Residing at the Junction of Man and Calamity (D+C reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Damien Verrett (Jonas)
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Post by Damien Verrett (Jonas) »

I'd just like to state that my song was the result of extreme boredom.

My friend Fernando was over and we had nothing to do. That's not to say that I don't like parts of it or that it wasn't super fun to make.
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Billy's Little Trip
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

OK, I've appreciated the reviews on my song, so I owe it to everyone to offer my comments.

Chonchi Station and the Power Converters - Bizarro's Phobia Circus. Very interesting tune with a very hygienic message. Nice little jam at the end. Very clean.

Gigavolt Sound Machine - Robots in love. I love the minor with the happy melody.

Jimmy Jet and His TV Set - Kind of funky. Is Luke Henley singing on this one? Good song.

Klownhole feat. Wages and Jeff Robertson - I love the dramatic intro, but it never seems to end. I felt this need to hear a famous speech by some famous dead person in the beginning. I also found myself wanting the vocals harmonized like an Alice and chains type thing. It got a tad silly at the end with the cheese whiz, but all in all, I liked this song. Thanks for the entertainment.

Luke Henley - What's not to love about this song? It has all of the eliments of a radio friendly folk ditty. If Captain Spaulding ever started a record label, Luke Henley would be his flagship band. I rate a good song by how long it stays etched in my mind. This one has been etched for about *looks at my watch* about a week.

MC Frontalot feat. Brad Sucks - I could see this as being a theme songs for Achewood. It's well recorded, perfectly mastered and very easy to like the second you hear it. Brad could write jingles if he ever decides to make the big Charlie Sheen money.

Melvin - Nice sweet clean guitar, nice melody, just enough dirty guitar to make it rock without pissing off the Minister at the youth music day and bake sale. All kidding aside, this song is very well done.

The Ninja Bachelors - Very good bar folk. Fun story to listen to. Good voice. Now I think I want a Bacardi and Coke and a dooba dooba doobie. I like it.

Octothorpe - Who ever said punk rock is dead needs to hear this song. It's not dead, it's just been nursing a hangover. I've never had Grey goose and OJ, but I'm going to now. This song is a bad influence because I also want some whiskey to go with the beer I'm drinking. I can't stop playing this song for some reason. I think Spud slipped a roofie in this tune and I'm going to wake up alone in a hotel room with pound symbol juice all over me.

Our Dog - The music rocks. I don't get the goofy vocals over a bad ass song. Sarcasm is good if the words are funny. Coat your throat with honey and take it to a whole new level. I like old school rock and this song rocks!

Paco del Stinko _ I love this song. I like listening to this song while I'm driving, because the bass line makes me feel like I'm driving for an important reason with a face like Rone's avatar. The lay out is perfect, the backup vocals ask questions and make comments, LOL. And as always, the lead guitar is a feast for my ears. Great job Charlie.

Quesadilla Explosion - I really like this song. I think the thing that grabbed me on this one are the guitar riffs. It's fun, simple and bouncy. I like it.

Several Thousand Dollars in Motion - Very cute voice. It makes me want to take you to the county fair and throw balls at something until I win you a big stuffed animal, then buy you a candy apple. My first love is acoustic guitar, so when I hear guitar and voice, I take an immediate interest. I had to chuckle at the end when you said, on the corner of k'dude and catastrophe, but leaving it in made it seem all the more real. Nice song.

Shambles Square - The accent put me in a hypnotic trance. I think that I'm going to start saying "moonchies" from now on. Clean recording, nice sound. I did the robot.

Those Meddling Kids - Nice song. Good progression. I would have loved to hear the clean guitar panned equally for a bigger sound, but that's just me. But that's it. I like this song.

Wages - This is a good song. But I'm afraid the average listener might not give it a chance because of the uninspired mix. I could see this song being mixed with Harvey Danger as a model. IE: Multi track rhythm eq'd and panned hard right and left, etc. I like this song.

Zipline - I appreciate real music and real people playing, so this gets high marks. Nice chops, nice breaks. I would have liked to hear the vocal reverbed and pushed a little deeper in the mix. I like it and I've been listening to it since it's been posted. Good song.
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mkilly
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Post by mkilly »

Hey, a good review! glad you liked the song, billy's little trip. grey goose and OJ is dangerous. make sure you leave at least half the bottle of vodka when you're done.
"It is really true what philosophy tells us, that life must be understood backwards. But with this, one forgets the second proposition, that it must be lived forwards." Søren Kierkegaard
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Post by furrypedro »

j$ wrote:Get ... a .... gay ... room ... you ... gays!
j$ wrote:Dear Furrypedro, you have now used the word Gay prominently in two consecutive posts. Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class? :)
I also used the words "slap", "my" and "ass"; the plot thickens...
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Billy's Little Trip
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

This is to make up for last week. I truly feel it will bring more attention to the wide genre range of member entries. If anyone objects to this, or feel I should have added more or less, just let me know and I'll change it.
Thank you, Chris
Click >> http://www.mustangforums.com/m_2324337/ ... tm#2324337
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Post by j$ »

Furrypedro wrote:
j$ wrote:Get ... a .... gay ... room ... you ... gays!
j$ wrote:Dear Furrypedro, you have now used the word Gay prominently in two consecutive posts. Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of the class? :)
I also used the words "slap", "my" and "ass"; the plot thickens...
it's a date. A MAN-DATE! (without Marcus Kellis)
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Post by mc_frontalot »

hi kids!

sorry I didn't have much time to write reviews this week. Wanted to laud a few of the really well realized pieces tho:

BLT: a lot of the rock I've heard on SF over the years has something doofy about it--it is almost always wanky or overdone or underdone or unskilled or mixed wrong just in bad taste. This song suffers none of these defects. It sounds like it came straight off of a piece of vinyl and the person who put it on was bragging about finding it in the record store. It is a real rock song that sounds great!! I am really happy to hear it.

Chonchi Station: is that anywhere near Tosche Station? I like the bit at the end.

Gigavolt: I like how the drums sound.

Luke Henley: I saw the lyric right before the fight was posted and I assumed it was going to be a really aggressive and violent arrangement & recording. Instead it's this really bizarrely pretty thing, with a lovely Bright Eyesish melody and a friendly guitar. And that stanza that ends with telling the devil you'll be late is really nice. Somehow the contrast of the music against the vile lyric works out just right.

Melvin: this is a really solid arrangement and it sounds like it would work on a lot of current radio formats. I really like hearing sophisticated pop on songfight. If you come back to this song, clean up the guitars and the vocals. See if you can keep the laconic feel without sounding sloppy.

# & MKilly: WILL YOU PEOPLE LEARN TO USE AUDIO EQUIPMENT GODDAMNIT HOW MANY YEARS HAVE I BEEN YELLING AT YOU FUCKERS ABOUT THIS>? I know I know when you're trying to engineer a live performance and perform at the same time it is hard to keep an eye on clipping and etc. This sounds like a broken pre-amp or a bad cable or something. And it makes it hard to listen to this more than once. Which I'd like to do because I have slowly but surely come to enjoy the fractured muppetry of the mighty O.

Paco: this is kind of theatrical in a way that I like. The choir and the tempo changes work well.

TQE: That tubey guitar @ center-right kind of dominates this recording. Definitely tilts the whole thing towards the ROCK side of funk-rock. Which is too bad, because there's a really nice groove under there. Chorus is super catchy, well done.

STDiM: the lazy sloppiness really serves this song well. Wish I could make all the words out, though. Big points for using "he's from circumstances."

Shambles: I like the music bed, but I do not like the vox (except the chorus, which is nice as heck).

Those Meddling Kids: a really pretty song, and the weird spare drum pattern on the verse is great. The out-of-tune singing is rough on the ears, tho -- particularly near the end.
mc_frontalot
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Post by mc_frontalot »

also, wanted to write the word "really" about seventy times in one post MISSION ACCOMPLISHED
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fluffy
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Post by fluffy »

We couldn't trace the fault which was causing the popping, and the mixer app for my PreSonus Inspire was refusing to run on my poor ol' laptop (which was still running OSX 10.3, and the mixer app was compiled for 10.4 only) so we couldn't set the levels properly in-situ or even really listen to the recording until I got it home. I'm amazed it came out as well as it did. I'd have asked to delay the recording so I could get these issues worked out except Marcus was leaving the next morning and also we needed to record RIGHT AWAY because certain people were all like "WE NEED TO MEET AT A RESTAURANT AT A SPECIFIC PRECISE TIME" and so on.

Also the original recording was too clean-sounding so I dirtied it up a bit with some reverb, since even though we recorded it live in a big cavernous warehouse the dry tracks sounded way too clean to be live, which would have made our sloppy performances inexcusable.

Since this recording I've finally upgraded my laptop to OSX 10.4 and so next time we record live we'll be able to actually make things work right, or at least we'll have a better chance of figuring out which cable or device was causing the problem.

(The mixer problem made it so that one of the channels was effectively muted, so we couldn't put everything on its own channel, and so the bass and guitar were sharing a single track so afterwards I would have had no way to go through and clean it up well.)

Anyway. If it weren't for the time crunch we would have been able to do a better job of getting a clean recording. I am sorry that a couple of pops offended the mighty Frontalot enough that he felt it necessary to insult my audio equipment working knowledge.
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jb
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Post by jb »

heh.
blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
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Reist
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Post by Reist »

I'm bound to do some reviews sometime. Check later.
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Post by mc_frontalot »

fluffy, it is only common sense that being associated with Octothorpe is going to degrade your audio equipment working knowledge by LOTS OF PERCENTS, making that knowledge insult-worthy.
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fluffy
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Post by fluffy »

Is that why the first two # tracks I produced (Sign My Box and Elements Of Style) are so much better?

If so, shit.
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Billy's Little Trip
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

mc_frontalot wrote: BLT: a lot of the rock I've heard on SF over the years has something doofy about it--it is almost always wanky or overdone or underdone or unskilled or mixed wrong just in bad taste. This song suffers none of these defects. It sounds like it came straight off of a piece of vinyl and the person who put it on was bragging about finding it in the record store. It is a real rock song that sounds great!! I am really happy to hear it.
I'm glad you saw through my inability to master my music, plus you gave it a cool record store vinyl spin, shweet! I still record on analog tape and it's straight off the tape to mp3. I'm new to the computer studio world, but I'm learning a lot from this place. My future entries will have a better final cut I hope. Thanks
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Post by melvin »

BLT: Feedback intro is awesome, and so is the soloing. Overall, a solid rocker.

Chonchi: This struck me as absurd, until that end section, which is both sweet-sounding and funny.

Gigavolt: I like this quite a lot. Cool drum and synth sounds, and a catchy melody. Very cool tune.

Jimmy Jet: This would be okay with drums, but as it stands now, I can’t really get into it.

Klownhole etc: It’s great to hear Wages wailing over the crushing strains of the ‘hole. The elements of awesomeness are there – y’all just need to write a better, more concise song next time.

Luke Henley: These lyrics would definitely piss off the minister at the youth music day and bake sale. Hopefully the nice melody and vocals would help mask the evil.

Front + Brad: Sung part is catchy, and clever word flow is snappy. This is undoubedtly well done, yet I can't fully get into it because it always feels like a parody when I hear a white guy rapping (including when I do it – see Rate of Decay).

Melvin: I won’t argue with those who say this is a slick production, but I’m a little bothered by the fact that it would fit rather innocuously on the soundtrack of Grey’s Anatomy. I’m obviously getting old.

Ninja Bachelors: Put-on vocal style makes this hard to appreciate.

Octothorpe: Aside from being out of tune, out of time, off key, and badly recorded, this is great!

Our Dog: Love the riffage. Hate the vocals.

Paco: Great playing as always, and I love the background vocals! Hot solo. Nice work.

Q-Explosion: Reminds me of Cake right off the bat. Good tune. Everything here is solid.

Several Thousand $$$: Sweet voice. Definitely one of the better entries this week.

Shambles: This seems rather skillfully put together, but I really don’t like it.

TMK: Awesome as always. The emotion in your voice is worth 10 times more than perfect pitch. The strings that start around 2:12 are gorgeous, and your lyrics are right on point.

Wages: You have such a great voice. Keep working with drum loops, because your stuff is getting dramatically better these days. Nice job. It would be brilliant if you could get a band together – especially one that you could collaborate with on songwriting.

Zipline: I don’t think I commented on your entry from last week – I loved it. Yeah, it sounded kind of like Rush, and in a totally awesome way. This week, I’m not digging it as much, but I still love your intricate, jammy, proggy, style and live sound. Look forward to more Zipline entries.
hi!
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Andy Balham
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Post by Andy Balham »

Reviewed by Andy Balham and Sandy Calico on their way to the sunny North (of England). The acoustics of the car seemed to exaggerate the percussion in a few of the tracks, so take the comments with a pinch of salt:

Billy's Little Trip feat. Paco
Andy: Nice dynamic. Bit mumbly, a bit samey and a bit too long. Though the solos are good, there are too many for me. Enjoyable though.
Sandy: The drumming seems to go out of line in the verse. It’s too high and doesn’t fit.

Chonchi Station and the Power Converters
Andy: Challenging and interesting theory. Loooooong.
Sandy: Complete mess. I like the beeps and musicy bit.

Gigavolt Sound Machine
Andy: Drums sound too high in the mix and become to feel relentless. Pleasant though.
Sandy: I really like it.

Jimmy Jet and His TV Set
Andy: Good funk feel. Minus points for using “bitch”. It yearns out for the drums to kick in with gusto.
Sandy: Terrible. Repetitive. I like what he is trying to do with the vocals though.

Klownhole feat. Wages and Jeff Robertson
Andy: Too ponderous. More rock, less prog. Ttoo long, but points for “Cheez Whiz”.
Sandy: Ooh that’s got to hurt! Not my cup of tea. I like the start and end.

Luke Henley
Andy: Familiar melody. Dull arrangement. Like the procreate line. Good length.
Sandy: Nice whistling. Don’t like the lyrics.

MC Frontalot feat. Brad Sucks
Andy: The Achewood references pass me by but doesn’t spoil my enjoyment. Great chorus.
Sandy: Good Beck-esque chorus. Rapping not my thing. Overall superb though.

Melvin
Andy: Great dynamic build and arrangement. Good length.
Sandy: I really like it. I want to hear more by him. Nice vocals and melody

The Ninja Bachelors
Andy: Good vocal style. Nice little solo. Entertaining lyric.
Sandy: Percussion too high. Nice little solo. Lyrically not my bag.

Octothorpe
Andy: As always, you always make me grin from ear to ear.
Sandy: It’s sounds like you really enjoyed making it and it’s nice to hear someone throwing themselves into their work. I don’t know why, but I really like it.

Our Dog
Andy: That joke isn’t funny anymore.
Sandy: It’s a dog alright. Like the bass line, but otherwise terrible.

Paco del Stinko
Andy: Good vocal delivery. Entertaining. My favourite so far.
Sandy: Love the backing vocals, but it didn’t grab me.

Quesadilla Explosion
Andy: Competent, but nothing much is grabbing me.
Sandy: I like the bass, but nothing much is grabbing me either. Good backing vocals.

Several Thousand Dollars in Motion
Andy: Nice delivery, if a little hesitant (intentional?). Good length.
Sandy: Percussion too high in the mix. I relay like the singing.

Those Meddling Kids
Andy: Minus points for self-referential song-writing lyric. Plus points for delivery. Pleasant.
Sandy: Too many bits. The vocals are nice and the chorus is good too.

Wages
Andy: Bits of the vocal work we and other bits not so. The solo needs work.
Sandy: I like the simple music and it good to hear someone going for it.

Zipline
Andy: Nice raw indie feel to it and a good riff to build a song around. It loses energy for me when it goes all prog in the middle.
Sandy: Back to the 70s. The vocal remind me of Sum 41.
"Some may say I couldn't sing, but none may say I didn't sing" - Florence Foster Jenkins
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Billy's Little Trip
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

Andy Balham wrote: Billy's Little Trip feat. Paco
Andy: Nice dynamic. Bit mumbly, a bit samey and a bit too long. Though the solos are good, there are too many for me. Enjoyable though.
Sandy: The drumming seems to go out of line in the verse. It’s too high and doesn’t fit.
Andy: I had to look up samey. Here's what I got.
samey: Boringly similar or unchanging; monotonous.
Example: I quite like that band, but I think their songs are a bit samey

Thank you for teaching me a new word......oh, and go to hell! HaHaHa, kidding. :P Thanks.

Sandy: Women :roll:
Thanks you two. Have fun in the North of England. :wink:
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furrypedro
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Post by furrypedro »

Andy Balham wrote:Minus points for self-referential song-writing lyric
:?:
Lucky that doesn't apply to me then.
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Andy Balham
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Post by Andy Balham »

Billy's Little Trip wrote: Andy: I had to look up samey. Here's what I got.
samey: Boringly similar or unchanging; monotonous.
Example: I quite like that band, but I think their songs are a bit samey

Thank you for teaching me a new word......oh, and go to hell! HaHaHa, kidding. :P Thanks.
Glad to be expanding your vocabularly. Having yet another listen, there's a lot to be admired in your song. For me, there's not quite enough variety in the music / dynamic to sustain its length. Much like a double album you like, but feel there was one really good single album there.

P.S. We did have fun oop North thanks.
"Some may say I couldn't sing, but none may say I didn't sing" - Florence Foster Jenkins
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Andy Balham
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Post by Andy Balham »

Furrypedro wrote:
Andy Balham wrote:Minus points for self-referential song-writing lyric
:?:
Lucky that doesn't apply to me then.
"I've done this twice before, it always turns out wrong
So from experience I'm gonna write this girl a song"

Just a personal pecadillo Pedro. My points system is my own. People should feel no compunction to pander to it.
"Some may say I couldn't sing, but none may say I didn't sing" - Florence Foster Jenkins
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Post by Mogosagatai »

And compunction, too! Teach me more words, Andy Balham!
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Andy Balham
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Post by Andy Balham »

Mogosagatai wrote:And compunction, too! Teach me more words, Andy Balham!
With such a veritable cornucopia to peruse, I ponder which linguistic gaud will be most efficacious in aiding your verbosity.
"Some may say I couldn't sing, but none may say I didn't sing" - Florence Foster Jenkins
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