SOMESONGS - ROUND THREE

[Mr. Brown]

SOMESONGS - ROUND THREE

Title: Side Show
Oblique Strategy/Challenge: Use 'unqualified' people
Send completed songs no later than 23 October at 23:59 EDT.
Send songs by email to somesongs2024@gmail.com.
Use "Side Show" as your subject.
In the body of the email, write your band name and paste the lyrics to your song. Feel free to explain how you executed the challenge as well.
Results will be posted no later than 26 October at 23:59 EDT. Fingers crossed.

Now go write SOME SONGS!

[BoffoYux]

'Side Show' - SomeSongs Round 3 LP & SongFight 'Please Buckle Up' LP

I'll be doubling up on Thursday 10/24 at 8pm EST with a SomeSongs and SongFight extravaganza!



https://www.youtube.com/live/Zp5Obfd7qk4

[ujnhunter]

I like it! I'm not going to do it... but I like it! (I should probably get myself in gear and finish Round 2's song though).

[Mr. Pink]

I like it! I'm not going to do it... but I like it!

Why not?? The more, the merrier...

[ujnhunter]

No time. Already have works in progress from other Titles/Songs, etc... also trying to help my son record his songs from previous titles, and... yeah... life.

[mo]

life...don't talk to me about life...

[mo]

also, technically I'm an unqualified person, in both senses of the term

[the idiot king]

Unfortunately work constraints have me unable to compete this week. I'll be back next time, though!

[frankie big face]

Songs are due tomorrow!

Mr. Pink told me to remind you.

[Caravan Ray]

Quick cultural question:

I refer to "laughing clowns" in my song - which I assumed to be a universally ubiquitous carnival/side show/agricultural show type game - but a look at Google makes me think I assumed wrong and they may just be an antipodean thing?

Are laughing clowns common in the USA? The weird rotating disembodied clown heads with fellatory mouths that swallow ping-pong balls and then disgorge them through their severed oesophageal tubes to a numbered channel so that every child may win a prize? Creepy as hell - but the kiddies love them. If you don't know what these are - then my song might not make a lot of sense.

https://www.rahshistory.com.au/Document ... -clown/289







When I google Laughing Clowns - most of the links refer to the wonderful late 1970's band formed by Ed Keupper after The Saints broke up - and Ed is from Brisbane - so maybe they are just a local thing?



and my song was initially inspired by thinking of Ed Keupper and The Laughing Clowns with respect to the title "Side Show" - but I am really not qualified to try to emulate the great Mr Keupper.

[Mr. Pink]

Are laughing clowns common in the USA? The weird rotating disembodied clown heads with fellatory mouths that swallow ping-pong balls and then disgorge them through their severed oesophageal tubes to a numbered channel so that every child may win a prize? Creepy as hell - but the kiddies love them. If you don't know what these are - then my song might not make a lot of sense.

At least where I live I have often seen a similar game where balls are thrown or rolled and eventually go down different numbered holes - usually with a series of balls where the point value is added from all the different holes the balls fall into and can result in a prize depending on your total score. I have never seen one with a clown head though.

But thanks for the explanation, it should probably be useful in understanding your song.

[Caravan Ray]

.

I have never seen one with a clown head though.

Ok. So laughing clowns are a regional thing then.

If there were to be an Australian Family Feud question “we’ve polled a hundred people to ask what would you associate with a carnival side show” - I would bet a lot of money that laughing clown would be top 3 easy.

[vowlvom]

Not really happening for me at the moment, sorry. Hoping to get at least one more song in before this thing ends but it doesn't look like it's going to be round three.

[Mr. Brown]

Not really happening for me at the moment, sorry. Hoping to get at least one more song in before this thing ends but it doesn't look like it's going to be round three.

We will miss you but we also want you to be healthy and creative. Please do what you can but also, please don't feel bad/guilty/whatever for not being able to make a round.

[mo]

Tomorrow has hopefully successfully submitted for once

[mo]

except I heard the song in the car after I had to do a rush job to get it done before going out tonight to the Marc Ribot show, and I kinda fucked up the mixing due to still being a little unfamiliar with Logic. oh well, once they come out maybe I'll link to the fixed version, took me like 15 seconds once I got home hahahahaha

[Mr. Blonde]

Some songs are posted!

(Which is to say all the songs are posted.)

[Mr. Orange]

Written as I listen, on lunch in a jury deliberation room. Oh my exciting life! Subsequently, don't have the time or inclination to read everyone's explanations of what they were aiming for, challenge-wise. My attitude has always been the song should speak for itself, otherwise you have failed in the writing, end of; so take what I think with a pinch of salt.

ADD -ok - nice fairground organ. There are points when the voice reminds me of David Byrne, other times not so much. Well produced and performed but the tune doesn't stay with me - OK.

Caravan Ray - Is there a garageband setting for Vague Ghost Reggae? If so, you found it! I like this one. The good BVs set this aside for me.

Glenn Case - I like that warm hiss on what i assume is the bass track but could be guitar, it leads me back into the sleazy grind that I love and there is not enough. I like what is here but there is there all that much? Feels a bit 'thin; in the writing It sounds like slightly slowed down Helmet, with everything good and bad that you would associate with that. OK

Hoblit - well that's the first song that hits the challenge with the opening ten seconds! Nah, only joking. The bass is a bit quiet under the guitar occupying its space. I do really like this tune. Can't put my finger on what it reminds me of. If Daniel Johnston had a punk band backing him rather than just an organ, maybe. Part of me goes 'WTF' at the lyric but it has something of the 'Jello Biafra's to it, so I don't care to pick at it further. Yeah, great vocal performance. good stuff.

Tomorrow - So which version is this? I lose track but I think the mix is awesome, 'least on headphones, and there's no drunken-esque muttering this time, so everyone WINs. This is really good.

[mo]

Oh I didn’t submit a second version; it would’ve arrived after time was up and I didn’t want to annoy the managers of Some Songs haha. Appreciate the reviews so fast!

PS I’ll have you know our muttering is stoned, not drunken

PPS Marc Ribot was f-ing awesome

[Hoblit]

Written as I listen, on lunch in a jury deliberation room. Oh my exciting life! Subsequently, don't have the time or inclination to read everyone's explanations of what they were aiming for, challenge-wise. My attitude has always been the song should speak for itself, otherwise you have failed in the writing, end of; so take what I think with a pinch of salt.

Hoblit - well that's the first song that hits the challenge with the opening ten seconds! Nah, only joking. The bass is a bit quiet under the guitar occupying its space. I do really like this tune. Can't put my finger on what it reminds me of. If Daniel Johnston had a punk band backing him rather than just an organ, maybe. Part of me goes 'WTF' at the lyric but it has something of the 'Jello Biafra's to it, so I don't care to pick at it further. Yeah, great vocal performance. good stuff.

Yeah, I need to adjust the pickups on my old bass because it only likes my E string ...so my mixing of it suffers. I happen to like this song enough to do that and go back and rerecord the bass. I may do that in the near future.

The first 10 seconds indeed features an unqualified person playing guitar. My wife. I took this idea and made it the entire song although she only appears in it for those first few seconds. (She's so bad at this that I had to break out my old Washburn 6 string because the action is better in order for her to even hold down two strings to play ...what you heard.)

To note, the version I sent in has some really bad mastering issues so I did remix and (*cough loudly) remastered it.

http://www.breadboxstudios.com/sound/Ho ... deShow.mp3
(It's just here for it to be here, I am not asking for a re-upload or anything at all... just providing a more listenable version for anyone who wants it.)

Anyway, thanks for the feedback, I definitely appreciate it! (especially the Jello Biafra reference!)

[Caravan Ray]

Caravan Ray - Is there a garageband setting for Vague Ghost Reggae?

I am actually using this competition to learn how to use Logic



But reggae? Even vague ghost reggae? Have you ever heard reggae? I think Bob Marley is turning in his grave.

Next time please. Can we have judges who some sort of basic musical knowledge?

Reggae. lol.

[mo]

quick hitz:

Add: I really like lots of bits of the verse vocal melody, but the chantiness of the chorus melody feels a little generic. I also really like the structure of the songwriting, which keeps a lot of interest going through the whole thing. Are you deliberately limiting yourself to pretty much organ and drums only for instrumentation, or does it just seem that way bc I'm not paying enough attention? There's bits in the song where I feel like a couple other layers to add build and tension that you can release would be useful, but again, that's just an off-the-cuff thought. I also think this is a pretty good lyric! I felt it very strongly as I was seeing posts about the latest presidential polling on my feed hahaha.

Caravan Ray: I am also in the process of learning to use Logic haha. The little melody at the beginning is pretty great. I quite like a lot of things about this song, but I think that the lyric could use a little more crafting--YMMV of course, but I think the question of why the narrator can't give the addressee the love they want, like what makes them "unqualified" could use a little more detail, just a hint or so. My take is that would add a lot of depth. Right now the narrator feels to me like they don't mean it and it's just a way to get out of a situation, which, ok fair enough. I mean what else could you expect from a reggae song, really

Glenn Case: I applaud the bold maximalist choice in approaching the challenge, which is a classic Glenn Case hallmark. The singing of course is strong as usual, especially the trademarked Case Harmonies. I think it won't be surprising that the thing I don't get on with in this song is the groove. The inconsistency of the groove gives me a seasick feeling. Which isn't necessarily bad given the lyrical content, like there's something about it that makes sense, but I can't really hang with it.

Hoblit: Great emotion in the vocal performance. The musical side is a little monotonous for my taste, like I'm waiting for something to change the feel, elevate or depress, or something, and I didn't really feel like I got that. I like the riff at the beginning particularly, and maybe going back to that in between the regular heavy bits here and there would give the whole song spaces to breathe or something. The main riff is also good, so I think it's more a structure thing than a writing thing. I appreciate the topic too, the shell game of corporate business is always a relevant and I can feel your annoyance/pain with it.

Tomorrow: I mean, this is what came out this round, still on our goth rock bullshit thing. Part of what happened is that I got a new overdrive pedal, the Death by Audio Interstellar Overdriver, which apparently was a big pedal for St. Vincent, and I do actually really like it, it has that old amp about to explode vibe in it, and also a couple months ago I was a sucker and bought a CSIDMAN limited edition pedal bc it was on sale, which finally arrived last week. It's the delay pedal based on the sound of a skipping CD player, which tells you how sick I am as a person. So the sounds of those two things are kind of what inspired the riffs that are represented here, and then for some reason it went more metal. Evermind's lyrics about relationship deterioration and feeling "replaced" felt pretty fitting, to me anyway YMMV, and we worked intentionally to try to find a balance between catchy reggae and metal in the vocal melodies, how successful, up to you to decide.