I Lost a Staredown with Sammy Davis Jr (Glass Eye Reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
johnsonic
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Post by johnsonic »

Fo' Real?

That's a little crazy, a little freaky, and very cool - I'm a little ways away so it ain't me... but I'd like to hear it if possible...

rock the coincidence!
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Post by erik »

Albatross wrote:Damned if you ain't lyin' (I have a Pod 2.0). And if you move enough knobs, it's like you have to keep track of which ones you moved, so you know which ones are correct and which ones are still set to their preset values.
On the POD XT, there's a digital screen that shows where the knobs *should* be for a preset, so you can easily see which knobs you've futzed with.
13hugh
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I'm so, so, sorry...

Post by 13hugh »

Ok, my song was shite, I promise to be sober, the next time I submit one! For whoever asked, accents supplyed by me, a sothern-Englander, and 'moscow' an Anglasised Ozzie, lots of harmonica in there, but I don't even know what many of the things it sounds like we used are ;o)
PipeFist
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Post by PipeFist »

Fo' Real?

That's a little crazy, a little freaky, and very cool - I'm a little ways away so it ain't me... but I'd like to hear it if possible...

rock the coincidence!
Oh yeah, you should definitely check it out. They are a really good band. If you can't find any on soulseek or bittorrent, I could probably send you some, just PM me with your e-mail address. They're kind of a hippie band, but they have some really cool percussion and stuff. They put on a really good live show. I'd like to see them take off, but they're not really very mainstream.
sparks
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Post by sparks »

I can't believe there's not a song about Peter Falk this week. Was I not paying attention?


Hillbilly - Your name isn't that amusing or clever or anything, but your inflection is actually pretty convincing. The song is pretty boring, however. On the production side, I'd have to say you needed to drop the doubletracking. It sounds totally unnatural with your voice, for whatever reason--it comes across sounding like flanging, even though it's clearly made of separate recordings.

PiGPEN - The vocals are better than most of the amateurish faux-rap stuff SF seems to get, but they fall through occasionally to make it pretty clear you don't and really can't talk like you rap. The music is pretty bland, and the lyrics are twice as bland. Not much of a chorus hook, which is what makes most stuff like this work.

Motherfunker - I got a significant kick out of the music, but the vocals sound like you were afraid of waking someone up in the next room while you were recording. No enthusiasm, and you try to make up for it with processing. Good work on the background, though, mostly a 'grats for the production, which sounds pretty good on these speakers (except for the vocal track, again, which seems medium-high tinny in the mix).

C Hack - I was expecting this to rock out after thirty seconds. It might've been pretty enjoyable. The O' Brother field noises are a little silly, but it sounds nice enough for whatever it is.

WreckdoM - Kinda funny. You're the number two pixellated moon invader of the day. If you work, and work, and work, one day you will still be number two. The last 5 minutes should've been silent, you know, you could've gone all John Cage on us. But no, this is boring. But funny.

Fun With Dolphins - Keep practicing. The finale is great. BUZZZclip!

Song Fight Orchestra - You are the most boring Gregorian monks ever. Are you allowed to have $40 Casios in monasteries, anyway?

Pompeii - It's like some kind of Bachman Turner Overdrive tribute. I don't know what exactly to say about that, except that it's pretty listenable, compared to a lot of the entries this week. Also, it scares me a little. No, a lot. Performed well, though. I basically imagine you guys as a room full of stereotypical, aging early 80s rock enthusiasts. You drink cheap beer and play songs like "My Angel Is a Centerfold" on the weekends, in perfect emulation of the originals. That scares me a little too. Way too long, for all the good things I can say about it.

The Angryfolkband - The lyrics are pretty funny, I'll give you that. If anybody listened without taking them into consideration, they'd probably have to pan it to hell, but I'll give you respect where it's due.

Analog Manifesto - Your song gives me seizures. Seizures of boredom. Angry, boring seizures of boredom. Boring. Also pretty annoying.

Mike Harrison - Main vocals are horribly muddy. Otherwise, good tune. I'd suggest less of a focus on the main riff (duh da duh duh DUHHHH). It gets kind of tedious, and makes the whole thing feel a little more amateurish as a result. Reminds me a bit of Rye Coalition, mostly just the tone and such. Simple, but enjoyable.

# - Pretty much in line with the Octothorpe norm, I'd say. I think you've pulled off better tracks, but it's solid #.

Dayjobs - Vocals are a little dim in the mix. The progression bores the hell out of me, but I enjoy the melody. Could probably improve with recording and performing experience.

Doctor Worm - One of your best. Okay, well, I haven't heard most of your songs, but it's the best I've heard of those I have heard. Uh. Yeah. The unusual rhythm part adds a little character to the simple opening, though the melody holds it together just fine too. Can't say a lot about it other than that I approve.

The White Hat - This could be terrible, but it's definitely not. That's an achievement in itself. The attempt at a vinyl static over it is kind of silly (doesn't sound quite right, either), but it's a good track on its own. Doesn't need the pretense.

Noway and the Joses - Gotta say it comes across as a little dull. Enjoyable, but dull. Well performed and well enough mixed.

Within Reason - Yes, let's make an instrumental, and have a vocoder spell out the song title. It will be entertainment gold. I assure you that reason has nothing at all to do with this. Unless you used Reason(tm) to put it together. Which I guess you probably did. There is a big L on my forehead, and I am so enthusiastic about it that I don't care if it's cliche.

Lemon Songs vs. Moscow - I will rate this song entirely based upon its "lar"s. On which I congratulate you. Good larring.

Adam Dachis - This is pretty awesome. I don't know what to say. No, really. Awesome. You guys do stage, huh? If I hadn't already voted for myself, you guys would probably get it this week, if only for the vocal performances and lyrics. But ego wins out.

Luke Henley - I think you are hiding under your bed because someone chased you there. If you sang any louder, they might hear you. Shh! Okay, anyway, humorous songs don't really seem to compare this week to Adam Dachis's entry. Kind of hard to bother.

Pipefist feat. Deshead - Pretty entertaining, but I can't get all that excited about it. The melody drones on a little, like the song. I've heard better stuff from you both.

Sell Crazy - If it got pulled together a bit and cleaned up, it'd be an entertaining pop song. Like uh, Blues Traveller or something. Maybe I'm getting lazy at this point in the reviews process.

King Arthur - Good enough to get me interested again. Mostly the music carries it, though. The vocal performance and melody in general don't strike me with any special significance.
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Spud
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Post by Spud »

sparks wrote:I can't believe there's not a song about Peter Falk this week. Was I not paying attention?
Our song featured Sandy Duncan, Peter Falk AND Sammy Davis, Jr.
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Post by HeuristicsInc »

1: angryfolk, drworm, kingarthur, octothorpe, motherf, sfo, pompeii, withinreason, whitehat
2: no way, max, mikel, sellc, hillbilly, pipefist, dayjobs, chack

congratulations to white hat. i usually hate it when people do that fake-record thing, but this one really grew on me.
my tops songs here are angry, king, and the doctor. i'd have a lot of trouble deciding which to vote for, but king arthur really did some "extra credit" work this week so my vote is his.
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c hack
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Post by c hack »

Man, this took an hour and a half. I hope you guys appreciate it (I know I do).

pompeii: I'm gonna be really surprised if this doesn't win. This is everything a good song should be. Why didn't you post the lyrics? That's the only thing not tops about this. I can't quite make out the chorus, but I'm pretty sure the song's not as tight lyrically as it is musically. If someone can manage to put together something as good as this but with lyrics as tight as say, "Fly Me to the Moon," they can take you, but I'm skeptical. KEEPER

max the cat: hey this isn't bad. I like it, but in a general sort of way. There's nothing in it that really gets me going, but it's a solid song, and nice to listen to.

analog manifesto: this is me rolling my eyes. Just because you can, doesn't mean you should.

angryfolkband: you say you're angry, and you sound like you're singing kinda angrily, and the subject matter is definitely angry, but it just comes off as cheesy. I don't know if you can pull this kinda thing off if you're not actually an angry seafaring Irishman. Or at least, one of the Chieftains.

king arthur: wow, hey yeah, big improvement, IMO. I think you can safely stop worrying about production now -- you've reached the point where you can make it sound totally professional, not not all MIDIish, like it used to be. I like your voice more in this song too, and I think that's important because I always thought your voice was one of the weakest parts of your songs. But Pompeii's song is catchier (though I like your lyrics more), so they've still got my vote.

day jobs: pretty quiet. Also pretty innocuous. Not holding my interest; you're up against some good shit here.

motherfunker: another solid song. This is proving to be a good fight. This wasn't doing much for me at first, but now I'm starting to get into it. Not a fan of the wanker guitar solo. Good, but Pompeii's is better.

pipehead: pretty weak song. Not feeling it.

shit, I'm only like 1/3 done, and 1/2 hour into it.

no way & joses: Aight, but nothing's getting me excited.

adam dachis: this is kinda funny, but kinda gross, and not that funny.

white hat: ooo, this is cool. Give me a chorus, and you might get my vote. You know I'm a sucker for this genre... Seems like your other songs, you're going for something like this but you never quite hit it before, but I think you totally hit it now. Okay, you didn't give me a chorus, but that's alright. It's still great. I don't really see the need for the scratchy bit -- the song's more like a Dylan song influenced by Blind Boy Fuller or Willie Brown and less like an actual pre-war blues song, and it sounds like scratchiness layered over a nice clean recording anyway. I'd seriously like to find out how possible it would be to record onto acetate. Course, I'd probably have to find a super-vintage mike too. KEEPER

fun with dolphins: meh. This sounds pretty dumb in the company of The White Hat's and Pompeii's entries.

mike harrison: sounds like you're trying to bring in the rock, but you're having a hard time fitting it through the door (production-wise). Song not doing much for me.

cri du chat: Is this Revel Yth? Of course your gorgeous voice scores you lots of points. Guitar sound is very muddy. At first, I was like "oh crap another tops song and I'll have to choose between three now," but it's not cutting it. It's not much more than a pleasant-sounding song (and the guitar tone makes it less so). Not seeing much in the way of melody or meaning. I'm keeping it because I like your voice though. KEEPER

sell crazy: s'aight, and the production is fine, but not doing anything for me.

c hack: this is the Pirate's Creed, the 2nd song in my Ninjas vs. Pirates saga. There's a story coming for it, but the long and short of it is that the initiation rite of the pirates includes having one eye cut out and replaced with a glass eye with the pirate insignia on it. The pirates see their glass eyes as a symbol of their continuing fight against the English oppressors.

luke henley: yuck.

within reason: meh. not bad, but not doing anything for me. Definitely too much electronic wankering. Which is only one step above guitar-solo wankering.

dr. worm: is the line "you'd bring a tear to a glass eye?" That's fucking dope. You win for best line of the fight (so far). I like the chord changes, and I could listen to an album of this. I'm digging this, but not quite as much as Pompeii's.

lemon songs: yeah, i don't have the time for this. I've got to go to work in half an hour.

pigpen: FUCKING ANNUNCIATE! Why is Front the only rapper who sounds like a real rapper around here? (okay, I'm exaggerating. Starfinger and Glenn Case also rap well)

octothorpe: I kinda liked this. It was kinda fun. I guess that's good, cause I usually don't like you guys at all.

wreckdom: I thought you guys were getting better? This is boring the hell out of me, and it's only 1/4 done.

SFO: aw yeah. Now you need to bust into some fat Thievery Corporation style shit. This is actually up there, and if it wasn't for Pompeii and White Hat, you might stand a chance of stealing my vote. KEEPER

hillbilly: nice feel. I'm liking this a lot, but you need some kinda groove or something though, so it doesn't drop away to nothing when you're not singing and the guitar isn't playing. Reminds me of the Johnny Cash song "The Man Who Couldn't Cry."


conclusion: shit, this is gonna be tough. It's either White Hat or Pompeii. (After more listening) Crap, they're both great songs. I can't decide. Okay, here's what I'm gonna do. I hate to do this, it feels like I'm cheating, but I'm completely torn. I'm gonna vote for White Hat here at home, and vote for Pompeii when I get to work.

I feel so dirty.
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A Bootleg
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Post by A Bootleg »

c hack wrote:I don't really see the need for the scratchy bit -- the song's more like a Dylan song influenced by Blind Boy Fuller or Willie Brown and less like an actual pre-war blues song, and it sounds like scratchiness layered over a nice clean recording anyway. I'd seriously like to find out how possible it would be to record onto acetate. Course, I'd probably have to find a super-vintage mike too. KEEPER
I've been looking into doing just that - recording onto acetate. Unfortunately, the best I've been able to find are people who will record you onto 45 or 33, which is simply unacceptable. I remember an NPR program some time ago, though, that spoke of a National Archives program to convert their entire music collection onto 78, as it is the most indestructable recording medium. One of these days I'll find out if there's any way that I could make some sort of deal with them.

But I digress.

Yeah, the surface noise was kind of a hack job on my part, though the noise is from a genuine 78rpm shellac. Originally, I had put a neat little filter on the whole thing, limiting the frequencies to correspond with an actual 78, but it didn't sound too good so I stuck with a compropmise to meet blue's "deep cut side 2" challenge.

As for influences, you've just about pegged it, but rather than Dylan, the song is more directly influenced by kelly joe phelps, who I hold to be one of the greatest modern blues musicians alive.

I'm far from done with this song. I'll be playing it in a session with a great drummer sometime early next month, so I'll have a much better recording for y'all fairly soon if all goes according to plan, which it seldom does.
My other music is Old Time / shape note.
c hack
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Post by c hack »

The White Hat wrote: I've been looking into doing just that - recording onto acetate.
If you ever figure something out, you have to let me know. Seems like someone's gotta have a big ol' machine that they don't even want anymore. I think the guitar might be part of it too. One of these days I mean to get myself a Stella.
The White Hat wrote:As for influences, you've just about pegged it, but rather than Dylan, the song is more directly influenced by kelly joe phelps, who I hold to be one of the greatest modern blues musicians alive.
Never heard of him. I'll have to check him out.
The White Hat wrote:I'm far from done with this song. I'll be playing it in a session with a great drummer sometime early next month, so I'll have a much better recording for y'all fairly soon if all goes according to plan, which it seldom does.
I dunno, I really like it solo guitar. Don't go all Chicago on me.
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Mac
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Post by Mac »

just want to mention. I listened to Max the Cat and The angry folkband like 20 times each before voting, and even then I had a hard time.. I kept flinging from one side to the other.. (I can't really do reviews in the real sense as I have no knowledge of all this stuff, so I go on what feels nice)

In the end I went with Max because... I dunno why...

I'm definatelly a new fan of those angry fellows though... those lyrics are mad fun.

(haha, you allow people like me to vote, now reap the whirlwind!)
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sparks
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Post by sparks »

c hack wrote: cri du chat: Is this Revel Yth? Of course your gorgeous voice scores you lots of points. Guitar sound is very muddy. At first, I was like "oh crap another tops song and I'll have to choose between three now," but it's not cutting it. It's not much more than a pleasant-sounding song (and the guitar tone makes it less so). Not seeing much in the way of melody or meaning. I'm keeping it because I like your voice though. KEEPER
Cri du Chat is sparks on writing and guitar and sparkette on vocals. You can see where the talent is, and it has boobies. :)

I'm more and more starting to decide that my speakers are totally unfit for mixing, because they make stuff sound too damn nice, and not enough like it really sounds. I can't even hear the whine people keep mentioning in the track without listening really close. I'll pay more attention to the headphones in the future, as a response to this and other reviews.

It's been a while since I've done much writing, and I agree that Glass Eye comes through kind of forced, not as a result of the performance so much as simply because the song's style demands more substance than it has to offer in order to avoid an overall phoniness. I prefer simpler sounds, and should probably stick to them, without trying to get all faux-jazzy. It just kind of happened that way, somehow.

I'm also going to build a device around the mic to keep her mouth at least three inches from it while recording. Some kind of atomic vocalist repulsor-beam. Or I could just rub the mic all in something that smells funny. I don't know how much the pops show through in the final product to everyone else, but I can hear every spot where I softened them up, and it sounds artificial to me with the extra processing required.
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Post by c hack »

I didn't notice any pops. Maybe if I listened for them, I might. The worst part about being too close to the mic is the vocals can come out sounding like the singer is in your face (in my experience). And then putting reverb on too-close vocals can sound weird too.

But I still say the vox and vox production sound just fine, it's more the songwriting and guitar tone that need to get better.

(BTW, yay for more beautiful voices on SF!)
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