The song, Near July, by Virock, is a left hook surprise by this musical ex-patriot returning to the music scene after such a long absence. The song is near perfect Pop. Granted, this was recorded using a drum machine and probably in Virock's cellar but there is something special about this song that this rudimentary mix was able to capture. A little bit of lightning in a bottle. What can I offer as critique? I like Virock's vocal and arrangement. If I were the producer, I would find a young female for the lead vocal and drop Virock to some harmonies along side her and have him pilot the song with the instrumentation and arrangement he has going. This is not to say his vocals are bad, they are not. It's just that I think that a younger and fresher voice would do this song so much justice singing the same song with the exact same feel. It's a great melody that needs a little injection of youth to make it perfect. I think a young woman singing this song would take it over the edge. That's just my take Virock, I loved the song! The other change of course would be to record the song professionally in a studio with a good engineer. Nothing to expensive just someone who knows his way around the studio and can give you that pro sound. The material is there and easy to work with! I would be interested in hearing what else this guy can do. Good songwriting! Cheers Virock! Job well done!

Virock's track Near July, reminds me of old school folk music from the 60's, i like this little tune has shades of the Beatles in it's production. Nice easy listening tune for late nights, nothing radical, nice playing, good production, vocals are a little inaudible at times but all in all a good little track looking forward to hearing more from Virock in the future. Folk rock i think is the best category for this tune any way. The Americana/folk music lives on through this fine example of the genre. Jim

Here's the thing - you're voice (the most important thing) is good and you should spend more time to get a good feel from them but that won't happen until you speed the song up about 3-5 beats a minute and get a smoother feel on it. I realize you're limited in the tracks you can produce. I hear what you are doing in midi but the song is actually good and it would be worth recording quality tracks for it. The guitar even comes off as a bit mechanical because of the tracks. I hope you don't take this as insult, I'm just trying to point out the obvious and you probably already hear that. Pointing out what's wrong is easy. Now, if you were to speed it up just a hair, I think your voice would ride better. If you put a little anticipation on the 2 and 4 (a bit more swing feel) you might find the tracks working better. The mix wasn't too bad but things were not laying in the right space. If you put just a bit of *the same* reverb on all the tracks you'd bring them into the same space. Lower the drums a bit and maybe raise up any pads you have or add some lush pads, string or organ, threw the verses and then chunk up the chorus a bit more to make more of a feeling of movement in the changes. I record with all real instruments because I don't like the way MIDI sounds. It was OK in the 80's for some things but its easy enough to get others to track for you these days. I do a lot of tracks for other people myself - DemosMasters but there are 100s of people like me out there. If you have a song idea pretty much down it is cheap. You might consider finding someone to help you in that department. All that work and some jerk like me just tears it up :-) I hope you find it helpful and not hurtful.

Nice, moody texture. Good melody. A little to heavy on the rhythm guitar. Some harmonies would add a lot to this track. Bring up the drums and bass and add some keys just to the chorus to delineate it a bit more. I like the double tracked vocal. Feels kind of late sixties English pop.

This is a rather hypnotic tune. Lots of repetition in the music, melody and structure. Vocals fit well and it was quite pleasant overall. As with all good songs or poetry, there are various interpretations of what is going on here as far as the meaning of the song....but the somber pace and structure make it feel blue, with losing as the central theme. I could listen to this one several times as it has none of the usual attributes that seem to make songs somewhat trite and meaningless. Overall, pretty good stuff here. It will appeal to a particular audience and might have some problems appealing to a wide variety of listeners.

I am drawn to songs of romance that express the dreams and the tragedy of life. This song has the atmosphere of a classic British invasion song with the same eclectic feel of a Ray Davies song. It says something new and different. Well done!

I'm more of an uptempo kind of guy. But it is beatleske . That's good . Wish we could hear some lead fills . How bout some more backing vocals & ear candy too . Give the listener more tolisten to. Other than that

Good voice on this singer. Convincing. Lite instrumentation, Put some bottom on the kick and bass. Like the death reminder, and the irony invoked. Nothing like getting excited about some fresh encounter, then remembering you will die and it will be over. Not depressing, inspiring. Makes you concerned for the writer: did he contract a terminal disease?

Near July is a slow, laid back song with a 60's British sound. The guitars and bass are easy enough to listen too and the vocals don't overpower the song. The drums could be a little more present. I like the clean intro that doesn't blow you hearing from the get-go. This song would be a good candidate for the young and older listener alike. It definitely has a mood to it. I gave it a 3.4 because the production value has room for improvement ,but what doesn't here? That's what number one music is all about: A sounding board for those who are experimenting with their songwriting and sound development. Keep it up.

I listened to your song and I like it. To me it feels like it's about a man that has accepted his fate. A nice simple chord progression. The music is soothing and at the same time the lyrics are just a little bit disturbing. I would listen to it again. To me, that is the sign of a good song. Would you listen to it again? If you would, then it's got something.

This has a nice mellow and while bright chords, the prgression and delivery give it a darker feel at the same time. This is not a bad effort, and I'm guessing the writer made the best use of what tool were availble to use. Of course, real drums would be preferable, or change the beat up a bit more here and there in the chain of sequence. Also, I would cut some of the tom tom rolls.. and find a better transition piece, becaus ei feel you are using them to piece together some parts, but it stands out too much and should be blended in better. And getting a decent mic on the acoustic guitar instead of going direct would be good too, but, I get what the author is going for. The big missing item that keeps the song from being glued together better is the bass guitar. The bottom is missing and that is the glue needed to pull it al together better. The vocal delivery and cadences and melody style and the smooth way the vocals come across remind me of Pink Floyd. Getting some more harmomies on various parts of the song would set it up better too. Especially on the mid-July parts.. and the more drawn out whole notes.. harmonies with them would fatten it up and make the chorus part stand out more. The basic song is there and you just need to patch it up and work out some tones and get that bass guitar on there.. of course, I'm a bassist so I notice thigns like that ;) Keep it up!

I want to like this song more. For me, this drags too much. The artificial drums are obvious. This song needs an energy injection from the straight quarter-note feel to be more effective. The singer sounds on pitch and has potential, but he also needs a little life in his performance. Perhaps he can revisit it and consider putting more into the tempo, the drum programming, augmenting the guitar and emoting more with his vocals?

Mr Virock , i just hear this new Folk rock from u , so great to listen is sound awesome music is make me alot inspiration and i remember some time moment