Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
noma
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by noma »

big crouton wrote:Nick Soma
Very cool vibe. Vox are probably a bit too far forward. Whoa, didn't expect the punkish break. Vox sit better with the full band. I dig the chorus, but strongly preferred the creepier vibe from earlier. And we're back to what I like. Cool. Sweet vox. This is hella cool. Does the (Pt. IV) suggest that this is part of an epic quadrilogy of sorts? If so, could you link me to the other songs that are part of this? Cause that was a really cool song, and I'd like to check out the rest.
Thanks! Sure, these are the other three songs in my Celina Flanaghan Tetralogy:

Suitcase (pt. I): http://www.songfight.org/music/suitcase ... itcase.mp3

The Lurker (pt. II): http://www.songfight.org/music/the_lurk ... lurker.mp3

L'Occitane (pt. III): http://www.songfight.org/music/loccitan ... citane.mp3

As you may notice when listening to the songs, "Suitcase" is reprised at the end of pt. IV. I don't hold those in high esteem, though, and they might be a bit of a let down for you if you expect something epic along the lines of the 4th song.

Thanks to everybody else for your reviews, too :)
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Paco Del Stinko
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Thanks for the comments, people.

Hilly Bill: The bass that I used on this song is my Fender Jazz 5-string. It went direct into and out of an Ampeg head, no cab.

Crouton: The lead tone was achieved by going through a Wooly Mammoth bass fuzz pedal into either my Fender Champ or Top Hat Portly Cadet. I think it was the latter but I've already forgotten! Both are under 10 watt tube amps. The guitar is a Music Man Stingray II. Thanks for the interest. :)
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Toby Roktot
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by Toby Roktot »

masterhyde
yep !!! monomaniac ....the break is a martian dialect, from upper Sonora, so no, i don't think you've lost it ....yet !! lol

paco de stinko
thanks Paco, never, ever, ever had anyone give positive feedback on my guitar stuff!! THX !!!

iVeg
thank you, ----- truth, i would do every song live, sans drums....they just mess me up !! thx agn

Big C
thanks, a lot!! A.J. suggested the pan thingy....

thx to everyone for all the reviews !!!
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

James Suttlemyre: This isn't my kind of folky acoustic guitar thing. No, actually I take that back (ergh) the twangings are really nice and pastoral in the intro, I do really like that. It's the same thing as Toby's track, I don't identify with the country style singing. If you sounded like Nick Drake or John Darnielle I'd probably love this.

Toby Roktot: I always read your name as Toby Cockrot. Sorry 'bout that. I like the rhythm of the guitars and drums on this, not so much a fan of the vocals but that's purely because I'm into indie rather than country stylings, not a bad performance necessarily. When it kicked in it sounded like a cool little indie track, it's got some zip to it and nice chords. Nice sound on the acoustic too.

Nick Soma: Very ambitious track this one, and decent production. The prog stylings don't excite me much but when the track goes poppy with your big harmonies and backing vocals it's cool. I also like the ambient middle section. I could listen to a whole track of that.

Juveniles: Can't beat a song about fucking.

Barbies on't BBQ: This sounds like the recording was recovered from water damaged cassette tapes recorded in 1991. Not a bad song though. I think if you had better drum sounds you could claim the production was a stylistic choice. This reminds me of 80s-era Pulp, this is high praise.

Glenneth: This makes me happy. The 80s influences are drenching this song (in my head). The intro drums are Running Up That Hill, The vocal melody is Godhopping by Dogs Die in Hot Cars (Not 80s technically, but definitely retro), and the ooohs are Temptation by New Order. The bass in particular sounds great, but I like the warmth in the layers of acoustics. Obvs good playing. I would have had a shorter solo and an outro chorus, but of course this is where you and I differ my friend.

Paco: Hmmyeah, this is standardPacogood, not actually really good. The instrumental breaks are quite cool but none of the lyrics/melodies do anything for me.

Masterhyde: This is cool man. Totally early 90s feel to it. I'd like to put some better drums over this, the backing track is a bit overly reliant on crappy casio-ish sounds, but the vocals/lyrics are good.

Iveg: Probably the most interesting song of the fight in terms of the sonic blend and passion. I like the synthy intro riff. You need to stop the lead guitar from drowning out your vocal in places. Pretty well structured song. I think a better mic would do wonders for your recordings. What are you using at the moment?

BSS: I'm regularly amused by how little your songs sound like Broken Social Scene. This is more Melvin. I like it. The quiet economical approach to vocals in the verse is cool. I'm also amused by the fact Glen has 3 guitar solos in this fight alone. Is there anyone else in the world with a higher widdle-ratio?

Tuners Union: Very nice. Super smooth vox and good blend of acoustics and keys (although they are a bit loud when they first come in). I'd say this was a vote grabber before the outro kicked in but that just pushed it over the cliff (into the sea of victory).

Big Crouton: That riff is totally nicked from Reef's Naked. I won't tell them. This sounds pretty huge. I don't often listen to rock that is this balls-out but this is so seamless I can't really not vote for it. Take it as an objective "backing the winning horse" type thing rather than "I totally love this". I do like it.

WSA: It's a grower. I wasn't sure about the electro drums and synths to begin with but it gives it it's own flavour.

TFTF: Love this song. Bummed WSA didn't get to work on this one.

If anyone wants me to elaborate on these just say.
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ken
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by ken »

furrypedro wrote: BSS: I'm regularly amused by how little your songs sound like Broken Social Scene. This is more Melvin. I like it. The quiet economical approach to vocals in the verse is cool. I'm also amused by the fact Glen has 3 guitar solos in this fight alone. Is there anyone else in the world with a higher widdle-ratio?
Not to burst your bubble or anything, but that is all Lunkhead this week.
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Yes, this week's BSS song is a Ken/Lunkhead joint. Ken wrote the lyrics and the verse chords, then we got together and wrote the rest of the music and tracked rhythm guitars and drums. Then I tracked the bass, synth, lead guitar, and vocals, and Ken mixed and produced. Vocally I was trying to rip off Matt Sharpe in The Rentals. I feel like he has a soft voice like mine but manages to make it work over rocking songs somehow, which is something I want to learn to do better. Everyone is always saying my vocals are too "laid back" or mellow when I'm singing over a more rocking song. :/

Anyway, I am available to contribute guitar solos to anybody who's feeling like they want to make sure that fights have enough solos. :P
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iVeg
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by iVeg »

@FurryPedro: I just switched to an SM-58 and a new mixer for this song [a few hours before deadline]. Even when I was singing super quiet, it was distorting, and picking up all sorts of ambient room noises. I hope it's better for "Taken Aback".

re: mixing [esp lead guitar]. Thanks for the input [Big Crouton, also].

@Lunkhead: Based on 3 1/2 songs I watched on Youtube, Matt Sharpe was super soft, almost a whisper. But on "It's Time to Come Home" it sounds like he's running vox through a light distortion or overdrive. Same with "Thought of Sound". May be my headphones, but I don't think so... BGVs help him cut through on chorus, outro. I may try that on next song, if it's appropriate.
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Yeah, he sings softly but he still gets some rock'n'roll attitude in his inflection somehow, without screaming. That's more what I'm trying to imitate, to get some of the energy into it without singing louder. I'm finding it challenging.
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furrypedro
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

ken wrote:
furrypedro wrote:Not to burst your bubble or anything, but that is all Lunkhead this week.
You busted the shit out of my bubble. Although now you mention it the widdling did seem not so - how can I put this - "rhythmically erratic" as when Glen does it, with all his 64th and 128th notes :P
If you were going for Matt Sharpe then at least that vindicates my "Melvin" mention, what with all the Weezer comments he used to get.
iVeg wrote:I just switched to an SM-58
58 works for some people. I guess it depends on your voice. Mine really doesn't suit it (or singing for that matter) so I'd always have to EQ the shit out of it to make it sound like I wasn't singing from behind a duvet. Personally I wouldn't settle for anything other than a condenser mic these days. I know equipment all depends on budget but it's something worth considering since most peeps focus on the vocals above all else.
hillbilly

Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by hillbilly »

what the fuck, they ain't a mike made make you sound in tune. No harm Veg.
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by hillbilly »

honest reviews from here on out.
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iVeg
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by iVeg »

Congrats, Toby!

@ Hillbilly: For $30 you can get a mic that makes you sound in tune... sorta. http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2380467,00.asp

@ FurryPedro: Duvet. Yes, I noticed that, too. I tried different positions, distances, angles. I don't think it helped much.
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furrypedro
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Re: Oh Yeah? Take it Back! (reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

Judging from your Taken Aback entry you did a pretty good job , better than mine certainly! Just couldn't get the voice to sit properly in the mix somehow.
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