Merde! (The Only French I Know Reviews)

[nyjm]

Also: Nom de dieu de putain de bordel de merde de saloperie de connard d'enculé de ta mère.

Go break Google translate with that...

A gentle reminder to post your lyrics in the lyrics thread.

[glennny]

Come on people! Only Eleven songs, let's get at least eleven reviews, maybe even at least one representative from each band?

I'm looking forward to hearing this fight!

[chocolatechips]

I wasn't able to complete a track for this fight (maybe next time!) but I still want to give my reviews. I think there's something to be learned by listening to other people's music and trying to figure out what it is about it that works and what about it doesn't work. You'll see Mr. Green Faces for the songs that get votes (and second listens.)

Berkeley Social Scene: I really like the instrumentation. It has a cool jingle jangle 60s vibe. Unfortunately I'm not as impressed by the vocals or the melody. I also find the production to be a bit messy, not enough separation/clarity for me. My favorite thing about the song is probably the synth line on the right side.

Billy and the Psychotics: The guitar riffing that opens this song off is pretty kick ass. Both the playing and the sound of it = awesome. I also love how the drums crash in. Very cool. The riff reminds me quite a bit of the main riff in John Lennon's "What You Got" (from Walls And Bridges.) The vocals are performed well but they're not really the type of thing I like; objectively they are fine, subjectively I'm not digging 'em. The breakdown at 2 minutes is very cool. Awesome guitar solo. This song is getting a vote and I'm putting it on my list of songs to listen to again for consideration as my top pick this week.

Elephant Kitties: Pretty song. Nice recording. I wasn't expecting the chorus with the male vocals joining; quite cool. This one is also going on my list of songs to listen to again for consideration as my top pick. Very well done, I can imagine this on a soundtrack. If I have a complaint on my first listen it's that the chorus vocals are maybe a tad bit piercing.

Hostess Mostess: This has a cool late '60s/early '70s Crosby Stills & Nash type thing going on. I'm actually a bit blown away by how good this one is right now. Definitely going on my list of songs to listen to again. I need to hear if it sounds as good the second time. This may be the first song I've listened to this week and last week that I actually think I would listen to just as a song because it's that good (not just as a part of the SongFight thing.) To add some constructive criticism I think the electric guitar tone isn't great. Sounds straight in the box. I also think that guitar panning sounds a bit random, not sure if it adds or distracts from the mood. But man, the vocals are fantastic. And I really love the drumming; tasty!

So far the quality this week far surpasses last week, I'm surprised by how good the songs are so far.

Johnny Cashpoint: I'd have to be a particular mood to really enjoy this and I'm not really in that mood right now... so I'm not sure if I have anything of value to add. I do like the accordion.

Juliet's Happy Dagger: This reminds me of this CD I have that's supposed to teach me how to sing French in the car. I'm not a fan of this one.

King Arthur: Lyrics caught my interest. Music & performance doesn't do too much for me, but it's OK. Kind of reminds me of mid '70s Dylan.

Minty Handy: Not bad for just vocals & drums. I like it, but there's not enough going on here to really excite me.

Obese Chess: The sound of the accordion sort of taking over the song at times is kind of cool; neat idea. I don't think the idea is executed that well, but it's still cool. I don't care for the song itself - this sort of thing is just not up my alley.

Paco del Stinko: Sounds pretty twisted on the intro and then gets ... really weird. I like the weirdness. I think I need to listen to it again just to sort of get all of the twists & turns. The "ooh la la" backing vocal is cool. I don't think I like it as much as the earlier songs I gave a too, but I do think this one deserves one too. And I'm interested to see how it wears on me with another listen.

Torrentz: Cool sample. Reminds me of "Lucas With The Lid Off" back in the '90s. This isn't my thing, but I must give it some respect for being very well done.

SECOND LISTENS FOR SONGS I VOTED FOR

Billy and the Psychotics: I'm still loving this guitar sound and the way the drums drop in. Overall the production could probably be a bit more crisp but that could just be the quality of the stream I'm hearing that's adding a bit of a haze. I'm also not so sure about having the guitar riff and the vocals going on at the same time - I think that's a bit too busy sounding. I love the main guitar riff, the guitar solos, the drums, and the spacey breakdown but I don't like the rest of the song as much. On my second listen it sounds like it goes on a bit too long.

Elephant Kitties: This is good but I do think the chorus is a bit of a let down in comparison to the great verse. And I'm not saying that because I don't like the male vocal - it's good - I just don't think it's as interesting melodically or lyrically as the verse. The last chorus goes on a bit long, tries my patience a slight bit. Guitar playing, female vocal, production (simple fits the song - sounds good!), and verse melody = very good.

Hostess Mostess: This is my pick as my favorite and it's not even close really. This is awesome. There are other good songs in this fight, but this one has heart. It sounds like a genuinely good song written for its own sake (despite the kind of silly "The Only French I Know" lyric), not just a song for a competition. I'm very impressed at how good this song is. I like it so much I'm going to have to go back and hear some of what this band has done in earlier song fights.

Paco del Stinko: Well done but it does feel a bit like weirdness for weirdness's sake. Which can be good. I love Ween. Well I love Ween about half the time, the other half of the time it doesn't quite work even though it's done well. I'm impressed with the skill involved in making this one but I don't really enjoy listening to it that much...

[Dejected_Motives]

Oh man! I was going to enter this fight but I thought the deadline said P.M. not A.M.! Oh well, I didn't have my song laid out the way I wanted it anyway... At least now I have some more music saved for future use (not for songfight songs, obviously.) Good luck to all this week's fighters!

[Ebola-Cide00]

Man Torrentz is literally like a box of chocolate, never know what you will get with these guys and apparently a girl too. good job Torrentz and the rest of the fighters. but my vote goes to Torrentz, although everyone else did great

[glennny]

Great fight! Every song is good!

I have to admit the Torrent Z song blew my mind, awesome!

[Spud]

Really guys? 22 votes already? Really? You know who you are.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Really guys? 22 votes already? Really? You know who you are.

Don't be hatin' yo. We have a lot of fanz on the intertubez?

...besides, friend flooding is for perverts.

[mcmilkplusuk]

Spud... if it's Torrentz you're referring to I can only say that I've been pro-active in discouraging people to vote unless they listen to the entire fight and actually think we deserve the vote. I've been submitting here as MC Milk-Plus & Torrentz for over 6 years and owe Songfight a lot in terms of inspiration and fun making tracks to a weekly deadline. Any win that comes from vote fixing or mass "1 click" votes is an empty win in my opinion. I've told the other artists in Torrentz not to get their friends to vote unless they invest some time listening to all the tracks.

Otherwise... what's the point?

[happi]

Otherwise... what's the point?

the size of my e-peen?

[Paco Del Stinko]

Well done but it does feel a bit like weirdness for weirdness's sake. Which can be good.

I don't think that's the case here. If it's weird, it's just that it came out that way. Not upset, just saying. Thanks for the vote great write-ups.

[Spud]

Spud... if it's Torrentz you're referring to I can only say that I've been pro-active in discouraging people to vote unless they listen to the entire fight and actually think we deserve the vote. I've been submitting here as MC Milk-Plus & Torrentz for over 6 years and owe Songfight a lot in terms of inspiration and fun making tracks to a weekly deadline. Any win that comes from vote fixing or mass "1 click" votes is an empty win in my opinion. I've told the other artists in Torrentz not to get their friends to vote unless they invest some time listening to all the tracks.

Otherwise... what's the point?

Right on. Just remind your fans that they can vote for more than one! In fact, I have been thinking of making it a requirement. Spread the love, yo!

[lalabrookie]

Paco, just a general comment here: I played a couple of your recent songs for my teenage kids, and they loved them (as do I) - they said you sound like a mix between Avenge Sevenfold, System of a Down, Muse and Three Days Grace.

So maybe you should quit your day job?

[hillbilly]

King Arthur---Lyrics very well put together, I like this.

Mint Handy---That is the cleanest drum i have ever head on the internet

Stinko----Your voice didnt scare me this time, some nice guitar work


Damn Billy---Thats a mean lick, Can I use this on my next porn

[Billy's Little Trip]

Paco, just a general comment here: I played a couple of your recent songs for my teenage kids, and they loved them (as do I) - they said you sound like a mix between Avenge Sevenfold, System of a Down, Muse and Three Days Grace.

So maybe you should quit your day job?

Why in the world would he give up being a porn star to be like any of those bands?

[RangerDenni]

Go break Google translate with that... .

I have a translatey thingy on my iPhone. My iPhone hit me with a ruler and shook and turned green.
I've been sent to bed without supper.
Thanks a lot! Miscreant!

[Paco Del Stinko]

So maybe you should quit your day job?

Ha! I wish! And...

Why in the world would he give up being a porn star to be like any of those bands?

...I wish!

Your voice didnt scare me this time

Hmm. Should I be trying harder?

Comments on the way, folks.

[chocolatechips]

Well done but it does feel a bit like weirdness for weirdness's sake. Which can be good.

I don't think that's the case here. If it's weird, it's just that it came out that way. Not upset, just saying. Thanks for the vote great write-ups.

Yeah - it's really just a matter of personal taste. Maybe I put too much of mine into my reviews. Objectively your song was very good and I can definitely hear an audience for it.

But the thing is; there are so many different styles of music and music fans - even if you do something like you are doing perfectly well (which you very well may be doing) you are still only going to please the subset of people who really like that style.

This is why it's never a good idea to get to worked up over anybody's subjective opinions about your music. It's most likely that even if you perfectly realize what you want to do, that particular person isn't going to dig it.

Even the most successful bands in the world probably have more people who dislike their music than like it. And when you do something that's a bit strange, that's even more true. I mean I love Ween for example, but most people don't get 'em.

(By the way, I'm mostly talking to myself. This is an important thing for me to remember, it's easy to get discouraged by negative reactions so I try to remember that there are people who hate my favorite bands so that shows that even if I'm totally successful at what I do - some people still won't like it - and that's OK.)

[SchlimminyCricket]

No submission from me this go round, but I thought I'd review anyway.

BSS - The vocals seem a little pained at times. The synth (I think?) is great, and goes nicely with the glockenspiel/chime/bell or whatever that is.
Billy and the Psychotics - Sounds pretty good. The riff is maybe a little busy for me. I get confused easily. The break in the middle is great. Nice and dreamy.
Elephant Kitties - This is my favorite in the fight. Everything is great. The lyrics are fantastic, and the harmonies on the chorus are delicious. I'm a sucker for a folk-type arrangement.
Hostess Mostess - The instruments are a bit prominent relative to the vocals. The drums are panned too far away from the rest of the song, and it gets a little distracting. I like the song, though.
Johnny Cashpoint - The fake accordion bothers me a little. I think your story is alright.
Juliet's Happy Dagger - It's nice to hear some more extensive French. I wish there were more of it.
King Arthur - Wonderfully simple. I can't think of how I would change this. Good work.
Obese Chess - I like the lyrics well enough, but the beat is boring, and the accordion is super distracting when it comes back in.
Paco - I don't know how much I can add. Good work once again. I especially like the back-up voices on the refrain.
Torrentz - Very smooth production. It's not something I think I'd listen to again, but I didn't hate it while I was listening.

[hillbilly]

I'm not a killer, vote

[hillbilly]

One more thang ,its my birthday, started a lil too early, my last post. Billy,that whammy bar pull off rocked, i think i've heard you play a lil better lead before Cherry pie

[Billy's Little Trip]

Happy birthday, hillbilly.