Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by king_arthur »

I know, it's a terrible title. Bring on the songs...
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by glennny »

What if I like one BSS song and not the other? How do I know which one to vote for? ;)
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

Wow, just surfing quickly through the songs and there are a lot of really strong entries this week. The review process might be pretty boring this week 'cause everything sounds so good. Nice work everyone.
DT
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by jb »

Paco del Stinko
Rawhide! I like the slide stuff. Takes too long to get to the chorus, but once it comes it’s a sweet chorus (wish it had a new line in it or something tho).

Josh Millard
Welcome back, Josh! Your vacation is dripping all over this entry. Heh.

The Kraken Lives
Man, how did you get those vocals? This is fun. NO POINT IN FLYING OFF DA HANDLE.

Pepper Jane
Feels like we’re around a campfire and you just brought us all down and after you stopped singing we all just kind of sat there and stared into the coals with our thoughts. Who wants a s’more?

Berkeley Social Scene #2
It’s like the whole world is resting on the shoulders of this song, you guys.

Cookout
That snare is making the marbles roll around in my head. I suggest having the vocalist swap places with the drummer, so I can hear the words more clearly. Felt like it could’ve used another section.

King Arthur
That synth trumpet is badass. Your inner Randy Newman broke out and went stomping all over the grapes of this song, you dirty old man. I wanted to say I don’t like how much detail is in that bass tone, but I changed my mind. I like the tone (mostly). One of your better efforts IMO, KA!

Micah Sommersmith
Man, I started listening to your song and then got distracted by an article about Donald Trump and that might have influenced my opinion, so I’m sorry about that.

Dirge
Guitars are pretty sweet, and I like the chord progressions, but I think you’re let down by those vocals from every angle.

Gregg Boethin
When this started up it triggered an “early Heart” reaction. Though then the lyrics were more into like the late 90’s alt-rock scene maybe? Or like, “slack rock” of some kind? Anyway, the combo appeals to me. Might drop the guitars back a little when the vox are center stage. Automation is your pal.

<Something>Calico
I totally want to see the puppets of your musical production acting this out.

PiGPEN
At first I was like “Oh, it’s one of those” but I let it keep playing and all of a sudden the samples really started to gel and the lyrics are sweet. The musical stuff after the verse… meh. I do like the vocal sample at the end tho. Feel like this one’s a tease of a track that would burn the house down.

Berkeley Social Scene
This one is a nice little pop song. I mean, you do have that proggy interlude where YMMV, but in general, fun! Wish the stompy part hit a little harder. (NOTE: At time of listening, the fight shows BSS twice but only links to one song. Their first entry is available by removing the 2 from the file name.)

JB
That’s mine, of course, and it’s straight up inspired by that Peter Thiel article. I was totally lazy from so many perspectives on this, but I like the song in general.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

jb wrote:(NOTE: At time of listening, the fight shows BSS twice but only links to one song. Their first entry is available by removing the 2 from the file name.)
Thanks for the heads up, jb. It should be fixed now. I had to rewrite some of the PHP code in the index page, which was scary. Hopefully I didn't break anything! I tested out voting and it still seems to "work", although, there is still an issue with the fact that the way votes are recorded makes it impossible to vote specifically for one BSS song or the other. I would like to fix that but I am even more afraid of what kind of changes that would take. I think it's too big of an overhaul for me to attempt at this point.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

I'm amazed that after, what, 15 years or so, this is the first time an artist has had two submissions under the same name in one fight. I would have thought that happened already a bunch of times.
DT
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

It's actually happened twice before. BSS entered twice in "Starting a Witch Hunt":

http://sfjukebox.org/fights/starting_a_Witch_hunt

And fluffy entered the "So Aggravating" fight three times:

http://sfjukebox.org/fights/so_aggravating
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by king_arthur »

Well, the FAQ page does ask people NOT to submit multiple songs per fight. And there was one fight where I submitted one song as King Arthur and one song as outowerk ("Gonna Be Your Man") and there have probably been other times when one person/band has submitted multiple songs as different artists.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by PepperJane »

Yeah, I read that clause when I started this caper. Though when I've suggested the possibility some have cooed in support of the misdemeanour; and most point at the collab option as a way around, which is how Saltwinter Waltz and Pepper John came about :-D

You might be pleased to know this(next) week's entry is going to be so lightheartedly silly you might even sprout a grin or something, hopefully! (EDIT: Oops I forgot this was the review thread. Imminent.)
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by PepperJane »

<something> Calico: I thought about doing a concept album once where each song gives an overview of a body system. Also I aced Biology at school (I'm an agronomist, look it up), so I much appreciate the cute lesson thus will forgive the opera. For its purpose there isn't much to improve on, so I guess I have to vote for it!

Pepper/me: Vocals are trying too hard and these weren't the right words hence the obvious mispronunciations but this song took a lot out of me to pry it from my bones so it will stay with me, and get polished a bit more. I like it for its sad reality (didn't actually happen to me fyi, but I've had fears and the references are real)

BSS (just give me some of that): sounds like you had fun with this. Which is cool then I ask myself why DO we all do this?! But of course, we don't wanna live without it

Gregg Boethin: the lyrics in this are fantastic. Anyone who can put lines like "emos, goths and stoners" (and mean it as a criticism), and "gummy worms in their cupboards" deserves a vote from me. Though you make me feel old, since I'm probably from that generation but I've renounced them too :o

Josh Millard: cool, geography as well as biology in the same week AND same song. I got a giggle out of it

Cookout: Can you post the lyrics? I don't feel qualified to have an opinion on the songwriting from just listening. The great intro had me really interested, but was a bit long and the build later added nicely to the track

The Kraken Lives: haha kids shouting punk music. This is surprisingly just what I needed at 11:48pm on a Wednesday. Young blood sure will rise and take over :'D The riffs are fab and the squealing (child) is hilarious. Can't. Not. Vote.

Haha one last squeal. Gold.

Dirge: I really like it, the message, the feel. Dammit, I gotta vote for this many? Curious that you mention my "why do we do this" question. Almost creepy :-D

BSS (old blood sits on iron thrones): this appeals to me way more than your other entry this week, I'm digging it. It's deep and rolls along nicely for me

PiGPEN: Nice. I like musical theatre and orchestras, some clever lines

Paco del Stinko: I think this is my favourite from you I've heard. Even the vox seem smoother. I like the riffs and the feel. This works really well for me. Dammit I might be a country hick after all

JB: I think this might be my fave JB song too, even with the swears :-o seems appropriate given your subject matter.

King Arthur: man, this is a strong fight, and I hope you win. For the growl you throw in your voice; and that lead instrument and the keys and the bass and... it all just works with the story like it was meant to be

Micah Sommersmith: I reckon you can make the rhymes sit better in your lines. Great message tho, and enjoyed the multiple listens I gave this. Welcome back!

Who is the johndisk0 that posted lyrics? I can't recognise them in any tracks, did it get missed?

(I voted for 9 songs :-o It seems I'm compensating for not being a good sharer as an only child for my first decade)
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by MicahSommer »

<Something>Calico - Fun, and certainly informative. I was singing along to the chorus by the end, and I enjoyed the wordplay in the spoken section. My main complaint is that the single instrument is panned 100% to one channel - on headphones it gets fatiguing.

Berkeley Social Scene - “Young blood, just give me some of that.” Nice little post-punk tune - I like the lead singer’s faint whiff of Craig Finn, as well as the breakdown midway through. In general it all felt a little too loose for me - the instruments weren’t in perfect time and didn’t quite gel.

Berkeley Social Scene - The war one. This is almost the lyrical direction I went in. Good tune, I feel like it could have benefited from a deeper-voiced singer. I like the fake-out at the end.

Cookout - That is a very loud snare, and very very quiet vocals. I could make out very little of the lyrics. Otherwise I like the sort of chill, sort of mysterious vibe. Fix the mix and the timing issues with the drums, and you’ve got yourself a good track.

Dirge - Great lyrics - especially the way you turn the question “Why?” around on the asker. Great guitar solo after the first chorus too. I don’t think the turn metal-ward in the chorus works quite as well as it should - the intensity isn’t quite there, in the voice or the drums or the guitar, so the added layers actually make it sound thinner, somehow.

Gregg Boethin - Clever, well-performed and well-produced. It struck me as just a little bit too mean-spirited (clearly, since my song took the generational-warfare approach from the opposite side).

JB - Fun tune. The vocals are a little buried sometimes which is a shame because the vocal performance and the lyrics are both great.

Josh Millard - I love this song. A very clever and unexpected take on the title, great vocals, nice ukulele (appropriate for a song presumably set in the Pacific Ocean), and at a bare minute long, it demands repeated listening!

King Arthur - Great New-Orleans style tune. Lovely instrumental melody, though I question whether the cheese-tastic synth brass was the best sound for it.

The Kraken Lives - A clever idea, but that doesn’t mean I want to listen to it again.

Micah Sommersmith - I don’t think cross-generational sniping is actually useful or even particularly interesting, but it was the approach that seemed to be working so I went for it. I would have tried a few more takes of the rap verse but I was holding a two-month old at the time.

Paco del Stinko - Great ominous western sound. Nice riffs, well produced. No blazing Paco solo though, which left me disappointed. Otherwise my only complaint is the lack of lyrical density - I got impatient waiting for each next line to come.

Pepper Jane - This is a really affecting song. “I want you to know wherever you are / There's another answer out there that I'm still looking for” just about sums it up perfectly for those of us who choose to stay in this stupid world.

PiGPEN - Great weird apocalyptic atmosphere, great use of samples, great rap. Two complaints: it’s too short - I would have loved another verse (though I myself don’t have a leg to stand on here…) and some of the instruments were too fake-sounding. Otherwise this is an excellent track.

AWARDS
Best Rhyme - Gregg Boethin for “suburbs / cupboards”
Illest Flow - PiGPEN
Best Guitar Solo - Dirge
Most Educational - <something>Calico
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by glennny »

Young Blood

I was hoping someone would do a song about Silvester Scott as a youngster.

BSS (Give me some of that)- I love the drums on this one, and the drum breakdown bit. It’s nice to have a driving song in our repertoire. One of Ken’s faster tempos (170bpm). I walked in to this session with Lunkhead and Ken jamming the heart of this song, it was exciting.

BSS (Old Bones)- This was a fun writing session. I was throwing riffs against the Martin and Lunkhead wall. Many riffs were rejected, these riffs stuck. I think the chorus is brilliant, mostly due to how Lunkhead suggested arranging the chords.

Cookout- Great beat, I can’t hear anything else.

Dirge- Nice! Great bluesy feel on this guy! 96 seconds is too long to get to the chorus. Don’t bore us, get to the chorus! (-Tom Petty). Any record exec would tell you to try and hit that chorus by the 60 second mark. Yeah, Pre-chorus is either 2 times too long or 4 times too long. Great elements going on.

Greg Boethin- This is great. I’ve been listening to Uncle Tupelo and the first Son Volt album “Trace” a lot lately. This song definitely feels more Jay Farrar than Jeff Tweedy. The lead guitar works most of the time, but not all of the time for me. Great vocals, cool song. Gets a vote. I’d like to hear the lead guitar redone, and I think it needs an ending, but I really enjoyed it anyway.

JB- Love it! There’s something very Morrissey about this song. I’m a big Smiths fan, this is one of my favorites you’ve ever done.

Josh Millard- Great vocals! Nice small song. I’m not sure I buy this was meant for just a Uke. Sounds like a great demo. I really want to hear bass and drums and guitar with this.

King Arthur- Somebody mentioned Randy Newman. That’s spot on. I’m not a fan of the synth horn sound, but I like the melody. I find the lyrics to be a little too obvious. I find myself knowing the 2nd half of every stanza on the 1st listen. I really like the bass tone, drums work well too. Guitar is nice, vocals are great!

The Kraken Lives-
Django (my 9 year old son) has been listening to Slayer lately. Hence the growling. I’m doing my best Minutemen-ish poppy punk. My buddy Jay wrote most of the lyrics. Jay and Hillary Clinton. “Basket of Deplorables” is a ridiculous statement. I told him to get on the other side of the garage for the blood curdling Rob Halford metal screams (for vengeance). Anyway, this song cracks me up, we had lots of fun making it. I hope to do a video sometime soon, but I still have to finish the Praying Mantis BSS video.

Micah Sommersmith- This is really nice. I’m loving the tune until the rapping starts. Genre bias. I really don’t care for the rap stuff. There are exceptions, but I find the song part to be really strong and the rap part to be mediocre. Cool chorus.

Paco del Stinko- Excellent! I wish there was some pedal steel in there too. Love the backing vocals.

Pepper Jane- Awesome demo! I don’t think it holds up as a GnG. This is begging for a backup band. The dynamics are beautiful. The vocals are amazing. The guitar is pretty good. This would be a fun one to orchestrate and flush out. Good song!

PigPen- This is wild, and rather interesting.

Something Calico- Steeped in Novelty. This is great. I think the vocals are too loud in the mix, but they are good and the lyric are fun. The music reminds me of the solo section to Light My Fire. The delivery of the chorus is funny, but I don’t find it as strong as the verses

Votes goto: BSS, BSS, TKL, JB, PDS, and Greg
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Berkeley Social Scene (1) - Galloping right out of the gates with only occasional stumbles, this New Wave-ish tune is great fun. I don't know why you guys couldn't get Rod Stewart to sing it though. (wink) It always takes me a moment to get into the bridge though. Don't know why.

Berkeley Social Scene (2)
- I don't like this one as much as the other, although it's not bad by any means. Sloppier, perhaps. Yeah, coming from me, I know. Still, I do enjoy the dark vibe here that you guys don't seem to explore as often and I am pleased to hear a flatted fifth (I think) chord in there. Devil horns!

Cookout
- Yeah, mix definitely undersells the tune here. I like the moody dark atmosphere, but am struggling to grab on to what the song is about due to the lopsided presentation. Nice voice, good guitarage, drums could be tighter. I hear a drone in there too, that works well, but don't know if it's intentional or a recording artifact.

Dirge
- I can not support the whole self-cutting thing. I understand the supposed reasons behind it but, no. Good angle though. Anyway, totally digging the bluesy guitar here. Great feel. The dynamics of the song allow your vocals to express very well. I also like the near secret key work, like a pad at times. Doesn't feel as long as five minutes, good work.

Gregg Boethin - Very distinctively your sound, great on that. Chunky guitars on top, strumming acoustic fits in right where it should. The nearly asleep at times vocal delivery ( mean as a compliment somehow) is fitting and leads the song along. My favorite part is the chord change-up at the end, it feels refreshing after the pleasant grind of the song.

JB - I think this reflects the live band action that you've been doing for however long now. Loud, rumble tumble drums, blasting guitars, but still has nice JB vocals and hooks. The whoa-oh-oh is a tasty hook that pleases when it pops up. Very good, and punkish lyrics. At least in attitude. Call Bob Mould, he wants his guitars back.

Josh Millard
- Loose, but I reckon that keeps it organic too. The vocalists work well together. I like the uke here, unlike someone ele's remarks. An acoustic guitar would have been just as good though. Polish this one up, add another verse or two, get your pal and head on down to open mic night. I'd raise a pint to that easlily. And perhaps repeatedly.

King Arthur - Slinky with a hint of sleaze. Horn patch, I just looked at them as synth sounds so there's that. Maybe that's an approach to take though. Make them sound like synths instead of horns. Anyway, I like the slide into the chorus each time it comes and the bridge moves around quickly in a pleasant direction. Clever lyrics, you're on a roll so please keep on truckin'.

The Kraken Lives - Heh. Minute Man-ish indeed. Lyrics, manic approach. But you need to turn the treble all the way up, mid and bass off for your lead sound. Yeah, ouch. What will 'lil Django become, inspired by Slayer so young. Well rounded, that's what. Manic fun, good tune. Re-record this in several years when his voice drops.

Micah Sommersmith
- I like this more after each listen. The chorus is most excellent. I guess that I am a Gen Xer, by label, and would have to pick that side in a fight if had to for some reason. But ya know, I point at Boomers for becoming hypocrites after all their peace and love shit of the 60s, and now running Exxon, arms manufacturing, Wall Street etc. On it goes, each generation pointing fingers at the next and last. Still...great chorus!

Paco del Stinko
- I wanted a Westernish sound and think it came out ok. Tried to leave the lyrics open to interpretation as to just who Young Blood is: Indian, ghost, gunslinger...

Pepper Jane
- Well. You certainly did what you set out to do. Good job. I hope you've being empathetic, not auto-narrative. I look at this against Dirge's song, and see this as someone who really wants out vs. someone who might be trendy or posturing. Deep dive into the dark, maybe leave this off of your setlist at your next gig. Hmm. Or not. Love the mother at the mall line. This hits hard and yeah, keeping the ambient sounds was wise. Excellent.

PiGPEN
- Glad to have you back. Grown up work, man. This is a very impressive production although I wish the lyrics were posted to help clarify in my head. Nutty drums, scary apocalyptic vibe. Long enough, but another verse or two wouldn't have hurt. Keep'em coming.

<Something>Calico
- From the TMBG science album. Oh, man, I just heard a smashing band come in right before the spoken bridge. That would've kicked ass. At times reminds me of that SNL skit where Will Ferrel and whoever played those corny school songs. Not a dis, this is well done and fun, but would like a change (like the rock I heard) somewhere. And I know we all know who's singing just can't place my fnger on it...
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by joshmillard »

Welcome back, Josh! Your vacation is dripping all over this entry. Heh.

Indeed! And thanks, I figured (*checks*) ...six years was a healthy break. Wanted to pop in briefly and say hi and thanks for the feedback, have managed to be so busy this last week and change that I'm gonna be late being able to substantially listen to everybody's stuff but it's nice to be embracing the whole deadline kick-in-the-pants thing again.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

Berkeley Social Scene #1 (Gimme Some) - I would like the bass and drums to be bigger, louder, more in my face. This song has a real nice late-80s alt-rock/post-punk vibe, but, you know, BSS-style. I like the bridge in the middle. Great vocal performance, too! This is the kind of music I used to go see at clubs in my 20s; I'd sit at the back tapping my foot, trying to predict the timing of the kick, sipping my beer. VOTE

Berkeley Socail Scene #2 - The opening chords and tom hits had me thinking you guys were playing a Velvet Revolver song. I'm not sure about this one. The verses are kind of upbeat, staccato, but the chorus is really dark and morose sounding, musically, not just lyrically. It's like each part was written by a different performer and you guys just decided to butt them together. And that chorus riff needs to be played by a metal band. The solo is completely awesome. If the chorus was somehow different, I'd vote. Maybe it'll grow on me.

Cookout - I'm not sure what was trying to be accomplished here. Either functional recording abilities or time/focus constraints seem to ruin this one. It sounds like the drums are somehow echoing... Like, the singer was listening to the track through monitors with serious latency - they echo but not in time to anything. I'd be curious to hear how this was recorded and mixed. Sounds like something my buddy did with his boombox when he was 14.

Dirge - I'm really happy with this. In piecing the song together in my head and on paper, I knew I was going to need more tracks than the 424 could reasonably offer, so I re-graduated myself back to my 488; I really love that machine. Paco heard the keys - yes, they are there as a pad. I think they're nothing more than root and 5th on whatever chord is being played but I like the texture they add. Micah mentions the chorus guitars sucking the life from the song; I agree. I don't know why I didn't stick with the same emulated tone and simply add distortion; the amp I dialed in for the chorus just doesn't have the same "body" as the snappy one for the verses. Easily fixable once this moves to the Pro Tools machine. JB said the vocals let me down from every angle. Hahaha, I think this is my best vocal performance, like, EVER. Maybe that shows this song was strong enough that it demanded a great vocal performance. At least that's what I'll say to the judge. I could work on the phrasing on a number of the lines as some of them are pretty awkward. I like how I blended the feedback-y distorted guitar into the quiet before the choruses. Okay, enough patting myself on the back. I did say to a co-worker this is the closest to a John Mayer song I'll ever write. (Disclosure: I've never even thought about thinking about cutting, but I was involved with a girl once who did, albeit years before we met. The psychology behind it is fascinating to me, I hope I captured a little of it in the lyrics. Also, the turn of pronoun in the second chorus is meant to point out how close some of us are to the edge.) VOTE

Gregg Boethin - This is like a punkier Pavement. But the guitar riff is the slightest bit C&W, so yeah, there's a lot of differing things going on but I think they all really come together well. Nice work.

JB - High-brow stoner rock? The guitar work is really nice, but I feel like there's a little something missing from the production. Maybe a little more sparkle on the guitars would do it.

Josh Millard - In and out, says what it says and moves on. I've always thought it takes more guts to write a 1 minute song than it does a 10 minute tune. The vocals work really well together! Can you elaborate a little on how you achieve two distinct singing voices? I'd love to hear tips. VOTE

King Arthur - While not nearly as good as your "Hitched" submission, this one is really good, too. What's going on in King Arthur land lately? With a real backing band, this would be a fantastic blues tune. Good vocal performance; someone already mentioned Randy Newman. I really want a searing guitar solo at 2:20, or at least a horn solo. Actually, I want a horn solo. Think "Us and Them" from Dark Side. That would have been divine. VOTE

The Krakken Lives - Glennny, I've just always had a hard time with comedic metal. Anthrax was always a favorite, but my favorite records of theirs were their "serious" ones, Persistence of Time and Sound of White Noise. Also, Macabre's Dahmer album is like, the funniest thing ever in metal, but as a rule, the genre is, like, too serious to mess around with, to me. So in spite of the fact that I am super impressed your son did the vox, I just can't get behind this one. Call me a metal snob. What's funny is I can hear some Tom Araya-ish phrasing in how he sings the verses, so yeah, he's definitely listening to Slayer. (Side note: I actually saw them just last week. While they're down two original members and all getting older, they still put on a great show.)

Micah Sommersmith - So your chorus is EXACTLY what I wanted to happen in my tune, but you know, couldn't. It pushes the intensity, the "body" of the song up a notch. This is a really nice tune. I like the interplay between singing and rapping. Most people can't do this very well; you just did. VOTE

Paco del Stinko - Best. Paco. Song. Ever? Wow. What a vocal performance. The backing "young blood"s really add a fancy pants element to the tune. I imagine you spent all your time working on the awesome guitars and drums and vocals and stuff. So yeah, all you needed was some killer guitar solo with a slide, maybe pedal steel, to make this perfect. I will agree with the person that said this felt a little too long, but still really good. VOTE

Pepper Jane - So yeah, I think this is your musical wheelhouse. Your voice has a really quiet intensity that can carry a whole tune, so when you keep the instrumentation to a minimum, it works best. That being said, I'd be curious to see how you work in a band setting. Reminds me, abstractly, of my favorite Jefferson Airplane tune, "Today". Kind of. So is this a song about the remnants of suicide? I've always felt sad for the people left behind but also feel very strongly that if you want to off yourself, it's your body, it's your life, it's ultimately your right to do so. I love the "shoes with no feet" line. I would have liked the last chords to have been arpeggiated starting at 3:46. VOTE

PiGPEN - This is a cool tune; it's spooky and I like the drum programming. It just needs another instrument to bring it all together; like a super distorted guitar with a shit-ton of harmonics or something.

<Something>Calico - This is just great in every way. The piano riff is great and fun and rollicking but still really allows the vocals to stand on their own. I agree with the person who said it needs to be panned much closer to center. I like the demonic sounding backing vocals - like Josh's backing vox, it's cool when the backing vocals are either done by someone different or done in a different way. Is the "donated donuts to the sparrow without marrow" question a biology joke? If so, I'd love for it to be explained. Like "Stairway to Heaven" this tune ends in a pun. That, if for no other reason, makes this awesome. LOLZ. VOTE

PepperJane asked about the JohnDisk0 lyrics? Was this the "stolen video game music" submission?
DT
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Jim of Seattle
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

If I don't call your song out here specifically, this is probably your review:
Songs I didn't review Ordinary. Decently-played instruments, recorded well-enough to get the song across, but sounds like countless thousands of other songs already in existence. Your vocals were somewhere between good enough and not-quite-good-enough, but they were not remarkable enough to make me either go Wow or Blecch. I recommend you try to do something that hasn't already been done many, many, many times.

Berkeley Social Scene - (The one that goes "Young bloooooooood" really high up in the chorus) There's some nice friction between the chords and the melody in the chorus when you sing the title. You guys are pretty tight.
Josh Millard Had to listen to this one about three times, trying to make heads or tails of it. Finally got it I think. I think the lyrics are a little too hard to understand, and aren't pointedly specific enough given the unusual subject matter. Also feels like it took you about half an hour.
KA In the three years it's taken me to finish my new album of 17 tracks, you've probably penned 106 songs. Attention to craft, everyone, behold!
Kraken Lives This one is fun. I can't understand what you're singing about, but the fun it sounds like you had in recording it comes through big time. Also, I like how you let the vocals take the stage among all the guitars. I know that's harder to do than it sounds. Nice job.
Micah Sommersmith I appreciate the wordplay in the rap verse, though it does suffer a bit from "I just bought this cool new rhyming dictionary" syndrome.
Paco del Stinko I think this is probably the best song in the fight, but it's kind of long, and gets a bit tiring with those long notes in the verse sitting on that single chord. Good balanced production though.
Peppr Jane Nice heartfelt performance, but I must say I don't like how you seem to be trying to make either cutting or suicide noble or cool. The song is so unrelentlessly bleak that you lost me, and it comes across a little self-pitying. It also seems to ramble a bit, and starts to sound like you're simply singing a page from your journal. I would really love to hear you do some covers though, because you are clearly very good.
PiGPEN Nifty! I enjoyed your arrangement a lot. I'm not crazy about the rap verse at all. It doesn't feel like it belongs in this song, and like Micah, it's too hung up on seeing how many sort-of-rhyming words you can squeeze into it in favor of clarifying your meaning. I have no idea what "the rumor is truth, he is magnificant" means, but I just love how the song ends on that.
<something> Calico Like the rappers in the fight, you are working too hard to be clever with the lyrics, and a lot of the rhymes feel forced. "plight/fright", "survival/rival", for example. "Sparrow without marrow" doesn't really make a lot of sense, it feels like a rhyme for rhyme sake and just made me go "huh?". There are certainly a bunch of clever things in there, but maybe you should have been satisfied with the best ones and cut the so-so ones. Your middle school teacher vocal performance mirrors the content really nicely! I don't think that octave leap in the title gets you much mileage. It's hard to sing and feels unnecessarily awkward.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

dirgetheband wrote: I've always felt sad for the people left behind but also feel very strongly that if you want to off yourself, it's your body, it's your life, it's ultimately your right to do so.
Sorry, I don't want to stir things up at all, but I just have to vehemently disagree with this sentiment. It's like saying "It's your right to ruin the lives of people who care about you." (It's like the motorcycle helmet law. It's there to protect the rider's loved ones for years to come, and the psyches of anyone else involved in the accident.)

Ruining other people's lives should be no one's "right". If you stab me in the arm, I can have you arrested for assault, but my arm will heal. But if I love you and you "off yourself", I will probably never heal, ever. How should that be considered a "right"? Is the child of a mother who commits suicide supposed to just accept it? The spouse? The parent? If the dearest person in the world to you killed themselves, is it in any way realistic to expect you to shrug it off as "their right"?

It just makes me angry when people try to use the "it's my life" argument for anything. It's NOT only your life. We share our lives with those closest to us. It's kind of a mutual agreement.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

Jim, I think you might be blurring the distinction between rights and what is right. I'm a Libertarian; we think that so long as your actions are not robbing someone else of their liberties, then you can pretty much do whatever the heck you please, including suicide.

Don't get me wrong, I think and have said that suicide is the single most selfish act a person can choose. But it's still their decision. Yes, it can be viewed as a bad decision. Yes, it often leaves a trail of carnage a country mile long. But also, yes, the survivors have to accept it. They can choose to pursue happiness where their deceased loved one did not.

Don't get me wrong, I'm still not advocating it. But I don't get to make the decisions for people that are not me.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by PiGPEN »

Paco Del Stinko wrote:I wish the lyrics were posted to help clarify in my head.
They were actually on the mp3 but here...
  • (((BLACK SMOKE))) from the bonfire
    (((WHITE SMOKE))) from the empire
    (((SPILT BLOOD))) feelng inspired
    (((YOUNG BLOOD))) build your empire

    saints turned fat from the eucharist
    ash of burnt fat for the hubris
    hubris has struck down kings
    burn away all of these useless things
    all the pretenders all the dissenters
    all turned to cinders in city centers
    and for the sinners, nest full of vipers
    we lead their souls to rest in the Tiber
    citizenry be free, pain begone
    praise my name, praise my name in song
    pray my reign is long like Kublai Khan
    the route im on across the rubicon
    turns man to myth, cardinal to prince
    pardon all my sins, holy father pray
    if you wish to live than it's best to give
    to Cesare what is Cesare's
Jim of Seattle wrote:I'm not crazy about the rap verse at all. It doesn't feel like it belongs in this song, and like Micah, it's too hung up on seeing how many sort-of-rhyming words you can squeeze into it
that's bullshit, i have another like 12 bars i wrote but didnt use because they were too fluffy.
the song is about Cesare Borgia if that helps.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by BoffoYux »

I thought I made the show toggle up last week and posted it, so there's a fun last minute Listening Party for you!

Young Blood preshow is happening now, the show starts at 9 pm est.


The fun part will be, My mac is actually upgrading and says it'll be finished in 32 minutes. So we might be singing things tonight on a different setup. Drop by and join the mayhem.
Something will play. It just might not be what you're expecting!

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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

PiGPEN: Thanks for posting. Good work and hope you're back in the game.

JoS: Good point about the long note/single chord. Thanks for the review!

Boffo: I work Monday nights, it's the Wednesday of my week, or Id be there. Sorry, but I will still do some spots for you.
Bringin' the stink since 2006.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by jb »

And thusly Jim of Seattle maintains the proud Song Fight tradition of review assholery. *golf clap*

JB
blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
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