Mike gets beaten up! (Tyson's Corner reviews)

[Tyler Zahnke]

This one really is a fight!

[johndisk0]

My first set of reviews ever. Good luck to everyone that submitted. Here goes!

Astrolamb
Very good use of instruments. I like the diversity in it. It sounds like electric guitar and choir organ. A very "Jenny Lewis/Rilo Kiley" vibe. Nice! +Vote.

Barbies on the BBQ
I sense more time was spent on the vocals than on the music. This has a very poetic feel, like it has a deeper meaning that must be analyzed rather than just heard. "Sorry I have lost my way. I'm at Tyson's Corner station looking for a sign" is very thought provoking.

Berkeley Social Scene
Very musically diverse. I also like the call and echo style parts. This one took a few more listens to really understand how acoustically solid it is.

Cookie Blue
This song feels a little 2/2 instead of 4/4. It is catchy, but the high notes are a little strained. My choir teacher always recommended lifting the eyebrows to open up the soft pallet (and the windpipe) while reaching for high notes.

inflatable vegetables
"Pretty woman walking up pretend I'm not looking" is my favorite lyric of this fight, not just this track, this whole fight . Very sing-songy song. I like this track! +Vote.

johndisk0
Ok, I know my song isn't that great, but it did have a good idea and I did make a good audio track. If you want the instrumental only, it's on my newgrounds. Vocally, I think the lead in is bad, but the rest of the song is good. I shouldn't have doubled up on the "I train" part. I thank you for any votes I get.

Nick Soma
I have played this song literally 4 times this morning. I played it for my whole family. I'm putting it on my iPod. When I lose, I hope it is to this song. +Vote.

The Numan League
Feels like trip-hop. My mind was thinking about it 30 minutes later, so it did stick.

Scott Gesser
Very reminiscent of Mr. Big's "To Be With You" from the early 90s. Way to bring the whole band in at the end. I liked it!

Somewhereofftheleftcoast
The vocals are so close together that it sounds like you recorded them yourself twice. If you really are two separate people, then great job for being in harmony so well. I like the haunting chorus.

Thank Glennny for the Frisbee
Toe-tapping track. Just slow enough to not feel too slow, and then it picks up. I like the change-ups.

(I'm still considered a new user, so it wouldn't let me post the pre-formatted song URLs.)
-jd0

[jb]

Please note that saying the title in the lyrics is not strictly necessary in order to qualify for the fight. In this case, the Numan League song is about kids at the mall. I leave you to your Googling now.

[jb]

Inflatable Vegetables - Saturday TV Funhouse! Or like, late-70's family sitcom! (LOVE this.)

johndisk0 - I like the music. The vocals are way too loud and you're too close to your microphone. Makes it hard to pay attention to your rhymes, and makes it sound very n00b in general.

Thank Glenny - Channeling Brian Wilson, and I like it! The guitars/ukes/whatever that is playing back and forth with their strums is foot-tappity. I like this a lot!

Berkeley Social Scene - Heavy guitars, man! I kinda like the countermelody vocals in the chorus. Kind of loses momentum in the verses tho. I like the guitar solo - the tone is pretty rad actually, with that slide and all - but it's pretty harsh in the mix, needs some EQ.

Scott Gesser - Ok you've used up your quota of minor thirds for verse melodies.

Cookie Blue - I like this a lot. The lyrics are interesting. "I jumble up my limbs as another night begins" is nicely evocative. But look up some EQ tips to make your mix hurt less to listen to. The vocals have a harsh freq or two in there, your snare sound also needs a notch taken out of it, and you could bring up your nice bass sound more because I suspect it's sitting in the back there being awesome.

Astrolamb - Come to Portland, Mike. You enigmatic bastard. Ooh epic guitar solo! I think this might have gone over the top, for an Astrolamb tune, had you spent a bit of time on that drum track. Now, I'm one to speak about drum tracks, generally sucking at them in a major way-- so you know you have an issue if I'm calling you out there.

Barbies on the BBQ - OMG FINALLY some SYNTH. I mean, aside from johndisk0's song, but that was so nerdy it almost doesn't count as synth. This is one of those songs where I'm all "this sounds great!" and then the vocals come in. There is potential here, but you're gonna have to redo those vocals yo. Rhythmically they need to be much more precise, and the audio recording is hollow. But MAN I like the synth programming! Especially that little solo section half a minute from the end.

Somewhereofftheleftcoast - .... the angst... i'm... losing... will to live... some nice kinda throbbing sounds going on in the background there. Reminds me of Lisa Germano. Like Barbies tho, the vocal recording is way thin here man. Figure that shit out and I think you might have something. You have the performance chops if you can get your mic technique under control. Garbage in garbage out-- you canNOT make vocals thicker in post.

Nick Soma - Nice kick drum. Kinda nicely mixed in general so far I think. Straight up rock tune kinda I guess. I like the chorus with the doubled vox and harmonies. I always like harmonies if they're in tune, so I think you are just pandering for the JB vote now. Have you met Jim Tyrrell? You guys seem to write kinda similarly.

The Numan League - This is me with a bit of contribution from a friend. I initially was going for a very early-80's synth-pop sound, straight out of Human League or Flock of Seagulls. But Howard sent me that throbby bass and sent the whole thing careening off in a different direction. I like how it turned out. I could have used another hour figuring out the drums tho. I'm pleased with the mix-- hasn't sounded bad on any speakers I've tried it on so far. Maaaaybe the first chorus is a little duller than I might want, but it was only that way on my wife's terrible terrible car speakers.

Nice fight, y'all!

JB

[rnagoda]

Thanks, johndisk0 and jb!

Astrolamb - Come to Portland, Mike. You enigmatic bastard.

I'm not Mike. I'm Robert. I like the idea of going to Portland though ... and I am a bastard.

Now for some reviews:
----------------------------------------------

Somewhereofftheleftcoast: I like what's happening here. It has what I like to call a "wish I was in the room listening to this live" sound to it, and since listening to live music is basically my favorite thing to do, that's a good thing.

johndisk0: Glitchy electronics with old school rap flow? Nice! Might want to check the levels on that mic, though. I like it ... maybe I'll follow in your footsteps and reveal my hip-hop alter-ego for one of the upcoming fights!

Barbies on the BBQ: Really nice darkwave-y vibe here. The big bass sound is good, but I feel like maybe it needs to change up just a bit more. Nice tune, definitely takes me back to my good old goth days.

Berkeley Social Scene: Cool tune. Took me a minute to swallow the chorus, but once I had accepted it into my heart it stayed there. Slide on the solo is sweet. Really nice work here.

Nick Soma: Solid, catchy, summertime music here ... doesn't hurt that I'm reviewing from my patio on a sunny 80-degree afternoon!

Inflatable Vegetables: Speaking of summer-y music ... is my environment affecting my hearing? Cool tune here - I'd like to hear the guitar lines more prominently, but there's so much going on here it's only the guitarist in me that wants that.

Thank Glenny For The Frisbee: Nice, laid back start-up, great bass tone. More summer songs! Really liking the vocals here too - fantastic work. Rhythmic change-ups. Awesome vintage synth solo! Nice all around - I think this gets my vote (unless something unexpected happens in the upcoming songs)!

Astrolamb: My first entry in a looooong time - felt good to get it in. Thanks to everyone involved just for being here - what a great way to be able to work on and improve your skills, share with friendly folks, etc..

The Numan League: Really digging some of the retro stuff happening in this fight. This song would have blown my mind back in my Nitzer Ebb worship days! Really cool things happening with the synth lines, the vocals, the samples, the bass lines, etc.. This would make an epic closing credits song for a movie - the kind of thing that comes on and the audience stays a while instead of just up and leaving - like when they played Rage Against The Machine at the end of Matrix 2 and even though they had that idiot flying around you still stayed and checked it out on the strength of the music. This is my other vote, for sure.

Scott Gesser: Speaking of retro sounds, whatsup "clap!" I like the buildup throughout here, but in the end I actually think it might be stronger with just the vocals and acoustic - hard to say.

Cookie Blue: Nice tune. Is it overcompressed, maybe? I think the harshness of the mix overshadows the vocals a bit too much, but this is a cool track. Agree with JB that we need more bass too. This is all to say that it's a cool song, probably only a few knob turns from being even cooler.

Awesome fight, all. Thanks for sharing!

[jb]

Damn, I thought you were a Mike! Sorry man, couldn't you have just gone along to spare me the embarrassment...

[iVeg]

PC crashed. Lucky I hadn't gotten very far. I need to get better at doing quick reviews. Sorry.

Astrolamb: I liked it, then the guitar kicked in and I liked it even more.
Barbies: Like the vocal harmonies, but the bass was too steady. I hear what JB was saying about tightening up the vocal rhythm. Maybe next time?
BSS: Who sang lead? Some transitions sounded a little sloppier than usual. Like the guitars, as always, and esp the solo.
Cookie Blue: I really like everything this week, so far !
IVeg: Recorded main vocals out in a park. It was a beautiful sunny day, and I was happy. Prob too much guitar in the chorus.
JohnDisk0: Yeah, sounds like mic is clipping or distorting not in a musical way.
Nick Soma: Nice rootsy song. I was thinking maybe a Tom Petty influence, at first.
Numan League: Like the 80s synth-pop feel. Love those vocal harmonies, and the changes between sections. This is my favorite tonight.
Scott Gesser: Guy & guitar. And drum machine and a bass. There's a fine line between singing bluesy and soulful, and sounding out of tune.
Somewhereofftheleftcoast: Sorry. I listened to it twice and I can't think of what to write.
Thank Glenny: Happy, fun song. Like the bass, keys, uke. Vocal harmonies. This is my second favorite.

This was a great fight!

[glennny]

BSS: Who sang lead? Some transitions sounded a little sloppier than usual. Like the guitars, as always, and esp the solo.

Those vocals are my fault. I find singing very fun, but I'm not very good at it. In theory I'll get better with practice, but I've had a lot of practice. I hit the mark sometimes, like the backing vox on the TGFTF track. Luckily the guitars on the BSS track were also my fault Thanks!

Thank Glenny: Happy, fun song. Like the bass, keys, uke. Vocal harmonies. This is my second favorite.

Thanks! I actually still haven't heard from Frisbee as to whether or not he liked where this ended up. He ran out of time, so the night before it was due I whipped up the 2nd verse and backing vocals. I like the way this turned out. BTW that instrument is a Guitelele. It's in the range of a Uke, but it's got 6 strings and you can play it like a guitar. I have it tuned to A as the low string. Which is close to B. So When you pick it up it's very hard not to bust into Here Comes the Sun.

This is an excellent fight, enjoying multiple listens. I'm leaning towards the Numan League as well!

[rnagoda]

Damn, I thought you were a Mike! Sorry man, couldn't you have just gone along to spare me the embarrassment...

I mean ... oh, hey, it's me Mike. Wassup!

[Thanks For The Frisbee]

I actually still haven't heard from Frisbee as to whether or not he liked where this ended up.

Sorry i really like where this ended up! I am thrilled to be on the track at all

[johndisk0]

Hey everyone! Thanks for the reviews. You are dead on regarding the mic. I didn't hear it when I was mastering the track. It turns out the mic was my back-up and I had the condenser pickup on, so it really diluted the track. I wish I would have dropped the master volume a bit and brought the tune from the game out more. Oh, I was also going to speed up the track after I was done mastering, but I forgot to do that, too. My wife said posting the lyrics helps to understand the track, so if you haven't read it, I recommend reading the lyrics while listening to the song.

Lesson learned: make a checklist for completing a song. It's not just tune, beat, and words. Thanks for reviews and any (hopefully) votes!

-jd0

[johndisk0]

It seems as though people weren't really interested in this fight. The pre-fight for subreddit has more polarized posts than this one. Is this normal? Even the pre-fight wasn't that flooded. Tell me how you really feel about this fight topic. Is it because school/work/touring is in session? Should there be more comments/submissions/reviews during the summer months?

-jd0

[iVeg]

Variation is normal, and expected. Some titles generate more interest or controversy.
It also depends who posts, and what bunny trails the forum posts take.

[user]

I'm voting for iVeg for the harmonies and the Beach Boys vibe, Astrolamb for the atmosphere, and the Numan League, who I would vote for twice if that sort of thing weren't frowned upon.

[iVeg]

@user: Thanks!
@Glennny: Sorry. I wasn't saying the SINGING transitions were rough. It was the instrumental transitions.

[Billy]

I voted for COOKIE BLUE and Nick Soma - Both perfect songs IMO.

[hillbilly]

keep practicing please

[johndisk0]

keep practicing please

I will

-jd0

[glennny]

Wow! Thanks everyone!
Congrats Cookie Blue and Frisbee!

[jb]

Congrats you guys, good fight!

[cookie]

thank youuuuuuuuuuuuuu

and congrats to Glennny and Frisbee!

[johndisk0]

*claps for the winners* Great job!!

-jd0