You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

...We all did reviews and posted them and everyone had a great time in the songfight review thread
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

20 songs this time! Our largest fight in five years. Thanks to folks coming back and to new folks and to whoever is recruiting the new folks. :)
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

Lunkhead wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:08 pm
20 songs this time! Our largest fight in five years. Thanks to folks coming back and to new folks and to whoever is recruiting the new folks. :)
I keep posting about it on Reddit, so maybe some of that is me. Success!

There could also be other people doing it, but I appreciate the gratitude even if it's not entirely my doing.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by gizo »

Lunkhead wrote:
Fri Oct 04, 2019 7:08 pm
20 songs this time! Our largest fight in five years. Thanks to folks coming back and to new folks and to whoever is recruiting the new folks. :)
I’m happy to be back, and hopeful that I have a bit more momentum this time. Also happy to have bought along crumpart, and maybe we can get toshiro to hang tight too.

I’ll also be trying to get my kids to come along.

ps: I accidentally reported a post, because I’m new to computers apparently. Sorry
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by crumpart »

Can’t believe Shrts don’t have an entry in this one.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by glennny »

Long Story Short

Absolutely Credible- Yes! Way to kick off a great fight! 2:09 is nice and short. I adore the beginning, I love the organ tone, and then that kick ass distorted bass comes in! The bass tone is my favorite part. I dig the chords on the pre-chorus. If I were to complain a little bit , it’s that there’s not much of a lift to the chorus. The drums are frenetic and cool, but they feel like a machine, not many fills and doesn’t relent. This gets a vote, it really rocks!

Balance Lost- Now here’s a chorus! Pete is a musical genius, I am a super fan. This is a really good one. This is the kind of song that makes me run out and buy the album. Great hooks, great dynamics, excellent playing. This is probably my favorite song of the fight. Cool lead guitar tone too! Excellent! VOTE!

Berkeley Social Scene- Norman joined us on this one. We’re basically the Heartbreakers for Norman. Norman wrote the song and took the solo. I’m on rhythm guitar, Sam on Rhodes, Ken on bass, Geech on drums. Backing vox are Sam, Normon and myself. I like the halftime injection, I think it’s clever and really serves the song. I’m particularly fond of Ken’s bass line. Ken and I share Paul as our favorite Beatle and this bass line sounds particularly McCartney to me. This was really fun to be a part of.

Break Broken
- You've got the piano, where’s the pad? Amazing vocals! I could stand to have the piano a lot louder in the mix. This is beautiful. I wish the lyrics were posted, I can make them out, but it’s tough to keep them all in my head. This has a very musical feel to it. Good job!

Eat in Mattress- Plat! How long has it been? I miss the Cow Exchange! I was excited that there was a new voice that was amazing on Song Fight. Then I saw the lyric thread and it all made sense. An amazing voice and musician returns. This is a pro-sounding pop song. This leans a little more pop than is my taste, but the quality is undeniable. The ending is weird, the fade out is too abrupt. Nitpick really, the song and production is excellent. If I was the producer I’d encourage coming up with a better ending. Awesome! VOTE!

Gizo vs. the 17455- This is a quiet recording. I dig the melody and the vocal delivery. The solo is nice too. The drums don’t quite work for me. This evokes Beulah , something like “What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS8MpuEJ5e0
and/or Sea and Cake. I’d like more bass in the mix. This is a nice mellow song!

Glenn Case- Man I love your voice! This is a 70’s AM classic. Very cool solo! The pre-chorus is my favorite part by far, but it all works very well. The drums have great feel and accentuate the accents excellently. Groovy bass line! This gets a vote!

glennny- Would I have written that pad were it not for the challenge? No, but I like it. For that matter,not sure I would have had the comping piano. I like that too. What’s funny to me is that I actually busted out the staff paper to write a melody to fit in the chords. I’m glad someone did the Odyssey, that was what first popped up in my head. I’m cooking at 250 bpm, that was super fun. Instead of the traditional 36 bar chord pattern, I did a 32 bar pattern, then a minor version of the same pattern, then back to the major version. I constantly kept fighting the lyrics to Reba by Phish. Something about “Long Story Short”, makes me want to say “..some wicker and some cork” next for the rhyme. Sam said there was no jazz in Song Fight. Now there’s a little bit more.

Hot Pink Halo- There it is! The Odyssey! Great idea! The lyrics are great! I don’t mind book report music. With this title , it’s asking for book report (or poem report) rock. The poet reciting/rap thing reminds me of Luscious Jackson - Naked Eye. The whole thing is so trebly, I really want to hear some upright bass or something in the low end. Cool stuff!

Jonathan Mann- So many meta-song violations. It’s all true. Great production, great storytelling. Nice melodies. This is funny. I’m not sure about the reputability of this. I enjoy this most on the 1st listen. Fun!

Leppakron- Nice bass! Thanks for having low end! Now I wish there were drums. The shaker is much needed, but not enough. I think the just shaker works for an intro and maybe a breakdown, but I want the drums to kick in, and they never come. I could stand to hear the banjo and guitar licks louder in the mix. Vocals are nice and emotive. Something about the melody reminds me of ELO- Take Me on and On, and that makes me want the drums to kick in for the chorus even more. Great songwriting. I just want some different production choices.

Lily & Martin- Are you the only one to use the verb “cut”? It seems like everyone should have cut their stories. What a duet! Vocal performances are wonderful! I love the dynamics. Cool backing vocals too! Nice chords! I’m not a big fan of the drum machines, but I’m rather spoiled in my access to drummers. I still think that even though the vocals are the stars of the show, they’re a little high in the mix. I’m still soaking thus one in. I enjoy the gag at the end, nice touch to cut off the phrase, then going to static so it doesn’t feel like a mistake. Lots of good stuff. Maybe a vote.

Magnetic Letters- I love the first movement, it’s beautiful. Then the chiptune 2nd half has some serious mix issues that are hard to take, and take me out of the drama. The high end is so shrill, the low end isn’t there as it should be. I like the idea and the writing however. Very creative, cool lyrics. I’d love to hear a remix of this.

Paco del Stinko- How many “I love you”’s are there in Song Fight? I feel like I never hear that phrase. It works really well for you here. The mix is fantastic, the playing is superb. This is absolutely awesome, which is typical for you. Another gem! The backing vocals crack me up, they are just great! Piano solo is nice! Is there a pad? I’m glad there’s a guitar solo, the solo is really tasty! Big Super VOTE!

Phillipso
- This is me and my little brother Woody in his garage. I love playing that flat wound fretless bass that he built. He’s on the Les Paul that he built. He’s on drums, I’m on vocals. I think I like the pre-chorus best, though I enjoy the chorus riff. I wonder if Eddie and Alex have as much fun in their garage as we do. We’re guilty of the longest song in the fight. I thought about cutting some stuff, but under 4 minutes is pretty tight for us. We like super long jams. Hope you enjoy.

Phlebia- Nice to have 6/8. Why does 6/8 sound best with a tom pattern? Who programmed us all this way. Drums sound great! Another Odyssey reference, nice! This is almost ambient and meditative. It reminds me of Can. I dig the bass line. I don’t enjoy the spoken word as much as the singing. I could stand to hear a melody in a higher register. Lots of beautiful tension built up, but never released. I feel like you need Maynard from Tool to sing and emote over this rather that Stephen Hawking. Some cool ideas!

Pig Farmer Junior
- I want a little more bass and drums, but the acoustic and vocals sound great! I like the piano playing, i like the guitar solo, but I wish the sustained notes had more vibrato on them. The vocal delivery sounds like the narrator has accepted the fact that she doesn’t love him anymore. It seems like the moment to capture in song should be when he’s most heartbroken. You know like James Brown. Easy, emote like James Brown.

Third Cat- I’m glad you entered. The challenge I thought would be in your wheelhouse. This is rather good. It reminds me of Figurine, but you have better vocals. The drum machine works really well for you, dare I say best drum machine drums of the fight! I know it’s supposed to be short given the title, but I am left wanting more. It feels like a Pink Floyd book end kind of song. This gets a vote! Good job!

Toshiro- What a cool bass line! The loud jam bass line is my favorite part. Vocals are good but too high in the mix for my tastes. The 2nd time the loud jam comes in, I’m really wanting a solo. The 1st time I like the effect of it without a solo, but I think it could stand to intensify the 2nd time around.

Vom Vorton- This is a joke song. I laughed the first time I heard it. I love the guitar solo. The production is excellent. Do you know “Evelyn, A Modified Dog” by Frank Zappa : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jyfcg-0ivls , Similar joke: verbosity plus abrupt ending. Good stuff!

I'm pleased to announce this time Star Baker goes to Balance Lost
Last edited by glennny on Sun Oct 06, 2019 1:24 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

glennny wrote:
Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:12 am
Long Story Short

Phlebia- Nice to have 6/8. Why does 6/8 sound best with a tom pattern? Who programmed us all this way. Drums sound great! Another Odyssey reference, nice! This is almost ambient and meditative. It reminds me of Can. I dig the bass line. I don’t enjoy the spoken word as much as the singing. I could stand to hear a melody in a higher register. Lots of beautiful tension built up, but never released. I feel like you need Maynard from Tool to sing and emote over this rather that Stephen Hawking. Some cool ideas!
I don't know, but after coming up with that bassline I couldn't NOT keep the majority of the song on the toms. Plus I've been kind of avoiding my kick drum lately cause I accidentally busted the reso head tuning it. Oops.

Yeah my wife's comments were pretty much what you said: "I'm not sure I like your spoken word bits. Are trying to rip off Tool?" And the answer was no...but then it hindsight parts of it do sound like Lateralus rhythmically. Happy accident?

I listened to all the tunes while working out earlier, but it's hard to write reviews while exercising so I'll work on getting those in soon! Loved the fretless bass in Phillipso btw. Thanks for the comments!
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Damn good fight and with twenty entries, that's amazing. At least to me.

Absolutely Credible - That dirty bass is tasty. I like the guitars, that nearly clean tone works very well on those "getting sticky" bits and it has energy without being overly heavy or overbearing. I like the rhythm, too. Probably not my go to style and I've only listened a couple of times but this one is growing on me.

Balance Lost - Listening to this right after Absolutely Credible does two things for me. The end of AB going into this song feels like it's an album with a lot of thought about how the tracks flow into each other. It works marvelously. And, of course, it highlights the volume differences between the track. (Not a nitpick, really, just noticing it.) This is one of my favorite Balance Lost songs. I like the rhythm, the drums work well with the repeating guitar figure. I like the melody and the vocals work very well with it. That chorus is catchy. I like that little half step up and back is really cool. The arpeggio keeps the E minor from feeling too minory.. but gives it a good flavor. Another song that grows on me as I listen.

Berkeley Social Scene - I like this music a lot. It's arranged well for my ear. And I like the lyric, but the vocal is... not bad, but just doesn't quite fit in with the music for me. Or at least what I was expecting. Which can be a good thing. Yeah, it's just the texture/tone of the voice. Not the writing or even the production. I like the space between sections, the arrangement. Do I hear you guys using an acoustic like this very often? Seems a little different for you guys (with a guest writer, that makes sense) but still hits your usual high standard.

Break Broken - This comes at a good spot in the alphabetic play list. After three band songs which have a fair amount going on the more simple arrangement feels welcome. I like the good performances and melody. I'm not a huge piano and vocal guy, but I enjoyed listening to this. But the simple arrangement started to feel a little lacking on second and third listens. It's me not you, though.

Eat It 'n' Mattress - So, full disclosure, I'm a fan of your music and production so I might be a hair biased. Suffice it to say that I was surprised to hear your voice in this fight. It seems I can learn production and arrangement from most of your songs, but typically I don't think about that with ballads or your slower songs. But you do such a great job (especially with the vocals) on keeping this interesting with a seemingly simple arrangement. I took a look at your lyric and it has that cool wandering around the point so as not to be too specific vibe but still says something, I think. I'm gonna point out that at the end there that "story" etc., kind of emphasizes the wrong syllable but in a cool and musical way that works. I can't help but think of "Waiting Takes Time" even though this is a more produced song. I think it's more your melodies and consistently good vocals. At any rate, I'm enjoying this song on more than one level.

gizo vs. the 17,455 - Lots to like here, but I'll reiterate that the drums are slightly more noticeable than good. A quiet render, but it kind of suits the laid back feel and groove. That slight stutter or space between chord changes reminds me of my poor attempts at midi back a few (or more) years ago. It's not a fault, just a connection I make. I like the phase pad and while I'm not a huge fan of the vocal, it's performed well enough and I like the melody. The bits of harmony/backing work well. A competent song that I don't dislike but probably isn't standing out for me.

Glenn Case - I like your voice and melody. It seems that the piano is a bit up once it comes in, though. Not really masking, but annoyingly in the same frequency/distracting. If it were me, I'd reduce the volume whenever the vocal was on. That solo is a cool tone and I like the more restrained. The chorus feels good. I think the vox and backing vox clash slightly, I think in pitch. It's not bad, but I'm noticing it for some reason. Maybe it's just the mix? Regardless, I'm enjoying listening.

Glennny - Cool use of piano. I like that lead guitar line. Kind of a pop flavored gypsy guitar band piece once it kicks in. Which I like a lot. The vocal melody is cool. I think it's mixed just a little off as it's not quite as clear even though it doesn't seem to be too far off in volume. I only got the Tolkien reference. But I haven't read any Wallace that I remember and the Seveneves reference flew right over my head. But this is a fun track to listen to.

Hot Pink Halo - I'm not a huge fan of rap (although there are exceptions.) I like your backing music for the most part (sounds like sound effects, but well arranged.) The confusion in the chorus (with the layered vocals) seem like a good effect. But it sounds like some of them are clipping or distorted in a less than pleasing manner. I think it's just the mix, where they are clashing. A bit of eq on the vox tracks and the whole mix would do wonders, I bet. I do like the lead vocal performance, it's well done. For some reason, I'm thinking this would be a good track to add to a halloween mix tape. I think it's the cool vocal, tbh. This is more creative than most of the straight arranged songs in the fight.

Jonathan Mann - I couldn't help but smile every time this came around. It's just a good feeling song. And meta-wise, you own it and do it so well that it's a part of the story. Btw, I liked the story. You held my attention even on subsequent listens. This is cool.

Leppakron - I really like the chorus a lot. TBH, the lead up got a little stale for me. But the chorus more than made up for it. The bass might be a hair up in the mix (glares at Glenny) but it's cool. I love that vocal phrasing on "long in coming." This one won't hit my top tracks of the fight, but I like that chorus so much I feel like it should be near there.

Lily Plus Martin - The lead vocals are a bit up in the mix. They're good but I want the mix to sit just together a hair better. I'm not liking this one quite as much as your entry for the last fight, but I like what you are doing here and want to hear more.

The Magnetic Letters - I like the arrangement of the song, the more sparse arrangement going into the full synth bit. And it works better the more I hear it. But I wasn't a fan of that intro as much the first time or two I listened. The mix seems a bit too busy in the upper register for my ears, but that's probably my faulty ears more than anything. But this is yet another song I like more on repeated listens.

Paco del Stinko - This songs makes me smile. It has a lot of "paco-isms" in the rhythm and vocal delivery most especially. I dig the lead. That verse melody is fun. That base line is cool as yours usually are. That end "I love you" at the end of the verses is so tasty... dang. This might be one of my favorite Paco songs.

Phillipso - Digging those guitars when they come in. The vocal doesn't sit well for me with that distorted and therefor buried feel. I like the lead guitar. I like the rhythm in the bass and guitars on the "long story short" and that final lead bit is extra tasty. Man, there's a lot to like here. If it were me, I'd probably lose the last minute or so of the song even though I like it arrangement-wise.

Phlebia - The rhythm/drums are cool. The layered vocals are cool. Somehow the whole doesn't add up to as much cool for me. This song is interesting to listen to more than enjoyable for me. It's not bad. And I like that it's more creative than the usual fare. Yeah, those layered vocals are really cool. And that banjo. Cool.

Pigfarmer Jr Originally, I had the idea for a hickabilly song where the end of each chorus progressed: "she dont love me anymore, she don't like me anymore, she don't know me anymore." But I got the picture in my head of the ex avoiding any contact whatsoever coming to head while sitting in the lifted four wheel drive in the town square or whatever. That eventually lead to this. I feel like this is song is pretty standard for me, but for some reason I like it a lot. Maybe partly because of using the optional challenge which is mainly met during the first part of the solo but there are key parts and synth bits throughout.

Third Cat - I think this melody is one of my favorites of yours. It fits your voice well. I like the arrangement. You use the synth pad about the best of any of us, I think. I definitely like this more on each listen. It feels longer than the sub 2:00 that it is. Well, it just feels the right length to me. This is good.

TOSHIRO - I love that downward walking bass line in the between bits. The walls of guitars on top of it is cool, too, but man, that bass. The melody is good and while I'm not a huge fan of the vocal delivery, it's performed well.

Vom Vorton - Vox is up in the mix a bit, but not terribly so. I saw someone mention that they wanted to hear this song based on the lyric but I never got around to reading them until the fight started. I love the combination of serious delivery, tasty guitars and solid music with fun lyric. I was afraid that this would quickly grow old on subsequent listens, but it holds fine. Granted, I've only listened to these a few times, but I love this music so much that it supports the twist and makes it welcome instead of old. I didn't mention, but that lead bit was very good, too.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by gizo »

Wow - there's some really interesting songs in here, and somehow I'm confused by much of them. I'm trying to review usefully, but please realise I am a very subjective and opinionated thing.

gizo vs. the 17,455 (c'est moi)
It all started with a holiday house and a ukulele and a window and a sunrise and a wattle bird and some wind turbines and turned out to be the soundtrack of how much I love being by the ocean and wish I could stay there.
I do wonder if there’s not enough dynamic in the song, and I'm not entirely happy with some of the vocal delivery, and maybe it all starts a bit abruptly?

Glennny
This has a Fun Vibe, the bass is lovely to hear, but the vocals are a little muffled. It was fun while it lasted, but didn't stick with me.

Phillipso
First up, I wish there was just a little less vocal distortion. There's something about this track that doesn't quite fit for me and I think it might be the drums - they just seem to be trying to do too much, all the time. The whole song sounds like each instrument is slightly off the beat of every other instrument.

Glenn Case
I quite like this, you know your way around a song, that's for sure. I wonder if it's all a bit muddy - it sounds to me like I'm listening from inside a cardboard box? It feels a bit like the drums need a bit more pep, and that the song drags its feet a little.
This was the second use of ‘get off my lawn' when I listened through the first time, which amuses me greatly.

Pigfarmer Jr
This is obviously well put together, the recording sounds good, and everything is well balanced. But the lyrical content and direction doesn't really work for me - I guess that's a stylistic thing. I reckon I could learn a lot from your production techniques.

Eat It ’n’ mattress
melodically and musically lovely - I want to like this more than I do. I think maybe I wish you'd written about something other than a fight at a deli.

The Magnetic Letters
This started off sounding like a Richard Davies or Moles b-side (side note - Everyone go listen to 'Instinct' by the Moles, and Cardinal's self-titled relase). This is a fun silly romp which is sadly overshodowed by your Pock Full of Bones.

Berkeley Social Scene
I really struggled to get into this, sorry.

Phlebia
I am lost. I love that you are going into unexpected places, and that you've got a real idea that you're exploring. But alas, I'm somehow unable to follow you safely into this place.

Jonathan Mann
You are clearly a well practiced crafter of songs. This is a very clever song, You clearly know what you're doing. But I'm finding myself wanting something - for want of a better word, perhaps 'soul'?

Leppakron
This is a great interpretation of the title, well done! I appreciate the mess of instruments at the start, and the sentiment. But I really long for it all to lock together and lift - if only you'd had some drums to drive the second half onwards.

Paco del Stinko
A sweet Jangle Pop intro, which doesn’t take me anywhere, sadly.

Vom Vorton
This is a silly song, but it is still pretty - I just wish you’d used a Talk Box for that guitar break.

Absolutely Credible - ?VOTE?
I very much liked the start of this, and the farty bass came in awesomely and then at the minute mark I fell off the bandwagon AND THEN I GOT BACK ON! - I’m not sure if this is a vote?

TOSHIRO - ?VOTE?
I am so happy to hear your voice and guitars again. People have already commented on the bassline, it does sound lovely, as do the backing vox. What surprises me is that you've gone for such a simple song structure, which caught me off guard.
Also there's no such thing as a Balwyn Station and I think you could probably put more guitars in.

Hot Pink Halo - VOTE
I love that you continue to bring the art in your pop. I love that you keep pushing new angles - kudos for going for a rap. I'm loving your adoption of your new local slang (I counted 4 references - langers, lasher, doggy wide, and away for slates).
You win best lyric with "kick all of these langers off her goddamn lawn"

Break Broken - VOTE
This has a beautiful take on the title, and it really stopped me in my tracks. I don’t want to appear flippant, but it sounds like it was written for a musical of Nick Hornby's 'A Long Way Down' - when the chorus kicks in, I expect a full chorus to launch in. This is a good thing.

Lily plus Martin - VOTE
I'm very glad you came back again!
I feel like Martin fits better in this lyric and narrative than in Pocket Full of Bones, and in fact, the whole narrative of this one is better developed. I particularly enjoy the vocal break in this. I really think I would've enjoyed a nice upright bass in this too...

Third Cat - VOTE
This feels longer than it is, which is not a bad thing becuase it's quite nice. I think this could be a really sweet album closer if it got some more production love, and an extended outro.
has a nice wash and swell to it

Balance Lost - VOTE
I am in love with the Disintegration-era guitar that starts this song. Nothing else about the mix or loudness or balance matters. The interpretation of the title is on point. I'm giving this a vote.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by crumpart »

gizo wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 2:47 am
Hot Pink Halo - VOTE
I love that you continue to bring the art in your pop. I love that you keep pushing new angles - kudos for going for a rap. I'm loving your adoption of your new local slang (I counted 4 references - langers, lasher, doggy wide, and away for slates).
You win best lyric with "kick all of these langers off her goddamn lawn"
MANY TANKS.
Devil’s got me Lindt! Devil’s got me Lindt!
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

crumpart wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:10 am
MANY TANKS.
:lol:
I think you'll find the correct terminology is "Tanks a million"
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by crumpart »

furrypedro wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 6:27 am
crumpart wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 3:10 am
MANY TANKS.
:lol:
I think you'll find the correct terminology is "Tanks a million"
TANKS A MILL
Devil’s got me Lindt! Devil’s got me Lindt!
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by JonPorobil »

Well hello everyone! Long time no see!

I found myself with some time on my hands last week. Checked Song Fight, and there was a title, with about 36 hours for me to work with. I've been on tighter deadlines, so I ran with it. With more time, I might have tightened the lyrics a bit more, added some harmony vocals, and definitely would have taken another pass at that mix, but I'm not overly disappointed with my submission in its current state.

To those who've reviewed, thank you for the kind words so far! Glen, I posted the lyrics. There is pad in the song, but it's mixed pretty low. The pad part is all whole note chords except for the "Long story short, it's a wonder I'm here" section, when it becomes quarter notes. You can hear it most clearly in that section, or in the very end, when the bass and piano get softer. Pigfarmer, I agree about the arrangement. Given more time, I'd have liked to add a subtle guitar part for dynamism, maybe my mandolin, or even some strings if my MIDI wouldn't sound too cheesey to pull it off. (Not to mention percussion!) And Gizo, thank you for your kind words as well. I definitely wanted to add more vocals, but ran out of time. I'm glad you liked it anyway, and appreciate your vote!

My own reviews are forthcoming.
"Warren Zevon would be proud." -Reve Mosquito

Stages, an album of about dealing with loss, anxiety, and grieving a difficult year, now available on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms! https://jonporobil.bandcamp.com/album/stages
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by furrypedro »

I decided to review these in alphabetical order for a change.

Absolutely Credible: I like almost every element of this tune. Those apocalyptic synths that fade in are full of atmosphere. I love the angular drums and the growling bass sounds awesome. In the second section, the widdly guitar is really cool, although a touch jazzy for my taste. Overall though, I feel the song doesn't quite match up to the sum of its parts. Everything is very well done but in spite of this it fails to hook me after repeated listens. The arrangement and production is spot on, and although the vocals sound very good perhaps the vocal line and the general dynamic of the song could use a rewrite to give the whole thing more impact. Still, I'm tempted to give it a vote on the strength of the first 30 seconds. We'll see how things pan out.

BSS: This starts out pretty well. I don't usually go for this kind of roots rock but it sounds nice and I dig the slight smokey sort of Chris Isaak feel from the music. The first verse is cool with the picture painting lyrics and whispered vocals, but I feel this singing style grates a little as the song progresses. It would be nice if you'd opened up your vocal cords for a chorus to raise the dynamic slightly. Added to which I feel the lyric writing deteriorates into lazy repetition in the later sections. I totally believe there is a place for repetition in music, of course, but it feels like your just filling bars in this case. Also, the the crowd vox shouting the title of the song feels like a cop-out box-ticking exercise. Anyways, the recording is really smooth and tight. The acoustic guitar sounds a bit plastic-y and I hate that, but otherwise everything is cool, and I particularly love the twinkly keys, I'm guessing that's a rhodes? Very nice.

Break Broken: This is really bugging me, I feel like I should know who this is but I can't work it out, never mind. To make things worse I can feel a disappointing review brewing. I can't find a thing to criticise about this, it's all well written, beautifully played/sung and the recording is great. It's just not my thing, sorry. Excitement factor 0. ...I just read the previous comment, it's Jon! I knew I knew it, obviously not well enough.

Eat It 'n' Mattress: Plat! Yaaayyy! So many things to say, I need to order my thoughts. First, what's the difference between Eat It 'n' Mattress (and what does that even mean?) and the Cow Exchange. I feel like I won't get answers to that but I had to ask. I already listened to this a few days ago and I know straight off that I'm voting for it. From the opening bars it has this really optimistic feel and while you've made a track that could easily sit alongside any radio friendly pop it's just full of Plat-magic, I love that scream "aaargh". As is often the case there are so many seemingly nonsensical lyrics, I have no idea what a snake in a stomach tube is. Why is Jan sandwiches? But it's wrapped up in this warm suburban backdrop, it sounds so sunny and the nonsense just makes it more colurful, like an episode of Hey Arnold. This is my top tip for this week's prize. Oh yeah, also I like how you actually make a decent master, cos then my song doesn't so stupidly loud by comparison.

Gizo: This is a classic case of pleasant-sounding-but-passes-me-by-if-I-don't-listen-closely. However, there is a bunch of cool stuff going on here. I dig the low phased kind of jet sounding thing going on throughout in the background, and the twinkly keys are a particular highlight. Generally it's all put together really nicely. The drums sound really warm, the vocals sound good and the little touches of backing vox are a cool touch. The cello is also a nice addition although it sounds a touch too synthetic; but where are you gonna get a live cello player? Very nice, probably deserving of a vote.

Glenn Case: There is an impressive consistency in the quality of your recordings and songwriting. I have a slight quibble with the fact that it feels like you're going for too high a register too early in the verse; it's not that you can't hit the note, but it means in terms of the song dynamics there is a touch of "premoturo ejaculazione", as they say in Italy. The chorus is my favourite part of the song, and it's great, but the aforementioned makes the impact feel less. That said, it's all still enjoyable and I dig your liberal sprinkling of synths over the rock.

Glennnnnny: Never one to shy away from a challenge, this song ticks a lot of boxes; Challenge met, you actually went for the epic literature angle, somebody had to and why not you. And after your nod to the challenge comes the jaaazzzz...nice
Image
I've never considered myself a jazz fan but it does have the ability to put a bit of a pep in my step and this does exactly that. I find myself unable to stop myself clicking my fingers along to this, at least for a moment. I may regret saying this but I'd be interested to hear what your voice sounds like when you go for the low notes. As someone who has a very limited voice myself I know it can be irritating for people to comment on your voice when it's all you have to work with, but when you go high it sounds a bit strained. I wonder what this would sound like if you dropped it down a tone or two.

Hot Pink Halo: I really appreciate the ambition in this, it's absolutely bustling with ideas, but the recording struggles to hold them together in a coherent piece. There's a bunch of interesting sounds, such as what sounds like the strangulated violin stabs and vocal whoops in the background. The rustling, syncopated percussion and various sound effects in the background add a good atmosphere that sounds a bit 19th century in a creepy, backstreets kind of way. There's some good imagery in the lyrics, the source material is strong obviously. The main problem is it lacks a compelling melody and where the vocal is the primary melodic driver, it probably could've used a few more takes to really nail those parts down. I understand you're still developing in the art of mixing and I recommend checking out some youtube vids related to that cos your layers of vocals definitely deserve a bit more clarity. I just did a rudimentary search and there are a bunch of videos out there for how to mix/eq layered vocals. Have a look, there'll be some invaluable tips there and it will definitely be 10 minutes well spent. Good to hear that Aussie accent coming through a bit too.

Jonathan Mann: Yeah, this is a nice bouncy little tune. I liked "the what now? Errrrrrr yes?" You did it all very well. Catchy. Will I be singing "I made Steve dance" this time next week? Probably.

Leppakron: There isn't much that stands out here for me. The chords and melody are average and it's all done pretty loosely. I guess the layers of guitar add a little something, and it kind of gains a little momentum throughout, but only a little, and it doesn't really go anywhere. Apart from all that, it's inoffensive and my only real active gripe about it is that the lyrics, which for such a lo-fi production should arguably be the thing that hooks the listener in, are far too vague to mean anything to anyone, and as such are a bit of a let down.

Lily Plus Martin: I was tentatively excited to hear this one after your entry last week, and it certainly piqued my interest very early on. It's a sharp change of direction from last week, and it's always good to keep us guessing, but the execution is no less proficient. The vocals sounds great and I always love a bit of vocal chopping up, though the edits here are slightly on the rudimentary side. I'm getting a hint of Goldfrapp in the melody, but the musical backdrop seems to compliment the lyrics well. I'm gonna stop short of saying I love it, but it's a good job nonetheless.

The Magnetic Letters: Thanks, I just wasted 15 minutes reading about Herzog Zwei. Love a good RTS and it was slightly before my time. This is a pretty funky little chiptune number, I particularly love how the arpeggiator does that flamboyant run before settling back into the outro riff. Very enjoyable generally, but I found the vocals a bit unclear after the track kicked in. I don't know if there was too much reverb, or maybe your vocal timbre just doesn't fit with the music but it felt like the vocals were detached from the rest of the mix. Either way, I like this. Great synth riffing.

Paco: The combination of clean guitar and piano make this so super jangly, it's great. You don't half rattle through your tunes; reached the middle by 1.30 and into the final verse at jut over 2 minutes. The weird jazzed out lounge-style ending is an amusing denouement to an otherwise bouncing tune. What I most like about this is not so much the actual song, but it's the way you execute it, the handclaps and backing vocals all make it sound so exhuberant. Having said that the intro riff is great and the switches between sections are cool. I feel like this might just fall a hair short of warranting a vote, but it's up there.

Phillipso: I love how you specify fretless bass in the liner notes, like a) there's more than one bass in the song, and b) we can't hear you Pino Palladino-ing away in the intro there. This is pretty cool. The first thing that stands out is the distorted vocal effect which is a bit of a double-edged sword, because it sounds cool, but also muffles the lyrics so I can't really hear them, maybe that doesn't matter. It's something that irritated me about later Beastie Boys albums, here I guess it's not such a problem. Overall this is a tight production and a decent sounding song, the chorus isn't bad, but it doesn't stick with me. Also the structure seems unfocused and meandering. Interesting to know that widdling runs in the family though.

Phlebia: It's creepy and weird. The banjo was an unexpected touch but takes it in a Dreamend-type direction (i.e. folky post-rock). Up to that point it's like a mix of tribal drumming and chanting with a post-rock undertone from the guitars. Even the spoken vocals remind me of Slint. I don't know why I keep namedropping other bands because this is by far the most original (imo) music in this fight and I really dig the way the drums propel it, and the gradual rising tension leading up to that no-quite-crescendo with the banjo. While I'm namedropping, have you heard of This Heat? This would sit quite nicely on their album Deceit which has a few absolute gems on it. Dark and slightly nasty gems mind you.

PFJ: Things I like about this: the keys that come in halfway through the verse, they give it a bit of nuance. Your production consistently improves. Things I don't like (the long part): Piano AND guitar solo? Probably unnecessary. Po-faced heartbreak song without anything that should make me care about the plight of the protagonist, there's no wry-humour or anger or sarcasm or even bitterness that would add a bit of pep to the lyrics. I'm guessing she doesn't love them any more cos they were a boring fart. How is this song different to anything that's ever been written before? It's trying to be a personal song without having anything really personal in it. It needs some small details, or some emotion beyond "oh, I feel sad".

Third Cat: Backhanded-insult/compliment time! I've said before your voice doesn't really do it for me, but in spite of that you've got a way of writing songs that just hooks me in and makes me like it. Here it's specifically the hook that comes in just before the minute mark, and by the time it (prematurely) ends I'm left wanting more. It's frustrating when songs are overlong but this twinkly little beauty isn't long enough by half. The more I listen to it I think I was overly harsh about your voice, it is decent really. Those layers of synths are super lush. This is well up my alley so though it may be imperfect, or at least unfinished, it may well warrant a vote.

TOSHIROOOO: Named after Mifune I hope, legend. A song of two halves, sort of. The vocal sections aren't bad as such but just don't do much for me. The instrumental bit with those huge crashing guitars is awesome though. I'd quite happily listen to a whole song of that. The track seems to open up into this wide space.

Vomit Vorton: I was very tempted to write a short novelty for this title so it surprises me none to hear an angle of this variety from you. The tune is nice enough, and the pay-off is amusing, but for someone who's songs are usually chock-full of witticisms spending the best part of 2 minutes listing girls names for a single joke...you know, like all jokes with an overlong set-up the pay-off has to be pretty spectacular to make it worth it, and here it falls slightly short. Still, I appreciate the unique take on the title and your creations are always refreshing in a large field of songs.

Balance Lost liner notes: I have been pleasantly suprised by the reaction to this song so far. Honestly, I was just trying to write a song like Oasis back when they were good. I used to love Oasis when I was 15 and shit at songwriting, then I became alright at songwriting and I was completely uninterested in Oasis (to the extent that I even chose to snooze rather than watch them at Glastonbury 2007), now I have rediscovered my appreciation slightly and I'm still alright at songwriting so I decided to belatedly combine the two, and kaboom, this was the result. Madferit!
glennny wrote:
Sat Oct 05, 2019 9:12 am
Cool lead guitar tone too!
Cheers, dude. I have been struggling with guitar tone since moving into an apartment with paper thin walls as I can't use an amp now (I don't even have one any more). So I've been DI'ing my guitars and doing all sorts to try and get them sounding not shit. It's good to know the results are acceptable!
Last edited by furrypedro on Wed Oct 09, 2019 8:10 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

Got my wife to help me with the reviews this time.

Absolutely Credible - Favorite bassline of the fight. I feel like the keyboards compared with the frantic bass/drum combination don’t really work together sonically, like I’d take out the higher synth and just let it groove. Your vocals in this one remind me a lot of Julian Casablancas in the chorus in particular. I will say that this one and Balance Lost would go great on an album together and it’s very fortunate that the two of you were placed side by side!

Balance Lost - That guitar intro/tone is great. I saw someone else refer to it as Disintegration-esque, and...well, sort of. Only it sounds more like Wish if we’re doing Cure albums. Great energy going on, though there are some mixing things that I’d change...like putting the vocals a bit more in the foreground, maybe adding a bit more dynamics throughout? It’s kind of ear-fatiguing. The chorus is cool.

Berkeley Social Scene - I want to like this a whole lot more than I do. The guitar solo is pretty good. Maybe I’m impatient? I feel like structurally this doesn’t really build in a way that builds anticipation for the next part of the song, like it’s just kind of drifting. My favorite bit is the “long story short!” chanted in the background. Vocalist reminds me of Matt L Jones (the actor) if he were a singer.

Break Broken - I have the same issue with this as I do Leppakron -- significant genre bias. I really don’t like piano ballads, never have, probably never will. I feel like it’s inspiring I suppose. Melody is good. Vocal performance picks up and gets pretty good near the end.

Eat In ‘N Mattress - Oh man! Pop! Autotune! What in the damn hell are you talking about? I think the fact that the genre makes me expect lyrics that are a bit more...generic but this is hilarious. I giggled quite a bit when you started talking about sandwiches. This is probably the most slickly produced radio-esque track ever. My wife says you need to write a song about cotton candy. VOTE

Gizo vs the 17,455 - I’m glad you didn’t do your uke, per the comments cause this instrumentation fits a lot better. I really enjoy this song. I’m not entirely sure that I’m sold on the pick scrape(?) noise that’s going on throughout the background of the track. The twinkly part prompted my wife to say she wanted ice cream. The violin synth was a great touch. I like the lyrics. This kind of reminds me of something off of the Lost In Translation soundtrack. Which is one of my favorite soundtracks ever so that’s a positive comparison. VOTE

Glenn Case - This makes me want to listen to Steely Dan. Your vocals are super well executed, the chords are great, the musicianship is good, and all of the elements for me to like this song are here, but I feel like it never really picks up? I think it’s the kind of “plodding” nature of it. The get off of my lawn line made me chuckle. But why don’t I dig this? I don’t know.

Glennny - Really well executed jazzy number. I love this style and wish there was more of it on this website. Have I mentioned I really love this style? I feel like you need some scat singing, but perhaps that’d just be too audacious! Anyway, I’ve only read one of the books that you cited (Tolkein) and to be fair it was the one that was the inspiration for my song too. Love the lyrics, can’t fault the performance (even though the intro really faked both me and my wife out). Vote!

Hot Pink Halo - You delivered! “The world needs more ladies with australian accents rapping” and here we are! Though admittedly the half-whispered delivery doesn’t entirely make me think of rap, but it definitely fits “Sprechgesang” or whatever you’d call it. The verses, the minimalistic background, the Oddysey theme? I love that part. But the chorus is just wayyyyyyyy too cluttered. I don’t know how to improve it...less concurrent voices? Keep doing your thing though!

Jonathan Mann - Sonically, I’m reminded of stuff off of the Curious George soundtrack. It’s a good track! This story makes me chuckle, and I’ve listened to it about three times. What synth are you using for the bass? Cause it reminds me of an old iMac. Wait that was probably the point. You know I was just talking with my coworkers the other day how Apple has gone downhill ever since Steve Jobs died. Anyway, well composed, well performed, and hugely entertaining VOTE.

Leppakron - I feel like this is a good song, but I have pretty significant genre bias against it. I wish there were more drums. The composition and pacing of the track is pretty well done. There’s a couple places where I feel like you’re not quite sure where to go with the melody...but then again you ARE on pitch throughout so maybe it’s just not my thing. My wife says you oughta try out some Hootie-esque vibrato to shake things up a bit. More confidence is good!

Lily Plus Martin - My wife heard the opening chords and said “Hello! It’s me!”. The rest of the song doesn’t really follow that (reviewing with her is like Statler and Waldorf taking on SongFight…) Once the duet really kicks in, I’m reminded quite a bit of Thom Yorke’s stuff...which is good! I love the interplay between the two of you. Maybe I’d like to hear a different hi-hat sound. Minor production quibble. Ooooh, those electronic glitchy bits! <3 <3 <3 VOTE

Magnetic Letters - I’m a sucker for abrupt changes, and that intro is very well composed, though it reminds me of...something? I don’t know what. If it were me I’d take away some of the reverb during the electro bits, but as someone who’s spent WAY too much time playing Cuphead lately, I can completely relate with wasting time playing stupidly hard video games. Do you ever listen to Tim Follin’s music? Check out the Silver Surfer soundtrack, it’s amazing. VOTE

Paco Del Stinko - The handclaps and jangly guitars make me happy! And the I love you’s are great. Wife says there need to be some bagpipes involved. Do you have bagpipes? That key change where it goes minor in the “I heal you! Etc” part is pretty awesome. You always have really dynamic compositions and I love it. This needs a music video starring a bunch of muppets. VOTE

Phillipso - Vocals are kind of buried in the mix, though I really love the fretless bass playing in this. There was another reviewer that pointed out that each individual elements each sound good by themselves but don’t quite mesh well and I sort of agree. I do like the “LONG STORY SHOOOORTTTT” bit melodically. Wife says “the music is too upbeat for the vocals”. I sort of see what she’s saying. Maybe if it were a tad slower? But that bass. Man. That bass! Love the bass!

Phlebia - It’s a me! I really like how this track turned out. I’ve never recorded myself playing banjo before. I wound up tuning the whole thing up a semitone to get it to mesh with the bass (the track’s in C#m). Vocally I was trying to try something new, and basically doing my best Brendan Perry impression (only my tenor is nowhere near as good as his). I’ve had one reviewer and a wifey tell me that it sounds very Tool-ey...not intentional but Danny Carry is a big influence on my drumming and anything heavy and droney around D is gonna sound Toolish I suppose.

Pigfarmer Jr - Your vocal performance is great on this one. I feel like the guitar riff is a little...generic? There’s something about it that reminds of something I heard on the radio a long time ago. My wife just detective worked it and thinks it sounds a lot like Mr Jones by Counting Crows. I guess I can’t fault you, I wrote a The Cure soundalike a couple weeks ago. Still, I can’t unhear it! Anyway, whether or not that was intentional, it sounds pretty good.

Third Cat - Good sense of melody on this one! Something about the timbre of that synth isn’t quite sitting right with me, maybe it’s a little too...dry in the mix? Trebly? I don’t know. I do like the synth pop drums, and towards the end of the song there’s a bit more ambiance that I start to like when the second synth comes in. Reminds me (and my wife) of stuff from my college radio days.

TOSHIRO - I like the juxtaposition of the acoustic and electric guitars, and the backing vocals sound great in the bridge...would like to see more of them! That section that starts around the 50 second mark sounds great, your stereo work is just great! The melody throughout the track doesn’t really grab me in a lot of places, but the musicianship behind it kind of overrides my complaint?

Vom Vorton - It’s definitely a bit of a joke song and I was looking forward to seeing what you did with this based on your lyrics. But I can’t complain cause the punchline of it is positively great. I dig the slight warble on the synth. I’d have chosen a slightly different set of drum sounds, but that’s mostly aesthetic preference.

My personal favorite of the fight: Either Gizo or Eat It.

My wife’s favorite: Lily and Martin

Great fight, y’all!
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by gizo »

glennny wrote: Gizo vs. the 17455- This is a quiet recording.
Yes - I need to pay more attention to this part of making songs, for sure.
I dig the melody and the vocal delivery. The solo is nice too. The drums don’t quite work for me. This evokes Beulah , something like “What Will You Do When Your Suntan Fades?” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YS8MpuEJ5e0
and/or Sea and Cake. I’d like more bass in the mix. This is a nice mellow song!
Thank you! I was trying to find some drums that captured a hand-clappy rhythm that I was hearing when I played the uke, I'm not sure it was fully realised. Thanks for the Beulah link - listening now and enjoying :)
Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:54 pm
Gizo vs the 17,455 - I’m glad you didn’t do your uke, per the comments cause this instrumentation fits a lot better. I really enjoy this song. I’m not entirely sure that I’m sold on the pick scrape(?) noise that’s going on throughout the background of the track. The twinkly part prompted my wife to say she wanted ice cream. The violin synth was a great touch. I like the lyrics. This kind of reminds me of something off of the Lost In Translation soundtrack. Which is one of my favorite soundtracks ever so that’s a positive comparison. VOTE
pick-scrape = a flanger on a synth, I think. I like ice-cream too!
A vote is a wonderful thing to give, and is graciously received.
furrypedro wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 6:01 pm
Gizo: This is a classic case of pleasant-sounding-but-passes-me-by-if-I-don't-listen-closely. However, there is a bunch of cool stuff going on here. I dig the low phased kind of jet sounding thing going on throughout in the background, and the twinkly keys are a particular highlight. Generally it's all put together really nicely. The drums sound really warm, the vocals sound good and the little touches of backing vox are a cool touch. The cello is also a nice addition although it sounds a touch too synthetic; but where are you gonna get a live cello player? Very nice, probably deserving of a vote.
Yeah - I scouted around the sleepy beachtown I was staying in and there was nary a cellist to be found.
I am a bit of a 'passes by if not paying attention' kind of person, I'll try to be more assertive in future efforts... maybe..

Pigfarmer Jr wrote:
Sun Oct 06, 2019 9:40 am
gizo vs. the 17,455 - Lots to like here, but I'll reiterate that the drums are slightly more noticeable than good. A quiet render, but it kind of suits the laid back feel and groove. That slight stutter or space between chord changes reminds me of my poor attempts at midi back a few (or more) years ago. It's not a fault, just a connection I make. I like the phase pad and while I'm not a huge fan of the vocal, it's performed well enough and I like the melody. The bits of harmony/backing work well. A competent song that I don't dislike but probably isn't standing out for me.
The midi stutters are probably worse because I was using Garageband's "use the keyboard as your keyboard" feature. But yeah - that's classic me not being great at things.

Overall - thanks everyone. I'm happy to be reading feedback about the song that's not commenting on the shocking mismatch of track volumes or silliness like that - hopefully it's a sign I can improve and grow.

You're all extremely buddhaful!
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by gizo »

Æpplês&vØdkã wrote:
Wed Oct 09, 2019 7:54 pm
My personal favorite of the fight: Either Gizo or Eat It.
Goshness - that's high praise, especially considering the field this week. Tanks a mill!
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

Absolutely Credible - I kinda agree with comments above that this sounds great but the song under the production isn't particularly memorable (and also about the vocals having some of the Casablancas about them). The catchy bits of lead guitar and the song's general vibe are enough to make it a solid listen but your previous submission definitely stuck with me a lot more. I do still like this though, it's a maybe-vote.

Balance Lost - I've noticed that the more songs I've heard by somebody, the higher my standards get. This is a good song and in the upper tier of this fight but it's definitely not one of my favourites from you, largely because it just kind of hits one energy level early on and sticks with it. It'd mean making a short story longer but I wish there was a breakdown section or something to make it a little more dynamic - it feels like you could do fun things with that repeating riff that don't really get explored here. I like the lyrics though, the chorus melody is good, it's still a probable-vote.

Berkeley Social Scene - this has an affable, chilled out vibe and I enjoyed it each time it came around but in a way where it felt like I was never compelled to pay it too much attention. In general-music-listening that's not necessarily a bad thing but in a 20-song fight it did mean this one faded into the background a little.

Break Broken - I'm full of admiration for your emotive delivery and courage in submitting such a stark production that puts your voice front and centre but at the same time the full-on sincerity and slightly-wobbly long notes leave me feeling slightly uncomfortable. I tend to struggle with emotional piano ballads unless they really click with me, it's like they're either 10/10 or "not for me" and I'm afraid this one didn't quite click. But like a few other songs in this fight I admire this a lot even if I don't love it.

Eat It 'n' Mattress - I know I've heard a fair few of your songs before via FAWM and whatever but I can't recall whether this odd lyrical approach is in or out of character for you. It's odd that I can totally imagine falling for a song that combines the mundane, the extremely-specific and the surreal like this one does but for some reason in this case I find the lyrics slightly offputting. The production is appealingly shiny but I'm going to have to categorise this one as admired-but-didn't-love-it as well, although I can't really explain why.

gizo vs. the 17,455 - I mostly really like your lyrics, they're relatable and poetic, apart from that slightly clunky one about the cormorant that took me out of the moment a little. The production isn't the best here but I responded to this one emotionally and that's enough for me to give it a vote!

Glenn Case - slick and enjoyable as ever, but there's a little too much soft rock (lack of) energy to this one to count it among my favourites of your recent songs, it feels like it'd fit neatly alongside those Richard Marx covers you've been doing but there are no Mo guitarmonies here to win me over! Although I do like the pulsing synth pad. Again, a solid track, but not really for me.

Glennny - the kind of cut-up piano and synth pad at the start made me think this was going to be a retro early-90s dance track, on first listen I was a little disappointed when it shifted into acoustic jazz! But you do that very well, and I seem to have a higher tolerance for guitar heroics in this genre for whatever reason. It's not a genre I'm particularly familiar with to be honest, I enjoyed your take on it but it wasn't one of my favourites.

Hot Pink Halo - this is unusual and very creative, I like the unusual rhythmic loop, the lyrics and the rap / speak-sung vocal style. The production lets this one down, there's a lot of sibilance on the spoken vocal and when the layered vocals come in it feels a little messy and I wish there was more separation between the layers somehow. I like the song though, and since my criticisms are only with the production this is a maybe-vote.

Jonathan Mann - I found this one off-puttingly specific on first listen but once I'd had a few plays and taken in the full story I ended up loving it, there's some great witty lines in there and you have the confident delivery of somebody who has written a song every day for a decade! Very charming and oddly affecting, definite vote!

Leppakron - enjoyable laid-back vibes and good dynamics, I like the way you expand from the open chords of the first verse into the busier, more energetic later sections. Solid vocal melody and performance too. Sadly I'm put off this one by the unnecessarily busy lead guitar that doesn't seem to be paying much attention to what the rest of the song is doing, which is something I've brought up before and is probably just a genre bias thing I guess.

Lily Plus Martin - this has all the same vocal / atmospheric strengths as your previous song but with some additional electronic treats! I really enjoy both of your vocals and the way they work together, my only slight criticism is that I find Lily hard to understand on that opening line, so this song starts out as "mumblemumblemumblein and ouuuut" for me but it might just be the style, I'm not even sure if this counts as a criticism. Stylistically I'm not QUITE as into this as my other favourites from this fight but it's definitely one of the best and a VOTE.

The Magnetic Letters - this is a fascinating combination of the retro harmonies you demonstrated last fight with chiptune madness, and while I appreciate the niche lyrics and the way the synth stuff cleverly emulates the Megadrive sound, I find the overall effect pretty jarring. I think if you'd switched up the vocal production when you switch to electronics then it might work better, the reverb on your voice sounds like too much in the second half. Cool idea though, best of luck with Herzog Zwei, which I am dimly aware of but can't remember if I've ever played.

Paco del Stinko - as per comments on Balance Lost above, I've heard enough of your songs now that I find myself judging your songs in comparison to your other stuff as well as the current competition. And that works out fine in this case because this is one of my favourite Paco songs, I love the jangly energy, the goofy-but-sweet lyrics and the super-catchy backing vocals. Definite vote!

Phillipso - there's some more great riffs and musicianship here, I can tell there's some really strong interplay between the guitars and the fretless bass, but the production kind of squishes everything together so that the impact is lessened - I wish there was a bit more space between the instruments, maybe some wider panning or EQing to give things room to breathe? I generally quite like this although my tastes in guitar solos continue not to align with yours! I think I prefer melodic or full-on chaotic and this falls somewhere in the middle?

Phlebia - I continue to love your general sound, the drums and bass in this are lo-fi and chunky in all the right ways. Your previous songs have had a weird, dark pop energy that has really appealed to me though and this one is a moodier, proggier affair that doesn't do a lot for me. Possibly relevant: Tool are one of those bands where if you drew a Venn diagram of my musical interests and theirs, there would be absolutely zero overlap. So yeah, my genre-bias against this is strong.

Pigfarmer Jr - the keyboard additions to your usual sound are really, really good. It adds so much to the vibe of the song, whether it's the subtle synths or the bright piano. I wish the instrumental section didn't also include a guitar solo, it's far less sonically interesting than the piano bit, and the chorus lyrics have some rhythmic awkwardness to them, but on the whole I like this quite a bit and it's a probable vote.

Third Cat - you're another one in the "can't help drawing comparisons with your previous submissions" pack, and this is an enjoyable listen that doesn't particularly stand out as one of your best; as ever there's some interesting production choices (I love the dynamics you get out of the synth crescendos) and plenty to enjoy. Another one where I'd happily have the short story longer if it meant more Interesting Developments.

TOSHIRO - god I LOVE the huge guitar parts in this, the sound is so immense and wonderful! Unfortunately the rest of the song is just... fine. Nothing wrong with it at all - vocals are strong etc. - but the melody / lyric never grabs me, I'm just waiting for the next guitar explosion.

Vom Vorton - yeah, it's a joke song. I had a really pretty piano part written but couldn't come up with anything to sing to it, then this idea came to me late on and I threw something together pretty quickly. It was fun to do though, and listening back it makes me smile, so I hope it's a better last-song-in-the-pack than my previous miseryfest. I was not familiar with the Frank Zappa song, glennny! But I do love the lengthy-buildup-anticlimactic-finale style of joke.
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Æpplês&vØdkã
Push Comes to Shove
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by Æpplês&vØdkã »

vowlvom wrote:
Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:53 am

Glennny - the kind of cut-up piano and synth pad at the start made me think this was going to be a retro early-90s dance track, on first listen I was a little disappointed when it shifted into acoustic jazz!
I had pretty much the same reaction. My wife immediately started singing Gypsy Woman by Crystal Waters up until the jazz part started. "She's on the corner, begging for moneyyy, da-da-deee, da-da-daww, da-da-deeee!"

Glad it's not just me!
vowlvom wrote:
Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:53 am
Your previous songs have had a weird, dark pop energy that has really appealed to me.
Oh boy, well I hate to say I went even moodier on my submission this week. But not in a proggy or Tool-y way, so maybe I won't lose you :p
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thirdcatmusic
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by thirdcatmusic »

Absolutely Credible - there's a lot going on here, probably a bit too much as it comes across as cluttered to me. I'm finding it a hard song to get a hold of. I think my favorite part is the guitar that first comes in around 58 seconds.

Balance Lost - I like this one quite a bit. On the negative side it seems like like the production/mix could be a bit clearer but at the same time with this style of song maybe it works to be a bit rough. I really like the main guitar riff. Cool tone. My favorite moment(s) is the dissonance that comes in during the chorus (for example at 48 seconds) - I like how it sounds kind of wrong there but in a way that works. I think the vocals work well for this song. Fits the style. I liked this song on the first listen and it grew on me even more on the second listen. VOTE. (editing this in after reading what you wrote re: Oasis - I almost mentioned them in my review but thought you might be offended as they are one of those bands people love to hate. but it reminded me a bit of "listen up." just off memory, haven't actually listened to that song a good long while. I think I will now though. )

Berkeley Social Scene - Unexpected style for BSS, instrumentally it sounds pretty BSS-ish, but never heard this kind of vocal from you guys before. Different vocalist or just a different approach? I kind of like it. But I'm not totally bought in. Could be a grower for me. It reminds me vaguely of Dire Straits.

Break Broken - Nice piano. NIcely played and it sounds very clear. So well recorded I'm assuming it's a VST but it sounds pretty real-ish I think. Vocals are also very clear. I think maybe the vocals and piano could be glued together a bit more, vocals do seem a bit on top of the piano. Maybe vocals are mixed just a tad high. There are some nice melodic moments. I particularly like the title refrain line. "long story short, it's a wonder we're here."

Eat It 'n' Mattress - This has some cool parts but there's some distortion in the mix that isn't quite working for me. I can see this one being a grower for me as there's a lot of neat parts. The "I don't know where my house is" bit is pretty catchy.

Gizo vs. - Production is a bit lo-fi and the vocals don't feel quite connected to the music. But on the positive side I really like the vocals and the instrumental ideas. The layered vocal is a really nice touch. Overall I just like this one. Sometimes hard to say exactly why. VOTE.

Glenn Case - Cool vocal. Cool vibe. One of my favorites of the fight. VOTE.

Glennny - Ha. Funny lyrics. This is quite an unusual mix of spaced out synths / noises and this kinda jazzy thing. I feel like you deserve a vote for originality and for surprising me ( I was very much not expecting where this song went based on the intro ). VOTE.

Hot Pink Halo - I almost really like this. It's weird as hell which is a good thing in my book. Still; overall it doesn't quite work for me.

Jonathan Mann - Hey, I know you on the internets. I have watched some of your videos before although I hadn't actually seen the one this song is about before, I went to your youtube channel and watched it to get the background for this one. Pretty cool. VOTE.

Leppakron - At its best this reminds me of something from The Band. I am missing the drums. But as a demo this is pretty darn cool. Also reminds me of John Lennon a bit. But mostly The Band. Let me know if you listen to The Band? how many more times am I going to say The Band? VOTE.

Lily Plus Martin - A lot of ambition here which I feel like I should reward with a vote, it reminds me of David Bowie in places. I like the little glitchy production tricks. Maybe not perfect execution, but I like it overall. VOTE.

The Magnetic Letters - Pretty cool intro, I'm not crazy about the video game music style though (or lyrics about video games). This is good but not quite my thing I guess, plus I just voted for three songs in a row. So uh... this is good, but not a vote for me this time.

Paco del Stinko - there's something wonderfully demented about this. It sounds kind of like a very earnest love song but also kind of deranged. love the harmonies on the "i love you" bit. awesome guitar playing as always. this is a cool one. VOTE.

Phillipso - Groovy indie rock vibes. Vocals are a bit unclear at times. This feels like a grower as the complexities get more tasty over time. And I hear a lot of tasteful elements here. I can imagine this one being one of my favorites if I were to listen to all of these songs 10 times but I probably am not going to do that. So .. maybe vote.

Phlebia - Cool creepy sound. I like this sort of ancient thing. Great vocals on the singing parts. The spoken word verse thing doesn't really work for me and is probably why I'm not voting for this, but I like everything else quite a lot.

Pigfarmer Jr - Nice recording, clean and bright acoustic guitars. Vocals sound pretty good. Really nice piano bit in the solo, and it's cool how you switch to the guitar lead there, although I kind of wanted to hear more piano. This is good and a maybe vote. The recording/mixing seems quite good on this one compared to your previous stuff (as I remember it.)

Third Cat - I wrote/recorded this one quickly and got it in early as I didn't have much time due to a trip (which is why I didn't get around to doing reviews for the pocket full of bones fight.)

TOSHIRO - I really like the instrumental breaks on this one but only kind of like the vocal parts. Overall it's another maybe voter.

Vom Vorton - I like the sound of this quite a lot but I'm not really getting into the listing of female names lyrics, they kinda make me zone out although I get that that's kind of the point. Instrumentally it's really cool though. Another maybe vote.
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Re: You won't believe what happened next (Long Story Short Reviews)

Post by gizo »

vowlvom wrote:
Thu Oct 10, 2019 5:53 am
gizo vs. the 17,455 - I mostly really like your lyrics, they're relatable and poetic, apart from that slightly clunky one about the cormorant that took me out of the moment a little. The production isn't the best here but I responded to this one emotionally and that's enough for me to give it a vote!
thirdcatmusic wrote:
Thu Oct 10, 2019 7:09 am
Gizo vs. - Production is a bit lo-fi and the vocals don't feel quite connected to the music. But on the positive side I really like the vocals and the instrumental ideas. The layered vocal is a really nice touch. Overall I just like this one. Sometimes hard to say exactly why. VOTE.
Thank you both - I would agree that I'm much better at emotion than production. That's probably a result of me spending most of my life being emotional, and not much of it on production. I'm really grateful for these responses - I'm heartened to know that something is working, and I've got an idea of where I need to work harder.
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