Where your rating is (Come Down reviews)

[Chadderandom]

Does the woman exist

That depends entirely on whether you believe in mermaids or not... or maybe its really just a talking fish and it all depends on whether you believe in talking fish. Maybe its Dory from Finding Nemo.

[adam b]

Lawless Drive -- 9/15
C:3, L:0 (not yours), F:2, P:2 (held back vocals, cool guitar playing), M:2 (extreme plosives, handling noises, clicks)

Thanks for the generosity! Might have to get a new mic before I record again, this one is a super-cheap plastic one with the grill missing.

Some quick reviews...
Lawless Drive: Man, I wish the vocals were more clearly recorded. I really like the dual guitars. I'd expect a disco monkey to need more of a dance rhythm to really shake those cheeks.

The vocals were bad on performance and recording, as mentioned above. Will have to spend more time on future submissions anyway.
Thanks about the guitars I wanted to get them done properly, but the acoustic needs a battery when plugged into an amp and I didn't have one handy. The electric guitar I used is really not up to standard, nor is the distortion on the practise amp. I might see about getting my better equipment in for later stuff.

Lawless Drive: Sorry guys, I hated this!

Haha! This made me laugh.
Don't be sorry, Nigel - thanks for your honesty. This track is absolutely shocking by my standards, I mostly posted it to see what people would say. Even good ol' Rone's beaten me for quality...

[rone rivendale]

Chopped Liver Meat God -- 10/15
C:2 (synth fun, a bit too repetitive), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:1, P:2 (lead vocals are off), M:3

Well Chopped Liver Meat God used my lyrics for this song so going by what you did last fight, he gets 0 for lyrics.

[reve]

Reviews--First half.

==Vote means sure vote. Everyone else... I'm still deciding. I'm a last minute voter.

Abominominous.
++ The mix is awesome. The craziness is appealing.
-- The last minute. You should have just struck it.
== Vote.

A. Adamant.
++ This is a strong idea, musically. I was like, yeah, this is awesome.
-- The high hat sound. Loses focus when you're not singing. And you're not singing much.
// Thems be plugin synths?

A. Reist.
++ Your melodic bass is prostyle. Your electric guitar solo is also prostyle.
-- ... but it makes you sound kinda toad-the-wet-sprockety.
// So I'm listening in headphones. Your rhythm guitar is very wide. But nothing else is, so it really makes it stand out.

Berkeley Social Scene.
++ As always, the diverse instrumentation and the excellent arrangement.
-- Clipping? You guys usually record so well.

Big Crouton.
++ Your rock. Let it be said that you do bring the rock.
-- Length. I also think the delay on the vocals detracts.
// Whatcha using for drums?


Chadderandom Abyss.
++ The guitar sounds good. And the half-broken string is pretty awesome.
-- Some of the hard edits work, some of them don't sound so good.
// This is one of your better works.
== Vote.

Chopped Liver Meat God.
++ Rad synthiness. Unexpected extra rad at ~ 1:18.
-- The falsetto vox. It would be cooler (for me) if the main vox were sung higher, like Atom and his Package. And a little faster.
// So yeah, I was actually thinking you sorta sounded like Morrisey and then you told me you didn't.

CHTHONIC CHTHOCK
... was me and Ujn of Cock. Cock. Chthock. Get it?

C. L. Johnson.
++ You sound good. The intimate performance works.
-- 1:15 would have been a perfect time to change it up a little.

deetak.
++ There are many rad parts to this song. At first it seemed too disjointed. But then I was wrong.
-- There's some leaking noise that cuts in and out.
// I'd be interested in taking a whack at remixing this. PM me if interested.
== Vote.

Dr. Worm.
++ Excellent, excellent performance. The middle section.
-- Length.
// This genre generally involves little more agressive use of the mastering limiter. Good to see you back, by the way.

Embers of Autumn.
++ Neat sounds.
-- Clipping on the vocals.
// So there's a disconnect between the squibbly 303ish sound that just goes on and on and what you're doing with everything else. I'd like to hear is this song with the squibbly 303 muted. Repost it here? I bet it'll sound more minimialist, colder, darker, more awesome.

Ford's Theater Disaster.
++ Chorus. Of course, I think you should have thrown more distortion on the chorus guitars.
-- The cleaner guitars go sloppy sometimes.
// I think two guitars may have been more effective.

Grass Stained.
++ Nice tones. And flow. Mellotrons are cool.
-- At around ~ 1:12 it goes a little new agey sounding. Little bassy on the vox.

Humboat.
++ Seriously cute instrumentation.
-- I posted this long review of Pet Squirrel's reivew last week, and I think the same principle applies for you. See
http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 76#p133514 You start the song with surprise. The listener is like "whoah, seriously?" and tunes in. But you drop the plot twist on us... and there's nothing else. When we're surprised, our brains react quickly trying to figure out what's going on. The problem is, in your case you immediately tell us where you're going, and our brains relax. We know the last three minutes is just going to be rhyming insults, and that makes it easier to lose interest. You're then relying soley on witty put-downs to keep our interest, rather than the flow of a story.
// Had this actually been like, a straight twee song about how you could do anything you want and kiss kittens and ride unicorns, it woulda been a vote.

J. Kruger.
++ The more I listen to your voice, the more I love it. And I do love time sig shifts.
-- Is that a piccolo snare? Go deeper!
== Vote.

J. Mann.
++ The verses are sunningly strong.
-- The D&B beats don't really work for me.

Larry.
++ This was a good song.
-- No "MORE COWBELL!!" Five minutes of cowbell loop could drive someone craaaazy. I mean, something did it to me.
// Seriously mute the percussion and you'd have a better song.

Lawless Drive.
++ OMG I totally crackted up.
== Vote.

[glennny]

-- Clipping? You guy

s usually record so well.

M:1 (harsh lead vocals, occasional clipping, what's with the sniffing at the end?)

Just so everyone knows the poor mixing is in no way a reflection on our usual mixing team. I'm the guilty party, I did my best, but I really do stink at the mixing part of things. I just finished off the song too late to get it to Ken or Sam for our usual high quality mix.

Also, this is potentially on our FAWM album, but the "place a vocal noise here" lyrics are mine rather than Niveous.

Berkeley Social Scene -- 11/15

I fail to see the motivation in posting lyrics when i get a full 3 points for the incomplete. Seems like we would've scored either 8/15 or 8/12 (which translates to 10/15)

Anyway, thanks for the reviews thus far, I'm still taking in the fight.

[jast]

J. Kruger. [...] -- Is that a piccolo snare? Go deeper!

Free fake drums, so I don't have too much of a choice. I will experiment with different soundfonts though. Glad you like the rest, though.

Berkeley Social Scene -- 11/15

I fail to see the motivation in posting lyrics when i get a full 3 points for the incomplete. Seems like we would've scored either 8/15 or 8/12 (which translates to 10/15

When I don't review lyrics I assume 2 points. As I've mentioned before my scoring is nonlinear; on each separate scale 2 is what you get if it's neither excellent nor bad. In other words, it's "good enough". This is a little more generous than simply leaving out the lyrics category (e.g. 8/12). The extra point in your case doesn't come from lyrics, though. This is where the "arbitrary" in ARS comes in; I tend to add or subtract one (or, rarely, two) points if I like the song a bit more or less than the unmodified total score seems to indicate.
In conclusion: if you think your lyrics are extremely average, you don't stand to get any extra points from me by posting them. You do stand to get an extra point if you think they're pretty great (actually, if I think so).

[Reist]

A. Reist.
++ Your melodic bass is prostyle. Your electric guitar solo is also prostyle.

Thanks, dude. I've only been playing the bass for a few months, but it's easily my favorite instrument to record.

-- ... but it makes you sound kinda toad-the-wet-sprockety.

I don't really know what the means, so if you could elaborate ...

[inevitableguy]

solo doesn't do it for me at all, sounds like it's in the wrong key

It is in the wrong key...at one point, I played the wrong note, but the dissonance appealed to me, so I played the wrong note again a couple of times! I recognize that this is not a good way to win fans, but at least I'm happy.

a bit thin for the genre, double up you vocals, or harmonise with your self, that would help

Nice! Some background vocals on the chorus would really drive it home.

I had some backing vocals worked out in my head. Unfortunately, I ran out of time before I had a chance to record them. If I keep seeing comments like these in the reviews, it might motivate me to get back in there and tinker with this one a little more.

[Clif]

Clifton Lee Johnson: Awesome! Is this one take into one mic? I'd love to hear it multi-tracked. Oh yeah, that was you in the prefight who mentioned having some technical issues. Possible Vote.

Yeah, we're still refugees from the KY ice storms after 16 days. The song was recorded live in one take as you hear it using my $100 flip cam.

[TheTungstenSheik]

I'm new at this, but it seems like there were a lot of good entries this week. Nice work, Fighters!

Abominominous - By the time I got to the end, it sort of felt like it was tripping all over itself, trying to carry too many soundwaves at once. Good, though, no doubt about it. You are clearly someone(s?) who likes to have a rocking good time.

Adam Adamant - Mmm, except for the cymbal hits, I like the music. Synthetic cymbals always sound like they're trying so hard not to sound synthetic, which is sometimes okay, but here where you've got all these delectable crunchy synth voices, it sounds out of place. Cool vocals, too. Good work.

Andrew Reist - Huh. That's just pretty much good. Wish I had a more useful reaction for you.

Berkeley Social Scene - Good or bad, nothing really catches me here.

Big Crouton - Ooh, epic. I was going to ask why it's so long, but that's just part of being EPIC. I almost want to start shouting, "WHAT IS IT!? (it's it) WHAT IS IT!?" The vocals are less epic than the instrumentals. Not bad at all, just... I guess, with the instrumentals, it sort of feels like if your throat isn't bleeding, you could be selling it harder. ...Ahhhh, there's the screaming. I like it.

Chadderandom Abyss - I am going to take a guess at your recording methods, and forgive me if I'm a little off: You shot some unassuming folk musicians point-blank, execution-style, then harnessed some dread necromantic magicks to call their immortal souls back from the Everwastes and pluck dolorously at the husks of their shattered dreams? If so, maybe you could help me out, because I just cannot find a microphone that will pick up the twisted wail of a broken-minded spectre.

Chopped Liver Meat God - I see you up on stage, at the end of a long and reasonably successful concert, exhausted but flush with success, hesitantly conceding to the audience's insistence on your playing an encore, and then making this up on the spot. The audience is a little confused. One of your roadies walks on stage and slaps you each twice in the face. "Huh? Where are we?" you wonder aloud. The audience smiles indulgently.

Cthonic Cthock - I would play this at a party. I mean, if I threw parties. Good vibes.

Clifton Lee Johnston - This is good. It's a little Coffee House Chic for my tastes, but given that, it's a very respectable instance of such. Just watch out for that microphone.

deetak - I imagine this is what The Killers sounded like before they could afford to hire session musicians. I like the sense of exploration, though.

Doctor Worm - I would like this to play over the end credits of a slick supernatural action movie, wherein the hero has finally revealed his badassery and we can all walk out of the theater secure in the knowledge that whoever he was fighting has gotten, and may continue to get, their comeuppance.

Embers of Autumn - How long did you have to bang your head against a synthesizer to make this come out?

Ford's Theater Disaster - I suspect compression may be hurting you some here. I have no idea whether it's at the source or during the encoding, but the drums in particular sound a little degraded. Could just be me. Good energy, though I don't know if I'm feeling the overall vibe.

Grass Stained - No technical complaints, but it's a bit of a snoozer. That's mostly a personal preference, really.

Humboat - Haha! I was about to say "car commercial," but the horrendous emotional abuse inherent in the lyrics is fucking spectacular. Do you have children? Please tell me you do. This is too good to go to waste.

Jan Krüger - You Europeans. You think just because you live in Foreign Lands, you can go about putting extra notes in your measures willy-nilly. It's... well, actually, it's kind of cool. So... yeah, keep doing things like that. I forget what my point was going to be. I daresay I quite fancy this song.

Jonathan Mann - This isn't bad. You're not blowing my mind, but that's ok. If this came on the radio, and changing the station involved getting up, I'd let it play.

Larry - You've got some interesting elements here, but it doesn't feel like they quite match up. Or go anywhere, really. Also, seriously, all the cool kids have last names these days.

Lawless Drive - Please please please pop filter please. I like your whimsy and precentenary folksiness, but THE PLOSIVES MAN THE PLOSIVES.

Max the Cat - Charming. I liked the scratchy technological sounds happening in the background in the latter half - I would personally have liked to see more of that element throughout the song, I think it would have made it a little more distinctive, given it a bit of a different edge.

Mortimer the Tortoise - The vocals are a little weak - I like the idea of those big note jumps, but they need to be pretty sharp to work. This would be a good song to have on in the background while you make small children run on large wheels to generate power for your, oh I don't know, let's say death ray.

Naked Philosphy - Your voice sounds too small in comparison to the instrumentals. Again, I don't know if this is a problem with the way it's mixed, or with the microphone you recorded on - if it's a cheapie, my suspicion is that it's working against you here. Also, the drums are pretty wobbly. Kind of a neat tune, though.

Nigel Clements - Were the quality of the vocal recording smoothed out, I think it really would have brought the song together nicely. I like it, but the voice doesn't quite mesh with the rest of the piece. Thumbs up overall, anyway.

Paco del Stinko - Only Paco is Paco; Paco is only Paco. What can I even say? Classic.

Quimby - You and Lisa Loeb should... I don't know, like, go on tour, or something. Heh. I totally dig this. I could probably come up with some hate if you really want, but honestly, this is the kind of thing I might actually pay money for.

Quimby & Billy's Little Trip - I don't think I like this quite as much as Quimby's solo piece this week, but it's still very good. I especially like the hand drums. The electric guitar could possibly stand to be scaled back slightly during the verses, but the wah solo is way hot.

Rone Rivendale - I like where it was going a lot, but a "tune" never quite materializes. Cool sounds, though.

Ross Durand - Very nice, very soothing. You have a great voice for this kind of music.

Signboy - Wahahaha! More Monkey, I see. You just cannot put a price on this. I like the synth voice in the solo (I'm assuming that's what it is, anway), but it's strangely out of sync. There really should be a dance of some kind associated with this song.

The Sky Looks Pissed - But it sounds so relaxed! I like the song a lot, but the performance leaves me wanting a little. Keep practicing, though - I suspect this has the potential to go from Garages 'n' Proms to Studios 'n' Stages.

Steve Durand - Oh, I like this. There's a part of me that wishes the lyrics were a little more tongue-in-cheek, especially since I'm guessing - and please forgive me if I'm wrong here - that you're not Brazilian. Still, a very enjoyable song.

Todd McHatton - It's a bit bland, but I can't say it's bad.

The Weakest Suit - Eh, it's okay. The vocals are a little wobbly, and I don't know that I care for the lyrics. I know lyrics don't have to rhyme, but especially with such a conventional song structure, I sort of wish they did.

Who Fly - This is neat. I like the spacious nature of the composition; it's light and airy, without being insubstantial. Very pleasant on the ears.

[john m]

Doctor Worm - I would like this to play over the end credits of a slick supernatural action movie, wherein the hero has finally revealed his badassery and we can all walk out of the theater secure in the knowledge that whoever he was fighting has gotten, and may continue to get, their comeuppance.

This might be the most awesome review of anything ever. Thank you.

[jast]

Doctor Worm - I would like this to play over the end credits of a slick supernatural action movie, wherein the hero has finally revealed his badassery and we can all walk out of the theater secure in the knowledge that whoever he was fighting has gotten, and may continue to get, their comeuppance.

This might be the most awesome review of anything ever. Thank you.

What's more, it's absolutely right. Now that I read that description I can easily imagine it myself.

[adam b]

Lawless Drive - Please please please pop filter please. I like your whimsy and precentenary folksiness, but THE PLOSIVES MAN THE PLOSIVES.

I'm sorry, honestly! If I ever record a vocal track like this again, I'll be clicking the delete button straight away. The mic I used doesn't even have a grill.... will change that asap.

[Teplin]

Chadderandom Abyss - I am going to take a guess at your recording methods, and forgive me if I'm a little off: You shot some unassuming folk musicians point-blank, execution-style, then harnessed some dread necromantic magicks to call their immortal souls back from the Everwastes and pluck dolorously at the husks of their shattered dreams? If so, maybe you could help me out, because I just cannot find a microphone that will pick up the twisted wail of a broken-minded spectre.

Someone seriously needs to write a novel or screenplay based on this plot.

Humboat - Haha! I was about to say "car commercial," but the horrendous emotional abuse inherent in the lyrics is fucking spectacular. Do you have children? Please tell me you do. This is too good to go to waste.

No, but everyone should please feel free to sing it their own kids or, what the hell, their neighbor's kids. You could be saving the Henrietta of tomorrow a lot of trouble. Oh, and, Blue's Clues? I'll be waiting for your call.

[reve]

Oh, and, Blue's Clues? I'll be waiting for your call.

You know, Steve Burns of Blues' Clues fame did release a record, backed by members of the Flaming Lips. Some good tracks.

[reve]

-- ... but it makes you sound kinda toad-the-wet-sprockety.

I don't really know what the means, so if you could elaborate ...

There was this band in the 90s called Toad the Wet Sprocket. In my opinion, people should not want to sound like them. However, I believe some of their records are certified platinum, so maybe you do want to sound like them.

[EmbersOfAutumn]

Embers of Autumn - How long did you have to bang your head against a synthesizer to make this come out?

Interesting that you ask. 35 minutes. And then an hour for the vocals if you can believe it...

[Chadderandom]

I just cannot find a microphone that will pick up the twisted wail of a broken-minded spectre.

Thats easy, its not the microphone, its the chicken you behead with your bare hands that you put the microphone in.

[Teplin]

You know, Steve Burns of Blues' Clues fame did release a record, backed by members of the Flaming Lips. Some good tracks.

Oh yeah, I remember hearing that, but I forgot about it before I could check it out. I should, because I love the Flaming Lips.

Humboat.
++ Seriously cute instrumentation.
-- I posted this long review of Pet Squirrel's reivew last week, and I think the same principle applies for you. See
http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 76#p133514 You start the song with surprise. The listener is like "whoah, seriously?" and tunes in. But you drop the plot twist on us... and there's nothing else. When we're surprised, our brains react quickly trying to figure out what's going on. The problem is, in your case you immediately tell us where you're going, and our brains relax. We know the last three minutes is just going to be rhyming insults, and that makes it easier to lose interest. You're then relying soley on witty put-downs to keep our interest, rather than the flow of a story.
// Had this actually been like, a straight twee song about how you could do anything you want and kiss kittens and ride unicorns, it woulda been a vote.

Thanks for reviewing, Reve. I had a question...

Why do kittens and unicorns get a free pass? Is it because a kittens and unicorns tweefest isn't trying to be a story, and so you judge it by different standards? If that's the case, this is where I get confused, because my song isn't trying to be a narrative song either. It's a comedy song, and neither it nor a twee song really has a "plot" the way a "story song" would. There's a premise, which is "this is a song for kids", and a "story" of sorts is implied around the edges (a dad is singing this to his kid.), but the actual contents of the song are non-narrative. If it's cute: it's twee... if it's fucked up: it's funny, and the only difference I see between:

You can be
Anything that you want to be
But I suggest janitor
Come down where you ought to be

and

You can be
Anything that you want to be
You can kiss kittens and
Ride on the unicorns

is a matter of attitude. There's not much in the way "story flow", as defined by the structure you recommend, in the contents of either kind of song. So why are kittens a vote and janitors not?

Unlike a movie, a comedian who takes 20 minutes to get to their first "twist" is in danger of losing the interest of their audience. The sort of comedy songs that were the inspiration for this entry tend to get to the first "punchline" early on, some from the first word, others sometime in the first verse, or in the first chorus. Then the rest of the song will expand on the theme, keeping interest with, yes, wit.

I AM curious, though, how you would have structured the song if it was your own. It might give me ideas for next time. I had considered drawing it out more with a straight verse after the intro to delay the janitor line, but decided it would add length to the song and not much else.

I did read your original post when you first put it up, and it was a very interesting read, definitely food for thought. I agree that it can be an effective way to structure an engaging song. But do I think it's the only way, or always the best way? No. When I think of narrative songs that I find engaging and enjoyable, some of them follow your formula, but many (possibly most) do not. The right tool for the right job, I say. Your structure is a good tool in a songwriter's belt, but it's not the right tool for everything.

[Reist]

-- ... but it makes you sound kinda toad-the-wet-sprockety.

I don't really know what the means, so if you could elaborate ...

There was this band in the 90s called Toad the Wet Sprocket. In my opinion, people should not want to sound like them. However, I believe some of their records are certified platinum, so maybe you do want to sound like them.

Haha, that's a pretty weird band name. I checked out some clips on iTunes, and I actually like it. I've been loving the 90s rock lately, so maybe I'm a bit biased though ...

[Ross]

Those guys were local to me (Ventura CA) so I used to see them in bars when they were coming up. Mainly caused I like some other bands in the scene. In my opinion they were not the bet of that bunch, but I think they had some commercial appeal (including Glenn's good looks). Nice guys though.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Same here Ross. I didn't see them until they signed with Columbia. Even though I was playing hard rock/punk during that period, I always checked out the Cali bands when they made a stop at our local venues and they were really good musicians. Walk On The Ocean is the song that turned me on to them.