Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

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Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Let's all belch out some reviews, eh?
Evil Grin bandcamp - Evil Grin spotify
T.C. Elliott bandcamp - T.C. Elliott spotify

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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Evil Grin bandcamp - Evil Grin spotify
T.C. Elliott bandcamp - T.C. Elliott spotify

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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Songs posted!
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

As someone who routinely wears an MBV t-shirt, it's probably not terribly surprising that if there's one entry that became a favorite on my first listen-through, it's Third Cat's entry (even if it reminds me more of Ride...I'd say we both wore our early 90s 'gaze influence on our sleeves with this one).

Heavyset Lingo, wherever you came from, I love your voice and harmony style.

Plenty of other entries made an impression on me too this time, but actual reviews will come in a few days once I'm not idly listening to these at work.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by jb »

  • Magnetic Letters — lovely lovely
  • UJN X REVE — magnificent, my favorite
  • Vom Norton — like a warm, comforting, murderous blanket
  • Third Cat — I’d be obssessed with this if the vocals were up front, but they're buried
Good job with the recruiting efforts. Proof will be in the pudding though when all these people lose. ;)

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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by crumpart »

First impression. Magnetic Letters is lovely lovely lovely and now I really want a Big M goddamn it but I can't have one because choc milk probably doesn't ship 17,455km all that well.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

Well, I had yesterday and today off work. You know what that means? Review time! Even though my toddler kept interrupting me. Anyway.

Balance Lost:

What I like:
That intro is sexy, the general off kilter rhythm works super great. I’m a sucker for melodicas, if that’s what that that brief solo was? The verses work well for me. That stretch of the song after the second chorus where it gets all start/stop for a bit then fades into the “ooo”s is just delightful, and then the entire section of the song after that is just glorious to me. Especially the bit about the stagmites and the enchiladas and whatnot. In general I don’t have a strong opinion on most of the lyrics, until the last part, in which case I really enjoy them.

What I don’t:
I’m honestly not super huge on the chorus, I’m not sure if it’s the melody or the cadence or just personal preference. It might just be the emphasis on the term “lung butter”. Maybe I’ve just had too much lung better this week.

Berkeley Social Scene:

What I like: The production is well done, even though I may be missing some nuances listening on laptop speakers. But I don’t think that was deliberate at all. The general reggae influenced rock vibe works well, and the concept of having bad luck because your good luck charm of a rabbit’s foot has worn down to bones is a clever take on the title for sure.

What I don’t: Vox are a bit pitchy at times, and I never feel like the melody congeals into something that particularly sticks in my head. I kind of wish the song was a little faster, cause right now it’s a little plodding, I guess? All in all this just didn’t do it for me.

Douche Puppy:
Couldn’t find you in the archive, so unless you’re working under a new name, welcome!

What I like: You have a good sense of melody, and the overall track is executed tastefully. Also I’m always happy to hear some creative drumming, whoever you’ve got in the back is doing a good job at subtly adding tons of fills without drawing too much attention away from the rest of the song. Any songs that feature 9th chords prominents tend to make me smile, and this does it well. And that escalation at the final chorus is super well executed, you’re one of a few impressive vocalists who came out of nowhere this fight. Also...Douche Puppy? Lol.

What I don’t: All in all this song isn’t entirely a style that I could see myself coming back to a lot, so. If you’re on the boards, post your lyrics: my brain is far more musically inclined than vocally inclined so I found them hard to focus on I suppose. There’s some sort of awkward phrasing in some of the verses, like the lines after the broken porch light flow kind of awkwardly?

Evil Grin:

What I like: The general motif of “could have but…” throughout the verses is pretty creative. Execution is generally pretty tight. I have to wonder if there’s a “beautifully repurposed melody” hidden in here from a different song that I’m unaware of. The clean guitar work sounds great, hard to fault anything on that one!

What I don’t: I feel like there’s not really much build-up throughout the track, it just sort of stays at the same general level so after awhile I find my attention kind of wandering. Like at the end when everything else drops out and it’s just guitar for a little bit? If that had happened earlier in the song and then had another verse start, it would have broken it up into more manageable chunks. I don’t *dislike* this track, I just didn’t find it all that interesting...taste maybe?

Far North Daylight:
I hadn’t heard of you, but it looks like it’s your fourth fight...and you participate every 6 months so welcome back!

What I like: Well I like a lot of the chords you use, and with a different vocal style paired with the track, I’d probably like it even more. If this were just an instrumental and had a more airy vibe elsewhere it’d remind me of Flying Saucer Attack, which is a compliment. I suppose I liked the reverby thudding at the end.

What I don’t: Not really a whole lot in the way of melody. Either the vocals are too high in the mix or the guitar is too low in the mix or has too much reverb or something. I feel like the guitar track in general is just kind of...muddy. And while I like the kind of “drony” style guitar work, as a lone backing track it needs something else to really make it pop.

Gizo vs the 17,445:
Explain to me at some point who the 17,445 are.

What I like: So far this is my favorite Gizo song I’ve heard, though granted I’ve only really been lingering around here again for the past couple months. Your voice sounds good in this track, and the low key kind of “gravelly” delivery works well with the melody that you went with. That thin, distorted guitar solo comes out of nowhere and sounds delightful, especially in context. Well structured, builds well, great climax at the end! The “desolate road” type imagery you open with sets the mood nicely and you keep with it.

What I don’t: Personally I wish that you’d have put your vocals higher in the mix, the guitar is a bit too high up and drowns you out, and there’s a little bit of clipping when you bring everything up at the climax! Honestly my gripes here are mostly based on production values.

Heavyset Lingo:
Where did you come from? Please stay awhile!

What I like: Those harmonies!!! Those vocals!!! I’m reminded of a mix of Low and “To Bring You My Love” era PJ Harvey which is a huge compliment as I LOVE both of those. It’s got this low key vibe that works so well. Rhythm, phrasing, I can’t complain at all! The way you glide upwards into that fifth when singing “bones” works so well.

What I don’t: Well it’s hard to fault the instrumental backing for being too simple when it complements the song so well.

Hot Pink Halo:

What I like: You really, really like ¾ time don’t you? Great, me too! You remain charmingly lo-fi as ever. The lyrics here are a big highlight, both the first and second stanzas...even though I can’t really look at shoegaze nostalgically since even though I was a little kid during its heyday I didn’t get into it until I was a teen (but it’s okay cause I play my toddler Slowdive to help him sleep). That synth that’s faded in midway through adds a delightful ambiance.

What I don’t: You didn’t rap. To be honest I’d say it’s a similar criticism I’ve had of your previous work in that it doesn’t really build a whole lot? Or perhaps I’d say it sounds too much like your previous entry sonically. The lo-fi vibe works for your style, though sometimes I wonder what you’d sound like in CRISP HIGH FIDELITY. I can’t even talk, I put flanger and chorus on my vocals all the time.

Kyle Rogers:
Welcome back!

What I like: That clangy as hell percussion is so great! And the sort of chanted...chorus, refrain, whatever you call it where you name drop the title. The energy is on point this go round, and I love that bass slide that you put into this fight. There’s something about it that reminds me of early Beck in its “alternative whateverness” which I just adore. The anti-guitar solo is great, the pacing is pretty great too!

What I don’t: I suppose it’s a little sloppy and the mix doesn’t really breathe all that much, I suppose. Otherwise there’s not really much that I can find to criticize about this entry cause it’s very much aligned with my tastes.

Lichen Throat:

What I like: The onslaught of cheesy MIDI sounding, oh my god this is sonically perfect. Anyway, I love the approach of an uprising overthrowing a bunch of royalty and the general lyrical matter -- it’s pretty well done from that standpoint.

What I don’t: Well, the vocal performance could definitely use a bit of work. It’s hard for me to really get into the song, because whatever melody you had in mind just wasn’t really executed all that well. I’m not sure if that was deliberate or not, given the “in your face MIDI”ness of the track.

Lily Plus Martin:
Unless you’ve been using a different name, y’all are newcomers. Welcome, stay awhile!

What I like: You wrote about taxidermy, I wrote about collecting bird skeletons…we took a similar approach and I admire that. I love the reverby washes of...guitar? Synth? I can’t really tell what it is. The traded off vocals are well executed and I think you’re both good singers with good senses of melody. The production is clean, and well executed. Also anything with mellotron type sounds makes me happy. And the fading into ambience at the end is a great touch, I wish more songs ended like that.

What I don’t: The chorus needs a few more lines, just repeating “found him with his pockets full of bones” over and over is a little bit repetitive, and I’d like to you hear you elaborate on that theme a little bit more? There’s certainly more than you could do with that. Otherwise I’d call this a pretty solid entry.

Magnetic Letters:
A return, after a year and a half! Nice to have you back.

What I like: Great 50s songwriter type vibe. I named my second son after the Everly Brothers, so pretty much anything that evokes that era gets points for me. I’m not entirely sure by the end of the song what’s going on with your mate Aidy, but I hope he starts to feel better. I find this song really hard to fault, the harmonies, melodies, lyrics are all on point.

What I don’t: There’s a couple times where the vocals sound a little... muddy? I guess? And while the vocals are inherently up front in the mix as per the style, there’s a few times where I’d kind of like to here the backing instrumental a little bit better? Minor quibbles, this is great.

Paco Del Stinko:


What I like: The chord changes in the chorus are well executed, and I really like the backing vocals that you start to add it. The trippy background sounds that start showing up around the ‘I’m alone in the dark” part are executed super well, but you and production flourishes always go together well. The entire section with the “translucent mushrooms” was just fantastic, and the droning away on a single chord while dwelling on psychedelic imagery worked well. You did it last fight too, but that’s not a bad thing.

What I don’t: “I’ve got a secret”, something about the way you pronounce “secret” feels really forced. Um. I remember there were a couple other vocal phrasings that I thought were kind of strange but all in all I can’t complain about this song too much.

Phlebia:
T’is me.

What I like: Well I was going for a jangle-pop/shoegazey vibe for the first part similar to Lush or The Telescopes, but I lack an electric guitar so had to make to with a tremolo’d synth and acoustic guitar layered, even though the synth was kind of low in the mix, it seemed to work fairly well? I had a lot of fun with all the birds at the end and the drum solo. Ones it gets past the “and you were resting…” blah blah part I think it really gets going.

What I don’t: I could never get everything to sit in the mix the way I wanted -- in my head it had a “wall of sound” effect, but I just couldn’t get it executed the way I wanted. Drums still sound flat, I think I fixed that with my entry this week by figuring out a better mic placement and moving them to another spot in the room. Anyway, I couldn’t figure out a good melody for the first couple stanzas and the monotone works okay ish but gets boring. To be fair I wasn’t very inspired by this title but forced out an entry anyway.

Shrts:

What I like:It’s got this catchy pop-rock vibe that works really well, the backing harmonies are good, and the lyrics are catchy, if not super compelling. I was starting to like the organ at the end. Were you responsible for “Emma” a few weeks ago?

What I don’t: But it just stops! Like come on, don’t leave me hanging like that, no second verse, I didn’t even get an organ solo, just like the first bar and a half of one augh! I clicked around the archive for your songs and saw that it was a feature, not a bug...they’re always this short.

Third Cat:

What I like: Serious genre bias in your favor here, I looooove stuff like this. The “glide guitar” or whammy bar abuse or whatever you want to call it works, the low in the mix vocals, the kind of stuttering ambient guitar effects, the lightly reverbed guitar lines echoing over pretty much everything. This takes the “spacey instrumental” skills you hinted at last fight and placed them front and center. Honestly I wish it was longer or had another lengthy shoegazey verse, but I don’t think a 7 minute song would make most reviewers happy.

What I don’t: The hard panning of the guitars breaks the panning until the bass comes in and fills out the sonic space. MBV albums are usually in mono and I’d be willing to bet that’s why. The cleaner, reverbed guitar work towards the end kind of loses momentem, I’d like to have seen a little bit more development with it. The drums fit weird in the mix at times, but I’m not sure how to remedy that, I struggle with it myself.


UJN X REVE:

What I like: The instrumentation is just great, and once that guitar solo kicks and the bass has that...phaser or whatever it is on it is highly pleasing. I love the vocals and the lyrics, they make me want to go hunting even though I’ve never been into much other than fishing and foraging. I’m not at all sure exactly what you’re digging through to get to your...bone receptacle. Are you just burying them? Is there some kind of tomb by the beech tree. I DON’T UNDERSTAND.

What I don’t: Honestly I have no complaints this is dope.

Vom Vorton:

What I like: New wave vibes are strong here. Yay! Reading the lyrics I was expecting something way darker than I actually got sonically, but it works well. Great momentum, you never really dwell on anything longer than you really need to and the song itself is solidly composed. The synth tones you went with are perfect.

What I don’t: The background vocals are occasionally a bit off pitch in the verses, this isn’t really a problem in the chorus though. I don’t know why but despite my lyrically gothy tendencies the lyrics don’t really do it for me, but that’s just personal preference.

FAVORITES:
Heavyset Lingo
Third Cat

ALSO CAST A VOTE FOR:
Gizo vs the 17,445
Hot Pink Halo
Kyle Rogers
Magnetic Letters
UJN VS REVE
Paco Del Stinko

I had to whittle down my list of votes to the ones that were actually favorites cause otherwise I'd have voted for over half of the entries...great fighting, everyone!
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Merle Fyshwick »

Vom Vorton: Blood all down my trousers - cool, I guess clone killing is still murder? A bit like the Angels. Driving bass, cute synth. Really good, nice harms. Good pop song, keep 'em wanting more. Vote.

Lily + Martin: Long-ish intro, interesting unison vocals, nice reverb electric guitar. Mellotron-like flutes, I like. Evocative of some early 2000s boy girl collabs, like Thom Yorke/PJ Harvey in structure.

Kyle Rogers: Industrial clanging and weird bass/guitar. Garbage fire, wikid. Nice and hectic. Good combo, electric guitar/bass/synth main riff. An auditory pocket full of bones.

Phlebia: Real drums? If not, they're well done, and it's good to hear a SF song with emphasis on drums. Weird-burger vocals, my girlfriend would dig. Mix is high in treble compared to others, just an observation. Cool break down, can't quite make out the lyrics, but that's okay.

Hot Pink Halo: Sounds live, and I think I would enjoy it as a performance. Nice round and round (for want of better words) structure, a bit like Ween in folk mode.

Heavyset Lingo: Fairly long intro, then nice harms. Low-key vibe. Recording-wise, it sounds spacious, and real. I have friends who would definitely dig this.

Gizo: Quite epic opening, cool drums, good swaggering vocals. Love the 'nasty' solo. Good build, and clean cut.

Far North Daylight: Lou Reed vox, simultaneously self-assured and fragile. Quite like the shift from spoken to sung. Interesting narrative.

Douche Puppy: Slinky bass. Clear and capable vox. Hard panned guitar. Quite anthemic, like a stripped-back Live.

Berkeley: I like the combo organ riff. Little soothing e piano chords before launching into the more raucous bit. One of the most 'complete' songs. It's one of the longer ones, I don't think it's too long though.

Evil Grin: Nice panned steel-string. Good use of the pfob theme, well integrated with dark funny lyrics. I like this one - I see the '50 songs/90 days' tag, which implies even tighter deadlines, so if you revisit it and because I do like it, my constructive observation is that there's a slight lag on the vocal delivery. Vote

Lichen Throat: Cool bass riff, overall like if Julian Casablancas breathed halon. I heard jeers as jizz, ha. Strokes-ish, which I like. Good.

Paco del Stinko: Cool unexpected chord progression. Punchy drums. A bit like Custard. Great BVs, especially the response bit at the start. Cool little 3.5 minute weirdness opera. Vote.

shrts: Skeletone - ha ha. Yeah, fuck it. Cool:)

Third Cat: Heavy reverb, hard panned crunchy guitar. Nice ambient sound, I like the psychedelic outro.

Balace Lost: Heaps going on, I like the backwards guitar. Melodica - cool. Lung butter - ewwww:) Super-tight. Bloc Party-ish. Probably the most polished one this week - nice one:)

UJNXREVE: Yeah, accordion! Ween guitars! Clarinet! One of the most 'live' sounding ones, I think it's a unique aesthetic and stands out in SF.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

Pretty strong fight, this. Sorry for being mean to anyone.

shrts: Nicely recorded, good full guitar tone and it's tightly played. I like the creative rhyming of bone with skeletone. Shaker is good. "hey"s are good. Nothing really happens though. I'm sure you could've fit a chorus and middle 8 into 50 seconds.

gizo vs the population of Clonmel: Woah that's loud. I feel like the rest of the mix struggles against the level of the rhythm guitar. That needs to come down a few notches to let the vocals and the lead guitars have some space. Apart from that this is alright. It's just not really my thing, slow-tempo waltz rock. The growing intensity at the end is good.

The Magnetic Letters: After listening to this a couple of time I went and had a look and listen to some of your archive songs. I realised we've fought together before in the Art Bomb fight, and this could hardly be more different from that entry, so kudos for the versatility. As others have said this is very pleasant, it has a great melancholy yet whimsical feel to it, kind of Beatles-y with a bit of Ray Davies or Al Stewart thrown in. It has some great melodies but the best ones all seem very familiar. I can't quite put my finger on where I've heard them before. But the singing and the harmonies are really great, definitely a strong point. The arrangement is functional and tastefully done. The organ sounds a bit churchy, but I like those little runs it does.

Douche Puppy: A perfectly competent song against which I have a fairly significant genre bias. Mid-tempo, 90s American AOR has never hit any of my buttons, so don't take my criticism to heart. I just prefer my rock a bit more energetic, angular, leftfield, major-key, humourous. For what this is though, it's well executed.

Vom Vorton: I did listen to these songs in a different order before reviewing, but by complete coincidence this song has every element that I listed above in the Douche Puppy review. So I am biased towards you, this is well-known, and I do enjoy this song, but I think we're both suffering from the same syndrome this week, i.e. I think we're both on cruise control a bit, and we've thrown a few quirky elements into our mixes to paper over the fact that the basics of the song are not as inspired our best stuff. It has classic Vom touches, such as the macabre lyrics twinned with Kinksian whimsy, it's both monstrous and human at the same time. I like how the intro makes me think it'll be an electro banger before giving way to the indie rock. It's got synthy washes and wibbles, backing vocals and a satisfying crescendo. It would be a pleasant surprise in a posthumous anthology. Possibly not an album opener.

Hot Pink Halo: Here's a question: does anything rhyme with "people" other than "steeple"? (runs of to check the rhyming dictionary)...hahaha! I highly recommend checking that for yourself. The pathetic attempts to find another rhyme are highly amusing. The answer to the question is evidently no, but nonetheless this rhyme always sticks out because it's a little overused. Having said that I very much feel the sentiment in these lyrics. Enough on that, onwards...the electric guitar tone here is really shiny and nice. The cadence in the lyrics is good too, but I feel they would really benefit from a more confident vocal take. I know sometimes it's challenging to really open your vocal chords and give the notes some power, but the tendency towards a more shy delivery, hidden under distortion and reverb allows the purity of the melody to get a little lost. It takes time, but keep practicing, we do actually want to hear your voice so don't be shy.

BSS: I really struggled through this one. The keys work hard to keep things interesting but they're fighting a losing battle against the energy-sapping tempo and lack of a recognisable hook. The lyrics completely passed me by and the crooned vocal strainings got tiring, even when they stayed in key. I think a change in the register would've benefitted the dynamic between verse and chorus. That said, it's a very crisp recording and solid performance all round. As far as rock goes this does lean more towards my taste than Douche Puppy, for example. Probably could do with losing a minute of length, even the ending sounded like one of you thought it was getting too long and signalled to just end at the next measure.

Lily Plus Martin: This is quite an enjoyable little tune. I wanted to say pleasant, it is pleasant but there's a sinister undertone to it as well. In spite of the sparse arrangement I really like the rhythm of this one. It's slow but it has a nervous tension running through it. BSS could learn a thing or two from you about tension. I'm a sucker for a mellotron and I was sad that the intro didn't continue into the song. When it comes in on the chorus it's really great though, I love the atmosphere it brings along with the other stuff going on. I wish there was more of that. The singing and melodies are great too. In the "And all the people know is..." line it sounds like you might break out into Life on Mars. At the start the guitar alone works well enough but I feel like this is crying out for some more production touches. As I said the instruments in the chorus are cool, but the chorus never really changes, and I feel like the arrangement should build as the song progresses. When it drops back to the verse with just the guitar it feels a bit empty. Plus, those touches you did add are so nice I just want more of them, also some vocal freestyling over the final chorus as well, it's crying out for a huge crescendo at the end Sigur Ros style. I think this is well worth a vote though, probably my favourite song of the fight so far...

UJN X REVE: I had no idea what to expect of this combination and you've confounded me nonetheless. This is really strong. The vaudeville stylings are perfectly executed and sit really well along the lyrics and even the screaming guitar. I love all the touches of (I'm gonna get this wrong) clarinet? whatever. Great production. The title also plays right into UJN's Lovecraft obsession. This would go down a treat at my old local. I'm tentatively tipping you for the win.

Far North Daylight: This kind of Versus-style indie rock is both well within my comfort zone and also just a tad boring. It's a style I like, but because I've heard it so much the song needs to be really great or I dismiss it as something I've heard before. Also, this style, and in particular this song is just crying out for the drums to kick in and propel the whole thing. Without any kind of dynamic going on 2 minutes feels too long. If you're going to go solo electric guitar I feel like canning the distortion, turning up the tone and a bit of reverb and playing it soft would actually have more impact, that way you can kick in the distortion for a bit of a finale, or not, but as it is it just sounds half-finished.

Kyle Rogers: Holy shit, I was expecting another gng. Where did this balls-to-the-wall industrial rock come from? I have no idea what you're using for percussion but if you want to sound like the house band at the Thunderdome then I think you've got the gig. The vocals are solid but it's the dirty riffing that really drives this one. My only real problem with this one is that it has some rhythmic deficiencies. Mostly it bounces along robustly, but there are occasional stutters which throw it off and break the professional feel.

Heavyset Lingo: The singing is great, not really my style but a really good performance. The backing seems a bit weak by comparison. The guitar is a bit dull and boomy and rhythmically the song is a bit too loose. Sounds like a live recording though, which is cool. If that's wrong then you've done a very good job of creating the sound of the space in the mix.

Phlebia: This immediately sounds a lot sunnier than usual. The vocals detract from that feel, but that's not a problem and the soaring parts just raise the whole thing up. I love the backing high-pitched bits. The general vibe of this track is fucking great though, it sounds like a cross between Caribou at their most exhuberant and Goat doing a psychedelic jam (which to be fair is pretty much all Goat do). The glitchy bit that precedes the switch-up is even more awesome, and while the last minute is not my favourite bit I appreciate the freaky soundscape and tribal rhythm. I think this is my new favourite, I wish I could make stuff like this. Never boring. Definitely a vote. 9.5/10

Third Cat: Classic mbv-ing down to the slightly pitch-bent chord strums. The warbly riff played by the lead guitar(?) at the end remind me of something, but I can't figure it out, either way I love it. I've lambasted others for making ploddy songs before, but this is a textbook example of how to make a downtempo song that I'd be quite happy to continue for another 5 minutes. I'd even go so far as to say the final section is frustratingly short. The main guitar has an amazing crunch and the various layers of other instruments sliding in and out are really cool and give the driving rhythm the ethereal feel I have no doubt you were aiming for. The breakdown is very cool, although the aforementioned warbly guitar is a touch sloppy timing-wise. In any case I really enjoyed this and I shall be voting for it.

Lichen Throat: More guitar sampling fun. The opening riff left me slightly unsatisfied cos I hoped you'd hold the chord while changing the bass note, but the more I listen to it the more I think it's fine with the changes as they are. The rhyming couplets in the verses get a bit overbearing after a while. It'd be nice to switch up the rhyme scheme, or at least not hit us over the head with the rhyme so much. It's a strange juxtaposition with the robotic music against the lyrics which I assume are about the French Revolution, and of course your voice which will only ever sound like a c&w singer to me.

Evil Grin: ...speaking of country, if I liked it I'd probably think this was great, but alas...I guess it's well written, I know exactly where the chorus is. There's probably too many syllables in the line "Dance upon the grave of who I used to be" and I'm not sure what "left-handed psychologically" means. The final time you sing "meeee" at 3.04 made me wince. Probably should've done another take for that one, but apart from that the recording is mostly solid.

Paco: The bright intro belies the creepy bits to come, but I do love that combination of stabs, jangly guitars and synth swooshes. I think I prefer the verse to the chorus, mainly cos the tune is more my bag, but also cos I like all the incidental instrumental fills. That said the chorus is fairly memorable, just not so strong I feel. The middle, like last week, is a great example of atmospheric breakdown, albeit without the breakdown, but it builds the tension in a cool way before leaving us with a final verse for good measure. I enjoyed that, fun tune. Made me smile. Vote???? we'll see, heh.

Balance Lost: Yeah, not totally on form here. I'm sure I've written this chorus melody before. I tacked on a couple of sections to try and hide the fact the main bit is subpar. Oh well. I spent a couple of days practicing the widdly riff in the first verse only to cut most of it. Posthumous anthology material?

Right, I'm off to listen to Phlebia and Third Cat again.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by gizo »

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Thu Sep 26, 2019 5:13 am
Gizo vs the 17,445:
Explain to me at some point who the 17,445 are.
furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:22 am
gizo vs the population of Clonmel:
In a way, you're so close, @furrypedro. Clonmel is nearby, but I am measuring a different thing.

I've popped a few songs on SongFight over the years, way back when narbotic was running the show (as Melon Like Heads), and then speckled throughout as various iterations of gizo.

A couple of years ago, the two best people in my life who aren't contractually or genetically required to like me flew away into the emerald. Recently one of these blessed two, the awesome @crumpart (Hot Pink Halo), decided to push her artistic pursuits into a new field, and ended up here. So I followed.

The 17,445 refers to the number of kilometres between us. I see it every time I open my stalky app to see where they are and pretend I can see them.
Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Thu Sep 26, 2019 5:13 am
What I like: So far this is my favorite Gizo song I’ve heard, though granted I’ve only really been lingering around here again for the past couple months. Your voice sounds good in this track, and the low key kind of “gravelly” delivery works well with the melody that you went with. That thin, distorted guitar solo comes out of nowhere and sounds delightful, especially in context. Well structured, builds well, great climax at the end! The “desolate road” type imagery you open with sets the mood nicely and you keep with it.

What I don’t: Personally I wish that you’d have put your vocals higher in the mix, the guitar is a bit too high up and drowns you out, and there’s a little bit of clipping when you bring everything up at the climax! Honestly my gripes here are mostly based on production values.
furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:22 am
Woah that's loud. I feel like the rest of the mix struggles against the level of the rhythm guitar. That needs to come down a few notches to let the vocals and the lead guitars have some space. Apart from that this is alright. It's just not really my thing, slow-tempo waltz rock. The growing intensity at the end is good.
Thank you both for the feedback. I don't have much of a recording setup at the moment, and find myself struggling to break my ingrained 'lazy pop' mentality. This fight was recorded entirely on my phone during lunch breaks. Even the vocals were recorded on the little earbud microphone, in the car, sitting on the side of the road (you can her the indicator ticking away at the end of the track). I agree there's too much going on, and the levels are screwy. I wish I could've given you all a bit more for this one.

I'm sitting at the beach with my kids now, so I'm probably not going to be able to get reviews together for you all which is terrible because there's some great and interesting stuff going on in this fight, but I really dug Magnetic Letters, Phlebia, Vom, and Hot Pink Halo.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

Merle Fyshwick wrote:
Thu Sep 26, 2019 9:49 pm
Phlebia: Real drums? If not, they're well done, and it's good to hear a SF song with emphasis on drums. Weird-burger vocals, my girlfriend would dig. Mix is high in treble compared to others, just an observation. Cool break down, can't quite make out the lyrics, but that's okay.
Real drums absolutely! The only sounds in there I didn't record myself are the birds. I suppose I didn't really produce the garbled channel switching radio transmissions either, but I held up a mic to a radio so I guess it counts.
furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 2:22 am

Phlebia: This immediately sounds a lot sunnier than usual. The vocals detract from that feel, but that's not a problem and the soaring parts just raise the whole thing up. I love the backing high-pitched bits. The general vibe of this track is fucking great though, it sounds like a cross between Caribou at their most exhuberant and Goat doing a psychedelic jam (which to be fair is pretty much all Goat do). The glitchy bit that precedes the switch-up is even more awesome, and while the last minute is not my favourite bit I appreciate the freaky soundscape and tribal rhythm. I think this is my new favourite, I wish I could make stuff like this. Never boring. Definitely a vote. 9.5/10
I think that's the first time I've ever tried recording that particular register of my voice! Holding out the breathy falsetto is something I do often in the car singing along to female singers I admire (as I mentioned in my self-review, been listening to a lot of Lush), but it's so far removed from my usual "reedy tenor" as my friend John describes it that I've rarely been bold enough to really try it. I'm glad it worked out!
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

gizo wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:57 am

A couple of years ago, the two best people in my life who aren't contractually or genetically required to like me flew away into the emerald. Recently one of these blessed two, the awesome @crumpart (Hot Pink Halo), decided to push her artistic pursuits into a new field, and ended up here. So I followed.

The 17,445 refers to the number of kilometres between us. I see it every time I open my stalky app to see where they are and pretend I can see them.
This fight was recorded entirely on my phone during lunch breaks. Even the vocals were recorded on the little earbud microphone, in the car, sitting on the side of the road (you can her the indicator ticking away at the end of the track). I agree there's too much going on, and the levels are screwy. I wish I could've given you all a bit more for this one.

I'm sitting at the beach with my kids now, so I'm probably not going to be able to get reviews together for you all which is terrible because there's some great and interesting stuff going on in this fight, but I really dug Magnetic Letters, Phlebia, Vom, and Hot Pink Halo.
Enjoy the beach, family time is important! I've got a 1 and 5 year old myself, it makes finding time to do much of anything hobby-related a bit scarce...I had to record drums by putting the 1 year old in a stroller and handing him an apple or something to distract him while I pound out a few takes. And the 5 year old has a habit of interrupting me, but he's getting better at not doing that.

Anyway, all production quibbles are immediately invalidated knowing your studio limitations. You and @crumpart ought to try and work out a long distance collaboration, plenty of those have occurred over the years on here! I've only done it once but it was a great time!
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

gizo wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 3:57 am
This fight was recorded entirely on my phone during lunch breaks. Even the vocals were recorded on the little earbud microphone, in the car, sitting on the side of the road (you can her the indicator ticking away at the end of the track). I agree there's too much going on, and the levels are screwy. I wish I could've given you all a bit more for this one.
Recording-wise I had no problems with your song other than the guitar being a bit too loud, and knowing how you made it that is pretty impressive. A testament to what is possible with modern electronics.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 4:24 am
I've only done it once but it was a great time!
Speaking of which, when I was reviewing your track today I was thinking I could use a bit of your medicine.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:17 am
Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 4:24 am
I've only done it once but it was a great time!
Speaking of which, when I was reviewing your track today I was thinking I could use a bit of your medicine.
Are we getting Asteroids 57801-57900 back together? :D My Phlebia entry this week is more or less done -- I'm in the "listen to it over and over and make tweaks" stage, so unless we're talking something super complicated I suppose I'm available.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:45 am
furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:17 am
Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 4:24 am
I've only done it once but it was a great time!
Speaking of which, when I was reviewing your track today I was thinking I could use a bit of your medicine.
Are we getting Asteroids 57801-57900 back together? :D My Phlebia entry this week is more or less done -- I'm in the "listen to it over and over and make tweaks" stage, so unless we're talking something super complicated I suppose I'm available.
...the snappily named. I'm still a way off finishing my number. How about next fight?
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:56 am
Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:45 am
furrypedro wrote:
Fri Sep 27, 2019 6:17 am

Speaking of which, when I was reviewing your track today I was thinking I could use a bit of your medicine.
Are we getting Asteroids 57801-57900 back together? :D My Phlebia entry this week is more or less done -- I'm in the "listen to it over and over and make tweaks" stage, so unless we're talking something super complicated I suppose I'm available.
...the snappily named. I'm still a way off finishing my number. How about next fight?
Bring it.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by lichenthroat »

With so many entries, I didn’t get to listen to the songs as many times as I normally do, so my reviews are based more on early impressions than usual.

Balance Lost—I’m not sure what to make of the weird beginning, but I like the song overall. Your vocal sounds good, and all the instrumental changes are fun. There are several good lines in the lyrics, too.

Berkeley Social Scene—The genre is not exactly up my alley, but I like this anyway. The keyboard seems like it should feel cheesy and overdone, but somehow it sounds smooth and atmospheric instead; I don’t know how you pulled that off, but good work. As an unimportant aside, I think I like every song I can think of that references California Highway 99.

Douche Puppy—The vocal performance is the highlight here, and the song is well crafted overall. I like the low notes in the instrumental bits after the chorus, too. Very solid.

Evil Grin—This sounded very familiar after I’d only heard it once. I’m (genuinely) not sure if that indicates a cliched sound or masterful songwriting. These are among your more interesting lyrics. It’s a pleasant listen.

Far North Daylight—The recording sounds kind of flat, with respect to both the guitar and the vocal. The songwriting is good, but I don’t think this production lets it shine.

gizo vs. the 14,455—The mix doesn’t seem quite right to me, but otherwise I like this a lot. Your voice sounds good, and the songwriting is interesting: offbeat without being too weird. I wanted it to be longer.

Heavyset Lingo—I wanted this to get going faster than it did; the intro seemed too long, and then the song didn’t change much when the first real verse started. I like your soulful singing, though. I’d like the vocal to be a little more prominent in the mix. The recording sounds as if everything is far from the microphone. Nevertheless, the song is still very successful in creating the atmosphere that (I think) you had in mind.

Hot Pink Halo—These melodies are excellent. The overall sound might benefit from more low frequencies; maybe add a bass or something. The great melodies outweigh all other considerations, though.

Kyle Rogers—I couldn’t get into this song, but that might be genre bias talking. I did like the churning rhythm, however.

Lichen Throat (me)—I’ve been wanting to write a song about the French Revolution for a while, and this title seemed like a reasonable lyrical fit. I never felt comfortable singing the vocal, and it shows in the final result; maybe I should have tried transposing to another key signature. I was happy with several of the instrumental melodies, but I think the overall result lacks cohesion.

Lily Plus Martin—I like your voices, and I wish the female vocal was a little louder. The songwriting seems delicate and subtle, and I think it would benefit from more listens than I had time for. I also think adding a rhythm instrument might have been beneficial.

The Magnetic Letters—This is a good song, but unfortunately for me, I’ve never cared for this kind of mellow British-sounding keyboard pop. I think this would probably sound great to people who aren’t biased against this kind of music. The performances are excellent, and the songwriting is nicely varied.

Paco del Stinko—I’m digging the snappiness of the sound. This is among my favorites of yours. Hooked me right at the beginning.

Phlebia—I was immediately struck by the loudness of the mix. I like the wild, cacophonous rhythm. Each line of the song sounds good, but I think it needs significantly more variation in the first 2/3 of the song.

shrts—Rhyming “bones” and “skeleton” makes me smile. The ending seems too abrupt (but I think the short length is okay). The rest of the song sounds pretty good.

Third Cat—I really wish your vocal sounded more full in this song. It seems a little too much in the background and sounds like you’ve run it through a high-pass filter or something. This could sound epic with a fuller-sounding vocal floating on the delightful fuzziness of the guitars. Really excellent songwriting.

UJN X REVE—The style of accordion playing gives an initial impression of this being a novelty song, but I think it’s actually a normal song with kind of weird instrumentation. I really like the chord progressions.

Vom Vorton—Another classic Vorton tune. This is great, and I don’t have much else to say about it. I think this is my favorite of the fight. Nice work.
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Balance Lost — That acoustic guitar riff sounds like a mangled version of a Peter Gabriel tune. Which is sometimes mangled to begin with. I like it. I like your chorus but I was a bit unsure of the phrasing in the vocal for a while. But yeah, it works for me. I love those staccato bits, those stops. Rhymes standing out tend to be a bad thing, but a couple of yours stood out because I liked them. A few places where the emphasis seemed on the wrong syllable but I don't know how much of that is me being a (relatively) uneducated American. This demo stood out as being one of the loudest of the bunch by a fair bit. Not sure that's a good/bad thing or not, but we discussed it on the forum a few weeks ago.

BSS — I love the intro and the breaks with the synth/key bits the best. Not sure that's a good thing, but I really like them. Your use of the synths are good and more natural than my attempts. I should listen to songs like this (and probably Vom, tbh) to get a better grip on it. The bass stands out as having that.. umm island? feel to it. Works very well for me. This seems a hair long to me, but I started the track over like four times before I started this review so that may be mostly my fault.

Douche Puppy — It took me just a few seconds to get into your vocal, but I'm really digging it now. The performance, phrasing and melody are all working very well for me. It might be a hair up in the mix, maybe?, at least in places. I'm digging the bass line and rhythm... it's hard for me to hear the whole instead of the parts, but I like this a lot. VOTE

Evil Grin — I sent music to Amanda and she wrote most of the lyric, the melody and sang the vocal (obviously.) The mix and arrangement is all my fault.

Far North Daylight — The abrupt start took me off guard... every single time I listened to this song. Which is a cool trick to keep in mind. I think I'll use that at some point. There's nothing about this song that I dislike, but after about forty five seconds I was ready for something to kick in. A more full arrangement, drums or something. And the the vocal might be a bit more up in the mix than I like or maybe it just doesn't sit in the mix as much as I'd like.

gizo vs. the 14,455 — Your mix is a bit louder than most. But not as loud as Balance Lost, for sure. (Not a critique, just a comment.) I like your melody and vocal performance. The spacial effects/distance on the vocal was cool at first but was a bit tiring after a while. I think it's the guitars that need to come down in the mix a bit. Or maybe not as much in the high end? I especially like the chorus melody. Well the vocal fits much better at the end when it rises. And that clock bit on the outro is a tasty touch.

Heavyset Lingo —Your song is a bit more quiet than most in this batch. Don't fear, though. I have a volume knob. I like the vocals a lot, both melody and performance. The more I listen the more I dig this song. If I were watching a band performing this I might ask to sit in. This is cool. I want to play some dirty guitar in the space you leave around the title lines (and likely ruin your groove, so I won't ask to sit in if you play this local, but if you ask I won't say no.) VOTE

Hot Pink Halo — I love the melodic lead into the chorus/title line. The harmony vox at the end is a nice touch and is welcome in an otherwise static arrangement. I like this song a lot, but would love to hear a variance in instrumentation at some point. A build or adding simple drums at the last chorus or something to change it up. Good, though, I cannot complain too much about a song that I enjoyed listening to.

Kyle Rogers — I wrote a song with varying tempo click tracks that was more of an experiment than a success and the first :20 of this song reminds me of it. That being said, I liked the first few beats of the intro and I like the feel of this song once the guitars kick in. And the vocal phrasing is good. That chorus is especially cool, vocally. I like that kick in at around 2:00. Yeah, that chorus is cool.

Lichen Throat — This sounds like a rock song on midi steroids. Not that it sounds excessively midi. I just like the energy you have here. I have to say the phrasing in your vocal lines are decent here, I definitely hear some improvement from a while back. Still a bit pitchy, but I definitely think you're making progress. This is likely one of your top songs that I've heard.

Lily Plus Martin — Your demo is a hair on the quiet side of the entries this week, but good news, the volume knob still works. I like the lead vocal and melody a lot. Both of these voices work very well together. Do more of this. And I like the true duet feel. The steady down stroke strumming gives this song a sense of urgency that suits the title quite a bit. The more I listen the more I like this song. I was surprised to look up and see how long this song is. Doesn't feel it. This was one of my favorites after just a listen or two. VOTE

The Magnetic Letters — Oh, wow. This reminds me of Nilsson from the first line of vocal. Mainly in the beginning vocal melody and performance but a little in the music, too. Kind of takes a Beatlesy turn, though. Not a bad thing. This has a classic feel that I like a lot. Probably VOTE

Paco del Stinko — You do Paco so well. I enjoyed this song but it was the solo that stands out as a high point for me. Your bass lines always stick out for me in a good way. Your drumming is cool, too. Where I tend to have longer more sustained transitions, I just noticed you tend to have busier, more active transitions. I think I could learn from that.

Phlebia — The narrow range in the melody, sticking to one or two notes per chord, is effective here. Another busy rhythm/music track. It seems to work, to drive the energy level up. You kept me pretty well engaged through 2:00 or so. Not too many drum solos around these parts. And talk about transitions. Wow. I like the transition, the change, but last bit was a bit piercing to my ears.

shrts — I immediately thought of the Cars with the first few notes of the intro. Maybe because of the recent passing of Rick. Your vocal is in a cool spot performance-wise. "Skele-tone" Heh. I like it. Short and sweet.

Third Cat —.I like the combination of atmosphere and a classic rock drum vibe. The spacey/deep vocals are a bit too soft for my taste, just because I can't really hear the lyric. I like the effect. Cool guitars here. I like the slow burn and almost soundscape that you've created here.

UJN X REVE — Man, this could be used in A Clockwork Orange or maybe a scene out of a movie scene depicting the joker... or some other happy/crazy criminal in that vein. I love that clarinet. I'm diggin this. VOTE

Vom Vorton — You do synth/guitar combinations so well. I should listen with an ear toward incorporating more of that arrangement in my own songs. I like the old school call and response backing vox. This is catchy without being too pop-ish. The more I listen to this song, the more I like it. It is right at the edge of a vote. Edit to add: VOTE (The more I listen, the more I like.)
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

Haven't had the time to listen quite as much to this fight as I usually would, but wanted to get some reviews written while I have a little time to spare.

Balance Lost - all the ingredients of classic BL are here, but for some reason this doesn't quite work for me like I want it to. Maybe that's because I find the phrase "lung butter" repulsive. I love that first verse riff though and the synth-arp breakdown section is cool too. May be a vote despite my issues with it, because you're still doing a lot of things I find irresistible.

Berkeley Social Scene - why does bouncy reggae organ remind me of the Monkey Island games? I love it when the fizzy transistor organ kicks in, sadly when the guitar and vox come in this loses its momentum and never really regains it, I think it's a good vocal performance on the whole but the song seems to take a turn into plodding ponderousness in the vocal sections and leaves me craving the return of the fun instrumental bits. It also doesn't help that this feels like it has reached a logical conclusion with a minute still to go.

Douche Puppy - huge levels of genre bias against this so I'm not sure I can say anything particularly useful. Strong vocal performance, but the guitar FX, the lyrics, everything here is a massive turn-off to me. Sorry.

Evil Grin - love the acoustic guitar work here and the wide-panned double tracking, and it sounds really sweet when the electric guitar joins in. Vocal melody doesn't live up to the levels of inspiration / catchiness I expect from Evil Grin at this point though, is Amanda working out of her normal vocal range or something? It's not bad, it just feels a little uninspired.

Far North Daylight - I've enjoyed your previous entries quite a lot, this one is OK but really feels like it needs something more going on to keep it interesting as the single electric guitar isn't filling out the mix, maybe if the guitar was louder and the vocal had some double-tracking or something it might work but everything is a little too... exposed. Lots of plosives on the vocal too which doesn't help. Still feels like there's a Sonic Youth influence bubbling through though so I can't help feel a little fondness towards it!

gizo vs. the 17,455 - I like the jangly layered guitar but I think the mix could have a lot more bass in it without the overall vibe suffering - it gets a bit ear-fatiguey. I like the vocal melody though and the intensity that you build up to later in the song is really effective, so this is another maybe-vote.

Heavyset Lingo - really impressive vocals / harmonies when they come in but the song takes way too long to get there. Whenever the vocals drop out I find myself wishing there was a little more going on musically to keep things interesting, but maybe you're going for a more minimal vibe that just isn't quite clicking with me. The spacious live sound is really cool, though.

Hot Pink Halo - a pleasant listen but doesn't really grab me until the chorus, where the addition of subtle keys sounds great and the vocal melody goes to some more interesting places. The harmonies later on are effective enough that I wish there were more of them. Really like your art for this fight, btw!

Kyle Rogers - this is pretty wild, totally different from your previous submission. I feel like there's some Tom Waits influence in here which is interesting because this title immediately made me think of Tom Waits but I'm not sure why? But the Beck comparison made above is also a good one. Considering a vote for this one because I love the ambition but the way it slips out of time with the metallic beat is pretty distracting at times. I want this level of sonic chaos but with a little less rhythmic chaos, I guess?

Lichen Throat - musically this is my favourite Lichen Throat song I think, I love it! Vocally it's not bad but also not your best work, I think maybe it is just that your voice feels a better fit for a slower tempo somehow, which is a weird thing to say perhaps. I wonder if some slight distortion or a short delay on the vocals might sound good? But whatever, I think I'll probably vote for this because your MIDI distorted guitar sounds so great.

Lily Plus Martin - I like the way you sing "taxidermy", that is an odd word to find such melody in! The intertwined male/female vocals are also really great, although I do find myself wishing the chorus had a little more going on than just the repeated title. Really like the shimmering layers of delay guitar towards the end. Think this one is going to get a vote, and I'd like to hear more, I hope you stick around!

The Magnetic Letters - this is really charming, strong writing and excellent melodies. Reminds me a little of the Pernice Brothers, but I guess the shared influence probably dates back to older stuff! I second the comment above that I'd like to hear the instrumental mixed a little higher, the vocals / harmonies are great but they do dominate the mix a little too much for my tastes. Definitely voting for this one though, it's very good!

Paco del Stinko - you have the best intros, I love that shimmering, dry electric guitar over the acoustic strums. I mostly really like this one, the lyrics are fun, the solo is great, killer backing vocals as ever - but for some reason I don't much like the melody of the "I've got a secret" section which stops this quite being in my top-tier from this fight. Gonna vote for it though.

Phlebia - your sound is extremely arresting, again! I'm not sure what I think about the snare sound on this song - it sounds appropriate for the genre but it's quite hard work listening to it for two solid minutes. I can't resist voting for this though, especially with the crazy freak-out ending which is great fun.

shrts - I love it when you manage to fit a verse and chorus into one of your very-short songs but this one kinda feels like it never really gets going.

Third Cat - love the guitar sound, so fuzzy and warped and delicious. Are you doing some vocodery stuff on the vocals too? There's something going on that I can't quite place and I like it a lot. Generally full of killer sound design, a big immersive wash of magnificent noises, a definite vote!

UJN X REVE - this rules, I love the unusual instrumentation, the dark folk-rock vibe, and that vicious guitar solo! Another definite vote.

Vom Vorton - back in my comfort zone here after stretching myself a bit in the last few fights that I've entered. Not overly fond of my lyrics (this title didn't seem to result in any lyrics that particularly clicked with me, even though most of them are well-written, not sure why that is) but I'm pretty happy with the music.
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furrypedro
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

vowlvom wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:05 am
I’ve killed my doppelgangers
murdered all my clones
I’ve got blood all down my trousers
vowlvom wrote:
Mon Sep 30, 2019 9:05 am
I find the phrase "lung butter" repulsive.
I'll make sure I don't smoke the next time we go on a killing spree :lol:
Pigfarmer Jr wrote:
Sun Sep 29, 2019 3:43 pm
This demo stood out as being one of the loudest of the bunch by a fair bit. Not sure that's a good/bad thing or not, but we discussed it on the forum a few weeks ago.
Thanks for the comments, dude. I missed that discussion about loudness, but I am firmly in the "loudness is definitely good" camp. Not just for the sake of it, I'm not usually one of those macho rock n roll dudes. The trick is avoiding overcompression, and that's where I fuck up.
When I mix I use a reference track, and obviously that reference track will be a professional recording of something I think sounds cool. As such I try to make my track the same level (and tone, etc.) so that if my song gets played next to that song or any other professional recording whether it's on someone's headphones, on the radio, in a bar, etc. they can actually hear the song. I definitely want to make the fidelity as good as possible too, but none of us are using thousands of pounds/dollars worth of mic/valve compressors/anything in the signal chain, and without that ridonkulously expensive gear you just can't achieve pro results sadly. But I can crank it and hope most people won't know the difference.
Now on Song Fight! some people are okay at mixing, but most of us aren't, so most stuff sounds quiet. The question is should I then bring the level of my mix down so that it sounds normal amongst the song fight crowd. Frankly, I'm not gonna do that. Like most people, I won't touch my track again after the fight is finished and I'm more concerned about how it'll sound out in the normal world alongside the music that most people listen to rather than how it'll sound for one week in a song fight. What I will do is try and incrementally improve each week to smooth out my sound and push my gear as far as it'll go for the purpose of making some nice sounding music, and I welcome any discussion regarding that. It's been a while since I got nerdy about mixes with someone and I miss it.
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Pigfarmer Jr
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Re: Gristle in my teeth and a (Pocket Full Of Bones reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

I didn't want to sidetrack the review thread so I started a new one in response to furrypedro here:
https://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?f=6&t=11585
Evil Grin bandcamp - Evil Grin spotify
T.C. Elliott bandcamp - T.C. Elliott spotify

"PigFramer: Guy and guitar OF MY NIGHTMARES." - Blue Lang
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