Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Howling in shadows, screams break the silence. Let's see your reviews.
Last edited by Lunkhead on Tue Jun 15, 2021 9:01 am, edited 2 times in total.
Reason: make normal
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Please place your lyric here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12110
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Songs posted!
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Smalltown Mike »

Luntar! Great tune.
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Heine »

My FMOF Reviews (seems I am the first one this time...)

Well, I don't know what you might think… but I don't hear a bad song! A very good and pleasing fight! So, if something reads like a complaint…, well at least it's on a very high level.

Ben Crenshaw – Was it recorded analogue? I really like the solo guitar. The lyrics seem to be a bit repetitive – but fun.

Brown Word and the Big Whine – Did not expect this sound from you! But it works. I would shape the vocals a bit (maybe use more compression?); they seem to wander around in the mix.

Night Sky feat. heine – It is a nice little tune with a nice story. I envy this Melodica solo – it has so much feeling; you can hear Matt's experience in playing sax. Oh how I wish we had just a little more time to collab. When I started to record the guitars we even had no drum track. But the drummer did an awesome job afterwards. It was a good experience and a lot of fun. And Matt, you're really a fine guy!

Cookie Blue – The intro sounds so sad. I guess this one is not easy to sing. I really like the color of your voice. It sounds so intimate.

rackwagon – This really sounds like a night song. Hush, take the brushes! Is it a sax or the lower part of a Melodica? Every instrument is played with a lot of feeling here. A very fine production.

Banda de Luchadores Melodiosos – Some nice melodies in here. The organ is played very tasteful. I don't know what it is but some parts seem a bit loose.

Phlebia – That high punchy snare again! It fits fine. What I really admire this time is this driving bass. It really pushes it forward. A full power song!

Duncan Martin – Your music always sounds like someone who is in peace with himself. This one feels (musically) like a reflection at the end of a summer's day to me. You must be a very good observer which makes you write these kinds of detailed lyrics. (I see you in one league close to Ray Davies.) There seem to be some cool backing vocals but –pity!- they are so hard to hear.

Hot Pink Halo – I really like the different ways you use your vocals. Just like instruments. This is great. I thought it could be even greater if your lead voice would show a little bit more confidence. (But who am I to say this?)

Pigfarmer Jr – This is perfect. Tasteful! I don't know what to do better. I love these lyrics – simple but touching.

Yaks of the Industry – This is nice. First it got me in a wrong direction but the catchy chorus set me right. There are some cool Vince Clark sounds going on in the background. Nice vocals and backings!

heine feat. Night Sky – Thanks to Matt for his beautiful sax playing. Musically a very simple song played on some Motown samples. The backing choir was fun. Just sang what (and how!!!) it came to my mind. So true-hue!

Possum Sauce – Wow, this is a rather unusual instrumentation. Is it a tuba? A real one? The overall sound is so spatial; it is such a fantastic room sound. Listening in front of my Rokit6-Monitors makes me feel like I am together with you in a barn while you all are playing for me. How did you record it like that?

The Magnetic Letters – I like this. It leaves me a bit in a Patti Smith/B.S. vibe which is fine. You sing this one so good! I love your voice. That timbre!

Paco del Stinko – How did you get this guitar sounding like you are playing on rubber bands? This is great! So the verses are the parts I like most. But the rest isn't bad either.

luntar – A train song? Funny! Nicely done. It spreads some good vibes. The endings remind me a bit of Judy in disguise (with glasses).
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Nanja Sorya »

Heine wrote:
Tue Jun 01, 2021 9:24 am
My FMOF Reviews (seems I am the first one this time...)
<snippity snip>

Banda de Luchadores Melodiosos – <snip> I don't know what it is but some parts seem a bit loose.
That’s what she/he/they said! :D
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by jb »

Hello all you nur-ein-distracted people. Here are some reviews for good ol' classic Song Fight this week!

:arrow: Banda de Luchadores
I dunno if all these chords always go together. Did the organ player get the wrong chord sheet? Need some variation, some simplification in spots to refresh the ear. I know, I’m one to talk.

:arrow: Ben Crenshaw
Sommat’s clipping. I don’t know why I’m being fucked and how the full moon comes into it. Maybe a bit more precision in the vocals would make this more effective. And maybe a few thousand fewer repetitions of the main line.

:arrow: Brown Word and the Big Whine
I like the bass sound. Your arrangements are always interesting and kind of epic sounding. The lyric delivery could have more flow for my taste.

:arrow: Cookie Blue
Nicely sung. I think the drums need more motion, because eeeeverything is slow paced. The base might need some EQ, I think it’s muddying the production. Feels like this needs more variety or something, because I find myself not wanting to sit to the end.

:arrow: Duncan Martin
These lyrics are CRAMMED FULL of imagery and stuff. I’m liking them a lot. I don’t like that red wheelbarrow poem, but I appreciate the reference. This is a pleasing song.

:arrow: Heine etc
Kinda feels retro. Sax is well done. The vocal melody is a little more angular/chunky than I like, and maybe too beholden to its rhythm to flow nicely.

:arrow: Hot Pink Halo
Oh very pleasing choral vocal treatment, nice. Retro feel to it is working the Sandra Dee vibe. Bass could be further forward IMO.

:arrow: luntar
Novelty time! Kinda wish the vocal were further into the mix so everything was more of an equal player. Kinda fun, though the topic’s not clearly delineated enough for me for it to grab me as a novelty concept song. Of course if that’s not what you were going for…

:arrow: Magnetic Letters
Dunno if that bass vocal is hitting all the notes dead on… there aren’t enough project management songs in the world. Stevie Nicks should sing this song about building Amazon warehouses.

:arrow: Night Sky etc.
Tight arrangement. “God ain’t takin’ no chances on his Yelp reviews tonight” is a good line. I dunno about the timelessness of a Yelp reference, oeuvre-wise, but whatever it’s Song Fight. Kinda wish this was more tightly edited as a song, so it would just drive and be catchy and a little less rambly, because there’s good stuff in there.

:arrow: Paco del Stinko
I like this guitar sound a lot, and then that synth is rad, though is that mixed with like vocals or whistling or something? Anyway, sounds good. The vox are kinda buried. This is a catchy one I think. I wish there was harmony on that chorus, really differentiate it from the verses. Hmmm, the verb or delay or room sound goes away on the bridge I think? That’s a little weird production-wise.

:arrow: Phlebia
I like this a lot. I wish the guitar would come in and out in intensity, because it feels like it keeps ramping up and never fades at all, and that makes my ears a little tired. I wish it could have a good mix and master to really bring the bass and drums forward and make them hit as hard as they should. I like how regular the vocals are here— the angularity really works to reach the effect I think you’re going for. I just wish the whole thing were a lot more hi-fi.

:arrow: Pigfarmer Jr
The melodica is working nicely in this arrangement. I think the drum patterns could use some more thought. I like the chorus a lot, especially the chord progression. Here I think the vocals could come forward somewhat. They’re behind the acoustic guitar in my ears and maybe ought to be equal. Definitely could do with some harmony in this song, because this style begs for it. Nice song!

:arrow: Possum Sauce
Wow that trombone sounds like it’s behind me! Nice use of the soundstage. It’s all kicking butt I think. Some of the violin might be a bit too noodly for my taste but whatever. I could listen to that trombone all day.

:arrow: rackwagon
I like it when the piano comes in and then the sax parts are nice. I don’t like this vocal style personally, but it’s not badly done. Might could use some tightening in the arrangement to bring it all together, especially as it gets more complex with those distorted guitars in there.

:arrow: Yaks
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Having a beer and a puff, please ask for clarification if needed. Impressions, I guess, versus reviews.

Banda de Luchadores Melodiosos - The Andy Summers guitar line could have been played on banjo too, what a different vibe that would have presented. Tasty, hooky music for intelligent adults. Strong scent of 80s throughout, pastoral at times. Nice and lean, but full instrumentation well played. very nice.

Ben Crenshaw - Weeny college rock. Mildly buzzed vibe is easy going enough. Great fun to do with friends as you record or, ideally, jam. 70s Stones, through a goof filter. I can dig it for a bit.

Brown Word and the Big Whine - Electric rubber hoe-down. The shaky chorus vocal needs stacks of voices to biggify it, but I like where it goes. Great trippiness throughout, bridge is great. Heady ribbons of color, nice.

Cookie Blue - I like the shift after the longish feeling intro. The chorus saves the feel from being possibly too slow. Yet, I can't imagine this sped up too much, unless kookily so. Honest sounding vocal and feel all around, sad ponder. End is very nice, puts it all in place.

Duncan Martin - Good progressions, early 70s folky soundtrack tune vibe, dig it. A van, vertically striped pants, headband hair. Or not. I like the relaxed but sure feel of this and the easy melodies going by at their own speed. Very nice, snapshot memories.

heine feat. Night Sky - Club rock brought to near stadium level. It drives well and looks good on a rain wetted street, I'd like a surprise chord change or two in there. Almost a Rush progression somehow, at times. Very good, more dangerous would be nuts.

Hot Pink Halo - Petra Haden-lite intro. I like the almost girl group from long ago vibe to this, girl brushing her hair in the mirror or something. Its loose, but lets its intentions be known. Fadeout is interesting, but I'm not sure that I like it. Seems like the right choice, but takes away, somehow.

luntar - More Eugene Chadbourne than that/. Goofy and manic, I can dig that, once in a while. Even more manic, reckless, would be a blast. Needs a whoopee whistle. And away we go! Twee!

The Magnetic Letters - What interesting shifts this takes. An occasionally folky ballad that takes off and soars away unexpectedly. Nicely sung in a very distinctive and confident voice, good melodies, very nice arrangement. Like the way the lyrics go 'round, and super bridge, melodica accents good. Played in a real, but warm, cave.

Night Sky feat. heine - I thought this was going to take off in cowboy tune direction, and there are small whiffs of that, but it turns into an occasionally loungy Dylan. The chord progression goes around nicely and the instrumentation is all you need. It doesn't clobber you but feels good.

Paco del Stinko - My first idea was Robinson Crusoe seeing Friday's naked ass (!) so I toned it down to his love for him instead, with an ambiguous cannibal ending. Not deep, but better than a naked ass. I think.

Phlebia - I totally dig this rhythm and bass drums and guitar as keys (both) soar. I'd love to hear the vocals be more terrifying, but like where they sit sonically. Heavy breathing through distorto mic would not be wrong, where right. Lean and muscular, some jugular missing. Still: plow on down the hi-way.

Pigfarmer Jr - Los Lobos could do this. Not that you can't. Bit of longing, bit of casual confidence. Simple and effective chorus hook keeps you with it for the ride. The short bridge works better than if had gonbe around the block too many times. Perfect lead guitarage. Well balanced and well done, genuine.

Possum Sauce - Can see the full moon on this one. Down in some Louisiana type place. Warm, somehow not threatening. Easy vocals are a delight, nothing here is overdone. Seems a contender for the win to me, very excellent, this is quietly great.

rackwagon - I think I like what this wants to be more than it actually is. It's not a fail, but doesn't quite pull off the msity warm haze of twilight headiness dream it could be. Hats off for getting it off the ground, slow inhale.

Yaks of the Industry - Summer resort by the water success. Enough feel and fond looking into the fire feel. The chorus is lovely, esp. after the comfortingly percolating verses, a brief whiff of ELO, and gone, better than that. Tasty bridge and out, so balanced. It's new 'new' music that I can totally dig, though I'm not sure of the left hangin' end. Still, lovey feel.
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by sleepysilverdoor »

jb wrote:
Fri Jun 04, 2021 12:35 pm

:arrow: Phlebia
I like this a lot. I wish the guitar would come in and out in intensity, because it feels like it keeps ramping up and never fades at all, and that makes my ears a little tired. I wish it could have a good mix and master to really bring the bass and drums forward and make them hit as hard as they should. I like how regular the vocals are here— the angularity really works to reach the effect I think you’re going for. I just wish the whole thing were a lot more hi-fi.
Heh, I was aiming specifically for early 80s goth/post-punk production values which typically has the bassline super high in the mix, guitars a fun, chorusey, reverby distorted mess, and drums that drive hard but usually sound thin compared to the bass. In hindsight maybe it's good that the scene moved on from that. Or not I dunno.
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by crumpart »

Gonna try and write some reviews for this fight tomorrow. Saying it out loud makes it more likely, right?
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Duncan »

crumpart wrote:
Wed Jun 09, 2021 3:16 pm
Gonna try and write some reviews for this fight tomorrow. Saying it out loud makes it more likely, right?
In my experience typing it out loud, it makes it more likely but doesn't guarantee anything.
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Duncan »

Let me start by saying every single one of these is 10x better than Lorde’s new “Solar Power”


Phlebia -- This kept me entertained all the way through. Great little educational lesson about lunar vocab. I really liked the stanza with the line “Once in a blue moon is an idiom identifying rarity”. The driving drums and riffs held it all together well. I’m not sure where it all goes lyrically in terms of a coherent statement or story, but each part is fun to hear

Luntar -- This has a real “Archwood Flextrek 37,000,000,000 Whipsnake” feel to it. It’s fabulous and obnoxious and certainly something I’ll put on sometime to delight half my friends and annoy the other half. Great energy, speed, solo, and spirit. I’m right there with you

Rackwagon -- Nice atmospheric sounds. A mix of Joe Henry and Conway Twitty, and an English fellow. Sad tune, well done. Those drums sound good in the mix. THe song sort of goes on in the same progression for the whole song. A bridge or something to break it up might help.

Magnetic Letters -- Hearing a bit of Neil Diamond and Gordon Lightfoot. The Gorgdon Lightfoot sound is kind of a perfect match for this since it echoes the jingoism of the Canadian Railroad Trilogy, only now it’s a corporate moon warehouse. Your voice on this is pretty incredible -- some great little trills and tremolo. The chorus really sounds like a shitty motivational poster that they would put above the urinals promoting some shitty productivity contest that pits workers against each other.

Cookie Blue -- This intro is very long, and it’s raining and I’m getting awfully sad. But then the lyrics kick in and this is a really strong and melancholy tune. I can imagine it with some strings on it, and a big crescendo. Beautiful song and great harmonies. As It ends, I actually like how much of it is just melodica. The lyrics provide a clear, quick snapshot.

Heine Feat. Night Sky -- Sax and handclaps are a fab intro. Straightforward lyrics delivered well. I like how the moon was the witness, so it makes the coming full moon almost a day of judgment. This type of song is always interesting because it’s clearly hanging on, but it’s about being done -- which is a good tension. The melodica motif is perfect for this too. Seems there’s always a songfight entry that makes me think of Nick Lowe. You get the prize this week.

Possum Sauce -- I love the journey through various folk sounds. The verse has that New Orleans “Caravan” sound with a little bit of the Doors “Whiskey Bar”, and the chorus switches to a more Greenwich Village folk-revival sound with the tenor harmonies. Tuba sounds great, and the violin weaves in really well.

Duncan Martin (me) -- I don’t know why my entries always end up so quiet. I need to address that before submitting. I was happy to get back to my shed where there’s a drum kit. This is about my housemate who goes rollerskating in the evenings at the nearby highschool parking lot. There seemed to be something kind of romantic about that. Her partner sometimes skateboards there while she skates, so it was loosely based on the image of them having a nice cheap date even if the week has been stressful. Apparently rollerskating is coming back this year.

Banda De Luchadores Melodiosos -- I was listening to this down at the chicken coop factory today. It’s really soothing. Those vocal harmonies and the atmospheric reverb sound really good in the headphones. The organ has some good accents. I’m hearing some Alan Parsons in there. I feel like the sun has gone down but it’s still hot out.

Yaks of the Industry -- Really well recorded and mixed. Those guitar triple delay accents sound cool. Is this a werewolf asking his lady friend to put him out of his misery on the next full moon? The driving dance sections stand out and are supported by the rest. This came right after Banda De Luchadores, and the two songs together really create a good mood.

Paco del Stinko -- dark, but well done. I like your chord changes and vocal delivery. This kind of reminds me of the Robert Carlyle character in Ravenous. I was trying to place what this sounded like, and it’s sort of like a young Lou Reed delivery, or maybe the Kinks.

Ben Crenshaw -- Brimful of Asha on the 45. This is at least 10x better than Lorde’s latest single. I listened to this earlier and thought it was just sort of a throwaway with a really chill delivery, but now I am hearing a working-class anthem of a dude who only has a few nights per month to stay up late and stargaze without having to be up early the next day. Just his luck that the fucking moon, which he doesn’t fuck with, is there bleaching out the sky and impeding the view of our solar system’s --nay, our galaxy’s-- many wonders. It’s like rai-i-ain on your wedd-aing dai. Great entry, love it.

Pigfarmer Jr. -- Great melody. Is this about a narrator who has broken up with someone and they are refusing to leave because they’re scared of “the darkness” or unknown, based on previous experience? I like that as a fairly unusual POV for a love song. I don’t need it fully spelled out but it was just a bit too vague for my head to latch onto a thread in it. Voice sounds really good and the instrumentation is all really clean and clear.

Brown Word and the Big Whine -- This is a different sound from you, at least from the fights I’ve been in. I like how you sort of take the idea of a werewolf transformation but apply it to the transformation of going out to dance, and getting into a more visceral and animal kind of mode, getting sweaty, kind of haggard, everything's a bit more physical than during the week, people are eating and drinking and smoking fighting and sweating and fuckin’ and pissing, throwing up, all that good stuff.

Hot Pink Halo -- This intro is cool -- And I like the innocence of the lyrics and the image of the crescent moon holding you inside it. The rhythm makes me think of a 1963-ish pop song -- Leslie Gore or Bobby Darin’s “Dream Lover” -- something like that. A few off-key notes, but many were on, and you hit some really great harmonies at the end of your lines.

Night Sky feat. Heine -- These lyrics are dynamite! I may try this for one of those cover sidefights sometime. “Saw a pretty lady sipping from a silver flask
Maybe she wanna join me but I forgot to ask”
That’s a great line -- so much swagger. And the “God ain’t taking any chances” one is cheezy but I feel like it fits with the feel. I can imagine the pretty lady walking by, and the narrator saying that to her and her sort of giving a quick chuckle to be nice. OR maybe she’d love it sit down and start to chit chat and the night would progress from there. This reminds me a bit of the Amazing Rhythm Aces’ “Third Rate Romance” -- sort of sad, but also pretty hopeful. I love that you and Heine collaborated and ended up writing songs around a very similar theme.
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by crumpart »

Banda de Luchadores Melodiosos:
I like the introduction to this, and “you call, my phone it vibrates off the table” is a nicely evocative line. This is on the lengthy side, and doesn’t really seem to have a clear musical focal point, so I find myself just kind of drifting off, and not really listening well to the lyrics. I feel like it could resolve a bit better, either by not leaving sentences hanging, or alternatively, altering the melody a little so it’s clear that a sentence has ended.

Ben Crenshaw:
The “doubling” of the vocals here is making it pretty hard to make out the lyrics. If that’s what you’re going for, cool, but basically all I’m getting is that it’s Friday and Fuck You, which eh, it’s not enough for my lyrically. Maybe drop the secondary vox down, add some panning and smudge it a bit if you want the effect of the second voice, but still want the actual lyrics to be legible.

Brown Word and the Big Whine:
Nice bit of suspense building in the intro. I like all those sounds. The vocals could blend a bit better with the music I think. It sounds like they move somewhere else in the mix for some parts, but it doesn’t feel like enough of a change, and that movement could be a bit more distinct if it’s deliberate. I reckon it’d be cool if more stuff dropped away to a very spare, vox heavy arrangement in that bridge part; it would really make that part stand out, and when everything came back in the impact would be bigger.

Cookie Blue:
This is very lovely and melancholy, and I really enjoyed it. The melodica part is spot on. Personally I’m not fond of the chimes, I think they sound a little cheesy and if this were my song I’d look for some other sparkly synth sound that serves the same purpose. I’d also probably leave the whole thing hanging on that suspended note that you play right before the second lot of chimes. This feels like the right kind of song to experiment with leaving something unresolved.

Duncan Martin:
This is a really cute song. The lyrics are excellent; a lot of cool imagery in there and the phrasing and construction are top notch. The instrumentation feels a touch high end heavy; it’d be refreshing to hear the guitar drop out entirely occasionally, or just change up a bit in the rhythm to add some character to the music. Re your quietness issues: do you add anything to the master bus? I try and mix with a lot of headroom, then use multi-band compression and an ad limiter on the master bus to bring up the volume.

heine feat. Night Sky:
This song has a fun feel and the sax is great. Love the handclaps as well. I’d like to hear the backing bit in the call/response part mixed back a bit further so it sounds more like a group of backing singers. I don’t love the lyrics; I know they’re pretty standard fare but they immediately come off to me as a touch emotionally manipulative. I realise you’re just trying to write a fun song, but I think anyone who writes about not wanting someone to leave should always read over the lyrics with an extra-critical eye to avoid falling into the “overly-possessive character” trap.

luntar:
I find this song frustrating. I like the decisions and delivery on the “we should know” parts, but most of the melodic choices really grate on me. I’m not sure if it’s because everything is really over-enunciated, or if it’s just a combination of all the not-quite-novelty arrangement. This one is not for me.

The Magnetic Letters:
This feels like it’s based on a very familiar melody that I can’t quite place right now. I reckon it'd work well to shift this whole thing up to the next key so you’re not quite straining as much on those notes at the bottom of your range. This is pretty fun and I always appreciate the sense of humour and crazy stories you come up with.

Night Sky feat. heine:
That melodica solo is really wonderful. All the other instrumentation sounds great as well. I’m not a super big fan of your phrasing and melodic choices. It often sounds to me like you just kind of go with the first melody that you land on for the vocal parts, and they end up sounding a bit pedestrian. I think you’d do well to consider the vocal parts in the same way that you think about sax parts, and bring in some of that character, charm and finesse that’s always present in those bits, but translated to the lyrics/vocals.

Paco del Stinko:
Good solid song that I enjoy every time until I hear the line “the clouds parted aside”, which is grammatically unpleasant and tautological. You’d be perfectly fine just saying “the clouds parted”, but if you wanted to keep “aside” in for the rhyme, you might be better off writing something like “the clouds were swept aside” or “drifted aside” or something along those lines.

Phlebia:
This is great. Excellent use of metaphor. There comes a point where I can’t understand anything you’re singing, and I’m not sure if that’s deliberate or not, but I feel like something could be adjusted (my instinct would be to not try and cram in as many lyrics; it’s the section with all the “I’ve been monitoring…”), but maybe it would be worth dropping the doubled vox there because I think that’s adding to it sounding a bit muddled. I love the general vibe though and the lyrics are really clever.

Pigfarmer Jr:
Your voice is sounding really excellent in this song. This is a really enjoyable track overall. The chorus is good as it is, but at the same time is really crying out for some backing harmonies. I’d love to hear that version.

Possum Sauce:
I love everything about this. Especially the line “hey big old moon blow these big old blues away”. Chef’s kiss.

rackwagon:
Even though I heard this song prior to the fight, I forgot it was yours when it came up and had that jolting “ooh, I like this one, who is it???” during the intro. Good sign. I like this a lot. So full of longing and despair. Definitely a good showing from all the Aussies this round (at my count four tracks here: Rackwagon, Magnetic Letters, Possum Sauce(?) and yours truly, Hot Pink Halo!).

Yaks of the Industry:
Love the backing vocals in this. Love the song in general, tbh. The ending is right in my wheelhouse. Good job.

***

Hot Pink Halo:
It me! I’m really happy with where this ended up, and think this is one of my favourite things I’ve made. I don’t normally enter Nur Ein and Songfight at the same time, but I couldn’t resist the title or challenge, and I’d just written a Nur Ein song that made me super sad, so I wanted to make something that made me happy. Very obviously based on girl group Motown, which is my musical dreamland. The lyrics are about the phrase “the old moon in the new moon’s arms”, which is a phenomenon where light from earth is reflected onto the moon during the waxing crescent phase, so you see the new moon glowing brightly, but also a hint of the rest of the moon, as if the new moon is holding it in its arms. Fun fact: the album art for this round is a photograph of a piece of lino I carved to make an artwork about this very phenomenon. You can see it here. I screen printed a glow-in-the-dark crescent moon on a sheet of black paper, then blind embossed the lino moon. As I was printing this back in 2015, my dad called to tell me my grandma, who was just shy of 103 years old, had died. I think some of that seeped into these lyrics, written from the perspective of the old moon helping the new moon grow and forge its path before disappearing into the night.
Devil’s got me Lindt! Devil’s got me Lindt!
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Heine
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Heine »

Thanks to everyone reviewing or commenting the songs!
crumpart wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 2:42 am
heine feat. Night Sky:
This song has a fun feel and the sax is great. Love the handclaps as well. I’d like to hear the backing bit in the call/response part mixed back a bit further so it sounds more like a group of backing singers. I don’t love the lyrics; I know they’re pretty standard fare but they immediately come off to me as a touch emotionally manipulative. I realise you’re just trying to write a fun song, but I think anyone who writes about not wanting someone to leave should always read over the lyrics with an extra-critical eye to avoid falling into the “overly-possessive character” trap.
Maybe the fast tempo (and the silly backing vocals too) lead into the wrong direction. Verses are built around a-minor and the rest is in d-minor. So, it was not intended to be a fun song at all.
I think I understand what you're saying about the lyrics. But I'm only getting out of my head what I've been through the last years. That ole 'You keep me hanging On' thing. Putting it in songs helps my mind to stay sane. Most of my last songs deal with it in some kind of way. Musically: entertainment; lyrically: therapy (at least for me). ;)
www.heine-musik.de - Stark autark! - Keller Kollektiv - Vince Link - "Paragon of Teutonic Gloominess" - Elaine DiMasi
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sleepysilverdoor
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by sleepysilverdoor »

Duncan wrote:
Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:46 pm

Phlebia -- This kept me entertained all the way through. Great little educational lesson about lunar vocab. I really liked the stanza with the line “Once in a blue moon is an idiom identifying rarity”. The driving drums and riffs held it all together well. I’m not sure where it all goes lyrically in terms of a coherent statement or story, but each part is fun to hear
Moon = period.
"There's a lot to be said about a full-on frontal assault on the ear drums" - Pigfarmer Jr.
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WreckdoMelle
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by WreckdoMelle »

Duncan wrote:
Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:46 pm
Brown Word and the Big Whine -- This is a different sound from you, at least from the fights I’ve been in. I like how you sort of take the idea of a werewolf transformation but apply it to the transformation of going out to dance, and getting into a more visceral and animal kind of mode, getting sweaty, kind of haggard, everything's a bit more physical than during the week, people are eating and drinking and smoking fighting and sweating and fuckin’ and pissing, throwing up, all that good stuff.
Mission accomplished! Thanks for the review.
“This is pandemonium, like a Heironymus Bosch painting set to music” - Pannacotta Army
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Duncan
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Duncan »

sleepysilverdoor wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:16 am
Duncan wrote:
Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:46 pm

Phlebia -- This kept me entertained all the way through. Great little educational lesson about lunar vocab. I really liked the stanza with the line “Once in a blue moon is an idiom identifying rarity”. The driving drums and riffs held it all together well. I’m not sure where it all goes lyrically in terms of a coherent statement or story, but each part is fun to hear
Moon = period.
Forgive me. I was listening to many songs and missed that. Especially with your parenthetical lyrics, it couldn't be more obvious now. I hear babies can be expensive and time consuming.
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sleepysilverdoor
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by sleepysilverdoor »

Duncan wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 11:28 am
sleepysilverdoor wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 10:16 am
Duncan wrote:
Fri Jun 11, 2021 7:46 pm

Phlebia -- This kept me entertained all the way through. Great little educational lesson about lunar vocab. I really liked the stanza with the line “Once in a blue moon is an idiom identifying rarity”. The driving drums and riffs held it all together well. I’m not sure where it all goes lyrically in terms of a coherent statement or story, but each part is fun to hear
Moon = period.
Forgive me. I was listening to many songs and missed that. Especially with your parenthetical lyrics, it couldn't be more obvious now. I hear babies can be expensive and time consuming.
Heh, I took out most of the parenthetical lyrics in the actual recording, I just never bothered updating them on the site! I'll do that now. Yeah, fortunately we no longer have to worry about that particular problem, but there's definitely an abundance of littles in my life and yes they are indeed time consuming!
"There's a lot to be said about a full-on frontal assault on the ear drums" - Pigfarmer Jr.
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Michael »

Thanks for the reviews, all! Enjoyable fight. A few quick thoughts from me:

Banda de Luchadores Melodiosos - The extremely 80s synth in the intro had me expecting a very different kind of song. Arrangement has a lot of movement but manages to keep a spacious, lonely feel. Nice work. Good harmonies on the chorus. The prechorus section where the guitar and bass go dissonant is striking, but it could maybe do with a little tightening up to make clear that it's not accidental.

Ben Crenshaw - Fun stuff. I smiled. You repeat the main line so many times that it somehow goes from throwaway to profound and back again.

Brown Word and the Big Whine - Punchy mix, borderline bruising. Good energy. Love the bridge section with the sproing-y backing and melodica, gives the song some air. Your voice doesn't always feel like it's in the same space as the rest of the arrangement, don't know if that's intentional - those upfront vocals against the washed-out distorted guitar in the chorus make an interesting blend though.

Cookie Blue - Lovely song, beautifully sung. Simple but touching. I'd argue for shortening the intro by a half (three-quarters even?) so we get to your vocals sooner.

Duncan Martin - Vocal delivery fits the song really well - matter-of-fact, kind, slightly world-weary. Good lyrics too. The only thing that sits strangely for me is the bass line - it's like it loses confidence halfway through the verse and stops supporting the vocal melody. Could just be me though.

heine feat. Night Sky - That guitar on the third beat feels a bit ska/reggae, but you use it more like an angry Londoner: for weight rather than lightness and bounce. Despite the melodica and back-up vocals, there's a feeling of heaviness to the whole song that hammers home the doomed relationship - one partner possessive, the other uncaring. Sturdy, well-made song, and for some reason I hear a little wink of Billy Idol in your vocal performance.

Hot Pink Halo - This is a real charmer. It'd be interesting to hear you go full motown on this, with big stacks of tight vocals, but then you might lose the appealing looseness.

luntar - Brings to mind a more innocent Primus. Bustling energy that flops to the floor at the end of each verse, which was pretty much my bike-riding style as a kid. The title line melody has the flavour of a playground taunt and might slip over from catchy into irritating on repeated listens, but works fine for a song this long.

The Magnetic Letters - One of my favourites, a sort of dismal '16 Tons' for the Amazon age. The chorus is almost an anti-chorus, bleeding out into an exhausted sigh. Great bridge too - love those long held notes. I feel like I've been nit-picking something on every song, so: the lyrics feel a little first-draft in places and have to be shoehorned to fit the metre ('friday', 'warehouse', etc.).

Night Sky feat. heine - Ha, I picture you performing this at a lounge bar full of half-attentive gamblers. I enjoyed all the little self-deflating touches: the sleepy audience response vocals, the way the dramatic intro just shrugs and shifts gear into the less energetic chug of the main song. Fits the (barely) self-deluding protagonist well. Sweet melodica solo, and the way the vocal sort of trails off at the end makes me smile.

Paco del Stinko - This is a delight. Loose and natural. The guitar riff, the way the arrangement thickens up for the chorus, the post-colonial erotic comeuppance - all great stuff. And that synth/howl hook is probably my favourite thing this fight.

Phlebia - Nicely nervy and pent-up: the clipped, tightly-wound vocal delivery trying to keep order against the squalling guitars. I like the harmonic choices on the bridge. The starkly separated arrangement does fit the song's psychology, but on a purely sonic level I still think I'd prefer a more balanced mix, with that background distorted guitar brought much closer. The vocals and drums both feel like they're off in their own little spaces.

Pigfarmer Jr - Solid song, well performed. The third line of each verse is really sweet, the vocal melody against the bass, gets me each time. I'd have liked a little more idiosyncrasy in the lyrics maybe - they do a good job of sketching the emotions, but don't offer a lot of specific detail to hold onto once the song's done.

Possum Sauce - This is me, aiming for a fuller band sound than I normally go for. It's about fifty-fifty real vs virtual instruments. (Virtual tuba, I'm afraid.) Listening back now, I'm noticing a fair bit of Split Enz's 'Dirty Creatures' in the verses, but let's call it homage rather than theft.

rackwagon - Beautiful stuff. Great atmospherics. The swoony mood puts me in mind of vintage Augie March, which is a lovely place to be. Only thing keeping this from being my top pick is the singing style you've chosen here - those elongated whispers are a bit full-on for me, would've preferred a more naturalistic approach. Still a cracker.

Yaks of the Industry - Very skilled production, and the gentle, smooth sound plays a nice counterpoint to the lyrics. Impressive. I have a slight allergy to autotune and vocoders, but you make tasteful use of them here - I didn't have to pull out the epipen.

crumpart wrote:
Sat Jun 12, 2021 2:42 am
all the Aussies this round (at my count four tracks here: Rackwagon, Magnetic Letters, Possum Sauce(?) and yours truly, Hot Pink Halo!)
Aussie as charged! Strewthcobbervegemite.
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mholland
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by mholland »

Great fight, all, thanks for the reviews!

Banda de Luchadores Melodiosos: Lots of cool bits, especially the little leads that come in and out, and you certainly nailed the genre. Feels a little loose/shambolic in places.

Ben Crenshaw: I dunno, I don’t have a problem with f-bombs, but they’re ubiquitous enough that I don’t hear anything else and don’t have anything other feedback than, hmm, kinda bored.

Brown Word and the Big Whine: I don't think I've heard this sound from you before, it's kind of neat. I like how you used the melodica as a textural element in the chorus, but I think it needs to come up a bit in the mix, especially during the solo.

Cookie Blue: Really beautiful melodica in the intro and outro. Nice vocals. Feels like the vocal melody is more satisfying than in your last song.

Duncan Martin: Really enjoy your vibe and lyrics. The backing vocals and melodica are really nice.

heine feat. Night Sky: It was really fun to add a little bit of sax to this tune. Heine sent me a pretty much finished song to work with, so it was really easy… I didn’t exactly return the favor.

Hot Pink Halo: The backing vocals on this are fantastic, love how they're doing much of the work of the rhythm section without it being an exclusively a cappella piece. A little pitch correction on the lead vocal and melodica (particularly in the lower range of both) would help a bit, but overall this is really appealing.

luntar: The novelty angle is a little too strong with this one for my taste. Rhythm section and melodica are really well done, though.

The Magnetic Letters: This is a lot of fun. Love the second verse lyrics, in particular. Vocals and instrumental performances sound great.

Night Sky feat. heine: Loved Sally’s lyrics, wish I’d done them justice. Thank you for the guitars, heine!

Paco del Stinko: First, my standard Paco review: great composition, arrangement, and instrumental performances. Additionally: fun lyrics, I’m always game for literary references with tinges of cannibalism.

Phlebia: More good hard-core Phlebia fun, complete with the level of nerdiness I expect from my physical-science trained civil service brethren.

Pigfarmer Jr: Really nice all around—the solid composition and vocal/guitar performances that I expect from you, and then you went and nailed the melodica on top of it all.

Possum Sauce: Absolutely love this. Great instrumentation, melodies, charming lyrics, and solid performances. I mean who doesn't love a syncopated oom-pah Americana (or Australiana?) amphibious shanty? This was my favorite in this fight. If I believed in cheating I would have voted for it twice.

rackwagon: I like the moody feel of the instrumentation, and the momentary shift to what feels briefly more optimistic around the 1 minute mark and toward the end is really nice (I guess that’s the chorus).

Yaks of the Industry: I like how you incorporated the melodica into the electronic Yaks sound. Not at all my style, but very well-performed and produced.
Night Sky is Sally on lyrics, Steve on drums, and Matt on the other stuff
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

The Yaks win!
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Re: Bark at the (Full Moon On Friday reviews)

Post by jb »

AROOOOOOOO! *whatever sound a yak makes*

Good fight!
blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
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