Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Chumpy
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Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Chumpy »

If writing your reviews takes longer than forty three hours, see your doctor immediately.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by glennny »

Forty-Three hours would be 43 hours.
Forty Three Hours seems like 120 hours to me. Three is an adjective for Hours and Forty is an Adjective for that. A number as an adjective is a multiplier.

That said, my song concerns 43 hours.
Phillipso, Older Brothers, Semolina Pilchards, Zipline , Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, The Odoriferous Valley, The Worldly Self Assurance, Berkeley Social Scene, Very Gentle Knives, Daddy Bop Swing Set, GUNS, The Kraken Lives, Cavedwellers
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Looks like the animated gif cover art worked. Yay! If your song didn't make it, your submission email got vaporized. I'm slightly more available to try to post missing/late entries this time around, unlike last time.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by glennny »

I hope to finish off my song and submit as a late entry. It's written, bass, drums and vocals recorded. Would you believe all I have left to do is throw down the guitar tracks?
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Chumpy »

The Pannacotta Army - I see what you meant about being unsure how well the genre would play with the SF audience. Those syncopated sounds definitely sound like reggae to me, which is a genre I struggle with. I was sold on this song by the chorus though, when that synth piano line intertwines with an analog piano and the vocals soar awash in glorious reverb. The production on this song is gorgeous. I dig the creative use of EQ automation on a narrowing/growing band pass filter on the instruments during the "I seem to drift" verse. The second chorus builds further with the addition of a rich round guitar sound.

Pepper Jane - Nice to hear you trying new things. I'm liking the synth sounds at the top, and the combination of the spoken telephone EQ'd vocals mixed with the clean sung vocals is a nice effect. I do have a complaint though, the telephone vocals are a bit loud and really cut through the mix in a harsh and fatiguing way.

Ross Durand - Nice way to tell a story using the title. This is a well recorded and performed G&G tune with interesting lines that held my attention. I especially liked the Call of Duty line. My personal bar for voting for a G&G song is high, and this gets there in terms of production, but not emotional content.

Shotpounder - Lyrics are understandable this time, and it has a nice thrashing intensity to it. At just over 30 seconds in length though it doesn't leave much of an impression or leave me wanting more.

Paco del Stinko - That organ has such a cool retro sound to it, nice choice, this is reminding me off a 60s superhero theme song. I love how you lay into it after 'kick out the jams'. The electric blues guitar tone just leaps out of the mix into your face. The feedback at the end is perfect, which is something I haven't figured out how to do in software. I love how you end it just by pulling the cable out of your guitar, so rad. The BVs mixed with the lead vox on the stretched out 'forty three' on the chorus is perfect.

Jerkatorium - Something about the mp3 encoding made the rhythm guitar sound distored and warbly, which I wish I would have caught before submission. I'm still learning how to EQ elements in a mix to make things fit together, and I think I overdid it on the lead vocals, they have harsh trebbly sound to them. I wanted them to cut through, but maybe not this much.

BSS - Martin is really selling the vocals on this song. My ears perked up on the first chorus, he really belts it out and puts a lot of feeling into it, which helps me get into it. I dig how the guitars trade off lead licks on the left and right channel, very cool. Liked this right away.

Scott Gesser - The peircing pure tones on that synth are stressing out my ears. I feel like I need more going on musically for the first minute or so when there isn't a lot else going on for me to focus on. When the chorus comes I'm feeling the darkness, and the power of it, but the initial 'forty' comes with some mud and unpleasant distortion which distract.

Flaming Tiger - Nice idea reducing the title to 'two days', which lends itself better to a chorus hook than 'forty-three hours'. The layered guitar sounds towards the end are great, and of course I'm a big fan of Smalltown Mike's vocal style. It seems you and THC had similiar notions of busting out the song quickly and powerfully, but as with the Shotpounder tune, this one leaves me feeling like it's not a fully realized song.

The Bewells - This is pretty. The vocals and acoustic guitar sound rich and nicely recorded to me, and the overall feel of the song has a classic 70s singer-songwriter vibe to it. I might be inclined to vote for this entry if any thought was given to the incorporating the title into the song. In my mind the primary challenge of Song Fight is to make something good out of the title you're given.

My votes this time around are for The Pannacotta Army, Paco del Stinko, and Berkeley Social Scene.
"I don't recommend ending on a bad joke." --ken
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by jb »

glennny wrote:That said, my song concerns 43 hours.
I would have thought yours would concern 43 time signature changes.

JB

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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by thehipcola »

@chumpy: agreed - its def. on the short side - I'll speak to the punk writing the music about loosening up a little. I wasn't going to do it this week, and he kept hassling me with "it's only 33 seconds, c'mon". So, in the end I had to throw down. But I hear you.

Also - nice to see some copycat punk in the fight.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by glennny »

i finally finished off my 43 hours
not sure if it will be added to the fight (it should be ineligible for votes, being so late) , but here it is:

https://soundcloud.com/glenartrock/fort ... by-glennny
Phillipso, Older Brothers, Semolina Pilchards, Zipline , Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, The Odoriferous Valley, The Worldly Self Assurance, Berkeley Social Scene, Very Gentle Knives, Daddy Bop Swing Set, GUNS, The Kraken Lives, Cavedwellers
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Chumpy »

Glenny - Guitar interplay is really nice, like that section at 0:26 where the crunchy guitar in my left ear and the pretty high clean guitar in my right ear come together for some magic. On a production front, the intelligibility of the lead vocals is much improved from the last couple of tracks of yours I've heard. Dig the prog rock sound on this track, the music here reminds of Wishbone Ash. I enjoyed this on the handful of times I listened to it. Would have earned a vote from me.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Rabid Garfunkel »

Lunkhead wrote:Looks like the animated gif cover art worked. Yay!
Yay, indeed and agreed!
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by glennny »

How many frames are we looking at?
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by thehipcola »

jerkatorium
Awesome. Love the guitar tone off the top. Chorus is great! Nice work threading the title throughout the track.

Flaming Tiger
Clearly ripping off Shotpounder, but I like it better. I like the guitar tone, although it's a little indistinct at times. Not sure if the singer realizes 2 days = 48hrs.. but that's hardly a serious problem requiring convalescence.

The Panacotta Army
Dig the bass groove in this tune. Nice filter roll off in the second verse. Tasty. There's just enough quirk to keep me listening. This is well done all around.

BSS
I'm thinking there's a tuning issue somewhere in this tune, but I like it. It's an interesting tension you can't really put your finger on. I like the chorus more than the verses, musically. It's good, but not great. But in fairness, it's hard to rate a BSS song without considering the bar you set for yourselves regularly. Not my fav of yours.

Paco del Stinko
Love that SRV style intro. Awesome guitar work man! The groove in the verse carries this tune - so great to resolve to that. This is awesomesoss.

Pepper Jane
Cool - stepping out from solo guitar and voice. I like what you're shooting for with the vocal parts, talking and singing.. Sometimes they step over each other and it's hard to place them all. Say it everytime - awesome voice.

Ross Durand
Classic RD, charming vox and great guitar sound. Not my fav of yours, but some of the lyrics are awesome.

Scott Gesser
I'm down with this - getting tired of that key lead all the way through though. I like the dirgy guitar in the chorus. Vocals a bit pitchy, but always just seem to get back on track before it irritates me. Maybe that's intentional - not sure. Right on - moody track, I dig it.

The Bewells
Awww... this is a sweet song. Swirly guitars and candy melodies.. nice work. The chorus is great. Not sure if there was a distinction between 43 hours and 2 days - or if you just rounded up. Either way, nice tune.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Jerkatorium »

Wow, so late with so few reviews.

Scott Gesser - I get what you're doing here, and the approach is good, and interesting, and somewhat atypical for Song Fight (which is always a good thing in my book), but it sounds a little stiff. It might be better after a few more vocal takes to get more comfortable with the lead vocals. And maybe in a higher range? Sounds like you're stretching on those lowest notes. Other than that, it's a good solid melody but I think the instrumentation choices start to grate by the end of the song.

The BeWells - Charming, with a strong melody line. Some of the lyrics seem a little forced into those lines, whether they fit or not. Still, it's good and reminds me of my parents' neglected Glen Campbell and Everly Brothers 8-Tracks.

Paco Del Stinko - Where did the jams go? Oh yeah, Paco kicked them out again. I'm wild about the song beginning to end, but I'm a rabid Paco fan so it's hard for me to look at it critically. Lately Paco has been doing some very interesting and inventive vocal harmony work, and it shows up in this song too. Rocking guitar, fun lyrics, great delivery.

Ross Durand - G&G love song. Sounds a little pouty. The F word can be very effective in this type of song when used rarely, like once in a blue moon, and in the right context for the right impact (I'm thinking "Everybody Cares, Everybody Understands" by Elliott Smith), but this wasn't the right instance for it. A good vocal melody on a well-performed (if borderline-bland) song.

Shotpounder - Tight-sounding Offspring bro-punk. Hard to make out the lyrics to the second verse which is a shame because the first verse made me want to hear them.

Flaming Tiger - Driving and energizing, with excellent vocals as usual. You could be reading the phone book with that inflection and I'd want to listen to it. I would have preferred a shredding guitar solo instead of the melodic one, but that didn't prevent me from voting for the song.

Pepper Jane - Jane Siberry meets Susanne Vega meets UN interpreter. I appreciate the originality and courage in using the spoken word track, but I don't actually enjoy it. It sounds like a dubbed interpreter track or something, and I wish I could turn the track off and just listen to the singing (which is beautiful). Otherwise it is pretty, lilting, and intriguing.

The Panacotta Army - Very very reminiscent of "Hearing Aid" by They Might Be Giants. Pleasant, easy listening, nice and unchallenging, good for when that's what you're looking for. And I don't mean that as a disparaging qualifier or as a backhanded compliment - I like the song. The judicious use of guitar is just right in this song, the really admirable restraint makes it a perfect touch.

Berkeley Social Scene - Yay slide guitar solo! The other half of the solo is great too, as is the rest of the guitar work (those are harmonics and not a keyboard, right?). Strong song, if maybe a little plodding during the verses. The lyrics and vocal delivery are good.

Jerkatorium - Chumpy and I got to work together in person on this one for a few hours, so why did we go with "hoping this persistence it pays off" instead of "hoping this persistence will pay off"? I cringe each time I hear that now, we'll have to fix that when we re-visit the song (i.e. never). I kept adding stuff to this song up through deadline in an effort to make it less boring.

Glenny - Great backing music for lyrics that sound pretty first-drafty. Lovely guitar work, makes me want to run out and buy a 335. It's a damn shame this didn't get into the fight, you would have been a strong contender.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by Smalltown Mike »

Sorry — no time for full reviews this week, but:

Scott Gesser had some nice things going on. Nice, haunting melody here and there.

Panacotta Army was great, but I'm big reggae fan. Really well produced, played, sung, mixed. Nice work.

I think this is my favourite shotpounder song. The others have been too long.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by bwell »

Some review thoughts...

Berkeley Social Scene
I like the cross-country driving idea. The accompaniment has some nice variation that keeps things interesting throughout the song. The use of drawn out words in the chorus worked well to add a nice contrast between verse and chorus. The guitars sound good and the electric piano in the chorus is a great touch.

The BeWells (me)
The 43 hours was from Friday afternoon check-in to Sunday morning check out. I could have been more specific lyrically, but decided not to repeat the title in the song. I would have liked to make it a little more bluegrass with some mandolin and guitar picking, but only had time to clean up some demo takes.

Flaming Tiger
It's on the short side but it has a fun energy I like. Not too much to add - it sounds pretty good all around and I like the guitar work.

Jerkatorium
This is enjoyable with those nice chorus harmonies that really make the song for me. I like the retro sound as it lends a lighthearted feel that keeps a modern problem in perspective. "5 hours less than two whole days" doesn't roll off as nicely as "43 hours", but in the context of the music the lyrics work well. I wasn't sure from a reading of the lyrics how social media and cellphone references would play out, but it sounds good.

Paco del Stinko
I like the overall sound of this one - it's fun and packs a lot of great sound into a short song. The lyrical progression is nice...minutes, hours, days. This has some great, tasty little organ and guitar solos that sit very well in the song. As an aside, it's been ages since I've commented on anything (and even then I lurked too much), but I'm definitely a fan - love the consistency of the quality and the fun, quirky, energetic nature of your songs.

The Pannacotta Army
While the opening sound and style don't grab me, this one keeps growing on me. This has a wonderful subtle, haunting quality to the chorus that draws me in. I'd like something a little more interesting in the organ stabs, but the background harmony keyboard sound in the verse simultaneously reminiscent of a cheesy Casio portable keyboard (like I had in the 80s) or something older like a Novachord...either way it evokes a lovely sense of nostalgia. That slide guitar adds a nice bit of variation when it comes in. Overall, I love the simplicity and sparse nature of this song.

Pepper Jane
I love the idea and the sound here. The layered approach is great, but something with the alignment of the various vocal parts is jarring at times. Overall I like this and there are many moments when things do fall into place nicely. It's one of the songs that's kept me coming back during this past week. I would have liked to hear a little more variety with the electronic music elements, but it's good work for only having a couple of hours to pull something together.

Ross Durand
This is a good song that nicely captures filling the in between moments of long distance relationships. The recording is nice and clean and you've got a good sound with the guitar. The variation in the emotion of the song is good and I particularly like the soft breaking sound of that final line.

Scott Gesser
The overall sound of this heads in a nice direction. I like the change between the openness of the verse and the heavier chorus. While the vocals could be a little tighter, the arrangement sounds good. The synth sound that runs the length of the song generally sits well, but could use a little more variation.

Shotpounder
It's short but it sounds good. I like those repetitive "money money" and "bloody money" lines.
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by the panna cotta army »

bwell wrote:reminiscent of a cheesy Casio portable keyboard (like I had in the 80s)
that'll be because it is a cheesy Casio keyboard from the 80s ;)
a Casiotone 101 to be precise
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Re: Five hours less than two whole days (Forty Three Hours Reviews)

Post by thehipcola »

'grats Jerkatorium. Well deserved win.

Someone commented on the melodic vs shredding guitar solo on Flaming Tiger - totally agree 100%. Problem is I can't shred at all. Not yet anyways. Working up to it.
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