I got Nothin' (Nothing Day Reviews)

[Thanks For The Frisbee]

i havent had time to listen to all of these songs to post a Proper review
so i wont. i would just like to say about finding nemoy that your vocals did crack once or twice but i thought that gave it character.
it was actually the backup instruments that made it suck hard. whats with that week keyboard playa =) you just dont have any talent when it comes to backup inst. but your guitar and vocals are extra nice.

kill me sarah great song new ideas, so far my vote favorite.
i'll let you know if i change my mind after listening to all entries

quesodillas becomming one of my favorite songfighters, along with kweep, Kill Me Sarah and that blasted Jordan seavers

sorry for the skeleton review but i dont have time...im in 'no really' so
i have like 7 songs to listen to....6 not counting my own...

[Hoblit]

{violent shaking of limp fist}

Dear Quesadillas:

attention: Stateshirt

Please stay out of fights that I enter. Thank you.

{/violent shaking of limp fist}

[Wally Harbinger]

A little too Jimmy Buffet for me when it starts

as in margaritaville jimmy buffett?

ouch dude.

[Hoblit]

A little too Jimmy Buffet for me when it starts

as in margaritaville jimmy buffett?

ouch dude.

nah, he clearly meant 'lets get drunk and screw' jimmy buffett so relax.

[4gg]

Ausgequetschte Zitrone_nd - i wish it went somewhere. it sounds like something bjork could make sound amazing. it makes me feel light. go work

Your Money, Wasted - i hear radiohead chord changes. they are quite nice. something sounds restrained in the vocals in the front. when the whole band comes in the drums sound a little behind and it's jarring. but ater making through the first chorus its late over all. this could be a latency issue with your m-b0x or recording device? overall a finished song, that deserves props fo' sho. and it's pretty well engineered. the dynamic range is respectable.

wages - it's time to pick up the speed here. out of time playing?is it meant to be? boring! the lyrics are finihsed it sounds.

steve durand - did some great work last week. i like the vocal sound. is everything out of time week? if i could make suggestion here. listen to some hip hop. if you want good examples for how drums help a song you'll find it in great producers like timbaland, just blaze, kanye, the RZA.

nano and hefty squad - im listening to this. i don't know why. this may get my "retarded kid for high school president" vote. i was so happy someone that put his name on the ballot. he used to chain smoke cigarettes abd race around like he was a car.


sandcartle forgery - im getting tired. oh zepplin. i love this tune
. steal some hip hop beats. and drop it in. a bit half assed.

tom dg - you make me more tired.

kill me sarah - "once again with love" or something like that. it's a lyric from climbing up the walls. thus a reference or something or other. um. yeah.

shitload of dolphins - nice name. really! people tell me i sound emo when i sing.

hoblit - yeah punk rock.............. god im tired.

finding nemoy - 0 there like 10 thousand left. i hope one of othese is fishscale. whatevs

mc paul john denver - lots of rapperz today. makes it easy. i've been listening to the new ghostface all week. i hear whack hip hop and i just can't do it.

Quetzalcoatlus - dude get a limiter plug in and auto tune.

chack - a limiter plug in too. yeah.

jacob - hAVE you seen the rubber johnny vid? it's awesome right?

ellectic spoons - ween is one of the few decent joke bands, right behind eagles of death metal. but sometime i'm not so sure they know it. but they;re all almost 40 and the dude sings about 19 yr old girls.

Flvxxvm Florvm - that's a otugh band name to say. i like noise. not this noise. almost.

doscientos - like the acetate production. the carter fam is cool n stuff. but that shit is like 60 years old.

quesadillae explo - sorry. i just couldn't get past the intro and first chorus.. i hear this beat and i think 1995. for what it is it's spot on. except for the lack of mesa boogie road kings.

wallly harbinger - ah miami 1987. it was a good year. i first found that trying to catch cuban anoles were awesome. but like they couldn't survive in my grasp nieth can this tune. it sounds like a moby with a more put on fake vocal.

my vote goes to the "retarded kids" it sound the most real

[Tacocoatlus]

Quetzalcoatlus: Is this difficult to pronounce band week? Okay where is this going, it's going a bit rambling isn't it!, good idea, needs more variation, and don't be scared of singing into the mic, if the neighbors complain, then fuck them it's only for a few minutes. 4.5/10

Replace "neighbors" with "mom" and you've pretty much got the story there. I had the music itself on headphones, but was doing the vocals kind of late at night and was slightly nervous about waking someone up. Also, I'm not that confident in my vocal skills in general yet.

Quetzasomethin
Production is really lacking for this song. Which normally I don't pay too much attention to, but when you're doing techno, it's really important because otherwise it doesn't mesh.
2/5

I don't know if what I'm doing here even is "techno" ("eccentric synthpop" maybe?), but point taken. I didn't allow myself enough time to iron out mix issues, and especially in the first verse it's pretty murky sounding.



But enough of that. Less excuses, more... reviewses?


ausquetschte zitrone. Gorgeous slightly new-agey trip-hop. After a minute and a half it kind of feels like something else needs to come in to take it to the next level, but otherwise it works it's trancey magic pretty well. 4 hypnotic piano lines out of 5.

c hack. I can hear Jack Johnson just a little bit, but this is older and more world-weary sounding than anything I've heard of his. Although maybe it's just because the vocals are so "just woke up" (in a way I like though, at least in terms of how they fit the theme of the lyrics). 3.5 heartbroken troubadors out of 5.

doscientos. That square-dance-y guitar riff could be considered "generic", but it succeeded in planting a big smile on my face the moment it started. I like that this is seemingly the only track to take a positive (or at least comfortable and homey) spin on the title. Simplistic, but with lots of twee charm. If I were making a winter-themed mix cd, this might have a shot at making the tracklist. 3.5 dosey-does out of 5.

Eclectic Spoons. "Rowan Atkinson sings Nick Cave" is right, but I like the campiness of it. It's kind of interesting that with a totally different delivery the pathos of it all would seem a lot more serious. The music is interesting, but gets to feel repetitive. 3 traumatized childhoods out of 5.

flvxxvmflorvm. Definitely at least interesting, as something I just read compared to The Smashing Pumpkins, The Frogs, and Judas Priest would be. Actually, what the hell, I'll add Marilyn Manson to the list. Some crazy guitar sounds and intense vocalizing (especially towards the end), but it kind of wanders around, and doesn't really rock as hard as it should what with the "driving" beat being so tinny and all. 2 shredded uvulas out of 5.

hoblit. Pretty pop-punky, but in a good, non-Blink 182 kind of way. The chorus is in fact the best part, but I do like the way it contrasts with the bleaker-sounding verses. 3.5 cheap Epitaph compilations out of 5.

Jacob Lynn. Lots of complaints about the intro, but I actually think it's the best part of the song; all those finger-picking over-dubbed acoustic guitar counter-melodies in the beginning make me feel like I'm listening to an old Yes album or something, then that glitchy beat unexpectedly shows up. The rest of it sounds "wrong", but it's kind of artful about it, like you knew exactly what you were doing, and it's more interesting than it would be if the main melody were arranged in a straighforward manner. This might be a little bit of a grower, but I give it 3 Richard D James remixes of Steve Howe out of 5.



Alright, I'll have more time tommorow to plow through the remaining ones.

[blue]

C Hack
Very Jack Johnson. I like this. It's mellow, nice lyrics.
4/5

ooooooooooow.

[blue]

c hack. I can hear Jack Johnson

damn it, stop pissing on c hack. he does not deserve that.

[tomdg]

Ok, so it looks like no-one's going to like my song this week. For the record, I'm quite pleased with it. I was trying to mimic the style of Nuclear Assault, who did some similar songs in the 1980s - they were formed by Dan Lilker who used to play for Anthrax. My fave was "hang the pope", which had an intro, 5 verses and two choruses, 43 lines of lyrics in all, and lasted all of 35 seconds; by no means their shortest song. So yes, it is supposed to be that fast.

I was thinking of "Nothing Day" as a bank / public holiday, and all the ways we celebrate public holidays (Thanksgiving turkey, fireworks and lemonade on 4th of July, etc), then of course the employers' perspective, and the fact that most people are quite happy to have the day off and party even when they don't know or don't believe in whatever it's supposed to be for (Christmas, Boxing Day, Easter, Whitsun here in the UK, etc).

Not that I'm going to vote for it or that I expect anyone else to. For me it's a toss-up between Your Money Wasted's epic rock and Wally Harbinger's funky melodrama.

[Your Money Wasted]

something sounds restrained in the vocals in the front.

i'm just glad the deadline was when it was and not earlier, because i wouldn't have been able to sing at all. damn cough.

anyway thanks to everyone for reviewing my songski. expect a fresh, steaming batch of reviews when father time blesses me with... more time.

[Kill Me Sarah]

C Hack
Very Jack Johnson. I like this. It's mellow, nice lyrics.
4/5

ooooooooooow.

What's wrong with Jack Johnson?

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

Quetzalcoatlus: Is this difficult to pronounce band week? Okay where is this going, it's going a bit rambling isn't it!, good idea, needs more variation, and don't be scared of singing into the mic, if the neighbors complain, then fuck them it's only for a few minutes. 4.5/10

Replace "neighbors" with "mom" and you've pretty much got the story there. I had the music itself on headphones, but was doing the vocals kind of late at night and was slightly nervous about waking someone up. Also, I'm not that confident in my vocal skills in general yet.

That's cOOl mate, neighbours you can piss off, but Mothers, that's a no no, and it's almost Mother's day too, I'm not the greatest in front of the mic either, Have to wait 'till everyone's gone out, but I guess it's all about confidence, I thought this week was my best effort so far and i've been called Campy! Hope the wife doesn't find out...
Take care.

[HeuristicsInc]

I don't know if what I'm doing here even is "techno" ("eccentric synthpop" maybe?)

People that don't know much about electronic music just call all of it "techno." Get used to it, I guess...
-bill

[Kill Me Sarah]

I don't know if what I'm doing here even is "techno" ("eccentric synthpop" maybe?)

People that don't know much about electronic music just call all of it "techno." Get used to it, I guess...
-bill

I suppose I fit that description. I realize there are bazillions of sub-genres of electronic music. "Techno", to me, is just a synonym for "electronic" but perhaps I am wrong here and should have said "electronic". Anyone care to define what techno is, if it's not an umbrella term for electronic?

[Wally Harbinger]

Anyone care to define what techno is...?

http://www.ishkur.com/music/

The flash intro stuff is annoying, but the site is pretty entertaining.

[c hack]

C Hack
Very Jack Johnson. I like this. It's mellow, nice lyrics.
4/5

ooooooooooow.

What's wrong with Jack Johnson?

Jack Johnson is... better than Dave Matthews.

[Kill Me Sarah]

C Hack
Very Jack Johnson. I like this. It's mellow, nice lyrics.
4/5

ooooooooooow.

What's wrong with Jack Johnson?

Jack Johnson is... better than Dave Matthews.

Yes, I wouldn't have enjoyed your song if it had sounded like Dave Mathews.

[HeuristicsInc]

allmusic guide says this about techno:

Techno had its roots in the electronic house music made in Detroit in the mid-'80s. Where house still had explicit connection to disco even when it was entirely mechanical, techno was strictly electronic music, designed for a small, specific audience. The first techno producers and DJs -- Kevin Saunderson, Juan Atkins, and Derrick May, among others -- emphasized the electronic, synthesized beats of electro-funk artists like Afrika Bambaataa and synth-rock units like Kraftwerk. In the United States, techno was strictly an underground phenomenon, but in England, it broke into the mainstream in the late '80s. ..... All subgenres of techno were initially designed to be played in clubs, where they would be mixed by DJs. Consequently, most of the music was available on 12-inch singles or various-artists compilations, where the songs could run for a long time, providing the DJ with a lot of material to mix into his set. In the mid-'90s, a new breed of techno artists -- most notably ambient acts like the Orb and Aphex Twin, but also harder-edged artists like the Prodigy and Goldie -- began constructing albums that didn't consist of raw beats intended for mixing. Not surprisingly, these artists -- particularly the Prodigy -- became the first recognizable stars in techno.

does that help? It might not be all that enlightening, but I think the Ishkur site is good. I can't access it from here, though. Basically techno is all about the "dance" part of electronic and not about the other parts.
-bill

[Kill Me Sarah]

A little too Jimmy Buffet for me when it starts

as in margaritaville jimmy buffett?

ouch dude.

It's something about that very opening keyboard intro. From 00:28 you're golden

[Wally Harbinger]

no offense taken dude. that pattern was one of the first things that i came up with that i kept, but i was never happy with the sound. i tried a bunch of different sounds, but gave up cause i was wasting time.

on to the show. holy crap that was a metric pantload of tunes.

Quetzalcoatlus
breakbeats! dark! saturation! and all in the first 20 seconds. something in the production reminds me of vintage Joy Division, way way back, like "Isolation" or thereabouts. liberal amounts of limiting and compression recommended. i like the beats.

Finding Nemoy
this starts out well. wish i played guitar. like the voice and the spare production. reminds me of... well i can't think of who right now, which shouldn't bother you because who likes being compared to anyone, really. i think it could have ended at 2:18, after "started" and without the coda. not because it was too long, but i think i would have preferred that for an ending. nicely done.

@eclectic spOOns
novel take on the title. you really spun a believable tale. it was like i was visiting london and went on a tour of whitechapel and at one house my guide stopped and said "oi! i've written a little ditty about this one, shall i give it a spin"

The Quesadilla Explosion
rockin intro. with a bit of polish i could hear this on radio. vocals in the first verse could use a little more conviction, but i like the way you're using multiple vocal tracks in the rest of the tune.

Doscientos
nice pickin. square dancing begins. how 'bout a solo. come on. would have liked to hear maybe some more legato phrases in the vocals, to offset the other instruments in the arrangement.

Your Money Wasted
guitar solo sound is sweet. reminds me of fripp's solo from heroes. if that came out of some digital box i'll be crushed. ambitious form, but the dynamic variety and contrasting episodes give the structure a raison d'être.

c hack
not much to say. nice performance, pretty melody, just kind of sincere and musical all around.

Ausgequetschte Zitrone
great atmosphere, nice vocal tone. kind of sigur rós meets stereo total. could use a bit of a change-up, maybe even just a thickening up (or breaking down) of texture somewhere along the line.

Wages
Good voice.

Sandcastle Forgery
Kind of enjoyed that in spite of myself. I liked how the backing samples slide in and out almost accidentally.

nano+heftysquad
the "jesus isn't real" bit was good.

MC Paul Denyer
that sounds like it was fun to do.

Kill Me Sarah
i think you've got some good ideas here, but the quarter-note strumming pattern and the phrasing kind of work against the forward motion of the tune. the harmonies are cool, and i like how you extend that jet stream metaphor.

Jacob Lynn
i didn't expect to mention fripp twice in one songfight, but that intro has distinct shades of 'league of crafty guitarists'. then we take a sharp turn into IDM. the beats are cool, maybe try playing a little more with the stereo field. i would have been happy without the lead vocals, just the "nothing day, nothing day" chorus droning away.

hoblit
nice double-pedal work. overall production works well in the idiom. i think the vocals sound a bit far away though.

Flvxxvm Florvm
another good guitar sound in the solo lines. i like the texture of the instruments, but aside from the screaming, which i dig, i'm not crazy about the vocals.

Tom di Giovanni
more like a p.s.a. than any other entry this week. good strength of purpose.

Wally Harbinger
real subtle touch how you lean on that b natural every few seconds. we get it. you in madré-fricken dorian now, biotch.

Steve Durand
this tune has a real cardigans and skinny ties feel to it, and that's not a criticism at all. i want to hear a new arrangement though; the drums are a bit distracting and i think the guitar is a bit heavy on the chorus. but if we were talking solely about songwriting, this would certainly be up there.

Shitload of Dolphins
nice twist, using the anglicized pronunciation of "sobriquet" that doesn't rhyme with "day". pretty self-aware all around in fact; the post-post-modernist opening act. and certainly one of the most memorable, and by that i mean catchy, entries this week.

[Tacocoatlus]

Quetzalcoatlus
breakbeats! dark! saturation! and all in the first 20 seconds. something in the production reminds me of vintage Joy Division, way way back, like "Isolation" or thereabouts. liberal amounts of limiting and compression recommended

It's kind of interesting, I had that song up on myspace before it got up here, and a musician I ended up accepting onto my friends list from Brazil (who presumably could only understand parts of the lyrics) used the term "moody" for it. After that I did realize it's kind of dark-sounding for something that's pretty novelty-esque lyrically.


So yeah, more reviews:

Finding Nemoy. More "emo" than anything I'd listen to on a regular basis, but pretty good for that kind of thing. And actually the song itself isn't that "emo" I guess, there's just some seriously emo-sounding vocal straining going on, especially in the chorus. The melody is pretty nice, and I like that the snapping percussion and keyboards color stuff just enough while still keeping it pretty intimate-sounding. 4 ballads of bilbo baggins out of 5.

Kill Me Sarah. The guitar line does make it feel more plodding than it would be otherwise. I really like the self-harmonies and the lyrical metaphors (especially "like a dustbowl home at the height of the depression, her eyes were empty"). So yeah, overall I like this one but I'd like to see what it would sound like with a "full band' type arrangement. 3.5 I can't think of anything clever this times out of 5.

MC Paul Denyer. Short and sweet, which is good because while that little keyboard line is catchy, it'd get monotonous over a longer track. I kind of like that it describes a "nothing day" without actually mentioning the title anywhere, and am somewhat slightly surprised that both King Of The Hill and WWF can be seen in England. 3.5 telemarketers out of 5.

Nano + Heftysquad. Well, the beat is actually pretty catchy, which makes me inclined to be charitable I guess. And the banter even makes me slightly nostalgic because this is a lot like the private-joke-filled "random" collective sense of humor the group of people I hung out with high school had. But on the other hand, it's um, a bunch of people I don't know talking over music for 3 minutes. 2 rambling discussions at the cafeteria table out of 5.

quesadilla explosion. I was expecting the worst when the phrase "Limp Bizkit influence" cropped up early on, but this is actually a lot more like the at least mostly tolerable likes of Incubus (also, the beginning made me half-expect "Zombie" by The Cranberries). So yeah, while this isn't quite my thing, I'm inclined to look at it at least a little favorably because it's really professional sounding, shows some pretty tight musicianship, and doesn't feature anyone singing like Fred Durst. 3 non-stop rock blocks out of 5.

sandcastle forgery. The best I can say for this is 1) the way you keep jumping from one Zep loop to another is kind of amusing, and 2) I have to wonder why to my knowledge no one thought to sample "The Crunge" for a hip hop song before. 2 Led Zeppelin forgeries out of 5.

Shitload Of Dolphins. I actually don't see where this couldn't be both trying to make an indie-pop song and making fun of indie-pop at the same time. I tend to inherently dislike any song that's primiarily about the internet, even in a sarcastic manner, but this is actually a pretty good indie pop melody anyway. 3.5 new friend requests out of 5.

Steve Durand. Yes, definitely a Kermit thing going on, but heck, I kind of like that. Pretty much the strongest melody I've heard so far into this, but the drum machine feels kind of awkwardly off-beat the whole time. 4 rainbow connections out of 5.

Tom G. Though I have to agree that I'm also glad it's only 24 seconds, I'm going to be the only person to kind of like this one. I've never heard this Nuclear Assault band, but this kind of makes me think of one of the really short hardcore songs of The Descendents. Except with acoustic guitar, weird industrial drum sounds, and a vocalist who kind of sounds like a male, british version of Patty And Selma from The Simpsons. Which I guess means, um, nothing like The Descendents at all. 3 comparisons to other bands that suddenly completely fall apart out of 5.

Wages. For some bizarre reason this shows up on my winamp as being 11 minutes long. I think it was pretty decent, but I can't really tell because the drums were distracting me by seemingly playing an entirely different song. 2.5 confounding rhythms out of 5.

Your Money Wasted. I was sort of dreading the 6 minute track, but this is decently epic enough to fit that. Really talented guitar playing, nicely complex melody, the only issue I reall have is that the vocals, while not bad, don't really manage to pull off the dramatic aspect of it all. Still, a really strong way to end things. 4 total non-letdowns out of 5.

[Kweep]

AZ- beautiful vox and production! wow... totally impressive.

cHack - i'm diggin' the 'just woke up' quality to your voice.

doscientos - great sound! if i had a 78 player, i'd check to see if i left it on!

spoons - sooooo dark and scary... i like the dissonance & the toy pianoish sound in the last verse... but not the overall style.

nemoy - cool lyrics & melody... but not doin' it for me.

floss'em w/ floride (sp?) - some pretty good potential... needs mix work (drums higher, less 'direct' guitar sound - lots of multieffects units have a speaker simulator on them)

hoblit - great tones. the chorus is really catchy!

jacob lynn - i'm havin Yes flashbacks... takes a bit long to get to the meat of the song but worth it. cool entry.

KMS - the octave vox are workin' for me big time! the first note of the second guitar part scared the shit out of me when it came in... almost sounded like a triangle or the bell of a ride cymbal. strong entry.

MC PD - fish rap... not quite sure what to say about this. didn't particularly like it but it was short enough to keep me from hittin 'next'.

student - oodoo oodoo flicka ticka... translates as "this sucks ass"... but is kinda funny.

quesedilla - great sounding track. kinda more 'tool'ish than lame bizquit (at least in the verses).

quetzalcoatlus - starts off ok but the higher keyboards are way too loud when they come in... that pretty much had me searchin for the 'next' button

sandcastle - was cute at first... but it ended up being too long even at just 2:27

poopload o' marine mammals - pretty good tune... nice guitar sound. sounds like that m&m commercial.

steve durand - good melody. a little heavy on the drum fills.

tom d - i like your tune, too... why do i like it? don't know, don't care...

wages - vox are kickin this week. groove could be tighter...

wally harbinger - not my style of music, but nice nice nice production.

your $ wasted - i wasn't too sure about this til you guys kicked it in... that's a damn fine chorus.

i'm thinkin AZ is gettin my vote.