You gotta do the cooking by the book (Cakes Reviews)

[BBABM]

As they always say: opinions are like feet, everybody has them and most of em stink.

Mine stink really bad, are completely subjective, and the song I like the best (as well as my own) never wins. The reviews are really the best part, and most helpful to me... I review even when I don't submit.

[glennny]

BGM- Nice Debut! Do all the girls ask you to cover “Everlong” every party you bring your guitar to? This is great! Impressive false etto! The instrumental/ soloish thing was pretty weak, but appropriate for the 90’s anti-solo idiom. All the instruments sound pretty good. I’d love to hear a lot more kick, but that’s just me. (When you have Ken Thunderfoot backing you up you get spoiled). Yes this deserves a vote! Your soft voice is very nice, I kept anticipating you getting loud and Chris Cornell or something, you kept it soft, which is fine, but there’s potential to reach higher emotional highs. There’s a Dinosaur Jr quality to the verse delivery. Pretty cool! Good song, I eagerly anticipate your next entry!

Derictello- Groovy Jack Johnson-like mellow groove. Julia stuff doesn’t really add or subtract for me. I really like the vocalist! Nice phrasing , good pitch! The timing is pretty loose. The looseness adds to the vibe, but I probably would have retaken a lot of these tracks. I’m not liking the way the drums are mixed. That effected snare is distracting although low in the mix. The acoustic is nice. The lead guitar is a bit too quiet. Nice song!

The Dinner Time Boys-Well I like this a lot. It sounds like an intro with no song to follow. I don’t think there’s enough there to stand on its own as an instrumental. Also the title is plural not singular (I made that mistake too in our video). I like the mix and the tones, I just want more song in my song. Nice tease!

Duke Vector- Sounds like a Ween outtake. This song overstays its welcome pretty early. The change at 1:20 is really cool, it’s 30 seconds late. Nice weirdness factor for this one. This would serve an art video as a soundtrack much better than it stands on its own as a song. This is a little too redundant to stay interesting. That said, it’s pleasant to have on in the background. The rhythm is “Tommy’s Holiday Camp” from Tommy. Fun, but no vote.

Hate Noise- I have to admit I look forward to your entries. You never disappoint when it comes to excitement. Too much rap for my tastes. You guys sound like the Kinky Wizards with the heavy reverb and skate punk rap. Okay just had a Hate Noise fanboy tangent moment (40 min) Those are 10 awesome songs, especially Crashing Cars! Back to this song, it is good. I just like the rock far more than the rap. No vote from me, but pretty cool!

Historyman- This is tough to listen to. The lo fi production can be okay, but this is so incredibly “high end” that it’s giving me a cluster headache. The rambling lyric is actually entertaining and a little funny. The idea of this song could be successful, but this demo is really really rough. When you start actually singing it’s really shaky. A little more effort on production will go a long way!
Jeff Robertson and the Neo-Candylanders- The guitar licks and solo is worth the price of admission. Your vocals work really well on this song too. Finally a bass I can hear and enjoy! Excellent bass playing and recording! You’re reminding me of Iggy vocally, though you guys are far more bluesy than the Stooges. Cool song!

John Klaberdanz- I like the zany all over the place composition of this. The drums are super sloppy when they come in, they accomplish the opposite of their intention. If the band was super tight when the drums kicked in I think this would be vastly improved. I admire your ambition! I think the “hey anybody” bit for the 1st 20 seconds is unnecessary. The lyrics are pretty weak, especially for the genre. Entertaining for a listen or two, but not really a keeper for me.

Johnny Cashpoint & Andy Balham- I think the bpm is a few clicks too slow. Of course that would make your 1:52 song even shorter. The verse is really strong, I don’t think you have much of a hook for the chorus. The lyrics are very good! Thank you for the rolling Rs! I like this song, love J$ vocals as always, I don’t quite love the song. Good job!

Jon Wilson- I think you’re a good musician. I think you’re a good singer. I hate this song. It’s too damn long. The lyrics lack imagination and poetry. You’re telling a story; perhaps this is an adequate country tale. Listening to this I find tedious. I think this could be a lot more powerful with some serious editing. Get it down to 4 minutes. Remove some superfluous lyrics, this really has nothing to do with cake, I imagine the same song for the title “Sewing Quilts”, the mother is distracted doing (insert title) while the song is happening. Anyway, I did the opening solo. I like your voice. Nice chord pattern. I look forward to your next entry.

Noah McLaughlin- The band is tight. The lead lines are a bit weak. I think you could find a catchier lick or guitar hook, maybe with some sweet bends. You’re draped in bluesy stuff. Vocals are bari-cool as usual. The lyrics aren’t doing anything for me. I could stand to hear more waling. I think you really need to team up with someone with a higher range. You take the low end, someone else fills it out. I don’t know why this song has to be this slow either. Nice song, not enough for a vote.

Paco del Stinko- Welcome back!!!! I was very happy to see your name on the list. Yours was the 1st entry I listened to. This is classic del Stinko! It’s awesome on all levels! Anyone new to Song Fight who might not be familiar with PDS should go to the music archive and enjoy the hours of fantastic musicianship and zany lyrics and vocals! The parts I love best on this tune are the big bass hits at the beginning and pre-verse bits. I also love the rapid riff that happens at “…even short”. That is awesome. The structure of the song is clever. It’s well balanced and fun throughout! I live for the solos, this is the best solo of the fight! Awesome! BIG VOTE!

Rapehorn-This production is terrible. I like the ideas though. I can imagine this being pretty cool given the right production. That hymn turning metal reminds me of Idiot Flesh “Love Ride”. I have to say this feels long, I feel like I’m swimming through movements that don’t necessarily add to the song as a whole.

Schlimiminy Cricket- You are venomous snake. Ripping off Popeye the Sailor man takes balls. When he eats spinach, he will totally kick your ass for this. You have a nice voice, you play the simple guitar well. However a quasi parody of a cartoon theme song is one of the lower forms of creativity in this fight. I am not impressed, but I look forward to a song that you write!

Teddy Rux Band- The count off and mellow intro really show off the hiss of the recording. I dig this song! I love the Lou Reed delivery and the Velvet Underground song writing sense. This gets a vote. Even the guitar line sounds Reedy. Cool tune!

Berkeley Social Scene- Once upon a time I had a conversation with Paco del Stinko about songwriting and how we rarely started with a melody and wrote a song around it, and when we did it was simplistic. So when I saw the title I used my 80minute commute to write a catchy chorus. Seeing the title I enjoyed the play on the cliché and the sexual undertones. So later on in the middle of the night I flushed out the chord pattern. Meanwhile on our virtual Bauhaus (google docs) Erin took my “I got it and I wannna eat it too” and wrote all the verse and bridge lyrics. At least I think it was all Erin, Ken may have helped. I published some iphone recordings to the band for review. We used the verse riff and the chorus pattern. We wrote the bridge/solo pattern on Tuesday AKA Actual (not virtual) band night. As you can see from the video, we were a trio with Ken on drums, and Martin on bass. I’m on guitar. This was a very pleasing solo experience. Usually I take ten takes or so and maybe piece parts together. This time it was the 1st full take was the winner. Sometimes you just feel it. The song was living in my head for a few days before solo time which I think had a lot to do with it. Our studio is really cold too, I made an effort to warm up my fingers before solo take time. I was hoping someone else would take over the vocals on this one; alas no one was into it. Anyway, hope you liked it! Wait! Sam overdubbed the keys which really filled it out! Along with Ken’s backing vocals!

references I made:

Foo Fighters – Everlong
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBG7P-K-r1Y
Popeye
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_B4w4lafinU

Who- Tommy’s Holiday Camp
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0sW0AqrnmQI

Velvet Underground – Beginning to see the light: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7s3BMPxZ ... re=related

Great fight!

My votes go to :
BGM
Paco del Stinko
Teddy Rux band
BSS

[SchlimminyCricket]

Berkley Social Scene - I really like your sound. Your lyrics aren't quite doing it for me, but the guitars and the overall feeling of the recording are very good.
bgm - This is quite good. It has a nice dark quality to it, and the instrumentation is compelling.
- This sounds great. It reminds me of the 1990s.
Dinnertime Boys - A nice little theme-type ditty in the tradition of They Might Be Giants' "Minimum Wage." Short, but amusing.
Duke Vector - My personal favorite of the bunch. A robot cake anthem that I can see myself listening to repeatedly. It makes me think of a post-apocalyptic parade.
The Hate Noise - I feel like this was a little too reliant on profanity and violence. Just not my thing.
Historyman - Not a bad concept, but I feel like this sort of thing demands a slightly higher level of production. This is messy. The guitar sounds a bit too thin.
Jeff Robertson and the Neo-Candylanders - It sounds nice in an old-fashioned kind of way, but some of the lyrics are a little bit cliche.
John Kloberdanz - Delightfully different. Not perfect, but I like that you went where you did, particularly with the Buddy Hackett type voice going on.
Johnny Cashpoint - Pretty nice. I particularly like the backing vocals.
Jon Wilson - This okay, and for some reason I can imagine Leonard Nimoy recording this back in the late seventies. However, your vocals never quite get strong enough to keep up with the strings.
Noah Mclaughlin - It's alright. You sound like the ghost of David Bowie.
Paco del Stinko - I feel about this in much the same way I feel about Berkley Social Scene's song. I like the sound, but the lyrics aren't blowing me away.
Rapehorn - I'm not feeling this at all. I can't really give you any constructive feedback. I'm just not a fan of the genre.
Myself - I'm writing about my own song because I have a good deal of egg on my face. "Don't over think this," I told myself, and just sent it off. But it turns out that I didn't think it through enough. It is indeed remarkably similar to the Popeye theme tune, and I owe you and myself better than that. I'll be back as soon as there's a subject I can work with.
Teddy Ruxband - Pretty clever. The mix is a little muddy, though. I would like for the vocals to be louder.

I think that's all for now.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

paco del stinko: this sounds like an aquabats song, at half speed, with out the horn section... i like it, but i miss the horn section. so go out and spend thousands and thousands of dollars on horns, and horn lessons, etc., on the whim of some dude from the internet, and make this happen.

Whoa, a right-coaster who's down with the 'Bats? I think Oi love you Spent some quality time at the release party of "Fury" with the horn player's mother (not like you're thinking)... we'd just stolen Bobcat Goldthwait's (sp?) table at the album release party/show, and she told us tales of stolen quarters and clarinet lessons. Then we pissed off Red Roosters' girlfriends (at the next table),and then the band themselves when they sat down to watch Homegrown do their set. ("Surfer Girl" is still one of the perfect songs of that period) making fun of their hair plugs. Go figger'... but still, "I Am The Baker" fuck yea!

Dear Paco: On some level, you came into the naming process of our dog, an ugly mutt who greatly resembles Abe Vigoda. The redneck trailerparkees had named her ""Tinkerbell" which devolved into "Stinkerbell" and further into me wandering the neighborhood shouting "Stink! Stink!" in my carrying voice (opera and drum major-trained, so that shit carries, heh) and sounding like a total freak. Every day. I'm like a mental patient to my neighbors, with a case of the Tourrettes Syndrome (sp?).

Still, there's nothing like staring a latté hauling early morning walker down and then shouting "Stink! Stink!" past them in a carrying voice Especially when you're just trying to get your dumb-ass dog from getting run over by some other retard...

Oh, and welcome back, my friend...

[Paco Del Stinko]

Thanks, Rabid. And Glennny too! Rabid, not to derail this thread, but why didn't you just name the dog Abe? Or better yet, Fish? A dog named Fish!

BBABM - I have only ever heard of Aquabats but this is far from the first time that I've been compared to them. There was a fella here named SpOOn who frequently compared us. For what it's worth, anyway.

Back to reviews!

[BBABM]

Whoa, a right-coaster who's down with the 'Bats?

yes sir, as a lonely punk rock skater kid in the middle of redneck land, i did all i could to find anything but country and dave matthews band (hometown celebs in charlottesville Va.) through this mutual hatred of pop-country and pop-hippy (and quite a bit of just wanting to be the weird kid) i developed a (still strong) love of ska. aquabats were one of my favorites, because they A.) Funny, and B.) had a sick sick sick horn section.

that is a cool story about the party!

[jonthecomposer]

John Wilson- Very soothing. Vocals are great.

Thanks. I have never quite gotten to the point of liking my voice, but editing software does help.

Jon Wilson
I don't know if I can listen to 6 minutes of a song about child rape
It's well constructed, though, I'll give you that
Jesus Christ, how fuckin tragic can this get? It's fuckin tearjerkin, man. Overwrought... You've got skill, just... Come on! The title is cake! Not rape! Cake! Downer.
Vote (maybe, what can I say? It's well done)

Ha ha, well thanks. I have a little bit of a weird idea for naming things sometimes. (Just listen to "Suds in the Bucket." The song actually has nothing to do with that) And although my song wasn't really about cakes per se, the idea that something as trivial as a cake could be a distraction for a mother who doesn't want to deal with the reality of her daughter being raped by the man she loves, has a slight amount of depth and irony (I feel) to it anyway. Also, in that sense, "cakes" actually is integral to the plot.

http://spintown79.blogspot.com/2011/01/ ... cakes.html
Jon Wilson - (pause) Dude! I've only finished the 2nd chorus, and already I'm depressed & want to shoot someone. (play) ..... And done, this is the saddest song I've heard on Song Fight thus far. At first I wasn't going to vote for this (fuckin' depressed me), but I figured you achieved your goal better than anyone else in this fight...so you're my top pick this time. (voted)

Thanks for the change of heart about voting. I know it's depressing. But hey, this kind of stuff actually happens all the time.

Jon Wilson - Wow, that was really depressing. The lyrics were definitely not what I was expecting after hearing that awesome intro guitar. It seemed to drag on a bit, but it was still a great (yet depressing) song. (Voted)

Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't trying to make it that long, but it just kinda turned out that way. I agree totally.

Jon Wilson - Oh my. What a terrible tale. It's well told, and well done, but I can see why some folks might get upset. I see that you're not endorsing rape and sexual abuse, and compared to say, my stupid song about a guy that likes cake (Boo!) you certainly gain points for a bold and non-typical direction. The approach to the story and the way you constructed it is very well done and I hope you continue this approach in other directions as well.

Thanks. Oh well, I wouldn't call your song "stupid." It's just not the same. Ya know? I do try to take non-typical directions. They make things interesting.

Jon Wilson[/b]- I think you’re a good musician. I think you’re a good singer. I hate this song. It’s too damn long. The lyrics lack imagination and poetry. You’re telling a story; perhaps this is an adequate country tale. Listening to this I find tedious. I think this could be a lot more powerful with some serious editing. Get it down to 4 minutes. Remove some superfluous lyrics, this really has nothing to do with cake, I imagine the same song for the title “Sewing Quilts”, the mother is distracted doing (insert title) while the song is happening. Anyway, I did the opening solo. I like your voice. Nice chord pattern. I look forward to your next entry.

Cool. Thanks for the honesty. I expect nothing different! Yeah, it does go a bit long. And I did tailor it more toward a story than toward being lyrical. (see my response to historyman68 for explanation of the naming convention)

Jon Wilson - This okay, and for some reason I can imagine Leonard Nimoy recording this back in the late seventies. However, your vocals never quite get strong enough to keep up with the strings.

Alright. Thanks for the honesty. Ha ha, No es logico, el capitan! (joking) By "strong," do you mean "vocally," or "volume-wise?" I tried to mix it as warm as possible without losing clarity or projection. But as far as my not singing very well, I would have to totally agree if that is what you thought

[SchlimminyCricket]

Jon-- I think a big part of what I meant was volume wise, but not in the sense that I couldn't hear you. I would have liked to hear a little more "umph" in your singing as the rest of the track sort of swelled. Your voice is fine, though. I certainly didn't mean that you sounded bad.

[jonthecomposer]

Jon-- I think a big part of what I meant was volume wise, but not in the sense that I couldn't hear you. I would have liked to hear a little more "umph" in your singing as the rest of the track sort of swelled. Your voice is fine, though. I certainly didn't mean that you sounded bad.

Oh, ok. FYI, I wasn't trying to be sarcastic or anything when I said I sounded bad. I actually don't like my voice that much. But I do understand what you mean now. And you're right about that. I guess I just held back more or less to keep from going overboard vocally. I have the least confidence in my voice out of anything.

[Ross]

Rapehorn - this does nothing for me, it does remind me of how seductive guitar effects can be in creating a sound with no music.

Historyman - narrowly misses being classified as not a song by me, but it is so close as to be effectively not a song. What instrument are you playing? The chord aesthetic is interesting, but it sounds terrible.

Schlimminy cricket - there is some nice word work here, i am a little distracted by the similarity to the popeye theme song. A lot of the requisites for a good song are here, but in the end i don't feel a desire to listen again. It seems a bit detached even from the humor. I also think some structural signposts would help.

Bss- i like this one pretty well. Nice job on the extended metaphor, the chorus is a bit weird. Supposed to be an entendre? Jsut supposed to be cute. Sounds great. I do wish there were more emotional highs and lows in the arrangement or the performance. The bridge is a nice almost police-like break. Who did the mix? Ken? Vote

Dinnertime boys - that was cute

John klobberdanz - there are lots of cute things here and yet somehow it didn't quite all add up for me. The little orchestrated bits in the chorus are nicely enough done that there a jarring effect of how rough the verses are. Some nice words and a good song idea, but just no momentum, by the third verse and found myself thinking it should have had one less verse.

Jon wilson- well, that was depressing. I don't mind a good downer song. But it seems that's all there is to this. It's the mom's fault? What is the message here? What is the artistic perspective that adds 6 minutes worth of art to the issue of incestuous molestation? How is the listener to be tied in emotionally? The lead guitar playing is nice.

Bgm - nice job. Your depiction of futile cubicle life is well done and the music reflects it well. Nice take on the title. I like the way the tune and changes complement each other with contrary motion and the modulation into the chorus. Did you try an augmented chord in place of the straight major? Vote

Duke vector- not as cute as the other cute one. Might as well have been "doors"

J$ - Good old fashioned late 60s british socieal observational pop music. Nicely done. Being middle class sucks! A great british counterpoint to bgm's tune. Better produced than i am used to hearing mr. Cashpoint, as well. Vote

Paco - the triumphant return proper of paco del stinko. Like a few other songs here, there are some fun list type sets of word work, and the music is fun as heck and sounds awesome as usual. But i can't really fall for the song over all. Great to have you back, though!!!

Teddy ruxband - hmm, well this kinda went in one ear and out the other. A bit samey for me throughout. Reminiscent of the velvet underground. The apathy of your delivery took away from me investing in the lyrics.

Hate noise - genre bias alert! But at least thanks for making a beat that doesn't sound like it came out of a can. Even so, i just can't pay attention to rapped lyrics for that long and care about it. Interesting take on the title, and the lyrics and music seem to match it very well. If i was into hip hop, you'd probably be getting a vote from me.

Derictello - well, you have a decent rhyming dictionary. And a sense of irony. But your mocking delivery correctly acknowledges the inanity of the song itself.

Noah - this would have been risque in 1968, it seems passé to me now. I appreciate your commitment, though, and there is a fair measure of rock here. I appreciate the build, as well.

Jeff etcc. - it is always interesting to hear you do non blues stuff. Although i trust you. I can discern no way in which this relates to the title.

[jonthecomposer]

Jon wilson- well, that was depressing. I don't mind a good downer song. But it seems that's all there is to this. It's the mom's fault? What is the message here? What is the artistic perspective that adds 6 minutes worth of art to the issue of incestuous molestation? How is the listener to be tied in emotionally? The lead guitar playing is nice.

I appreciate your honesty. The mom knows, but cannot deal with the reality of it, so she finds ways to "conveniently" ignore it. I was going for was a more "graphic" approach but without actually coming out and saying things like "rape" or "incest." I wanted to tell a complete story including daughter/mother feelings role reversal after daughter's suicide. I went totally for a "realistic" point of view (except for the "angel" part - depending on what you believe) since this stuff actually happens all the time unreported. And it really is supposed to be depressing. That was part of the "reality" part of it. I wanted it to be "in your face" so-to-speak. Maybe, after hearing such a demoralizing song, more people will take notice (in real life) instead of just ignoring these things. I've known at least 5 people who have been molested who I HAD NO CLUE it had ever happened to until more recently.

Granted, I understand 6+ minutes drags out. And I could have cut a measure out between each line of each verse as well as actually shortening the song to just two verses. I wasn't for sure how a song of that length would go over, but you just never know until you try. However, I have found the depressing feeling of it actually works. So I was successful at conveying that.

Btw, thanks for the guitar compliment as well

[jeff robertson]

Jeff etcc. - it is always interesting to hear you do non blues stuff. Although i trust you. I can discern no way in which this relates to the title.

Go re-read the pre-right thread.

[Mantzfield]

Whoa, a right-coaster who's down with the 'Bats?

yes sir, as a lonely punk rock skater kid in the middle of redneck land, i did all i could to find anything but country and dave matthews band (hometown celebs in charlottesville Va.) through this mutual hatred of pop-country and pop-hippy (and quite a bit of just wanting to be the weird kid) i developed a (still strong) love of ska. aquabats were one of my favorites, because they A.) Funny, and B.) had a sick sick sick horn section.

that is a cool story about the party!

keeping on topic, do you know Streetlight Manifesto? found em a year or so back, i think of them as a kind of mature ska band, a lot of the lyrics are actually quite miserable, but the song writing is amazing, and the horn section mind blowing.
band was formed by the old vocalist/guitarist/songwriter for Catch22.

[historyman68]

Historyman - narrowly misses being classified as not a song by me, but it is so close as to be effectively not a song. What instrument are you playing? The chord aesthetic is interesting, but it sounds terrible.

Fender Strat, played acoustically. Alternate tuning: 5 strings, B Bb B Bb B. Capo on second fret.
Recorded into iphone microphone. I haven't had my computer and have had to make do.
Yeah, it was improvised, so I understand how it would feel slight. 
I've been using open timings a lot because they help me get at progressions and styles I don't normally do, so yeah I like the "chord aesthetic".

Don't worry, Via Sunderland has a actual production values, amplification, and other fun stuff! (under the name "The Voices" because it's me and my roommate)

[Reverend Reason]

Thanks for the fight and the constructive criticism gentlemen. Though, bgm was the real winner in my eyes. Looking forward to battling again.

[bdog5778]

Dear bgm,

I regret to inform you that I felt it necessary to vote for your most excellent tune. I only award one vote per fight and invariably that entrant does NOT win (only had it happen once). Your song was most excellent and is one of the few SF entries that will go on my iPhone. While I have qualms with certain production choices you made (bring those drums up, yo!), I really could not stop listening to this song. Great singing, great songwriting, hooky...just fantastic all-around. [a la Dwight Schrute] Question: was this inspired by "The Office"?

[nyjm]

You sound like the ghost of David Bowie.

New signature! And thank you for the compliment.

[bgm]

Thanks for all the great comments, guys, I really appreciate it. And the votes.
The various "alternative guy" "90's-sounding" references made me chuckle; I'd totally not heard it that way.
The points about mixing are well-taken also; mixing/mastering is my least favourite part of recording. I love tracking stuff and getting ideas while recording but then sitting there when it's done, finishing and EQ-ing and compressing, moving tiny little knobs and faders on the screen, etc. etc. is absolutely boring to me and feels like work.

Unfortunately, I got hit with an absolute beast of a cold and have been horizontal for a while, so I wimped out on doing any reviews or a song for this weeks challenge.
I'm hoping to start fresh with Boron Rod.

Question: was this inspired by "The Office"?

Actually, it came from a story a friend told me a few weeks ago about how she had recently quit this awful job she'd had for a year, during which time no one had ever talked to her. On her last day they organized some last-minute, uninspired sendoff and someone handed her a card to sign, the card that was for her, not even knowing who she was. She ended up signing the card to herself.

[BBABM]

]

Actually, it came from a story a friend told me a few weeks ago about how she had recently quit this awful job she'd had for a year, during which time no one had ever talked to her. On her last day they organized some last-minute, uninspired sendoff and someone handed her a card to sign, the card that was for her, not even knowing who she was. She ended up signing the card to herself.

Oh my... I'm gonna have to listen again with that in mind. That almost seems like something from "the office". So awkward and sad that it's hilarious. I see why she quit.