So Todd Burns comments that "Shino" lacks a strong melody:

I liked this one: I particularly enjoyed the cut-up vocal parts during
the drum breakdown in the middle. One thing that I think that you need
to think about more, however, is melody. The drum programming may be
top-notch and interesting to listen to, but if it’s undergirding a
melody that doesn’t strike anywhere close to that soft gooey candy
center, then it’s all for naught. This one doesn’t do much for me.

First, thanks to Todd for his insights — and though his post goes from "I liked this one" to "This one doesn’t do much for me" in the space of five lines, I appreciate the fb and will happily grant sleep deprivation as the likeliest culprit.

Still, his comment seems a good opportunity to clarify something about Trouble With Classicists. "Shino" isn’t the only track here that lacks a strong melody — to be sure, if anything one element is clearly missing from each of the tracks posted to date, it’s melody.  That’s because none have yet been written for them (or at least not recorded) — though it’s a little unorthodox, I often write that way.  And though I recognize listening to works in progress and songs lacking melodies is a little different from writing that way, perhaps one way to approach these tracks is to approach them as working tapes along the lines of what we’ve heard in various "sessions" box sets or instrumental twelve-inches — half-finished canvasses upon which the main focus has not necessarily yet been revealed.   

So, expect some tracks to work as is and others to require a little more imagination.  Regardless, my hope is to post tracks with plenty to chew on and debate.  In the cases of "Shino" and "Udo Kier," a vocal perhaps…

And now, to return the favor to Todd, I will attempt to finish that Robert Fripp review I’ve been promising him for the last several months…