Brother Baker:
This is super fun. I love the horns, and I don't know if this was deliberate, but I like how the horn articulation is reflected in your attack on the vocals. I personally disapprove of the main character's cavalier attitude to life (fucken teenagers hey), lol, but the smattering of "fucking" through the bridge is
Brown Word and the Big Whine:
Have I ever mentioned how much I love handclaps in songs? If anyone ever wants a surefire way to get me to like something, add handclaps. I also like harmonicas a lot. That little bell thing that comes in on the left is somewhat distracting; I would have kept it there but tried to mix it back a bit. The length of this song is perfect.
Devastating Pop Machine:
This melody sounds a lot like you're another iteration of the people behind Slither/Gaping Maw/etc.. I like the way the drums ramp up in the chorus. I really enjoyed this overall, but for me the ending is a bit too long and indulgent (I do realise that's rich coming from the person who submitted a 4:44 song this week); there just doesn't seem to be a reason for the extended ending, and it would have had more impact without it, especially considering the lyrics.
Duncan Martin:
I'm not sure what you've done with the vocals in the mix here, but the lead vocal sounds like it's panned just a bit to the right, and I would definitely prefer it right down the centre. The mix as a whole is somewhat shambolic, but the lyrics and rhyme scheme are really enjoyable.
FireBear:
Speaking of unusual mixing choices, is that a uke down the centre with doubled vocals panned left and right? I think in this case it actually works well for the song. The backing vocals are lovely. Has a Beach Boys vibe, and along with handclaps and harmonicas, I'm also a sucker for anything that feels like the Beach Boys.
The Gross Tones:
Your mixing is getting better. This is the first Gross Tones song that I've even remotely enjoyed in quite a while. Melodically it's still way too predictable and long-winded for my liking, but you sound like you're enjoying yourselves and it's a definite step up mix-wise from previous entries.
heine:
Your vocals have a super nice tone. I love the instrumentation in this. The lyrics feel a bit phoned in. The first time I listened I was doing other stuff and misheard "it no longer" as "hypno-lawnmower" and though this was a song about one of those little robot lawnmowers. Now I can't get that image that this is a breakup song about a lawnmower out of my head.
Here, Atticus:
I love Imogen Heap. I love vocoder/harmoniser. Hence, I love this. I'm not sure if it's deliberate lyrically, but in the last little bit at the end there's a nice bit of synchronicity between your "sow and sow" line and the "sewing machine" line in
Hide & Seek, and the "eye to eye" line also reflects it nicely in an 'eye of the needle' type way. "Plant my feet"/"sow and sow" is another excellent lyrical reflection.
James Owens:
Good to see you back! The "potential consequences" layered in the background is really effective. The song as a whole is pretty vague and doesn't really grab me, but I do really like all the production choices. I'd happily listen to this if was playing, but it's not something I'd seek out.
Lean To:
This is quite fun but pretty shambolic as a whole. I'm a big fan of disco and love the vibe, but there's a lot going on and it doesn't always sonically gel together well. I think that autotune effect can work well in some contexts, but really only if everything else in the production is right in the pocket, because people will automatically judge it as a mistake or a cover-up technique if the vocals and instrumentation aren't perfect in every single other way.
Lichen Throat:
Love the accordion sounds. I think that's a really fun choice especially with that driving drum sound. Hot tip for making fake accordion sound more like a real accordion: blend in a real melodica playing the same thing so that you get the natural/varied sounding attack.
The Magnetic Letters:
This really reminds me of the band Cardinal, particularly the song
If You Believe in Christmas Trees. The change where the drum machine comes in is a really nice change of pace, and I like that it's obviously fake sounding drums; I think it's a fun contrast to all the other sounds. The horns are a good choice. I like this a lot.
mellfire:
Love the organ solo and the general vibe of the song as a whole. For me, the vocal delivery is lacking a little passion. I'd like to hear it be a bit less perfect with some more character. It feels like the song is building to a bigger climax that never arrives; maybe a coda type hook could add that, but I think the previously mentioned "more passion in the vocals please" would go a long way if the song stayed as it otherwise is.
Night Sky:
The opening sounds are really great, and I like the instrumentation. The way you've mixed the vocals really buries them and emphasises a slightly unpleasant nasal tone. I like a lot of the instrumental qualities here, but the melodic choices and structure make the song as a whole drag somewhat.
Nomb Superbus:
You're obviously going for a very specific sound here. I have the same note for you that I had for Lean To: autotune effects can be fun and cool, and they have their place, but if you feature it everything else has to be absolutely spot on so that people don't assume you're covering up a weak performance. Is the weird jump/glitch just before the two minute mark deliberate? It sounds like a vocal comping mistake. If it was deliberate, you need to do something there to make it really, really, really sound like you did it on purpose.
Phlebia:
No specific notes for this. Really enjoyed it. Good work.
Pigfarmer Jr:
I hate the lyrics, but if that's what they have to be, I think the style you chose to go with was a good choice. The left/right panning for the bit about the left/right is a fun nod.
Sly Eli:
Rolling Stones? The "bourgeois super glue" lyric stuck out to me, but not in a good way. It doesn't scan well. Simplify it to "bourgeois glue" and it'd be fine. Your vocal delivery though is really spot on; there's a lot of character in your voice that's coming through well. I agree with what someone else said that the high frequencies on the drum reverb are a bit overpowering and distracting.
Somewhere Off the Left Coast:
Is "somewhere off the left coast" a reference to the fact that this seems to be biased toward my left ear? The mix feels a bit unbalanced in that regard. I'm not sure if it's where you've panned things, or placed microphones, or if the way you've used compression/eq is somehow influencing the perception of where the sounds are coming from. As a song though, it's pretty enjoyable.
spite:
There's a lot that I like about this, and everything is technically very good, but to me all the vocals seem very robotic and staid. They don't flow well, and the result is that all the parts feel quite quantised and unnatural. That may very well have been a deliberate choice, but it's not obvious to me if that's the case.
Sumner Sloane:
I enjoyed this, but I would have liked to hear some more variety and development in instrumentation, as everything is a bit samey for the whole duration. That aside, the songwriting in general is very good.
Sweeney Toad:
I usually like your lyrics, but really dislike these ones. I enjoyed the general delivery and feel, but in this case the lyrics didn't land. If it's sarcasm, it's not obvious. It just feels judgemental and unpleasant.
Thieves of Reason:
The mixing on this song is a definite improvement from your last entry. The vocal is still a touch too loud, but the delivery is strong.
tomdg feat rox:
I love the feel and delivery here, but again, I hate the lyrics on this. It's not obvious if you're being serious or sarcastic. I'm leaning towards sarcasm, but I've read so much of this exact bullshit on Facebook newspaper comments that it's hard to make the distinction.
***
Hot Pink Halo:
It me. Toshiro was throwing about an idea for making an In The Air Tonight song, but he didn't do it, which coincided with a couple of high profile stories coming out, and all of a sudden I looked up from a rage induced blackout to find a bunch of lyrics on a page.
In The Air Tonight is one of those songs that's almost as old as I am, so I don't remember a time when I didn't know it, and as such, had never really listened to it as closely as it deserved. It's a fucking weird song and I never knew how much it must have influenced my musical tastes and choices. I followed most of the instrument decisions from the original track, but to be honest, everything except the drum solo would have been my go to anyway, as they're things I use quite often in other songs. As mentioned previously, the song was prompted by the Australian Prime Minister making a series of appalling comments about an alleged rape that happened in frigging PARLIAMENT HOUSE of all places for fucks sake, but to be honest, I've never expected anything but disappointment to come out of that horror story of a man's mouth. What really was the icing on the shitcake while writing the lyrics was Charisma Carpenter's statement about mistreatment and bullying by Joss Whedon on the set of Angel. That show was pivotal when I was becoming an adult in teaching me about humanism and owning the consequences of your actions, and someone who can write those stories and themes should fucking know better when it comes to real life. It made me really upset and amplified the anger. I hope that comes through in the song. Apart from those two stories, it's also a a tapestry of all the blatant double standards and general lifelong micro aggressions that make up every woman's life experience.