Don't look now... (Miss Lovely Eyes reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Blink and you'll... erm, right. Let's see your reviews!!!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Please post your lyric to this thread here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12069

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[genecawley]

Balls To Monte - not my best, but I just couldn't let another week go by without submitting a song. The music is VERY Arthur Lee. The lyrics I mostly dreamed in my sleep and wrote down as separate thoughts.

Brown Word and the Big Whine - This is kinda like David Bowie meets Suzi Quatro, and that's a REALLY good thing. Great lyric and vocal (though could be a little louder). Great job overall.

Buddy Hinton - Really good sounds here. Love the chord progression in the chorus especially. The harmonies are really nice too (though maybe week just a little bit in the mix next time). Love the jangly guitar throughout.

Cannonade Streete - Bit of a Springsteen vibe going on here. Having a bit of trouble making out the lyrics (something I'm often guilty of too, to be fair). Like the overall sound and vibe.

CazaroTaro - My favorite so far. Really good tune, story and lyrics. I don't what you're recording with, but everything sounds super sharp and well-balanced. Very jealous of this. My only complaint is that it ends too soon.

David G. Harrington - Really well-constructed song, and the instrumentation and lyrics are great. If I could change anything, I would have had the drums in Verse 4 kick in earlier in the song instead just the claps. Still, VERY good.

Duncan Martin - Damn, another good one. Really clever lyrics and a really good tune. Maybe turn the drums up a tad. That's the only bad thing I can think of.

heine - Yet another really good one. Love the instrumentation, and vocals and the lyrics [I really feel like I'm repeating myself here. Sorry about that]. Is that a violin solo at the end?

hoodmo - You have a really strong voice, and this key fits it perfectly. Great harmonies too. The bridge is particularly clever. The guitar solo suits this perfectly as well. Damn, I'm really getting sick of all of the good performances here. But seriously, you really have a great way with a song. Most likely voting for this.

James Owens - Beautiful arrangement. This is a gorgeous song. Reminds me of Paris 1919-era John Cale, a beautiful drone with a wonderful melody to match. It's gonna be hard to narrow down my choices this week.

Jeff DeSantis - I am getting SICK of this! Another really good one. The instrumentation is beautiful. What do you use for strings, if you don't mind me asking? Good vocal and lyrics too. DAMN!

Jonathan Mann - The production on this is particular good (you must be at least semi-pro). The harmonies on the chorus are perfect. All the instruments are crystal clear. Great job. Out of curiosity, what do use for recording?

The Library Dogs - ANOTHER ringer [I'm just jealous]? This sounds amazing and the harmonies are perfect. The guitar solo is wonderful. Love the touch of marimba as well. This is truly an embarrassment of riches this week.

Lichen Throat - Great lyric as usual, and your voice keeps improving. Your vocal timing also continues to get better. Great job.

Messy Oily Elves - This is one of those song that's clever enough to make me think I've heard it before, though I know I haven't. Really solid throughout. Just great song construction and performance. The synth solo is particularly nice.

Moody Vermin - Love the slightly disjointed feel to this. The backwards guitar is well-placed and effective. It sounds like it's about to descend into chaos, but then you pull it back from the brink. I really like that. Great guitar chords towards the end as well. Very good.

The N'Stuff - I would expect nothing less than a solid pop song from you guys, and this doesn't disappoint. The harmonies and lead guitar in particular are great.

Night Sky - Kind of a Four Seasons vibe here. This is really fun song with great instrumental interaction (love the duetting guitars). Another great one from you.

Paco del Stinko - Really interesting chord progression in this song. Really loving the harmonies (though they could be a tad louder). The guitar solo is perfect, albeit brief.

The Pannacotta Army - Whoa! This is wonderfully mellow and beautifully played (is that an upright bass?). What more can I say? Terrific, as usual. LOVE the chord change right before "So easily missed."

Pigfarmer Jr - The opening rhythm track makes me think of M-79 Ambush [look it up]. Another solid one from you with fantastic guitar work.

Robyn Mackenzie - Particularly great lyrics here, and I love the harmonies on the chorus. Great job all around.

Rod The Bunman - You definitely sound like a Neil Young fan (nothing wrong with it). I like the lyric a lot, and basic arrangement (with a great guitar solo) really suits it.

Sir Chorizo - Really liked this one too. Kinda like really happy-sounding Pavement, which, again, is a compliment.

Sly Eli - Really love how the song builds with the orchestration. Really well done. Love the double-time changeup at the end.

Sumner Sloane - Love the sunny feel of this one, like a 70s California classic. Really catchy.

Sweeney Toad - Interesting lyric, to put it mildly. I can always count on you for something different. I love the idea behind it. Even though the sound isn't really my thing (especially the autotune), it's pretty cool.

Tiny Robots - Wow. Another great one. Jesus! I have NO IDEA who I'm going to vote for. There are far too many to choose from. It's gonna be tough.

[crumpart]

I haven’t listened to the songs, but A++ for the album art.

[jb]

hoodmo - good shit. separate those guitars my man.

Moody Vermin - the swing on those drums is intolerable

Night Sky - goofy. not in the mood for goofy. nice bass compression and guitar tone.

Buddy Hinton - separate those guitars my man. I like the verse melody a lot more than the chorus. Like, I like the verse. I don’t like the chorus. I like the ahs. Makes me think of Lou Reed. I don’t like Lou Reed.

Cazaro Taro - goofy but dark. ok i’m into it. Devoish I guess, eh? It speaks to me. I was tempted to call the FBI on my sister. I mean, not because she was trying to take over the world via wiccan ceremonies, but just because she never ever got caught smoking in her room and I couldn’t get away with the slightest thing. So I figured she was a spy.

omg i have 23 of these to go. gonna get a lot shorter. ACTIVATE POP SENSIBILITY GATE

Sumner Sloane - not catchy enough

David G Harrington - kinda want that vox autotuned to infinity or something. just something. too sparse. need more synths. DEFINITELY AUTOTUNE THOSE BACKING VOX FFS

Tiny Robots - omg bass. mayyyybe a little too much. pretty song.

The N’Stuff - this is me and Ken (of Ken’s Super Duper Band n’ Stuff) and Mo (of Duboce Triangle/Shark Tornado).

Sir Chorizo - separate those guitars my man. I dig the vocals, and the melodies are nice and the harmonies are nice. I like the overall vibe. Nice one.

Messy Oily Elves - separate those guitars my man. Reminds me of the Weakerthans. I love the Weakerthans.

Panacotta Army - whoooo mastered louuuud. I mean, not in a bad way. There’s something wrong with that second chord in your backnforth verse progression… this is making my eyes cross somehow

Pigfarmer Jr - crush them bits. ooooh pan that guitar, pan it good. Needz mor hookz

Cannonade Streete - this is like a Bruce Springsteen impersonator with a loop station playing to nobody in a dead end alley in a midwestern city on miserable autumn night

Library Dogs - Sufjan Stevens called and wants his sensibility back. separate those guitars my man. nicely performed all around. I bet somebody will LOOOOOOVE this. Or they would if you separated those guitars.

Sweeney Toad - I like the chorus melody. The robot gets annoying to try to make out the lyrics through, although I get the impression maybe I don’t want to hear these lyrics especially… Would’ve sounded good with harmonies, or at least more apparent harmonies.

Brown Word - Kind of goes from loud enough to not loud enough. Mix problems. I like that shouty chorusey thing with the high shouty part on top.

Robyn Mackenzie - separate them guitars, yo. Good bass. Mayyyyyybe a little too much bass vs guitar levels-wise. I also wish I was nothing but feral. I reaaaally like these lyrics. The change/resolution in the chord progression that starts at like 2:05 and again at 3:11 is really satisfying. This is great.

Jeff DeSantis - pleasant enough that I forgot it was on and went to do other stuff on my computer.

heine - separate those guitars my man. chorus is pretty good, I bet it would be really nice live. If we ever get to have live music again. goddammit heine, fuck you for reminding me that I haven’t played a gig in a damn year.

Sly Eli - separate those orchestral synths my man. pretty nice chords but not as immersive as they should be. “I’m lost in this lovely eye” made me think you’re like a tiny dude wandering around in somebody’s sclera but not mad about it and I was like “gross”. The falsetto is nice, though switching from falsetto back down in the same line is a cringe moment for me always— and no, Extreme doesn’t get away with it in “More Than Words”. It’s awful. This gets better as it goes along for me, though I kind of wish the shuffle never started even if the chorus chord progression remains very attractive. The shuffle kicks off, but it doesn’t build and build, it’s kind of static.

Rod the Bunman - you separated the guitars, my man! Your vocal stylings are not to my taste, however they do remind me of Ron Sexsmith who IS to my taste, so you’ve got that going for you. I actually think you should lose the reverb on those vox. Put them way up front in my face, and I think they’ll be more charming. You’re not gonna benefit from any Balls To Monte style reverberatorization. That plucky guitar solo is pleasant, the palm muted chords work and the harmonics are sweet.

Duncan Martin - separate those guitars my man. Very visceral and evocative lyrics. I like. I relate to that cashier crush feeling. Pleasing chords and melodies, though it does lose momentum every so often. Probably should end a good 45 seconds earlier than it does. I dunno about that clarinet patch tho dawg. I’m pretty sure my Randy Jackson jokes aren’t landing any more, but I persevere.

James Owens - piano and stuff, let’s settle in for some serious songwriting here, ok lay it on me. The instrumentation sounds nice, but the vocals desperately need compression, a little reverb, and a little delay. They sound like they’re from a different recording than the instrumentation. Or dry out the instrumentation. One or the other, but not this. I kinda like the vocal melodies, and oh it’s getting louder I think, is it building to something? No? No. Feels like the kind of song you’d play the piano part to over and over in a darkened room just kind of zoning out and lost in your passion, which is fine, but I dunno if I wanna be in there with your stinky college ass. (See, in my scenario you wrote it in college and if you were like me hygiene was maybe not my first priority on some days, and I definitely played sad piano in darkened rooms often enough. Or just listened to Peter Gabriel in my headphones as loud as it would go.) I wish this went somewhere other than those dry too-quiet vocals coming back in. Gotta marry the two pieces via production.

Lichen Throat - little bit of a head bobber here, and makes me want to hear Stephen Merrit’s voice come in. But I’ve heard your stuff before and I’m a bit apprehensive for the vocals. I actually the processing, and it’s not the notes that you're trying to sing that are problematic with this particular vocal performance. But you need to revise those words and fit them into a melody that works with your instruments. The prosody is atrocious, and you don’t hit the rhythms of the nice instrumentation you’ve cooked up. Ok, at the end when you go low there’s the atonal throat I was waiting for. Hrmmm. I struggle.

Jonathan Mann - somebody said this reminds them of Tom Petty and I think it’s the first four notes on that harmonica, though there are a bunch of things in this that are reminiscent of influences. They all work together well. It’s a nice one. There’s some weird distortion effect on some of the bass on my monitors, or maybe that’s a floor tom or kick on the fills? Disconcerting. The melodies, all of them, are very attractive. Dunno about the tambourine tho.

Balls to Monte - separate those guitars my man. Typical BtM kick ass vocals. You do doubling so well, and always have the vox sit in the mix nicely. Melodies are sweet, in your inimitable BtM retro kinda style. It’s nice.

Paco del Stinko - Rockin’ off the bat. Your arrangements always have so many parts. Maybe not so many tracks, but they just feel complex. I’m always jealous of your bass lines. I’d venture to say of the things you do well, and there are a bunch, your bass lines might be the thing you do best. I wish there was like a loud singalong chorus in this somewhere, really make me feel like it’s XTC and I’m vibing to some downer dark verses before I find myself shouting and singing along to the chorus pounding on my steering wheel and getting honked at because I didn’t notice the light turned green.

[JonathanMann]

Jonathan Mann - The production on this is particular good (you must be at least semi-pro). The harmonies on the chorus are perfect. All the instruments are crystal clear. Great job. Out of curiosity, what do use for recording?

Thanks for the review! I use Logic.

[genecawley]

Thanks for the review! I use Logic.

Cool. Thanks.

[SweeneyToad]

A++ for the album art.

I second this!

[Heine]

heine - Yet another really good one. Love the instrumentation, and vocals and the lyrics [I really feel like I'm repeating myself here. Sorry about that]. Is that a violin solo at the end?

Thank you! No, I can't play violin (although I own a cheap one). It's an acoustic and an electric guitar played in unison, maybe there's some kind of interfering.

heine - separate those guitars my man. chorus is pretty good, I bet it would be really nice live. If we ever get to have live music again. ...

Sorry, I couldn't separate the guitars because this one was mixed in mono on purpose. I thought this would be a nice little ditty for a 60s beat group so I kept it mono. The final mix was sent through a hot tube pre-amp and then re-recorded. And this is what it sounds like. I'm quite happy the way it turned out.

[jb]

LIVE IN THE NOWWWWW HEINE

[roymond]

I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!

So, bottom line is Rod should separate his guitars, but everybody else is cool on this?

[jb]

If everybody in the US slammed open their windows, stuck out their heads and shouted "SEPARATE YOUR GUITARS MY MAN", that would do the world some good.

I'M MAD AS HELL AND I'M NOT GONNA TAKE IT ANYMORE!

So, bottom line is Rod should separate his guitars, but everybody else is cool on this?

Also I do not want to end up like Howard Beale

[Sir Chorizo]

Trying to only vote for things that particularly strike me. If I didn't vote for a song it doesn't mean I didn't like it or thought it was bad.

•Balls To Monte
Love the main ridey drum beat and jangling guitars. Intro is great drew me in right away. The verse sounds like a chorus but doesn't really matter, I like the melody it's not revolutionary but fresher than most. Bridge is good too. Don't really have any gripes with the song.

•Brown Word and the Big Whine
I think the song is cool and I feel like it is/could be really catchy but some of the choices made mask it a bit, mostly like too low guitars and partially drums in relation to the voice. That was the main thing I noticed I think it would hit harder if they were melded a bit better. The intro/break was kind of interesting but wasn't really into it and the booming bass was kind of annoying. Like the outro part where the voice sounds completely different.

•Buddy Hinton (v)
Intro is unbelievably tight and strong and brings you in straight away. Jangling guitars and bass sound great. Part of the main progression is a little too-familiar permutations of I IV V but none of us can really escape that anyway, and it goes in more interesting places right after. Really liking the melody on the vocals all through the whole thing, like also how it veers off from the major scale at the end.

•Cannonade Streete
Overall I do like this, but there isn't a lot going on, I guess by design so can't really fault that. Don't really care for the little bridge part and the lyrics on it, or the little solo after. Not bad overall though.

•CazaroTaro
I like how dynamic the song is with different unique interweaving parts. Fun to listen to for that reason and for the story but as a song didn't really grab me that hard. Cuts off at the end abruptly I'm wondering if that was a mistake.

•David G. Harrington
Not digging the background music, it sounds like what youtube attaches to people's gopro videos they uploaded of their beach vacation drone shots. So maybe it's just I'm not into whatever genre this is. Like the vocals, sounds like mollusk-era ween in a few different places.

•Duncan Martin (v)
Overall I really like the song, really warm comforting atmosphere on the story, melody harmonies and the chord progression and arrangement. Overall the whole thing just comes together well. I think it could be improved if the vocals could sit into the mix a bit better they are slightly too prominent versus the music. I'm hearing a sort of pad sound underlying basically the whole song, what instrument is that or is it singing I would be interested to know?

•heine
I really liked the instrumental intro in the beginning and how the chord progression sounded. Then the first verse came in and I was still on board with the melody and everything that was going on. Then the toms build up to the chorus started and it kind of lost me. So overall good song just wasn't totally on board.

•hoodmo
I like the song, instrumentation and vocals all good and nice arrangement. Wish the chorus was stronger in some way.

•James Owens
I think I just don't like this genre, it's not you, it's me. But I wasn't really getting into it. Sounds like it's a nice song though I don't have anything really bad to say on it.

•Jeff DeSantis
Nicely done on the instrumentation. Like the chorus very strong, but was less enamored of the verse section.

•Jonathan Mann (v)
Hearing this is interesting to me as it makes me realize my appreciation of amateur vs. professional music is operating on two different levels. So this is one of the best done most fully realized professional things on here, and I do like it (the chorus is great on it). But it crosses some kind of threshold where I have to think, well if I heard this on the radio I would just skip by, but hearing it here it sounds so well done it's out of place. So sorry not sure I'm commenting that much on the song itself but overall great song.

•Lichen Throat (v)
Really in love with everything up to :24. From :24 to :48 I'm a little lost with the monotone. Then at :48 the greatness of the lyrics start to draw me back in. I really like the hook of the song conceptually and musically.

•Messy Oily Elves
Great construction and arrangement. really sweet sound on one of the parts that sounds like a prechorus but never gets to a chorus. That's one thing I notice about the song, which I don't consider a bad thing I just noticed, is that there are a bunch of parts all sounding like they want to transition to something else then they transition to another transition part. But I think that's pretty cool.

•Moody Vermin
Nice atmosphere on this. Interesting vocals and backward effect on the chorus. I'm not sure it's totally my thing not sure I'd go out of my way to listen again but nice song.

•Night Sky (v)
lovely lovely intro with the chords and lead guitar loved it. I like the easy melody and the harmonies coming in quick (harmonies after the rhythm guitars are the best part of the song). love the outro.

•Paco del Stinko (v)
Love the tightness and dryness of the instrumentation. The production on this is so great I can hear everything so clearly. Playing is so impeccable on this song. Vocals are great too.

•Pigfarmer Jr
Nice rhythm guitars and I like the razory guitar leads. Like how the ending of the chorus makes you think its going to go more epic but instead cuts off quick kind of made me chuckle. the panning vocals is kind of off putting (in headphones at least).

•Robyn Mackenzie
I like your voice. The bass sound (bass guitar?) needs to be tamped down with eq or compression or something it's overpowering everything.

•Rod The Bunman
Really like the lead playing. Nice vocals. Nice chorus. Kind of weird how unexpectedly the song ends.

•Sly Eli
I like the performance and the melody and overall like the song. the ethereal octave up vocals section is really great. I generally am not into an acoustic guitar only performance but this kept my attention. I am really not digging the strings though they are cloying and almost ruin it for me. The change up at the end is ok but didn't really care about it personally.

•Sumner Sloane (v)
Took me a bit for this to grow on me. Really well done song.

•Sweeney Toad (v)
Chorus on this is really great. The whining undertone on it adds so much. Some of the lyrics got a nice chuckle out of me. Juices/useless is a great couplet.

•The Library Dogs (v)
very nicely done pretty much everything impeccable. melodies and harmonies kept me engaged all the way though. Great instrumentation.

•The N'Stuff
I think it's nicely done, but unfortunatley I'm listening to these alphabetically and this starts with the letter T and I feel like I'm getting ear fatigue and your song makes me think of watching a romantic comedy and then the credits roll and your song comes on (could be a good thing?). Nice song.

•The Pannacotta Army
Gorgeous opening. Great song with lovely tones on everything from the voice to guitar to drums.

•Tiny Robots (v)
Great drums, lovely lovely vocals. Nice song that never gets tedious.

[Duncan]

Duncan Martin (v)
I'm hearing a sort of pad sound underlying basically the whole song, what instrument is that or is it singing I would be interested to know?

Thank you for that review. The underlying bit is probably a mix of things. I played quiet clarinet all the way through, and put a synth string on the choruses. But the vocals and (unseparated) guitars were also stacked a bit high, so there was always a sustaining note in there somewhere. Oh and I sampled the seashore at the beginning and end -- sort of cheesy, but so is the song, and it seemed like something a Brill Building hotshot would do in 1964 or whatever

[mo]

Yes, The N'Stuff song is in fact going to be the theme song of a released direct to Pluto TV VOD movie, a knockoff 90s teen rom com starring whoever are the 2021 versions of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze

[Sir Chorizo]

Yes, The N'Stuff song is in fact going to be the theme song of a released direct to Pluto TV VOD movie, a knockoff 90s teen rom com starring whoever are the 2021 versions of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze

Lol perfect

[SweeneyToad]

Yes, The N'Stuff song is in fact going to be the theme song of a released direct to Pluto TV VOD movie, a knockoff 90s teen rom com starring whoever are the 2021 versions of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze

[jb]

Yes, The N'Stuff song is in fact going to be the theme song of a released direct to Pluto TV VOD movie, a knockoff 90s teen rom com starring whoever are the 2021 versions of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze

'Long as I get my money.

[the panna cotta army]

Panacotta Army There’s something wrong with that second chord in your backnforth verse progression… this is making my eyes cross somehow

maybe I didn't separate my guitars enough

[jb]

Panacotta Army There’s something wrong with that second chord in your backnforth verse progression… this is making my eyes cross somehow

maybe I didn't separate my guitars enough

Maybe try separating them in the other direction

[daveyboy103]

David G Harrington - kinda want that vox autotuned to infinity or something. just something. too sparse. need more synths. DEFINITELY AUTOTUNE THOSE BACKING VOX FFS

I will take you off the fan club distribution list.