How do you say, L'Occitane Reviews?

[ken]

I am hard pressed to see l'Occitane as an obvious title for a good number of them.

What do you expect all the songs to be about?

[wadewalbrun]

Damned impressive Kip! As Wayne and Garth would put it "I am not worthy, I am not worthy!" hehehe

[wadewalbrun]

Ken, its not the theme that I question, but if the title is something that is necessarily fitting to the song, or was used as little more than an inspirational device. Many songs make only a passing reference to the song title. Perhaps I am old school in thinking the title should be pretty darned obvious when you listen to a song?

[wadewalbrun]

Perhaps the whole subject is just a matter of symantics. I've said enough.

[Meatwad]

In the meanwhile, I blame Klownhole.

For The Win...

[glennny]

when you're in the zone a 5 minute song can take 5 minutes. (assuming you have a full band properly miked, the "tape is rolling")

When I was an art student, often my paintings done in one sitting (90 minutes or so) were far more appreciated than the ones I labored over for a month.

[Kip Lightning]

I couldn't possibly agree more. I was an art student as well and my favorite paintings were typically the ones
Done quickly and captured the magic

[wadewalbrun]

I was also an art student. I'm in total agreement with you guys. The energy that is in something done quickly just can't be duplicated by means of a measure approach.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I was supposed to be an art student but wasn't. But I too agree!

[Billy's Little Trip]

I'm not an art student, but I play one on TV (not in it, literally on top of it) and I agree also, as well, too.

[Kevin Mellows]

I'm not an art student or a TV, I'm a broom. And I agree as well.

[Kip Lightning]

1) Cord Smith: Solid performance, good melody, good backup vocals, I like the she likes the bling line.
2) The Fonzees: I love a good punk song. This one could stand to be a little messier and a more fury in the vocal performance. Not anger just a little more wild. Like it.
3) Burnzi: This is the best of what Ive heard from you yet. You sound like somebody..... cant pin it down
4) The Royal Entitlement: Solid performance. This song is really outside of my personal preference so yeah the vocals are good, guitar is good, like the solo quite a bit. Just not into the whole angsty thing.
5) Berkley social scene: Vocals are ok, really like the structure. Good song.
6) Klownhole---- A test of patience. I didnt really love it.
7) 186-218-85------Sounds like someone got an old casio and hit record. Nice experimen
8) billy+psychotics----Would have been a big post grunge hit I think. Great performance, nicely recorded.
9) The Chocolate Chips---Who inspires you? You have kind of your own thing going on. Good performance.
10) Paco------always clean performance, nice arrangement. Great job again Kemosabe.
11) Airlines----Good song, sounds like something that would fit in the movie Rushmore, something from the 70s. Nice work
12) Lightning Shark----Glad some of you like it. Ive seriously been writing music and sharing it with no one outside of one song I sent here in 2007 (I think) so its been really fun and cathartic so far, and I plan to keep it up. Thanks for the support and just fyi, I can take criticism If you wanna bring it.

[wadewalbrun]

The Fonzees - Song makes me envision Bo Derek running on the beach. Can that be all that bad? Kinda wanted the second verse to be more than the two repeat line (like the first verse) just to add more detail and color. Still, love the garage band feel here. Good song.

Cord Smith - "A giant tv for watching crap", hehehe, nice. Good descriptive elements. Nice culmination of storyline in 3rd verse. Was looking for some brief bridge after second verse, still like this song.

Paco del Stinko - Good song. This song grew on me the more I listened, as I liked the subtle yet growing intensity. I really wished I could understand the lyrics more and felt a more obvious cohesive connection between lyrics. Still, well done.

The Chocolate Chips - A bit short, but sweet. Dissonant solo was unexpected in a good way. I wanted another verse and something to pull me out of the emotional neutral zone I thought the song was in.

Airlines - Nice song! This song reminds me of someone, yet I can't place it. Nice harmonies. "I call to you" chorus is so compelling. Good acoustic guitar color too. I really wanted one more chorus in there to drive home the sing along nature of the chorus. One of my favs here.

186-218-85 - I liked the underlying pulse here and wanted more. Was looking for it to take me on a bit of a journey, yet it didn't go far enough, in my humble opinion.

Klownhole - Love the verse riff, but beyond that I was less compelled melodically. I struggled with the repetition and yearned for some kind of guitar solo to break things up.

Burnzi - My first "fully" instrumented offering. I'm happy with the vocal performance and generally, the guitar textures. Mastering could improve, but it sounds better than prior submissions.

Lightning Shark - Love the guitar riff and tone on all accounts. Definitely that Jack White vibe. Generally love all the sensibilities here. Great job!! My favorite here.

Billy and the Psychotics - Got a Rage Against the Machine feel in the beginning, but verses sweetened up. I really wanted just slightly more grit in verse guitars. Generally though, I really liked this song. Nice vocals too. From the girls perspective lyrics were compelling. Well done!

Berkeley Social Scene - Love the time change in the chorus!! So unexpected in a good way. I struggled a bit melodically with the verse. I liked the descriptive elements in the lyrics. Good song.

Nick Soma - I liked the chord arrangement and guitar sound here, but struggled with the verbal overload. I was wishing for some kind of cadence change to set me up for the chorus, but it didn't come. Melodically, the verses didn't grab me, and I wanted the chorus to stand out more.

The Royal Entitlement - Long build up in the beginning was, perhaps, too much IMO. Love the gritty vocals here! Works well. Really wanted the chorus to sonically open up and slam me in the face, but was a bit disappointed. Great solo. Great bridge lyrics and final swing into final chorus. Fuck yea! One of my favs here. Well done!

[HeuristicsInc]

Many songs make only a passing reference to the song title. Perhaps I am old school in thinking the title should be pretty darned obvious when you listen to a song?

I would guess it's because people were leery about singing in French, and so they limited the singing of those bits that required foreign language pronunciation.
-bill

[chocolatechips]

Votes/Green Faces to my four favorites.

186-218-85 I like the sounds quite a bit - creates a cool atmosphere, but as it is - it comes across as an intro to something that doesn't come.

Fauxthoreau?: .. Airlines? This is quite pretty - it has a memorable main vocal melody although it sounds a bit like a lot of other songs which takes away some of the effect. I think maybe the guitar fills happen a little too often (becoming sort of overbearing - not leaving space for the vocals... particularly in the "I call to you love..." part.) The song is too heavy on instrumental parts from my perspective ... the vocal parts are the highlight. I find myself enjoying the song quite a bit but left feeling like I'm wanting more.

Berkeley Social Scene I like the chorus and the guitar solo but I'm not crazy about the verse. Not one of my favorite BSS tracks I'm afraid ... this one doesn't really hit me and the production/mix doesn't seem as good as usual.

Billy & the Psychotics Great mix/production. Great lead vocal. A very impressive song/recording if not entirely up my alley.

Burnzi Song has that "under a blanket" sort of sound to it, quite lofi and I think it leads to a feeling that the it lacks energy. Vocal heavily on the left gives it an unusual sound which I think only works if you're going for a purposely psychedelic sort of feel and I don't get that impression here. Bit too loose instrumentally (maybe also part of the reason why it never gathers steam/energy.) I'm hearing potential here but doesn't sound fully realized as a production or performance ...

The Chocolate Chips There are elements of this song I'm really happy with, particularly the instrumental solo... but overall I'm not sure it makes much sense as a song. I really struggled with the chorus melody - trying a ton of different things before settling on this.

Cord Smith Good sound, nice waltz feel. The vocal works for this style quite nicely. I like this one. Reminds me a bit of The Pogues. VOTE.

the Fonzees You guys do this garage rock thing really well. Tight. Great energy. Catchy. I can't think of much in the way of complaints, this seems like it's what you wanted it to be. VOTE.

Klownhole Pretty cool riff. Maybe lead vocal would be more effective with a bit more of a distorted effect on it. Vocal too clean over heavily distorted band can sound ... out of place. Not sure.

Lightning Shark Love the riff, the vocals are kick ass (and the effect on them works very well.) The obvious complaint would be that it's so much in the style of The White Stripes that it could be seen as a knock off. But still... it's really great. The highlight of the fight for me and truly amazing that you wrote/recorded all of this in 70 minutes. VOTE

Nick M. Soma Sounds like your going for something like The Cars? Not bad but it doesn't quite work ... not sure what the issue is ... maybe it's the drum programming. Seems too busy, getting in the way of the guitar and the vocals. Don't know about the synth choir. Interesting choices! I definitely appreciate that you are going for novel combinations.

Paco del Stinko I like hearing the acoustic guitar from the Paco ... great sound as per usual. An almost vote but I think it's probably my 5th favorite.

The Royal Entitlement Another band/guy? brought the rock. Ferocious guitar. Vocals are a bit too screamy for my tastes but they seem pretty good for the style. Overall this is pretty bad ass. VOTE.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Gotta say it's a pretty solid fight. Hasty reviews, please ask for clarification.

186-218-85 - This sounds good. Interesting soundscape that has nothing to do with the title. I'm more intrigued by what the numbers in your band name stand for, but not enough to go researching.

Airlines - Yes, very pleasant. Mutual of Omaha commercial at times. The different guitar voicings work very well together and sit on top of each other nicely. More layers of hazy vocals might have been even more sigh worthy. Not sure if this has anything to do with the title, but it's nice.

Berkeley Social Scene - Subdivisions. In the high school halls...for a second here and there. Love the drive on this, not as laidback as some of your other songs (not that there's anything wrong with that). Thick guitars, too. Kooky intro works well into Martin's voice. Diggin' it.

Billy and the Psychotics - The mix on this could have easily been a train wreck, but thank golly it wasn't. Lots going on. D's near coo puts the boys in their place. I really like the less than typical key change and the backing vocals, although not understandable, work very good against her voice. Good face punch at the end too!

Burnzi - Heh. remember Jack Logan? This made me think of him. Nice easy song, like the simple chorus melody and darkish mood. Pre-chorus works well as does the bridge. Tuning sounds a little suspect to me at times, but could be my damaged ears. Good tune.

The Chocolate Chips - Maybe I'm adjusting to your style, but I think it's more that you are submitting better songs. Love the psychedelic vibe here and lately, too. I have no idea how you put this together and that makes it more tripped out and magical. Nice heady bridge into tasty pinks. Very nice.

Cord Smith - I might've had to vote for this one of it was still only one vote per fight. Organic sounding and well balanced. Great drunken singalong chorus and a story where you can see the girl from the narration. Doesn't need anything more than what is here. Excellent.

the Fonzees - Yeah, I'm totally diggin' the garage sound you guys do. LOVE the main progression and the no bullshit driving drums. Live sounding vocals help sell it as well. Great fun. Some of the other chord changes could have been better thought out, but easily forgiven.

Klownhole - The main riff is a beautiful kind of ugly. The chorus change is kinda cheap though. Nice sloppy Bonham beats though and one of my favorite voices here although phoning it in versus other entries. Guitar is HUGE and nice to feel some neckpunch on the bottom end. Shit, I'm the first to admit it doesn't always work. But always a fan.

Lightning Shark - I'm probably most excited about the drumming here. Sure, the riffs are excellent, and the vocal scruffy in all the right areas, but I am jealous of the loose beat playing, slushy hi-hats and all. The song is a mess but that only keeps it real and great googley, the lead is like a bloody nose.

Nick Soma - This song is good fun and would totally kick ass with a more rehearsed vocal line. I like the choir keys, just wish they were pulled back in the mix. The melody works well and the instruments are well chosen it just comes back to needing a better vocal delivery. Yeah, I know, time frames and all.

Paco del Stinko - Fun facts: I used my friend's 60's semi hollow body bass for this. We call it the Peter Tork bass although it's a Yamaha. The octave sounding guitar is actually a doubled part played on a 24 fret guitar, reaching a high Eb. Loxitane is used as an anti-psychotic medicine. That's all I got.

The Royal Entitlement - On a scale from 1 to 100, I'd give this a score of...89 to 91. It's right there but missing some of the organic feel of some of the other songs in this fight. But I am all over the Burning Brides vibe here, or whatever it is. Great vocal, nasty guitar, would just rather hear it at red hot tube full stack face melting volume. Don't misunderstand me though, this is good rocking.

Edited to boldface the Fonzee's name, and make note of the edit.
And again to boldface Nick Soma, too. Geez!

[Kip Lightning]

Yeah, I think I like the drums the most too. I recorded them on a Roland td4 e-kit through a program called bfd3. It's not quite there yet but it's close, almost can't tell its digital but for efficiency it's great. I've re-recorded almost the whole track and it sounds good.

Thanks for the compliment. After getting so many, I'm nervous about writing the next one, which I naturally haven't started yet, ha.

[Paco Del Stinko]

I'm nervous about writing the next one

Nah, you're good. And if you miss, so what? I've struck out more times than gotten a hit. Just gotta keep swinging. Or something like that.

I agree that the drums sound good and while Roland makes many a fine product, it sounds like you have the right idea interacting with that software. I have a no frills acoustic kit, but as you can tell, my drumming skills are less than stellar. But it must be done. Ha! Sorry. And when I occasionally get my hands on a real drummer, I usually submit under another name. Don't want to drag'em down too far.

[Spud]

Hey, don't forget to vote. Checked the votes just now and it doesn't look like YOU voted yet.

[Treachjuris]

Cord, Chip, Airlines, Paco all got votes for a variety of different reasons. Thorough reviews are well-deserved, and thoughtful ones are forthcoming. After the 5th listen, I must say, glad to hear so much diversity, talent and courage. Tough title; good work, all!

[Toby Roktot]

Since I have no dog in this fight...

Klownhole--Reminds me of ramblings in the park, you know, like from the crazy people...you know who
you are !!

Burnzi--Song is nice, not quite a vote because the guitar lead was distracting...to me, anyways.

Nick Soma--I like this song...really grows on you with each listen. Easy top 40. VOTE

Cord Smith--Let me guess....your baby's name is.....wait for it....whatever

BSS--First take...whiney vocals, kinda like peter wolf...not in a good way

The Choc Chips--interesting song...I just couldn't stay awake through the whole thing, so, that's all

Airlines--Where's John Belushi when I need him most ?!?!?!

Lightning Shark--Nice song, drums esp. Great bar song !!

Billy ATP--I LOVE THIS !!! Band obviously takes nothing seriously and that, is why this is a brilliant
production.....VOTE

The Royal Ent--You obviously have a twisted sister. Vocals shoulda been less Dee and more Bow Wow
Wow...imho

186-218-85--On a scale of 1 to 10, I give this a 3.14159265359.....

The Fonzees--Clearly the only ones here with a lick of tallent.....VOTE

Paco ds--Ah yes, and now comes Paco. mix paco and the Fonzees together and you get 'Lennon and
McCartney' from the Berlin days....VOTE

[Toby Roktot]

ok...after a few beers and reflection....the only change i'd make is....wait for it Cord... TALLENT soulda been...you know....whatever.

and also, i think i like the BOLD thingy