so i accidentally downloaded both fights into the same folder, and i'm too lazy to separate them so -- sorry but you've got a longer list to scan through to find your name. deal.
15-16 puzzle - the recording and mixing both sound rather well-done here. vocals are nicely upfront and sound pretty good, and the guitar is pleasantly almost-in-tune. the second vocal part and the scat solo thingy are really cool. a nice start to the fights.
andy balham f. kapitano - the vocals here are way mufflier... music starts out pretty good -- probably some mixing issues marring total enjoyment of this but all the parts sound like they are pretty well-done. i wish the lyrics were a little clearer, and the song kind of ends just when i'm really starting to get into it.
big matt hyatt & rusty red ryders - hm, the electronic chicken noises are kind of frightening. vocals aren't really bad, but not very good either, and they don't seem to have been recorded terribly well. funny that you say "to make a long story short" when three minutes of the song remain. and, as this goes on, the vocals seem to get kind of worse. having trouble following the lyrics, which is a shame because they seem to be telling some kind of story that would probably add some kind of interest to the song.
creep - the "blister in the sun" sounding bassline and the tinkly glockenspiel thing are pretty cute. vocals could stand to be a bit clearer, but overall this is a nice little happy tune.
deshead - nice and loud. the shouty vocals are pretty cool too. sorry i don't really have more to say, but i'm realising that it's midnight and i've still got twenty more songs to go and i'm probably going to get tired of reviewing long before then. guitar solo is appropriately rockin'.
edge of la - kind of poppy and bouncy sounding, but then the reverby backing vocals and stuff make it just a little bit strange enough to still sound fresh and interesting. lyrics are pretty repetitive, but even at four minutes, it doesn't seem overly long.
gareth duncan - the guitar playing is pretty decent, but seems a little bit louder than it needs to be in comparison to the singing. more repetitiveness at the end here.
hillbilly - some tasty guitar-pickin', nicely subdued and understated. here again, vox are a tad on the quiet side, but fairly well-done. nice lil mellow tune going on, good job.
johnsonic - wait a minute, aren't you the dude that was complaining about the lack of high-end in the hell yeahs' song? this is like bass city! not that i'm complaining, though. i usually love me some stoner rock and this is a pretty decent approximation.
kamakura - i like the sound of the vocals but it seems like you're singing really quietly, and this would probably sound much better if you were really belting it out. were the drums played live? it seems like there are some timing issues somewhere, and i want to blame the drums but if they were programmed it must be something else.
king arthur - you always seem to take these titles in creative directions that nobody else thinks of, and this was no exception. i'm just not sure how the carribbean feel with the steel drums and stuff fits with the ice-skating theme? apart from that, the guitars and everything else sound pretty good, and the playful manner you're using to deliver the story works pretty well at poking fun at the amount of serious attention the story got in the news at the time. (assuming that's your intent, based on the "presidential debates" comment).
leaf 62 - musically this is pretty great, especially the drumming, and i'm digging the bassline a bunch. i just wish the singing was a little bit ballsier to match the music a little more.
loose laces - some typically awesome mob01d singing, fantastic lyrics, and better-than-normal music (i like the blend of distorty spooky noises with the cute synthy stuff a whole lot!).
mediteraniem - i like the guitar leads here, and the rest of the music is pretty engaging too, really drawing my attention. which is a good thing because the singing itself isn't very notable. the occasional backing vocal bits are kinda decent, but for the most part, the vocals are mediocre at best.
pigpen - the samples you use could be kind of cool if it was put together better, and also this is way way way way way too repetitive -- it's like the same five seconds of music a zillion times in a row. the flow of the rapping is, well, rather lacking. hard to believe this is the same person who did "shaving in the dark" which i liked quite a bit. there really isn't much to like here.
pipe fist - kind of cool and creepy... although this is another case where it sounds like you're telling a story that would be interesting if i could hear it clearly enough to really follow what is being said. the switch from verse to chorus is a little strange, rhythmically, like it just doesn't quite work. but besides that, i like the music here a lot, and the vocals sound like they're rather good if only they were more distinct in the mix.
poor june - i think i already reviewed this song for you in IRC... that seems like so long ago, though. anyway my opinion probably hasn't changed much -- the piano playing is really good but i wish the tinkly, moving right-hand part was louder relative to the comparatively plodding left-hand part. and the singing is nice and sounds better (recording-wise) than some of your stuff i've heard in the past, but nevertheless, i'd really like to see what you'd be capable of with a real mic and recording setup.
sugarpot gamelan - sounds like something i'd expect to hear on the "oldies" station -- kind of dave clark five-ish. except the vocals which are practically inaudible over the music. as far as i can tell, you're a pretty good singer, but i can't really be sure because i am just barely hearing you!
test tube steak - oh man, why would someone take such a great cello-and-tinklebell intro, and ruin it with such garbage synth-vocals? the music here is delightful, but the vocals make me want to vomit. seriously.
the bloody hams - i'm not so sure about the backing vocals in some places, but the lead vox sound pretty great, and all the music is wonderful, i love the blend of acoustic guitar and tremoloey synth goodness. good stuff all around.
the def author - oh man, so hilarious. this is really good stuff, even by def author standards.
the hell yeahs - the vocals get a little bit buried here sometimes simply because there is so much happening in this song, particularly during the choruses. but busy-ness aside, it's sounding pretty cool.
the likely lads - the singing is rather nice, and pretty clear compared to most of the songs here. that's all i got, sorry.
tiggernaut - you scared my cat away!
wreckdom - organ is a bit too loud... the recording and mixing in general is not too great here -- lots of overloading and kind of painful on the ears. but beyond that, this kind of resembles octothorpe in a way
alrighty, so that's that. i'm also too lazy to do separate top five lists so here's an overall top ten. the order is somewhat random though.
edge of la, andy balham f. kapitano, creep, hillbilly, the hell yeahs, deshead, 15-16 puzzle, the def author, the bloody hams, loose laces.
