And when will you do reviews??? (When Did You Know reviews)

[king_arthur]

Let's get on with it!

[BBABM]

lol... "Let's get it on" -mills lane

[king_arthur]

Thank you FMs. for putting up my second mix

And, just for the record, anybody besides me who wants to do cover art is most welcome to do so...

Charles (KA)

[Spud]

On the other hand, Charles, it seems to be good practice. Your Photoshop skills have greatly improved.

[Ross]

I'm just glad you probably don't have any photos of me.

[BBABM]

every song is so good this time... ntm better than mine. at least you can hear it this time!

[PiGPEN]

Did SongFight always have this much rap?
-Chuck-O, dissing soulja boi aint cool.... he may be lookin like goku but you're lookin like a SSJ4 hater....pink monkeys and shit.

[Frostytheshowman]

There seems to be problem with our track. We resent the file. It plays all the way through on our computers, though... Help please?

[fluffy]

I don't understand the cover art

Someone help me understand

[king_arthur]

I don't understand the cover art

Someone help me understand

Umm, I guess it's asking Rabid when he knew that, when he was invited for dinner, he was going to be dinner...

This is why I said earlier that if anybody else wanted to do covers, to feel free...

Charles (KA)

[MC Charlie_0]

My rhymes are hard, you cant lie

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Hardly recognized myself without the bleached hair, heh. Nice one!

*Flips through To Serve Man, looking for the long pig recipes*

[JonPorobil]

I'm at work listening, and this time I only managed to get out the first few... I'll do the rest when I get home.

Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs - A marked improvement from last fight's entry. Still pretty boring, unfortunately. If your 2:40 song is going to have a thirty-second intro, it should probably be more interesting than a I-IV-V groove repeated four times. The rap isn't bad - you have alright flow - but you're not really talking about anything interesting. Just playing some dozens, and for the most part not that creatively.

Berkely Social Scene - Nice sax! I can tell you've spent the last few weeks integrating a new personality into the band, which can be difficulty. I think these lyrics might have been better suited to Erin's voice, though; was she unavailable? I think the sax over the verses makes the whole thing a little too busy; it does much better during the instrumental sections. Nice jam in the bridge. I would have wanted the end to contain more of a buildup and release, or at least turn in a new direction for the coda. The current ending is fine, but it could have been better.

DJ Ranger Den - You walk the line between being creative with keyboard theory and just futzing around like you don't know what you're doing. That nearly-atonal intro is tough to listen to, and the transition to more standard fare is similarly awkward. Your singing voice has a pretty delicacy to it which compliments nicely the vulnerability in the lyrics. Then the lyrics switch to silly without warning. Of course, the unexpected is the nut of all comedy, but this comes from so far out of left field that it feels like a cheap trick. It is funny, however, to imagine that this is the same story as "Look to the Skies" by Billy's Little Trip as told from the other perspective.

Feat - Ooops. When fightmaster posts the full version, I'll review it, but these first eighteen seconds do not inspire anticipation.

The HATE Noise - This is well-done. I like how off-kilter the 6/8 time feels, and especially how it combines with the distorted-beyond-recognition guitars... but it's just not grabbing me. I think it might be because the mix feels so distant, and the vocals aren't given prominence, but I feel very removed from the action of the song. I can't tell what it's about, nor does the song inspire curiosity about the subject matter.

[BBABM]

Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs - A marked improvement from last fight's entry. Still pretty boring, unfortunately. If your 2:40 song is going to have a thirty-second intro, it should probably be more interesting than a I-IV-V groove repeated four times. The rap isn't bad - you have alright flow - but you're not really talking about anything interesting. Just playing some dozens, and for the most part not that creatively.

thank you, and thank you. i've never really written a rap before, and i thought it was boring cause i was never really talking about anything in particular, and thus had no point. which is what you were pretty much saying. i tried, and got frustrated trying to write a intro that didnt sound ripped off, or super cheezy. i should have let it chill, come back and tried again... but hey at least it was better than last time! onward!

[Spud]

Feat's updated song has been uploaded. In the future, please submit the entire song before the deadline, not just the first 18 seconds.

[king_arthur]

By the way, by my count, "When Did You Know" is songfight #600. Another milestone passed! Hooray fightmasters!

[JonPorobil]

I meant to finish my reviews when I got home from work last night, but a long call came in near the end of my shift, forcing me to stay an hour and a half late. Boo hoo; pity me. Or don't, I don't care. What this means, however, is that rather than finishing the reviews at home, I'm again at work, again listening on cheap earbuds. Here's part two...

Feat - Your intro reminds me a little bit of something I probably heard on Overclocked Remix back in the early aughts. The vocals make it sound amateurish, and the lyrics don't do much better. Good flow, clever rhymes, but it feels to me like you're putting some kind of affect on your voice to make it sound "tougher." Maybe I'm completely off about that, but I do feel like you're more likely to sell the delivery if you just embrace the way your voice sounds instead of trying to overcome it. I actually like the approach to the title, as it takes shape in the "chorus." I would have liked to hear that chorus again instead of the silly studio-messing-around noises that you fade on.

Hoglen & Wages - If you're going to use an ID3 tag, please include the "artist name" field. The mandolin (or is that a banjo? My headphones kind of suck). Wages turns in another good vocal performance, and the lyrics scan well this time. The drums are obviously fake, but not distractingly so, as they're not given much to do. The fake horns that come in during the bridge are waaay too loud. Even though they're hard-panned left, they STILL manage to distract from the vocal. That's quite a feat. The mandolin isn't played very well, and it feels like it gets worse as the track goes on. This one starts out promising, but it's all downhill from there.

Jon Eric & Friends - The Friends this time are Signboy on drums and Christopher Cogott on electric guitar. Their contributions this time around were indispensible. I'm not entirely happy with my organ tone, and the breakdown in the third verse doesn't "feel" right to me yet, but other than that, I'm rather pleased with how well this song came together. Hey, near the end of the second chorus and during the bridge, Cogott does some particularly cool things on the guitar; check it out! I'm voting for myself!

Josh Millard - I find it interesting how sometimes, fighters with alphabetically proximate names wind up constantly following each other. Your songs and mine seem to form interesting compliments. I'm slightly bothered by the fact that this song can't seem to decide whether it's in a major key or a minor key. Oh well; your lyrics are great. I was expecting a second verse; got a fadeout instead. I wish it were a touch longer, but that's way better than wishing it were shorter. you get a vote! (You're three for three with me so far!)

King Arthur - Is this your idea of Bollywood? Still sounds like King Arthur to me. Not that that's a bad thing. Your lyrics are, as usual, spot-on, though not particularly ambitious this week. Well done. You get a vote!

Masterhyde - Part and parcel of the genre is a heavy low-end, but the bass in this song isn't doing much, so it seems disproportionately high. I like the flow here, though your voice seems to be self-consciously "performing," which masks the emotion in the story. Listen to "Looking at the Front Door" by Main Source and try again.

MC Charlie-0 - I slagged Masterhyde pretty hard just now, but he did exemplify one aspect of songwriting that you may never have been told: Rap songs don't have to be all about cussing and talking trash. In short, I don't like this song, and the reason I don't like it is because I'm not at all interested in anything you have to say. Part of that stems from the fact that this kind of braggadocio is self-defeating when it comes from a guy who's spitting his rhymes too close to a computer mic, but part of it is that this kind of braggadocio usually isn't worth getting into. I just don't care about you at all, so why would I care about you rapping about how awesome you are?

PigPEN - Distorted organ? Nice! When did you know you were turning into WreckdoM? Is that your real voice? I like the surrealist quality of the lyrics, though I find the accent somewhat distracting. If that's your real accent and/or you did a whole album of songs with this voice, I'd get used to it, so I guess I'm griping about nothing. Interesting lyrical approach; I can honestly say that, no matter how much thinking I did, I would not have thought of that approach. Nice ending You get a vote!

Ross Durand - What a strange segue from PiGPEN's entry! Well, heck, from the whole rest of the fight. In terms of non-rap songs, we've have BSS, Wages, me, Josh, and you. Psssh. I'm just rambling because this song is perfect. There's two Ross Durands; Ross the guy-n-guitar expert folk singer, and Ross the pop-band frontman. This is a flawless example of the latter. Fun, catchy, well-performed, well-mixed. I love the harmonies. You get a vote!

The Social Commentaries - Nice drumming. The horns feel a little rough, but whatever. Interesting "harmonies" on the rap. "Let's have a motherfucking baby" is one of the scarier Songfight lines I've heard in a while. This is another one of those songs that feels like it's obscene just for the sake of obsenity. It's probably going to get under my skin. I can't tell whether or not you're sincere about wanting to have a child, or whether you're just taking the euphemism for sex waaay to far, and that's really killing the song for me.

Steve Durand - My earbuds don't like your grandiose intro. I don't have a problem with it, myself, but my left phone buzzes pretty badly unless I turn the volume down. I don't think there's anything you can do about it, so whatever. This piano lick sounds familiar; did you intentionally gank it from somewhere? I love the line "You're gay as a party hat / Not that there's anything wrong with that." There's something borderline offensive about asking someone when they knew they were gay, but you frame it against the implied subquestion "Why didn't you tell me sooner?" which excuses it, at least in my book. I'd have liked to hear the vocal in this song a little bit softer, but emphasized with harmonies. Esepcially in the end, near 2:24, where you take the voice down a few steps chromatically, I'm aching to hear something else punctuating that. Trombones might have helped as well. Yes, that's the ticket. Trombones. Oh well. You get a vote!

X0 - Yeah, I'm not looking up how to type a subscript just for this tripe. I wish you had something more interesting to rap about than how awesome you are. Listen to MC Frontalot's "Braggadocio" if you haven't already (I hear echoes of his flow at some points in this track); it's a good example of how to do a trash-talk rap. What Frontalot does - and what you've neglected is litter his swagger with actual jokes. "I'm so bright, it's like, redundant to have the sun out." There's nothing like that in this song, it's just bragging about how you're going to win this fight - which, by the way, you won't.

(Full disclosure: I've done a track like that before, myself. Check out MC Baccarat's "Step Up" for another example of how NOT to do this type of song. My chorus had the line "So give it up, you know [I've] got this fight in the bag." Like your entry, I think there were moments of good flow in mine, but overall it was disposable. What can I say; I was 17. Are you 17? If so, this track may be forgiven, in time.)

Ziplore - Oh, come on! Were you intentionally trying to do a sequel or companion piece to BSS's track? I guess I should thank you for not turning in a 9-minute BSS track, but... Eh, I'm not a fan of long-winded jams like this in the studio. My tolerance for them increases exponentially when I'm watching the band on the stage, but I generally don't like to listen to five minutes of soloing on my headphones. There's some playing in this track that reaches a VERY HIGH level of technical profiency, which is laudable, but we're barely past the two-minute mark when I'm getting bored. Sorry guys.

***

Other than myself, I'm voting for Josh Millard for his short, dark, philosophical musing; King Arthur for his Arthurian take on Bollywood; PiGPEN for their bizarre approach and weird imagery in the lyrics; Ross Durand for his perfectly-crafted folk rock; and Steve Durand for his okay-to-be-gay anthem. Nice fight, guys!

Just FYI: back in the old days, we used to only get to vote for one entry. If it were still that way, I'd be torn between Josh and Ross.

[glennny]

6 reasons why Jon Eric is wrong, lost, kind of right, or predictable.

I can tell you've spent the last few weeks integrating a new personality into the band, which can be difficulty.

Well the last 2 weeks we had ourselves some Ryan vocals, and this week we had my friend Paul sit in on Sax. So there's a couple of new personalities in the band.

I think these lyrics might have been better suited to Erin's voice, though; was she unavailable?

Are you kidding me? she would never write nor sing lyrics with so many contractions and awkward diction. Believe me we always jump at the chance to get Erin on vocals. Often you're stuck with me on vocals, because we're down to the wire and I'm totally willing to make a fool of myself.

I think the sax over the verses makes the whole thing a little too busy

There are a couple of moments where that might be true, but for the most part i love all the sax there. And to be fair the sax came 1st, so it's the vocalists fault.

.....or at least turn in a new direction for the coda.

Ummm, by coda do you mean the double chorus at the end? There is no coda.Things can always be better, what is your suggestion?

Oh, come on! Were you intentionally trying to do a sequel or companion piece to BSS's track?

Yes, Paul is a school teacher and we won't get a chance to play with him often. We have 65 minutes of blissful jazz fusion improv glory. I took one 11 minute jam and cut it down to 5:30. Given more time I may have shaved it down more. This track is for those who love music. It's not for those of you who are seeking the perfect pop song. Listen I enjoy bad poetry and 3 chords as much as anyone, but sometimes I need to hear players interacting in the language of music real time. I never in a million years would expect Jon Eric to like this.

......barely past the two-minute mark when I'm getting bored

I'm impressed you made it 2 minutes!

[JonPorobil]

Glennny, you and I have butted heads on this board in the past. I don't generally like your music, but I respect your virtuosity, and I bear you no personal malice.

I reviewed your songs not because I felt particularly strongly about them, but because I reviewed everyone's songs. I didn't happen to like yours, but I didn't hate them. The worst I can say about them was that I can't really remember much about them after listening to them several times, and I spent most of the second one feeling somewhat bored. If I were to rank all the entries in order, a la Nur Ein, the BSS one would probably come in 5th, and the Ziplore one would probably come in around 9th.

Based on past experience, you're not surprised by my reactions to the songs, and you seem to recognize that my dislike of your material (and yours of mine) comes from a simple incompatibility of taste. And yet, your reaction to my reviews seems disproportionately defensive.

So I suggest the following not as a snarky or passive-aggressive ploy, but rather as a practical solution: Would you like me to stop reviewing BSS tracks? You don't seem to be getting much out reading them, and like you said, it's not difficult to guess what I'll have to say about them anyway. Similarly, I've got no problem with continuing to write them; I just wonder if keeping my trap shut will spare us both (and the board in general) a lot of future grief.

[glennny]

I bear you no malice either.
I thought this banter we had was fun and entertaining.
I didn't think my responses were defensive.
I do enjoy your reviews, especially when you explain yourself. Even though i usually think you're wrong.
I think our point counterpoint is interesting.
I never intend to hurt your feelings, but I do enjoy arguing with you.

[wages]

Hoglen & Wages - If you're going to use an ID3 tag, please include the "artist name" field. The mandolin (or is that a banjo? My headphones kind of suck). Wages turns in another good vocal performance, and the lyrics scan well this time. The drums are obviously fake, but not distractingly so, as they're not given much to do. The fake horns that come in during the bridge are waaay too loud. Even though they're hard-panned left, they STILL manage to distract from the vocal. That's quite a feat. The mandolin isn't played very well, and it feels like it gets worse as the track goes on. This one starts out promising, but it's all downhill from there.

Thanks. Sorry about the ID3 tag. I usually tag it with WinAmp, but I tried something different this time.

I just started learning the mandolin and I completely agree that it is not done to the best it could be by far. I'll keep working on it.

The horns are actually real.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Reviews, for no particular reason at all... other than a four-odd year-old picture of me in the cover art. Reverse alphabetical listening order. So read the damned thing from bottom to top, if you want the stream of consciousness, heh.

Bad Boys At Bat Mitzvahs
The closed hi-hat hits are like an icepick in my ears. Nice jam feel, but I hope there's a bridge or chorus or something to break up the song. Alas, no.

Berkeley Social Scene
I love and respect you guys (even you Glenny ). The presence of the low end of the mix is kinda wearying in headphones, too much low air. Bona fide Rhodes? Sam's guitar (if it is Sam) fits in the mix nicely (at last! But it's been many moons since I listened to a fight, so... grain of salt there). But the song ends without "ending", if you get me. More of a fade-out ending (without the fade-out) seems to be what the song's structure/make-up/feel implied.

DJ Ranger Den
Your schitzy right hand's creeping me out (intro). (Vox in) I hope this is a song about Mork from Ork, even though I know it's not. (@2:00) Starman? (@2:23) Star Wars? E.T.? The sustained note @2:59 is nice. (@3:58) They Live? Good work on the hanging tension on the last beat. (Lack of) musical resolution felt right for the subject (whatever it was) matter.

Feat
*facepalm* (see MC Charlie 0's review, same exact comments work for you, son). AND introducing new elements at the tail of a song really suck.

The HATE Noise
Weird level swells in the intro. Recorded to cassette first? Clean the heads, man. Or let it run for 10 seconds before the count-off. Like the mad potential, but the mix is killing you. http://www.DAWmusician.com Subscribe to the newsletter, and make the recording sound like it sounds to you in the studio/garage/basement when you're playing it live.

Hoglen & Wages
Where'd the kick go? First hit(s) in the song and then... wait (@40sec) there it is. Vox being left-ish in the separation is a little distracting, adds more emphasis to that mandolin in my right ear. Kudos for not going traditional with the mandolin, but dial it back a coupla-few notches in the levels.

Jon Eric & Friends
Lacking in the low-end (bass, not kick), but hearing (I'm guessing) Paco on the bg vox makes me smile. Interesting (read: good, in my book) vocal rhythms. Kinda seems all chorus and bridge.

Josh Millard
Mixing Reason tracks with live instruments is a bitch, ain't it? I like where your head's at, man. Let's start a band.

King Arthur
You're the reason I'm reviewing the fight Charles Vibraphone patch? It's bugging me, but not for the panning... the note decay is the culprit, methinks. Consistent, same, all the way through (barring the last note). And those are more than 2 note chords on it, aren't they? Muddying it up, they are. Let some single notes sing, man. And remember, it's (the real thing) got a damper pedal-thing to give it more of a voice.

Masterhyde
Hope that bassline evolves... still, Christmas in Hollis! Yo, y'all, listen to how his vox sit in the mix. Goodness! The bassline is killing me, it doesn't change to help with tension (stopping and then starting the loop isn't change).

MC Charlie 0
Shoot me. At least try to get the vocals to occupy the same sonic area code as the instrument tracks. Yo. The sub bass frequency's good, but it sounds like you vocalized into voicemail, and then transferred *that* to your DAW. Thank gods for this cocktail. Finding a loop that has an outro might be a better way to end it. I'm out. Peace!

PiGPEN
WTF? Is that a new accent for you? Rasta Eastern European hangin' in Ibiza? Sonically interesting, but... oh duh, bear, duh (re:accent)! Hairy commie man-on-man sex... got it (chuckles).

Ross Durand
Sorry I listened to this after The Social Commentaries, man. Still got that taste in my mouth and hate in my head. (goes to fix cocktail, moves to next song)

The Social Commentaries
I think I like thi... (@17sec) damnit, yawn, skip (and yet I continue listening). In Living Color is off the air. Look forwards, man, not back. Oh fuck, no, not the talking breakdown too. Jeez, if you're going to fake sex, at least throw in some slapping meat sounds.

Steve Durand
Been a while since I listened... and for whatever reason, this is evoking Sid Vicious' "My Way" in my head.

X0
I've never heard a rapper express the sentiment "Get the fuck off my phallus" before. Breaking no new ground here, cliché strings, the piano (patch) is filling the EQ spectrum, find the sweet spot of your vocals' EQ and scoop that out of the piano's EQ for some more punch in the spitting, yo.

Ziplore
Minute in... two minutes in... what's bugging me about this? Three minutes... got it. Every instrument is so clean and discreet, there's no sense of the room, no bleed between the mikes, no dirt. Too sterile a mixing job for what sounds like a good-time group get-down. Gives the impression of single instrument tracking instead of a bunch o'folks in a room all letting 'er rip at the same time. /2¢