You Reviewed it Yourself (You Believed it Yourself Revews)

[ken]

I believe that you should write some reviews.

[Who_Izzy]

I believe I have to leave so reviews are out of the question at the moment, but I do have to say this
John-I wanted to like this song. I wanted to so badly, unfortunately I could not. I'm sure If anyone else has this problem they will be able to explain why so much better than me. Keep at it though. I liked what you wanted to do and that's what I wanted to hear.

[BBABM]

i gotta get ready for work as well, so no reviews till later. votes on first listen go to king arthur and longfellow street. myself too, but i dont count. lotsa good stuff, but these two made it impossible to vote for anything else in good conscience.

[tuuur]

bbabm - nice rhythm, I like that little simple guitar melody.

bss - too many styles and ideas into one song for my taste. Then again: well done! Just not my thing.

cock - very well done electro. nice harmonies too! voted.

elephantchoir - the vocals are flat, in the first line even off by half a tone... I like the guitar sound, not that thinny but nice and full. Later in the song the vocals get a lot better.

hatenoise - nice intro; verse, drumming and guitars I like. vocals, talking bit and chorus: not so much.

john the raptist - Nice accompanying track! The rap could be a bit more in time with the drums. Keep it up!

josh millard - nice big sounds, but couldn't you come up with more than one line of lyrics? Left me expecting and wanting more.

king arthur - the best song for me. I like the lead guitar; overall they sound a bit thin maybe. Voted!

longfellow Street - sounds like a pro voice, but not my style; mostly due to the vocals and the mannerisms therein (your-se-eeeeelf). But put that aside... very well executed and pro sounding.
(after more listening) I really like the lyrics in this one!

mntzfield - no. I tried to listen but I can't get past the first seconds of chaos.

ross durand - nice song, sounds good. I re-listened because of the cricket comment, and I got to say I think they are adding to the mood of the song.

sockpuppet - pacmansong? nice 'n' nerdy.

steve durand - vocals are a bit off beat. those horns are really nice!

tuuur - I think the song is too high for my voice, lots of warbling going on.

[Caravan Ray]

I will review - one song at a time - as it occurs to me:


Ross Durand:

Production score 100%!!!
Truly sensational. I have tried to do that 1 gtr and 1 vox thing - and I know how hard it is to get right. You sound so good.

The lyrics are not grabbing me. They may grab others. Or you. Thats fine. Doesn't matter much - it is a very listenable song. A good lyric hook would take into a higher place for me though

[Caravan Ray]

COCK:

Well - I really can't fault this. I clicked "play" - and danced and grinned like an idiot right through till the end.

Like Ross above - they are not great lyrics - and I know you can all do better - but, WTF - I won't be a lyric Nazi.

One fault I picked up - you are very good - but I do hear you straining for a "Tears for Fears" accent every now and again. It is a bit obvious to non-Americans.

[SilverPixie]

Reviewyness! And this week, instead of consolation cookies, I made carrot cake. Mmm... Carrot cake of awesomeness...

Anyways:

Bad Boys At Bat Mitzvahs:
Liking the opening. Instantly tapping my toes/head bobbing... Really liking the lead vox. Very smooth.

Berkeley Social Scene:
Backing track seems to overwhelm the vocal track. Makes it a bit hard to understand what's being sung. Still tapping my toes, though. Guitar solo is pretty damned awesome, though. And what I can make out of the lyrics they're damned good, too.

Cock:
Hold on, rewinding.. My antivirus alerted me in time to the music, so it was freaky for a second..
Really liking the lyrics and the lead vox. Influenced by Colony 5? You've got a bit of their sound, but better (Colony 5 is a bit full of themselves, imo). The bass is a bit overdriven (getting distortion), but elsewise mixed pretty damned good. Liking the bridge with the very minimalistic backing track.

Elephant Choir:
Digging the idea. The vox fits it. But that weird guitar bit in the back (the higher pitched plucking... Think it might be banjo/balalaika?) is turning me off. Would have been better, imo, without it, or make it more prominent, like you do at 2:26. Main guitar is nice, though.

Hate Noise:
Was about to bitch about the static in my left ear, but it blends in perfectly once you get going. I can't make out your singing, though! And now you have weird talking going on.. Back to music without being able to hear you over the music... And weird voices nattering in the background...

John the Raptist:
This is cute! Digging the lyrics, and you kept the backing track simple, which is cool.

Josh Millard:
Odd syncopation, but it's nice. Confused, but it's a combo of "Did I miss something"/"I think he did it on purpose" confusion. Wish there had been more than one line, and that I could make out the first half of it. Terrorized the world and you believed it yourself, I think. Not sure. All the vocal tracks being a bit off sync with each other makes it hard to make out.

King Arthur:
Nice intro. o.O A song about a televangelist? Oooookay... Catchy, though.

Longfellow Street:
Oohh... Liking. Kinda "Ditty Bops"ish. Hehe, liking the "I've got to make the deadline for this song" line. Cute. And I love your voice.

Mantzfield:
What is it, this week, with not being able to hear parts of the vocal tracks? Oh, there you are. I feel like I should like this, but something sounds off. Can't put my finger on it, but the chorus is fine. I think it's the verses. *shrugs*

Ross Durand:
*goes to get some tissues* Bad puppy, making me all weepy. Perfect break up tune, I think. The crickets are a smidgen annoying. Maybe if you didn't have it straight through, but a bit broken up. Everything else, I think, is perfectly done.

Sockpuppet:
o.O; Aww, poor guy... Creepy guy, but poor thing... This is making me giggle.

Steve Durand:
Nice. Liking this quite a bit. Simple, nice lyrics, great exocution.

Tuuur:
Broke. Hold on. For some odd reason "Stream all" killed your song.
Whoa. Lead is breaking on some the high notes, but damn, he can sing higher than I can. Liking the lyrics, and the a capella is niiice, and fits this song perfectly. Totally digging it.

Now for me to pick my faves and vote.
In no particular order, Ross Durand, Cock, Longfellow Street, Steve Durand, Tuuur, BBABM, & King Arthur.

[Caravan Ray]

Steve Durand:

Nice approach - but sorry, not good enough.

As one old bastard to another - if we are going to keep competing, we got to play to our strengths. The premise of the song here is good - you need a rewrite though to make the words count. With a few good lines - this could become a good song

[Ross]

@silverpixie - The crickets were just there, and they seemed to fit the mood, so I kept the door open a crack. But they are right on the basic track, just how it happened.

[BBABM]

got a little time for a few reviews

King Arthur: your production skills are impeccable. every song i have heard from you sounds like it was recorded in a huge expensive studio. this song got a vote because it brought the rock. i like how you pushed it with the vocals, and really let it out. the only problem i have with the song, is something i know you love... the pan on the guitars makes me dizzy, because im trying to listen to one with one ear and the other with my other ear... if they were closer to center it may have meshed better, and not given me a spinning head feeling. other than that the song was awesome, never cease to amaze.

Tuuur: the barbershop quartet, doo-wop isn't really doing it for me. i agree that it may be a little high for you voice, because there is some wavering going on. but still, ably performed.

longfellow street: loved it. an old timey jazz diddy is the best vehicle for the female voice imo. have you ever heard of the nyc band "jessie carolina and the hot mess", or they used to be "the bill murray experience"? they do a similar style, you would dig em. anyways, enough name dropping, my only problem with this song is that the lyrics get a little repetitive... still my favorite this week.

Josh Millard: love the keys at the begining, like the first 5 secs, but then it devolves from a classy, tight groove, into a messy peanut butter and jelly sandwich of guitars, keys, cymbals and noise. i like it, but it seems out of control, that may be the point, but im not really getting that. the brevity of the song was really fitting, almost like it was an in between songs on the album song. so the shortness fit well, and made the song much more enjoyable.

John the Rapist: the 8bit music is missing something, it feels empty, and doesn't fill the space enough to really back the vocals up. or maybe the vocals are too loud, or need some effect. i cant figure it out, but it needs more. i feel like this is the begining of a great song, but it is mid-production. didnt really listen to what the words said, but the cadence was good, and it was articulated well. p.s. your name makes me laugh and cry at the same time.

the elephant choir: not liking this one as much as your last entry. the vox is a little too shakey, and it doesnt fit as well with this song. i miss the backing vocals from the last song, they are there for a few little "heys", but under utilized imo. the song is significantly better after the 3 min mark, or maybe it just grew on me, but i dont want to have to wait that long, and if i didnt listen to the whole thing for reviewing purposes, i prob would have skipped long before then.

BBABM: me, i like this song, i wish i could have bust out a face melter instead of a little pentatonic lead part, but we are all horrible at something. try as i might i couldnt get it to sound how i wanted, and that was the best of like 8 takes, and it still has a wrong note in it. but other than that i love it. i feel it mixes bluegrass, with soul, and a pinch of punk thrown in for good measure. its a song about those first few months of a relationship leading up to dropping of those three little words words, and the drama that it can bring. im glad people seem to be liking it, and it seems the extra work i put in has payed off a little bit.

cock: you do new wave electro-pop gothish very well. but i think that you do it so well, you over do it at times. i agree with what someone said about you kind of (imo probably unintentionally) faking an british accent, not always but there are endings to words you say a certain way that sounds like a fake british accent. just have to be aware. new wave (i don't want to call your music that, but for lack of a better word right now) type music like this has an unfortunate problem, where people almost expect a british accent, like the cure. and it blows for americans, because when we sing in this style, it automatically sounds like we are forcing it. i think you do a good job of not doing sounding british most of the time, so i applaud you... sorry for the random rant

sockpuppet: this 8bit song has everything that john the rapists didnt. it feels full and complete, and i like what sounds to me like the beginning of the mario goes down the tube sound in the melody. unfortunately, im not the hugest fan of the repetitive vocals, the unsure delivery, or a drumbeat that sounded a little bit off. music would have gotten a vote with different singing, and i hate not voting for this song, but they kind of ruined it for me.

Berkelyn social scene: this song as a whole doesn't really do it for me. there are parts i think are genius, but i dont think that all of the parts fit together correctly. i think it is mostly that it goes from super tight and neat, into sloppy and jammy, and then back again, and repeat. there arent really any parts that i don't like, just the cohesion of said parts.

the hate noise: the addams family plays rock-a-billie, into ranting, back into music. might have gotten a vote w/o the rant, but probably needed a distorted guitar too. i love the drumming, you are really tight and deliberate in your delivery, and i think they are the best part of the song.... i kinda wish that i had them in a few songs that i have written. you and i have the same problem where it is pretty obvious at times that it is only one person playing all the parts. you make it sound much less obvious, but it is still there a little. there is a contrast between multiple people that can't be faked easily. i would like to know how many vocal tracks you had to do, or if its just effects on the same one. either way it sounds cool. the guitar is played well, but it needs to rock harder. as a whole the song feels a little held back, shy, and unrebellious for what ive come to know as your style. just whip it out and slam it on the table, we all know that's just what you do, and its can be really awesome.

ross durand: i think that this sort of song is much more fun to play than to listen to. one man, a guitar, a voice, a tear in his beer. makes for a great time... but then you realize he is kind of making you sad, and its killing the mood of the date you were on. however, the dude on stage is having a spiritual epiphany and veritable emotion orgasm, so you don't want to mess that up for him. i hope it was good for you, cause it kind of bored me, and i still need a cigarette.

steve durand: here is another song that would have gotten a vote for the music, but i just personally don't like the vox. it just sounds a hair off key, and a hair off beat... sometimes a little more off beat, and a little less off key. unfortunately, the vocals can kill a song for me, and it happened again. your voice sounds kinda like trey anastasio from phish, where you kinda know you don't have a great voice and you do this talk/sing voice cause you got stuff to say. i give you props for getting out and doing your thing. just not my vote here this time.

mantzfield: your drummer kicks ass. but it sounds like your two awesome guitars are in a cagematch to the death with eachother. neither will come out the victor, i promise. work together. the only part of the vocals that i liked was the screaming... stick to that. people on here might have given you shit for not being able to understand the words, but who cares, it would have been brutal. i wanted to vote for this song just for the drummer, but the singing was that bad. i would have voted for a solo drum track.

i think that's everyone... thanks for reading my drivel, and i look forward to next weeks fight... i think im gonna go weird time signature.

[fluffy]

My typically-useless reviews in iTunes shuffle order. iTunes knows that I like to put my own song last.

Elephant Choir: This isn't really doing it for me. The vocals are flat, the guitar is muddy, and over all it just sounds a lot like a lot of other songs.

Ross Durand: The crickets add a lot of nice texture to this. Songs like this make me want to add a classical guitar to my ever-expanding collection. I think the vocals could have done without that chorus/reverb effect on them. There's some nice ear-teasing chord changes, too. v

Steve Durand: This is definitely one of your better songs. My main complaints: the drums are too precise in some spots yet too sloppy in others (which is a usual consequence of using fake drums trying to sound like real drums), and the guitar's EQ is way too much on the treble without any midrange which just makes them stick out weirdly. v

Mantzfield: This is like every 90s quasi-metal cliche in a single song.

Cock: I am really digging the New Order sound. This is fun and catchy. I'd bring the mix on the vocals down just a smidge though. If you're going to sequence everything, this is how you should do it. v

Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs: A fun toetapping bluegrass intro. It could use more chord change-ups earlier though, and the fact that there's just a couple of verses and then a whole bunch of instrumentals made me think that you didn't finish actually writing it - there's more time spent just riffing on the same chord progression than there is with actual song. The vocals also seem a bit muddy. And then a fade-out at the end? Yeah.

John The Rapist: Every nerdcore cliche in a single song. Yawn. Try using a limiter on your vocal mic next time.

The HATE Noise: There's some great music buried in a pile of sonic mud to me. I think the great music wins. I think it gets a v... Oh but then there's this weird ranty section that just takes me completely out of it, and then I can't get back into it, because now I worry that it's just going to happen again. So close.

Berkelyn Social Scene: I like this. Sometimes that's all that needs to be said. v

Tuuur: As you already said in this thread, this song clearly goes a bit far beyond your vocal range, but points for trying. Points also for not making it longer than it needed to be. v

Josh Millard: Nice cool groove there. It gets a bit too sloppy after the vocals first come in though. Then when it gets more energetic, it becomes very very familiar sounding. I can't quite place it but I'm sure I've heard a song that sounds like this before. It also is a song that seems to get in a rush to get somewhere but then once it gets there it's not sure why it's there, like opening the refrigerator at 9 PM for no good reason.

King Arthur: This sounds too much like most of your other songs for me to judge it fairly. In isolation I'd probably vote for it but I really want to see (well, hear) you push your personal envelope more.

Longfellow Street: Have you ever heard Asylum Street Spankers? This sounds just like them. I like them. Good and bouncy and it keeps things simple in the right ways, and some delicious chord structure twists. Loses points for the meta-reference to Song Fight which just come out of nowhere though. v

Sockpuppet: I decided to constrain myself to what was possible on an actual Commodore 64, more or less (aside from the vocals, obviously). There are only ever at most three sounds playing, and the sounds are (roughly) what the Commodore 64's sound chip was capable of making. I took some liberties with the drums but mostly out of time constraints (and if it weren't for those time constraints I'd have done everything on the SIDstation to make it completely authentic). The lyrics are of course from the perspective of someone who doesn't understand how polite lies work.

[SilverPixie]

@Ross I couldn't tell if they were real or a recording..

[fluffy]

@Ross I couldn't tell if they were real or a recording..

Of course they were a recording. The live crickets extension to MP3 hasn't been finalized by the MPEG working group just yet.

[mc horse]

Cock:
This is fun. Instruments sound a little stock.

Sockpuppet:
This must be one of those chiptunes things the kids are doing. I like it but the clicking on the bass is giving me a headache.

Elephant Choir:
This has no elephants in it. I'm not happy about that. I can tell what you were going for, and I like the idea, but the execution isn't so good. What I can hear of the guitar sounds okay but the vocals are missing more notes than they're hitting.

Longfellow Street:
Your vocalist kicks ass. The instrumentation is nice and lively too, but for some reason the song comes off as a little nondescript. I would have liked it a little hookier.

Tuuur:
lol. This is great. It sounds like an intro though, I kept waiting for the real song to start but it didn't.

Bad Boys:
I like this a lot. Shit jumps. I couldn't tell what language it was in until around the 1-minute mark, though. Unless it was in 2. Recording sounds nice and crisp.

Mantzfield:
I don't know how to review this.

Josh Millard:
This sounds like a pretty good song. I like it. It's too bad the recording sucks a fat one.

John the Raptist:
My only crit is don't be a nerdcore rapper. Other than that good job.

The Hate Noise:
I really like the song. I really don't like the mix. It's too shrill, with the hats and cymbals occupying way too much space. I can barely hear the other instruments.

King Arthur:
Pretty good dad rock. My only crit is the drumming sounds kind of flaccid and self-conscious.

Steve Durand:
Instrumentation is awesome. Hooky. Vocals not so good. You're missing a lot of notes bro.

Ross Durand:
It's very well done, sounds beautiful, even the mix is nice. I won't lie though, I'm bored listening to it. But I'm a philistine, so don't worry about it.

Berkelyn Social Scene:
It's not bad, but this shit is so white it hurts. I guess is should have expected it from the name.

Top 3:
BB@BM
Longfellow Street
The HATE Noise

[BBABM]

Bad Boys:
I like this a lot. Shit jumps. I couldn't tell what language it was in until around the 1-minute mark, though. Unless it was in 2. Recording sounds nice and crisp.

thank you, and yes, i often have an enunciation problem. you can find the lyrics in the thread if you are curious.

[Spintown]

http://spintown79.blogspot.com/2010/10/ ... ed-it.html

Was going to post this yesterday, but had to review a friends Songwriting Cycle.

King Arthur - I grew up baptist, and been around the church most of my life. One thing I've always disliked were TV ministers...I'm sure there are good ones out there, but most of them are so over the top & fake I can't stand them. The song was well written & performed, and told an interesting story while using the prompt better than most. (voted)

Longfellow Street - Loved the performance, and it's something over half of Americans can relate to. :p Just a fun song that painted a picture I could see clear as day. (voted)

Cock - This is not really my style of music...so you deserve extra props for this song. I enjoyed every second of it...music, lyrics, performance...you name it. Well done. (voted)

Steve Durand - I think this song could have pulled the heart strings a bit more. The end definately felt sad, but I didn't get that feeling all the way through. Still, I enjoyed the story & use of the prompt a lot. Well done. (voted)

Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs - Musically it was a lot of fun, but lyrically it didn't grab me. I thought the vocals were...alright...just at times they needed to be more clear. There were times when it seemed like you didn't finish words. I know some of it is just really quick, so it's probably difficult to make it all perfectly clear.

Berkelyn Social Scene - I might like this with another mix. As is, I struggle to make out the lyrics because the music drowns them out.

[ujnhunter]

Thanks for all the reviews. I just wanted to say that any accent that may come across in my vocals is completely unintentional. Everyone always seems to notice it... I don't... :\ So I just wanted to say sorry if it distracts you... but I don't try to have an accent on purpose.

[BBABM]

Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs - There were times when it seemed like you didn't finish words.

sometimes i don't start words either... it's hard to fit everything that you want to say into a rhythm that sounds good, and that extra syllable gets in the way and throws everything off. e.g expect becomes 'spect (sounded more like spek when i said it). i agree, and have stated before that enunciation is something i struggle with. when im singing i worry so much about hitting the right note, that the actual word is smeared in with its neighbors. however i'm also a person who cares more how the lyrics go, than what they say... so i kinda like it all messy. some of my favorite singers (e.g nirvana, g.love & special sauce, coheed & cambria, soul coughing, haste the day) you cant understand a goddamn word unless you read the lyrics. so while i appreciate, value, and take to heart your opinion; i would count on at least not understanding a couple words in every song of mine that you will hear. it's just the way i sing, and write songs.
thanks for listening

[fluffy]

Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs - There were times when it seemed like you didn't finish words.

sometimes i don't start words either... it's hard to fit everything that you want to say into a rhythm that sounds good, and that extra syllable gets in the way and throws everything off.

Consider writing different lyrics, then? Just a thought.

[Spintown]

BBABM: I still liked the song, but that was what held me back from voting for it. If that's your style or thing, that's cool...just something I might mention from time to time since I place story telling so high up on the priority list. Usually the songs I dig tell a very clear story...King Arthur for example this time...loved that shit.

[king_arthur]

I think the term for this (fitting the lyrics to the music) is "prosody." Sometimes you need to say the words quickly, sometimes you need to say it in fewer words, sometimes you need to START saying the words sooner so that you finish in time. If you go back and listen to my "A Variation on Two," there's a line that goes, "it's so much more than just a variation on two" that starts six full beats before the downbeat of the chorus. Somebody pretty talented (some incarnation of Ken's Super Duper Band) did a cover of that song for me (it's over in the hxaro archive) and as I recall, he just kinda bailed out on that one line...

Of course, if you seriously are doing it on purpose the way you're doing it, then hooray you. But the trick of starting ahead of time is something a lot of people don't pick up on (and it took me a while to work out how to sing that line in Variation and I'm still rather proud of it).

Charles (KA)

[Spud]

If you listen to our "What We Need More Of Is Science", you can hear that I started out getting it right (that starting early thing the King is talking about), but couldn't hold onto it as the song progressed. New that we perform it often, I have the hang of it. It's tricky.