My Dogs are Barking (Ottoman reviews)

[Billy's Little Trip]

I was thinking that too ... but it could also be on vacation.

You do realize he's not really a potato, right?

If you look up at my original post, I actually said 'it could also be a vacation'.

Party pooper

[NatchDan]

Adam Adamant
Jack nailed it, sorry. It's a nice idea, and catchy, but it just fails in the execution.

AATPS
Too... Swooshy. I like a good swoosh, like any weird musician - but the swoosh level is just a touch too high for me in this one.

Beau McDermott
I actually really like this. The level of distortion on the samples can come down a notch or two, but the music itself is pretty darn solid. I love the breakdown, then the freakout at 2:45. Whether it's a song or not is what's up for debate, I guess, but I can hear this on college radio.

B. Ellison
I like it, in a Simon and Garfunkel type way - namely, I wouldn't buy it, but I would listen to it were it an option. Simple and sweet.

Boiler Room
That panned static is giving me a headache and it doesn't seem to have too terribly much to listen to.

Botolph
Holy production, Batman! This sounds sharp. A nice solid song, too. I'd listen to this. Before my MP3 player died I was compiling a list of SongFight songs to put on it - were it still alive, this would go on it. Potential vote, though I see WSA lurking at the bottom of the list...

Caravan Ray
A protest song of the highest order. I like this a lot. Not much to say on it, but take that as a compliment.

Future Polka
Awesome, simply. It's like Zappa's still alive, and that's something this world needs. Potential vote.

Grapefruit Orgasm
Mmm, clipping. Yeah. What makes Glitch good is listenability aganst the odds. This, alas, is definitely with the odds.

Gurdonark
I like this once it gets into the songier part. It could do without the samples, but the singing's decent and the tune is interesting. Were you known as Awesomus Prime on another website once?

Horse's Mouth
Not bad. With a full band this'd sound pretty good, I think. Sounds like you have a decentish recording setup, so maybe bring a couple more instruments to the party.

Jeffrey Davis
Is that BNL? Oh... Oh wait. The wedding DJ is having trouble with his equipment so he smoooothly goes to another song. Then it all goes a bit sub nerdcore. If you made the backing track for the nerdcorish bit, that's actually good. The vocal performance needs work, though.

Jolly Roger:
That is a fucking riff, no? Most excellent work, sir. Very well produced, too, so I envy you that. Perhaps not a vote contender, but it'd go on my MP3 player. Fucking RIFF.

Latex Heart Attack
I had a hand in this, though I'll keep the level of my involvement shrouded in mystery. Key plus points of it for me: Elastic bass, good guitar riff, cheesy-ass lyrics, semi-insane freakout ending. Also the laughter at aforementioned lyrics.

Melvin
Dear Melvin, now that you are to be famous, will you still bestow upon us delight of musicosity? I do hope so. This one kind of reminds me of early Death Cab, when they still wanted to rock out sometimes. Nobody oohs like you.

Monserratian Secret Police
Great band name, and nice slightly lolloping rhythm. Not terribly fond of the robotalk synth, but the rest is pretty nice.

Puadxe
Sorry, but the recording quality and timing issues make it tough for me to get a feel for this. That said, a week is not a long time for a band to practice a song, and I do give you kudos for that.

Renwick
Too much compression on the guitar - it's too harsh. This is something I learned myself, the hard way. I love the drum sound you've got, though, and the chorus is sweet musically.

Rum Dreams
Nice and easy. Reminds me of a band that floated around England last year, though I do forget their name, which is obviously super useful to you.

Shotpounder
What Jack said. Too noisy to be discernable.

SpOOn
I dunno why it is, but I always find that your songs hurt my ears - something to do with the production. The vocals especially are very high in the mids. Other than that, this is pretty catchy, and kind of Joy Division-ish - only, you know. Fun.

Stateshirt
I've heard your name before, somewhere. FAWM perhaps? Sounds pretty awesome, so far. Vocals are reminiscent of Placebo, but musically more interesting than that. I really like this, actually. Nice guitar work, and sweet beatboxing hiding in the right ear at about a third of the way through. Based on Jack's review I'm gonna brace myself, though... Oh man, I love the way it takes off at 3:00. Breakdown! Sweet. Awesome riff for the outro. Very strong entry, for me.

Steve Durand
Exceptionally strong entry. So charming, and very reminiscent of the motown-ish sound musically. Who is on vocals?

Tonebutter
Nice lead work, although the song as a whole doesn't quite work for me. The drums are entirely panned right, which is really throwing me off.

Weakest Suit
Very well put together, sounds like something REM could have put together - actually, now that it's taking off, Mercury Rev come to mind. Nice arrangement.

White Hat
Well played, well sung. Very folky in a traditional style - like something you might hear Jethro Tull bust out. Nice subtle additions as it goes on, too.

Word + Works Of Saucalito
Not bad at all, though the higher voice is just to the point of being annoying. Very nice use of guitar line static as an instrument.

Worldly Self Assurance
Oh, am I looking forward to this. Back to the doubled vocals, I hear, but I think they work for the style of this so far - it has an almost 60s vibe to it. Some very nice bass work in this song, guys - it goes really well with that guitar that's nicely busy but not overbearing in the right ear. I really love the sound of the feedbacky guitar in the left ear, but it needs to be lower in the mix, I think. A touch too much. I like the whispered vocals tat accompany it, though. All in all a strong effort, guys, though to be honest it doesn't grab me like Late To A Funeral did.

Vote: Most likely Stateshirt, but I'll probably listen again before I do.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand
Exceptionally strong entry. So charming, and very reminiscent of the motown-ish sound musically. Who is on vocals?

That's my 10 year old daughter, Bridget.


Steve

[Billy's Little Trip]

Steve Durand
Exceptionally strong entry. So charming, and very reminiscent of the motown-ish sound musically. Who is on vocals?

That's my 10 year old daughter, Bridget.


Steve

I just heard this one about 10 minutes ago. Bridget is great. You guys make a good team. I hope to hear more like this. Nice bouncy happy song. I love it!

[NatchDan]

I thought she sounded young, but didn't want to suggest so for fear of offending someone who was not so young. xD She has a good voice. Nurture it!

[Reist]

I just listened to the fight, which for once felt like a chore to me. I honestly only enjoyed a few of the songs - very few had anything that interested me. I'll put up reviews in a bit.

[puadxe]

Take everything with a grain of salt, because really, wtf do I know about music?

Adam Adamant: low-fi 80’s sound, like what my dad used to play around me when I was little. The vocals get quite off pitch in a few places. The spastic drumming makes it hard to get into, stopping and starting all the time.

Awkward At The Pornstore: nice and chill at the beginning, really beautiful background humming, but the main voice is just creepy and stands out a lot.

Beau McDermott: so low fi and slow it’s almost painful, repetitive. Nice guitar sound.

B. Ellison: reminded me of simon and garfunkel right away. Nicely recorded, really enjoyed the whole thing.

Boiler Room: uh? Spoken word, with the only instrumentation being a change in pitch of white noise. Just some dude who’s named ottoman, flies airplanes?

Boltoph: great drums. The song is relaxing, fits with the subject. The builds and breaks were really nice. A rhythm to sway my head to, sleepily almost. Enjoyed.

Caravan Ray: nice voice, confident and comfortable. Sad yet vengeful mood for the whole thing. Liked the part where the guitar cut for a second, guitar provides a really flowy rhythm, rushed by the overlapping lyrics, nice mood.

Future Polka: has a really hectic pixie-ish attitude going at the beginning that is just completely washed away when the vocals come in, odd change of mood. It just gets kinda silly once the ottoman is mentioned, then followed by that mad guitar work at the beginning, and then back again. I just don’t like the way the strict bass and drum rhythm fit over those guitar licks (though I really did like them on their own) just didn’t go well with me. Not fond of the vocals.

Grapefruit Orgasm: I actually did listen to the whole thing, it was a trip, like hearing a tv while you wearing a blindfold and someone switches through the stations with a dial. When I heard the intro effects I was thinking it would break into a menomena-fiery furnaces kinda thing, but it didn’t…but I guess that’s what effect this kinda music is supposed to give I suppose. The short burst of a drum beat, and the simple piano chords had me hoping, but each was never developed. Interesting as a one time listen only.

Gurdonark: reminded me of the books. Trippy eerie feel, I can barely decipher the lyrics, but the atmosphere of it keeps me enticed, liked the birds. Enjoyed it.

Horses Mouth: Really basic, didn’t like the oo la las. Seemed uninspired.

Jeffrey Davis: um, first he samples some songs and then breaks into a rap, “put your feet on my ottoman and sucka sucka sucka my balls”

Jolly Rogers: the lyrics are almost stupid-funny, as if they were written as a parody of something like iron-man or something. That part where “I am the ottoman” is repeated many times makes the lyrics seem extremely uninspired. Drums were amazing, as was the guitar. Everything fitted a general style.

Latex Heart Attack: the vocals sound fake, cheesy. Everything seemed so dramatic. Good production and instrumentation though.

Melvins: I almost feel prejudiced at reviewing this due to how good the production is. It’s so squeaky clean it’s ridiculous, like it could be straight of any top 10 indie band chart radio playlist or whatever, marketable

Monster Ratian Secret Police: keeps me entranced. The electronic sound effects go kinda weird with the clean voice and acoustic. Goes on for a while, kinda magnifying the repetitiveness.

puadxe: sloppy drumming, timing off, it’s not my primary instrument :/ I coulda added at least a little solo instrumentation, shoulda edited out the “loose ends” at the beginning and end. I rushed wed night to get it recorded, then got tired.

Renwick: Don’t like how the lyrics mesh with everything, sounds of a different quality or something as everything else, makes it stand out. Everything else sounds really professional though. Nice drums.

Rum Dreams: The piano intro is nice, the low quality piano sounds fit playfully well in there, cool happy mood to it. Small hesitant whispering voices add to that. Nice instrumentation all around. Enjoyed.

Shot Pounder: nice energetic drumming, but not too rich musically. The lyrics go well with the music, but can get irritating. Didn’t really get into it.

Spoon and Tangents: The silliness of the vocals and the style overshadow a lot of the subtle instrumentation. It’s ok, just odd, but you prob. knew that when you made it. But then again, I don’t really know how else something like that could be sung. Fun listen

State Shirt: Reminds me of incubus. Nicely done, mellow and smooth the whole way. Nice drumming. Good quality. Can’t say anything bad.

Steve Durand: really like the lyrics and the feel of it. The novelty of the lyrics is the highlight; you used the title beautifully. It’s a pleasant listen and extremely clever.

Tone Butter: Reminds me of a frank black song, the soloing in particular. I don’t like the chorus very much though, seems kinda forced and awkward. Too standard of a structure for my taste.

Weakest Suit- couldn’t really get into it, the way the vocals waver sounds odd, awkward to listen to.

White Hat: nice style, refreshing. Really enjoyed the guitar, beautiful beautiful. The vocals grew on me after a while. I appreciate how hard some of that must have been to sing. Great effort, unique one of the bunch.

Word and Words of Saucalito: Very cool flowy feel. The high-pitched voice was a funny add on. Gets repetitive towards the end

Worldly Self Assurance: Reminds me of Architecture in Helsinki. Everything is well done, synth sounds are nice too. Very thoughtful and sincere lyrics. Sincere is a good word for this song. A good listen (multiple times)

[Reist]

Jolly Rogers: the lyrics are almost stupid-funny, as if they were written as a parody of something like iron-man or something.

That's actually what I was going for - parody lyrics for a superhero theme song. It's actually 'The Otto Man!'

[Billy's Little Trip]

Roger, you are really getting good at mic'n and recording your kit. Nice and solid. The song rocks.

[A Bootleg]

* = possible vote.

Adamant - Vox up, more treble on 'em, too. Can't hear a word you're saying. The arrangement is otherwise pleasant.

Awkward! At the Porn Store - I like waltzes. Also all those A7demolished chords. Background vocals great. Not too into the lead vox, nor the noise breakdown.

Beau McDermott - Kick Kick Kick Kick. Though cool, the intro goes on just a little too long. The drums sound really good. Humorous vocals, when I can make out what you're singing behind the distortion, not that I'm knocking the distortion- I like it.

*Bellison - Good dobro playing. Don't be afraid, bring it up in the mix a bit. It sounds like there are two forces at work in this song: the simon/garfunkel softfolk is battling it out against a rougher Appalachian verve. The piano serves as the mediator- minimalistic but persuasive. I like.

The Boiler Room - Not a song. Here's the plotline for the movie after which I'm fairly sure you're not named. "A college dropout gets a job as a broker for a suburban investment firm, which puts him on the fast track to success, but the job might not be as legitimate as it sounds."

*Boltoph - Oooh. I like this. A lot. Maybe decompress the drums just a little. Catchy. Good solo. Possible vote, definite download.

Caravan Ray - Good story, though perhaps the last verse could be implied rather than spoken- you know, like most people will be able to draw the parallels themselves and it's a bigger event when the audience reaches the conclusion than when you give it to them. Doubled vocals, eh? I suppose it works in this setting. The vocals sound good in this application, though they accentuate the bareness of the guitar. You might be able to liven it up by spiking the treble on your mixer and putting the mic closer to the strings (at the 12th fret).

Future Polka - Good keys. Rhodes emulation? The vox sound dry, clean, whereas the actual voice is more dirty. Maybe a little more reverb, maybe a little less treble. I don't know. I like, though.

Grapefruit Orgasm - Not a song. Here's what google says when I ask it how a grapefruit tastes: "obsidyan, Jul 07 2006 17:18. to me grapefruit is foul and tastes like bile.. i refuse to eat it.. "

Gurdonark - Bonus points for the use of folk instruments. Then it devolves into metatalk, audobon society CD, cheap indoor Christmas decoration, and hospital PA system. Bring back the dulcimer!

The Horse's Mouth - Reminds me of some chinese music I heard a few weeks ago at a folk fest. They've got these two-stringed guitars.

Jeffrey Davis - Nope.

Jolly Roger - Good drumming. Nice guitar riff. As much as metal's not my thing, this is well done and competent.

The Latex Heart Attack - Nice hook. Synth sounds a little flaccid, but I like its presence. Vox need to be a little less muddy. Vocals attempt, fail at humor.

*Melvin - Great hook! Sounds like early harvey danger, which I like. Good drum track.

The Montserration Secret Police - I like the sound of the guitars, lo-fi yet well done. Synths sound a little flatuent.

Puadxe - Can't hear the vocals, and I feel that those are the key to this song. I like the sound of the drums, maybe a little more bass end is called for, though.

Renwick - I smell skilled production. Actually, I hear it. Lyrics fine, but they don't sound like they fit-- growing on me as the song progresses, though.

Rum Dreams - DO NOT RECORD YOUR ACOUSTIC GUITAR USING A DIRECT LINE IN. Chorus is enjoyable and the harmonies tight. Percussion creative and good.

ShotPoinder - Distortion a bit too distorted. Can't hear the vox save for a few choice expletives.

Spoonn and the Tangents - Nice rhyme, prowl and cowl.

*State Shirt - nicely composed beat. Good hook. Nice complementary bass line and vox and backup vox. I like the chorus too.

*Steve Durand - I'm reminded of an Olsen twins CD that my sisters had when I was a kid. Except this has great lyrics and better horn parts. Kudos to Bridget.

Tone Butter - Lose the electronic drums, recalibrate. There's a way to do this song really well without electronic drums/drum samples.

The Weakest Suit - "decisions are made out of growing up." Otherwise well soung, well played, well mixed.

The White Hat - Vox are the obvious problem in this song. If I could do it again, I'd rewrite the melody, or at least practice it a few times before recording so that it would sound better/more fluid.

Word and Works of Saucalito - Good lo-fi. Nice falsetto as well, and good lyrics. You could have added another couple verses, but the slightly out of tune piano sounded ok on its own as well.

The Worldly Self-Assurance - The song's good on its own, just rhythm guitar, bass, drums, and vox, but the lead guitar adds an entirely new dimension to the song. Well played, well sung, almost a sure vote. I like.

[Captain Comfort]

The White Hat wrote: Rum Dreams - DO NOT RECORD YOUR ACOUSTIC GUITAR USING A DIRECT LINE IN.

Why's that then buddy? Low-fi a no-fi with Mr. hat?
Joking apart tho, I thought it was alright guitar sound wise, maybe I'll put the next one through a pre-amp like I did with the vocals, see what runs and see what sticks.

Captain Out

[A Bootleg]

Why's that then buddy? Low-fi a no-fi with Mr. hat?
Joking apart tho, I thought it was alright guitar sound wise, maybe I'll put the next one through a pre-amp like I did with the vocals, see what runs and see what sticks.

I'm all for lo-fi. I just feel that there's no place for plugging in acoustic guitars in the studio. Bar none, they all end up sounding like plastic. Much preferred that you mic it with whatever you've got. My earlier stuff was all done with a well-placed dell computer mic.

[boltoph]

Last two weeks of job before leaving and starting new job means SF reviews in the morning. Work productivity at an all-time low. SF review productivity boosted by 2 db, two octaves wide, at 200hz (my favorite frequency)

Adam Adamant
I thought this would've been fun with a really fast rap lead vocal. I really felt the vocal was the roughest point of this song, that, and the hectic drumbeat. In a way it could be interesting if the melody had resolved better and the singer worked on the performance a bit more. I liked that funky overdrive guitar tone.

Awkward! At the Porn Store
I find it to be promising at the beginning, some nice major 7th chords and almost a jazzy key change, it's a nice warm feeling with those chords and layered vocals, and a bit of a hook on the electric guitar. Really funky stuff going on towards the end, too. Probably have to shampoo that ottoman after this "performance". Are you sure you're awkward at the porn store? Seems to me you are rather comfortable there. Right at home, one might even say. I know the sound of a porn addict when I hear it!

Beau McDermott
Intro: way too long. At 40 seconds in, I'm still hoping to hear a song. Nice Black Sabbath style guitar chords / changes. Still too long of a 'second intro' once that guitar starts in. Could've saved this with a full band and a serious chorus. How many times can one say "Here comes the ottoman"? Lacks theme, substance, and a rock band.

B. Ellison
A very appropriate backing song to a walk in the rain, in my opinion. Sounds like it's sad but comfortable and happy at the same time. I like the smooth feeling of being sad and comfortable all at once, I can really relate to that, but having a hard time hearing the lyrics and wondering what the song's about. Thinking there's some serious depth there, but not sure.

Boiler Room
Oh shit. Your engine did go out. You're on your own with this one!

Boltoph
Ah, it's me. This is the first song I've recorded in full, in my new attic "music room". Happy to provide details but not gonna force them down your throat...eyes, rather.

Caravan Ray
I always have a bit of respect for learn-ed folk who can write a song that details a story, a non-fiction piece of work that shows intelligence and opinion, wisdom. This does that. I am also impressed with the countermelodies going on. Not often I hear a countermelody that works like this. Also reminds me of an Irish folk song. I watched Gangs of NY recently and I swear this song could've been right at home during any number of scenes in that movie.

Future Polka
Mixes "Eye of the Tiger" with "the Blarney Stone"! The rhythms get a little lost in a couple places. Interesting changes between the vocal and guitar breaks around 1:20. I don't get the theme of the song (a guy named otto? a dog named otto?) I gotta admit I'm not a "dog person". But I like cats. And I like the jam and some of the diverse changes.

Grapefruit Orgasm
Guy, gal: encode the Mp3 higher than 128. It's good for you. Ear-toot-phantasm? Feelings of languish have all but been forgotten. Lost in space. Ottoman? Testing. That's so...question? Cricket speech.

Gurdonark
Something smells fishy, but looks less shiny. Littlenecks + motor oil = Bowel trouble.

Horse's Mouth
A man? You did get me grinning during the "ooh la la la" part. Not sure if the vocal melody really holds up in the verse.

Barenaked Ladies
uh

Jolly Roger
I got the joke to this, thought it was great. Although, you know, I actually seriously like these guitar riffs (not sure if the gtr tone is "thick" enough...but no biggie). The amount of "point" in the kick drum also totally suits the genre but I'd like to hear something to bring the bass guitar to "gel" more with the kick drum. More bass guitar overall, perhaps, maybe an octave boost around 1khz, not sure). Nicely recorded, sounds good, solid drumming. It is catchy in a weird way, sounds like either a war march or something I would imagine while watching pigeons in the park. In a good way, though...I think this is some nice work.

Latex Heart Attack
Some cool guitar and rhythm going on. I like some of this. There's a frequency in the bass instrument that seems to be resonating like crazy and hogging the mix I'd venture to say you might consider dropping some sort of 50-75hz band by a few db / 1-2 octaves on the bass guitar. Really quite effective in the world of Depeche Mode style. Could punch and hit harder if the mix were EQ'd differently.

Melvin
At first I thought that the second chord was mistake, but then as I listened I really start to feel how it fits and I like it. Is it my imagination or is this distorting in the low mids and midrange? Or maybe just tape saturation...I think it's a little much, whatever it is. Aside from that, nice work as always...maintains an interesting originality and still touches on hooks here or there. Felt like it could've been longer, I really liked the lush melodies in the bridge. Did you say "If you wanna fuck me, you can't afford the money?" Did you really say that?!

The M. Secret Police
Did you guys recruit Robocop for your secret police force? You did! I bet he's kicking all these candy ass coppers all over the furniture. Don't quite get the chandelier line...not quite fitting...I'd add "under the light of the chandelier...it's still dark". Or something like that...could use a second vocal take (the human vocal, Robocop nailed it on take one; he always does).

Puadxe
I'm trying I really am crying. Like the walrus...climbing up the Eiffel Tower. Your drummer well, he needs to "hone his craft" as they say. Would it have been so bad to do a few more takes, sit down and refine the vocal a bit? I hear some potential in a chorus around 2:00 in but everything about the recording is so rough that it's hard to see the shine.

Renwick
The guitars sound fantastic. Makes me wanna go home NOW and record a METAL SYMPHONY of all palm muted power chords, "A-frame" barre chords with the fifth on the bottom, yes. I like those. I think the vocal followed the instruments a bit too much, I would've liked to hear the vocal separate on it's own and hit some nice hooks. I love the thickness and spread of the guitars; then again, I am a big fan of "thickness" and "spread" in most contexts.

Rum Dreams
I went to a wedding this past weekend, I drank a few rum and cokes (among other things). I had weird dreams that night, too. This song seems to border on being comical and sensitive, in my opinion. Would have liked it to swing more to the purely comical side of things "spread eagle on the bed, leaning on the ottoman, etc". "The village brothel fades into my mind as I sit in my smoking jacket and fear the world outside"...etc). That's what I was thinking.

ShotPounder
I thought it could have used three times as much distortion on the guitar and half as much distortion on the vocal. I wanna hear what this psycho is saying! The drums and guitar are so tight but the lead vocal is tough to make out. I like where the vocal does a "guitar solo"...almost even sounds like a guitar at parts! This is horrifying in a good way...wanted to hear the vocal a bit more.

Spoon + Tangents
Some cool sonics here, but the lyrics are, well, a bit lacking in substance and form. The repeat of the title word in the chorus is monotonous. Would work nicely at a rave, less nicely as background music while working in the barn.

State Shirt
Really cool ethereal groove (although feels like it was "heavily influenced" by Fascination Street - the Cure). Actually it's like Cure meets a Perfect Circle, i think...really cool change for the chorus. Can't really make out the "ottoman" part (or if the word was used), but it has nice smooth sonics and emotive vibe, and despite low mid-distortion - when the band joins - that piano bridge is fantastic.

Steve Durand
Nice, in a fun way. Great debut by a new young singer. I imagine a different drum line behind this...a little slower...I love the "devon" line...and the "armoir" line. Nice work.

Tone Butter
It's a little buttery how much low frequency is in that guitar, and panning electronic drums to the right...vocal line? Can't quite make out the melody. I like the imagery of "I'm not your footstool...fool". I like the theme but I think it could use a little more anger and doom, rage, torrents of fear-inspiring God-awe: That's what I wanted to hear.

The Weakest Suit
Spades? Birthday? Monkey? Double-breasted? Plaid? I bought a brown striped suit from a nickel and dime store about 10 years ago. The vest had already been formed to a "pot-belly" because its former owner apparently must've liked to squeeze into the suit, all the while drinking a six pack of coors per night. At least. I like where it starts to go with the "i miss you". Some cool emotional, relaxing melodies are nice. The "consumed" line resolves nicely.

The White Hat
This song would fit right in with Caravan Ray's (musically) because it sounds like another Irish folk song (to me, at least, but then again I'm a bit of a kraut-english-type so not very schooled, but when I hear words like "unfettered" and talk of grass on the hill, it inspires me to think of it as Irish folk music). Nicely recorded, good balance of everything and nice sounding guitar, solid story.

Saucalito
I like the feel that this sets up, the dark sort of...blues. Yep it is blues. Wow it would sound fantastic if this just slammed in with a full band and distortion, with an upward-moving vocal melody. I have the idea solid in my head I just can't describe it. This little tune is a great setup for something that would just slam in. Potential, potential. Sauce.

The Worldly Self-Assurance
Reminds me of Ben Folds or the Shins. I like the "where's the time gone". Skip the doubler on the vocals though, I'd say, or just bring the double on for just the chorus. Very light and fluffy, enjoyable in a way, but not really hitting any vocal hooks, except for "where's the time gone", The most memorable thing, I think, is that backwards solo (which is cool sounding, but just not sure if this is the right kind of song for it).

[Billy's Little Trip]

Why's that then buddy? Low-fi a no-fi with Mr. hat?
Joking apart tho, I thought it was alright guitar sound wise, maybe I'll put the next one through a pre-amp like I did with the vocals, see what runs and see what sticks.

I'm all for lo-fi. I just feel that there's no place for plugging in acoustic guitars in the studio. Bar none, they all end up sounding like plastic. Much preferred that you mic it with whatever you've got. My earlier stuff was all done with a well-placed dell computer mic.

I've been playing around with recording my acoustic. Direct recording also depends on the quality of your acoustic/electric I think. On my last entry with acoustic, I did two tracks. I did a direct running through my POD on clean>Fire Box>Cubase, then I mic'd the second track through the same route. Then mixed the two tracks panned around 47 L/R if I remember correctly, then on the final mix I widened just the 2000hz and above. There was also some over all EQing on each track. I thought it sounded pretty good. But tweaking never seems to end.

[EmbersOfAutumn]

Adam Adamant –
Comments: As far as Electronica Rock goes, it wasn’t too bad. It had an unstraying rhythm and contained a variety of sounds.

Pros: Catchy Intro. I thought the stutter beat during the chorus (?) was pulled off alright.

Cons: The Yodel-thing scared me a little. I think the vocals were a little too soft in comparison to the music—in other words, mixing.

Overall: 4 of 10.

Awkward at the Porn Store -
Comments: This was a hard song to review, for the simple fact that I didn’t get to hear it clearly. I do a lot of these reviews at work, so I have the volume at a low setting. Because of the screeches and other effects, I had to turn it down even moreso. I tried to be fair and honest given the circumstances.

Pros: I always give a point for successful piano music. I thought for the first half of the song, the background music was nice.

Cons: PA Speaker Vocals were a little much. Disembodied second-half vocals didn’t help much. Got a bad 50’s sci-fi vibe from the ending, too.

Overall: A for effort, but a 2 of 10 honestly.

Beau McDermott –
Comments: I think someone must have organized a field trip to an air field somewhere, because the PA Speaker effect has shown up in 2 of the first 3 songs.

Pros: Riff at 2:45 was nifty.

Cons: Too many, unfortunately. “Here Comes The Ottoman” was a little repetitive. The distorted guitar sounds a little to grungy to not have accompaniment by other things besides the lightly added drums. For the idea you were going with the song, it definitely should have been at least a minute shorter—it did seem to drag on.

Overall: 2 of 10.

B. Ellison –
Comments: I like it. I like it a lot, and especially with the piano garnishes. It didn’t drag, but still was long and thorough enough to get the idea of a complete song through.

Pros: You had kind of a stutter “One, and-a-two” rhythm on the guitar, which can be hard to integrate, but you pulled it off well. The sound mixing was well done, too, considering I picked up no less than four tracks.

Cons: Not a whole lot, and if there were, it’d be nitpicking (which is something I have a bad habit at anyways, sorry all)

Overall: 9 of 10.

The Boiler Room –
Comments: So, um… is the band name Boiler Room, or did you actually take a tape recorder into a real live boiler room and hit record? Because boiler rooms aren’t really known for great music. Although they are apparently flourishing with colorful language.

Pros: It wasn’t long, thank goodness.

Cons: This obviously wasn’t a submission with any hopes of winning. All I can say is you could have at least hit the demo button on a Casio keyboard at the mall or something.

Overall: 0 of 10.

Boltoph
Comments: This wasn’t too bad. It definitely had its charms. I’m a big fan of the “Start off soft and build it up” style of music.

Pros: The intro was very effective, with the soft guitar lead leaving a nice impression on me. The lead-in to the chorus at 1:57 was well done, especially with the build on the distortion guitar. Drum fills were effective too.

Cons: Nothing that stands out as bad. A few nitpicky things, but I won’t get into them. Good Job.

Overall: 7 of 10.

Caravan Ray
Comments: Kinda soft, had to kinda strain to hear the song.

Pros: I liked the dueling vocals a lot.

Cons: I had a hard time hearing the song, though.

Overall: 4 of 10

Future Polka –
Comments: This had a “[Anti]-Superhero TV Show Theme Song” feel to it, which, unless I was misunderstanding your lyrics, was kind of the feel to it (maybe?) “Ottoman is here.”

Pros: I liked the distortion on the guitars—seemed to fit in nice with the genre. Especially the leads at 1:35 and 2:10. Keyboards were neat, too.

Cons: I just think it was the genre of the song that wasn’t catching me. I don’t think there was anything wrong with the song itself per se, it just wasn’t exactly me. Great for one listen, low on the replay value, ya know?

Overall: 6 of 10.

Grapefruit Orgasm –
Comments: Perhaps you should put out the raging fire that’s a-cracklin’ in the background before recording this. Ok, seriously, what is this? It sounds like an intergalactic channel-surfing.

Pros: Now I know what to expect if ever I were traveling through the universe trying to find a good song.

Cons: No sense of continuity, theme, or logical reason to this whatsoever.

Overall: 0 of 10.

Gurdonark –
Comments: Very repetitive 80’s style keyboards + birds chirping + wind chimes = Odd Nature CD found at Nature Stores. Odd Nature CD + Unintelligible lyrics = Headache.

Pros: The bird chirping was calming…

Cons: Most of it, actually…

Overall: 1 of 10.

The Horse’s Mouth –
Comments:

Pros: I do dig that guitar riff that you start off with and use a few times.

Cons: It’s kinda soft. It also slips into a little bit of redundancy by the end of the song again. The deep voice is rather odd there at the beginning. I also had a hard time picking up what you were saying. (“He’s Al Behd, he’s a bet-wetter, he’s a foosh-man?)

Overall: 3 of 10.

Jeffrey Davis
Comments: Would you care to explain why my Media Player says that this song is actually by Barenaked Ladies, and is called “If I had a million Dollars”? And would you also care to explain what the heck happened to the song half-way through it? And what exactly you were on when you finished the song, Mr. Van Dyke?

Pros: Ah, the Dick Van Dyke Show…. Oh, sorry, got distracted.

Cons: That I actually had to listen to this…

Overall: 0 of 10.

Jolly Roger –
Comments: Ah, some actual rock! Nice tempo change after the verses there, or maybe it was just the drum pattern that made it seem that way. I thought it was a nice change of pace songwise from the past songs on the streamlist.

Pros: I really did like the rock feel to this song. I always like something to get the blood pumping. I thought it was pretty well done.

Cons: The chorus was a little… weird, let’s say.

Overall: 6 of 10.

The Latex Heart Attack –
Comments: The music is very catchy to this song. Parts of the song have some charm to it, while a few others could have been improved upon.

Pros: Nice Intro and lead into first verse.

Cons: Took a little longer than was comfortable to get into the first verse, IMO, at least. The vocals were a little heavy on reverb.

Overall: 7 of 10.

Melvin –
Comments: First of all, congrats on the good news, Melvin! Not to sound biased (although it kinda is), I always look forward to your songs. You didn’t disappoint again.

Pros: Great catchy intro, and well paced, just a few measures. I see you took the comments about the good “oohs” from That’s What She Said and put them to good use. I don’t know what it is about the songs, but your songs are very listenable. Great bridges, too.

Cons: Only one, and it’s just me… The “F” word right there at the beginning. Again, I’m at work when I review these.

Overall: 9 of 10.

The Monserratian Secret Police -
Comments: I… um… I think you’re getting some cell phone interference or something while recording this song. That, or you and Grapefruit Orgasm went on the same interstellar trip.

Pros: The music was pleasant enough, especially the strings.

Cons: Buzz, buzz, crackle, crackle… Buzz, buzz, crackle, crackle, Other continuous bug zapper noises.

Overall: 4 of 10.

paudxe -
Comments: Kinda sounds like the snare drum is the lead singer guys. Cause that’s all I hear.

Pros: A for effort. There was time and practice taken to put this together… just not nearly enough.

Cons: Buy a metronome… seriously… I mean, guys, SERIOUSLY!

Overall: 2 of 10.

Renwick -
Comments: I knew you guys were gonna have some more rock for me. I’ve liked some of your past projects.

Pros: The music was catchy, especially the chorus.

Cons: I don’t know if I had my audio settings wrong, but the guitar was coming quite a bit stronger than the vocals. It was quite a stark contrast, and, honestly, I think it could have been done a little better at the mixing level.

Overall: 5 of 10 (sorry guys).

Rum Dreams -
Comments: Not bad, really. It had my attention at the beginning.

Pros: You picked some good Dig. Keyboard instruments to go with the acoustic/electric guitar feel. It has a feel-good feel.

Cons: The vocals could be a tiny bit refined. They have a can-with-a-string quality to them. The ending isn’t very strong either honestly.

Overall: 5 of 10.

ShotPounder -
Comments: No offense, guys, but whoever mixed the tracks “pounded down a few too many shots” if you get my drift. He went out drinking with the guy who set your mic’s distortion level, too.

Pros: The music is great, and I love the drums.

Cons: I honestly have a splitting headache after listening to this. And it seems like that’s what you were aiming for honestly. Cause if you believed this was music, I’ve got some beginner’s music theory books at home for you.

Overall: 1 of 10.

Spoon+Tangents –
Comments: Well, that was, um… interesting. Honestly, I don’t think ottomans “prowl”. Maybe they do when I’m asleep… Oh… wait. I got it! Instead of “Spider-man”, you did “Ottoman”. I get it, just… no.

Pros: The music had some potential. Shame it was a bit sleep.

Cons: “Ottoman…” Poor vocal effects. I don’t know exactly what would help it, but it just wasn’t working well.

Overall: 2 of 10.

State Shirt –
Comments: Very Oasis-feel to this song. Which is good. Makes me wanna listen to “What’s the Story, Morning Glory?”.

Pros: I liked the intro, and the vocal echo level was not out of hand, like some other projects from this week. The breakdown at 3:00 was nice, also. Was that a steel drum I heard?

Cons: Though the vocal echoes weren’t out of hand, it was slurring a little with the guitar’s reverb. I kinda was slipping into a daze a few minutes in.

Overall: 8 of 10.

Steve Durand -
Comments: Once again with the Big Band-Jazz feel. It worked well last time, too. I think that it’s very, very catchy.

Pros: Everything worked well. It was put together very nicely, and the girl who did the vocals had a nice quality to her voice.

Cons: None that I can think of.

Overall: 9 of 10.

Tone Butter –
Comments: Vocal-wise, it sounds a lot like Tom Petty. At least, that’s what I would say if I could hear the person singing at all…

Pros: Catchy Intro. Nice distortion on the guitar.

Cons: Can’t hear what’s being said…

Overall: 3 of 10.

The Weakest Suit –
Comments: I gotta go get a cigarette lighter, turn the lights (and sprinkler system) off, and wave it back and forth in the air.

Pros: I like the guitar effects, and a proper use of echo on the vocals (for most of the song). The choruses at 2:00 and 3:45 were good.

Cons: You lost it for a minute at 2:30. Everything kinda blurred.

Overall: 7 of 10.

The White Hat -
Comments: I like your voice. It has that acoustic-folk song quality to it. This song has storyteller all over it.

Pros: The music was very nice as a stand-alone acoustic guitar. The bridge of Accordion (Musetta/Melodica?) was proper and added much to the song.

Cons: It may have just been me, but it seemed like there was a place or two where the music stuttered for a brief second. That’s bound to happen to us all, but that’s all I could really find to nitpick about.

Overall: 8 of 10.

The Word and Works of Saucalito -
Comments: It was a little softer than it probably should have been. I think it would have been a little better had everything just been a tad louder, crisper, maybe a little clearer.

Pros: It was alright for the first half, a little quiet is all.

Cons: Please, dear god, do not let that be a man singing falsetto in the background. It also started to lose me at the bridge at 1:10 and kept on walking away from there.

Overall: 3 of 10.

The Worldly Self Assurance –
Comments: I like some of the past songs by you, and I was impressed by this one. I honestly kept thinking you were going to sing “Here Comes The Sun” at the beginning of the chorus.

Pros: Pretty intro. I also liked when the verse started. Also, you were able to hit the high notes well, very talented on the vocals. Interesting guitar play-in at 2:15. The ambience was pretty cool at that point.

Cons: Can’t find any. Good job.

Overall: 9 of 10.

[Mostess]

Caravan Ray did exactly what I wanted to do, but better.

State Shirt is, as always, insanely great. Renwick and Boltoph are also fabulous.

This is a fun fight to listen to. My working theory: harder titles make better fights.

[boltoph]

...harder titles make better fights.

I agree, and I think this one almost seems like an easy title at first, but it's actually a bit of a difficult one, in my opinion.

Thanks very much for all of you who've given my song props. I really appreciate it.

[Saucalito]

Cons: Please, dear god, do not let that be a man singing falsetto in the background

I am really enjoying reading reviews of my funny little song, especially the falsetto things.
I really actually like this song, I mean with a total disregard for recording qualities, the possibly extra long outro , the out of tune piano, the crazy ass sounding falsetto backups (by me as well--heh), macaroni box shaking for percussion, and at the very end, if you listen close, you can hear my 4 year old daughter playing a toy slide whistle, and I was cheering her on. I really had a great time recording this one, and considering it being Monday, and I haven't even written a single thing for the next track, we should probably expect something in the quirky /un-polished/ probably not falsetto/ genre this next week as well.

Im really having a great time doing this-----thanks for the reviews.

[ToneButter]

Tone Butter - Lose the electronic drums, recalibrate. There's a way to do this song really well without electronic drums/drum samples.

Are you saying you don't like electronic drums in general or just for this particular song? I would be interested in hearing what your ideas are.

[museicalrevolt]

Boltoph: this is B. Ellison. thanks for the kindly review. you mentioned trouble understanding the lyrics. I posted them in the lyrics forum if you're interested. Thanks again.

[drë]

i voted for The Duran Family. A bit of tried and true Motown song structure here, but executed great. Plus its a family affair, nice.

Other favorites,
The White Hat - you’re like the wise old owl of songfight. Except you’re probably not that old, nor an owl.

The Worldly Self-Assurance - very good collab. Frisbee/carpetburn vocals complement each other very nice. Damn you Frisbee!!! You’re smooth.

Adam Adamant - your odd take on 80's music is catching on. I like this 10x more than your previous stuff.

Beau McDermott - interesting stuff.. a bit repetitive but done well. Killer riff with just the right distortion.

B. Ellison - beautiful song, just wish i could make out the lyrics a bit more. Post them!! guitar, piano, bass, slide guitar all well done. Another Simon & Garfunkel comparison: is that the bass line from "The Boxer”?

Jolly Roger - Damn dude, your improving your sound allot. Especially in the recording/mixing area.. Heavy stuff, done well. Your voice sounds like Conor from bright eyes, so this sounds like Bright Eyes jamming with Iron Maiden. Interesting how you pull this off, since the key of your natural voice can be considered a bit high to sing along to metal. Metal singers usually sing/growl low or extremely high (like rush?) but not in the middle like you. Props.

[Steve Durand]

i voted for The Duran Family. A bit of tried and true Motown song structure here, but executed great. Plus its a family affair, nice.

Thanks Dre,

I'm glad you liked it.



Steve