erikostrom - I really liked how you used the second voice to
brighten up the laid back vocals on the chorus. and that
descant somewhat rambling guitar line through out shouldn't
have worked damnit; but it was exactly what was needed to keep
the overall tone from being to low. I can't think of anything
that needs fixing.
pigpen - this might be the first rap Ive ever listened to all
the way through. Had some shocking and clever wordplay - to
bad you wasted them on a (c)rap.
slowrodeo - The voice is way below the guitar in the mix and
it might be a little flat at times. The mix problem caused me
to bailout at around 2:00.
silente - the main voice was much lower in the mix then the
accompany voice that comes in later- that bugged me.
Somewhere someone suggested that chorused voices should
attempt to sound alike. I think that's good advice in this
case since the voices didn't seem to have alot of potential
for chord kinda harmony.
Humbert- the Monte Python singing says you don't want me to
take you seriously - but the lyric wasn't funny. so Im just
confused ( as usual ). Its looong so I bailed around the
Mic Fleetwood thing - maybe it got funnier. nice tune though.
fortysecondsongs - Cute music - I recently watched the
George Harrison tribute CD so Ukulele all the sudden seems
cool to me. The beach boys Brian (what's his name) documentary,
about the making the album Smile, gave me respect for falsetto
harmonies and quirky instruments. This reminded me of those two
things ( good company to be in) but I have to say I don't really
get the song. Is this about going bald or getting older or
suicide? I dont think you really used the "I am tempted" phrase.
The line about god taking your arm and looking worried could
have been epic but you didnt take it anywhere - I was
disappointed by that.
joshwoodward - Go find a bigger pond.
wreck - would a faster tempo have improved this? I really should
pass because I couldnt understand what Chef was saying thru my
crappy pc headphones. The Rudy (fat albert ref) voice was just
annoying.
miasmatics - really well arraigned. is that an fuzzy electric
guitar or a fender whoopee cushion? The vocals need something
more - I'm not sure what - maybe just a more melodic singing
style. good stuff.
soylentspuds - For some reason this gives me the impression
of a small town theater company's home grown attempt at a
political musical. The curtain parts, the protagonist strides
onstage, plants himself in the spotlight, and with a proud
Yul Brynner stance he belts this out. But of course it cant
be a 'small town' theater company because they are re-public-an
they are re-public-eeaaaannnnn.
maxthecat - this is so great. I think maybe the shaker
sound should have been panned to the middle. Anybody who
actually uses those 'just touch the string nodal harmonic
thingys' in a song is toooo cooool.
Kevinator - rocks! this is the style of stuff I attempt and
can't ever pull off. backwards guitar ahhoo so sweet.
So I really liked erikostrom, joshwoodward, maxthecat, and
Kevinator. Josh is disqualified out of shear petty jealousy
( my gfriend likes him to much). Kevinator rocks but lyrically
is not on the same plain as the others. Between maxthecat
and erikostrom its a coin flip won by erikostrom
By the Fruit of Another (I Am Tempted reviews)
the setup is a little different and you have better software than when that picture was different. its more like a studio now. but yeah its all in the software and how you use it. however you use i dont even know. and poor june did you bring enough nuts for the rest of us. if not no sharing.
"I'd give my right arm to be ambidexterous." - Smalltown Mike
well i fear i only have 2... and i can only get rid of one... so it's not really a sharing... but a giving sort of thingslowRodeo wrote:the setup is a little different and you have better software than when that picture was different. its more like a studio now. but yeah its all in the software and how you use it. however you use i dont even know. and poor june did you bring enough nuts for the rest of us. if not no sharing.
"You haven't been really bad in a long time." - jim of seattle
<a href="http://www.soundclick.com/bands/5/poorj ... htm">music page</a>
<a href="http://www.soundclick.com/bands/5/poorj ... htm">music page</a>
-
Caravan Ray
- bono
- Posts: 8737
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 1:51 pm
- Instruments: Penis
- Recording Method: Garageband
- Submitting as: Caravan Ray,G.O.R.T.E.C,Lyricburglar,The Thugs from the Scallop Industry
- Location: Toowoomba, Queensland
- Contact:
Eric Strom: Very good song and a nice performance. My only criticism is that I’m finding that high electric guitar bit a bit off-putting. Excellent song though.
42nd Songs: The ukele’s really turning me off. Sounds like a good song though – I think I’d like it with a different arrangement.
Humbert: I’m just finding this really annoying – sorry.
JoshW: Nice sound as usual – but nothing very interesting here.
Kelvinator: Yeah!! This is really good. A little bit like what I tried to do last week with Half a Stone – but you’ve done it so much better. You’ve achieved beauty through simplicity – a very difficult thing to do. Will be hard to beat.
M the C: Nothing jumping out at me here
Miasmatics: This is excellent. Do you know of The Triffids? This sounds a lot like them – your voice even sounds a bit like David McCombs. That electronic “wuba-wuba” sounding thing seems a little bit out of time – but otherwise this is very enjoyable.
PiGPEN: Well done – your best yet. Love the backing track – it works really well. I agree with your earlier comments about the “non-angry” vocals. I think you’ve got the vocal tone right. I’d love to hear you do a rap version of my ‘Massive Intelligence Failure’
SilentE: Not bad – I like the mood. The backing vocals on the chorus are a bit off-putting
SlowRodeo: Off key vocals turning me off badly – song not really going anywhere
Soylent Spuds: Off key vocals turning me on greatly! Sounds like Joy Division chocked up to the eyeballs on happy drugs! This is a beauty. Great backing music and excellent vocals.
Wreckdom: Wreckdomlicious! My favourite of yours so far I think – although it probably could have been cut by about 2 minutes
Some great stuff in this fight. Miasmatics, Soylent Spuds and Wreckdom all impressed me greatly. Pick of the bunch were Pigpen and Kelvinator. Both excellent songs. My vote will go to Kelvinator simply because is was a style closer to my own personal preference.
42nd Songs: The ukele’s really turning me off. Sounds like a good song though – I think I’d like it with a different arrangement.
Humbert: I’m just finding this really annoying – sorry.
JoshW: Nice sound as usual – but nothing very interesting here.
Kelvinator: Yeah!! This is really good. A little bit like what I tried to do last week with Half a Stone – but you’ve done it so much better. You’ve achieved beauty through simplicity – a very difficult thing to do. Will be hard to beat.
M the C: Nothing jumping out at me here
Miasmatics: This is excellent. Do you know of The Triffids? This sounds a lot like them – your voice even sounds a bit like David McCombs. That electronic “wuba-wuba” sounding thing seems a little bit out of time – but otherwise this is very enjoyable.
PiGPEN: Well done – your best yet. Love the backing track – it works really well. I agree with your earlier comments about the “non-angry” vocals. I think you’ve got the vocal tone right. I’d love to hear you do a rap version of my ‘Massive Intelligence Failure’
SilentE: Not bad – I like the mood. The backing vocals on the chorus are a bit off-putting
SlowRodeo: Off key vocals turning me off badly – song not really going anywhere
Soylent Spuds: Off key vocals turning me on greatly! Sounds like Joy Division chocked up to the eyeballs on happy drugs! This is a beauty. Great backing music and excellent vocals.
Wreckdom: Wreckdomlicious! My favourite of yours so far I think – although it probably could have been cut by about 2 minutes
Some great stuff in this fight. Miasmatics, Soylent Spuds and Wreckdom all impressed me greatly. Pick of the bunch were Pigpen and Kelvinator. Both excellent songs. My vote will go to Kelvinator simply because is was a style closer to my own personal preference.
-
j$
- Ibárruri
- Posts: 5374
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:33 am
- Instruments: Bass, keyboards, singin', guitar
- Submitting as: Johnny Cashpoint
- Location: London, Engerllaaannnddd
- Contact:
Some reviews.
Kelvinator – that’s barely a lyric at all. Musically Jet / the Vines or one of those Australian post-modern AC/DC bands would love the track. Desperately wanting some variation at 2.00 though.
Miasmatics – is that the Jedson playing rhythym guitar? Wrong tone choice for the rest of the song – it’s too contrasting, pulls the song in two directions at once. That’s pretty much the only thing wrong with the music. The words are attractive to listen to, but I did think to myself ‘there’s another slightly-more-obtuse-than-it-needs-to-be miasmatics lyric’. You veering close to that ‘it can mean whatever you want it to’ phrase that rock stars use in interviews to mean ‘actually it doesn’t mean anything’. Anyway I know what it’s about (if what you told me was true) and I was hoping for something more Cash-y so maybe I’m just disappointed
Silent E – Oh. I can’t hear the bass at all (though it might be these crappy work speakers). I wasn’t expecting this, but I like the tune and the words. Crying out for a big churchy organ quietly pooting away from about the second verse in. And some drums! Maybe some thudding, jerking, stop-start, weird time-signature rhythm behind this? I like it but it sounds like a demo to a much more realised version to me.
Solyent Spuds – I think this is a great lyric (except the trains run on time line – I’m not sure that the fascist connotations aren’t a little bit too much. Mussolini had a better jawline than Bush anyway.) It’s certainly a lot better than my original lyrical idea (me reciting ‘shoot bush in the head’ through a vocoder over and over). I would like to do more with RG down a slightly more rocky Devo line. We should have been called ‘The Space Pirates’ though. Definitely!
Max the Cat - Erk. Not my bag. Pretty ‘wide open plains’ folk. The first line sounds like ‘teachers are queer’ on my speakers. That would be a great opening line. For me this is nowhere near as ‘J Cash moving redemption song’ as I think you meant it to be.
Pigpen – nice groove going on. I like your rapping voice, although it could do with a touch (more?) reverb or something. At the moment it just sits in the music without really contributing to it. Production is a little sharper. This is crying out for a hursery rhyme catchy chorus a la eminem, oddly. Something to break the smoothness of the music. I think the lyric is great.
Erik Ostrom – I liked it. Intruiging, slightly loose, nice sounding voice against the banjo-esque pickings. The words don’t jump out at me on first listen. So it feels a bit inconsequential and long.
Humbert - I don’t like ‘post-modern’ lyrics. A personal thing. I think it sounds smug. Oh dear yes, this is exactly the sort of thing to which I would say ‘just because you can doesn’t mean I should’. You have your sound/production/groove down perfectly but it’s too self-indulgent for me. More fun for you to make than for me to listen to. The singing is a bit wayward too.
40 second songs – hey, ukele fight! It’s weird to listen to this after Humbert because in a lot of ways there are elements of that review that could just as easily apply to this one. Yet I like this a whole lot more. I think you should enter this for the children’s charity complilation. Very very nice. Pleasant, pleasing and just enough edge of sadness to give it more than a one-listen throwaway feel.
JW –Nice country-esque twang. Some nice progressions. All well and good. Lyric doesn’t talk to me errr, I plead the fifth.
Hmmm, I liked the Miasmatics & 40 Second Songs most of all, and the Miasmatics the more, so they will get my vote - though the lyric was neither clear nor poetic, just obtuse
Kelvinator – that’s barely a lyric at all. Musically Jet / the Vines or one of those Australian post-modern AC/DC bands would love the track. Desperately wanting some variation at 2.00 though.
Miasmatics – is that the Jedson playing rhythym guitar? Wrong tone choice for the rest of the song – it’s too contrasting, pulls the song in two directions at once. That’s pretty much the only thing wrong with the music. The words are attractive to listen to, but I did think to myself ‘there’s another slightly-more-obtuse-than-it-needs-to-be miasmatics lyric’. You veering close to that ‘it can mean whatever you want it to’ phrase that rock stars use in interviews to mean ‘actually it doesn’t mean anything’. Anyway I know what it’s about (if what you told me was true) and I was hoping for something more Cash-y so maybe I’m just disappointed
Silent E – Oh. I can’t hear the bass at all (though it might be these crappy work speakers). I wasn’t expecting this, but I like the tune and the words. Crying out for a big churchy organ quietly pooting away from about the second verse in. And some drums! Maybe some thudding, jerking, stop-start, weird time-signature rhythm behind this? I like it but it sounds like a demo to a much more realised version to me.
Solyent Spuds – I think this is a great lyric (except the trains run on time line – I’m not sure that the fascist connotations aren’t a little bit too much. Mussolini had a better jawline than Bush anyway.) It’s certainly a lot better than my original lyrical idea (me reciting ‘shoot bush in the head’ through a vocoder over and over). I would like to do more with RG down a slightly more rocky Devo line. We should have been called ‘The Space Pirates’ though. Definitely!
Max the Cat - Erk. Not my bag. Pretty ‘wide open plains’ folk. The first line sounds like ‘teachers are queer’ on my speakers. That would be a great opening line. For me this is nowhere near as ‘J Cash moving redemption song’ as I think you meant it to be.
Pigpen – nice groove going on. I like your rapping voice, although it could do with a touch (more?) reverb or something. At the moment it just sits in the music without really contributing to it. Production is a little sharper. This is crying out for a hursery rhyme catchy chorus a la eminem, oddly. Something to break the smoothness of the music. I think the lyric is great.
Erik Ostrom – I liked it. Intruiging, slightly loose, nice sounding voice against the banjo-esque pickings. The words don’t jump out at me on first listen. So it feels a bit inconsequential and long.
Humbert - I don’t like ‘post-modern’ lyrics. A personal thing. I think it sounds smug. Oh dear yes, this is exactly the sort of thing to which I would say ‘just because you can doesn’t mean I should’. You have your sound/production/groove down perfectly but it’s too self-indulgent for me. More fun for you to make than for me to listen to. The singing is a bit wayward too.
40 second songs – hey, ukele fight! It’s weird to listen to this after Humbert because in a lot of ways there are elements of that review that could just as easily apply to this one. Yet I like this a whole lot more. I think you should enter this for the children’s charity complilation. Very very nice. Pleasant, pleasing and just enough edge of sadness to give it more than a one-listen throwaway feel.
JW –Nice country-esque twang. Some nice progressions. All well and good. Lyric doesn’t talk to me errr, I plead the fifth.
Hmmm, I liked the Miasmatics & 40 Second Songs most of all, and the Miasmatics the more, so they will get my vote - though the lyric was neither clear nor poetic, just obtuse
Last edited by j$ on Fri Nov 12, 2004 4:06 am, edited 1 time in total.
-
Andy Balham
- Attlee
- Posts: 265
- Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 2:18 pm
- Instruments: Guitar, bass, ukulele and drums
- Recording Method: Reaper, Guitar Rig LE, Edirol FA-66
- Submitting as: Andy Balham, Bobby Davros, The Masters of Grip, MC Heapey
- Location: Somewheresville, Englandshire
- Contact:
Not on this track, it's my trusty Les Paul (copy) bedecked with new strings.j$ wrote:Miasmatics – is that the Jedson playing rhythym guitar?
I know what you mean, it's interesting that some people do favour a literal lyric whilst to others it's an anathema to them. Sorry to disappoint, I promise that you've not heard the last of Urban Country.j$ wrote:You veering close to that ‘it can mean whatever you want it to’ phrase that rock stars use in interviews to mean ‘actually it doesn’t mean anything’.
"Some may say I couldn't sing, but none may say I didn't sing" - Florence Foster Jenkins
-
Rabid Garfunkel
- Churchill
- Posts: 2468
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:43 pm
- Instruments: Absurdity
- Recording Method: iPhone, Reason & rando apps/toys
- Submitting as: Rabid Garfunkel, Primitive Screwheads
- Pronouns: that guy
- Location: Hollywood, Calif.
Thanks j$! Couldn't resist the nod to Il Duce, I mean, the song's a liberal whining about liberals whining, gots to gots to bring in the fascism, heh.j$ wrote:Solyent Spuds – I think this is a great lyric (except the trains run on time line – I’m not sure that the fascist connotations aren’t a little bit too much. Mussolini had a better jawline than Bush anyway.) It’s certainly a lot better than my original lyrical idea (me reciting ‘shoot bush in the head’ through a vocoder over and over). I would like to do more with RG down a slightly more rocky Devo line. We should have been called ‘The Space Pirates’ though. Definitely!
Maybe one of the titles posted next week, hey? Got the Mongoloid progression trying to take over this week's songwriting, and that bad boy wants out! Dibs on being Terry. I'm not even sure I get that reference.
Last edited by Rabid Garfunkel on Thu Nov 11, 2004 6:54 pm, edited 1 time in total.
-
Leaf
- Churchill
- Posts: 2438
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 2:19 pm
- Instruments: Drums, guitar, bass, vocals.
- Recording Method: Cubase
- Submitting as: Leaf 62, Gert, Boon Liver, Leaf and Twig, Tom Skillman, A bunch of other stuff.
- Location: Campbell River, B.C.
- Contact:
Reviews as I listen for the first time:
Max the Cat very nice. Mellow, relaxing, and great vocals. I like where that shaker sound is in the mix.. this sounds greawt. It's perfect for this day, it's all cloudy here, and kinda slow paced today, and this makes a great backing track to the day, let alone being a pleasant sounding, well done tune. CONTENDER.
Erik Ostrom I like the layers of guitar parts, for some reason I can hear a burbling brook in the back ground. I like the vibe you got, the sound is pretty good, and the song has some nice changes. Maybe the bass line sounds a little ontop of the beat, but I'm nit-picking. This would be fun to jam over, or solo over. It has a lot of room in it, although it doesn't sound like that room needs to be filled, neccessarily... pretty good. Your voice reminds me of Pursuit of Happiness. Maybe it's a bit too long for my tastes, or at least my attention span for this style!! Pretty GOOD.
Forty Second Songs Doesn' t grab me right off the top like some of your stuff does. And the singing seems flat. I like those back up chants in the chorus...I feel like it needs some kind of rhythmic figure or sound to give it some thigh slapping .. oh, there it is! (around 1:50 ish) ... it's ok, not one of your's I'd re-listen to though... I've always loved your "third string". This is OK.
Humbert It's hard to take a song seriously that starts out telling me you're writing a song... your vocal style is interesting... sounds fun, but all over the place. That's not a bad thing, but the ecclecticness of it does stand out. The drums sound stiff in relation to the piano. there are things I like about it, some of the vocal stuff sounds great, some silly. I like the bass line as it comes out a bit around 2:20 or so...the whole thing just didn't hold my interest very long, but all in all, This is OK.
Kelvinator Yeah, I'm liking where this is going, that intro was happening. Those guitar effects/sounds/ whatever are great. My only knock: this singer sounds like he's singing through his nose... like he's restricting his range. Some more diaphram-belting it out, lot's of breathe needed there. You guys/guy rock.I like it. ... solo's a little weak, some of those bends are not quite in tune! None the less, pretty rocking good effort, and the first time I think I've heard you... CONTENDER.
Miasmatics Paging John Tesh. ... kidding man. Ther's things I like about this, and there's things that just aren't doing it for me right now. I feel like I recognize your voice, and that's a good thing, cause it's got my attention, and those backups are cool. I think it's jsut the overall pace of this tune that's not clicking for me. Not in the mood for it or something.I'd say it's basically GOOD.
Josh Woodward One day (who knows when) I'm gonna cover a Woodward tune and metalize it. Great job on the production and writing and performance. I like that snare tone. Nothing to knock about performance, sound, etc. The song does sound like radio fodder, not a bad thing, but not a stylistic thing that get's me excited. The only thing that get's me excited about it is how much you continue to raise the bar. You will probably win this fight, however, I'm not feeling like sending you my vote this week, as the style of tune isn't grabbing me as much as some others today, even though you are most definitely a CONTENDER.
Pigpen This style of hip hop doesn't do anything for me. I appreciate your rapping style on this one a lot more than past things I've heard, I'm missing a solid, present groove. I still feel like your raping sounds like your reading it, rather than telling it. There are things that sound ok, overall, I'm calling this an OK.
Silent e There isn't much here that is doing anything for me. I don't really enjoy it... I'd say it's not that great... although the context of the lyrics has started to grab me a bit... I feel like your guitar is slightly out of tune or something, and much too bassy sounding. No highs on it. Yeah, this is marginally an OK. I feel like I should be all "sorry about my opinion"... but really, this is just how I heard it.
Slow Rodeo Your guitar sounds nice. Your vocals sound very out of tune. Having trouble listening to this, jsut due to the poor tuning, yeah, if you could have nailed those vocals, this would have been enjoyable, but as a guitar/vocal piece, it really suffers.. better luck next time. Couldn't really finish listening to it. Gonna have to go with BAD.
Soylent Spuds This has a total octothorpy vibe to it.... I like that bass line. These vocals are not very well tuned either, but the performance smacks of "I could care less", and thus I'm interested, plus I'm liking the quirky musical smatterings.. I wish some of the vocal notes were more on... same tone and delivery, just nailing pitch a bit better. Hmmm that kinda rocked... I'm in a weird mood today, and for some reason, that was kinda exciting... Is Spud on this? I'm torn between GOOD and CONTENDER... so obviously it's not a vote getter, so we'll settle on GOODER.
Wrekdom I seriously think you guys take the reviews of your stuff very seriously. Maybe others don't think that, but I do. I like this one. The intro is great, and once again, there's a melody line to hook into.. everything sounds so...warped... your lead high vocals reminds me of Starfinger's Space Cadet... man, I am in a weird mood today, cause I'm digging this as I stare out the window...It's funny, this piece is reminding me of tons of other songfighters... like Pompeii's Goat from Talk About Your Feelings... and I also like how there are subversive elements in this one... a buried little hip hop groove that get's me to start tapping... my only negative is length... but this is definitely GOOD.
Well. That's my reviews. I'm thinking Max the Cat on this fight... just put me in a good headspace... I didn't really catch the lyrics on it, so it'd be ironic if they were all down! None the less, that's where I'm voting this week. If S.R. had tweaked his vocal performance more, this would have been one of those fights where I got something cool out of every song... actually, I think I may have anyway...good fight dudes.
Max the Cat very nice. Mellow, relaxing, and great vocals. I like where that shaker sound is in the mix.. this sounds greawt. It's perfect for this day, it's all cloudy here, and kinda slow paced today, and this makes a great backing track to the day, let alone being a pleasant sounding, well done tune. CONTENDER.
Erik Ostrom I like the layers of guitar parts, for some reason I can hear a burbling brook in the back ground. I like the vibe you got, the sound is pretty good, and the song has some nice changes. Maybe the bass line sounds a little ontop of the beat, but I'm nit-picking. This would be fun to jam over, or solo over. It has a lot of room in it, although it doesn't sound like that room needs to be filled, neccessarily... pretty good. Your voice reminds me of Pursuit of Happiness. Maybe it's a bit too long for my tastes, or at least my attention span for this style!! Pretty GOOD.
Forty Second Songs Doesn' t grab me right off the top like some of your stuff does. And the singing seems flat. I like those back up chants in the chorus...I feel like it needs some kind of rhythmic figure or sound to give it some thigh slapping .. oh, there it is! (around 1:50 ish) ... it's ok, not one of your's I'd re-listen to though... I've always loved your "third string". This is OK.
Humbert It's hard to take a song seriously that starts out telling me you're writing a song... your vocal style is interesting... sounds fun, but all over the place. That's not a bad thing, but the ecclecticness of it does stand out. The drums sound stiff in relation to the piano. there are things I like about it, some of the vocal stuff sounds great, some silly. I like the bass line as it comes out a bit around 2:20 or so...the whole thing just didn't hold my interest very long, but all in all, This is OK.
Kelvinator Yeah, I'm liking where this is going, that intro was happening. Those guitar effects/sounds/ whatever are great. My only knock: this singer sounds like he's singing through his nose... like he's restricting his range. Some more diaphram-belting it out, lot's of breathe needed there. You guys/guy rock.I like it. ... solo's a little weak, some of those bends are not quite in tune! None the less, pretty rocking good effort, and the first time I think I've heard you... CONTENDER.
Miasmatics Paging John Tesh. ... kidding man. Ther's things I like about this, and there's things that just aren't doing it for me right now. I feel like I recognize your voice, and that's a good thing, cause it's got my attention, and those backups are cool. I think it's jsut the overall pace of this tune that's not clicking for me. Not in the mood for it or something.I'd say it's basically GOOD.
Josh Woodward One day (who knows when) I'm gonna cover a Woodward tune and metalize it. Great job on the production and writing and performance. I like that snare tone. Nothing to knock about performance, sound, etc. The song does sound like radio fodder, not a bad thing, but not a stylistic thing that get's me excited. The only thing that get's me excited about it is how much you continue to raise the bar. You will probably win this fight, however, I'm not feeling like sending you my vote this week, as the style of tune isn't grabbing me as much as some others today, even though you are most definitely a CONTENDER.
Pigpen This style of hip hop doesn't do anything for me. I appreciate your rapping style on this one a lot more than past things I've heard, I'm missing a solid, present groove. I still feel like your raping sounds like your reading it, rather than telling it. There are things that sound ok, overall, I'm calling this an OK.
Silent e There isn't much here that is doing anything for me. I don't really enjoy it... I'd say it's not that great... although the context of the lyrics has started to grab me a bit... I feel like your guitar is slightly out of tune or something, and much too bassy sounding. No highs on it. Yeah, this is marginally an OK. I feel like I should be all "sorry about my opinion"... but really, this is just how I heard it.
Slow Rodeo Your guitar sounds nice. Your vocals sound very out of tune. Having trouble listening to this, jsut due to the poor tuning, yeah, if you could have nailed those vocals, this would have been enjoyable, but as a guitar/vocal piece, it really suffers.. better luck next time. Couldn't really finish listening to it. Gonna have to go with BAD.
Soylent Spuds This has a total octothorpy vibe to it.... I like that bass line. These vocals are not very well tuned either, but the performance smacks of "I could care less", and thus I'm interested, plus I'm liking the quirky musical smatterings.. I wish some of the vocal notes were more on... same tone and delivery, just nailing pitch a bit better. Hmmm that kinda rocked... I'm in a weird mood today, and for some reason, that was kinda exciting... Is Spud on this? I'm torn between GOOD and CONTENDER... so obviously it's not a vote getter, so we'll settle on GOODER.
Wrekdom I seriously think you guys take the reviews of your stuff very seriously. Maybe others don't think that, but I do. I like this one. The intro is great, and once again, there's a melody line to hook into.. everything sounds so...warped... your lead high vocals reminds me of Starfinger's Space Cadet... man, I am in a weird mood today, cause I'm digging this as I stare out the window...It's funny, this piece is reminding me of tons of other songfighters... like Pompeii's Goat from Talk About Your Feelings... and I also like how there are subversive elements in this one... a buried little hip hop groove that get's me to start tapping... my only negative is length... but this is definitely GOOD.
Well. That's my reviews. I'm thinking Max the Cat on this fight... just put me in a good headspace... I didn't really catch the lyrics on it, so it'd be ironic if they were all down! None the less, that's where I'm voting this week. If S.R. had tweaked his vocal performance more, this would have been one of those fights where I got something cool out of every song... actually, I think I may have anyway...good fight dudes.
what lyric problems?Jim of Seattle wrote: Slow Rodeo
You need a lot more singing practice before you can pull off those long high sustained notes. There are other problems with lyrics and songwriting and recording, but you have to solve the vocal problem before anything else is going to work
"I'd give my right arm to be ambidexterous." - Smalltown Mike
-
Dan-O from Five-O
- Orwell
- Posts: 924
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 5:51 pm
- Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Mandolin all graded on a sliding scale
- Recording Method: Mixer to a Fostex D-160
- Location: Somewhere in a place called the Midwest
Erik Ostrom: Interesting instrumentation, it sounds like all guitars but of various sorts. The electric guitar in the background is just a bit distracting because it’s almost playing a consistent line for a melody, but changes like you couldn’t keep it repeating. The vocals are fairly good but, and this isn’t your fault solely, I’m really growing tired of vocals sung so low in the vocalists range that it comes across as talking. It’s fits the song well enough, but I’m noticing a lot of people doing it here lately so it’s a style of singing that’s wearing on me a little. I do like the rather open feel of the mix, it’s almost like I’m sitting there listening to the song being played. This is a nice effort, I’ll look forward to more.
Forty Second Songs: Now this is really interesting instrumentation! The world needs more ukulele songs. I laughed at the opening line (my avatar is me, and clearly I’m bald) it made me laugh and think now this is a song I’m going to like. I really like the breakdown where the percussion stops. The vocals on this are very well performed and panned perfectly. Actually the whole mix is well done. I can’t tell if you used any effects or not, which is good. I’m just liking the whole song, very well done. I’m gonna have to go through the archive and hear some of your other stuff now.
Josh Woodward: You must get tired of people telling you how good your mixes are so I won’t bother with the obvious. The electric guitar sound you used is much better than what I’ve heard you use in the past. I would like to hear a song from you where you didn’t have some sort of heavy masking effect on the vocals at some point in the song. (I’m sure in your vast catalog there are many so just point the way) This is a really good story, well told, well described, and well performed. It’s everything I would expect from you.
Kelvinator: The intro is great, but seems like it was wasted by the second set of “I am tempted, like you are tempted” verses. I’m not really wild about the sound of the vocalist, not bad but not great. The crow (caw-caw) thing the back vocalists are doing are kind of annoying. By the time the end rolls around I’m left feeling like the song started with promise, but never went anywhere. It needs some actual verses, maybe you could use what you have for the chorus or something but it’s just not very complete as it is. On a positive note it’s fun to say your band name in an Arnold Schwartzenegger voice.
Max The Cat: Nice guitar playing, very nice. I wish the egg shaker in the background were a snare played with brushes, but it adds a nice feel as it is. The harmonies are excellent, especially the Ooos. This has a very pleasant almost spiritual sound to it. About the only thing I’m thinking that could make it a little better would be some kind of change to break up the steady chord progression. It doesn’t really need it in my mind, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it tried in another version of this. This is another really good song.
Miasmatics: Boy this intro would be cool if that was a real muted trumpet, but it’s effective as it is. The reverb is a bit much on the vocals and “drums”. Like the last song I really would be curious to hear this song with some sort of bridge or something to break up the, I hate to use this word, monotony of the chord progression. I think the tremelo effect on the guitar would sound better and be better if it were in stereo, but that’s pretty minor and I understand equipment and track limitations. All in all this isn’t bad, not the best song here, but you’re up against some very stiff competition. Nice job.
(Wow, I’m 6 songs into this fight and I haven’t even felt the urge to say something even remotely mean. I guess those court ordered anger control classes are really starting to pay off or this is just a really good fight so far)
Pig Pen: Well someone had to F--- the party up, it might as well have been you. I’m really not big on political songs, especially misinformed poorly worded political commentary that advocates pulling a Lee Harvey on the President of the United States. I would think you would be a bit more sensitive in that area. You do understand Kennedy was a Democrat right? Anyway, maybe you should think about bringing what little bit of rhythm and instrumentation there is in this song a little bit more up in the mix. I’ll put it this way, boost all the instrumentation until you can get your trunk to vibrate without having to turn the bass up on your car stereo and you should be right where you’re trying to take this.
Silent E: This sounds like you ripped off Cat Stevens “Wild World” for the verse progression. I would be a lot more sure if the guitar was more in tune, recorded more clearly and not completely absent of any hint of presence in the mix. I’m trying really hard not to be cruel right now, so I’ll just say I don’t think the lyrics are all that good or just not working for me. This is just too dark of a theme for being tempted as far as I’m concerned.
Slow Rodeo: You never really had me but you completely lost me at the “it’s times like these” line. I thought you were actually going to break into that song for a moment. The guitar sounds out of tune to me, not horribly, just enough to be annoying. The vocalist is not strong but maybe with more practice it will get better. I’m thinking this is all done at the same time (playing and singing) so try to keep an equal distance from the vocal mic at all times to keep that level more consistent in the future. Pretty sub-mediocre for the most part, but there’s a potential for you to get better so keep trying.
Soylent Spuds: Hasn’t the Devo thing been done already? This isn’t completely without merit, there’s obviously some sort of talent involved in programming going on here. It’s completely lost on me because I actually learned how to play an instrument, but I know there’s lots of people out there who get this kind of thing. I like to call them cattle, and if I could just get them into the slaughterhouse line I would be happier. So how is this rant helping you? Hopefully motivating you to try harder and do something better than this. If I’m not helping you that makes us even, this song didn’t do anything for me either. Did I mention how much I don’t like political songs?
Wreckdom: You’re a regular in good standing and I’ve been called everything from a lurker to a douche bag, so I’m leery of saying anything too derogative, but I’m really not digging this. I honestly have no input on how to make this better because it’s just way to away from anything I would like. The talking parts at the start and end are sort of funny, but not enough to make me endure this one more time. Sorry man, I just can’t get into this.
Despite the early promise and the late disappointments, this still turned out to be a really good fight. I’ll have to listen a few more times to decide on the winner. My favorties in no particular order are Forty, Josh and Max. Humbert, I didn’t do a review on you because you’re file was way big and I ran out of time. I will download later and take it under consideration but I will warn you, it better sure as hell be worth 7.5 megs of downloading or I’m gonna let you know about it.
Forty Second Songs: Now this is really interesting instrumentation! The world needs more ukulele songs. I laughed at the opening line (my avatar is me, and clearly I’m bald) it made me laugh and think now this is a song I’m going to like. I really like the breakdown where the percussion stops. The vocals on this are very well performed and panned perfectly. Actually the whole mix is well done. I can’t tell if you used any effects or not, which is good. I’m just liking the whole song, very well done. I’m gonna have to go through the archive and hear some of your other stuff now.
Josh Woodward: You must get tired of people telling you how good your mixes are so I won’t bother with the obvious. The electric guitar sound you used is much better than what I’ve heard you use in the past. I would like to hear a song from you where you didn’t have some sort of heavy masking effect on the vocals at some point in the song. (I’m sure in your vast catalog there are many so just point the way) This is a really good story, well told, well described, and well performed. It’s everything I would expect from you.
Kelvinator: The intro is great, but seems like it was wasted by the second set of “I am tempted, like you are tempted” verses. I’m not really wild about the sound of the vocalist, not bad but not great. The crow (caw-caw) thing the back vocalists are doing are kind of annoying. By the time the end rolls around I’m left feeling like the song started with promise, but never went anywhere. It needs some actual verses, maybe you could use what you have for the chorus or something but it’s just not very complete as it is. On a positive note it’s fun to say your band name in an Arnold Schwartzenegger voice.
Max The Cat: Nice guitar playing, very nice. I wish the egg shaker in the background were a snare played with brushes, but it adds a nice feel as it is. The harmonies are excellent, especially the Ooos. This has a very pleasant almost spiritual sound to it. About the only thing I’m thinking that could make it a little better would be some kind of change to break up the steady chord progression. It doesn’t really need it in my mind, but I wouldn’t mind hearing it tried in another version of this. This is another really good song.
Miasmatics: Boy this intro would be cool if that was a real muted trumpet, but it’s effective as it is. The reverb is a bit much on the vocals and “drums”. Like the last song I really would be curious to hear this song with some sort of bridge or something to break up the, I hate to use this word, monotony of the chord progression. I think the tremelo effect on the guitar would sound better and be better if it were in stereo, but that’s pretty minor and I understand equipment and track limitations. All in all this isn’t bad, not the best song here, but you’re up against some very stiff competition. Nice job.
(Wow, I’m 6 songs into this fight and I haven’t even felt the urge to say something even remotely mean. I guess those court ordered anger control classes are really starting to pay off or this is just a really good fight so far)
Pig Pen: Well someone had to F--- the party up, it might as well have been you. I’m really not big on political songs, especially misinformed poorly worded political commentary that advocates pulling a Lee Harvey on the President of the United States. I would think you would be a bit more sensitive in that area. You do understand Kennedy was a Democrat right? Anyway, maybe you should think about bringing what little bit of rhythm and instrumentation there is in this song a little bit more up in the mix. I’ll put it this way, boost all the instrumentation until you can get your trunk to vibrate without having to turn the bass up on your car stereo and you should be right where you’re trying to take this.
Silent E: This sounds like you ripped off Cat Stevens “Wild World” for the verse progression. I would be a lot more sure if the guitar was more in tune, recorded more clearly and not completely absent of any hint of presence in the mix. I’m trying really hard not to be cruel right now, so I’ll just say I don’t think the lyrics are all that good or just not working for me. This is just too dark of a theme for being tempted as far as I’m concerned.
Slow Rodeo: You never really had me but you completely lost me at the “it’s times like these” line. I thought you were actually going to break into that song for a moment. The guitar sounds out of tune to me, not horribly, just enough to be annoying. The vocalist is not strong but maybe with more practice it will get better. I’m thinking this is all done at the same time (playing and singing) so try to keep an equal distance from the vocal mic at all times to keep that level more consistent in the future. Pretty sub-mediocre for the most part, but there’s a potential for you to get better so keep trying.
Soylent Spuds: Hasn’t the Devo thing been done already? This isn’t completely without merit, there’s obviously some sort of talent involved in programming going on here. It’s completely lost on me because I actually learned how to play an instrument, but I know there’s lots of people out there who get this kind of thing. I like to call them cattle, and if I could just get them into the slaughterhouse line I would be happier. So how is this rant helping you? Hopefully motivating you to try harder and do something better than this. If I’m not helping you that makes us even, this song didn’t do anything for me either. Did I mention how much I don’t like political songs?
Wreckdom: You’re a regular in good standing and I’ve been called everything from a lurker to a douche bag, so I’m leery of saying anything too derogative, but I’m really not digging this. I honestly have no input on how to make this better because it’s just way to away from anything I would like. The talking parts at the start and end are sort of funny, but not enough to make me endure this one more time. Sorry man, I just can’t get into this.
Despite the early promise and the late disappointments, this still turned out to be a really good fight. I’ll have to listen a few more times to decide on the winner. My favorties in no particular order are Forty, Josh and Max. Humbert, I didn’t do a review on you because you’re file was way big and I ran out of time. I will download later and take it under consideration but I will warn you, it better sure as hell be worth 7.5 megs of downloading or I’m gonna let you know about it.
jb wrote:Dan-O has a point.
JB
-
j$
- Ibárruri
- Posts: 5374
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:33 am
- Instruments: Bass, keyboards, singin', guitar
- Submitting as: Johnny Cashpoint
- Location: London, Engerllaaannnddd
- Contact:
Don't be an idiot. Don't assume because you hear electronic music that it's done out of neccessity. I play guitar. I love playing guitar. II also love to make electronic music.Dan-O from Five-O wrote:[Soylent Spuds: . It’s completely lost on me because I actually learned how to play an instrument.
That I am involved in this song has not been a hard thing to decipher from this thread. And even if it wasn't, who you are to assume such a ridiculous thing?
Feel free to dislike the song but don't shoe-horn me into your own musical prejudices.
Oh, don't tell me - more unfunny sarcasm.
j$
-
Dan-O from Five-O
- Orwell
- Posts: 924
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 5:51 pm
- Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Drums, Mandolin all graded on a sliding scale
- Recording Method: Mixer to a Fostex D-160
- Location: Somewhere in a place called the Midwest
1) OK I'm not any idiot anymore, now what?j$ wrote:1) Don't be an idiot.Dan-O from Five-O wrote:[Soylent Spuds: . It’s completely lost on me because I actually learned how to play an instrument.
2) I play guitar. I love playing guitar.
3) I also love to make electronic music.
4) That I am involved in this song has not been a hard thing to decipher from this thread.
5) And even if it wasn't, who you are to assume such a ridiculous thing?
6) Feel free to dislike the song.
7) Oh, don't tell me - more unfunny sarcasm.
j$
2) Wow, so do I. Now we have something in common.
3) And now we don't
4) I intentionally DO NOT read the thread prior to doing reviews so as to remain unbiased. And BTW, are you implying that your involvement in the song precludes the song from criticism? Now who's being the idiot?
5) I am the REVIEWER, and these are my OPINIONS, not scripture.
6) Consider it done.
7) No, you seem to have that pretty well covered.
jb wrote:Dan-O has a point.
JB
-
j$
- Ibárruri
- Posts: 5374
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 11:33 am
- Instruments: Bass, keyboards, singin', guitar
- Submitting as: Johnny Cashpoint
- Location: London, Engerllaaannnddd
- Contact:
What I was suggesting is that your review suggests anyone who doesn't play guitar in a song doesn't know how, which is clearly wrong.Dan-O from Five-O wrote:. And BTW, are you implying that your involvement in the song precludes the song from criticism? Now who's being the idiot?.
Also, of course, you're entitled to your opinion. Equally I am entitled to call you out when I believe your opinion is flawed.
I don't think that anything you have said here corrects my opinion of your review. But PM me if you want.
(Oh and other people, I finished my own reviews further up the page, in case you thought I'd forgotten them. )
J$
40SS - very cool lo fi production. original and innovative- lot of very good ideas going on here. i particularly like the uke holding things together throughout and sparse percussion.
joshw - the usual high standard. the only minor flaw is the kick/bass
don't quite sound natural; perhaps i'd rough them up to make it blend
better into the track.
kelvinator - the guitar tone is to die for. very creamy. i am tempted
to steal your guitar amp. the vox could use some thickening/distortion; punk ethic dictates the audience should not be able to discern any lyric.
maxthecat - i respect the quality here even though the genre is not to
my taste. great playing and singing; it's nice to hear a song that
doesn't rely on production tricks.
miasmatics - way too much verb on the vox, they get smeared right into
the other heavy reverbed parts and lack contrast. also could use more
dynamic variation. overall pretty good.
silente - had good potential at the beginning but needed to rise out
of the dark muffled feel at some point. it could've been really
sweet.
slowrodeo - the vox really need to be on pitch at some point in the
song. i think it's ok to go off for an effect but you gotta let up at
some point.
soylentspuds - this sounds too much like a cut and paste job to
me. electronica needs a lot of variation to hold interest so it's a
good idea to mix up sounds and rhythms a lot.
wreckdom - interesting. i felt seized with an urge to kill my sister
with a spanner. i dont even have a sister. i also felt a craving for a
hot dog by the end of the song.
joshw - the usual high standard. the only minor flaw is the kick/bass
don't quite sound natural; perhaps i'd rough them up to make it blend
better into the track.
kelvinator - the guitar tone is to die for. very creamy. i am tempted
to steal your guitar amp. the vox could use some thickening/distortion; punk ethic dictates the audience should not be able to discern any lyric.
maxthecat - i respect the quality here even though the genre is not to
my taste. great playing and singing; it's nice to hear a song that
doesn't rely on production tricks.
miasmatics - way too much verb on the vox, they get smeared right into
the other heavy reverbed parts and lack contrast. also could use more
dynamic variation. overall pretty good.
silente - had good potential at the beginning but needed to rise out
of the dark muffled feel at some point. it could've been really
sweet.
slowrodeo - the vox really need to be on pitch at some point in the
song. i think it's ok to go off for an effect but you gotta let up at
some point.
soylentspuds - this sounds too much like a cut and paste job to
me. electronica needs a lot of variation to hold interest so it's a
good idea to mix up sounds and rhythms a lot.
wreckdom - interesting. i felt seized with an urge to kill my sister
with a spanner. i dont even have a sister. i also felt a craving for a
hot dog by the end of the song.
-
Richard WreckdoM
- Karski
- Posts: 56
- Joined: Mon Sep 27, 2004 4:23 pm
- Location: Austin, TX
Here I am listening at work again. I seem to be more on edge here, so I may or may not be more harsh. It's fun that way though. I mean; how can you improve if I don't tell you that you suck.
Erik Ostrom: You have more confidence that I on the vocal front. What a downer. I don't like listening to this nor would I want to again in the future. I would also not recommend that someone else listen to it. It's suicide music. You may end up in court over it if the wrong impressionable young person hears it. I do like the way the guitar goes with the synth by the way.
Forty Second Songs: This is pretty catchy, but the mandolin sounding strings don't really carry the mood. What in the hell is the mood anyway. This crawls drunkenly along that line between angst and boppy. Ah, childish. Very good.
Josh Woodward: No thank you. I was tempted to think that the recent presidential elections were completely false. Rigged if you will. Then I realized that most Americans vote without even paying attention to what they're doing. I think the same can be said for some songfight voters. WAKE UP! It wasn't offensive enough for me to stop playing it, but it did feel like a barbituate being force fed to me whilest I lay helpless drueling in a straight jacket.
Kelvinator: This has some good elements to it. I like the sound of the spread. I also like the vocal sound accompanyment to the Guitar. Nice and short.
Humbert: This goes on for way too long. The piano sound is pretty good even though it just sort of goes and goes. The vocals are often washed away without being heard. This has a good feel, but fails to really grab me. The impression that I get from the vocals ask for a more minimalistic approach to the background.
Max the Cat: The sound is good. I would expect that from you. Vocals are clean and confident. Not reallyl my thing, but I can still appreciate it. Your levels are really low compared to everything else.
Miasmatics: We have to fight against this. This is professional sounding. I'll probably vote for you because this is several rungs above the rest. I can't give you anything constructive because I couldn't touch this.
Pigpen: Pretty good lyrics. The rapping could use some passion. The production could be better too. Have fun at Guantanamo Bay. Despite the problems, this is catchy.
Silent E: I have a vision of a daycare care giver. She is sitting in the middle of a circle of children reading a story. One of the children is playing with a hand grenade. The woman leaves in a panic. This is what I would liken to moving away at a time like this. It's walking away from a huge responsibility. You can't stockpile weapons, then let an overgrown child with no sense control them. Now about your song. I liked it. A better mic would make the vocals sound a lot better.
Slow Rodeo: Those vocals need a lot of work and the mix is atrocious. I'm sorry, but I can't listen to more of this. I kept listening only because I find it irritating when people won't listen to a whole Wreckdom song. This is really off key. If you're singing along with the guitar, which it sounds like you are, not doing this can correct a lot of the problems. You could focus more on your singing without the distractions and depending on your equipment, you could add effects to the vocals to make it sound better. The levels could also be adjusted to make the guitar more accompanying and less on top.
Soylent Spuds: I had to listen to this twice. Liberal. I can't put my finger on what it is about this. It has some really great low budget qualities to it. I like the melodies. I don't quite get what you're saying here.
WreckdoM: I like this song even more on repeat listening. It is a bit long. If anyone out there didn't listen through the whole thing, you're missing out. There are some great lines here. "Totally pitched a tent" and "Senior Orgy" to name a few. This is classic WreckdoM.
This was a very good fight. My vote will go to either WreckdoM or the Miasmatics. I need a few more hours to stew on it.
Erik Ostrom: You have more confidence that I on the vocal front. What a downer. I don't like listening to this nor would I want to again in the future. I would also not recommend that someone else listen to it. It's suicide music. You may end up in court over it if the wrong impressionable young person hears it. I do like the way the guitar goes with the synth by the way.
Forty Second Songs: This is pretty catchy, but the mandolin sounding strings don't really carry the mood. What in the hell is the mood anyway. This crawls drunkenly along that line between angst and boppy. Ah, childish. Very good.
Josh Woodward: No thank you. I was tempted to think that the recent presidential elections were completely false. Rigged if you will. Then I realized that most Americans vote without even paying attention to what they're doing. I think the same can be said for some songfight voters. WAKE UP! It wasn't offensive enough for me to stop playing it, but it did feel like a barbituate being force fed to me whilest I lay helpless drueling in a straight jacket.
Kelvinator: This has some good elements to it. I like the sound of the spread. I also like the vocal sound accompanyment to the Guitar. Nice and short.
Humbert: This goes on for way too long. The piano sound is pretty good even though it just sort of goes and goes. The vocals are often washed away without being heard. This has a good feel, but fails to really grab me. The impression that I get from the vocals ask for a more minimalistic approach to the background.
Max the Cat: The sound is good. I would expect that from you. Vocals are clean and confident. Not reallyl my thing, but I can still appreciate it. Your levels are really low compared to everything else.
Miasmatics: We have to fight against this. This is professional sounding. I'll probably vote for you because this is several rungs above the rest. I can't give you anything constructive because I couldn't touch this.
Pigpen: Pretty good lyrics. The rapping could use some passion. The production could be better too. Have fun at Guantanamo Bay. Despite the problems, this is catchy.
Silent E: I have a vision of a daycare care giver. She is sitting in the middle of a circle of children reading a story. One of the children is playing with a hand grenade. The woman leaves in a panic. This is what I would liken to moving away at a time like this. It's walking away from a huge responsibility. You can't stockpile weapons, then let an overgrown child with no sense control them. Now about your song. I liked it. A better mic would make the vocals sound a lot better.
Slow Rodeo: Those vocals need a lot of work and the mix is atrocious. I'm sorry, but I can't listen to more of this. I kept listening only because I find it irritating when people won't listen to a whole Wreckdom song. This is really off key. If you're singing along with the guitar, which it sounds like you are, not doing this can correct a lot of the problems. You could focus more on your singing without the distractions and depending on your equipment, you could add effects to the vocals to make it sound better. The levels could also be adjusted to make the guitar more accompanying and less on top.
Soylent Spuds: I had to listen to this twice. Liberal. I can't put my finger on what it is about this. It has some really great low budget qualities to it. I like the melodies. I don't quite get what you're saying here.
WreckdoM: I like this song even more on repeat listening. It is a bit long. If anyone out there didn't listen through the whole thing, you're missing out. There are some great lines here. "Totally pitched a tent" and "Senior Orgy" to name a few. This is classic WreckdoM.
This was a very good fight. My vote will go to either WreckdoM or the Miasmatics. I need a few more hours to stew on it.
-
Rabid Garfunkel
- Churchill
- Posts: 2468
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:43 pm
- Instruments: Absurdity
- Recording Method: iPhone, Reason & rando apps/toys
- Submitting as: Rabid Garfunkel, Primitive Screwheads
- Pronouns: that guy
- Location: Hollywood, Calif.
...and now, reviews...
Erik Ostrom
Hey, in decent headphones this is actually pretty. Bass is heavy in the mix, it's pushing the vox out of the way, and I really want to hear these words.
Forty Second Songs
Wacky. Good lord, all those background instruments! Sweet sweet madness.
Humbert
First thought... 5:22? I hope there's a change up, oh hey, there's the hard panned vox. And there's another vocal style too. Temper-a-mental? Hee, I'll give you that one for the smeg line earlier in the song. Okey, now another bout with the hard panned vox again, is starting to grate a bit. The keys are kind of, not monotone, but mono-level, y'know? For the v/o part it might have a bit more emphasis if you potted them down or something.
Josh Woodward
Damn, man. Do you have Robert Johnson's agent or what? Though I still like the words better than the music, but that could just be from the company I keep.
Kelvinator
Fun. Like the reversey guitar bits. Like the driving repetition. Like the bass of doom. Like the mix. -273.16 degrees celsius of cool. Voted for it.
Max the Cat
A little too mellow for me, riding high from the Kelvinator entry. Still, to see it live, I'd be sitting in the front row with my flycatcher open for the whole thing. Wild pan on the sparse percussion (kick predominantly right, and that whispery shaker thing hard left). I kinda dig it.
The Miasmatics
Guitar's thin, overpowered by the midi (?) keys. Break off some of that 'verb from your vox and loan it to your axe, yo.
PiGPEN
Hmmm. Roll another loop, bang the primary loop past 4 measures, or something. Damn, I can hear the sections implied by the variance in your rhythm and rhyme, but the music doesn't back you up in them.
Silent E
Breathe deep, man... oh hey, there's some tonality. If you're gonna talk, you've still gotta breathe like you're singing.
slowRodeo
Yikes, another one pushing five minutes. I'd be more comfortable hearing you clip the vox than the faint stuff going on here. Breathe. More air, more tone.
The Soylent Spuds
Hey, where'd that "The" come from? This was fun, sort of a last minute collab to j$'s music. My singing hits somewhere between making me giggle and making me cringe. And johnny's got the groove in the pocket. Kudos for cutting the first set of "I am tempted sometimes"es. Good call, lyrically yo. Less is definitely more. Next fight, more Devo, hey?
Okay, so you can breathe too much, too, heh.
WreckdoM
Damn, your encoding always goes crackley on my player. Dirty dirty monkey, awwww yeah.
Erik Ostrom
Hey, in decent headphones this is actually pretty. Bass is heavy in the mix, it's pushing the vox out of the way, and I really want to hear these words.
Forty Second Songs
Wacky. Good lord, all those background instruments! Sweet sweet madness.
Humbert
First thought... 5:22? I hope there's a change up, oh hey, there's the hard panned vox. And there's another vocal style too. Temper-a-mental? Hee, I'll give you that one for the smeg line earlier in the song. Okey, now another bout with the hard panned vox again, is starting to grate a bit. The keys are kind of, not monotone, but mono-level, y'know? For the v/o part it might have a bit more emphasis if you potted them down or something.
Josh Woodward
Damn, man. Do you have Robert Johnson's agent or what?
Though I still like the words better than the music, but that could just be from the company I keep.Kelvinator
Fun. Like the reversey guitar bits. Like the driving repetition. Like the bass of doom. Like the mix. -273.16 degrees celsius of cool. Voted for it.
Max the Cat
A little too mellow for me, riding high from the Kelvinator entry. Still, to see it live, I'd be sitting in the front row with my flycatcher open for the whole thing. Wild pan on the sparse percussion (kick predominantly right, and that whispery shaker thing hard left). I kinda dig it.
The Miasmatics
Guitar's thin, overpowered by the midi (?) keys. Break off some of that 'verb from your vox and loan it to your axe, yo.
PiGPEN
Hmmm. Roll another loop, bang the primary loop past 4 measures, or something. Damn, I can hear the sections implied by the variance in your rhythm and rhyme, but the music doesn't back you up in them.
Silent E
Breathe deep, man... oh hey, there's some tonality. If you're gonna talk, you've still gotta breathe like you're singing.
slowRodeo
Yikes, another one pushing five minutes. I'd be more comfortable hearing you clip the vox than the faint stuff going on here. Breathe. More air, more tone.
The Soylent Spuds
Hey, where'd that "The" come from? This was fun, sort of a last minute collab to j$'s music. My singing hits somewhere between making me giggle and making me cringe. And johnny's got the groove in the pocket. Kudos for cutting the first set of "I am tempted sometimes"es. Good call, lyrically yo. Less is definitely more. Next fight, more Devo, hey?
Okay, so you can breathe too much, too, heh.
WreckdoM
Damn, your encoding always goes crackley on my player. Dirty dirty monkey, awwww yeah.
actually its a 16-bar loop...but the variations sorta disappeared when i reversed it. -_-"Rabid Garfunkel wrote:PiGPEN
Hmmm. Roll another loop, bang the primary loop past 4 measures, or something. Damn, I can hear the sections implied by the variance in your rhythm and rhyme, but the music doesn't back you up in them.
-
HeuristicsInc
- Ibárruri
- Posts: 5350
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 6:14 pm
- Instruments: Synths
- Recording Method: Windows computer, Acid, Synths etc.
- Submitting as: Heuristics Inc. (duh) + collabs
- Pronouns: he/him
- Location: Maryland USA
- Contact:
1: soylent spuds, erik o, maxthecat, kelvinator, 40ss, humbert, joshw
2: miasmatics, wreckdom, silent e
this might be my favorite maxthecat song ever. it's cool.
but i gotta vote for josh. it's a great song.
-bill
2: miasmatics, wreckdom, silent e
this might be my favorite maxthecat song ever. it's cool.
but i gotta vote for josh. it's a great song.
-bill
152612141617123326211316121416172329292119162316331829382412351416132117152332252921
http://heuristicsinc.com
Liner Notes
SF Lyric Ideas
http://heuristicsinc.com
Liner Notes
SF Lyric Ideas
-
Rabid Garfunkel
- Churchill
- Posts: 2468
- Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:43 pm
- Instruments: Absurdity
- Recording Method: iPhone, Reason & rando apps/toys
- Submitting as: Rabid Garfunkel, Primitive Screwheads
- Pronouns: that guy
- Location: Hollywood, Calif.
-
Freddielove
- de Gaulle
- Posts: 236
- Joined: Tue Sep 28, 2004 3:43 pm
- Location: Houston, Texas
Song Reviews
Some last minute comments here.
Erik Ostrom
I like the way the dual guitar part is recorded, you get a nice live performance feel out of it. Nice voice, I think it works better when you sing than in the spoken parts. Not digging the Cat Steven's references, but then I was never a fan. It almost sounds like you are saying two walmarts and a one night stand. I will assume you are saying two warm arms though. Hmm.. just cuts off, I can never end a song well, so I won't pick on this.
Forty Second Songs
Ok, here is what I love about Forty Second Songs. The song title is "I am tempted" and this starts off with "I'm going bald....". I have no idea what this has to do with the song title but I love it, and that eventually it will make sense, it's like every song is a little present. Great percussion here, moves the song along well. Sounds like you been listening to Brian Wilson with all the vocal arrangements. And a great ending too.
Humbert
I could like this, but the simulation stimulation starts to grate after a while. Great chord progression with the piano. The verses in this are great, nice bass line and backing vocals, almost sounds like Forty Second Songs back there.
Josh Woodward
Wow, this is nice. Downtown train line is a little worn, but I can get over it. Great vocal job between the verse and chorus, that gives me shivers. I have really nothing else to say about this, I can't think of anything that would improve it. I guess how much somebody likes this depends on their opinion on AAA music, but this is better then 95% of what I hear on the local mix station.
Kelvinator
Starts off awesome, reminds me of in-form Spiritualized. I wish you got past your original riff. A change of tempo would help this immensely. If this were a little more thought out, it could be great.
Max the Cat
Another great production job here. Spare, but well done. The panned shaker does a nice job of creating space. Did you record the guitar with two mics? I think you did, but I can't tell. Anyway, on to the song. First off nice vocals again. Without a strong performance, this song with its standard progression would begin to lose interest. Lyrically, this song is superior. Carrying a weighty political message and writing a good song at the same time is difficult and you do it well. You are never to direct in the message and leave things open to interpretation and give the song room to breathe. Nice gospel touch at the end.
The Miasmatics
Beautiful intro with the piano and harmonica. Not sure this needs all this guitar. Ah, the nice part again. The backing vocal is jarring in a good way. Listening to that breakdown again, really makes the song.
Pigpen
No matter the context, death threats are not cool.
Silente
The chorus is nice, but gets lost in droning singing and instrumentation of the rest of the song. One thing to think about in writing is varaition in the melodic line, either in movement from the root, or in phrasing. I think a song using more of the upper range of your voice would give you more options with the melody. Not a bad effort, it's something to build on.
Slow Rodeo
Sounds like you've got your open chords down and you started writing songs with them. A lot of the points I made in Silente's song goes for this one too. A nice start, but simple guitar and voice songs need an extra compelling lyrics, melody or performance, which aren't easy to come by, especially in a week.
Soylent Spuds
This song is hilarious. And sadly, true. These vocals are awful, and perfect. Nice job undermining J$ track here, since I am guessing your politics are not the same.
Wreckdom
I actually enjoyed this. There's actually a song in here. Is that "I get a warm soulful feeling all over my bathing suit area"? If so, great. Funny. Easily your best work Since "Elvis in Space".
This was a fantastic fight. One of the better ones I've heard.
Good
Humbert, The Miasmatics, Soylent Spuds
Great
Forty Second Songs, Josh Woodward, Max the Cat
All three song are so great I don't know which one to vote for. Any of them would win another week. After flipping a three sided coin I'm voting for Forty Second Songs.
Erik Ostrom
I like the way the dual guitar part is recorded, you get a nice live performance feel out of it. Nice voice, I think it works better when you sing than in the spoken parts. Not digging the Cat Steven's references, but then I was never a fan. It almost sounds like you are saying two walmarts and a one night stand. I will assume you are saying two warm arms though. Hmm.. just cuts off, I can never end a song well, so I won't pick on this.
Forty Second Songs
Ok, here is what I love about Forty Second Songs. The song title is "I am tempted" and this starts off with "I'm going bald....". I have no idea what this has to do with the song title but I love it, and that eventually it will make sense, it's like every song is a little present. Great percussion here, moves the song along well. Sounds like you been listening to Brian Wilson with all the vocal arrangements. And a great ending too.
Humbert
I could like this, but the simulation stimulation starts to grate after a while. Great chord progression with the piano. The verses in this are great, nice bass line and backing vocals, almost sounds like Forty Second Songs back there.
Josh Woodward
Wow, this is nice. Downtown train line is a little worn, but I can get over it. Great vocal job between the verse and chorus, that gives me shivers. I have really nothing else to say about this, I can't think of anything that would improve it. I guess how much somebody likes this depends on their opinion on AAA music, but this is better then 95% of what I hear on the local mix station.
Kelvinator
Starts off awesome, reminds me of in-form Spiritualized. I wish you got past your original riff. A change of tempo would help this immensely. If this were a little more thought out, it could be great.
Max the Cat
Another great production job here. Spare, but well done. The panned shaker does a nice job of creating space. Did you record the guitar with two mics? I think you did, but I can't tell. Anyway, on to the song. First off nice vocals again. Without a strong performance, this song with its standard progression would begin to lose interest. Lyrically, this song is superior. Carrying a weighty political message and writing a good song at the same time is difficult and you do it well. You are never to direct in the message and leave things open to interpretation and give the song room to breathe. Nice gospel touch at the end.
The Miasmatics
Beautiful intro with the piano and harmonica. Not sure this needs all this guitar. Ah, the nice part again. The backing vocal is jarring in a good way. Listening to that breakdown again, really makes the song.
Pigpen
No matter the context, death threats are not cool.
Silente
The chorus is nice, but gets lost in droning singing and instrumentation of the rest of the song. One thing to think about in writing is varaition in the melodic line, either in movement from the root, or in phrasing. I think a song using more of the upper range of your voice would give you more options with the melody. Not a bad effort, it's something to build on.
Slow Rodeo
Sounds like you've got your open chords down and you started writing songs with them. A lot of the points I made in Silente's song goes for this one too. A nice start, but simple guitar and voice songs need an extra compelling lyrics, melody or performance, which aren't easy to come by, especially in a week.
Soylent Spuds
This song is hilarious. And sadly, true. These vocals are awful, and perfect. Nice job undermining J$ track here, since I am guessing your politics are not the same.
Wreckdom
I actually enjoyed this. There's actually a song in here. Is that "I get a warm soulful feeling all over my bathing suit area"? If so, great. Funny. Easily your best work Since "Elvis in Space".
This was a fantastic fight. One of the better ones I've heard.
Good
Humbert, The Miasmatics, Soylent Spuds
Great
Forty Second Songs, Josh Woodward, Max the Cat
All three song are so great I don't know which one to vote for. Any of them would win another week. After flipping a three sided coin I'm voting for Forty Second Songs.
Everything But the Girl but without the scary big chinned woman
- Furrypedro
- Furrypedro