Status Quo for the review thread (One Less reviews)

[Bjam]

Abecedarian
Nice guitar, the beginning sounds kinda like you're just jamming and playing whatever goes into your head. The vocals/lyrics can't be understood, so it's just like one big guitar-jam to me. Good, but nothing special.

Bjam
Just me with angsty emo lyrics about a friend that never shuts up about her damn boyfriend being at the shore. It's very annoying to hear her go on and on and on, so I made fun of her in a song she'll never know the true meaning behind The production is, as always, crappy.

Chuck Chuck Moose
The drums are very toe-tappy. The guitar gets pretty old pretty quick, and nothing here really grabs me. The short 'oohs' are kinda nice.

Dark Liberty
Ooh, I like the bass. The music's really good, but then the vocals are just... not that good. Get a singer and a better band name and you'll be fine. Fadeouts are just damn cheesy.

Future Boy
Heh, the stream paused at "fres...co". Very nice, but that's not really your doing. I really like this. Gratuitous cheesy poppy goodness.

Gert
Oh, Gert, you crazy Canadians. I don't... I dunno, I'm not a big fan of you guys. There's a lot going on and it goes on for 5 minutes(exactly, nice). If this fight was going on live infront of me and I knew how long this would be, this is when I'd go to the bathroom. It's good, there's just nothing grabbing me. The drums are very nice though. Ended up skipping about 3 minutes in. Good intentions, just very long and boring.

Glenn Case
Very pretty guitar. This is just a really sweet song. The harmony/double vocal thing you've got going on in the chorus is real nice. This reminds me of Rocky Horror, and I have no idea whatsoever why. Now I need to go back to drinking my drink.

HEFTY
This sounds like something I'd hear at my openmic. Not sure if that's a good or bad thing, but definitely something. It's nice, the vocals are a little eh, but y'know, I've heard worse on here. Kinda generic song. *shrug* For a 3:39 song, you didn't really change it up all that much. The ending is kinda... sudden. Maybe that's just me. Nothing's grabbing me, although this is good.

Hostess Mostess
This is good, but it's just not grabbing me in anyway. I think because the vocals are kinda dirty compared to the percussion, I'm being more enticed toward the percussion than the vocals. Whether that's a good thing or not I dunno. I like the whispered-y vocals just before 2 minutes. The flutey/ocarina/keyboard thing you've got going on reminds me of Zelda: Ocarina Of Time. Then it goes back to the 'Bang' thing, which is pretty nice. The little "Uh"s are nice too. Good, just not grabby.

id3 tag
I have no idea what your vocals are because your piano is far too loud. Which means this song is just random noise on a piano.

Jay String
I always like your vocals as they remind me of home. I go all "Aww, Britland accents" and this synthy noise is really good, although I personally don't like the dirty/fuzzy bassline thing. The rest is pretty damn good though.

Kamakura
Whenever I see your name I think of "Karma Chameleon" by Culture Club and start humming that. This seems to drag to me, and just doesn't interest me. I like the vocals, but the song as a whole just isn't what I dig.

Marti Mar
Eh, it's not bad it's just so bland to my ears. Really really bland. I'm so very unmoved by this I can't think of anything to say. Um. Who did the quoted-y bits at the beginning and end? They're nice.

Ross Durand
The guitar is nice, your vocals are a little strained, but not too bad. It's very short and I could see this pretty nice with drums and 'stuff'.

Steve Durand
This was pretty fun. Except it reminds me of my school's horrible performance of Romeo and Juliet where we had a narrator and everyone had cowboy hats and overalls/dungarees. The performance was pretty painful, but this wasn't. The horns and the little... keyboard/high pitched thing going against one another was cute.

Wayward Sway
Slow and annoying vocals. I like the little riffy-note thing you've got going on, but seriously, please don't keep it at that for 1:44. Nothing happens all song.

I'm not sure who I like most this week. Glenn and Futureboy both have nice songs. Hm. I'll think about it.

[nuero]

Maybe I'll make a version of my song with guitar and it will be considered a quality song on here.

[GlennCase]

Maybe I'll make a version of my song with guitar and it will be considered a quality song on here.

Guitar does not necessarily equal quality, however. There are plenty of crappy songs with guitar in the archives.

There is surely a high concentration of guitarists on songfight, but that doesn't mean that guitar-based songs are the only good songs on here... Far from it.

I will give you 3 great examples of keyboard based songs in the archives that are amongst my favorites.

<a href="http://www.songfight.org/artistpage.php ... uff">Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff</a> - <a href="http://www.songfight.org/music/why_are_ ... k.mp3">Why Are You Making Me Kick You Out</a>

<a href="http://www.songfight.org/artistpage.php ... ome_guy">I Dunno, Some Guy</a> - <a href="http://www.songfight.org/music/brown_bo ... mp3">Brown Boxes</a>

<a href="http://www.songfight.org/artistpage.php ... >Milwaukee Youth Center Choir</a> - <a href="http://www.songfight.org/music/video_ni ... mp3">Video Night</a>

I can't speak for everyone here, but many of us like a good quality song regardless of the instrumentation.

I can say that my standards may be a little skewed, due to knowing that songfight has produced some really incredible material. Maybe I expect more of the entries than some, but that's just me. Also: My two cents.

ROCK!

Glenn (DR FUNK)

[thehipcola]

Gert-I guess you Gert guys think you're pretty good, huh? Well founded, I guess...

What do you mean by that? Uhh...we like the music we're making, but we're not really trying to convey smuggity and arrogance wiht it...we're just enjoying the synergy that's happening in this project. Thanks for the nice review, but what did you mean by that...what about the song leads you to believe we "think we're pretty good"? Just curious...

Cheers!

[thehipcola]

Gert
Oh, Gert, you crazy Canadians. I don't... I dunno, I'm not a big fan of you guys.

Sad times....oh well...at least you listened to 2 minutes. Thanks Bjam! BTW, There is one Bostonian in the mix...it's not just a bunch of crazy canucks... Boltoph is representin' in heeyah.

[tonetripper]

<b>Abecedarian</b> I find that the ideas are loose in making it for the title. As always I'm a massive fan of the tonality of your voice. The tune sounds like it needs refining. Sounds jammed which is cool, but you can still jam while maintaining some better mixing and production.

<b>Bjam</b> The noise floor is unbearable in this song, but I look past it and hear some real excellence in the songwriting department. Also the execution is great. Just wish you were a little more nit-pickity in the production department, because you got some great talents in your songwriting. Good honest music and excellent writing. Possible vote, but I'm not keeping it cuz the production is so weak.

<b>Chuck Chuck Moose</b> Wow this is so reminiscent of Steve Miller meets BTO I can't even begin. With a little David Wilcox mixed in. I guess my real issue is that it emulates so hard that classic rock era music, that I find it hard to buy for the title. All the parts are there, especially the solo, but it's not very original. Good ideas just needed something to pull it out of it's tribute.

<b>Dark Liberty</b> The gating is cool as is the bass tone. I dig that. Keep it coming guys. I find the talking style vocals doesn't help in making the sound more mature. Sing and rip into that bitch. Sounds like the music is great, but with really bad vocals. Fade out is wrong. Just wrong. Keep it coming. There have been some great submissions by you so far, you just need to find that missing thing that puts it over the edge.

<b>Future Boy</b> The chorus is sooooo catchy. I love all the little parts. I can almost see you rockin' on the keytar a la Gary Newman in this tune. This is great!!!! CONTENDER.

<b>Gert</b> I love so much about this as it gets rolling. The lyrics by STM rule as does the swaggering performance especially the drunken ending. 42 tracks has to be a record. I love our internet band. Never before have I felt so much congruity with other players without even having met most of them before. This grows on me with more listens cuz the playing is sooooo hot. Leaf rules the skins. I find Des's vocals in the chorus sounds a lot like the lead singer of Bush. Someone should sign us. Kudos for THC rockin the mix. He always gets stuck with the last minute downloads. He done Gert proud.

<b>Glenn Case</b> Great guitar playing. I know how long this took you so I have to tell you that this rules for the time that it took to create and record. My major complaint is the hissing in the B/G. Natural sounding sure, but covering up the computer noise would help it. This is a great song. CONTENDER.

<b>HEFTY</b> There are some shining moments in this tune, but also some moments where I cringe cuz the originality is so lost. The direct guitar is something I'm not crazy about. The drums sound great. Good ideas, but I think in general they needed to be refined further. Mostly in the melody department is where I think it suffers. The melody is too obvious. Everything sounds good, but I just get left with the feeling that this has all been done before as a demo. There is no hook.

<b>Hostess Mostess</b> The chorus rules. For that this could easily get my vote. My major criticism isn't in the songwriting dept, but in the production department. I feel like there could be more in the lower end or cut a little more of the 1K stuff. Great moments. I could easily vote for this for the hook of the chorus. Nicely done.

<b>id3 tag</b> The noise floor is terrible. I don't fault you in the songwriting department, but generally this song is bland and the nose floor doesn't help your cause.

<b>Jay String</b> The dirty synth is awesomely cool. I guess the major beef I have with a lot of j$ submissions, as of late, is the major movements that keep occurring. I wish there were more minor moments in the chorus'. The keyboard line reminds me of a classical piece of music that I can't remember the name of, but has been used in countless commercials. It's almost as if the heavy techno gets killed by the major movement in that keyboard line. For me it is its udoing.

<b>Kamakura</b> The opening music is really cool. When the vocals come in it doesn't disappoint. There are very Tom Waits-ian moments in this. I wish you had gone dirtier in that regard. Pretty good, but there are better written songs in this fight. Production A +.

<b>Marti Mar</b> Man I love the space backing tracks..... and the sample moment of Fear and Loathing is great with Johnny Depp. Good job on that. Really works. Totally fits the rhythm. The rap is pretty good, but after a while even with a good groove it gets a little monotonous. You needed to break it up more. Nice job. I'm keeping that one. I may even vote for it.

<b>Ross Durand</b> Great songwriting. From your track record, to be expected from one of the Durands. I guess I find it too obvious. Obvious isn't bad in terms of the title, but I find often that your tunes are too easy in the conception ring. Try harder to think outside the box.

<b>Steve Durand</b> This is hilarious. I love the spaghetti western moment. And it doesn't disappoint when I hear the horse trailing away. The horn work is fantastic. This is about as movie music as one can get. There is very little I don't love about this. Easily could get my vote. Great work in interpreting the title. Very clever.

<b>Wayward Sway</b> Sounds like my number one SF lady Freudian Slip. I've missed her lyrical masterpieces. I absolutely love the music and the way it all co-incides with one another. My biggest beef is that I don't uderstand a single word of this. That kills it for me.

So this is one of those fights where songwriting can take out production. For this I could easily vote for a couple of stand-outs. Bjam was great as was Glenn's. I also really enjoyed the Steve Durand version of the tune. Very seldom have I really enjoyed and thought that an instrumental could move me for the title and this is one of those rare moments. I'm gonna take the weekend to consider. STM's lyrics rocked the title. I'm not bias to the gert, as I was just a playa on that tune, but his writing is some of the best here. We all write the music in various ways, but he cooked in terms of the title on the lyrical frontier. It's really between Bjam, Glenn, Steve and Gert. I'll be listening again to decide.

[marti_mar]

bjam, the quotes i sampled from Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas, and id agree they are the only thing that fits the song.


much love, tonetripper

[tonetripper]

ahhhhh Fear and Loathing.... good job on that one. I'm gonna change my review according.... I knew it was Hunter S, I just didn't remember which movie and got the Bill Murray one confused with the J Depp. That moment was frickin cool.

Love,
tt

[deshead]

I will give you 3 great examples of keyboard based songs in the archives that are amongst my favorites.

Glenn are you a librarian by trade? Dude, you totally 0WN the archive!!!

[thehipcola]

Lonbobby also has some sweet gems that are for the most part (if not totally) guitar-less.

just a thought....

Glenn is the Lord of the Archive...that guy is awesome!

[Kamakura]

<b>Gert</b>
Someone should sign us.

Thinking things like this can lead to expensive laundry bills...

<b>Kamakura</b>
Production A +

I take this as such a huge compliment I will be endeavoring to start a record company. As for 'better written songs', I totally agree. I'm going through an experimental stage using loops at present. The cat isn't happy either.

[tonetripper]

Thinking things like this can lead to expensive laundry bills...

hahahahaha..... wait till you see our next set of get-ups...... Boltoph is working on the next one.

[thehipcola]

<b>Abecedarian</b>
Nice lead tone in the intro...like the panning. Not sure about the tranition between parts. I find the vocal doesn't quite hit the mark pitch wise or clarity wise...but I like what I think you are trying to do. The drum programming is ok, but it's too up front in the mix. There isn't enough solidness underpinning this song...I really want to get into it..but it keeps turning me away at the door. Your voice quality though, is great. I really like your voice. And I like the ambition you always have with it.

<b>Bjam</b>
Wow...you have a beautiful voice Bjam! I believe that somehow this is the first of your tunes I've heard. I wish, like TT, for more focus on production, but that will come...right? I also wish for you to record while everyone is out of the house so you can really reach down and sing it like you mean it. This is a very nice song. You've crafted a beautiful melody. It needs you to sing with yourself in harmony and unison...it needs strings...but it's a fantastic core. And it does have that great line. Nice job. Keeper.

<b>Chuck Chuck Moose</b>
This is kind of groovy. The thing that's in my craw is that nothing seems to be in the same room. I find the lead vocal is a bit too back in the room delay or whatever it is. This would be a good bar tune...I could drink beer to this and nod my head, check out chicks and whatnot. The mix is flat flat flat. Needs real drumming bad. But otherwise not bad at all.

<b>Dark Liberty</b>
Dude...I don't know how you do it. Your bass is always snotty and get's me into things right away. Your voice is either too young or too apathetic..like you don't or can't care...but it bugs me. You need to sing more talk less. Scream, define a melody, whatever!! I want to dig this..but it aint happening.....yet. Keep it up. I meant "yet"...

<b>Future Boy</b>
Nice fat synths. I find your voice, which is awesome and very melodic, does not have enough presence throughout this song. Backups are awesome and really get my foot tapping. This a really great fun tune...definite keeper, possible vote contender. The ending surprises me..you could get more mileage out of that chorus..as in, one more time man! Nice work. Mix is great, btw.

<b>Gert</b>
I had this big long review that just basically gushed about Gert and itemized all the awesome things I liked about the song and who specifically did what parts..and then it struck me...who really cares? So, I cut that. I'll just say, expect more from Gert. We're having way too much fun to stop. Thanks for listening and especially reviewing! SongFight! rules.


<b>Glenn Case</b>
Those guitars sound fantastic nice and wide like that. And it's very well played. What a pretty piece of music! Your voice is classic! Wow, there is nothing to not like about this song. This is one of those timeless pieces of music that could have existed anytime in the last 30 years, and the next 30 as well. Great job Glenn! Keeper, possible vote.

<b>HEFTY</b>
Love the opening chords...nice guitar playing..nice cymbal sounds for this song. I'm missing the punch of the drums though at 1:10 when it starts to groove a bit more..it's too hot in the 8-12k department. You have a nice voice, but I bet it's tricky to mix with...that kind of character can be tricky to preserve in a mix. This song is quite good..not my bag, but I did not mind listening to it one bit. I rather liked the guitar playing especially. The distorted guitar that comes in the chorus sometimes is a bit too bassy...but it adds some nice drive to that part. Nice work..and I'll snag this for my mp3 player. By the 2nd run through, I like it.

<b>Hostess Mostess</b>
Great change at :40. Wow...draws me in...very Gabriel. I really like this song..but I find it lacks...punch. it's thin sounding...there is a lot of air..noise floor type stuff. I like the lyrics alot. One of the great things about this track is it conveys alot with very little. I like the fact that you didn't fill all the spaces up with instrumentation. Your voice is great. You do a great job of vocal delivery. Nice job...contender, and definitely a keeper.

<b>id3 tag</b>
Are you singing into your pc mic while your housemates are sleeping? WTF? Sing man! The keys playing is alright...this could be a much more impressive piece of music if you conveyed your emotion with your voice. Emote man, emote. It's far too short, and I wonder what happened with that. Keep it up..you have something going on.

<b>Jay String</b>
You know what? I think the thing I find awkward about your submissions generally is that you sing in such a low register, I have hard time feeling any vocal energy from you. Obviously its where you like to sing, so I won't bother suggesting you move up the reggy a bit. I just figured that out after one and a half years of listening to the mighty Cashpoint sing. That said..there are some great dark heavy moments of synth bliss in this tune and some nice beats. Weird ending that I liked. The mix I found kind of dull..needs some sparkle..but as I said...really dug some of the synthy bits.

<b>Kamakura</b>
This is great Kamakura! Maybe the best I've heard from you. I love the backing vocals!!! Great inflection on your main vocal too. I like the simplicity of the backing music...lets me focus on what you're singing. Ahh, nice techno break. Hahah...love that the kick is your voice. This is definitely going into my mp3 player. Soo moody. I like that. Great work! I'd say the mix needs more sparkle, but I dont' think it'd work. As it is...it works.

<b>Marti Mar</b>
Ok...I'm diggin this. I like your vocal delivery. I think you need to get closer to the mic, or compress it more or something. I have hard time understanding your lyrics..but I'm listening brother..I'm listening. I like your beats...and again...use of samples is ok by me here...and that's usually not the case. Obviously you need to stretch this tune to 4:20, but I don't think that's gonna happen by the progress bar. Good work man...keeper.

<b>Ross Durand</b>
This is a sad tune. Hope it's not based on your life. I found your voice to be pitchy..and if it's because your love just left you, it's excusable. Otherwise, the song was a bit sparse/simple for me...and maybe a tad short. More of a vignette, really.

<b>Steve Durand</b>
Nice wind sound sample...dig that. This is fabulous so far...nice use of samples, and I say that very rarely. I really like the idea you've got going..but it doesn't hit me with song power. Great use of production and samples...the "outtro" tune is neat...if a bit too happy for the "scene"....but your good at your horn thing. I like that. Great piece of music, not such a great song...if you get me. Keeper.

<b>Wayward Sway</b>
That's a pretty harsh guitar sound...but I like the chording. You know that the lyrics are pretty unintellible right? I resist going to the lyric thread to find lyrics until after reviews, because I figger that pains ought to be made to ensure that the listener without a lyric thread to refer to can grab your vibe. too short, too repetitive, too unintellible. Nice 4 chords tho. This could be an intro to a rather cool piece of music. As it is, it's....nothing, really...


Another great fight. There are some super great great songs in here...Thank you all for taking the time to bring them for all to hear.

[stueym]

Abecedarian – Hmm I like so many aspects of this. Love the guitar but it could use being driven up with some real driving bass and drums to vary the ethereal sound.

Bjam – Hmm what a lyrical genius I have raised  Like Caravan Ray said the other week if only she’d let me collab a bit more and I stopped singing we’d make a killer team. Good job Bjam!

Chuck Chuck Moose – Hmmm this is sweet, I like this a lot. Wish the output was louder cos I wanted it to be as loud and tight as Dark Liberty’s production. I could listen to this lots, like the guitar tone and the playing is very nice.

Dark Liberty – Very good and hard. Bass a little rattly and thin but that’s no real complaint, just would have liked it thicker. Didn’t like the wah’d guitar in the kick down to the outro though. Seemed weak after the main part of the gig. Good job.

Future Boy – Head bopping…FB this is so great. Euro-poppy excellence…Japanese cartoon images running through my head.

Gert – Musically and performancewise a great song. Not sure the discordant style verses are my thing, the chorus is much more enjoyable for me. Very nice guitar solo. As ever excellent production job.

Glenn Case – Nice acc. guitar picking and liked the simple stereo spread. Shame about the background noise would have been nice to have had a more intimate sound to it as I wanted to be wrapped up in this song. Having said that I know this was a last minute so all told a song very worthy of some more production work Glen…and when you do can I have a copy…pretty please 

HEFTY – I like this …the splash cymbal is kinda annoying for my ears, but otherwise this is a great song.

Hostess Mostess – Hmmm Jungly!  …..feels like it could have used a kick up in complexity at 1.00 mark just after chorus. Didn’t like the pipes/flutes bridge…I wanted more jungly drums! Nice job.

id3 tag – fairly high level of hiss on this which was a little annoying. Piano style was annoying me. Not for me I suspect.

Jay String – Hmmmmm drivy…I can see this being another one of those songs that would make me want to speed if I was driving. The dirty bass could be a great background for a gritty industrial chase scene in movie or during an intense level of a game. I like…nice job

Kamakura – When the instru kicks in at 1:30 I wanted more, bigger, fuller to contrast the constrained verses/chant. I must be in that kind of mood on a Sunday morning... time for me to get the AC/DC out Nice job though.

Marti Mar – Nicely done, but not my cup of tea. Agree that the samples from the movie are cool and in keeping with the themes in the lyrics.

Ross Durand – So wanted it to have another couple of verses. Like this and would have preferred with an acoustic rather than clean e/guit. Very nice job just left me unsatisfied as I wanted more.

Steve Durand – LOL….what a great beginning. Agree not sure I could listen to it often, but it would make me smile if it came up on random on the iPod. Horns are great. Squeeze box sounds a little incongruous against those great horns.

Wayward Sway – Hmmm sweet sound, but I really can’t focus on those vocals…would have been better sung straight up.

[chuckstas]

Gert-I guess you Gert guys think you're pretty good, huh? Well founded, I guess...

What do you mean by that? Uhh...we like the music we're making, but we're not really trying to convey smuggity and arrogance wiht it...we're just enjoying the synergy that's happening in this project. Thanks for the nice review, but what did you mean by that...what about the song leads you to believe we "think we're pretty good"? Just curious... :o

Cheers!

You guys gotta relax! I was just giving you a hard time because you won two weeks in a row; joking is kind of hard to convey in text, sorry. I've got absolutely nothing against you guys, I think you're great. So keep on keepin' on...or something.

[thehipcola]

Oh hey man...tough to convey relaxed with text...I (we) are...I thought I put a smiley in there... no sweat dude! I'm not worried..was just curious if you were like, serious about that is all....

Back to your regularly scheduled reviewage!

[Remiss]

Gert- You guys are so good, another great song. If I took issue with any part of this song it'd be the beginning, but this is just so good. The solo about 1/2 in wouldn't usually be my thing, but I really like it in this song. The ending is kind of repetitive, but it doesn't ruin the song or anything. 9.3/10.

Jay String- Well, this is interesting. There's a sort of grating sibilance through the song that doesn't agree with me. I like the kick-in at 2:03 or so, but then it just goes back to what seems like static with some muttering under it. Not a bad song, though. 7.8/10

Marti Mar- Sampling isn't really my thing. I like something about the "rap" part, but then it just goes back to samples that I don't really like. Not my kind of song. 4/10

Dark Liberty- I really dislike your voice, no offense. Yeah, this song isn't doing it for me. I keep waiting for it to finally fade out, but it keeps going.
2.8/10

Bjam- Charcoal and tomorrow don't rhyme Other than that, I liked the song. Slightly above average in every respect. 6/10

Steve Durand- Wow, I like this. And I'm not really one to like songs like this. Yeah, I like this. Although it's not really a song, it's still fun to listen to. 6.5/10

Future Boy- Wow, this is terribly cruel. I like it. I like the lyrics and I like the music and I like the mood it sets. This is really really good. I'm not sure whether I like this better than Gert or not. 9.5/10

Abecedarian- The lyrics are kind of muffled behind the music, and I really don't like the ooohooohooohoooh bit. I can tell there's some musical skill in this song somewhere, and I kept waiting for the song to go somewhere. 4.5/10

Chuck Chuck Moose- Another above average song. Nothing here is really popping out and grabbing me. 7/10

Glenn Case- Decent, you've got a pretty good voice and more importantly, I feel like I can relate to your singing. Good song. 7.2/10

Wayward Sway- I don't like the beginning, I don't like it when the vocals kick in, and I don't like it when I can't understand the lyrics. I wasn't just waiting for it to go somewhere, I was desperately hoping for it to. I don't like this at all. 1.8/10

Hefty- Yes! I really dig the voice. I dislike the lyrics, but I love the way they're delivered. And I really like how it kicks at "How could I...". Feels like it's a minute or so too long, maybe if you had cut it off at "I'll finally be me." 9/10

Kamakura- I read the lyrics to this and thought, "Wow, I'm probably going to hate this, it's probably repeated way too often with crappy looping beats." Well, it is repeated too much, and I don't really like the background, but it's a lot better than I anticipated. 5.9/10

Hostess Mostess- The chorus is really cool, I like how it cut in. "element of su-BANG". Quite a good overall song. And well produced, too. 8/10

Ross Durand- Exactly the kind of song I thought of when I heard the title this week. Pretty good, I can't think of anything in this song I don't like. It's just doesn't have what it needs to be anything better than "pretty good." 8.5/10

id3 tag- I like piano. Most of the time. Not here. I can't really hear your vocals over the piano, but I'm not totally convinced that's a bad thing, from what I can hear. The song's not as bad as I'm making it out to be, but it's not something I'll pick to listen to again. 4/10.

My top three of the fight:
Gert, Future Boy, and Hefty.

My vote goes to either Gert or Future Boy.

My only problem with Gert's song is that it should start later and end earlier, while Future Boy's is the perfect length.

My vote this week is going to Future Boy.

Great fight, everybody.

[mico saudad]

<b>Abecedarian</b> Thanks for all the reviews, all pretty much spot on *and* helpful.

<b>Bjam</b> High noise in the background. Excellent tone of voice. The most helpful suggestion I could make is to suggest focusing more attention on how the voice of the guitar (both in terms of rhythm and chord structures) could begin to accentuate the more complex and varying themes in the vocals. I agree with someone else who said you have great potential.

<b>Chuck Chuck Moose</b> The drums should be louder and thumpier I think. I think if they were this would be an example of good bar-rock.

<b>Dark Liberty</b> Excellent production I can tell from the first couple seconds. The voice is a lot less sure than the music behind it. The music is gorgeous. This feels like if I was a kid again and lived next door to a rockstar and he let me record vocals over his songs. I probably wouldn't have done as well incidentally. Still I would suggest more passion and less hesitancy in the vocals. Mean it.

<b>Future Boy</b> This must be future boy. Your vocals are excellent in this. 'more popular than mine' is great. And the mix is great as usual. I wasn't thinking about reviewing, I just enjoyed it.

<b>Gert</b> Very nicely shaped soundspace. I don't know this group, and I can't place the vocals or guitar work, but I recognize the feel of the drummer. From what? Boon Liver's 'Baseball vs. Opera' is what I'm thinking of. This is very well constructed. A little amorphous to my ears but enjoyable and solid as a friggin rock.

<b>Glenn Case</b> Pretty strumming and I always like your song construction. Very vulnerable and dissapointed sentiment that's echoed well by the picking and subtle solo. I wish the song had intimated the cause of the feelings of quiet resignation, though. Should I be left wondering or sympathizing? As a listener I think I'd prefer to sympathize with the narrator rather than wonder, but aren't audiences always after instant gratification? Dunno that's a tough one.

<b>HEFTY</b> This is nice, and the voice is nice and unique and I like the harmonies. It's a little tinny in the production I think. A great deal of musical talent here. Well done. Sharp ending.

<b>Hostess Mostess</b> Dang those drums are great. I like the discord they present, but the keys are a little shrill to my ears at 1:54-2:26. This is a good song and well produced. Good job.

I'll finish the reviews later, if I keep doing more I'll shrift the last.

[Bjam]

Bjam- Charcoal and tomorrow don't rhyme

They totally do. Both end in 'oh' noises

And thanks all of you for the awesome reviews. I'm gonna try and improve production. Slowly but surely. This week I'm getting stueym to handle the recording so it should sound good.

[Rik]

It's a short SongFight week, so the reviews are short. One listen and notes written during each song. Here we go.

Reviews for One Less, written in order listened to.

Wayward Sway - Interesting, sounds like that weird Japanese stringed instrument that I don't know the name of. Pitchshift on the vocals, messed with me a bit too much. Not too much to this song, not really digging it.

Kamakura - There's a cool groove going here.I like the overlay of the vocals atop the mantra-like background line. The change up mid way through seems a bit too drastic, maybe not if I listened more than once. By the end the background vocals get annoying.

Hostess Mostess - Intro (or was that the first verse) was a little hard to follow, not sure what to expect here. Alright, this is good stuff when it kicks in. I really like the funky scratch guitar action here. The rest is a pleasure to listen to. Voteworthy.

Jay String - This doesn't grab me the way your last entry did. I think it has to do with the tempo more than anything, the verse seems too rushed. Other parts of the song seem timed well, just cant get over the verses. Not bad, just not getting into it.

bjam - I like this a lot, I don't hear the hum that has been plaguing you this week. This is really nice. I generally hate telling someone they sound like someone else (unless they really REALLY do), but your vocals really remind me of Fiona Apple. In my book that is a big compliment. I think the simple production really enhances this and puts the focus on the strength of the song itself. It sounded to me like a live take, I was waiting for applause at the end. Oh hell, I'll add my own. Voteworthy.

HEFTY - me. collab with johnsonic. I am really happy with the way this turned out. Never a fan of my own voice, I believe the vocals are the weak point of this song. I really like the way the song builds in intensity throughout, johnsonic's solo screams, damn this shit is HEFTY!

Gert - This is quite a change from the last couple songs, sounds like you let Smalltown Mike have his way with the verse - I like that. Sidenote: I really got into the STM parts in the other Gert songs, so I checked out his other work in the archives last week. Good stuff! Now into the chorus with Deshead belting it out, I wouldn't think the styles would work together, but they do. Great solo action. By the end the only complaint, need a few less 'One Less'es. Another solid song by Gert, probably a winner. Voteworthy.

Glenn Case - I like this, nice guitar, great voice, simple production. The lyrics are cool and there are a lot of variations in the guitar progression that keep me hooked. This is really good stuff. Voteworthy.
Note: When you read your review, nice things have been said

Abecedarian - Solid intro. When the song kicks in my first thought is where's the bass, second thought is tone down that drum machine a little. When everything drops out leaving only guitar and vox, I find a few too many hickups in the guitar playing. The vocals need more energy and there are parts that, to me, sound like sour notes hit. I like the concept here, but the execution didn't work for me.

Dark Liberty - The music sounds great, you've really gotten the hang of looping with Acid. In all fairness, you've put some work in to this and the music is solid with some nice structure and transitions, but I can't get past the singing. The singing is abhorrent, pick a key.

Steve Durand - Cool intro, it's like listening to the Old Time Radio Hour. Good to listen to once, but it was kind of a long wait to get to the meat of the song. Your song itself is nice, I love a little mariachi music now and then. No comments from me neccessary, this is good stuff.

Ross Durand - Nice ballad, I am enjoying this. The straightforward guitar and vocals are nice. That was too short, I was waiting for something else to happen. A bit too short, a bit too C/W for my tastes, but good just the same.

Marti Mar - Freaky, is this the intro or the whole song. Okay, it's the intro. The intro is too long, but I like what's happening now that the song has kicked in. The vocals lack energy, even rapped or spoken vocals can have some feeling or inflection. Alright back to the intro, no wait this is the outtro. Sorry, I'm not really into this one.

Chuck Chuck Moose - Is it 70's style guitar rock? Almost. Pretty catchy, the drums come in at a weird time. That makes the beginning a bit akward. Once things get going, this really grooves nicely. I like the background 'oooh's, more songs should incorporate that. Another solid song from CCM. Voteworthy.

id3 tag - Dude get a grip. All I write are guitar based songs, and no one likes those either. Deal with it, write the songs for yourself and if others like them, bonus. As far as your song goes, guitars wouldn't make this song any better. Structure, variation and energy might.

Future Boy - The future is 80's UK techno pop! This is awesome for the genre, 20 years too late to be truely appreciated, but great just the same. I love the background vocals. Voteworthy.

Another big fight with too many solid songs to make it an easy decision. The short week has put the pinch on. Where I would normally listen to favorites throughout the week, I need to get my vote in tonight. Oh hell, I'm voting HEFTY, not as a vote for myself but as a vote for johnsonic. He took a pretty bland song and made it RAWK! Great fight everyone.

[Future Boy]

[this set of reviews has not been proofread]

abecedarian ---> I liked the pretty beginning. I really don't like the drum programming on this at all. It's not nuanced enough and the drums are mixed way too loud. I can't understand a word you are singing and it seems a bit out of time. Oh, a bit better in the second verse. It just kind of ended and I didn't really understand what had just been conveyed.

bjam ---> cool rhymes here and there, tired subject matter. there's also a few surprising guitar chords. I look forward to the better produced bjam of the next fight.

chuck chuck moose ---> ah yes, redneck rock, without the edge. isn't this a rip of some steve miller song? i like your voice, fwiw.

dark liberty ---> i liked your entry from last week better. it was tighter. this just kind of kept going and going. the quality difference between the music and your voice is jarring. garageband much?

future boy ---> i agree with glenn, the bass needs to be meaner/uglier. did anybody other than remiss actually listen the lyrics?

gert ---> the "maybe but baby" group vocal is the coolest part of this whole song. deshead is *almost* there in the chorus. i can hear what he's going for, but i can tell that he's straining. that vocal needs to be doubled and hella compressed like whoa. all the backing vox are great. overall, it's just too damn long and way too wankrock. but I'm glad y'all are enjoying yourselves.

glenn case ---> so pretty! glenn, i want you to know, i'd totally go to a coffee shop to see you play an acoustic show (that's saying a lot, believe me). if you just had a great producer to guide you through recording an album in a good studio, you could rule the world.

hefty ---> well recorded and performed, though I'm not a huge fan of the singers voice, but it's just not a genre I'm not into. hard to tell if it's a good song because of my genre bias.

hostess mostess ---> the arrangement needs to be thicker during the chorus. the an air puff happening in my right ear during the chorus that is bothersome. i like the song. i don't know where you pull this stuff from. it's an interesting kind of rhythmic minimalistic pop music. right, listen to me, heh.

id3tag ---> yah, that was an ok song, what there was of it. ended rather abruptly. the vox could have been mixed better.

jay string ---> i love this. typical wonderful johnny cashpoint lyrics. however, also typically rhythmically dubious delivery. i think that's what's puts people off, more than the sound of your voice, is the fact that you tend to float around the beats. i don't have any other negative things to say about this.

kamakura ---> didn't like the vocals in this at all. the music had some interesting bits, especially the synth-guitar thing that's all bendy and shit.

marti mar ---> really nice backing track. not so fond of the vocal samples, seems like every song about dope smoking on SF has some sample of a guy talking about how bad smoking dope is. the vocal is aight, but it needs to be effected or something to make it mesh with the music better. like, at least put a little reverb on it. EQ it, *something*.

ross durand ---> i don't think i even live in the same universe as you.

steve durand ---> the horns on this sound really great. the skit is worth a good chuckle, but isn't subtle enough to bear repeated listenings.

wayward sway ---> buh?

[chuckstas]

I'm getting the impression that the drum kits I used on my drum programming in the previous songs sounded better and more realistic than the one used for this song. Am I right there?