We Were Not Meant to Be (a Review Thread)

[MintyHandy]

IM IN YER THRED JUDGIN YER TALENTZ

With this many songs, I can't spend as much time as usual looking for positive things to say about mediocre stuff, so I apologize if I seem brief or harsh.

Oversized Band Name denotes my favorites.

---

The Air Kick Pigeon Band
I can't think of a better way to kick this off than with a hammer-on-the-head take on the optional challenge. This sounds like the music that runs through my head 99% of the time, and -- dare I say this? -- the beat and little fife-y doodle are really compelling. Sort of 40 Second Songs meets Thank Glenny For The Frisbee. More fun than a second round of tail-touch.

Nathaniel Tann
Another racoon-specific one, excellent! You write a good melody; this is more melodic than your voice can handle, in fact. I would have loved to hear a powerful female vocal here. Only trouble with this is it gets old fast; after the first chorus, it needs to heighten, but instead it sighs and gets back to the same thing. A bit long as well.

Soundscape Rebellion
Why can't I get Sonny and Cher out of my head? That, or The White Stripes if he couldn't play or sing very well and she insisted on singing. And yet, and yet...there's an Animotion quality in your voices that I can't help but feel affection for, and structurally it's interesting. With 80's style synth and drums, this could have been kickin'. Some good lyrics in here, too, in an 80s sense. Looking forward to your next submission.

Eugene Manitoba
Wait, did I submit this? UKULELE URSURPER! Seriously, it's like going back in time, when I submitted ukulele/egg shaker songs. Oh wait, I still do that. But you have cowbell, and so you win. What you need is a hook; as is, this is a bit thin and empty. Cute, though, and I'll happily pass the ukulele mantle to you if you can bring the hook next time. A bit long, by the way. And how many people are in your band singing, like, seven?

Cake Loaf
Hmm! Strange, interesting, compelling, yet disjointed, with unstable tempos (not talking about changes, but between 'em) and no lyrics to speak of. Oh wait, here they are. Big ups for interesting construction; big downs for distorted whispering into the mic and jackhammer drum moment. Overall? Somewhere in the middle as art, somewhere near the bottom as a song. I respect it, but I don't enjoy it.

Sixthline and BCB
My first thought was "this is a Murray Head outtake from Chess", not really sure why. I liked the build, I like the over-laden drums, I like the harmonies, I like the lyrics, I like the synths. So why don't I like this more than I do? Actually, by the middle section, I like it a *lot* more. This is actually quite good, and a potential vote for me. Could have done without the instrumental break near the end, though; really isn't necessary, and made me want to bail before the end.

Chirp
Pleasant if sleepy voice; sparse yet compelling arrangement; clever lyrics; you've got everything I need to be happy, except a hook in the chorus, and a heightened arrangement on the second verse (if your third verse was your second, and you went further with the third, it would have been enough and I wouldn't be complaining about the lack of hook.) The first verse up to the chorus is perfect. Well done, well done. I like your name, too. Bridge lyrics feel a bit trite and forced, which is a shame since the rest of your lyrics are terrific (and don't hit the raccoon thing too hard, which the bridge does.)

Kabuto
Strong beats. Beavis and Butthead opening voice. REALLY strong beats, in fact, and your lyrics are surprisingly good -- but too damn meta. Man, if you had put your talent to delivering real lyrics instead of this -- especially with your chorus, which is perfect -- this would have been awesome. As is, it gets old fast. Damn shame, people throwing away a perfectly good white rapper song like that. But with that beat, I'll listen again, A+++.

King Arthur
I like you, and I like your stuff, but I'm just not in the mood for political stuff this evening, so I can't say I like this -- but I can say you took a much more interesting and clever take on the title than everyone else I've listened to so for, so props. "We have become something that we/were not meant to be" is painfully obvious in retrospect; why didn't the rest of us think of it? Perfect length, by the way.

MC Paul Denyer
Like the beats, like the lyrics -- okay, love the lyrics. Wish Nerdcore rappers could write like this, wish I could hear your voice better in the mix. Overstays its welcome, though, because the beat doesn't vary enough (the noodling guitar, specifically) and eventually your lyrics peter out. Too bad. Needs a chorus, too. The bass is perfect, though.

Regular Gonzalez
Can I kick this off by saying you're much better than Unleaded Gonzalez? I can't get it out of my head that this is Ross Durand trying to rap. Nevertheless, I like the lyrics a lot; much like King Arthur's entry, I'm not in the mood for this musically, but lyrically I'm 100% with you to the end.

Ham No Burger
If Guns 'n Roses had a lead keyboard player instead of guitarist, and their singer was a baritone instead of a tenor, they'd have sounded like this. I like the sweeping vista arrangement, but the keyboard fights with it and it ends up making the whole thing sound a bit cheesy. Nice melody and well arranged otherwise, however, and I like the restraint shown on the drums/bass. With a stronger vocal and a better guitar solo, but also a swap of keyboard for guitar, this would be really solid. Not bad at all. Well done. I could actually vote for this.

The Thing You Do To A Bank
Your name is awesome. Your song is not; it's very slow and ponderous. You're neither singing nor rapping, and need to make up your mind, then create a backing track to match. Lyrically it's a bit trite but well-constructed, and that bodes well for your future entries. Ouch, tune your guitar! It burns, it burns!

Zender
Wait, *next* week is the dance challenge, right? Oh, Nerdcore again. With so many to choose from, anyone using the lyric "facade" is immediately disqualified -- and yes, I know I left off the cedille, I'm just too lazy to cut 'n paste it. Ender.

Minty Handy (me 'n my wife)
Wrote half the day the title came out, the other half the morning it was due, roped my wife into singing and playing the piano for that extra-special broadway flair, and even though it's a half-assed recording I'm really happy with the song itself; was going for a Meat Loaf-style number, but no Meat Loaf vocalist am I. Nevertheless, don't I sound purty after the first line? Of course, my wife's voice kicks my voice's ass. The descent into crushing the town needed to be a lot slower and longer, but deadlines are deadlines and I had to get to work. Also, "I'm trapped in a rotisserie" was supposed to be "I'm strapped to a rotisserie", but it was the better of two takes, so what can you do? Suck less next time, that's what.

Andre was here at midnight
Half of me loves this; half of me has no patience for it. It feels like an outtake rather than a constructed song, and the poorly-coordinated instruments ARE KILLING ME SLOWLY -- NO, QUICKLY. Sorry. I like the "babadababa" part, though.

Wes Davis
This...is...awesome. You get my vote. This is perfect. It's going to take a great song to knock you off the top. Fan-fucking-tastic. Is this catchy as fuck-all? Uh huh. Do I wish there were drums? From the second verse onward, yes. Do I wish I had written this? Oh yeah. I get a huge Donovan vibe from your vocal, by the way, but without all the self-indulgent hippy crap. This song was meant to be the winner, I think. All of you who can't write a hook, listen to this over and over and over until you understand. Simple yet unpredictable, tightly constructed and now stuck in my head, you bastard.

Renwick
Sorry, Renwick; it's well-arranged and well-performed, but after Wes Davis' entry, it just feels like too much work for not enough results. If this were more up-tempo and enthusiastic, it would be much better -- as is, too sleepy to hold my interest for long. Then again, you're suffering for following Wes, and were it not for that I'd probably be praising your melodic guitar hook and warm, comforting arrangement. Oh, wait, I'm still praising those things. So it's not a total loss. You know what? By the end of this, you won me over with the consistency and your tasteful guitar.

Set Fire
I appreciate the attempt at harmony, but as executed it leaves a lot to be desired; voices need to blend, but yours battle. Overall, too thin and immature for me to get behind it; still, as garage band stuff goes, not bad at all, and I bet you'd do well playing out and on MySpace (if you don't already.) OTHER ANGRY ROBOT SAYS ROBOT VOCAL MUST DIE.

Doorite
Sorry, it's late and I'm through with Nerdcore tonight. I will say this to help you improve, though; not enough beatiebeat, too much proximity-effect in the vocal.

Doctor Nocturne
This is somewhat compelling, but it seems too focused on being an interesting arrangement, and not enough on being a song. If you played this song on an acoustic instrument, would it be any good? I personally don't think so. Fun arrangement, though, and your bridge (unlike the rest of the song) is great, vocally.

brody
Sweet little song, well played and well sung. If I could offer you advice, it would be this: as a sixth or seventh track on an album this might be an acceptable laid back track, but as a single it's just plain boring. Which is a shame, because you have a lot of talent, and I desperately want to hear you play something with more energy.

MC Eric B
Congrats again on the imminent arrival of your little one. As a father, I can tell you that s/he will like ketchup AND mustard. The sound of your voice makes me less insane every time; is it me or are you becoming less nerdy and more of a grizzy old man? Fascinating. Circus backing track fits the vocal well, actually. I didn't think I'd like this, but all I need to do is forget your Nerdcore roots and visualize a carny singing to his sweety, and suddenly this is *awesome*. Sadly, you make an iPod reference and start returning to your normal nerdy voice in the second half, and it falls apart again. Still, for the first half -- this is one of my favorites. Holy fuck, that casio ending made me laugh out loud, like suddenly I was in a Roman epic.

You know, if you find yourself with some waiting-around time, listen to some Tom Waits records (anything after Bone Machine) -- I have this sneaky suspicion there's an uber-techno-Waits inside of you somewhere, and you just need to find your voice.

Or I'm sleepy.

Or smoking crack.

Time will tell.

Don't Reply Tha MC
A long long time ago in a galaxy far far away, there was a panned synth note; then pre-recorded scratching noises heralded boring, painful rap. "'Cuz I won't turn to snow"? Really? That's the best rhyme you could have put there? Sorry, baby, Don't Reply -- we'll call you.

dB Collective
Hey, who let the professional in? Sounds great, production-wise and vocally. I hate the blues, so I'm biased against this song from the outset, but I can't argue with what is obviously two pounds of talent in a one-pound bag. Sadly, like most "slick" blues songs, there's no pathos or pain -- and so we're left with a boring, slightly-meta same-as-the-rest blues numbers. Oh well.

Luke Henley feat. Andrew Ryder
The lyrics are poetically overwrought, the melody is boring, and there's nothing compelling about the performance. Sorry, this one's a miss -- but you've done great stuff before, so I'll just pretend this never happened.

The Weakest Suit
Kind of boring, kind of structureless. I think in a group of 40+ songs -- and, yes, TWS, you're suffering for being in the 2nd half of my review group -- you need to be a standout, either by being vasty different or being engaging. This is neither, and so I move on. Hell, this is actually making me start to fall asleep.

Measle
Please don't be Nerdcore. Please don't be Nerdcore. Plese don't be...DAMMIT.

Please don't be bad Nerdcore. Please don't be bad Nerdcore. Please don't be...DAMMIT.

Please be over. Please be over. Please be...whew.

Eddie Lance
Beautiful piano, simply lovely. It in no way, shape or form evokes an emotion in me that I can even remotely tie into the phrase "We Are Not Meant To Be." Moving on.

Mailbox
Very slow, too relaxed, needs more gumption. Credibly performed, however, and that's half the battle. I should probably like this more than I do, but I don't, because of the pacing -- you don't have the drama, vocally, to pull this song off. However, I can hear this with a stronger vocalist and it would probably be awesome, and it certainly gets better once things pick up. If you had started this from the middle, I would have considered it a contender, and the second half is really, really terrific (except for the vocal, as mentioned -- and it's not that your vocal is BAD, it's not, you have a great voice; it's just not dramatic.)

Melvin
There we go, energetic right off the bat, short intro, yet unpredictable melody on the lead lyric; that's what I'm talking about. You've written a pretty great song here, actually; shame it's way, way out of your range in spots. Perhaps a different key would have been better? Nice work overall, and you're nipping at Wes Davis' heels -- but not quite enough to take the title. Why? His is hookier -- arguably it's ALL hook -- and yours is competing for mindspace with tons of similar-sounding sounds out there in the world, while Wes' song is surprising and unique. Having said all that, this is still a really, really good song. Great stuff.

Adam Adamant
This beat is terrible; this song is terrible; this is just...ugh. Sorry, can't get behind this at all. It's like you were trying to piss me off. This is so bad, I'm not even going to bold your band name; in fact, I made it tiny. Take THAT.

Donovan Tann
Speaking of Donovan (in Wes Davis' review), here you are. Okay, I was speaking of a different Donovan, but you have a bit of that vibe as well. Still, where Wes Davis succeeds by having tight lyrics and melody that survive a sparse arrangement, you have loose lyrics and melody that we've heard elsewhere before. Sorry. Listen to Wes Davis in this fight, and learn from him.

Lights of a Fire
Hello, piano! Eddie Lance did it better, but at least you'll have lyrics, right? Right? Hello? Lyrics? Hello? Bueller? Sigh.

Click...eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee...

Ocean City Defender
The verse is boring, slow and unnecessary. The chorus is much better; hooky and compelling. You just need to work on making the verses just as successful. Keep at it, and I look forward to your next entry. Also: cheer up a bit! Good length, by the way.

Weezy Blumpkin
Hey, great start! I would have lost the opening drums and jumped right in with the guitar, but that's just me, and it's a quibble. This is pretty good, but it's dragged under by the weight of the guitars; there needs to be a lighter, poppier arrangement going on here. Also, you sound like every other band out there -- since you can write a solid song and perform it well, focus on finding a unique voice to speak with (figuratively.) Hoo oo ooo! Also, LOLHANDCLAPS

The Curse Of
It's gothic, sure, but is it awkward? You bet. Goth music that's awkward is like...well, it's too late at night to come up with a good analogy, but I'm sure you'll think of something. Boring and stilted, and some serious instrumental conflicts in here, esp. with the bass vs guitar; it's like they're not friends. You have a nice (if boring) voice, though.

Simon Stewart
Interesting! What is it with the instrumentals in this fight? This, too, does not at all evoke the title phrase for me. Bluh.

Brilliant Void
This makes me smile, but that's about it. Good silliness.

Cynthia Size and the @eclectic spOOns
The computer vocal is a great gimmick, but there just isn't a song here.

Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff
I really like your voice, and the strength with which you wield it. Sleepy vocalists, please take note. Good production quality, too. The song? Not bad, not bad. Solid lyrics, solid chord progressions, strong vocal melody. So what am I missing? The hook, and the lack of hook here makes me cry. The members of Green Day (who you arguably evoke here) live and die by their hooks, and in this case that's what is killing you. Still, overall it's a compelling piece, and I *really* like your voice. Whoa, where'd that organ come from?

that's what she said. huh huh huh huh.

[WesDavis]

Holy crap, Minty, thanks! I kinda feel like Melvin should win this one, but man, thanks a lot!

[melvin]

Thanks for the props Wes, but Minty's correct, your song is ALL HOOK. And I might add that you're a really great singer.

(Thanks for the good reviews so far, people. This new drum kit of mine is magic... even Henley likes it!)

[boochinballs]

First of all, well done to all you early reviewers. When I've sobered up a bit (which may be a couple of days), I'll be posting mine. My heads not in a state for it yet, but all your kind words have certainly made my hangover a little more barable. Just wanted to respond to the reviews so far;

martyr
Thanks, yes I agree about the side glance of the title lyric. I must admit that I only had a few hours to work on this and for the majority of the fight, I was conviced that the title was "We were never meant to be", hense the chorus. I just didn't have the time to rewrite it before the deadline. That'll teach me to use acronyms as file names. No matter what I do, for some reason it always comes back to some kind of Phil Colins ref. I DON'T UNDERSTAND ;) I hate the guy, but I keep getting vocal comparisons. I'm going to smoke an extra 40 a day so that I can grow a real voice ;)

WeaselSlayer
Thanks WS, I'm really happy with this review, especially as you mention you wouldn't normally listen to it. I like goth pop songs (of the little and big variety) and think that pretty much nails it. I'm also a huge "indie" head esp of the 90's era, so I'm guessing my influences are showing through, cool ;) You get extra points for not likening me to Phil Colins ;) I thought the production on this one was a little ropey to be honest, by the end I'd got something like 30 tracks of backing vocals 20 mins to mix and master it. Never the less Glad you liked it.


Elias_Aquarius
Thanks very much. I'm a big believer in switching things up in tracks and flipping things on their head. I do this almost too much sometimes and things just end up messy. Glad you liked it. The acoustic bit in the middle was a last minute addition as I took that section as a rap originally (as that is a requirement of a songfight victory? :) and then realised I'm a scrawny white-boy who should leave that well alone ;)

MintyHandy
Thanks Minty. As I've never heard of Murray Head or seen Chess, I'm not sure what to make of that bit. As for the end, I just wanted to rock out and make it a bit more NIN-esque. I'm not 100% happy with the structure as it stands, but to my ears, 3 mins in, it felt it needed something else (the title being one thing :). Anyway mucho cheerios.

Thanks to everyone who's taken to the time to listen to my tune, I look forward to returning the favour.

Peace and Geese

Krispy

[jack]

before getting all upset about my opinion of your song, take a deep breath and say out loud "what the fuck does he know...."


air kick pigeon band
very catchy but the processed vocals are a real distraction for me. i think this would air kick pigeon ass if the vocals were clean.

andre was here at midnight
vocal harmonies are pretty nice. mix is kind of uneven in spots but i like your idea.

melvin
yes. nicely done. good dynamics and mix. your singing, high harmonies and sense of the hook is always reliably good and pretty spot on. that little lead seems a bit wanky and weak though cmon dude, i know you can bust one out....

king arthur
ha, for better or worse charles, i think you might have arguably the most recognizable vocals on song fight for me. personally, this has a very dead/jerry tune feel to the arrangement. and your song writing and arranging are always strong. not my favorite king arthur tune, but good nevertheless.

minty handy
sounds heartfelt. the piano is nicely done. the prosody seems kind of forced at times, but the singing is pretty good. it's fairly well done, but seems like something written for a high school drama class production. not really something i'd listen to again. the ending seems sort of appropriate for me.

luke henley and friend
vocals seem a bit hot on the mic, but the guitar is nice, and i like the simple and sparse arrangement. the lo-fi production actually kind of works for this. pretty good.

ken
stellar production and execution. the guitars sound really good, as does your singing. if anything, i'm just wishing for some dynamic break ups to the verses, maybe having some string or rhodes fills. wait, i think you read my mind.

denyer
elements of the backing mix are pretty nice, although the long delay gets kind of annoying after awhile. the flow is really buried in the mix. i think the biggest problem i have with your rapping denyer is the fact that it seems like it's all delivered in this flat, monotone delivery. i think you're lyrically a pretty smart chap, but i wish you had more dynamic in your flow, more nuance and emotion, instead of the kind of bored flat delivery here. bring it up and throw it in my face if you want me to hear what you're saying.

set fire
mix seems uneven, like the drum sequencing is slightly off in parts. big guitar sound is good, although it kind of buries the vocals in the chorus.

weezy blumpkin
nice opening hook. vocals could come up to the level of the guitars, and man, bring those buried handclaps up!! definitely a catchy tune and arrangement, but open this mix up and bring up the vocals and claps and this would kick ass. guitars sound great. maybe a fatter tone on the bass would help beef up the low end too. kind of a weak outro though.

kabuto
no matter how mainstream "nerdcore" will ever become or be, it will always be novelty to me. at this point, it's becoming pretty played out novelty for me. the mix here is solid, the raps and flow are actually pretty good and "dynamic" (calling denyer.....) even if they are a bit too in-jokey. nothing personal but it just doesn't really hold my interest. mostly a genre bias.

nathaniel tann
starts out promising with the nice piano and guitar, but you seem to be singing way too close to the mic, or have your gain too high as there's a fair amount of clip. i do really like the arpeggio guitar and piano foundation, and the harmony vocals are great, but man, if you had recorded the vocals for this better, you'd have a real solid gem.

mc eric b
MIDI country polka and fakey accent talk/rap doesn't endear my ear.

adam adamant
arrangement sounds pretty canned. it's well produced and has some moments. TTS vocals don't endear my ear either.

donovan tann
hm, maybe i'll start calling this the "tann effect" (having one's mic in their mouth while singing), but like your alter ego above, you're singing way to close to the mic. it's obvious with the harmony vocals that you can multi-track your recording. i just think that this could really improve with a better mix, and i think that mostly revolves here around your mic placement and your signal gain. execution wise, it's very solid, good guitar, you've got a decent voice, it's just the synergy isn't working for me here.

doorite
well, at least you avoid the overplayed nerdcore route. the flow seems a bit aggressive over the mix, which is mostly my taste i guess. the mix seems kind of pensive and you attack the flow, which is fine but for me it's a bit too much of a disconnect. rap wise, i think your flow is fine, i just think it might mesh better over a more aggressive backing mix.

measle
wow, that MIDI horn riff is a really annoying and engaging hook. the rap is just kind of annoying. although the harmony vocal chorus is nice.

chirp
this is flat out fabulous. great singing. good arrangement. love the stand up bass and conga backing. and the clave. gotta mention the clave. outstanding. possible vote.

sixthline and BCB
wow, very peter gabriel. vocals are spot on PG, and the backing mix is very similar too. another gem. this is really excellent. not much to say beyond that. another possible vote.

soundscape rebellion
backing mix seems like it could be alot louder, which would make the vocals sounds less detached from the rest of the mix. backing mix sounds like it's played very well. singing is good too, but the mix just could use better balance. but overall, pretty solid little tune.

brilliant void
pretty cool. the acappella approach is a bold one, and i think you pull it off nicely enough. the prosody on the verse stuff seems stretched at times, but the chorus is nice enough. a bit long for a gimmick.

mailbox
nice. good singing and guitar. all the pieces fit very nicely together here. drums especially, are very well done. mix is really excellent. well done on all levels. damn, those drums kick some serious ass man. blue and leaf better watch out.....

ocean city defender
great work on the vocals, and the guitar/bass/drums sound pretty great too. this is really well done too. love the shaker. great simple arrangement, with lots of feeling and dynamic. too short! wow, i've hit a the meat of the rotation here.

zender
while it's all put together nicely, and the flow doesn't suck, it's not my thing.

the weakest suit
not bad. lack of drums or percussion kind of highlights the timing fluctuations more, and the buried in reverb vocals are kind of distracting, but maybe thats the effect you really wanted. pretty abrupt ending. did you jump?

cakeloaf
kind of all over the place. whether that's a mess or masterpiece depends on perspective i suppose.

renwick
the direct in on the acoustic is a bit loud and obvious and kind of dry reverb wise. but i like the keyboard, and wish the acoustic sat better against it, like you have the lead guitar sitting. vocally pretty nice work, especially with the harmonies. this has a very pink floyd sort of quality in the verse.

eugene manitoba
well, points for oddest instrumentation. the uke/egg/glock combo can be deadly. whistles without clipping are good too. goes maybe too long for a jokey tune.

ham no burger
this is really good! vocally reminds me a lot of luka bloom, but mix wise, it has lots of different styles to it. reminds me of so many good bands, so i'll just say it's pretty good if for no other reason than that.

cynsize & spoon
interesting arrangement. hard to make out some of the vocals. ok, hard to make out most of the vocals. mix is solid but a bit busy and loud to the vocal track.

the curse of
pretty well put together. seems to be some artifacting going on the mix. execution is very solid though, and nice thumpy bass driving the whole thing along. reminds me of very early REM. mix overall seems to have some hot spots in it.

doctor nocturne
mix sounds very compressed. dirty guitar seems to bury everything. hard to understand the lyrics except on the drop out. singing seems good but the phone filter effect kind of drags it down in the mix. i dig the piano though.

don't reply tha mc
the long panning echoed strings and scratches build promise. the rap isn't bad. then it's over.

eddie lance
hey, it's pretty even if it's not particulary relevant.

wes davis
cool. lo-fi works for this, as you still get good separation of everything, and manages to hear all the little nuances. nice work. always love a good vibroslap.

simon stewart
seemingly real banjo has promise. again, no relevance sinks this.

regular gonzalez
ha, your vocals kind of made me laugh. not because they are bad, but because they are pretty good actually and unique (kind of like starfinger or father bingo), and definitely fit the mix here. mix is hit or miss, pretty canned and has some timing issues, but that vocal is so cool in a leonard cohen sort of way it carries the whole thing.

the thing you do to a bank
backing mix is pretty strong. vocals are pretty good too, but again sit to low to the rest of the mix, although the chorus balances it out a bit. nice harmony vocals. also, that kick is really sub-sonic heavy.

lights of a fire
well, i kept waiting for something to happen. something. anything. cmon baby light my fire........

db collective
alright. glad we got at least one blues song out of this, since it's a pretty CBGB (country, bluegrass, blues) kind of title. singing is pretty damned good, and so is all the backing mix. definitely one of the strongest performed and produced tunes here, but won't win because the blues never win here. that said, i'm going to probably vote for this.



favorites in no particular order: mailbox, sixthline, db collective, chirp, ken, OC defender, melvin, hamnoburger

[RegularGonzalez]

Wow. I know I'm new here, but I feel like I was just born yesterday cause I just spent 3 hours listening to these songs and writing these reviews only to realize after I had submitted it that I had in fact posted in the last fight's thread. D'oh. Anyhow, post deleted, problem solved, and here are my inane rock critic style reviews, written as I listened to each song.

Adam Adamant
Cool sort of underwater robot thing going on. Feels like Daft Punk meets The Faint on mushrooms. Pro: robots. Con: unintelligibility.

Airkick Pigeon Band
The vocals take away slightly from what otherwise is a very fresh indie pop jam. Sounds like some old school English Beat sensibility with sprites-style modernness. Pro: catchy and bright. Con: vocal effects add cheesiness.

Andre Was Here at Midnight
This is what the Black Heart Procession would sound like if they tried to turn into a lo-fi Sonic Youth cover band. Pro: dissonance! Con: dissonance?

Brilliant Void
This one kinda stumbles along without a true direction. Almost sounds like a group of militant raccoons are marching across a blatant wasteland with a minstrel at the end of the line making merry and keeping the troop's morale up with an existential love song. Pro: qwantz quote power! Con: lack of musicality.

Brody
Reminds me a lot of Hayden, very good tight harmony and the chorus makes you do a little bit of a double take to analyze what you're saying. I kinda like that. Starts strong, cool lead guitar work, good feel, good production, this one fires on all cylinders for me. Pro: good all around package. Con: a bit long.

Cakeloaf
I like the instrumentation but I think you could use a bit more diversity in melody and repetition of samples. Pro: catchy and rough. Con: vocals are a bit unsettling.

Chirp
You sound a lot like Claudia Gonson from The Magnetic Fields, which I think is awesome sauce, since my entry was a full-on open mouth kiss of a tribute to Stephin Merritt. Nice dynamic recording, never exactly knew what to expect musically each verse. Pro: lovely vocals and instrumentation. Con: maybe needs a nice occasional upright bass pluck ringing out there to fill out the EQ spectrum.

Ostara
Nice intro, didn't know what the hell I was hearing and was pleasantly surprised when a nice clean guitar sound came in over what sounds like 1993-era videogame sounds of a drawbridge lowering near a belltower. Very Echo/Bunnymen, you just need to croon that chorus a bit more, put some oomph into it to truly express your inner anguish about not being meant to be. Pro: great feel and sound. Con: a bit repetitive and the vocals need a bit more punch, plus the music goes a bit aharmonic at points.

Cynthia Size and the @Eclectic Spoons
Is this what the love child of Bjork and Atom and his Package would sound like? I think so. Bringing in the electric guitar for the chorus is awesome. Pro: very unique and interesting. Con: short and one-trick.

DB Collective
Dayumn, that's a good down home soulful sound going on there. You're rocking the hell out of that smoky bar, possibly wearing a blue sequin dress as you belt out the blues. Pro: nothing fancy, just good blues. Con: nothing fancy, just good blues.

Nick and Dex
This one is very good, you really build up some great energy in the song and then play with it a bit. Very dynamic, very expressive. The piano part is well done and the solo in the middle is pretty cool. Pro: good performance, great song. Con: my only complaint is the production. The vocals could be less bottomless-pitty and the rest of the instruments could come forward a bit. Just sounds over-or-poorly-EQed.

Donovan Tann
Simple and elegant coffee shop rock. Pro: good guitar playing. Con: shaker sounds a bit off-beat when it first comes in.

Don't Reply Tha MC
White boy basement rap? Sorry this one's all con for me. Needs a better beat, better lyrics, some actual flow, and a hook. Work on it a bit. Take some clues from Doorite.

Doorite
This is fucking awesome. The beat is tight, has some nice variance in the samples, and the MC is all flow and message. Good tight shit. Being a fan of criticism of globalization and technology, I like the line about turning the green into the grey. Pro: whole package is good. Con: maybe put a little more bass in the (drum or synth) to fill out the low end and give the booty something to shake to.

Eddie Lance
Starts to sound like Tori Amos's Precious Things around the 1:30 mark. I expect to hear you start screaming about boys chasing you through the woods or your first period or something. But alas, the lyrics never come. Were they not meant to be? Pro: beautiful. Con: unsure if it fits the theme.

Eugene Manitoba
Ukelele power! This is a fun one I can see tearing up the dance floor at the local pre-school. Pro: fun. Con: vocals are a bit too reserved, could have more punch especially for how fun the rest of the song is.

Ham No Burger
Starts off sounding like Alice in Chains with some crazy synth clarinet, which is a combination I never imagined my brain having to process. Layne Staley is turning over in his grave, but only to turn his ear towards the sound. Pro: songwriting and performance are good. Con: synth sounds a bit out of place.

Kabuto
MC Paul Barman would be proud. Pro: awesome nerdcoreness. Con: you prounce .gif like .jif and I hate you for it.

Ken's super Duper Band N' Stuff
Good song, with some slightly more delicate guitar playing I can totally see this being superimposed on the post-breakup melancholy walk through the rain in the summer teen date movie. Pro: classy, sensitive. Con: guitar could be slightly more "marketable" if you want it in a movie

King Arthur
This is delightful. Nice solid college rock song, and I really like how you worked the title into the end of a line ("we have become something we were not meant to be") similar to how I put more words on the end. You share my desire to blend the title in to a more cohesive song and for that I salute you. Band sounds good too. Pro: lyrically and musically satisfying. Con: Vocals waver a bit on the higher notes. Maybe hide it with a little FX or backing vocals?

Lights of a Fire
Crazy, this reminds me a lot of the kind of shit I recorded on old cheap cassette tapes from my mom's electric piano when I was 13. I had the piano jacked into the mic input on my $15 boom box from target and to get any volume on the recording I had to crank up the gain so the piano totally got overdriven. Pro: reminds me of when I was 13. Con: reminds me of when I was 13.

Luke Henley feat. Andrew Ryder
Nice use of what the music genome project would call "minor chord tonality" there. There's a lot of personality and expression in the performance, a very welcome change from the more folky solo acoustic guitar entries here. Pro: High GGCQ (Gordon Gano Chic Quotient). Con: recording hiss

Mailbox
Very high quality recording and performance. This one really has a good groove and draws me in. Not sure exactly who it reminds me of, but I know I love it. Maybe a little Toad the Wet Sprocket with a touch of 10,000 Maniacs. Idunno exactly, but I love it. Pro: I'd buy this CD. Con: could use a little vocal training. almost there, but a good coach could really unlock your potential.

MC Eric B
I love the music here. It's like a circus in my brain and the clowns are juggling those cool puzzle balls wrapped up in streamers with a little army man inside. Clever lyrics, good blending of the theme into a sentence, I give you an A. Pro: totally fun. Con: I can't take it seriously.

MC Paul Denyer
Nice old school hip hop groove. I'm confused about all the barnyard imagery, though, not sure what your overall philosophy is here. Pro: po-po. Con: donkey cow.

Measle
Holy fucking christ, I am absolutely blown away. You, sir, get my vote. Dinosaur Comics goodness galore and an amazing flow. You bring the phat rhymes for all times and that loop is fucking fantastic. Pro <colon> pronouncing Dromiceiomimus. Con: None. Absolutely none.

Melvin
This song is really really really good. I would buy this album and if your band came to my town I would totally invite a bunch of friends to go see you guys. Very cool Ozma meets Arcade Fire kinda feel, I guarantee I know a handful of people who would totally fucking rock out to this song at a club. If Measle didn't say Dromiceiomimus you totally would have gotten my vote. Pro: awesome song all around. Con: zero.

Minty Handy
Unholy mother of beasts, what on earth is up with the quality of the M entries? It's like each one is a priceless gem. This is absolutely spectacular. Is this considered Light Opera? I must know how I can listen to more amazingly crooned ballads about monsters born in laboratories and crushing towns. Seriously, this was amazing. Pro: create us/hate us. Con: absolutely none.

Nathaniel Tann
Wow. The hits just don't stop. Fantastic shoegazer ballad, heartwrenching and soulful. The delicate harmonies in the middle are beautiful. Then it goes full-on assault, rocking the emo-loving pants off me. When that distortion and those drums kicks in it's all over. You had me at "we were not meant to be." A+++++ would listen to again. Pro: amazing sense of songwriting as an emotional medium. Con: zippity doo-dah.

Ocean City Defender
Nice surf guitar, great use of vocal delay, good feel. Pro: catchy, well produced, very solid. Con: the instrumental tail of the song could use a chord change to break up the monotony.

Regular Gonzalez
Ahh, the self-review. I'm pretty happy with this song. It's catchy, it's meaningful, it's on-topic, the lyrics are clever, I really like the sound of the synths, and I learned a lot about ProTools when making this song so it was a good experience all around. Pro: organs are awesome. Con: I think I probably should have sequenced the drums instead of playing the 808 live with midi triggers.

Renwick
This is really good, very poppy, accessible, almost celebratory. I love the vibrato guitarwork. Reminds me a bit of the Pernice Brothers. Pro: feel-good sound and good harmonies. Con: once again, a good voice that just needs a good coach to push it up a notch.

Set Fire
At first I was going to make a bunch of jokes about saddle creek records but then you surprised the fuck out of me by taking the song in like five different directions I never expected. Good show, very well done. The Frampton guitar came out of nowhere, and the backmasking added a totally different flavor to what easily could have been just another emoboy wankfest. Very well done. Pro: making me think you were saying satanic messages. Con: beginning of the song makes me think you want me to slit my wrists.

Simon Stewart
This is lush and beautiful, the instruments truly singing. Excellently performed and recorded. As far as an attempt to capture the theme by crafting an emotion rather than using words, I would say you've done well. Of course it's all subjective, and even writing about it seems cheap in a philosophical sense. Pro: Your skill with the instruments shows. Con: making me discuss philosophy in a music review.

Sixthline
Nice. Kinda old school NIN Pretty Hate Machine era angst with Athlete-style pop sensibility. The harmonies add a great ethereal quality to the song. It almost turns into a Dispatch style jam fest in the middle with the patter speech and the acoustic guitar coming through. Very well done, very emotionally charged and powerful. Pro: Evanescence on Wax Trax Records circa 1990. Con: nada.

Soundscape Rebellion
As evidenced by my enjoyment of the Minty Handy entry, I love the male/female storytelling interplay dynamic. This is pretty good but I think I like the theatrical version better than the roots rock version. Sounds almost like early nineties girl rock revival, pretty catchy. Pro: well done, clever, good dynamic. Con: not my style.

Thing You Do To A Bank
I like the cool minimalist old school piano/909 groove. The crash cymbal is a weird sound, it almost sounds like a plosive breath put through a heavy reverb. Confused me for a bit. Pro: cool sounds. Con: vocals could use some work.

The Weakest Suit
Weird, man. I like what you've done with the panning of the vocals in the mix. It's kinda got this jangly disjointed quality to it, like the song's shaking against itself and may fall apart at any moment. Pro: Beautiful in its idiosyncrasies. Con: freshmen poetry lyrics.

Weezy Blumpkin
Great rock tune, good catchy vocals and some fun guitar work. Altogether solid, but the mix is a bit vocal heavy. Pro: love the woo hoo hoos. Con: EQ/mastering might help a bit.

Wes Davis
Love the groove. Sign me up for the hoe-down. I love the crazy percussion, it's like a backyard jamfest of a good time. Pro: fabulously creative. Con: nope.

Zender
Man, feelin the love. But you didn't fully pronounce Dromiceiomimus so you don't get a cookie. Otherwise solid optional challenge loveliness and a great piece of nerdcore. Love the phat bass, love the phat beats, love the phat rhymes. Just not quite enough Dromiceiomimus. Pro: the widowmaker. Con: Dromi.

[chris]

ok. best wes davis track ever! love it.

[dj snyder]

you prounce .gif like .jif and I hate you for it.

haha, but to be fair, he's kind of right:

The creators of the format pronounce GIF with a soft "g", IPA: [d&#658;i&#720;], as in "George". According to the creator of the GIF format, Steve Wilhite, the pronunciation deliberately echoes that of an American peanut butter brand, Jif, and the employees of CompuServe would often say "Choosy developers choose GIF", spoofing this brand's television commercials.

[OCNCTY]

you prounce .gif like .jif and I hate you for it.

haha, but to be fair, he's kind of right:

The creators of the format pronounce GIF with a soft "g", IPA: [d&#658;i&#720;], as in "George". According to the creator of the GIF format, Steve Wilhite, the pronunciation deliberately echoes that of an American peanut butter brand, Jif, and the employees of CompuServe would often say "Choosy developers choose GIF", spoofing this brand's television commercials.

Choosy Pundits choose .gif apparently.

[onedumbmick]

Its like a bunch of folks picked up some junk, figured out how to play a chord, and vamped on that until they came up with this.

learned two cords and found a copper pipe or two!!

[phetal]

Air Kick Pigeon Band's song references Perry Bible Fellowship, and that makes me happy.

What more do you need in a song than PBF and Dinosaur Comics?

[WesDavis]

ok. best wes davis track ever! love it.

Thanks, Chris!

[WeaselSlayer]

What more do you need in a song than PBF and Dinosaur Comics?

What more do you need in a book than Men in Black and The Last of the Mohicans?

[MC Eric B]

Adam Adamant - I like the music, but I don't like the vocals. I can't understand a word of it. You could have given the vocals a robotic feel to match the music, but had them be more normal.

Andre was here at midnight - The vocals were too faint. The music and melody are nice, and the lyrics are funny/good.

Brilliant Void - Very nice vocals. Since there was no backing music though, it got a little boring after a while so I wish it were a little shorter. I like the fade out ending.

brody - Very mellow and pleasant sounding, and the guitar solo is very good. It sounds like a song I would hear in a real CD (unlike many Songfight songs).

Cake Loaf - Sounds like some good musicians in a room with kids screwing around with the instruments. I like the echo type vocals part. A good experiment, but seems a little too disjointed, although I am sure that was the point of it.

Chirp - Way too soft. When I turn it waaaaay up it sounds ok, but kind of long. The tune is kind of catchy though and your voice is very good.

Ostara(?) - I like it a lot, but it could use more of a hook. Sounds like an album track from a good band, but not a hit.

Cynthia Size and the @eclectic spOOns - The intro is great. I like the chorus. The rest does not thrill me, but overall a good song.

dB Collective - Wow. Very different than the usual stuff I hear on Songfight. Very professional sounding. Catchy melody and good lyrics. It sounds like you are doing a remake of a hit song from the past in a blues bar.

Nick and Dex (?) - I like the piano a lot. I can't understand most of the vocals though, but the mood of the song seems very dinosaur like, which is good.

Donovan Tann - You have mic and sound level problems, but overall a creative song with good singing and catchy music.

Dont Reply Tha MC - I like the background music. Very atmospheric. The rhymes seem a little amateur, or maybe just too confusing. The shout out 2007 part at the end kind of ruins it for me though. Makes it sound unprofessional. Overall not bad though.

Doorite - I like it.

Eddie Lance - Very nice piano playing, but instrumentals don't really seem to fit the songfight "rules", although maybe I am wrong about that.

Eugene Manitoba - Sounds like a couple of drunk guys at a bar playing whatever instruments they can find. But, still kind of catchy and a good use of different types of music.

Ham No Burger - I like it a lot. One of the better songs this week. A radio friendly type song.

Kabuto - Funky beat. Very funny lyrics!!! Is this the same guy who parodied me? Right on the money again this time. I got into Nerdcore because I "read the article in Wired" like you said in your lyrics, although I had written some geeky songs already, I just did not have a name for the type of music. But, after reading the article I got inspired and wrote a few dozen more nerdcore songs. Since your verbal beat down of me, I have been trying totally different styles each week on Songfight at least, and been getting much better reviews. I'll be back with a totally Nerdcore song again eventually though. Can't stray too far from my roots. Anyhow, your song shows super duper songwriting and musical talent. One of my favorites this week. (I don't get insulted easily).

Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff - A combination of The Beatles and Green Day. Great songwriting, great music. Very catchy.

King Arthur - Remind me of Bob Dylan a little. Vocals seem kind of stretched though. Lyrics sound deep (thought provoking). Overall I liked it.

Lights of a Fire - Not a bad instrumental, but are instrumentals allowed in Songfight? Me and instrumentals, we were not made to be.

Luke Henley feat. Andrew Ryder - Pleasant sounding, but not too catchy. I read the lyrics when you posted them before the song was posted, and I liked them because they were deep and creative, but I don't feel the music does them justice.

Mailbox - Great beginning that builds up to when the louder music part starts, and that then builds up to a big chorus. But, then it seemed like it had no chorus, even though the music changed a lot. It was never boring because the music constantly changed, which is good. Overall a great song.

MC Paul Denyer - The vocals are too soft. I could not understand any of it. Something about a Donkey. The vocals sound like an interlude part of a song, or an intro/outro, where the rapper is rapping but the content does not really matter, it just sets the mood. But, your whole song is that. Too bad because your rapping sounds good. The sax is way too loud, drowning out even more your rapping, although I liked the idea in general of the sax. This song has potential, just needs some fixing.

Measle - Vocals on the verses are too soft, especially at the start of the song. The harmony part is a great touch. This is almost a rap, almost a Broadway show tune, and has some nerdcore type lyrics, which are a good/funny contrast to the musical style of the song. Guitar at end solo made me smile.

Melvin - Great song. Sounds like a song I might hear on the radio.

Minty Handy - The lyrics seem absurd at first, but once I understand the song it is all good. The female vocals are great (she sounds like she had real singing experience). This song would be perfect for the Broadway musical version of Frankenstein, if they ever make one. Very creative.

Nathaniel Tann - Good song. Interesting how it starts off slow and builds to a frenzy. A little like a rock opera.

Ocean City Defender - Good song.

Regular Gonzalez - Catchy. Vocals and organ make it sound like a parody even though it is not really one. Something different at least than many of the usual songfight songs.

Renwick - Great catchy song and the chorus is super. I like the guitar after the chorus a lot too.

Set Fire - Good song.

Simon Stewart - Talent instrument playing, but I got bored after a while. I wish it had some lyrics.

Sixthline and BCB - This song has a great mood to it. Vocals and music are really good and it is catchy. One of the best this week because it fits this weeks Songfight title perfectly. Even the changeup with the drums at the end is great.

Soundscape Rebellion - The male/female interaction is good.

The Air Kick Pigeon Band - Catchy tune, and amazingly the animal vocals get the point across yet still sound good. I like how the vocals fade out at the end also.

The Thing You Do To A Bank - I like it.

The Weakest Suit - Good, but did not thrill me. Nothing wrong with it though.

Weezy Blumpkin - I like it, but the vocals seem a little unemotional.

Wes Davis - I like the vocals. The music is entertaining, although not particularly catchy.

Zender - Great song. I like the back and forth among different singers. The nerdcore style is a perfect fit for comic related lyrics.

[chris]

Cake Loaf - Sounds like some good musicians in a room with kids screwing around with the instruments.

I am just a kid... so i guess that makes sense.

[doorite]

thanks for all the awesome feedback guys(and girls)........... me n j.doobie say thanks.

[doorite]

Don't Reply Tha MC
White boy basement rap? Sorry this one's all con for me. Needs a better beat, better lyrics, some actual flow, and a hook. Work on it a bit. Take some clues from Doorite.

Doorite
This is fucking awesome. The beat is tight, has some nice variance in the samples, and the MC is all flow and message. Good tight shit. Being a fan of criticism of globalization and technology, I like the line about turning the green into the grey. Pro: whole package is good. Con: maybe put a little more bass in the (drum or synth) to fill out the low end and give the booty something to shake to.
.

AWWW YEAAAAAAA........ thank you, me n j.doobie think its wicked that you enjoy it

[mkilly]

jackfrost--they just re-released the transformers the movie soundtrack. 20th anniversary edition. has some bonus tracks. i know because they sent it to my radio station.

<em>REVIEWS OF THIS WEEK'S SONG FIGHT! BATCH FROM MARCUS KELLIS, A REAL-LIFE RADIO STATION MUSIC DIRECTOR</em>.

Sorry if I'm too mean or whatever. I liked some of these songs, I really did. I can never tell bands what I really think of them unless it's positive at my job, and so I'm kind of taking it out on you guys.

<b>adam adamant</b>: oh, like adam ant. i get jokes. i like the short release time in one of these samples. can't find much else here i like. it sounds like a song someone made in a week in some loopy program. starts off kind of mediocre then tapers off.

<b>air kick pigeon band</b>: some interesting stuff here... i like the notion of the vocal effect, but i don't like how it turned out. if i were ten years younger! but i am not. the part where it was done on a computer prevents me from digging it very much. also fifteen seconds of fade. ugh

<b>andre was here at midnight</b>: this sounds a lot like early modest mouse. i wish the instrumentation were more consistent, and that it were produced some more. but that's the same complaint i have about early modest mouse.

<b>brilliant void</b>: get a microphone meant for vocals, or get a windscreen, or fake a windscreen with a paper towel. also buy some instruments.

<b>brody</b>: is that drum machine? the guitarwork is pretty great. vocals are good too. it's nearly a pretty good song. def has that country-rock feel like if the byrds started smoking dope. i guess that's a product of the progression and the doubled vocals. sounds like you did what you set out to, so.

<b>cake loaf</b>: i wish your intro was more like the intro to Fame by david bowie. and that you had less dissonance. and not a bad-sounding drum machine. ok, now it's just guitar. and a keyboard which isn't playing quite the same thing. no vocals yet. thing coming in from the background. now vocals. really high mixed vocals and lots of reverb. I am sorry, this is a failed abortion of a song

<b>chirp</b>: I CANNOT HEAR YOU PLEASE SING LOUDER. also make it sound less like jimmy buffett. or more. either way you're not at the right amount of jimmy buffett. not quite interesting enough for nearly four minutes, sorry

<b>the curse of</b>: this is some very traditional stuff. man I wish there were more acoustic drums on songfight. what a sad story. not very interesting. good effort, though.

<b>cynthia size and the @eclectic sp00ns</b>: these are good ideas, but I don't think they come together to service the whole song completely. that bit around 1:46/again at 1:52-1:56/etc comes the closest of anything in the song.

<b>dB collective</b>: we get a lot of stuff like this at my radio station. usually the cover art is god-awful. it's some picture of someone, crudely cut out and pasted onto some landscape, and then they use microsoft office wordart or some terrible built-in font or some terrible other typography. if they include a picture I laugh at it for a few minutes. then they call and ask what I thought of it. I like the organ, though.

<b>doctur noctorne</b>: OMG SO CREEPY. the vocals you can't hear and the distorted guitar. wow. you guys are heroes. hey minor scale piano. did you come up with that on your own. sorry, god, I'm such an asshole. I haven't written a song in years. what gives me the right? either way your song sucks.

<b>donovan tann</b>: I wonder where the donovan part comes from. is that a nylon-strung guitar? mmm. vocals are almost there. are you taking lessons? I think they would help, or will help even more soon. this is adequate, though I always have a soft spot for folk... and for donovan. hahaha, "and i was like AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH." that's great. that's very funny. oh my god what is happening in the second half of the song. the guitar's become badly recorded and your voice got better and there's a shaker for some reason. arghnrh. nearly there dude. keep on truckin'. really nearly there, i mean that.

<b>don't reply tha mc</b>: ughhhhhhh. 1:20 of this. I'm not sure I can stand it. no, I cannot.

<b>doorite</b>: I like doritos okay I guess. cooler ranch mostly. I hate that they come up with so many god-awful flavors. and they're all the same f-in' flavor. some combination of spicy/flaming/flamboyant and habanero/jalapeno/whatever. oh, now the rapping has started and I can't listen to it any more. sorry.

<b>eddie lance</b>: as beautiful as the piano is, is this going anywhere? did you just rip off some soap opera music? because right now I'm thinking about being home in the summer of my youth and watching guiding light with my mom and being bored as hell. and now I <b>am</b> bored as hell.

<b>eugene manitoba</b>: great start. ukulele, toy piano. I wish this were more crazy. you've done all right here. I feel like this is the second time I've heard this melody in this fight. from the chorus. yeah, I really wish you could've gone crazy with all these toy instruments for all the song. the arrangement is cool but it needs to be more dense and shit. and the vocals aren't loud enough. and the outro is not well-formed.

<b>ham no burger</b>: not what I would've expected in the instrumentation from the band name. maybe would figure eugene manitoba to have this instrumentation, and ham no burger to be crazy manitoba's song. this sounds like a song for some regional american idol ripoff, or adult contemporary otherwise

<b>kabuto</b>: don't employ cliches for no reason. this actually is some of the most competent rapping i've heard on songfight, and the production is really decent. I don't like it very much. but you're actually doing pretty well. one of the best songs of the fight, so far, doubtlessly. though I don't like it very much. I'll listen to all of it, though. [...] how, if you haven't heard of KRS-One, do you know to mention him? I wish all the rap entries to songfight did as decently as you. you could become really bearable with some more practice.

<b>ken's super duper band 'n stuff</b>: this isn't really progressing as a ken's super duper band 'n stuff. sounds like some 90s alternative rock. the fake string arrangement especially makes me think of several smashing pumpkins songs. you have that same kind of bridge in Bad Cat. it's serviceable ken, but not classic ken. one of the best in the fight tho'.

<b>king arthur</b>: I think I give you some bonus points because I know you're very sincere in all your music. ...wow, I just noticed the lyrics when it become very apparent that you aren't just singing about some bullshit platitude/relationship. pretty good song. I don't like the guitar tone very much, personally. I do hate Bush and the war, though. you know one I thing I really like, KA, and one thing I try for myself, is that you'll be doing songs and you don't get strung out about bad reviews, and you do your music regardless of what cats say or don't say. you're one of the best songfighters in that regard. of course implicitly I'm saying you do get bad reviews sometimes, compared with your frankies big face and john benjamin bands, who don't get upset because they're always f-in' winning. anyway good work.

<b>lights of a fire</b>: I like the kind of out-of-tune/bad piano. the playing is fine, but the piano sound isn't that good. which I like. the organ in the background isn't really doing anything right now. never really develops. it's decent, I think that the instrumental earns the title. so with that benchmark met, one is left to evaluate the quality of the song. which I declare... decent.

<b>luke henley feat. andrew ryder</b>: luke, your music is pretty good. probably way better'n mine ever is or could be. this track's pretty mature but not 100% mature. I wish there wasn't that hum of noise. noise reduction filter?

<b>mailbox</b>: it's well-done, but not interesting.

<b>mc eric b</b>: what are you trying to do?

(<b>mc paul denyer</b> entered a song.)

<b>measle</b>: almost good. there are some good things, but like other songs i've named here, not everything comes together. I can't hear the vocals very well, but I can hear them well enough to know that you don't have the rhythm down.

<b>melvin</b>: pretty rockin'. handclaps done right!!. very solid. reminds me of Rogue Wave a touch. or other indie poprockers. kind of keeping the sonofsupercar flame going at songfight. solid.

<b>minty handy</b>: more like meat loaf! the vocals are kind of low in the mix. i like the crush the town part. and then it devolves. that's pretty classic. a lot of songfight songs try to be funny like yours is funny. pretty good. you don't overstay your welcome, which is nice. i'll say this, too: i looked at all the files and listened to yours and ken's before deciding i'd just go ahead and review everything.

<b>nathaniel tann</b>: you have to do better at the mastering/recording aspects. and lyrics. and arrangement. but you're better than most songfighters at all of those things, so, there's that.

<b>ocean city defender</b>: decent... i hate the emo vocal style though. shaker sounds really out of place.

<b>regular gonzalez</b>: it sounds like magnetic fields, but not as good. maybe i just say that because of the voice. no, there's more than a superficial resemblance, but the drum sounds aren't good. lyrics aren't as effective. oh my god why are there synth handclaps. tone it down, do better with lyrics (rhythm and words both). you're kind of writing for the song title you wished you'd been given instead of the one you were given.

<b>renwick</b>: decent. better drum programming/sound than most of these songs. i'd like to see the vocals a little higher in the mix.

<b>set fire</b>: can't really review this genre fairly.

<b>simon stewart</b>: you're one of like seven people who's just done a creepy song. it's like you treated the song title as a direction from some filmmaker to make a score for. it's adequate, fine, but it's a set piece.

<b>sixthline and bcb</b>: god, why does songfight attract so fucking much shitty synthesizer shit. you're part of the problem. you do not deserve five minutes minus a quarter. drum sound is ok

<b>soundscape rebellion</b>: this would sure be a good 7" in 1990. it sounds like it should be on the Singles soundtrack or something.

<b>thing you do to a bank</b>: be a touch less melodramatic on the vocals. pretty good song, really.

<b>weakest suit</b>: this is all right.

<b>weezy blumpkin</b>: the 90s are over, hippie.

<b>wes davis</b>: this is mixed really well. pretty cool ideas. oh, the bongos aren't recorded that well. that's too bad. your singing is some of the best in the fight, doubtlessly. not quite enough original ideas lyrically. you need something to carry some more weight. do you know feist's "mushaboom"? your "we were not meant to be" line is very strong, but it needs to be like a rare flower to be worthwhile. in "mushaboom" feist has this bit that's really cool, where she sings a whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh part after some lines. in the demo version she sang it after every line, and it makes me want to throw up. but in the album version it's occasional and great. that's the problem here: it is not occasional.

<b>zender</b>: ew. look at my sixthline and bch review. word for words, except also your rapping isn't very good. more fit for a novelty than a real song. the percussion (which is fake, of course) sounds good, though. like donkey kong country underwater music or something.

[OCNCTY]

Wow, I got out of that one relatively unscathed...

[WesDavis]

<b>wes davis</b>: this is mixed really well. pretty cool ideas. oh, the bongos aren't recorded that well. that's too bad. your singing is some of the best in the fight, doubtlessly. not quite enough original ideas lyrically. you need something to carry some more weight. do you know feist's "mushaboom"? your "we were not meant to be" line is very strong, but it needs to be like a rare flower to be worthwhile. in "mushaboom" feist has this bit that's really cool, where she sings a whoa-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh-oh part after some lines. in the demo version she sang it after every line, and it makes me want to throw up. but in the album version it's occasional and great. that's the problem here: it is not occasional.

Hey man, thanks for taking the time to critique this so heavily! I actually really appreciate it. And I know what you mean, about the rare flower thing. This song was pretty empty from the start, but it was one of those that I threw together really quickly, and never got the chance to step away from and look at, objectively. Thanks for the compliment on the vocs, though, and as for the bongos, it was actually just a crappy old guitar that I was banging on. The recording was good, but the instrument was not.

[martyr]

Martyr,

I like your reviews, but you seem to have left out Wezzy Blumpkin

Any chance you can give it a listen?

Hi Weezy, I'd love to, but my review time this round has been largely cashed in. Not sure why I missed you -- perhaps you had no MP3 TAGS that linked the song to your band in any way? Both iTunes and WinAmp provide basic tools for tagging MP3s with Artist/Title/Album.

Sorry... If I get time, perhaps I'll dig it up and review.

[jackfrost]

This time I started from the end of the alphabet. So far, only Wes Davis is competing with The Air Kick Pigeon Band for my vote, but I have 21 more bands to go.

Zender – The production values are nice, but the vocal melody is the most basic rap melody ever. No originality there. The vocal delivery is also not very engaging. There is no flow (probably due to the limits of the melody), and the delivery itself is stilted and doesn’t convey the emotions one would expect from the lyrics.

Wes Davis – Great song. Love the chorus instrumentation and vocals and effects. Something about this reminds me of Gomez. Short and sweet. Contender for the win, in a perfect world, but I predict a rap-friend-flood.

Weezy Blumpkin – I like this song quite a bit, and I can tell that it’s supposed to sound like Weezer, but it really isn’t in the same league as their stuff. The song sounds good, there’s just no super hook-y part to my ear. I like it though.

The Weakest Suit – From the lyrics, it sounds like you watch too much anime and play too many videogames. The sound of the second half of the song is nice and haunting, though. The desperation in those vocals is great. All your base are belong to us. Nice.

The Thing You Do To A Bank – Strong vocals and harmonies, but trained voices sometimes lead to voices that sound insincere. This is one of those times. Great band name, and technically good, but there is no strong hook or sentiment to make me want to revisit this.

Soundscape Rebellion – The vocals don’t seem to be mixed into this song at all. They also don’t seem to go with the music in the background. As a chemist, I can always give props for the singing of molecular formulas, but the disparity between the vocals and the instruments is hard to get past.

Sixthline + BCB – Nice song. Hook filled and driving. Changes keep it interesting up to the end.

Simon Stewart – Sounds like a classical guitar recital. Goes well with the two piano recitals also in this set of songs. Instrumentals are fine, but this is song-mother-fucking-fight.

Set Fire – Technically, there’s not much wrong with this song, but I don’t find it very appealing for some reason. The heavy parts sound garish (too many cymbal clashes), and the electro-vocals don’t fit the atmosphere of the rest of the song. All rock, but need to work on the style.

Renwick – Another song I like quite a bit. The guitar is great throughout, always doing different things. Hook-y verse melody is always a plus. Something about it makes it feel longer than it actually is.