January saw the passing of one of my favorite musicians, David Bowie. It was a pretty upsetting thing for me, especially since it came so shortly after the release of his newest album, Blackstar, which I had been listening to religiously. I won't try to express my mindset, or give a memorial here, since words aren't my strong suit.
So jump ahead a week, Jack Eggleston messaged me and said "I'm totally going to try to do a cover of Heroes for January...It also fits with in the note limitations." The next day I sat down with the chords specified for January and all I could play was Ziggy Stardust. I didn't mean to, I was just messing with the chords and it flowed out of me.
So, with Bowie's passing, and the strange coincidence of the two songs, we will be doing David Bowie covers for February. It's only fitting to try and pay tribute to the man.
Thank you to everyone who took the time to listen to the five songs I nominated, and to vote for your favorite! After about 10 days of voting, the winner was none other than...
Eric Peabody - Never Whatever
Congratulations, Eric! You win a hand-crafted trophy created by Danny Imig as well as a 6-pack of hand-crafted beer by me!
With the end of another year of the Song Writing Game comes time to vote for the official SONG OF THE YEAR! I spent a surprising amount of time picking my five favorite songs from the year. Not all of them won the month they were entered in. The picking came down to listening to a lot of songs and simply picking my favorites. Narrowing it down was hard though. I had 10 song candidates and really struggled with the process. I am happy with the five I ended up with, but like I said, I surprised myself with how long it took me to pick them out!
For the first time in Song Writing Game history, we have a Three-Way tie for winner! Sure, there have been ties, but never like this before! Congratulations go to our three winners, New Contender, Joel Forsgran and Brendon Burgess! Good job everyone! Check out their songs here:
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!
