Bad Boys at Bat Mitzvahs:
This is great. Good concept, too. I would have never thought of "Via Sunderland" as a name, lol. And although the production isn't stellar, it's definitely not hard on the ears. You seem to do so much in so little time. There's a lot to be said for that!
Bobby Davros:
I love the punk vibe of this tune. I can't even say anything against the production having heard my fair share of bands like the Sex Pistols, lol. As far as a vibe and sound is concerned, you nailed it. I like the tube-driven bass sound as well. My only beef with this tune is the ending. I would have said "keep still and fire" really loudly and irreverently - possibly letting an old-school echo fade out and distort on "fire." But that's not necessarily a point against you
CHADtheDAD:
I like how this starts. It reminds me of something Primus (one of my favorite bands) would do. I hear almost a "boom chick" kinda groove behind this, though. In other words, I think it could have went a better place with the groove. But then again, I'm usually not so much for the "ambient" feel as compared to something with a solid drum part - which is ironic considering how my very first entry here was! Overall, I like the vocals and idea. I like the guitar part as well. It's what drives the song forward. Not too shabby, my man.
Community Payback:
Hmmm. I like the beginning, lol. But seriously, as far as experimental music is concerned, there's nothing fundamentally "wrong" with it. I just find it lacks a definite direction. I would save part of what you are doing to use as a beginning to a future tune. Personally, I think that would be killer. If I was reeeeeeeeeally high, this would be some cool background music for sure. I don't think it "fits" in this setting very much, though. Speaking of an "appropriate setting," I do have a friend who does a thing called "video pizza" that is an experimental comedy video of just a rotating pizza from different angles. It parodies the video "yule log" as well as those crappy 80s film strips that we all watched in school (along with the bad 80s filmstrip sound quality). I think he'd probably really like this and maybe even want to put something like that on his next installment. Let me know if you are interested and I'll send you to his page.
Criminals:
Nice atmosphere! I keep looking for a nice, hard-hitting, chorus, though. I like this, but I feel it is simply incomplete. The beginning, verses, and ending are great.
The Dinnertime Boys:
Ha! This is one of my favorites. You probably heard my earlier rant about how instrumentals are valid as well. All I can say is there is good production here and a good melody. I wish it was about twice as long with a good bridge. That would have put it over the top for me. But it is what it is. Good effects. I would have liked to hear more bass even if it were a root-playing synth on the chords somewhere.
Naked Philosophy:
Nice arrangement. I really only have a problem with production on this. And it all has to do with the punk vibe. When the guitar first comes in, in my opinion, it needs to sound nastier - not necessarily more driven or distorted. I mean playing-wise, it should be less precise. (Imagine ME saying THAT! lol) The drums, synthesized I'm sure, should still be more "in your face" and the whole song should be less compressed. Not only that, but the vocals really just need to sound like someone just pissed you off. Other than that, the song itself is very sound.
NaSty leJaa:
I like the vibe of this musically speaking. I like the attitude as well. With this, it's like "f*ck you, I'm taking Sunderland to me," instead of bringing yourself to Sunderland. With that being said, however, this just feels totally out of place. I'm not convinced you have ever been to Sunderland, much less ever been in love in Sunderland. And I do have a BIG problem with the chord interpretation ove the last chorus. The progression here is Dm, F, C, G. And the melody that plays behind the vocals goes to F# over the D chord when it comes back around. No offense, but this is annoying as hell. That F# effectively makes the D a major, BUT you still have a F natural (Dm) going on in your accompaniment part! Now, you could have either changed both parts to F# as to reflect this harmonic change, or you could have taken some cues from people like Hendrix, SRV, and Henry Mancini (composer of Peter Gunn among other things) and used the F natural to make a 7#9 (Hendrix) chord. But with the way it is voiced, it does nothing but sound wrong. Voicing the D as a 7#9 would be way more effective if done something like D, A, F#, C, F with the F natural on top in the melody and the F# and C in the accompanyment part. This is exactly why I've learned to use music theory, not because it "limits" you, but because it gives you tools to communicate ideas with. Sorry this is so harsh, nothing personal.
Paco del Stinko:
Great beginning and riffs. Great "hooks" as well. I have no problems with this whatsoever except that I think it eneded too abruptly. Great synthetic scalar tonality. Good solo that follows it, too! So, did you write it about war too??? lol
shamanizer:
Again, I have no problems with the experimental sound. But I really think this is incomplete. In my opinion, a lot more could have been done with it. It could have some drums kick in with some nice guitar latering. But as it stands, it just sits there in my opinion. Good chord progression, though.
Voices:
I really like the concept behind this. You actually get a vibe going through all of this, too. Bravo. But I just gotta say, this is so "loose" that it takes away from what you are going for. I think had the vocals been more in tune and had it been mixed just a tad more uniformly, it would have been a favorite of mine. The parts of the tune itself are very well arranged, and that gets uber respect from me. But the length (just like my tune "Cakes") could have been shortened. Overall, the song itself is pretty good. The performance and length is about a D in my opinion.
Jon Wilson:
Geeze, dude. Bombs and machine guns starting out? Who the hell do you think you are trying to be? It's certainly heavy and the chorus is catchy, but you gotta remix that bass, homes. It does end with a "bang," gotta give you that, though. lol This is pretty good in my opinion, but I'd never vote for it. Just sayin'.
That's my two centavos.
