Graynbow Review Thread

[c hack]

Wow, you guys are writing some really great reviews, especially in light of the fact there are a fuckload of songs to listen to. I'm gonna have to try and kick mine up a notch now.

[thehipcola]

The rest:

Eddie Lance
Nice tinkling. Hard to rate in the context of the title, obviously.

HipWreckd
Big shout out to the Wreckdom cats for lending their twisted narra-scapes to this exploratory piece. And thanks to all for great reviews. I think it suffered from Not-Enough-Time-In-ity..which was a direct result of foundation cracks and the studio-hating water leakage that followed. In its current state, it's a half-baked idea that needed a bit more execution time. We were trying to play with structure and form a little...it was nice to read a few picked up on and appreciated that. Maybe we'll finish it up someday. (does anyone else have trouble going back to old stuff to rework it? )

Hostess Mostess
Really nice song...it rolls on well. I like the piano sound...it's not a typically distracting fake-piano. The hi hats are really thin...but the kick is nice and fat. I like the lead guitar melody counterpoint...nice. Wow those long harmonies are sweet. Few programming glitches, but overall this song has soul and it works well both for the kind of music it is and the title. Nice, Keeper, possible vote - if I could still vote.

Jolly Roger
This is ok...bit repetitive until it gets to the chorus part. Backing vocals aren't always nailing it. The mix is pretty awful, and the song is ok, but not enough to keep, or vote for. I like the heavy middle part. Your guitar sound is way way thin...solving that would be a big step towards a better listening experience for folks.

Klownhole
It rocks and it's fun to listen to. Once. And that's partly to hear the Dan-O reference. Note: I think referencing SongFight! is awesome.

LyricBurglar
This is fun. I find the drum loop/pattern distracting...that could be a sonic thing. Nice change a minute in. Great use of the title. I love the ending. Keeper.

MC Eric B
Is that the Casio-matic? One of my first bands way back in '90 started out using phresh beats from a Casio CPS-201. It wasn't as fancy as this one sounds though. You should find a complimentary pattern to switch to that helps separate and distinguish your chorus' and hooks.

Mico Saudad
"I don't know where you get this sour disposition that you wear." Awesome. Love that line. Short and sweet. Nice. Keeper. Mix is ok. Is there a compressor overdoing on something in there? I'm getting pumped.

No Ghost
The audio-mat everything is laying on is pretty cool. But it's getting long and nothing new is coming in to pull me along. There's a truckload of hiss happening in here that you could likely fix easily with some eq adjustments, without losing the stuff you might be afraid of losing in doing it.

Pipefist
I really dig the keys part. It's a nice flavour. This is a nice song that would benefit from more time spent working the interplay of the instrumentation and vocals...I like the arrangement pretty well. The mix is pretty empty...needs more of everything but not necessarily volume. Stereo field could be leaned on a bit more to fill things out. Ending was strange and unexpected.

Queen Anthony's Lace
Lovely vocal arrangement. This is easy to listen to. Love the intro. The mix is my main beef. I really like this. So I'm keeping it.

Signboy
The first part doesn't connect to the second part very well...better to the chorus. More stereo field issues...I'm really into spreading things out a bit..if only for ear-interest's sake. Overall, it's ok. The warble on the BOW part of rainbow is quirky and starts to bug me after awhile. The delay probably helps with that.

Spinlock
I agree.."watch like an absess..." is a great lyric. I would rather have heard your main vocal not doubled. I find in pieces like this, where the vocals are one of 2 or 3 things and clearly the main focus, unless your doubling is bang on, it's a distraction more than a help. You've got a strong enough voice to carry this, and then you could use the doubling as a tasty way to accentuate certain lines. Just a thought. Nice piece, keeper.

Spinning Merkaba
I really dig the guitar on the left off the top. Sweet. Dig the anxiety in this piece...but the beat is pretty blah. It's not doing what it needs to for the energy in this piece. Dancey kick quarter-note patterns are boring. And because it's the same all the way through, I start to think the song is too long, too repetitive. Is there a 3rb bit, or bridge? I didn't notice...and that would help too.

Steakhaus
haha! Reverse scream is awesome. I like it. Rawk. Is this just Starfinger or is it a group of peeps....either way it rocks well. Keeper. I like the guitar sound, especially on the palm muted parts. That's tricky to get. Great vox that totally fit the music.

Syd and Me
Nice piece...I like the horns and Syd's parts best.

Thank Glennie for the Frisbee
I'm not usually a fan of the stripped down G&G thang, but this is really well down, and the sprinkled on other instrumentation do just enough, well, to distract me and get me into the song. The only complaint I have, truly, is why must you strong singy types double all you vox? Get single, dammit! Use that as a treat, not the main course. Other wise, awesome awesome. Keeper.


What a pile of music to listen to.

Had I been able to vote, it would have gone to either Billy's Little Trip, Carpetburn, Hostess Mostess, or Thank Glennie for the Frisbee.

[Billy's Little Trip]

By the way, congrats to Thank Glennie for the Frisbee on your win this week. It's nice to see actual active members win based on the quality of a song.
You guys are fine musicians and I look forward to more of your enjoyable style.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy's Trip: This is great

nuff said. Thanks

Billy's Little Trip – I like so much about this. Just the chorus holds it back from being great for me. It’s like you chose some chords that sound cool and shouted a pitched vocal that’s cool , but they don’t quite fit together (including the harmonies. If the chords fit the vocals or vice-versa, this song would be rock solid. Increased appreciation knowing the back story. Top notch

Thank you Ross. I felt my weak areas almost immediately, but I'm still learning how to do a good song in the time frame. I'm always amazed at how well you and some of the members here pull it off so well. Maybe in time I'll get the hang of it. It just seems like every week I'm fighting for either substance or production and I haven't found the balance yet.

blt - i like the bass a lot. this is a great sound, actually, the vox are excellent. i do detect some floydishness, but harderockish.

You like the bass, and blue thinks it's dead. Is it a matter of taste, or the speakers you guys are listening through, lol. I wasn't shooting for a Floydishness sound, but like Ray Charles once said (I think), "a song is gonna do what it do, baby". If he never said that, then I just did. Thanks Bill.

Gray Rainbow
Billy’s Little Trip- Great production. The verse drags for me, but I love the intense chorus. Melody doesn’t grab me, but good performances! Pretty cool tune, it’s just not the single off the album. No guitar solo? Damn it Billy, I want to hear you shred!

I'm playing around with different layouts to shake things up in my world a bit. The verses and chorus are a sweet&sour thing. One making the other stand out more depending on your mood. IE: If you're in a mellow mood, the chorus is annoying and makes the verses sound tranquil, and vice versa. eh, who am I kidding, I didn't write this song with that it mind, but it seems like a good theory. Thanks Glennny.

BaconLettuceTomato: The dark, brooding intro is cool but unfortunately I find the effect is spoiled slightly by the rhythm guitar. This is just my opinion but for slow rock songs a clean rhythm guitar rarely adds anything. Maybe it reminds me of too many hours spent strumming amateurishly in my room, but it makes it feel loose and lo-fi which means Pavement can sometimes get away with it but I doubt you were trying to emulate Pavement. The section directly before that where it sounds like you'd actually figured out a part to play rather than just having some chords to strum over was much better, you should have stuck with that, or developed it in some way...I seem to be spending a disproportionate amount of time thinking about this, lets move on. What else is there? a nice chuggy chorus, the guitar noise in between chugs sounds great. You're voice is by no means weak as well but I don't find myself being drawn in by it, I don't know why that is. This feels like it has 80's written all over it, mainly because of the chorus and vocal effects. Afterthought Re: solos - I dunno what to think about solos, they seem to me to be a vehicle for showing off technique and have little musical merit, though no doubt you are very good at them. I was glad you thought you'd give it a miss here, if only that it makes your output less formulaic. I have a love/hate relationship with them I guess; people at Carpetburn gigs often say "you should do more solos!" and I feel a mixture of flattery and irritation. Also, my aquaintance with Glennny (undoubtedly a good thing) started after I flamed him for soloing, so does that mean they're good or bad? It's totally arbitrary. In conclusion: They're good, but very overused.

Thanks?
I personally love a melodic guitar solos and a repetitive guitar riff/chorus. I base what I listen to on the guitar work 90% of the time. Wheather it be Steely Dan, or Rudimentary Peni, good guitar is what I love to listen to.

[blue]

blt - i like the bass a lot. this is a great sound, actually, the vox are excellent. i do detect some floydishness, but harderockish.

You like the bass, and blue thinks it's dead. Is it a matter of taste, or the speakers you guys are listening through, lol. I wasn't shooting for a Floydishness sound, but like Ray Charles once said (I think), "a song is gonna do what it do, baby". If he never said that, then I just did. Thanks Bill.

the bass is great for the first ten seconds of the song where it's audible.

and you don't have to trust me about the drum:guitar ratio - it's Puce's Law.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Well I'm still battling the bass/kick issues in my recordings, so I seem to have to favor one or the other until I get it sorted out. My King Me is all bass, lol. I tried the New York compression up until the last minute and couldn't get the sound how I wanted it in time. Which is really a shame because I have some sweet double kick at the end that got eclipsed by the bass.

[spinlock]

Just Spin today. Thanks for the comments - the song's about my hometown, so it's totally a song for me.

This week, I've been mostly loving Klownhole
Way more accessible than in the past. And funny, damn, I was grinning all the way through. Thanks, that was fun.

Hostess Mostess Yeah! Nice piano playing, and singing. Wish I could get a recording this good. Sounds like an evangelical christian worship song in the chorus. In places the drums+keys could be tighter.

Eddie Lance This reminds me a lot of the last song I heard of yours sans traffic accidents. It's pretty, much better than my playing. But.. some of the pauses seem a bit jarring, like the two phrases at 1:00. Is that a deliberate feature to indicate the greyness or what? And, for my taste, it's a bit over-sustained or reverbed on the chord transitions.

HipWreckd Thought the introduction was brilliant... then it turns into really bad hiphop. Have you heard any steve taylor? He did religious satire bout 30 years ago, managed it a bit smoother. Still, after a couple of listens it stays interesting.

Jolly Roger - OK, but on my tiny speakers the guitar strums sound like maracas.

C Hack - OK

BLT Dude, you just get better and better. At first listen I thought "ew, off-key harmonies"... but then I heard the chorus and I got it.

Double Helix - I like the dirtiness of this song - goes with the singing (wages?) At the interrupting bit ("I wanna stay out of the light")I genuinely thought that i had another media player open somewhere playing another tune. Odd. But quite good.

Queen Anthony's Lace - uhh. I didn't really get this song - but I liked the instrumentation in the first few 'days'.

Sp00ns - I wasn't going to like this. i wasn't. Mainly cos of the vocoder or whatever it is you use.. but then I opened my mind and it was filled with crazy bizarre images, and I read your lyrics (thanks to ray stealing them) and they're pretty good. If I ever
a) Host a modern art exhibition or
b) decide to take drugs, I will definetly get high to your music.

Cranial Biffida -
Good guitar tone. Totally not a style I understand but I did like the beginning and dramatic parts towards the end.

Signboy
Liked the epic sort of feel to the song, though it seemed stuck between rock and dance, neither one nor the other.

Syd and me
Ahhh. Too cute.

Spinning Merkaba
Yeah. This is real good. Nice ballsy performance. Reminds me of Cory Doctorow.

No Ghost
I don't like songs about being depressed, but that doesn't mean it isn't good.

Carpetburn
Wow! This is bloody good. Reminds me of Melvin.

worn out now. will finish later

[starfinger]

Steakhaus...Is this just Starfinger...

I just added the vocals to mostly complete song that Koolaid_Says sent me. He did the mix and everything.

We did a King Me that is a lot more of a collaboration, and consequently sounds pretty much nothing like this one.

Glad you liked it though!

-craig

[mico saudad]

In order of number of votes:

Thanks Glenny for the Frisbee: A well deserved win on that, TGftF. Felt like something that would be in a Zach Braff movie soundtrack. I mean that in a good way. The Kinks maybe. Spotty vocals in bits, but the tone of the voice is well suited to this.

Hostess Mostess: I typically really like your stuff and there's a lot of elements of your style in this that I like. As a finished piece I got a little frustrated at moments like 0:18 where you had real feel in the emotion of the vocals "grey rainbow come", but then a burp in the music that immediately dispels what I had just been feeling. I think you typically do better with lyrics than here. Although I do tend to appreciate your lyrics the more distance I get from them (Baseball vs Opera has grown into one of my favorites of yours. I think Billy deserved your spot this week, but not vice versa.

Syd and Me: In ...pain.. from.. the cuten..ess.. This is fun. Your voices work well together for this. Wow. nice trumpet part. A touch trebbly. But a nice part. I love how Syd says rainbow at 1:49ish.

Klownhole: My favorite part of this song is 0:57-1:10:
This one's for our best friend Dan-O (YEAH!) Including a reference (WHOA!) the the title grey rainbow... That had me chuckling pretty hard. I'm a little dissapointed that a joke song beat me, but as joke songs go...

mico saudad: got this done last minute and I really wished I'd had time to rerecord parts and add more verses and some variation, but I like the core. And hey I got some votes this week.

pipefist: the song sounds a bit like something from the 50's and with the right production and performance this could be entertaining but the songwriting feels overly derivative.

Jolly Roger: The guitar sounds like a game theme song from Nintendo. In a good way. Let the wall of rock part to reveal more dynamics and make this more interesting. 2001 rock. Dahhhhh dahhhh dahhhh da-duhhhh. (too monolithic)

MC Eric B: Sounds like a childhood televangelist-in-training practicing his routine in his bedroom. What number shall I call to pay for my redemption?

Billy's Little Trip: I actually love the music on this in the same way that I love Pink Floyd. The vocals are much much much much better in this than in the past. How did this not get more votes? I think this is top two so far. Good job.

Queen Anthony's Lace: If this were performed and produced better it would feel like a mix between Lemon Party and Carol Cleveland Sings. There are interesting bits, but the roughness is too much.

Carpetburn: The voice in the background sounds like Kermit the frog. Which is funny. If you mean it to be funny, then play it up more. Otherwise, um. sorry. eh. there's some nice guitar in parts.

(more later)

[Meatwad]

Klownhole: ... I'm a little dissapointed that a joke song beat me...

I feel that way every week.

[Cärpetbürn]

Carpetburn: The voice in the background sounds like Kermit the frog. Which is funny. If you mean it to be funny, then play it up more. Otherwise, um. sorry.

Word. Only musicians of true quality have the capacity to sound like Kermit. Thanks for squeezing us in

Incidentally, mine was the 10th vote for TGFTF, just so's ya know

[Steve Durand]

Only musicians of true quality have the capacity to sound like Kermit.

So true


Steve

[mico saudad]

especially when singing about the (grey) rainbow connection

[c hack]

Found just a little too late: a real gray rainbow.


http://antwrp.gsfc.nasa.gov/apod/ap061115.html

[HeuristicsInc]

very cool, apod is awesome. thanks for the link.
-bill