Good news, everyone: I'll be using the Arbitrary Review System again! Just to recap: C = composition, L = lyrics, F = feeling, P = performance, M = mix. 0-3 points each. Arbitrarily weighted sum for total rating. The overall rating score is nonlinear. Songs reviewed in random order.
I felt mostly generous in this round of reviews.
Abominominous -- 12/15
C:2 (I find the melody/chord structure boring but I love the arrangement), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:3, M:2 (rather busy in the low/mid range. I'm sure you intended it that way but I think it takes away from... something. I don't know.)
Adam Adamant -- 11/15
C:3 (great conglomerate of synths, even if the overall melodical idea doesn't appeal to me), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:2, P:2 (vocals sound hesitant), M:2 (the hi hats are a bit too present, I think)
Andrew Reist -- 12/15
C:2 (nice, just not subjectively exciting), L:2, F:2, P:3, M:3 (perhaps bring the vocals up a bit more, nice punchy mix otherwise)
Berkeley Social Scene -- 11/15
C:2, L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3 (the heaps of guitar in the background really add to this), P:2 (uneven lead vocals), M:1 (harsh lead vocals, occasional clipping, what's with the sniffing at the end?)
Big Crouton -- 14/15 -- boo for the false ending, but I just can't bring myself to take off any points
C:3 (the lots of suspended/diminished chords make this one), L:* (not officially reviewed; what I made out sounded great), F:3, P:3 (rock!), M:3 (but more juice for the lead vocals, please. Excellent guitar tones. Clean mix.)
The Chadderandom Abyss -- 9/15
C:1 (not much happening there, is there?), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:2, P:2 (please learn to sing), M:2 (sounds mushy and seems to be missing the high end)
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
Chthonic Chthock -- 14/15
C:3 (rock! Synth fun!), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:3 (great vocals, great everything else), M:3
Clifton Lee Johnston -- 11/15
C:2 (I like this a lot and I would have loved it if you had done more things in the arrangement department), L:2, F:2, P:3 (excellent playing and singing), M:2 (lo-fi)
deetak -- 10/15
C:3, L:2 (I don't get it but at least it sounds nice), F:3, P:1 (hard to make out parts of the vocals, high notes are way off), M:1 (extremely harsh vocal reverb; essy vocals, attack on the string synth sounds very artificial)
Doctor Worm -- 13/15
C:3 (the staccato guitar stuff is awesome. The suspended/augmented chords work great with this), L:2, F:3, P:3, M:2 (mix is too dense/compressed, sort of passes right by the ears if you don't turn it up enough. Perhaps bring the vocals to the front more, especially in the bridge (which, by the way, is insanely long))
Embers of Autumn -- 7/15
C:1 (synths and lead don't seem to be connected in any way. Actually the sweeping synths seems pretty pointless), L:1 (self references aren't that exciting), F:1, P:1 (singing is off, painfully so), M:1 (clipping)
Ford's Theater Disaster -- 10/15
C:2, L:2 (parts are a bit too emo for my taste, the rest is interesting), F:2, P:2 (if those were supposed to be notes in the lead vox in the chorus... it didn't work well. Great drive in everything, though), M:2 (clipped lead vocals)
Grass Stained -- 11/15 (imaginary minus point for submitting two songs)
C:3, L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:2, P:3, M:1 (plosives are even worse if there's little in the arrangement to hide them)
Humboat -- 13/15
C:3 (cute song), L:3 (awesomess squared!), F:3, P:2 (even if it sort of fits the theme, the singing definitely doesn't warrant full marks), M:3
Jan Krueger -- 13/15
C:3 (for some reason, I don't submit songs I don't like musically. This song has weird timing stuff which was fun making up.), L:3 (but what do I know), F:3 (fun with organs!), P:2 (I hurried through this recording in three hours. It hurt the lead vocals, a lot), M:2 (okay, so I butchered the drums in the mix due to listening fatigue. That's too bad because in this song I focused on making the fake drums better than usual...)
Oh, and let me address some fan mail (thanks!) while I'm at it:
adam b wrote:Lyrics are entertaining, but again the self-righteousness takes away from it (I didn't like your lyrics in Elegy for the same reason).
That's okay, I'm not exactly being serious here.
Jonathan Mann -- 11/15
C:2 (I can't help but think I've heard these riffs before. Fun though), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:3, M:2 (the tremolo on the guitar?synth? in the left channel is a bit weird, harsh reverb on lead vocals)
Larry -- 11/15
C:2 (very generic sort of song but done in a nice way), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:2 (slightly hesitant or weak vocals), M:2 (please do gate the noise away, and perhaps change something (gotta love suggestions that are this helpful, right?) to make the rhythm guitar less mushy)
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)
Max The Cat -- 13/15
C:3, L:* (not officially rated but the parts I got sounded pretty cool), F:3, P:3, M:2 (I
think I like whatever the doubled thing you mixed into the background was. Reverb sounds rather cheap. Click near the end.)
Mortimer The Tortoise -- 10/15
C:2 (with an actual consistently discernable melody I would have loved it a little bit more. This way it's just sort of fun), L:2, F:2, P:2 (singing sounds rather detached), M:2 (same thing about the hi hats as in the other song you submitted. Boo, by the way! Ending cut off.)
Naked Philosophy -- 12/15
C:3, L:2, F:3, P:2 (sounds like the singer is moving too much; drums sound strangely out of rhythm in solo part and after it), M:2 (vocals are lacking in body and presence)
Nigel Clements -- 11/15
C:3 (generic feel good stuff but nicely done), L:2, F:2, P:2 (especially the lower notes you're singing need more work), M:2 (slightly tinny vocals, accompaniment sounds uncohesive)
Paco del Stinko -- 13/15
C:3 (hey, there's a Paco song I actually really like. Cool! Fun breaks between chorus/verses.), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:2 (imprecise singing, otherwise the usual great stuff), M:3
Quimby -- 13/15
C:3, L:2, F:3, P:3 (only very slight issues in vocals, great guitar), M:2 (harsh lead vocals, especially during solo)
Quimby featuring Billy's Little Trip -- 13/15
C:2 (definitely worth more than just one listen but there's pretty much no variation in the melodical structure. Shame), L:2, F:3, P:3, M:3 (I find the vocal reverb a bit harsh. A longer tail with a decent amount of decay might have been nicer.)
Rone Rivendale -- 7/15
C:1, L:1 (seriously, what?), F:1, P:1 (vocals are off, guitar playing seems arbitrary; timing is okay though), M:3 (punchy, even the clipping almost works here)
Ross Durand -- 13/15
C:3 (woah, I liked it from the start but when you add the second guitar and the pads it gets
really good), L:1 (I don't agree with the lyrical idea but for what it is it's done well), F:3, P:3 (and I'm forgiving the occasional flat vocals), M:3 (vocals sound just a little bit boxy, perhaps due to the reverb settings; I think the main guitar may be a bit too compressed, not sure)
Signboy -- 11/15
C:2 (80's, boring edition. Fun solo passage though, and you pretty much nailed the style.), L:0 (not yours), F:3, P:3, M:2 (the mangling in the chorus makes it rather muddled; vocals don't have enough punch for this style)
The Sky Looks Pissed -- 12/15
C:3 (fun to listen to; nice combination of instruments), L:2 (not exciting but no turn-off either), F:3, P:2 (tune your instruments to match! Also consider practicing the vocal part a bit more), M:2 (plosives; it's actually pretty easy to highpass those away... otherwise nice. Perhaps take a little bit of high end off the glockenspiel or whatever it was.)
Steve Durand -- 13/15
C:3 (lots of movement in the harmonies. Great stuff!), L:3 (ahh, just the right thing for this cold weather), F:3, P:1 (lead vocals actually make it hard to make out the melody in some spots because you seem to be sort of sliding into the notes; other performance-related things are great, as usual), M:3 (the vocoded (or whatever) backup vocals are a great touch)
Todd McHatton -- 11/15
C:2, L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:3, M:2 (oversaturated, plosives)
Tungsten Chic -- 8/15
C:1, L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:1, P:1 (not much to review in this category), M:3
The Weakest Suit -- 11/15
C:2, L:2, F:2, P:2 (add more power to the vocals if you're not going to mix them more up front; also slightly off at times), M:3
Who Fly -- 14/15
C:3, L:3, F:3 (the dreamy-aggressive style, whatever that is, works), P:3 (excellent vocals), M:2 (give the vocals a bit more juice; the arrangement is a bit thin sonically. You've got a lot of bass and a lot of pad-style mids but that's about it.
Something additional might have been great.)
BONUS REVIEW: Flvxxvm Florvm -- 11/15 -- were you in a hurry to leave near the end?
C:2 (sometimes a bit disjointed but a nice song), L:* (not reviewed; post your lyrics next time to change that), F:3, P:2 (sometimes uneven vocals), M:2 (the extremely fuzzed guitar(s) seem a bit too loud in the overall shape of things)
Today's votes go to: Big Crouton, Chthonic Chthock, Doctor Worm, Humboat, Max The Cat, Paco del Stinko, Quimby (with and without Billy's Little Trip), Ross Durand, Steve Durand, Who Fly... and myself.