Just who is this Helen, anyway? (Come a Hellin' Reviews)

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Hey, it was better than Gone a Fishin', imo

[Lunkhead]

I'm really digging Ryan Rickenbach's entry. Nice work.

...

And Wally Harbinger's, too.

[over]

So this is a big fight. Difficult to pick one to vote for and hard to see who's likely to win. For what it's worth, these are my thoughts as I listened to the fight.
Buxtahoota: I like the personality you’re putting into your vocals. Good guitar work too. This is different enough to stand out.
Deshead: Good production, good song. Very proficient guitar work. I like the lyrics in the chorus, “Take my saddest days…â€

[nyjm]

wow, there are some true gems in this fight! My .mp3 collection is happy…

Buxtahoota
+++ cool guitar chops +++
--- lame “cool-guyâ€

[jimtyrrell]

Reviews.

Wreckdom – Love the drums/bass. Leaves me with that uncomfortable feeling I always have after listening to one of your tracks. Not such a bad thing, since I usually go back for a second listen.

Wendigo – The rhythm of the vocals is hard for me to reconcile with the music. But this is a pretty cool track.

Wally Harbinger – I like this one. Builds nicely, but it starts to drag at about the 3:00 mark. Would have liked more variation, or a shorter, more concise piece. That's a small complaint though; this is good.

Thornberry – Listening to the beginning of this I was thinking “Oh, I hope this breaks into somethingâ€

[yth]

ryan rickenbach, i love you for a few moments.
but i hate that you don't emphasise the "th" on truth. it drives me completely nuts.
as if a squirrel trying to remember if it has left the oven on.

[Wally Harbinger]

and then he remembers, "no, I'm a fucking squirrel."

[Southwest_Statistic]

ryan rickenbach, i love you for a few moments.but i hate that you don't emphasise the "th" on truth. it drives me completely nuts. as if a squirrel trying to remember if it has left the oven on.

and then he remembers, "no, I'm a fucking squirrel."

?????????

[over]

Nuts! Always bloody nuts! sometimes I just yearn for a grapefruit.

[Egg]

Excuse incoherence even though I have no excuse.

Buxtahoota- This lil' ditty is pretty straightforward. I saw a French cover band do some cool rockabilly and 50s, 60s rock covers the other night. This is reminding me of that except your drums are unchanging and you don't go "wooo!" as much as their singer did.

David Over- Two seconds in: I don't know why I love western country so much. This sounds like Castanets a bit at first. Interesting vocal mixup. That twangy thing reminds me of steel pedal. I don't know what it actually is, but it fills that steel pedal spot in the song and I like it. I feel like I might have just betrayed a lack of common knowledge. Oh well. Overall, this track makes me happy. Next time, consider being more intricately layered or weirder and you'll make me really happy.

Deshead-I might be repping out but I like this off the bat. That change of pace at 1:36 doesn't necessarily do it for me and I'm glad when the song picks up again...but the change of pace at 2:30 suits me much more. I don't know if this review is interesting or helpful, but that's something that me as worth saying. Overall, cool. I have another Deshead track to listen to.

fwc- Your synthy is repetitive. New stuff getting layered in...but maybe it should come in faster. I don't think the vocals are so aurally interesting that they can hold as much attention as you they're getting. Eventually the synth is getting interesting.. I'm at 2:00 for reference, and now the raw weakness of the voice is kind of cool with this low-but-rising synth wave. There are some moments by the end that are awkward in a good way. I advise you to spice it up!

H,LMPHY:- Good job on the tinkling piano. But ya, you got nailed on the Tom Waits' Singapore thing. There is some cool stuff going on pretty quietly that makes this cool in its own right. Maybe that tinkling should be more present without being louder... with some panning. We'll speak of remixing this. I could also hear this being more percussive and tribal.

King Arthur-Smooth. Catchy. Smooth. Some midi organ? Seems out of place in the whole this is smooth vibe... I guess what's interesting about this is clarified in the prefight thread (upon relistening, is that even what you're talking about? I think I'm confused..). There's some weird pacing that keeps things shifting around in interesting multiples. Despite this, the music is a little tame, ya? Might this get called adult contemporary? That organ thing isn't out of place...I was wrong.

Noah McLaughlin-You sure sound different, mister. I don't know if I'd say you're channeling Johnny Cash.. If you are, maybe Johnny Counterpoint is getting in the way of your reception. You do hit some cool and weird places with this ditty. I'd be interested in hearing you experiment with replacing your drums with guitar. Try playing the percussion part guitarically...that might be cool. I haven't really mentioned that I like this effort of yours, but I do.

OutBax-I think the guitar should be recorded as poorly as the vocals or the vocals should sound as clean as the guitar. I also think that this builds up well but doesn't lead to anything. Feels like an aborted song.

Ross Durand- I don't typically listen to lyrics very keenly the first time through unless I'm really paying attention. And most lyrics, in this fight and other times, only hit me around the severalth listen. For some reason, the vandals business caught me head on first time through. The application to modern politics left me nonplussed and kind of made me think the whole lyrical premise was a bit silly. But do yo' thang. This isn't crazy cool, but it got my attention for what that's worth. I don't know if this would go over so well in a bar/lounge setting... but I don't hang out in that setting often so I might just not know.

Ryan Rickenbach-This stands out stylistically a lot from your other stuff in my mind. I like your stretched vowels and feel like this pacing fits your mellow vibe pretty well. This stands out a lot from your other tracks in goodness. The string panning is good on my headphones.

Steve Durand- I'm going to go through the archive later to answer this myself, but have you done anything that's just horn instrumental? The drums and vocals on this distract it from anything else that's going on to me, and I meddle with synth and recording quality a lot. . . but it's just too fuzzy in an unintentional kind of way. I like the idea of the song and bet a million dollar production crew and real live band to go with this Durand would make it a killer song.

Thornberry- Hmm..pretty cool. You say "'til it burns" a ton of times, sir! That clicking with the outro is pretty interesting like weird muted handclaps or firecrackling..hard to tell, in a good way. This is soft and threatening at the same time.

Wally Harbinger-The early string makes this sounds nearly Indian at first. This is also an interesting take on what I feel is western country. The layered percussion seemed like it was building unnecessary, but it's actually pretty interesting. I think your vox doesn't have to be as strong as you're making it in this song.. and maybe somewhere within that layering, you could bring in a really prominent and unpredictable dawdling element that walks along my side as I go through the song. This is cool already though.

Wendigo-When Ashok asked a phunt to make dance music, I knew there's some weird stuff in the water in New Mexico. While Mr. Mclaughlin put "musically schizophrenic" in ---'s, I like that description. This is the most awkward piece of music that's ever wanted to dance.

WreckdoM- Have I told you lately that I love you. Awesome intro. Way to have the atonal lyrics keep me in the song along with that vocal percussion. Nonsensical slant rhyme, naturally. Enough going on for multiple listens even though there are only like 5 tracks at once. Rooty Tooty!! Yes! I love the way you say that, and it's not too much.

[Wally Harbinger]

Buxtahoota
Well don't waste our time with an intro or anything, just jump right in why don't you. I like the feeling that the instrumental breaks are kind of sneaking up on you and surprising you.

David 'Over
Some very nice arrangement ideas in here. The way the trem effect on the organ mimics the auto-wah on the guitar is a particularly nice touch, and the understated percussion combined with the 3/4 and acoustic guitar gives it a hint of cowboy action.

Deshead
A structured pop tune with real energy. Well played, well produced. Makes me think a bit of Spirit of the West's rockier stuff. Excellent range of dynamics in the vocals. I wonder if the lyrics are about someone, something, or yourself. I embrace the ambiguity.

fwc
There are some interesting cloudy harmonic things happening in that synth pad. I miss that bass line that comes in at the top of the first verse but then disappears/gets lost later. Maybe A/B this against some Postal Service for mixing ideas.

Here, Let Me Phunt You
Some kind of Dadaist thing, isn't it? Like a harbour after a hurricane, with broken bits of other songs swirling around. I wish the noodling was a little more atonal. But that could just be me listening to too much Schoenberg.

King Arthur
This could not be further from what I heard in my head when I read the lyrics. Serves me right for hanging out on the C.W. McCall website. I like how the bass only plays roots on downbeats in the chorus, and stays away from them in the verse.

Noah Mclaughlin
The scalar line under the chorus is an interesting idea. But when you double your solo it takes away from the feeling of spontaneity that I think a solo should have.

OutBax
Not entirely irredeemable. Maybe do some more improvs and keep the best bits.

Ross Durand
Convincing anthemic spin on the theme of Newman's "Great Nations of Europe". I like the bridge in particular. But "so now today here we are" sounds a lot like metric fill. You could get away with just stretching out "so here we are" or some such thing there.

Ryan Rickenbach
Some very nice melodic ideas here. Did you try those descending "ah" background vocals up an octave? That might have been my first choice, if I could sing. The left channel guitar drops out kind of abruptly at 1:15, which I found kind of jarring. But a lovely tune.

Steven Durand
Wow. Nice horn playing, and great section arrangement. That bass line should be a Baritone sax, I think. That's a great synth sting off the top, I would have liked to hear more of that. Try throwing a sharp 9 into that last chord if you haven't already. But no, the synth guitar isn't really helping.

Thornberry
Your delicate tenor is reminding me of something but I can't put my finger on it. Maybe Dream Academy meets 10cc, but a little more folky. You can afford to un-busy the snare in the verse and save that energy for the chorus. I've got a very slight issue with "it" falling on the accented beat rather than "burns."

Wendigo
There are lots of bits of things there I like, the lyrics, the bass sound, some of the breakbeat and percussion stuff. But they're not really coming together for me.

Wally Harbinger
Witness the horror of white thirty-something wannabee singer-songwriters getting Blind Boys CDs for Christmas. Most people practice for at least a few months before inflicting their banjo playing on the general public. And what's with the AM distortion on the cymbals.

Wreckdom
Again, some really interesting lyrics. I was hoping for a much higher energy level when I read them. Like Yosemite Sam doing a speedmetal rap. That's not what you did though.

[over]

Wally Harbinger

Witness the horror of white thirty-something wannabee singer-songwriters getting Blind Boys CDs for Christmas. Most people practice for at least a few months before inflicting their banjo playing on the general public. And what's with the AM distortion on the cymbals.

I was gonna coment on how you were polite to everyone but this poor Wally guy and that he really didn't deserve, then I realised...

Good gag

david

[Wally Harbinger]

i'm tough on me, it's true.

but i can take it.

[Thornberry]

This will be my first review NOT using headphones...

Here, Let Me Phunt You: - This reminds of the Nightmare before Christmas or something. Hey at least its isnt just a bunch of sounds like usual.

Ryan Rickenbach - Got my fingers a snappin. Its a nice little melody, and the voices in unison "i want to.." is nice. That change at around 1:00 doesnt work as well for me. I like the rest though.

David 'Over - So far this is exactly what i would expect to you, you have a pretty distinct style, which is good By the Way. Your voice always remind of Weird Al Yankovich. I am not a fan of the distortion on the voice. the lead guitar is nice a Dark-side-of-the-Moonish.

King Arthur - Best part so far is the bass. I am now hoping it will go somewhere intestesting. 4 minutes is a lot of time to fill with this song. The music isnt bad, but the melody you sing is a bit on the boring side. Not for me.

Thornberry - My songs are always so much quiter than everyone elses, Imma havta to actually do something about that next time. This is actually one of my favorites I ever submitted so far, hope you like it too.

Buxtahoota - A short fade in eh. The guitart aint half bad there. But the guitar is the only thing appealing to me so far.

fwc - Little Synth action. This should kick in to a full dance tune in a second right? Your voice is almost Bowieish. Overall a little boring for me.

Wally Harbinger - "Hot tah-day, was warm yesterday too"-Stewie. Sorry just got reminded of the southern family episode were he was tunin the banjo. It has an indian feel to it, almost like a sitar, but with a banio. This is another case of me not liking the melody much, but the music is really interesting and different, so kudos for that:)

WreckdoM - Not my thing

Wendigo - Lot of these types in this fight. Ok so if i talk bad about your song, are you going Stab me in the neck from behind in the record shop? i think i will just go on to the next one then, im not looking to die (No really this just isnt my type of thing)

Noah McLaughlin - Hum that guitar riff sounds very familiar. Lot of deep voices in this fight as well. Ok we got some electric comin in here. HUm, not my favoirte of yours, but not horrible.

Deshead - Yadi yada, youll win and everything, on your voice if nothing else. It really is an amazing voice. Your songs could always be themes to a powerful meaningful movie. Very emotional songs, which is of course a good thing. I always wondered, is that you playing all the instruments, or do you have some others playin for you? In all honesty, I have liked most of your other songs more, but you were one of the artists i always looked for before i started entering in and getting more into this site, when i was a "Casual Songfighter". So when are you gonna get signed and do the whole album and tour thing? good Job as always.

Outbax - Hehe. I am glad this is short enough not to get annoying, stay humorous.

Ross Durand - This could be in the middle of a music, but probably not the title track. Yes, I can see a folk-rock Musical.

Steve Durand - Brothers i will assume? Is there a rivalary between you two? I like this one better for the record. Its nice to here some horn arrangments, i wish i could play that instrument. I cant play anything that goes in or on my mouth (oh shut up). This is nice, one of the better ones on here. Good Job.

[Ross]

Good fight. I didn’t finishing reviewing them all but I’ve been sitting on these for two days – so I’ll just post what I’ve got and finish the others soon

Buxtahooda – a little rough around the edges, in a sometimes good, sometimes bad way. Did you actually give this a different title (like in the file name?)? I like the word play with the internal rhyme – other than that it seems like fairly typical blues fair. Decent song for that, but as for potential with the title…I think I’ll listen on.

David Over – I like the structure of this song – I lose a few words with the distortion and I think I’m missing a key word right at the beginning – “When the ___ come a hellinâ€

[Ross]

Brothers i will assume? Is there a rivalary between you two? I like this one better for the record.

Thanks a lot. Now Thanksgiving is gonna suck!!!!

Just kidding

[over]

[quote="rdurand"]

David Over – I like the structure of this song – I lose a few words with the distortion and I think I’m missing a key word right at the beginning – “When the ___ come a hellinâ€

[Steve Durand]

Brothers i will assume? Is there a rivalary between you two? I like this one better for the record.

Thanks a lot. Now Thanksgiving is gonna suck!!!!

Just kidding

Well, if you go by historic vote count, Ross is kicking my ass.

Steve

[Ross]

[quote="over"][quote="rdurand"]

David Over – I like the structure of this song – I lose a few words with the distortion and I think I’m missing a key word right at the beginning – “When the ___ come a hellinâ€

[WeaselSlayer]

The other half of my Requiem-writing team is here helping me review. His name's Ben and will be called B:

Thornberry:
L - Are you singing through a bong?
B - His voice sounds like, you know when South Park writes a song?
L - I like this when it picks up. The like dreamy guitar thing.
B - I'm trying to think of something to say. Fuckin', uh, derka derka.
L - I like the airiness of this. Oh shit, Lenny Kravitz.
B - With wings?
L - Yeah. Your backup vocals make this really good. It sounds like track 14 on Pixies' Doolittle.
B - I like it. I love South Park.
L - The ending is kinda...
B - Derka derka.

Wally Harbringer:
B - I love fuckin' curry food.
L - I like that this sounds like John Zorn on banjo and Gene Ween on vocals. I like this.
B - Yeah, I'm into it.
L - It's weird, but credible.
B - It's no Requiem...
L - The vocals and all the weird shit going on just give this a really cool-
B - I feel like this should be heard at high noon... oh wait I thought heard some cowboy shit... I was wrong.
L - ...a really cool detached effect.
B - I kind of like it.
L - These songs are so long.
B - Pour me some Arizona ice tea, we've got a long ride.
L - Vaya con Dios.
B - And these boots are tight. Cowboy shit, balls.
(B pours two small glasses of Arizona ice tea. L takes a sip pensively.)
L - The taste of lemons is prevalent, and I enjoy the heady aroma of herbs.
B - I've seen like 3 tumbleweeds roll by.

Buxtahoota:
L - I've heard this before. I'm not saying you're a plagiarist, just... I mean this has been done yeah?
B - I don't even know what to say.
(B pours two small glasses of Arizona ice tea. L takes a sip pensively.)
L - The taste of lemons is prevalent, and I enjoy the heady aroma of herbs.
B - I've seen like 3 tumbleweeds roll by.

fwc:
L - Ben was about to make fun of this, but I stopped him.
B - Sounds like Morrissey? Is he?
L - Morrissey's a dick.
B - He's old.
L - The throbbing synth has that great organic synthetic thing.
B - If Morrissey and Mega Man had a child...
L - I really do like this.
B - ...and they named it Fruityloops.
L - These songs are all so long. Also, your vocals lost their complacency near the middle and started getting a little rambley.
B - What does complacency mean?
L - Like, calm? Tranquility? (L spreads his hands and closes his eyes)
B - (into phone) Hello? What are you doing? Blah blah, I know it's gonna be so much fun... I miss you too. No. Nice, nice, alright love you.

Steve Durand:
L - This started off so promising and then turned into like the worst fuck jam ever.
B - (laughs) Am I invited?
L - (shrugs)
B - I feel like this is borderline porn music. Like if you slowed it down a little bit.
L - Your use of the horns was so good last week and this week it's totally exploitive.
B - I feel like that guitar is cockblocking the brass.
L - This is like the Mardi Gras parade as it passes in front of the Strip Club.
B - Yeah.

King Arthur:
B - Their voices all sound the same.
L - ...
B - I feel like I get to say everything you want to say.
L - No, I was just thinking.
B - Let's do some King Arthur jokes.
L - What?
B - Merrrrrlin.
L - Ok, this song has a cool funk swing to it, and I like that the vocals are clear and in the foreground.
B - I hate Phoenix.
L - Whoah!
B - Phoenix is no Requiem.
L - Christ.
B - Are these songs like 5 minutes long?

Here; Let Me Phunt You:
L - We have to say something nice here, I know them.
B - But I like this.
L - Well we don't have to lie.
B - This would be a sweet-ass song to play like every time I walked into the room. Like, even in the bathroom.
L - You sound like an idiot. So um, rare form young Ryan and good job and all and see you back at the house.
B - No, but I really like that song.

Deshead:
L - I'm not that into this.
B - Yeah... It... whatsit, it sounds like not like Creed but...
L - Blue Oyster Cult?
B - Are they related to Creed?
L - Is that all we have to say about this?
(B pours two small glasses of Arizona ice tea. L takes a sip pensively.)
L - The taste of lemons is prevalent, and I enjoy the heady aroma of herbs.
B - I've seen like 3 tumbleweeds roll by.

Ross Durand:
L - I'm not going to compare brothers here. You sound like you're pushing 50.
B - Is that ya pappy?
L - No but I mean, I like- oh wait this bass thing is throwing me off. I liked it more before that came in.
B - Bowwown Bowwown.
L - Yeah, like this and like that and like (B interjects with: bowwown) this... see? You're throwing me off. I like the harmonies and U2 guitar.
B - I've seen like 3 bowwowns roll by.

David 'Over:
B - I think this sounds like a James Bond Western. It starts out like that.
L - I like the way the vocals sound. A little low for you?
B - Bowwown... oh I'm sorry.
L - This has kind of a Ween sound to it. But it's not funny.
B - I actually don't, like, mind it.
L - I like when the distortion comes in.
B - See how long it is.
L - I'm totally David 'Over this.

Ryan Rickenbach:
B - I totally love how you took his name in that last review and then used his last name in a clever play on words, a new context if you will.
L - Thank you Ben.
B - You're very welcome.
L - This is another western song, done by Elliott Smith but happy.
B - RickenBACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN.
L - Shut the fuck up.
B - I'm not as good at that as you.
L - The guitar has a nice lil' rhythm to it, and I like the lead guitar in the background. Very subtle.
B - Have we listened to any of the lyrics in any of the songs? Did he just say derka?
L - I can't remember what he just said. Get it? That was- hey the song stopped.
B - But this is my favorite part.

Wendigo:
B - Oh I really love this song.
L - Me too. The way it sounds in my headphones makes me feel giddy.
B - I totally heard that somewhere before... but where?
L - Nice job on this Rye Bread (do u have a nickname 4 me and do u like me?)

Noah McLaughlin:
B - Tuh.
L - Myuh.
B - I keep hearing South Park. This is them doing the Ben Afleck song or something. Do you not hear it?
L - Well I mean other than that it's an ok song. The percussion is straight out of Spaceship Warlock.



WreckdoM:
L - I love this shit.
B - I love the fuckin'... um... beatboxing.
L - I love the Satan's Music Box.
B - Let's play it backwards.
L - Then it would be a Requiem.
B - I totally love Requiems. I really like this.

[Egg]

L - Nice job on this Rye Bread (do u have a nickname 4 me and do u like me?)

U R Lu-Lu to me. <3

Umm, although, to correct: H,LMPY: is Drew. I'm P;dt. When our powers combine...

Enough of this silliness. Let's write some requiems.

[sberryreal]

Buxtahoota:
L - I've heard this before. I'm not saying you're a plagiarist, just... I mean this has been done yeah?

Dude, even remotely suggesting that I've plagarized something is offensive. I'll assume you're just a jackass or an idiot or both.