Get A Review

WesDavis · Post by **WesDavis** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:23 pm

Probably a good policy!

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:32 pm

Hmmm. 12 reviewers.

28 entries.

I'm thinking a third of the reviewers...were not even in the fight...

AWESOME.

WesDavis · Post by **WesDavis** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 4:45 pm

Leaf wrote:Hmmm. 12 reviewers.

28 entries.

I'm thinking a third of the reviewers...were not even in the fight...

AWESOME.

HOT.

Egg · Post by **Egg** » Mon Feb 19, 2007 11:08 pm

That just speaks to the awesomeness of noncombatants.

ASYMMETRICAL!

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:06 am

Leaf wrote:Hmmm. 12 reviewers.

28 entries.

I'm thinking a third of the reviewers...were not even in the fight...
.

yeah yeah yeah....keep yer shirt on, reviews are coming.

BTW: I'm guessing that the Mad Vulgarians song may be the best Songfight entry ever to receive zero votes. Can anyone else think of a claimant to that title?

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 4:48 am

There are quite a few good 'Zongs' in the SF archive, I'm sure.

But yeah. Man. I haven't gotten a vote yet this month. And some tw3rp this week has already accused me of being 'adult contemporary'. Ouch. I really gotta figure out what's going on.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 6:31 am

jimtyrrell wrote: And some tw3rp this week has already accused me of being 'adult contemporary'.

I'd rather be called a Nazi. Or even English.

...but I digress - review time:

This weeks was one of the best all round fights I recall. Thank you to all concerned. I bought a new mp3 player last week and loaded this fight on it - and have been thoroughly entertained ever since. A lot of this stuff was very high quality

In order of general decreasing merit -

Top of the Class
LML: Vote (see review above)

Excellent
EMERGENCY PIZZA PARTY: This is ridiculous. This is good. This is ridiculously good. "Don't flaunt that red-haired baby rat" –

he he! – that cracked me up! I can't believe I've listened to this so many times this week

MAD VULGARIAN: The groove here is just irresistible. I love the "afford her-border-order…etc" rhyming patterns and how they fit the flow of the song. Some good lyrics too (tell me Jim, have you ever worked in the fast-food industry? I sense a recurring theme from you "Red Zero" song!)

PACO DEL STINKO: I love the lyrics to this. It is the sort of song I listen to thinking "Damn! I wish I'd written this". My only suggestion is that it is a full minute before the "jibber-jabber" kicks in. Perhaps it needs a little something between those first 2 slower verses just to kick it along a bit

ROSS DURAND: I listened to all of these on my mp3 player without knowing who was who. I had no idea, and never would have guessed this was Ross. Generally, I have a tendency to hate songs that reference computer games and will skip them pretty quickly – but this one actually kept me interested to the point where when I got to the end of the song I though, "wow, that was really good!" and listened to it again. Daggy and geeky, but a great catchy chorus and highly enjoyable.

BILLY'S LITTLE TRIP: Wow! Bass and drum opening – Beach Boys ooohs – then a 1-2-3-4 count in! Hot damn – where's that vote button! There are a lot of good ideas here – but it doesn't seem to be quite gelling. I think it is just a production/arrangement thing. Some of the vocals are a little dodgy, and it sounds like the singer has his head down the toilet (of course, it the singer actually does have his head down a toilet, then you get extra points – that would be a great stage act). Also – maybe the rhythm guitar is all a little 'same-y' – a bit more stop-start sort of stuff may inject a little life into it. I would like to hear you work on this song a little more – because I really love the style of it and I think that with slightly better execution it could be a real cracker!

CIVIL OFFENSE: Super moody. Love the horn bits. Then the "get a life" bit in the middle builds up beautifully. This is a pretty awesome effort Rabid, great work.

DR WORM: Another great song. Wonderful production, totally professional sounding. Love the descending sort of bit in the chorus

Very Good
LEAF: Great performance! Especially the vocals. A bit too System of a Down-y for my tastes – but highly enjoyable all the same.

MELVIN: I love the opening of this, it's got a real Madness-type feel – but then it hits that chorus and it is physically impossible for me not to sing "Take On Me". Apart from that (for me) fatal flaw, it is a remarkably good song.

RMOSQUITO: Great to see R. Mozzie back! Great melodies. Very laid back and very cool. Some really nice vocal work too. Very entertaining

YOUR MONEY WASTED: Sensational opening – the guitars are just awesome. Really polished performance and great song too. Reminds me a lot of the Stiff Little Fingers – though like SLF, the vocals sound in parts a little strained – like the singer is trying try reach just a little out of his range. Maybe bring it down a note or two?

Good
GAWKING URETHRAS: The song is good, though not outstanding – but the vocals are outstanding! Is this Wages singing? Maybe it is the production here – but I haven't heard you sound this good before. Especially in those slower bits – the voice sounds great.

KLOWNHOLE: Wow – a remarkably polished performance from the 'K-hole. Klownhole sold out? This is very good. And there is nothing I enjoy more than a bit of good, hard organ soloing.

TENACIOUS GEEK: Very Byrds-y. Definitely a job well done – though there are others I prefer this week

SPINLOCK: Definitely an "A" for Effort – but I don't you really pulled it off. This reminded me in parts of The Style Council's "Big Boss Groove" – where Paul Weller tried desperately to sound "funky" – despite suffering from the congenital "unfunkyness" that is common in many of Anglo-Saxon descent.

FLUXXM FLOVIM: Great idea – but timing issues spoil the end result. Still – Hot Dang, I love your lead guitar solos!

OK
STEVE DURAND: Not at all bad – but not standing out in a strong field.

WES DAVIS: Again, not at all bad – but not standing out in a strong field.

CRANIAL BIFFIDA: This is pretty good in a Rammstein-y sort of way. Not my cup of tea – but a worthwhile effort.

STARFINGER: Very well executed of course – simply not the sort of thing I really want to listen to.

MC LOCAL HOST: Not bad but not doing much for me. There also appears to be a borrowed (intentionally or unintentionally) melody in here – that I can't quite place at the moment

MC ERICB: The rhymes and the delivery aren't bad, but that chorus really kills it

Bad
EIDOLON: You have the bones of a decent song here. Nice laid back feel and good melody – but vocals are just too wayward and the backing music a little too robot-y

ZINCLINE: Vocals are really killing this for me. Guitars are OK – but vocals are annoying. Song just sort of meanders without going anywhere.

MEDMONK: No

Unclassifiable:
JIM OF SEATTLE: You really are a strange and twisted man, Jim of Seattle. Hats off to a job remarkably well done, I certainly got a good laugh out of this while listening on the train to work. Some of you voice work is very good. JB sounds exactly like that, he even has this ominous piano backing music that follows him everywhere – it's quite spooky really. However, I think that the most charitable thing I can say about your attempt at an Australian accent is that it is much better than Merryl Streep's effort in the movie "Evil Angels". Also, it's weird how sometimes the written word makes no sense, but when you say it out loud it all becomes clear – except when it is Leaf's written words. They make even less sense. Maybe this would be better done as a full opera – with all the people playing themselves…no, maybe not. (Note to Self:…Actually, that is a really stupid idea, I must remember to delete that bit before I post, otherwise somebody may attempt to do it…)

and...
CARAVANRAY: I'm very pleased with the lyrics of this. I originally started recording this as a big-haired rock number, but JJJ radio was running a competition for songs by solo songwriters, so I thought I would strip it back and enter it in the competition. I like the way it came out.

Billy's Little Trip · Tue Feb 20, 2007 10:15 am

Caravan Ray wrote: BILLY'S LITTLE TRIP: Wow! Bass and drum opening – Beach Boys ooohs – then a 1-2-3-4 count in! Hot damn – where's that vote button! There are a lot of good ideas here – but it doesn't seem to be quite gelling. I think it is just a production/arrangement thing. Some of the vocals are a little dodgy, and it sounds like the singer has his head down the toilet (of course, it the singer actually does have his head down a toilet, then you get extra points – that would be a great stage act). Also – maybe the rhythm guitar is all a little 'same-y' – a bit more stop-start sort of stuff may inject a little life into it. I would like to hear you work on this song a little more – because I really love the style of it and I think that with slightly better execution it could be a real cracker!

You have a good ear Ray. I am playing with vocal reverb, delays and compression to come up with something unique, but it's not going very well. But the toilet comment couldn't be more on the money because I had a "snare room" effect mixed in there, which is great for a snare, but not so much for voice apparently.
I started this song on Friday after work and finished it on Sunday night just before the deadline, with Family and life inbetween. When I'm recording and mixing, I'm tuned into the individual tracks for continuity with each other and sound. But by the time I'm done, my ears are spent. But when I listened to this days later, it does sound like I had a gun to my head and a bit cold. I do love this song and it rocks me, but I agree that this song could warm up if I sing along to it while I'm driving around town, then spend some more time with it in the studio.
Thank you for a constructive review. It will effect my future entries.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:05 am

Thanks, Ray. It was funny. As I scrolled down your list to see what camp I was in, I passed by EXCELLENT (oh well) and then past VERY GOOD (bummer) and then past GOOD (aw, man!), etc., getting more and more depressed as I scrolled down. Then seeing myself in my own category was better even than being EXCELLENT! And I'm not at all surprised the Aussie accent was bad. I'm frankly surprised more people didn't call me on that.

And by the way, your Get a Life has grown on me a great deal and has belatedly earned my not-placed-anyway vote. It's been running through my head since yesterday. And I like the lyrics a lot too. One of my favorites of yours. Thanks for the keeper.

wages · Post by **wages** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 11:35 am

Caravan Ray wrote:Good
GAWKING URETHRAS: The song is good, though not outstanding – but the vocals are outstanding! Is this Wages singing? Maybe it is the production here – but I haven't heard you sound this good before. Especially in those slower bits – the voice sounds great.

It IS me singing. What about these vocals do you like as opposed to other entries I've been a part of?

Post by **Lunkhead** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 1:19 pm

All I have to say about the outcome of this fight is ... poop.

blue · Post by **blue** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 3:39 pm

Lunkhead wrote:All I have to say about the outcome of this fight is ... poop.

you see something poopy when a band wins by 45 votes in a fight with a 50 vote increase over the last one?

gotta be a coincidence.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Tue Feb 20, 2007 5:29 pm

Blue, you do realize of course that you are implying that I deserved to win... be careful what you say; your reputation may be at stake.

Your Money Wasted · Post by **Your Money Wasted** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 1:48 am

so i give songfight another try only to be brutally reminded what it's really about.

earhr. there's nothing good in life.

don't expect me back anytime soon.

edit: fwiw, i appreciate the reviews. thanks to all the reviewers.

Jim of Seattle · Post by **Jim of Seattle** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:10 am

Don't be that way! Sure, it's crummy when fighters go get all their friends to vote for them (not saying EPP did that, but it's suspect), and I've personally come in 2nd on at least 3 fights where I felt the winner had an inferior song but "friend flooded". But it only stings for about 45 minutes, and it really doesn't happen very often. And Song Fight needs more good bands like yours.

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 10:14 am

burstroc wrote:earhr.

Is that the Sideshow Bob Gets a Rake In The Face noise? 'Cause that's what I heard in my mind when I read it.

john m · Post by **john m** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 3:17 pm

burstroc wrote:so i give songfight another try only to be brutally reminded what it's really about.

earhr. there's nothing good in life.

don't expect me back anytime soon.

edit: fwiw, i appreciate the reviews. thanks to all the reviewers.

Songfight's beauty is in the reviews and community. If you're seriously all emo now because some 15 year old kid has a bunch of friends and/or a computer lab, that's really unfortunate. Along with many others, I loved your song this week, and I know you thanked the reviewers, but I'd hope you could place more emphasis on the reviews and less on the frontpage result. Friend flooding is part of songfight; at best, just ignore and dismiss it in favor of the positive reinforcement and advice you got in the review thread, and at worst, let it challenge you to make a song so good that those 40+ people would rather vote for you than their own insecure buddy.

If you're really considering leaving from songfight for any length of time because of this, maybe you also ought to consider why you're entering these fights. Is it really for the satisfaction of saying "I'm a *-time SongFight.org winner!"? I'm a four-time winner, and I can't say that's gotten me anywhere in life. However, entering songfight has provided me with invaluable reviews that have overwhelmingly evolved my musicianship. (Don't believe me? Try listening to my Red Robot, for example, or any of my other really early entries. Then listen to Get a Life.) The reviews are where it counts, man, and from what I've seen in this fight, you're going over really well where it counts. I hope you'll think it over.

Post by **Lunkhead** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 4:55 pm

Don't go, Y$W! I voted for your song. I was surprised it got as few votes as it did.

Reist · Post by **Reist** » Wed Feb 21, 2007 9:30 pm

That's a pretty stupid thing to say, YMW. Get over it - you got good reviews, I saved your song to my iPod. EPP didn't even win anything - nobody ever does - why does it matter?

Your Money Wasted · Post by **Your Money Wasted** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 1:29 am

i was really hoping the whole lopsided vote thing wouldn't happen this time because i don't get the chance to fight that often and i worked pretty hard on this entry. you guys are right about the front page vote not being so important, though. the advice in the reviews is what seems to really matter.

i was also kind of disappointed at the fact that my entry was labeled punk rock by many of the reviewers, since punk rock is usually more about the message rather than the quality of the music in general. i guess next time i'll use a slower tempo.

eh, i'll stick around. thanks for bothering to reply, everyone. oh, and jimtyrrell, oddly enough that was exactly the noise i was going for. :)

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Thu Feb 22, 2007 4:40 am

Sweet! Well done.

Billy's Little Trip · Thu Feb 22, 2007 10:43 am

i was really hoping the whole lopsided vote thing wouldn't happen this time because i don't get the chance to fight that often and i worked pretty hard on this entry.

Really, because my songs just magically appear on Song fight each week.

As I said in my review about your song, "It's good to hear some rock'in energy here. Nice work". That's the payoff.