Bruckheimer makes a good film (Hollywood Fantasy Reviews)

[erik]

defend your bad tastes

[Kamakura]

I liked 'Top Gun' and I'm not ashamed to say it.

[Jim of Seattle]

You should be.

[EightLeggedOedipus]

Andre Was Here At Midnight
--- Still got some major timing issues.---
--- And some melody issues ---
--- And some off-key issues ---
+++ You've got a mood, though. That's a few points +++

Andy Balham
+++ Cool intro +++
--- Oh that gothic singing. Damn, listen to Psi Com. Learn how to do it with style. ---
--- And timing, too. Nasty. ---
+++ Shit, where'd this cool band come from all of a sudden? +++
--- No no no! Bring that band back!!! ---
--- At the talk-over, I skip -> next track ---

BeWells
+++ Always a good acoustic lead-in +++
/// I could do without the James Taylor-ness. GnG but bearable ///
--- It's so hissy, man. Oh and "Breakfast at Tiffany's" sounds so played out. ---

Cattle Bat and the Brian F's
+++ A new voice. Some nu-wave indie scrawny whiteboy. +++
/// Your production is pretty cheesy. ///
+++ You could be really good with a producer. Like Jet Strokezinand or something +++
--- What the fuck are the Brian F's ?---

Eddiebangs
+++ More 1987 rootsy hair rock! +++
/// And then we go all Jerry Cantrell / Layne Staley ///
--- "thanks for the joy you bring" sounds so cheesy ---
--- You're not Mike Patton in 1989. ---
/// This song could really use something sinister to it. ///



Hoblit
/// A decent song. No grab, though. ///
+++ I like the rhythm and the Hammond B3 (sim I assume) +++
--- I'm getting tired of your singing, though. Am I picky? Someone said 'anal' about me and they were right. ---
+++ You've got a consistent quaver that reminds me of the nervous energy of the Features. You just are three pennies shy of a melody +++

Kamakura
--- Week after week you really can't sing. ---
/// I guess the karaoke-ness is a little charming ///
+++ As I listen to the lyrics though, I find them quite clever. +++

Loyalty Day
+++ Cutesy. Fun. Like the double time rhythm. +++
/// The beat kind of tripped somewhere. You could adjust the velocity of the snares on that fill you keep using (like at 1:17). Give it a little dynamic. I can hear it's nicely quantized. But the hits just trip up everything the slightest bit. ///
+++ Generally good. Contender. Good job, Ken +++

Magnetbox
+++ I like the sound of the crappy highly reverbed guitar. Even though it really doesn't sound good.+++
--- Major rhythm problems. Bass player is SOO noob. Vocals sound retarded on the chorus. I mean really retarded. Like, "Naked on the Meach" retarded. ---
/// Decent solo a la Slash circa age 4 ///

R Mosquito
+++ Oh, RM goes Timbaland. +++
/// When will we white boys stop rapping? ///
+++ The track continues to impress... let's get some curry. +++

I think I'm going Loyalty Day

[Andy Balham]

Andy Balham
--- Oh that gothic singing. Damn, listen to Psi Com. Learn how to do it with style. ---
...
--- At the talk-over, I skip -> next track ---

If I was trying for a style I would take that on board. As it is, that's what God in his infinite wisdom has bestowed on me. Shame you couldn't take the talking bit, you missed the big solo.

On a more positive note, I've just had a very enjoyable listen to them all. Reviews to follow tonight (I have to keep up some pretence of working), but my favourites so far are Kamakura, Loyalty Day and Eddie Bangs.

[Niveous]

Niv's review paragraph

Ooh, I can see that I'm gonna enjoy this fight. I like the music of Magnetbox but the vocals and the lyrics are total rubbish. Notes splattered all over the place and prosody abandoned. Next. Nice chorus on the Balham track. Odd verses. I'm 50/50 on this one. This is a new style for Loyalty Day but I can dig it. And I can dig Emma Peel. Oh yeah. Wait, is that a theremin!!! OK, that almost ensures a vote. Bewells like illiteration. "Sabrina saw the setting sun". OK but nothing special. Shame, I was looking forward to the BeWells song after that killer Aspartame tune. Hoblit's tune has the rock but the vocals seem like they were phoned in. Who sucked out the feeling, hoblit? A little more feeling by the halfway mark but I've already lost interest. CB & the BF's=WTF. Sounds like you had fun but I just didn't dig it. Another Brit talking about Hollywood, hmmm. Well, Kamakura put up a pretty good tune here. It's a front runner. If that Loyalty Day song hadn't screwed up the bell curve, this might get my vote. Reve is rapping? Please don't. And why that beat? It's not Bollywood fantasy. AWHAM makes music like no one else on the planet. Sometimes the twisted rhythms work and sometimes they are grating as all hell. Today, they work. It's a quirky tune. And for the second fight in a row I can't get the Eddiebangs song to work. . Vote time. Loyalty Day gets the easy win followed by Kamakura and third place goes to AWHAM. Off to the next fight.

[brianf]

andrewashereatmidnight: some timing and tuning issues. singing is drab and off key. not a lot of discernable melody for me to grab onto here. The lead guitar is loud and distracting but maybe that's the point. the song self destructs around 1:35 and I get vertigo and nearly barf. Song should have ended around 2:40. I didn't find there was enough variation in the arrangement between verse and chorus. it sounded like one long droning headache.

andybalham: this is pretty ok. singing doesn't do much for me but I guess it fits ok. I like the changes and the arrangement is pretty nice. pretty cool guitarin' going on. Don't really dig the spoken part, while it's a fairly effective bridge I think maybe you lose too much energy there. overall good.

bewells: this is nice guitarin and singing. the synth strings are pretty sweet too. pretty sincere and seemingly unironic songwriting, refreshingly straight up. dude, audrey hepburn was hot.

eddiebangs: pretty fucking rad, unless you're trying just copping this style to be ironic or funny. in which case, you suck and fuck you for toying with my emotions. seriously, I love this. the chorus is epic, sweet guitar solo. the ending is super boss, perfect length. There needs to be more music like this, bring it back! super tops a+!!!

hoblit: eddiebangs did it better, but this is pretty cool. I wish it had a stronger hook and maybe a more challenging vocal melody. the bridge sounds messy and weird. this song is too long and homogeneous, I am losing interest.

kamakura: I think the vox need to be mixed better, as was stated before it comes off a little karaoke-like. you can't decide if you're being croony or sassy, and I don't know if you can be both. I dont know if there are any rules on this but mentioning songfight in your song should result in major point deductions. seems like this song is about a minute too long, there's not a lot of variation to keep me interested for 3 minutes.

loyaltyday: sweet intro. good singing, but some harsh s action going on. I wish the dude was singing harmony and not lower octave unison (or maybe both) I dig the double time rhythm in the chorus, brings the intensity up a bit without changing the instrumentation or vocal quality. great bounce and pop, I'm diggin it. I think the song could really benefit from some more insturmentation build up near the end, maybe some synth horn shots or something, I dunno. I like Diana Rigg too but she's not as hot as Audrey Hepburn (see the Be Wells) But this is a cool song, probably my #2.

magnetbox: oof, your singing is really sharp. tonally sharp, not as in "hey that's a sharp looking suit you're wearing." I don't like your dulling of the s in fantazzy. I dunno, this song comes off as pretty tedious and uninspired. the arrangement is ok, but there are some really distracting timing issues going on. There's not a strong enough melody to keep me interested and if there were the singing wouldn't be good enough to pull it off.

rmosquito: ok uh, is it intentional that your rhyme scheme mirrors Vanilla Ice in Ice Ice Baby? The beat is a bit monotonous. Jesus God, that crank percussion sound is jackhammering my inner ear bones!! it's super obnoxious, but it's good that it's there otherwise I wouldnt know where the beat was turning into chorus. Seems like you can't keep up with the speed in parts, but points for trying. I know it's probably your style but I like a bit more vocal variation. You seem to lose your intensity in parts and come off less tough and more whiny. needs consistency. I think the song is the right length though.

1.eddiebangs.
2.loyalty day.
3.be wells.

[brianf]

Cattle Bat and the Brian F's
+++ A new voice. Some nu-wave indie scrawny whiteboy. +++
/// Your production is pretty cheesy. ///
+++ You could be really good with a producer. Like Jet Strokezinand or something +++
--- What the fuck are the Brian F's ?---

I'm not that new, I've just been on hiatus. I'm not that scrawny and not that white and Brian F is my actual name. But the rest is complimentary. thanks.

CB & the BF's=WTF. Sounds like you had fun but I just didn't dig it. Another Brit talking about Hollywood, hmmm.

what the: British? nope. British Columbian as in Canadian though. Curious, what made you think I was from the UK?

[Phil. Redmon.]

8LO

boo-heh-heh-ha!

[Niveous]

]CB & the BF's=WTF. Sounds like you had fun but I just didn't dig it. Another Brit talking about Hollywood, hmmm.

what the: British? nope. British Columbian as in Canadian though. Curious, what made you think I was from the UK?

I know you are not British, Mr. Fukushima. I was referring to the next song. Sometimes when I do these rambling paragraphs, there's a lack of clarity.

[Leaf]

Sometimes when I do these rambling paragraphs, there's a lack of clarity.

Tell me about it.


I'm enjoying your reviewing style, it's refreshingly interesting.

[brianf]

I'm enjoying your reviewing style, it's refreshingly interesting.

yeah it sorta forces you to read reviews of the other contestants even when you don't want to. I'm into it.

[Kamakura]

I dont know if there are any rules on this but mentioning songfight in your song should result in major point deductions.

Points?... You get points? Blimey.

[Andy Balham]

And the votes from the Balham jury...

Andre Was Here At Midnight
The guitar sounds a little laboured and bass is lurking mysteriously in the background. I like that you’ve got your own voice though, even for me, it gets a little too ’free’ at times. It sets its mood well, but it’s too one-paced for its length and by the third minutes I’m looking forward to the end.

Andy Balham (me)
Thanks to Stevie Windsor for the lead guitars and the general feedback. At last I’ve managed to avoid too many words in the chorus. FWIW I like the speaking bit, though I’ll regret it if I ever do it live. Singing live is hard enough, doing a speaking interlude is twice as bad.

The BeWells
Your guitar is beautifully recorded always and the lyric is clever to boot. Unfortunately, it’s a little too saccharine for my tastes, though you have my admiration for both the musical and lyrical craft.

Cattle Bat and the Brian Fs
I’m enjoying this slice of lo-fi much more on the second listen. Nice falsetto. Nice to hear a song that doesn’t push its luck lengthwise. I look forward to more from you.

Eddiebangs
Top-notch rock guitar and vocals as always, but the chorus comes as a bit of a let down after all the fine build up work. The lead work is mighty fine though; I just wish that chorus had more urgency to it. Good to hear you back.

Hoblit
You’re going to be doing well to entertain me for the full five minutes. Starts off well and I like the organ thing in the background, but let’s see if you have the variety to last the distance. The change just after three minutes was most welcome and the instrumental fits the lyrical content very well. This is really growing on me now and reminds me of Mudhoney’s cover of ‘The Rose’.

Kamakura
I like the rhythm and, like a lot of your stuff, the overall feel. For some reason I do think you get deducted ‘points’ for the reference to SongFight. I really like the last verse and the proper pronunciation of ‘bastard’.

Loyalty Day
As this opened I thought it was going to be a very long three minutes, but somehow you pull it off. Maybe it’s because I can appreciate your love of Emma Peel in a way that borders on the illegal. Beautiful nonsense that reminds me of The B52’s good stuff.

Magnetbox
The timing of the backing sounds a little off to my ears and your voice sounds like it’s straining and not in a good way. As with myself, I would try to concentrate on getting that backing tighter. The guitar solo shows promise, but wavers off in places here and there. The rhyme with splendid sounds a little laboured too.

R. Mosquito
Nice flow. The set up kept reminded me of a British comedy show where a chap is hoodwinked into a gay porno called ‘Willy Wanker and the Chocolate Factory’. Still, an interesting listen first time round.

Well, I thought it was a top-notch fight. If it was for the best chorus I would have to vote for myself, as it is my top three are:
3. Cattle Bat and the Brian Fs
2. Loyalty Day
1. Hoblit

[Hoblit]

Hoblit
You’re going to be doing well to entertain me for the full five minutes. Starts off well and I like the organ thing in the background, but let’s see if you have the variety to last the distance. The change just after three minutes was most welcome and the instrumental fits the lyrical content very well. This is really growing on me now and reminds me of Mudhoney’s cover of ‘The Rose’.

3. Cattle Bat and the Brian Fs
2. Loyalty Day
1. Hoblit

Cool, thats the nicest thing anyone has said to me all day

I'd be interested in hearing that Mudhoney song if you gots da mp3.

[j$]

My reviews. Tra la la.

Kamakura - Scott Walker reggae is a very good thing. If it was sung in french it would fit perfectly on one of Serge's reggae albums. I shall expect to hear this at the next songfight UK ...

Andy Balham - great chorus. Really good. Good guitar tone too. The verses seemed a bit limping in comparision. maybe a little more complicated guitar wank there? Great solo too. I like the lyrical theme - the spoken word part should maybe be half as long as it needs to be. Also it sounds like you're singing 'Small Man City' at times - I never had you down as a Reds fan

Hoblit - Is that an organ patch in there? Oh yes, it is. I was about to say 'a bit quiet' but then no, it's not ... you know this sounds like an American Balham to me ... epic in scope. I like the vocal once the backing vocals kick in a lot. Before then it seemed like the tune was a little high for you. By the middle your voice has definitely settled. Lovely prog-pomp solo as usual. Lashings of reverb go down well with me. A little long but I say that for just about any song over 2.45... 'she smells so nice' makes me snigger for no particular reason

Magnetbox - This sounds like an incredibly proficient guitarist with a rhythym section who are pretty drunk. Vocally obviously it's not the most accurate-to-the-melody performance I've ever heard but there is something charming in there - maybe it's the charming lyric - actually that vocal is really distracting me - it sounds to me like you're trying too hard to hit notes in a 'traditional rock singer' way and it's making you uncomfortable. I say let loose, enjoy yourself and the natural charm in your voice will overcome any bad-note scenarios - but then again, what would I of all people know?

Brian F - no songs from you for ages, then two come along as well? This sounds like an extension of the Spy vs Pie stuff. there's so many nice things going on here- little falsetto, great call and response backing vocals, nice keyboard tone, but it leaves me a little cold as a whole thing. But I've always had that problem with Brian F songs in their various forms, so don't pay too much heed ...

AWHAM - I like the kitchen-sink tone to some of the instrumentation - also great bass tone. 'It's all in our hair'? Again nice things going on but it's not working over all for me. I don't know what to suggest. There's a great freedom of experimentation to your song-writing, any attempts to rein that in would probably result in a loss of some of that ..

EddieBangs - please, please, please give those of us who have WMP a break! I'm not changing it, you're not changing it, I don't get to hear Eddie Bangs songs anymore, which is sad if it's just about sorting out a few ID tags??

RMosquito - Cool. Heh! Nice rap voice. Excellent 'Kiss Kiss' style backing track. I might more clearly define the chorus (possibly merely by turning up the backing vocals or varying the drum pattern [a bit more?] there). Shiny!

The BeWells - Like Strawberries on the Silver Screen?? Your voice sounds great on this. I like the jazzy inflections of the guitar playing too. I keep expecting this to kick into Don McLean territory. the synth is very synthy, but if it's all you got access to, I won't hold it against you. Drums under the last section I think. Or another level of instrumentation. Very pretty, almost heart-breaking in mood. Walks that thin line between all-out emotional manipulation pop and something quite personal. I need to listen again some time to see which side it falls for me.

Loyalty Day - What a fantastic opening! Oh this is great. Emma Peel isn't really a Hollywood fantasty, is she? Oh i see, if Hollywood was in England ... cute cute cute. I like this one a lot, it's a natural winner. the theramin-esque key break is a master touch. I can imagine doing a little elbow shuffle to this in a retro sixties club. How nice to hear the two best first and last. A sense of closure ... unless I missed someone ....

OK, good fight! No dross whatsoever, which I wasn't expecting from the title I must say. My top six - all of which I would vote for on any given day, in fairly arbitrary divisions ...

1=Loyalty Day
1=Kamakura
3= Andy Balham
3=RMosquito
3=The Bewells
4.Hoblit

I mean how often do you see me mention more than one or two songs I liked? I think Loyalty Day would (maybe should) run away with this fight, so I'll vote for Kamakura unless the reviews over the next few days suggest otherwise, then I shall spring to the LD defence ...

j$

[Magnetbox]

I listened to all of the songs real quickly and it sounds like we have a tough SongFight this time. All of them were really good. Time for my reviews:

Andre Was Here at Midnight - OK, the "piano" starting it out sounded cool, but it quickly got too busy. Just too much going on at the same time. Can't say I like the singing, but who am I to judge that? I looked at the lyrics and I'm not sure what the song is about.

Andy Balham - This reminds me of something I've heard before... Beatles maybe? I can't place it now. I can kind of agree with the lyrical message. I don't normally like spoken vocal parts, but this actually fits. The guitar solo is all right. Nothing to totally rave about, but not bad either. This might get my vote.

The BeWells - The guitar tone is awesome. The vocals are great. The synth in the background is perfect--it frames the song so well and adds some extra mood to the song. But my only complaint is the lack of dynamics of the song. Sure, it works as a standard folk song and I could hear myself listening to this in a coffee shop or a bookstore, but it's just not the thing that would make me run out and buy the album. I just feel like it should move into something more.

Cattle Bat and the Brian Fs - The background vocals are a nice touch on this. It just seems too trebly in the overall mix. I can't put my finger on anything specific, but it's not quite doing anything for me.

Hoblit - Oooh... dark tone. I like the mood. But the song seems to be too long without enough variation. I kind of like the lyrics on this--especially the parts like "I'm not saying I'd do it again, but I'm not saying I would not." Which is weird as the song seems to be about incest?? OK, the bridge seems to guitar busy to hear waht's going on... WOW!! WOW!!! This guitar solo is EXCELLENT!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! Very good.

Kamakara - I really like the chorus on this. Nice kudos to SongFight. The story seems to be a bit similar to my song. OK, the ending is pretty different than mine. Good competition for Andy for my vote.

Loyalty Day - Sounds way too happy after the other songs I have just listened to. I like the harmonies, but the chorus seems to be popping up too much. I wanted to read the lyrics on this as it took me a few listens to get what the song is about.

R. Mosquito - Reminds me of MC Hammer. I don't feel like I can give any accurate critique of this as I don't normally listen to music like this. Am I to believe that your "Hollywood Fantasy involves" sheep?

OK, that be it. Couple of other comments.

a rhythym section who are pretty drunk.

That's kind of funny because my drummer insisted on playing the song much faster than I had intended. So I gave him some Jack Daniels to slow him down. A lot of Jack Daniels. The beers he had first didn't do it.

I would try to concentrate on getting that backing tighter

Yeah, I'm not sure what happened with the bass part?? I was playing with some timing adjustment and groove generation software on it and I noticed the groove was kind of "interesting" but I didn't give it much thought. I wonder if it was that bad before I messed with it in editing??? Did I drink too much JD too? (Scurries off to check the masters)

It sounds to me like you're trying too hard to hit notes in a 'traditional rock singer' way and it's making you uncomfortable. I say let loose, enjoy yourself and the natural charm in your voice will overcome any bad-note scenarios - but then again, what would I of all people know?

Other people have said that to me as well. I've actually read that if you concentrate too much on hitting the right pitch, you can drive yourself off. Dunno if that's my problem or not, but I've been working on trying to do something different.

My vote is a toss-up between Kamakura and Andy Balham... I might have to listen to them again.

[Eddiebangs]

My reviews. Tra la la.

EddieBangs - please, please, please give those of us who have WMP a break! I'm not changing it, you're not changing it, I don't get to hear Eddie Bangs songs anymore, which is sad if it's just about sorting out a few ID tags??

j$

OK, I'll cave (somewhat...) for you and Niv and whoever else can't play mine 'cause of the tags. Here are the songs you missed... hope this works or you're outta luck...and get winamp, or real player or quicktime, anything but WMP!

http://soultreerecords.com/Eddiebangs/H ... antasy.htm

http://soultreerecords.com/Eddiebangs/F ... TheSky.htm

[Hoblit]

Hoblit - Oooh... dark tone. I like the mood. But the song seems to be too long without enough variation. I kind of like the lyrics on this--especially the parts like "I'm not saying I'd do it again, but I'm not saying I would not." Which is weird as the song seems to be about incest?? OK, the bridge seems to guitar busy to hear waht's going on... WOW!! WOW!!! This guitar solo is EXCELLENT!!! WOW!!! WOW!!! Very good.

I agree, the first two verses drag. I needed those two verses and originally sang them exactly the same with even less variation. I eventually varied them both from their original melody a little bit to help remedy this. I suppose it was rather unsuccessful as it seems to be the most critized part of the song. My goal was to make the first half slow, dark, and creepy and then the second half come out as a passionate love song. The break being chaotic and representing the actual act of sex..then breaking into the climatic guitar solo. Then the rest of it being the part about having to let it all go. I concede that the second verse really makes the song too long and drawn out.

Magnetbox gets a cookie for figuring out the content theme of my song.

[reve]

Andre was here.
Andre, this is kind of like GBV-go-creepy. I must admit that I enjoyed it thoroughly.

A. Balham.
You know who you sing like? Johnny Cashpoint. And it's not just the accent. But y'know, I've been enjoying your tracks lately (but I think this is my first comment atcha) -- and I'm enjoying this one thoroughly as well.

B-Wellz & Da Hip Hop Bizzoyz
When one uses the phrase "brekfast at tiffany's" in a song, I flash back to that mid ninties alt-rock hit "breakfast at tiffany's" by a band called deep blue something. I enjoyed the little stringy bit. Added a lil something. On second listen, I appreciated the allerative drop and wished there were more.

Cattle Bat and the Brian F's.
OH MY GOD I LOVE YOU!!!!!!!

E. Bangs.
Eddie, you so never fail to rock out. I wish your rock was like a rubber tree, and I could cut a sappling from you and drizzle some of your rock on me. To absorb some of it, if you will.

Hoblit
Goin' in I somehow expected something harder from Hoblit. Maybe Eddie's rock had me subconciously prepped. I mean, it's Hoblit, right? So we already know it's good. We'll just say what I like more than the usual Hoblitism. This time out, I like the interplay between the organ, gtr and bass.

K. Kura
Wow, you're second person in this fight to use the phrase "silver screen" in their fight. I think this'd be even cooler -- and this is just my genre bias speaking -- if it was faster during the verses. Bordering on -- I hate this word -- ska. I said it.

Loyality Day
God damn you Loyality Day. Cattle Bat et. al clearly had my vote until I listened to this track. But alas, it appears as if it is now it is yours. I am a fickle swing voter.

Box 'o Magnets
I like the distorted guitar that pops in at uh, like, 45 seconds or so. I like your choice of drum sounds. Convincing sound.

Me, R. Mosquito.
Woe, the degree to which I failed in this exercise (that is to say, the obligatory songfight rap) physically pains me. While I generally don't talk about my own traxxors much, I'm afraid I feel the need to start peddling the excuses here.

Seems like you can't keep up with the speed in parts

Totally. Funny story, actually. I decided I could just get up early, do the vocals and mix it down monday morning. NP, right? Well, I didn't wake up 'til my GF left at 9:10. Now, it turns out that speed rapping is not something I can do upon first waking up. Plus I was having sync problems. Or at least I'm telling myself I had sync problems. Those 45 minutes went faaaar too fast, and I sent it in as is.

Am I to believe that your "Hollywood Fantasy involves" sheep?

Well, in the song my fantasy is being a rapper. My fantasy rapper has a fantasy about being famous and making a video, but it quickly turns sour when the director dresses me up as little bo peep and attempts to sexually assult me whilst wearing a severed sheep's head.

It's a fun image, really. I mean, who wouldn't want to see a cross dressing gansta wrapper being sodomized by a man wearing a dead sheep's head? Sadly I lacked the skills to adapt this otherwise beautiful image into an engrossing narrative.

Anway, I promise not to torture anyone with my bad rapping again. Not unless they let me into the frontalittle squad or something.

This week I'm gonna do thrash metal. Heh.

[Andy Balham]

Magnetbox gets a cookie for figuring out the content theme of my song.

Damn! I knew I should have mentioned it, I was even going to use the phrase, "Incest, fun for all the family!". Please be more clear when cookies are on offer

[13hugh]

Got to be between the wholesome whimsey of Loyalty Day, and Andy Balhams too-close-to-home grumbelings, I know just where your comming from (well almost Birmingham & surrounds have never had any allure for me...), suppose I'll vote for whoever looks least popular out of those, the two outstanding tracks.