Put your plans on hold and write some reviews

[Ross]

Can't wait to hear what responsibilities you shirk to get this done.

[sleepysilverdoor]

Berkeley Social Scene
Tightly performed, well produced. sort of reminds me of mid 90s college rock...which is a wonderful thing. great ending solo! Lyrics don't do much for me, but they fit the song. A

bgm
Music: these harmonies are wonderful, production sounds swell, instrumentation is great. Lyrics fit the musical style well! A+

Billy and the Psychotics
RAWK! Love the line about the dreamland sinking into the quicksand. Best chorus so far! Love the breakdown after the second verse...sort of Incubus-ey (circa 1999/2000). A

The Chocolate Chips
Not as strong as the past three, but still good by songfight standards! Lyrically doesn't grab me, and the ending solo needs a stronger instrumental backing to be more effective. Like the synth though! B-

Dani House
Self aware mopeyness! Not really my style, so it's hard to give you a good review on it, if I had to score this, C+ I guess.

DJ Ranger Den
I think I'm burnt out on this variety of twee indie folk. Reminds me of 5 years ago and people who I used to like but got really tired of since they wouldn't stop blowing me off for not being a dumpster diving uke playing hipster. Totally unfair review...sorry. Bad memories. Unratable. I guess its good for what it is?

Foobar
Nothing about this grabs me...not bad, so a C I guess.

glennny
Musically pretty good! Love that breakdown halfway though! Lots of interesting genre switches to boot. Lyrically it's hard to say since you don't enunciate that well during the verses...something about the Chinese? A-/B+

Gregg Boethin
I am a professional meteorologist. I live in south Texas and really, really miss snow. It is 73F right now. A for lyrics.

The HATE Noise
NOW THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. Best intro ever! Jazz cigarettes? haven't heard that term before. musically kickass! lyrics...it is what it is. but an A-.

JoAnn Abbott
The hard panning is really distracting. Intonation is off too often for an a capella piece. tried to follow the story...lost interest. D-

Kasper
The chorus could use some better mixing. I like the synth solo. I always like synth solos. Maybe compress the drums less? B

Mantzfield
Vocals off key! Augh! I like the guitar work. Too much drumming in the intro. Sort of cool how it changed and got heavier. Too much of a mess for me. D+

Odilon Green
Wacky instrumentation! My cat does this to my wife and I all the time. And sneezing fits. A, despite meh production.

R. Mosquito
I can't understand a word you are saying. The synth line is boring. Skip. D

Ross Durand
Awwwwwwwwwwwwwww. B

Shelby Garrett
You have a really nice voice. Did you put a phasing effect on it near the end of the track? Song lost my attention halfway through though... B

Snoop Sloop Troop
HELL YEAH! A+

Troy Jones
C. Could be better. Could be a lot worse.

Tuners Union
I really like this! The backing vocals add a lot to the song! Well recorded, well written. Worth listening to again. A!

if you got an a, you got a vote. all in all better than last week's fight!

[Caravan Ray]

Can't wait to hear what responsibilities you shirk to get this done.

I actually wrote and recorded 3/4 of a song for this - but didn't get to finish because I had to go to Goodniwindi for work a few days.

I gotta get my priorities back in order.

[hillbilly]

My last reviews for a while gonna try to make them usefull.

DJ---very troubled lyrics, i understand them or take them in my own twisted way. No offense it may just be my current health.
Hate----I have really been digging your getto vibe, love this and i need my stuff %20 cheaper.Really i need good weight.
Greg Bow---- Enjoy your entries, good story,love your Texas Drawl or what ever, my pinion, which dosent matter, you need to clean up that telecaster lead, some parts sound a lil too lose.
BGM ---All up in here again, you are good dude. Why are you not making a living doing this stuff? Not talking this song, have searched you'r older stuff?
Tuners--- What I'm talking about.This is what i like. Would love to sit around and try to chase your guitar cords, then maybe go get a beer and eat wings at the locall sports bar.
Mr. Jones---Welcome, cain;t figure your accent, sounds an Ibanez acoustic, ? Kick me in the balls, works at my house and yours, my red neck stuff dosent seem to fly too well here. Just a warning.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Really good songs, everyone! I listened to all of them with an open mind to their particular genre and I have to say, I liked every one of them.

bgm, very cool. Nice to hear good use of a banjo.

Hey Kasper, will you do a cover of North American Scum someday? I know you'd nail it perfectly. Diggin' your tune.

Glennny and the Mothers, diggin' the mix of rock and progressive jazz. Very experimental and awesome music! I look forward to seeing how you advance this style in future endeavors. The voice is starting to round out too. Autotuned?

DJ, I like your little story songs. You always write neat-o stuff.

I'll get proper reviews of everyone later. But right now I need waffles.

[greggb]

My first set of critiques for one of the contests, in no particular order. I apologize in advance for those I will offend.

The Chocolate Chips: I like the groove and the melody/chord progression in this song. I like the vocals, too. But the mix is a little lacking. The overall arrangement and playing is good, but IMO you should use a real-sounding snare. It sounds like there's too much low-end on the vocal track in particular. Be sure to roll of the bottom 120-150Hz or so to reduce the muddiness. The lyrics sound a little repetitive, and aren't overly intriguing, but overall, a good job!

Glenny: One of the better mixes I've listened to this week. The vocals are good cut through well enough. The drums sound a little fake, but that's something we all struggle with. I like the changes throughout the song. The lyrics are repetitive, but not bad.

Bgm: I really like the banjo and vocal harmonies. As far as songwriting goes, I like the chord progression and melody, and the lyrics, but the lyrics are just a little on the vague side. You don't have to give it all away, but a little more info as to what you're talking about would help to draw the listener in. As far as the mix goes, a harmony instrument like an acoustic guitar would really help to fill the song, especially where you don't have drums. Good eq-ing on the vocal tracks and overall in the song, but again, the song would really benefit from a harmony instrument. One of the better songs this week, IMO.

Snoop Sloop Troop: It sounds like you had fun playing and recording this one. The intentional off-keyedness really bugs me, to be honest with you. But again, it sounds like you had fun. I guess that's what's important.

R. Mosquito. Your intro is too in my face with the synthesizer. The tone isn't really quality enough to be that forward in the mix. I can't understand your vocal line at all. It's not loud enough, I think it has too much reverb, and I don't think it's eq-ed properly. Your rhythm riffs are somewhat repetitive. Having your vocals more present might help to remedy this.

Troy Jones: To start, be sure to cut off that second of static before the song starts. The beginning and ending are areas that I, the listener, really key in – my first and last impression. I think the songwriting is decent in this song. I think the whole “kick me in the balls, write my name...” is over the top, where the chick you're talking about doesn't sound that psychotic. I'm not sure if you're using multiple tracks here but it sounds like either your vocals were recorded from the same mic as your acoustic guitar, or from a distance. I know you can get a better sound than that from even a cheap mic, so I don't think it's a question of the quality of your mic. I think it's how you're recording. It sounds really low-fi. Production aside, some decent songwriting with a little room for improvement.

Tuners Union: Really weak drums. So weak that I'd say you'd better off without them if you can't get them sounding better. Some really good vocals that sound a little folky. The words are a little hard to understand but what I can hear sounds deep and intelligent. The mix overall really lacks a full sound, and I think you have enough instruments to get a full sound. When so much of your song is carried by your acoustic guitar, I think you should have it full-stereo, on left and right tracks, your vocals centered, the other instruments that come in panned left and right. To conclude, a good song from a songwriting standpoint, from what I can understand of the lyrics, good vocals, good playing... just gotta work on that mix.

Mantzfield: It sounds like your bass is drowning out just about everything, including your vocals. I can barely understand the lyrics. If the mix were adjusted it would be really cool where the song turns metal, but as it is, I really can't understand anything. Your vocals sound on tune, but they're really lacking in energy when you're not in metal mode. Your metal guitar has too much distortion and is really lacking in tone on both sides. And you have an abrupt ending, which again is my last impression of the song.

Kasper: Obviously synthetic drums, as most of ours are, but with that being the case you probably don't want them to be the focus in any kind of intro or solo. The tone in your guitar could be improved. The synth is too strong and should be panned left or right. I can barely understand your lyrics at all during your chorus. As far as songwriting goes, “I call you baby on the telephone, but it seems lately that you're not at home” is about as cliché as you can get. Then after that you take her picture while she's unaware of it... kinda sounds a little stalkery, and you tell her not to pay attention to what might be her boyfriend because he don't mean nothing at all, and it's really not clear if you're actually talking to her or thinking outloud. The lyrics leave me puzzled.

The HATE Noise: I don't like these intros that start without music. It's too easy. I also don't like it when a band mentions their own name in their song. It sounds really egocentric and insecure, like you have to remind me who I'm listening to, because if you don't, I might forget and think it's Garth Brooks. And it's even worse when you refer to yourself in the third person. Another peeve of mine are bands who have to make every damn song about marijuana. I think it should be legal in all 50 states and every country in the world, but it seems like insecurity once again when you have to talk about it all the time and remind everyone that you smoke weed. A casual mention in the song would be cool, but to make an entire song titled, “Our plans are on hold” about weed is like the guy at the party who has to make sure everyone knows how wasted he is.

Billy and the Pyschotics: The vocals are good but are slightly weak in the mix, as far as volume and cutting through goes. Drums sound pretty good. As far as songwriting, this is one of those songs where the listener may not focus so much on every word, and I think the lyrics are appropriately insignificant. “Our plans are on hold” could be replaced with just about any other phrase with a similar rhythm, and I don't think the listener would mind – again, this is song style, and it works. The melody and chords are decent enough. The playing is really good, and the vocals are, too. I feel like this song is lacking in real emotion and is more a songfight contest entry than a song someone would be inspired to write, but I found this title to be one of the lesser inspiring titles as well. Overall one of the stronger entries this week.

Ross Durand: Static before the first guitar strum, setting an amateur tone, which I don't feel is the case for this song. I think it's very well done, and again, editing out that static would give me a much better first impression. Great acoustic guitar playing and singing. I want to say you have too much bottom end on your vocal line. You should be rolling off the first 150Hz with a voice like yours. As far as songwriting goes, this song has some really strong lyrics and paints a picture with its use of adjectives and descriptions. I didn't feel that the melody created quite a serious enough tone, but as I've mentioned, I don't think the title this week is overly emotion evoking. Great job on this... work on your mixing a little to really improve your sound.

Dani House: Once again, there's static at the beginning of the song that's not covered up by an instrument or vocals. I like one particular part of your chord progression. The lyrics are kind of hard to understand, though they seem deep enough, but also kind of repetitive. The song moves slow and is lacking a real chorus which causes me to get bored with it after a minute or so. I'm not sure what kind of software you're using but you should be able to edit out the sound of yourself sniffling... obviously a lot of us are suffering from colds this time of year, but that's really amateur-sounding.

Shelby Garrett: I really like your vocals. They don't quite cut through well enough in the mix, though. I think you might have had too much reverb on your acoustic guitar. It sounds like you have it capoed high, which is cool, but causes it to be lacking in bass and mid-tones. It would be great to have another guitar track where you played something lower as well, to cover more of the spectrum. The lyrics were kind of hard to understand, again because your vocals didn't cut through real well, but what I could hear of them sounded good.

Odilion Green: Kind of a cool sound, though it sounds to me like all of your instruments are synthetic. Your vocals don't cut through real well, and this is another case where it sounds to me like you need to roll off the bottom 150Hz of your vocals with Eqing. Your singing was on pitch but sounded a little stiff in some places. It might have been your word choice as much as anything. And it seems like the romantic gestures in your lyrics didn't match the kind of dance feeling of your music.

Foobar: “Vengeance is mine”, says the Lord. You lost me right there. I feel like this is another one of those songs where your all-loving God condemns all of us heathens, myself included, while all of you good Christians look down your noses and say, “hah, you're going to burn in hell, and we're not!” The lyrics in the song are kind of hard to understand, and I didn't make it all the way through it, to be honest. So if I missed the point, and that's not what this song is about, I apologize. But I heard enough of this in Church growing up that I won't listen to it by choice at this point in my life. And there are major problems in your production as well.

JoAnn Abbot: Not sure about the acapella production. It could have used a little more harmony. I'm really not sure what you were getting at, or who you were planning on killing, but you kind of struck me as someone with multiple personalities, which maybe is what you were going for?

Berkely Social Scene: A decent production in this song. Good vocals. But like a lot of songs this week, it just didn't speak to me at an emotional level. I'll say again in your defense that I think this title was kind of difficult.

DJ Ranger Den: I watched a movie a while back, and I'm too tired to remember the name, but the writer/director of the show did the voice for a cat who was supposed to be adopted from a shelter, and anyway, your voice sounds a lot like hers. This is an interesting song with a decent, simple production. The vocals are easy to hear... the song itself is hard to understand, but tastefully so.

[SirkusPi]

Although I've voted before, I haven't written reviews, and the process of putting my thoughts in writing made choosing who to vote for even more difficult than it already was (which was very). Should I be voting for songs that are nicely recorded and produced but just aren't my cup of tea? Songs that I really, really like on a fundamental musical level but that have production problems? Only songs that are both technically accomplished and that I subjectively enjoy? In the end, I decided that if I'd listen to it again, it gets a vote. Do other people have different (better) systems?

Berkeley Social Scene
I like the music on this generally, and especially the verses, although the vocals seem a bit thin. Oddly, I find the chorus the least catchy part. But all told, not my kind of music (which of course is entirely a subjective issue, as I recognize the quality here).

bgm
I like the loose vibe and flow of the song, and it sounds good. but it's not really my style -- maybe a little too mellow -- and I don't think I'd listen to it again.

Billy and the Psychotics
I know I'm too picky, because this definitely has a great blues rock thing going, but it doesn't really keep my interest lyrically, which I know is not really the point, but still, I'm not personally drawn in.

The Chocolate Chips
I like the chorus, but not enough here lyrically to keep me involved.

Dani House
Just too laid back for me.

DJ Ranger Den
I like this; it seems quiet (I mean, it *is* quiet), but there's also a subdued intensity and tunefulness that kept me interested. Vote.

Foobar
I wish the vocals were mixed up a bit further; I really do like the fundamental musical base (even if there are production problems), but I had a hard time trying to make out all the lyrics. Even so, I gotta admit I like it. Vote.

glenny
Completely charming, and the structural variations kept my interest too. A definite highlight for me, and a definite vote.

Gregg Boethin
A straightforward, well-done tune; it rolls along happily, tunefully, and inoffensively, and, although that my sound like damning with faint praise, I enjoyed it enough for a vote.

The HATE Noise
I really liked the introduction to this, until the rap started. I recognize the quality here, but it's not really for me.

Joanna Abbott
Although I admire the a cappella concept, I don't quite get this.

Kasper
Straight ahead rock that I really enjoyed. Big vote.

Mantzfield
This seems well recorded and produced, but neither style -- the meandering drone nor the metalesque roar - spoke to me at all.

Odilon Green
Me, and I like it, so I'm giving myself a vote. That being said, I have to admit the production and mixing are a bit wonky here; it sounds pretty good on my headphones, but a lot less good on my speakers (vocals kind of muddy / strange), and I just ran out of time and patience to try and fix it. But it makes me laugh, and I figured that if I enjoy, it, that was enough justification to send it out into the world.

R. Mosquito
I was all set to like this based on the opening music, but the super-distorted vocals lost me, and then the music kind of lost me too.

Ross Durand
I really like this one a lot. The voice, guitar, and voice all work together perfectly for me. Definite vote, and a definite highlight.

Shelby Garrett
Another song that drifted inoffensively by -- the worst thing I can say is that the vocals were a bit hard to understand at times -- but that doesn't quite inspire a vote from me.

Snoop Sloop Troop
The Residents do SongFight! I respect this, but don't particularly enjoy it (just like the Residents).

Troy Jones
Sounds familiar, in a good way; comfortable, but not too mellow. Vote.

Tuners Union
Kind of loose and mellow, like bgm, but this works better for me. I like the vocals especially, and the trip-hoppy feel. Vote.

[sleepysilverdoor]

Snoop Sloop Troop
The Residents do SongFight! I respect this, but don't particularly enjoy it (just like the Residents).

Sirkus: Thank you for recognizing Snoop Sloop Troop for exactly what it was supposed to be. Particularly we were going for a "Commercial Album" type song: short, to the point, and totally inane.

[Mike Lamb]

Berkeley Social Scene

- vocal seemed really drowned in the mix, guitar seemed to overpower the vox
+ tight bass/drums, i like the bass tone a lot. very consistent
- mix feels very "busy" .. i think this is because the guitar and synth spent so much time following the vocal pitch.
+ guitar solos had a great tone. i'd love to hear about the tech behind this. it's a really sweet sound, especially the second solo.
+ i like the vibe of the track at 2:48. i think I "get" that this is relevant within the context of the lyrics (the way it changes from super poppy to this)

bgm

+ vocals are fantastic.
- something about the banjo doesn't sit in the mix. banjo is a huge bitch to mix, yes, and within the scope of the song, this is a nitpick of a review, but it seems really distant compared to the bass and vox.
+ beautiful arrangement

vote

Billy and the Psychotics

+ straight up rocker
? wish the vox were mixed up a little higher. this seems consistent for a lot of titles
+1:35 nice breakout, tasty bass riffs

vote

The Chocolate Chips

+ nice guitar arpeggio
+ i like the vocal effect, whatever it is, especially around :50 (chorus), very full and smooth sounding
- wasn't so into the solo, somehow it doesnt' seem nearly as "clean" as the rest of the song. not sure how to describe that quantitatively. seemed a little tacked on, noodle on pentatonic.

Dani House

+ nice ambiance
+ good use of the title, surprised there hasn't been more like this in the fight. very melancholy.

DJ Ranger Den

- very quiet mix
+ great harmonies. reminds me of pomplamoose

Foobar

- vocals completely sunk in the mix. I'm starting to wonder if my speakers are messed up..
-/+ there's a weird effect on the guitar partway through. was this intentional? i liked the guitar, but it was overwhelmed by underwhelming piano. this might be instrument bias, not sure, but having the piano more or less tracking the chords and changes of the guitar makes both of them sound .. lesser. I think this would have benefited by having the guitar be out in front, with a gentle piano arpeggio behind it.

glennny

+ hallmark of a solid track. i can go into the other room to stir my stew, and i can hear the bass and drums thumping in good working order.
+/- super eclectic. the "channel changes" are super weird, very unique. can't say i've ever heard anything like it.
+ solid arrangement/mixing/technical.
+ sweet solo at 4:00
+ lyrics. very nice.

vote

Gregg Boethin

+/- fairly predicable country/rock progression
+ well balanced mix. is this a full band or just you? sounds pretty tight if it's a full band.

The HATE Noise

+ weird intro, very dystopian.
- weird doubled vocal effect again.. this seems popular these days. not a fan.
+/- vocals are sunk in the mix. I like the vocals, but they're getting a bit overrun by the synthy stuff floating around them
+ like the break at 3:25. wish there'd been more variety through the track like that.

JoAnn Abbott

- acapella. i might have been a little more into this if it was done up with a bit of guitar backing or piano or something. trouble with acapella is that the tempo and pitch have a tendency to get pretty loose, and it's distracting.
- didn't really get the lyrics. ironically, I just read a review of our (Kasper) song which said basically the same thing. The call and response was a little confusing are you talking to yourself or to someone else?
- use/incorporation of the title seemed pretty minimal.

Is this your first songfight submission? If so, kudos on having the guts to put it out there. Any kind of musical accompaniment would have really improved this, even kitchen percussion.

Kasper

- weird Thooooom bass in the drum intro. Was a looped sample, but I couldn't get rid of that damn noise.
- i mixed the synth up too high. dOh!
+ yes, to the reviewer who commented on the lyrics as "stalkery." that was the point!

Irwin and I had a lot of plans for this track, but we both got slammed at work. This basically ended up being a mix of the semi-drunken demo takes from last friday night. Thanks for the reviews!

Mantzfield

- that mic thump with delay really set this off on the wrong foot
- delay/tempo is dazzlingly bad. I don't know what DAW you use, but you can, in fact, set most software delays to repeat against the song tempo/bpm
+ love the raunchy devil distortion coming down
- vocals are brutally pitchy.

Honestly, if all the tracks fit together without the weird latency/delay/out of sync vibe, this would be a really good track. I think you may need to work on mastering your technology; the song itself has merit, but the execution is terrible.

Odilon Green

+/- however you mixed/effected this made your vocal sound like Bert from Bert and Ernie
+ unique sound, unique arrangement.
+ i like the take on the title
- mix is busy in the high mids, which makes it sound really muddy to me.

R. Mosquito

+ REEEEEEEEVE!!
-/? this seems REALLY loud.
- cannot understand the lyrics at all in the beginning. the vocal effect really really doesn't work for me. I wanted a dark smooth vocal like Ville Valo. this would bother me less if the lyrics changed later, or the effect changed so we could understand them.
+ 1:50 love the way this morphs right here. it's a pretty sweet break.
+ I happen to know you hand-wired the analog synth hardware. That's brutally hardcore.
+/- 3:26 i love how this transitions here, but I think the blank space between the bass notes was a little barren, thought the song was over.

Ross Durand

. another reviewer commented on the "static" at the front of your track. while i'm not quite as vehement, applying a gate or simply editing out the tape hiss would improve the overall professionalism that you're known for.
+ love the lyrics. I have no political bias here.
+ excellent use of the title
+/- Ross. I have to hold you to a slightly different standard, because your production values and arrangements are usually the same, and I'm so familiar with your music. I can only review this on the basis of other Ross tracks. in that vein, this is better than average, having listened to .. maybe hundreds? at this point. well done.

vote

Shelby Garrett

+ really fantastic vocal, kind of a combo of amy winehouse and adele. you're obviously exceptionally talented.
- vocal is obscured by midrangey-jangly guitar. if you'd left the vocal alone and scooped out the midrange from the guitars and boosted some of the guitar low-end this would have been extraordinary. with a little mix/production this track would have shined like a supernova as a vocal demo.

Snoop Sloop Troop

- Mr. Bill sings psychedelia.
+ Honestly, I love the ending. *splat*

Troy Jones

+ nice acoustic riff
+ lyrics well thought out, nice use of the title
- vocal's a bit distorted in places, sounds like maybe it was recorded on the same mic with the guitar?

Tuners Union

- i thought this was some kind of weird cover of aqualung at first
+ i was wrong. this is great.
- that damn doubled vocal effect again. not sure why this keeps showing up.
+ other than the weird doubled lead vocal, the rest of the vocals are really good
+/- not sure how i feel about The Switch. I liked the 70s peter frampton vibe way more than the latter bongo boppy part.
+ I love love love the guitar in the last few seconds. Do tell me how you achieved that!

Lots of talent here, nice job. Vote.

[Ross]

Thanks for the reviews so far, I will do my best to also do some before the fight is over.

@ Gregg and Mike - I am very frustrated by the hiss on my track (gregg - Mikelamb can tell you this is not my usual sonic standard). Got a new laptop last june and had to ditch my old interface set up, I amfearful the hiss relates to the new one. i need to do some serious trouble shooting on this and plan to fix it.

[fluffy]

To mix things up I'm not going to say who each review is for. Try to match the review to your song, to see how much of a dick I was to you!

1. Starts out well enough, nice and builds up nicely, although in the first chorus it gets kind of hard to listen to because of all the vocals overlapping on each other. Also some of the lead vocals seem like they're not being belted out with much confidence, or perhaps too much confidence. The synth solo on the bridge is just kinda random and then just seems a bit aimless after that. And then a lame fadeout at the end?

2. The lyrics in this just seem kind of repetitive and boring, and the vocals make my ears hurt. They also scared off my cats who are being annoying brats tonight, so there's that. Guitar solo could use a bit more work. And a fadeout AND slowdown at the end? Just end the song more committally than that.

3. I think this would be a great song to nap to. I sort of want the music to go somewhere else, maybe building up with more layers. Also was that a stifled giggle about 2 minutes in? Or from the ending maybe you have a bit of a cold.

4. This makes me think of a hidden track at the end of an indie album. A lot of the timing is sloppy, but at least it's earnest.

5. Pretty good backing track, although the piano should probably be something else. You need to work on your vocals. It's especially annoying when the vocals and piano follow the same melody. The mix is also all over the place, and the vocals are usually pretty hard to pick out (both because of bad EQing and because of the notes following the piano's).

6. That's some pretty good percussion there, and mixing things up keeps the song interesting all the way through. Your vocals sound incredibly strained, as they often do. This makes me feel like I listened to excerpts from a very compressed Rush album. Lose the harmonica though.

7. As far as country songs go this is pretty good. Do I detect autotune in your voice? That contradicts the looseness of the instruments in a fairly unpleasant way. I feel like the drums should be varied a lot more (and they're also a bit clumsily performed, or maybe they're perfect and it's the judder in the guitars that make them sound off).

8. From the introduction I thought this would turn into a stupid speaker-rending screamy sound thing but instead it turns into an interesting little mangling of things. I'm not sure how much of this is just samples from other places and how much is your original work but I'm guessing the rap vocals are all original at least, and they're pretty nicely done. I like the groove this presents, although the vocals get a bit buried in the mix around 1:30, and around 2:00 it's gotten pretty boring and needs more variation. The bassy-noise sound that comes in around 2:30 helps a bit, though, and the instrumental break that comes soon after is nicely ear-cleansing. Nice breakdown too, even if it just fades out at the end. It works well here though.

9. what is this i don't even

oh lord of the rings okay

10. That was nice. Probable vote.

11. Ow my ears. This is excruciating in every way. The drums are a mess, the vocals are a mess, the production treatment is a mess, and the arrangement is completely predictable in every way (start out slow and 'ambient,' turn into 'metal,' let me guess, next will be some sort of pulled-back acoustic-sounding mess? not gonna let it play long enough to get there)

12. Starts out like the weird stuff from They Might Be Giants' early days. Then the vocals blow out my speakers. Dude, you don't have to mix everything such that it maximizes the volume. If the meter turns red, you're doing it wrong.

13. I loved the C64-sounding synth stuff at the very beginning, but I'm a sucker for that. The intro goes on about 20 seconds too long though. I can't make out the vocals at all. Then I start skipping forward to see if it ever bcomes listenable, because I"m not going to listen to four and a half minutes of this. 2:20 is nice although it just makes me think of the Portal 2 soundtrack. Then it's just a bunch of instrumental wank for the rest of the time? Meh.

14. Okay, I like this a lot. Nice use of banjo, great vocal harmonies, and I love how the track builds up, then breaks down, then brings in the full arrangement. It's an old trick but it's a good one. Reminds me of The Real Tuesday Weld. Definite vote here.

15. There's been a really annoying tendency towards the way that precious female indie rock songs all sound these days. I blame Feist.

16. Well, at least you had fun.

17. Turn down your mic level. Use a hard limiter if you really need to boost the levels. Clipping is your enemy. Did you at least have fun at the guitar circle where you wrote this song?

18. Turn up the vox, turn down the bass and drums, notch the vocals in through the guitar, and then this might actually be mixed reasonably well. Also put a damn limiter on your output chain and stop clipping like crazy. I like how you let the backing tracks drop out now and then to give it some breathing room. Actual song structure seems a bit hackneyed by now, but it's executed well enough. So I don't hate it. Don't love it either though.

19. I'm a sucker for this whole slide guitar plus low-fi drum loop and vocal harmony stuff. Sparse arrangement that sounds full? Sure. Some of the vocal layerings do make it hard to make out what the vocals are saying though. The sudden stylistic reboot at 2:00 is kind of jarring, but it bears fruit in the long term. Breakdown at 3:00 was kind of unnecessary. Gets a vote anyway.

20. The vocals are buried, and pretty badly off-key in a lot of places. I don't think the lyrics are describing this particular song. You guys are as tight as ever at least, though, probably since you've gotten so much practice on that particular beat structure since that's pretty much how all of your songs are put together. The last minute or so sounds like it's from a completely different song, like you suddenly decided to become a Pink Floyd-inspired jam band and didn't know how to finish the song.

Answer key: 1) Kasper 2) Chocolate Chips 3) Dani House 4) DJ Ranger Den 5) Foobar 6) glenny 7) Gregg Boethin 8) The HATE Noise 9) JoAnn Abbott 10) Ross Durand (v) 11) Mantzfield 12) Odilion Green 13) R. Mosquito 14) bgm (v) 15) Shelby Garrett 16) Snoop Sloop Troop 17) Troy Jones 18) Billy and the Psychotics 19) Tuners Union (v) 20) Berkeley Social Scene

[JakeDeLorey]

Well, I have been lurking this place for years. I submitted 1 entry many moons ago, but could just not keep up those deadlines. Its tough and really forces you to prioritze what is most important to your in your songs. Its a beautiful concept for a website. One of these days I will get back into the swing of things. I hope nobody minds but I had some free time and felt like writing a batch of reviews just for shits and giggles. I tried to be somewhat diplomatic, as I am always impressed by anyone who submits to a songfight. Good on ya. Here are my thoughts on this batch of tunes though. Cheers

Berkley Social Scene – Week after week these guys (this guy?) get it done. This song didn’t do much for me, mostly the progression doesn’t move me. The synth is a welcome addition towards the end of the tune as it adds another element and fills up the song nicely. Great solo at the end of this. Starts off weak but ends up strong.

BGM - Quality submission. Love the sound of that banjo with the electric guitar accents. Nice background vocals and harmonies. Its these sort of submissions that make SOngfight such a quality find. Well thought out and produced. A sound quality that I could only hope to achieve in a week. Hats Off. Vote!

Billy and the Psychotics - Wow, another great production in such a short time period. Not usually in to girl alt singers, but this one does not come off as fake or pretentious at all. Nice sounding guitars. Would like to hear a few more lows coming from the kit. I hear little to no kick drum at all in the mix, and I think a good thunky bass beat would drive this song nicely. Quality submission.

Chocolate Chips – Nice sounding track, although not really my cup of tea. It doesn’t keep my attention. Slow and not a whole lot that keeps me interested in the tune. Solo needs some work at the end. I’m usually all about sloppy solos, but this one isn’t even in the right key me thinks.

Dani House – Great job on finishing the track, however this does not cut it for me. Hard to make it through the tune. Just boring. Whats my incentive to finish this track? I mean I will, because its only fair. My entertainment is on hold. Glad I stuck around until the end to hear you sniff up your runny nose.

DJ Ranger Den – Nice. Again though, nothing that keeps me really invested in the tune. Nothing stands out to me as something to vote for.

Foobar – Nice Piano part. Would like to hear a little more “oomph” in the mix. The rest of the mix does not sit well with the piano. Everything just seems a little muddy. Overall good song, good lyrics, just lacking a bit in production. Given the short amount of time to get a song done here at songfight though, this is just fine.

Glenny – I get a Dinosaur Jr. vibe from your vocals. Rough, but something endearing about it. I dig this tune. Very “proggy” and definitely interesting. Decent production for the amount of stuff that’s going on in this tune. Ambitious. Possible Vote.

Greg Boethin – This song has a ton of potential. You have a great voice, and I love the lyrics for this song. The timing of this song is off. It doesn’t seem to roll along nicely, its like it has three great round wheels, and one square one. It sorta limps along.But the song is there. I hear it. The rhythm seems stumbly though. All that aside I can still hear the song its supposed to be, and I dig it. Vote

Hate Noise – I love Songfight, I love that every genre has a voice here. Nice production on this. Nice sounding vocals. Its keeping my head bopping. I’m interested. I can’t speak a whole lot on the hip hop side of things as its not quite my bag, but I love the use of “jazz cigarettes” a great term. well done.

JoAnn Abbott – I don’t like interpretive dance. Mimes. Or this song. Sorry JoAnn. I’m a sucker for instrumentation. At least record to a click track. D-

Kasper – Not to Shabby Kasper. A good rocker. The Synth is nice, but a smidge overpowering. I would like to hear a bit more bit on the guitars, they are a bit washed out, and I think a bit more clean crunch would have added to the heaviness of this tune.

Mantzfield – slow and groggy, muddy. Much better once you get to to “the heavy”. This song is a victim of a poor rhythm. I hear where you’re going. It has its moments of syncronicity, but for the most part everything is out of time and it adds a sense of incompleteness. This is a tough genre . you gotta be tight or it sounds messy. Good attempt. Work on your timing and execution. The song is there, just tighten up.

Odilon Green – Quirky. Yes, definitely quirky. I have been in this predicament many a time. Good topic for the song. A smidge to quirky for me. Not something I’m gonna throw on the car stereo to bop along to, but this song still put a smile on my face. No vote but a fun submission.

R. Mosquito – Starts off grating and monotonous. Waiting for the pleasant surprise …waiting……oh wait I’m at the boss level now…….if I can only reach that power up. If I hit a,a,b,b,up, up, down, down does the song end…. Sorry, really not my bag. All the power (ups) to ya though.

Ross Durand – I have been lurking this place for years, and one thing I have noticed is that Ross Durand is consistent. Well thought out lyrics. This is another quality submission. Nice production for guitar and voice with the slightest hint of organ in the background for that slight touch.ya got a nice Neil Diamondy quality voice about ya in this one. Very nice. Vote

Shelby Garrett – A Nice quality voice. A great little diddy. I would like to hear a bit more production in this. Maybe double track the guitars to fill it out a bit. Maybe concider doubling the guitar with the Nashville highstring method. Look it up. I think you have tons of potential, and with just a couple of extra passes you could warm up the production of this tune nicely. Quality song

Snoop Sloop Troop – Quirky, ugh I hate quirky. The production on this really isn’t to bad though. So good on ya there. The song itself…well…my five year old will think its funny. Not my bag though.

Troy Jones – Havn’t seen you around these parts. I see you have gone the songwriters approach here at songfight. Skip production and focused on the tune. I say good on ya. Its Just as much about the song here as it is about the production. I like this tune, well constructed. You have a great voice. Not a fan of the “kick me in the balls” or the Gay bar line, but I getcha. Great submission. Not sure if its your bag or not, but I would like to see you experiment a bit more with your production if you decide to submit again. I would like to hear your song done in the quality of a Ross Durand production. Vote

Tuners Union – Very Nicely done. Great sounding vocals. Nice production and mix. Sonically really interesting. Love that mix of Kazoo and vocals towards the end. Hands down my favorite of the bunch. VOTE

[chocolatechips]

i'm liking the reviews this week. they seem more in-depth and useful than usual. it's good when people say exactly why they aren't digging something. i appreciate all of the reviews (particularly the negative ones as they tend to be the most useful.) really the reviews are the main reason I even do this thing, it's good to get unbiased feedback on your music from other songwriters.

i'll try to get mine in tonight.

[Billy's Little Trip]

18. Turn up the vox, turn down the bass and drums, notch the vocals in through the guitar, and then this might actually be mixed reasonably well. Also put a damn limiter on your output chain and stop clipping like crazy. I like how you let the backing tracks drop out now and then to give it some breathing room. Actual song structure seems a bit hackneyed by now, but it's executed well enough. So I don't hate it. Don't love it either though.

I'm going with this one for BatP.

[chocolatechips]

2. The lyrics in this just seem kind of repetitive and boring, and the vocals make my ears hurt. They also scared off my cats who are being annoying brats tonight, so there's that. Guitar solo could use a bit more work. And a fadeout AND slowdown at the end? Just end the song more committally than that.

if I couldn't tell from the other points - I would have been able to get it from the comment about the fadeout and slowdown. I thought that was pretty nifty

the cool thing for me is that this week there seems to be a bit of a consensus with almost everyone pointing out some of the same elements (lyrics, guitar solo) as negatives as this gives me some clear points where I can focus on improvement.

[chocolatechips]

Listed in order (best to least best) ... top four get votes.

Tuners Union - This reminds me a lot of Beta Band as I'm a huge fan of theirs that's a very good thing coming from me. This is my favorite track of the fight as not only is it technically very good but it's also the type of thing I would actually listen to in a context other than Song Fight. Cool arrangement. Yes the production quality isn't crystal clear all the time, but it seems to fit the song. VOTE.

bgm - Great vocals, strong melody, really nice harmonies. I'm trying to focus on constructive criticism with my reviews this time around, I can't think of much of anything to criticize here. Definite VOTE.

Billy and the Psychotics - This rocks pretty hard. Impressive level of rock! Great vocals too. Nice slow/spacy bit which keeps it interesting. VOTE.

Berkely Social Scene - I find the melody to be too "sing-songy" and too repetitive. The Weezer-esque vibe doesn't quite gel for me, it's not catchy enough to work as this type of song. The synth adds a bit of personality to it. My favorite part of the song (by far) is the instrumental outro, that sort of sounds like a different song tacked on but it's a song a much prefer to the first one. It kind of reminds me of "I Want You (She's So Heavy)" from Abbey Road. The last minute probably earns this song a VOTE despite my sort of ho-hum reaction to the first three minutes.

TRJones - Not too bad. It reminds me of Wilco a bit and I'm a pretty big fan of them. Poor recording quality but that doesn't matter too much with this style of song anyway. I like your voice, it has character. This song doesn't blow me away or anything, but it's good (if maybe a bit longer than necessary.)

Shelby Garrett - The recording is pretty terrible (the guitar? sounds like it was recorded with a computer mic) and the playing is pretty rudimentary ... not only that but the song itself doesn't seem particularly noteworthy ... so why are you relatively high on my list? You sound like Zooey Dooschanel. Having a nice voice gives you a huge advantage over most of us song fighters. Bring up the rest of your game and you'll be kicking ass. (although you may want to go away from the Zooey thing a bit, you need to find your own style as much as possible.)

Ross Durand - Strong as usual. Your stuff is generally "not my cup" (and it seems the feeling is mutual) but I do respect what you do. You're good. In this track I really like the soft organ mixed low, that's a nice tasteful touch.

Snoops Loop Troop - Nice focused insanity. Catchy melodies. Cool quirky sounds.

Glennny - I seem to always have an issue with how quickly/often you completely change styles in your songs. This is probably just a difference in taste that can't be reconciled so ... not sure what else to say. I can't listen to Of Montreal anymore for the same reason. As technically good as I feel this is (it's impressive how well you do each of these styles) I find myself just a bit irritated by the whole thing. Maybe stronger vocals would allow it to all work...Maybe I'm looking for a melody I can hang onto? Despite my negative feelings, I've ranked you rather highly - that's because I'm very impressed by the individual
instrumental bits in this song, I just don't like the way they're all smashed up together.

The Hate Noise - Usually I'm to the point of being bored by these kind of sampled intros, but this was a really good one and I like how you segued into the track. I don't mind the marijuana themed lyrics. I like marijuana.

DJ Ranger Den - This is pretty nice but I have a hard time thinking that it's much more than "pretty nice" as it doesn't really pull me in. That said; I like your voice and style.

JoAnn Abbott - This genuinely scared me the first time I listened to it. I think you deserve some credit for that, even if it's not at all how you intended it (not sure how you intend it... not sure how self aware you are with your work.) Credit must be given for supreme creepiness.

Gregg Boethin - Good, if a bit sloppy, but also "not my cup" ... country music is probably my least favorite music in the world and this sounds quite a bit like country music to me. The guitar break is pretty cool. The lyrics don't draw me in, the melody isn't catchy enough. My genre bias makes it hard for me to give a good review. I see this as a personal problem, I should be able to listen to musical elements beyond the genre BS.

Kasper - This was going along pretty well until the chorus when it seems like it falls apart a bit. The lead synth line thing is pretty cool although perhaps it's a bit much when it's going mad at the same time as the vocals are supposed to be the primary focus. The whole thing seems almost really good, but just too sloppy. Vocals need to be clearer and more up-front I think.

Dani House - Not interesting enough lyrically, melodically, or instrumentally to get my interest. I think if you're going to go this sort of understated path you have to have some element that really grabs the listener by the ear and I just don't hear it in this song. As I don't like being entirely negative I will say that your voice isn't bad and could work for this type of song, I also like the extra bit that starts up at around 40 second in (continues throughout most of the rest of the song) that adds some nice
atmosphere to the recording.

Foobar - Vocals are a bit buried. There are some nice atmospheric things going on here but they're mixed with a more straightforward style that seems ... strange. Like it's two songs different mixed together. This could be a cool sort of style but it sounds more like a mistake. Musically/vocally it makes very little impression on me.

Odilon Green - I don't mind madness, but I think this is a great example of the old "less is more" thing... It seems like the focus of the song is on the story you're telling, but it's hard to hear it through the messy production.

R Mosquito - These synth lines aren't nearly interesting enough to make the focal point of a song. Hell, you've made them more than a focal point, they are pretty much all that's here (some buried incoherent vocals aren't much to go on.) They (the synths) sound pretty cool (if maybe a bit harsh) but there's just not enough to them musically. Song is also _way_ too long.

Mantzfield - I like the slow motion thing but it seems like the main idea of the song is just that, there's not much else except the arrangement ideas ... there's no song in your song, is what I mean. I know where you're coming from. But the key is that all kinds of songs, even atmospheric weird songs need some sort of musical element to hold them together and I don't hear that here at all. The arrangement ideas are a bit of a mess too really ... it seems like the kind of thing where you think it would be a good idea but then you try it and it doesn't really work but you do it anyway (I've been there.)

[fluffy]

So far that's two for two on people guessing which review was theirs. Maybe I didn't need to bury the answer key in my post after all. :D

[glennny]

well I'm number 6, how many other oftenly strained vocalists need to lose the harmonica?
also, I can name the rest too.
I appreciate the criticism, no need to cloud who it's directed at.

thanks for the review!

[The HATE Noise]

8. From the introduction I thought this would turn into a stupid speaker-rending screamy sound thing but instead it turns into an interesting little mangling of things. I'm not sure how much of this is just samples from other places and how much is your original work but I'm guessing the rap vocals are all original at least, and they're pretty nicely done. I like the groove this presents, although the vocals get a bit buried in the mix around 1:30, and around 2:00 it's gotten pretty boring and needs more variation. The bassy-noise sound that comes in around 2:30 helps a bit, though, and the instrumental break that comes soon after is nicely ear-cleansing. Nice breakdown too, even if it just fades out at the end. It works well here though.

Me.

For the record, I do make all my own beats. I do use quite a few samples as well, but not in a lazy way. For example, this one has 5 or 6. Main hook is a chopped up part of an old funk record. 2 chopped up drum breaks happening simultaneously. A pitch-shifted standup bass note from a jazz record. Plus, some drums I programmed, and about 6 traxxx of keyboards/bass.

Thank you, by the way, for the relatively positive review.

[jb]

BGM... OMG.

[kaz]

Medium-time submitter, first-time reviewer...

Berkeley Social Scene
Vocalist sounds like Mike Doughty (Soul Coughing), and I don't think I've ever noticed that in other fights. Huh. I didn't like this at first, but I felt compelled to listen to it twice more. I don't know why it took 3 times to like it, but I don't ask those questions. Cool song, and I like the lyrics. A-.

bgm
Anything with minor chords on a banjo I'm going to like, so you're already in the clear here. Nice vocal harmony! That one chord change in the verse is damned delicious. You know which one I'm talking about. And is that a melodica? I could do without the walk-up break "I have a feeling...", only because I didn't want to hear the song slow down... at least not like that. All in all, I love it. Reminds me of The Be Good Tanyas covering "Waiting Around to Die" at times. Yes, it's a compliment. Could totally listen to this outside of the songfight arena. A.

Billy and the Psychotics
A little more volume on the vocals would fill it out a little bit, I think. Stylistically I liked the second half after the breakdown much more than the rest. B+.

The Chocolate Chips
Wow, flashes of Guster. Much prefer the chorus to the verse, though that's not to say there's anything wrong with the verse. Dig the ritard at the end, they're always fun when they're done well, though the electric solo could be a little crisper. I guess if I had to complain about something I'd pick on the drum track... I can think of a couple of spots where a real good "chooka-chooka-CHAka-chooka" kind of beat would've really kicked some ass, and varied the energy a little. I can explain that more if that doesn't read the way I'm hoping it does, in which case I'll sound like a maniac. Good tune. A-.

Dani House
I kinda like it in general, but I think it needs to be chopped in half length-wise. The length could be justified by some really badass lyrics, but I missed most of them. It could work as it is, but it's too easy to lose interest. C+.

DJ Ranger Den
Mm. I love this. A whole bunch. The perfomance could use some touchup, but that might take away some intangible part of it. Guitar sounds great. Fantastic lyrics that match the vocal tone and overall feel wonderfully... though there is one line regarding pie that didn't seem to mesh with the rest, but I don't think it's anything to worry about. And that fall into the major (7th, I think?) in the chorus is just perfect! Very beautifully done. A+.

Foobar
Oh man, very close. I think you wrote a really good song here, but the presentation wasn't quite there. A couple times I was waiting for just this explosion, and it sort of came but it fell flat. The opposite was also true where the energy wanted to come way down but it just didn't get there. I mention this only because the chorus and verse didn't really sound very different, and some contrast there would help the chorus really kick. Sharpen the vocals, energize the highs, and shrink the lows and you might have something pretty special here. B-.

glenny
Sweet. After reading the lyrics, you get an A+. I worked for a company that had a very similar fate to that of Solyndra, in a sort-of related industry (although that company isn't quite dead yet). Yeah these lyrics resonated with me. Also, you wrote some music, and it's great too.

Gregg Boethin
Nothing wrong with this. I can see liking this if I saw it live, but it doesn't grab me real tight in this format. Dig the lyrics though. B.

The HATE Noise
I feel about this the way I feel about seafood: I know a lot of people like it a lot and I'm sure it's good but you see where I'm going with this. Production is certainly top-notch. So... B?

JoAnn Abbott
Well... I admire the creativity. Lyrically, it weirded me out a little, but that isn't a bad thing. If acapella isn't perfectly sharp it really doesn't sound too good, and this isn't that sharp... but practice can get you there. Either tighten the vocals rhythmically/melodically or consider some kind of accompaniment... anything at all will help. D+.

Kasper
The synth at the end of the verse felt a little harsh because of how abruptly it came in. Don't get me wrong, I think it fits... but maybe give me a little taste of it before bringing it on full-bore, or maybe "un-square" the waveform a little. And generally I don't like fade-outs, but that's just me. Overall a cool sound, and a cool song. A-.

Mantzfield
Pretty bassy. Vocals felt off all around, though generally not by too far. If some of the performance was a little sharper it might be okay, but the genre isn't really my style, so I can't really say. C.

Odilon Green
I feel like I shouldn't like this for some reason, but I love this. It's unconventional and fun to listen to. Got a chuckle a few times from the lyrics, too (house! spouse! ha!). A little high-pass (or something) on the vocal might be in order though, but I think you know this based on your own review. Overall I dig the adventurous creativity here. Reminds me of They Might Be Giants. A-.

R. Mosquito
Simultaneously too much and not enough, somehow. I had to skip through this a little due to the vocals that don't sound like vocals. Actually there might be potential here in the overall structure, though I'm not entirely sure what it is, nor how to unlock it. I need a break from that synth tone/pattern. Oh and at 1:24 when that synth really squares out I flashed back to playing Space Shuttle Project on the regular NES (I think the takeoff sequence where you have to rush the crew into the shuttle 30 seconds before launch... great game), which was awesome, but I'd be really surprised and impressed if that was by design. D+.

Ross Durand
Vocals/instrumentation/performance/mix are, as always, top-notch. I happen to like these lyrics very much, too. On its own, A. On the "Ross" scale that someone else mentioned, A-.

Shelby Garrett
It's been said but it bears repeating: your voice is magnificent, and I like the melodies here. That said, I found this overall good-not-great. Musically there's nothing wrong with it but it has indeed been done before. Something about the strings sounds off, but I can't place exactly what... it may be the reverb. But for better or worse I wasn't really paying attention to any of that once that subtle vocal harmony came in... mmm-hmm. Overall a B.

Snoop Sloop Troop
I appreciate the hell out of songs that completely don't take themselves seriously, especially when they're short and sweet. Don't know about replay value, but a fun little song. B.

Troy Jones
Did you record this vocal in the shower? There's a reverb-y quality to it I'm not sure I like. Aside from the mix, I'd call it a solidly written song for what it is. B+.

Tuners Union
I had a master plan to make a drum track, but ran out of time - hence the simple drum loop that I'm not particularly fond of. Here's the lesson I learned on this one: if your furnace is broken on the first day of recording and it's cold, you will need to *fully* retune the guitars on the last day when the heat is back on and has knocked all the strings out of (in to?) key. That, or you get to redo everything when you go to mix and you can't figure out how the hell you managed to go so tone deaf so fast. Ugh. I should know this by now.

[JoAnn Abbott]

Thanks for the feedback all, and I agree- it really needed some backing instrumentation. Problem is- I don't really PLAY anything. I thought I had someone lined up to help me....but after waiting for 4 days for him to get back to me I had to get this in and done. I can hear what I want in my head, and wish I could get it to come out of my fingers as well.
For those not able to tell, it was supposed to be Gollum from LOTR arguing with himself. Though oddly enough, when my daughter heard this she said she thought I was writing about her and her estranged husband, because the dirtball hasn't let her see the kids for a month...we see the judge Friday. I guess you can read into it what you need to. Glad it creeped some of you out!

If anyone is available to do backing music or knows of someone who likes to collaborate on songs, please let me know. I love to come up with lyrics to existing tunes, and can make up simple songs myself. Just can't PLAY anything worth a darn. :/