CITY BLOCK CITY (uh, block city reviews for you retards)

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:24 pm

THANKS FRIED!

Hear that leaf! we have a chance!

Bjam · Post by **Bjam** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:37 pm

Reviews will come in a bit. But I was listening to them at school, and as Leablit's comes on, this kid comes and sits next to me with "Hobbits love Leaf" written on their binder. Is the universe trying to tell me something? Typos bring out the truth?

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 2:43 pm

Bjam wrote:Reviews will come in a bit. But I was listening to them at school, and as Leablit's comes on, this kid comes and sits next to me with "Hobbits love Leaf" written on their binder. Is the universe trying to tell me something? Typos bring out the truth?

Ok miss smartie pants.

You know what? Maybe it said Hobbit loves leaf... we know that's true!

But seriously folks... when you do a collab, and you can FEEL the other player/s in the room with ya as you play, it's like jamming... I felt like we jammed together.. it was awesome. I think that vibe comes through the tune too... thus all the excitement we naturally have, seeing as we've never physcially met (debunking your theory!!.... or at least ... metaphysically....) anyway... ya. Made my Sunday jamming on this one... and the tune (all Hoblit by the way) was very inspiring. It rocks.

mkilly · Post by **mkilly** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 4:33 pm

j$ wrote:That'll teach you for not reading the post directly after yours in the prefight thread, Marcus ... I warned you!

Theophilus Monk This is great. Who is playing your sister? Very interesting, and a pleasant little groove that builds up over the song. I think you could have entered it by just changing the name (you mention blocks at least once, and Lego is perfectly valid. Had I entered, my song would have been about living in 'Lego Star Wars' Cloud City). I like this a lot. It could end comofrtably at 1.50 - the extended instrumental doesn't add much apart from length. But this would have come second only to Leablit in my personal 'Block City' top ten.

j$

I knew I could count on you for a good review. I emailed FM and said "Well, enter it anyway" but seemingly he didn't receive the email or decided to not enter it. My sister was played by my friend Casey's girlfriend, Trina. Thanks though, cashpoint.

vanilla ike wrote:on more than one occasion i have heard/read this "accidentally though the title was......"
......really.....i mean, come on man........how the hell does that happen?

I saw the titles and then relayed them to my bandmates later, away from the computer screen and away from songfight.org. I'd thought to do something about Lego, and "Lego brick" and "Lego block" are pretty synonymous and similar looking and sounding.

Gemini6Ice · Post by **Gemini6Ice** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 4:59 pm

I hope the "Cover Art Pending" doesn't mean that there's a Red Guest Artist this week. I just whipped up some Block City cover art.

^_^

historyman68 · Post by **historyman68** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 7:55 pm

I'm gonna post my reviews. Just listening a few more times first.

And to all the haters, um... I got nothing.

j$ · Post by j$ » Tue Dec 21, 2004 9:41 pm

historyman68 wrote:I'm gonna post my reviews.

It's good to have you back, mr historyman. I for one missed your stuff. Mucho potential (although this one didn't do it for me, as I have said)

MKilly wrote:I knew I could count on you for a good review.

Well, make some crap music and I'll let you know

I seem to recall being unimpressed by Ulysses in the 'Adam & Steve' fight, but that might just have been to spite 15-16 Puzzle

(I run the risk of making myself look stupid here, when it turns out neither you, nor 15-16, were involved in the making of that particular track.)

historyman68 · Post by **historyman68** » Tue Dec 21, 2004 11:32 pm

j$ wrote:
historyman68 wrote:I'm gonna post my reviews.
It's good to have you back, mr historyman. I for one missed your stuff. Mucho potential (although this one didn't do it for me, as I have said)

Danke.
Yeah, my track was a little tossed-off, sort of a warm-up to get back into the groove. But I will talk about it more in my forthcoming reviews!

historyman68 · Post by **historyman68** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:14 am

block city

Dave 'Over
Is it just me, or does this song contain far more snippets of other songs than is necessary? "Tell me what you want, what you really want" -- the spice girls? "wouldn't want it any other way" is from... something. Kudos for the whistling. I like your voice, actually. This has a lot going for it, just seems like you keep repeating "It's just a rock n roll song" to convince us and your self that it is, indeed, a rock and roll song, and that, no, we wouldn't want it any other way.
But despite my criticisms, the song does have a lot going for it. I like the change-up in the intro, where the song starts in one key and rhythm, then modulates. effective. And the constant repetition of particular lines (you know which ones I'm talking about), gets it stuck in my head, which must be a good thing, right? In the end, the little parts of plot which you try to throw in there just muddle it up: "you're from an island, etc." is unnecessary. Better to keep up with timeless, familiar sounding lines like "tell me what you want, etc." Though "i'll put a block on the city," while I don't quite understand it, is compelling.

The Likely Lads
Wow. sounds like some classic rock band I don't know, but don't know too well. then you kind of ruin it with the chorus. It also has a little Modest Mouse feel to it, esp the beginning music and voice. The lyrics are appropriately grungy. Really, the only thing really wrong with this song is the harmony on the chorus. It is less professional and authentic than the rest of the song. Is this based on Bubba Ho-Tep? The ending is a little anti-climactic. I was almost hoping for a fade out or something. Or maybe a blistering guitar solo. Or a leisurely guitar solo. Though I suppose no guitar solo is better than some lame-ass guitar solo that completely takes me out of it. Not to say that's what you'd do. But if that's what you were gonna do, thanks for not doing it. Ooh, maybe a nice little slow fiddle solo might do the trick...

luke henley
I frikkin love your lyrics. I like the voices and harmonies esp "i gambled all my ..." but most of it seems pretty thrown together and not well planned out. The sound and ambiance is nice, and it's a really charming song, but this sounds like the first draft. It sounds at the end like you give up in the middle. Go practice and figure out what chords you are playing, then record it again. Or get a producer to help you figure out what you're doing. Cause it could be great.
One more question: can blocks rot?

Ice Weasels
Hot beginning. It grooves. Reminds me of a Chemical Brothers song. Listen to the song "The Golden Path," with the Flaming Lips. Something cool they do is put effects on particular words in each line, that are appropriate, Just saying it right now sounds kinda lame, but it works well. Summary of this song: I could see myself listening to this on repeat for hours without noticing... or caring. But I'd also want to hear it again.

Level Nivelo
Rocks. Kinda. But the voice just doesn't quite work. Though the chords and melody are quite nice. And I like the gong at the end (like mine!). But it just seems like it has more clever than anything else. Yes, you're talking about living in a city of blocks, probably like a lego or kin. (can blocks burn down to the ground?) But is there anything else, besides that think premise?
short & sweet. Kinda.

poor june
best conceptual take on title. i like your voice and piano technique. But not quite sure if i care about what you're saying.
The beginning sounds like the cross between final fantasy soundtrack and tori amos. Then the voice sounds like a cross between tori amos and some guy with an interesting voice. Your voice has (I hate talking like this) potential, and could be very expressive. It's just not quite there yet. I mean, do you sing more than two notes? Someone said "Eddie Vedder," and I can't help but hear that too. The part with the "all the things that make us different" part is good. When you get into vocal doubling and backwards piano it just gets muddled. And all those different MIDI sounds, I agree sound a little... lame? More like you're just noodling around with three different sound. Actually, I can kind of hear what you're going for... a sort of waterfall of sound. It could work. But it doesn't here.

Leablit
Whoa. Sounds kinda like Skindred. You might not've heard them... a Reggae Metal band. Very odd.
In any case, this is a similar kind of fusion of styles. Like a Hoe-down, but with electric guitar?
And now you're singing about what you feel. Linkin Frikkin Park, dude. This sounds like a combination of every artist we play on the Alt Rock radio station I work at. Is that a good or a bad thing?
The guitar solo is the type that can only be described as "scorching." Unfortunately, that seems to be the only thing that is too short. The rest is, well, too long.

Carol Cleveland Sings
Are you singing about gay people? This sounds like I could like it, but there's just too much. It doesn't cohere together into one... song. It sounds kind of tossed-off, like if you'd put more work into it you could've made it pretty good. Your voice, which I normally like, just seems unnecessarily high-pitched. Actually, your song has some high-frequency sounds that kind of give me a headache. Overall, it sounds like a bunch of random stuff clopped together, kind of like mine. Yours sounds better than mine, because you're frikkin Carol Cleveland Sings. But not good enough to make me vote for you in good conscience.

Historyman
Wow, this is a real aural assault. Crazy. I can understand y'alls not liking it, but i actually like it a lot. This song is notable in that it was composed entirely of three elements:
a) my voice
b) me hitting things, like the Sound effects book
c) timpani and gong sound effects.
My friend said it would be better if it were not in English. I can understand that, because my lyrics do suck (I kind of made them up on the spot). I should re-record this in German. Blockstadt!
What else... I kind of set this out as an experiment: can I make something cool in a small amount of time? Can I make a drumbeat out of scratch?

I'm glad people found stuff that my song resembled, though I honestly have no idea who Fun Boy Three / Captain Scarlet & the Mysterions are. I also think my choir in the end definitely could be louder.

the human cello wrote:Historyman*: You're too quirky for your own good. This really awesome. Nice gong action! I could see you singing this in a hooded robe looking over your peons as they build you a monument or something. Nice job. 3 and 2/3 stars.
...
3. Historyman*

Danke. I really want a robe. And peons.

Historyman's final thoughts:

Lots of people went with the obvious "lego" thing. I really liked a number. A number, like mine, also seemed kind of tossed off, like far more work could've been put into it. Though I think mine particularly might not have benefitted from much more work, just because it is inherently just kinda weird and short. Am I the only one who wishes it was longer, though, or is that just vanity?

j$ · Post by j$ » Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:08 am

historyman68 wrote:I'm glad people found stuff that my song resembled, though I honestly have no idea who Fun Boy Three / Captain Scarlet & the Mysterions are.

Am I the only one who wishes it was longer, though, or is that just vanity?

I didn't expect you to. Very UK reference. Fun Boy Three = socialist very cool minimal bass, timpani & trumpet threesome who did 'The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum', 'Tunnel of Love', 'Our Lips Are Sealed' and other great songs. best known for the stuff they did with Banarama, not really representative. Captain Scarlet was a puppet show from the people who made 'thunderbirds' - it had a hummable theme tune with timpanis.

I don't wish it was longer, particularly, but the sounds could be spread apart both throught he song and across gthe mix a bit more. Less is more in this kind of thing, in my opinion.

j$

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:14 am

Carol Cleveland Sings: I don’t like this. I’m starting to feel a bit like - ‘heard one Carol Cleveland Sings – heard ‘em all’

Level Nivelo: This didn’t grab me.

Likely Lads: Very dull. I know you blokes can do a lot better than this.

Ice Weasels: Not bad – but a bit soulless and pedestrian. It’s a pretty good sound, but just lacking something to grab the listener

Luke Henley: Sloppy is good – but this is just a bit too sloppy. There’s some good stuff here though. You’ve got style – style is good. I want to hear more for you.

Historyman: Shithouse

Leablit: Mucho cohones. You make a lovely couple. Music is spot on – the growly vocals are great – maybe the other vocal bits could have been brought out a bit more – they sound a bit restrained – still, you’ve got a great voice. Enjoyable

David 'Over: I normally like things like this – but I don’t like this. I wish I could tell you why – but I’m not really sure. You’re voice is good and you’re in tune – but there’s just something about the singing I’m not enjoying. It’s a pretty good song too, but….Maybe you should have but a few zigazig ahs in there

Poor June: Nice goanna. This is great. Is this with your new mics PJ? I hope I improve so much when I get my new mic next week. Vocal a little bit off here and there - shame because you’ve got a good voice and its obvious you can sing well – carelessness? I really like this – sort of Nick Cave-y

Leafblit, Luke Henley and Poor June the only bright spots here - I'll vote for PJ.

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 9:58 am

historyman68 wrote: Leablit
Whoa. Sounds kinda like Skindred. .. a Reggae Metal band. Very odd.

And now you're singing about what you feel. Linkin Frikkin Park, dude. This sounds like a combination of every artist we play on the Alt Rock radio station I work at. Is that a good or a bad thing?
The guitar solo is the type that can only be described as "scorching."

Not familiar with Skindred, but the song is really a complete rip off of Soul Fly really. Maybe 'rip off' is too harsh a term for what it is...it's 'in style of' Soul Fly...with a little Coal Chamber thrown in for good measure.

I totally expected someone to toss in a 'Linkin park' reference because of the obnoxious screamy vocal transition to the squeaky clean slow echoey ones. I don't think thats a bad thing, they didn't invent that...they just made it popular. Being compared to Alt Rock bands on the radio isn't a 'bad' thing in my book.

I'm not singing what I feel in this song...I'm singing what other people around me have expressed HOW THEY feel. (do you hear me CARRIE? ...no, I guess you don't)

Thanks for your time man..I do appreciate the time and thoughts

You too Caravan Ray! Thanks

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:50 am

1: carolc, iceweasels, likely lads, leablit, poorjune
2: leveln, historyman, david

leveln seems like the vocals should be catchier.
carol cleveland sounds like it's very far away, through dark city streets. weird effect. but cool song.
iceweasels is very cool. vocals could use a little work, i think. but i love the drums and keyboards.
luke henley seems all offkilter, and i'm not fond of the vocals. i don't know what's happening.
historyman is very interesting. not the greatest ever, but worth listening to.
likely lads - i enjoyed this.
david was better than many g&g, but not to my taste.
leablit - i like this, but i want to like it better than i do. i think the more yelly vox aren't doing it for me, as i like the sung parts better. still, good enough for my #1 list.
poorjune's piano is very nice. vox are pretty good. is this the new mic yet? i like this.

my favotites are carolc and iceweasels... i'll choose a vote shortly. now: lunch.
-bill

WeaselSlayer · Post by **WeaselSlayer** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:56 am

Thank you everrrrrybody for the comments, I think I expected the "too sloppy" comments. Really, I didn't quite feel comfortable with it either, but I have a weird stigma against doing more than one take on anything. Call it superstition? I dunno, I did just kind of slap this together in 20 minutes. But I think I will try harder next time! You guys bring the best out in me? More at 11.

Love,
Luke

HeuristicsInc · Post by **HeuristicsInc** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 12:05 pm

definitely do more takes.
your music will improve.
there's definitely potential there!
-bill

Rabid Garfunkel · Post by **Rabid Garfunkel** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 1:25 pm

vanilla ike wrote:......really.....i mean, come on man........how the hell does that happen?

You realize you've set yourself up for this to happen to you.

Oh, and elves, elves change the title in your head when you're chilling with the sugarplum fairies, yo. That's how it happens.

Mostess · Post by **Mostess** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 2:59 pm

In order of preference:

The Carol Cleveland Sings entry reminds me of that Kurt Weill cover album from the '80s, "Lost In The Stars." Or that XTC pseudonym album (Dukes of Stratosphere?). The chromatic movement of the accompaniment is lovely. The near lack of repetition is refreshing, as is the length. You've lost focus by about 1:06, and if I were your editor, I'd make you bring back the "running with my head in a vice" melody back for a reprise at that point. My vote goes here.

Leablit is SongFight greatness. Ripe with catharsis. Thanks for the energy and the strength. I wouldn't change a thing.

Poor June: The mode shifts are welcome, like winter into spring. Start the song at the 2:00 mark and move from there; you have some lovely sounds and a better tempo.

The Likely Lads entry sounds real, like a live band at an outdoor concert. I like that here. The guitar work is gentle but full. The parallel perfect intervals of the vocals bugs me, but that's no deal breaker. A darned good song.

I like the Ice Weasels electric piano and the voice has a nice, distant quality. It's a bit boring, though. Changes come slow and predictably. Big empty hole from 2:07 to 2:20 would be a good stopping point, but it's only halftime.

David Over has some spirit and sounds fun, but the guitar part sounds unfinished and the melody has some unsanded edges. Just some more practice and this is fine album filler.

Level Nivelo has some nice sounds, though it's pretty thin overall. Not enough bass, and no real force. I don't really believe the singer wants to see the city burn down. Like the song is in quotes.

Luke Henley: There's a Jimmie Dale Gilmore twang to this that I like, but it only works well when you (or your backup) sings higher. You need more of that. And less empty space---the little instrumental breaks don't serve the song well at all. More energy would prop this up into a decent shape, but I'm not sure there's enough melody or heart to really make a good song. The last minute is embarrassingly devoid of direction, like you kind of fell asleep and forgot to turn off the tape recorder. Focus more on a shorter song. Use the time better.

This will become my boilerplate review for similar "music concrete" or "electroacoustic art music" or "bunch of guys with a couple hours to kill and no interest in writing an actual song" entries: Historyman: This does not have the form, aesthetics, instrumentation, or purpose of a traditional song. My opinion doesn't matter; I won't vote for it because any other entry that better approximates a song is simply a better song. My suggestions would be meaningless because your intentions are a mystery. To my mind, your entry is a waste of bandwidth and time, but I don't speak for SongFight, so take that for what it's worth.

WeaselSlayer · Post by **WeaselSlayer** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:21 pm

While I appreciate the time you took working on those reviews, Mostess, I would like to point out that - and I mostly noticed this when you were talking about someone else so this isn't because you didn't like my song or anything - you should cut back on your "cute 'n' clever" music journalist tone. You come off as very snotty at times. Just sayin'.

Love,
Luke

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:49 pm

WeaselSlayer wrote:While I appreciate the time you took working on those reviews,
- you should cut back on your "cute 'n' clever" music journalist tone. You come off as very snotty at times. Just sayin'.

I'm not attacking you when I say this:

but I don't see it.

what are you talking about do0d? Seems like a very well thought out review process with tips and opnions blended rather nicely. I think you might be reading it with tone that is not intended *SMILEY*

historyman68 · Post by **historyman68** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 5:54 pm

Mostess wrote:In order of preference:
This will become my boilerplate review for similar "music concrete" or "electroacoustic art music" or "bunch of guys with a couple hours to kill and no interest in writing an actual song" entries: Historyman: This does not have the form, aesthetics, instrumentation, or purpose of a traditional song. My opinion doesn't matter; I won't vote for it because any other entry that better approximates a song is simply a better song. My suggestions would be meaningless because your intentions are a mystery. To my mind, your entry is a waste of bandwidth and time, but I don't speak for SongFight, so take that for what it's worth.

___I'm not taking offense to this because, largely, you're correct. My "song," as you call it, was more or less me (you flatter me in assuming that this was composed by a "couple of guys") screwing around and trying to make something cool. Ironic, because I usually do try to make "real songs;" I just felt like trying out something different this time and pushing my limits. I appreciate your spending time on my song, especially since this was not even your fight.
___I do take issue with your contention that my song does not have the "form, aesthetics, instrumentation, or purpose of a traditional song."

This song has a very traditional song structute. Intro, verse 1, bridge, verse 2, outro. That's almost folk song or sonata structure.

The aesthetics, okay, I concede that one, but it does have an aesthetic, just not yours... is that "traditional?"

On the instrumentation, once again, I was pushing it, and you can read my own posting on my own song to see how it was composed; I don't want to waste other people's space on this.

But purpose? What is the purpose of a traditional song? I probably didn't conform to your traditional song purpose. But what is it? To entertain people? To tell a story? To make people happy? To create a mood? I believe that my song does all of those, with emphasis on creating a mood. Though maybe it didn't make you very happy.
___Finally, thanks for referring to my entry as "music concrete," though I think that has a specific definition which is not what I was doing. In any case, as an electronic music major, I am glad that you see my music in those terms, and I appreciate your general suspension of judgement.
___When I first came in to Songfight, Polish Rhino was the local "weird electronic music artist." And his stuff was pretty weird. But he always had a reason for everything he did, and sometimes I could figure it out. Sometimes I thought it was crap. I don't expect you to vote for me. I don't think that you were trying to be mean, but watch out that your emotions while writing the review don't get the better of you.
___Also, thanks, Weasel; I can take care of myself, but I appreciate you having my back.

(edited for readability)

Adam! · Post by **Adam!** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 6:00 pm

Mono-review:

Leabit: OK, seriously, this is the best song I've heard in a month, SongFight or otherwise. It sounds so dirty and awesome that it has made me doubt the accuracy of the proverb "Cleanliness is next to Godliness." I guess the ancient Hebrews didn't have Leabit in mind when they came up with that one. Guitar and drums are absolutely top notch. [VOTE]

Hoblit · Post by **Hoblit** » Wed Dec 22, 2004 10:27 pm

PUCE! THANKS A BILLION! I really do appreciate that!

CITY BLOCK CITY (uh, block city reviews for you retards)

Yep.

Re: Yep.

Re: Yep.

Block City Reviews by the one and only Historyman!

Re: Block City Reviews by the one and only Historyman!

Re: Block City Reviews by the one and only Historyman!