avoid "nerdcore", partly due to the company we're keeping in this competition (which is mostly geeks, "Dr. Lindyke" not excluded). 

So, having decided to meet the rap challenge head-on and not try to avoid or deflect it in any way, we had to decide what goes in it. Since rap is often concerned with socially relevant topics, of course we went with politics and religion, as you've seen.
Basically, the lyrics are set up as follows:

1. Set the stage
2. Can't we all just get along?
3. Judgement
4. Politics

That's a lot to cover in a short song, but we're not trying to flesh anything out. The "rapper" persona here is simply a guy who feels as though he's been stepped on, but isn't savvy enough to know who is doing the stepping, or why. So it's a general declaration of dissatisfaction without focus.

Some of the lyrics are not what they sound like. For instance, the "Hyland donor" isn't a drug addict... he's just a poor guy just trying to make ends meet by donating blood at the Red Cross in Hyland Park. The "golden steeple" isn't just a religious symbol... it also stands in for the court systems, which are housed in buildings replete with religious symbolism (for instance, the ubiquitous statue of "Justice" is a goddess of the Greek pantheon), and the justices -- who wear priestly robes -- begin their proceedings with prayer. The verse is a little stab at "legislating from the bench", and serves to segue from politics to religion. The symbolism of it being the courts is further driven home by the physical proximity to the "all-glass building" which is a stand-in for our Federal building. This leads into a verse that's superficially about the Bible, but is actually, more generally, critical of being judgemental and hypocritical. The punchline is my favorite line of the song.

This leads us from hypocrisy to broken promises, which we assume to be deliberate. Again, our rapper is stepped on, and to him it doesn't matter what face or party is in office... so a bit of conspiracy-mongering is in order.

Almost all of it is inspired by actual events, though, including the "billy club" verse (which also intended to replace the famous (and now worn out) Rodney King "can't we all just get along?" sentiment). Edric actually used that line in the last round, so we needed an alternative; I think William's solution to that is better... "does the riot become quiet with the silence of just one man?"... I like that.

The rap is bookended with a chorus sung by Katie Prince. Thanks, Katie!


Production


This song is very unlike what I had planned.  I bought a copy of "How to Rap: The Art and Science of the Hip-Hop MC" by Paul Edwards, and one of the best tools listed in there was a "flow chart". Now, if you're a programmer, this is entirely unlike what you're used to calling a flow chart. Instead, it's a tool to break the song down syllable by syllable, plotting your breaths, and ensuring that the song flows well along the beat. I did chart this, originally having an extra measure in the 2nd and 6th lines of each verse. I changed that after I started putting it to music.


I had other instrumentation, but put in the piano when Edric Haleen made a comment about piano and rap. I originally had planned electric piano for the solos, but wound up working for two of the vacation days I had scheduled, so didn't get around to writing it. Hence the "aaaah's", and the overall sloppy sound. I might finish it properly one day.

PostScript


I don't mind saying that didn't feel very very good about this song when I submitted it. I had taken 3 days off work so I could work on the production, but didn't get to do it, as I was called in each of the three days. So, this is the latest I've worked on a song and had to cut the instrumentation I'd planned, and cut some of the stuff I'd actually recorded because it wasn't working.  Also, since it was the only piece of social commentary in a sea of party and nerdcore rap (excluding Charlie McCarron's surrealistic piece and Caleb Hines' non-rap), I felt it risked being old-fashioned and stuffy by comparison... so we'd either stand out as being different and brave, or we'd crash and burn.


It's too early to tell which will happen, but I'm gratified that early reviews don't exactly suck. Jon Eric, another competitor, who has had more experiencing rapping than anyone else in the competition, posted some very positive comments on his blog. Even Spintown liked it, and he's a self-professed fan of funny songs. Given that we're not doing terribly bad in the popular vote, either, even if we don't make it through to the next round I feel quite happy with the song, if not the delivery.

Here's the Negative Reinforcement from Sammy Kablam. "You're no Ross Durand." Well, that's hardly news... my wife has said the same. I feel both honored and puzzled that we have been left relatively unscathed. 

SpinTunes 3 Round 2 Non-Review

Voting is still open for this round! You can listen to the songs >>HERE<< and vote >>HERE<< (on the right-hand column of the page). You have up to FIVE votes, so spread 'em around. I hope Dr. Lindyke earns one of them!

OK, I tried to do some reviews of everyone's round 2 song; I really did. But I don't really have it in me at the moment. I DO, though, have some general thoughts.

I was heartened to see that nobody chose the "obvious" news story... Anthony Weiner. I tend to believe that everyone else believed it would be the obvious choice and avoided it for that reason. If so, kudos all around.

I'm always astounded that no matter how much latitude a songwriting contest gives, there are some duplicate thoughts. For instance...

• In the "write a song about one of the 700 mole men" challenge of Song Fu 5, "Suction-Cupped Johnny" was chosen by Alex Taylor and Jalapeño Habañeros.
• In the "write a song about a number" challenge for Song Fu 5, the numbers 2, 23, 5, pi, and the imaginary number i were all used more than once... even though the number of numbers to choose from is literally infinite.
• In the "Secondary Historical Figures" challenge of SpinTunes 2, Round 3, with all of history from which to draw, both Edric Haleen and Charlie McCarron wrote about passengers on the bus with Rosa Parks.

So it should never be surprising when there are duplicate concepts. Nevertheless, I'm always surprised. In the current challenge we have:

• Two songs about the final shuttle flight:
• Too Soon To Say Goodbye by Caleb Hines
• The Last Launch by Alex Carpenter
• Two songs about the "one dollar bank robber":
• Independence and Freedom for All by Godz Poodlz
• One Dollar Robber (shadow entry) by Young Stroke aka Young Muscle
• Two songs about the legalization of gay marriage:
• What About Love? by Edric Haleen
• When Frankie and Johnny Get Married by Steve Durand
• the subject of gay marriage is also touched on briefly in Ross Durand's The American Way.
  

I'm not making a point here except to say that, when responding to these challenges, you simply can't be concerned with how "original" your idea is. No matter how offbeat the challenge, chances are good that somebody will be thinking like you. I would have thought that in a topical challenge, religion and war would have been well-trodden ground; yet the only other "war" song was Jutze's tongue-in-cheek number, Re: Your Oil.  (btw... Ross Durand noted in his review that our song, Prayer for Peace, sounded a bit like listening to someone pray. Having read the review, I'm now thoroughly convinced that our title was waaay too subtle, and am considering re-naming it to Some Jewish Guy Praying For Peace, and You Can Listen In. ^_^ (I love you, Ross, and so does my wife. In fact, I hope you have a spare room, 'cause she's on a bus, headed your way.))

Even when there is duplication of concept, I'm always impressed with the wildly different interpretations. I can think of nothing further apart than Steve Durand's and Edric Haleen's entries. Steve gives us a narrative in a perfectly styled turn-of-the-19th-century "oom-pah" waltz, while Edric abandons his usual storytelling for an in-your-face rap message in unfettered street language. Both entries are great.

Apart from the instances noted above, this round pulled from the most diverse sources. Some were simple, local stories, such as Program aids food stamp users by The Offhand Band, or A Tight Spot by Matt and Donna (about a kid who gets his head stuck between two railing posts). There was national news, like Wait What's Bunny Please Don't Go, and even an op-ed represented with Alexa Polasky's Infidelity. Add to this mix  Something In The Air; a flight of fancy from Inverse T. Clown worthy of a tabloid... except this tabloid story appeared in a reputable source.

All in all, this was a very good round, and a general step up in performance. I was especially impressed that the rappers upped their game, and that Wait What? decided to add some conviction to their performance that was sorely missing in the previous round.

The overall quality is good enough that I have no expectations of surviving the round or "leaving the island". Either way, it's all good...I get to feed my mp3 player with great stuff.

P.S. If I haven't mentioned it already... the very best song of the round is Caleb Hines' Too Soon To Say Goodbye. And if you don't agree... well... all I can say is there's no accounting for your horrible taste in music. It's a good thing you have me to set you straight. This song's got a great tune, tremendously poetic and descriptive lyrics. Easily Caleb's best evah.