That's What She Said that started the fight (Review thread)

[Sober]

CALLING YOU OUT, DREW.

[jimtyrrell]

Rap prejudice? Try the Blues sometime and see what it gets ya.

Apologies to anyone who feels their time wasted by a chord progression they've heard a bunch of times before. Personally, I thought the F#m in the turnaround was an interesting twist on the progression. But damn, what I wrote just seemed to best suit the tone of the title. And the song has been well-received at shows, so I guess I've got that anyway. (And my mom thinks I'm cool. )

I'll give 'em all a spin and post my opinions as soon as I can.

[thegiantsnail]

Hey guys. Sorry if you didn't like my thing. I was a little overwhelmed by work and this huge page of vst plugins.
http://www.behringer.com/05_support/u-c ... m?lang=eng

Had to try 'em all.

But one response to the criticism... if it was a waste of time, at least it was a thirty second waste of time. It's kind of self referential that way- the words are "maybe we're just a cosmic burma shave advertisement"- thirty second existential crisis for you.

I hadn't done any real avant garde composition in a while, so there's some pantonality for you.

I'll try and review some stuff. I'm busy. But I think I have some stuff that will work better for next week's song.

[wages]

Yes, it is me singing on Tractor Trailer's entry. Last Friday I got a message from ProjectD asking if I'd like to participate in an experiment. I would write the lyrics w/o the music, submit the lyrics to ProjectD, he would write some music not knowing the melody, then I would adjust the lyrics & melody to fit the music. Plus, this all had to be done between Saturday and Monday morning! The version that was submitted is like the dozenth version we collectively did over that short time frame which I feel is impressive. I think overall ProjectD did a good job with the music. I'm sure had we started sooner, this would've had even better vocal quality, melody quality, and better mixing. But with that said, I am pleased with this entry and have enjoyed the reviews so far.

The interesting thing is, I had to actually make music for it (this is something I'm doing now to help my writing of melodies: "writing lyrics with the guitar in hand" rather than "lyrics then guitar"), but we decided that ProjectD would NOT listen to my demo until after the song was done! We dubbed this "blind date songwriting".

So while I haven't (yet) heard what ProjectD's version would have been had I not been singing/writing the melody, here is the "country" version I did:
http://www.philwages.com/music/ThatsWha ... ckdemo.mp3

And here is the blues version I would probably have developed had I entered this solo:
http://www.philwages.com/music/ThatsWha ... sydemo.mp3

Any thoughts on where either of where these versions were going? Mostly, which vocal styles did you prefer and why? I'm expect a two-page report from each of you by Friday. And it better be legible or you'll have to re-write it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Yes, it is me singing on Tractor Trailer's entry. Last Friday I got a message from ProjectD asking if I'd like to participate in an experiment. I would write the lyrics w/o the music, submit the lyrics to ProjectD, he would write some music not knowing the melody, then I would adjust the lyrics & melody to fit the music. Plus, this all had to be done between Saturday and Monday morning! The version that was submitted is like the dozenth version we collectively did over that short time frame which I feel is impressive. I think overall ProjectD did a good job with the music. I'm sure had we started sooner, this would've had even better vocal quality, melody quality, and better mixing. But with that said, I am pleased with this entry and have enjoyed the reviews so far.

The interesting thing is, I had to actually make music for it (this is something I'm doing now to help my writing of melodies: "writing lyrics with the guitar in hand" rather than "lyrics then guitar"), but we decided that ProjectD would NOT listen to my demo until after the song was done! We dubbed this "blind date songwriting".

So while I haven't (yet) heard what ProjectD's version would have been had I not been singing/writing the melody, here is the "country" version I did:
http://www.philwages.com/music/ThatsWha ... ckdemo.mp3

And here is the blues version I would probably have developed had I entered this solo:
http://www.philwages.com/music/ThatsWha ... sydemo.mp3

Any thoughts on where either of where these versions were going? Mostly, which vocal styles did you prefer and why? I'm expect a two-page report from each of you by Friday. And it better be legible or you'll have to re-write it.

You suck at the introweb. The links....they're just paper weights.
edit: I see they work now, sorry Phil.

[Geoff WreckdoM]

This is a great fight! Steve Durand I’d have voted for you if Swilington hadn’t totally just blown me away. But I have to say that your entry this week was awesome, maybe my favorite of yours ever.


B. Ellison – Sounds like a bunch of moody drunk bastards to me, so you know I’m down with it. Wallows in a remorseful and sometimes sarcastic tone that occasionally becomes downright bizarre, I dig it. I’m very impressed with this wavering feel you created, as if it could fall on itself at anytime, or at least the musicians might fall over. The music tells the story here and it works really well.

Buddy Buchanan – I’m guessing the fact that the vocals are buried and unintelligible is the whole point. It’s kinda cool but also entirely pointless and forgettable. If this isn’t Denyer than whoever you are you’d be well advised to try not sounding so much like Denyer.

Carpetburn – And in the morning as the sun rises I listen to Crapetburn. I’m into this pretty little ditty til the vocals hit that loud note coming into the chorus, then it’s jarring, I’m not swept up like you want me to be. Then you have this great fast paced change up and the energy and inventiveness really grabs me. I like the song as a whole but some parts I don’t care for.

Da Blump – Band name effectively lowers my expectations. It’s catchy but empty and redundant. You got my attention at first but didn’t go far afterwards. Impressive vocal performance but this dish needs salt.

Evil E – Groovy. I really dig this one, the way it’s put together. Handclaps, bouncing bass, phoned distortion on the vocals with that last line trailing echo. It’s slick and smart, a fairly familiar arrangement, but still toetappin’ catchy as hell. Good Job.

Ex + Intact – Great beats, mixed well and rap has a smooth flow to it. I dig this, easy going just lean back and bob your head. I’m not so taken with it that I’d return to it specifically but I’ve enjoyed the listen.

Giant Snail – THUNDERBALL FISTS ACTIVATE!!!

Gurdonark – Nice. What all did you do to the voice to get that rainy static feel? This is cool, subtle, odd, dark. Tinges of broken heart in the voice and it’s story. It’s meandering and disjointed at times, and then the repeating lyrics reveal a brief rhythm in there and it clicks. Good stuff.

Ham No Burger – The vocals are an immediate turn off, they are a bit loud and a little obnoxious. The cumulative effect of the cheesiness is amusing and overall I’m with this one but I wish you’d stuck with the deeper, lower vocals more, I found them to be much more effective.

HEY DAVE! – The song is manically infectious. This may win simply because it’ll be stuck in everyone’s head immediately after they hear it. Great lyrical structure and appealing vibe, but suffers from a flat mix and redundancy. I like it, it’s a lotta fun, cute, charming, and immediately singalongable.

i.p. – This song is not without it’s charm but it seems to me the vocals keep hitting kind of a flat plain. I’m just not wild about this one, which is weird because it features male and female vox in a conversational structure and I’d normally really dig that. This one never quite takes off for me. It’s cute and goofy though, it’s o.k.

Jeff Robertson’s 3-Chord Cloud of Sound – Furiously loud and crazy at first, fast and shaky, but becomes monotonous as you even admit in your band name, and I’m not groovin’ this anywhere near as much as I’d have to put up with as redundant a song as this.

Jim Tyrrell – It’s groovy but it’s also kinda pasteurized. I got excited when I read you did blues but this could’ve been a little more gritty. The guitar solo is sweet but out of place, ought to be in something more bluesy and less upbeat, or maybe that’s me wishing that on this song. It’s alright, it’s not too terribly memorable though.

Melvin – I really like the guitar structuring on this one. Really dig how they’re interacting and I find that to be the most compelling element. Vocal performance during the verses works along with it but the overbearing belt outedness of the chorus is just too much, kills the groove. I dig the subsequent “woo-ooh, woo-oohs”, I think your best moments here are when you’re not taking yourself so seriously.

Ross Durand – There’s too much high pitch everything in this song. It’s intense just how sharp everything is but I’m not into it, I kinda cringe. If you’re going to write a catchy pop song you need more of a hook and more variety and anyways I prefer your less poppy stuff.

Rum Dreams – I really like that recurring guitar plucking. You know, my issue with this is that I want to hear what all you’ve got going on back there, but all I can really make out is this guy who’s clearly too exhausted to sing with any conviction. If by making everything as quiet as possible you were hoping to add emotional impact, well, you missed.

Sheail – I don’t have that much patience for this song starting out and you take it to nearly 5 minutes? Sheesh. So much of this rides on your vocals and you frequently sound disinterested. If you can’t give me any more emotional impact than that I’m not gonna last 2 minutes let alone 5. Come on man, if you can’t belt it out then maybe try doing multiple tracks, something, you’re putting me to sleep.

Steve Durand – Right away I like this a lot. Thank you for bringing some real variety to this fight. I’m immediately taken with the fun bouncing energy, and the silly lyrics fit perfectly. The horns are irresistible, love, LOVE the trading off solos. You nailed it man, this is very enjoyable.

Swilington – Dude, I feel like this song was written for me. I love every part of it, where it goes and how it gets there. Perpetual creative reinvention and having lots of fun getting there. Awesome.

Tone Butter – Well your silly lyrics save this from being forgettable poorly recorded Guy and Guitar, which by all rights it should’ve been. Delivery of “That’s not my name” and the fact that the wrong name is “Pierre” are particularly amusing.

Tractor Trailer – Awesome vocal performance here. So fucking fearless and ballsy and unapologetic. I love it. Did you just say “She’s a bitch and life is a whore”? That’s awesome. I really like this song. It was wise to put the vox right upfront as it’s really the most powerful thing here, but there are instrumental touches that are also very cool. Here’s hoping we hear from Tractor Trailer again.

Weakest Suit – At first it seems like you’re building up to something greater but never quite gets there. The mix is weird; the vocals are too loud over everything, and some instrumental details I’d like to hear are buried. The mood here is a bit flat and the music is progressively more plodding and uninvolving.

WreckdoM – Eat your gruel children! Duke Daud has returned temporarily from California and joined us on this one. That’s why it’s so goddamn incredibly brain desytroyingly insaneness rock tour de force to be WreckonD with.

[SteveHandPuppet]

B. Ellison: This has a certain charm to it. I like the multiple elements such as the vibraphone (or whatever) that wander in and out of the composition. I would have like more stereo panning to separate out the primary elements more, but I'm a sucker for hard panning. Nicely tracked and mixed, for my ears. A nice start to this week's (shuffled) review list.

Rum Dreams: At first I couldn't quite tell if that rattling sound is a shaker or excess string squeak off the steel strings. It could stand to get juiced up a bit in the mix, IMO. Composition drags on a bit, and at the slow lazy pace there's not much hook to keep me interested. Ending feels a tad weak and tacked-on. I guess the whole rest of the song is a long quote, but it probably would have worked better to better emphasize the fact rather than appending "that's what she said" simply for the sake of squeezing the song title in. Not bad overall, just missing a spark.

Jim Tyrrell: I'm just not a fan of the whole recycled blues genre, so its hard for me to get through this. Technically well performed, tracked, mixed, but I'm leaving this particular party before the overgrown ex-frat boys and stripmall queens take to the dancefloor.

Swilington: No no no. No no no. Painful.

Gurdonark: Another aimless synthy thing. No. Thank. You.

Ham No Burger: I believe I've said it before, but HNB vocals have a tendency to over-stretch the vowels out, while simultaneously dropping an octave. At first its only irritating (to me, since I tend to hate "oversung" vocals), but by the end of this song it becomes more comical, and I know that's not what you want. Think of a cow "moooooo"; that's what I keep hearing [except with 'e' instead of 'o' vowels]. I think Jim Breuer used to do "goat boy" (or something like that) where he did a similar effect, except by raising the pitch.

Da Blump: I suppose this is supposed to be a Sublime ripoff or something? Honestly, I find most of the blumpkin stuff to be a bit stilted due to trying to follow somebody else's blueprints. Technically its alright, it just doesn't have its own voice, and it shows.

Buddy Buchanan: Boring drum beat with boring piano tinkles with some guy nattering about something. Eject!

Ex & Intact: See above, but at least it enjoys more dynamics and a better mix. Not my thing.

Steve Durand: See above, and oh wait. Never mind. I don't know if it is the multi-tracking or an aesthetic choice, but I find the instrumental side of this to be missing any kind of edge or bite. I'm admittedly out sync with the genre and looking for a more raw sound. The vocals especially seem to lose a lot from the double-(or multi-)tracking. There's lots going on, but nothing seems to want to take center stage. Live (and recorded) swing/jazz seem to work best by letting the players take their turns as featured players.

Evil E: I find the vocal double-tracking, delays, echos etc. to be a little overdone and gimmicky. I don't know if there are tuning problems or if this is in a strange key that I'm not getting. The only element that sounds particularly well defined is the horn or harmonica or whatnot, which unfortunately I find a bit grating. Everything else sounds a bit fuzzy (too much room noise?).

Tone Butter: Heartfelt Ballad of Yearning and Woe. The vocals suffer simultaneously from lots of popping and too much room noise and lack of presence, which is quite a feat in some strange way. There's nothing of interest musically with the strummy guitar. Lyrically it is pretty weak, lots of obvious and pedestrian rhymes, AAAA rhyming schemes ("I saw a clown, he wore a gown, his hat was brown, he made me frown"), repetitive padding ("she said [blah] she said [blah] she said [blah]..."

Jeff Robertson's 3 Chord etc..: This gets repetitive very fast. The drum machine, of course, is driving me nuts, but presumably this could be programmed for different rhythms during the verse, chorus, etc. to help break the soul-crushing sameness throughout this. The guitar solo doesn't have a lot of melodic interest; my suggestion might be to cut the solo and apply the guitar arpeggios to the verse or chorus (see Buck, Peter). The vocal distortion is fairly horrific; does your microphone say "Realistic(tm)"? perchance?

Sheail: HBoYaW. Not my thing. The fingerpicking is alright, and the guitar and vocal are tracked and mixed well enough. The strings and piano just push this further into snoozeville for me, though.

The Giant Snail: Makes me wish for a giant salt shaker.

HEY DAVE!: This is fun, and some nice poppy songwriting, which is a welcome change. My quibbles are three: First, the thin, buzzy transister distortion on the guitar doesn't work for me. One word: tube overdrive. Second, the 7/8 meter is a catchy, but only once our puny human brains have had a chance to catch up. The song starts so suddenly, with all elements kicking in immediately, that it is somewhat jarring. I think it could use a bit of an intro to establish to rhythm, and then kick in with the rest. Third, the low-mids seem to be absent. I'd go with a second guitar overdub an octive down, or perhaps just EQ the existing guitar into the low-mids (but only if you can thicken it up to actually occupy those frequencies). Overall, though, this is one of my favorites from this batch.

i.p.: Too much of a genre exercise for my tastes, but technically this sticks together nicely. I appreciate the dynamics between the 50's style guitar arpeggios and the more modern crunchy guitar that muscles in during for chorus. Well tracked and mixed.

Carpetburn: Nicely performed instrumentally, and well tracked and mixed. I love dual interweaving guitars, so this is right up my alley. I'm not such a fan of the overbreathy, modern emo vocal stylings. Good dynamics to break the monotony (BEFORE it sets in) 1/3 to 1/2 the way through. Good overall songwriting; it knows exactly when to throw into a new wrinkle or curveball to keep things moving and interesting. I'm trying to decide if this is Martyr of ZippyCarlo or not.

Ross Durand: Good performance, recording and mix. I suspect that it aims for a more mainstream appeal than suits my tastes, particularly in the very sunny singalong chorus. The first verse sounds a little less ironed out compared to the rest, on repeated listens, but the rest seems to have found the song's desired sound and feel.

WreckdoM?: Damn near killed 'em!

The Weakest Suit: Very nice, although the basic rhythm track wears thin fast. The guitars are nicely done, though, and the solos are tidy, functional and carry enough melodic interest to raise this track into my contenders. Considering the number of over-processed and oversung vocals flying around SongFight!, I appreciate the straightforward and honest vocal delivery. I don't know about the other guy singing in the room next door bit. Either you're in or out, eh? I love the "do I listen to your words, your eyes or your frown" line.

Melvin: Normally, I like me my Melvin songs. This one's not bad, but IMO below the Melvin norm. I'm having trouble with the bass and drum, particularly on the intro, which are coming across like a dumbed down version of a Melvin rhythm section. Good guitars and overall mix. I like the overlapping and harmony vocals, but not so much of the "that's what she said" lines. Good songwriting except for those bits, IMO. But below-average Melvin is still a contender.

Tractor Trailer: Too much vocal gesticulating for me. Unless my ears deceive me, this is Wages in yet another SongFight! collabathon supergroup. I think I'm picking up on the "seams" between the layers; the feel across the elements seems to vary, which I guess is a danger with long distance projects. The drums are somewhat clumsy, especially the toms on the chorus. IMO good drums shouldn't stand out so much, and although I'm usually in favor of stretching one's limits and occasionally (or usually) failing, I don't think applies so much to drums, where it is better to play well within ones limits. Of course I can't drum worth a poo, so take that for what it's worth, which is not much. The mix is good, though, and most of the instrumental parts are well recorded.

HEY DAVE!, the Weakest Suit, Melvin and Carpetburn make for a particularly strong top tier this week, with i.p., B. Ellison and Tractor Trailer rounding out the second tier quite nicely.

[adamadamant]

There were so many really good entries this week I thought. I would have entered but I mis-read the deadline but anyway I don't have time/am too lazy to review them all. Props go to B Ellinson for a really lovely warm piece, Ex & Intact for the first Songfight rap I've heard and liked, The Weakest Suit because it's a plain really good song and Gurdonark because I don't know but it tickles me. Anti-props to Buddy Buchanan because it's awful, Hey Dave because of the ridiculous and unnecessary time signature and Wreckdom because it's too rude for me.

[Captain Comfort]

Thank you for your reviews,

I thought it would get more of a roasting because of the low recording standard and first take vocals (first take backing vocals too) done quietly late at night. So thanks again, I hope you like Ottoman.

Cheers
Capt. Comfort
a.k.a. Rum Dreams

[Project-D]

Nothing too horrible, pound for pound a pretty good week I think.

Sheail - Loved that guitar sound, and info on plugins mics etc would make me happy. Nice chord changes that catch you off guard, the string and piano part remind me of a 70s song in a good way. It doesn't clamp on to my ear right off the bat, but it grew on me really fast.

Steve Durand - Nice work on the horns, it's good you play them all, or you'd spend a week scoring it, or maybe you did anyway either way good job. It's really a nice change to hear a straight ahead swing tune. There are probably some nit-picky things I could say, but I won't cause it's catchy and fun and I like it.

Jeff Robertsons etc. I don't think the vocals needed so much processing. I wouldn't have minded hearing the "that's what she sa -eh- hed" rhythmic motif if there was a big catchy chorus payoff, but there wasn't. The mechanical drums really detracted, I know you use what'cha got, but how 'bout some fills or something. Of course if you're like me and record it the day before it's due and mix it that morning then you're forgiven.

Evil E - Liked the hand percussion and trumpet, catchy tune, some nice wordplay. Vocals could have been more up front. The F-bomb and the dirty whores don't quite jive with the bouncy melody. I don't mind an expletive now and then, but it's a little incongruous here.

Swillington - God help me I kind of like this. I have no reason for it, but there you are. Cut out the part between the middle tinkles and the trumpet part at the end and I would've like it better.

Ex & Intact - Holy Crap! A Songfight rapper with skillz. Still it's rap, the lyrical flow is good, the background beats are a little same-o same-o. Anyhoo, word to your mother or some such.

Weakest Suit - I wondered when I posted my "Late to a Funereal" if people would be as interested in my noodling as I was, and they weren't, lesson learned. Kind of chugs along but doesn't get there. Still, it's not horrible or anything.

Giant Snail - Good for you for figuring out how to work the interweb to phone that in.

Melvin - Another good entry by the golden child of Songfight. Not great, but Melvin by the numbers is still better than a lot of entries.

B. Ellison - Another nice change, Beatles-esque if I may. A little muddy in the low end, but 'cello is hard to record. Not much here songwriting-wise.

Ross Durand - A pretty solid slice of pop, is that an effected, harmon muted, trumpet solo? Like the harmony vocals, they're just enough, It's good the first listen, but I think this will grow on me some more.

Rum Dreams - You've already adressed the vocal problems so I won't belabor it. Nicely recorded and played strings, I like the soft, depressed vocals, other than the hiss.

ip - A girl singing! I would like to hear more of that. The dry vocals sound odd with the washy guitar. I almost don't need to hear the words, just the doo-wops, but they're kind of funny in an ironic way. I like it.

Hamnoburger - Another one that doesn't suck. It reminds me of XTC for some reason, I can't understand all the words without concentrating, but that doesn't matter. It kind of meanders from section to section in a good way, maybe that's not the best way to say, it gets to its goal, but it takes its time and it stops to smell the roses.

Gurdonark - I see you have a Rhodes piano sound in your arsenal. My ears don't hate it, but they don't like it either. Next time if you're going to do that make sure I say, "damn, those words are clever".

Tone Butter - You know what would make this better? A pop filter, and mariachi trumpet. Some Enrico Morricone type guitar would make it even better. Go watch "The Good, The Bad, and the Ugly", you'll see what I mean.

Hey Dave - Didn't like the guitar fuzz sound, but everything else was good, I like the bass line, and the hard sound with the poppy vocals.

Da Blump - Nice semi-reggae groove that I liked, I like the way the vocals switched back and forth with the "telephone sound", thank you Misters Fletcher and Munson.

Wreckdom - Sounds like Ween without the pop sensibilities. The lyrics were kind of funny. Everything was sonically mushy and a little bright which made it hard to listen to.

Jim Tyrell - Don't ask me why 12 bar blues songs get slammed, and I - vi - IV - V doo wop songs get a pass. Anyway, it ain't what you do, it's the way that you do it. I like the funk/blues sound you're layin' on us.

Buddy Buchanan - Eh. I can hardly understand a word you're saying. I'm not a big fan of the rappa's but I'm pretty sure they don't say word up anymore. Fo-schizzle.

Carpetburn - It's got some interesting sonic playthings, sounds like some tracks flipped backwards, maybe not but the same effect. The drums are too frantic at the "four seasons" lyric and the "that's what she said" part has got too much going on, it's hard to understand the words. It's got some bright spots though, like the arpeggio guitar.

[furrypedro]

the "that's what she said" part has got too much going on, it's hard to understand the words.

Looks like you pretty much nailed 'em