Maalox Moments (Stomach For it Reviews)

[Niveous]

Review away!

[Reist]

I might have to review for this one - not many songs.

[Spud]

It was a short fight...

[The Weakest Suit]

this might be my favorite cover art ever.
brilliant.

[drë]

this might be my favorite cover art ever.
brilliant.

i just came here to say the same thing... WTF ? Mr Garfunkel?

also, WTF ? Woodward?

listening to this fight, now.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

this might be my favorite cover art ever.
brilliant.

i just came here to say the same thing... WTF ? Mr Garfunkel?

Hey, thanks. Albatross just asked me that very same thing, drë.

"The cover art is a result of a google image search for those medical torso dummys with the removable organs (High School science class? Junior High? From those days, anyway). Didn't find the damned image.

But the freaky mutant baby doll, earth, and assembly instruction sheet screenshot from some 1337 hacker site all came up on that same search, and I composited them together in ±15 minutes this morning. WTF does it mean? Beats me.

An after the fact interpretation of it could be I'm anti-genetic manipulation/experimentation (which I'm not). The title of Huxley's book "Brave New World" was flitting around in my head at the time, which could have something to do with the cover art too.

Mostly though, I just really dug the freaky baby doll image. Heh."

[jack]

cashpoint vs. woodward. just like old times!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Rabz, I saw the cover art right after you posted it and thought, dude, that is fucked up awesome! Photo chopping is fun. Funny thing is it fits my entry perfectly. Looks like quite the subterranean crawling unit.

[Reist]

also, WTF ? Woodward?

Yeah, dude - I couldn't believe my eyes. It's like christmas!

[joshw]

It was brought to my attention that this was my 5 year Songfightaversary, so what the hell, here's one for old times' sake.

Paco del Stinko - Great sound out right off the bat. Ominous, tight and unique. The 80's hair metal lead stabs in the verses are hilarious. That bass tone is ferocious, especially with the pitch-shifted octaves. The drums seem a little dry or something, like they were recorded in a very small room. The vocals are definitely not something I'd want to hear crooning a love song, but for this, they're perfect. There's nothing catchy to grip onto here, but it's a fun ride all the same.

Todd McHatton - This is cool, approachable but with enough of a unique sound to keep it from being stale or overly familiar. Good chorus hook, good instrumentation. Production-wise, the bright reverb sounds cheap and digitaly, and it's somewhat distracting from the track, which otherwise sounds great in a low-fi, early Death Cab way. The guitar solo is definitely distracting. I think I've just lost my stomach for guitar solos in general, and where as Paco's little 80s stabs were quirky and ironically charming, this one turned me off. Still, the first two thirds of the track are great.

Berkeley Social Scene - Love the name! The style on this brings me back to the late 90s indie rock scene, which is good in my book. Terrific singing - perfect for this style. Did I miss an 80s guitar solo side challenge? Musically, strip away the florishes and this is a little bland, but you do a good job of making this interesting with the details. Very well-performed all around, and great production as well. Send me a pizza from the Cheese Board Pizza Collective and I'll vote for you!

Johnny Cashpoint - Death, taxes, and Johnny Cashpoint! Well, you haven't been taking opera lessons. But I must say, this is a great song. Catchy verse and chorus, and really pretty music. The lyrics aren't brilliant, but are charmingly quirky, and you get bonus points for the cow reference. The production is really effective and makes an odd but fun sound.

Billy's Little Trip - Damn, the average volume level here has really been creeping up here over the years. This is the worst example of this so far - great production hurt by terrible mastering. Definite Rage Against the Machine vibe here, but not so much as to be a ripoff. The breakdown is badass. This is a good tune - modern, inventive, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

The Weakest Suit - Cool lyrical concept on this. The music itself isn't grabbing me much. The main hook ("you don't have the ___ for it") is great, the rest of the song just kinda happens, and doesn't break out of the 1-2-3-4 rhythm much or offer much in the way of melody.

Frosty The Showman and Smashblade - The vocals seem need some compression to keep them even. Decent flow (though some "hardcore" parts are a little awkward). Very cool hooks and loops. The main riff reminds me a little of "Bitch Please II" from Eminem's "Marshall Mathers LP", but is more repetitive. Very fun tune, though!

Elaine DiMasi - I'm not a big fan of the renaissance fair scene, and unless I'm missing some level of irony here, this isn't really my thing. Definitely well-done for what you're going after, but the style kinda limits your audience.

Jan Krueger - Definite unique points. I think I like it, but I think I'd love it if I were drunk or something. The keyboard definitely adds something lovely to the mix. There seems to be a lot of halloween spirit this fight. Sweet harmonies. This borders on overly campy, but it's definitely fun for the first couple listens!

Great set of songs! I'll see you in another four years or so

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy's Little Trip - Damn, the average volume level here has really been creeping up here over the years. This is the worst example of this so far - great production hurt by terrible mastering. Definite Rage Against the Machine vibe here, but not so much as to be a ripoff. The breakdown is badass. This is a good tune - modern, inventive, and it doesn't take itself too seriously.

First off, Go Buckeyes! Born in Bowling Green, OH.
Second, even though you were before my time here, your songs have come up quite often, which makes me feel like I know of your stuff quite well.
Third off, "now with 15% more banjo" is awesome!
Fourth off, yeah, I've been creeping up the volume and the highs on the multi band EQ. Apparently I may have found my ceiling and now know where to work "down" from, lol.
Thanks Josh.

[MC Minimum]

Frosty The Showman and Smashblade - The vocals seem need some compression to keep them even. Decent flow (though some "hardcore" parts are a little awkward). Very cool hooks and loops. The main riff reminds me a little of "Bitch Please II" from Eminem's "Marshall Mathers LP", but is more repetitive. Very fun tune, though!

What is this compression of which you speak? Also, I was more ripping off "Can't wake up" by KRS One, which was stuck in my head at the time of recording.

[dirgetheband]

Hey there Song Fight! people, long time listener, first time caller. Love the show. Trying desperately to get off my recent video-game playing, hockey watchin’ butt and make some music. Hopefully this wonderful project can help. Figure I’ll start with a review…

Josh Woodward – Really terrific. Nice dynamics and a wonderful build throughout. The bass line really drives the song, gives it a real sense of urgency. I see this is your first submission in quite a long time and that is a shame as I bet lots of people here have missed some great tunes. Keep it coming. Nice mixing job, beautifully balanced, but I like my bass drum to really boom and yours is more of a dry click. I nitpick. Total VOTE.

Frosty The Showman & Smashblade – I really like your phrasing. I’ve seen too many fools step on stage and just repeat the same “duh du-duh du-duh du-duh” pattern over and over… So way to go there, but I don’t have the stomach for any more political stuff. Maybe next March I’ll like this better.

Jan Krueger – The switch at 1:45 is perfect. Since this is called “Song Fight!” and not “Production Fight!” or “Performance Fight!” I give this a VOTE. Your song rocks just too much. Suggestions? Obviously, having more elaborate drum patterns would help. This is great work.

Berkeley Social Scene – I have a soft spot in my heart for chick singers fronting rock bands (see Gathering, The; Havery, Polly Jean; and Denali [the band, not the volcano]) and as a result like this song more than your submission last fight. This also had more low-end punch than “Scary Thing.” Nice work.

The Weakest Suit – This song has a lot of drive. I noticed that most songs this fight did. Isn’t that odd? Do things like that run in cycles with Song Fight? This really reminds me of someone, someone I like. Just… can’t… quite… place… it. Oh, Local H, minus the synths, of course. Awesome. VOTE.

Todd McHatton – If I weren’t so lethargic, I’d reach down and turn the bass knob down. The bass guitar just overpowers the drums and saps a lot of the energy from the song. Too much compression? Not enough limiting? Monitoring room low-end reproduction issues? Maybe totally by design. Holy heck, nice shred solo at the end! I love it! I’d mix the bass more in conjunction with the drums, but then again, I’m not Todd McHatton.

Elaine DiMasi – Clever lyrics. On some of the other tracks I can ignore the thin sounding programming, but nothing really reaches out and grabs me on this one. I might just be crabby. Or maybe I should listen to this in the other room.

Johnny Cashpoint – I like the left channel organ and the background vocals. Interesting how the snarky British accent of the verse vocals resolves itself nicely during the chorus. I keep expecting the song to start to fade only to have you suddenly holler out a “one two three four!!!” and then totally rock out. It doesn’t happen, but I’m not sad. Nice song to play between high-tempo, high energy tunes.

Paco del Stinko – Cool bass line, real ominous. Just like on Billy’s tune, the acoustic guitar robs a bit of my pleasure in listening to this. Wait. Is that acoustic or just a really thin sounding electric? Either way. Nice rhythm section throughout and killer lead work.

BLT – Now, here’s a drum sound I love. Long decay on crash cymbals, big “thump” on the bass, snappy snare. Thanks! I feel that the acoustic floating around in the background kills a little of the mood. But maybe I’d be more disappointed if it wasn’t there at all. I love all the “bleeps” and “bloops” at the beginning. You make real neat guitar textures. VOTE.

Really nice selection of tunes this fight. I think there were songs that if they were on last weeks ballot, er, rather, fight list, I would have voted for them then, but this grouping was stronger and like everyone’s favorite college professor, I grade on a curve. Neat site you folks have here. Maybe it'll catch on someday (please note I'm being facetious).

[jast]

Bonus round! Since this fight is so small I'm going to listen to every song at least twice before I write the reviews. It might help, who knows.

Fun fact: I've got this auditory hallucination thing going. In quite a number of my songs, I hear the Windows XP "ping" sound in several places even though I know it's not there from listening to the individual tracks solo'd. It's a bit annoying.

Berkeley Social Scene -- Nice sound you've got there. I'm not much of a fan of the first solo thing but I like how this song flows, and the second solo thing is cooler for some reason (maybe because it reminds me a lot of the sound track of a video game I used to love). I don't understand the almost-octave jumps at the end but then again, I've been known not to understand a lot. Oh yeah, and I like the vox, too. A bit weak in some places, but only very briefly. To sum up: this is my first vote for BSS.

Billy's Little Trip -- Okay, I must admit I've never heard of can but at first listen this rocks. A lot. Oh well, except for the spoken lyrics. Bias and all that. Anyway, lots of great guitar playing and drumming (I love the drum sound) and such. Out of interest, what kind of acoustic guitar is that? I like something about the sound of it. I think the crunchy bass thing during the solo thing (~2:30) could do with just a bit less high frequencies. I'm inclined to vote for this despite not liking the vocals, it's just so damn cool.

Elaine DiMasi -- Interesting choice of instruments. I've been known to listen to this kind of music before. I think the backup vocals occasionally sit in the way of the lead vocals. I like the quirkiness in the lyrics. So far I've *liked* all of your songs; I think what they would profit most from is different mixing. I'd be happy to provide random useless advice based on how I think the tracks fit together vs. how they could fit together differently. This is a maybe-vote because I rather like the song itself.

Frosty The Showman and Smashblade -- The vox is awfully clippy and also unbalanced (especially globally... in some parts they're lots quieter than in others, especially annoying around the "you"s that are really loud compared to the rest. If it's intended that way, it sucks. My opinion, of course), compression is recommended at the very least. I don't the like the woodwinds much here, I think they're making the chorus too busy (or it's lacking something to alleviate that). Then again, remember I'm not much at home in this genre, so add a few grains of salt. Now for the things I like: vocal rhythm and phrasing, arrangement of verses, drum machinery, flute. The lyrics are okay (I love "you're welcome"), I guess, though the topic is getting boring.

Jan Krueger -- Hey, did I accidentally manage to reach pretty much exactly -4 dB(SPL) on average (RMS)? Sure did. Fun. The lineup in this fight: me: vocals, guitars, yucky fake drums programming, SID clone synth programming, mixing. Damn, do I love SID. For the ignorant among you, that's MOS SID 6581, the sound chip the Commodore C64 was equipped with. By the way, if anyone can recommend a very, very affordable way to make my fake drums sound slightly less crappy (apart from coming up with better drum tracks, of course), do let me know.

Johnny Cashpoint -- Vox sounds extremely nasal (works for this song though). Fun song with fun lyrics. The delay on the guitar (the one that's in right from the start) works fabulously well. Nice guitars and nice organ. I think a bit of reverb (or more reverb, if there already is some) on the vocals would have helped things gel together.

Josh Woodward -- Mmm, that's some nice playing there. The occasional background noise doesn't detract from this song. Wow, nice development! Oh, yeah, great singing too. Plus points for using a glockenspiel in a very fitting way. You're not helping my unholy desire to spend all my money on new instruments. Shame on you. Seriously, this one is a definite vote. I can't think of much to criticize. (By the way, interestingly enough, this one reminds me of a Beach Boys song, though I think I might like yours better, even if it's a bit less catchy.)

Paco del Stinko -- Weird backup vocals. In a good way, I think. I think this time I spotted some clipping on the bass track, though it might have been somewhere else. This is not the kind of music I usually listen to again, though it's undoubtedly done well (slight timing issues in the drums... just because I can't drum doesn't mean I can't complain about everyone else, heh heh). I've always liked the bass tracks in your songs, this is no exception. Fun ending.

Todd McHatton -- The usual comments about mixing. Since this mix is rather sparse at the beginning, it's all the more noticeable. You've done better vox before, too. It's something I'd listen to again. Interesting how the drums sound rather distanced. Fits the mood, I suppose, and the mood is easily the best thing about this. This one is quite a bit less exciting than your previous submissions (a seedling of a song, if you ask me. Read: less solo, more song please).

The Weakest Suit -- Vox are a bit hard to make out. The mix sounds rather... thin, for lack of a better word. Little stereo depth, nearly all of the action seems to be going on in the high-mid frequency areas. I haven't tested this hypothesis using a spectogram, though, so don't take it literally. The lyrics are cute (the "she don't have the ..." lines, of course). Enjoyable if it wasn't for the mix, and I say this even though I usually can't stand semi-unmelodic parts quite as well. I like the D/E/D/E instrumental sections particularly well, and the guitar sound in them is nifty.

Whew! I've called one or two fights awesome before, but this one deserves the title a lot more. Given less fierce competition, I'd have voted for pretty much all of these songs. I do curved voting, too. Tough luck for those who don't get the vote this time, I guess.

Speaking of which, here are the lucky winners of a brand new hand-crafted vote: Berkeley Social Scene, Billy's Little Trip, Josh Woodward. And, oddly enough, myself, because my results exceeded my expectations by far and I think the attempt at rock actually works, in a quirky way. Sue me if you mind.

[jast]

Since this is called “Song Fight!” and not “Production Fight!” or “Performance Fight!” I give this a VOTE. Your song rocks just too much. Suggestions? Obviously, having more elaborate drum patterns would help. This is great work.

Thanks, but if you mean to imply my production or performance have rough edges (which I'm sure they do), I'd appreciate details, a lot. I know about the crappy drums, of course. Doing drum patterns doesn't come quite as naturally to me as the other aspects of songwriting do, so songs I write and record in the limited time I did this one don't get much polishing in that department. More practice would help, I suppose.

[dirgetheband]

Since this is called “Song Fight!” and not “Production Fight!” or “Performance Fight!” I give this a VOTE. Your song rocks just too much. Suggestions? Obviously, having more elaborate drum patterns would help. This is great work.

Thanks, but if you mean to imply my production or performance have rough edges (which I'm sure they do), I'd appreciate details, a lot. I know about the crappy drums, of course. Doing drum patterns doesn't come quite as naturally to me as the other aspects of songwriting do, so songs I write and record in the limited time I did this one don't get much polishing in that department. More practice would help, I suppose.

Okay, I’m at work practicing my “unproductivity” so I’m going off my memory. Two things:

1. I seem to recall the vocals just didn’t sit well in the mix. They seemed a little compressed, and by that I don’t mean that it sounded like your compressor was breathing all over the track, but I mean it sounded like the vocals just didn’t have enough body. Were you recording with a condenser or a dynamic? Was the signal recorded too “hot?" I’d be interested to know your signal path on the vocal track.

2. Okay, the drums. I’ve always been a big fan of nice sounding drums, whether artificial or not. And I’m a big fan of experimentation in regards to drums, too. One of the best sounds I ever came up with was running a drum pattern off a cheap Casio keyboard through a Boss DS-1 distortion pedal with the gain and the tone turned way down and recorded that direct. Maybe not so surprisingly, the drums had a lot of life and sat real nice in their own little space in the mix. I’ve also kicked around the idea of amping my drum machine so that the drums sound like they’re pushing air instead of just 1s and 0s, but I haven’t found a setup that I really like for that yet. Soon. Very soon. Mwah hahha hahah!

Perhaps a stupid question but do you ever air drum? I do all the time, often to the chagrin of my girlfriend, but I do get positive comments regarding my drum programming, and I think that "practice" helps me visualize how a drummer would play the pattern. Let me know what you think.

[jast]

Okay, I’m at work practicing my “unproductivity” so I’m going off my memory.

Every little bit helps. Thanks.

1. I seem to recall the vocals just didn’t sit well in the mix. They seemed a little compressed, and by that I don’t mean that it sounded like your compressor was breathing all over the track, but I mean it sounded like the vocals just didn’t have enough body. Were you recording with a condenser or a dynamic? Was the signal recorded too “hot?" I’d be interested to know your signal path on the vocal track.

First off, I did a bit of cheating on the vocals because at the time of day I did the recording, I can't really get the low notes that well. That may account for parts of the sound (though I do like it this way). I recorded all vox tracks (many doubled, some tripled) on a 1" condenser mic (SP B1) going into a generic preamp and then to my PC sound interface. I don't think the signal was too hot, even though I record at 16 bit and thus close to 0 dB, because I'd have gotten horrible clipping otherwise. Anyway, the vocal tracks are in fact compressed rather harshly at 5:1 (rather low threshold too). To a certain degree that's because I wanted to squeeze a lot of dynamics out of the vox, but mostly it's because I had to rush the recording a bit so I couldn't make up for all dynamics issues the proper way.

Okay, the drums. I’ve always been a big fan of nice sounding drums, whether artificial or not. And I’m a big fan of experimentation in regards to drums, too.

I may have to do that.

Perhaps a stupid question but do you ever air drum?

Nah, all I ever do is lap-drum and mouth-drum. I might actually get better tracks with real drums and a bit of practice using them properly (and a room where I can play them without anyone killing me, and enough money to afford them, ...), I don't know. I think the main problem is that it's pretty hard to experiment with combining samples in my track editor. I guess I could have a dedicated session of playing with that, though.

Oh, and another comment I forgot the first time round:

This borders on overly campy

(emph. mine) Plus points for using a word that doesn't directly translate to my native language.

[jast]

Bonus review for Mr Late Submitter.

slats -- Personally I think the vocals sound rather weak in contrast to the instruments; I'd have suggested mixing them differently but it's probably a matter of taste. As is the fact that the mix feels rather asymmetric, most of the guitar action going on in the right channel. Tires my headphonified ears. Anyway, this is a pleasant song with a nice sound and the performance to go with it (the vocals are a bit uneven, dynamics-wise, but that's no big deal). I'm not quite sure whether I like or dislike the parallel riffs in bass and lead guitar. I think it's like. All in all, the song is quite okay but it's just not very exciting; to me it's just generic blues. That means no vote this time, especially given this fight's competition (if circumstances had been different, who knows...). Next time perhaps.

[slats]

Bonus review for Mr Late Submitter.

slats -- Personally I think the vocals sound rather weak in contrast to the instruments; I'd have suggested mixing them differently but it's probably a matter of taste. As is the fact that the mix feels rather asymmetric, most of the guitar action going on in the right channel. Tires my headphonified ears. Anyway, this is a pleasant song with a nice sound and the performance to go with it (the vocals are a bit uneven, dynamics-wise, but that's no big deal). I'm not quite sure whether I like or dislike the parallel riffs in bass and lead guitar. I think it's like. All in all, the song is quite okay but it's just not very exciting; to me it's just generic blues. That means no vote this time, especially given this fight's competition (if circumstances had been different, who knows...). Next time perhaps.

Thanks for taking the time out!

I'm still a novice at this whole recording thing, and that was compounded by lateness. Had the song been due when I thought it was, I would've had my son in the house to help me with the mix before I submitted it. Yes, I'm that old. For now, I'll accept "quite okay." This site was a neat discovery. I'm hoping to get some of my songwriting and performing chops back, while improving my recording skills.

[jast]

I'm still a novice at this whole recording thing, and that was compounded by lateness. Had the song been due when I thought it was, I would've had my son in the house to help me with the mix before I submitted it. Yes, I'm that old. For now, I'll accept "quite okay." This site was a neat discovery. I'm hoping to get some of my songwriting and performing chops back, while improving my recording skills.

Excuses noted. Expecting awesomeness later on.
(Seriously, I'm always looking forward to new songs, even if my reviews of them sometimes read rather harsh and dismissive. I'm a nice guy in real life, I just have rather high expectations and I believe it's more helpful for people to know I enjoyed their song and found some things improvable than just writing generic glorifications. I even appreciate the songs I don't like, but don't tell anyone.)

[ElaineDiMasi]

In this Production Fight Song Fight I may've found something to vote for everybody for. Just a good mood?

Votes for totally brought a smile to my face:

Paco del Stinko - Early Spinal Tap gig at the amusement park. You would get top billing too, even if the Puppet Show was on. The monster's section sounds so cool with the fast chord changes forcing the melody all over the place. "comb the crumbs from his hairs" ! "seeing red I'll send them to the black" ! Ha ha!

Billy's Little Trip - Wow, the vocal delivery is awesome! Those lyrics look really dumb on paper but they sound like genius. I thought the music was groovy and the breakdown was really nice. I'd like to have heard you sing your heart out on some of the later choruses, with harmonies or doubled vocals, instead of speaking them with squeaky vox in the bg. And yeah, I heard the crispiness of the clipping too, I think.

Votes for radio ready:

Todd McHatton - Great arrangement throughout, as usual. I loved the chiming piano parts. They caused the vocals to remind me of Coldplay. Mentioning Coldplay is not great exactly; the song you designed doesn't match your exact voice so well in my opinion, but that's not a real criticism. I can see why people mentioned Death Cab too. The empty sections where the rhythm drops out sound a little more amorphous than I would like, but that's my taste and you totally sound like you know how you want it. I was also a little surprised at the "shredding" at the end, but then you finished it off with a final mellotron hit! To me, that was irony that worked. Whether you intended it to or not.

Josh Woodward - I remember you as a wizard from FAWM, I think. This song moves forward really nicely. I wished the choruses came in with more powerful words than "hey hey I'm okay I don't need this anyway", but once you had that you worked with it well. I noticed the stereo ping-pong of the final guitar reverberation in my headphones - and had no comment? It doesn't end where the acoustic picking began, I guess, so why? But I did the same thing leaving a synth tail in my Ren-Fest piece, in a way.

Frosty et al - Wow. The only thing I'd want to perfect it, is that this is done live on stage with a 40 piece swing band. And the MC up front cussing from inside a tux.

Votes for other highlights:

Weakest Suit - Good energy and drive! I think I know what you were going for with the delivery of the "save yourself", but I believe it would have been better sung on real pitches, with other vocal layers. I liked the electronica that came after the verses, too.

Jan Krueger - I love triple meters. I adore parallel fifths. I should be totally rolling over for this. But I'm not, and I blame the lyrics: "hell all this shit it's stupid" is not a fun chorus to sing along with. And, I want to challenge you particularly to start writing bigger story arcs. We moved from "I hate you" to "I hate myself". Travel further! I have a specific observation on the soundscape, too. Something was missing at the beginning, and when you brought the clean/acoustic guitar sound in at the end, I said Ah that's it. Those high frequency sparkles were missing from the beginning of the song, and it was bottom heavy, so no matter how you'd have mixed them something would be missing. Maybe a synth pad to put in some high notes but still sound ominous?

Berkeley Social Scene - Now I know how it feels to tell someone else's good song that it could've used more kick. This song has a very satisfying chord progression and a good mix of voices. The vocals sound good even though they meander a bit and sound indefinite in a few places. The choruses have a little more energy than the verse, but they want even more. Can you say something more definite there than you do lyrically, also?

Johnny Cashpoint - Some good lyric lines. The chorus melody is more likable than either the "you" or the "I" characters, though. I don't want to meet either of them. Highlight: "here comes evolution ... once I've grown some legs I'll ..." Yet somehow, the combination of grossness and musical prettiness is irony that works for me.

slats - Ha ha, I don't want to meet either of these characters either! I'll take the crunchy riffy guitars, though. Like I think Jan said, I pondered whether I liked the parallel bass/guitar lines and decided on liked. And I like keyboards, so the louder you make the organ bit the happier I'll be. Lyrical highlight: the part about it wouldn't be wise to buy cyanide online.

Elaine DiMasi - Plenty of flaws in the execution but you get the idea. Rock the Renaissance!

As for the criticism of "thin sounding programming", I'll translate that to "thin sounding boring instrumental arrangement", since I'm playing all real instruments (counting the harpsichord sound on my digital piano, and the one overdriven Roland synth patch, as real, being played live). I'm not crazy about programming my music at night, I program stuff all day at work. Fact is, my mixes are never going to sound right, recording real drums in a live room with no good tools to process them with. Whenever I have played with bands in boxes, it's much easier to get the sounds to sit somewhere - they've already been designed to sound right.

That said, I am loving the criticisms coming my way so far. They're telling me how to try and change the arrangements, which is what I really care about.

[Billy's Little Trip]

My turn.

Berkeley Social Scene - I love Veruca Salt. This doesn't sound like a copy of them at all, but the vocals have that nice flow like them. The guitar breaks are killer. The drums are tight and snappy. This is a great song. Vote.

Billy's Little Trip - I really need to get some stuff done around the house.

Elaine DiMasi - Hmm, cool. I'm doing the safety dance in my computer chair. You seem to know music well. Great instrument layers, great vocals, period style lyrics and delivery. Really good. Vote.

Frosty The Showman and Smashblade - ICP style, awesome. Cool groove. Fun and bumpin'. Lyrics are topical and delivered good. Vote.

Jan Krueger - Cool guitar riff. I wish the drums were higher in the mix to push this song harder. Great harmonizing. Pretty good tune. Vote.

Johnny Cashpoint - You really are a good song writer. This flows beautifully right along. The lyrics are quite interesting, lol. Great performance and a pleasant mix. Vote.

Josh Woodward - Love the banjo. Your vocal melody is superb. The little detail like the triangle are appreciated by my creative side. I like how this song kicks into gear and I really love how this song builds! You are very good. Vote.

Paco del Stinko - This starts off like a Japanese video game. snicker Love the little guitar tid bits, like when you say leafy salad greens. Great guitar leads. The time change is great. Very entertaining as so many PDS songs are. Fun, freaky and rockin'. Love it. Vote.

slats - The late bloomer. I'm a sucker for repetitive riffs and this song has a great riff. Cool groove all the way through. I would like more room on the vocals. Right now the vocals sound like you're in a room packed full of pillows, but the drums and guitars are in a little brighter room. Not a big deal, but the vox would gel in the mix better. You're pretty darn good. Vote.

Todd McHatton - Again, had to turn down my headphone for your song. Another good song. You're a good musician and deliver really good. Cool guitar and bass. Nice guitar solo at the end. Vote.

The Weakest Suit - This is cool! I like the delivery a lot. Good energy and interesting change to the chorus. Yep, I like this. Vote.