Post Mardi Gras Depression (Empty Wednesday Reviews)

[furrypedro]

quick thoughts. not well considered

Melvin - ace, probable vote. I actually preferred your Robot candidate - I love that song - but I just had to vote for Ben last week.

Paco - wrong, brilliant

Roymond - cool, lose the chorus on the guitar

Chonny - second fave

Embers - similar to chonny but not nearly as engaging

weakest - s'alright. a bit of a mess

mighty mouse - a bit rubbish

Acc 12 - also a bit rubbish

Ignite your face - see above

natural copse - really captures a mood, I almost felt like voting for this just because of that.


to Charles, Jeff, Steve and Kid C. I'll try and get round to listening soon. sorry

I did a wednesday song for FAWM which feel compelled to post a link to cos it's tenuously relevant

[Paco Del Stinko]

Thanks for the comments so far, people, I'll get to writing some after the weekend. Honest!

[Smalltown Mike]

Hey Melvin, that's a really great track. One of the best I've heard from you. Where are the drums from? (That doesn't sound like the NS Kit Free. )

[MC Minimum]

Mighty Mouse etc.
Hahaha, this is pretty funny and moderately well done. I'd like you to apply some EQ to your vocals so I can understand the words more easily. And the singing part, reduce the volume on that and apply some delay and reverb so it sounds like it's in the background. And maybe some more details in the arrangement to give me something interesting to listen to in the breaks. I like this. I'm never going to listen to it again because it doesn't have much "come back again" fu for me, but I like it and will look forward to your next entry.

What is this EQ of which you speak? I'm still struggling with getting rid of this static on the vocal track that only seems to show up when I'm talking into the mic. For this track i actually just used the built in mic on my laptop, because my microphone sounded so horrible.

Also, @Melvin, that sucks about the ill-advised relationship. Confession Wednesdays sound brutal.

[melvin]

Where are the drums from?

Dude! I've been playing real drums for over a year now! Glad you like the tune!

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

Chonny - Great early eighties 'New Wave' feel to this track, some intelligent lyrics coupled with some pleasant vocals, a potential vote!

Embers of Autumn - Vocals too loud, instrumentation is better, my main problem with this, is the rather ramblesome lyrics, the track seems to go on for ages and ages, good effort some production needs and too long!

Ignite Your Face - Some good ideas, in fact many many good ideas, a simple yet entertaining track, gets a bit wearing after a few listens!

Jefff Robertson and the Neo Candylanders - absolutely hate the opening 45 seconds of this but it does get better as it goes on, lyrically rather good, but a bit sparse (quite figuratively 'empty'), by 2:00 it's a decent track, but it's just far too long for what it is!

Kid Cruiser - You could, but I wouldn't really like it! I'd much prefer meeting up for drinks, getting to know each other and maybe developing a relationship based on friendship, honesty and trust! also there's the physical aspect, I may not find you attractive, you may not be turned on by me, but hopefully we can both look beyond that to a deeper more mutually beneficial 'love'.

King Arthur - Brilliant from the cough to completion!

Melvin - obviously a great track, just not moving me, It's a bit samey, probably only the third or fourth best song this week! (that's meant to be a compliment!)

Mighty Mouse and Pudding Delicious - It's a shame when the best part of a track is the sample! Sorry that's a bit harsh, this is okay but there will always be a least four or five better songs every week, needs something else to make it stand out!

Natural Copse - When I first heard this I initially thought Wow! a nice distant sweeping pad coming in after 0:45 would help and lose the keyboard madness at the end!

Paco del Stinko - Aaarggh! far too good to be legal!

Roymond - Just plain epic, a beautiful track!

Steve Durand - Predictable, Cheesy Goodness, the lyric about rising fuel prices is extremely topical.

The Weakest Suit - Sounds oddly like 'The Boomtown Rats' I kinda like it, though not enough to elevate it into the top 6!

Accessory Twelve - Sounds like a Cynthia song!

I think I'll vote for King Arthur, with Roymond, Paco del Stinko, Chonny, Melvin and Steve Durand all deserving a mention, well done guys!
Everybody else must do better!

[Jerry]

Accessory Twelve: I liked the sound of this tune. The breezy k'brd flourishes and metronomic bleep are great. The dropout section freshens it up nicely. So simple yet very nice. My only criticism is that the vocal melody isn't firm enough. Maybe if you laid down a track of the melody and sang along with it, your intonation would be better. Then lose the guide track. This was cool, though.
Paco Del Stinko: Whoooo! Fat ass guitars. Nice 'n' menacing, fitting the theme of your lyrix. Smells like Fuzz Factory? No criticism here, I dug it beginning to end, and you're the master of the 'what the hell is that' guitar noise.
Steve Durand: Nice application of the Empty Wednesday theme. Funny, when horns are a little sloppy, they sound even better. There's no denying the excitement of blazin' brass and rippin' reeds. Melody-wise, I feel it's a bit pedestrian. But, did I mention the great horns?
Roymond: Nice clear sound. Someone else mentioned Pink Floyd ( I think it was this tune), and I echo that sentiment. However, they were a PF fan, while I am not, so this was a bit self-indulgent for me. Your slide work lacks the perfect intonation of Cooder (this reminds me of Paris, Texas soundtrack). But did I mention the great sound?
The Weakest Suit: Fun riff. This is okay. Fun riff.
Jeff Robertson and the NeoCandylanders: Well, it takes gnargnar nards to post a song this bloody long based on the. same. repetitive. chord. progression. For that you get props. But not for much else.
King Arthur: Is that a Sweet Leaf reference at the beginning? 'Bussed in from hell'! Lots of clever lyrics in this tune, Yer Majesty. While the music isn't terribly original, (a bit like New Country), you've totally made up for it with a brilliant concept and strong lyrics.
Mighty Mouse and Pudding Delicious: There's a pretty cool concept here. I think you could use a little more sheen on the vocal, just a tad more higher freq. Well, you got your idea across, and it was pretty entertaining. So, mission accomplished!
Embers of Autumn: You've got to really establish the vocal melody here. Your singing tone is good, kinda Paul Westerbergish. But your intonation is off. Singing along with a guide track can help hit those notes. I dig the songwriting though. Some interesting chord choices.
Melvin: It's amazing how much a well placed harmony can elevate a phrase. The song proper is catchy, but rather forgettable. Still, very well executed.
Ignite Your Face: Moe dynamix would have boosted the appeal of this song. Because it's actually pretty good. Lyrically, it's not igniting my face, but I like the twee synthiness of it all.
Kid Cruiser: Yeah, I guess I could brush this off. But naw. You're a dumbass. I'm not even gonna review your crap again. Grow up.
Natural Copse: Spooky and a compelling melody. More production would mean more impact. But the way it is there's a persistent dreariness about it that appeals to me.
I think I've reviewed 'em all. I liked all the keyboards I heard this week.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I listened to these on ear-bud thingys, stereo, and cheap computer speakers. Sounded pretty good on all of them.

Accessory Twelve - You and I both benefit from singing fewer (some may say none) notes. I gotta say, though, your vocal is leaps above the last time you sang. All the while Cynthia was there, you must've been practicing, and your voice sounds good in a higher register. I like the mellow vibe to this song, and appreciate the room it allows itself to breathe. There's a weird bass note that comes in occasionally that's minorly distracting, but I like the returning 'EKG' tone, as someone else called it. This song could benefit from a slight variation on the melody, but I found it pleasing, even more so after numerous listens.

chonny - I don't quite hear the disconnect with vocals that JB referred to, but I understand where he was coming from as far as vocals sitting on top of the music, versus in them. Regardless, I think the melodies are good: simple, but not dumb, and memorable. The guitar work definitely steals the show, though. The many layers complement each other well, and have a nice biting tone. They could almost afford to be more aggressive, but the understated drums might feel too wimpy if they were. I felt like some vocals were missing from the end of the song, but liked where this went, overall-good tune! Also: I'm sorry to report that when I think of the purple guitar, associated with Dinosaur Jr...ya gotta name it quick before it's nicknamed after you know who!

Embers of Autumn - I understand your situation in recording this, but this is more off than it should be, especially vocally. The song structure is a nice poppy type one, and somehow you even manage to convey your passion despite the elements crashing about. I wonder if the order that you record your tracks might help, like maybe you were listening to too much of the open and jangly guitars instead of the more basic chords? It's a mess, but could have been salvaged with a better vocal line.

Ignite Your Face - This is rather sleepy. It sounds like you programmed and sang the parts while laying down, or something. I hope that it's more of a case of just getting warmed up, as it's not necessarily unpleasant, just a bit poopy. Maybe you should rearrange your school schedule to get math over with early, then end the day on a more creative note. Unless you like math, I suppose. Feels a bit of a toss-off.

Jeff Robertson and the Neo-Candylanders - I dig the feel here, and find it quite effective. I like how when your vocal threatens to wobble, you turn it into a trill. Or maybe it's just a wobbly trill. The build is nice and patient and the song might drag without it, despite the good lyrics. I enjoy 'churchy' lyrics when they are about discovery/loss of faith, etc., and not telling me I'll go to hell or whatever. The end section is indeed easy to get caught up in, while it may go around a couple of times too many. Bigger isn't always better, but maybe another layer there would've taken this even higher. Still, a genuine track with real feel-great work, Jeff.

Kid Cruiser - I like the progression here best, and the Englishy sounding voice. Yeah, I'd rather not compare songs from each submission to the one prior, but the rape joke is getting a bit tiresome. Anyway, the instruments are well layered and played, and the song is very well arranged. The slo-mo feel is quite nice, all codeined out or something, and I can dig that. The feel, that is, not the medicine. So I guess I'm torn, as I like the flow, tones and different vocals, but can't help but tire of the recurring rape theme. How about a different taboo next time? There must be something!

King Arthur - Energetic and well balanced, the chorus is hooky enough and works great with the excellent lyrics and story. There are many good lines in here, and I like hearing you do a bit more of a guitar lead here, mirroring the main melody, and I wouldn't have complained if you cut loose as well. Others might complain, but what the heck! The vocal harmonies are just right and enough, though some ooo-ahhs sprinkled conservatively throughout might've been nice as well. This song would be great under the montage of the Wednesday of your choice going through her travails mentioned within. Most excellent tune.

Melvin - I like the mopey start and the bleak start to the week. What a sad-sack, man. I love the melody lines in the chorus. "love me all alone" and the belting out the high note in the bridge especially. The guitar solo was in the right area but could've screamed a bit more, but nice double pick scratch intro. I thought you lost access to your kit, but the drums sound good, even the shaky fill. (sounds like one I might stumble through) This song isn't necessarily long, but doesn't feel as long as it says it is, which says something about how well balanced it is and easy to get lost in. I like this very much and actually think it's one of your better recent entires. So there, Pedro!

Mighty Mouse and Pudding Delicious - I don't know who Pudding is. The vocal is very well delivered, and I like the different meters that you go through, especially the machine-gun rapid fire around 2:00. Yeah, the main vocal is muffled sounding, kind of like a tv on in the other room. Maybe it's a mic issue, maybe not. Bur while I'm no EQ expert, it sounds like you could spiff up your vocals by dropping some lower mid and lower frequencies out, then add just a schniblet of highs to it. Also, the chorus vocal might jump out a bit more with one or two simple harmonies on top of it: should be simple enough to do on a couple note melody. Back track is nice and minimal with a good enough groove. Good work sir, now step it up a notch.

Natural Copse - I like the shoe gazing mood to this, and the melody is nice if lacking a bit of (possibly) helpful variety. Yeah, a change of some kind here would be very helpful. Nothing wrong with minimalism, but this loses itself by the time the out of place organ comes in. Starts off feeling like a nice moody piece, but starts turning into kind of a lame joke or something.

Paco del Stinko - Here's a quicky while waiting for Nur Ein titles to come up. It's about an abused girl heading to Hollywood and ending up in porn and then killed by her dad. Left guitar is a POD, right is an amp, the lead sound is an octave box and wah.

roymond - I didn't hear this as soundtrack, but understand where others are coming from. I think this is just great. So dark and heavy, I think the one pass through vocals are perfect and might have been ruined by a verse chorus verse situation. Absolute Pink Floyd on the "come back and tell me I'm free", which is just delicious. While this isn't a great get up and start your day type of song, I think it's fantastic. A simple harmony on one of the later slide lines might've been even more haunting, but not needed. Excellent.

Steve Durand - The intro is indeed wonderful, and the rest of the song doesn't slouch either. Very Steve-ish melody, and the lyrics are well done. I think the disco comments might be better dished up as 70's funk. A nice, skanky wah guitar chicka-chicka-ing away would've have fit in here nicely, and added a tasty hint of sleaze. (call me, if you ever need a hint of skanky wah sleaze) The end almost feels like you were glad it got there and was over, but this is a solid tune. Here come the lines around the block...again!

The Weakest Suit - This feels like a toss-off in ways, but is quite catchy as well. I like the kazoo and garage sounding drums, but the vocal sounds like a very strong audition to join the Banana Splits or something: that's a good thing! Stacks of vocal harmonies, and a fleshed out arrangement would really push this over the top and might be infectious enough where you couldn't shake it off.

[furrypedro]

the rest...

KA - that's the sort of opening line that hooks me right into your songs. guitar sounds really good.

Kid cruiser - hahahaha, I've heard worse on the radio.

Jeff - listenable enough. respect for trying something a bit more epic in scope. not that I'm encouraging 6 minute songs or anything.

Steve - Your angle on the subjects you sing about is always amusing. being british however I sit here thinking "try paying £1.15 a gallon, that'll give you something to sing about". At the very least you'd be swapping your trumpet for a harmonica

[roymond]

roymond - I didn't hear this as soundtrack, but understand where others are coming from. I think this is just great. So dark and heavy, I think the one pass through vocals are perfect and might have been ruined by a verse chorus verse situation. Absolute Pink Floyd on the "come back and tell me I'm free", which is just delicious. While this isn't a great get up and start your day type of song, I think it's fantastic. A simple harmony on one of the later slide lines might've been even more haunting, but not needed. Excellent.

OK, I have a hard time taking such harsh criticism from someone I respect like you. "great", "perfect", "Delicious", "fantastic", "excellent"? Come on, cut me some slack. All I wanted to do was wallow...Now I need even more therapy

[Paco Del Stinko]

Roymond: Sorry to make you feel even worse, but I voted for it as well.

[Clif]

King Arthur - you had me at "bussed in from hell." Songs that make me or are almost sure to get a vote.

I also dug the songs by chonny and Melvin.

Mighty Mouse and Pudding Delicious - I was really, really impressed with the majority of this tune. Unfortunately, the only part I really didn't like was the chorus containing the title. Still catchy.

The Natural Copse piece was very interesting and original with a nice vibe. It was kind of a PITA to figure out whose entry it was because of the lack of tags and failure to follow convention (I used stream all).

Paco del Stinko - well done overall. Not my thing, but there's solid craftsmanship throughout.

Roymond, very nice and moody.

Steve Durand - and now for something completely different. Very nice. Great instrumentation and mix. What got me is that the title doesn't appear anywhere in the lyric, although it's alluded to, but if I heard this and didn't know the title, I'd guess it was "Maximize My MPG."

The other entries didn't do much for me, but this is my first time through a song fight and I have to say I'm impressed with the talent here overall. I hope my raw guitar and voice entries will be able to compete.

[king_arthur]

Well, thank you, sir! And congrats on the win.

Charles (KA)