"Tookie had Tourette's, yo." (Cryptic Comment Reviews)

[erik]

Shit, write some reviews.

[Spud]

There were an unusual number of submissions this week that seemed, at face value, to not have been written for the title. The songs were identified in the mp3 tag AND IN THE SUBMISSION EMAIL as having a different name. Nevertheless, I listened to all of these, and one of them, after listening, turned out to be a valid entry in my opinion. The others did not and have not been posted. If you feel that your valid entry has not been posted, please PM me. Either you will explain to me why it is a valid entry or I will explain to you why it is not. Either way, we will have closure.

SPUD

[The Weakest Suit]

There were an unusual number of submissions this week that seemed, at face value, to not have been written for the title. The songs were identified in the mp3 tag AND IN THE SUBMISSION EMAIL as having a different name. Nevertheless, I listened to all of these, and one of them, after listening, turned out to be a valid entry in my opinion. The others did not and have not been posted. If you feel that your valid entry has not been posted, please PM me. Either you will explain to me why it is a valid entry or I will explain to you why it is not. Either way, we will have closure.

SPUD

were they TOO cryptic?

[Billy's Little Trip]

There were an unusual number of submissions this week that seemed, at face value, to not have been written for the title. The songs were identified in the mp3 tag AND IN THE SUBMISSION EMAIL as having a different name. Nevertheless, I listened to all of these, and one of them, after listening, turned out to be a valid entry in my opinion. The others did not and have not been posted. If you feel that your valid entry has not been posted, please PM me. Either you will explain to me why it is a valid entry or I will explain to you why it is not. Either way, we will have closure.

SPUD

were they TOO cryptic?

He won't comment.

By the way, great bunch of songs this fight. A few really stood out. Nice to see Booty dominating the left channel again. Glenn, C-Ray and Paco bringing it home to Daddy. Congrats on your first entry, Ardwolves. You're right, very lo-fi, but I liked it. Nice little song there on each end of that incredibly long bridge, lol. Some other really good ones too. I'll get some reviews done soon.

[Spud]

He won't comment.

I don't want to say any more until I have heard from the parties involved. It is possible that there is a reasonable explanation that has eluded me so far.

SPUD

[Lunkhead]

I like Boltoph's song. Are you playing everything on that, Boltoph? Everything sounds great.

Glenn Case's song rocks.

I also enjoyed i.p.'s song. It had some nice guitar work and singing.

Jonathan Mann's song cracked me up. I liked it. Was that a ST:TNG reference in there or am I imagining that? Anyway, I know I've been a serious slacker about it but I still want to meet up some time.

Paco's song rocks.

I also enjoyed The Weakest Suit's song.

Good job everybody.

[HeuristicsInc]

Hey KMS, nice use of the Caesar shift.
-bill

[Aardwolves]

Congrats on your first entry, Ardwolves. You're right, very lo-fi, but I liked it. Nice little song there on each end of that incredibly long bridge, lol. Some other really good ones too. I'll get some reviews done soon.

Yeah, that was where I was going to put another instrument (I was thinking glockenspiel or saw) but I just didn't have time and cropping it out made it too choppy. Hence, an incredibly long bridge to nowhere, lol. Next week, I'll do better.

I'll post my reviews when I get back from slacking off at work.

[GlennCase]

It's the return of Haiku reviews.

Disclaimer: The views expressed by Glenn Case are not necessarily the views of anyone

Aardwolves
-----------------
Some clever lyrics
Low production quality
It's adorable

Andre was here at midnight
----------------------------------------
Pitch problems throughout
I do like the songwriting
Sub-par performance

Boltoph
-----------
A clear contender
Solid in every aspect
It's enjoyable

The Booty Chesterfield Trio
---------------------------------------
I didn't hate this
But, I didn't enjoy it
Nothing stands out here

Caravan Ray
------------------
Good catchy chorus
Not your best vocals I've heard
But, you're improving!

The Dirty Hairs
---------------------
Concept is okay
Performance is God awful
Lyrics too scattered

Flappy Gunderson
--------------------------
Drunk Muppet vocals
I'm glad that you're having fun
Mildly annoying

Glenn Case
----------------
Friday recording
Found Songfight five years ago
So, I submitted

The Hand Formula
--------------------------
Alert! It's lo-fi
At least there is effort here
Descriptive lyrics

i.p.
----
Love the chord changes
Undecided on your voice
But, this is quite good

Jonathan Mann
----------------------
The master returns
This one is clever and cute
This song is quirky

Kill Me Sarah
------------------
It's Kill Me Sarah?
Wow, you have improved a lot!
Very, very nice!

Lithium Institution
--------------------------
Very long intro
No, it's an instrumental
But, it is boring

MC Paul Denyer
-----------------------
You need this T-shirt:
Can't dazzle them with brilliance?
Baffle them with bull

Melvin
---------
This is a good one
Melvin makes quality songs
Smile activated

Neon Tigers
-----------------
Nothing sounds awful
Nothing grabs my attention
I would call this 'meh'

Nigel Clements
---------------------
Don't like the chorus
Don't like the performance here
Verses are okay

noah mclaughlin
------------------------
Droning and boring
Vocals are over the top
Not in a good way

Paco Del Stinko
----------------------
Creative for sure
I like that you are unique
Less than great vocals

Raisin Brain
-----------------
Clever band name here
That is all that is clever
Hideous vocals

Short Wheel City
------------------------
Lyrics are awkward
There was thought put into this
Almost good, but not

signboy
-----------
Very nice bass line
Keep working on your vocals
But, this is great stuff

Steve Durand
--------------------
Vocals are lacking
Everything else: Wonderful!
Magnificent horns!

Swilington
---------------
Horrendous singing
Lyrics and concept are lame
At least it is short

Titans of Eklekto-clash
---------------------------------
Great chiptunes sound here
Vocals are strange, but not bad
It's catchy at times

Damn Hell Ass Kings
------------------------------
There was potential
Strange words don't make a good song
It's a throwaway

Well, I guess that's it
Need further explanation?
Feel free to ask me

ROCK!

Glenn Case

[Billy's Little Trip]

slacking off at work.

So that's what girls call it?

[Kill Me Sarah]

Hey KMS, nice use of the Caesar shift.
-bill

Thanks! What is that?!

edit: oh, you're talking about the art, not the song. yeah, after I'd submitted it I got to thinking I should have matched it to the shift shown in the picture.

[Kill Me Sarah]

Kill Me Sarah
------------------
It's Kill Me Sarah?
Wow, you have improved a lot!
Very, very nice!

This is like, my favorite poem ever.

edit: and yes this is me, except the drums which a friend recorded to my finished recording and emailed me.

[Kill Me Sarah]

Edit: I'm sorry but I'm taking some of my reviews down. Ultimately, I applaud anyone who makes an effort here, but my reviews don't always come out that way and I wouldn't want to be guilty of discouraging someone from entering, so I'm only going to leave my reviews that are constructive. If I don't review you (or if I did and took it down) and you really want me to, PM me and I'm happy to give you my honest opinion.

Disclaimer: I really don't have time to listen to these songs over and over again and form a deep relationship with them, so these are my first impression reviews. Also bear in mind that lately I pretty much just listen to The Lucksmiths 24/7 so my taste is a little narrow at the moment

Aardwolves
Of anything I've heard coming out of SF lately, this is the closest to the type of music I make myself most regularly (though not well represented by my own SF archive) so I'm very partial to it. Twee like me, I say I'm bummed at the recording quality because it's hard to make out a lot of the lyrics, but a lot of people here start out recording their songs into $10 PC micr
ophones (including me) so I'll just look forward to you upgrading your equipment.
[edit: just read the lyrics, like it even more. if we only got one vote, I'd probably vote for this one]

Boltoph
I'm liking the groove of this within like 3 notes of the song starting. Great bass line. Has a nice loose feel to it. Vocals could be a smidge tighter here and there, but they're sung with feeling which counts for a lot. Lags a little bit for me toward the end, could have ended around three minutes for me.

Caravan Ray
There are some nice vocal hooks in this. I like the meandering Cure-esque guitar. Pitch could be tighter here and there.

Glenn Case
Rock! I won't pretend that this is the type of music I'm into at the moment, but it's flawlessly executed and it's a fun listen.

Hand Formula
I like the minimalism. Kind of reminds me of some Eels songs. Definitely not enough accordions on SF. Cute lyrics. It's not too long per se, but it does get a little monotonous with no changes.

i.p
I have to confess, with all the recent wins, I've been a little judgmental assuming you guys must be friend-flooding. I don't know if you actually are or not, but I'm really digging your songs each week. This is my (2nd) favorite of the fight so far, so I won't be surprised if there's another win in the works. It's a little Weezer-y in places. Some of the Weezeryness lost me towards the end where it seems more obvious.
[vote]

Jonathan Mann
Funny, this one got a smile, well executed, well performed.

Kill Me Sarah
I had a couple of timing issues that I hope didn't detract too much because I'm really happy with the underlying song. I'm actually going to be performing it live next week and the version we're playing is sung a little higher and is a little more up-tempo. I'll try to get a recording and post it if possible.
[no, I don't vote for myself]

Denyer
Like the ribbit as percussion, creative.

Melvin
Do you even read reviews anymore? When are you gonna stop messing around on SF and record a real album?


Paco Del Stinko
I super really like the music on this. I have a hard time with the song itself because the music is really poppy and catchy, and the vocals seem intentionally weird and abrasive. Still, big kudos on the riff.

Raisin Brain
Thanks For The Frisbee used to be in a band called Leaping Staggs when he was a teenager and this sounds so much like the kind of music they did. This is awesome purely for the nostalgic trip it's giving me Sorry, I know that's not much of a review, PM me for a real one if you want.



Just something that struck me in general about listening to some of the newcomers: sometimes I think people need to realize that SF is kind of like radio, the people listening aren't already fans of yours, so there's some merit in trying to give us your "single" rather than your "deep track". And I definitely say that from experience.

[phetal]

i.p
I have to confess, with all the recent wins, I've been a little judgmental assuming you guys must be friend-flooding. I don't know if you actually are or not, but I'm really digging your songs each week. This is my favorite of the fight so far, so I won't be surprised if there's another win in the works. It's a little Weezer-y in places.
[vote]

I hope we're not friend flooding...certainly not by intent. I know my mother tells her friends, so maybe blame her? Thanks though!

[Kill Me Sarah]

i.p
I have to confess, with all the recent wins, I've been a little judgmental assuming you guys must be friend-flooding. I don't know if you actually are or not, but I'm really digging your songs each week. This is my favorite of the fight so far, so I won't be surprised if there's another win in the works. It's a little Weezer-y in places.
[vote]

I hope we're not friend flooding...certainly not by intent. I know my mother tells her friends, so maybe blame her? Thanks though!

Don't take me too seriously, I only whine about friend-flooding because I know I'll never win (and didn't even when I did friend-flood)

[senza valore]

Edit: I'm sorry but I'm taking some of my reviews down. Ultimately, I applaud anyone who makes an effort here, but my reviews don't always come out that way and I wouldn't want to be guilty of discouraging someone from entering, so I'm only going to leave my reviews that are constructive. If I don't review you (or if I did and took it down) and you really want me to, PM me and I'm happy to give you my honest opinion.

I can only speak for myself here, but I'd love to hear what you have to say about my song regardless of how you feel about it. To me, even if your review was simply "fucking terrible!" then it would be more constructive than nothing at all. I think it's very sweet of you to spare people from harsh critiques, but honestly the thing I love most about Song Fight! is that I can get blatantly honest feedback about my work. If all I wanted was positive feedback or false praise then I'd just play songs for my friends. I'm guessing that most people here probably feel the same way, but again I can't speak for anyone else. If you've already written a review for me then you should post it or PM me. I don't say any of this to try and criticize you, because again I think that your intentions are great. I just feel that most people here would probably want the review regardless of your judgment, and I feel bad about making you do any extra work!

[Aardwolves]

Aardwolves
-----------------
Some clever lyrics
Low production quality
It's adorable

Thanks! I'm going to try to improve on the sound next time, for sure. At least it's a smidge better than the one I recorded on an actual answering machine tape.

Aardwolves
Of anything I've heard coming out of SF lately, this is the closest to the type of music I make myself most regularly (though not well represented by my own SF archive) so I'm very partial to it. Twee like me, I say I'm bummed at the recording quality because it's hard to make out a lot of the lyrics, but a lot of people here start out recording their songs into $10 PC micr
ophones (including me) so I'll just look forward to you upgrading your equipment.
[edit: just read the lyrics, like it even more. if we only got one vote, I'd probably vote for this one]

Wow! *blush* Thank-you! I'm glad I'm not the only one who writes this kind of stuff. I'm pretty stoked about attempting to write/record something better for next week's fight. Hopefully, it will be of a better quality.

Reading through the reviews I wrote earlier, even I don't understand what I meant by some of them. I'll give everyone a second listen.

[Kill Me Sarah]

I think it's very sweet of you to spare people from harsh critiques, but honestly the thing I love most about Song Fight! is that I can get blatantly honest feedback about my work. If all I wanted was positive feedback or false praise then I'd just play songs for my friends.

I tend to agree with you, but when I first started here, it was hard to want to keep playing after getting review after review slamming me. Now I totally appreciate it all and can take it with a grain of salt, because I know there's at least a few people that like some of what I do. But I'd hate the idea of discouraging someone else.

But again, if anyone requests a personal review, I'm happy to oblige.

Which one were you?

[Spud]

Which one were you?

[Aardwolves]

Aardwolves - Poor quality. Distorted guitar.

Andre Was Here At Midnight - I liked the intro to this, but the vocals weren't really my cup of tea. Sorry.

Boltoph - Love that bass. Is this a full band? Reminds me of Cursive, only less angry. Nice!

Booty Chesterfield Trio - Love the bluesy sound of this!

Caravan Ray - This is awesome. Your voice reminds of Cat Stevens. Nice and mellow.

Dirty Hairs - Was this a video response? I wish it was shorter.

Flappy Gunderson - "I wanna stick my weenie in you. Sha na na na na." Classic! Or annoying. Both, perhaps?

Glenn Case - Cool 90's alterna-pop sound (Weezer, Sloan etc). Catchy stuff! Kept me interested throughout.

Hand Formula - I really like the simplicity of this. Nothing extra. Cute!

i.p. - Very indie sound; Ben Gibbard-y. I could see this on college radio.

Jonathan Mann - Very Vaudeville (if that's the word) - Nice! Also, quite funny.

Kill Me Sarah - I really like this - it puts me in a good mood! The bridge is lovely.

Lithium Institution - I kept waiting for this to go somewhere and it never happened.

MC Paul Denyer - The frog sample was fun, but the lyrics were difficult to hear.

Melvin - I like the guitar and the whoa-oo-ooh harmonies. Great bridge and solo, too.

Neon Tigers - Very full, almost surround sound, but the melody was just a lot of the same thing on repeat. That might have been what you were going for, though.

Nigel Clements - Whoa! It's a long-lost B-52's song! Excellent.

Noah Mclaughlin - This is awesome - sounds like it could be a long-lost "unplugged" version of a Pearl Jam song, or something. I really like this.

Paco del Stinko - This is probably the rockinest track so far. Rad, dude.

Raisin Brain - Only one riff? And the voice was cartoony. Why?

Short Wheel City - I knew there had to be at least one new wave song in here somewhere.

Signboy - This was really catchy! Nice bridge!

Steve Durand - Horns!! Rat Packish. I like it.

Swilington - The vocals were a bit off, but on the plus side this is the only entry with a Stephen Hawking solo in it.

Titans of Eklekto-Clash - Woohoo dance party! The singing sounded a bit separate from the music in the verses, but it all came together better when the chorus hit.

Weakest Suit - Those are some mad tambourine jamz. Kids would totally love this.

[PiGPEN]

Andre was here at midnight
The off-rhythm stuff really annoys me....moreso than the annoying singing. It sounded like it was gonna get good when the electric guitar kicked in but it goes nowhere.

Aardwolves
I heard a song by The Killers that did that same sort of intro...they had the good sense to turn off the lofi-eq after a little bit though. From what i can hear of the song it's not much.

Kill Me Sarah
Nothing wrong production or singing-wise here really...but the melody does nothing for me. And the lyrics are cheesy.

Caravan Ray
I like me some 80's pop rock. Could use some more change in the music to differentiate the verses from chorus.

Boltoph
I like me some 70's funk rock. Vote.

Flappy Gunderson
Shaw naw.....NAW! This song reminds me of Idiocracy....im guessing you like money too.

Neon Tigers
Not much good going on with the music, quite a bit bad going on with the voice. Maybe you should add effects to your voice....that would work with the music you have....alot of effects please.

The Weakest Suit
DENTAL PLAN! Lisa needs braces. DENTAL PLAN! Lisa needs braces. DENTAL PLAN! Lisa needs braces. DENTAL PLAN! Lisa needs braces. Not a bad song.....pretty stupid though. The purple monkey dishwasher line makes me cringe everytime.

The Dirty Hairs
Baaaaaw bawwww baaaaw. Shit sucks.

noah mclaughlin
Mahbitty bahbity booh. Cant hear a thing you say....but thats the point right? In anycase the song is generic sounding and the wall of sound electric guitar doesnt manage to stop it sounding generic.

Steve Durand
Why cant you get someone else to sing? You ruin your songs. :[

The Booty Chesterfield Trio
This is cool. Needs a good melody to break in at some point though. Eh, cool enough for a vote. Vote.

signboy
Im not smart enough to tell you why it is i dont like this.

Lithium Institution
Drums dont fit with the rest of the music. Song went nowhere. Shouldnt there be some lyrics in here or something?

The Hand Formula
No.

Titans of Eklekto-clash
I like the music. Dont like the vocals... eh, the vocals get better with the second verse. Chorus vocals should've been better if you were gonna reuse it. Almost vote.

Short Wheel City
Nice music. Not nice vocals...echo didnt help im afraid.

MC Paul Denyer
Hey an Australian rapper...and it's gangsta rap, yay. I like the frog croak beat. +"in a rap battle i would lose, in a rape battle i would win". +"force it up your pooper". Vote.

i.p.
Really good production, vocals, etc but i found it pretty boring. Moar melody?

Raisin Brain
Ugh. bad bad bad vocals. boring endless rhythm.

Nigel Clements
Too much echo on everything. Stupid lyrics. Uninteresting overall.

Jonathan Mann
=_= ...this ...is ....horrible. Vote.

Paco del Stinko
Well done but lame lyrics and does not interest me enough for a vote.

Swilington
ffff

Glenn Case
Nicely done sir. Vote.

Melvin
Largely underwhelming fight but at least i get to end on a banger. Megavote.

[Kill Me Sarah]

Neon Tigers
The music doesn't bother me. I do think it has sort of a "deep track" feel to it, as mentioned above. There is something about the vocals that I can't put my finger on. I simultaneously like them and find them off-putting. I think it's that each line is half-spoken and half-sung and I really like the sung part and don't like the spoken part. It breaks up the flow of every single line. I can actually find myself singing along to this and if it were sung straight through I think I would really like it. I'm almost tempted to record it the way I would sing it

In other words, I think it's a pretty cool song but the performance leaves a bit to be desired.