The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Jefff wrote:

roymond wrote:The judges also have to satisfy the contestants' suspicions that robots write reviews applying arbitrary personal definitions and poor taste.

Clearly the words of someone taking things in stride. I'll have a better response later when I'm not so drunk on wine. (Seriously guys, I may have a problem.)

No, must be with wine!

Hey, I finally got back into my ftp space.

There was some transatlantic dysfunction. Here's a mix more like what I would have done.

http://jim.bitsurge.net/songfight/adama ... loomix.mp3

It's not perfect either, but...not only is my entire verse intact, the rhymes even line up with the beat properly!

roymond wrote:

Jefff wrote:

roymond wrote:The judges also have to satisfy the contestants' suspicions that robots write reviews applying arbitrary personal definitions and poor taste.

Clearly the words of someone taking things in stride. I'll have a better response later when I'm not so drunk on wine. (Seriously guys, I may have a problem.)

No, must be with wine!

Another classic of the "taking it in stride" genre. Fine. I won't elaborate on my point. Good night, Song Fight.

Back to the funny part of this thread. Conch music!



Seriously, Franck Nicolas plays the "Strombphone," a Caribbean conch shell fitted with an embouchure.

nyjm wrote:Back to the funny part of this thread. Conch music!



Seriously, Franck Nicolas plays the "Strombphone," a Caribbean conch shell fitted with an embouchure.

I have a sudden urge to sharpen several sticks at both ends

Soothing. Conch is the cure for Internet uptightness.

I'm really digging on the piano actually. Yes. Soothing is a good word for it. The word conch is not going to stop being funny though. Not ever.

Caravan Ray wrote:

Alvis wrote:

Caravan Ray wrote: 3. Chris Coggott: The judges hate pre-song skits. But this is pretty cool. Sounds very Matthew Sweet. Great lyrics. Is this CC doing BYD lyrics? It is a good combo.

On the nose, sir. Chris was very indulgent in letting us put words in his mouth, and Tom made an appearance as "the doctor" to make extra sure all qualifications were met. Chris, of course, did all the genius stuff.

Tom and I like this combo as well. Hope we get a chance for more, and we were glad for the chance to haunt you all for one more round. Also very glad Chris made it through, he deserves it...

Once all this nonsense is over - a Boffo Yux Caravan may be fun too.

Hey! What's this all about? One song and I'm outta the band already? WTF?! Why can't we all just have some kind of fun song writing lovefest......but without all that love stuff. So a songwriting fest is probably what I meant. Yup. That's it.

Chris Cogott wrote:
Hey! What's this all about? One song and I'm outta the band already? WTF?! Why can't we all just have some kind of fun song writing lovefest......but without all that love stuff. So a songwriting fest is probably what I meant. Yup. That's it.

Outta the band? Dude, you ARE the band. And don't worry, no one gets rid of us without a restraining order.

And yeah, let's not think of it as a "lovefest". I just showered and don't want get all sticky again...

Alvis wrote:

Chris Cogott wrote:
Hey! What's this all about? One song and I'm outta the band already? WTF?! Why can't we all just have some kind of fun song writing lovefest......but without all that love stuff. So a songwriting fest is probably what I meant. Yup. That's it.

Outta the band? Dude, you ARE the band. And don't worry, no one gets rid of us without a restraining order.

And yeah, let's not think of it as a "lovefest". I just showered and don't want get all sticky again...

Yeah, Chris - you're stuck with us. Instead of 'Lovefest', it's more like a barnacle. It's nice and tight, but almost impossible to get rid of without using your hands in ways you'd rather avoid...

We're talking about semen and anuses, right?

Do we ever talk about anything else?

Had a few too many drinks to start my round four entry (it's going to end up being a pretty rushed thing it looks like since I've been procrastinating on starting it.) So I'll finally do my round three reviews. I've listened to the songs before but I'll listen again for these reviews.

In Backwards Alphabetical Order:

The Worldly Self Assurance --- I like the style of this song quite a bit. This is my cup of tea. It sounds good. The production is good. I think the vocals fit the style well. Everything is well played. On the bad side, it doesn't make much of an impression. Maybe it's something that sneaks up on you on multiple listens. I think one of the bad things about this kind of contest is you are getting judged on initial reactions, or... maybe in some ways that's the good thing about it. Because really when you are first trying to get someone's attention, that's how it goes.

Wreckdom --- This probably sounds strange coming from a guy who uses a weird ass vocal effect but I'm not real big on humor in music. I like weird, but usually find something that is trying to be funny as a bit off putting. For example; I'm a pretty big Frank Zappa fan, but I don't have much patience for his "funny" tracks ... of course those are the ones that helped him reach a mass audience. So ... what do I know? Oh wait... what do I think of this song? Well, I guess not much which is why I went off on this rant. The wah guitar is pretty cool but I'm not sure what I'm listening for after that.

Ross Durand --- I dig the jazzy horns. This has an interesting feel. Instrumentally I'm quite into it and the vocal performance is good but the melody doesn't seem very strong, maybe the vocals are mixed too low to really give the listener a chance to get a hold of the melody & lyrics? The wah guitar leads are cool.

Oystercatcher --- Vaguely reminds me of something from M. Ward (not sure what...) I kind of like it (the old timey sound in particular.)

Merisan --- Your songs are always very pleasant and this is no exception. Everything is well done. I think in cases like this is really comes down to a tea test. And right now I'm not really sure where I come down on that question... I do definitely like the lead guitar. This is good.

Manhattan Glutton --- I don't have much of an idea of what your style is, each week you seem to do something entirely different (this may not be the case, but it's how it seems right now... thinking back to that dub step break track and the 90s alternarock one... which this is more similar too I guess.) My guess is that you are very influenced by 90s alternative rock. This isn't an era that I look back on all that fondly that I rarely listen to so... I guess what I'm saying is - you're really good and it's impressive you do all of these different styles so well. On the other hand: I feel like to really get people's attention you have to come at them with something that is uniquely your style. (although certainly sometimes there's a desire for a return to... whatever... ... maybe it's whatever some group of people are nostalgic for? maybe it's younger people nostalgic for something they never experienced first hand.) What the hell am I rambling about, and what does it have to do with anything? Not sure.

Jon Eric --- The mastering seems a bit quiet (quieter than the other tracks...) Maybe people aren't too lazy to turn up the volume (I just turned it up and it sounds fine...) but I wonder. The loudness wars are no good, but you can do a bit of quick limiting to get the volume up a bit if you're gentle with it ... I think the Sonnox Oxford Limiter plugin is pretty decent. (I like the "gentle safe" preset for quick things like this...) The piano playing is good. I'm not sure about the spoken bit... I think my favorite bit is at about two minutes in: "you don't ever want to be the one who sees the light first..." those first two lines are nice.

Gooey Caramel Center --- Pretty groovy feeling, it sounds like a good time. The singing isn't perfect but considering the style it kind of fits.

GJ and the Chiefs --- I dig the ramshackle feel to this one... the problem for me is some of the sections are a bit obnoxious... but some of it is pretty nice. I know, I should say which are which I guess. Damn it, maybe that's the problem, hard to keep up with all of the drastic changes. Maybe I smoked the wrong stash but I really don't know what the hell I'm listening to by the end. Shit got real weird. I have to give you some credit for freaking things out real nice there. It was an interesting trip, but I can't really say where I went. ... ... as far as the Rabid Garfunkel intro: is that how you are supposed pronounce Nur Ein? I've been pronouncing it (to myself) totally differently.

Frankie Big Face --- This one reminds me of Guided By Voices. Catchy tune with a garage band sound (although the vocals are pretty clean on top.)

DJ Ranger Den --- Nice atmospherics. Nice vocal. Has a bit of a 90s feel to it. At its best it makes me imagine some alternate universe where Gwen Stafani fronts The Bends era Radiohead.

Chris Cogott --- I'm not a fan of the intro skit but the song itself is pretty cool in a cute kind of way. It sounds like it could be the theme song for some sort of twisted movie/tv show. Big fan of the backing vocals. The ending is really cool. Damn good singing. Everything is played well and the production is pretty professional sounding (maybe the most pro sounding of the fight, but ... I'd have to listen through again a few times to say that for sure.)

The Chocolate Chips --- Listened to this on a different system today and I really noticed how drenched the vocals are with delay (short delay with lots of feedback) (especially at the start) ... I think I went overboard with that. I still really like the chorus a lot and I dig the tripped out feel I got on the second half of the verse. And I think Sausage did a great job with the guitar solo at the end. Thank You Sausage.

ADD --- Reminds me of The Fresh Prince of Bel Air (but maybe because I just saw Will Smith do this on a Brit chat show... if you're curious -> http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hFjwbKMlmF4 )

Adam Adamant --- I dig it. It's very roughly put together but that kind of fits the style --- it reminds me of some stuff from The Lone Pigeon that I really liked. ... and The Beta Band too. But in particular it reminds me off stuff from Lone Pigeon's 2002 album Concubine Rice.

~~~

My favorites? Not sure... I enjoyed the Adam Adamant track which is interesting because I hadn't really liked his previous tracks that much (which did much better with the judges) ... The Frankie Big Face song was good and I thought the DJ Ranger Den song was pretty impressive. Chris Cogott's was really well done. ... but right now which song am I wanting to play again to try to figure out what it's all about? I think the GJ & the Chiefs track. I'm not sure exactly wtf I listened to last time... so I have to hear it again.

chocolatechips wrote:I guess what I'm saying is - you're really good and it's impressive you do all of these different styles so well. On the other hand: I feel like to really get people's attention you have to come at them with something that is uniquely your style

Thanks. Duly noted. I get bored easily. Also, being that it's a contest, I'm not too concerned about having a consistent style. Some rounds I'll be like "I wanna try out X" or "ugh, I just want to make it to the next round - I'll revert to Y". It's not so much a conscious genre effort as it is practicing, expanding my horizons, and... staying in the game. If you take a look at my recent SF history, you'll get a more cohesive picture of my artistic vision, which you won't be fond of because I suppose it is rooted in 90s alternative. If I were to give a non-artist any song from this Nur Ein, it would be my round 2 entry, because I feel like that's the one that's most me right now.

/narcissistic wanking