Cheese Grating 101 (Prep School Reviews)

[erik]

snare
snare
snaresnaresnare
snaresnaresnaresnare

PREP SCHOOL

[Sober]

OI!

[johnny_cochy]

deshead, seriously, pure gold, can this guy make a bad song?

[phatcactus]

I've never heard Luke Henley before.
I. think. I. am. in. looove.

[jack]

the songfight orchestra
he. love the flangy intro. i dig the sabbath sort of feel to it. and you pack alot in a minute. it all sounds very uh....orchestral.

sober irishman
friggin excellent mah man. excellent. this is dope yo.

deshead
pretty catchy tune. nice simple arrangement with great production. i wish the vocals were a bit more up in the mix. everything is played so very tight. very nice little lead too. great job. this would be an excellent song to play out as guy and guitar. reminds me a bit of david wilcox.

luke henley
this does nothing for me but make me want to skip it.

points for trying
the mix is all over the place. especially the drum programming. the guitar could definitely come up and maybe less reverb on the vox. i like the woos. i'm a huge sucka for woos. this song has buttload of potential i think but needs some better mixing. your name says it all.

the special relatives
hm. random drum loops and samples not lined up to any sort of beat combined with spoken word makes my baby jesus cry. thankfully short.

dopant
you are the new America. actually, you are Neil Young and the new America.

andre was here at midnight
i have a soft spot for your stuff dre. i like the harmonica. this is actually pretty cool and gets better as it chugs along. i still can't understand a single word your singing but you get a nice groove going, and the mix is pretty good for what you're going for. good job.

robot tarzan
boy aren't sequencers fun? and wow, i can reverse tracks too! cool! and panning! wow! panning!

titans of elektoclash
he. this is pretty good. is this mouth reliant? very well done.

marty conlan quartet
i'm really amazed that i can hear that eggshaker through that crap assed guitar tone.

trihsetats
mmmmmm. backwards state shirt. tastes just as good both ways. you really know how to mine that daehoidar sound.

max the cat
good lord, now max the cat has gone nerdcore. man, this is awesome. watch out FAL. there's a new sherrif in town and his name is max the cat.

interesting fight. most excellent offerings from sober, deshead, titans, state shirt, and max the cat. titans gets bumped for 80's casiocore genre bias. deshead gets bumped for originality. so it's between state shirt, sober, and max the cat. max, awesome submission and possible winner but you get bumped by my nerdcore genre bias. so it's between state and sober. i think i've gotta vote for sober for sheer originality and excellent production. it might not be to everyone's taste but it's very worthy of a win and my vote. good job sober.

oh...and great job leaf! loved it!!!!

[WeaselSlayer]

I've never heard Luke Henley before.
I. think. I. am. in. looove.

Right back atcha, Tiger. In your face everyone, someone loves me!

Love,
Luke

[Sober]

...i think i've gotta vote for sober...

And so it begins...

Thanks Jack!

I'll review as soon as I have some time. Tuesday evening sounds good to me. But I'll start listening now as I make some Ramen before I go to bed.

[starfinger]

sober, this is definitely the best irish song you've done. really awesome.

-craig

[stateshirt]

Aw shit, Sober wins.

[DELETED]

DELETED

[jack]

he. i'll bet you fooled more than a few. until that wall-o-los-fucking-angstulous-sound kicked in after the first 5 seconds or so. then there should be no doubt as to who the culprit was.

if it wasn't for sober's take on the chieftains, you'd have my vote.

d00d...cracked up at the new avatar.

[jb]

This is my favorite State Shirt song since Hotel.

[phatcactus]

the special relatives
hm. random drum loops and samples not lined up to any sort of beat combined with spoken word makes my baby jesus cry. thankfully short.

Hey, dammit, I thought the words lined up with the music perfectly, which is why I didn't re-record them (I could never pull that off twice, randomly) even though they were way more bitter than I was expecting.

BABY JESUS JUST DOESN'T UNDERSTAND MY ART!

:'( :'( :'(

[bortwein]

This is my favorite State Shirt song since Hotel.

I second that thought. ... and you didn't fool me either with the backwards name. The only thing you did get me fearing was that it could be a spoof of you by another musician using the backwards name.

[deshead]

deshead, seriously, pure gold, can this guy make a bad song?

Thanks very much! I assure you, though, the bad songs they are legion.


This fight has 4 of the best tracks I've ever heard on SF. I mean, there's not even a fight for 2nd place. I still think Sober has it locked up, but Max The Cat's song is ... sublime.

Andre Was Here at Midnight: This gets better the more I listen to it. I wish the vocals were louder, though. I can make out all the lyrics after a few listens, but I'd like it that much more if they were clearer. It might sound better if things were panned out in the stereo field. Was everything recorded in a single pass through a single mic? It sounds like there's too much 'room' on the vocals, but you may not have had a choice.

Deshead: Heh, I was so proud of myself for the little Celtic guitar riff. Then I heard Sober's track. Ow!

Dopant: Solid song overall, especially the performance. Nice and tight. I'd like to hear the drums a lot louder, and the guitar is doing some phasing thing I can't put my finger on. Did you double it?

Luke Henley: That mic distortion is harsh. Here's a free compression plugin with presets that'll get you the sound you want without endangering your listeners. I think the rest of the song is interesting, but I can't tell for sure 'cause my ears are bleeding.

The Marty Conlon Quartet: Seriously: when you listen to this yourself, does it sound good? I'd like to know what setup you use, 'cause all I hear is guitar mud and "ts-ts-ts-ts-ts-ts-ts."

Max the Cat: Man ... Maybe I'm a sucker for quality nerd core, but this is just amazing. The voice is perfect. (Who is it?)

Points for Trying: Good song, but this sounds like the first mix. Things I'd do to clean it up: the guitar needs way more bottom end. The reverb/delay on your voice is washing it out. Either lose the effect, or increase the pre-delay so your vocals come through clean at first. Also, the kick and snare should be the loudest thing in the mix. A tip/trick: listen to similar-sounding songs (Pixies come to mind for some reason) at a really low volume, and all you'll hear is the kick, snare, and vocals. Now try the same with your mix.

Robot Tarzan: Don't you mean Xob-yot?

The Sober Irishman: Jaw-dropping, vote-getting goodness.

SFO: Best segment yet.

The Special Relatives: Good length, bad digital clipping. The bass sound that starts in the 2nd bar is WAY too loud.

Titans of Electo-Clash: Any other fight, you'd have killed with this. Fantastic.

Trihs Etats: This has your trademark flawless production, and like Jack said would have gotten my vote most other weeks. One thing, though: the vocals lack definition. Is this by design? I mean, it suits the style, but at the same time there are lyrics, so shouldn't I be able to make them out?

[A_Likely_Mike]

Dopant: Solid song overall, especially the performance. Nice and tight. I'd like to hear the drums a lot louder, and the guitar is doing some phasing thing I can't put my finger on. Did you double it?

hey thanks , It was a case that I recorded everything the Saturday, mixed the Sunday and thought I had a reasonable mix - then come Monday at work, listening on my ipod I realised the vocals were ridiculously loud and the guitar was too loud too, making the drums sound way quiet. Since after dropping the vox and guitar way down and gating the snare and kick mics to make the drums sound clearer it sounds much better, but alas too late haha. I think the guitar things you're hearing is that I had a SM57 on the cab grille and a condensor backed off a ways for natural room verb that I think I left too high in the mix. Definitely a learning experience, thanks for the feedback.

For some reason I can't open the songfight site on my pc at home so I'll bring my headphones into work tomorrow to review.

[deshead]

I think the guitar things you're hearing is that I had a SM57 on the cab grille and a condensor backed off a ways for natural room verb that I think I left too high in the mix.

The tracks may be out of phase, too, which can thin the sound. Apologies if you know this stuff already, but here's a good overview of the mic technique you're using, with a discussion on how to eliminate phasing. (You can also do it after the fact by nudging the waveforms in software.)

[Southwest_Statistic]

Andre Was Here At Midnight - Unreviewable.

Deshead - Not my style. Guitar panning is messing with my equilibrium.

Dopant - Somebody has a real drum kit. Awesome. Best track so far.

Likehenley - Unreviewable.

Marty Conlon Quartet - Guitar sounds direct-lined into the computer (not good). Can't hear a word your singing.

Max The Cat - Yo pimp. Not feelin it g-dawg.

Points for Trying - You get points for trying.

Robot Tarzan - Morf elots uoy gnos tahw tuo gnirugif fo ssecorp gnol-ruoh eht hguorht reffus em gnikam rof tnemyap sa sdrawkcab siht gnidaer emit ruoy etsaw ot uoy tnaw yllaer I esuaceb s'ti. Gnos eht etah I fi gnol os weiver siht gnikam ma I yhw rednow thgim uoy. Evitaercnu yllatot osla s'ti, (noissimrep tuohtiw kcart a morf selpmas koot uoy esuaceb) wal thgirypoc fo noitaloiv latot ni gnos ruoy si ylno ton. Ti desrever dna "yticadua" ni ti denepo ,evirddrah ym ot ti devas I. Thgir s'taht, haey. "Enaj & Nazrat" deman gnos onhcet yag gnikaerf emos desrever uoy. Yay, odedpoohw. Edud drah os skcus gnos ruoY. Ereh deliaf noissimbus thgifgnos a ekam ot troffe ruoy dab woh sserpxe tonnac sdrow.

Sober Irishman - This is very very good. How many people are playing in this track?

Songfight Orchestra - Ummmmmmm.

Special Relatives - Unreviewable.

Titans of Elektroclash - No your not.

Trihs Etats - There is way way way too much going on here.

Sorry for being a smartass. Don't feel like being p.c. tonight.

[AcidicJew]

Trihs Etats - I had a lot of trouble 'connecting' with this song. Its clearly good in a lot of ways, but not for me. I enjoyed the "Ring my Bell'esque" "Boi!" through out the tune. Third listen and its growing on me.. maybe with more up front vocals this would have grabbed me sooner. Still good.

Andre Was Here at Midnight - This is a charming mess. I will listen to this outside of songfight and my friends and family will grow to hate me.

Deshead - Intro sans vocals was reminded me of some old TV commercial... you know where the family grows and gets old in front of the tv. RCA or JVC or something.. anyhoo... This was a fun rootsy tune. I wish the prep school connection was clearer, but reading the lyrics its clearly there and I'm just thick.

Max the Cat - You got across what I was attempting to say in our tune WAY better. Wouldn't listen to this outside of songfight, cause of genre bias, but this is funny and good. Loved the "You wanna 'Head Start Program'?" hilarious, true, and frightening.

Points for Trying - Us... usually PFT is all me doing everything.. but I've been trying to collaborate more. Maybe with collaboration I could at least spread the blame around more. Despite collaborating, all the problems with this tune are still all me. I am a lazy assed mixer.. and I gotta get me some learning and take more time with this stuff. I haven't even met someone who has went to prep school so any bitterness in the song probably comes across as very false, or at least sensationalized.

Luke Henley - A little bit of consistency might have gone a long way to making this more palatable to me, but it is unlikely you are concerned with people with dull tastes like mine. Not my thing.

Songfight Orchestra - What a tease...so short ... when will this rock opera be coming to my town?

The Special Relatives - Hmmm a mess like Andre's, but not charming me. I'm sure it'll be someone else's cuppa.

Robot Tarzan - I stopped listening.. that I started to listen to it backwards.. then I got bored and moved on to the next song.

The Sober Irishman - When you said "Faster" MY heart rate increased. Good work.

Dopant - Couldn't get past the out of tune vocals.. maybe a stronger song hidden there?

Titans of Electo-Clash - I think some kind of extra "processing" could have been done to the lower vocals and this would be a better tune.. and an ending would have been nice.

The Marty Conlon Quartet - Wow this is muddy on my headphones.. I can't hear shit, but the changes.

- Acidic

[Sober]

How many people are playing in this track?

One.

[stateshirt]

How many people are playing in this track?

One.

One take, no overdubs.

[Sober]

Andre Was Here at Midnight: I can't really constructively review this, because I don't think you're actually shooting for anything above mediocrity. Congratulations.

Deshead: I can't really constructively review thies, either, but only because it's practically flawless. I will ask how you got that acoustic guitar tone. Mine sucks. Oh, and I will say that your snare is basically inaudible in all part except the 'nothing wrong being pushed around' part. Also, while the solo is really neat, some variation would be cool. The pick sweep percussion is a super cool touch. Good stuff.

Dopant: Too much hat. Well, there are a lot of basic mix problems. The chorus is really lame. Write for your register - that means, if you can't sing high notes well, don't write songs that have lots of high notes. I'm guilty of this as well. This is a negative review, but overall it ain't that bad. Pack it up and carry on.

Luke Henley: If yoy knew a damn thing about mixing, this might have been hip in a Jello Biafra kind of way. Except Jello isn't all that hip anymore. This is god awful.

Marty Conlon Quartet: Guitar tone is awful, vocals are way too low, shitty drum machine beat with no variation. Did you listen to this before you emailed it off? Jesus Christ.

Max the Cat: I think the beat could have been more gangsta, to accent the ridiculousness of the track. The hook doesn't really have anything. Your voice sounds like a text-to-speech. If MC Hawking were ever to attempt a live performance, you'd have to be the guy to do it. If it weren't for your voice, this track would be a miserable failure. It's neat.

Points for Trying: Flange doesn't hide an average vocal performance. Yelling does, though. The drums are quite buried (except the hat, when it comes in), and the bass is sticking out. Needs work.

Robot Tarzan: My question is this: Did you even make the track that was reversed? My guess is no. This is fucking stupid.

The Sober Irishman (ME): I started this late Sunday night, and spent about 6 hours on it. New techniques in practice. Specifically, stacking parts. On the last repeat, there are four guitars and two banjos playing the same line. The bend in the second part of the reel thing was a fluke in an early take, and I liked it so much that I redid everything with the bend in there. The hardest thing about this track would be... getting the first instrument down on each speed. After that, each speed was cake. I had fun with this. I'd like to do more things like this.

Songfight Orchestra: Dear God, it's Erik with STUFF! Whoever did the backing, they did an excellent job. If The Misfits, Queen, and Guns n' Roses had an orgy, the outcome would be this. Too short. :'(

Special Relatives: This is dumb. You also cannot mix. At least your fuckaroudn track is shorter than the other guy's.

Titans of Elektoclash: The eq of your backing track is shaped like this: / And that's not good. This gets a big fat 'meh' from me.

Stateshirtbackwards: Sound quite a bit like CKY. Man, CKY rocks. You listen to them? They rock. This is really well done. I'll bet you have lots of intercourse.

Ok, I like Deshead, SFO, and SS(BW). Well, I like myself, too, but yeah. This fight, it is average. I think Erik's entry would have been a no-brainer winner if it were longer. Instead, it leaves me empty, like a mother who has lost her only son.