New Directions (New Sex Reviews)

[Henrietta]

Show me what you got...

[jack]

the hostage might get mad at me

[thehipcola]

redcar would like to apologize for the huge demand in downloading it's New Sex track causing the server failure experienced this morning.

(ahem...)


ok, maybe not....

[DELETED]

DELETED

[Kapitano]

<b>Big Mountain Fudge Cake</b>
[Insert joke about 30 second sex]

Like a lot of carnal experience, there's no buildup and you're just getting into it when it's suddenly over. All very competent, but hardly worth taking someone out on a date for. Oh, and I'm a feeling we've met and done this before, but I can't remember who or where.

<b>The Glatex Love</b>
Good band name, Down and dirty funk, with an impressive selection of samples. But...my mind kept wandering while this was on.

<b>Kapitano</b>
Me. With a large organ.

<b>King Arthur</b>
Good take on the title. What can I say? Nice full sound, well mixed and very well played, voice that fits the genre like a glove, lyrics witty but simple. I just find this kind of thing bland as hell.

<b>Midiots</b>
Not bad for bedroom techno. Good vocoder, but all the sounds are far too dry - could you plug in a reverb unit? Straightforward interpretation of title.

"We're Down With Gender"? Oh yes - you posted about it. Well hello boys, I'm Down With Ginger.

<b>Redcar</b>
I think we've found the winner. Dark, downtempo and noisy. It develops in a laconic way, so although there's buildup and a lot of variation, it gives the impression of just chugging away for over five minutes.

This isn't inappropriate to the genre, but it could be a minute shorter. There was some discussion recently about distorted vocals - this is how they should sound.

<b>Freudian Slip & J$</b>
Very nice cigarette-voiced female vocals that don't fit with the music. You need to be in just the right mood (and probably stoned) to enjoy this faintly arhythmic stuff - and I'm not.

[Leaf]

Big Mountain Fudge Cake...hmmm I liked the intro...where's the song? Well, it's cute. Sounds like a quickie though. GOOD
KapitantoYou are a warped puppy. Isn't this like the second gregorian influenced thing you've submitted to songfight man?? Needs a trim job at the end. Kinda creepy, but interesting. A GOOD.
Says Howard Sijac I'm a sucker for sexy female vocals...the music and lyrics are disjointed...giving it that abstract feel associated with Wrekdom...it has elements that interest me, but overall I'm not hooked in, and it just kinda falls apart. The parts all sound good, but together it lacks a cohesiveness... you get my drift. OK.
Glatex Love Funky, but stale sounds... as in the drums. Get's more intersting as it chugs along.. man I can't stand "real" drum samples.. cause they sound...fake. If those are real drums, (which they could be) then the tone is just not funky enough. The tune has some cute moments, but overall it's just not something... reminds me of Pompeii for some reason...hmmm the porno girl at the end was working for me. But that's cause I'm a pig. eh, I'll go with GOOD on this one.
The Midiots I'm digging the groove on this, the vocals are too dry sounding, and the whole "b-52's" vocal delivery doesn't really do it. This is my favourite so far, if the vocals were blended into the track better, and maybe toned down or done a bit different, I'd call this a contender... interesting that you pulled the downwithgender angle... you're not the only one to make that play in this fight! This is pretty cool I think... I give it a BETTER THAN GOOD, but not a contender.
King Arthur Good sound right off I think. I like your guitar playing. Nice bluesy-rock bar band vibe going on. Man, those toms sound like your in a early 80's funk band..too loud though. Nice groove and tone. This is my CONTENDER. Funny, there was a time when I just didn't groove on your tunes... I'm not sure if my attitude changed, or I'm just digging your new material more than what I heard before... there are things here I'd do different... drum sounds and some of your singing style drops out.. I'd love to hear more power and ease in your vocals.. but this is a CONTENDER.
Redcar I was in on this one.

Well...it's always harder to review tunes when I'm involved in the fight, cause I think the one I was in is the best...
If I exclude that one, then King Arthur takes it, followed by the Midiots...although from an objective point of view, the Redcar track IS the best in this particular fight, other than it's self-indulgent length... but PInV was having fun so....!!

I wish the Mountain crew had done something with a bit more substance too...

[creep]

This on is easy...Midiots made it interesting....but KINGARTHUR rules the day...good job, and my vote

[fluffy]

Listening to Songfight seems like more fun than working on a proof-of-concept for work. Though lately I totally know what Frank Zappa meant when he said that talking about music is like dancing about architecture.

I was also thinking about making a song about how it'd be really neat to be surgically changed into a hermaphrodite, but I couldn't come up with lyrics or music so, whatever.

Big Mountain Fudge - Nice and short, and yet it also tells a fairly complete story. I like the visuals of how her new sex is better than his old sex, and furthermore how his old sex has now been replaced by her new sex.

Glatex Love - Pretty good for high-energy gabber techno weirdness. Could have been a bit shorter, but it makes really good use of vocal processing. Maybe some more variation in the percussion would have been nice.

Kapitano - holy doom and gloom, Batman. Needs to go somewhere, possibly outside for a smoke break.

King Arthur - I keep on expecting this to turn into "Taking Care of Business." Someday I'd like to hear you try something other than generic MIDI patches... do you have any VSTi or ReWire mixing hosts? Or maybe just try banging on some pots and pans and twanging rubber bands or something.

Midiots - Please tell me it's not 2:45 of the same stuff. So I can call you a liar.

Redcar - This is great. I was afraid that at 5:34 long it would get boring, but I like how it actually changes and does interesting stuff. Great percussion, nice vocal treatments, infectious melody, perfect pacing, and it actually felt too *short*.

Howard Sijac - A bit abstract for me. Are you just using a Markov chain dissociator on your spam?

My vote definitely goes to Redcar.

[Freudian Slip]

REDCAR-.-Cool theme, Leaf. Loved the lyrics.Wow... clocking in at damned near five and a half minutes. Love the music , though... never even notice the time passing. And as always, love Pablo’s wrap around singing style. Keeper/Contender

KING ARTHUR-Loved the lyrics, fun listen. Money is the New Sex...guess that gives a whole new meaning to “blowing your wad” then, eh? Keeper/Contender.

KAPITANO- Hee... ever listen to “Pigorian Chant”? (Realeased in1997, thereabouts...Old MacDonald gets his religion on, yeah) Listening to the words...<shudders> Creeps me out just a bit, the chanting aspect makes it somehow “darker”, voyeuristic, outside looking in. “Fornication in church”, interesting tag.... keeper

BIG MOUNTAIN FUDGE CAKE-Thought there was a file error, as in... where’s the rest of it? Guess there’s not much to all this New Sex-- still, happy to know that it’s “better than the old sex” ...keeper(just cuz I Loved the scream)

GLATEX LOVE- A couple parts of this were “giggleworthy”... but overall it just didn’t hold my attention... “Oooh! Shiny...”

THE MIDIOTS-Yeah, I can imagine the video game to this one. <shudders> Not something I’d listen to again though.

(edit)
SEZ HOWARD SIJAC-J$ helped me out with the music for this...(prb'ly cuz I beg pretty. Asked him because I happen to enjoy his arrangement style.) I was originally going to go with a "grind" feel... Which I was pretty sure would be over the top-- even for me.
I revised the lyrics a couple of times to try to "fit" better, and it was me that slap pasted this puppy together-- So any suckage, mud, inconsistancies in the final mix are my fault. Did have fun making it though. Thanks for the comments so far.

Redcar definitely takes this one, hands down. (gee, there’s a shock... ) King Arthur was my second favorite.

[DELETED]

DELETED

[j$]

... I liked it.

I would hope so, as you were involved in the making of it.

J$

[fluffy]

Midiots - Please tell me it's not 2:45 of the same stuff. So I can call you a liar.

Did you listen to it? there are 15 seconds of silence at the end so its already only 2:30 of the same, if you count the parts where its not the same at all to being the same... I liked it.

I skipped around after I got fed up 45 seconds in. Which is really longer than I should have given it, but I was trying to write reviews, rather than simply listen for my pleasure.

[Jim of Seattle]

Favorites in blue

Big Mountain Fudge Cake
Uh, OK.

Glatex Love
Irritating. Kind of a disorganized list of pseudo-sexy talk over a fairly average rock beat.

Kapitano
I don't really understand this song, but that's ok. I sort of like it. Pretty simple. I think I was waiting for something else to happen. But what the hell, OK.

<font color=blue>King Arthur
"Money is the new sex". I love that. Did you make that up? I like the harmonies in the chorus. That dissonance works really well. And I like the off-balance length of the chorus. Great lyrics. One of my favorites of yours.</font>

Midiots
Very early Devo comes to mind. Kind of goes on too long. Funny that you worked "down with gender" in there. Kind of fun. Aims pretty low but doesn't miss its mark.

<font color=blue>redcar
Great production and performance as usual. I think maybe it's a little too long. I love the last minute, though. Very cool. Going to be hard to beat.</font>

Says Howard Sijac
Completely wigged out. Something about this appeals to me. It sounds like it's wigged out on purpose, and it's not full of irritating fuzz guitars or other unpleasantness. But I really can't get my head all the way around this song. It's fascinatingly bizarre. I'd vote for it if I were in a more rebellious mood.

[tonetripper]

Big Mountain Fudge Cake
Rockin', when played loud and short and sweet.

Glatex Love
Sample City with the funkified zaniness that it needs to accompany such a band name and although the lead female singer kinda cooks it gets a little repetitive after a while with no end coming near enough.

Kapitano
Church eeriness that is a little unnerving at times, especially the chord build near the end, that feels like it could be a theme song for Anton LaVey.

King Arthur
Best King Arthur yet for me with that blues political sense that gives me shivers.

Midiots
Copycat Devo song from the vault of material, never to be released and maybe you guys should wear nametags so that we could all know who you are.

redcar
Dedicated to DWG with love.

Says Howard Sijac
The disjointed nature of this intrigues me and has grown on me like a fine fungus that when eaten could never stop giving.

Big Mountain Fudge Cake got my vote for bringing the rock. *Sniff*

[Freudian Slip]

Says Howard Sijac
The disjointed nature of this intrigues me and has grown on me like a fine fungus that when eaten could never stop giving.

Oooh... dang and aint that just coated in oohey-gooey goodness or ...er... *something*
:::giggles::: Whee...and with this round of reviews, in some "intentionally wiggy", "fascinatingly bizarre" way-- I think I feel a "sig renovation" comin on...

[fluffy]

Okay, so am I the only one who hears BMFC's entry as "She's got a new sex, it's better than his old sex?"

[Freudian Slip]

Okay, so am I the only one who hears BMFC's entry as "She's got a new sex, it's better than his old sex?"

Nope, That's the same thing I got outta his 30 seconds of glory.
BTW--Not listening to "New Sex" for pleasure... I got me some glee outta *that* line, too. :::giggles:::[/i]

[jack]

big mountain fudge cake
too short

kapitano
kind of droney. but still pretty cool, in a gregorian sort of way.

says howard sijac
the singing is pretty good, but the whole mix doesn't sit well with me. all the backing stuff sounds compressed to the point where there's no seperation of the elements in the mix.

the midiots
pretty good midiocy. this might be the best i've heard from you guys.

redcar
i've always liked your stuff, both collectively and individually. i'd like to hear leaf a little louder. this has a really cool soundgarden feel to it. definitely, leaf needs to come up, or be less compressed. otherwise, this is absolutely fabulous. i love all the synthy stuff going on over that guitar riff. i will say maybe you should have ended at the fadeout. that would have been the perfect length. but great mix mr. hills and dales....

the glatex love
this is me. all the main vox are mine pitch shifted. i've been doing alot of remixing lately and this was sort of an extension of that trying to move outside the box. johnny cashpoint wrote most of the lyrics and added some very faint background harmonies (thanks j$). also, tom cruise did not stop by my house to record his part...

king arthur
king arthur is like comfort food for me. i always know what i'm getting. i dig it charles. it sounds like it could be a vince or bobby song (i know you know what i mean....). nice mix and production. i don't get the beef with your drum patches, i think they sound fine here. and as always, really good lyrics.

well, both redcar and king arthur are pretty deserving here. flip a coin. TT-vote for yourself goddammit! you earned it!

[Eric Y.]

ok i'm in a crappy mood and i'm just doing this to kill time until i'm tired enough to fall asleep, because i'm sick of being awake today. so don't expect me to say much nice about your songs. so there.

big mountain fudge cake - well, the band name is about as long as the whole song. doesn't sound bad, for what it is, though.

glatex love - way quieter than the last one, and way longer too. the music isn't bad overall but the vocal bits kind of lose my interest...

kapitano - the organ part sounds a touch too bright in spots for the style you seem to be aiming for, but mostly well done.

king arthur - nice creative slant on the title. some of the guitar parts and other bits kind of sound like they aren't quite lined up right, but well executed anyway.

midiots - i didn't hate it; musically you seem to be improving. the vocals were really pointless and far too repetitive though.

red car - man, i dunno what it was about this title that made nearly everyone go all blippy and beepy. this one was better done than most here -- the singing especially -- but i find myself having trouble really getting excited about it. although the ending is pretty cool.

jay harass dis cow - fabulous vocal work here. the music is really minimal, but interesting nonetheless.

anyway.. king arthur done pretty well. redcar too, and kapitano and sayshowardsijac are both representing genres not popularly seen around here but i pretty much dug both of them tonight. i doubt i'll remember to vote so i won't waste your time saying whom i'd vote for. have a good night.

[Gazelles]

Second set of reviews:
* indicates a keeper

Big Mountain Fudge Cake: Not too bad. Too bad it's far too short. This could've been really good. 2 and 3/4 stars.

Glatex Love: I like the music. The samples aren't too bad either but the song goes on too long with out too much of a change to really hold my attention. 2 and 3/4 stars.

Kapitano: The organ and vocals are really dry. Nothing really very substantial until the end. And by then it's too late. It isn't really that bad because the build up is really good. But the buildup is all there is. And it doesn't even really build up as much as it could. 3 stars.

King Arthur*: I really like your take on the title. This is classic King Arthur, you're kind of doing something a little different from you're usual, and you're doing it really well. Great job. 3 and 4/5 stars.

The Midiots*: My guilty pleasure of the weak. I like the second type of voice a lot. This title was really made for DWG. I definitely like this way more then I should. 3 and 1/3 stars.

Redcar*: So at the beginning I'm thinking 'OK this is nice but I can't really see where it's going.' By the end I'm thinking 'So this is where it's going and i'm really fucking glad it got there.' Man if you weren't in this fight I think King Arthur would've easily gotten his first win. But this is just absolutely superb. 4 and 1/4 stars.

Sez Howard SIJAC*: This is really weird. It doesn't seem like this should all fit together, but you totally pull it off. So many people try to be weird but they don't really put any effort into it. It's not arranged or composed well and they think people will like them because they're doing something different. You really do a good job though. I like how you're voice sounds like it's out of tune at first but if you listen closely you can hear that you really have a nice voice. I like this even better on a second listen. Really great job, I wouldn't expect my self to like this kind of song. 3 and 4/5 stars.

Top 3.
1. Redcar*
2. King Arthur*
2. Sez Howard SIJAC*

[thehipcola]

King Arthur
This is really well performed. Nice job. Genre bias prevents me
getting excited listening to it, but I can dig that you got skills. Nice mix, nice execution. The voice could use just a bit more sparkle. But otherwise this gets a solid: nice.

Says Howard Sijac
This is wacky. It's almost too disjointed, but there is something barely holding it together. It's like a track that was remixed. The vocals at times to belong to different music. That said, I respect the experimentation you cats undertook with this. I find the mix is sonically repressed, as in not spread wide enough around. The lows aren't low enough, highs not high enough. (me neither.. ) I like this. FS you have a great voice. This gets: nice as well, but with a dollop of originality. Good work.

Glatex Love
This is groovy. Nice work with vocal samples. I hear some ween in here, the nice funkywalking bass is fitting. The groove shifts are good n' tight. I find musically that it needsanother part. But it's a good listen as is. Nice work Shite! Your cock gets: respect. (umm...)

Big Mountain Fudge Cake
Wow. Great sounds! That is some nice recording going on there. Too short. That is all. Not long enough to rate.

redcar
I'm in this, and I dig it. Hats off to TT and Leaf for trying something different with me in writing this way, you guys kick ass.

The Midiots
Only because I really like Devo did I enjoy some of this. My only beef is that it's a little too much of the same thing. That's personal mind you, probably what you were trying to do. I also think it could have been recorded to sound better. So this gets: ok, but could be better.

Kapitano
It takes balls to go it alone with your super organ. I find the register you choose to sing this in is too low. But strangely it works. I prefer more rythmn to stuff, but sounds like youmade a concious decision to not have it here. I don't mind this, I'm glad it wasn't longer. This gets: neat.

Well this is a toughy. If BMFC had played longer, they'd have my vote. But I can't give it up for a shorty like that. I'll have to think about it today, vote tonight. King Arthur wielded his axe really well this week, but Glatex Love respects his organ, or wait...was that Kapitano? And Howard Says....

Thanks for the music and reviews everyone!

[HeuristicsInc]

freudian cash - sexy cabaret singer, heh. good way to start a "new sex" fight. the crashy drums in the distance are pretty cool, but i feel like i want some more rhythmic backing here. need drums!

glatex - this is jack? your remixfight experience must be rubbing off. i think it's a bit sampleheavy. but interesting.

kingart - yeah, the classic king arthur sound. good and fun. i enjoyed this, but not my favorite of yours.

redcar - i like the feel of this. the high pitched drummy click thing is distracting. maybe the vox should be up a bit? just so you know, every week i listen to all the songs together on random before listening for a vote, and your song was the one that stuck out to me the most (besides mine in the other fight). this might be a bit long, but i like it.

midiots - lead vox are too b-52s for my taste. i like the background vocoded ones. this is pretty good, but the lead vocals kill it for me. too goofy.

bmf - this is pretty cool. i like the sound of it, but just when i'm enjoying it, the thing ends. huh?

kapitano - think the lyrics suffer from the "blues problem" of repeating everything too much... neat organ.

1: f$, kingart, redcar
2: glatex, midiots, bmf, kapitano

yeah, redcar's still my favorite. there's my vote.
-bill