It gets upset easily (Be Careful With That reviews)

[hoops]

Dr. Octagon -- First rate backing track. Are those live drums?

Thank you very much! Yes.

[Billymojo]

I'm working on this. It's getting better and better. You're just gonna have to hear some drowned cat till we get there I'm afraid. Sorry y'all get to be my guinea pigs. X[/quote]


Au contrair, mon amie. Who would want perfection when you can have an emotionally compelling performance, as you have here.

[RangerDenni]

Au contrair, mon amie. Who would want perfection when you can have an emotionally compelling performance, as you have here.

Well thank you, but I think my ideal would be a strength of tone (and tuning) with out managing to bleed all emotion out of it ... and still managing to also get my effects perfect too.
(I would also like a piece of cake, a convertible, and a pony.)

[Geoff WreckdoM]

ahahaha. i totally heard "never shank a baby" at first

Good ears! That is indeed the line, an old joke that Richard WreckdoM and I used to repeat endlessly to terrorize our coworkers when we worked at a call center back home in Ohio in the mid nineties. Some jokes never get old, or they do, and we don't care.

[mickey skylark]

Listened yesterday to everyone, and wrote up these notes while I was listening... so here goes:

Accapella- nicely jazzy, would love to hear it with some sophisticated chord harmony behind it. A bit pitchy, as they say on American idol, and it goes on for too long, but interesting effort.

Anchorage accord- Not a big fan of electronica, but that being said, nice electronica approach. Would have liked the backup keyboards to not sound quite as ‘harsh’ sounding, perhaps.. After a bit the whole ‘beepy’ sound starts to grate a bit, but it’s well done for what it is, I like the echoes and reverb that comes in here and there.. interesting lyrics, too.

Brown word and the big whine- more electronica- wild weird sounds, tho more annoying than interesting, for me personally. Love the way it all goes quiet for the ‘be careful with that’. Overall, however, I just didn’t like listening to it all that much- too much going on without any overall plan.

Cody jr and ladies night- sounds like there’s a big James Brown influence, and while it doesn’t really get close to the godfather of soul, it sounds like you had great fun doing it. Lyrics are juvenile and silly, and detract from the vibe for me, tho the kazoo is a fun touch.

DJ ranger den- a fine piano ballad, and very melodic. Evocative and very good lyrics and nice melodicism- and fine performance. Voted!

Dr Octagon- a fine Hoopsian hodgepodge- love the way it starts with this whole story-song and then ditches it for a meta-song about doing the whole thing in 90 min (which is amazing , of course!) Great playing, love the end music (the more jazzy music) and the whole way it wraps up.Thank you and goodbye ! Voted!

A fluxos of weasals – can’t understand the lyrics to the verses at all, and it’s a very noisy backup- might have enjoyed it more if I had the lyrics and/or it was mixed better

Kenzie Chickens- great fun! Like an old-time rock and roll revue or something- one part Jim Morrison, one part old medicine show, one part Kris Kristofferson, and a nice one! Sweet playing too! Voted!

Krautnuck- Certainly has that electronica euro-disco sound- with a bit of talking heads and peter Gabriel in there too, perhaps. Hypnotic and well done. Not sure what the lyrics mean, if anything, but its uber-smooth and groovy, and melodic as hell. Nice one!

Mickey Skylark – well, that’s me, with great production assistance from hoopshank who did all but the rhythm guitar and vocals.

Nobody- beautiful, and really a breath of fresh air after some of the other stuff I’ve heard so far. I love this- great lyric, emotionally and beautifully set to music and wonderfully delivered with subtlety and grace. Voted!! Perhaps my favorite one!

Paco del stinko- I like the whole vibe and rhythm of this one, -love the tremolo guitar touches, and that quasi-Spanish atmosphere going - but somehow as a whole thing it doesn’t work for me completely- not sure why.

Pig jr- nicely done, and the kind of song you do well. A bit too ‘plain vanilla’, tho – with a few more details and quirkiness it could develop nicely- maybe adding a bridge

Sausage- wonderfully weird sounds, tho at times (chorus) its overdone with the effects. Theres some great talking-heads style vibe with this one, and I love the guitar solo section. Better mixing might help a bit, sometime the vocal is too loud, sometimes too low- but overall theres a great creativity here that’s really fascinating and fun!

Son of super car- So this is alien invasions, perhaps? Weird and almost great- production is just a bit too muddled, muffled, and bass heavy, I think , but there are lots of cool ideas going on.

wreckDom- this is truly weird, and creepy. Bizzare, in the extreme- I think the chocolate chorus, tho, compels me to vote for it, even with the lame joke at the end!

there ya go....

[codywalkerjr]

thanks for all of the reviews guys, Yes, I had fun with this track. I have a limited studio and trying to play all of those instruments is tough, so I used a click track, and looped the drum/bass/guitar.I thought it would go over well but I guess trying to emulate someone isnt a good approack to originalk music. next week i'll be submitting an AC/DC knockoff so hope you like it

[codywalkerjr]

Cody Jr. & Ladies Night
+++ sounds like you had fun writing and recording this +++
/// this needs more bass and it needs to be a hella lot more funky ///
--- too bare bones; the lyrics are simple and cliched, a paradigm that has its niche, but you need to compensate for that with a driving groove that this composition lacks ---
--- "booty" is funny once, maybe twice. this is booty abuse; don't abuse the booty ---

Oh I always abuse the booty ..
I dont really consider James Brown as a big influence of mine, but as the instrumental came together, that vocal style came to me. I wanted to capture a 'Live Feel" The song isnt really a song. its like a "Jam". I noticed some live stuff of James Brown is like that.. I am no James Brown, Never will be, but i thank him for inspiring me this week.

[codywalkerjr]

My above comment was also a response to mickeys review as well

[RangerDenni]

That is great! I have a penchant for fairy tales ....

this post was awesome.
I think a lot about magic. I joke about song faeries. But maybe I'm not really joking all the way through. I don't think I am - not really. Nothing is really seen all the way through. If I keep on I shall sound like one of my songs though...

'Invisible Girl' was written for the very first Spintunes. It's kind of funny because I was thinking a little of the character behind her (a superheroine who is addicted to entering song contests and is afraid she'll reveal her identity - its real oblique!); when I did round 2 this past Nur Ein ('Best Place In Town....'). I think I cast myself in her shoes, but decided I was the bad guy

[mrbeany]

I think a lot about magic. I joke about song faeries. But maybe I'm not really joking all the way through. I don't think I am - not really. Nothing is really seen all the way through. If I keep on I shall sound like one of my songs though...

Song faeries is as good a term for them as any other. Yeah, I think you could say I believe in song faeries. I believe in relationship spirits, and songs are a lasting relationship between an artist and the listeners. (I believe in a lot, so you could mean something totally different and I could still believe in it.)

I've been accused of reading minds, using magic to knock over a drink to make a point... and using magic to cheat at board games.

The board games one really didn't have many other explanations. Dice should not behave the way they were behaving. It happened twice with two different board games playing against the same people. My friend and her boyfriend. After my friend lost-out, I decided I wanted to finish the game quickly and... I couldn't have asked for more perfect rolls for both myself and my opponent. In both cases, (Monopoly and Risk), I went from a weak-but-not-dead position to being unstopable while my opponent could get no breaks.

I'm still working on the "using magic to win the lottery" thing. So far it hasn't happened.

[mrbeany]

WreckdoM: Because we were feeding my baby boy chocolate, your song came up today.

My niece and a friend of the family found your song "strangely catchy."

My wife said it made her nauseous. My wife likes her songs clean and predictable. (We have musical taste in common -- My musical tastes are mostly a superset of her tastes.)

I think when the holidays come around a lot more of my family will be introduced to it. My wife kind of hates how almost everything reminds me of song Song Fight song. From now on (or at least until something better comes along) any time babies and chocolate are mentioned, I'll be thinking of this song.

If you ever decide to make a Youtube video for this song, please let us know. I don't see how it wouldn't be mind-blowingly awesome.

[jast]

Thanks for everyone's comments so far.

Krautnuck : [...] I'm not sure I quite understand what you mean by the lyrics. I think I get it. It seems to be organized in a point/counterpoint, but I'm not sure it's coming across that way. I don't know, maybe it is just me.

I'm not entirely sure myself. There are some sort-of perspective shifts in it, but it's all 'narrated' by the same person and it definitely doesn't have a straight point/counterpoint structure. I think It's just a guy trying to get something across to someone else. Did it work? Who knows...

[codywalkerjr]

Cody Jr. & Ladies Night
+++ sounds like you had fun writing and recording this +++
/// this needs more bass and it needs to be a hella lot more funky ///
--- too bare bones; the lyrics are simple and cliched, a paradigm that has its niche, but you need to compensate for that with a driving groove that this composition lacks ---
--- "booty" is funny once, maybe twice. this is booty abuse; don't abuse the booty ---

[-

yo, I just counted
I only say booty 3 x in the song

[j$]

Funny once, maybe twice, never thrice.

As the old paradigm goes.

[jast]

Using these reviews to help break in my brand new studio headphones. Wish me luck! Also, sorry if these reviews are rather unstructured. I just write stuff that comes to mind as I go along, mostly.
In case you're not familiar with my scoring system, check out the link in my signature. And don't be too sad if I don't sound terribly excited about your song. Remember, music is all subjective. I'm just trying to give you some concrete feedback on top of my personal taste. I'm hoping you'll be able to get something useful out of that.


Acapella Annie -- If you fancy yourself a great singer, I'm here to burst your bubble. Your singing is thoroughly average. Whew. I guess it could have been worse than that. Right? Sorry, I always have trouble reviewing lead-vocals-only entries, because almost everything is left up to the imagination and I don't feel like rating my imagination. I think there's promise in what you're doing, and I'm looking forward to future, perhaps less sparsely arranged, entries. I hope you don't mind my not giving you a score. Here are some thoughts about your singing technique in case you're interested. Your singing is reminiscent of whispering. You won't be able to get the most out of your voice that way, and it will keep being difficult to hit the right notes consistently, and it will be even harder getting your voice to sound consistent. The right general direction when singing is shouting. Of course it's slightly more complicated than that for most of us. Let me know if you want more details.

The Anchorage Accord -- Man, is that 8-bit bass? Nice. The feedback delay on the squarey synth is a bit too much for me but still on the "okay" side of things. The distorted synth that comes in next sounds cool, but I think it's rather too low-passed. Man, those alternating left/right snares are weird. Not in a completely bad way, though. The mix has a left bias due to the distorted synth. Decent singing, but a bit too dynamic for this kind of genre perhaps. Try compression or singing technique (yeah, I know that's not helpful). Anyway, vocals sound appropriately 'broken man'. The lyrics are a bit more direct than I write stuff like this, but I don't think I mind. It doesn't distract me from the song, at any rate. The machine gun hi-hat makes for a nice change. Oh, now the mix is biased to the right. Hmm, the bass is hard to make out. Might want to bring it up a tad more. Interesting stuff going on in the drum/percussion area. My main problem with this mix is that it's got very little highs most of the time. Makes it sound a bit dull. The composition isn't super-exciting, but you've done a nice job with the development, so it's okay. I wouldn't have minded if you had added one or more two tracks with interesting stuff, though. Very nice ringing out at the end. Actionable mixing advice: experiment with automation... mainly: change the relative levels of different tracks in different sections. For example, if you layer more tracks without compensating by bringing them down a bit, crucial elements (e.g. bass) can get drowned out. Also, consider using a little bit of exciter or something on the vocals.
C:3 L:3 F:4 P:4 M:3 Total: 17/25

Brown Word and the Big Whine -- Were you trying to make this hard to listen to? If so, you succeeded. Drums are a bit low in the mix (which is otherwise okay, if a bit on the distorted side). I don't like the guitar sound that comes in around 1:35, and I don't think it fits into your mix as it is now. I think you're overdoing the synth with the resonant filter sweep a bit towards the end. But the guitar in the background after that is kind of cool.
C:2 L:* F:2 P:2 M:2 Total: 11/25

Cody Jr. & Ladies Night -- Guitar is way too low in the mix. Everything else pretty much drowns it out. Then again since you never change anything up, perhaps that's a good thing. Reverb sounds a little boxy, and the percussion and vocals really suffer as a result. Mix is pretty biased to the right. Ukulele sounds completely out of place. I imagine you're trying to be funny here, but please don't do it to the detriment of the music. This song definitely doesn't go beyond 'cute', and I definitely wouldn't add it to my playlist. Shame, too, because I think you could've made a pretty dang awesome song with those vocals and those performance skills in general.
C:1 L:* F:2 P:4 M:2 Total: 11/25

DJ Ranger Den -- Piano sounds rather muffled. Makes your voice stand out more than it should, I think. I'm not sure I like the whatever-you-did-to-the-vocals (chorus? Autotune? ...?), it really doesn't work with this style. Especially the long notes sound pretty dehumanised. I love the composition and playing, though, and I think the vocals are pretty nice, too. One of my more favourite songs of yours, definitely. Appropriate ending. Ominous lyrics, and yet don't we all know at least one of the two sides here all too well? Would listen again. BTW, did BLT master this or did he do some tinkering with the individual tracks? Because that's not the same thing.
C:4 L:4 F:4 P:4 M:4 Total: 20/25

Dr Octagon -- This is fairly constrained to the mids... both in the stereo field and in the frequency department. You can probably do cool things to this mix by more aggressively EQing the individual tracks; the guitar in particular. It fills up a whole lot of mid-frequency room. Vocals are honky. Given the honky vocals and the reverb on them that doesn't sound quite perfect, try lowpassing the reverb a bit. Now, that's the topic of mixing all done with. Very solid arrangement, pretty good playing; the drums in particular. In case you want to improve your vocals, stop trying to do vibrato and faux classical singing the way you did it here. It'll get in the way... not to mention it doesn't sound all that wonderful. Compositionally this is enjoyable and I definitely wasn't bored. Please don't apologise for your song, especially not in the song itself. I have no opinion on the lyrics apart from that, positive or negative.
C:4 L:2 F:3 P:3 M:2 Total: 14/25

A Fluxus of Weasels -- this is very heavy on early reflections. Or delay. I can't tell. Anyway, it makes the whole sing sound very sharp/metallic, but not in a good way. Then when the vocals come in, it just becomes a huge mess and sounds like you submitted at 96 kbit/s when it's actually 320 kbit/s. You really need to clean up your mix here. If you have reverb or delay or distortion across virtually everything, it's the wrong one. Instead of adding depth to the mix, it adds clutter. Tone it down. What I can make out of the vocals (which is to say they're getting drowned in the mix) sounds like you double-tracked them but not all too well (don't do double-tracking unless you can really pull it off). Hmm, listening to it some more, it almost sounds like you resampled most of the tracks with the poorest-quality resampling algorithm there is. Yeah, I'm fairly sure now that it's resampling artifacts. Try figuring out where they come from and get rid of them (and if you did it on purpose... please don't do it on purpose again). Your mix will immediately ascend to a completely different league. It's a shame as it is now, because the melody is awesomely catchy (to the point I can't help but think I've heard it many times before ). In case you need more advice about resampling: try to make sure you record and process tracks at the same sampling rate as your final mixdown (44.1 KHz). And if you can't do that, for the love of FSM use a proper resampler.
C:3 L:* F:2 P:2 M:1 Total: 11/25

The Kenzie Chickens -- Whole mix (save the fake brass) sounds very distant. Nice way of showing off the instrument (except all the talking is boring), but the guitar and organ playing need to be tighter if you expose 'em like that. Aww, the "be careful with that" vocals are really way too distant. As are the lead vox. Less reverb, man! Except for the guitar solo part, this doesn't sound very exciting. Nothing ever really changes. Add some extra parts, and try to change up the arrangement a bit as we go along. Cheers! Lyrics are easy to listen to and they sound effortless. Nice.
C:2 L:4 F:2 P:3 M:2 Total: 13/25

Krautnuck -- after Signboy came up with the synth tracks (initially the bass was quite different), we spontaneously decided to have a crack at making a full song out of it. Since the tracks came in one chord only, I made it an extra challenge for myself to use only that one chord (slight modifications notwithstanding). At first I was going to take the vocoder melody and make lyrics for that, lyrics that emulated the vocoder vowels, but I decided that wouldn't be interesting enough. So, I made other parts, trying to fit them into what Signboy did, and that ended up giving me four different structural elements. The synth tracks did need some rearranging to fit better, though, and also some modifications to get a better overall mix (the synth in the chorus went through an amp and the bass got an extra low sine plus a few automated filter changes). Oh, and when people here say you shouldn't use a chorus effect on vocals, guess what I do. Works well with the pitch locking IMO.

Mickey Skylark -- My very first thought: hey, nice arrangement and nicely mixed, too. Okay, perhaps a little on the thin side and fairly close to mono, but otherwise not bad at all. Then the vocals come in. Not quite the right mic, eh? I guess. Of course, the vocals are also very held back. Difficult to get that into an arrangement/mix like this and make it work. Not to mention the vocals don't sound too awesome that way (and it's hard to really nail the notes). If I look past that, this is a very nice little song. Seems like the title was shoehorned a bit into the lyrics, but then again we probably all had that problem to some degree. Nice playing. Pass.
C:4 L:3 F:4 P:3 M:3 Total: 17/25

Nobody, et al. -- Mix and arrangement is awesome, plosives in vocals excluded. Speaking of vocals. Were you trying not to wake someone? Because that's the only acceptable excuse for singing like that all the time. The chords and melody go right in my "undiscovered independent musician" box, where strongly featured progressions with major seventh and diminished chords seem to be more important than catchiness. The prosody in the chorus plays right into that, too. Well, at least your arrangement is more solid than these usually are. I like the lyrical concept but stumbled a bit in some places. For instance, the locked/mocked rhyme seems incredibly forced. Plus, who is this captive? Seems to be present only as a concept to hold the story together, but we never hear anything about this person that, from the looks of it, should be important in some way. Listening again, there are quite a few weird jumps in the story logic. The central theme seems to be falling for the lady's beauty. And now why are you warning her of how sharp the knife is? Where did that knife come from anyway? It jumps at us out of the blue when she suddenly has it. It seems like the knife was going to be some kind of metaphor, but I'm not sure it works so well. In fact, I'd say your knife of metaphor is pretty blunt. Then, later on you say you tried to tame her but at the same time you believed anything she said? One suggest you wanted to change her, the other suggests you thought she was perfect. I don't even. I think you might benefit from trying to do less things with your lyrics. Focus on one core idea and build everything around that. The most powerful messages tend to be undiluted.
C:3 L:2 F:3 P:3 M:5 Total: 16/25

Paco del Stinko -- First thing that I notice is that the arrangement is very well-balanced, except maybe something is missing on the left side. The guitar chord cascades on the right seemt to occupy more space than the straighter playing on the left, so maybe that's why. Ah, when the ride comes in it kind of neutralises that. Snare sounds a bit boxy/wimpy/Idunno, maybe it would benefit from being a bit wider? Nice bass sound. Could maybe use a bit more bite in some of the busier sections. Great break. You have some kind of effectificated guitar in between the verses(?) that sounds a bit weird, as if it was played in a box with weird vibrations or something. Is there an octaver on it? If so, it's not a good one. Anyway, I'm not a huge fan of the result. Vocals are a little shakier than I remember them from other songs. Similarly, playing is a bit looser than I'm used to. Cardinal sin: buzz after the last chord. Compositionally, the ending is a little understated. Perhaps it would have left more of an impression if you'd emphasised the last chord with some extra stuff, or perhaps added that tremolo guitar as a last note as you did before. Oh, and I'd suggest bringing the vox up a little more in the mix. So, what else? Compositionally very pleasing. Fun fact: I like this better at 90% its current speed.
C:4 L:* F:4 P:3 M:4 Total: 17/25

Pigfarmer Jr -- I like this. The centered electric guitar is a bit too strong compared to the rest. You have a tendency towards singing flat at the end of phrases. Doesn't take away much from the song, though. Really the only thing that bugs me a bit is that sometimes it's hard to make out what different notes the two voices are supposed to be singing. I think it might be cool to add some bass. The lyrics aren't overwhelmingly cheesy. So, all in all we've got something that's catchy, could do with a bit of refinement, and passes.
C:3 L:3 F:4 P:3 M:3 Total: 16/25

sausage -- I'm a bit perplexed by the mixing here. Everything seems to be competing for the background. So far the vocals win (and they're also wobbly), though the bass is a close second (and it sounds nice in the few places I can hear it properly). The metal-sheet-y percussion loses, and it's too much at times (e.g. "chorus"). I mean, it drowns out the lead vocals. That's kind of something you just don't do. Hey, guitar! That takes the foreground now, to the point that everything else becomes almost irrelevant. Aww, now it's gone again. The song itself is interesting, but it struggles against the mix and, ultimately, loses.
C:3 L:2 F:3 P:2 M:1 Total: 11/25

sonofsupercar -- This sounds like it was recorded in a... storage closet or something. Pretty boomy/muddy. Lyrics are just as intelligible as Kurt Cobain's but also sound as if the singer was trying not to be heard. Drumming is aggravatingly uneven, and consequently the song sounds like I put it on a broken record player. Of course, all that would be forgivable if I liked the song and/or its lyrics. But I don't. I find it very uninteresting. Next!
C:1 L:2 F:2 P:2 M:2 Total: 9/25

WreckdoM -- Wow, this is... postmodern. And IMO it sets in too abruptly, so that it sounds like the beginning got cut off. Very mud-heavy background. Man, more resampling artifacts? I only just had another song like that. It's much less bad in yours, though, and I can only make it out on the vocals and one of the backing synths. Heck, it might even be by design. Absolutely not my thing, this, but you get half a point back for ripping off Tay Zonday. Fair job arranging and developing this production, in any case. Lyrical concept is pretty cute. Well done, but please do something I like next time.
C:2 L:3 F:4 P:4 M:4 Total: 17/25

[nyjm]

--- "booty" is funny once, maybe twice. this is booty abuse; don't abuse the booty ---

yo, I just counted
I only say booty 3 x in the song

Now do the math.

[j$]

WAIL. IAAC. Also my windows is randomly jumping all over the place on the stream so the review you get may not apply to your song. Hahahaha Dada perfection

Seriously though, this was for the most part a dreadful fight. Far too much uninspired but technically proficient shit going down. You may hate me for what I am about to say (or not give a damn) but at least I am being honest. Take a hint, beyotches. If you get a vote from me this time out, you deserved it. And for the record, I miss the bad old days of Songfight when people were just plain *mean*. One man mission on the bringin' that shite right back into your lap.

Acapella Annie
Oof! This sounds, erm, fragile ... you have a nice voice but the whispered vocal takes the edge off of it. I want to hear it belt. Nearly 3 minutes without any backing is asking a lot of the casual listener like me. Get yrself a band/sequencer/kazoo! Still a good melody and reasonable vocal performance. The words aren't engaging me, but that might just be me.

The Anchorage Accord
Now that's a nice opening. I don't like the "sensitive" vocal approach. I don't believe you. At 1.30 "pretty little rhymes" my skin is crawling for this to kick in. Oh, does some cymbals constitute a kick-in? Nah, this, well done as it is, doesn't work for me. Sorry.

Brown Word and the Big Whine
Nice loop. Oh, funky. Now THIS I like. Yes, yes, yes, it's like a corrupted Beck. This works. Actually it's almost too Beck. Is that possible? Great break keyboards. I wish your vocal was errr sleazier? Less good? I dunno, it's like a remix by someone who doesn't like the source material, which of course I absolutely adore, but is this right to like? Am I supporting the (wo)man pretending to be experimental? That's what I mean by too Beck... oh fuck it, I enjoyed it, here's a VOTE.

Cody Jr. & Ladies Night
Look at us taking the piss out of funk with a kazoo. We're saying "booty" cos that's all funk's about. right? If you're going to do R'n'B pastiche make sure you remembered to remember a BASSLINE. You're wasting my time and yours (I am assuming the latter is more important.) Really - if you hate music this much why did you even BOTHER making it? Proficiency <> talent. This is pathetic, to the point of offensive. I also assume you have stopped reading by this point

DJ Ranger Den
Oh DJRD, you and I, it's just never going to work, is it? You love musicals (especially Disney ones) - I can't stand 'em. You have a lovely singing voice and a brilliant mind (based on Nur Ein and other songs) but they just don't combine to realise what I want to hear. How can I not say this is a well-written, well-performed, pretty song? I can't. Will I remember it as soon as it finishes? No. I am a douche, and really most of what I say (apart from my review of Cody Wanker Jr) isn't worth reading. But it's not you, it's me ...

Dr Octagon
Yeah, review hasn't changed from comment. This is lovely, a little under-arranged and thin mix'tastic, but if you will set yourself a 90 minute challenge - I love it until the apologising finale. Then I go off it rapidly. Someone as good as you as apologising for what you do? that's not going to work for me, you know that. Still for the first 2/3rds here's a VOTE. x

A Fluxus of Weasels
Careful with that one emotion - It's the only one you'll ever feel for another hundred years. Don't waste it on something as weak as your art - a waste of taste. There's nothing here as weak as you. All expressed emotion is at best a lie, at worst a lie to you. Are you happy now? You are all fucking idiots.

The Kenzie Chickens
Ignoring the self-referential stuff ... oh no, I can't. IT'S ALL THERE IS. A pointless self-abusin' exercise and nothing more. Sounds good, techincally (also that bass riff is totally nicked - if you give me a day or two I'll tell you exactly where from - only playing the first half of a famous riff doesn't make it OK) You are not Was Not Was. Please just don't enter if you have nothing to say. EDIT: I am more than happy to recant bold claims of plagarism if I can't prove my point, of course. Watch this space!

Krautnuck
No, no, no - this is just stupid. The weird half-vocoder effect to one side, this isn't catchy enough to dance to, or clever enough to consider. It's not bad, it's just ... no, goth electro is never good, not even when it has a memorable melody, which this doesn't.

Mickey Skylark
You have done so much better. This is far too safe. "Some like pepsi, some like coke"? Come on, where is the passion, man? I am supremely disappointed. If I want to hear Randy Newman singing swing ... well, I don't want to hear Randy Newman singing swing.

Nobody, et al.
Again, a gorgeously pretty tune. However the lyric is so fatuous that I can't really engage with it. Whether or not it comes "from the heart" it sounds like an exercise in being a folk hippy.

Paco del Stinko
Jolly! I love the Frank Black-isms at the heart of your best stuff. That flabulent deconstructed surf riff works for me. I notice that my recent cries for a big chorus from you have resulted in the complete absence of one this time out. So no more votes from me until you bring one ( a big chorus, that is), buddy, though you probably deserve one (a vote, that is). Them's the breaks.

Pigfarmer Jr
Pretty enough, but you can do a shedload better. The way it ends is the way it progresses - half-arsed. It really is pretty, mind.

sausage
Ooh, thar's quiet mix, captain! But this is a really good song. I wish it was real percussion, or rather less obviously 80s drum machine programming. It's really very catchy. Those electro-toms make me want to vomit out of my arse, however. Take it down a notch (or seven) on the top end of the percussion, mix the guitar down into the song (really for something which turns up for 15 seconds is it worth making it louder than anything else in the mix?) NEVER PLAY ELECTRO-TOMS AGAIN and this would have my heart and my vote. As it stands I am very frustrated not to be able to give you a vote.

sonofsupercar
Now that's a sexy rhythm section! Yeah, VOTE (despite the nonsense, and the worrying tendencies towards lo-fi 90s Seattle. "fIREHOSE"?)

WreckdoM
I asked for this, I suppose. *VOTE* *TRIPLE VOTE IF I KNEW HOW TO DO THAT, AND IF YOU WEREN'T TRYING TO DO A RESIDENTS WITHOUT REALLY UNDERSTANDING WHAT MAKES THEM GREAT, BUT STILL, A VOTE IS A VOTE, RIGHT?* Seriously this very good, but a few steps short of genius, cos you're trying too hard. One day, Wreckdom, one day ...

[Billymojo]

Johnny $:

I first heard the bass line on Cool Jerk by The Capitols. Jimi later used it on Fire. Likely others, before and since.

[j$]

Well, that saves me the bother None of those where what I was thinking of, but an ur-bass-rip is still a bass-rip, right? Anyway, what do I know? Right now, i am listening to a string quartet version of "Cannonball". (it's dreadful, to save you the bother of askin').

[Caravan Ray]

Random Review:

I just listened to the first song on the list:

KENZIE CHICKENS:
Sounds great. Excellent production.

I am one not at all adverse to a novelty song. This is close - but no cigar. Execution is excellent. It sounds real - and that is great. But there seems to be no point to it - no punch line.

Now - while I do not claim to be expert at the novelty genre - can I direct you to this:
http://www.songfight.org/music/cute_boo ... ray_cb.mp3

where you will find a distinct punchline at 2:00

Your execution is better than mine - but I think a novelty song needs a joke - not just an amusing premise. You have no joke.

Your song is not good enough to be a non-novelty song - and not novelty enough to be a proper novelty song




Is there really a Springfield in Oregon? There is one is Brisbane. It cracks me up. It is Bogan City.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Thanks for the comments, everybody, what a fine crop has been raised. I missed the last two rounds to offer my own, but now that my life is balancing out after some trying times, I shall return. Speaking of unbalanced, my song this week was written and recorded in two hours. No excuse but, rather, explanation. Fear not, I shall return with over-inflated stories about nothing, soon enough. Like...next week's fight. Reviews soon, and thanks again!

[Billymojo]

Random Review:

I just listened to the first song on the list:

KENZIE CHICKENS:
Sounds great. Excellent production.

I am one not at all adverse to a novelty song. This is close - but no cigar. Execution is excellent. It sounds real - and that is great. But there seems to be no point to it - no punch line.

Now - while I do not claim to be expert at the novelty genre - can I direct you to this:
http://www.songfight.org/music/cute_boo ... ray_cb.mp3

where you will find a distinct punchline at 2:00

Laughed out loud. Then thought, that's gotta hurt.

But thanks for the feedback. Fact is I often can't tell if I'm tryin' to be funny or not. Other fact is I can't hold the bongwater of some of the writers here. Deep thoughts give me a headache. This week's title, FACR, kinda calls for somethin' sincere and meaningful. Please pass the advil and oxycodone. I'm hurtin'.

Your execution is better than mine - but I think a novelty song needs a joke - not just an amusing premise. You have no joke.

Your song is not good enough to be a non-novelty song - and not novelty enough to be a proper novelty song




Is there really a Springfield in Oregon? There is one is Brisbane. It cracks me up. It is Bogan City.