Residents of the USA

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:44 pm

Slackers.

Albatross · Post by **Albatross** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 4:45 pm

chucky wrote:looks like i need to give everybody more time so...
how about another week: is that cool with you folks?
like.. july 22?

Hmm, I would say:

Yes.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 7:01 pm

slacker checking in here...

Rabid Garfunkel · Post by **Rabid Garfunkel** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 9:24 pm

To that, this slacker would say Thank you verra mush for not bein' cruel, baby.

feldspar · Post by **feldspar** » Wed Jul 13, 2005 10:16 pm

I'd be done by now, but I hurt my finger.

Real bad.

Plus, there was this big spider in my studio the other day.

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Sun Jul 17, 2005 10:36 pm

Well, thats fair enough.

And on a completely unconnected note,

Feldspar, did you know your avatar moves exactally to the beat of 'The Shouty Track' by Lemon Jelly? Well, the beginning of it anyway.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:05 am

Dang, I'm out. And I'm probably the longest-term and biggest Residents fan here. Anyone who knew me personally would know it's a travesty that I'm not in this fight. I own a Residents T-Shirt and have been buying their albums religiously when they come out since (gulp) 1980. I've even exchanged personal email with the last remianing original Resident. Damn, but I should fucking be in this fight.

MY LIFE IS TOO BUSY FOR ME TO DO MY MUSIC STUFF. I AM UNHAPPY.

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Mon Jul 18, 2005 8:51 am

Jim of Seattle wrote:Dang, I'm out. ...blah blah blah

Shut up you whining dog.

P.S. I agree with all you said and ditto for me, too

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 4:46 am

alright, so if anybody is still actually in this; you have three days left to submit your entries. i will be accepting late entries; and i think we'll leave voting open for a loooong time.
i only have four entries as of yet so pllllleeeeeeeeeeease, people; get moving.

nyjm · Post by **nyjm** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:01 am

c'mon, folks, you can't let me get walloped by only three other chumps. there's gotta be a looooong list of folks waiting to beat me in this fight.

:-)

njm

j$ · Post by j$ » Tue Jul 19, 2005 7:55 am

Actually given my experience that's not a bad turn out for a specific side-fight.

j$

roymond · Post by **roymond** » Tue Jul 19, 2005 9:42 am

nyjm wrote:c'mon, folks, you can't let me get walloped by only three other chumps. there's gotta be a looooong list of folks waiting to beat me in this fight.

I am waiting, but unfortunately I will have to wait until mid August to do so.

Freddielove · Post by **Freddielove** » Wed Jul 20, 2005 9:21 pm

I can have something by Monday, can't have it for Friday though.

Rabid Garfunkel · Post by **Rabid Garfunkel** » Fri Jul 22, 2005 2:33 pm

Primitive Screwheads are finally done and have shipped something that's damned pretty. For once, heh. Many, many thanks to Morbid Morgan and Freudian Slip for making us sound good!

Now just have to get my solo cover done

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 6:37 am

THE FIGHT IS OPEN FOR VOTING:

go here:
http://roymond.com/coverfight/resipresidents/cover.php

Much thanks to Roy for the nifty voting machine etc etc.

Primitive Screwheads- I got your song, but I'm not at home. I'll get home later this afternoon and upload your song as soon as I do.

j$ · Post by j$ » Sat Jul 23, 2005 9:35 am

Roymond - cute page. I love the graphics! Thanks. (the coverfight links don't work though, and the songfight links are somewhat out of date ... like 'meanwhile' out of date!)

Me: I wondered if the Residents could survive a straight ahead punking up, and of course in the process my straight ahead punk song didn't quite survive the Residents

I am pretty pleased with this.

SB - I like the way the songs join together, but I wish there had been a little more overlapping - rather than song A / Song B - you should have brought back the 'Constantinople' as a backign vocal across the 'President's Daughter' bit and vice versa - that would have made it even more trippy weird. I like the abrupt ending very much.

Noah - I always thought 'peaches' was a dumb song (in a bad way) but this approach seems to work pretty well. Sorry to be a stuck record but the drums don't really add anything - they're not widly out of time, but apart from the lovely roll into the chorus I find them distracting, and I think the song would be improved without them. I think the hegemony of 4:4 is crushing the more natural rhythms of your voice / guitar. Probably a minute too long too (though I like the swell at the end a lot) but I do love your voice and gr playing. There's nothing wrong intriniscly with B'n'G!

Chucky - Even if I didn't owe you three more 'best of' votes, I probably would vote this best based on the fact that the mood is the cloest to the Residents. Really sweet production - the lack of dity guitar makes this a lot clearer - nice panning. Mad, and frightening, just like the Residents. Especially the little nerdy voice coming in at 1.30ish. Nice work!

Primitive Screwheads Pretty damn fine, folks. I don't have a copy of the original to hand, but it seems a pretty faithful cover (with heavier drums). It has that fairground / musical / alien opera feel to it that I remember from the original and love so much about the Residents. Hmmmm, 's'ppose it could have wandered from the template a bit further, but I like it a lot all the same.

Hey what do you know, I would have voted for Chucky anyway

j$

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:20 am

j$ wrote: I wait with baited breath for the Primitive Screwheads' entry ....

it's up now.

j$ wrote: Even if I didn't owe you three more 'best of' votes, I probably would vote this best based on the fact that the mood is the cloest to the Residents. Really sweet production - the lack of dity guitar makes this a lot clearer - nice panning. Mad, and frightening, just like the Residents. Especially the little nerdy voice coming in at 1.30ish. Nice work!

Killer! Thanks man; I really enjoyed making this but I wasnt sure how much anybody would enjoy hearing it. Mine started out as a punk rock version but I scrapped it entirely and decided to go a little more... abstract.

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:38 am

J$ - I love the drumming, and the overall noisiness of the guitar, and the song itself.. Vocals could stand to be a little louder, though. Otherwise, this is an awesome contribution. Totally different than the original work, in the best way possible.

Sausagefest - The drums are a little off in places, but it works fine with the overall wankiness of everything else. I love how the voice is so muffled and distorted. I like how long the beat goes on in between the two songs.. Like J$ already said, though; it would've been a lot more interesting if you'd combined the two songs a little more directly.

Noah - There's a nice spooky ambience to your vocals. Doesn't entirely fit with the tone of the guitar, and the drums throw everything right off. Still a really good track; would've worked better with no drums at all. Also, I love when I hear a song and it sounds like everybody's having a blast playing it; you do.

Extra Credit (me) - Like I said before, I was originally going to do a fast little punk rock version of this same song. I started it, but I had a hard time doing the dramatic end segment of it and actually making it work. Maybe I'll go back to it at some point and put it up on somesongs. Anywho: I'm really glad I didn't because this approach turned out a lot more fun and a lot better (I think). Still don't know how well I managed to do the second half of it; it's really my first attempt at any sort of voice-acting.

Screwheads - By far my favorite entry to this. (Though I'm still gonna be accepting submissions for a while if anybody else still wants to jump aboard). This is beautiful. The vocals, especially the female parts, are crystal clear (something rare in the songfight! world) and I love the synth. Wow. I'm so impressed with this song. Thank you.

Everybody who actually came around did an excellent job here, but it's clear that Primitive Screwheads get my vote. Thanks to everyone for doing an awesome job, not wasting my time, and making me smile.

j$ · Post by j$ » Sat Jul 23, 2005 12:07 pm

chucky wrote:J$ .. Vocals could stand to be a little louder, though..

Yeah, I was trying to hide the fact that I got the words wrong ...

sausage boy · Post by **sausage boy** » Sat Jul 23, 2005 11:52 pm

j$ wrote: SB - I like the way the songs join together, but I wish there had been a little more overlapping - rather than song A / Song B - you should have brought back the 'Constantinople' as a backign vocal across the 'President's Daughter' bit and vice versa - that would have made it even more trippy weird. I like the abrupt ending very much.

Know what, that never occured to me, but its a bloody good idea. I might do something like that when i get a spare moment.

Freddielove · Post by **Freddielove** » Tue Jul 26, 2005 10:30 pm

Hey, aplogies for not getting done with mine. I was happy with how it was shaping up too.

I also didn't get to record my version of I hate you, which I liked, either. I've bought all this fancy pants new equipment and haven't had time to use it.

Anyways, here are some reviews.

Johnny Cashpoint
Wow, nice bottom end (the music that is). Actually its quite bass and drum heavy, which is cool. Love the guitar stabs. Vocals could be more out in front.

Sausage Boy
Like the intro, almost like an old school rap take on the song. The LFOed vocals are a little grating, but no less so than the original. I like the guitar riff, I like the groove to this better than the Resident's version.

Noah McGlaughlin
I can't even hear the original in this. Which is a cool thing. I think the best covers are often those that are so un-derivative of their source as to obscure the memory of the original. The Cowboy Junkies were great at this. Nice guitar playing. I think your voice takes some getting used to, but it's getting there. Still not hearing a whole lot of range, but Eddie Vedder made a career out of having a six note range though.

Extra Credit
I like the way you took the keyborad riff from the original and synched it with the beat. This has a nice groove to it. The chimes are cool. The cirlce panning with everything swirling around with the vocals staying in the center is great. Creates a psychadelic aura. Once again I think I like this better than the Residents version. Good job.

Primitive Screwheads
This is the most staright ahead cover of the group. The Strings and tom fills give it a cool epic 80s feel. Nice female vocals, they are on par with the Residents version.

chucky · Post by **chucky** » Wed Jul 27, 2005 8:46 am

Freddielove wrote:Hey, aplogies for not getting done with mine. I was happy with how it was shaping up too..

finish it up and send 'er to me. i'm still gonna add any submissions i get.