Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

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Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Or, you know.... during work hours when the boss ain't around.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Lyric thread is around here somewhere: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11339
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Songs posted!
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Thoughts on my first (and sometimes second) listen:

Third Cat - I liked the guitar right off the bat. It almost sounds like a posh 12-bar blues riff. I like the full arrangement hitting. But after the minute mark or so you lose me a little bit. It's a kind of cool groove but it's more texture than song and I liked the first (almost) minute so much... I guess I really miss that intro guitar tone/playing and would like to hear it again or revisited in someway. I didn't mention it but I love how you sang "government" right toward the beginning. And I did like your lyric. Strong start and I like that you changed up the feel but the rest of the song didn't live up to my expectations... probably a failure of too much success because I genuinely love the first almost minute of this.

Pigfarmer Jr (me) - I really like this song. It sounds good just G&G and I don't hate the more full arrangement I've submitted. I recorded a ton of parts for this and cut a fair bit of them in the final mix. None of my ZT amp sounds made it, for instance. I've been doing that a bit of late and I think it's paying off. Recording anything that comes to mind and then having options to change up the dynamics, even fairly subtly, when mixing.

Paco del Stinko - Almost a jazz rock feel in the guitar and the drums.. probably the cymbals that's making me feel that. I kind of like your groove. The choopy chaw bit in the vocal works very well for me. But I have to admit I'm not a huge fan of this vocal style in the singing, especially at the start. I do like when you kick it in just before 2:00. And that Matthew Sweet-esque guitar break on through the end. This is a cool song, but I think it's gonna take a few more listens to really get how I feel about it buttoned down.

James Owens - Cool. Fan of the guitars and the vocal and the dirty rhythm. And well, the song.

Berkeley Social Scene - Not a fan of the three seconds of silence at the beginning of the track. Okay, I only said that because "Three Seconds of Silence" sounds like a cool band name. Or songfight title, maybe? I like the mix, the bass sounds good and really drives the song along. The guitar is cool in tone and in staccato-ish verse playing. Gritty in the chorus.. maybe a hair too much? Naaaaw, sounds good. I'm a fan of the guitar solo... which might be a hair too loud in the mix, but it's worth it. Vocal melody works, the spacial effect and doubling is a nice touch that sounds good. Tasty ending guitar bit, too. Good song.

So I could legitimately see voting for all the entries in this fight. I'm gonna have to listen to these a lot more to decide which I like the best.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by ken »

Pigfarmer Jr wrote: Berkeley Social Scene - Not a fan of the three seconds of silence at the beginning of the track.
Thanks for mentioning this, I hadn't noticed. I made a new mix and submitted it to FM3.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

I put the corrected BSS file up, no more three seconds of silence at the beginning.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by thirdcat »

Nice small fight! Will be easy to write in-depth reviews of everyone's songs this week. I thought there'd be more entries with "Nights & Weekends" because it's a great title, but all good. Just listened to all of the tracks and I think they're all pretty strong. Probably the bit that most stood out for me on first listen was the guitar riff in James Owens track, definitely sounds like something I've heard before, but it's still pretty cool. Reviews coming after more listens.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by AJOwens »

thirdcat wrote:. . . the guitar riff in James Owens track, definitely sounds like something I've heard before. . .
The Rolling Stones always had great guitar riffs, and I was looking for something along those lines. The one I ended up with might have something to do with "Under My Thumb," which I happen to be practising (as a fill-in drummer) with a workplace band.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by thirdcat »

BSS - I like the groove and the feel on the intro. I also like the verse vocal melody and the tone of the vocal there is pretty nice. But I do find some of the vocal tuning a bit distracting. Although I realize you have to rush things with these songfights (I usually find myself in a similar position). I think the drums could be a bit louder in places (there are places where the guitar is a bit loud in the mix). Overall this isn't one of my favorite BSS songs, but it's not bad.

Paco - Cool sorta funky jazz feel. Kind of reminds me of Soul Coughing in places. I dig that you're always doing something different with your song fight entries, but not sure if this is one of my favorites even though it definitely has its moments. I love the key solo at about 1:20. The change at 2 minutes is very unexpected, not sure if it really works. This is one of those songs where I feel like I'm more impressed by all of the skill it took to put it together than I'm really enjoying it. Kind of a similar wrap-up to the BSS track; not one of my favorites of yours, but not bad.

James Owns - This is my favorite this fight and you will get a vote. Just has a cool groove and I dig that guitar riff. Plus so many cool little touches with the arrangement, the way the guitars and keys come in for the refrain, really cool. Very tasteful. I think your vocal works well with this song too. Lyrics are good too. Good stuff!

Pigfarmer Jr - Your acoustic guitar sounds real nice this fight, nice & bright & clean, seems like another level as far as your production goes. Lyrics/vocal performance sound heartfelt. I like the doubling of the vocal on certain lines, nice touch. Tasty guitar lick/lead. Vote.

Third Cat - I got pretty weird with this one.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by AJOwens »

Berkeley Social Scene -- Opens with a big crashing guitar hook, settles into a contrasting straight-ahead beat that sets up the verse, goes quickly to a chorus with harmonies -- this has pop intentions, and does a pretty good job of realizing them, although some eccentric rhythms may be a little adventurous for the dance floor. The middle eight provides a timely break, and here the vocals take on a really nice edge. Good lead solo, with a prompt return to the main groove. The outro is tidy, but the final staccato feels a bit rushed. Good overall arrangement and structure.

James Owens -- The lyrics came first; they refer to recent Ontario politics. I dropped them onto an unadventurous composition, which I tried to save with a buildup of syncopated layers. The contrast with the synths in the breaks and choruses was pure luck, it just came together somehow. The original bass track had a nice fatness, but also some distortion, so it's further down in the mix than I'd like.

Paco del Stinko -- I like the jazzy part better than the rock part. It has a playful, cool vibe, but more than that, it's a fresh and unusual sound, and it creates an efficient impressionistic sketch (particularly the organ solo). The vocals are remarkably soft and intimate; perhaps surprisingly, that seems to work for you. They draw me closer, and I can hear more personality in them. The rock part is more traditional frenetic Paco, done with virtuosity as always.

Pigfarmer Jr. -- I always enjoy your guitar playing and recording. This song is no exception; the acoustics and electrics sound great, although the lead guitar might be a little dry in the mix. The lyrics stand out, not least because of the searing emotional delivery; the intensity of feeling almost makes it hard to listen. But the music also lends emphasis by giving them plenty of space at key moments.

Third Cat -- The mix has a rich sonority, through which the vocals travel in a detached stream, giving the word "government" exactly the right sense of alienation. I sense some curious dissonances around the 30 and 40 second marks -- an exaggerated chorus effect or a slightly out-of-tune bass, or both. Maybe it's deliberate, but it disturbs the the strange stillness of the first few bars, with their fascinating disassociated bass line. Then the song does something that seems completely different, but actually the bass continues to mess nicely with the space-time continuum, and the vocals continue to float along in a disembodied way. What has changed is that the guitar-bass-drum accompaniment gives way to a techno-industrial synthesized universe full of cool noises. I like the overall effect, and I'm not just saying that because you gave me such a great review.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

James Owens - the guitar riff kinda reminds me of Taxman by the Beatles? Which is quite appropriate for the workin'-man lyrics. I love the instrumental interlude bits, the way the synths glide in is beautiful. The song as a whole is not 100% up my street but only in a personal taste kinda way as I can hear the obvious quality on display here. My only objective criticism is that the end is too abrupt, otherwise this is an excellent song that isn't QUITE my cup of tea.

Berkeley Social Scene - mix feels a bit scrappier than usual for BSS but the song is pretty good and I really like the prominent bassline and the way there's a lot of space in the instrumentation. Vocal is good and chorus is catchy, harmonies are nice although I kinda want more of them? Like, more layers when the harmonies kick in, rather than harmonies during more sections of the song. But yeah, I liked this.

Third Cat - love the slidy / bendy guitar riff, and the way this drifts off into dubby weirdness is very cool. The vocal melody doesn't really strike me like some of your tracks do, but I don't think that's necessarily a deal breaker because this is a winner on production and atmosphere alone.

Pigfarmer Jr - sweet-sounding acoustic guitar again, I wish I could get acoustic guitar sounding this good. Really like the doubled vocals in the pre-chorus and the gaps in the chorus rhythm. Not my favourite of your recent tracks on the whole, but it's another strong entry.

Paco del Stinko - mid-song style shift works for me, the jazzy opening is interesting but doesn't quite hook into my brain, the energetic, loose rock feel of the second section clicked with me better. Something here reminds me of both David Bowie and Lou Reed somehow, not at the same time, and despite not really sounding like either of them enough for me to understand where that is coming from.

Interesting fight. I like all of these, but there's not one here that really stands out as a favourite unlike the last couple of fights. Will keep listening and see what grows on me.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Chumpy »

Podcast time! We're back for the Nights and Weekends fight, and this time we're joined by our pal Dr. Zoom, a.k.a Andrew Hamlin.

There are a few ways you can listen to it:
Express your feels at: feedback@twojerksonevote.com.

Here are all the time points so you can jump to your favorite artists:
  • 00:00 - Intro song
  • 00:58 - Beginning-of-podcast yammering
  • 04:42 - Berkeley Social Scene
  • 11:00 - James Owens
  • 17:37 - Paco del Stinko
  • 23:08 - Pigfarmer Jr
  • 30:00 - Third Cat
  • 41:48 - End-of-podcast yammering
Enjoy!
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by thirdcat »

Love your new intro music. Listening to your podcast now to unwind from working on my spintunes track (and getting it in with 30 minutes to spare). On the optional challenge; I haven't really tried to do any of those optional challenges, I guess I am a jive turkey.

Dig your funkified version of the BSS track, reminded me of Beck's Midnite Vultures album.

Yes; your guest nailed it. It was a reference to Yoko's "you become naked" from "Revolution #9." .. the idea was that after the government is destroyed the civilization becomes "naked" and starts over again from scratch. for my instrumental section I was going for a sort of Detroit Techno thing with layers of noises, the idea that it's a totally different musical world after the revolution.

On the cadence, weird delivery thing ... I'm not sure entirely but I imagine this has something to do with the way I write my melodies and sing to them. I don't want to shave off all of the edges of the idiosyncratic things about my songwriting but I would like to get my delivery a bit smoother. Something I'll be working on.

Sweet that you guys did these funkified versions of all of the songs. Taking the pod to the next level.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

This week's BSS song is Ken on drums, Martin on bass and vocals, and Glen on guitars. I couldn't make it that night because Erin's choir had a gig and I was attending that.

And yes, we have a monthly rehearsal room rental, we've got the amps and drums and mics etc. all set up.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by AJOwens »

First off, thanks for doing the podcast and reviewing everybody's songs. I admire your imagination in coming up with the idea, and your energy in getting it done, and not least your commitment and contribution to the Song Fight community. I don't follow podcasting, but I've figured out that it's often about the goofing around; the whole thing reminds me of Wayne's World, and of course SCTV's The Great White North with Bob and Doug McKenzie. Today's goofing around seems more elaborately ironic; while Bob and Doug were spoofing low-budget broadcasts, modern podcasters seem to be spoofing their own lame hanging-out-with-the-guys humour. (Biddle-iddle-oop!)

Thanks also for the entertaining funk snippets, they're very well done. I would expect no less of the Jerkatorium gang. The Song Fight optional challenge is generally cryptic; I see now that this one could have been calling for funk, or more plausibly Saturday Night Fever disco. I took it at face value, as in "Don't talk big about stuff you know nothing about." But who knows. Where does the optional challenge even come from? Is that Deep Throat too?

So, the review of James Owens. Country? I guess if we're talking abut the lyrics, maybe sort of, through some kind of distorted reverb tank of interpretation. More likely someone's impressions are mixed up with name associations (Buck Owens and all that), or prior entries of mine. And you already know it's not twelve-bar. Not remotely, actually (as in, WTF?). But I admit it's not a very exciting musical effort.

"Taxman" keeps coming up. It did occur to me once, as I was laying down a guitar track, that I could work a Taxman reference in, but actually the "doot doot" felt more like a ripoff of "Cool Jerk." The guitars do have that Beatles twang though.

Speaking of Bob and Doug (I seriously messed up my own segue there), the lyrics have to do with Doug Ford, the recently-elected premier of Ontario and brother of erstwhile Toronto mayor and crack-smoker Rob Ford (Rob and Doug -- close enough, right?). Or rather, the lyrics have to do with the people who voted for this porcine clown, counter to their own self-interest. They fell for his populist line that he was all about the little guy, and they "cast the wrong vote" -- seriously, none of you heard that? It's only in there three times -- and then found out that Ford was undoing a minimum wage hike introduced by the previous government, as well as legislating mandatory doctor's notes for taking sick days. Both of which are in there. I don't expect you guys to be up on Ontario politics, but just so you know, this was not the quite the banal working-stiff-vs.-fat-cat riff you took it to be. It was about the self-inflicted tragedy of populism (an observation relevant to your own political situation down there).
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

AJOwens wrote:First off, thanks for doing the podcast and reviewing everybody's songs. I admire your imagination in coming up with the idea, and your energy in getting it done, and not least your commitment and contribution to the Song Fight community.
Yeah, seconded!
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by ken »

Lunkhead wrote:
AJOwens wrote:First off, thanks for doing the podcast and reviewing everybody's songs. I admire your imagination in coming up with the idea, and your energy in getting it done, and not least your commitment and contribution to the Song Fight community.
Yeah, seconded!
I totally agree. I appreciate that you take the time to make this for everyone. Thank you!!!
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

That was great fun. I'm quite glad I didn't get my song finished (or even started really) as it was going to be a lament for wasted nights and weekends where I partied TOO hard, and also I have not one ounce of funk in me. That said, I really liked the funkified theme tune and the funk version of Paco's song.

I still have no idea who to vote for this time around though.
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Congrats James Owens and Third Cat!
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by thirdcat »

I'll take it! definitely wasn't expecting it for this one but I'll take it. the cat takes what he can get. guess it's a bit easier to get a win(tie) when there's only 5 entries. congrats to James Owens for real though, thought his song was pretty pretty... pretty good. (/larrydavid/)
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Re: Let's all work hard on (Nights And Weekends Reviews)

Post by AJOwens »

In my long and undistinguished Song Fight! career, three of my four wins have been ties: with Paco, Jerkatorium, and Here, Atticus (listed last because the name has a comma). One of them was a three-way tie.

Congratulations to Third Cat for joining the growing legion of SongFighters who have tied with James Owens!
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