You didn't need that anyway, right? (Sorry to Inform You)

[fluffy]

To whom it may concern,

While we appreciate your submission to Song Fight!, we are sorry to inform you that the site will no longer be posting songs which are not guaranteed smash hits. We hope you will understand, and that you will be submitting songs of a higher quality in the future.

Best regards,
Song Fight! Inc.
An AOL Time-Warner Company

[wages]

Nooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!

And I'm sorry to inform you, but I still couldn't pull the drums outta my ass, but maybe y'all can overlook that? Oh, guess not.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I'll post reviews over the next couple of days, but gotta say that Manhattan Glutton rides way atop the heap this week. Great tune, man!

[fluffy]

A nice, short, manageable fight this week. I'll try to be pleasant.

You will not be getting rejection letters from me:

Jan Krueger: I am a big fan of watching video clips of seriously insane people coming to city council meetings and ranting about the black helicopters flown by the people who have implanted radio transmitters into their teeth, and I love this song. The instrumentation, length, and lyrics are absolutely perfect for it. The words are a little hard to understand at times because of all the harmonizing, but I like it.

Lord of Oats: You've got a nice Bauhaus-meets-Depeche Mode thing going on here. The percussion could be a little stronger and the instrumentation could be a bit richer but you put in an effort to make it at least an okay listening experience, and that seems to be the bar for Song Fight! these days.

Manhattan Glutton: So far this is my favorite song this fight. The only mark against it is the count-in which you already said was basically a joke, so I'll ignore it as such. Great melody, nice simple but unpredictable chord progression. Great slow-bouncy rhythm, excellent lyrical content which nicely reflects certain things going on in my own life right now, so I can't help but love this. This is my favorite and if there were only a single vote anymore this would get it.

Paco Del Stinko: If Roymond and Frank Zappa collaborated on a song, it would sound exactly like this. I am glad that we are no longer limited to a single vote.

Knights of Griznacht: This reminds me of classic good-old-days Song Fight! and I can't help but love that.

Pathetic Wannabees: Mad Dog is an instant vote. You could just have Mad Dog rambling while he drinks a beer and I'll vote for it, title be damned.

I am sorry to inform the following that I will not be voting for them:

Balance Lost: The song is nice and basic. Could use a bit better EQ on the vocals, and I don't really like the way you sing. The vocoder part seems to just come out of nowhere. Sort of a mishmash that doesn't do much for me.

Blues Manufacturing Facility: This totally makes me think of "Dad Give Me The Car" by Violent Femmes. Vocals are cranked up way too much, and the distortion doesn't really help much. Later on it really hurts my ears. Not a fan.

Castle: Nice smooth tones there at the beginning. My ears are getting a nice little massage. Then the vocals start off pretty weak. Fortunately they get a bit better once they settle into a groove. They do seem a bit hammed-up for the sake of hamming-up though. And then it kind of degrades into another big puddle. This seems to be a recurring theme this week.

Hinc+J$: I can barely understand Bill's vocals with all the reverberation. Otherwise I like the arrangement and synthy noises. J$'s vocals are sounding better these days. Cute idea for a song concept, although it seems like it's shoehorned into the title.

Dust Pipe: This song could be a lot better if the vocalist actually listened to his own voice. It seems like someone's just singing a half-remembered song in the shower while someone else records it and arranges instrumentation around it.

Jon Mayor: While I fall firmly into the "instrumentals are okay as long as they clearly have to do with the title" camp, I don't see how this has anything to do with the title. It's pretty good-sounding noodling, but it's still just noodling.

Metropological: Starts out with the promise of some nice sounds, quickly turns into an assault on my ears. You could at least make it not clip like crazy.

Naked Philosophy: Same lyrics as Blues Manufacturing Facility. Guitars are a big muddled mess with too much treble and too little midrange. Your vocals always sound like you're yelling really quietly. Bridge percussion is a bit weirdly sparse which would work well with a live drummer but with a drum machine it's just awkward. Your songs always have potential; I wish you'd hurry up and realize it.

South Sycamore: no thanks

Weakest Suit: Just barely falls under the bar for me. I'm sick of politics, the ideas in this song just seem to be an update of something that would have been slightly clever four years ago, and guy+guitar needs to be really good for me to enjoy it on the musical merits.

Wages: it's like an attempt to do a bland comedy act in heavy-metal guitarwank form

And thoughts about my own song as is the custom

Sockpuppet: I just threw this together on Sunday afternoon. I didn't really have a lot of time to work on the mix, and I'd probably pull the vocals down a little bit. Lyrically I tried to think of the most ridiculous reason to fail a background check for a job, and thought of the constant warning of "This will go on your permanent record!" in grade school. At first I was going for a Raised by Wolves sound but then somewhere along the line I thought it'd be awesome if GLaDOS were in charge of human resources, so I brought out the good ol' vocal processing.

[sswfe]

A nice, short, manageable fight this week. I'll try to be pleasant.
South Sycamore: no thanks

Thanks for the informative feedback. You've been automatically entered into a drawing for a FREE wheelbarrow!

--
South Sycamore Wheelbarrow Factory Sales Department

[ujnhunter]

I downloaded and saved Castle to my hard disk & voted for you. Sounds kinda Pere Ubu-ish / TVOTR-ish.

Also, people need to NOT clip their vocals... OUCH, and my chick is a dude. Damn.

[sswfe]

Spoken word (ala "letter" style) all the rage this week.

☑ Balance Lost - nice mellow beat with a good melody. The change at 1:03 is nice.
☐ Blues Manufacturing Facility - same lyrics as Naked Philosophy (were they donated?). The guitar is decent but I keep expecting it speed up during the instrumental part. Close to getting a vote.
☑ Naked Philosophy - same lyrics (posted in lyrics thread) as Blues Manufacturing Facility. Well done on getting the right vocal melody.
☐ Castle - Loved the bass out front in the beginning, but I didn't feel the vocals. They weren't too bad. I felt this was a middle-of-the-pack entry.
☐ Dollar Bill & the Inkpoints - Liked where it was going but it never seems to get off the ground. A touch too repetitive/long/bland.
☐ Dustpipe - Vocals seem a little too muffled and not entirely on.
☐ Jan Krueger - Lyrics don't seem to fit together quite right all the time, but not bad.
☐ Jon Mayor - Nice background music for something, but it's all intro and no song IMHO.
☐ Knights of Griznacht - Not bad, not great. Carnivalish beat.
☐ Lord of Oats - A little too 80's-ish synth for me; lyrics and vocals a little too stale.
☑ Manhattan Glutton - This was on the bottom of the heap for my votes. The accompaniment saved it I think.
☐ Metropological - Should have spent time writing words to this, could have gone somewhere.
☐ Paco del Stinko - Close to getting a vote. I felt it was just barely short of the rest of the ones I voted for. Gotta draw the line somewhere.
☐ Pathetic Wannabees - I really can't get past the vocals / spoken word throughout.
☑ Sockpuppet - Though simple, I liked it enough. It fits together nicely. Not a huge fan of techno-y/synthy stuff but I liked this one.
☑ Wages - I like the dirty guitar mixed with the gruff voice.
☐ Weaksuit - Maybe it's just because it's at the end of the list, but political-based lyrics seem highly overdone. Not a bad song though. Close to getting a vote as well.

[Manhattan Glutton]

Wow, thanks for the kind comments. I really wasn't expecting this one to go over that great, but by now I should know not to trust my instinct, right? Hopefully I don't say anything too jerk-like in my reviews.

Balance Lost - This is good and I like it, but I like your last two weeks entries much better. While I can sympathize with your loneliness, the cliche subject matter... eh. The lyrics remind me of your Sold Out chorus lyrics. "We're so far away from each other and I'm so lonely etc etc" Man, I hope she's worth the brooding.

Blues Manufacturing Facility - Good stuff. Not fond of the speaking parts. The vocals work REALLY well for the verses, but then the singing at the chorus takes the song down a peg. I appreciate the screaming at the end, but the clipping!

Castle - Funky groove. Verse reminds me of a Radiohead song. Vocals could use more takes at some points, though the song genre allows some latitude there. I like the keyboards tinkling about. Seems like you didn't know how to end the song, but it ends fine.

Dollar Bill & The Inkpoints- Not fond of the chanting, I like the singing though. The music is interesting and I'd probably like the song as a whole if the singing ratio were up. Although, now that I've heard it some more, the chanting is pretty cool but takes some getting used to.

Dustpipe - Interesting music going on. Verse singing needs a lot of help staying on key, chorus is good for the most part. Somewhat on the long side - but who am I to judge, I'm only 20 seconds behind you.

Jan Krueger - I like the lyrics. I can definitely hear a recurring signature melody/harmony that you throw in a lot of your songs. The performance is mostly good. My only problem is the composition seems quaint - like it has that "here's my cute G&G, and I'm playing it really fast" feeling. I would probably like it more if it were a little slower and with a more serious attitude, but that's just taste. Harmonies are awesome as always.

Jon Mayor - It sounds like your recorded a jam and would have submitted it no matter what the title this week was. It's groovy, but that's about it.

The Nights of Griznacht - I like the way the drums sound - they're so REAL and bouncy. It kinda reminds me of a musical, and there's someone playing on trash cans (but not in a bad way). The singing is mostly good, but there are some real flat parts. Turning up the lead guitar during the verse would really help, or adding another lead instrument.

Lord of Oats - A little thin and repetitive. The part where the beat changes has a lot of potential. The singing is pretty good - you just need a little more going on with the instrumentation.

Manhattan Glutton - I wanted to do a 3/4 G&G. I probably should have invested more time into the drums, and perhaps done something more creative/intense at the chorus. Overall, it's a song about dealing with bureaucracy. I wonder if a gritter, less-produced sound would have worked better... And yes, the count-in is a joke.

Metropological - It starts out good, and then the clipping vocals come in. Yikes. I could really dig this, otherwise.

Naked Philosophy - Catchy. This has the same lyrics as Blues Manufacturing! Or vis versa. Great vocal performance. The esses are coming through a little hard. The drum sound could use some help. I would have played with the guitar strumming/tone to differentiate the verse/chorus more. I like the little guitar doodles.

Paco del Stinko - This is very cool, and your singing's excellent in it. Great performance, as always. The drumming is particularly exciting. As for the song, I'm still conflicted on whether I can get used to the melody - it makes me feel a little uncomfortable, but maybe it's supposed to do that to drive home the lyrics. Like maybe I should throw away my TV...

Pathetic Wannabees - I like this more than the previous entries. I'm still not fond of the vocal styling - your throat's all tight like you're almost shouting rather than singing. But it works, and it's pretty catchy to boot.

Sockpuppet - I love this. It kind of reminds me of "Mad World". It seems very emotional, too. Yep, lyrics are perfect. That's pretty much all I have- it's awesome.

South Sycamore - This isn't too bad this time. You need a windscreen because you're getting a lot of 'pah's hitting the mic. A de-esser plugin would help, too. Also, the guitars are off at points - use a metronome. Overall, my ears aren't completely offended, so you must be on the right path.

Wages - I really like your guitar sound and vocal style. The guitar is pretty intense all around. I wouldn't mind helping you out with other instrumentation if you want to send me your base tracks next time.

Weakest Suit - Cute lyrics. Nothing particularly special in terms of chord progression or arrangement.

[inevitableguy]

For the record, the lyrics are mine, not Blues Manufacturing Facility's. They weren't intended to be a donation, but I did post them to the lyrics thread about 12 hours before the deadline. I guess I'll wait until after the deadline next time.

Reviews will come later in the week...

[The Weakest Suit]

For the record, the lyrics are mine, not Blues Manufacturing Facility's. They weren't intended to be a donation, but I did post them to the lyrics thread about 12 hours before the deadline. I guess I'll wait until after the deadline next time.

Reviews will come later in the week...

yeah, i don't understand the need for people to steal other people's lyrics. if you just want to be lazy, write a blues song.

[fluffy]

For the record, the lyrics are mine, not Blues Manufacturing Facility's. They weren't intended to be a donation, but I did post them to the lyrics thread about 12 hours before the deadline. I guess I'll wait until after the deadline next time.

I think that's his schtick. There's a few "personalities" here who do that a lot (lyricburglar being the most obvious).

You did do a better job with them, at least. I just tend to listen in alphabetical order since that's how most players end up sorting it; when writing reviews I looked to see if they had been posted in the "donation" thread. I guess the fact that I recognized the lyrics between both of them is a good sign since they were good enough for me to pay attention to.

[sswfe]

I'm tired of doing over the top posts like a wheelbarrow factory employee.

South Sycamore - This isn't too bad this time. You need a windscreen because you're getting a lot of 'pah's hitting the mic. A de-esser plugin would help, too. Also, the guitars are off at points - use a metronome. Overall, my ears aren't completely offended, so you must be on the right path.

Yeah, the acoustic was recorded a couple days after the electric and without the metronome. I hope the electric is on, that was done with a metronome. Also DAN had crazy allergies so he didn't have as much time to finish the mix/record the acoustic well. The mic we're using is not a real music mic, it's more of one for a digital recorder. And considering that this was the 3rd song we've ever recorded in our lives, and we record in DAN's living room lined into a computer. And neither of us have any knowledge of how to mix tracks.

I hope it's not too horrible. I know the first one was horrible.

- Mr Pilkington

[wages]

if you just want to be lazy, write a blues song.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

[The Weakest Suit]

if you just want to be lazy, write a blues song.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

sorry man, i haven't listened to the songs yet.

[wages]

if you just want to be lazy, write a blues song.

Hey, I resemble that remark!

sorry man, i haven't listened to the songs yet.

Actually, I was referring to the past and probably future too.

[HeuristicsInc]

Hinc+J$: I can barely understand Bill's vocals with all the reverberation. Otherwise I like the arrangement and synthy noises. J$'s vocals are sounding better these days. Cute idea for a song concept, although it seems like it's shoehorned into the title.

Yeah, that's not the vocal effect I was hoping for - I was really trying for an alien on a loudspeaker, but I wasn't able to figure that out in the time allotted. I'm planning to redo that part. It's a tough challenge between trying to sound weird but also understandable.
Shoehorned? I am not sure what you mean. My original lyric concept was based on the title...
-bill

[fluffy]

Yeah, that's not the vocal effect I was hoping for - I was really trying for an alien on a loudspeaker, but I wasn't able to figure that out in the time allotted. I'm planning to redo that part. It's a tough challenge between trying to sound weird but also understandable.
Shoehorned? I am not sure what you mean. My original lyric concept was based on the title...

For the vocal treatment I'd have done something like use a vocal transformer (like the one I rely on so much) to make the voice sound alien, and then for the loudspeaker effect just put on a slight reverb and maybe a bandpass filter from 300Hz to 4KHz.

It felt shoehorned since J$'s "I'm sorry to inform you but..." response sounds like a letter he's writing in response to something the alien is telling him in person. It lacks believability. (Yes, even compared to the alien abduction premise of the song to begin with.)

[HeuristicsInc]

For the vocal treatment I'd have done something like use a vocal transformer (like the one I rely on so much) to make the voice sound alien, and then for the loudspeaker effect just put on a slight reverb and maybe a bandpass filter from 300Hz to 4KHz.

what's your vocal transformer? i'll check something like it out (since i don't use macs).

It felt shoehorned since J$'s "I'm sorry to inform you but..." response sounds like a letter he's writing in response to something the alien is telling him in person. It lacks believability. (Yes, even compared to the alien abduction premise of the song to begin with.)

oh, j$ wasn't meant to be a human, really... i see the confusion. he's also supposed to be an alien, but his vocals are clean. it makes no sense if you look at it as a conversation! heh.
oh, and the lyrics are posted, if you hadn't seen them.
-bill

[Castle]

Balance Lost - I'm a sucker for this sound... chiming 'lectric twelvers, catchy melody, warm bass... and then, an auto-tuner detonates and kills all semblance of a good song within its blast radius. This effect has become way too standardized. It is not the new reverb. I've listened to your other stuff; you are better than that and this cake is sweet enough without the extra CORN syrup. Leave auto-tuners to their designated purposes of creating the illusion that manufactured eye-candy can sing and speeding up the pop assembly line. I'll still listen this but I may have to remove the auto-tuner section.

Blues Manufacturing Facility - This one's got a nice primal sub-Stooges jam going on. But given that you cribbed the lyrics I'll have to consider this a cover. Are those allowed?

Dollar Bill and The Inkpoints - I really like the Douglas Adams-ish lyric and the music really matches. You should do a version of So Long and Thanks for All the Fish.

Dustpipe - Nice instrumental tones but it sounds like a little too much Valium before doing the vocal take.

Jan Krueger - This style isn't my usual cup of tea. The harmonies and chords are sweet but for me to be taken with something like this it has to be more than a postcard about how you you march to your own beat.

Jon Mayor - I really like this groove. I know it's just an instrumental groove but I dig it. Reminds me of my former life as a walking bong.

The Knights of Griznacht - Mostly bores me for similar reasons as the Jan Krueger but I like the line "I know you're not the captain but I'm afraid you're gonna have to go down with this one." Combined with the delivery it makes me chuckle.

Lord of Oats - For good and bad it makes me think Human League.

Manhattan Glutton - Clever and competent. I love the way the harmonies come in and out to accent parts. The only thing bugging me is it has this air of Nu Metal going acoustic to it. And the problem with insulating yourself from disappointment is you blunt the highs of winning... whatever winning means. Still, that multi-part outro is pretty fab. This one will only get better with repeated listens.

Metropological - I really don't know what I think of this except for the already mentioned vocal clipping. I'm guessing that's not a stylistic choice(?)

Naked Philosophy - I expected a bunch of "Sorry To Inform You" application rejection-type lyrics but these are good.

Maybe bleeding-heart like a Neil Young lyric but they'll still hit you in the gut like a good Neil lyric if you let 'em. The jam and earnestness of the vocal really lifts this one.

Paco del Stinko - Definitely a lot of musical facility. Definitely detect a Zappa/Mr. Bungle influence in here and like later Zappa the song tends to bludgeon the listener with its message and the music is showy. But given the information-
overload desensitization of contemporary listeners it's probably necessary. Plus, it's growing on me the more I listen.

Pathetic Wannabes - Does humor belong in music? I don't know. Depends on the mood.

Sockpuppet - I really liked this on first listen but like a bad of chips it's fleeting. Still it's effective. A rejection from Sockpuppet would be so thoroughly dehumanizing that most failed applicants would probably go home and kill themselves. Sadly, life will soon be imitating art.

South Sycamore Wheelbarrow Factory Ensemble - I hate typing your name. See review for Pathetic Wannabes.

Wages - I think there's a really good song in there but there needs to be more of a frame for this picture. I like the blueprint a lot though. The singing really works. The telegraph trick is cool but might get old on repeated listens.

The Weakest Suit - Hee hee. How cheeky. Did anybody take the bait?

Oh and...

Castle - Yeah, I guess there is no substitute for time spent polishing. I was doing an experiment with the vocal. Guess it didn't work. In a nutshell the idea is that I was withholding something about someone's future so they could lead the remainder of their life in peace but they decided to be an asshole so I decide to tell them. There's more to it but that's the basic idea.

[fluffy]

For the vocal treatment I'd have done something like use a vocal transformer (like the one I rely on so much) to make the voice sound alien, and then for the loudspeaker effect just put on a slight reverb and maybe a bandpass filter from 300Hz to 4KHz.

what's your vocal transformer? i'll check something like it out (since i don't use macs).

I just use the one which came with Logic. I don't know of any specific standalone which has the same functionality, but Logic's provides pitch and formant adjustment, and also optionally allows locking to a single pitch.

oh, j$ wasn't meant to be a human, really... i see the confusion. he's also supposed to be an alien, but his vocals are clean. it makes no sense if you look at it as a conversation! heh.
oh, and the lyrics are posted, if you hadn't seen them.

I had seen the lyrics in the lyric thread but I didn't read them in detail.

[metropological]

Blues Manufacturing Facility - I REALLY enjoy the guitar/drums in this song, but I can barely hear them over the singing. I'd mix your vocals down next time. I do love the speakerphone effect, though. How'd you do that?

The Weakest Suit - Ignoring the political message of the song, the writing is clever, and the tune is a lot of fun. You could brainwash a lot of kids with this song!

South Sycamore Wheelbarrow Factory Ensemble - Haha duuuuude, I love distortion but daaaaaaaaaaaamn. I can't even hear the melody. It just sounds like really loud white noise. Let a note through! Also the vocals seem mixed really high in this one too.

The Knights of Griznacht - I like a lot of the ideas in here! I think the sloppy execution is holding them back though. Also, this may just be preference, but I feel like a slight tempo increase could help.

Manhattan Glutton - REALLY well put together. I love the guitar. Sounds like how I would imagine an acoustic Metallica song. Your vocal delivery especially reminds me of their lead singer. I hope you don't actually believe the content of your lyrics though!

Sockpuppet - I like the vocal melody and drums a lot, and the voice-alteration adds a distant quality that works well with them.

Castle - VOTED! I really enjoy this one. Reminds me of a laid-back TV on the Radio. I think the only thing holding it back is the lack of higher production values (and a few more takes on the vocals ).

The Pathetic Wannabees - Haha, 10 seconds in I hated it, but it gets so endearing. It's like someone took a crazy old board room executive and made him tirade to music. Would work great in a musical.

Naked Philosophy - VOTED! The only thing that needs work are the drums. They weren't really utilized at all. Otherwise, awesome vocal melody and really fun guitar.

Lord of Oats - Totally 80s dude. Influences are a little too transparent for me.

Wages - Awesome guitar work. Vocals are very well done for the metal style they seem to be aiming for, but I again think they need to be mixed down. Haha, maybe this is just me? You should try to add some drums/bass.

Balance Lost - VOTED! I love everything about this song. I think the vocoding is really well utilized in this song. T-Pain should buuuuuuy you a draaank and ask how to use it properly. ...okay, to be fair, I like T-Pain. Dude can produce like a mofo.

Dust Pipe - I'm a sucker for this type of vocals. Not necessarily technically proficient, but very earnest sounding. I enjoy the mellow feel, but even so, I think it could stand to have a bit of adrenaline shot into it.

Jon Mayor - Like the tune... skeptical that it was made for the competition. Either way, enjoyable!

Paco del Stinko - Very well done technically, but I don't think the melody is particularly interesting. For some reason, I think I would like this more if it had a horn section. It sounds like it wants to be a lot bigger than it is. Maybe because it reminds me of the Cherry Poppin Daddies?

Dollar Bill & the Inkpoints - I really enjoy the music, but that narration is driving me insane.

Jan Krueger - Not a huge fan of the melody, except for "get your fingers out of my brain." Otherwise, very well done.

-----
Metropological - Thanks for the advice everyone! Haha, sorry about the clipping. My mic is terrible, so I was hoping it had sort of an Exploding Hearts feel. Apparently not! I'll buy a new mic for next week, and I'll fill out the song much more completely.

[Manhattan Glutton]

I hope you don't actually believe the content of your lyrics though!

How can I not when I will forever be in the shadow of James Hetfield?!