Bad Pick Up Lines (Shot Down Reviews)

[Niveous]

Pretty sure Holly is back again this week - but in a collab with a different name.

Yep, The Midweeklings (which also includes Jim Tyrrell).

[Lunkhead]

We usually forget to vote for ourselves, though when we do remember it gives us an advantage I suppose. Unless we all like the same one other song, in which case it might not... Anyway, good on Holly for her win. Let's have more music that people really enjoy, I say, regardless of whether it gets a lot of votes or not.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Anyway, good on Holly for her win. Let's have more music that people really enjoy, I say, regardless of whether it gets a lot of votes or not.

+1.
I was in a mood yesterday for some damn reason. I woke today refreshed and back to not giving a shit like usual. YOLO.

[RangerDenni]

I feel like a winner if I do reviews. Because they're hard for me. But every fight I managed to review, people on the Austin Subway jealously stared at me that whole time after because I was a reviewing bad ass.

(ps. I did not review the last one but I really MEANT to.....)

[j$]

Let's have more music that people really enjoy, I say, regardless of whether it gets a lot of votes or not.

Of course, this is an unintentionally meaningless comment - more than one person enjoyed LEF fr'instance. But I get what you mean, and concur whole-heartedly. In the wrong thread. Now the new fight is here, can we start reviewing it rather than the feedback from the last one? Which is now dead to us all anyway?

[Lunkhead]

OK, so, I meant something but unintentionally wrote something that didn't mean anything, but you got what I meant anyway? Mind ... blown ...

[Billy's Little Trip]

I voted for her song

Yet she won. Perplexing. Do you know what this means, John? It's broken.......the curse....it's broken! This is cause for celebration!


......you're the one with the blue bow.

[Holly Furlone]

I'm so glad that my epic win could bring you all together like this And now...on to 'Shot Down!' (New thread, maybe?)

[RangerDenni]

I think we are Not Allowed to do something like that (start a new thread for reviews once the Official one has started). Does that have a consequence? Like do you become the new bearer of the Curse of Caravan Ray or something?

PS. welcome Holly. You have a lovely and delicious vocal that sounds easy and effortless. The recording technique is not as frustrating as it seems. Just do not pitch fits and throw things like I do and you shall be fine.

[j$]

OK, so, I meant something but unintentionally wrote something that didn't mean anything, but you got what I meant anyway? Mind ... blown ...

Frankly sweetheart, I was just being kind; only 'cos you're no LEF, to me at least . If you're going to be a West Coast hippy, at least be a linguistically accurate one. Boom! Ha!

In the meantime, if we didn't before, we both now *definitely* owe this review thread some reviews to off-set the sound of our own voices. Let's see which of us gets there first

[Smalltown Mike]

A lot of songs really use the title well. I only have thoughts on a couple:

Berkely Social Scene: I know it's a complete coincidence, but the intro riff really reminds me of minute 2:56 of Gert's Canadian Girlfriend (seriously, you should check it out). Yea, I know. No one wants to be compared to Gert. Great drum sound, great bass sound. Who's the vocalist? Really sounds familiar. Sometimes it feels like the vocals are really straining to hit the hight note, which doesn't really work for me, but I dig this on the whole.

Economy Biscuits: Great intro riff. Great production. The vocals are good, but I think they suffer (just slightly) from not being able to really scream in your home studio. I think that's partly why the vocals are slightly distorted — to mask the fact you're not screaming like you should be. I mostly think the vocals work well, just that you might be holding back just slightly. LOVE the uh-uh-uh at the one minute work, and the solo comes in well and at the right spot. Nice work.

Kraken Lives: This is one of my favourite tunes. Who's the vocalist? Some really great lines, and delivery, and it makes the song really interesting. Well-recorded too. Would love to hear the story of how this was recorded, etc. Great.

J Temp 13: Really great track, very funky. Excellent vocals. It's not quite a finished song, but it's really good. Love it.

The MidWeeklings: You may have just written the best chorus of the bunch. I bet when you do this live it's about 14 minutes long with 20 solos and guest vocalists, including a rapper who spits some verses at the 2:11 breakdown for a couple minutes. I like the back and forth between man and woman. This is a great track.

ShotPounder: Sellout. This does not suffer from a vocalist afraid to scream in his home studio.

Slickitude: is me.

Wreckdom: I think this is the best Wreckdom song I've ever heard. The whole thing and especially the chorus has a really great Devo vibe to it. Great lyrics. Great sound effects. Great Wreckdom. Happy 10th.

Something Strange: This is not a song called ShotDown.

[Economy Biscuits]

J.A.N. - cool 8-bit vibe, I just watched Scott Pilgrim vs the World and this could have easily been on the soundtrack. nice job. Kind of a beck meets Trent Reznor feel.

Shotpounder - awwwww yiss, I love this, the vocals are kicking my ass all over the place. Of course it's short but who cares. I will totally pump this in my earphones on my commute with the DC robot commuter train scene. " Screw you! get to the right on the escalator... Please?"

The Midweeklings - maybe a bit less brutal on the intro lick but settles out nicely. Nice composition, I love the synths arpeggiating behind the female vox. Great lead. Very cool and some great lyrics. Great breakdown.

Dollar Bill and the Inkpoints - I want this kick on my metal tracks! The bass feels like it could use a bit of oomph, live bass? Maybe a synth bass could lay a firm foundation, dunno. Cool concept in the lyrics. I actually really dug the final synth sound graveling out.

Berkeley Social Scene - doooooooooood, I love the way this starts. Reminds me of the Sea and Cake meets Broken Social Scene ( Coinky Dink?) have you ever considered a single vocal track with lotsa reverb? Falsetto for part of it?There is tons of great stuff going on but I must comment on the harmonies. As someone who struggles with singing, I stay away from harmonies unless I'm processing them. But such a minor comment honestly, very nice track.

Paco del Stinko - love the samples kicking this off, great snare. Great bass, great groove. Fun track. Hot licks to boot.

J Temp 13 - prolly the most appropriate vocals used for this genre that feels natural and not at all forced or beyond your range. Great but I want more!

something strange - gotta bring in more rhythm or reallllllllllllly work on those few beats at work. wait a min, space cadet? wrong fight? Also, can't cover up the vocal tracks with distortion on a rap song, sorry but you gotta come right on the production with so little happening. That said, great lyrics and flow but, again, shot down?

WreckdoM - this fight has brought the foley room out in all of us. Was waiting for a Wilhelm scream to show up, lol. This is also the fight of doubled refrain vox. Definitely kicks.

Tall Walkers - same as something strange, with a minimalist production, each part becomes that much more critical, levels, mix etc. not my schtick but cool song and take on the theme for the week.

Step Aside - whoa, you've written the stadium sound. ( in a good way) I was watching a Ted talk from David Byrne on the nature of environments affecting mucks production and this feels much more open than the typical dry mixes ( mine included!) I'm adding reverb in my next fight submission, which is averaging once a year now, lol. If I smoked I'd hold my lighter up. Great song.

Slickitude- this is my favorite for the week, hands down. I'm a huge PUSA fan and this reminds me a bunch of them. Fun jam, and sounds fun to play. Would love to hear this as a 3:30 long song. Great production too!

Cookie Blue - I feel like I want this slower, with electronic beats and called portishead/bjork. J/k, digging the vocals, tons of energy and my favorite part of the song.

The Kraken Lives - lolwut? Ok, finally broke down and now I'm digging it. Gotta be honest, made us work for this one. Is that R2D2? The kick/crash at the end? Lol, killer, I'm voting this one just for being silly,

New Image - everyone is on the acoustic electric thing and it's hard to hear anything else once those pops happen. Kudos on belting out the vocals but like others, I wouldn't dismiss some auto-tuning, I like the atmosphere in this one.

The Economy Biscuits - me. We all know the dude that hits on every single girl at the bar. He usually gets one or two bites, but what happens when he leaves empty handed? A fun timey jingle edited on my ipad on my otherwise lifeless commute to work ( public transit)


That said, great fight but honestly, all the bitching and moaning about " real votes" ??? what is this, Reddit? Pull your pants up and write a song about it if you're so butt hurt...bah!

[glennny]

Berkely Social Scene: I know it's a complete coincidence, but the intro riff really reminds me of minute 2:56 of Gert's Canadian Girlfriend (seriously, you should check it out). Yea, I know. No one wants to be compared to Gert. Great drum sound, great bass sound. Who's the vocalist? Really sounds familiar. Sometimes it feels like the vocals are really straining to hit the high note, which doesn't really work for me, but I dig this on the whole.

I will never mind being compared to Gert. Gert is one of my all time favorites! It's funny about Gert's Canadian Girlfriend, because I thought Gert ripped off the glennny track- They Really Are at 2:59. Which came first! (just playing). The thing about 4 chords and a Suffragette City's beat, is it's all over rock.
I'm the vocalist, I agree with all of your criticisms, that's Lunkhead on bass. Thanks for the kind words!

Kraken Lives: This is one of my favourite tunes. Who's the vocalist? Some really great lines, and delivery, and it makes the song really interesting. Well-recorded too. Would love to hear the story of how this was recorded, etc. Great.

My son Django (age 6, check out the end of the Anomaly thread to see when he was born), is the brains behind the Kraken Lives. I'm just his back up band and producer. He's obsessed with the Star Wars universe. Shot Down seemed to be the perfect title for Biggs (Red Three). It's told from Luke's perspective. He actually got up early, before school, to cut his vocals the day the track was due. He could have used more takes. The Kraken Lives did a fun "Born Under Punches" in the Talking Heads fight, where Django nails it (says the father).

cheers!

I'm loving this fight! Who is J Temp 13? That song rocks, and frustrates the Hell out o me because it's so damn short!

[Billy's Little Trip]

My son Django (age 6, check out the end of the Anomaly thread to see when he was born), is the brains behind the Kraken Lives.

I think it's awesome! Great job to you and Django. With skills and a name like that, fame is inevitable.

[glennny]

Reminds me of the Sea and Cake meets Broken Social Scene ( Coinky Dink?)

Those are 2 of my favorite bands! I actually did think about "Stars and Sons" when I was pursuing the drum sound for this track.

[Holly Furlone]

Different favorites every time I stream this "Shot Down" Song Fight! So, so good. I have just a few quick thoughts to share...


Berkeley Social Scene--Nice! I really like the double-track sound on the vocals.


Cookie Blue--I love your voice and I love the piano in this song. The horn was unexpected but it totally worked for me.


Dollar Bill+The Inkpoints--This has an interesting tempo and I found myself really enjoying the way the vocals didn't quite match up with the rest of the music. Was that intentional or just a happy accident (for me)?


The Economy Biscuits--I really, really like the distortion on this one and the way the music fades down and then back up again in the middle. I don't know if it was due to the clever production of the entry or my earbuds shorting out but at the end of the song all sound dropped on the right side and then slowly faded out on the left. Nice!


J.A.N.--"The war didn't end when I got home." I had to listen to this one a couple of times to pick up on the power of your message. The first few seconds reminded me of NIN a bit (which I love, hope you don't mind the reference). Great song.


J TEMP 13--"...of a bitch that slaps..." I love this and wish it was longer!


The Kraken Lives--Yes! I liked this song immediately. Bizarre in a really good way for me. I was psyched to see that you posted lyrics to (and story about) this. I love the drum beat with the acoustic guitar.


The Midweeklings--I had such a good time on this one with these guys. First experience with actual recording equipment. "YOLO!"


New Image--Awesome vocals. I love the drums on this!


Paco del Stinko--Great guitar bend on the climb down (I'm sure there's a real term for that). Love the drums on this one, too!


Shotpounder--Guitar that melts your face! So good. Wish this one was longer, too!


Slickitude--More, more! I'll look for the lyrics to this one. The 1ish minute mark, "Uh, uh, uh," so good!


somethin strange--I think I need to listen to this one a few more times to pick up on the 'Shot Down' reference and even though I don't know what it means I like the way "moon rocks from the boondocks" sounds.


Step Aside--This is the song that all the kids at my junior high dances would have been waiting for all night long. The one the dj would have saved until the end; the one that made the memories Nice harmonies on this one.


Tall Walkers--"...my head in my coffee, I got damn bitter in no time at all..." I like that line. Great voice and nice soft guitar solo.


WreckdoM--Another great song. First listen made me think of Primus (love them, too). I look forward to hearing more of your music.

[Smalltown Mike]

My son Django (age 6, check out the end of the Anomaly thread to see when he was born), is the brains behind the Kraken Lives. I'm just his back up band and producer.

That's awesome. That's the kind of story I was hoping for. Hope you win.

[j$]

J.A.N.--"The war didn't end when I got home." I had to listen to this one a couple of times to pick up on the power of your message. The first few seconds reminded me of NIN a bit (which I love, hope you don't mind the reference). Great song.

Ta (on behalf of the three of us). No offence to the reference taken, as long as you're talking "Broken" / "Fixed" era ...

Dollar Bill+The Inkpoints--This has an interesting tempo and I found myself really enjoying the way the vocals didn't quite match up with the rest of the music. Was that intentional or just a happy accident (for me)?

See, Bill - I told ya! (sorry, Holly, you've inadvertently stumbled on a private joke). But also, hush your smart mouth

[HeuristicsInc]

What, do you mean we shouldn't tell her why?
-bill

[Billy's Little Trip]

The Midweeklings--I had such a good time on this one with these guys. First experience with actual recording equipment. "YOLO!"

YOLO!

[Holly Furlone]

J.A.N.--"The war didn't end when I got home." I had to listen to this one a couple of times to pick up on the power of your message. The first few seconds reminded me of NIN a bit (which I love, hope you don't mind the reference). Great song.

Ta (on behalf of the three of us). No offence to the reference taken, as long as you're talking "Broken" / "Fixed" era ...

Definitely your own sound and, Yes! "Broken" / "Fixed" with maybe a slight nod to 'Pretty Hate Machine.'

Dollar Bill+The Inkpoints--This has an interesting tempo and I found myself really enjoying the way the vocals didn't quite match up with the rest of the music. Was that intentional or just a happy accident (for me)?

See, Bill - I told ya! (sorry, Holly, you've inadvertently stumbled on a private joke). But also, hush your smart mouth

[Economy Biscuits]

Economy Biscuits:[/b] Great intro riff. Great production. The vocals are good, but I think they suffer (just slightly) from not being able to really scream in your home studio. I think that's partly why the vocals are slightly distorted — to mask the fact you're not screaming like you should be. I mostly think the vocals work well, just that you might be holding back just slightly. LOVE the uh-uh-uh at the one minute work, and the solo comes in well and at the right spot. Nice work.

Thanks for the review! That's pretty much spot on with the vocals. Still working out a space where I can work up to some full on screamin'. Next fight I'll see what I can do about this.

The Economy Biscuits--I really, really like the distortion on this one and the way the music fades down and then back up again in the middle. I don't know if it was due to the clever production of the entry or my earbuds shorting out but at the end of the song all sound dropped on the right side and then slowly faded out on the left. Nice

No worries, your earbuds are fine! Since I mix on headphones I do add some production trickery for those not rocking out in the car/iPod Dock. What always gets me is the more simple I make a song, the more bogged down into post production I seem to get. Thanks again for the review.