Occupies the Place of a Review Thread (Occupy reviews)

[Ross]

Or, you can decide to not care what he thinks if he doesn't "get" your art. It is songfight, all reviews are bonus.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Caravan Ray calls me a cunt all the time. Even in his music. http://www.songfight.org/music/his_last ... m_hlfd.mp3

edit: and a cocksucker, lol http://cavanreagh.customer.netspace.net ... sucker.mp3

[sportswriters]

Pigpen, I don't know you from Adam. I have no idea if you are misogynistic are not. However, I think the use of the word 'bitches' to refer to women is lazy, cliched and misogynistic. It was old ten years ago. It sounds like a ten year old kid trying to sound tough in front of his mates*. If that's the impression you're after, keep doing it. It's definitely not coming across the way you think/hope it is.

*I have kids that age. Trust me.

[Billy's Little Trip]

[PiGPEN]

>Bitch was old ten years ago.
Haha, what? Y2K was the cut off for using 'bitch'? Why not 50 years ago? 100? 500 years ago?

[blue]

Probably important to realize that pigpen literally has nothing better to do than argue with you on the internet.

But his song was good.

[PiGPEN]

Someone called me out on my free time....time to go play TF2.

[c.layne]

Cool reviews

[RangerDenni]

Without hearing the PiGPEN track, I think perhaps he might could be cut a bit of slack? Perhaps he was just trying to express himself with the same highly-pitched-vernacular-laden-fervor many bands we don't seem to be ashamed to enjoy have done. Acceptable, popular musicians of all genres. Not to mention ... um ... the entire development of all of western tonality, literature, art, society, religion, tradition.. Why do we have feminist studies programs? Etc. If we wanna get real femmie, we could be here all day. I got a vat full of poor me...

That'd be some real conversation for your ass.

ps. In other news... will the Psychotics ever write a chorus hooky and pleasing to everyone?? - STAY TUNED!!!!! xx
(thanks for the feedback. we are hard at work, Endeavoring to Improve. )
pps. who knows? I may come back with my underthings all atwist over your entry, picks and shovels raised to defend the honor of my sex. Uh. Rarrr. Stay tuned for, like, that and stuff.

[Jim of Seattle]

Blue means it received a vote.

Strange that I kept hearing the same problem in a lot of songs, where these kiond of wimpy or strange vocals don’t work with the sound of the band, like they’re two different songs. Maybe it’s just that I’m noticing that now.

Ross Durand
This is a nice take on the title. I like that you had a real idea to the song and went through with it. Vocals a little rough, but that’s just your style, so it’s ok. Also I appreciate the length (short-ish). It was fun to hear you put in ideas that were reflective of the Occupy movement, but that you were talking on a personal level. It’s as if the Wall St. establishment was the person singing. A little weirdness in the last verse, right before “rebuff me” there’s a whole unnecessary bar added. Solid song though.

PiGPEN
What are you saying over & over? Shackle? Jackal? Scheckel? You say it so many times yet I never know what that word is. I find this quite irritating. The band sounds kind of cheesy and canned, yet the vocals are dry and raw, so it’s not a match.

dont reply
Not enough going on here to hold my interest. When the effects and other sounds enter about halfway through it’s too little too late. Also not clearly related to the title.

sonofsupercar
Pretty cool. I like the vocal delivery. At first I didn’t think I would, but he’s so committed to it that I’m won over by the end. The band gets kind of dull and repetitive though. The lyrics are bizarre but in an arresting way I like. Close to a vote, but not quite given the number of really great songs you’re up against.

Tony and Juan and Adam
Really awesome. Band is tight as a Swiss watch. The vocals are delivered such that I believe you. Everything about this song basically works. And it’s nice and short. Excellent work.

Pannacotta Army
I’m going to assume you guys already know this is fairly close to perfect. It’s catchy, and the bridge is just different enough to work. Don’t know if you’re XTC fans, but this sounds a lot like the Colin Moulding-written XTC songs. One nitpick: the main melodic idea of the verse could be changed up a few times, as we hear it a lot exactly the same. Still, really excellent.

Metaluna
I appreciate the ambition of the melody, but given your vocal limitations, I think you might have bitten off more than you can sing. So it’s kind of painful listening to you trying to handle the vocal acrobatics and that distracts me from anything else.

Pigfarmer Jr.
Again, the off-pitch vocals are distracting me from the rest of the song. If you are going to write songs for that voice, you would be better off not writing songs that require these long-held notes, because the vocal chops aren’t there and it doesn’t play to your strengths. Cello is extremely nice though.

DJ Ranger Den
I like the cutey-pie vocal style here, and combined with the piano noodling it makes for a nice groove. The piano sounds like it’s about 30 feet from its mic, though, and that lends the whole thing an unfortunate amateurish sound. Also, you could have recorded a few more takes on the vocal and corrected a few of those sharp notes.

Billy & the Psychotics
Very nicely recorded, everything is in wonderful balance here. The lead vocal is much more successful than for Has Been For Years, and so it’s a pleasant surprise. I appreciate the musical ambition here, and for the most part you pull it off. This song sounds like it took a lot of work. Good job.

Paco del Stinko
I’m unclear on the tone here. Is it supposed to be a parody? Is it comic or serious? It’s never really clear to me, so I never get my bearings. The recording and the arrangement are both quite nice.

Noah McLaughlin
I can’t get past the strange vocal style. The song itself it pretty straightforward, but the delivery is weird, so those two elements are in conflict and the song doesn’t really work as fully either.

State Shirt
I have a CD by you. I don’t remember how I got it, you might have sent it to me. This sounds a lot like that stuff, but it’s got a polisheder feel. Production is absolutely top drawer. I wish I could do this. You’ve got a great attention to detail and you understand how much to change things up to keep things interesting while staying in the same experience. I think you ran out of ideas in the last minute, but that’s a nitpick. (The songs on that CD tend to be on the long side too. Might want to think about that.)

c. layne
Is that buzzy static on purpose? If so, I don’t know what it’s doing for you. If not, that’s unfortunate. This is nice enough, a little dull.

Yyarrell Brothers Band
The catchiness of that verse gets you a long way, and I am happy to hear it over & over. I would have changed up the arrangement for the bridge, otherwise my ear starts to get tired by the end of the song. Nice job, though.

Dirge & Sara
The problem here is that you have these close-mic mellow vocals with this big loud band behind it. They sound like they’re coming from two different worlds, and they don’t mix, kind of unnatural. The song itself is a little boring. Sorry, doesn’t work for me,

Sep
This is terrible.

Monkey Touchers
Very stupid. Your songs are all about YOU. Pisses me off.

King Arthur
Solid as usual. The bass and rhythm guitar are mixed too high, and your vocal has trouble taking command here. Not one of your more inspired efforts.

Berkeley Social Scene
The song is a little dull, and the vocal isn’t big enough to compete with the band. That seems to be a theme I’m noticing in this fight with a lot of songs.

MC Charlie Oh
The vocal is weak and wimpy, so the swearing sounds kind of forced. It seems like there are a lot of places you needed another syllable so you threw a “fuck” in there to make it come out right. Don’t do that. It doesn’t sound at all sincere to me. Also, the song ends very abruptly. I don’t know if that was on purpose but I kind of loved the surprise.

Elephant Finger
I’m not sure what this is since I don’t speak Chinese. But at one level I’m impressed. When the cheap synth sounds started I thought “oh no”, and then you actually managed to make them work, kept it pretty interesting and managed to make it sound like a complete song. The rawness of the vocals work against the Casio sounds though, so ultimately this doesn’t work for me. Still, there was some surprising goodness there.

Jon Eric
Jon, you’ve come a long way. Some of the same issues from way back though. The lyrics are thick and too on-the-nose, I would have liked them a little subtler and wish you would think about the sounds of the syllables as well as their meaning. And it’s too long. Also, the piano doesn’t keep time well enough and so the band sounds amateurish. Your singing is much more on pitch than in days of yore, and the arrangement is really nice. I love how you change it up and employ so <gasp> dynamics </gasp>. You need to be aware that your voice is extremely unique and you need to be aware of that and turn it into a strength rather than hope we don’t notice.

Al Gore Band
Is this a parody? It wasn’t funny to me. And the recording is poor. And what’s with the self-promotion at the end? Unpleasant.

Sportswriters
It took me a full minute to wrap my head around that 15/8 rhythm. Once I got the groove of it I dug it. Never heard that 9+6 before, so I sort of just grooved on that and had a hard time paying attention to anything else. The band is too hot for the vocals, which get a little drowned. Nice arrangement though, good job.

Dealin’ Doug & the Rocky’s Auto
The deadening vocals don’t match with the big band sound.

[sportswriters]

Sportswriters
It took me a full minute to wrap my head around that 15/8 rhythm. Once I got the groove of it I dug it. Never heard that 9+6 before, so I sort of just grooved on that and had a hard time paying attention to anything else. The band is too hot for the vocals, which get a little drowned. Nice arrangement though, good job.

Hey, thanks. That 15/8 is a gas. Once you get your head around it, it's not that crazy. I'm no great shakes as a drummer but I was jamming around with it on the kit today and it's really pretty easy (and a lot of fun) to play. Especially putting little fills and curlicues in the middle of it. I think the best thing about these odd meters is that they steer you away from your usual ruts. I've found that if you're using some weird-ass signature you better keep the rest of it simple and let the strangeness of the meter provide the main interest. If you do it right half the people don't even click to the fact that it's an odd time. The New Pornographers do this all the time, and even Jimmy Webb does it kind of, dropping into cut time whenever he feels like it just to make the words work.

[JonPorobil]

Jon Eric
You need to be aware that your voice is extremely unique and you need to be aware of that and turn it into a strength rather than hope we don’t notice.

I struggle with that every single song. Any specific pointers?

I've noticed many different people with "unique" voices who sing songs that I've liked have treated their voices in many different ways. Weird Al uses the inherent clownishness of his voice to make great silly songs. Glenn Case just does whatever genre he feels like doing and rarely sounds out of place. Joanna Newsom showcases her somewhat delicate voice with somewhat delicate songs. Rodney Anonymous has a voice similar to mine, and he just turns his sneer up to 11 and does mostly jokey punk songs.

I did feel for a while like I'd found a good mode for my voice back when I was making the songs that wound up comprising my album An Air of Legitimacy, but I don't want to sound like that every single time, you know?

[nyjm]

Wow, I really stirred the pot there. Well, at the very least thanks for giving my blog the most hits ever! (Thanks to everyone who left comments there; I have edited the post accordingly.)

PiGPEN, are you denying misogyny because the entire song is meant to be ironic? How should the listener know that you're using this mode of address from your song? Perhaps it speaks to the popular perception of hyperbole as non-ironic intent in the rap genre, but I'm unsure how I should know that you're not being serious.

[PiGPEN]

PiGPEN, are you denying misogyny because the entire song is meant to be ironic?

No, the song is done as a one-percenter (all of my songs are character or story based) and has all of a couple passing mentions on the issue of females/sex with the main focus being MONEY. If this song was anything other than rap you wouldn't even flinch.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I thought PiGPEN's song was very well put together. I don't care for the whole 'bitches' thing, but again, good work. The other 'bitches' song is lame. Reviews after the weekend. Also, this thread is great. Although I am a mid-timer and not an old-timer, this thread reeks of when I first showed up: a little controversy, strong opinions in the reviews commenting about a fight with crap, art, hooks and all styles of music. Nice.

[RangerDenni]

actually I don't feel like commenting on one song without doing a full set of reviews. It doesn't seem fair. But I will say that as I retire for the evening that I still can't think of a song that I have gender-internalized as much as 'Under My Thumb.'
shudder...I guess we've all got different buttons

[the panna cotta army]

BlPannacotta Army
I’m going to assume you guys already know this is fairly close to perfect. It’s catchy, and the bridge is just different enough to work. Don’t know if you’re XTC fans, but this sounds a lot like the Colin Moulding-written XTC songs. One nitpick: the main melodic idea of the verse could be changed up a few times, as we hear it a lot exactly the same. Still, really excellent.

Cheers, yep i'm a big XTC fan - played Drums & Wires till it wore out, though Science Friction is my favourite XTC track.
I always slightly preferred Andy Partridge's quirkiness to Colin Moulding's more melodic tunes, but I think I tend to write more like the latter.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy & the Psychotics
Very nicely recorded, everything is in wonderful balance here. The lead vocal is much more successful than for Has Been For Years, and so it’s a pleasant surprise. I appreciate the musical ambition here, and for the most part you pull it off. This song sounds like it took a lot of work. Good job.

Thanks, Jim.
It's nice to be heard for our creative process, because it is a lot of work, as I'm sure it is with all. Although I never discount the engineering advice and constructive comments, whether I want to hear them or not, lol. I learned a lot about mixing piano in the field with other frequencies on this one and it can only get better from here. I hope to get Den's awesome playing more in the future music, if she doesn't tell me to eff off before then.

[dirgetheband]

Al Gore Band – Hmm. I feel like there is a dearth of MUSICAL noise groups on this site. My experience is that noise-core groups historically try to play as loud and as furiously as possible, it gives their nonsensical lyrics something to work with/against. But all the “noisy” artists on this site are minimalists. Like, if you put these lyrics over Converge’s “Jane Doe”, it might be kind of cool. But over a click track and an out of tune acoustic guitar, it’s not cool. Just sounds lazy and slopped together. Maybe it’s not, but that’s how it sounds to me.

Berkley Social Scene – I love the chorus, it’s really driving. Good contrast to the rather plodding verse. Without the chorus the verses would be lame. The only qualm I have is the “mind”. Sounds like it’s being sung by a Nordic vampire. “Mawwwand!” Cool solo. I’m not sure the 8 bars leading up to it are necessary; they seem to sap the song of a lot of the energy you work hard to build. You guys always do good work, and this one is not an exception.

Billy – I really like the piano riff, but it is waaay, waaaaay too hot, as already mentioned. I’d be interested to hear how this would sound with an acoustic guitar replacing the piano. Not saying it should, just saying I’d like to hear that. DJ’s vocals fit this music really well. Whoops – non-chord tones at 2:35 don’t do it for me. I know that the lyrics mention “falling” but I don’t feel that it worked, although I know what you guys were going for. I like this one, not as much as last week, but still good.

C.Layne – This is neat. I love the bluesy/jazzy guitar line beginning at 1:03. What amp are you using? It sounds great. Nice drop out at 1:20. Mmm, the synths that follow would have been better replaced with a distorted guitar, me thinks. I love the understated vocals. They really play well with everything else. This sounds like a more serious Eels song, maybe off the record he wrote about his dead sister. Cool distorted/filtered noises at the end. Great work!

Dealin’ Doug – So what’s with the History Channel intro to the Black Death? I can’t make the connection. Let me listen again. Oh wait, now I get it. You’re the “Im not dead yet” dude from Monty Python’s Holy Grail. The synths don’t go with the fuzzy guitars.

Dirge & Sara – We really struggled with this one. It finally came together from 10PM the night before to 3AM the day of due. The chorus guitars sounded a hell of a lot louder in the ‘phones than it did on the submitted mp3. That’s why you don’t mix on cans. Solo gets a little pitchy at the end. I like the delay on the accented Hendrix chord (EEG#DGx) at the end of each chorus. Sara did a great job given our constraints. I tried to go for a musical vibe that I usually don’t delve in. I think it was fairly successful. We had fun, which, as my career counselor and my youth hockey coach told me, is all that matters. I’ll send them my bills. Let’s see what those fuckers say then.

DJ Ranger Den – I dunno. I love your voice. It is two parts snark, one part innocence, and three parts folksy proto-punk. The piano just doesn’t really push your voice anywhere this time. I feel you need something more driving to lend your voice some structure (see your submission for “Who Said I’m Dead?”, or the recent ones you’ve done with Billy). I would be more interested if there was a full band behind you on this one. The lyrics are neat, so I’m disappointed that the music isn’t. This would work if it was on a record and bookended with angular post-punk style numbers, but it doesn’t hold water on its own. (Oh, just read some more reviews, BLT says you played the piano on the B&TP submission, too. Hmm. That one drove, this one doesn’t. Maybe that was intended?)

don’t reply – Cool. Don’t instrumentals get panned on this site? I think this one is neat. Like I mentioned about DJ’s song above, this would be really cool on a complete album – I’d love to hear the crazy white-boy-party Daft Punk-style dance tune that comes after this one. I like how the climax subtly occurs at 1:59, then it all starts to chill again. Good work.

Elephant Finger – Ugh. I have enough problems with the English language that I don’t want to attempt to tackle another. I don’t know that I really care for the minimalist arrangement, either. Could use more variation.

Jon Eric – This is politely awesome. The song flows really well. Cool use of dynamics. This reminds me of a snarkier Ben Folds. I really have nothing to say other than this is a very good song and you did a great job.

King Arthur – Funk soul brutha. What’s going on with the kick at 0:17 and 0:31? Doesn’t jive with the beat. I like how the title line leads back into the opening lick. Nice chops. Good contrast with mind vs. heart. Somebody mentioned they didn’t think this was an “inspired” effort, but I disagree. I think this is the kind of tune you do and you do it well.

CharlieOh – Mmm, well, the phrasing isn’t really that interesting. I’m not a huge rap fan, but I do know that people who don’t listen to much rap usually only listen to rap that has incredibly varied phrasing. Your syllable grouping and rhyming pattern is very monotonous and as such doesn’t provide enough interesting things to hold my attention. The snare (if there even is one) has so little crackle to it that it actually sounds like another kick hit, so no variation in the drums, either.

Metaluna – Holy shit, how’s it hangin’, Geoff Tate? This should have been on the Q2K album – it might have made that record listenable. Solo is tight, I love the harmonizing. The solo actually was a little short – I like big, epic solos spanning multiple chord changes. Or maybe it was the perfect length given the overall shortness of the song. Fantastic work. Your voice gets away from you a little bit in some places, but overall it’s a great vocal performance. I look forward to more from you.

Monkey Touchers – What do you get out of this?

Noah McLaughlin – For a second I thought this was Ross Durand. This is really good. I love the keys just floating off in the background of the chorus, quietly whispering where the song is heading. The reverb drenched single note guitar line is pretty. You sing within yourself very well and the song is constructed to use that as strength rather than make it a weakness. Somebody mentioned this on Jon Eric’s song in a previous discussion. It applies here, too. The only thing I could ask for is a little more dynamics, I wish the overall level of the verses would be lower and the choruses louder. Really, really great tune!

Paco Del Stinko – The first four chords remind me of something… That will drive me crazy. Argh! Anyway, this might be my favorite Paco song ever. I would have cut the song almost in half, seems like it would have been a perfect 2:45 song, but it was still awesome. Holy shit, there’s a bass solo! Is it because I commented on your bass chops last fight? Ha! God damn, you are a nice bass player. The groove laid down during the chorus is awesome. Where’s the tone on the outro guitar solo? Kind of anti-climatic.

Pannacotta Army – Hmm. Everything is very competently arranged, well performed, mixed, etc. It just doesn’t ring a bell in my head like the other entries did. Listening to it again… Still no reaction in my gut. The kick doesn’t really match up with the bass line, maybe that’s it. Overall level is way too hot. I do like how you incorporate the title into the verse and not the chorus. That’s a nice touch.

Pigfarmer Jr – Hey, nice work on not recording this for “Has Been For Years!” I would have added a little percussion at some point. The cello at 1:21 is a nice touch. Again, this is another song that would work really well between two rockin’ tunes on a record or a mix-tape. Initially I wanted to tell you how much I didn’t like this, but can’t. I quite like this one. Nice work. Also, glad it’s not about dogs or babies.

PiGPEN – I’m not quite sure all the controversy is warranted here. What I got out of your song was irony. First off, you’ve got white boy rapping on top of music that sounds like it should be the theme to Inside Hollywood or The Sportsmachine. Hilarious combination. Secondly, the line “made me feel completely emasculated” is perfect. So basically you’re writing from the position of a man insecure about his level of success. In reading the conversation I see you are a 1%-er. And there it is in the lyrics, too. That’s funny. And nobody has any complaints about you using the word “nigga”? Seems slightly ironic, maybe? I don’t have a problem with it. I thought this was fun. Not as cool as the spoofy rap song from last fight (The HATE Noise) but in the same realm. Nice work.

Ross Durand – For a second I thought this was Ross Durand. Wait – doh! It is. I love your guitar playing. It’s a style I’ve wanted to master for many years but have never gotten around to. You have a very nice vocal range. You can move up the ladder without straining and then move right back down again comfortably. I’d be interested to see how your voice fits in a full band setting. Nice work, as usual.

Sep – Someone already said this was horrible. I’d submit songs at nothing less than 128k. 64k has just too much digital compression.

sonofsupercar – Vocals are too loud and too far forward in the mix. Drum sound is cool. It’s like a drunken Dylan? I picture this song sounding better if it sounded more like early Pavement. (Wait, wouldn’t everything sound better if it sounded like early Pavement?) Mumble the vocals a bit more, distort the guitars a little with fewer open chords. Overall, interesting submission.

Sportswriters – Like Metaluna’s song should have been on a turn-of-the-century Queensryche album, this should have been on any recent Collective Soul record. Do you tune down to E-flat? I like E-flat. The very opening clickety-clack riff is cool and I’m glad you let it sit under everything throughout the song. It sort of holds it all together. I agree with your comments on the time sig – you don’t even notice that it’s in an odd meter, it just all flows really well. Drums are well done. Cool work.

State Shirt – Hmm, didn’t see the double time section at 1:26 coming. That’s pretty cool.

Tony/Juan/Adam – The opening “UUOOOGH” should have been a “BOOOOM”. You guys lay down a pretty crunchy groove, but then the vocals let it all down. I dunno, they’re not too bad upon second listen. I don’t like the doubling of the end of each line. I’ve seen too many rappers do that with their 50 member posse. This should have been just the one vocalist is what I’m trying to convey. Overall, pretty cool if you’re into what I call “Nu-Metal”.

Yyarrell Bros – Hmm, sad sap lyrics start it off. I feel like I’m 19 again and hate everyone for not feeling as sorry for me as I do. I’m glad I’m not 19 anymore and don’t really ever want to go back there. This song doesn’t do it for me. Believe me, I still feel like that sometimes, but when I write songs about it now, I try to slather those feelings in vague, drippy metaphor, so people won’t suspect that I’m being overly self-absorbed. The music is interesting enough that with better lyrics, this would have been a neat tune.

[sportswriters]

Do you tune down to E-flat? I like E-flat.

Hey, that is very well spotted. In fact this is in F#, capoed up, but my natural home key is between F# and G, and if I had tuned down to Eb I would have been able to play the open chords. I've basically just realized that I *should* be tuning down a half step, like Elliott Smith did.

[sportswriters]

Oh, and for the record: I didn't actually EQ anything on this track. EQ is kind of my Achilles Heel - I look at the sliders and realize I have no idea what I'm doing. The drums were pre-mixed (probably had some EQ already applied), but other than that, I left stuff alone. Did you have any suggestions on that score?

Hey, Jon Eric, I'm sorry I missed this on the first time through.

EQ is a deep and weird subject and I don't blame you for not EQing anything.

Here's the way I think of it.

There are three ways you can separate sounds in a mix (assuming you want them to sound separate -- if not do the opposite)

1. L-R (pan)

2. Forward-Back (reverb)

3. Up-Down (Frequency/EQ)

(1) should be obvious but often isn't. Pan stuff differently. Kick, snare, bass and lead vox go to the middle most of the time, maybe separated by a few degrees. EVERYTHING else should be panned differently. Not to extremes necessarily unless it's doubled. But it's amazing how much space panning opens up.

(2) Sounds without reverb feel closer. Sounds with reverb feel further away. Reverb muddies your mix. Keep it to the minimum that works for your song.

(3) Finally, EQ. Each instrument needs to occupy its own little slot in the frequency spectrum. Typically a raw mix will have MASSES of middle in the 250 - 2000 KHz range where all the guitars, vox and keys sit. You need to decide what's most important (typically vocals) and get them sounding right, then bring up the other stuff where it isn't going to complete. That's why you scoop guitars and keyboards, pulling out the middle frequencies and letting them fill up the bottom and top. Basically, at any moment in the song, each component should be occupying its own frequency range. Otherwise they are going to fight.

Good monitors are a huge help here. Most monitors are absolute shit because they sound too good. Almost everything on Songfight has been mixed through speakers which sound too good. They boost low and high levels, which means that you mix the whole thing full of middle. The key is to mix through something like the Yamaha HS80Ms (which BGM turned me on to). It is absolutely terrifying the first time you mix through these. They sound FUCKING TERRIBLE. But once you get stuff sounding OK on these it will sound good on everything else.

[sportswriters]

Jon Eric
You need to be aware that your voice is extremely unique and you need to be aware of that and turn it into a strength rather than hope we don’t notice.

I struggle with that every single song. Any specific pointers?\

I'm not the guy who said that but...

Here's the thing. Record your voice and listen to it. What do you like? What don't you like? What would make your voice sound more like you?

It's really mostly technical. Trying to figure out what you like and don't like. Maybe you like the way you sound when you're whispering and not when you're singing loud, or vice versa. Maybe you sound good in a particular range. Maybe you sound good when you're straining to hit notes. DO NOT feel like you need to be a good technical singer. Read a couple of books to get the idea of what you can change (eg breathing, posture, mouth shape). But don't get hung up on it. Mostly if you are relaxed it will sound good.

DO NOT TRY TO SOUND LIKE ANYONE ELSE. EVERYONE ELSE IS ALREADY TAKEN.

Really, just listen to yourself. What you like, do more of. What you don't, do less of.