We here at Quick Stop Entertainment are true lovers of music, in all its forms. We’re also quite keen on the spirit of competition, and of spurring creativity through said competition.
To that end, we launched a unique form of creative combat here at the Stop.
In this age of manufactured and painfully earnest talent contests, we’ve decided to instead shine a light on the quirky, quixotic underworld of musicians that don’t get nearly the attention they deserve.
Ah, but I did mention that there was a competition involved…
Like a songwriting version of Iron Chef, the competitors will be presented with a very specific songwriting challenge. They’ll be given one week to complete their songs – however they see fit, within the parameters set forth – after which time the entries will be uploaded to Quick Stop to be voted on by you, the audience.
Oh, and what do we call this competition?
MASTERS OF SONG FU
Let us not forget the very special Masters of MASTERS OF SONG FU. Think of them as the iron chefs of Song Fu – one of which will be revealed as the ultimate challenger in THE FINAL CHALLENGE. Past Masters have included Jonathan Coulton, Paul & Storm, Neil Innes, The RiffTones, and Garfunkel & Oates. Any one of them could be the Master in the final Challenge – or perhaps it could be a brand new Master. Only the Challenger who garners the most cumulative votes in all 3 Challenges will move on to the Final and face that Master, mano a mano.
As with the last edition of Song Fu, all of the Challengers will be able to compete in every Challenge, and the Challenger with the most cumulative votes after the 3 Challenges will be the one that takes on the Master in the Final Round. So what was the first Challenge?
Write a song from the perspective of an inanimate object. This inanimate object must have no moving parts. Also no computers, no objects that look like living things, either human or animal (i.e. a statue, an action figure, etc.), and no celestial objects (i.e. the sun or the moon). Your song can be in any style you choose.
That’s it. The only other directive is that your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 45 seconds.
You’ll find the Round 1 songs from each of our Challengers below (for those Challengers that did not progress to Round 2, you’ll find those songs HERE), as well as the results of the Round 1 voting. The Challengers were then issued their Round 2 Challenge…
ROUND 2 CHALLENGE
Write a march.
A march is “a piece of music with a strong regular rhythm which in origin was expressly written for marching to” – and that is your challenge. You can write on any topic. Your song must run no shorter than 1 minute 15 seconds.
If you want some inspiration, here’s a march from Harry Nilsson…
You’ll find the Round 2 songs from each of our Challengers below, followed by the voting form…
THE CHALLENGERS
EDRIC HALEEN
Edric has been writing music (off and on) since the early nineties. He wrote and directed a musical, The Pushcart War, based on Jean Merrill’s wonderful novel. He has written and/or arranged a number of songs for various friends – some commissioned, some as surprises. He loves acting in community theatre, and is inspired by the music of Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. He is also happy to finally return his Happiness Board to the Internet. Check out the link on his web pages.
Legendz foretell of a mighty duo, born in the frozen North. Two neighborz and friendz will unite to form “Gödz Pöödlz” and battle the Mazterz or Song Fu for glory and bragging rightz! Gödz Pöödlz are Rüss Rögers and Röd Dürre. Rüss Rögers was once a member of “Kit and Kaboodle” (still available on iTunes) and currently performs in “Rusty’s Rocking Jamboree!” Röd Dürre wrote and performed with the Goth Rock Godz “Sear”, and last year Röd won the Coor’s Light “Take the 4:53 to Happy Hour” songwriting contest! Remember, the heaviest of metals are soft!
Hi, my name is Steve Chatterton, the quintessential one-man-band singer/songwriter net-based recording project. Mom always said I marched to the sound of a different drummer, but she never mentioned which one. Dad had a fondness for bagpipes. Fortunately, neither of them have any direct influence on my music. Specializing in quirky little guitar-oriented pop songs about bugs, the Scooby gang, pirates, palindromes, superheroes, old movies, infectious diseases, imaginary friends and sideshow freaks, I guess you could say I pretty much write love songs. I’m a cheesy bastard at heart. I’m a stay-at-home dad who’s looking to find more time in the studio when my youngest starts school in September. I have an ever-expanding back catalog (at least 3 albums worth & counting) I’m dying to share with the world one download at a time.
Johannes “Jutze” Schult (from Germany) likes to live in a dream world where there has been no Grunge and where he is a talented singer. Sometimes his little folky pop songs find their way into the real world. Here they suffer from his hoarse voice and the do-it-yourself home recording production, struggling to appeal off and on beaten musical paths.
Forged in the furnace of irony, molded with the hammer of satire, flattened on the anvil of righteousness, and cooled in the water of awesomeness, AudioMohel was thrust upon the world. Named from the lost audio transcripts of ’09, AudioMohel serves as a public-service backlash against the anti-circumcision trend sweeping the so-called “enlightened parents” crowd, AudioMohel urges their more devoted and impressionable fans to undergo the snip two or even three times. AudioMohel enjoys experimenting with new breakthrough genres like speed blues and death classical even though most of AudioMohel’s tunes reside firmly in the ethereal realm of vapor-ware. Some of AudioMohel’s members admitted to being a bit intimidated by the professed experience and actual musical talent apparently possessed by the Song Fu Masters, but finally it was decided that if the need arose, sabotage would not be out of the question. To be used as a last resort, naturally, but not out of the question.
In the far off land of Chandler, Arizona, where the rivers flow with sand and cacti, our leader and master, the Lord of Our Lady Gwynyth, guitar and microphone in hand, called for the greatest musicians in the land to assemble a rock and roll group like none other. Unfortunately, they were cut off on the road, and the Jalapeño Habañeros made it there first. With The Rogue Bohemian on saxophone and The Boxcar Bassist on bass and keyboards, the Lord was pleased. Now, they roam the streets of Chandler, playing epic songs and rocking faces, much like Bon Jovi. Unfortunately they are paid in change, and often get thrown into the street, also like Bon Jovi. Their lives have intertwined, and the era of the Jalapeño Habañeros has begun. Be prepared.
The Scribbles are one of the most popular ukulele-based trios in their entire 6th grade class. Oh sure, there is the rumor that Peter Choi hates them. Meh. He’s a hater. Ha ha. The Scribbles formed last November when they all agreed on the name. After that they bought some instruments and started writing songs and stuff. So far, they’ve played a handful of shows around their hometown of Springfield, MO. Everyone’s favorite song seems to be “The Robot Song”. Maybe it’s because robots really are taking over the world, or maybe because Connor wears the robot suit during that song and that’s pretty funny. Thanks to MySpace, they are now friends with really cool people like The Beatles and Weezer and Tom. They’ve said some really nice things like “iloveyouguys:D” and “thanx for the add:).” Oh, and by the way, Peter Choi, The Scribbles still luv u.
Gorbzilla is a musician/band teacher in Mid-Michigan. He has been in a few bands over the years, most notably as the bass player/vocalist for the band “Satin Jones” and the guitarist/vocalist for the band “Jimmy Likes Pie”. The proud father of two future rock maniacs, Gorbzilla has been writing music for the past twenty years, and is currently working on his first musical Beer – Finally a Musical for Men based on the Haiku by Patrick “Horkmeister” Sweet entitled, “I Think I Threw Up”. He has been happily married for eight years, and is looking forward to this competition.
Darrell Maclaine has been devouring comedy songs and interesting music ever since he was old enough to know better, and is taking part in this competition essentially as penance for the amount of free music he has obtained via the previous rounds. He plays piano and keyboard bass as one fifth of oddball UK pop group The Directors (another fifth of the group, Mathew Cornah, possesses both more instrumental expertise and a much better home studio than him and will inevitably be press-ganged into contributing to his entries), and has decided to exercise his rusty songwriting muscles in the most embarrassingly public way possible.
Berg and Jerry are a small suburban acoustic group comprised of Andrew Berg (Lead Vocals, Melodica and, maybe, eventually the Ukulele) and Jerry Geleff (Guitar and Backup Vocals). Mid-summer ’08, Berg and Jerry began writing songs together and since then… well, basically nothing. As rookies to this competition, these guys hope to at least make one good song, and entertain at least one person (*fingers crossed*). Berg and Jerry have a fun ska/indie/punk acoustic sound and often try to write clever witty lyrics. So listen, laugh, and something else that starts with an “L”, because Berg and Jerry are ready to slightly attempt to be THE MASTERS OF SONG FU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Denise lived in a grey house in the city of Austin. Her favorite pastimes were playing piano, polishing her guitar, and tormenting the geeky programmer boy who lived there. His name was Michael, but she never called him that… Isn’t that a wonderful bio???
Lex Vader was born to a single mother who worked as silicon tycoon’s personal assistant. When she died of poor hygiene, Lex was sent to an orphanage where he showed interest in organizing races and laser fencing. After being recruited into a religious order, he spent the next few years between several of their private schools. In his final year, Lex lost his hand in an argument with a professor over Kryptochlorians. Despite this, Lex was able to achieve a successful business career and even a knighthood. Tragedy struck, however, when a former classmate’s arctic home caught fire during a business lunch, scarring half of Lex’s face. At this point, Lex’s behavior became erratic. When he managed to buy SithCo, the cult that schooled him, he was shunned by the corporate world. No longer taken seriously, Lex started an evil empire and now moonlights with his evil emotronic alternapop band.
Tom Milsom is a musician, writer, artist and videomaker who has had nearly 2,000,000 views of his YouTube videos and has released an album, Awkward Ballads for the Easily Pleased, to murmurs of critical success. Faced with this onslaught of vague acceptance, he plans to release his second album, Painfully Mainstream, later this year, and is thrilled to be a part of this frankly charming and delightful competition.
Caleb became a software engineer instead of a musician because the type of music he likes best went out of style at the end of the 18th century. Self-taught in music theory, he is more comfortable writing a four-part instrumental fugue than he is writing a verse-chorus-bridge song. After discovering the likes of Weird Al, Dr. Horrible, and especially Jonathan Coulton, he realized that “modern music” can be fun too. Now he is on a quest to update, expand, and diversify his musical knowledge and experience. In addition to singing, he plays a whole family of recorders (not usually all at once) and baroque flute, pretends to play keyboard, and most recently, ukulele. He also uses virtual MIDI instruments because a real orchestra costs too much.
Miles from Nashville was born in early 2009 when multi-instrumentalist Charlie Wolf and harmonica player Michael Ruhland ran into each-other one day at the Albertson’s supermarket in Hermosa Beach, CA. Miles from Nashville play an eclectic mix of country, folk, rock, blues, pop, indie rock, rap (just kidding), and polka that they like to call “guacamole rock”. They are currently working on their debut album, Songs about November, and have their very own website (though who doesn’t these days?). If you happen to have large sums of money and/or expensive guitars that you don’t need, they’ll be glad to put them to use for you. Miles from Nashville plays shows around Los Angeles, CA every so often, so be sure to check the website for gigs.
Hello. I am singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, filmmaker, writer and activist Andrew Jon Thomson. I am honored to have played, collaborated, performed, and recorded with many outstanding musicians from many fantastic bands including the following current and past collaborators: The Memphis Horns, Dweezil Zappa, Anton Fig, Chuck Rainey, Tom Roady, Charlie Chalmers, Roades Chalmers Roades, Arthur Barrow, Walfredo Reyes Jr., Tommy Mars, Clayton Ivey, Charlie Morgan, Pablo Herrera (Cuba), Richard Nelson (Ireland), Mike Garson, Pat Mastellotto, Marc Muller, Rob Paporozzi, Sammy Merendino, Graham Maby, Paul Robinson (UK), Paul C. Robinson (US), Pete Lockett (UK),Victor Indrizzo, Fima Ephron, Dave “Fuze” Fiuczynski, Bassy B Brockman, David Gilmore, Victor Damiani, Todd Roper, Greg Brown, and DJ Qbert.
Hailing from a small town in Southern Minnesota, Richard Clayton Spring has risen above the norm, blossoming into a beautiful butterfly of acoustic guitars, pianos, synths, electronic beats, and vocals ranging from the softest of whispers to the yelp of the Great Wolf. The only style of music Richard can’t write incredibly is generic pop music, or else he would be in a limousine drinking champagne with Lady GaGa. But he has acquired an auto-tuner, so he’s working his way there.
Parsons is a 20-year-old student from California. She can leap small buildings in a few bounds. She fears large fish, but for some reason not sharks or whales. Parsons always makes the same New Year’s resolution: to survive to see the next year. So far, this has worked well for her. Parsons comes from an impressive songwriting pedigree: her older brother wrote the song “Blue Moon” in 1934, managing to overcome his crippling dyslexia and the fact that the song was written 51 years before his birth. Parsons’s songwriting influences include Beethoven, The Beatles, and Weird Al. Her sense of humor comes from The Simpsons, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and her frequent injections of concentrated doses of Vitamin K. Parsons hopes to go far in this competition. If she doesn’t emerge victorious, she will be forced to turn to Operation Omega. Nobody wants that to happen.
Melissa and Ian are two amateur musicians with a longtime love of composing and performing classical music. Whether this is useful or relevant for a songwriting competition remains to be seen. They are eagerly awaiting the “Write a song in the style of an obscure Baroque composer” round, ’cause somebody totally told them there would be such a round and why would someone lie like that?
Over the twelve years since young-ish midwesterner Travis Norris first picked up a guitar, he has played and written music in a wide variety of genres ranging from rock that a-billies, metal of a medium or heavier weight, “outlaw” country (aka “the good kind”) and “frosty” jazz (not a real subgenre). Left to his own devices, something like “U2 meets Jonny Lang meets various two-to-three-hit-wonder bands of the ’90s indie/alternative scene” is what you’ll usually get. Travis’s instrumental talents range from lead guitar, 2nd lead guitar, rhythm guitar, auxiliary guitar, and bass (sorta). He can also drag and drop drum loops like you wouldn’t believe. He comes to this competition armed with three electric guitars, a neglected bass, an Ebow, and absolutely no fan base or public recognition. So be nice, eh? I hear he’s real sensitive when people that aren’t him make fun of him.
When we’re not turning scrap metal into transportation and weaponry suited to post-apocalyptic life, studying the obsolete sociopolitical establishment of the twenty-first century under the guise of civil service, or scouting subterranean wilds for a suitable base of operations, The Gremlins are dedicated to sabotaging the destructive technological forces that have become your way of life through whatever mischief is at our disposal. Banjos are fun, too.
When two musicians marry one another, it’s a wonderful thing. When a multi-instrumental songwriter marries an amazing vocalist, it’s even better. Bud (oldest of three, one insane sibling of each gender) was born and raised in sunny San Diego, CA – a drummer first, guitarist second, and just about everything you could imagine third through last. Christin Joy (youngest of four, with 3 older brothers) was born and raised in beautiful Annapolis, MD – with the voice of an angel and the compassion to match; she is quite a wonderful singer and writer. The Perfect Place is a Husband/Wife duo that enjoys writing and performing music in their spare time. While their main area of expertise is theologically minded, they have been known to get a little silly from time to time. Masters of Song Fu should prove to be an interesting challenge, one we await with eager anticipation. Woot!
His Name Is Legs is a newly-created rock band comprised of guitarist/vocalist/Song Fu veteran Hazen Nester and bassist Cameron Accola, who collaborated with Nester on two of his previous entries. Born out of a mutual love of Rush and talented musicians in general, His Name Is Legs pledges to provide listeners with an eclectic array of sounds designed to stimulate and elevate. What makes this band unique is that neither Accola nor Nester have ever met each other in person.
To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 2 songs, CLICK HERE. To download a ZIP FILE containing all of the ROUND 1 songs, CLICK HERE.
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ROUND 2 VOTING
And now, it’s time for that all important voting. For this round, you can choose your TOP 5 FAVORITE Challenger songs. Be sure to choose carefully. VOTING CLOSES AT 11:59pm EST on SUNDAY, JUNE 14th. If you are having trouble voting, CLEAR YOUR BROWSER’S CACHE and try again. THE THIRD CHALLENGE WILL BE REVEALED ON MONDAY, JUNE 15th.
ROUND 2 VOTING – THE CHALLENGERS
Which Song Fu Challengers brought the most fu to Round 2? (CHOOSE 5)
Berg & Jerry - "This Day Shall Be Mine" (10%, 68 Votes)
Tom Milsom - "March As A Mad Hare" (9%, 60 Votes)
Ian & Melissa - "Song FUneral March" (7%, 50 Votes)
Gorbzilla - "March Of The Geeks (Semi-Autobiographical)" (7%, 48 Votes)
Sara Parsons - "Let's Have An Awkward March" (7%, 46 Votes)
The Perfect Place - "March Of The Clandestine Ninjas" (6%, 40 Votes)
Edric Haleen - "Whispered In Your Ear" (5%, 38 Votes)
Steve Chatterton - "The Only Way I Know" (5%, 34 Votes)
If you triumph, not only will you win remarkable (and potentially off-putting) bragging rights and a clutch of fantastic mystery prizes, you will also become the proud owner of the magnificent, one-of-a-kind MASTER OF SONG FU TROPHY.
“@ImperfectPlace: just because i give honest commentary that doesn’t pretend that everybody who competes in this is “great,†does not make me a troll. in fact, your indirect insult is more trollish, as it is a solely incendiary comment, without other merit. i stand by all my previous comments as legitimate discourse. and, geez, at least i don’t go on AT LENGTH trying to sway people, as some do.”
way to reply to my ‘indirect insult’ with more indirect insults. ;-D what a clever jab at my group’s name!!!
there’s a difference between honest commentary and the proliferation of bickering about musical genres on a message board that is meant to be generally positive in nature. sorry. i call ’em as i see ’em.
This is one of my favorite topics to debate, so here’s some more. If you don’t like my long comments, don’t read them.
As humans, we all have a responsibility to participate in the topical issues that surround us. Artists are not exempt from normal human social responsibility.
And with the special and unique access to the hearts and minds of our audiences that artists enjoy, it is worth considering that perhaps the content of our work is subject to special ethical consideration, just as a carpenter has a special responsibility to build a safe building, a schoolteacher has a special responsibility to be ethical and socially conscious in their teaching, perhaps an artist is not exempt from similar standards in their art.
Wkipedia has an entertaining page on music and politics with links to many lists of such songs in different styles.
Here’s an interesting sample, I didn’t know this, but apparently I could add many of the great classical composers to my list of political songwriters:
Beethoven’s third symphony was originally called “Bonaparte”. In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor, whereupon Beethoven rescinded the dedication. The symphony was renamed “Heroic Symphony composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man”.
Verdi’s chorus of Hebrew slaves in the opera Nabucco is sometimes considered to be a kind of rallying-cry for Italians to throw off the yoke of Austrian domination (in the north) and French domination (near Rome) – the “Risorgimento”. Following unification, Verdi was awarded a seat in the national parliament.
RAPM (The Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians) was formed in the early 1920s. In 1929 Stalin gave them his backing. Shostakovich had dedicated his first symphony to Mikhail Kvardi. In 1929 Kvardi was arrested and executed. In an article in The Worker and the Theatre, Shostakovich’s The Tahitit Trot (from the ballet The Golden Age) was criticised. “Can one actually dance to such music”, said Ivan Yershov. the article claimed it was part of “ideology harmful to the proletariat””. Shostakovich’s response was to write his third symphony, The First of May (1929) to express “the festive mood of peaceful construction”.[1][2]
Prokofiev wrote music to order for the Soviet Union, but managed to keep his musical standard high. Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937) is far from banal. Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus (1954/6) concerns gladiator slaves who rebel against their former Roman masters. It was seen as a metaphor for the overthrow of the Czar. Similarly Prokofiev’s music for the film Alexander Nevsky concerns the attack of Teutonic knights into the Baltic states. It was seen as a metaphor for the Nazi invasion of the USSR. In general Soviet music was neo-romantic while Fascist music was neo-classical.
“I don’t believe anyone venerates Mussolini more than I” said Stravinsky in 1930 to a Rome newspaper.[3] By 1943 Stravinsky was banned in Nazi Germany because he had chosen to live in the USA. Beginning in 1940, Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana was performed at Nazi Party functions, and acquired the status of a quasi-official anthem.[4] In 1933 Berlin Radio issued a formal ban on the broadcasting of jazz. However, it was still possible to hear swing music played by German bands. This was because of the moderating influence of Goebbels, who knew the value of entertaining the troops. In the period 1933-45 the music of Mahler, a Jewish Austrian, virtually disappeared from the concert performances of the Berlin Philharmonic.[5]
Richard Strauss’s opera Die Schweigsame Frau was banned from 1935–1945 because the librettist, Stefan Zweig, was a Jew.[6] In the Trblinka death camp, new arrivals were presented with a deceptive scene. A ten-piece orchestra played jazz and Jewish folk tunes[7] Shloyme Klezmer stood by the entrance of the gas chambers and played with the orchestra as the bodies were gassed. He saw his son being led in and pulled him out of the line. As SS officer saw this and laughed. Shloyme smashed his violin over the SS officer’s head and marched with his only child into the gas chamber[8]
This last account reminds us that avoidance of politics by an artist is an amoral privilege only available to the well off few, while for the majority of people in the world, politics is not optional. It is an unavoidable struggle for survival and freedom, and the universal inclusion of it in songs is to quote a previous post the “inevitable side effect of living a considered, ethical life.
Since there is only one more day to go in this lively debate thread, I’ll lay down the challenge:
I maintain that politics and life itself cannot be separated, except through wealth, power, oppression, segregation and privilege, and that it is unethical for any artist to ignore the politics of their time and place.
And don’t get me started on the vital role of music in every struggle that has brought humanity forward from the days of slavery and open conquest to help win us all the comforts and rights we treasure today, such as the freedom to debate these issues.
By the way, I so enjoy discussing this issue that I intentionally left several logical holes in my arguments, I’m surprised no one has picked up on that.
As far as I can tell, riddle is not a contestant in Song Fu, he’s an observer and a FAN. From the detailed, informed and intelligent commentary he left during the voting kerfuffle of Round 1, my guess is that riddle may also work for quickstopentertainment.com, which would make him one of our HOSTS too!
At no pont have riddle’s comments degenerated into direct name calling. At one point he called the political bent of Andrew Thompson’s song “shallow and self-aggrandizing.” Andrew may have taken that personally. I know that I have trouble distancing myself from comments made about my songs. But that was riddle’s criticism of the song, not Andrew Thompson the man. I don’t think riddle’s main problem with Andrew’s song was it being political, I think he found the song simplistic and pedantic. Maybe I’m putting words in riddle’s mouth, and if that’s the case, I’m sorry.
But Andrew Thompson is very sure of himself. He has shown little doubt that he knows his positions are right. And he’s willing to go to great lengths argue and prove them all, all the way to invoking Godwin’s Law! (Seriously, why did Nazi death camps enter this conversation?) I don’t know if Andrew’s song in pedantic, but I found his comment, “I intentionally left several logical holes in my arguments, I’m surprised no one has picked up on that,” irritatingly pedantic. Don’t make what you think are stupid arguments just to see if people will pick up on their stupidity. That’s rude and condescending.
At another point riddle said that Perfect Place’s characterization of him as a troll was “more trollish.” But do we really need to debate whose comments are more trollish? It just doesn’t matter!
riddle’s a nice guy with strong opinions. riddle didn’t attack Andrew Thompson personally, so Perfect Place didn’t need to jump to Andrew’s defense. riddle is a FAN who is willing to give detailed critiques of songs. How many of those do we have? How many of those are we willing to insult and drive away, even if we are SURE we are right?
The last thing the Song Fu Challengers need to do is insult the observers, fans, commentators and voters who come to this page. We especially don’t want to insult our hosts or the people who make the quick-stop trains run on time. We have enough problems attracting fans to this page without incessantly arguing with or insulting the few that come here. At best we will bore our fans, at worst we will actually drive them away.
@Russ: Well said. If anything the length and depth of the debate certainly killed the comment thread, which was kind of a bummer as I thought there was a lot more (not to mention a lot more productive) discussion last round.
Also… I’m not sure that what amounts to a lighthearted song showcase leaning heavily towards novelty songs is the best place to go throwing down the gauntlet and making grand, sweeping claims about The Ethical Responsibilities of All Artists. It’s a discussion I am interested in (probably in a college course called The Ethical Responsibilities of All Artists – 301) but not in a contest that previously sponsored a round in which “Dracula vs. High School Physics” was not only a possible song concept but a -likely- one.
Anyway, in about 5 hours this thread will most likely be deader than THAC0 and we can all get on with that writing/recording/listening/voting thing. Personally, I can’t wait. 😉
(And LOL about Godwin’s Law, I’d never actually heard of it before, but per the Wikipedia defintion it’s certainly true.)
thanks for the summary russ. 😀 for the record though, i really wasn’t just talking about riddle and i certainly wasn’t defending andrew. if anything i was condemning his excessive defense of the so-called ‘attacks’ more than anything else, and his lengthy replies appeared as troll feeding [even if it seems he was just throwing troll bait to average people].
so i’ve taken his hint and i’m not reading the posts because, well, they’re too long and i simply don’t care. all due respect, but i don’t think this board is the place to be prattling on about genres and politics. but i could be wrong, that’s just my opinion right?
anyway, no hard feelings and i don’t mean to be insulting in anything i’m saying.
@Caleb: I was going to attribute it to some of the other seven who didn’t get a song turned in, also 😉 Several of them have fairly large followings, I thought.
just to be clear, i am in no way employed/associated with quickstopentertainment. i am solely a FAN who, as an artist myself, strongly believes honest criticism is the best support an artist can get. i must also admit that a couple of my harsher criticisms, to one Song Fu-er in particular, were removed by the Mod before most of you saw them. they were provoked by my irritation at the over-defensive and longwinded responses my previous criticisms received. i will do my best to not chow down on such “troll-bait” in the future. 😉
good luck to all of you in the next round.
As I said, you can skip them if you’re not interested.
I tried to keep them interesting and informative.
Frankly I was personally attacked but I never responded to the direct personal attack, I just ignored it but if you look carefully you’ll find it.
Sorry if my joke about logical holes infuriated some. I was trying to add some levity to my serious comments.
Also, I never raised the issue of politics in music, this was raised by several people towards me, so I posted my heartfelt thoughts and some interesting other information to add to the dialog.
I thought discussing the merits of various approaches to music was part of the fun here. Certainly as several people said politics has no place in music, the issue was raised by the room. I posted my response.
Since I was the only one posting in favor of music in politics, I thought I should make as good an argument as I could, and share my deepest thoughts and feelings plus some objective info as well.
My posts have been good natured and ignored the personal attacks (saying my approach is “politics as a lifestyle choice” and contrasting me against those who live with politics as part of an “ethical considered life”)
How is it ok to say that my work is simplistic and pedantic, shallow, self-aggrandizing, and too many other negative words to recount, to say that my life’s work making mostly political music is the wrong way to write songs and that politics should not be explicit in songs, yet it is not ok for me to posit my personal opinion that artists have as much social responsibility as everyone else on earth? (if not more)
Again, I did not bring up the topic and I did not go on at length about it until many critical commenters had brought it up repeatedly as a criticism of my musical style.
This is a subject very close to my heart, yes I have a lot to say about it, but I thought deep discussions about music were part of the fun here.
Sorry some took it so seriously that they couldn’t enjoy the debate.
Edric has been writing music (off and on) since the early nineties. He wrote and directed a musical, The Pushcart War, based on Jean Merrill’s wonderful novel. He has written and/or arranged a number of songs for various friends – some commissioned, some as surprises. He loves acting in community theatre, and is inspired by the music of Stephen Sondheim, Jason Robert Brown, Adam Guettel, Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty. He is also happy to finally return his Happiness Board to the Internet. Check out the link on his web pages.
Legendz foretell of a mighty duo, born in the frozen North. Two neighborz and friendz will unite to form “Gödz Pöödlz” and battle the Mazterz or Song Fu for glory and bragging rightz! Gödz Pöödlz are Rüss Rögers and Röd Dürre. Rüss Rögers was once a member of “Kit and Kaboodle” (still available on iTunes) and currently performs in “Rusty’s Rocking Jamboree!” Röd Dürre wrote and performed with the Goth Rock Godz “Sear”, and last year Röd won the Coor’s Light “Take the 4:53 to Happy Hour” songwriting contest! Remember, the heaviest of metals are soft!
Hi, my name is Steve Chatterton, the quintessential one-man-band singer/songwriter net-based recording project. Mom always said I marched to the sound of a different drummer, but she never mentioned which one. Dad had a fondness for bagpipes. Fortunately, neither of them have any direct influence on my music. Specializing in quirky little guitar-oriented pop songs about bugs, the Scooby gang, pirates, palindromes, superheroes, old movies, infectious diseases, imaginary friends and sideshow freaks, I guess you could say I pretty much write love songs. I’m a cheesy bastard at heart. I’m a stay-at-home dad who’s looking to find more time in the studio when my youngest starts school in September. I have an ever-expanding back catalog (at least 3 albums worth & counting) I’m dying to share with the world one download at a time.
Johannes “Jutze” Schult (from Germany) likes to live in a dream world where there has been no Grunge and where he is a talented singer. Sometimes his little folky pop songs find their way into the real world. Here they suffer from his hoarse voice and the do-it-yourself home recording production, struggling to appeal off and on beaten musical paths.
Forged in the furnace of irony, molded with the hammer of satire, flattened on the anvil of righteousness, and cooled in the water of awesomeness, AudioMohel was thrust upon the world. Named from the lost audio transcripts of ’09, AudioMohel serves as a public-service backlash against the anti-circumcision trend sweeping the so-called “enlightened parents” crowd, AudioMohel urges their more devoted and impressionable fans to undergo the snip two or even three times. AudioMohel enjoys experimenting with new breakthrough genres like speed blues and death classical even though most of AudioMohel’s tunes reside firmly in the ethereal realm of vapor-ware. Some of AudioMohel’s members admitted to being a bit intimidated by the professed experience and actual musical talent apparently possessed by the Song Fu Masters, but finally it was decided that if the need arose, sabotage would not be out of the question. To be used as a last resort, naturally, but not out of the question.
In the far off land of Chandler, Arizona, where the rivers flow with sand and cacti, our leader and master, the Lord of Our Lady Gwynyth, guitar and microphone in hand, called for the greatest musicians in the land to assemble a rock and roll group like none other. Unfortunately, they were cut off on the road, and the Jalapeño Habañeros made it there first. With The Rogue Bohemian on saxophone and The Boxcar Bassist on bass and keyboards, the Lord was pleased. Now, they roam the streets of Chandler, playing epic songs and rocking faces, much like Bon Jovi. Unfortunately they are paid in change, and often get thrown into the street, also like Bon Jovi. Their lives have intertwined, and the era of the Jalapeño Habañeros has begun. Be prepared.
The Scribbles are one of the most popular ukulele-based trios in their entire 6th grade class. Oh sure, there is the rumor that Peter Choi hates them. Meh. He’s a hater. Ha ha. The Scribbles formed last November when they all agreed on the name. After that they bought some instruments and started writing songs and stuff. So far, they’ve played a handful of shows around their hometown of Springfield, MO. Everyone’s favorite song seems to be “The Robot Song”. Maybe it’s because robots really are taking over the world, or maybe because Connor wears the robot suit during that song and that’s pretty funny. Thanks to MySpace, they are now friends with really cool people like The Beatles and Weezer and Tom. They’ve said some really nice things like “iloveyouguys:D” and “thanx for the add:).” Oh, and by the way, Peter Choi, The Scribbles still luv u.
Gorbzilla is a musician/band teacher in Mid-Michigan. He has been in a few bands over the years, most notably as the bass player/vocalist for the band “Satin Jones” and the guitarist/vocalist for the band “Jimmy Likes Pie”. The proud father of two future rock maniacs, Gorbzilla has been writing music for the past twenty years, and is currently working on his first musical Beer – Finally a Musical for Men based on the Haiku by Patrick “Horkmeister” Sweet entitled, “I Think I Threw Up”. He has been happily married for eight years, and is looking forward to this competition.
Darrell Maclaine has been devouring comedy songs and interesting music ever since he was old enough to know better, and is taking part in this competition essentially as penance for the amount of free music he has obtained via the previous rounds. He plays piano and keyboard bass as one fifth of oddball UK pop group The Directors (another fifth of the group, Mathew Cornah, possesses both more instrumental expertise and a much better home studio than him and will inevitably be press-ganged into contributing to his entries), and has decided to exercise his rusty songwriting muscles in the most embarrassingly public way possible.
Berg and Jerry are a small suburban acoustic group comprised of Andrew Berg (Lead Vocals, Melodica and, maybe, eventually the Ukulele) and Jerry Geleff (Guitar and Backup Vocals). Mid-summer ’08, Berg and Jerry began writing songs together and since then… well, basically nothing. As rookies to this competition, these guys hope to at least make one good song, and entertain at least one person (*fingers crossed*). Berg and Jerry have a fun ska/indie/punk acoustic sound and often try to write clever witty lyrics. So listen, laugh, and something else that starts with an “L”, because Berg and Jerry are ready to slightly attempt to be THE MASTERS OF SONG FU!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Denise lived in a grey house in the city of Austin. Her favorite pastimes were playing piano, polishing her guitar, and tormenting the geeky programmer boy who lived there. His name was Michael, but she never called him that… Isn’t that a wonderful bio???
Lex Vader was born to a single mother who worked as silicon tycoon’s personal assistant. When she died of poor hygiene, Lex was sent to an orphanage where he showed interest in organizing races and laser fencing. After being recruited into a religious order, he spent the next few years between several of their private schools. In his final year, Lex lost his hand in an argument with a professor over Kryptochlorians. Despite this, Lex was able to achieve a successful business career and even a knighthood. Tragedy struck, however, when a former classmate’s arctic home caught fire during a business lunch, scarring half of Lex’s face. At this point, Lex’s behavior became erratic. When he managed to buy SithCo, the cult that schooled him, he was shunned by the corporate world. No longer taken seriously, Lex started an evil empire and now moonlights with his evil emotronic alternapop band.
Tom Milsom is a musician, writer, artist and videomaker who has had nearly 2,000,000 views of his YouTube videos and has released an album, Awkward Ballads for the Easily Pleased, to murmurs of critical success. Faced with this onslaught of vague acceptance, he plans to release his second album, Painfully Mainstream, later this year, and is thrilled to be a part of this frankly charming and delightful competition.
Caleb became a software engineer instead of a musician because the type of music he likes best went out of style at the end of the 18th century. Self-taught in music theory, he is more comfortable writing a four-part instrumental fugue than he is writing a verse-chorus-bridge song. After discovering the likes of Weird Al, Dr. Horrible, and especially Jonathan Coulton, he realized that “modern music” can be fun too. Now he is on a quest to update, expand, and diversify his musical knowledge and experience. In addition to singing, he plays a whole family of recorders (not usually all at once) and baroque flute, pretends to play keyboard, and most recently, ukulele. He also uses virtual MIDI instruments because a real orchestra costs too much.
Miles from Nashville was born in early 2009 when multi-instrumentalist Charlie Wolf and harmonica player Michael Ruhland ran into each-other one day at the Albertson’s supermarket in Hermosa Beach, CA. Miles from Nashville play an eclectic mix of country, folk, rock, blues, pop, indie rock, rap (just kidding), and polka that they like to call “guacamole rock”. They are currently working on their debut album, Songs about November, and have their very own website (though who doesn’t these days?). If you happen to have large sums of money and/or expensive guitars that you don’t need, they’ll be glad to put them to use for you. Miles from Nashville plays shows around Los Angeles, CA every so often, so be sure to check the website for gigs.
Hello. I am singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, filmmaker, writer and activist Andrew Jon Thomson. I am honored to have played, collaborated, performed, and recorded with many outstanding musicians from many fantastic bands including the following current and past collaborators: The Memphis Horns, Dweezil Zappa, Anton Fig, Chuck Rainey, Tom Roady, Charlie Chalmers, Roades Chalmers Roades, Arthur Barrow, Walfredo Reyes Jr., Tommy Mars, Clayton Ivey, Charlie Morgan, Pablo Herrera (Cuba), Richard Nelson (Ireland), Mike Garson, Pat Mastellotto, Marc Muller, Rob Paporozzi, Sammy Merendino, Graham Maby, Paul Robinson (UK), Paul C. Robinson (US), Pete Lockett (UK),Victor Indrizzo, Fima Ephron, Dave “Fuze” Fiuczynski, Bassy B Brockman, David Gilmore, Victor Damiani, Todd Roper, Greg Brown, and DJ Qbert.
Hailing from a small town in Southern Minnesota, Richard Clayton Spring has risen above the norm, blossoming into a beautiful butterfly of acoustic guitars, pianos, synths, electronic beats, and vocals ranging from the softest of whispers to the yelp of the Great Wolf. The only style of music Richard can’t write incredibly is generic pop music, or else he would be in a limousine drinking champagne with Lady GaGa. But he has acquired an auto-tuner, so he’s working his way there.
Parsons is a 20-year-old student from California. She can leap small buildings in a few bounds. She fears large fish, but for some reason not sharks or whales. Parsons always makes the same New Year’s resolution: to survive to see the next year. So far, this has worked well for her. Parsons comes from an impressive songwriting pedigree: her older brother wrote the song “Blue Moon” in 1934, managing to overcome his crippling dyslexia and the fact that the song was written 51 years before his birth. Parsons’s songwriting influences include Beethoven, The Beatles, and Weird Al. Her sense of humor comes from The Simpsons, Mystery Science Theater 3000, and her frequent injections of concentrated doses of Vitamin K. Parsons hopes to go far in this competition. If she doesn’t emerge victorious, she will be forced to turn to Operation Omega. Nobody wants that to happen.
Melissa and Ian are two amateur musicians with a longtime love of composing and performing classical music. Whether this is useful or relevant for a songwriting competition remains to be seen. They are eagerly awaiting the “Write a song in the style of an obscure Baroque composer” round, ’cause somebody totally told them there would be such a round and why would someone lie like that?
Over the twelve years since young-ish midwesterner Travis Norris first picked up a guitar, he has played and written music in a wide variety of genres ranging from rock that a-billies, metal of a medium or heavier weight, “outlaw” country (aka “the good kind”) and “frosty” jazz (not a real subgenre). Left to his own devices, something like “U2 meets Jonny Lang meets various two-to-three-hit-wonder bands of the ’90s indie/alternative scene” is what you’ll usually get. Travis’s instrumental talents range from lead guitar, 2nd lead guitar, rhythm guitar, auxiliary guitar, and bass (sorta). He can also drag and drop drum loops like you wouldn’t believe. He comes to this competition armed with three electric guitars, a neglected bass, an Ebow, and absolutely no fan base or public recognition. So be nice, eh? I hear he’s real sensitive when people that aren’t him make fun of him.
When we’re not turning scrap metal into transportation and weaponry suited to post-apocalyptic life, studying the obsolete sociopolitical establishment of the twenty-first century under the guise of civil service, or scouting subterranean wilds for a suitable base of operations, The Gremlins are dedicated to sabotaging the destructive technological forces that have become your way of life through whatever mischief is at our disposal. Banjos are fun, too.
When two musicians marry one another, it’s a wonderful thing. When a multi-instrumental songwriter marries an amazing vocalist, it’s even better. Bud (oldest of three, one insane sibling of each gender) was born and raised in sunny San Diego, CA – a drummer first, guitarist second, and just about everything you could imagine third through last. Christin Joy (youngest of four, with 3 older brothers) was born and raised in beautiful Annapolis, MD – with the voice of an angel and the compassion to match; she is quite a wonderful singer and writer. The Perfect Place is a Husband/Wife duo that enjoys writing and performing music in their spare time. While their main area of expertise is theologically minded, they have been known to get a little silly from time to time. Masters of Song Fu should prove to be an interesting challenge, one we await with eager anticipation. Woot!
His Name Is Legs is a newly-created rock band comprised of guitarist/vocalist/Song Fu veteran Hazen Nester and bassist Cameron Accola, who collaborated with Nester on two of his previous entries. Born out of a mutual love of Rush and talented musicians in general, His Name Is Legs pledges to provide listeners with an eclectic array of sounds designed to stimulate and elevate. What makes this band unique is that neither Accola nor Nester have ever met each other in person.
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June 13th, 2009 at 3:18 pm
“@ImperfectPlace: just because i give honest commentary that doesn’t pretend that everybody who competes in this is “great,†does not make me a troll. in fact, your indirect insult is more trollish, as it is a solely incendiary comment, without other merit. i stand by all my previous comments as legitimate discourse. and, geez, at least i don’t go on AT LENGTH trying to sway people, as some do.”
way to reply to my ‘indirect insult’ with more indirect insults. ;-D what a clever jab at my group’s name!!!
there’s a difference between honest commentary and the proliferation of bickering about musical genres on a message board that is meant to be generally positive in nature. sorry. i call ’em as i see ’em.
June 13th, 2009 at 3:23 pm
p.s. lex was trolling you too, but in a nicer way.
and i love lex.
so really man, it’s not that big of an insult. just chill out.
June 13th, 2009 at 3:54 pm
This is one of my favorite topics to debate, so here’s some more. If you don’t like my long comments, don’t read them.
As humans, we all have a responsibility to participate in the topical issues that surround us. Artists are not exempt from normal human social responsibility.
And with the special and unique access to the hearts and minds of our audiences that artists enjoy, it is worth considering that perhaps the content of our work is subject to special ethical consideration, just as a carpenter has a special responsibility to build a safe building, a schoolteacher has a special responsibility to be ethical and socially conscious in their teaching, perhaps an artist is not exempt from similar standards in their art.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_politics
Wkipedia has an entertaining page on music and politics with links to many lists of such songs in different styles.
Here’s an interesting sample, I didn’t know this, but apparently I could add many of the great classical composers to my list of political songwriters:
From http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Music_and_politics :
Beethoven’s third symphony was originally called “Bonaparte”. In 1804 Napoleon crowned himself emperor, whereupon Beethoven rescinded the dedication. The symphony was renamed “Heroic Symphony composed to Celebrate the Memory of a Great Man”.
Verdi’s chorus of Hebrew slaves in the opera Nabucco is sometimes considered to be a kind of rallying-cry for Italians to throw off the yoke of Austrian domination (in the north) and French domination (near Rome) – the “Risorgimento”. Following unification, Verdi was awarded a seat in the national parliament.
RAPM (The Russian Association of Proletarian Musicians) was formed in the early 1920s. In 1929 Stalin gave them his backing. Shostakovich had dedicated his first symphony to Mikhail Kvardi. In 1929 Kvardi was arrested and executed. In an article in The Worker and the Theatre, Shostakovich’s The Tahitit Trot (from the ballet The Golden Age) was criticised. “Can one actually dance to such music”, said Ivan Yershov. the article claimed it was part of “ideology harmful to the proletariat””. Shostakovich’s response was to write his third symphony, The First of May (1929) to express “the festive mood of peaceful construction”.[1][2]
Prokofiev wrote music to order for the Soviet Union, but managed to keep his musical standard high. Cantata for the 20th Anniversary of the October Revolution (1937) is far from banal. Khachaturian’s ballet Spartacus (1954/6) concerns gladiator slaves who rebel against their former Roman masters. It was seen as a metaphor for the overthrow of the Czar. Similarly Prokofiev’s music for the film Alexander Nevsky concerns the attack of Teutonic knights into the Baltic states. It was seen as a metaphor for the Nazi invasion of the USSR. In general Soviet music was neo-romantic while Fascist music was neo-classical.
“I don’t believe anyone venerates Mussolini more than I” said Stravinsky in 1930 to a Rome newspaper.[3] By 1943 Stravinsky was banned in Nazi Germany because he had chosen to live in the USA. Beginning in 1940, Orff’s cantata Carmina Burana was performed at Nazi Party functions, and acquired the status of a quasi-official anthem.[4] In 1933 Berlin Radio issued a formal ban on the broadcasting of jazz. However, it was still possible to hear swing music played by German bands. This was because of the moderating influence of Goebbels, who knew the value of entertaining the troops. In the period 1933-45 the music of Mahler, a Jewish Austrian, virtually disappeared from the concert performances of the Berlin Philharmonic.[5]
Richard Strauss’s opera Die Schweigsame Frau was banned from 1935–1945 because the librettist, Stefan Zweig, was a Jew.[6] In the Trblinka death camp, new arrivals were presented with a deceptive scene. A ten-piece orchestra played jazz and Jewish folk tunes[7] Shloyme Klezmer stood by the entrance of the gas chambers and played with the orchestra as the bodies were gassed. He saw his son being led in and pulled him out of the line. As SS officer saw this and laughed. Shloyme smashed his violin over the SS officer’s head and marched with his only child into the gas chamber[8]
This last account reminds us that avoidance of politics by an artist is an amoral privilege only available to the well off few, while for the majority of people in the world, politics is not optional. It is an unavoidable struggle for survival and freedom, and the universal inclusion of it in songs is to quote a previous post the “inevitable side effect of living a considered, ethical life.
Since there is only one more day to go in this lively debate thread, I’ll lay down the challenge:
I maintain that politics and life itself cannot be separated, except through wealth, power, oppression, segregation and privilege, and that it is unethical for any artist to ignore the politics of their time and place.
And don’t get me started on the vital role of music in every struggle that has brought humanity forward from the days of slavery and open conquest to help win us all the comforts and rights we treasure today, such as the freedom to debate these issues.
June 13th, 2009 at 4:49 pm
By the way, I so enjoy discussing this issue that I intentionally left several logical holes in my arguments, I’m surprised no one has picked up on that.
June 13th, 2009 at 7:01 pm
Mmmmmm…..logical holes. Love ’em. They go delightfully well with coffee in the throes of a hangover.
June 14th, 2009 at 12:27 am
So nice that Andrew has recovered from his closed head injury.
June 14th, 2009 at 4:36 pm
OK, let’s point out some logical holes here.
As far as I can tell, riddle is not a contestant in Song Fu, he’s an observer and a FAN. From the detailed, informed and intelligent commentary he left during the voting kerfuffle of Round 1, my guess is that riddle may also work for quickstopentertainment.com, which would make him one of our HOSTS too!
At no pont have riddle’s comments degenerated into direct name calling. At one point he called the political bent of Andrew Thompson’s song “shallow and self-aggrandizing.” Andrew may have taken that personally. I know that I have trouble distancing myself from comments made about my songs. But that was riddle’s criticism of the song, not Andrew Thompson the man. I don’t think riddle’s main problem with Andrew’s song was it being political, I think he found the song simplistic and pedantic. Maybe I’m putting words in riddle’s mouth, and if that’s the case, I’m sorry.
But Andrew Thompson is very sure of himself. He has shown little doubt that he knows his positions are right. And he’s willing to go to great lengths argue and prove them all, all the way to invoking Godwin’s Law! (Seriously, why did Nazi death camps enter this conversation?) I don’t know if Andrew’s song in pedantic, but I found his comment, “I intentionally left several logical holes in my arguments, I’m surprised no one has picked up on that,” irritatingly pedantic. Don’t make what you think are stupid arguments just to see if people will pick up on their stupidity. That’s rude and condescending.
At another point riddle said that Perfect Place’s characterization of him as a troll was “more trollish.” But do we really need to debate whose comments are more trollish? It just doesn’t matter!
riddle’s a nice guy with strong opinions. riddle didn’t attack Andrew Thompson personally, so Perfect Place didn’t need to jump to Andrew’s defense. riddle is a FAN who is willing to give detailed critiques of songs. How many of those do we have? How many of those are we willing to insult and drive away, even if we are SURE we are right?
The last thing the Song Fu Challengers need to do is insult the observers, fans, commentators and voters who come to this page. We especially don’t want to insult our hosts or the people who make the quick-stop trains run on time. We have enough problems attracting fans to this page without incessantly arguing with or insulting the few that come here. At best we will bore our fans, at worst we will actually drive them away.
June 14th, 2009 at 6:53 pm
@Russ: Well said. If anything the length and depth of the debate certainly killed the comment thread, which was kind of a bummer as I thought there was a lot more (not to mention a lot more productive) discussion last round.
Also… I’m not sure that what amounts to a lighthearted song showcase leaning heavily towards novelty songs is the best place to go throwing down the gauntlet and making grand, sweeping claims about The Ethical Responsibilities of All Artists. It’s a discussion I am interested in (probably in a college course called The Ethical Responsibilities of All Artists – 301) but not in a contest that previously sponsored a round in which “Dracula vs. High School Physics” was not only a possible song concept but a -likely- one.
Anyway, in about 5 hours this thread will most likely be deader than THAC0 and we can all get on with that writing/recording/listening/voting thing. Personally, I can’t wait. 😉
(And LOL about Godwin’s Law, I’d never actually heard of it before, but per the Wikipedia defintion it’s certainly true.)
June 14th, 2009 at 8:06 pm
thanks for the summary russ. 😀 for the record though, i really wasn’t just talking about riddle and i certainly wasn’t defending andrew. if anything i was condemning his excessive defense of the so-called ‘attacks’ more than anything else, and his lengthy replies appeared as troll feeding [even if it seems he was just throwing troll bait to average people].
so i’ve taken his hint and i’m not reading the posts because, well, they’re too long and i simply don’t care. all due respect, but i don’t think this board is the place to be prattling on about genres and politics. but i could be wrong, that’s just my opinion right?
anyway, no hard feelings and i don’t mean to be insulting in anything i’m saying.
June 14th, 2009 at 11:32 pm
351 votes this round vs. 1292 last round. Did the vote system change? Were people just less exciting about promoting their marches? I know we were 🙂
I hope next round is less band camp and more 21st century.
June 14th, 2009 at 11:51 pm
It’s looking to be two no 16 positions in a row for me! Though slightly less impressive with seven less contenders…
I’ll almost feel disappointed if I don’t rank sixteenth in the other two rounds now. I do enjoy continuity…
June 15th, 2009 at 1:35 am
This one time, at band camp, a stuck a flute in a Song Fu.
June 15th, 2009 at 7:01 am
@Ian – The first round of a new Fu tends to bring out more voters attracted to the smell of fresh meat. Then the novelty wears off.
June 15th, 2009 at 8:10 am
Way to go Berg and Jerry!!!! Congrats!!
June 15th, 2009 at 10:30 am
I was going to joke that the other 900 voters were Caleb Lee supporters, but that might be taken the wrong way.
June 15th, 2009 at 11:11 am
@Caleb: I was going to attribute it to some of the other seven who didn’t get a song turned in, also 😉 Several of them have fairly large followings, I thought.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:33 pm
Tom Milsom is genius.
June 15th, 2009 at 12:56 pm
I exercised similar discretion.
June 15th, 2009 at 3:16 pm
just to be clear, i am in no way employed/associated with quickstopentertainment. i am solely a FAN who, as an artist myself, strongly believes honest criticism is the best support an artist can get. i must also admit that a couple of my harsher criticisms, to one Song Fu-er in particular, were removed by the Mod before most of you saw them. they were provoked by my irritation at the over-defensive and longwinded responses my previous criticisms received. i will do my best to not chow down on such “troll-bait” in the future. 😉
good luck to all of you in the next round.
June 15th, 2009 at 4:27 pm
FYI, current cumulative top 8 standings, if my calculations are correct:
1st – Berg & Jerry (231)
2nd – Perfect Place (199)
3rd – Tom Milson (181)
4th – Ian & Melissa (153)
5th – Sara Parsons (132)
6th – Gorbzilla (126)
7th – Caleb Lee (123)
8th – Edric Haleen (118)
June 15th, 2009 at 5:08 pm
Anyone know if we get a break this time?
June 15th, 2009 at 6:10 pm
@Ian: Next challenge is supposed to be announced by the end of the day.. so if I understand your question I believe the answer is “no”. Bummer…
June 15th, 2009 at 8:02 pm
@ian: i’d say no. they said the new challenge should be up tonight.
i’m excited. ;-D
June 15th, 2009 at 8:31 pm
IIRC from the listening party, the next challenge is scheduled to drop today. It hasn’t yet (as of ten seconds ago).
June 16th, 2009 at 1:41 pm
Sorry that my lengthy posts bothered anyone.
As I said, you can skip them if you’re not interested.
I tried to keep them interesting and informative.
Frankly I was personally attacked but I never responded to the direct personal attack, I just ignored it but if you look carefully you’ll find it.
Sorry if my joke about logical holes infuriated some. I was trying to add some levity to my serious comments.
Also, I never raised the issue of politics in music, this was raised by several people towards me, so I posted my heartfelt thoughts and some interesting other information to add to the dialog.
I thought discussing the merits of various approaches to music was part of the fun here. Certainly as several people said politics has no place in music, the issue was raised by the room. I posted my response.
Since I was the only one posting in favor of music in politics, I thought I should make as good an argument as I could, and share my deepest thoughts and feelings plus some objective info as well.
My posts have been good natured and ignored the personal attacks (saying my approach is “politics as a lifestyle choice” and contrasting me against those who live with politics as part of an “ethical considered life”)
How is it ok to say that my work is simplistic and pedantic, shallow, self-aggrandizing, and too many other negative words to recount, to say that my life’s work making mostly political music is the wrong way to write songs and that politics should not be explicit in songs, yet it is not ok for me to posit my personal opinion that artists have as much social responsibility as everyone else on earth? (if not more)
Again, I did not bring up the topic and I did not go on at length about it until many critical commenters had brought it up repeatedly as a criticism of my musical style.
This is a subject very close to my heart, yes I have a lot to say about it, but I thought deep discussions about music were part of the fun here.
Sorry some took it so seriously that they couldn’t enjoy the debate.