A Woman On Paper (forgotten reviews?)

[MintyHandy]

Suckweasel

Great surf vibe out of the box. I listened to this on my "good" stereo and didn't like the mix, but listening again on crap computer speakers, I really like it -- did you mix on crap computer speakers? The chorus lyrics don't work for me, but the rest does, and executed with terrific harmonies. Your guitar solo made me cringe a bit, but I can't figure out why. Shame about the fade-out ending, and I say that as someone who faded out his ending a few weeks ago. So we are brothers in shame.

Steve Hand Puppet blah blah

Again, didn't like this on the "good" stereo, but good on crap computer speakers. Perhaps my "good" stereo isn't very good after all... There's a dead spot in the middle, when you're not singing and the guitar disappears, that makes me sad -- but overall you carry a nice loose feel throughout. I'm not saying I like it, exactly, but I did enjoy it. Split-mono vocal at the end made me think of early Beatles recordings... oh, it's not over. You sound like a nice guy. I bet you're pleasant to hang out with.

anti-m

I'd love to have you sing one of my songs, I dig your voice, 10,000 Maniacs meets Souxsie and the Banshees. The presentation of this would improve markedly with massive overlays of goth style. Didn't overstay its welcome, but I don't know if I would listen to it again. Overall, I like.

The Older Brothers

Unique arrangement, hints of Steve Vai's solo work here, although the vocal is somewhat uneven and jarring -- although I love the chorus. Electric Zap Patrol, engage! If you had delivered these lyrics with the tight, intense style of Steve Vai's Flex-able album, I think this would have been my favorite. I really enjoyed the arrangement, and again, love the chorus. Well done. Looking forward to your next entry.

Paco Del Stinko

Flawless arrangement, unbelievable guitar playing; only flaws I can mention are a vocal that sounds more like Negativland than it should...um, that's about it. I do like the "and so are her friends" part most of all, scarecrow. The bridge is almost unnecessary; you could have gone right into the solo, I think. Great through and through. Possible vote.

The Disciples of Beer

I can barely hear you, and there's not much going on here -- but I do like the guitar noodling. Oops, get a pop filter for your microphone. Actually, there might be a nice little song in here, but there's not enough production or vocal commitment for me to catch onto it. Collab with someone who understands how to record and mix, and I'll probably like your stuff.

Tiny Robots

This reminds me of Sister Sonny to a degree that is unbelievable. I'm a fan, but I discovered them in a bargain bin, so take that however you will. It's a nice song, but only that -- I really want a hook, but nothing's grabbing me. It's a high-quality, credible song though, and you are a likely winner this week. My fave parts: the organ and the handclaps, and your lovely voice.

Steve Durand

It's official -- my crap computer speakers are made of magic, and make everything sound better. On my "good" stereo, your winds sounded off-key and out of sync; here, they sound terrific. Good mix, you have a nice voice, but nothing hooky here. Still, you made me feel relaxed and groovy, and that's a good thing. M-e-l-l-o-w. Nice direction for the lyrics, by the way, although the execution is lacking tautness. Whatever that means.

Minty Handy
So I bought this new guitar, and I can't play yet, so I succumbed to the cheap lure of distortion. However, I do like how the grunge uke came out; it arguably holds the guitar up, instead of the other way around. I'm also pleased as pie with the drums. I mixed the vocal too low, and tried a different singing style that (over time) should pay dividends but in the short term makes me nervous -- a rocker I am not. Also (not an excuse, just a fact) the chorus line was a scratch vocal that I couldn't replace because my singing woke our son up -- "father me" battled "musician me" and came out on top. Oh yeah, and this is the second song in a row I've gotten "too short!" feedback on, so I'm going to re-focus on quantity (and hope I don't give up quality in the process.) Are you still reading this far? Why? This isn't a review of your song! It's just me talking to myself (and, it seems, to you.) Let's move on.

Ross Durand

I like your guitar playing. Something in the vocal of your entry this week makes you sound older than I previously pictured you. Pleasant harmonies, and I like the popped lower string you maintain outside of the bridge. Not my favorite song style, but looking past that, a solid entry.

Eight Legged Oedipus

I hate hearing the title used as the kickoff line, but ignoring that for the moment, great work here. "You are dangerous..." is terrific in every way, proving that a hook can be simple and sweet without losing effectiveness. Well played, sir, well played. Possible vote. Very possible. A bit more rehearsal on the vocal just before the second half of the song would have served you well, but that's a nitpick of a -- wait, did you just say vagina? I hope you didn't just say vagina. Okay, I'm not going back to check, even though I want to. I'll pretend you said...well, I don't know what. Forget I mentioned it. This is a -- wait, wait, wait, could you wait? Could you say vagina again? Okay, no more drinking wine before doing Songfight reviews.

B. Ellison

Your vocal is 94% of the way to current top 40 caliber; sing in a slightly lower key and you'll have the other 6%. Nice lyrics, nice arrangement, nice playing -- in a word, nice, esp. the accordion. I like joy or sweetness or awkwardness in my songs, but this has none of those (except the collision of instruments in the little solo interlude, which is quite awkward) so I'm not loving it -- but it's good, and I'm looking forward to your next entry. You remind me of every Irish band that wasn't U2 in the 80s, and of some other band that I can't remember the name of -- and trying to remember will drive me crazy for the rest of the night. Damn you, B. Ellison, damn you for imposing this burden on me.

Wages

I have perfect pitch (hearing, not singing, which is unfortunate for all of you) so your vocal made me want to claw my face off. Please please please work on your pitch accuracy, so that I can enjoy your songs more. I wish your entry had the drums from my entry. I can't finish, sorry, the off-pitch vocals are making my teeth hurt. Nothing personal.

Masterhyde

I really enjoyed your last two entries, so this one disappointed me in two ways: first, that it sounds too much like your other songs (nothing innovative), and second that your tempo is too slow for your rhymes (LL Cool J was guilty of this often, starting with "I need love".) This one is missing the hook the other two had, as well. Nevertheless, I love the sound of your voice, you use layered vocals to good effect, and your beats are strong. With 10-14bpm and something more interesting with the chorus, and it would have been a possible vote. Oh, you faded out, too -- I hope I didn't start a bad trend.

King Arthur

I haven't liked your recent entries, but I like this right out of the box. Very perky, good lyrics and structure, solid arrangement. Oh, that chorus is short, sweet, and killer. You're my front runner now (with Eight Legged Oedipus right behind) -- I think I'll listen to his entry more than yours, but I have to give you props for Grateful Dead-on execution. Dead-on, apply directly to the dead. Oh, Dr. Phil? Pop culture references pull me out of a song -- oh, the Luxor, too -- without the pop culture references, I'd have nothing to complain about (other than suggesting you put just a hint more reverb and a hint less level in your vocal) so thanks for putting those in there. So that I could complain about them. Because I like to complain. Apparently.

Cynthia Size et al

Go Billy, go! Er, is this a girl or a synthesized voice? It's creepy as hell, that's for sure. I can't get past it, sorry. I enjoyed the crazy guitar, though, really went well with the creepy electro-girlie.

Caravan Ray

I encourage you to shorten your musical intros and get into the meat of the song faster, but I write songs that come out too short, so you can probably ignore that comment. I keep waiting for this to become a song, but it's more like tribal chanting. As an atmospheric piece, it works well, and the only thing I would change is the synth wind instrument you used; too much of a rain forest cafe vibe. Creepy, but in a good way. The lyrics were an undercurrent that supported the song well, but attracted too much attention right at the "french kiss" part -- a small nitpick, but it was jarring as the rest was subtle and well-integrated. I'd listen to this on a long drive up the coast at night.

MC Eric B
The magic of nerdcore is to rap well about nerdy things, with just a hint of nerdy in the delivery. Here, for the second time in a row, you bust painfully nerdy rhymes about boring -- but not nerdy -- things, and with an overwhelming presence of teh nerdiness. When MC Frontalot said "We'll scatter his remains out the Airwolf copter" (in "Living at the Corner of Dude and Catastrophe") he did the thing that you should be doing. It's highly visual, interesting to hear and to visualize, and contains a nerdy pop-culture reference -- but is delivered credibly, like a non-nerdy person trying to be nerdy. You just sound like the Negativland guy trying to rap. No offense intended here, I'm just trying to give constructive feedback this time (last time, I was just being an ass.)

Klownhole

I love your name. Love it, love it, love it. Hated your song. Sorry. Mostly because it was so much louder than the other submissions that I thought it would wake up my kids. Also because it's not my thing. But I admire your commitment, and (for some reason I can't quite explain) am looking forward to your next submission.

Nocturnal Brothers

With the initial cymbal hits, I thought you were trying to be Gorillaz. Then you started singing, and I thought you were trying to be Ween. Ten seconds later, I realized you were trying to create a song, and didn't succeed. Sorry. Screaming random stuff into a microphone while other people play instruments randomly is indeed songwriting, in the same way that driving your car into a garden shed is controlled demolition. I did like the "I got a woman" repetitions, though. See? I can find something nice in everything. Except MC Eric B. Damn, I'm harsh tonight. Karmically, that's going to bite me in the ass, just you wait.

Billy's Little Trip

I like your name almost as much as Klownhole. Happily, I like your music a lot better. You've got a Local H/Nirvana thing going on, and you do it well; get your vocal level up (I know you're on new equipment and still working things out) and I'll like your stuff better still. Production values are much improved over past entries, and I have no doubt you'll improve more in the next couple of weeks -- but production values are the thing keeping this out of my mp3 collection. That's a compliment, actually. Possible vote.

Just In Case

I think I gave you the same criticism last week that I'm about to give you this week; you've got two voices, please please please use them to HARMONIZE. You sort of do a little bit, but the unison stuff is KILLING ME. SLOWLY. IN YOUR SONG. KILLING ME SLOWLY. IN YOUR SONG. Okay, that's enough of that. You write and record well, although it sounds like one voice is clean and the other is distorted -- not sure if that's a choice or a mistake. Yes, I would have voted for this if you harmonized, but as-is it takes a potentially cheery song and makes it unpleasant.

Mike Lamb

A gentle, sweet start. I like your delivery, I like your lyrics, I like your playing, I like your production values -- until the drum hits, it should have been subtle, rather than in my face, kind of turned into a marching band song. If I could have my way, there would be no drum in this song at all. Nice otherwise, and close to a possible vote, but not quite. I like your voice a lot. I wish I sounded more like this, and less like MC Eric B. If I keep this up, he's going to come to my house and hit me with a brick. An MC Eric Brick.

thanks for the frisbee

Sometimes this song is nice, and reminds me of Jonathan Mann; sometimes it's disjointed and vaguely uncoordinated. Sing in a lower key, and I think you'll reap significant benefits. When your vocals are tight and your instruments are tight, this is nice. I can't quite put my finger on my the lyrics bother me in places, like the "on her face, no taste" (if I heard that correctly), but they do. Lower your key and work on figuring out why the aforementioned lyric and "she points at the picture on my fridge and cries" don't quite work, but the lyric "restless and broken home" and "this is the last time I will stay up all night trying to sustain you" work quite well. Then write less of the former, and more of the latter.

---

King Arthur gets my vote this week, but Eight Legged Oedipus is going in my mp3 collection. Many other good songs this week, great fight, and you'll be pleased to know that my next entry (under the Minty Handy "brand", heh) will be going in a different direction.

[MC Eric B]

MintyHandy - I like your song a lot. It is catchy and I like the way the vocals sound, and as other people said, reminds me of The Cars in their early days. The only thing I would change is the ending. It ends too abruptly. Even if the band just kept playing, and faded out, that would be better.

As for your comments on my songs, keep them coming. I appreciate any feedback I can get, since it helps me improve. In regards to your comments about Nerdcore, I am a horrible singer, so the only way I can make a song that doesn't totally suck is to have it be rap/hiphop/Nerdcore where I don't really sing. Although, my next weeks Pink Ribbon entry is not Nerdcore, so let me know what you think.

Also, I have written many much more "geeky" songs, but I am not sure many of the songfight listeners would understand half the stuff I am talking about, so they will just think the lyrics are stupid. Nerdcore songs are generally most apperciated by a Nerdcore type audience.

- Eric

[Seoup Gei]

Is my track really that bad?

cOOL art as usual by the way!

Sorry guys... so many songs in this dreamy fight. It's just so dreamy. Like Mo. And thank you , as well!

Cynthia Size et al.
Actually this is pretty damn cool. Kinda like how it lingers between minor and major but avoids being blues in a big way. I'm not sure if a chorus part maybe with a heavy drum loop would make this develop better. I like the robot voice in this one, it's very sensitizing. I also like the chord changes mucho, hard to say exactly where I like them but there are just a few unexpected sort of chord turns in there that I really like.

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

thanks for coming back and doing that seoup, it's very much appreciated, okay voting news...

After an extensive days listening I got down to the following:

...my top five were like this
Paco, Steve Durand, Ross Durand, B. Ellison and Tiny Robots

my vote is cast for one of the above.

Some really good songs here, which would be lost without giving at least half of them a few decent listens.

[MintyHandy]

I am a horrible singer, so the only way I can make a song that doesn't totally suck is to have it be rap/hiphop/Nerdcore where I don't really sing.

The biggest reason I started doing songfight was because I was convinced that my voice sucked -- so it was a chance to really let it all hang out, vocally, without fear of alienating my friends or humiliating myself. I was *shocked* that my first reviews commented on the production of the vocals, but not the quality of my voice -- and that gave me the confidence to sing more, and therefore better (although I've still got a long way to go.)

I really, truly hope you'll take a deep breath and really let yourself sing without excuses, and without worrying about what we'll think. You survived our (or at least my) harsh reviews unscathed, after all, and you'll probably do a lot better than you think you will.

Now I'm *very much* looking forward to your next entry.

[Seoup Gei]

I am a horrible singer, so the only way I can make a song that doesn't totally suck is to have it be rap/hiphop/Nerdcore where I don't really sing.

I really, truly hope you'll take a deep breath and really let yourself sing without excuses, and without worrying about what we'll think.

Yeah, and as well, remember that "nerdcore" generally does very well here at SF. I can't say for certain, but it could be that there are just alot of compu-techie-type people around the internet, in general. Programmers and spammers, hackers, slackers, and e-jackers. Nerdcore aside, "geeks" rock!

So nerdcore on. It's just that people that don't like nerdcore will give you shit....but really, that shouldn't phase you. It's just a matter of musical taste. You actually picked the right place to do nerdcore, in my opinion.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy's Little Trip: Well played. The recording seems a little muddy with too much room presence, or maybe its just direct to 2 track? Derivative of Nirvana but that's fine by me.

Yeah, you hit it on the head. It was bounced back to two tape tracks on the mix down which explains the muddy sound.
Thanks for the comments

Billy's Little Trip

Awesome rockin guitar sound! I wish your vocals were mixed a little more
prominently. The guitars are taking center stage, which is cool, but I'd
really like to hear the vocals a bit better. Huge Bowie part about 2/3rds
through. That part is awesome, but it seems a little disjointed from the huge
rocker that the rest of the song is. I'm amazed that you can sing both ways so
well. Very nice!

I like changing emotional levels in my music, so going from one extreme to another is something I've been doing forever.
Maybe I can play guitar and get Frankie Big Face to sing and we can do a Bowie cover band. We'll call ourselves Bavid Dowie.
Thanks Mike

Billy's Little Trip

I like your name almost as much as Klownhole. Happily, I like your music a lot better. You've got a Local H/Nirvana thing going on, and you do it well; get your vocal level up (I know you're on new equipment and still working things out) and I'll like your stuff better still. Production values are much improved over past entries, and I have no doubt you'll improve more in the next couple of weeks -- but production values are the thing keeping this out of my mp3 collection. That's a compliment, actually. Possible vote.

Thanks Mintmyster. And I think you're right, my production will get better. I've learned so much already from Ken and Des about digital recording and such. My Pink Ribbon song will be my new Plateau in sound engineering. Local H huh? I like those guys, weren't they like a two man band?

[Thanks For The Frisbee]

[Sometimes this song is nice, and reminds me of Jonathan Mann; sometimes it's disjointed and vaguely uncoordinated. Sing in a lower key, and I think you'll reap significant benefits. When your vocals are tight and your instruments are tight, this is nice. I can't quite put my finger on my the lyrics bother me in places, like the "on her face, no taste" (if I heard that correctly), but they do. Lower your key and work on figuring out why the aforementioned lyric and "she points at the picture on my fridge and cries" don't quite work, but the lyric "restless and broken home" and "this is the last time I will stay up all night trying to sustain you" work quite well. Then write less of the former, and more of the latter.

---
.

sorry it didnt quite float your boat. the lyric in question reads as follows,
" rain is falling on her face, THE taste, of water is so sweet the paper melts beneath her feet..

oh and i think i'll be rocking the disjointed and uncoordinated agle for quite sometime
thanks for the feedback everyone
great fight so far

[MintyHandy]

Local H huh? I like those guys, weren't they like a two man band?

Yeah, if you don't count their roady Gabe, who occasionally darted out from behind an amplifier and sung a bit. If I remember correctly, the singer/bassist/guitarist had two bass strings on his guitar to pull it off live.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Local H huh? I like those guys, weren't they like a two man band?

Yeah, if you don't count their roady Gabe, who occasionally darted out from behind an amplifier and sung a bit. If I remember correctly, the singer/bassist/guitarist had two bass strings on his guitar to pull it off live.

hahaha, I love hearing stuff like this. He'd need a bass pickup too.

[wages]

Wages

I have perfect pitch (hearing, not singing, which is unfortunate for all of you) so your vocal made me want to claw my face off. Please please please work on your pitch accuracy, so that I can enjoy your songs more. I wish your entry had the drums from my entry. I can't finish, sorry, the off-pitch vocals are making my teeth hurt. Nothing personal.

OMG don't claw your face off!!!

I'm sorry about the pitch dude. I've been working on that for years now. It does seem to get better, but very slow process. I should probably practice more often.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand

you have a nice voice

Now there's something I don't hear very often.




Steve

[MintyHandy]

I'm sorry about the pitch dude. I've been working on that for years now...

Me too, but in reverse. My wife used to praise the fact that -- though I had no vocal talent -- my pitch was dead-on. Nowadays I'm flat, flat, flat and trying to figure out what happened. I think maybe I think about my singing quality too much, instead of just feeling lucky that I can hit the notes...

[Billy's Little Trip]

OK, here's my comments on this weeks entries. All really good songs, and a few that took center stage for me. But job to everyone here.

Anti-m - Very cool sound. Very good lyrics. Very passionate voice. The vocals have that "4 non blonde's" vibe. I like it. Makes me want to pick up my acoustic and play and sing along. Good job.

B. Ellison - Very good song. Very nice story with huge imagery projected. The xylophone and accordion are a nice touch. Very Toad the wet sprocket.. esk.

Caravan Ray - The music is intoxicating. Vocals are good, but make me want to get a drink of water. The arrangement is superb. Great job!

Cynthia Size and the Eclectic Spoons feat Billy's Little Trip - I'm still amazed how awesome it is to have a computer singing. This is the kind of thing Laurie Anderson did, and they called her an artist before her time. I can't remember if there was a bass drum running through the whole song, or if the low tones of the guitar drowned them out. I never really noticed until now. I've said it before, you're my favorite electronica musician.

The Disciples Of Beer - Although I've been listening to the entries on CD, I'm reviewing with headphones to refresh my memory, and the ending woke me up with a loud blast, lol. 3 guitars and a tambourine, cool. The lyrics give a whole new meaning to "man Love", lol. Good job.

Eight Legged Oedipus - I love this song, and the chord choices. Key changes make it very creative and fun. Nice voice and good performance. Too bad for the hiss, but on the other hand it gave it an old sound. Would have sounded cool with an old scratchy vinyl sound. Good job.

Just in Case - I always picture sailer's and winches in the local pub swaying back and forth with steins half full of Guinness (because I'm an optimist) held high and singing with vigor and camaraderie. I love guitar and voice, so harmonizing voices and guitars is like a special treat. Great job you two! I really like the way your songs raise my spirits.

King Arthur - Great song. I never admit that I like anything that sounds country, *whispers* but I do. I grew up around a lot of styles of music including country and western, and it's part of what molded my sound today. Very well recorded, very up beat, and really good voice. Really good job all the way around.

Klownhole - Sounds like the offspring of the singer from Octothorpe that sang Glutton. Reminds me of Cheech and Chong at the battle of the bands. The guitar has a cool sound...very 60's. Fun!

Masterhyde - Your voice is so smooth. Your beats are nice. Your lyrics tell an easy story to follow...plus, as an added bonus, it rhymes. I know rap is your thing, but I think you would sound great doing some funky jazz kind of thing, or something like the song Steve Durand entered. Good job, nice song.

MC Eric B - I like your arrangements. You really know how to squeeze as many words in a line as possible to paint your picture. Your delivery reminds me of
Fresh Prince from back in the day, which I like. Rap is certainly not my genre, but I like your style. Good Job.

Mike Lamb - I don't know if it was the Rum and Coke talking, but this song made me tear up a bit. Very well done. You brought the instruments in one at a time, perfectly creating a well rounded sound. Nice voice. Would have sounded good with more over all reverb, but that's just to make it sound bigger. But I like
it regardless.

Minty Handy - I was waiting all week to hear this one song, and as I said, it's even better than I imagined. I absolutely love your vocals in this song, the melody is really catchy, and the UKE....oh the ukulele...it's such a sweet touch. The count is odd, but works well. Good job on the 6 string too. This song is my top 5 that I'm going pick from for my vote this week. It left me wanting more, so good call on the length. I'll be listening to this one a lot. Great job.

Nocturnal Brothers - 1..2..3..4, I'm not sure what to say....on paper. All I know is I liked it. I felt so relaxed when it was over. Good job.

The Older Brothers - Interesting sounds. I like how you tried to incorporate as many Georgia O'Keefe references as possible. Fun song, good job.

Paco Del Stinko - Your music always amazes me at how well aranged and produced it is. Your lyrics are killer!...no pun intended. I love how you use the backup vox in your music. It's always something theatrical, like the Rocky Horror picture show. It's as if you are schizophrenic and singing out a conversation with yourself, lol. Pretty good job on the keys, but your guitar was the feast for my ears on this one. In my top 5 that I'm picking from this week. Great job!

Ross Durand - I love your picking style and guitar playing. Nice harmonies, About half way through, I hear a womans voice shyly in the background that gives the whole song a sweetness. If that's not a womans voice, then you got the highs just right, lol. Also, nice use of O'keefe references. Great job, I love guitar and voice. Very smart lyrically. Really good song.

Steve Durand - I fell hard for your horns the first time I heard them, so this song is ear candy to me. Interesting effects in the background. Nicely arranged, and well rounded. This is in my top 5 this week.

Steve Hand Puppet and His Poorly Considered Solo Effort - As I've said, your my new favorite alternative band. I like how you pluralized "internet porns" The stereo effect was really retro, then you said, "in stereo" which gave me a chuckle. Developing glands, lol. Very clever writing. Everytime I hear this song, I pick up on another innuendo of some sort. The long breaks trick me every time I listen to this song. Great job, also in my top 5.

Suckweasel - Very fun song. I actually spun around a few times in my computer chair. Very well done. I heard a tiny bit of a Social D sound in your voice a few times. Great job.

thanks for the frisbee - Your music never disappoints me. I enjoy listening to your vocal range. Guitar and voice at it's best here. I really need to get
back to my roots musically. Great song!

Tiny Robots - I get a very relaxed feel hearing your voice. This song sounds like the kind of music they use in a montage in those old British movies where they cut all sounds except the song. Very well done, and you have a beautiful voice.

Wages - Play it wages *pluck* lmao! I love the realness and passion in your voice. Sometimes I feel that you're holding it back too much, but when you do let it loose, I love it. You have a Morrison or Vedder quality which is a rarety. I'd really like to hear you sing in one of my punkier songs one of these days if you're up for it. I'd make it fast and dirty so you wouldn't even have time to go out of key, lol

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

Cynthia Size and the Eclectic Spoons feat Billy's Little Trip - I'm still amazed how awesome it is to have a computer singing. This is the kind of thing Laurie Anderson did, and they called her an artist before her time. I can't remember if there was a bass drum running through the whole song, or if the low tones of the guitar drowned them out. I never really noticed until now. I've said it before, you're my favorite electronica musician.

Here's a link for you Chris, remember how I said I needed to sort the volume levels out, although you did a FANTASTIC job, I continued to tweak things here and there and think this has a more rounded sound, now if only I could teach Cynthia to breathe...

A Woman on Paper - Cynthia Size and Billy's Little Trip (ft. spOOn)

[Billy's Little Trip]

Cynthia Size and the Eclectic Spoons feat Billy's Little Trip - I'm still amazed how awesome it is to have a computer singing. This is the kind of thing Laurie Anderson did, and they called her an artist before her time. I can't remember if there was a bass drum running through the whole song, or if the low tones of the guitar drowned them out. I never really noticed until now. I've said it before, you're my favorite electronica musician.

Here's a link for you Chris, remember how I said I needed to sort the volume levels out, although you did a FANTASTIC job, I continued to tweak things here and there and think this has a more rounded sound, now if only I could teach Cynthia to breathe...

A Woman on Paper - Cynthia Size and Billy's Little Trip (ft. spOOn)

I don't know if I can get used to that version, the guitar sounds out of time. But the levels are better.
By the way, it's funny you mentioned Cynthia breathing. I was playing with one of my VST plugins, and there is an effect from Voxengo that makes my guitar sound like it's breathing between notes. I can't remember which effect it was, but I think it's the boogex plugin. I'll double check later and get back to you.

[mr_lostman]

It's cold here, don't want to go outside and i got nothing better to do. So in hopes that people will review my song next week. Here's mine with a new top five ranking system too:

Anti-M: I love the dual vocals. The chorus is friggin great, the extra instrumentation is incredible. Best of all, has to be the drums. It’s sparse and just fits perfectly. Congrats, in my top 5.

B. Ellison: Great use of reverb. The effect is just huge and it really brings your vocals to the front. I love anything that uses accordion and glockenspiel, so extra points there. The lyrics are superb. This is just great. Top 5.

Billy’s Little Trip: Opening is really nirvana-esque in the drums. You program drums like Dave Grohl would play, I think that’s where you get all your nirvana references, plus your bass is just like kirst. Your vocal delivery is really a lot like another grunge band I can’t recall at the moment. Good guitar work on the solo, just a bit too long. I like the energy of your songs. Some songs on songfight sound like they don’t put everything into it, you do.

Caravan Ray: I like the cowbell sounds at the beginning. Then the synth comes in and it doesn’t work for me. Something about this just doesn’t work for me. The synth is too ambient to work with the beat in my opinion. Your lyrics are pretty good, but I have no clue what half those things you name at around 2 minutes are. Goes on a bit too long.

Cynthia Size: wow. Kinda out there. The guitar works most of the time. Wish it was constantly present. It would help to mix it up a bit. The voice is grating. I know it’s a computer, but really, it gets annoying after a while. This is definitely too long. It was cool to see someone go completely out on a limb here. Experimental, but it didn’t quite do it. There’s probably more to discover in this “genre”. Keep at it.

Disciples of Beer: Are, there three guitars in this? The rhythm guitar doesn’t work with the rest. Wish it was more centered and the other guitars were more panned. This something more… like bass and drums. Just my thing, definitely could use a bass. This would rock with a full band. Sounds a bit like blues traveler at points.

Eight Legged Oedipus: Love the idea of this as a demo. It really sounds like something you’d find on a b-sides and rarities collection. Which isn’t a bad thing at all. I really, really like this the more I listen to it. It’s just so well recorded, and I love how your voice fits in so perfectly. It was getting to be too long, then the humming came in. Top 5.

Just in Case: I like the folksy feel. The dual vocals are cool. The chorus sounds like a campfire song. Like something the counselors would write at summer camp to sing to the campers. Cool change up at around 2:20. That really saves this. Then that chorus comes back. Sorry, not my thing.

King Arthur: Ooohh… good country, hooray. Livin’ in Texas gets you surrounded by country music and this is great. The harmony in the chorus is perfect for the genre. I really like this. Great job. The crash in the drum set is a bit high (if that means anything). The realization that the drums are recorded comes in at the guitar solo when the hi-hat beat continues with the ride on the downbeat. Other than that great song. Top 5.

Klownhole: Oh wow… that came out of nowhere. Crazy heavy in comparison to everything else in this fight. Not really my thing. The vocals are just not working for me. I really can’t listen to this, I’m sorry.

Masterhyde: I love your beats. They are melodically based. I love hip-hop that pays attention to melody and hooks. This isn’t as great as your other entries I’ve listened to, but you’re still the best rap on songfight in my opinion.

MC Eric B.: ow… nerdcore. I like nerdcore rap when its good but this is nearly painful. The string beat is annoying, its like a skipping record, and that isn’t all that great. Wish there was more to the chorus than just you changing your rhythm. Okay I’m done here. You could be good but not with this.

Mike Lamb: not quite understanding the lyric so far. Oh alright I gets ya. The drums are a bit high in the mix like everyone else says. I do like the guitar and the chord structure. Nice postchorus riff on the second guitar. Simple yet effective. The bass drum is a bit too active for the sparseness of the song.

Minty Handy: Hooray, my favorite song of the fight. Great lyrics great vocal delivery. Great guitar work. I love this song all around. Could use a bass I guess. But overall still my favorite song of this fight. Once the solo hit I was sold, got my vote. Top 5 of course.

Nocturnal Brothers: It’s like modern garage blues, except not good. The vocals need a lot of work and the guitar solo needs a lot of work too. Not there yet… nearly.

Older Brothers: ???.... sounds like the zipline vocalist. Actually this just sounds like zipline gone elctro with sad results. Maybe I haven’t heard enough zipline to say that…

Paco Del Stinko: Your songs are always so out there lyrically. I’m really digging the chorus. The synthesized guitar solo is really pretty weak. Your vocals are always an enigma to me, they are just so deadpan. Hooray a real guitar solo… hmm, I liked the fake one more now. Not bad, not top 5 though.

Ross Durand: once the double vocals come in, I really get into this. Kinda old 60’s folksy. I dig it. Really like the backing vocals I gotta say. It’s like one of the best album closers that never was.

Steve Durand: Ooo… smooth. Great sax work. Aw, the vocalist doesn’t quite work with the rest. It’s a good lounge band song till I realize it’s the lounge at the motel 6…

Steve Hand Puppet: The vocals keep clipping. This song is really just not mixed well. The drums are really low in the mix, the cymbals high, the second guitar buried so heavily. The bass all but disappears. The lyrics are funny, I’ll give you that. The chorus sounds like Hall and Oates karaoke.

Suckweasel: Fun. The harmony vocals really make this fun. Sadly, the guitar isn’t prominent enough. Really wish it was more the center than the vocals. Handclaps are fun. Just wish the mix was more full. Solo would have been more fun with a fuller backing sound. Good attempt, hope to hear more in the future.

Thanks for the Frisbee: This is fairly weak in comparison to your other entries. The chorus really saves this. Very catchy. You know this gets better as it goes. Like the second guitar in the post-chorus. For being one of your weaker entries its still very good. Good job.

Tiny Robots: The female vocals over jazzy chords… like that hit by the cardigans (that’s them right?). Very soothing. Great voice. Wish it had more energy behind it. Guitar solo, isn’t all I wish it was. Leads to a cool breakdown though. Wish I could see a music video for this song.

Wages: Last song… kind of a bad place for a song. You sound like Eddie Vedder trying to front my eighth grade rock band. Your guitar sound needs some work and then I think this could work better. More lively drumming would help too.

Congrats everybody on a good fight this week. Now the coveted Top 5 (in no order):
Minty Handy
Eight Legged Oedipus
B. Ellison
Anti-M
King Arthur

Vote goes too Minty Handy for great uke work and catchy rockin.[/b]

[glennny]

Lostman:

Older Brothers: ???.... sounds like the zipline vocalist. Actually this just sounds like zipline gone elctro with sad results. Maybe I haven’t heard enough zipline to say that…

That's exactly right. Zipline is the live band in a room (Older Brothers plus the Prisoner and sometimes a Synth player too). Older Brothers is just me and Marty.

I'll review later!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy’s Little Trip: Opening is really nirvana-esque in the drums. You program drums like Dave Grohl would play, I think that’s where you get all your nirvana references, plus your bass is just like kirst. Your vocal delivery is really a lot like another grunge band I can’t recall at the moment. Good guitar work on the solo, just a bit too long. I like the energy of your songs. Some songs on songfight sound like they don’t put everything into it, you do.

You know, I think you hit it right on the head. It's snare flams I tend to program in that gives that Nirvana vibe. I do that because it's hard to hear the chord changes with my distorted rhythms, so the heavy snare work cuts through to help define the changes. I learned that from my drummer because that's how he has to do it live with sound bouncing all over the place. I never really pay much attention to the way I play bass, I just run a guitar line on it and maybe toss in a few extra notes so you know it's there.
Did you mean the solo is too long, or the song in general? I've been playing around with a few new standard formats to cut out some of the boredom. I tried one on my Pink Ribbon song, so we'll see how it's received, it's packed full of changes, a smoking solo and finishes at around 3:12. It felt funny to me, but that could be because I've been doing it other ways for so long. Thanks for the comments. If you think of the singer I sound like, let me know. I love listening to comparisons people toss out to me. I always think how upset the musician would be if he found out he sounded like me, lmao!

[anti-m]

Thanks to everyone who has reviewed so far... mine are coming soooon!

[wages]

Wages - The song started with the guitar parts and the drums were added much later. Unfortunately, when I added the drums, the guitar changed a lot. I worked way TOO hard on this because I ultimately become unable to hear the problems it has <i>because of</i> the problems! I really gotta not add drums when they don't match. As to my guitar tone, I'm thinking of getting a POD 2 to remedy that. I think I strum too hard and I can't seem to pull back too much, so I just need to check my tuning before every take. My favorite part of the song is the slide part and subsequent rhythm only section, but those were made up <i>after</i> I set the drums. If anyone wants to redo the music, I'd love to redo the vocals to new music; PM me. 2/5

Reviews....

RATING SYSTEM: 4/5 or 5/5 = repeat listening, 3/5 = good merit & occasional listen, 2/5 = not so good, 1/5 = absolutely crap/waaaaaaay unappealing to me

Anti-M
Some really nice female vocals (I'm a tough customer). Very nice entry. 4/5 (I may upgrade this after further listenings)

B. Ellison
Very nice song. It's like Oasis meets Len meets The Decemberists, but it has a very nice feeling not presented by any of those bands. 5/5

Billy's Little Trip
This reminds me of "Aneurysm". As everyone said, really the whole song is very Nirvanaesque. Did you say previously that you were not a Nirvana fan, because that would be very hard to believe! The point when the song lightens adds a dash of John Lennon flavor to the melody/vocals. Biggest complaint is it doesn't quite seem mixed as well as it could be, but I don't know what suggestions to offer. 4/5

Caravan Ray
Definitely Bowie influenced. Starting very strong. the "They do..." section is unbelieveably great! I typically skip a song when it is half way through because of time constraints, but I found it hard to tear myself away from this tune. 5/5

Cynthia Size and the Eclectic Spoons feat Billy's Little Trip
Very nice entry. I believe Cynthia = vocals, eclectic spoons = drums & incidentals, Billy = guitar (no guitar here!). 4/5

The Disciples of Beer
Good songwriting. I'd like more umph in the way of drums, more guitar, vocals. 2/5

Eight Legged Oedipus
Reminds me of Bright Eyes. Nice entry. is that an upright bass? If not, it should be. The more I hear, the more I like it. 5/5

Just in Case
Just not my thing. 2/5

King Arthur
Very cool. I like the way you used the title through a story. I tried to convey that idea, but don't feel I got the mark. 4/5

Klownhole
This is the best song I've ever heard from you...and it's really great! I like the vocals a lot and the guitar has a much nicer sound than previous entries. 4/5

Masterhyde
I don't like most R&B/hiphop songs, but 3/5

MC Eric B
Again, I don't care much for hiphop. However, the music is really pulling me in and I can understand the words. Is this what you guys are calling "nerdcore"? You crazy kids! 4/5

Mike Lamb
Nice easy going tune. The drums help a lot. I wonder if there is something additional that could make it just a little bigger. Perhaps song keys/synth. The solo helps a lot. 3/5

Minty Hands
I listened to a few of your recent songs. I like other ones more than this, but it's a good entry. 3/5

Nocturnal Brothers
Billy Childish-like, but not as good. 1/5

The Older Brothers
Interesting NIN-like sound. I like the verse parts. I think the chorus and bridge parts need to be done differently. The guitar work is very interesting. I wish this song had a better execution. I'd love to hear someone remake this. 2/5

Paco Del Stinko
I love the guitar work. Your solos rule. 4/5

Ross Durand
The vocals are good here. I think a pad of of organ synth would make this great. 3/5

Steve Durand
Good intro groove. Great vocals and melody. I'm really diggin' the vibe. 5/5

Steve Hand Puppet and His Poorly Considered Solo Effort
Great band name. Good songwriting. I wish the recording and mixing was stronger, but I found an EQ preset that makes it right. The harmonizing is cool. 3/5

Suckweasel
Not bad. Vaguely reminds me of The Refreshments and Matthew Sweet. I feel you should work on stronger hooks, especially in the chorus (so should I!). 2/5

Thanks For the Frisbee
From what I've listened to, one of your stronger entries. 4/5

Tiny Robots
I'm very picky about female vocals, but these are nice. The song reminds me of The Cardigans. 4/5

THE SACRED COWS
Caravan Ray
Eight Legged Oedipus
Steve Durand
B. Ellison
Tiny Robots

THE SACRET CALVES
Anti-M
Klownhole
MC Eric B
Paco Del Stinko

It's so hard to decide between Caravan Ray and B. Ellison. I guess I'll go with Ellison because it is SO difficult to skip past the song.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy's Little Trip
This reminds me of "Aneurysm". As everyone said, really the whole song is very Nirvanaesque. Did you say previously that you were not a Nirvana fan, because that would be very hard to believe! The point when the song lightens adds a dash of John Lennon flavor to the melody/vocals. Biggest complaint is it doesn't quite seem mixed as well as it could be, but I don't know what suggestions to offer. 4/5

I'll go D/L Aneurysm to check it out. Yes, I have said in the past that I never got into Nirvana. I was into a more "American" underground rock genre like Jane's Addiction and the Chili Peppers before they ever even got on the radio. Where as Nirvana was more like a Pop punk kind of thing. Before they ever got the genre "grunge" associated with them, they were just a main stream punk band, and we looked at them, and others like them, as radio friendly Sex Pistols cover bands. Now Foo Fighters on the other hand, I love. They are more like a mainstream American underground rock genre to me.
My next and future recordings will be much better. And I find myself intentionally writing the drums and guitar structure different, but I can't promise that I won't sound the way I always do, it's kind of just my natural flow. John Lennon is my favorite Beatle.
Thanks for the review Phil. I can live with 4/5.