...and then we all do the reviews (wdat Style reviews)

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand: Well done. Except your synth horn could use a patch tweak. No... just kidding. Interesting lyric -- but not in the archive. Pity. I wanted to hear every word, but that would mean I'd have to listen to it again. Against the rules. Oh, and since you changed the title -- you added an 's' to the end -- you're disqualified anyway.

But I didn't add an 's'. Listen carefully

Oh, but you'd have to listen to it again to find out.

[Eric Y.]

badboysatbatmitzvahs - I like what you're trying to do a lot. I hate the drums, though. The singing and the guitar parts are so organic and fluid, and the drums are so not. I especially hate that little snare fill that happens at the end of every section, if you aren't ever going to change it up, you'd be better off just cutting it out entirely. In fact, I'd suggest cutting the snare altogether and dialing back the hi-hats so they fit a lot more subtly in the background. Everything else besides the drums sounds great, with the exception of the word "bay-bee" ... I especially liked the line "now I can see."

barfknecht - Great vocal effect, I appreciate how you get a hint of vocorderization, but it's not all in your face like how people tend to like to abuse autotune these days. "We do the style and this is how we do it" is my favorite line; "strike a pose" (I think this is what is being said during the breakdown?) is my least favorite. During the first few listens, I thought it went a little long and would've suggested just killing it before the breakdown, but then I reazlied I just hated the spoken part that happens here. Everything from then on sounds so good, it would have been a shame to lose all of that.

berkeleysocialscene - The lead vocal is a bit too present, compared with all the instruments and the other vocals. I absolutely love all the backing vocal parts on the choruses. And the driving tempo, plus how it kicks up a notch in jauntiness at the chorus. I guess the question you need to ask yourselves at this point is, how much of this are you willing to edit out, which would determine if this should be used as the next Old Navy commercial or the new "What Not To Wear" theme song. Contender.

flvxxvmflorvm - Wow, how did you manage to get that Todd Strange bass sound so perfect? I like so much about this song: the dirgey droney feeling, the guitar solo, etc. If I was going to change anything, I'd say you should bring up the extra vocal parts from after the solo through the end. If you've already got them doubled, then quadruple them. VOTE.

guitarotica - Please don't let Mike sing for a bit, ever again. You were doing at least mediocre up until that point.

hatenoise - Did you just say "a magic drank"? Where'd that accent go through the rest of the song? Or was that just a little hint that the elements of your arrangement that were lifted wholesale from Outkast weren't accidental? Also, please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you've sampled the horribly obnoxious intro to "Southwest Voodoo" and somehow managed to make it even more obnoxious. Anyway, everything else aside, sampling and name-checking Godsmack -- no matter how disparagingly it might be intended -- is automatic disqualification from getting a vote. Even if your rhymes really were as awesome as you keep telling me they are.

kingarthur - Fantastic. Musically, lyrically, vocally, thematically. A very minor nitpick: as soon as the introduction ends, the banjo part starts, which sounds to me (as I envision the live performance you have synthesized here) like the person speaking is the banjo-player; if this was really recorded live, I might have expected to hear that instrument coming from nearly the same place in the stereo spectrum as when he was talking. Maybe it was somebody else talking, and he just started playing as soon as the intro ended, I dunno-- I wasn't really there. VOTE.

metaluna - The best thing about this song is the "This Island Earth" reference. After all the petty bickering and whatnot, I figure this dude has just started entirely ignoring my posts. If I'm wrong about this, let me know, and I'll supplement this review with some honest and well-thought-out commentary.

rossdurand - This would make a good bonus track on your (self-released) CD. An interesting new take on an old story: very clever of you to have a record exec play the part of the devil, and for a surprise twist, this time the Robert Johnson character says no. Contender.

stevedurand - Don't take this the wrong way, but how about from now on we do all the styles except this one? Thanks.

[The HATE Noise]

Also, please correct me if I'm wrong, but it sounds like you've sampled the horribly obnoxious intro to "Southwest Voodoo" and somehow managed to make it even more obnoxious.

You're wrong. Actually, it was "Tribal Jam" by the X-Clan. It's been sampled a number of times, most notably by ICP and Da Lench Mob.

[BBABM]

badboysatbatmitzvahs - I like what you're trying to do a lot. I hate the drums, though. The singing and the guitar parts are so organic and fluid, and the drums are so not. I especially hate that little snare fill that happens at the end of every section, if you aren't ever going to change it up, you'd be better off just cutting it out entirely. In fact, I'd suggest cutting the snare altogether and dialing back the hi-hats so they fit a lot more subtly in the background. Everything else besides the drums sounds great, with the exception of the word "bay-bee" ... I especially liked the line "now I can see."

first off, thank you for listening and reviewing. i agree, i say "bay-bee" way too much, and it is really annoying. as for the drums, i have no excuse. they were not actually original, or written by me... they were a loop on the program that i use that i used as a backing track to record in time to... i did think about cutting them entirely, but it sounded like there was something missing. what i really need is a v-drum set so i can record live drums without pissing all of my neighbors off, but the 800 or so dollars i need are for some reason absent from my bank account... oh well. i am actually in the process of getting a band together, so maybe one of these days i will submit under a different name with other people helping me out, because i have good ideas, i just need someone here to help come up with some more interesting parts musically. thanks again.

[jeff robertson]

how did you manage to get that Todd Strange bass sound so perfect?

Nothing special. Played with a pick, if I recall correctly (and I may not). Slightly boosted the lows and cut the highs. Some compression that I doubt you can actually hear.

[Who_Izzy]

BBATBM-there's something that's making me want to turn this song off but the damn music is just so catchy I can't stop listening. The repetative nature of this song is something that is effecting me two ways. at first its good and then It outstays its welcome...then it goes so far i welcome it back again(kind off like the short segment of the 1st or 2nd episode of freakazoid called the sidekick chronicles or something like that...with hand man. Odds are noone knows what I'm talking about so I get on with the reviews dx)

Metaluna-I actually like the off tune singing for some reason. As stated earlier that 2 note riff is awesome. I love the jam in the middle. I might actually put this one on my pearpod(yes. pearpod. deal.).
Vote

Ross Durand-I love the story. the setup is awesome. I just straight up love it...if it weren't for the genre. But being unbiased....Vote

Steve Durand-I could only last 19 seconds into this song. Granted that's cause my speakers were on mute for the first 16 seconds. I just don't like it at all. The music or the vocals. I'd love to be more specific but I seriously can't listen to this...

flvxxvmflorvm-Too slow, however, I Might have liked this more if I hadn't listened to Ross Durand's song first. Sorry, but the luck of the draw wasn't with you on this day.

King Arthur-A mixture of my reviews for both Ross Durand and flvxxvmflorvm. I actually like it though.
Vote

Guitarotica-Seems like your song could have been amazing. What happened? Go harder next time I really wanna hear what I know you can do.

Barfknecht-I heard the first 2 seconds of this and decided to vote. Luckily the rest of the song didn't undo that for you. The style change caught me off guard...Still good not as good as the beginning though. I enjoyed this song thoroughly
Vote(twice if i was a cheater)

Berkeley Social Scene-Your Voice makes me want to vote for you, but the music (and I can't explain why. Hopefully it's not a subliminal message you inserted) makes me want to shoot myself. So I compramised and shot my vote for you...he still tried to make it to the poll, but I shot him again for good measure...Always remember Rule 3: Double tap

(To everyone who got reviewed by me on this day: You may feel free to beat my next entry mercilessly with a pointy stick)

[BBABM]

the first time i've been likened to freakazoid... and i'm going to take it as a compliment, that show is incredibly beautiful in the "i want to pull my hair out and slap myself" sort of way. if i can do that with my music, than i'll take it.

[king_arthur]

And the old guy checks in once again. First-listen comments... songs
reviewed in random order but reviews presented in alpha order in an
attempt to not miss anybody...

Bad Boys At Bat Mitzvahs

Compared to the other stuff this week, the music here sounds
kinda small and confined, and then the vocals sound overdriven
and icky. A minute in and it's not really happying me much.
Ny recollection is that you're better than this... something
about the music just makes me want to hear a story, tho' I
know there's no rule the song _has_ to tell a story

Barfknecht

FYI, the standard for music is 44.1, not 48, tho' it plays
okay... the music itself is just nothing I'm much interested in.

Berkeley Social Scene

As always, sounds great, Erin's vocal, especially. The
drums seem like they're doing something unnecessarily weird
during the chorus. Lead guitars during the breaks between
verses count be more in tune. Vocal track could use a bit
more in that 1-4k "intelligibility" range. Y'all are normally
an automatic keeper and vote for me, but I think I would
get very tired of hearing those lead guitars...

Flvxxvm Florvm

Voice fits nicely with the message, like the sound of that
ringing guitar, like the stereo spreadage. Lead guitar is
cool. Ending would be cooler if you let all the guitars
ring out on the master and then fade them together, but I
liked this - this is the sound I'm hoping to hit on next
week's song. Keeper and vote.

Guitarotica

C'mon, man. _Try_, at least.

The HATE Noise (featuring Anonymous)

I'm gonna play the "not my thing" card on this one... the
swing beat on the rap just isn't working for me here.

King Arthur

Well, at least it didn't sound all quiet and midrangey, like
a couple of my recent things did in the context of the fights...
Thanks to all for the positive comments. Most of them are
things that were intentional (I thought the intro speaker and
the banjo part were pretty well lined up; the fake-live stuff
and the NPR-ishness were because I realize that Italian tile
and websites don't fit with old-timey music... but they ARE
the sort of thing that a guest band on Prairie Home Companion
or one of those shows would do in their lyrics). Apologies
to those who couldn't stand the fake applause, but the fake
live stuff was intentional.

Metaluna

Instruments sound good. Vocal sounds like the compression is
bringing out the sibilants a little too much. But I like this,
keeper and vote.

Ross Durand

Acoustic guitar sounds nice, nice Springsteen-y sound on the
vocal as well (I'm trying to do this sort of sound for my
coverfight song). Keeper and vote.

Steve Durand

There are some great vocals this week, this doesn't quite measure
up, I should be the last person to complain about synth sounds,
especially when they're obviously meant to sound like ugly
synth synth sounds...

[bdog5778]

All,

Thanks for the (continuing) reviews. I DO actually incorporate this stuff -to one degree or another. All useful. Especially about the vox -I've tried to kid myself for too long that I can sing. I've been trying to recruit somebody to put new vox over this one but no one's come through yet. People on Craigslist are as flaky as Pillsbury biscuits.

Unfortunately, as Ross noted, this is one of those cases where you're stuck with the instrument you've got. Having thought on it some more, I think it'll be a lot like when I switched from Line 6 bass tones to Ampeg SVX -suddenly the job of mixing and getting the right bass tones became easier because I had the right tool for the job. No shame in that whatsoever.

Not singing does impair my ability to compete in SF, though. I checked the other day and realized that I have music (at varying states of completion) for fifteen different SF titles. Fifteen -with only two submitted. The big hold-up? Vocals and lyrics -almost every time.

glenny,

I totally agree with the "no keyboards in metal" rule, so I got around to working on an actual verse riff. I've attached it here. I meant to trim down the clip to just the verse, but I've been a little busy lately.

I think I constrain myself to writing simpler verses and choruses sometimes just because I want to be able to sing and play at the same time. Having accepted my vocal ineptitude, I think I'll just start jamming some more on these things. I believe I'm going to add even more to this one, for that matter. Give the people what they want, right?

Oh, and I'm pretty sure Korn just uses LOTS of pedals. I still don't care for "Freak on a Leash" either, though. Needs a better chorus -or something.

Manhattan Glutton,

L6 Big Bottom + Ampeg SVX's SVT-4 Pro = Sonic Bliss beyond compare. Couple it with Superior 2.0 drums and your job gets VERY easy. As I was noting to Ross, it's all about having the right tool for the job.

Eric Y.,

Just because I think that you're an overstuffed commie-pinko d-bag doesn't mean that I don't value your opinion.

[BBABM]

-I've tried to kid myself for too long that I can sing.

You can sing, you just need to find your voice. I have spent countless hours re-recording myself just to hear what I sound like doing different things with my voice. He trick is singing from your diaphragm, way down deep. It sounds like you are singing from your chest and your head... Too much mouth work. It has to sound right ,and be projected right before it comes out or it's going to sound strained, and possibly off key. It's all about finding your range and catering your music to it... If you really want to sing, which I totally understand. I would suggest voice lessons, even the most basic, free intro class. Because breathing, and control are for the voice like scales are for the guitar.

[ken]

[quote="BBABM"]I would suggest voice lessons./quote]

Me too. I took voice lessons for a couple of years, they were pretty expensive, and totally worth it. Find a teacher you connect with and just do it.

[BBABM]

and a little can go a long way if you take it seriously