Starting a Witch Hunt Review Thread

[Jim of Seattle]

Jim- not digging your vocals at all,and i'm trying to be nice, kinda scares me. Backing trak is all some and very well recorded.

Sorry you don't like my vocals. I guess it's a good thing I submitted an INSTRUMENTAL.

[JakeDeLorey]

Alcoholik SpokPleasing. oh…Like that riff that leads in the chorus. Strong heavy riff. I don't know if the two parts work together.I mean, they do, I get the dynamic, but something in the progression of the verse sits off in my head. Overall this song was good, and something I hope you consider revisiting/fleshing out more.


BaxI'm hooked from the get go. Totally my groove. I get a real Cramps vibe. I would like to hear some more snap in that snare, and a more distinct kick. This song is awesome though. Tighten up the lyrics/phrasing a bit in the chorus leading into the solo. Overall I thought this was an awesome tune. A vote


Berkeley Social Scene 1When you were here before, Couldn't look you in the eye, You're just like an angel ,Your skin makes me cry. I know, I know its nothing like but I get that vibe right away. Just like when I hear Creep I wanna sing the words to the Hollies "The Air that I Breath". But I digress. Really Like Your bridge and chorus, but I'm not a fan of the verse. The bridge and chorus bring me right back in though. Nice Submission.

Berkeley Social Scene 2Ok, whats going on. You couldn't just pick one. Jeebus. Ok, this review will consist of whether I like this song better then the first. Wait for it……(keyboard solo)…wait for it…..(wanktastic guitar solo)…kicking in. The girls are dancing. big ending…….hmmmmmm.I enjoyed this one more. Quality


Billy and the PsychoticsWhat a riff. Absolutely love it. Great groove. Not sold on the vocal treatment except coming into the break. Ooooooh Goosebumps. This is the way she should always sing, and the male vocal was a nice surprise. Great break all around. Ya this is a vote. I'm sorry these are a bit short, but a ton of submissions. Very enjoyable tune though I might add it to the collection.


BombernaughtsI was sorta finishing the review above as I listened to your tune. It was soothing. You, or she, has a great voice. Not my thing, but really well done for the thing it is. Shows the diversity of participants and styles at song fight. Very cool. Ok need to catch up with Caravan Ray,hope to see you around next week. Cheers


Caravan RayI took a sneak peak at this one on FAWM . I love this tune. Its universal. You pointed out the thickheadedness of some of this worlds citizens in a well crafted diplomatic gift of song. I Might have to dive into the song fight archives for a couple more tunes.


The Chocolate Chips with Frankie Big FaceNice. I was really digging this tune. I could hear the part where it should have been driving but the drums could barely be heard. I dig this tune. I dig the verses and lyrics, but I find the chorus drags this song down like a weight. I liked the vibe. No vote this week though.


Cord SmithNice and Tom Waitsy, awesome. F%$king awesome groove and the ever so slight "gang vocals". How does someone compete against a tune like this. I am even typing in time with the ride cymbal. This is hitting my song fight stash. Great lyrics, great flow, and superb production. This is a Vote. You have thrown off the curve, I may have to back and remove a vote from someone less fortunate due to this songs awesomeness.


Dejected MotivesThis was fine, but I lost interest . I love python, but it wasn't enough to keep me locked in on the tune unfortunately.


DJ Ranger DenYa I dig you. Is this a group effort? Really nice tune. you have difranco lilt in some of your lines. Nice work. Gold star for your forehead.


The Economy BiscuitsSome really solid tunes this week. I would like to hear this tune with some real drums though, and mixed just a bit better. Seems a bit muddy to me. Great tune though. Really digging the heavier tunes tonight. I guess that what I was sort of expecting. I was expecting a bit more of creepier vibe this week, but so far not so much.


FoobarWhy is ben folds singing this to me in my head. This is good though. Its keeping my interest . ALthouth the ooh ooowaoh makes me roll my eyes just a bit. Its involuntary. I'm sorry. I have to go….


glennny…..glenny I'm here, sorry I'm late. What did I miss. What the fu…..Cool groove on that cookie jar break. Really caught me. And thats a great sound you have coming out of that electric in the background. The sound of the solo part is a bit to metal squelchy and it doesn't fit with the song in my noggin. Its a quality solo, sound choice sits wrong with me. Great submission and great overall sound quality.


The HandloadersThis is another decent song that is a victim of the mix. I get hit with it myself all the freakin time. I'm pleasantly mellowed out by this tune, and this little tiny roach here. Nice song, but I must move on to some hip hop ..moff


The HATE NoiseThis sounds superb, and you have a great tone. Nothing to say here, you do what you do very well.


J$KMthose keyboards work nice together and float very nicely in my headphones at the moment. I'm not really digging on the vocals, although the backing vocals sound really good. In fact you do a great job of all the other vocal parts. I guess the lead vocal just seems to bare in contrast. Toward the end with all the other voices coming in its great. A great mix


Jake DeLoreyright away i see my levels are screwed. How do I not hear that the thousand times I've listened to it. Maybe its my system but my kick seems to be peaking. Crapolla. There is always next week...


Jim of SeattleThis has a great chord progression, really nice. And that kick into the smooth lounge price is right jazz….just perfect. What are you doing here. Do you do this professionally ? You should. This is another song fight keeper for me.


MavaddatIts fun to jam with friends. I have had many a great time jamming with my buddies.


Montana Fudgeshades of Blink 182 and John Denver. Nice to meet you


Ross DurandAnother tom waitsy vibe one. I guess TOm waitsy could be lumped in with my spooky category. Great tune. Again, there is so much quality recording going on in this moff. You can always be counted on for a top quality recording.


Scott GesserThis has a nice life in a northern town vibe. The drums are a welcome addition in this tune, it was in need of a bit of bottom (unlike the goddamned peaked ones in my tune). Never mind what I said, your sound is fine. Overall I like this tune, and it would be something I would suggest putting a bit more time into it on the production side. It needs some skin added to the bones and organs and the other squishy parts. Thanks for sending it in.


The Sober IrishmanALright heavy again, here we go. Big rock scream? awwwwwwwww 8( no big rock scream, book. That riff is screaming for big rock intro scream. The verses are delivered a smudge lacklustrey, but that change makes up for it. Nice and heavy, it really caries this song and adds to its replayability


sonofsupercar I love the sound of this tune. Its deep yet hollow if that makes any sense. Really like the sound of your vocals in this. Got a great delivery. No vote this week unfortunately.


trjonesSomething seems out at the beginning of this but it rights itself along the way. oh synth. Right away its good to see that you are diving into your production a bit more. Each week you are adding elements, and making your songs stronger. You got a good quality to your voice that suits this style of tune. The cometition is strong this week, I'm not sure if I can spare the vote, but I look forward to your next entry.


Tuners UnionI'm excited to hear this one. They have taken my top choice for two fights in a row. Let me just kick back for a second and absorb. Well, again you have a vibe that I really dig. Your recordings are immaculate. This is a possible vote, but I'm gonna have to go through a couple again. Cord Smith has my top of the charts this week, but I am eagerly looking forward to your entry next week. Superb job once again.


Tyler ZahnkeFor your next entry you should see if there is a way that you can plug your keyboard into your computer. I can here you hitting your keys and its a little distracting from your arrangement. Keep on keeping on….


Ux Mpuzmin the home stretch. Phew. This one is just making me anxious. I was hoping it was just an extended intro. I'm almost two minutes in…I think I'm calling it a night.


VOTES TONIGHT GO TO: BAX, Tuners Union, Cord Smith. sorry billy, tuners bumped ya

[JakeDeLorey]

Jim- not digging your vocals at all,and i'm trying to be nice, kinda scares me. Backing trak is all some and very well recorded.

Sorry you don't like my vocals. I guess it's a good thing I submitted an INSTRUMENTAL.

I have a feeling he was talking about my tune right below yours. Just a hunch

[hillbilly]

jake - good guitar tone, telecaster? but here latley have noticed. When you can sing no better than i,everyone seems to double and add effects to try to sound better, when some are soo rough and raw and i dig that shit, like (john Hiatt), wish i could do that. O Yea, watch out for Billy and Caravan Ray unless your a little light in your britches, if you know what i mean.

hill had a real lasp,

[hillbilly]

How do you spell that, fux you cash [point

[Caravan Ray]

Jim- not digging your vocals at all,and i'm trying to be nice, kinda scares me. Backing trak is all some and very well recorded.

Sorry you don't like my vocals. I guess it's a good thing I submitted an INSTRUMENTAL.

I have a feeling he was talking about my tune right below yours. Just a hunch

No, I have a hunch that HB was hearing vocals in JoSs song after all. It is just that JoS didn't put them there.

[Caravan Ray]

...done in stages - things will probably change....

THere are a lot of new players here, so I will outline my grading scheme (for the old players too, i have never done this before:

High distinction: A song I like a lot, and may want to put on my iPod
Distinction: A song that is almost HD - but may have a minor flaw
Credit: A song that is obviously good, but maybe not my cup of tea
Pass: A song that is competent, but doesn't excite me that much
Fail: A waste of my time.

High Distinction:
Cord Smith: 29 songs. I have heard 7 so far. If any of the next 22 are as good as this, we will be very lucky indeed. No comments needed. Awesome.
Turners Union: This is pretty cool. more listens may raise this higher...second listen...cut/paste from Distinction to High Distiction - yeah - I like this a lot. That chorus is awesome
Ross Durand: Wonderful Ross. What a fantastic recording. The voice. The build up of backing music. Just perfect. Mind you - when it started, for the first few seconds, I thought you were giving us a cover of : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hb-nTnriTP8
Jake de Lorey: Great song. Great production - love all the echo stuff and that weird dying seagull type sound in the background. Cool lead guitar stuff. This is pretty great...ooh! overlapping vocals. Nice!
Sonofsupercar: I love the Velvet Underground. So this goes up the top...(edit..I thought it was hilarious how there were guys talking in the background, and I wondered why they had Australian accents - then I realised I had iTunes going playing one of my friends podcasts...it wasn't you...but it worked anyway!)
Distinction:


Sober Irishman: Sensational lead vocal. The heavy metal type riffing is obviously good, but not something that turns me on, and for me detracts from it. I am sure there will be others of the opposite opinion. Excellent lyrics and overall great song - but wow - those vocals are really awesome.
J$: I love your organ (I assume that is the only reason you used one, to get that comment?). But seriously - I do love the organ, and backing vox. Great song. Great sound. Was that a "muggle" reference? Nice. Post lyrics please
Chocolate Big Chips: I enjoyed this very much. Having recently worked with Chips and being familiar with FBFs work - it is fascinating to hear the combination. And it sounds pretty good. Nice work.
[/i]Economy Biscuits: I have heard this riff before. Can't put my finger on where. Whatever - this is great. Great job.
BAX: There is a lot i like about this. Drums, baseline, guitar, great lyrics. Vocals need more presence. Singing seems OK - but vox too muddy and don't cut through and that sadly lets the whole thing down. But production is a minor problem and the easiest thing to fix - so, good job.
Glennny: Nice work. Nice changes. Like the Coaster's Charlie Brown type vocals
DJ Ranger Den: Wonderful vocals. Great performance. And nice lyrics. I would have liked to have heard a bit more variety backing-wise

Credit:
The HATE Noise: I think J$ nailed it, so I will repeat his comment: I would be there in a shot if you had something worthwhile to say. The sound/backing is sensational. The phrasing is clumsy. You mentioned that my gags were a bit obvious - well, yes, you are right. They are because it is a song written to be performed live - it has to be obvious (I was worried they were not obvious enough). I didn't get your point here either, like others had said. But I am stupid. Most of your audience will be stupid. Try to write for them if you want universal praise. Or not. And accept that most people wont get it. It is a fine line. But - your sound is awesome - so you have a great head start. I will go back and listen to more of your stuff.
Bombernaughts: Strange. Good. I like it. Good vocals. Nice weird rumbly noises
Jim of Seattle: THis is so good I feel like staying on the elevator and going up a few more floors just to hear the end of it. The little repeating piano tune thing (there is probably a musical term for that) is good. And it seems Hillbilly wasn't imagining the voices here - there is a little bit. But is it actually a song?....I'm sure this matter will be debated. Again.


Pass:
Scott Gessar: Potential. Reminds me of REM. Vox need to be tighter - they are close, but not quite. Needs more light and shade. Could be really good - as it is, it sounds a bit too samey. Good effort, not quite there.
BSS #1 and #2:I preferred #1 much more than #2. #2 sounded a bit too Blink 182. #2 was better - but still didn't reach any great heights
TR Jones: Nothing really grabbing me here
Handloaders: There is some cool guitar stuff going on. Not bad at all - but not standing out in this field
Billy and the Psychotics: You can do so much better than this. Doubled vocals are messy. And I don't want to hear your guitar wankery. I demand more from B&thePs. This is not good enough. I like when you play to your strengths: Den's vocals and BLT's punchy backing - I thought neither was evident here.
Alkoholic Spok: Dull
Foobar: Dull
Marginal Pass:
Montana Fudge: In the "so-bad-it's-almost-good" category. Not that good - but it's not too bad. The silly lyrics are saved by the relentlessly repetitive na-ne-nahs in the chorus. Relentless repetition is under-rated. A bit. I like when the sweary bit starts. Sweary bits are good.
Ux Mpuzm: You have obviously put some effort into this. Not enough to make it in any way interesting or listenable though.
Fail:
Tyley Z: If you are going to do an instrumental - it has to be at least interesting like Jim of Seattle. You Sir, are no Jim of Seattle.
Mavaddat
Dejected Motives

[Billy's Little Trip]

SonOfSuperCar got me rockin' again. Sand-witch hunt. With extra provolone, for sure. Nice angle, guys.

[chocolatechips]

Alcoholik Spok - I think the vocals could be a bit higher in the mix. Nice acoustic guitar sound. I like the atmospheric electric guitar but in the background but I think I'd like it a little louder in the mix. I'm not crazy about the guitar solo as it seems out of place with no drums/bass. The organ is a nice touch.

Bax - Nice rhythm on the drums and some cool riffs. The vocals sound a bit like they were an afterthought (like they were added after the music was done.) I like the music but I'm not crazy about the vocals.

Berkeley Social Scene - The verse reminds me a bit of "Creep." This is pretty good instrumentally but I'm not sold on the vocals as the melody is pretty nondescript and the voice is strained.

BSS2 - Two songs, eh? This one reminds me of Blink 182 and I like Radiohead a lot more than Blink 182 so I'll go with BSS1 over BSS2. But I don't think either of these are among my favorite BSS entries. My favorite bit of this song is the instrumental section where it leaves the Blink 182 vibe behind.

Billy and the Psychotics - I'm enjoying this one quite a bit. Nice riffs throughout. Great rhythms. Fantastic vocals. I really like the chorus, very catchy and a lot of personality in the vocal there. Probably my favorite Billy song I've heard. VOTE.

Bombernaughts - Creepy weirdness. I like the atmosphere although I am feeling like the instrumental parts could be a bit louder in the mix (I almost never have this complaint on a Song Fight submission.) I enjoyed listening to that but I don't think there's enough to really hold onto ... I don't remember it much after it's over.

Caravan Ray - Excellent lyrics with a cool vocal performance. I dig the clear sound you got on your guitar too. The backing vocals add a nice layer of interest (as you may have guessed by my productions I'm the type that usually - but not always - gets bored by guy & guitar.) VOTE.

The Chocolate Chips with Frankie Big Face - Big thanks to Frankie Big Face for adding his vocals to my song. He also came up with the backing vocal harmonies thing on the choruses which is probably my favorite bit of the track. Listening to it now, I feel like maybe I should have pushed the limiter on the master track up a bit. I'm trying not to overcompress my tracks, but still I feel like this is a failure in my mix. Overall I'm pretty happy with a lot of the elements in my track this week and I'm very happy with what FBF added to it: VOTE (since I'm collaborating I feel less cheesy voting for myself - see I'm voting for FBF, not me)

Cord Smith - Great personality on this track. Cool lyrics and a pretty catchy melody on the chorus. This is pretty excellent. It seems like a pretty much perfectly realized vision. I can't think of any constructive criticism, you nailed it. This kicks ass. VOTE.

Dejected Motives - Too repetitive. I don't really dig the bass sound either (or the other synth sounds) and with a track like this you really need to have awesome sounds.

DJ Ranger Den - Pretty piano on the intro brings me right into your world. Great vocal. This is my favorite DJ Ranger Den track in a long time (maybe ever.) If I have a complaint it's that I have a hard time holding onto the musical structure - but this is just a first listen and I think I have this problem with this kind of music in general. I do really like the subtle vinyl sound too. Cool touch. VOTE.

The Economy Biscuits - This seems pretty good but it's not really the type of thing I get into too much. Vocals seem way too low in the mix to me but for this genre it may be about right. I do like that it's short (not being snarky, it just seems like this is the type of track that should be about 2 minutes - not sure how long this was actually as my music player isn't showing the length of the tracks.)

Foobar - Nice piano sound. Vocals sound pretty good too. This seems like a big improvement in your sound from what I can recall of your previous efforts. The strings aren't too bad either. This is nice but not exactly up my alley. Still; it's pretty good! Lots of good efforts this week.

Glennny - I'm giggling @ the "someone stole a cookie from the cookie jar" bit; that ridiculous commercial always gets stuck in my head. My usual complaint about your tracks applies again: too many different styles squished into one track for my tastes but that's obviously your style and you're good at it... so. I guess I just feel like explaining why I don't love your songs as much as I love the individual bits in your songs (which I like a lot.) What I'm saying is - I love the song bits in your songs but when it's over I feel like I listened to a medley of 3 or 4 cool songs rather than one song that holds together as one thing. I remember bringing up the Of Montreal comparison before... lots of people love them, but they leave me cold for the same reason. All of that said I have to give you a VOTE this time because I really love the bits in this one.

The Handloaders - Kind of passes me by without making much of an impression (positive or negative.) With 29 songs it's going to be hard to stand out this week.

The HATE Noise - Great production. I love the throbbing bass, good stuff. I'm not big on the rapping/lyrics though. They're not bad but I don't love 'em. Basically for this one I think the music really outclasses the rapping by a large margin. Great backing track.

J$KM - Cool organ sound. Loving the backing vocals. I think I'm going to end up voting for about 10 tracks this week at this rate because I think I have to give this a VOTE too. I dig it. I really like the main melody in this one. It's catchy. That with the great organ sound, cool drum machine, and excellent backing vocals. Cool track.

Jake DeLorey - I want the vocals to be up a bit higher in the mix. The guitars sort of overpower the track a bit at times. The guitar tone on the left isn't too great either, sounds direct-in (although I really dig the playing.) I like the weird/delay effects, they take what could be a sort of straight forward song into an interesting direction. I like the singing and the melodies in this one (although it's missing a super catchy chorus.) It's very close to a vote but I've already voted for so many tracks... I think on a usual week this would get a vote but the songs seem much better than usual this week.

Jim of Seattle - This is really cool. I can't say this is a style of music that I listen to (I'm not even sure what style of music this is) but I enjoyed listening to this quite a bit. It seems pretty much perfectly realized. Great piece of music: VOTE.

Mavaddat - I like some of the sounds in this one. Reminds me of Syd Barett era Pink Floyd. Still; this doesn't stand up too well when compared to the other entries this time around.

Montana Fudge - I find this song pretty obnoxious/dumb on every level. You may have some anger issues you need to work on. Peace.

Ross Durand - Great track. I've been enjoying your entries more and more lately; this is probably my favorite Ross Durand track to date. VOTE.

Scott Gesser - Not too bad but doesn't make a big impression on me.

The Sober Irishman - Great sound on the guitars. I dig the chorus vocals. I'm not a huge fan of the growly verse vocals. And while the riffing is technically impressive, it's not really the type of thing that works for me. Basically this is really good but its a bit of a "not my bag" deal.

sonofsupercar - This is pretty cool. Nice energy to it.

trjones - Interesting sound, not what I would have expected from you after listening to your last couple of entries. Cool change-up. Vocals are a bit buried in the mix. I like the synth but the overall mix is a bit thin. Needs some bass. I hear a Pink Floyd influence and a John Lennon circa Plastic Ono Band influence. Curious if I'm close to the target as far as what you were going for? I like it ... but I feel like it could be better.

Tuners Union - Excellent as always. I'm not 100% sure this is my favorite this week (on the "Canadian Girlfriend" reviews I said your song had been my favorite every fight you entered), but that's not because this isn't great but just that the competition is a bit stiffer than usual. Still I have no complaints, great song. VOTE.

Tyler Zahnke - Cool sounds... has a nice retro/analog sounding vibe (although I'd be surprised if this wasn't done with all plugins... surprise me?) I like it... could be a cool break track on an album. It doesn't really stand up as something to listen to on it's own so much though - at least not in my current sober state of mind.

Ux Mpuzm - Not much here.

~~~

yup, looks like I ended up voting for 10 tracks. lots of great entries this week - although 29 songs is sort of pushing the limits of how many songs I'd want to review. (settle down now with all of these submissions)

[chocolatechips]

I didn't read Jake's review of BSS1 before I did mine (re: 'Creep')

[Jim of Seattle]

I'm not even sure what style of music this is

Hurrah!!

[blue]

SonOfSuperCar got me rockin' again. Sand-witch hunt. With extra provolone, for sure. Nice angle, guys.

It's all for you Billy.

[Economy Biscuits]

Bax: I love this jam. But then, I'm a sucker for the brown sound. Not crazy about the vocals on the chorus. Of course, if my vocals are any indication you may rightly disregard... But yeah, I will be rocking this as I muscle through my morning commute.

Berkeley Social Scene: tunes like this remind me I have much to learn in my short time with songfight. I love the expression in the vocals and the guitar work. As I recover from meetings all day, this jam will bring me back to productivity. Thank you!

Billy and the Psychotics: great energy and enthusiastic vocals. Love the vocals leading into the jam. Cool use of male/female vox too. That bass is getting down


Bombernaughts: DAT reverb! I will check my back everytime I listen to this. That said, is that bacon in the background? J/k nice emotive soundscape.


Caravan Ray: Took me a few listens to get it without wanting to be outraged, lol ( Im american...) But I think I get it and its great. The vocals feel a bit held back on some of it and would love to hear some more fire in your voice, sounds like its right there waiting. One guy and a guitar...why bother with anything else? great tune

The chocolate chips w Frankie big head: it's like old school U2 meets REM with a splash of something I can't put my finger on. The bass isn't blowing me away...

Cord Smith: Full Discloser, this is a buddy of mine that suggested I enter. He also showed me how to record on a computer so you can blame him for everything ill be submitting in the future, lol.

Tom waits meets Marcy playground and king diamond on vox. Would love to hear a ska version. My entry is also better.

The Economy Biscuits: This was one of my first efforts using my ipad exclusively for a complete song. I do regret not mixing on my monitors, def next time. I assumed a lot of people would go for something spooky so i just wrote about picking up goth chicks frm Denny's. only having 8tracks and no bounce was a challenge but I think tablets have a huge future in home musi production. I also figured this style of song wouldnt jive with the regulars but i was really happy with it. Perhaps something more accessable for Bullet Dodge...

Dejected Motives: That bassline is rollin. I'm a big sample junkie but maybe find cleaner bits to lift. Would be cool to hear the samples develop a narrative

Dj Ranger Den: This song took me a bit to get into. Have to be honest, with those vocals as featured, they gotta be spot on. I do dig it though, not my thing but nice break in the mix of the other 30 songs .


Foobar(fubar?) Ben Folds' lawyers will be in touch, Lol. I really love the whole feel of this and the dynamics. Couple off spots but totally ok. Feels like a smokey drink at the end of a hard day. Far from fubar, if you ask me (look it up it you haven't yet...)

Glenny- This my favorite song this go. It's like pavement, frank black, smash mouth, phish and dick dale all wrapped up in a thin blanket of vampire weekend. I love this tune. Thank you.

The Handloaders: I walked into the wrong saloon in a tarantino movie starting this one off. Uma Thurman legs of guitars; and her solid feet as bass. A bit cut off at the end? I really wanted to hear the reverbed guitar fade out!

The HATE noise: As a pro-level hater, HATE ON. This one wins my vote on curse words alone. Love the sample and beat. Vicious snare.

J$KM: whoa... It's like warm synth hot tub water. Air meets Jethro Tull, in an awesome way.

Jake DeLorey: The vocals remind me of Phil Collins with a splash of modest mouse and the sea and cake. and I love the layers.

Jim of Seattle: wasn't sure at first but reminds me of a band 24fps but then it gets all bluesy and Sinatra, and then, this song took me all over from the high end suburb town homes to the shady alleys where hand shakes are not hand shakes. Not sure about the vox sample...and I love samples...

Mavaddat : if you think I'm going to take the time to reverse this and listen... I might, later.

Montana Fudge: if you and hate noise bumped into each other, you could power a city with all the f bombs. Jk, but for real, tell us how you feel?

Ross Durand: Between you and cord smith, this place got 200% more GRIZZLED. Pretty heavy stuff. This song is a nailed bat in a beat up guitar case.

Scott Gesser: Watch those levels, more clipping than a supercuts. Great harmonies, love that little guitar sound.

The Sober Irishman: This is heavy. It's a fist of a song. Tons of fire. I do like the way it burns!

Sonofsupercar: Talking heads meets soundgarden, I loved this one. There may be some unintentional noise in the chain somewhere. But, no biggie when those vocals are belting out.


trjones: I dunno, I like a micd acoustic but love the synth. I too, distort my vocals... This one really develops into something nice once you get your context.

Tuners Union: This and Canadian Girlfriend are going into my phone like now. There is so much depth to this, sonically, lyrically and I really enjoyed this.

Tyler Zahnke: I think I'd need an artists statement to fully get this one. What were you going for? I love synths but am trying to get it. Angelo Badalament meets the church organ lady?


Ux Mpuzm- This reminds me of an editing lesson I learned from a buddy: Can you say this with less? What's the idea behind this tune?

[Jim of Seattle]

Alcoholic Spok
There's some good stuff here. I like the switch between major and minor. Your vocals are good too. They aren't vey well recorded, so that is making it hard to get into, or to understand the lyrics. Also, the songwriting itself isn't very interesting, as the verse is repetitive. The only real musical interest for me is the maj/min shift.

Bax
The vocals are low in the mix so it's hard to hear. The whole recording sounds kind of muddy, needs more high end. Musically, this works pretty well though. Gets kind of dull after a couple minutes though. And it's a bit clunky. 

Berkeley Social Scene 1
Everything about this song is pretty decent. I like the lead vocal, double tracking it was a good idea. You know I'm not crazy about having the two panned lead guitars, but for the most part they stay out of each other's way, so that's not too onerous. The song itself is pretty sleepy, and so I get kind of bored, but it's well done all around.

Berkeley Social Scene 2
This is the vocalist I often have problems with, but this time more effort seems to have been made in keeping on pitch, so good job there. I like 2 better than 1 because it has more energy. The synth solo lands right in the range of the two panned guitars, so there's a collision of mush there. That guitar solo afterward might have taken more of the solo time. Not catchy enough for me, but nice job.

Billy and the Psychotics
Denise's voice occupies the same range as not one but two guitars, so it tires my ear quickly and she sounds like she's drowning in sound a bit. In the second verse the guitars drop out and so she has more breathing room, (yet it feels empty, hmmm), and when there is no vocal, it sounds better too. Listen to how much better the bridge works. The guitars are there but lay back and Denise can occupy her territory without getting crowded. I don't know which precise solution is needed, but I think the lead vocal needs to be the only really active thing in that octave. The song is fun, and everything is fine here. The vocal duet is a cool idea that works. The subject matter of the lyrics has a lot more potential feeling than the dinky cupcake of a tune. I wish the song has a little more of the appropriate witchy atmosphere.

Bombernaughts
Main problem here is the instruments are way too low in the mix. I like the idea with the reverb on the vocal, but it's way too much and makes all your other sounds fight with the reverberation. Overall I can see the concept here and I'm on board, but the execution is lacking. Lots of audio engineering improvements could be made to these existing tracks, so it's not too far off. Also, I don't like the colloquial lyrics combined with the pseudo ancient musical style. If you want to do the ancient music thing, might have been more effective to co-opt an old style language. ("boaty boaty"? it sounded like, I never could catch that!) you set out to do an ambitious soundscape thing, but it didn't come off.

Caravan Ray
Terrific. This song is so nicely structured, it was a pleasure to put myself in your hands. Second verse isn't about sexism, it's about homophobia, just sayin. I wish you'd had a different twist somehow at the last verse, which is basically the same joke as the first two. Despite that, nice job. VOTE

The Chocolate Chips with Frankie Big Face
This is great. Frankie's voice sounds great over the band. I kind of miss his trademark FBFTremolo (TM) but it's fine. Frankie could have used a few more takes with some more energy, and the falsetto backup vocals could take a few more takes as well. But those are nitpicks. This is nicely done. The production here is sweet, everything is nice and balanced. VOTE

Cord Smith
The rookie brings it! This is good. Not a lot of improvements to suggest, but a few biggies stick out. Fix those and you're an instant contender in future fights. 1) Vocals mixed too low, bass too high. This is especially important because you are so lyrics-centric. I had trouble understanding the growly monster sometimes. 2) Too obviously derivative of Tom Waits. Not just the vocal style, but the lyric style and rhythm and general vibe. Needs to be more of you, less of someone else. 3) if you're going to do the Waits thing lyrically, you can't afford a single misstep syllabically. Normally I'd let this kind of thing slide, but you'd have gotten more mileage by not "cheating", squeezing in extra syllables to your lines, such as "full of things THATARE wrong" and "don't let him OUTOF my sight". But sheesh, I'm being picky. Your attention to prosody in the lyrics is admirable. Great job. VOTE

Dejected Motives
Not much here. I get really tired of the overused Eric Idle sample. other than that this is just a beat and repeated bass line with rather cliche movie samples. Try being a little more original next time.

DJ Ranger Den
"Why do birds/Suddenly appear" oh wait, different song. This is positively dripping with sult (that's the noun form of sultry) and I'm all over your gospelly Carole King vibe. Denise, you're so close to great it's infuriating. Keep at it, once you get there there will be no beating you in fights. Fortunately for the rest of us you still have some persistent problems to work on, so we still have a chance to win. You still ramble like you're reading out of a diary. I'd like some repeated phrases to cling to, both musically and lyrically. I know this is a totally different type of song, but Caravan Ray's entry this week uses structure and repetition to great effect, for example. Second, your vocals are extremely appealing. I wish you explored the emotional effects of your voice a little further. You rely on the ironic, weary glottal fricative (look it up!), which is indeed effective, but sometimes the lyric calls for a different vocal treatment. Lastly, there's a huge production issue with an easy fix. Sounds like you put some heavy compression on the whole mix. What happens is the compressor kicks in when your voice gets louder, but since it is operating on the entire mix, you are inadvertently squishing down the piano track as well. Listen to how the piano volume goes up and down in response to your voice in a most unnatural way. Listen at "go runnin after fools" or "drink to your sickness and drink to your health". The simple fix is to put the compressor on the vocal track only, and don't let it work on the piano. VOTE

The Economy Biscuits
Vocals sound like they're delivered over the phone. Almost impossible to understand the lyrics, and really impossible to become emotionally invested in. Drum track is too simple, guitar lick is ok for what it is, but not that exciting. Whole thing needs more effort. 

Foobar
I appreciate the idea here. Pretty good, but doesn't all add up for me. Nice playing, interesting chords. When you get to "and if you find yourself", I want your melody to take off a bit more. It keeps landing back at that same low tonic note, robbing the song of emotional power. Lyrically, I can't tell what you're talking about, so repeating the title over and over doesn't carry enough meaning. The cello patch is in the same register as a lot of the piano, so they're colliding a lot. Since your voice isn't far from that range either, better idea to use a violin or some other higher pitched instrument to balance things out. But oh hell, VOTE against my better judgement.

Glennny
Vocals are almost impossible to understand. Frustrating. Man, this is an ambitious song though. I like that. The cookie jar thing doesn't make sense to me, possibly because too much else of the song is hard to understand. Nice mix, love the drums. Im guessing this is mixed by whoever at BSS likes to pan to 0 and 100. Works better with the keyboard instead of two guitars, but still, just moving into like 75 and 25 would be so much less distracting for me.

The Handloaders
Neat. Great production. Nice arrangement, well-played, cool vocals. The chord progression has a nice creepy vibe without resorting to cliche. And simple as it is, it's not boring. I'm totally with this song. A real shame it ends so abruptly. VOTE.

The HATE Noise
I don't know your music well enough to know if you're being funny or you mean it. So it's hard to know how to take this. It's a funny idea, but maybe you take it a little too far. By the time it's over I'm sort of pissed off. Everything else is fine.

J$KM
This is alright. I don't have much reaction to it either way. It's kind of dull, and that organ makes me tired. 

Jake DeLorey
Nice. This is a contender to win the fight. I like how catchy the tune is, and the squeaky thing solo is fun. The arrangement is nice and balanced. I think the effect on the lead vocal is too much, it distances me from the song a bit, makes the lyrics hard to make out and later it collides with the lead guitar. But people will love this and you're going to get a lot of deserved votes. Including my VOTE.

Jim of Seattle
The idea was I would speak the title in my natural voice, then whatever came out, that was the tune I had to work with. I made a special challenge in that I said it a second time and made myself end up with whatever that tune was at the end. Madi on violin. I'm tickled to death with my choice of the major chord the moment the guitar comes in. The melody is still minor, played over the major chord. I love that. I'm happy enough with this. I don't love it, but it's okay.

Mavaddat
Sounds like you had fun..

Ross Durand
You certainly know what you're doing. Nothing to say here, this is just great. Love the dynamic range, and the twist line "hope it ain't me". Love the creeping feel, I can picture a crowd with torches stepping through the forest. I don't stand a chance against entries like this. VOTE

Scott Gesser
Good one. Some unfortunate distortion in the vocals, and I'd take down the zithery instrument a notch. It gets a little irritating. I like the percussion track. Has a medieval witch hunt feel but still contemporary. I can't make out some of the lyrics, especially "something something is callinnnnnn", which sounds like it was an important line. Some steereo panning would be effective too. Definitely has a demo feel, but this is worth working up a bit. The drop out on that one line is a cheap gimmick, but dammit, it works great. VOTE

The Sober Irishman
You've come a long way. This is pretty awesome. I'm not sure what the lyrics are about, but I don't care. Great guitars, great production. Songwriting is terrific too. Not a single complaint. VOTE. (I happened to run across "Driving" the other day, btw. Still love that one.)

Sonofsupercar
This is great, but I don't particularly like it. It's a little too silly, and feels kind of pointless, but it was a fun 2 minutes and you guys can sure play. VOTE

TRJones
Like JakeDeLorey, the vocal effect is cool, but might be laid on a bit thick. It's so out of character with everything else. There's this long intro and I'm into the groove and am not at all expecting that kind of lyric. Turns out the vocal performance is good, but the effect is not right. Also, this song reminds me too much of lennon's Working Class Hero. VOTE

Tuners Union
Great. I like how you managed to get the sound of a big crowd in the chorus. I've never been able to get that to work. Strange little thing that bugs me, and that's at the end of the chorus you have that nice G7 to C minor, then the Bb chord, and I always think there's going to be more. It's just my thing, but it bugged me every time it came up. What a frickin nitpick that is though, Great job. VOTE.

Tyler Zahnke
Nice spooky feel. I like how you've created a unique sound by what sounds like not entirely electronic instruments. In this case, the small background noise works in your favor because it reals the piece up a bit. It's difficult to get into though, kind of feels like you're improvising behind a scary silent film rather than having your own musical thrust. 

Ux Mpuzm
Not terrible. The effort seems to mostly be about finding those sound clips. I'm with you for. Little while, but you don't take it anywhere else after the first minute. You've said your thing and then just keep saying it again. Really boring.

[j$]

A long way from completing my reviews, but I need to say this now -

Hate Noise - Bored of the homophobia / misogyny / swearing / talking about yourselves - this is a fucking great song otherwise. I can't vote for you lyrically; I would be there in a shot if you had something worthwhile to say. In the meantime please fuck off and die.

[The HATE Noise]

I don't know your music well enough to know if you're being funny or you mean it. So it's hard to know how to take this. It's a funny idea, but maybe you take it a little too far. By the time it's over I'm sort of pissed off.

Excellent. It worked, then.

http://www.hiphopdx.com/index/editorial ... illuminati

Having extensively read up on the REAL Illuminati (if there is such a thing), I just think it's so obviously a bunch of less-popular and jealous rappers accusing more famous ones, and it made me laugh...In the last line, I tried to make it clear that that's the point...it's no different from paranoid colonists or Joe McCarthy being a butthole because he wanted friends. But no, it's a joke, or a character or whatever...but there's always some kind of truth...in this case, I really do have a friend who just got signed to a major, and I was thinking about that when I wrote this. In general, if it sounds pretty over-the-top or too far, it's probably not true. Unless it is. But it's usually not. The ratio is probably 100-1. And if it makes you laugh, it's probably intentional. Thanks for listenin'.

and $ or whatever...Cashpoint guy...I'm always curious about folks who I piss off this much...especially since I myself, although often rude on recording, almost never resort to telling people to 'fuck off and die,' or things of that ilk. Isn't it more constructive and fulfilling to channel that anger into your art? Also, I am sorry you don't see the humor in my songwriting, you are obviously quite upset about it. Anyhow...I was going to listen to some of your submissions to see where you're comin' from, but the only song I could find bored me so hardcore that I shut it off after like 30 seconds.

..Sucka.

[Jim of Seattle]

I don't know your music well enough to know if you're being funny or you mean it. So it's hard to know how to take this. It's a funny idea, but maybe you take it a little too far. By the time it's over I'm sort of pissed off.

Excellent. It worked, then.

Easy enough to say after the fact. The fact that I didn't get it during my actual consumption of your song is a failure on your part. And there's truth in all jest, of course. Sad, your friend who got signed by a major label is the one who has lost out. Anyone whose goal is something like that is clinging to an outdated model. I bet if you knew the details of this dude's "deal" you'd feel a lot less jealous.

[jb]

Chocolate Chips: I like the song, but I think it would hit harder, and the chorus wouldn't drag, if the drums were punchier. In my noise-reducers (moderately nice audio-technicas), I can barely hear the kick and snare. The ride and crash are pretty good.

[jb]

Billy and the Psychotics: You guys are always one of my favorites. I don't think you've done a song that hasn't at least been listenable. In this one the guitars and stuff are so well mixed that when the vocals come in and they don't have enough brightness, they feel kind of dull.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy and the Psychotics: You guys are always one of my favorites. I don't think you've done a song that hasn't at least been listenable. In this one the guitars and stuff are so well mixed that when the vocals come in and they don't have enough brightness, they feel kind of dull.

I tried a brand new technique on this song. It's a change in my chain to cut the sterile digital-ness and warm up the bottom. It's working, but softening my highs too much in the 1 to 2k-ish range and I need to EQ tracks different. Last song I used an exciter on the master buss to brighten things, but I'm still playing with it.....(the exciter -_-) and I'm working on the adjustments.

The other new thing on this one is mixing the vox a lot dryer. Less delay, chorus etc can have a lot to do with that too.

I honestly only work on songs we submit here and use the feedback. I really should spend more time between SF entries for testing mixes, but you know, that eats into my drinking and porn time. So.....

Thanks, jb

[Jim of Seattle]

I really should spend more time between SF entries for testing mixes, but you know, that eats into my drinking a porn time.

Oh, I know what you mean. I would rather sit and watch beer all night.

[The HATE Noise]

The fact that I didn't get it during my actual consumption of your song is a failure on your part.

...I don't necessarily agree with that...Granted, my 'rock' lyrics tend to be way too abstract and my 'rap' lyrics are often silly or uninspired, I made a pretty conscious effort to make the subject matter obvious on this one. It just apparently wasn't a topic you're well-versed in. But that's like saying Syd Barrett's lyrics are meaningless because you've never read any James Joyce. Not comparing myself to Barrett--it's just an example. You said yourself it was a 'funny idea' but that you weren't sure if I was serious or not. So then, when I say that I am in fact joking, you say that's an easy statement to make after the fact...that doesn't make sense. I was just answering your question on whether or not it was serious, which it's not.

I bet if you knew the details of this dude's "deal" you'd feel a lot less jealous.

I probably didn't make this clear in my last post, but I am actually not jealous, and in fact wish him all the best. This is absolutely not my goal in life, although I would like to exist as a musician without any additional sort of income, but who doesn't? The point is, that mindset, which I was attempting to mock, is what leads to the 'Illuminati' conspiracy stuff in the rap world.

I'm sorry, I don't mean to be argumentative, I just like folks to know where I'm coming from. There was an inquisitive tone in your review, so I thought I'd answer. Normally I don't say anything here, but oftentimes that leads people to think I'm some trailer trash homophobic drug dealer, like in the songs, which is positively not the case. Like in pretty much every other case of offensive/graphic lyrics. Except X-Raided. He's in jail for life.