Doesn't count if it's anonymous (Letter To The Editor reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

according to that one guy with the mask and the disguised voice.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Please put your lyric here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12261

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[genecawley]

Here are my reviews:

Balls To Monte - This more of a vignette than a song, but I wanted to upload something after such a long time away. Not awful, but hardly a finished song.

Afraidy Cougar - Really like the Velvets-type feel of this. Great tune and lyrics. The relaxed, occasionally sloppy, delivery adds to the appeal.

Lichen Throat - First time I’ve listened to you in a while, and it's clear that your playing and production skills have greatly improved. Great lyric, as always.

toby roktot - Liked the song and performance overall, but I’d try to watch the levels next time around. Lots of distortion during the louder parts.

WreckdoM - Totally fun song, very Ween-like. The playing and production are also excellent. Great job.

Possum Sauce - Wow. This is just beautiful. The best so far. Is that a mellotron on the track? Superb either way.

Paco del Stinko - Super solid song. The sound is particularly good. I really like the chord changes during the chorus. Great job.

The Gross Tones - Really liked this one a lot too, but there’s quite a bit of digital noise going on in the file. Other than that, great job.

Johnny Cashpoint - This is great. Very good and funny lyric containing a good story. Are you playing a uke on this?

The Magnetic Letters - “Ha ha semi-colon close bracket.” This is one of my favorites so far. Great melody, arrangement and production. The lyric is excellent as well. Possible vote.

Berkeley Social Scene - You guys never disappoint. You always make amazing-sounding recordings with great lyrics and melodies. As a would-be competitor, I find that extremely annoying. Possible vote.

Summer Sloane - Really catchy melody, great arrangement. Having a little trouble hearing some of the vocals. Great overall.

Pigfarmer Jr. - This is another good one. Damn, This is gonna be a tough choice. Another possible vote.

Somewhere Off The Left Coast - Super solid melody and arrangement. Particularly like the guitar work. There’s 2 and a half minutes of silence at the end of the file, just so you know.

Gil Sans - Do I hear an actual Rhodes on this? Nice. Really like the guitar sound as well. Nice use of feedback.

Night Sky - Stripped down compared to what I’m used to hearing from you. The simple guitar and the whistling really works well here.

[Gil Sans]

Gene. That is actually a Wurlitzer electric piano. (an old model 140-B)

[genecawley]

Gene. That is actually a Wurlitzer electric piano. (an old model 140-B)

Cool. Sounds amazing.

[j$]

Johnny Cashpoint - This is great. Very good and funny lyric containing a good story. Are you playing a uke on this?

I am, a semi-acoustic! It's my weapon of choice!

j$

[Merle Fyshwick]

Afraidy Cougar: It's funny the tricks my brain is playing when I listen to this one. When I hear "Working on a headline" I hear "Working on a sex farm". Similarly, the pre-chorus reminds me of Play that Funky Music. I think this is more a reflection on me. Sounds really lush. I like the sometimes relaxed timing, i.e. on the last chorus.

Balls To Monte: Nice. Good keyboard hook, like pecking away at typewriter keys. I like the change on the line "Who makes the rules". I don't think it necessarily needs to be longer or more filled in.

Berkeley Social Scene: Nice change when the chorus kicks in, except... it's really a pre-chorus! The chorus itself is really catchy. If I'd heard this on the radio when I was 17 I'd have been down to Mills Records for sure. I really like this one - possibly the best of the round.

Gil Sans: I love the line about defacing an obituary portrait. That's my kind of rebellion. The ink on the water line has me a bit puzzled, but it's cool. The little flam right at the end is superb.

The Gross Tones: This a pretty solid song. Yeah, there's a lot of compression artifacting going on, but it made me wonder if that might be the "new" lo-fi sound? I wonder if people will ever be nostalgic for low bit rate mp3s.

Johnny Cashpoint: I like this one, it made me smile. It's nice to hear a different accent.

Lichen Throat: The subject matter required a bit of research, but it mostly makes sense now! I never got into D&D or MTG, but there were some guys in high school who I considered part of the cool crowd. They were into music, and in the years since high school I became pretty close to them. Turns out they were always into Warhammer and MTG - I had no idea. The "Until next month, aloha" line tickled my fancy for some reason. While I'm at it, I enjoyed your last song too. Had it stuck in my head for a while.

Magnetic Lettuce: This one's basically all true. I probably wish I'd obscured his identity a bit better, and maybe I'll do so later.

Night Sky: I wasn't quite sure to make of this one, but I did learn something: I thought CRT was cathode ray tube, but turns out it's critical race theory. Pardon my ignorance, but could this be like a protest song sung at a MAGA rally? If so, I kind of like the subversion. Plus, the whistling is great.

Paco Del Stinko: Nice bass! Yeah, and that weird change in the chorus is cool. It starts out classic punk rock progression, then blaaa. I like the berzerk vocals that get less comprehensible as it goes on. Deh turk urr jurrbs - that's the vibe I get.

Pig Farmer Jr: Two-faced cunts! Ha ha. I was listening to this out the front trying to get my baby to sleep. Then I became a bit self-conscious cause my neighbours have little kids, so we went inside. Of the 'bitter' songs this round, I reckon this one gets the humour/bitterness mix the most right.

Possum Sauce: Sorry to hear about Tom. You remind me a bit of my friend Corey, both in style and subject matter. It's well-recorded; the super-close vocals and the super-sad lyrics are an affecting combo. Maybe a little too ASMR-ish, but that could just be the mood I'm in today. Nice horns at the end.

Somewhere off the Left Coast: Nice little square wave synth or something. Good vocals.

Sumner Sloane: Pretty cool 60s rocking tune - like the Monkees or something. A few technical issues, like slight clipping.

Toby Roktot: Sounds genuine - I'd hate it if someone kept calling me a wanker. I thought the line was 'bum fucker from the past', hehe. Some pretty noticeable clipping.

WreckdoM: Ha, there's some pretty bitter songs this round (mine included). Nicely produced, good crunchy guitars and I like the formant-shifted vocals on the left channel in the lead-up to the chorus.

[mholland]

Night Sky: I wasn't quite sure to make of this one, but I did learn something: I thought CRT was cathode ray tube, but turns out it's critical race theory. Pardon my ignorance, but could this be like a protest song sung at a MAGA rally? If so, I kind of like the subversion. Plus, the whistling is great.

This was a direct response to a recent NY Times editorial that from my perspective confounded people being held accountable for saying deplorable things with limits on free speech. It went on to draw false equivalence between so-called cancel culture on the left and current right wing actions to actually limit speech and voting through government action. The third verse is just kind of a listing of the consequences of this framing, so while it’s sort of described from the perspective of the haters, it’s in no way MAGA-sympathetic.

[Lunkhead]

Part 1 of my reviews.

The Gross Tones
Maybe lighten up on the mp3 compression, your cymbals sound like they've been really messed up by that. This sounds pretty mono until the vocals come in. It might sound nicer for folks in headphones if the guitar and keyboard were panned to opposite sides a bit. The keys are a bit loud too. This starts to feel pretty repetitive to me after a little while, it's a lot of that E D A progression with the same open hi-hat drum beat for a long time. Maybe some variation in the drums could help with that. I like the switch to the bridge, that's a good and needed breakup, but I think it switches back to the chorus/hook too soon. Overall I think this just feels too plodding. I think I'd like it more if it were faster and had more energy and some more variation, like, if the band were really cooking on the simple E D A, with some more synchronized hits and stops.

Gil Sans
The mix is giving this a very live garage band sound. This has a live feel that's more like what I think could help The Gross Tones tune, where there are more little details with the band, or maybe it's just the drums even breaking and playing fills. This is mostly pretty simple and repetitive but in more of a mellow Velvet Underground kind of way that mostly works for me. Not sure what the song is about but there are some good lines of lyrics. The singing wasn't working for me in the first verse or minute but by the end I liked it. Why's everybody so angry with their newspaper editors though???

Lichen Throat
I don't really feel like I have much different to say than what I said in my last review of one of your songs, which is lame, sorry! I'm picking up on a clearer chord progression in this one and I've got a slightly clearer sense of the meter and where the measures start, I think, but, I still feel like the drumming and the rhythm of the instruments are working together in too non-traditional a way for me. Maybe with the drums, just try to keep the hi-hat and ride really really really simple, and have them just play quarter or eight notes? With a strong accent on the downbeat of the first beat? That would go a long way to providing clearer markers of the beat and the measures. I dig the lyrics, though, per usual.

Afraidy Cougar
I like the watery guitar sound. Nice vocal harmony accents. It'd be great to see your lyrics in the thread here viewtopic.php?f=5&t=12261 This is pretty repetitive but the sunny vibe and hooky vocal melody keep me interested. Nice touch to have the "band" drop out at the start of the chorus. The drums start to sound a little halting in a weird way there. I think you could have pretty easily done a "third verse" part that was instrumental with an instrument melody or solo and then done another chorus to get this to the 3:00 minute mark and it wouldn't have outstayed its welcome for me.

toby roktot
Another adversarial relationship with the editor. Sounds like some clipping and/or distortion starting in the second chorus. I like the addition of the backing vocals. Major distortion in the back half of the bridge and then after that. The distortion issues make this hard for me to listen to and I'm on the fence about some of the sillier lines but I think overall I mostly enjoy this.

Night Sky
Pretty solid straightforward guy and guitar folk protest type song. The whistling is a nice touch, although I think it could use more reverb so it sounds like it matches the vocals more.

Balls To Monte
I hate to be a snob but direct recorded acoustic guitar sounds like ass, please use a mic!! I like the 2/4+4/4 intro thing. This seems like a good start on a cool song, but it feels unfinished. I hope you flesh it out more in the future.

WreckdoM
Not that it matters but something about the vocals don't quite entirely seem like they're in the same key as the guitars and bass. Another adversarial relationship with the editor. I like the bridge with the many overlayed messed up news reports in the bridge, that's a cool idea. The editor insulting stuff isn't clicking for me, maybe it's just I've already heard too much of it in this fight.

Sumner Sloane
Your kick drum is really boomy, you may want to EQ away more of the <=40Hz frequencies from it. There's also some crispy high end in your bass you might want to EQ away. I wish there was another rhythm guitar track playing the same part, with the two guitars panned to the sides a ways. The drums get a little repetitive, like, I want them to let up a bit here and there, maybe between the chorus and the verse. The breakdown in the bridge is such a relief, after the relentless feeling pace of the song so far. This is maybe a little long overall too and could use a little editing to tighten it up. I like the singing and the lyrics are pretty solid. Your vocals sound maybe a little distorted at times though, like they clipped when you were recording them or something.

[genecawley]

Balls To Monte
I hate to be a snob but direct recorded acoustic guitar sounds like ass, please use a mic!! I like the 2/4+4/4 intro thing. This seems like a good start on a cool song, but it feels unfinished. I hope you flesh it out more in the future.

Right and double-right. I intended to record over that guitar track with a proper one, and I just didn't get around to it, nor did I get around to making this an actual song.

[Lunkhead]

Somewhere Off the Left Coast
I like the keyboard sound, it's cute. Casio? The guitar sounds nice. I like the "hey ey ee ey ey" part. The change up is a good idea, although something sounds a little overly harsh to my ears there. I feel like there are also some really low frequencies (like <40Hz) that sound noisy and a little distracting. And the distorted instrument (not sure if it's a guitar or keyboard) sounds overly fuzzed out. Oh, this is the one with 2 minutes of silence at the end, aha. I'm glad you kept the music the length you did, it didn't need to go on for a full 4:48. I think it did what it needed to do and wrapped up well. I like the extra emotion in the vocals at the end. Good lyrics.

Pigfarmer Jr
It'd be nice if the rhythm guitar were doubled and the tracks panned to the sides some. I think I've said that a few times. It just really helps with making the song sound wider and it really really helps clear out room in the center for the vocals and bass and kick and snare. Anyway. Good drums in this one, I like the fills. Another angry letter writer song. I think you got a good punk rock feel with this. The singing fits the genre and sounds good.

Johnny Cashpoint
Your voice sounds deeper than usual. I appreciate that, like Somewhere Off the Left Coast, it does what it needs to do then ends when it's done, no need to draw it out to an obligatory 3 minute mark or anything. Good short little tale.

Paco del Stinko
I like the sound of the intro, has a classic 90s alt rock feel. Man, people sure are disgruntled with the media, haha. How many songs have this vibe this round? Wow. Everything is played well and sounds good, particularly the drums, which are great. The extra theatrical vocals are maybe a hair too much for me although I guess they fit the lyrics. A good Paco song.

Possum Sauce
I like the percussion. Guitar sounds good. Vocals are a bit loud in the mix but the singing is really good. I'm a sucker for Mellotron flutes. Nice addition of the "kick drum" sound and fleshing out the instrumentation for the second part. Nice dropping things down before the bridge. Lots of great choices here in the instrumentation and arrangement and dynamics. I enjoy the story being told too, and in the last verse you've got some really good emoting in the singing. This one's getting a vote from me for sure.

The Magnetic Letters
Marimba? Whatever struck idiophone that is, I love it. I'm enjoying the instrumentation overall. I think like Possum Sauce you could dial the vocals down a bit. Good singing here too though. Haha, as an American I'm entertained by rhyming "knowledge" with "garage". I've been into the lyrics but you lost me a bit with "poo". I didn't see the dark turn in the lyrics coming, I think it's a good turn. The ending feels a little abrupt, I'm a sucker for some closure so it would have been nice to have the lyrics conclude things more somehow. Good one though.

Berkeley Social Scene
This song started with Geech on drums, Ken on guitar (in the left channel), and Martin on bass. They got together in person and wrote the music and recorded their tracks. I volunteered to mix and produce. I added another rhythm guitar on the right, a solo, some Rhodes, some synth, and some tambo. Then I wrote the lyrics and sang and mixed. Lyrics are the hardest thing for me to do, so I wanted some practice forcing myself to write. I started off free writing some verse 1 lyric ideas, tossing in very obvious newspaper terms. That got me to the editor as a mysterious Wizard of Oz type character, or the narrator perceiving the editor that way at least. Then that got me to the idea of somebody thinking they're in love with the editor, sort of the opposite of many of the songs in the fight. Last thing of note is that the live snare didn't get recorded to its own track, we only had what was picked up in the overheads. I managed to pull some trickery to add a fake snare into the mix and I think it sounds good and isn't audibly noticeable as being fake.

[j$]

Johnny Cashpoint
Your voice sounds deeper than usual. I appreciate that,

Ta. It appears as I am getting older, my singing voice is getting deeper. Leonard Cohen awaits

Good short little tale.

Cheers - Wrote it in ten minutes, which is usually a good sign when that happens. I am amazed that no-one has picked up on the internal logical inconsistencies, the hiding of which is one of the reasons I kept it short.

j$

[Paco Del Stinko]

Thanks for the comments, peoples. I've been away on vacation, sans phone (!), will get to commenting later in the week.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Okay, I was gonna do reviews but the evil iTunes won't play a whole "episode" before skipping to the next one and it's REALLY annoying. I apologize for not taking the time to listen like I should. But I've limited time due to unfinished business in my twenties. I should add that to the excuse thread, right?

Anyway, thanks for all of you fine folks that actually did reviews.

[Lunkhead]

Three sets of reviews for sixteen songs. That's kinda sad.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Okay super fast reviews based mostly on what may or may not be a partial listen today.

Afraidy Cougar: There is something charming about those not quite together doubled vox lines. And the melody.

Balls To Monte: Was an immediate vote for me.

Berkeley Social Scene: In one of the reviews they talked this one up quite a bit and I couldn't remember listening to this earlier in the week so it kind of came as a "will it meet expectations" listen. That's never good, trying to live up to some imagined high level a listener has no right to have but does anyway. But it did. This is good.

Gil Sans: There's something about this laid back vocal delivery that I like. And there's something vaguely A.M. era WILCO about this song, too. Which I like.

Johnny Cashpoint: I loved how you sang "genitalia." The calming vocal doesn't quite fit the lyric which makes it work beautifully for me.

Lichen Throat: I think someone made mention of your drums being ... well, not static, but not having a feeling of defined movements (verse/chorus etc.,) I think I agree with this. But the arrangement wasn't bad, I just felt the drums didn't give it a good feel or drive that it could easily have.

The Magnetic Letters: There's something that doesn't click in my brain listening to this cute.. erm, cool melody and kind of hopping melody and arrangement combined with some of those lyrics. I mean I seriously like all of the elements, the vocals, the mix, the arrangement. But I think this one needs additional listens to get it. It's cool, though. "What the fuuuuck!" Sounds great and totally not right all at the same time.

Night Sky: I think this kind of gets lost in the guys with guitar arrangements (and those with acoustics as the primary instrument) even though I do like the whistling. (I think someone mentioned matching the reverb to the vox a bit more to make it fit in better and I agree.) I don't think this is a preachy song, but it feels like it a bit. I feel this one might be the one that needs the additional listens the most before I'd really get it.

Paco del Stinko: Ooooh, tasty. I like that bass, simple, effective. Those arpeggiated guitar lines are a nice touch. This is cool.

Pigfarmer Jr: Lunkhead keeps telling me to double my rhythm guitars and I never do it on acoustic but always do it on electric. I think it's cuz I'd have to play in time on the acoustic and that sounds like work. But you never know. Someday I might just do it. Maybe.

Possum Sauce: Where's your O'? I like the arrangement quite a bit. And your vocal and melody work very well together. The arrangement is mostly static and possibly could use some sort of dynamic change up in the seemingly longer than the three minutes this song lasts. But despite that criticism, I like this.

Somewhere Off the Left Coast: I feel like someone should be inviting me to sit down and then they should hand me a beer without saying a word and then I should just shut the fuck up and listen and enjoy a feeling of camaraderie.. you know, without saying a fucking word.

Sumner Sloane: I like your chorus melody a lot. I think your song needs some sort of colored compression to tie it all together. Like a lot of my songs. Almost exactly like a lot of my songs.

toby roktot: This has that G&G likability that a lot of G&G songs don't have (like all of mine, maybe?) That intimate feeling gives it a bit of a live feel that carries it pretty well. Borderline vote for me.

WreckdoM: Pretty sure this is my favorite from WreckdoM.

Here's the list of songs that might get a vote here in a few minutes:
Balls to Monte, WreckdoM, Gil Sans, BSS, toby roktot; Left Coast; Paco

Never mind, I voted for all of the ones listed.

[Lunkhead]

Yay, four sets of reviews! Thanks PfJr!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

You're welcome. But now I've gotta get back to reading Wordsworth. I can't afford to get a bad discussion grade on "Expostulation and Reply."

Wait, what am I saying? I've never had a problem talking. I'm sure I'll be fine.

[lichenthroat]

You're welcome. But now I've gotta get back to reading Wordsworth. I can't afford to get a bad discussion grade on "Expostulation and Reply."

It's a persuasive argument in favor of apparent lassitude.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

"Apparent" being the operative word. I feel he's making an argument to take time in nature to further understanding rather than taking time not to learn. "That we can feed this mind of ours / In a wise passiveness." (lines 27-28.) And in the companion poem, "The Tables Turned" he writes "Let Nature be your teacher."

That being said, it isn't lost on me that I'm reading a book he wrote (co-wrote) that furthered the argument that we shouldn't spend all of our time learning from books.

[mholland]

A little late to the party with my reviews, but not too late. Thanks to all who have reviewed so far. I have more mix notes than I usually would, because I feel like I'm starting to develop a better ear for these sorts of things. But of course I could be wrong, and if so, sorry about that.

Afraidy Cougar: Nice atmosphere, appealing overall sound and melody. I like the emphasis the backing vocals bring to “headline” and “deadline.” All that reverb on both the vocal and the ringing rhythm guitar make the mix feel pretty crowded to me, though maybe this helps create the release/relief that occur when the instruments mostly drop out during the “here we are now” lines.

Balls To Monte: Nice opening/main riff on the keys. You’ve heard about the piezo guitar. Nice movement from the first bit to the second bit (not sure what to call them). Also, it’s more of a sketch than a song, but it would be cool to hear it fleshed out OR to play its own little role in the context of an album (e.g., how Welcome to the Working Week opens My Aim is True with a wry little wink).

Berkeley Social Scene: Really, really solid BSS offering. Sparse opening with the toms and the simple guitar line creates nice drama. Haven’t really spent enough time with it to clock the structure, but it’s a really nice arrangement. Really nice vocal performance, on top of the solid instrumental performances. One minor quibble is that the toms are a little tentative in their timing in the open space starting around 1:15. But, like, the whole thing is so solid that I’m quibbling with the timing of the toms in one little finite part of the song. Nice work.

Gil Sans: I’m one of the pandemic recruits to Song Fight, so I’m not familiar with you from the old days like some of the old timers, so you’re new to me, and I really dig what I’ve been hearing. I especially appreciate the laid back, live sound that you bring to production song fight. I don’t have a lot of specifics, except to say that on top of the organic and quality performances, your production is great, too.

The Gross Tones: First impression is that the bass is taking up a lot of space and should be tightened up. It’s just kind of undefined and smeared out, and fatiguing to listen to. I also feel like I’ve heard exactly the same verse melody from you before. Performances are more toward the sloppy rather than appealing laid back end of the “loose” spectrum.

Johnny Cashpoint: Amusing little take on the prompt. Maybe my volume is just up too high on my monitors, but I’m getting similar fatigue with the low frequencies as I had with The Gross Tones. Maybe you need a high pass filter before your reverb?

Lichen Throat: As with many of your songs, I have to admit that I didn’t invest enough time to really appreciate your lyrics, but definitely get the sense that I would be rewarded for the effort if I did put the time in. I did catch “what’s the difference between flaunt and flout,” and really appreciated that, because that one is tied with perpetuate/perpetrate for my top language pet peeve). Still mystified by the "chord shapes" in your MIDI guitar lines, but there’s always something to enjoy in your songs.

The Magnetic Letters: I really like the lyrics and sentiment of this one. The instrumental melodies are more compelling than the vocal melody, but the whole thing really works. I really like how the various instrumental lines play interact.

Night Sky: As I described above, this was an actual letter to the editor (though I suppose I didn’t actually submit it as such). Stripped down structure was dictated by the constraints I gave myself between SpinTunes rounds. Lack of reverb on the whistling was due to room resonances that I couldn’t tame—similar reverb settings to the vocal caused intolerable noise at the mastering stage. Next time I’ll record the whistling in a bigger, better sounding room. Also, I ended up going with literally the first guitar take I recorded, because I made a credible attempt at cutting off the tip of my left index finger while preparing dinner last Tuesday night (it’s healing nicely, though). In case anyone is wondering, the “bedbug Bret” line at the end was a bit of an indulgent reference to the Bret Stephens bedbug kerfuffle, which was particularly hypocritical coming from the right flank of the NY Times editorial pages.

Paco del Stinko: I mean, classic quality Paco. Great arrangement, performances, and energy. No complaints. Also, thank you for proving that my monitors aren’t too boomy—your bass is nicely defined. All y’all up above who got complaints about boominess, use Paco’s song as a reference track.

Pigfarmer Jr: Musically I’ve got no complaints. Lyrically, this feels like kind of generalized, undirected bile, unless I suppose you have a very specific beef with parking enforcement. I prefer to focus my bile on very specific fucking assholes.

Possum Sauce: Such touching lyrics, with masterful development of the story over the course of the song. Composition and gentle performances really support the feeling and the story. If this is a true story, I feel for you, man. If not, still really well done.

Somewhere Off the Left Coast: I like the composition of this. Reverb generally sounds a little over the top to me, but I’m reverb-shy, so maybe that’s me. Also like the “hey-ay-ay-ay” part. Is the lead guitar an acoustic electric with distortion? Sounds a little like what I might have heard in a coffee house in college in the 90s.

Sumner Sloane: Nice composition and arrangement. Really like all the movement in the bass. Good lyric take on the prompt and good vocal performance. Mix sounds better than the last one of yours that I reviewed. The rhythm guitar sounds (to me, maybe I’m wrong) like you plugged in directly and don’t have any cabinet simulation or effects except maybe some compression and reverb. Vocal sounds like it’s clipping a bit here and there.

toby roktot: Nice guitar and vocal performances. Levels in the mix are good between vocal and guitar, but your vocal seems to be clipping, and some EQ might help make the guitar sound less boxy. Pretty fucked up situation with your local paper attacking you directly like that

WreckdoM: Drums (assuming programmed) sound good. Bass performance is really good; love the slide at the beginning. Low end maybe a little crowded in the mix, especially when the low distorted guitar chords come in. Lyrically I connect to this more than most WreckdoM offerings, though again, I prefer my bile a little less generalized and more directed.