Do your part to fight against (The War On reviews)

[Lunkhead]

Write reviews today!

(Or rather, as soon as the songs go up.)

[hillbilly]

Charles & Pierre--Parts of this are sloppy but I love this style and mood. Very Loose but I can feel true talent. Who ever you are, good job.

Totally Teal-- very cute, good lyrics, great voice. Very easy to listen too.

Berkly ---Is kicking azz and taking names this time.

full reviews later, hill

[user]

Why choose vanilla when you could have rocky road? No hard feelings though, Jerk.

[glennny]

Not sure if I'll have time for reviews, but I have to say it's a strong fight! I loved them all!

I think my favorite that I'm not involved in (BSS and Kraken Lives) is the Pigfarmer Jr track! That rocks!

Dear BGM, Dairy is about my biggest enemy. I loved the music and production of your song but I am at odds with the lyrics and especially with Dairy.

[bgm]

Dear BGM, Dairy is about my biggest enemy. I loved the music and production of your song but I am at odds with the lyrics and especially with Dairy.

Heh, sorry. I actually have no opinion on dairy one way or the other.
That song is about 7 layers deep in sarcasm; don't know if it came through.
It's sort of a riff on when privileged people get all freaked out when their privilege is questioned and then say there's a "war on" whatever their thing is.

[glennny]

Sarcasm came through loud and clear.

I was joking with the character in your song on his level.

Awesome song BGM!

[bgm]

I was joking with the character in your song on his level.

Sorry, I'm an idiot.
And thanks!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Berkeley Social Scene
I liked the groove right from the start. The chorus is catchy. The mix is good. Stuck in my head after half a listen. Ooh, that break down reminds me of April Wine (slightly) which is a cool association for me... First song listened to and you've set the bar up there.

bgm
That banjo is a nice change of pace. I like the melody a lot. The smooth vocal delivery. I liked the arrangement but think the bass is a bit low in the mix. I want to hear it better (but then, maybe it works better this way.) I liked this but was ready to move on 20 seconds before the end. I don't know if it was just too much banjo this early in the morning or what...

Charles and Pierre Etienne
From the start it reminded me of a lost recording from the Band. Which is cool as hell in my opinion. The chorus works great, but the verse drags just a bit for me. And I'm not hearing the lyric as clearly as I'd like... mainly the delivery style, I think. Over five minutes, eh? It seemed longer than the others but it didn't seem five minutes to me. oh, and you're welcome.

Hillbilly
Cool vocal effect or rather, I like the multiple vocal lines. I like the guitar, the harp and the pace and sound. I'm not sure if I like those string sounds or not. I like the idea of them well enough. A few little nitpicks like the rhyme day/say'd keep this from being killer, but I still like it a lot.

Jerkatorium
I like the rhythm of the chorus and the vocal delivery. I liked the eloquent use of dipshit. A decent enough song stuck in a fight full of better songs, imo.

The Kraken Lives
Catchy chorus. I liked the vocals. Another decent song that just didn't quite hit the bar for me. Side note: The mix has some muddy bits (in the bass especially) that made it hard on my ears. I was feeling discomfort by the end. I am positive this has to do with my hearing as much as anything, but... ouch.

luntar
Smooth backing. I like the use of those sound bites for the vocal. I had a similar idea but discarded it and you made it work better than I ever would have. After listening I feel the music was well done but didn't stand out. I was definitely drawn to the "lyric" or message which should be the point in this type of song, but I feel like something was lacking.

Pigfarmer Jr
While not perfect, I'm finally happy with a songfight entry from start to finish (idea to writing to performance to mix.) I'm also happy that I could play a 7/4 chorus with a 4/4 metronome.

Totally Teal
Sweet sounding song that hit me completely wrong. After listening to my own song I'm in the mood to break a chair over someone's head rather than feel wistful about a world that doesn't exist. Completely not the songs fault. It's my mood, I know it is. That last bit of the vocal was perfect, though.

[hillbilly]

bgm---- is that a 6 string banjotar, I like the way you blend in the acoustic, vocals were good this time. Tell the bartender to put the next round on ? JB

luntar---are those backing traks?

[luntar]

Hi hillbilly,

The drums are loops. The bass and guitar were played.
And then there were all those out-of-context sound clips, sigh...

Thanks!

[hillbilly]

that is some good bass playing, very professional

[Jerkatorium]

Why choose vanilla when you could have rocky road? No hard feelings though, Jerk.

I agree. I strongly believe that Song Fight! should be free to display your 'rocky road' cover art, but I also thought that the Fightmaster should have alternate options if he decided not to for whatever reason, so I decided to slap together that Rod McKuen reference (which I imagine almost nobody under age 50 would recognize). Reminds me of the "Je Suis Charlie" review thread.

[hillbilly]

luntar---- that guitar sounds like a parker fly, or a tele, what is it

[Jerkatorium]

luntar: I'm a big Negativland fan from back in the day (saw them live a few times, including their amazing 29APR1990 show with Steve Fisk at the Backstage - I was underage at the time but still got in somehow), and this song reminds me of that stuff a little. Your song is a little dated at this point, but I still like it. The backing music is so well done that I can't tell how I should be commending you on it; If you composed and performed that backing music then "Wow that's amazing, love the wah," but if you didn't then "Hey good choice of background tune."

Pigfarmer Jr.: This song does that awful thing where the melody of the lyrics follows the chord progression note-for-note. And as much as I love slant rhymes, some of the slant rhymes in this song are distractingly bad. But I like this song despite all of that. It has a bit of that DK sneer. I like how the lyrics point fingers everywhere.

Totally Teal: Sweet as heck. Really well done. My only (invalid) criticism is that the auto-tune is occasionally very noticeable, but for me to even mention something like that is like the pot going up to the kettle and saying, "Hey, you're a pot."

Berkeley Social Scene: I don't know how you guys do it; this song sounds so confident and comfortable that I'd guess that you'd been performing it for years. Completely enjoyable and impressive, I love those fills (or whatever you call them, those instrumental bits before the bridge and at the very end of the song).

bgm: Great voice, great song, funny lyrics with a great deadpan delivery. If I were stretching to look for something to criticize, I'd say that I kinda wish the buildup (banjo, banjo+guitar, banjo+guitar+tambourine, etc) had gotten to the drums earlier, and I think that some bass would fill out the song a bit. But it sounds great as-is.

Charles and Pierre Etienne: Before the song started I noticed that it clocked in at 5:09 and I was thinking 'uh-oh', but thank you for making the song that long. I would have been perfectly happy if the song were triple that length. I like the whole attitude and feel of the song. The lyrics are great, but to be honest I'd probably love the song just as much if you sang the phone book with that same delivery.

The Kraken Lives: Good solid rock and roll, made more fun and interesting by the singer of the first verse and first chorus. Nice bridge, too.

Hillbilly: I like the harmonica.

Jerkatorium: The 'war on Christmas' was manufactured and publicized in the 1920s in a series of anti-Semitic pamphlets, then revived in the 1950s and 1960s by Nazi sympathizer and white supremacist Gerald L. K. Smith and also by the John Birch Society, and it has recently regained popularity on the strength of those same xenophobic and intolerant principles. It is simple good manners to be inclusive enough to extend wishes of a happy holiday season to everyone regardless of religion or lack thereof; making the recognition of one religion-specific holy day a prerequisite for a pleasant greeting is some bitter, ignorant douchebaggery. I'm not suggesting you can't wish someone a Merry Christmas, I'm just saying that getting offended when someone wishes you "Happy Holidays" is idiotic, disrespectful and small-minded.

[hillbilly]

luntar--- do you know John Disco.

even if I hate to I had to vote for Berkley and that dude Charles.

[glennny]

Negativeland!!!

Nice to hear a shout out for that old outfit. I saw them around 1990 as well. Good stuff!!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Pigfarmer Jr.: This song does that awful thing where the melody of the lyrics follows the chord progression note-for-note. And as much as I love slant rhymes, some of the slant rhymes in this song are distractingly bad. But I like this song despite all of that. It has a bit of that DK sneer. I like how the lyrics point fingers everywhere.

I had to go back and check but you're right. There are two (sales/hell wasn't necessarily intended to be a rhyme even though the rhyme scheme would dictate that it should be) and neither are proper rhymes slant or otherwise. But fuck it. I like the song as is.

[bgm]

hillbilly: yeah, it's a Gretsch banjitar.
Pigfarmer Jr. and Jerkatorium: Totally right about the bass. There was some in there, but I went back for a remix and bumped it up.

Thanks for the reviews, guys.

[ken]

I just noticed the artwork for this fight. Well done Jerkatorium!!!