Welcome to the reviews page.

[Jim of Seattle]

OK, this is driving me crazy. I have to set the record straight.

I CANNOT play Welcome to Windows all the way through as you hear it. Thanks you for all the kind praise for my playing, and while I did actually play every note you hear there, it was recorded in small chunks, and some of it was recorded at slower speeds than you hear it, and most of it took multiple takes to get right. And some notes were tweaked after the fact.

In fact, there are certain passages that are not physically playable live by a single person, because there are sometimes three things going on in different parts of the keyboard at the same time. So it would take two people.

I'm super psyched everyone seems to like it so far, but I have to come clean so I can sleep soundly. Whew, I feel better now.

[Mogosagatai]

Oh, well, now I hate it!

[PiGPEN]

[quote="Mogosagatai"]PigPEN: See my Posyden review for my dislike of “I’m awesomeâ€

[blue]

stories dont fly quite aswell in rap as they do in rock.

http://www.frontalot.com

[sausage boy]

stories dont fly quite aswell in rap as they do in rock.

http://www.frontalot.com

And Ninja Rap by Vanilla Ice.

Ninja, Ninja. Rap!

[PiGPEN]

Yeah and Funeral Director too :d
I wasnt saying its not possible its just harder to do and do right and to be accepted as a story.

[primastev]

Hey I just joined so please harass me and my comments

Bax: Angus Bogengus!, I ran around my room for this one, I love the doubled vocals, it just needs a bit more rip in the guitar solo to be more like ac/dc.

Bewells: nice sleepy time melody, I have a sore throat anyway so this was nice to drink my tea to. Good production

Brainpipe: I love the mr bungle vibe, not many people can write like that. My microwave has been freakin out, maybe playing this song will get my microwave off crack.

Corn on the cob: I like the nada surf sound to the song, but I was still waiting for a little something more.

Cow exchange: I cant be held responsible, we were only freshmen…yeow

Hostess mostess: im in love with the 60’s vibe, awesome vocals and arrangements.

Jim of Seattle: nice intro using the devils theme (haha I was sort of sarcastic there) rhapsody in computer cliché.

Merisan: awesome feel, my favorite guitar parts, and great vocals.

P.U.C.E: python points for the sample, I wish I could DDR to this frikin A, I want to see graphics dance to this, I might be crazy but I swear I hear a B52’s influence.

Raised by wolves: nice sounds it made me feel lonely but I was in the room alone. Almost like a movie soundtrack

Ross Durand: I feel happy im literate yeah,… clap,… stomp,… and turn around……one more time same as the first a little bit louder yeah you get the point that I liked this one.

[jimtyrrell]

Welcome To _____ reviews, part 1.

bax: Nice opening to the fight. I like this tune. It's not quite as edgy as it's trying to be, maybe. It reminds me a little of some of the stuff I listened to in the early 80s. At the time I thought it was the hardest stuff ever, but now it seems kind of tame by comparison. Don't take that as too bad a thing though, this holds up well enough. It's pretty witty too, and that always works with me. Nice job on the vocals. That 'Come On' was classic. Lots of silence at the end of this track.

bewells: Ooh, I'd like to learn this one. Well-recorded, too. I find myself wishing for more recurring themes in the guitar/mandolin(?) lines. The playing is quite good, but as it is, my attention is drawn randomly from one speaker to the other at all and odd times, and it's a little disorienting. This ends nicely.

brainpipe: My two-year old just stormed in and started getting down to this. I had turned it way up to figure out that microwave sound, and the song knocked me out of my seat. This is good. Perfect ending. On par with your 'Chainsaw', which is a Tyrrell family favorite.

cornonthecob: Wow. If I had a radio show I'd play this on it. It wouldn't sound at all out of place on our local college radio station. Excuse my out-of-the-loopness: has cornonthecob submitted before? I'll have to look through the archive, 'cause this is goood.

cowexchange: My wife came in and asked if this was Elvis Costello. I'd take that as a compliment, I don't know about you. I told her no, and then she asked if it was Howard Jones. I'll leave the value of that up to you. I like this. It moves by pretty quick though, so I think it'll take a few listens to get used to it. It's listenable enough for me to be willing to do that, so you got that going for you.

dankins: This file is way bigger than it needs to be. I'm on dialup, y'know. And it's not like a lower bitrate would have distorted the vocals or anything. I like this song, and I like songs like this, but I fail to see the connection to the fight title. The fatal flaw of instrumentals. That, plus ten seconds of 224kbps silence at the end, is enough to irritate me straight on to the next song. Which, since I'm at the end of this one, is no big deal anyway.

drwater: That's an "Uh oh, what am I in for" guitar tone. The vocals are a pleasant surprise. A daring melody line. Disappointing end, though. I was hoping it would build into a full-band thing. But hey, I've heard worse.

enpassant: Nice name. Interesting enough piece, but I'm not sure what it's trying to achieve. If there's a message, I didn't catch it the first time around. Art for art's sake is okay, though.

excusetheproduction: The production here is actually not so bad. The arrangement is decidedly sparse, and theres a lot of clashing tones in there (both in the guitar and the vocals), but it all feels intentional and driven by purpose, so I'll go along with it. The second guitar part around 2:58 is a welcome change. I think this song could afford to have about a minute shaved from it without losing much impact.

hisnameisdan: I like the lyrics a lot. This wouldn't be too out of place on the Napoleon Dynamite soundtrack.

hostessmostess: Boy, this is well-recorded. That percussion thing in the back (a fish, maybe?) catches my attention more than it perhaps should. Oh, those doubled vocals are gorgeous. This is good work.

jimofseattle: I'm a lifelong skeptic of SongFight instrumentals, and this may be the one time I vote for one. It easily satisfies the "was this song written for the title" requirement. I should change my name, 'cause I don't want to have to follow this. Just amazing.

jimtyrrell: This came out pretty much as I envisioned it, which is a rarity. I was quite happy with the lyrics. There's plenty of problems with the recording, but I'm making strides. Someday I'll actually rock, I swear.

johnnyibook: Note: I can no longer blame the quality of my song on my equipment. You seriously did the vocals on the mic on your ibook? Wow wow. Heh, my wife just asked if this was Roxy Music. I read the lyrics for this before I heard it, and I thought they were pretty good. But I must say, I like it even better now that I've heard it as a song. This is well-crafted.

klownhole: Waaaargh! The spoken bits fall flat with me, but that singing is dead-on. Haha, I love that hard-panned bit at 1:30. Out of nowhere. Around 2:45 I start to want this to go somewhere new. Oh man, is this ending seriously gonna go on for over a minute? Yep. Dammit, it sounds like I just took one in the Klownhole.

lukehenley: Hmm, I only got about twelve seconds of this one. How'd that happen? Sorry dude, I'll try to re-download this.

merisan: Mmm, that voice. Reminds me a little of Juliana Hatfield. This is a cool piece. Nice mood. I'll be listening to this one again for sure.

I'll try to get my reviews finished up tonight.

[Mostess]

In fact, there are certain passages that are not physically playable live by a single person, because there are sometimes three things going on in different parts of the keyboard at the same time.

That's what feet are for. And some of those higher chords in the development section could probably be played by head, no?

Wife loved it. Kids loved it. I'm sending the link to Germany today to my aunt- and uncle-in-law who are computer and piano lovers (he's a concert pianist). Soon the world will be swaying to your awesome System Sounds bassa nova bit.

[WeaselSlayer]

It's only 12 seconds long, no need to re-download! Also, it's not about a woman, that's fuckin' weird. I love far too much for it to be about a woman. But thanks for the psycho-analysis.

[Mostess]

Here's a bunch. Hopefully I'll get to the rest. In approximate order of preference:

Jim of Seattle: This is absolutely brilliant. And a perfect realization of the title: maybe the first instrumental I've heard on SongFight! that was clearly inspired by the title. I absolutely love the use of the shutdown-sound at the end. How much of this was improvised? The development section (this is pretty strict sonata form, no?) is certainly crafted to fit around pre-existing sounds. And the way the startup sound brings us back to recapitulation is very cleverly done; seriously clever. For a piano piece, there's a bit too much flourish for me; you could have left more space open between phrases, especially in the opening. I wish your ending was an ounce more dramatic. Your use of dynamics could be more profound (I relistened on my home system and dynamics were much more pronounced: I guess it's something about my laptop/headphones?). Didn't Eno write that startup sound? So this idea isn't really much of a stretch, I guess---he's got his hand in the Saint-Saens cookie jar already. You've just jazzed it up for us. This will get my vote unless...I honestly can't imagine anything surpassing this.

Jim Tyrell: Let me stop after the first 4 bars and say that I love this. Jim, you are a wizard with sonic atmosphere. Just the stupid introductory bars (always my least favorite part of any song) are enough to win me over. They are crisp, clean, exciting, relaxing, frustrating and fun all at the same time. Now to listen to and review the rest of your song: I am in no way disappointed. There's a story, some dramatic imagery, a sense of danger. You keep the cool of a narrator but you're obviously emoting the woman's story. The basic rock instrumentation and lack of any instrumental showboating is understated and humble. The progression is straightforward but not cliche. There are rhythmic and melodic frills that keep me listening (especially the chorus). I just like this. I am a Jim Tyrell fan (and have been since Big Disco). Keep it up.

Mersian: Wonderful energy and sweet musicality. Melody moves well against the chord progressions. I'm not so into your hook: it feels like it needs more crafting (I'm thinking the "dashboard savior be my guide to a sunset redemption" part), especially "redemption" seems a little tossed off. Maybe it just needs to mellow in your head (or mine) before you can sing it more naturally (or it gets stuck in my head). It's a little square: you don't need 4 bars of intro, or 2 bars of filler between verses. The guitar work has a Sundays flavor, and the verse first two lines are Sundays, too; very nice. This is an excellent song.

Excuse the Production: This sounds great---I will excuse nothing. I really like the sound of this, very real and sweet. It does drag after a bit. I'm glad the vocals split (especially the three-part at the end) and the guitars start to break from their basic patterns, but I think I'd make that happen sooner, tighten up the form and shave a minute off the song by removing some repetitions.

Raised by Wolves: Finally, a tourist phrasebook with some practical value! This is rippling with dramatic tension until I get the sense that nothing is actually going to happen...Ah! (the song just ended). Very successful. I was even going to make a "time bomb turns out to be a clock" metaphor, but it was a bomb the whole time. Not "da" bomb, but certainly a frightening piece of minimalist radio theater. The chromatic chord progression kept this alive for me, I think. It's curious enough to keep your repeating melody fresh for the 2 minutes or so.

Dr. Water: You're onto something really good here. This is too unfinished to warrant a vote, but it would be a contender if it had a bridge and/or a more confident sound. I want the guitar to have a little more steam to it: don't ritard at the end of every 2-bar phrase. That heavy vocal needs firm rhythmic ground to stand on (You even tripped her up on her first "Don't you know every day..." She was expecting you to be there with her but you weren't and she stumbled. Or she forgot the words. Either way, there's a lack of focus). I love the "cry" melisma, and the way you phrased the chorus. I want more of that. Please rework and post your next version.

The Cow Exchange: Your head must be a fascinating place to live. This is so full of puns, pop-culture references, clever turns of phrase, I can hardly hear what you're saying. Like you're tripping over yourself. The chorus ("Welcome to...") is beautiful andsway-inducing. Your ending is a bit clunky. There's a lot of good playing and good writing, but it's a bit of a whirlwind. I'd add some space, remove some of the melody phrases, some of the instrument noodles. I bet even if you kept this recording and just cut out 50% of the stuff here and there you could make this great.

Bax: Very sweet guitar sounds, very smooth. Unfortunately, they make your voices stick out too much. Something awkward about this: the rock sounds affected. Vocal harmony is very nice, too nice for the genre. Nice try, but it sounds more Yankovick than authentic.

PigPEN: I like the tempo of this, and the sparse instrumentation. Your phrases are all about the same length---try hitting your syncopations a little harder to justify the moderate tempo. In general, the voice needs a little more presence, you sound like you just woke up and don't want to disturb the neighbors. That's not what your lyrics are about. Commit.

en passant: I really like this until the horn solo/ending. Good energy, good feeling. The vocal has a nice ring to it. The meta-recording stuff has to go; it doesn't add anything. There is a whole indie-rock fascination with sounding like you don't care and you're not trying, but it's tricky: this sounds like you're trying not to care (even your name screams "intentionally careless, but with smarts!") Falls flat. But the song itself, pretty darned good stuff. Focus on that.

Sausage Boy: If your song is going to consist of 4 repeating bass notes, have the decency to choose 4 different notes. That C (sharp?) is killing me. The phrasing is static and blocky, there is no sense of forward movement, no tension, no release, nothing dramatic or even interesting. A lot of neat spacey sounds and a kind of beatnik far-outness. More like wallpaper than painting.

Phunt Your Friends: Too static and far too long. The guitars need some direction, so aimless and uninteresting. Add some contrasting sound, or a contrasting section (like more of that backwards stuff toward the end). There's no real structure here, just 4 static elements (acoustic guitar plunking/tuning, synth wash/feedback, digital skipping female voice, loud singer) drifting in and out for what, 5 minutes? The ending is disgusting: you're just giving up? After blabbing on about nothing for so long, you just got tired and decided to go finish breakfast? You make me sick.

Luke Henley: Insult to SongFight! Booooooo.

[j$]

In approximate order of preference: ....

[Luke Henley: Insult to SongFight! Booooooo.

Christ! How bad did you think the others were?

[WeaselSlayer]

In every piece of art there is at least one moment of perfection.

[Mostess]

In approximate order of preference: ....

[Luke Henley: Insult to SongFight! Booooooo.

Christ! How bad did you think the others were?

I said approximate.

Just kidding: these are the only ones I've listened to so far, and they're ranked against each other. I'll "insert" the rest in subsequent posts.

[boltoph]

has cornonthecob submitted before?

Yea, we have two other submissions, the first was kinda a joke, the second was "Attack of the Show". We're pumped that you liked the tune, it's a huge compliment coming from you. Keep rockin' the Hampsh. We're supposed to play at this little bar in "Goffstown" called "The Village Trestle" with our band ATP. We'll see when that happens. Those slackers...

[HeuristicsInc]

brainpipe: My two-year old just stormed in and started getting down to this. I had turned it way up to figure out that microwave sound, and the song knocked me out of my seat. This is good. Perfect ending. On par with your 'Chainsaw', which is a Tyrrell family favorite.

thanks! hey, was it you that posted the picture of the kid dancing to our song? i was trying to remember who did that. for some reason i thought it was roymond, but he says not.
dan-o, if you don't see the danger inherent in microwaves, try sitting in one sometime with the heat on
-bill

[jimtyrrell]

Yeah, that was my oldest boy Andy. At the time, my youngest son (Shannon) was still a bit young to dance. He's right into you guys now.

Actually, if I may digress, here's a quick list of some of my kids' favorites from the ages:

Chainsaw - Brainpipe
Brown Boxes - I Dunno Some Guy
More Than Soup - Starfinger
The Starfinger Show - Jim Of Seattle
Romantic Cheapskate - Abominominous
Moscow, Idaho - Fishboy Rex

[jb]

johnnyibook: Heh, my wife just asked if this was Roxy Music.

Oh wow, man, tell her I said thanks for that. That's a great compliment in my book.

JB

P.S. Boing.

[Egg]

I got 5 bucks that says Luke and Phunt can hold the bottom spots for the rest of the fight.

damn it. This joke isn't even that funny so now I need to justify this appearance with some more reviews.

Bax brings the energy a little dorkily. Those cymbals and drums aren't really filling me with energy so much as keeping the time for me like a well-mannered accountant. End guitar is awesome... sigh.. I just glanced at Mogosagatai's review and realized I'm just going to say the same thing as him on like all of these.

The BeWells sing well while sounding unimpressed. That particular quality reminds me of The Magnetic Fields guy. The stringed instrument is delightful while still maintaining the somber, "end of the line" mood. It feels sullen but somehow sounds playful. This song passed under my radar the first few times I listened to this fight. Sorry. Also good panning on the stringed thing.

Brainpipe lives up to my expectations. Is Starfinger slowly laying the foundation for a career in promotional songwriting or maybe his own music videos for the Food network? I think that's a niche that NEEDS to be filled and I wouldn't mind if HInc worked with you on it, because this is just badass. I feel like a lot of songs are getting overshadowed this week. Good end.

Corn on the Cob already got their friggin review.

Cow Exchange .. has to wait because I'm listening to Corn on the Cob's even though I don't have to. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .okay.. hehe, I really like this. When the song didn't load the first night, somebody told me not to get my hopes up too much, if you'll believe that! But uh, I feel like there is a lot going on and it's really well separated on the stereo. The keys are just kicking this song up an extra level. This is a fun ride with some meaning to boot. Way to pop.

Welcome to neptunian kit already has a review!

dr water suffers from the same affliction as cow exchange as I have to finish the neptunian drug. Left ear reverb is big and I'm not sure why. But way to vocalize. I bet there are ways to really milk the bluesiness of the guitar some more. Make it sloppier maybe. The vocals are so big and powerful that they feel disconnected a little. Hmm.. interesting.

en passant doesn't bother me with their recording of background conversation which makes me feel like it was done in passing. I think the casual feel makes this a really hard standalone track but I feel like it has lots of uses to move somebody through a CD or song fight.

[starfinger]

hey that reminds me, i did get a chance to listen to the phunt epic yesterday. I listened passively while working and it was definitely pretty interesting. in fact, i think i did some particularly good work while listening to it. if you guys are the secret to my success, i don't know what i'm gonna do.

-craig

[blue]

The Cow Exchange: Your head must be a fascinating place to live. This is so full of puns, pop-culture references, clever turns of phrase, I can hardly hear what you're saying. Like you're tripping over yourself. The chorus ("Welcome to...") is beautiful andsway-inducing. Your ending is a bit clunky. There's a lot of good playing and good writing, but it's a bit of a whirlwind. I'd add some space, remove some of the melody phrases, some of the instrument noodles. I bet even if you kept this recording and just cut out 50% of the stuff here and there you could make this great.

haha, are you buyin what the man is selling, mister Plat?! it is ok to only have one good idea in a song! STOP FUCKING WITH IT ONCE IT IS DONE. you're good at every element of song production, there's no need to pile crap on top of crap on top of crap right up until the deadline. if you have to keep making music, write more songs!

show a little, uh, confidence in your songs, dude. they are good.

[Jim of Seattle]

Yeah, that was my oldest boy Andy. At the time, my youngest son (Shannon) was still a bit young to dance. He's right into you guys now.

Actually, if I may digress, here's a quick list of some of my kids' favorites from the ages:

Chainsaw - Brainpipe
Brown Boxes - I Dunno Some Guy
More Than Soup - Starfinger
The Starfinger Show - Jim Of Seattle
Romantic Cheapskate - Abominominous
Moscow, Idaho - Fishboy Rex

Your kids have excellent taste, clearly. There are some awesome Jim Tyrrell songs you should play for your kids, though!

You named your boy Shannon, of course subjecting him to a lifetime of getting beat up.