The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Things are looking a bit blurry....

Lyric thread: https://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11545

Songs posted!

For some reason Emma's YKIWYSI (submitted on the weekend) didn't make it up in the fight. I've resubmitted it to the fightmaster, so hopefully it makes it up.

Liking most of these so far! I'll get reviews in once they sit awhile.

Ooh, who's Amby Moho? Digging that one a lot.

Sorry about the Emma song, it's the victim of another email glitch. It's up now.

Amby Moho - not really sure what to make of this. It's appealingly unusual, and quirky in ways that I almost entirely enjoy, but for some reason it doesn't really stick in my head after listening, really - maybe just because it's so short. But I definitely want to hear more from you!

Balance Lost - really like this one. I love a good repeating-riff-over-changing-chords! Lots of cool dynamic / rhythmic shifts in here and some sweet bass playing. I love the ending where the riff is doubled by xylophone, or whatever that is.

Berkeley Social Scene - I'm enjoying the more keyboard-heavy direction that BSS have explored in recent fights, and this might be my favourite of your songs since Color Me Blue from Nur Ein. The clav / organ sounds really good, excellent mix and a good vocal too. There are a couple of clunky lines of lyrics (e.g. that paycheck line earlier on feels like it's being stretched out to fit the music) but nothing major to criticise here.

Darkanon Viva - this has the tricky instrumental thing of not really feeling like it fully matches up to the title in any real way, but I really like it a lot! The jazzy pianos remind me of Vince Guaraldi's music for the Peanuts cartoons, but also Sonic the Hedgehog for some reason.

Emma - short and fun, I like the fizzy lead guitar and the shouty backing vocals.

Ghost Pup - there's a lot of things about this that I like, the shimmering guitars and nicely roomy drums especially, but I'm not massively keen on the song as a whole, especially the chorus / shouty bit which I find quite grating.

Hardmonica - love the instrumentation and the lyrics seem interesting (I think you're riffing on "It's the End of the World As We Know It" but can't quite figure out the details?), but the effects on the vocals make them a little hard to make out in places and this is generally the one ingredient of this song that I'm not really a fan of. I still like it (quite a bit) on the whole but I wish the vocals were clearer.

Hostess Mostess - kinda feel the same about this one as I did Ghost Pup. There are a lot of cool ingredients but the overall vibe isn't really my thing. You're doing a great job of the particular thing you're aiming for, I think, but I have Significant Genre Bias against it. But I also really like your drum sound, there are a lot of good drums in this fight.

Hot Pink Halo - an interesting experiment, but I wish there was a little more variation to the repeating vocals - as it stands I kinda get fed up with this one about halfway through.

Lichen Throat - your voice sounds really good on the verses; chorus feels like it hasn't quite settled on a melody and suffers for it. Interesting lyrics as usual, although perhaps a little bit of a Wikipedia song.

Paco del Stinko - the tempo / time signature shifts in this are pretty amazing, and I love the synth parts. I have no idea how you fit so much stuff into a sub-two-minute song but it's tons of fun.

Phlebia - abrasive recording / production, but in a way I find oddly appealing. I really wish the keys (?) dropped out at some point to give the vox and drums more of a showcase (and add some dynamics) but this worked for me on the whole. Something about it reminds me of The Microphones, despite not sounding like them at all. The crashy drums, maybe.

Definite votes for Balance Lost, BSS, Paco and Phlebia, but this is another fight where I like most of the songs, so I'll probably spray votes around like an idiot.

vowlvom wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 20, 2019 10:36 am

Berkeley Social Scene - I'm enjoying the more keyboard-heavy direction that BSS have explored in recent fights, and this might be my favourite of your songs since Color Me Blue from Nur Ein. The clav / organ sounds really good, excellent mix and a good vocal too. There are a couple of clunky lines of lyrics (e.g. that paycheck line earlier on feels like it's being stretched out to fit the music) but nothing major to criticise here.

These last few summers we've been graced with the presence of Paul on keys, when he's been on summer break in between bouts of teaching kids music. Also this time I did the mixing and finishing up of the song and I forgot to bring home an electric guitar from our practice space so I wound up doing all the lead/melody stuff only on keys.

Lunkhead wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 20, 2019 1:07 pm

These last few summers we've been graced with the presence of Paul on keys, when he's been on summer break in between bouts of teaching kids music. Also this time I did the mixing and finishing up of the song and I forgot to bring home an electric guitar from our practice space so I wound up doing all the lead/melody stuff only on keys.

I loved all the keyboard stuff on this, so excellent job forgetting the guitar!

vowlvom wrote: ↑

Tue Aug 20, 2019 10:36 am

Phlebia - abrasive recording / production, but in a way I find oddly appealing. I really wish the keys (?) dropped out at some point to give the vox and drums more of a showcase (and add some dynamics) but this worked for me on the whole. Something about it reminds me of The Microphones, despite not sounding like them at all. The crashy drums, maybe.

I know exactly what you're talking about production-wise. Admittedly the only microphones song I know is "oh Anna" , but they have this "single Mic in a kind of echoey room" kind of production quality that's replicated for entirely technical reasons. As for the synth it's an educational kid's keyboard with a very static-ey line-out jack...and I mixed it too loud on top of that. I'm glad you dig the song!!! Maybe I'll aim for higher fidelity next week.

Amby Moho - Something about the first few notes of this reminds me of a way less drugged out Ween, but I start getting Mac DeMarco vibes by the end when it turns into that blissful psychedelic bit. I wish this track was longer because it's like a cozy blanket for my ears in so many ways. vote

Balance Lost - I'm digging the rapid fire time signature changes towards the beginning, and I have to give some points for that! All in all, the composition is pretty nice and the vocal performance is solid, but I'd love to hear it be a bit more dynamic, you just kind of hang out in this comfortable low zone and the song would really benefit from ramping up the intensity at some point!

Berkeley Social Scene - The keyboards in here are pretty spiffy, and I can't fault the production at all! There's a few places where you strategically add some vocal delay (in the bridge mostly) that sounds really good. Lyrics are tight, performance is tight, and I love the key change into the keyboard break after the second chorus. The chorus melody doesn't really grab me, but y'know that's a minor gripe. vote

Darkanon Viva - Everything about this composition makes me really happy, even though I won't vote for it on a matter of principle since there's no apparent connection to the theme. The marimba arpeggiation is just delightful. The only fight title in which I would vote for this as an instrumental piece would be "Your Doppler Radar", because it reminds me of the break music that The Weather Channel would play back in the 90s.

Emma - That guitar tone is so 80s sounding. Maybe it's the simple major chords with the chorus and the distortion amongst the heavy backbeat that makes me jump straight to the decade comparison. These lyrics are silly in a good way, and the fact that your coworker just handed them to you makes this more fun. If I had one fault with this piece it's that it could use a couple less repetition at the end...which is kind of a silly thing to say for a 1:25 song. I hit replay a few times cause I liked it. vote

Ghost Pup - Okay the laid back vibe of this seems like it'd be ripe for a really good, memorable song. The verses could really use an actual melody, cause right now it's just kind of in one ear and out the other. Really that's my main gripe, I don't like the half-melodic/half-sung vocals cause they just sort of seem like they're reaching for a melody that isn't there. And the chorus...I'm all more meaningless lyrics but it just doesn't work imo.

Hardmonica - My wife's name is Monica, but she's not very hard. The individual verses describing things that you know when you see generally amused me. Not super huge on the refrain, if only cause the R.E.M. callback seems slightly forced to me. I wish the flute (is that a wooden flute?) was a wee bit higher in the mix, cause I like those sorts of sounds! Doesn't really make me want to listen again -- but I recognize the effort put in.=

Hostess Mostess - Ooh, a piano ballad. I...generally don't like piano ballads, but I'll try to give it a chance. "I don't have to tell" you seems like it hasn't quite settled on a melody yet, but by the second half of the stanza it comes together a bit more. The second verse is a lot more solid though. I'd say you need to work on the chorus a bit, with a song like this you've gotta sound super confident or else it just gets a bit plodding. I am a sucker for "oooooooooo-ooooo-oooooo" parts so that made me smile. Good song, maybe not a great song, but good.

Hot Pink Halo - As the previous reviewer said, could probably have benefited from being slightly shorter, but the high pitched floating sound whatever it is creates a fascinating atmosphere. Like that scene in Dead Poet's Society when the kid's gonna kill himself but instead of being morbid and haunting the kid's just going to like eat a cake or something cheerful like that. I did listen to it more than once, and only started to find it kind of dull on the third listen or so. Reminds me of some of that freak-folk stuff that was big in the 00s like Lau Nau or something. vote

Lichen Throat - THE BASSLINE AND GUITAR CHORDS AND MELODY DON'T MESH AND IT MAKES ME ANGRY. The lyrics are pretty clever though, so you get a few points back for that. There's really not much of a melody to follow, this is tonally a mess. Like take that slap bass and drop it by a third and it'd fit better. Now it doesn't at all. It kind of reminds me of the residents with its awkward placement though, but not in a good way.

Paco Del Stinko - The intro is quite misleading, I wasn't expecting it to turn into a jaunty kind of sailing tune. And then it changes again! And again! And again! And the synth solo at 45s is glorious. It's tremendously catchy and is definitely one of my favorites this fight. vote

Phlebia - I like how the melody and chorus came out with this one. The keyboard was way too loud and had a LOT of line noise coming out of the headphone jack, and I probably could have recorded the drums a bit more closely. For a song written out on a kid's keyboard and lyrics scribbled out while trying to watching a toddler, turned out better than I expected!

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:43 am

Hot Pink Halo - As the previous reviewer said, could probably have benefited from being slightly shorter, but the high pitched floating sound whatever it is creates a fascinating atmosphere. Like that scene in Dead Poet's Society when the kid's gonna kill himself but instead of being morbid and haunting the kid's just going to like eat a cake or something cheerful like that. I did listen to it more than once, and only started to find it kind of dull on the third listen or so. Reminds me of some of that freak-folk stuff that was big in the 00s like Lau Nau or something. vote

Thanks! I'm thinking of this as my All Art School All The Time Entry (well, five years of it, anyway). The chords (including the super high pitched bits) are made up of notes recorded from my €5 plastic recorder, reversed then pitch shifted across several octaves. The entire thing is plastic recorder and voice. I can't play this song in the same room as my dog.

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:43 am

Balance Lost All in all, the composition is pretty nice and the vocal performance is solid, but I'd love to hear it be a bit more dynamic, you just kind of hang out in this comfortable low zone and the song would really benefit from ramping up the intensity at some point!

This really confused me at first until I realised you specifically mean the vocals should have more dynamics, right? I thought you meant the whole song, but yeah, I totally get what you mean. My voice doesn't have the greatest range and my previous attempts to emulate Cedric Bixler-Zavalas have usually ended in an underwhelming and often unpleasant way so now I'm going for the Mark Kozelek approach. I agree though, that I bit more of a foray into the higher register would benefit the song. Fair point. Thanks for the feedback, squire!

furrypedro wrote: ↑

Thu Aug 22, 2019 5:57 am

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 21, 2019 9:43 am

Balance Lost All in all, the composition is pretty nice and the vocal performance is solid, but I'd love to hear it be a bit more dynamic, you just kind of hang out in this comfortable low zone and the song would really benefit from ramping up the intensity at some point!

...so now I'm going for the Mark Kozelek approach.

Nah, you need more borderline half-sung, half-spoken musings about people burning to death to be a true Kozelek. :p

But yes, the song itself has plenty of dynamics, it's just the vocals could shift upwards just a bit to give it that extra oomph! But then again I just did a darkwave song for the current fight and my attempts at Robert Smith turned out more Depeche Mode for the same reason, so shucks, I can't really criticize a lack of vocal range!

my favorites/votes this time around:

Emma: yeah it's too short but it has a really cool groove/mood. vocals fit the style nicely. it doesn't seem like a complete song or much thought out but I just enjoyed listening to it anyway (or maybe even partly because of that?)

Berkeley Social Scene: love the keys and overall feel here. I like the echoing vocals on the "can you see it all?" bit. this is one of the cooler BSS songs I think. nice one.

Hardmonica: not sure about the vocal fx but I still quite like this overall. really cool acoustic guitar & flute. some interesting lyrics and catchy tunes. flute could be a bit louder in the mix.

Amby Moho: I love this. my only complaint is that it's only 1:05. my favorite of the fight anyway.

Ghost Pup: While this one is pretty well done from a technical aspect, there are slightly too many things that grate with me. Starting with the chorus, it's one of the worst choruses I've heard in a while for 3 reasons; 1) The chord pattern seems pretty weak, not sure why you chose that pattern and it missed the mark with me; 2) The vocal delivery is annoying, dirgy, and it clips. I'm all for having a change of mood in a song, but change it up in a good way, not a horrible, annoying way; 3) The lyrics are totally nonsensical. Are those really the best you could think of? So, having got that off my chest, the verses are pleasant enough. Not really my cup of tea, and it suffers from being a bit too slow and ploddy for my taste (in fact the more I think about it the more I think if the song was twice as fast the chorus wouldn't irritate me so much), but the drums are nice and I like the little rolls in the beat. Drop the chorus and you'll have a pleasant but boring song on your hands instead of something I want to give an anti-vote to. Unless you subscribe to the "bad reaction is better than no reaction" school of thought, in which case ignore me. I mean, ignore me anyway of course. Good name btw.

BSS: I don't know if the more uptempo approach here was at all influenced by my criticism last week (I will assume not) but in any case this tune is immediately an improvement, if for no better reason than I can tap my foot to it. What I mean to say is that I really like this! I really dig the clavinet and organ combination, which along with the upbeat rhythm and slightly minor-key melodies give this a strong kind of 60s feel, like the Zombies or something. Everything sounds nice and tight. Vocals are great. My only criticism is that it seems to continue maybe 1 chorus longer than I felt it had to, but that's no problem and this is well worth a vote.

Lichen Throat: Cool take on the title. There's some interesting rhythmical switch-ups in the stoppy starty sections. I find the looseness of the vocal metre a bit of a distraction, particularly in contrast to the robotic music. Might be worth spending a bit more time working out the best cadence to give the words as much impact as possible. Otherwise they get a bit lost in the rumble of mumblings.

Phlebia: Definitely get the Microphones comparison. It is a little hard to listen to but I kinda like the overpowering nature of the synth, partly cos it gives the track that warm, fuzzy noise feel and I just like the sound. Not sure, tough one to mix. I quite like the suburban lyrics mixed with the lo-fi music. The vocals are a bit relentless in their barrage of words but overall I like this one.

Hot Pink Halo: I really like the idea. The mix of voices and the twinkly keys is a nice mix, the melodic choices are good and the way the round develops is cool. The only issues I have are technical ones really. The voices are occasionally off-key, and the mix sometimes gets a bit muddy with all the voices layering on each other, so a bit of EQing to separate them and brighten the mix would help I think. If those two things are fixed then I think this would acheive the magical heights it reaches for.

Amby Moho: I well dig this. Cool bedroom beats and sounds. I like the wonkiness, and when it shifts into the smooth second section it's such a nice sound. To echo everyone else I just wish it was longer. Ctrl+C, Ctrl+V is your friend.

Emma: This is pretty good. Not much I can say, it's a straightforward rock track. For some reason the intro guitar reminds me of Black Grape's Kelly's Heroes. I don't know what the lyrics are about but anything about monkeys is good in my book.

Hardmonica: This has more than a touch of the Mountain Goats about it except for the fact you can actually play guitar. Love the flute solo. Very nice tune with a memorable hook. Good job.

Darkanon Viva: If this was in the Supper Club fight I think the style would fit better with the title, but it matters little. This is a delightful little tune. Love the kalimba in the background, the piano line is cute and the percussion and little elecro fuzzy bits help this shuffle along satisfyingly. I got a compilation album of 70s and 80s TV stock library music recently called Unusual Sounds (on Anthology Records, well worth a look if you're interested) and I feel this would fit in pretty well on that, maybe halfway between TV music and Penguin Cafe Orchestra (who often get used in soundtracks, maybe there's a burgeoning career awaiting you). I'll give this a vote cos a) it probably deserves it, and b) Apples&Vodka said he wouldn't in spite of liking it, so if I do it's like half a vote from each of us. Also, cool change of genre from last week's song.

Hostess Mostess: Okay, so this isn't a bad song, but the drums just ruin it. I have complained about slow ploddy songs in the past (mostly to the Berkeley Social Scene) and this falls in to the ploddy trap. It's not that I don't like slow songs per se, but the compulsion to add drums often forces them to plod rather than just drift in a more natural way, and I feel that's exactly what this song suffers from. Or at least it would if the drums were in time. I was starting to cringe about the bad timing and when the cymbal hit on 1.41 missed the beat by about a second I pretty much gave up on this. Added to which the cymbals are too loud and harsh. It's a shame cos there is plenty of good stuff happening in the vocal melody. I think if the drums were just cut entirely it would allow the song achieve it's essence. And then maybe add some strings, and mandolin and get Darkanon Viva to do some kalimba for you, but just no drums.

Paco del Stinko: I love that opening noise, so the change into something totally different for the actual song was slightly disappointing (of course, I did exactly the same thing so it's churlish to complain). That said, this is great fun and totally mental. Is this you trying to be like Neil Diamond again? Too much going on to mention but I like the downward slide before the "You're looking really hard..." part, and the wibbly synth solo, and the chorus of Pacos. Awesome. So what is that intro synth patch by the way? I want that sound.

Furry Pedro wrote:

BSS: I don't know if the more uptempo approach here was at all influenced by my criticism last week (I will assume not) ...

you may as well have been in the room with us, or behind the glass producing. You were totally in our heads and the entire reason we decided to do something more up-tempo.

glennny wrote: ↑

Fri Aug 23, 2019 3:38 am

Furry Pedro wrote:

BSS: I don't know if the more uptempo approach here was at all influenced by my criticism last week (I will assume not) ...

you may as well have been in the room with us, or behind the glass producing. You were totally in our heads and the entire reason we decided to do something more up-tempo.

Ha, and I thought I was the king of sarcasm

You’ll Know it When You See It

Amby Moho- What a quirky fun song! Too short! Only one chorus?

Balance Lost- I love the punches, I love the energy! The drums feel very non drummer to me. I’m dying for a drum fill. The cool factor is super high on this one. The riffs are fantastic! VOTE!

BSS- This one is Sam on vocals and lead keys and rhythm guitar, Ken on Drums, Geech on bass, Glen on Rhythm guitar, Paul on keys. I wasn’t kidding about Furry Pedro being in our heads. The tempo was the first thing we decided on, and we decided to be much faster than 100 bpm, I think we ended up at 138bpm. These are Ken lyrics. Great performances by everyone. I dig it.

Darkanon Viva- Sweet instrumental! Superb piano playing!- VOTE!

Emma- Smalltown Mike! This rocks! Always hi caliber stuff when STMike is concerned. TOO SHORT! I want more! grrrrr

Ghostpup- There’s something Terry Folds about the vocal delivery. So I’m ready to laugh. I dig the chords. I do not care for the chorus.

Hard Monica- I mostly love this song. I do not like the Michael Stipe/ I feel fine reference. I think you can say the phrase “I feel fine” without having to credit it. Or write another line. The guitar line is superb. Love the vocals too. Is that just one guitar? This is an excellent GnG! VOTE!

Hostess Mostess- Vocals are amazing! This song is wonderful all around. I love the 70’s vibe. Ends with a bit of a whimper though. I’m thinking about a vote.

Hot Pink Halo- There are way too many moments of dissonance in this. The dial is way over at the tension side and it never offers the release I become desperate for. Lovely voice, but the note choices drive me a bit nuts.

Lichen Throat- Interesting Cyber Country tune. The indecisive melody in the chorus needs the most improvement.

Paco- Fun! I dig the radical tempo changes. This is of the zanier Paco songs. I love it. I wish it was longer. Gets a VOTE!

Phlebia- This lo-fi mess has its charms, but it’s tough to take serious or listen to very many times.

glennny wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 28, 2019 7:34 am

I wasn’t kidding about Furry Pedro being in our heads.

In that case I'm very flattered. Thanks! I'm backing you guys for the win this week. Or Paco, but mostly you.

glennny wrote: ↑

Wed Aug 28, 2019 7:34 am

I’m dying for a drum fill.

Good point. Here's a version with fills. Although to be honest you can hardly notice them.
www.gocarpetburn.com/mp3/youllknowitwhe ... hfills.mp3

Berkeley Social Scene wins!