See you later alligator (I'm Going Away for a While reviews)

Mogosagatai · Post by **Mogosagatai** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:15 pm

The event is called "Southern Decadence", and it happened anyway, after the hurricane. Suck it, God's plan!

EightLeggedOedipus · Post by **EightLeggedOedipus** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:34 pm

Stubby Phillips wrote:
EightLeggedOedipus wrote: Stubby Philips
--- bashing homos doesn't make you cool or distract us from insantly recognizing how much your song sucks,fag. ---
Thank you for your kind words.
Yes -- I know the song sucks.
The line you evidently referred to -- "God sent a storm to punish us because someone was gay" -- was intended as a denigrating reference to the absurd and hateful opinion expressed by a homophobic Evangelical group that said that Hurricane Katrina was God's way of punishing New Orleans for planning some gay pride event scheduled to take place around the time the storm hit. That whole mindset sicken me. Anyway, I'm sorry that you were offended and took it personally. I was actually more worried that my use of (intended) humor while referencing the human tragedy that was and is occuring might offend. Definitely NOT funny.

Hey, thanks for defending your stance. I didn't knowit was a sarcastic reference because I was unfamiliar with this event or its detractors. I am not gay and am rarely offended, but do get insulting when I don't like a song. I wish more people would intelligently stick up for what they write. Cheers.

Stubby Phillips · Post by **Stubby Phillips** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 12:59 pm

Cool.

WeaselSlayer · Post by **WeaselSlayer** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 2:35 pm

Then allow me to step in and say U SUCK 8LO!!! GOATSONG IS FUCKING AWSM.

Stubby Phillips · Post by **Stubby Phillips** » Mon Sep 19, 2005 5:37 pm

Divorce: cool groove at 1:42. Drums sound like Orks on the march.

CCS: only got 10 secs of beginning -- will re-download when I have a spare hour.

Comfort: like the music...

COTC: like the break...

Dark Liberty: needs more lyrics and something else...

Bigswell: cool chord structure; esp. like the refrain to verse transition.

Goatsong: nice acoustic playing. Big resonance. BOOMbox cassette recorder w/ built in mic. And Grandpa insisted on singing back-up 'cause you recorded in his basement.

Hip Cola: interesting concept -- dark, mysterious

Kapitano: cool vox. We can dance if we want to.

Over: Abbey Road side 2 it ain't, but nice guitar/chord structure. Interesting.

Ross D: Good voice. Better than average GNG.

Stubby P: level too low. bass too high. too much reverb on vox. no changes. drags. muddy. offensive on multiple levels. no zing. no imagination. other than that, just sucks.

Wreckdom: I like the song in your heart the most. makes me want to eat chalk.

Tonetripper: only got 3 secs. of soundfx -- like CCS above, need to DL again.

If I voted now it would be Kapitano or Over.
Or Wreckdom. Maybe Bigswell. Hell -- might even be Ross.

Smalltown Mike · Post by **Smalltown Mike** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 1:50 pm

Since I wrote and recorded and trashed a song for this fight, I might as well review it.

Corn on the Cob

This made me laugh a lot. Very groovy, and very ridiculous. I like it. At first I thought I wished it was more structured, but I think that would ruin the magic of it. It would be cool if there was rapping on itâ€”alright, fine, I wish my voice was on this tune. Great work. The long wailing â€œjaaaaiiiilllllâ€

h · Post by h » Tue Sep 20, 2005 3:09 pm

i must warn you all... the reverend is coming

comfort shall be uncomfortable again

long live the holy cow

thehipcola · Post by **thehipcola** » Tue Sep 20, 2005 6:40 pm

big swell
this is catchy strumming. the vocals all sound like you need to take a big breath..., and they have no power. not much to mix here, so not much to say about it. the vocals do alot to detract from this song unfortunately. Not a bad tune, but nothing special to my ears.

Kapitano
wow, this is really ominous sounding. Too bad I can hardly make out what you are singing, or I might really get the meaning.

It's tough to remember to focus on making sure your vocals are easily understood when you already know the words...but keep it mind. I like the stylishness of the music, the drums are back in the verb, but they work there for this song. There could be a bit more instrument variation as the song goes on, but that's just me. I hear shades of Men Without Hats in here, except they never sounded this serious.

Great work setting a distinct tone. Nice ending. Keeper.

Stubby Philips
Drums: way too far back in the back room...

I want you to move more with your voice...you stay all nestled in this comfy narrow range, and it's uninteresting to listen to, and I think you can sing with more interest than that. Maybe a higher key, certainly a higher register. The wash of the cymbals is nice, (hate to mention again) but if you mixed that nice reverb signal with the dry drum tracks it would be great! The song itself didn't really do it for me though. Mix was ok.

Goatsong
I like the acoustic guitar playing. The tape hiss is distracting, but characterful. Sonically I find this hard to listen to, it's very jarring. I'm having a hard time discerning the lyrics which I think (hope) hold the key to why this sounds so...harsh and noisy. The song underneath is nice, it's tough to dig through the harshness to get to it. I think there are other ways to achieve mood and feel than to hurt my ears....

CCS
Aaahh yes. Like putting on a favourite sneaker...where have you been CCS/K. Wow...way too short, and that right there is the drug of this tune. It makes one want to play it again...and that might just make it vote-worthy. Your sense of show is fantastic, and the mix is great too. Keeper, possible vote.

Tonetripper
LOVE that bass sound. This whole production wraps around my head...great space use. Love the droning thing in the chorus. There are lots of really tasty bits of sonic flotsam in this song...right up my alley. This is great. Super mix. We have a contender kids. The hissy noise at the ending is killing me. Great ending. Keeper, possible vote.

Comfort
I like the underlying thing of the intro and the change, but I'm not sold on the execution, and now it's just going on too long. Get there please! I'm not big on vocals I don't understand and hardly hear...so lost points there. There is some great drum programming here. Mix is above average, but there are muddy aspects that detract. The guitars all sound direct and way too much so...as Blue once said, brigade of mosquitos or something like that... Too bad about the vox. Why didn't you decide to share them with the listener? Putting them on display in my media player doesn't mean much...I want to hear them.

The Divorce
I like the steeped style of this...it drips. Again with the non-vox, is this the fight of lost vocals? Are you guys all trying to keep them secret?

Music great. Vox...? ok...prechorus, much better. I'd like the drums to get off the crack for that prechorus and just rock out. Great move to the chorus. Vox are byebye again. There are things I really like about this song, like alot! I'm hoping for more pristine production from whoever you are...and will be keeping my eye out in future fights for sure. This is cool. Keeper.

Wreckdom
hahah! this is hilarious. wow, you guys have really upped and clarified your thang, haven't you? I'm impressed with the changes, and I'm enjoying this for sure. Second change to chaos doesn't work as well...but it's still funny. Nice ending. Keeper.

Corn on the Cob
Nice jammin'. Great grooves, nice sounds, nice playing. What else can you say about this? Easy to listen to. It's a bit light on the lyrical side of things, but that's jammin'.

The Over
Love the intro, except if feels like it stumbles right when the kick/clap comes in...too bad. It's minor, but takes away from the feel. Tricky transition, granted. Guitar sound is nice and full... Vocally, you can be stronger. Practice, do scales, whatever...it doesn't come off sounding convincing, and I think it could. But you need to work it. Wow..major change in the middle...interesting. I don't like the effect your giving your voice by letting your voice crack a bit....you aren't good at that...yet. Full points for the multipart production of a song. Cool. Tighten up those backups.

Dark Liberty
Focus on one song and make it better. Tho I'm not sure you even read these boards anyways...is there a Dark Liberty in the house?

Ross Durand
Nice gravel in your voice. Guitar is too light in the mix, maybe pan it slightly to one side to help bring it forward without boosting it's level. I find this song sparse in it's current state. I hear a band bringing me up and down in this song.

thehipcola w/luke henley
Huge thanks to Luke for his kickass "screenplay". Wow. This title made me think sinister thoughts. I wanted chilly and goosebump-ish and creepy to be part of its adjective set. I explained my goal to Luke and he stepped up big time with enough unanswered questions and tension to help me get there in this audio short. It was a total experiment and I think it worked out wonderfully. Thanks for all the reviews, and again thank you Luke!!

Hmm..tough choice in this fight. Favourites are CCK and Tonetripper, with hon. mention going solidly out to The Divorce and Wreckdom. Although I love Carol Cleveland and everything he does, I think TT really stepped up and delivered a kickass song/performance/production effort. My vote is his.

tonetripper · Post by **tonetripper** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 12:34 am

Smalltown Mike wrote:Not in love with the chorus. Great ending.

..... but the chorus and the ending are my favourite part.......

Smalltown Mike · Post by **Smalltown Mike** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 4:10 am

tonetripper wrote:
Smalltown Mike wrote:Not in love with the chorus. Great ending.
..... but the chorus and the ending are my favourite part.......

Then I'm not in love with you, either. I'm sorry.

tonetripper · Post by **tonetripper** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 8:56 am

h wrote:i must warn you all... the reverend is coming

comfort shall be uncomfortable again

long live the holy cow

*yawn*

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 9:15 am

tonetripper wrote:.....the _____ and the _____ are my favourite part.......

TheHipCola wrote:...My _____ is his...

tonetripper · Post by **tonetripper** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 10:20 am

You're just jealous cuz yours is sooooo little.

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:08 am

ha!

Favorites are the Divorce, and of course, Corn on the Cob.

Smalltown Mike wrote:...I wish my voice was on this tune.

Goddamn! I wish I had known this, the only prob was that the track was written and recorded in a drunken haze on Weds night and then I added a double voc track and guitar Friday morning at 1 am and sent it in. There wasn't much time. Wanna throw something down post-songfight?

I vote for Divorce.

Smalltown Mike · Post by **Smalltown Mike** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:51 am

boltoph wrote: Wanna throw something down post-songfight?

Way ahead of youâ€”I'll let you know when it's done.

Kapitano · Post by **Kapitano** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 3:53 pm

tonetripper wrote:Sounds like goth music. That being said this style doesn't really move me most times.

It's explicitly inspired by Joy Division, who did influence the goth scene. This track was a real rush job - I probably wouldn't have submitted it ordinarily, except I didn't want to miss yet another week.

stubby phillips wrote:cool vox. We can dance if we want to.

That's two reviews comparing me to Men Without Hats. Which is odd, because the only song I know by them is The Safety Dance. Now I find they made five albums - which I intend to hear.

smalltown mike wrote:Fire up the smoke machines again. Yes, very Joy Division. Some rhythms of the vocals donâ€™t work, but I like the tone of the voice. Great drums, especially at about 1:30.

Thanks for that. The drums are from Natural Studio reverbed in Reason. The guitars are Revitar distorted in Sonar's amp plugin. Oh and the vocals are IMO somewhat overchorused in Audition.

the hip cola wrote:wow, this is really ominous sounding. Too bad I can hardly make out what you are singing, or I might really get the meaning. It's tough to remember to focus on making sure your vocals are easily understood when you already know the words...but keep it mind. I like the stylishness of the music, the drums are back in the verb, but they work there for this song. There could be a bit more instrument variation as the song goes on, but that's just me. I hear shades of Men Without Hats in here, except they never sounded this serious. Great work setting a distinct tone. Nice ending. Keeper.

The vocals are a little buried - I tend to do that when I'm not happy with them. They're in the olde archive. If I'd had more than three hours to put together the music, record the vocals and mix it all together, there'd have been more variation - which might have detracted from the early New Wave sound I was looking for.

the idiot king · Post by **the idiot king** » Wed Sep 21, 2005 11:53 pm

reviews!!!

kapitano: this reminds me a bit of "transmission" by joy division. no small compliment, there. the guitars seem a bit low in the mix. nice drums. not keeping my attention, though.

stubby philips: are you a bass player by trade? i'd bank on it after hearing this mix. ok song, not doing a ton for me.

the 'over: excellent guitar work. the change was pretty unexpected, but in a good way. i'd love to hear this slightly more fleshed out.

the big swell: for some reason, i'm hearing paul simon's "graceland" (the song). an ok song, but not grabbing me.

comfort: ooh, reminds me of megaman music. remember that generic captain n ripoff cartoon that had bigfoot on it? i digress. guitar tones and the mix lead a little bit to be desired, but one of the best in this fight thus far. i love your vocals.

ross durand: i went camping at the last minute a few weeks back, and there was a guy playing guitar there who did songs in this vein. i'm not insulting you, but this isn't catching my attention. very competent songwriting.

dark liberty: the vocals could use some more compression, i think. i like the contrast of the guitar tones, but the lead is a bit piercing. imoho, i'd try mixing a bit louder. 85 db is the recommended listening level for mixing, i think it would solve all the problems here. decent song.

goatsong: if i can offer any advice, you need to record hotter signals to tape (or disk, or whatever). that will help immensely with the background hiss. i'm not hearing any definition on the bassy vocals...try boosting a smidge around 10k. nice emotional quality here.

carol cleveland kings: good production/mix. i love the sound of the vocals...what kind of reverb is going on there? a bit short, but well done.

corn on the cob: reminds me a bit of danny elfman's "augustus gloomp" tune for whatever reason. i'd prefer to hear you writing some better lyrics, what you do, you do well (minus much of the vocals).

the divorce: me. the end goes on a bit too long, but i'm otherwise satisfied with this puppy.

wreckdom: ditto on the vocal compression. good tone selections. the random breakdown would benefit from a better mix. cool song.

tonetripper: again, a really cool vocal tone. what's going on there? interesting programming going on here. a nice, laid back tune, but the melodies are lacking a bit, methinks. that said, i really like this. weird.

the hip cola avec luc-henri: coooool. the message is creeping me out (but that may be the pot). this is such a different take on things...i like. this is getting a download, and quite possibly, a vote.

these opinions, of course, are just mine and mine alone.

tonetripper · Post by **tonetripper** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 5:48 am

the idiot king wrote:tonetripper: again, a really cool vocal tone. what's going on there?

Ya, I've been experimenting with some plug-ins on my voice to get that somewhat weird doubling effect which has become somewhat of a signature sound for a lot of recordings of mine and with redcar. Anyway, it's my mic with a Fat Man Tube compressor running as an insert in and then I use this plug-in called Enigma and put it on mushroom therapy and back all the insanity off and use it very subtley. It just has this moving doubling effect which I like and the tone that seems to come with the effect.

The tune was all put down in a day (basically the day it was due) so I was working very hard to try to find melody in the weirdness that developed with the loops and such. I think I could have gone farther with the melody line. I easily could've worked that tune for a week. As it was the lyrics started, atleast in the second verse, to become jammed cuz I was already out of time. Nothing like cramming for Songfight!

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 11:18 am

Actually my favs from a song standpoint were the Divorce, Tonetripper, and Ross Durand.
Favs from a creative art standpoint are Carol Cleveland, theHipCola and Wreckdom.
IMO the only songs in this fight that rocked out, were Corn on the Cob, Comfort and (minus the lack of bass) Dark Liberty.

Big Swell
+++ Laugh in his face! Spit in his eye! Johnny Cash feel and subject matter +++
--- I'm not a big fan of the little "rest" prior to the title line ---
--- no ID tags ---
\\\ key change at some point \\\

Carole Cleveland Kings
+++ clever lyrics, interesting breaks and stops +++
+++ vocal melody on "tomorrow", "sorrow", etc. +++
\\\ cooky, fun feel...short and sweet \\\
+++ nice ending +++

Comfort
+++ Mayor Menino would be proud! +++
+++ I like the driving nature and how this slams and rips. +++
--- nonsense vocal. ---
\\\ Good vocals would have made this a kick ass tune. \\\

Corn on the Cob
--- eff ---
\\\ we're fukt \\\
+++ sauces +++

Dark Liberty
--- wheres the bass or the octaver on the guitar? ---
\\\ odd mix of "sitar" thing with heavy rock feel \\\
+++ rocks, or has potential to rock +++

The Divorce
+++ catchy bass, great backbeat to go with it, i really like the ambient synth stuff +++
+++ verse vocals and groove, reminds me of Interpol +++
\\\ key change, different feel in the chorus \\\
+++ heavy, dark, honest emotion +++

Goatsong
--- eff, that hiss, it must be that your recorder's input sensitivity is set higher than your actual level coming into the recorder ---
+++ low double on the raging vocal. Lead vocal reminds me of Radiohead +++
+++ weird noise on the right, honesty in the performance, background vocals +++

the HipCola and Luke Henley
+++ creative idea, creepy monologue. The points where you decided to bring in the instruments and changes are perfect +++
--- no ID tags ---
\\\ hard-to-detect chorus or song architecture, lack of a hook, or a real song of a song, really short \\\
+++ the parties involved +++

Kapitano
+++ dark, doom feeling +++
--- lack of chord / part changes ---
+++ bass tone, the production for this type of piece is great, lyrics +++
+++ ending vocal parts (the "we can" parts) gives the song stronger thematic feel +++

The "Over
+++ the "I'll be back someday to see you smile", esp. imagining the whole band kicking in there +++
\\\ key change shortly before half way through \\\
+++ interesting ideas half way through to move the song in an entirely different direction +++
\\\ wanted to hear it come back to the beginning parts, but it constantly keeps moving \\\

Ross Durand
+++ Dylan / Cash feel +++
+++ the way the title line is delivered, and sort of turns +++
--- no vocal harmonies anywhere (wanted them on the "Goin' Awaa-aay") ---
\\\ classic format, some interesting melodies within the chord playing almost make this \\\ a +++
+++ the rest of the lyrics, and the analog-sounding vocal tone +++

Stubby Philips
+++ fat bass and kick drum +++
\\\ voice sounds very familiar, sounds like Phish or something cooky \\\
--- no ID tags ---
\\\ the vocal melody and delivery in general, a bit "goofy-like" \\\
--- talk of government, use of the word government ---
+++ chord changes half way through the solo +++

Tonetripper
+++ Trippy rhythm groove, sparse use of guitars +++
--- over-processed vocals (man, your voice is too good to be buried under that crap for the entire length of the song)...also abundance of high freqs in the mix hurt ears after a headphone listen that was a hair too loud ---
+++ welcoming, and accepting of, warm chocolate milk +++
--- no ID tags ---
\\\ choppiness of vocals in the chorus, got a good melody change on the instruments, I keep hearing a slightly different vocal melody that would gel more with those changes \\\
+++ Bass / guitar groove, vocal harmonies in select places +++

Wreckdom
+++ bass and drum groove, synth or moog melody +++
+++ trucker dialogue, the madness chorus coming out of nowhere, the delay at the end and the way it comes back to the verse +++
\\\ guest vocal by Satan \\\
\\\ other than that synth and the bass, not really any more melodic content \\\
--- no ID tags ---
+++ some of the lines are killing me, the ones that are sort of repeats like "peel back the skin on the top of my head +++

herojima · Post by **herojima** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 4:36 pm

boltoph, was that a tribute review?

boltoph · Post by **boltoph** » Thu Sep 22, 2005 9:40 pm

herojima wrote:boltoph, was that a tribute review?

werd. The markings?

+++ Eight Legged Oedipus +++

And I just felt like giving shite about ID tags, and such; hence... + = rok

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Fri Sep 23, 2005 8:59 am

favorites
kapitano - yeah, this is cool. ooh that one vocal part wasn't so good where you held the note and went up... hmm. i like this! i think it should build more in the music as the end approaches... it's a bit too static.
tone - good drums. think the vocals should have more edge to them, to fit the music. ending too abrupt.
divorce - good stuff. is that kinda sick? i think the mix is a little wonky in terms of what's at what levels...
carole - pretty cool. good backing vox. i like the banjo or whatever.

runnersups
bigswell - this song should have a full band. it lacks presence, but it's pretty good.
corn - this is cool. however, something about the sound sticks in my craw, whatever that means, and bothers me. that's probably not your fault.
stubby - muddied timing. i can't get a grip on what's happening rhythmically. it smooths out later. good solo.
ross - the guitar's too quiet. this reminds me of something... yeah, that's it, "it's all over now" which was sometimes done in concert by the grateful dead.
comfort - those vocals don't sound so good. you can barely hear them, but they're all waily and moany and stuff. music's not bad tho.
over - nice stuff here. solo is particularly good. what happened to the music?er, i don't like that middle section. end is great. "that's the last you'll see of me" yeah.
thc - kinda strange noises not quite melding... it's definitely very interesting. i generally like it, but it could be improved.

umm
goatsong - hiiiiiisssssss and mud. there's maybe something interesting in there but it's hard to tell. not sure about the vox.
wreckdom - sorry, not really digging it. the shifts seem to be just there for shock value, this isn't flowing. you are reminding me of negativland, which is cool, i just don't think it was successful.
dark - the music is ok, tho something needs to happen differently. too samey. not fond of the vocals.

the divorce is my favorite song this week. vote!
-bill