Sorry I didn't have a ton of time to review these. If I can get more time to listen I'll come back and edit.
BSS - I like the jazzy chord changes in the verses. Chorus is a
nice changeup from that. Burden/bourbon is an interesting rhyme
that's a little nonesensical but works. Angsty enough to suit
the prompt. I like it.
Brown Word - Ethereal almost, with all the synths. The lyrics
have some neat imagery but the phrasing is inelegant. Nice to
hear more female voices here, and your voice isn't bad at all.
I was sort of waiting for something to ground the song, but
nothing did. I'd love to hear your take on the next fight's
prompt though.
Cornflakes - the chord progression reminds me of a Phish song,
and I wasn't able to get away from that the whole song. Not
your fault.
Elly - nice tone in the intro. I like the lyrical approach that
you've taken. A yearning for authenticity. Heck yeah. If you
mean something, say it. I also like that the form is not what I'm used to hearing.
The piano runs in the chorus are neat. I like how it returns to the mellotron for a bit in the outro.
Future Boy - wish you'd have posted the lyrics. I have a
feeling this is an even wierder song than I think it is.
You've succeeded in writing a really creepy song.
Why doesn't the pony want to go in the hole?
Why does everybody want him/her to? Do I even want to know?
I like the vocal harmonies though, and the track is pretty tight.
GUNS - Vocal pitch isn't always there. Arrangement is pretty
solid though. Bass line in the verse is kickin. Lyrics are good
but I don't get pulled in for most of it. Solo prior to the
final verse makes the song seem too long.
J$ - There weren't quite enough style/tempo/key changes to
remind me of a british mr bungle, but almost. I'm not sure it all FIT exactly,
but I can see the lazy, overweight, borderline depressed batman.
MC - You dig Wheelie Cyberman? If you don't you should. You've
got some neat lyrical turns there. The backing track could use some work. Pizza bagel. I like it.
Beany - Some of those things I have thought about. The rest I
definitely will. Others have said you need a ukulele. I'm
hearing chiptune under this.
Noah - I can almost see the singer's leather jacket and
pompadour. Nice emotion in the vocal delivery. Good dark raspy vocals and timing.
Kind of Neil Diamond. Maybe more than kind of.
Nice, solid tune.
Nobody - me; This was more of an exercise in vocal harmony than
an honest to goodness song. In retrospect, some compression on
the xylophone would have made it pop a little more. I could
have spent more time on the mix as well.
Paco - The chorus has a cool punk-surf-country feel. Not sure
how all that works, but it does. Lyrics are good in places.
Really interesting chord changes and tight-ass guitarwork are
Paco hallmarks and they're present as usual.
Pigfarmer - OK I'm totally the pot calling the kettle black
here but "show, don't tell." Imagery is your friend. If you can
think of an unusual way to say something rather than just say
it, do it. On the plus side, you've got the structure of a rock
song down, and your guitar tone isn't bad. Keep the tunes
coming.
Sausage - Bit of a departure from last fight. Who are you
pissed at exactly?
Got a little Alex Lifeson almost in the
guitar solo. I like the choruses.
Sonofsupercar - A lot like last year's fight. I'm both bobbing and scratching my head.
Groove is great, even if it goes on a bit long. The wish you would segment is a nice difference.
Styop - If Les Claypool did an indie electronica album it might sound like this.
I might not BUY said album per se, but I give you mad props for making something that sounds completely different from the rest of us.
Tuners - Please tell me you use autotune so I can feel just a tiny bit better about myself?
I really like this entry. It's just so lush and heady. You manage to find harmonies that
I definitely wouldn't have found even given the same wonderful chord changes.
Do you write a melody over chords and write harmonies around it, or do you write with the expectation
that you're going to have 3 or 4 voices singing on every note?
Wreckdom - when I first read the lyrics (prior to the songs being posted) I thought
there was no way anybody can arrange and sell this that would make me want to listen to it.
I was wrong. Fricking awesome and wierd and funny and awesome.
“We may be in the Universe as dogs and cats are in our libraries, seeing the books and hearing the conversation, but having no inkling of the meaning of it all.”
― William James