Beats a holy sh** (Royal Baby reviews)

[Lunkhead]

As you wish, your highness.

[furrypedro]

Time to be a horrible bastard to every one else. I've listened to these a bunch of times, not in alphabetical order. And now I have some useless comments to make (probably worth less than 2 pence, or cents, or yen).

BSS: Catchy little number. The vocals sound smooth almost to the point of sounding a tiny bit vocoded. Is that just Glen singing or is there another voice as well? Aah, some n00b called Ryan. You and your ringers.

Bombernaughts: Kind of nice synths and melody. It sounds a bit half-developed as it doesn't change a great deal during the song, not even much in terms of subtle dynamic changes.

CChips: Kind a cute for a 2 chord song. I like the tremolo in your voice.

FLVXXVM FLORVM: Are those drums programmed? They sound synthesized but the fills aren't very tight so I'm thinking played live on an electronic kit or something. Anyway, the tempo change in this is the best part, not that the start was bad, but the dynamic shift is cool and it goes all epic and stuff. You get a little bit carried away with the widdling but fuck it, it's your song. You can do what you want with it.

Foobar: Really nice pianising. When the percussion kicks in it goes from sounding like Elton John to sounding like Smoosh. This is a good song. lean and pretty. The piano sound is excellent as well. They're pretty hard to record so I'm gonna guess you've got some fancy clavinova or some't. I love the minor chords when the song's fading out.

Jan's Pants: Haha, "I don't want to be a TOTAL dick". It's nothing special but you do what you do well and the lyrics are entertaining.

Jesus and Crackers: My favourite bit is the noise at 1.48, but then you go and end the song! Missed a trick there. That was one of the most awesomely horrible noises I've heard and I'd love to know what you made it with. Oh wait, you did it at 0.37 as well. Shows how much I was paying attention. Synth work is good in this. I wish the drums did something more interesting instead of just looping.

King Art: Right guitar is schmoove. Left guitar is distractingly fuzzy. I am a big fan of Clouds Taste Metallic-era Flaming Lips so I feel like I'm being a bit of a hypocrite making that complaint. It's a bit like..did you ever hear the Minnie Riperton/Rotary Connection's "Black Gold of the Sun"? Great song, but there's this fuzzy guitar widdling all the way through and it sounds totally out of place, this is like that, but less widdly. Anyway, I've dwelt too long on it. The song is good, well composed and structured. I like the persistent shuffle on the hi-hat and that left guitar is sweet as a nut.

MC Milk +: We have a winner. I like the line "a smatter of fat (phat?) history on my platter" line. Almost not vitriolic enough for me, gets a bit sugary in the chorus. Music, delivery and production are spot on though.

My Social Uniform: The melody in this immediately make me think of "Kiss from a Rose" or something similar. Not quite sure what that interval is, you're probably rocking the ol' neopolitan 6ths or some jazzy thing like that. As far as rock ballads goes it seems like an alright song but rock ballads really ain't my thing. Leaves a slightly dirty feeling for me that I can only get rid of by cheesegrating my ears off. Or listening to This Heat, one of the two. Sorry.

Paco Del Taco: Upbeat, happy, handclaps! 6-beat phrases! Bass breakdown! Wa-woos! The only thing this song doesn't have that I want is sexual favours.

[jeff robertson]

FLVXXVM FLORVM: Are those drums programmed?

Jamstix.

[glennny]

Furry Pedro wrote:

BSS: Catchy little number. The vocals sound smooth almost to the point of sounding a tiny bit vocoded. Is that just Glen singing or is there another voice as well? Aah, some n00b called Ryan. You and your ringers.

Thanks man! I'm doing all of the vocals, many takes and plenty of autotune to guide me to the pitch. I was hoping to get to the point where the affectation was gone, but there you go. Ryan is the guy who introduced me to Ken ages ago. His Song Fight presence actually predates both you and me: Freedom Fries, Mosswoodians, Location Location Location. But yeah, killer bass player!

MC Milk- I'd be very surprised if you didn't win this fight. Despite my heavy genre bias against nerdcore, I really enjoyed this song! great production! Are you part of Torrent Z? If anything, I wish it was longer.

good fight all the way around! hope to really review sometime soon!

[pauley g]

thanks for the review furrypedro...sorry you didn't enjoy it, but I think you've given me a suitable profile quote! I have sheet music available if you wanna play this at your next gig

[furrypedro]

Don't feel bad pauley. It's not you, it's me.
I definitely want the sheet music, this will help me to transpose the song to slide whistle, cowbell and other instruments.
Quoting me gives me more validation than I could ask for. I hope it lasts

[pauley g]

furrypedro, you and I are gonna be friends.

[chocolatechips]

Green Faces/Vote for my Three Favorites.

Balance Lost Cool rhythms. Some pretty nice raunchy guitar tones too. Pretty cool vocals for this kind of style. Not much to it as far as as lyrics/melody but that doesn't seem to be the point to this one anyway.

BSS A more funky Beta Band. I dig the layering of the vocals. Really like the backing wordless vocals. Not at all expecting the guitar solo ... cool. Reminds me a bit of a Frank Zappa solo/tone.

Bombernaughts I like this kind of thing sometimes but for whatever reason this one isn't really pulling me in. The production could be a bit more dynamic.

FLVXX... Considering my own half assed entry this is pretty rich: This seems kind of half assed/thrown together to me - super sloppy. My favorite bit is the organ.

Foobar Kind of nice in an inoffensive easy listening sort of way. Singing could be stronger.

Jan's Pants Tight acoustic guitars. I like the handclaps/percussion. Cool backing vocals. This is pretty good.

Jesus and Crackers A bit of fun with synths but I'm not really sold on the whole deal.

King Arthur Nice tune. The vocals have some personality. I'm not crazy about the tone of the buzzy guitar on the left, but the clean guitar on the right is nice.

MC Milk Cool production. Sounds a bit 90s in a cool throw back sort of way. Nice hook ("a new baby boy.") This is probably the winner.

My Social Uniform This is not my style but I appreciate it anyway. Good vocals. Pretty well done for this kind of thing, it's not quite there but pretty close.

Paco del Stinko Great handclaps. Everything is well done but I'm not crazy about it.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Quick reviews for a quick fight. Lemme know if you need more detail. Prost!

Balance Lost - So very you! Guitars, of course, are wonderful. But I am digging the straight forward drive of the New Order bass line. Pumpin', man, pumpin'. (Not man-pumpin', for me anyway) Goes fast to nowhere in particular, but sometimes it's nice just to go for a ride and waste gas.

Berkeley Social Scene - It's the Glenny Social Scene! Works for me. Great bass line, tone as well. Is this the same fella you did Nur Ein with? Great team. Yeah, as mentioned elsewhere, the lead is great. It goes places instead of noodly-foodling around. This song ripens with repeated listens.

Bombernaughts - This works well. I like the vocals, melody all over the place. While it may not be hummable, it's interesting. The song does wander a bit, but it keeps my interest, at least while it's playing. Reminds me of something I can't place, I'll post if I remember. Is this a solo venture or a team?

The Chocolate Chips - Glad to see you around. A bit of a toss off, this must be, but it works for a simple bit of bittersweet tunage. This might actually benefit from being shorter, ending after it returns to the verse. Might stick more that way, I dunno.

Flvxxvm Florvm - Glad you're back around, there isn't enough fuzztastic skanka-wanka here. There sure is in this song, complete with 60s type runs. In-a-gadda-da-devo. Some stacked vocals at the time change would've been cool. Diggin' it, as rough as it is.

Foobar - This is pleasant. I would've stopped and restarted the drums to empasize the choruses and as a cheap build. The understated guitar works pretty well. Love the chord changes during "you I love". Could use a little polish and arrangement nudging.

Jan's Pants - This is right on. Comes in rolling and doesn't lose steam. Nice vocal work and pickin'. A couple slight hints of Beatles underneath the country flavor. Ends kind of abruptly, but doesn't overstay its wlecome. Good organic feel.

Jesus and Crackers - Cheap, dumb, and skanky. Like a few girls I've known. Doesn't go anywhere, but I don't mind. Synth tones are effective.

King Arthur - Man, that is some serious fuzz-tone. Tone-Bender? Totally 60s. Pleasant song, cruising along gently, all the way to some palm treed patio at dusk. Mix is a bit odd, with the drums to one side, is that an old Beatles reference? Great playing and catchy chourus hook, lyrically and melodically.

MC Milk-Plus - Has it been two years already? Or however long you are away. Anyway, glad to hear you and your top shelf tune. Great manipulation of the anthem there. I too am not a huge rap/nerdcore/whatever rap fan. but this is great. The beat and groove are tops and the hooks keep it from being all talky and yelly. Great work, as always. See ya in a couple years!

My Social Uniform - A very nice singing voice, that. And performance, too. Jellyfish. I keep waiting fdor a high payoff note, as you ride that one area for most of the song. This could be part of a theatrical production or something. Very good work although it doesn't necessarily linger after it's done.

Paco del Stinko - A cheap one, of course! Lost my touch for drum production this week, too. The bridge is a mess as well. Eh.

[mcmilkplus]

Wow! What an unexpected and wonderful response. Thanks Guys! I appreciate the feedback. Yes I'm also part of Torrentz who also have submitted here from time to time. Me? saw this title, and as a Brit, just had to do something. It reminded me how much I love this site and the whole concept of writing to a title (and most importantly a deadline!)

I find that Songfight smashes down the walls of procrastination and focuses the mind in a way that only a deadline can. I always go back and extend/remix tracks afterwards but the basic fact is that half my solo music (as Milk-Plus) wouldn't exist without Songfight. So... CHEERS!

......and you don't even like Nerdcore Hip Hop!!!! #flattered #humbled...

[Ryan]

I are not teh n00b!

[foobar93]

Balance Lost

I like the high-energy start. It's loud without being tiring. Nice job getting the vocals to cut through an otherwise very busy mix. The second break at around 1:02 I had to turn the volume down; I'm not sure if that's actually mixed louder than the first one, but I found it a little painful. Overall, I found this very entertaining, sweet and short. I really like the short quieter musical break around 0:55, I wish that lasted longer as it would be a great contrast to the dissonant ending.

Berkeley Social Scene

I'm having trouble making the lyrics out, even though I like the multi-voice arrangement musically. I wish I had something constructive to offer, but I don't really. Overall, I found the energy in this track a little low. What is it really trying to say? But I do appreciate the technical construction and the attention to detail.

Bombernaughts

I like the 8-bit/80s vibe. Like the musical break around 1:00 where the background distorted sound effects come into the foreground. I feel like the distorted sound is fighting a bit with the more clean bass sound (I hope it makes sense which lines I'm referring to). I'd love to see the clean sound win out for a section and take its turn in the foreground, like around 1:35, before the distorted outro. Vocals are great, btw. I'm not sure if I get the royal baby connection, but maybe that's because I keep getting distracted by the background effects and not concentrating enough on the lyrics, even after a few listens.

The Chocolate Chips

The two guitars work well together for me. The guitar in stereo right has the occasional bad hit that is very jarring when it happens. Cute track, I enjoyed it.

Flvxxvm Florvm

Frenetic but tight opening, I'm enjoying the first 0:30 especially. The guitar sometimes sounds a bit like a kazoo, but it adds some humor for me anyway. Gotta love the tempo change at 1:15. "New born king" sounds like something out of a rock opera. Not digging the slower guitar solo afterwards, though. Once things pick up pace at the end, it's back to the good stuff. Nicely done. I really like the contrasting guitar tone right at the end, 2:25 or so. I wish we'd heard that sooner, it would have been a nice break between the first few sections, imho.


Foobar

This is me. I only had a few days to throw this together between trips, but I think the constraints actually helped me take a "less is more" approach. Listening to it now, I just wish I'd had a little more to polish the transitions and vocals.

Jan's Pants

Oh yeah, what a great 0:10 start. I love the two guitar parts, great complementary tone. And I really like the short drop-out for the punch line at 1:15. Ouch, you left me hanging at the end. Overall, though, I enjoyed this a lot. Lyrics were clear and easy to follow, your emotion - cranky though it is - comes through loud and clear. Worth a second listen.

Jesus and Crackers

Cool sound. Vocals are kind of turning me off, though. It's both hard to hear and a little cliche "angry megaphone" to me.

King Arthur

I really like the sound of this track. Vocal sounds great. Really like the minor turn around 0:45, especially given the lyrical phrase right before. For some reason in this fight I'm very focused on the split-stereo guitars. For this track, the distortion in stereo left is just overwhelming the rest of the track, and makes it hard to pay attention to the much more interesting guitar part in stereo right. As the track develops, some of the words are getting a little swallowed, especially right before the guitar solo. By the third verse around 3:00, I wish there was a little more variety in the arrangement.

MC Milk-Plus

Intro really reminds me of MC Frontalot's Canadia. I do like nerdcore, so this is right up my alley. I don't have a lot to say, very tight production and very fun to listen to. I wish the verses had a little more variety musical variety to them, by the second verse I was a tiny bit bored. The outro was a little disappointing, I figured we'd get some nerdcore remixing of Hail Britannia. Still overall lots of fun.

My Social Uniform

Intro reminds me of Metric for some reason, although I can't think of which track. Maybe Gimme Sympathy? Anyway, I like this track. Nice departure from the usual songfight genres. It really reminds me of something I've heard before, and it's driving me crazy. Anyway, I think the vocal performance is great and the piano complements it extremely well. "grace of a royal" all of the sudden sounds like Kiss from a Rose. I think this track is all-pro: vocals, chord progression, arrangement and performances are all spot-on. My favorite so far.


Paco del Stinko

I like the dueling voices and the overall high-energy production. You kind of lost me in the "boo hoo" break, though. I like the subtle guitar solo that comes in briefly around 1:40, though. I just don't like all the dissonance going on around it. But the lift when the chorus kicks back in unexpectedly at 2:05 is great. But tell me, how do you really feel? Another cranky but authentic emotional punch.

[foobar93]

Foobar - This is pleasant. I would've stopped and restarted the drums to empasize the choruses and as a cheap build. The understated guitar works pretty well. Love the chord changes during "you I love". Could use a little polish and arrangement nudging.

Thanks! I will steal your "cheap build" idea for the next fight. Much appreciated.

[foobar93]

Foobar: Really nice pianising. When the percussion kicks in it goes from sounding like Elton John to sounding like Smoosh. This is a good song. lean and pretty. The piano sound is excellent as well. They're pretty hard to record so I'm gonna guess you've got some fancy clavinova or some't. I love the minor chords when the song's fading out.

Thanks! I had to look up Smoosh to find out what you were talking about. Any track in particular you had in mind?

I'm lucky enough to record with a Roland V-Piano, which (in case anyone is wondering) I strongly recommend, if you ever have the chance.

[furrypedro]

Thanks! I had to look up Smoosh to find out what you were talking about. Any track in particular you had in mind?

Nah, I'm not a big fan or anything. Just the piano and drum thing, y'know. Kind of a lazy comparison. Comparisons are inherently lazy really tho aren't they.

[foobar93]

Kind of a lazy comparison. Comparisons are inherently lazy really tho aren't they.

DIdn't Aaron Sorkin say that?

[furrypedro]

No idea who he is (google....aah, a screenwriter). I think a bunch of people said it. Now I am one of them. Won't stop me making comparisons though. I am inherently lazy.

[foobar93]

No idea who he is (google....aah, a screenwriter). I think a bunch of people said it. Now I am one of them. Won't stop me making comparisons though. I am inherently lazy.

Aren't comparisons great?

[JakeDeLorey]

I was late once again to this fight. Fortunately though I hava good excuse. I went to see Beck perform at the Portland State Theater, and got to meet him after the show. A great night all around, as he is a true inspiration in my books. Here is a link to my tune. If you would like to take a listen and let me know what you think, I would greatly appreciate it.. Without further ado, onto the tunes. Best songs move on until there are only 3 standing.

Balance Lost Alright, its got my head boppin'. I really like the mix on this, although I find the snare and hats a bit heavy on the highends. That makes the bass really pop though I guess. Gonna take another listen. Vocals sound cool, like your voice quite a bit. Good all around tune. This should hold its own against the up coming fighters.

Berkeley Social SceneI dont know who you guys are from week to week. This is your best submission in awhile. Getting a big Phish vibe from ya on this one. Not to keen on the lyrics. Great mix though, and solid bass work.Nice Harmony on the Larsony is wrong part. Nice solo sound too, a bit to much Phaser IMHO.

BombernaughtsI'm not falling into this. I like the change and lyrical melody, but the verses just seem a bit to random in their flow. Nice voice, although not my style. I would like to hear you harmonizing with yourself as opposed to just double tracking your voice.

The Chocolate ChipsAlright, lets see if the chocolate chips can remove any of the first three from the running. A pleasant enough tune. Sounds like the voice has been altered a lot. SO much that you have morphed into Stevie Nicks. A little Dull, but good enough to take out the Bombernaughts.

Flvxxvm FlorvmHey its the Cramps , with a Banana Splits break (tra la la, lalala la). I like the vocals, the rest is to sloppy for me. This tune has lots of potential, just needs a bit of a shining. I do however like this better then The Chocolate Chips. SO Moving on....

FoobarA pretty ditty, vocals are a bit thin for me. Nice Piano work, but overall I find the tune a little dull. Nothing is hooking me or keeping my interest.

Jan's PantsHoly great sounding guitar sound. SO clean. Great playing. Nice Harmony. Phenomenal Mix all around. Great lyrics. THis sounds like its gonna win it for me. Nice guitar and banjo break. Not nearly enough banjo breaks on this site. THis is gonna be top three no doubt. This has easily decapitated Flxvvmxflrvxxin to move on

Jesus and CrackersI am intrigued by this name. Right away I want to start yeliing "I'm the fire starter, twisted firestarter". Lets see where this goes.....This needs to be heavier if its gonna be heavy. The drums are to thin for that heavy beat they are playing. I want this to be heavy like the chorus and ending, but the drum sound just takes me out of the zone. Look forward to your next submission.

King ArthurThat distorted electric guitar sounds terrible, and really takes away from this tune. A solid tune, but that distorted electric should just be removed, or at least treated a little different. The other guitar sounds nice though, just wish it wasn't only in my right speaker. Oh Nice solo, and sound for it. I would have gone with that sound to handle the part that you have the distored guitar playing. Nice song though, just cant get past that one sound.

MC Milk-Plus Cool!! Real great production on this. A quality mix for my headphones. You have a great flow. Wow! Its great manipulation of that sample. A short review because I think you did it all right! This has removed Berkley Social Scene from the top 3.

My Social UniformMoving onto one of my Songfight Favorites. A very Seal sounding intro along the lines of Kiss from a Rose or some sorta thing. Nice production. The pad really fills in nicely. A dry piano can just stick out like a sore thumb, but you have it swaddled in great accompaniment. Not really my style of tune, but this is a quality submission no doubt. I wiould like to hear some harmony with your voice (which is A-ok in my books). THis will remove Balance Lost from the top 3. Great Job

Paco del StinkoANother one of my personal favorites. Lets see what Paco has in store for us this week...UPBEAT...Woot, just as I had hoped. The verse section doesnt work for me, purely a question of taste though. The mix sounds good. I dont find the drums suit this tune, they seem just a smidge wonky. I'm a sucker for handclaps, but it wont be enough to get you into the top 3.

So this week my top 3 votes go to My Social Uniform, MC Milk-Plus, and the best of the bunch this week IMHO is JAN's PANTS

[chocolatechips]

hey Jake - I like your "top 3 moving on" approach, I might steal it next time around.

digging your track even though I'm listening on laptop speakers. the synths and guitars are cool and I like the effects on the vocals but they're a bit distractingly weak as far as tunefulness goes.

awesome you met Beck, he's one of my favorites and definitely an influence on me. i've seen him live a couple times.

[glennny]

Balance Lost
I love it! Your up tempo stuff is my favorite. There's something so charming about British accents swearing. The bass tone is great and I like the driving line. You do rhythm stuff on guitar I just don't do. This short song packs a lot of rock. VOTE!

Berkeley Social Scene
This was super fun. Ryan Ken and myself go back a long time. Ryan said the chorus sounded like an after school PSA kinda song. His example was "Littering is Wrong". It was really catchy, so wrote the lyrics and vocals around that. Thanks for the Zappa and Phish comparisons, those are arguably my 2 favorite bands, so its not surprising. I really love the drums sound and playing. Anyway, hope you all enjoy.

Bombernaughts
Cool melody! I'm not a big fan of the beat. i think acoustic drum sounds, even brushes would sound a lot better, even with all the synth sounds. I could stand to hear more dynamics between the verses and chorus. Nice listen!

The Chocolate Chips
Nice to have you back! I enjoy the hard pan instruments I didn't notice until now. Some upright bass and a phat beat would complete this. It's pleasant, I like the vibrato on the vocals.

Flvxxvm Florvm
I like the drums a lot. When the guitar is playing rhythm its pretty good. The leads are a bit on the sloppy side, and exposes the rush job. Bass tone is cool too. Fun little song.

Foobar
Nice song. Sounds like you're in the iPad club! Love that bass sound! Piano sounds great too! I wish there was something in the right to balance the guitar on the left. The drums are too quiet for my tastes, I really want a big kick and snare. Nice melody, I wish the intensity intensified as the song progressed. The delivery is rather ho hum.

Jan's Pants
Bad ass playin! Great vocals and harmonies. I rarely like hand claps. I don't like these, but most people will like them. Its pretty strong in the coffee shop instrumentation, but I think drums and bass would make it awesome. I like how this title and subject brought out the profanity in a lot of us.

Jesus and Crackers
Prodigy? Bass needs to be a lot louder. Reminds me of Mad Dog. Fun and short.

King Arthur
Signature King Arthur. Not a fan of the fuzz guitar. The clean tone sounds great! Love the bass line and tone. I wish there were more dynamics in your vocal delivery, its so mellow throughout. Nice guitar solo! Someone else mentioned the rhythm fuzz guitar being really distracting right? Mute that track. Sounds pretty full without it.

MC Milk-Plus
Maybe I don't have a genre bias? I really really really like this. The production goes a long way! I've also been enjoying "Only French I know" since its release, so your voice sounded very familiar. That rhythm piano is brilliant! That guitar sound that holds a note with vibrato forever is awesome too! Yeah, this ends way too soon. Leaves me wanting more. If you weren't in this fight I'd think we'd have a shot, but this is the clear winner. VOTE!

My Social Uniform
Your vocals are awesome! When I have to cover a styx song, i will hit you up for the Dennis DeYoung vocals. I don't like the drum sound, I'm not a fan of a lot of these synth pads. Its nice to hear some real vocal chops. This reminds me of the newer Marillion post Fish, e.g. Easter. I love the vocals, I wish the instruments had more indie rock sensibilities. I look forward to the next one!

Paco del Stinko
Paco, you rule! VOTE! Come on, everything is so expertly performed. The drums and bass sound sooo good. Great lines too. The boo hoo ga ga bits make me laugh really hard. Those harmonized guitar lines are signature Paco. I'm in awe, I just love your music man! Another gem! VOTE!

Jake DeLorey
This sounds great! Especially on headphones! I think the vocal melodies are weak, especially a top this really cool music. Great synth pads, nice driving beat. The slap back on the vocals doesn't help. Wow, the ending is jarring with it abruptness is it really only 2:12? sounds cut off. You were on to something cool here, rethinking the vocal melody would strengthen this up mightily.

Votes:
Balance Lost
Jan's Pants
Paco Del Stinko
MC Milk Plus
Berkeley Social Scene

[glennny]

I just realized who Jesus and Crackers is.
Who else does Crud Rock?
How many alter egos are there Charlie? How many times have these slipped by us? 145 isn't the real number.............