by Adam! » Tue May 23, 2006 7:48 pm
Better Late then Never.
Carpetburn: That first word sounds distractingly off-key; other than that the vocals are pretty good. Cool chords in this song; not really grabbing me, but some thought obviously went into them. Between the weird chords and the noodling and the frantic pace changes and spanish (?) chorus this feels like Mars Volta-Lite. Really picks up in the last minute. That cheesy kick drum really brings this song down. Neat track, but nothing in the lyrics or the melody hook me.
Cuddle Buddies: Gah, I hate this. You must have more than a half-octave range; show it off. Dull.
Cutie Pies: The opening chord progression has me instantly singing "Yoshimi! You won't let those robots eat me!". Wow, volume envy; how did you master this? It sounds pretty darn good, given the huge volume, although I suspect that the kick drum has suffered from the mastering. Man, The Postal Service only wishes they could write songs this catchy. I'd like to hear the female vocals a little clearer. A pleasant, twee little song.
Damien Verrett: I like it immediately. Has a great, dreamy, improvised-but-too-good-to-be-actually-improvised feel. I really like the vocals, and the tempo changes during the "shaking" portions of the song. The guitar sounds like it clips the mic in places; no, on inspection it's the song that's clipping. If I can trust winamp's oscilloscope, it looks like this song drastically needs a DC Bias removal, which is a quick (and lossless) way to gain headroom. At 1:30 two things happen: the song kicks into totall Elliot Smith-ville, and I click vote. This song is rad.
Nivelo: Woah, negative-fi. Nasty plosives. I wish the melody wasn't the same one used in a million novelty-folk songs. The lyrics are sort of cute, with the exception of the "insects is best" and "mosquitoes // libido" lines, which are awesome. I don't like it, but it doesn't overstay its welcome.
Michael McD, the MMMC: The music sounds fairly terrible, although I love the timpani. The mix is super, super muddy, and the vocals sound very noise-reduced. I think this song needs a snare drum. The progression is pretty damn catchy for rap; so is the chorus for that matter. I have a soft spot for nerdcore fast-rap, and the lyrics don't disappoint. I'd recommend using some [more?] compression on the rap segments to smooth them out a bit. Question: did you hack Deacon's myspace and put up all those ads for crappy layout sites? Sweet song.
Older Brothers: Gah, bass exploding my headphones. This is the bassiest song I've ever heard. Good thing the bass sounds pretty good. Did you just say "succulent synapse vestibule"? Never have I hated lyrics more. One of your vocalists seems much better than the other. Could you make the "Eww, ohh, gross" part last any longer? ^This song needs an extended remix where that part lasts for a full 2 minutes^. The guitars sound like they sound cool, but I can't tell because the bass is drowning them out. Bleh, boring. NOTE: This won? WTF HAX.
Stinky Alpaca: Maybe it's just in contrast with the last song, but this song sounds totally rad. That wah is amazing. Bass sounds great; in fact, everything sounds really good (well, the one guitar sounds a little too "plugged-in"). The singing style is a little weird, but you sound sure of yourself, which makes the vocals grow on me quickly. Some lyrical snippets seem a little suspect. At 2:00 this song takes a turn for the theatrical, and I fall in love with it completely. I can't believe this only got two votes; it deserves to win.
Pop-Elec: Me, J$ and Plat. An atypically atmospheric song, for me. I couldn't do vocals, so Plat stepped in at the last minute and salvaged my melody. I really like the bright bass tone and most of the fuck'd guitar tones. Also, I'm pleasantly surprised that no one complained about the bass being panned left. After much thought I agree with wreckdom that the mix is too bright (was going for a Deerhoof sound, but then I realized that their mixes are too bright, too).
Robot Wars: Neat sounding, especially at the end, but a 3 minute sound collage does not a vote get. See wreckdom for the way this should be done.
Ratt Poizon: Welcome to cheese town. I like what's being played, but the guitar has absolutely no attack to it, which is something this genre needs. Bridge is weird, but a nice change. Vocals are irritating.
Wreckdom: Now there's the attack that Ratt's song was missing. This is one of the wreckdom songs I've enjoyed the most. The drums are really cool, and I like the Gary Neuman-esqu lead synth. The lyrics are surprisingly lucid by your standards. After the 1 minute mark you don't really add anything new to the track. And then it's over!
Your Money Wasted: Woah, who are you? The playing, especially the drums, sound really pro; too bad the production isn't at the same level. This is really catchy, but man is it too short. Another one of those weird voices that sounds very confident, and instantly grows on me because of it. I'd buy your CD.
So, it came down to Damien, Paco, and Your Money Wasted. I ended up voting for Damien, because his little song somehow wormed it's way into my heart. Great fight.
Hence; covered in bugs. After they finish and you are left on the ground, immobile, you just might then become 
. You know Jordan Seavers right? or have I got that wrong. if you do, you should get him to master your stuff when your done with it to make it sound more presentable. I'd hate to think some people were put off this by the lo-fi-ness.
however, the TWO people who voted for me make me feel warm and fuzzy inside 
thanks!
)
