The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Do you have control over the chord progression? The melodies? The harmonies? The performance? The rhythm? The timing? The vocal treatment? The mastering?

AI can be part of tools. Heck, I use Logic's AI drummer most of the time, and it does a pretty passable job, but sometimes I have to take over from it too. But from what I've seen of Suno, it's not a thing that lets you have any level of control over the output beyond vague prompting and, apparently, lyrics.

Don't let the tail wag the dog.

It's the final stretch! I am joining the complete reviews club! It's awesome in here, there's a snack bar and massage chairs, y'all should try to get in too

Paco del Stinko: We've got some good classic 50s rock going on here. Maybe shades of Johnny Cash and Dick Dale? Vocals could use a bit of boosting around the mids.

Another Future of Music: This is more AI-generated bullshit that came from the same prompt as "One Future of Music." Sorry to anyone who liked this. There is literally no soul or human creativity involved in this song. Check out suno.ai if you want to trivially make mass-produced pop music, I guess.

Bjam: I could fall asleep to this. Very cozy and I like how understated everything is.

Inflatable Vegetables: I can barely hear the vocals on this, especially the rapped parts, but the instrumentation on it's pretty good. Just needs a lot more attention paid to the mixing.

Thanks for the Frisbee: This makes me think of Neutral Milk Hotel but with synths and a drum machine. The drums are a bit cluttered though.

miscellaneous owl: Right off the bat, great vibe. I love the vocal harmonizing as well. The guitar gets a little overwhelming for the middle third and drowns stuff out too much for my tastes. I guess this song started strong and kind of spiraled into a big mess in the end. Maybe that works for it.

Motley Cyrus: I like the depressed parts of this more than the parades part. Those fakey parade instruments just don't work for me.

R. Meowsquito and the Tiny Ujns: This one's fun and bouncy. Love the catness to this.

Heuristics Inc.: help my brain is being squozen

Carol Cleveland Sings: I love this, it's so pleasant and breezy and makes me think I'm just sitting on the beach watching people go by in the intro, and then when it gets more energetic it's still just like, friendly and lightweight. And then it just kinda, ends? Dang. It's like you have the first half of a song.

Lockheed Symphony: Does that decode to anything in Morse code? I'm not patient enough to figure it out. I like the crunchy aleatoric feel to this. I have no idea how it matches the title. But who cares. I like it.

Add: Yay 6/8! Songs about Presidents! This one's fun to listen to. Also depressing to listen to the lyrics of.

Basket Robbers: Good punk. Could probably use a higher bitrate on the audio encode though, 128kbps just can't contain this much rock

R. Mosquito: A parade, or a funeral procession? It's certainly a unique sound within this fight.

The Pannacotta Army: I like how cheerful and bouncy this is. It's a sunny afternoon in a small town and there's a parade celebrating how these people have strength in numbers and also literal physical strength too, I guess they're bodybuilders or superheroes or something? I'm not sure.

The Dutch Widows: Whisper-singing: great for ASMR and for avoiding needing tonality, awful for comprehensibility. Pleasant enough though.

Hostess Mostess: I want to hug this song and fall to sleep with it

Abjure!: blippty blop, just don't stop. I was waiting for it to turn obligatorily perverted and I was not disappointed.

Caravan Ray: I like how uncomplicated the arrangement is and how it's just a vibe that goes for a while, with contrasts coming from the changes in instrumentation rather than trying to do too much with the chord progressions and such. Vocals sound like they were recorded inside a shoebox though.

Pringle Can: Okay so this one's not very good and it's very sloppy and is entirely too meta, also it's been a long time since GAS has been particularly prevalent in Song Fight! discussions so I don't know what you were going for with this one tbh, at least it's short

heine: I think this song is confused about what parades are. It's a fun listen but then that ending is just like. abrupt. I feel like it needs

The Chebuctones: Housing access is so super important and this is a really good song about that. I feel like this should be the anthem of multiple affordable housing initiatives, as well as people who are against the sweeping of homeless encampments.

Hoblit: oh god those shrill tones in the intro ow ow ow my ears, anyway it's good to hear you back here! I guess I'd missed that you've had a few other semi-recent entries which I'll have to catch up on. Anyway. Love the fusion of funk rock and modern-day minimal indie electro-rock. Something about this is super familiar to me and I can't quite place it. Anyway this is a fun one that brings a smile to my face.

Glenn and Rachael: Pretty well-produced (maybe a bit bass-heavy for my tastes), just the right amount of crunchy dissonance in the harmonies and chord progression. This would be right at home on a light rock station. Definitely needs a better bitrate on the encoding though, so much crunchy artifacting towards the end

Chumpy: I guess there's no more fitting song for this gigantic review process to end on, because this is just like, the epitome of Song Fight! right here. I could also imagine this being sung by Marcus Kellis and still being equally as charming. Right now my cat is being neurotic about how she's sitting in the litter box and can't seem to decide on her optimum shitting posture. That has nothing to do with this song but I feel like I needed to share. Also I'm high. Hi hello. Okay it's over


anyway excuse me while I munch on these free nachos here in the compelte reviews club. i voted for 23 songs, you'll just have to guess which ones they are

fluffy wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 06, 2024 12:17 am

Lockheed Symphony: Does that decode to anything in Morse code? I'm not patient enough to figure it out. I like the crunchy aleatoric feel to this. I have no idea how it matches the title. But who cares. I like it.

It decodes to "A Grand Parade"! Rhythm and MIDI were generated in ChucK.

I tried to tally up who was most present in this fight. I think the winner, unsurprisingly, is Glenn Case?

1st: Glenn Case with 9 songs
2nd: tie between Ken and Mo with 8 each
3rd: Pigfarmer Jr with 6
4th: fluffy with 5 (that includes the AI music ones)

Somebody check my tallies though...

Here is my third set of 25 (!!!) reviews.

King Arthur:
Awesome to have you back in a fight! Nice sound. I like the guitar melody interludes. I really appreciate hearing your perspective in this song, especially amongst all the others in the fight. I like the structure and this flows really well, it feels just right. Nice work!

<3:
It's fun to see the return of <3! This is a real head bopper. I like the beat and the bass, they're repetitive but they have good energy and propel the song and the vocal melodies change things up enough to keep it interesting.

Lockheed Symphony:
I'm too lazy to figure out what the opening Morse Code is. I'll have to read the reviews to see if anybody did that. I like the grindy bass synth sound. I wonder if this was done on a modular synth setup? Or maybe it's procedurally generated? Oh, it's going to be instrumental. I see. Well it's a fine noise music experiment, but I'm looking more for "songs" so...

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost:
Something seems out of tune in the instrument mix, maybe it's the guitar sounds off, against the Omnichord? I'm guessing the Omnichord, being electronic, is probably in tune (hopefully!). Anyway, definite garage rock vibes, I like the live feel although I wish the drums were louder (specifically the kick and snare, but maybe not the cymbals, which it sounds like your drummer is bashing maybe too much?) and the guitar was quieter. Good lyrics in the verses and really good chorus hook. This feels like it started kind of going off the rails in the final "When I die" bit, where the vocals get so loud they distort. I hear in the guitar that maybe it's in tune but there is an open string or something that's ringing out I suspect unintentionally that's adding a sour note into the mix. Make sure to hand mute the strings you don't intend to play in your chords.

Lunkhead:
This is me! I'm so happy I was able to throw something together past-last-minute to be in this with a solo song. The inspiration for this song was that I saw a thread where folks were talking up Adam Schlessinger (of Fountains of Wayne and the many many other things) and sharing videos of songs he'd written or co-written. One of them was "That Thing You Do". For some reason I decided I wanted to do an early 60's pop rock pastiche like that, with the same kind of approach to the harmony and vibe and backup vocals. I felt like also that gave me an out with the lyrics. I could claim any cheesiness and hokiness was artistic license taken to stay true to the genre. I had a lot of fun writing the chord progressions, coming up with melodies, and making the backing vocals.

Madame Breathehard:
This is loud! Interesting mix of sounds in the loop. Oh, is this going to be another instrumental? Not really my cup of tea then.

MC Frontalot w/ Baddd Spellah:
Yeah, the return of MC Frontalot! (And Baddd Spellah!) Funky grooves. The vocals sound a little quiet or maybe just small in the mix. Very hooky chorus, and as usual great flow in the verses. Aw, it's short. Make some more!

McHaggis:
This has a nice live band feel. Everything's working well together. This is another one where I wish I could hear the vocals more clearly. I like the chorus, particularly how you repeat the last line then have a cool transition back to the verse that's not just an abrupt switch. Ooh, neat half time section, I guess that's the bridge, cool to go to the bridge after the second verse, that's unusual and it works. There's a bit after that before the next verse where I wish there were an instrumental lead or solo of some kind. I like the bits where the band plays in time with the rhythm of the vocal melody. Very tasty to end on that major chord.

Melvin:
Melvin returns too! Yes! I think your vocal could have sounded more like it was back in that backing ambient reverbed out pad rather than so up front and in your face, in the intro. So the whole sound would have been consistent in the intro between the voices and the music. Then shift the vocal treatment when the chorus comes in. Ah, cute, it's a tribute to TWSA. Normally meta is a little dubious but I've actually enjoyed folks getting meta this time around. I think the bass synth could be louder, IMO. Some of your consonants are kind of popping out super loudly. This is maybe a bit long for what it is. You could have just stopped at 3:26 with new stuff and looped that bit as an outro and faded out.

mico saudad:
Sweet, glad you made it back for this too! Your vocals could also stand to be a bit clearer and more present in the mix. It's tougher though with softer lower pitched vocals, in my own personal experience. I like the little 5/8 bars you sneak in there occasionally. This is a nice alt-country tune, short and sweet.

miscellaneous owl:
I like the shoegaze vibe. I think the drums could have more/bigger reverb on them too to fit that. Maybe even a little distortion on them. That musical shift in the chorus, feels a little off to me relative to the verse, till it gets to the "Everything you've ruined" part. Like it's a key change that seems maybe a little too dissonant to me or something. I like the extra guitar that comes in for the later "Ghosts go by part". That anchors the music in that part better for me than in the earlier iteration. Overall I enjoyed this one.

Miss Fancy Pants:
Hopefully this won't be offensive but this nails a Ren Faire vibe. The two vocal lines generally line up pretty well pitch wise but some of the long held out stressed notes at the ends of some lines get really off which is a bit difficult to hear.

Moody Vermin:
Definitely moody. I like the palette of instruments. The vocals are fitting the music really well. Once the chorus kicks in I'm getting a real Soundgarden feel and then in the second verse I'm still hearing that. I think the drums could be very Sounddarden-y if there were more cymbal playing. The solo section kind of drags for me. The solo guitar tone could maybe use more high end, it just sounds muted and the whole mix feels a bit dark and muddy because of that. Yeah, also it's too long. Oooooh, I see, that's the end. It would have been cool to have a short solo then go back to a chorus and wrap up that way.

Motley Cyrus:
Is that acoustic guitar recorded direct? Please us a mic! This feels like another song of the same album as the one about being kicked out of your house and being homeless. Nice bombastic "let's have a parade" section which I'm assuming is meant to be sarcastic. Anyway, seems like you've done a good job at what you set out to do.

Mr. B and Mr. C:
That guitar tone is a bit painful. Sounds like a johnny cashpoint song with a different lead singer? These drums remind me of Lichen Throat too. The guitar and lead synth or whatever are very piercing, and the vocals are so monotonous and the background vocal wailing is really challenging. This one's not working for me.

mzmo:
Very nice sounding acoustic and nice reverb on the guitar and vocals. This is giving me 90s acoustic ballad by a hard rock band vibes. Tasty acoustic lead. Very solid, good one!

Nodal Nim:
I like the rhythm of the mandolin. It's cool but it also makes me wish some drums and a band would come in, ha. I think the balance in the mix is flipped, the vocals should be louder than the mandolin, rather than the other way around. Oh, are there two mandolins? Or a guitar in there too? It could be cool if there were some hand percussion, like maybe just claps. Nice one though.

One Future of Music:
More AI barf. Think hwo much bigger a volume of generic pop music major record labels will be able to produce now with these tools! Yay! (???)

Paco del Stinko:
Yay, paco returns! I like the flamenco vibe but I also get surf rock feel, maybe from the drums and bass. It'd be cool to hear a surf guitar line happening at times in the mix. I dig the lyrics. Very tasty acoustic guitar solo. I want to hear you and Mo collab and trade solos! i like the out chords that happen periodically.

The Pannacotta Army:
I always enjoy a staccato quarter note pop feel. Here it makes for a really great change up when the chorus kicks in. Nice extra touches in the second verse, with the arpeggios and the pads. Ooh, the bridge, love it with the horns and the reverbed out "bom", getting Beach Boys vibes now. Nice bringing it down before the solo. I kinda think though the solo, while good, is a little superfluous. I think the song would have been a little tighter if you'd gone back for one more chorus there. And with it ending with the solo, it feels a little anticlimactic not to get one more chorus. But anyway this still gets my VOTE!

Pigfarmer Jr:
Your singing sounds really good in this, and your pitch is really on. I think I'm starting to run out of steam in terms of thinking of things to be able to say. This is well composed and performed and recorded. Good one!

plusdot:
Ooh, and add collab. The verse talking reminds me of David Byrne from "Once In A Lifetime". This one feels like it could have really used stereo guitars throughout rather than only in the bridge. Something just feels a bit off for me about it, like the instruments and vocals aren't all feeling like they are glued together properly mix wise. Like maybe the guitar distortion sounds a little thin in a way that to me doesn't match up with the drum sounds and intense playing. Ultimately I think it's a little too hectic feeling to me, and I think a lot of that is due to the drums, not sure how much is the programming/loops verses the way they're mixed, and some of the weirder effected backing vocal stuff.

Pork Producer Jr:
Wish you'd done one more take of the guitar to fix that flubbed not in the intro when it's ONLY the guitar, haha. But farther in I'm guessing this was recorded played and sung live so that would have meant doing it all over again. Oh well. I like the switch between the moody feel of the verses and the intensity of the chorus. I'm feeling a little burnt out on the guy-and-guitar stuff at this point, through no fault of your own. This is overall just kinda ok.

Pringle Can:
This is really reminding me of something but I cannot figure out what. It's when the vocals come in. I like the urgency in the vocals. Things start to get a little cluttered and chaotic or noisy for me in the middle. Ha, wow, I like the way the vocals up, I enjoyed the unhinged energy there. Oh yeah, I guess this reminds me of Octothorpe, which makes sense. Fun one.

Prob Trull:
I like the sort of 60s rock feel. This sounds like something I would hear in a Wes Anderson movie, or like a lost Kinks song almost (though with less garage sounding production). Pretty cool.

This is SO MANY songs. Whew.

Lunkhead wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 06, 2024 3:36 pm

Pringle Can:
This is really reminding me of something but I cannot figure out what. It's when the vocals come in. I like the urgency in the vocals. Things start to get a little cluttered and chaotic or noisy for me in the middle. Ha, wow, I like the way the vocals up, I enjoyed the unhinged energy there. Oh yeah, I guess this reminds me of Octothorpe, which makes sense. Fun one.

I was going for a combination of Octothorpe and Bo Burnham with this one, so I'm glad that aspect came across! Unfortunately Spud was too busy to do a proper Octothorpe entry so I decided to take it on myself.

I think Glenn’s in 10 for a clean 10% of the fight

Mo is correct. I played a part in 10 songs.

Agony Sauce
Basket Robbers
Def Author
Explino!
Frontalittle Squad
Glenn and Rachael
Glenn Case
Rachael Layne
Shark Tornado
sonofsupercar

Only a clean 10 percent if we stopped at 100 entries, though.

Ah, I forgot Shark Tornado, that's the one I missed.

GlennCase wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 06, 2024 7:15 pm

Only a clean 10 percent if we stopped at 100 entries, though.

According to my calculations, there are 100 entries exactly, no? (According to the jukebox.)

Yep, should be 100.

That means we need 900 more Glenn Case songs.

It took forever and a day, but I finally listened to all of these. Most of them two or three times. And now I’ll share some brief thoughts.

Since the 1000th title has brought in so many alumni, much of what I have to say here will be nostalgic in nature, but I might make a few fleeting mentions to the actual songs. I wouldn’t recommend taking any of it too seriously, though.

Please note that in the roughly one and a half years since I rejoined this message board under this new name, exactly one other person has discovered who I used to be. But it’s likely some of the information I am sharing here might be enough for someone else to connect the dots. If that’s the case, may I kindly ask that you respect my privacy and not say anything publicly about it? (DMs are open though, on here or over on Discord.)

Here we go!

**

Abjure! – I’m totally digging the fact that, by listening to these songs alphabetically, the very first thing we hear is your line “Welcome to the grand parade!” Thank you.

Abominominous – in certain spots, the vocals remind me, just slightly, of Urge Overkill. In other news, I’m pretty sure I still have a comic book you drew, packed away in a box of memorabilia somewhere. So… hi.

Add – speaking of old memorabilia, I might possibly have a copy of the original 3xCD album fight, somewhere around here as well. Very cool to see all three participants showing up for this “grand fucking parade.”

Agony Sauce – not a name I remember, but that voice certainly sounds familiar. A quick search through the forums confirmed that I was right. Maybe I am kind of a dick, I don’t know.

All the Robots – the percussion backing track and the main melody + lead instrumentation are both representative of fairly distinctive styles that in all honestly have no business meshing together this well, but the combination is inexplicably endearing.

Another Future of Music – this particular vocal effect makes my head hurt. I listened to all 1:24 of the song, but I have nothing useful to say, sorry.

Balance Lost – a name I thought I kind of recognized: I see based on the archive that you’ve been around for quite a bit, overlapping my time here very briefly. Enjoyable dream-pop stylings.

Basket Robbers – here’s one I think I remember from somesongs? Not sure about that, but I miss somesongs. I used to spend WAY too much time hanging around there. I would’ve rated this one [good].

Berkeley Social Scene – you people sure are prolific! I especially like the sound of the guitar intro (at the beginning and then when it comes back later). I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to say “you people,” I hope that wasn’t offensive.

bgm – that melody you quoted (from the military march “Entrance of the Gladiators” although more commonly associated with circuses nowadays than with marching or parades) really clashes with the minor-key backing track, as another example of something that really shouldn’t work and somehow it kind of does work.

Bjam – and another person I remember, from a live event you hosted many, many years ago. Hello. The combination of this melody and the muted tone of the guitar slightly make me think of that ukelele version of “Over the Rainbow”; anyway it’s a nice, pretty song you have here.

Brian F – another blast from the past, here’s a name that was involved with some of the earliest fights I was here for. Hi, nice to hear from you again. Love the occasional discordant guitar notes.

Cannonade Streete – it’s like they always say: when life gives you cannons…

Caravan Ray – weird, I had no idea you had been around as long as you have (according to the archives). You’ve had a bunch of catchy and memorable songs over the years; just about every time I wandered back to check in and listen to some stuff, it seems like there was always one of yours in there, but I didn’t remember that you had actually started right around the time of Hot and Bothered…

Carol Cleveland Sings – ah, here’s a name that takes me back, one which I had nearly forgotten somehow. Someone correct me if I’m misremembering: this group shares some or all of its members with the Spinto Band? Who I saw play in a coffeeshop when their tour passed through Pittsburgh way back in the day. Fun times.

The Chebuctones – took a couple listens to catch the whole story/POV here, but once I did, I do appreciate the message.

Chthonic Black – sounds very nearly as dark as the name implies it should. Bonus points for Great Horned Owl calls.

Chumpy – now, admittedly, I have no idea what “chumpy” means, but this song doesn’t sound particularly chumpy at all. Odd.

Chumpy vs Lichen Throat – at the very beginning (and then throughout, way in the background), that tone that sounds like an organ with all the slidey things pushed all the way in, I dig it. Hey wait, these lyrics sound familiar, but I can’t figure out where I might have heard them before…

Cloverdance – remember in the CRIME AID episode of The Office where Michael had put together a mix of Bruce Springsteen songs, none of which were by Bruce Springsteen? I’m picturing him making a follow up Van Morrison collection, and slotting this one right after that “Smoke from a Distant Fire” song.

Cybronica and Estaphonia – for a change of pace, a bit of operetta. Appreciated the melancholy key change and the a capella coda was an especially nice touch.

Dead Ambassadors – I think I liked the sound of the bass more than the guitar. But that’s just me.

Def Author – who is this whacka cracka?

Dr. Spectacular’s Power Circus – a lot of people dislike self-referential songs. I don’t mind so much; furthermore, I do understand and appreciate the compulsion to rock.

The Dutch Widows – remember that Twilight Zone episode where the earth was getting closer to the sun, but then (spoiler alert!) it turned out it was just a dream, but then (double spoiler alert!!) it turned out the earth was really moving away from the sun? I don’t think that is relevant to this song, which appears to be about getting bullied by the cast of the seminal late-90s/early-00s coming of age comedy series Freaks and Geeks.

DuToVa – I know I’ve heard at least one or two of your submissions before and especially liked them. This one, too. Could have fit right in on the Alice in Chains self-titled alongside tracks like “Shame in You,” or maybe on the SAP EP.

Entropic Pincushion – the concept is interesting. While not necessarily an easy listen, it does sound a lot more … uh … intentionally constructed than it could have. Were these sampled bits intentionally sequenced, or were they perhaps pitch-shifted or otherwise effect-ified, to create the semblance of a semi-recognizable chromatic pattern?

Explino! – ah, there’s another blast from the past name. ROCK!

Falcon Artist – simply based on wingspan, I’m guessing Peregrine? Although I suppose a Hobby might also be possible. In any case, very impressive guitar work for a falcon.

Frankie Big Face – Frankie, Frankie, Frankie. I’ve always been a huge fan of about 98% of what you produce. Speaking of the previously-mentioned Album Fight, your version of “Red” was amazing, and I thought your “All the Way to Reno” topped the original. Having said that, on the incredibly rare occasion when you’ve missed the mark and something doesn’t resonate with me, it has spectacularly not resonated with me. Luckily, no need to worry about that happening with this song.

The Frontalittle Squad – after all this time, it’s crazy how many of these voices I recognize. Wait, was that MC Menasor? Anyway, love that it’s a story about going to Song Fight! Live, since at once such event I stood on the same stage as some of you folks. Memories!

Future Boy – hey, speaking of live events, I believe you also had hosted one of those. Nice to see you’re still around. Although after all this time, I would have expected a Chris Elliot-esque “now I’m a Future MAN” declaration. No?

gareth – guitar sounds nice but please speak up!

Giraffes for Wings – I agree, it has been a shit week. Made a little better by imagining an animal that has giraffes for wings. Maybe a buffalo? So you go into the bar and order some buffalo wings, and it turns out each wing is a deep-fried giraffe, tossed in buffalo sauce? Mmmm.

Glenn and Rachael – speaking of somesongs and of cover songs and of Alice in Chains’ SAP, am I remembering correctly that y’all recorded a lovely rendition of “Brother” once upon a time? If so, hello again!

Glenn Case – thirty-five whole songs into this playlist and I’m sitting here wondering if I’m ever going to hear Glenn Case performing on one of these?? And FINALLY, here you are. It was worth the wait.

Glennny – did I detect another Freaks and Geeks reference in here? Is that a coincidence? I don’t know, but I do know that was one funky-sounding bass in that one part with the funky-ass bassline.

heine – apparently a frequent contributor around here, but primarily active during bits when I haven’t been around. Well, cool. Musically this could have appeared on Sesame Street or a similar children’s show, although I don’t remember them talking so much about ripping flesh on there.

The Hell Yeahs – never forget that you all had this name well before that godawful band started using a similar one (just with fewer ‘The’s and spaces and ‘s’es). Or that you all have always been way better.

Henrietta20 – if this is the same person who used to submit as Henrietta (sometimes with or without Hostage)… the story of this song is decidedly different from the one told in “Romantic Cheapskate,” eh?

Heuristics Inc. – here’s someone else I stood upon the same stage as, at some point in history. Glad to see you’re still out there and still doing the dark electro thing.

Hoblit – remember when “IRC” used to be a thing? Man, the internet has changed so much, several times, in the past 20+ years, hasn’t it?? Now I’m reminiscing about how folks would just be hanging around the IRC channel and someone would have an idea and whoever happened to be around at that moment just spontaneously formed a collective to collaborate on that idea. I remember being one of those “whoever happened to be around” on a few occasions, and I think on at least one of those, you were too. Hello, Mr. Hoblit. I’ve got a strange feeling your grand parade might end up somewhere in Mexico. I just don’t know.

Hostess Mostess – hello to another old-timer/long-timer! And another person whom I once shared a stage with and played a few songs with at a live event. At least one of those songs was one of yours, and I can still remember how much fun it was. This one seems to strongly connotate a James Taylor-y style. Well done.

Hot Pink Halo – hi, I don’t know you, but I see that you’ve been pretty active around here for the past few years. A belated welcome to you, I guess. One of the most foundational principles of music is that you can never have too many guitar tracks layered in a song, but I see you’re already familiar with that one, so just keep up the good work!

Inflatable Vegetables – wanted to make sure I got that capitalization correct, since it’s been done several different ways in the archive. Anyway, I like the quasi-heaviness here, but I do have to admit that a haphazard fretboard freakout (like the one that happens here) makes for a far more interesting solo than a well-executed music theory exercise any day of the week.

James Owens – grand parade as a metaphor for the history of Song Fight! and its participants, eh? Cute concept, fun execution. Flames and floods indeed.

Jerkatorium – found myself scoping out Wikipedia to see if there is truly a difference between Geek Rock and Nerd Rock. I learned nothing.

Jim Tyrrell – reigning noob of the month, still, as far as I’m aware? From a writing/arranging perspective I’m getting strong Glen Phillips vibes. Was that an emulated Mellotron flute at one point?

The John Benjamin Band – what a fun, bouncy rhythm underscoring your message. Loving how many people are bringing sociopolitical messaging into this, some subtle, some much less so.

Josh Woodward – Josh, I can remember some of your older stuff from when I used to hang around here more regularly. Just like then, it’s hard to find fault with much of anything here.



*** INTERMISSION! GO EAT SOME ORANGE SLICES AND DRINK SOME GATORADE ***



King Arthur – Art, nice to see you here again or still. I remember you having tons of your own songs, but I also clearly remember you very kindly dressing up some other folks’ material and helping it to find new life. And here I see you’ve put together your own version of the Dewey Cox career retrospective song from the end of the ‘Walk Hard’ movie. Cool.

<3 – I love everything about this one. This is certifiably what the kids refer to as “a bop.”

Lockheed Symphony – SOS! At the Disco – I don’t speak morse code so I can’t comment on your lyrics, but it’s got a danceable beat. Or it would, if I wasn’t so sore from hiking all weekend.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost – I know you people from following you on Bandcamp. Oh and certain ones of you I also know from the time you came to visit and play some music with me at my (old) house. But shhhhhhhh please because of anonymity. I like the dark tones and the British invasion garage rock vibes.

Lunkhead – oh, did someone say British invasion? Except this is more like the Elvis Costello revival era with the Vox organ instead of the Hammond. Still dig it though.

Madame Breathehard – continuing the theme of classic British bands, now we have … traffic?

MC Frontalot w/ Badddspellah – a reunion of the winning collaboration from a fight just over 20 years ago. Once again, nice to see you folks still kicking around, and congratulations Mr. Alot on keeping the nerdcore thing going into your 50s.

McHaggis – honestly surprised how many people took this title in either a minor key or understated folksy direction (or both). I wasn’t expecting 100 different Sousa-style marches or anything, but…

Melvin – another Song Fight! song about a Song Fight! song. You get a pass this time, but this time only.

mico saudad – “indolent dreaming wistfulness” – one more person with whom I’ve shared a stage, what feels like several lifetimes ago. Albeit under a different name. Well I guess we both were.

miscellaneous owl – wow that is quite the (gradual) transition from very simple bass and drums to a billion layers of reverb by the end. Someone once said something about how you can never have too many layers of guitar. Oh yeah, that someone was me. And you can’t.

Miss Fancy Pants – Shakespeare references feel very highbrow, but Sam the eagle would be very proud of having a bit of culture inserted between the standard dick and fart jokes. Is “highbrow” ok to say or does it have problematic connotations? It feels like it could be racist against Neanderthals or something.

Moody Vermin – has anyone coined the phrase “post-grunge-blues-rock” yet?

Motley Cyrus – doesn’t sound particularly Motley or Cyrus. Discuss. Although bits of this certainly seem the most parade-y of pretty much anything I’ve heard yet.

Mr. B and Mr. C – when I saw the name, the first thing that came to mind was Andy Balham and Johnny Cashpoint, but I see that there’s already entries under “Johnny Cashpoint & Andy Balham” in the archive. So I give up.

mzmo – melodically and to some extent vocally, I’m reminded a little bit of Cat Stevens.

Nodal Nim – is this another SongFight!er’s alter ego? The voice sounds very familiar, and I doubt it’s because I probably heard the one entry you submitted under this name 18 years ago. I know a lot of what I’ve been writing here has been tongue-in-cheek, but I’m seriously asking.

One Future of Music – we’ve already had Another Future, so now I guess let’s have another One Future? The vocals here are far less difficult to listen to than on the other Another song.

Paco del Stinko – whenever I have listened to a fight where you’ve contributed a song (which is quite a lot of them), yours always tends to be one of my favorites. Fun fact: one of your songs (from 2006) was the impetus for me re-joining this message board (in 2022).

The Pannacotta Army – you once complained about a review of mine where I drew what you called a rather tenuous connection to another song. But I still voted for yours and you ended up winning. By two votes. So you’re welcome?

Pigfarmer Jr – I was thinking you were one of the OG folks around here, but I looked it up, and I think maybe I had confused your name with Brick Pig. But you have been around a while now, and have participated prolifically, and they usually sound pretty good. The harmonica in this one has a particularly Neil Young tone to it.

plusdot – is this another Jefff pseudonym?

Pork Producer Jr – have you met Pigfarmer Jr? You two might have some things in common to talk about. Your dads might know each other, maybe.

Pringle Can – the end is in sight! (Sorry, I scrolled down the list of entrants to reach this one, and I can finally see the last one.) I don’t think it’s very funny that any number of people – few or otherwise – have died. But otherwise, in a way this reminds me of that time Glenn (pretty sure that’s who it was?) recorded himself singing the whole Song Fight! FAQ. I want to say it was for an AAD.

Prob Trull – is the repeated mention of “big round numbers” a reference to the scramble to pad the list of songs to hit the target of 100? If so, congratulations.

Rachael Layne – seventy-five whole songs into this playlist and I’m sitting here wondering if I’m ever going to hear Rachael Layne performing on one of these?? Sorry, for being so lazy and recycling a joke I already used for Glenn. This is harder than I thought it would be! Anyway, love the sparse arrangement here, I think it serves the song well.

R. Meowsquito and the Tiny Ujns – is Cavalcade of Kittens the reporting assignment they gave Veronica Corningstone in the Anchorman movie? If it was, I suppose she could’ve handled it Super Troopers style just like the lyrics here.

R. Mosquito – Longtime fan of folk metal, but I’m struggling a little bit with the guitar tone here. Wonder if the song could have been more successful sans guitar? I still like it either way.

RoneAI – no thank you.

Ross Durand – what a sad story, especially the part about “throwing candy I can’t catch.”

The Seamus Collective – bonus points for the tuba part.

See-Man-Ski – but I stiilllllllll haven’t fooooouuuuunnnnnnnd what I’m looking for…

Sell Crazy – what if Counting Crows tried to cover R.E.M.’s “Gardening at Night” in the style of an 80s hard rock ballad? Sorry, the well’s really starting to run dry here. Whose idea was it to have all these songs here?

Shark Tornado – according to the SF! Archives, you’ve been using this name since at least 2003. Hope you got some royalties from the Sharknado movie series!

ShoehornTC – here’s another one that’s kind of giving me Elvis Costello vibes.

Sober – non-Irishman? Love the banjo.

Somewhere Off the Left Coast – you know that meme format where it’s like, “girl with a time machine” and she goes to visit her grandmother or whatever? For me, the second half would be “me with a time machine” and I murder the inventor of autotune when they were a baby.

sonofsupercar – big fan of your back catalog, very happy to see you guys reunited for this.

Spy Vs. Pie – I thought the title was supposed to be “A Grand Parade” not “A Grand Pie-rade.”

Stacking Theory – a very promising start, seemed like it was going to turn into something far more epic but then it just ended. If you ever record the rest of this song please let me know. Email me or something. Thanks.

Starfinger – very funky. If memory serves correctly, I did not ever meet you in person, but I did play one of your songs once upon a time in a live setting with someone else, and had a blast doing it.

Sugar Johnson – the guitar work here reminds me a bit of Tracey Chapman, which is kind of cool.

Swampy Nethers – that’s one extremely jingly-sounding tambourine. The guitar is slightly jangly but could have pushed it a little further to maximize the jingle-jangle factor.

T.C.Elliott – are you related to the Cats guy? Probably not, he was pretty famous for poetry and there are an awful lot of near-rhymes happening here. Although honestly, it was a relief when you rhymed “sticks” with “wrist” instead of other choices that could have gone there.

Thanks for the Frisbee – to be perfectly honest with you, the name is familiar but I couldn’t pinpoint anything specific of yours I’ve heard before. No offense meant by it, my brain is pretty broken by this point. I am enjoying these almost-Brian-Wilson-style harmonies.

Tiny Robots – the opening few seconds had me thinking “Eye in the Sky” but then it turned into kind of a chill Fleetwood Mac vibe. No complaints either way.

Vom Vorton – always been a fan of this kind of farty-sounding synth bass.

The Worldly Self-Assurance – seconds turn into days if 60 x 60 x 24 of them tick away; not completely convinced that should be called exponential, but I don’t feel like being pedantic today.

WreckdoM – you folks never fail to deliver something different and interesting, and this time is no exception to that.

Yaks of the Industry – quite a fun way to end this 17-hour (give or take) playlist. Especially the synth solo.

Here is my last set of 25 (!!!) reviews.

This is a lot. I have not really been bothering to spend the time to go back and edit these much between when I write them and when I post them, fyi.

Rachael Layne:
Very pretty music and singing. I think the Mellotron that comes in clashes a little bit with the vocals, maybe panning that off to one side would help with that. But also maybe just a pad playing whole notes would add texture in a similar way but fit in better. Nice harmony in the second refrain. I actually can't tell if that's Glenn or Rachael singing the harmony. I think that harmony could have been panned closer to the lead vocal, and maybe just like 10% off to the side. On headphones it's a little distracting that it's panned so far, it doesn't really blend with the main vocal, it stands apart. Ooh, that bridge, so smooth, so pretty. Production nitpicks aside, really enjoyed the lyrics, this is a good one! VOTE!

R. Meowsquito and the Tiny Ujns:
Kittens! Russian Blues! We have a Russian Blue. This is lots of fun, it's a nice kids song. Well done and very cute.

R. Mosquito:
Ooh yeah, more accordion. Plus electric guitar?! I like this instrumentation a lot. The drums too. Ah here we go, a Tom Waits homage. You're nailing it. Maybe there's just a bit too much reverb on the vocal. Overall this is suitably demented and off kilter sounding.

RoneAI:
More Suno music. Great? It's weird how abruptly this starts. Once again this sounds like a pretty passable facsimile of pop music that I strongly dislike.

Ross Durand:
I'm really suffering serious guytar fatigue at this point, sorry! This is good guytar but oh the fatigue. I think you are overdoing it with th reverb, at least on the vocal. I think this would come across better if it sounded more raw and intimate, like, as if you were in the room with the listener, rather than in a cave or whatever. Hm, was that a flub in the vocal at 2:18 on "So some shh ... how I'm sure"? Doh! Overall though this is competently done but there's not really enough meat for me to feel like it ought to be as along as it is. Could have been 3 minutes.

The Seamus Collective:
I love the wacky instrumentation of this one. The singing is great. I also thought at first this was maybe about Wayne when I first heard it but then I wasn't sure. I love the horns coming in. And the melancholy feeling when the chords shift in the "streamers and banners would fly" part. The horn bridge part is so fun, very Beatles-y sounding to me. Nice to hear more vocals coming in, not sure if it's just Ken or more folks too. Real sweet song, I dig it. VOTE!

See-Man-Ski:
I like the quiet start and slow build. Your singing in this song reminds me of an old time Song Fighter named Balls to Monte. Nice atmosphere created by the instrumentation. I don't love the drums that come in, they feel a little busy and forceful for the vibe of the song for a while. Something more like rolling snare with occasional kick drums might have added more energy but kept the vibe more similar to the first part, then maybe bring in the busier beat later. Slight distraction though, the music and vocals continue to be very good. Oh, it's going to end? In this case I could have stood for one more go around.

Sell Crazy:
I wish the drums were playing along with the bass and guitars more. They are a little too straight and aren't hitting the pickup notes with the bass and guitars as much as they could. Good rocking band vibe though. Your vocals are too loud and the reverb makes them sound like they're not in the same space/room as the band, which for this kind of live band feel is a little distracting to me. I think there are more lyrics here than what you posted in the lyrics thread? I think you could have wrapped this up around 3:48-3:50, the last 30 seconds feels a little crufty. Overall I enjoyed this though.

Shark Tornado:
Nice and rocking. I wish there was a second rhythm guitar panned to the right. The one that's there on the left is a little thin sounding and the mix feels a little off balanced. Sounds awesome though when the chorus kicks in. I don't love the low harmony voice that's just singing one note the whole time. It sucks a little life out of the melody to me. That chorus is really great. I was kinda hoping for a face melting solo after the bridge. Fun song though.

ShoehornTC:
I would have skipped the fake intro. It left me wanting to hear what _that_ song was going to be, haha. I do like the actual song too though. I like the instrumentation a lot. Yeah, this one's pretty good. VOTE!

Sober:
I think your vocals could actually be louder, or maybe fuller? They feel a little thin, maybe over-compressed or something (or the EQ and/or compression are making them sound nasal?). The instrument playing is tops. I think in the first verse the acoustic guitar could be a lot louder. It's very very faint and I feel some space in the mix that it could flesh out. Ah geez, that part, presumably about Blue, really got me. Nice tribute. The vocals in the refrain after that are really nice. This is just great overall, loved it. I hope you get a band together that can play this live! VOTE!

Somewhere Off the Left Coast:
Something about this feels a little like it's not really quite entirely coming together. It's just ok for me. I wish in the second verse if you'd responded to each line with a snippet of the instrument you mentioned in the lyrics. That would have been corny but I would have enjoyed it. I think your "throw a grand parade" hook needs some more meat on it, like, maybe layer multiple tracks of vocals for that?

sonofsupercar:
It's a bit weird and unsettling to hear a posthumous collab like this but it's also really awesome that this came together. Blue sounds so good! And his drumming and the mix on them makes it so this has that authentic sos sound. I like the tempo shift in the chorus. Anyway, cool stuff! VOTE!

Spy Vs. Pie:
"Grandpa raid"?! Nice. This is cute. The different voices could have been blended together a little better but that's kinda beside the point here.

Stacking Theory:
Very cool autotuned synthy vocal intro. Aw man, I would love to hear the fully fleshed out 3 minute version of this idea, this is a really good start of something.

Starfinger:
This is very Starfinger. I like the two little popped bass notes. Very eclectic and chaotic and weird, I liked it. (I'm really running out of steam for insights, sorry!)

Sugar Johnson:
This is well put together. Well composed, played, and sung. It's a little monophonic sounding because of single centered acoustic guitar.

Swampy Nethers:
That's a boomy kick drum! Love to hear you two singing together though. I like the harmony singing better than the unison singing. Might have been fun to hear one of you sing verse one and the other sing verse two. I like the addition of the tambo going into the second chorus. The piano solo is fun, I think it could have been a little louder. Tamar sounds even better in the final choruses.

T.C. Elliott:
I don't know how you crank out songs like this, you and Glenn Case and Jonathan Mann etc. This one's also well put together. Did you just start using some light autotune in your songs recently? I feel like your pitch in your vocals has been the best I've heard in all the songs in this fight. Anyway, this one's another good one.

Thanks for the Frisbee:
It's cool to hear you back! This song is a real journey. I enjoyed it! I think production wise your vocals have a bit too much dynamic range. The "stuck" in "I am STUCK!" is too loud! The vocals are great though other than some mixing issues.

Tiny Robots:
This is me and Erin and Ken! Ken got us started by writing the music very early on. Erin and I jumped in the weekend of the deadline and then collectively we hammered this out, with me and Erin working on the structure and instrumentation, Ken providing keys and synths, Erin vocals and lyrics, and me everything else. I think it's pretty good! Erin's vocals and backing vocals are great, and Ken's keys really drive the song and add nice countermelodies.

Vom Vorton:
Man, I'm really running out of words. I liked this one. Sorry I'm so fried.

The Worldly Self-Assurance:
Glad to hear you lads back. Really beautiful start. Pete could use some more reverb on his vocal. It's so nice when Frisbee's backing up Pete. I kinda think the slide guitar solo is a little too high-gain distortion sounding for the otherwise really pretty mellow band playing under it. The parts after that sound great, very rich. I could stand for the beat to have maybe shifted to a more straight ahead rock beat in those last parts before the double time. Minor nitpicks. VOTE!

WreckdoM:
Glad to hear your back! This is very WreckdoM. I enjoy that.

Yaks of the Industry:
This is so epic and amazing! I pitched in a tiny bit with some structure and arrangement ideas and of course some cheesy 80s electronic tom toms. Great work from JB and Ken and Mo!

Holy crap, I did it! I'm exhausted!!!

OK folks, get your votes in ASAP. This historic fight will be going into the archive sometime soon!

Lunkhead wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 09, 2024 8:20 am

OK folks, get your votes in ASAP. This historic fight will be going into the archive sometime soon!

You should consider keeping it open longer. It’s a lot of songs. Just a suggestion.

Sure although the songs have already been up for two solid weeks, which is several days longer than usual.

here's another set.

heine: nice parade kind of music. Good backing vocals there. Wow quite an ending in the lyrics! Tho i think you sang the words slightly out of order. The bit with repeated steel drums or whatever is great. vote.

The Hell Yeahs: Great vocals although the mix is a little weird. They don’t sit on the mix like they should. That is one strange pronunciation of outrageous. This has me fingertapping so i will vote for it.

Henrietta20: The way the backing vocals sit is weird. I like the lead vocals but they are somehow uncomfortably prominent.

Heuristics Inc.: This is me. In case anyone is wondering, this song is based on the boardgame Kremlin, where the players declare influence on various politicians in Soviet Russia in an attempt to control the politician that is able to wave at the October Parade three times. The song is from the POV of one of those politicians instead of the player though. I have the same issue with this one as almost all of my vocal songs, which is that I am not comfortable singing. As always I would prefer somebody else to sing. I was trying to emulate New Canyons on this one but obviously I cannot sing like that guy. I’m happy with the music though.

Hoblit: I especially like that louder (chorus?) vocal and the peppy guitars. Nice to see you around.

Hostess Mostess: i think this is executed well and sounds good and all but it is not grabbing me, i’m sorry.

Hot Pink Halo: i like the guitars and the verse all about starting. Not as excited about the higher register singing. The ending makes me happy though.

Inflatable Vegetables: yow that is one tortured rendering of the title. I like your rhymes though.

James Owens: i use acid, but my audio interface is a tascam. A meta song about meta songs?

Jerkatorium: oddly the lyrical theme seems similar to your other song but i like the other one better. Your solo is pretty great though.

Jim Tyrrell: the sound of the guitar is really different and good. And i like the piano parts. But the song as a whole is not grabbing me like many of yours do.

The John Benjamin Band: vocals sound good blended like that? Sorry the lyrics aren’t posted. I like it, kinda

Josh Woodward: the chords and backing music are good but i’m not enthused about the vocals. I feel like this could use just a little bit of elevation to make a good radio hit back in the 70s or 80s. that bit at 2:43 is very nice.

King Arthur: nice guitar line between the verses. Very interesting to see how the lyrics changed in recording.

<3: pretty peppy, nice vocal treatment on this one.

Lockheed Symphony: i guess that’s the title in morse. The middle part is pretty cool. I like the fact that you are doing something so different.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost: genealogy for the win!! I have often thought of working ancestors’ stories into lyrics but have never done it. Kudos for that. Digging the guitar and ?organ accompaniment. vote.

Lunkhead: those vocals sound great. Poppy. Happened to see what you were going for and i think you hit it. Vote. the backing vox work especially well.

Lunkhead wrote: ↑

Tue Apr 09, 2024 6:51 pm

Sure although the songs have already been up for two solid weeks, which is several days longer than usual.

i traveled to try to see the eclipse so i missed out on a couple days of reviews. do you think you could give us a little warning before collating the votes? i'm hoping to get done but i have 40+ left to go...

When I posted this:

OK folks, get your votes in ASAP. This historic fight will be going into the archive sometime soon!

... that _was_ me giving a little warning!

so you're saying i should stop reviewing and vote for the songs i have been able to listen to? ignoring the ones i haven't been able to get to yet?

I am saying that I am going to update the site sometime soon. That is what works for me in terms of fitting this volunteer work into my life and my schedule. Starting tomorrow afternoon I'll be busy for a couple days and I don't really want to wait till Friday evening to update the site. Take that information and figure out what you want to do accordingly. FYI there is no deadline for writing reviews, you can post them after the results go up. It's possible to figure out your votes before you write all your reviews.