Live Lirpa Sweiver (Evil April Reviews)

[ken]

Sweiver Lirpa Live Evil April Reviews

Palindrome!

[glennny]

!Satan oscillate my metallic sonatas!

[HamNoBurger]

"Evil April" songs are online. So it begins....

[Billy's Little Trip]

Just had my first listen. Nice to see some rock in this fight.
Ross, you brought the Gypsy out of me.


Hell Yeahs only plays for a couple seconds.
URBANmail doesn't play at all.

[Heather. Redmon.]

Oh no!

[Phil. Redmon.]

We've been (groan) Yeahbotaged!

Well, inna interim:

http://www.tartpop.com/tunes/the_hell_y ... _april.mp3

[trunkpoppa]

i still need time to streem the rest but everyone did a realy good job

mc eric b schooled this one (makes me want to break out my old house of krazees cds)really raw!! ...it would be cool to work on a project together .

[MC Eric B]

trunkpoppa - Anytime. I would be happy to collaborate with anyone.

The funny thing about my Evil April song is that it is almost the exact opposite of the Nur Ein entry I submitted the same week, in terms of musical style: http://nerdcoresongs.com/letmein.htm

[Billy's Little Trip]

We've been (groan) Yeahbotaged!

Well, inna interim:

http://www.tartpop.com/tunes/the_hell_y ... _april.mp3

Awesome!

edit: I really need to stop saying awesome! I think I'll start using "killer" for a while.

[doorite]

i still need time to streem the rest but everyone did a realy good job

mc eric b schooled this one (makes me want to break out my old house of krazees cds)really raw!! ...it would be cool to work on a project together .

i agree with my homie and fellow ninja, it's pretty cool.

[Mostess]

Tam Lin Music makes me cry. Just beautiful I want you to chop that last verse out and just repeat that over and over and over agayn part for a few minutes. Let it build. Didn't quite hit the climax it could have. But damn that's a sweet song.

[Reist]

Cool. I'll have to check these.

[MintyHandy]

Fair warning: wife's been sick, so I've been working and tending to two toddler twins all week, plus some early morning system outages at my job to deal with at 4am -- so I'm a bit on the sleep-deprived and cranky side. Apologies if I offend with my bluntness.

Mostly I'm bitter I couldn't get my entry in this week. Heh.

---

Antisoc
Really like the beat; really hate the meta lyrics that talk about entering SongFight. Mind you, I've done the same thing in the past, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea. That aside, overall I give it a "meh."

Back Street Blumpkins II Men
I love this new technology that lets you listen to songs through your cell phone. Oh, wait, that's just a lack of dynamic range in your voice -- you should have skipped that choice. As for the song, a slow funky groove that doesn't particularly impress, but I find myself enjoying it anyway, for the chorus alone. Lost me at "dragging my anus", though -- I didn't need these images in my head.

Ben Foxworthy
Any song that has evil ninjas stealing DNA by the end of the first verse is okay in my book. Too much story and not enough variation in the melody, but I bet this would be a lot of fun with a backing band to heighten the energy and silliness; as is, a little too much earnestness for the joke to survive. I like the slightly awkward harmonies, though. Overall, very Nerdcore, except s/core/y/g.

Biharmonic Plus
Kind of whiny, kind of boring, but you're on-tempo and on-pitch, and for me that's 50% of the battle. Next time, don't sing in such a wishy-washy way; this needed to be screamed, or at least grunted, and if you ignore the dull-as-dishwater guitar, the chorus worked quite well.

dB Collective
Poor recording levels aside, this is fun. I dig your voice, and your lyrics are 100% grrrrrrl rock, meaning that they're wholly appropriate for the song, but on the boring and redundant side. Props for the backing vocals, by the way. Perfect length.

Destruction Enterprise
The beats aren't good enough, and the rhymes aren't good enough, and the rapping isn't good enough. Pick one, work on it for next time. "What you gonna do when Evil April comes for you", indeed.

Fart
Excellent, it's like late-night college radio time. As a song it fails, as a soundscape it fails, but as a nice palate cleanser after the previous entry, it's pleasant, and I like your deep-throated screaming in the distance.

gammaman
Kind of like early Residents (circa Duck Stab), until the chorus, which is more traditional. Competent musicianship, annoying vocals (because you're singing too low in pitch, your range is higher than this), but I like the lyrics a lot, silliness is my thing. I can't help but think I would have enjoyed this a lot more (including your voice) if you'd gone for a Johnny Cash style instead.

Hamnoburger
Production nitpick: your voice is too distant from the effects. I love the chorus on this, especially the quickened part before you cycle. The rest of the song is a bit plodding, but the chorus sells it sufficiently and so a possible vote for you. If you were going to improve something next time, I'd say get some melody into the main verses, instead of using throwaways; right now they're just filler until you hit the (excellent) chorus.

The Hell Yeahs
Best first two lines ever, which is a good thing because there's only ten seconds of your mp3 available for download -- thanks for putting the alternative link in the forum. Your signature sound, fun lyrics, great delivery; as usual, you kick ass. However, this time around your voice is over-distorted, missing half the lyrics even with headphones. In fact, the whole thing is too much noise and not enough fun; for the first time ever, I find myself wanting to bail on one of your songs before the end because my ears hurt. Also, get off my lawn, you kids! What I can hear, I love, so possible vote for you, grrrl.

Hostess Mostess
Is this really 15:55 in length? Appropriate, since you seem to be channeling Genesis. As is typical for this type of thing, some bits are good, some are bad, and I have no idea how to delimit the bits in this review so that they make sense. So I'll just enjoy it for a while instead. By the way, your keyboard playing here is excellent, couldn't be better in spots. Well done, most(ess)ly. Possible vote.

Jolly Roger
Another Genesis-esque entry, at least in the opening guitars. Once you start singing, it loses me, because it feels like improvised wandering (the melody, specifically) -- but the guitar breaks rock my world and make me smile. Can't have everything, I guess.

Kill Me Sarah
Your song suffers from the same seemingly-improvised vocal melody problem (well, problem to me, anyway), and you don't have the wacky guitar energy to make up for it. Just needs more substance, either in the melody or in the delivery.

MC Eric B
WTF? Where did this come from? This is a hell of a lot more palatable than your previous entries. Fun, and dare I say it, engaging? Plus a Hitler reference, you Godwin'd your own song. Well played, sir, well played. Now you need to work on your production dynamics, and on adding variety to your choruses -- but you've come a long way.

Melvin
Another solid Melvin performance. Jonathan Mann vs Weezer; vocally flawless, great lyrics, and an arrangement that starts out a bit plodding and slowly transforms into unstoppable. Possible -- nay, probable -- vote. Fantastic. For the record, with this hooky chorus you could have submitted this as a simple man + guitar entry and it still would have worked -- this level of production just pushes it over the top.

Renwick
Next time, don't repeat the opening (it intrigued the first time, but annoyed the second.) I want more strength in your voice out of the box, not just into the chorus, and then even more in the chorus; as is, this sounds a little sleepy. Melvin did it better this week, but you still did it well. Probable vote if Melvin hadn't shown up.

Ross Durand
Your guitar sounds particularly clean this week. "You can still see her shadow on Friday nights/she sits in the room upstairs" is a great lyric, evokes a wealth of imagery. Fun, but wears out its welcome too quickly; would have been better served with faster and bigger heightening of the arrangement and the lyrics -- perhaps skipping the second tier entirely? Something very "Little Nash Rambler" about the speed of pacing that doesn't quite work for this material. Also, this would have been a great collaboration with Billy's Little Trip, so that monster guitars could have kicked in somewhere. As is, the brass picks things up again and reinforces my belief that you should have gotten to that point of the song faster. Overall, well executed and fun, and lacking only for a good editor.

signboy
I like your voice a lot, and your chorus is intriguing. The guitar and drums aren't holding up their end of the bargain, however, and drag it down. Good lyrics, though, and nice harmonies. Upper tier of this week's entries, but in need of a better arrangement.

Tam Lin Music
The jangly piano and first vocal note remind me of Tom Waits, but you've got a sound all your own. This is *begging* for a more intimate mic'ing of your vocal; your voice is almost too beautiful, I want to hear a bit of grit, and some of your breathing. "but you laid hold of them/and you tore them from the stem" is both a terrific lyric, and the point at which you started to lose me vocally (you start to deliver with strength, when I want to hear vulnerability.) What a bridge, though! Damn, that's pretty. The only quibble I have with this is the melody of "ooo, Evil April", the second note specifically; I think you were going for tension, but it calls too much attention to itself, that note does. Probable vote, even in the face of Melvin. Goddamn, this is good.

URBANmail
Like the Redmonds, your mp3 appears to be fubar'd; unlike them, you haven't provided a backup link yet, so I can't review. Sorry!

Wages
Every week I hope you'll have a more defined vocal melody, but you're still delivering pitch-imperfect lines under the guise of technique and passion. Good guitar, though, and I still love your voice (when it's on-pitch, anyway.)

The Weakest Suit
Some pitch problems, and the guitar and bass are a bit awkward until the chorus, but the chorus is strong and fun. I'd love to see more variation between the melody used for the verses and the melody used for the chorus. By the way, if you're writing lyrics like "Man that girl is fine" you're probably not trying hard enough.

Zipline
Strong open, but the vocals are too much yelling, not enough melody, although your voice has a really great quality about it. Those drum/guitar breaks are fun, although there are some tempo problems throughout (not the changes, those are fine, just mid-change stability.) "She has her own mysterious plans" caught me more than the rest of the lyrics, in part because it was hard to hear the rest of 'em -- but also because it had a defined melody line lacking from the rest of the song. Hey, one of these days you guys are gonna call me for vocals, right? Because when you do, I think I'll send a scratch track for you to use as a reference, because Martin's voice is better than mine.

---

Melvin or Tam Lin? Tam Lin or Melvin? Gonna have to listen a few more times to know.

[MintyHandy]

Argh, it says my vote's already been recorded. I guess someone else at my job must have voted, or I clicked something by accident. Meh.

I'll vote from home, I guess.

[MC Eric B]

MintyHandy - I know this sounds corny, but I think I am getting better from practicing on Songfight and from the comments Songfight people give me.

I had to Google "Godwin'd". Very interesting actually. I had never heard about that.

- Eric

===============================
MC Eric B
WTF? Where did this come from? This is a hell of a lot more palatable than your previous entries. Fun, and dare I say it, engaging? Plus a Hitler reference, you Godwin'd your own song. Well played, sir, well played. Now you need to work on your production dynamics, and on adding variety to your choruses -- but you've come a long way.

[Phil. Redmon.]

Perhaps we let...
..
...too much out?

[MC Eric B]

Antisoc - I liked the beat a lot. The vocals were good, but I found the lyrics a little boring after while, maybe because the song was way too long. I liked the concept of the lyrics and they were well written, the whole thing somehow just did not pull me in. I thought the chorus was catchy.

Back Street Blumpkins II Men - The funky groove was well done, but song was not very catchy for me. The chorus seemed off pitch, unless that was on purpose. I like how you worked a bunch of dirty things into the song. It would be good for a soundtrack to a porno movie. I think the song was much too long though.

Ben Foxworthy - The song was pleasant sounding but it was so long that after a while I stopped caring about what happened. It was a creative epic type story, which is a plus, but are the characters made up or are they from a movie/show? I feel like I would care more if I knew the backstory. (5 minutes later)... Edit: Duh!!!!! ( Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles). I listened to the song again, this time not while I was doing something else like before, and I get it now. Ignore my stupid earlier review.

Biharmonic Plus - Reminds me of the Beach Boys on drugs playing in a garage. I can't understand any of the words. Kind of catchy though, in a harmonic way.

dB Collective - Vocals were too faint, but I thought the singing was good. Reminded me of a bootleg recording from Woodstock.

Destruction Enterprise - The vocals were easy to understand and mixed well with the beat, but the organ sound seemed too loud. Do you use a pop filter (to cover the microphone)? If not, get one and that will reduce the "pops" from when you sing too close to the mic. I listed to the song twice and did not really get the meaning of it, other than May is better than April. It seemed like you were just trying to rhyme things.

Fart - I like the intro, but then the whole rest of the song seems like an intro or remix to me. What is there is fine, but not much of a song.

Gamma Man - I liked it, but I was a little lost on the story even though I listened to it a few times.

Hamnoburger - Clean crisp professional sounding production. Something I can picture hearing on the radio, which is a step up from many of the songfight songs. Well done.

The Hell Yeahs - A very good song. I think if I had not read the lyrics first, it would be hard to follow though.

Hostess Mostess - I liked it, but the song got a little boring for me after a while.

Jolly Roger - I did not like the vocals on the chorus too much. The guitar playing on the song was good.

Kill Me Sarah - I liked it a lot. A good mix of the vocals and music. The part around 2 minutes where the electric guitar comes in loud seemed a little chaotic though. Also, I did not like the ending of the song too much. Most of the song had a haunting quality to it, but the end was loud and abrupt.

Melvin - I like it. Even though it has loud guitars and drums, I can still understand the lyrics clearly, and the tune is catchy. The guitar solo is great. The vocalist does a very good job.

Renwick - Your vocals were hard to hear on the verses. It did not feel like you "let it all out". Overall I like the song.

Ross Durand - I like it a lot, but maybe you could have added some scarier noises or instruments to it to match the scary lyrics. I like how you ended it. That was more scary.

signboy - I like the harmonies and the music is good, but nothing I will remember later.

Tam Lin Music - This is unique sounding, which is good. The vocals have a haunting quality which I like, and the music is a good fit with the vocals and the lyrics. I think the song could have been shorter though.

URBANmail - I didn't like the song the first time I heard it, but I listend again 2 more times with the volume much higher and the song grew on me. I like how different people take turns singing, since that keeps it interesting, but the vocals were too faint to understand much of the time. The melody of the song is actually catchy, but the faint vocals make it have much less of an impact.

Wages - The guitar part is good, and the song is pleasant to listen to, but nothing that will stick in my head later. I like how you layered you vocals in the 2nd half of the song.

The Weakest Suit - Good chorus. The vocals seem faint at times and the music seems a little loose sometimes, but still a nice song.

Zipline - I like your vocals and the song seems to come together well. There was not anything I disliked about the song, but it was not something I will remember later. On most of my other reviews this week, I said the songs were too long, but although this one was long I did not think it was too long. The guitar part near the end was great and the song had so many different things going on it kept my attention the whole time.

[Ben Foxworthy]

Thanks for the reviews guys! I think my song needed more work. I didn't have time to do a final recording of it, so I just submitted a test recording I had done with some background vocals over it. I hope you got a chuckle out of it at least.

Reviews:
---------------------

Antisoc
Nice. Unfortunately I can't vote for an evil songwriter.
I don't really know how I feel about a song ABOUT songfight... seems like cheating to me. It's very well done though, I think. I'm not really into rap, but it's funny. One tip: If your song is funny, have your lyrics come in earlier. I think it works better. Overall I really like this, except for the meta-lyrics.

Back Street Blumpkins II Men
Eww.... I am disgusted, yet intrigued.
This is funny, but overall I felt like you were just going for shock humor. I guess this just isn't my thing.

Biharmonic Plus
Oh wow, your voice is really not very good. Sorry.

dB Collective
First impression: Gnarls Barkley + Aretha Franklin + drugs...?
I can't really hear anything except "Evil April" a lot... I can picture myself dancing to this in a club and thinking it was really cool, and then forgetting about it as soon as the song was done. I dunno if that's what you were going for.

Destruction Enterprise
Ok, I don't know much about rap, but it doesn't sound like you're very good at it...
This sounds like sort of the same thing as Antisoc to me, but Antisoc did it better. It seems like it ends suddenly, is it supposed to do that? It seems like you were just having a good time and submitting something silly, which I completely approve of, but it's not really funny to me... sorry.

Fart
Hey!
Hmm, is that a sample of Christina Aguilera or something? Didn't really go anywhere.

gammaman
Yeah, I'd make fun of a guy named April. I wish your recording was stronger. I think it might be pretty good, but it's hard to tell with a weak recording. I think maybe you were trying to sing too low, the voice sounds really weak at some parts. Got capo?

Hamnoburger
I feel like it should be "Evil Apru-ul" rather than "Evil April-lll". Love the solo. The chorus kicks in really well, but the lyrics overall and the verse are a little weak. Don't really have much other feedback, it's pretty good.

The Hell Yeahs
Hell yeah! Cuts out after a few seconds.

Hostess Mostess
I don't really know what to think of this. There are so many little peices, it's sort of disjointed. I feel like you wrote lots of different peices of a song and couldn't figure out how to put them together. I really liked the beginning of the song, why didn't you just stick with that? As it is, I can't even consider voting for it. This song is frustrating to me, because I feel like you had potential and totally blew it.

Jolly Roger
Intro sounds like... boss music. I feel like I should be... jumping. Or drinking a hi-potion. It doesn't sound like you're singing a particular tune, more like random notes. I don't really know what to say.

Kill Me Sarah
I like "Been an evil april, it'll be an evil year". I mention that part specifically because it's about the only part I could understand. I think this would be easier to listen to if the vocals were a little more clear. I guess I don't like your sound that much.

MC Eric B
A little tired of raps, but I'll try... this is the funniest one so far to me, but only because it's AWFUL. I hope that's what you were going for. The voice is ridiculous. The part you sing does not match the key. "Hallelujah!" Ok, you got a laugh. Very fun.

Melvin
OK, first of all, you sound great. You sound like an established band with a sound. I almost think it's unfair for you to be competing. I don't know about the song though. Maybe I just don't get it, but the lyrics as a whole don't add up to anything for me. Why was Evil April your name? Live what way? I like how you iterated through the months, but it didn't seem to mean anything, maybe it could have been done better. As a whole, it sounds like most meaningless rock songs. Guitar solo was cool, but drawn out too long.

Renwick
Can't hear your voice. I barely noticed when you started singing. This might be good, but it all just sounds like mush to me... I feel like I can't really hear it well enough to review it. The part where you say "Evil April" sounds good, though. I'd work on making your voice sound more clear/distinct, or find a different singer.

Ross Durand
First impression: This is so cute!
I feel like this should be a musical interlude in a kid's TV show. Like something on PBS. I mean that in a good way. I really like this, my only criticism is that it's a little too long. I probably won't vote for it, but I do like it.

signboy
First impression: sounds a little like the desert level in Sonic the Hedgehog 3. Sweet.
I really like the guitar riff. I am grooving. The song, however, kinda mediocre. The vocal melody was a little boring, and the cool guitar riff can't carry the song by itself. I would put some more work into the vocal melody next time. The lyrics are also not that memorable. The guitar solo was too timid, rock it out! I think you have potential, but need work.

Tam Lin Music
I can't decide if I love or hate your voice... it's clearly well-trained, but something about the tone bugs me. Might be something you could fix with EQ, or it might be about the emotion, I can't really tell.

This is a really pretty song, it all sounds good, so props for that. The melody could use a little more pop/catchiness for me. I love some of your lyrics, however, I don't really think the repetition works for this song. "Over and over and over again" describes your lyrics a little too well. The falsetto... weird. Your voice doesn't sound like it should do a falsetto somehow. It's too much contrast with your normal voice, it's a little jarring. Don't know if that makes sense. Overall, sounds like you have a lot of talent, but the song isn't doing it for me.

URBANmail
Doesn't work....

Wages
This reminds me of the last song I submitted, where I wrote it all at 2am the night before and it was just kind of dumb/funny. But, at the same time, some parts seem to be well-written. So, I'm not really sure what to think. Maybe you wrote it at 2AM, and then refined parts of it the next day. Schitzophrenia is a mental illness, it's not the same as being evil - some people would be offended by that. Overall it's not that good, but not that bad.

The Weakest Suit
Too quiet. I really like, "Evil April makes the circle of life," it's the catchiest thing I've heard on here so far. But, I don't think you really make the case that it's evil... it could have just as easily been "Every April" or something and it would have made more sense. Also, the rest of the song isn't that catchy. It sounds like you had one great line that you thought up and then couldn't back it up. (Edit: Guess I was confused about the lyrics.)

Zipline
First impression: Is the drummer testing his symbols?
This song doesn't flow. Are there intentional tempo changes? I feel like you don't keep any kind of beat, it's really annoying. There's like this jarring transition every few lines. Maybe you just couldn't get the drum parts worked out right? The parts where you keep the same beat for more than a few seconds sound pretty good, but overall this is REALLY annoying and hard to listen to.

[trunkpoppa]

i dont know what to do ??? sent it in >>>spud will it work >ddd doo rite helllllp

[Heather. Redmon.]

The Hell Yeahs
Hell yeah! Cuts out after a few seconds.

Thanks for attempting to review! Here's a link to the full song until the fightmasters fix it:

http://www.tartpop.com/tunes/the_hell_y ... _april.mp3

[jackfrost]

"Ben Foxworthy" said:
The Weakest Suit
I really like, "Evil April makes the circle of life," it's the catchiest thing I've heard on here so far.

The lyrics (and chords) show up in my Windows Media Player.
They are actually "Evil April breaks the circle of life and love."

[Phil. Redmon.]

The Hell Yeahs - A very good song. I think if I had not read the lyrics first, it would be hard to follow though.

I would venture to say: this is how we roll.
We like to pack it in, you know?
Density.