Is It In Yet? (I'm Not Impressed Reviews)

Ryan Rickenbach · Post by **Ryan Rickenbach** » Mon May 30, 2005 9:57 am

Hoorah

Mogosagatai · Post by **Mogosagatai** » Mon May 30, 2005 10:08 am

Oh snap.

Southwest_Statistic · Post by **Southwest_Statistic** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 5:47 pm

B. Ellison – I hear the passion man. This is a good effort for obviously not having the best equipment. The mix is kind of hurting my ears but I'm not sure quite why. Feels like way too much 4000-5000hz on the guitar and not enough 4000-6000hz on the vocals, but I'd have to fiddle with it.

Cavalry – I started writing a serious review with some substantial content, and then you hit the guitar really hard and overdrove the entire mix. Ouch man. Don't do that. I had the volume up.

Ken's Super Duper Band n' Stuff – Very repetitive. Could use some additional variation or instrumentation. Not really catching my attention.

Nutwalls – Interesting, sort of. Once again though, very bland. Very I've-Heard-This-Before.

Puce – Ha ha ha. It's Nickelback. Cool intro. Interesting direction you took the song jumping out of the heavy guitar riff into the undistorted guitar thing. Very catchy attention grabbing mix. Drums sound great. Vocals sound great. Awesome lead at 2:30 or so. Very possible vote.

Rossdurand – I've seen you walk that walk. I've seen you talk that talk. And I'm not Impressed.

Ryan Rickenbach – This has a cool initial vibe. You better not screw it up. This is cool music to listen too while smoking a nice big fat joint. You drums sound like a Casio, but that's probably just because they are.

Sand Castle Surgery – Shuttup, shuttup, shuttup. Next button.

SFO – Da da da de da da de da da de. Nice background noises. This is a cool little addition to the SFO Project. Good work.

Sonicblocks – Nice heavy kick and vintage lead guitar. Intro feels a little long in my opinion. Very late 70's European Punk sound you've got going on very cool. I like the background yelling during the chorus. Good production, especially if you are intentionally going for that vintage sound. Possible vote.

j$ · Post by j$ » Wed Jun 01, 2005 6:26 pm

I really like The SonicBlocks entry, but did the chorus drop out of the envelope when you posted it in?? Great great bass tone though.

Reviews will follow tomorrow.

Ryan Rickenbach · Post by **Ryan Rickenbach** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 7:05 pm

Ross Durand - I can see this song ending a movie where a girl is watching her boyfriend from the back of a taxi cab in the rain. I think it could have used alot more piano. The background vox are nice.

The Cavalry UGPOSDUWFVE - Is this supposed to be a joke? It's not really funny or original. The use of the word "fuck" was somewhat amusing. But other than that, no.

The Sonicblocks - Vocals are a little soft, but maybe thats your impression. Sounds like some 80's pop rock out of the UK. Guitar riffs inbetween the chorus are cool, but the chorus overall is weak. Could have used a solo or some climactic bridge. Possible Vote.

Sandcastle Surgery - Something out of a Mogwai album, perhaps? It was a cool background track, Im hoping you wrote that yourself. Good idea, good execution.

Songfight Orchestra - Whoa. Ummmm. Not sure what to say about this. It's different, that's for sure. Kinda just stopped and went into, well, an orchestra. Cool?

B. Ellison - The singer is having a pretty hard time singing. If you get someone else to sing the vocals, it would be a decent tune. I can't get past the vox, though. On your better notes, you remind me of J. Woodward.

Ken, etc. - I like the song. Good tune to play by a campfire or something. I could have used something else going on in the song, it got a little bland, but it was a good tune. Possible Vote.

The Nutwalls - Aww man. If you had some harmonizing background vox, this would be an awesome song. It has the vintage guitar sound to it, with a fun style. The production is a lil weak, but I really like it. Possible Vote.

Puce - Good production. It sounds ready for the radio. The guitar part is pretty sweet, but it's just not my kind of music. You're a pretty varied guy, so props for that. No way I could make pop rock sound as good as you. Funky bass line. The verse is truly kickass, but the chorus just doesn't click with me. It was fun until I got to the chorus. The whistling is flippin' sweet. Possible vote.

Me - Well, my falcetto voice sucks, we already know that. I am pretty happy with the song. I used yet another drum machine this week and I think it turned out alright. I need to turn the volume up in general...It sounds pretty hollow for my setup.

My vote goes to...Ill have to sleep on it.

king_arthur · Post by **king_arthur** » Wed Jun 01, 2005 9:16 pm

The Old Guy Sez:

B. Ellison

Guitar and vocals seem like they're occupying the same sonic space...
you might try eq'ing the guitar to leave room for the voice. You
could probably get away with encoding at a lower frequency (smaller
file size) or variable bitrate without sacrificing sound quality.
Ken's song was done at 128k and sounds very nice...

Ken's Super Duper Band n' Stuff

Love the guitar sound. Lyric nice 'n' loud and interesting to boot.
Definite keeper.

Puce

Another very good song. Intro goes on maybe a little song for a SF
song, but I like the way the sound switches when the vocals come
in. Love the lyric. Definite keeper.

Ross Durand

A simple approach that makes a big impact. One comment on the mix -
the guitar and the voices don't sound like they're in the same room...
maybe push 'em all through some of the same reverb send, if you're not
doing that already. Keeper.

Ryan Rickenbach

Verses kinda went right by me without registering... I think maybe
you're singing a melody there that doesn't match up with the words,
that actually works against them. The wrong syllables are accented,
the wrong words are held out. Nice hook in the chorus. Drums stopping
ten seconds short of the end seemed weird to me...

Sandcastle Surgery

The out-of-tuneness and off-the-beatism of the instrumental track
tende to distract my attention from the voiceovers... and the whole
style of the music bed doesn't seem like it expresses anything that
relates to the words. It's an okay piece of music, but I don't know
that it's anything the folks at NPR would have chosen for this story.

Song Fight Orchestra

I haven't been following the SFO process at all, so I'll just pass
on commenting...

The Cavalry UGPOSDUWFVE

What you said.

The Nutwalls

I like what's going on in the verses, but when the backing vocal comes
in, everything kinda mushes together and I don't really hear any of it.

The Sonicblocks

Smalltown Mike did a "laundry list" sort of song like this for "Mean to
Me;" his worked because he came up with a very creative and cleverly
expressed list. This one seems a bit predictable and ordinary. This
sort of lyrical structure doesn't really lend itself well to "second verse,
same as the first!" Playing and recording are well done, the song just
didn't hit me as hard as it seemed like it oughta... may have also
suffered a little 'cause I listened in alpha order, so by this time I'd
already heard everybody else's approach to the title...

Vote: Puce, although I'd probably choose the 2:57 radio edit over the 3:44
album version...

j$ · Post by j$ » Wed Jun 01, 2005 11:44 pm

Almost entirely, I am impressed. Thought I'd get that in before anyone else.

B Ellison - like this a lot in a trippy early 90s way ... there are things wrong with this - vocals are weirdly placed, certain things are out of tune (i think the guitar is slightly out of tune) - the drums sound a little distant - it's all crash and hat in my speakers - having said that it's a good tune.

Cavalry - Garage round my parts is pronounced garridge. Meta-music bores me. Shoulda ended on the strike at 1.05 imo

Ken - Nice! I dunno what else to say

Nutwalls - I really like the verses here. The only things I would change are in the 'chorus' - double-track / harmony - and have a wall of guitars behind it. Other than that it's a pretty infectious groove. Good.

Puce - Oh yeah. The intro is twice as long as it needs to be ... but this is great.

Ross Durand - you do what you do so well. This is very wistful, almost sad. There are elements of 80s rock ballad to this, but the fragility of the vocal and a few of the lines 'You don't deserve a life like this' take it to a different place. Smart.

Ryan Rickenbach - it's a bit quiet - the music compared to the vocals I mean. Like the harmonies on the chorus. Could do with a nice wriggly bassline. Pretty tune.

Sandcastle Surgery - I love faked samples. These are all you doing voices, right? What it sounds lik (at least until the woman comes in)Nice little shuffly groove. A very good length. Sweet.

SFO - Ha! Should have ended at the clap! Although I guess it did! Very good!

SonicBlocks - i love absolutely everything about this except the way you pronounce the very list line and more importantly, the weak chorus. This should go huge and instead it goes for a minimalised version of the verse. That's a huge shame. This is crying out for a nice little new wave singalong. Great bass tone. Sweet devo-esque sparkly, spidery guitar. Non-fussy, well recorded drums, great mix, entertaining sneering list lyric ('you're not all that bad' made me smile) - just that lack of a chorus really bothers me.

Nutwalls or Puce for me. SonicBlocks coulda should woulda, but hey I am a sucker for a singalong chorus and i feel a little bit cheated

nyjm · Post by **nyjm** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 3:32 am

B. Ellison
- bring the vox up in the mix
- that crash cymbal is killing me
- rock-out guitars, but maybe a bit too much reverb

The Cavalry UGPOSDUWFVE
- polemic but superfluous

Ken's Super Duper Band n' Stuff
- love the guitars; good tone, good rhythm
- really like the effects on the vox
- the little keyboard/bell thing is a really nice touch

The Nutwalls
- great groove!
- sounds like the violent femmes; this is a good thing
- really like the vox on the chorus

Puce
- RAWK! devil sign, head-banging, tongue-lolling RAWK!
- nice understated, grooving verse
- the whistling makes me laugh; it's so incongruous

Ross Durand
- musically, very pretty; a nice balance of instruments and good panning
- the lyrics in the first two verses don't grab me; the third verse is very much improved. maybe the first two verses should be a little less explicit

Ryan Rickenbach
- the whole mix seems distant, especially the drums
- nice vocal harmonies
- decent, but not stand-out

Sandcastle Surgery
- NPR! YAY!
- the lead guitar seems a little out of time at moments
- a really great way to make your statement; phunt, etc. should take notes

Song Fight Orchestra
- yup, SFO bits are definitely getting longer and longer
- this is great; what a fabulous build!
- why not stop at the clap sound?

The Sonicblocks
- great bass groove; it really drives the whole song
- repetitive
- the breakdown is nice, but it should lead to a a full-blown solo or a really cascading chorus

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 5:27 am

Just had a quick listen - I'll try to do reviews later - just wanted to say - All hail the Nutwalls! We are not worthy!! That is very, very cool

Egg · Post by **Egg** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 7:01 am

nyjm wrote:
Sandcastle Surgery
- NPR! YAY!
- the lead guitar seems a little out of time at moments
- a really great way to make your statement; phunt, etc. should take notes

And we are. Avidly. Awesome track.

AngryKowala · Post by **AngryKowala** » Thu Jun 02, 2005 8:18 am

And we are. Avidly. Awesome track.

i am in your debt eternally.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 8:32 am

Adam! · Post by **Adam!** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:17 am

Jim of Seattle wrote:Recorded reviews: Puce
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding14.wav

Hey, thanks for the vote of confidence, Jim. Just to address your comments about repetitious chords at the end of the chorus: that was my favourite part of the song when I was recording because at the end of every chorus I play a really really ugly chord (B D D#, IIRC) instead of the one your ear has come to expect. The problem is that after I drown the guitar out with bass and vocals it’s almost impossible to tell. You can hear it pretty well at 2:27 and 3:37. I don’t know if that makes any difference, so just consider this my Fun Fact of the Day.

Don’t forget to spay and neuter your pets. I mean vote.

Reviews will follow as soon as I get home today.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 9:45 am

Thanks for the feedback on this week's SFO. These are hard to stand on their own, but I think most of them actually do. Of course, they are meant to live together...I hadn't been following it that close until I had to submit a segment, and now it's so cool that all these people contributed to an on-going work.

nyjm wrote:Song Fight Orchestra
- yup, SFO bits are definitely getting longer and longer
- this is great; what a fabulous build!
- why not stop at the clap sound?

OK, so here's the scoop: the static leading right up to the climax is actually the entire SFO backwards (well, I guess it was missing a couple) and condensed to, like, 6 seconds. Sort of a Kubrick gimmick, leading back to rebirth ("until we see with newborn eyes") ... thus the clap (slap) and the infant's cries. The reversed reverb swell brings back the first SFO segment (Jim was trying to remember who this was:) )as a recapitulation with the cries overlayed.

Ryan Rickenbach wrote:Songfight Orchestra - Whoa. Ummmm. Not sure what to say about this. It's different, that's for sure. Kinda just stopped and went into, well, an orchestra. Cool?

Thanks, but where does it go into an...orchestra?

King A wrote:I haven't been following the SFO process at all, so I'll just pass on commenting...

Well, now you can listen to the whole thing (to date) spliced together. I think you'll enjoy it!

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 10:03 am

Puce wrote:The problem is that after I drown the guitar out with bass and vocals it’s almost impossible to tell. You can hear it pretty well at 2:27 and 3:37. I don’t know if that makes any difference, so just consider this my Fun Fact of the Day.

Yes, I did hear that chord. I remember thinking that it was attractively ugly, and wondered why I hadn't noticed it earlier. I actually was going to mention that in the review, but I forgot.

Adam! · Post by **Adam!** » Fri Jun 03, 2005 7:07 pm

Reviews:

B.Ellison

First Impression: Could this song be more out of phase? No, probably not.

I like that guitar tone, it sounds very authentic. The vocals don’t do much for me until you hit the chorus, where you start to exhibit all the good aspects of Kurt Cobain’s voice. Messy timing hurts this song quite a bit. I can’t hear any part of the drums other than the hat and the ride cymbal. I like the chord changes the most, and the melody less. Good song, but ultimately the performance and the mix kills it. 5

Cavalry and Whatnot

First Impression: Somebody wishes they were Dan the Apathetic.

Pretty much no redeeming qualities here. It sounds like someone’s trying really hard to sound like they didn’t try very hard. Dan pulls this stuff off better, because he has a certain in-effable disarming charisma (This is where I find out this is Dan’s friend or something). I like the line “It’s just dirty dirty”. I like the chord changes. The ‘fuckin’s walk the fine line between stupid and stupidly enjoyable. 2

Ken’s Soupiddy Doupiddy Band

First Impression: “There is… a house… in New Orleans…”

Second Impression: Are you singing through a comb?

The chord changes are good, as is the strumming, but the percussion is sooooo minimal. The vocals sound like they were well preformed, but something crazy is happening to them, like they’ve been put through 6 harmonic enhancers in a row. I think the verses sound too much like the chorus. The keys at 1:30 are a nice touch. There’s a really good song in here with some great lyrics and clever turns-of-phase, I just wish it was more developed and dynamic. 7

Nutwalls

First Impression: Ouch. I wonder if this guy sounds like this when he speaks.

I really like the bass, which is a good thing, because it’s about 40% of this song. The lead vocal is a touch too nasal for me, and the backing vocals are distractingly out of tune in places. I don’t like the tone of that guitar one bit. All the criticisms aside, this is really fun song, especially the infectious chorus. The lyrics are pretty much hilarious, especially "Watchtower, etc... I could never be a Mormon: I like my coffee in the morning". The verse after the solo is better if you read this comic at the same time. Hey, we both have a line about TV being mediocre. 8

Ross Durand

First Impression: First SongFight submission about Paris Hilton?

The guitar is very well recorded, but the recording quality of the vocals sounds much worse. Maybe there’s a Bob Dylan vocal filter out there that I don’t know about. Maybe it’s just the impersonal reverb. Those backing vocals sound so good. The keys are mixed at the perfect volume. The balance between the guitars feels left-heavy. Ugh, clipping in an acoustic song ruins the mood. Good rhymes, for the most part, but the repetition gets a little too... repetitive (argh!). 5

Ryan Rickenbach

First Impression: *Head Bopping*

Here’s an example of a song that is great regardless of recording quality. I do wish the falsetto parts didn’t sound so quavery (a word?). In fact the vocal level jumps around a bit, like you sway away from the mic at times. I’d usually recommend a compressor to level those out, but because you’re using a mic with a strong proximity effect (SM50-something?) this would take a multi-band compressor to fix. That guitar tone is pretty bad. The drum machine screams “DRUM MACHINE!” a little too loud, IMO. Thankfully the chord changes and melody absolutely floor me, and the performance is good. This would be a hit if it was well produced. 9

Sandcastle Somethingerother

First impression: Man, I love politics and mandolin noodling. Hold on, no I don’t.

Second Impression: Yeah, that pretty much sums up how I feel. 3

SFO

First impression: Neat.

Great ending to this experiment. The build sounds so epic. I really like how the track wraps around and samples the first orchestra entry. But, the sum of the whole is better then it’s parts, and I will never listen to this again. 4

Sonic Blocks

First Impression: Cheesiest drums ever.

Second Impression: Best bass tone ever.

That very compressed bass tone owns, as does the guitar tone. The fake drums are stabbing this song in the heart. The vocals are too spoken/wordy and repetitive for me. This song reminds me of some band I can’t put my finger on. Catchy, but tedious. 6

Puce

First Impression: \m/ d-_-b \m/ (if I do say so myself)

Mine. I restricted myself to a 3 piece arrangement so I could practice this with my band-in-progress. I usually record guitar 2-bars at a time and then loop the best takes, but all this talk of rockin’ the fuck out made me want to record a song in just one long take (I still ended up doing a few). After listening to some SonOfSupercar recently I was brainwashed into sneaking some really ugly chords into this song. I mastered this differently than I usually do, which made the drums way too bass-y and the vocals way too trebly. Lastly, I tried 4 new things in this song: funky guitar playing, whistling, keyboard drumming, and vocal harmonies (octave harmonies don’t count). All in all this song was a pleasant trip to simple-ville.

If it’s anybody it’s Ryan. Awesome song.

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:28 pm

B. Ellison> As much as I hate to be lacking in constructiveness: I'm sorry.. I'm not impressed.

Cavalry UGPOSDUWFVE> I get it, and it's funny. At least, it -was- funny for the first minute. Should've ended there. Are you being sarcastic, though, or is this a direct response to people's critisicm? If it's the latter; fuckin grow the fuckin fuck up. People are allowed to say anything they want to say about your song.

Ken> Glad to see that you still kick ass. I love this song and everything about it. Definitely a keeper. </asskiss>

Nutwalls> Sorry. Can't put my finger on it, but I don't particularly like this song. Did you realize you are singing We Didn't Start the Fire?

Puce> You had me at DUHNDUHN mininini. This is so rockoutable I don't even need to say anything because music like this already knows how great it is. The verses are a little Red Hot Chili Peppers white-funk, and the chori are a tad Offspring for my liking. But to tell you the truth; this whups their sorry California asses. Also the lyrics are supergood. I tend to focus on the music more, for some reason, when I'm listening to songfights; but yeah.. Lyrics. Good. This song is probably my favorite this week period. I almost don't need to listen to the last five. Fuck you, for being so good. I'm impressed.

Ross Durand> The music reminds me of NQ Arbuckle; but the vocals and lyrics don't live up to his stuff at all. I still like it, though. A lot. If it wasnt for Puce kicking the ass of everybody else here, a definite favorite.

Ryan Rickenbach> Kinda weak. The guitar is almost completely inaudible and the vocals don't really fit that well. The backup vocals are kinda off too. I do like the way you faded the drums out at the end though. You could, and should, turn this into a really rockin' song, don't be afraid to crank your levels up a bunch. I like the groove, but like I said: kinda weak. I'm not impressed, no more, no less.

Sand Castle Surgery> Yeah.. I'm not too impressed about that either. Does this fit the music at all? I guess I just don't get it. I'm also not too impressed about this entry.

Songfight Orchestra> I'm just coming back after aobut eight months of absense, and I don't know who or what Songfight Orchestra is; but I love this song. Somewhat Floyd-ian, but I don't know what it means or what it relates to. I'll look into this a little deeper soon. I'm intrigued.

Sonic Books> Not sure if you're going for garage rock or radio-"indie"-rockternative. Either way: this is fun. I like it a lot. Not a favorite, but a keeper.

Favorite: Puce. By a long shot.
Honorable mentions: Sonic Books, Ross, Ken's...

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:32 pm

Brandan Ellison - this is a fun song. Good dynamics and use of dissonance. While it suffers from some performance and production issues, it's engaging and rocking. I like the guitar work a lot, especially in the bridge, nice changes there! This sounds like Dr Worm in Jr High.

Ross Durand - This has a real sincere musical arrangement
and the performance is fab. But lyrically it's so superficial it just doesn't take me anywhere, which is disappointing. It has the potential to be very potent.

Ryan Rickenbach - Nice, light and poppy. I find the symmetrical vocal phrases are too repetitive, combined with the sha-na-nas and the chorus that goes nowhere (despite the nice change at the) and I'm very bored.

Sandcastle Surgery - So close to the NPR week in review ("here are some of the sounds from the past week in news"). Perhaps you should submit it to their program manager and see about a gig? Nice idea and contemplative accompaniment to your editorial presentation but not really distinct enough from their own wrap-ups.

Sonic Blocks - Love the bass sound and Devo guitar. I'm not impressed by repeating the title over and over and over and over. Should be 2:00, tops. Won't stand up to re-plays.

Puce - Baby this grabs me, yeah! Love the dynamic and tone changes. Nice slide-up in the clean verse guitar. I've always loved heavy metal whistle solos, too. I wish the refrain would mix it up a bit more ("if all you want is mediocre...") Great mix & production. There's a lot going on and it all makes it through. The vocal harmonies and incidental guitar noises are icing. Really awesome, this! *vote*

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:35 pm

chucky wrote: I'm just coming back after aobut eight months of absense...

Welcome back! and your Residen[ts] avatar is the bank

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sat Jun 04, 2005 3:46 pm

roymond wrote:
chucky wrote: I'm just coming back after aobut eight months of absense...
Welcome back! and your Residence avatar is the bank

Why shwank you.

Fusty Nut · Post by **Fusty Nut** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 1:23 am

chucky wrote:
Nutwalls> Sorry. Can't put my finger on it, but I don't particularly like this song. Did you realize you are singing We Didn't Start the Fire?

Thanks for the feedback, chucky. We know that not everyone can like our songs. And that's okay.

However, instead of trying to place your finger on it, try putting your ear on it. We're not singing "We Didn't Start the Fire". In fact, we have more in common with the other nine contestants in this songfight, since we're all singing, "I'm not Impressed".

Now, because we list off a series of tv products, religions, and telephone solicitations in a rhyming fashion, we are using a similar technique, but I doubt the song police will arrest us for rhyming.

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sun Jun 05, 2005 5:19 am

Fusty Nut wrote:We're not singing "We Didn't Start the Fire". In fact, we have more in common with the other nine contestants in this songfight, since we're all singing, "I'm not Impressed".

Now, because we list off a series of tv products, religions, and telephone solicitations in a rhyming fashion, we are using a similar technique, but I doubt the song police will arrest us for rhyming.

I realize you're not singing literally the same song; but it sounded so similar that I just couldn't get around it. Nobody's going to arrest you, but .. uh.. I am going to.. molest you... Yeah.

Is It In Yet? (I'm Not Impressed Reviews)

Is It In Yet? (I'm Not Impressed Reviews)

It was always burning since the world's been turning

Re: It was always burning since the world's been turning