Month: July 2020

Broadjam Artist: Mike Nicholson
Song: The Hat Block’s Dream

Reviewer: MGB

Positive Comments: Really good work. The vocals are powerful enough that they don’t get drowned at all by the instrumentation. Drum work is fantastic and arrangement is great. Prog rock elements abound.

Constructive Comments: Really cool piece.

Broadjam Artist: Bob Birthisel
Song: Powerful Anthemic Rock – INSTRUMENTAL EDIT

Reviewer: MGB

Positive Comments: Dynamite piece with great guitar work and drum work and fantastic chord changes. It has a surprise around every corner, which keeps you interested.

Constructive Comments: Very enjoyable piece.

Broadjam Artist: Fred Kimmel
Song: Kitty

Reviewer: Phil Bouldry

Positive Comments: Very nice intro, though just a tad too long. The vocalist was in tune and has a nice voice. The lyric is interesting, though I don’t get the meaning of it in spots. I love the production. What a good mix of instruments. Though not the first song to be about a cat, it is pretty original in the storyline. Check out Michael Franks’ “Tiger In The Rain”.

Constructive Comments: I thought the singer was saying “seek emotion, seek emotion, seek emotion” which I think would make more sense. Odd juxtaposition between the soothing calmness of the music, and saying to see commotion. I think the vocal should be just a tiny bit more up front in the mix. This song appears to be about someone in the composer’s life. It seems to be personal to the point that it may not connect with LOTS of people.This song is beautiful and soothing.

Broadjam Artist: Nigel Barrett
Song: Looking at the face of God

Reviewer: Sam Cooper

Positive Comments: Nicely written song with clean production.

Constructive Comments: In this case, I’m not big on the electronic drum loop thing. It sterilizes the recording for me. Of course, this is subjective and I don’t speak for others who like drum machine sounds.

Broadjam Artist: John van Wicklen
Song: Your Love

Reviewer: Sam Cooper

Positive Comments: This has some of that charm of pop tunes from people like Burt Bachrach & Hal David–melodic in a sixties/seventies way. I could imagine the Carpenters or Dionne Warwick as the type of artists that would have covered it.

Constructive Comments: This is cute as is, although I’d probably be drawn in stronger with some nice background vocals.

Broadjam Artist: Dave Haddad (CenterPeace)
Song: Just Breathe

Reviewer: Phil Bouldry

Positive Comments: I have listened to this song three times and I’m sure I still haven’t heard everything in it. It is packed with little bits all the way through. The singer is just enough out in front. The instrumentation is full and flawless. There are little backup vocals here and there that keep me listening. I like the internal rhyming. I love the toning down of the instruments in the 2nd verse, with the bass providing the main backing for the singer. The change to the instrumental is smoooothe!

Constructive Comments: Coming back in to the vocal after the instrumental could be a little more dramatic.I don’t usually listen to this genre of music, but I love this song!

Broadjam Artist: Margie & Art Corey
Song: How’s the Weather Today Corey’s sung by Warren Hein

Reviewer: Sam Cooper

Positive Comments: A musically social statement. Well recorded!

Constructive Comments: Nothing here reaches out and grabs me, arrangement-wise. It could use something intangible to give it some magic.

Broadjam Artist: Laurence Watkins
Song: Where’s She Gonna Go ?

Reviewer: paul sandberg

Positive Comments: love the vibe here – terrific instrumentation, solid mix and production – the vocal effect works well to create that spacey feeling – reminds me a bit of Sneaker Pimps.

Constructive Comments: “she’s in the future” seems clumsy to me – perhaps “she looks to the future (she ignores the past).the repeating of each line is a double edged sword – it works, and yet I was hoping you’d stray from it in the 2nd half of the song.overall though, very interesting and really like the sonic interplay.

Broadjam Artist: Craig Bishop
Song: Ridin High

Reviewer: paul sandberg

Positive Comments: instruments are rockin – nice guitar work

Constructive Comments: the vocals seem very thin to me – perhaps more bottom end eq (200-400 hz)there’s some minor intonation issues with the harmonies not a fan of the fall down into the chorusthe beginning of the guitar solo is buried – needs to come up and grab you.

Broadjam Artist: David James
Song: Turbo Lag

Reviewer: paul sandberg

Positive Comments: nice early Oasis feel to thisthe production is very niceinstrumentation solid and tight.

Constructive Comments: vocals feel swallowed and hard to hear the lyrics – perhaps more compression to keep the tails of words from dropping off and some judicious eq overall to create a better pocket for the vocalsthe ending repeated chorus with the modulation back and forth along with the da da das needs more lift as it doesn’t really go anywhere sonically – and I’m not sold on whatever the backing vocal is – an effect perhaps, but I’m still left wanting more in that last minute of the song.