Hey Zach, I've listened to two of these several times since yesterday. Have to go with "Waltz" as my favorite. The "vibe" I'm getting is more Band like, maybe "Third Man Theme" or the "Last Waltz Theme." Baroque too, maybe influenced a bit by Van Dyke's mid/late sixties sound. Subconsciously? Some of you guys are getting interesting sounds, (computer or keyboard pre-sets?) on your keyboards, or is that really a harpsichord? Also something that sounds like a Zither. In any case, really good melody, well played. You should put up more instrumentals. .
"Suicide Is Painless" - I love this song. One of those "wish The Beach Boys had tried a take" on this number. Your vocal is fine. It gets better when the background vocal kicks in. A nice "Brian moment" @2:01. The track closes well. As for the original: Those who think the Monkees were surrounded by just a bunch of stand-ins should check out The Ron Hicklin Singers. They were known as the Vocal "Wrecking Crew."
.
"In the Pines" - I see you are basing this on Nirvana's unplugged take. It's okay. My favorite from that show was his excellent take on "Man Who Sold the World." My favorite version of "In the Pines" is Gene Clark's late 70's "hoe-down" version, though I've heard it done in various ways over the years.
Not sure what a ELA is. A school project? If so, you should do fine with turning in any of these tracks. It would help me to comment if you, and others would give a break-down on who and what is being played. Like: is that just you on music and vocals, or what does your "friend" add to the mix? peace, Will
Author
