Playing in a ska band requires a lot of (And Counting)

Albatross · Post by **Albatross** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 1:53 pm

one-AND-two-AND-three-AND-four-AND

Oh, how many ska musicians does it take to change a light bulb?

Five. One to drop the bulb and the rest to say "Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up! Pick it up!"

Post by jb » Mon Nov 26, 2007 3:51 pm

funniest thread title ever.

Æpplês&vØdkã · Post by **Æpplês&vØdkã** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 8:33 pm

I found the songs. And Blues Manufacturing Facility, this is your most coherent entry yet. If they keep on this improvement track, you might take some steps towards being kind of popular, at least I think.

jack · Post by **jack** » Mon Nov 26, 2007 11:31 pm

"caravan ray and his performing loin fruit" makes my mouse finger twitch with anticipation. 8)

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:31 am

jack wrote:"caravan ray and his performing loin fruit" makes my mouse finger twitch with anticipation. 8)

Yes - three-and-a-half year-old Caravan Harriet is making her debut this week as lyricist and lead vocalist .

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 9:35 am

Mockpuppet: I don't know who you are but I really like this song (and that's not a particular style I've done just yet so kudos on beating me to it). You missed the trademark bitcrusher+delay on the drums though.

max the cat · Post by **max the cat** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 10:02 am

Mime A little hard to hear the words. The vibe is a tad mild for the sentiment. Yes the revolution is now! Sharpen your weapons and I’ll follow you. Pitchy vocal may be intentional if not it’s pitchy.

Burritos in Space Love the intro…where’s the song?

Blues Manufacturing Facility I don’t have anything constructive to offer, sorry.

Lord of Oats Can’t argue with those words. Nice lyric. Rock chops need some honing. If not, find a more unique voice and you don’t really need to deal with the chops factor

Svën Müllët Dems rock chops! Love the low wah, I dove nobody caught me. No lyric and counting…

Dynamic Rhythm Device Yes! Vocal is a little pitchy or is it the bass?. I love the deconstructed guitar solo. True disheveled contemporary throwback.

Hillbilly Buffalo I like simple guitar let the song do the work. I get to actually discuss the song. Nice story lyric What and counting? I couldn’t understand that part. Good tight song, I think.

Steve Durand Wait! wait! This is Hillbilly Buffalo. Twisted Prairie, another new genre. I smiled and smiled.
And I learned something I’m hitting the books but I suck at math, sorry. Was that Bill Clinton?

Caravan Ray and his Performing Loin Fruit This has got to win! Diabolical! No song, but who cares “Loin Fruit” is killin’ It ‘s a little unfair little kids and dogs? At least you didn’t use a dog and don’t try that next fight.I did my “fruit” years ago sampled "Dada" but this goes way beyond mine. Love it. I’m sending it to my daughter who actually choreographed my "Dada" piece for a dance she’s working on I think this would be better. A full CD of “Loin Fruit” would be on my Christmas shopping list. “

Chonny “and Counting” artfully done. This song sneaks up on me. The guitar in the sonic mist belies the skillful playing I like that. Good lyric.

MC Eric B I would guess there’s going to be a bit of flack here, not from me. I’m vaguely amused mostly by the wanky track and the nasty lyric . Fun nerdy track but rapper still could have been more in the pocket.

Mages Again nice use of the title. Lyric needs work too many clichés Golden rule school for example. Rarely? Awkward but heartfelt. Time and practice will probably bare sweet fruit.

Eddielance Yes! Clear interesting fresh theater my kind of thing. Really used "and counting" well. Nice button I love buttons. "Life sucks and then you die."

Seventh and Main Nice banjo,

Dan Plus Add (no relation) good use of the title

Ross Durand Another good use of the title. I think the lyric could be carried on angrier music. The Country Joe and the fish song comes to mind. We need all these kind of songs we can get. Power to the “Mellenniums” get off your butts and die for peace.

Reïst Like the guitar and drums. Falsetto not a good idea.

Bizarro Eric MC I would guess there’s going to be a bit of flack here, not from me. I’m vaguely amused, mostly by the tacky track and the familiar nasty lyric. Rapper still could have been more…. Um mindful of Songfight bandwidth.

Punglect Got a new Vocoder ay? Play with it on your own time. God is this boring! I’m getting grumpy.

Klownhole Interesting in a dare-you-to-jump-off-the-roof kind of way “Bring me the diamond I'll bring you the bone” If that's what I heard I like that.

Max the Cat Reviewing at best is daunting. When I see this long a list I don't want to bother. One entry per person a week would be really nice. And if the traffic continues to build up maybe a second fight could be held. For me the reviews are what this is all about. Winning is fun but not very educational.

Thanks for the Frisbee & The Swingset Obviously lots of skill here. Fun track love the instrumentals at the end. Love to see the lyric and digest it. Good song!

TV's Kyle Fun nice wanky track, really good dumped on lyric. Nuf said

Wages Again nice use of the title. Lyric needs work too many clichés Golden rule school for example. "Rarerly?" Awkward but heartfelt. Time and practice will probably bare fruit.

King Arthur Nice Song, But it feels generic, the lyric needs to be less cleched. Fresh words, new words. I’ve heard these words too often. I am a little cold here but it’s really not not my intent. there is talent and it needs to be mined. I think this is writing on the surface, good, well crafted but not down to the depths that it could go.

Melvin Yeah Like the dissonance, the lyric, the ascending section.

The Bewells Nice song, It’s a really good song. Somehow that’s my problem.The lyric is too generic love songy. I’d like it to be more specific, personally specific, places specific, sense memory something… to make us feel it’s about the writer not just a generic love song.

Sockpuppet Yeah! Very creative midi, delicious digital candy, well done and????? Songfight? Define song, Max. Lyricless and counting. Maybe there should be a Midifight. Kinda miffed that I’m actually commenting. Could use the space for actual songs.

Mockpuppet creative midi, digital candy, done okay and? Songfight? Define song Cat. wordless and counting. Maybe there should be a Trackfight. Kinda miffed that I’m actually commenting. Could use the space for actual Tunes.

Asteroids 57801-57900 Very interesting song, great lyric, very creative track. I don’t like to comment on production but somehow the over all sound is brittle and the quality of the composition is hurt by the sonic deficiencies. Still I really like this.

The Weakest Suit Practice Practice

Mexican Chimpanzees Hate the sentiment love the beats and the rhymes booya!

madtho · Post by **madtho** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 12:31 pm

I find myself sucked into production critique once again. I wonder if I pay so little attention to lyrics in my normal listening?

This is the first time I've streamed the songs and I see that it shows my file's original name, no band name etc. Perhaps I'm an idiot, but how do I get that stuff to show?

I really enjoyed a bunch of these.

-mad

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 1:42 pm

A few thoughts...

Caravan Ray - has his finger on the kid pulse. Can't help having the image of these kids driving around a 60s NYC landscape, slipping into Macy's or Gimbles and buying cooking utensils. This is great!

Reist - yeah, when you go falsetto...you have to go for it, not hold back. That doesn't work.

Melvin - I like your choppy verses these days, and especially the divergent guitar parts. The dissonant solo is wonderful and the building vocals take me. Nice job! "Don't kill me next week"? Ha, is the week after a better time?

Ross Durand - Sure, we've heard these lyric before, but unlike cliche love songs protest songs still hold up. Like "there's no funerals on TV so things must be fine" and the turn to count down his days. Bravo!

Lord Of Oats - This doesn't bring a fresh voice or spirit.

MockPuppet - Pleasant enough

SockPuppet - Brings back memories of Was Not Was' "Earth to Doris". Which is a good thing.

TVsKyle · Post by **TVsKyle** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:31 pm

Wow, homies. This is both the best and the longest fight I've had the pleasure of reviewing. Let's get to it:

The Bewells- Do they still make songs that sound like this? I haven't heard one since the closing credits of some movie from the late 80s. You do some nice playing on this, but it's cheapened by that weaksauce drum loop. In this age of easy-to-obtain free drum loops, it's avoidable. It's actually not a bad sound you've got, but there's no hook.

Thanks for the Frisbee & The Swingset- This is a tough one. It's a well-written song, but productionwise, it's filled with a bunch of sounds that fight each other at odd levels and not always on the beat, especially in that solo section. (Yeah, I factor in production. A good artist knows how do make do with limited recording capabilities.)

Caravan Ray and his Performing Loin Fruit- Man, this is fun! A good sound in general, but it could use some more clout when it builds up. I don't know if I can vote for something this simple, but it is the best so far.

Dan Plus Add (no relation)- Guy with guitar, therefore you've got to rely on songwriting alone. You fare better than most would with some rather nice musical ideas, but there's far too much repetition and I'm bored by the two minute mark with nothing to break up the monotony.

Klownhole- Hold on, let me turn my volume down... there we are. Not bad, actually, but I've heard far too many songs that sound just like this-- Ever see Clone High? Ever see the one where Jack Black has everyone smoking raisins? This sounds like the song from that episode minus a real hook. Good God that organ sounds great, though. I'm such a sucker for that. I have to admit, this would be fun live.

Mockpuppet- Let me turn my volume back up... theeere we go. Ah, it's one of those neat building up electronic bloopy songs. Save for that nifty little beat, there's sadly nothing to separate it from the pack of songs like that, but it's perfectly competent.

Reïst- Competent rockin' sound, though nothing new. The production ain't bad save for the vox. The quality of the singing is fine for this type of rocking, but it needs some sort of effect. The rock is just burying it right now. Nice shredding, man.

Blues Manufacturing Facility- Well, you have succeeded in having a sound all your own, and that's to be commended. Whiteboy zombie inmate blues rock may or may not ever take off, but I wouldn't mind hearing it attached to more inventive song writing. I like that crazy sounding thing at the end. It would've made a nice solo.

Chonny- Turn up your rhythm section, man. These are super-neat chord progressions. Don't sing in unison if you're gonna cause a bunch of discord like that. I mean, it almost works in a Frank Zappa fashion, but you ain't Frank Zappa. What, it's over already? Too short! You've got me going with a nice sound and you just yank it away like that? You just touched me in the morning and then just walked away!

The Weakest Suit- Hi, guy with guitar. You're sure droning. Play twice as fast and we'll talk. Until then, you are The Weakest Suit, goodbye!

MC Eric B- Wesley Willis? I actually don't mind the lyrics, but they're not not clever enough to handle being... chanted like this. They need singing. And playing. And effort. You're totally invited over to play Wii at my place, though.

Seventh and Main- This is a mess, but it is fun. That banjo adds something unique. Do try to stay awake when you sing, though.

Dynamic Rhythm Device- Excellent vocals right off the bat. I wish you'd dominate with that guitar more so the workload doesn't have to be handled by that awful bass sound. Does that thing go down an octave? Big Sandy and his Fly-Rite Boys might've been able to do the same thing better, but this is a valiant effort, for sure.

Max the Cat- Hey, it's one of those aforementioned building up electronic bloopy songs... without the buildup! It's an interesting study, but I wanna hear some song writing!

Punglect- Ever turn on Cartoon Network and see something live action that, however interesting, isn't a cartoon? This is an interesting sound design exercise, but this being Songfight, I'd like a song.

Steve Durand- Nice sound! I might've gone back and forth in and out of the harmony vocals more often to break things up. Hey, a sax solo! It might've been nice if the accordion did something more than droning the chords as the song went on. One of the better ones, though.

Asteroids 57801-57900- Nice riff. Odd tendency in several entries in this fight: Doubled vocals that would've been better off not doubled. Your song is stronger than your performance, which could use some tightening. Those are cool drums, so try to keep up with them. Rest assured, though, this is a strong entry.

Eddielance- Why are people chanting this week? It would've worked better here if it was done more naturally instead of the weird effect you tried to speak with. Dammit, I wanted a song, not a poetry slam entry.

Mages- Another needlessly doubled vocal crutch? More sleepy vocals? More level issues with buried drums? I do appreciate the variations in mood, but... c'mon... wake up. Interestingly, the same song with some conviction might sound a bit like Everlast, which is in no way a bad thing.

Burritos in Space- I want a SONG.

Bizarro Eric MC- Ok, I'm clearly missing part of the joke since there's a connection to the other song, but this sounds pretty cool. With some livelier vocals, this would've been an iPod keeper for me.

King Arthur- Ah, is it time to slow dance with a beer in my hand? Sadly, I don't drink, so I don't think I'm quite the guy to judge this one. There's some excellent guitar work and some nice production in general, but even within the genre, more variation would've been nice. It's also about a minute and a half too long.

Wages- Hi, guy with guitar. This is competent, but I got tired of everybody ripping this style off each other in the 90s. Blonde college babes still like it, though, so you should probably ignore me and enjoy the inevitable makeout sessions.

Mexican Chimpanzees- This is the type of vocal liveliness I wanted from Bizarro Eric MC. Your rapping is just fine, but I've never wanted to hear someone rap over a Freezepop ringtone.

Mime- The intro lead me to think this was going to be Do the Bartman. Sadly, it's muffled rapping and sleepy singing over other painfully soothing noise instead.

Hillbilly Buffalo- Hi, guy with guitar. I like your Pavement-meets-early Beck vocals, but this is far too repetitive for comfort.

Svën Müllët- This would make a great WWE intro. This is nice, tight rocking that I may find myself humming later, but it brings nothing new to the table and I think I'd have liked it better with some vocals.

Melvin- Strong riff to start out with! Nice & tight with production that matches your style. Thank you for all the variations and having a bridge that matters. I may vote for something a little more original that doesn't work as well as this, but this does work well.

Ross Durand- Good lyrical direction! It doesn't excite me since it's fairly textbook folk, but it IS good. Nice pickin'.

Sockpuppet- Ohhhhh, owp-owp. (Chick, chickachickaaaaaaaah). I'm about a minute in. Shouldn't the song have started?

Lord of Oats- Get better drum loops. Don't make the rhythm section do all the work. This is ok, but there's nothing to set it apart.

Contenders: Ross Durand, Melvin, Bizarro Eric MC, Asteroids, Chonny

In the end, Melvin did far too much right for me to not vote for 'em.

Englisheddiemusic · Post by **Englisheddiemusic** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 2:39 pm

I have to Say My Vote goes to Reist.

Im not sure what falsetto is, anyone care to enlighten me?

I voted for it 'cause it was my fave tune out of them, in my own opinion. But they were all good in different ways.

8D.

MC Eric B · Post by **MC Eric B** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:19 pm

Asteroids 57801-57900 : - Pleasant sounding. I like the harmonies. Very good song.

The Bewells : - The music is great. Very radio friendly. Great song!

Bizarro Eric MC : - The music is funny, it fits well with the "bizarre" theme. Usually other people do a much better version of my songs than I do, but in this case I like my own version better, although maybe that was your intention (to sound bad to parody me). But, I am happy for anybody to do versions of my songs, even if they are taking shots at me.

Blues Manufacturing Facility : - I didn'tlike this too much. The way the vocals mixed with the music made it sound very amateur. I know maybe this was intentional (industrial rock/blues?) but I did not feel like it worked well.

Burritos in Space : - I do not think instrumentals should be allowed. Plus, this one was not particularly special.

Caravan Ray and his Performing Loin Fruit : - A mixture of J-Pop and Alvin and the Chipmunks. But, you actually pulled it off. Catchy music and the vocals by your daughter aremixed in perfectly.

Chonny : - Not bad, but nothing about it thrills me. Maybe decrease the vocal level a little at the start of the song. I thinks started coming together better after the 1st 3rd of the song.

Dan Plus Add (no relation) : - I like your singing and guitar playing and the song is pleasant.

Dynamic Rhythm Device : - Great 1950's type song.

Eddielance : - I liked it.

Thanks for the Frisbee & The Swingset : - Good song. Reminds me of The Beatles just a little bit.

Hillbilly Buffalo : - You need to use a pop filter, so when you say a word with "p" it does not make pop sound in the mic. Other than that, I like the song. It moves along well and is kind of catchy.

King Arthur : - I like the background music a lot, but it seems more like an album track than a hit song.

Klownhole : - Very good song.

Lord of Oats : - I first assumed when you said you looked at the "M's", you meant me, but alas, no. I like the guitar, and chrous is good because it is different than the rest of the song. Overall I liked it.

Mages : - Vocals seem faint most of the time, but still a very good song. I like the drums.

Max the Cat : - I love the Lyrics, and the way you did the vocals kept it interesting, with different style voices and vocal production. A very well put together song.

Melvin : - Good song.

Mexican Chimpanzees : - Great song. I like everything about it.

Mime : - It appears you downloaded the beat from the Internet, but it sounds good. I think you need to make the vocals stand out more,they get lost in music. The lyrics talk about fighting and revolution, but the way you sing the lyrics is kind of wimpy so it is not a good match. Overall I like the song though.

Mockpuppet : - Very good instrumental, but instrumentals do not belong in Songfight. I do hear some singing in the background, but I have no idea what is being said.

Punglect : - Very boring. Hardly any music.

Reist : - Overall a great song but the falsetto does not work for you.

Ross Durand : - I love the lyrics. One of my favorites this week.

Seventh and Main : - A good song, but also kind of boring. I wish part of it would jump out more at me.

Sockpuppet : - ok instrumental, but instrumentals do not belong in Songfight.

Steve Durand : - Creative lyrics, catchy, and well sung.

Sven Mullet : - I actually like this "song" a lot, it rocks. But, in my opinion, songs without vocals should not be entered in Songfight. With vocals this could have been killer.

TV's Kyle : - You have a great sound. Very different than most other Songfight entries. Catchy and well done.

Wages : - Very good song. This style seems to suit you well.

The Weakest Suit : - Vocals sound out of tune. The music sounds like you had the microphone many feet away from where you were playing. Also, as another reviewer said, this just drones on an on.

Lord of Oats · Post by **Lord of Oats** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:20 pm

Falsetto is the high voice that resonates in your head instead of your chest. On the Reist track, it's used in the chorus, on the line "one for me," and the really squirmy vocalizing at the end.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:33 pm

Englisheddiemusic wrote:I have to Say My Vote goes to Reist.

Very unexpected. Thank you!

röymond wrote:Reist - yeah, when you go falsetto...you have to go for it, not hold back. That doesn't work.

max the cat wrote:Reïst Like the guitar and drums. Falsetto not a good idea.

MC Eric B wrote:Reist : - Overall a great song but the falsetto does not work for you.

Well, I expected to hear that. Over the summer I've really been influenced vocally by artists like Elton John and Mika, and I just love breaking out the falsetto these days ... I for sure don't have it down yet. Anybody got some tips on developing a strong falsetto?

drë · Post by **drë** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:46 pm

Reïst wrote:Anybody got some tips on developing a strong falsetto?

I heard that a guy by the name of Adam might know.

drë · Post by **drë** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 3:46 pm

That Canadian with a mullet wins! nada.

Beautiful song by Wages; Bizaro beats MC Eric B at his own game, Ross still hates Bush, and can't wait til next year, while his brother Steve still being a loverboy.
Speaking of loverboy, Loard of Oats comes out of the closet with his heart wrenching love song for Melvin, while his battling some anger issue himself, beating on his good old tambourine.

Finally an ausi with some talent, as proven by Caravan Ray... Australia, where the apple falls far far away from the tree. Andy from the BeWells submits a haunting thoughtful little tune, very well put together but a bit too much "blue rodeo" for me righ now.
Some Asteroids stop by to light up the night sky, with a catchy intro and some other sections, as a lonesome man cries up in the hills.
Apparently his been crying since the 60's, and has counted 1000 tears, good for him i told him.
luckily we have a new and improve Frisbee track this week, pocket trumpet included.

Another one for the books!

Märk · Post by **Märk** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 4:38 pm

Why is everyone saying my song doesn't have lyrics?

Lord of Oats · Post by **Lord of Oats** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:08 pm

Märk wrote:Why is everyone saying my song doesn't have lyrics?

Um, perhaps because none of them are intelligible?

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:17 pm

Reïst wrote:Over the summer I've really been influenced vocally by artists like Elton John and Mika, and I just love breaking out the falsetto these days ... I for sure don't have it down yet. Anybody got some tips on developing a strong falsetto?

That's excellent to try new stuff. You get better by doing it more, and probably doing it a certain way, which I'm not very prepared to guide you in. Anyway, Prince, Bono, etc. all pretty much freaked me out when they started going up there, then they became pretty good and sounded at home in the clouds. My thought was that while it takes restraint you still have to "go for it" and not be shy about it.

Others will give you more useful tips, no doubt.

Lord of Oats · Post by **Lord of Oats** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:23 pm

Reïst wrote:Anybody got some tips on developing a strong falsetto?

röymond wrote:you have to go for it, not hold back.

Same tips for developing a strong chest voice. Develop a huge lung capacity and push a ton of air.

Lord of Oats · Post by **Lord of Oats** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:26 pm

röymond wrote:Prince pretty much freaked me out when [he] started going up there, then [he] became pretty good and sounded at home in the clouds.

Dude, the first two Prince albums are done almost exclusively in falsetto. He freaked me out when he started using his normal voice. It took a little while for him to sound at home down there.

fluffy · Post by **fluffy** » Tue Nov 27, 2007 5:37 pm

I remember back when Song Fight was all about experimenting and having fun and stuff (pricklypears, Swedish Masturbation Unit, amsmsmsmsptk). And when people would notice things like a song which is set up such that the beat is a factorial count to the number 500. I guess there aren't enough math nerds here anymore.

(Also there isn't a single bit of MIDI in my entry. Why do people seem to think that 'synthetic instrument' and 'MIDI' are the same thing?)

Also mine does have lyrics. Maybe I'll post a mix where they're not so distorted through bendy filters.

Also my skin is too thin. You'd think it'd have gotten thicker after 7 years of this. Oh well.