No Flava Original Twists Reviews (coverfight)

[the idiot king]

lonbobby, i'm loving your version of boarding call. i find the original to be far too nu-metal for my liking these days (i just bought a baritone guitar the week before recording it and wanted to bang out some loud noise with it), and this is a really cool way of interpreting it.

[wages]

Hey Chuck! This was a "Hoglen and Wages" entry, not just Wages. Please to fix for dexterity.

BLT - Thanks for the rockin' version of my melloncollie tune!

[king_arthur]

Hey Chuck! This was a "Hoglen and Wages" entry, not just Wages. Please to fix for dexterity.

BLT - Thanks for the rockin' version of my melloncollie tune!

An updated version of BLT's version has just been uploaded. I think...

I will fix the index file.

Charles

[LMNOP]

Well, Naked Guy, you’ve put me squarely in the “I wouldn’t have guessed…” camp. My “Am I Forgiven” is a barbershop quartet arrangement that moves from a languid 3/4 to a zippy 4/4 and back again with a vaguely verse-verse-verse-verse structure with no chorus. You reached through all that and found a rock song lurking in there. You’re nuts. I love it.

This is the first time I’ve done a coverfight so I may pretend that I’m interesting and write a long post later that no one but Fluffy will read about my approach and experience. I’d be interested in what others have to say about how you picked your song, whether or not you had an approach in mind ahead of time, what the biggest obstacle was for you in adapting your specific coveree’s work, etc.

I’ve listened to everything a couple of times now and have decided that I don’t have anything useful, interesting or entertaining to say about most of it. Sorry ‘bout that. Here’s what I came up with:

My favorite, and by a country mile, is Ross. I’ll admit I went back and forth a bunch of times between cover and original trying to decide if this was really a cover or primarily just a new setting of the lyrics. It’s hard to put my finger on it exactly but I eventually concluded that Ross brought over a number of musical elements, just not at anything close to 100%. It doesn’t really matter. He turned the James McMurtry knob to eleven and I love it when he does that – it’s in the opening guitar, not just the vocals. This is the missing track from “Too Long in the Wasteland” and I really really really like it. BLT wins the coverfight.

My first runner-up is Lonbobby. This surprises me because a little bit of electronic stuff can go a long way for me sometimes. But there is depth and musicianship in this arrangement and it’s one of the few songs that I listened to to the end the first time around. That the melody of the original is pretty darn good doesn’t hurt either.

Second runner-up is Minty Handy. To a large extent, he’s standing on Mark’s shoulders here. But he keeps his balance and doesn’t fall off. Metaphor aside, way to find the good stuff and bring it out!

Jon Eric almost got mentioned higher up than this. Enjoyed your work, sir. Same for BSS who brought a musical and well-produced cover like you knew they would. Grows on me more with each listen.

Two others merit mention. Props to BLT for just bringin’ it. And my guilty pleasure of the fight is – and I can’t believe I’m saying this – Octothorpe. Well done, folks.

I'm sure I'm leaving someone out simply because I'm not looking at the fight page so nice job, you-know-who-you-are. Try to be more memorable next time, though.

You know, there wasn’t any garbage here and I enjoyed going through everything. I hope no one’s offended because this random guy on the internet didn’t call them out by name. Good game, everyone!

[Rabid Garfunkel]

I'll be listening and enjoying this all once I get my cover of Roymond's "Shoelace Soup" in. But Caravan Ray hurts my brain, heh. He covered a song we did, as a cover for him, oh so many GoMs ago? So very meta! Can't wait to hear it.

[JonPorobil]

I'll be listening and enjoying this all once I get my cover of Roymond's "Shoelace Soup" in. But Caravan Ray hurts my brain, heh. He covered a song we did, as a cover for him, oh so many GoMs ago? So very meta! Can't wait to hear it.

Am I missing something here? The only Caravan Ray cover I'm seeing is his rendition of your (solo) "Stranded," from last Nur Ein.

Anyway.... Alright, this is time-consuming because I'm listening to the orignals and the covers side-by-side in most instances. Because of that, I'm splitting the reviews into two. Here's part one.

For many of the songs here, I was unfamiliar with the originals. It's interesting, however, how a song can sound both like its original artist and like the person covering it. I suppose part of that is from the fact that the covering artist got to choose the most advantageous song, but it's still an interesting phenomenon - almost like listening to two bands at once.

The best example of this sensation is also my pick for the best entry of this coverfight, Ross Durand's cover of BLT's "Convalescence." I wasn't familiar with the original, but listening to Ross' version, I could clearly hear BLT's imagination at work, even though Ross felt completely at home in the song and made it his own. A dramatic shift in arrangement, but on the other hand, not very different at all.

Another good example is Berkely Social Scene's cover of Lord of Oats' "How Much Will You Give Me?" They took a pretty boring song with cute lyrics and turned it into the fun bouncy number it was trying to be in the first place. I tend to feel kind of wary about covering a song whose lyrics are so obviously autobiographical, but it works here.

As far as I'm concerned, those two take gold and silver, and pretty much everything else ties for the bronze. Here's some other reviews, in the order posted on the site:

Niveous covering BSS' "Thinkin' About the Old Days" - I'm sure I'd heard the original before, but didn't remember it when I got to this cover of it. This ambient mood suits it, though I think it could have benefited from a couple more bpm and a less-wavering vocal take. I can't tell if it's a cheap microphone or if you're just too close to it, but your voice comes across kind of flat here. I do admire the ambition, and it's always interesting to see BSS done in a different genre.

tuuur covering Caravan Ray's "Please the Pig" - This is so interesting. Hearing an early Caravan Ray song where his stuff sounds so much rougher than it does now really throws me for a loop, but then hearing tuuur do a cover in which he sounds more like Caravan Ray than Caravan Ray is amazing. I like the judicious use of the single-voice for emphasis where doubled vocals are the predominant mode. Honestly, though, this is interesting to me because I think this is what the song would sound like if Caravan Ray re-recorded it now. And that's blowing my mind.

Lonbobby covers the Idiots Kings' "Boarding Call" - Wasn't familiar with the original. When I checked it out, it sounded familiar, though, so maybe I'm crazy. This is another one of those songs where it feels like I'm listening to two people at once. The phrasing of the melody is still unmistakably Idiot Kings, but the ambience and artificial vocals bear Lonbobby's fingerprint as well. The electronic influence in the original makes this a fairly logical leap, but Lonbobby's track is a lot closer to my comfort zone than the original.

Jan Krueger covering Naked Philosophy's "Sorry to Inform You" - Hey, here's one that I know the original already! Is this the biggest departure of the whole coverfight? This is such an unexpected approach to this song. I'm not sure it fits with the songs' lyrical content, but oh well. Your fake orchestra is awesome. Did you do all the choral voices? That is doubly impressive. The organ intro kind of reminds me of my cover of Mevin's "God Hates Penguins," but this is way more impressive. I'm curious why you picked that one, though...

Heuristics, Inc. covering Johnny Cashpoint's "Obey All Laws" - Wasn't familiar with the original, so I was a little surprised to hear which parts from your cover had been direct lifts. I thought the siren and the pac-man noise would have been your additions. This is another example of the coverer picking a song that plays to his strengths. The catchiness in this song's melody comes from the phrasing as much as the actual singing, which means Bill didn't have to sing a whole lot to get the point across. And he picked a song that he could do with his particular synth panache without destroying the song completely. Overall that makes this a little less ambitious than some other entries this coverfight, but there's nothing wrong with that. This is a straight-up, faithful rendition, and well-done at that.

Myself covering Jan Krueger's "Half a Million Nerds" - I gave myself a rule here. Since the original, as an a capella number, was pretty much all harmony, I did not allow myself the use of backup vocals. Tempting though it may have been. That organ just doesn't have the same punch as a group of voices all going "aahhhhh" in the background. Oh well. I may have autotuned a little too heavily. This is my first completed track with my new drum synth software, and the feedback is mostly positive so far. There's a million little nitpicky things I'd like to change, but I'm very satisfied with how this turned out. Also, any time I manage to rap without completely embarrassing myself is a victory in and of itself.

King Arthur covering my "Brother in Law" - I said in the IRC room, and don't mind repeating here: "<Generic> I'm a little shocked that the King picked the song that he did. I happen to think that's one of the most poorly-executed and forgettable songs in my ouvre. There's maybe three songs I've got which I would have considered less coverable than that one." But the narrative in this song is kind of King-Arthur-ish, after all. Listening back over the original, I cringe like crazy, though I do think that was my best guitar performance to date. The lyrics were more or less meticulously constructed for optimal scansion, so I was a little surprised to hear the changes you made. Makes it seem a little more rambly, a little more organic. And of course, you can guitar circles around me. Excellent job!

[Albatross]

Am I missing something here? The only Caravan Ray cover I'm seeing is his rendition of your (solo) "Stranded," from last Nur Ein.

That's true. There seems to be some confusion.

In 2004 Primitive Screwheads (RG and I) covered a Saints song called "(I'm) Stranded" for the GoM, and Caravan Ray was the beneficiary. RG recorded "Stranded" for the last Nur Ein. The latter is what Caravan Ray has covered here.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Ohhhh... that one? Well, if I'd been more on top of things (getting my cover done in time) so's I could listen to the 'fight with a clear consience, I pro'lly wouldn't've spouted off like that. Thanks, Max, for making sense of my stupidity to the world at large! (Some things never change, hey?)

[Billy's Little Trip]

An updated version of BLT's version has just been uploaded. I think...

Yes, it's right. Thank you, Chuckles.

[king_arthur]

King Arthur covering my "Brother in Law" - I said in the IRC room, and don't mind repeating here: "<Generic> I'm a little shocked that the King picked the song that he did. I happen to think that's one of the most poorly-executed and forgettable songs in my ouvre. There's maybe three songs I've got which I would have considered less coverable than that one." But the narrative in this song is kind of King-Arthur-ish, after all. Listening back over the original, I cringe like crazy, though I do think that was my best guitar performance to date. The lyrics were more or less meticulously constructed for optimal scansion, so I was a little surprised to hear the changes you made. Makes it seem a little more rambly, a little more organic. And of course, you can guitar circles around me. Excellent job!

Jon - I picked this song because it seemed like it had more of a "story line" than any of the other ones of yours I listened to, and story line is one of the things that a lot of KA songs end up having. A lot of the lyric changes I made were places where the original story seemed too rambly or confused to me, so there ya go. "Burlap sack" did seem old-timey, so it turned into "old backpack." The story of the marriage, the paid witnesses, hinted at a Las Vegas wedding, so that's where it went (and I am rather proud of "Elvis in the pulpit, makin' sure it got done right"). I will generally go for story line over scansion because I know how to sing lines that don't scan well so that they fit the music (I think .

When I heard this one, I immediately thought of Bruce Springsteen doing it, and that's what I was aiming for, though I guess it came out rather weak-kneed to sound like the Boss, and he's got vocal tone that I just can't get to. I probably should have done a bunch of remixing, but, while I had the song all recorded and a first mix done two or three weeks ago (fortunately, because I'm having those face pain issues again where I can't sing), I waited 'til the last minute to compress and send it to myself for posting. Lead guitar probably should have been stronger tone-wise, too, and unfortunately the drums sound especially fake here.

Anyway, glad you liked it overall, and that it gave you a new perspective on a song you were otherwise not very happy with...

Charles

[Billy's Little Trip]

Ohhhh... that one? Well, if I'd been more on top of things (getting my cover done in time) so's I could listen to the 'fight with a clear consience, I pro'lly wouldn't've spouted off like that. Thanks, Max, for making sense of my stupidity to the world at large! (Some things never change, hey?)

But, it would have been epic if your original assumption was correct. Caravan Ray basically covering his own song. That would be SO typical of John.

...plus it would have made my day reading Jon Eric's dramatic post on rules and ethics regarding such matters.

[king_arthur]

By the way, Idiot King(s) - I am digging what you did on my "Cosmic Confirmation," I just had to listen to it several times to get over myself and get my "you me and Julio" rhythm out of my head. The thing I think you captured here really well is the feeling of a guy standing out in a field on a cold December night, looking up at the stars for a sign. And somebody who expects every new relationship to turn out to be "just another lie." So, thank you! I would rather have somebody take one of my songs and really make it their own than just copy my arrangement note for note, even if the new version is a little surprising at first. And you did that very nicely, sir!

Charles (KA)

[HeuristicsInc]

Heuristics, Inc. covering Johnny Cashpoint's "Obey All Laws" - ...Overall that makes this a little less ambitious than some other entries this coverfight, but there's nothing wrong with that. This is a straight-up, faithful rendition, and well-done at that.

Yeah, I had originally picked J$'s "In the Valley" to cover, which was more of a stretch for me... but that turned out to be too much of a stretch Had trouble figuring all the words (tho I think I've got most of them right) and then even more trouble figuring the arrangement, so I left that one off. Might have to try again someday. I could have asked for chords via KA, but I didn't want to tip j$ off and ruin the surprise!
This cover was a very safe one for me, yes. But I did it in half the time
-bill

[tuuur]

Hey, thanks for the nice reviews y'all!

Caravan Ray, I'm thrilled to read here you liked it! That's what one does a coverfight like this for...
The drums I used aren't real drums, it's the demo version of a VST plugin called Addictive Drums; it just has kick, snare, hihat and one crash in demo mode, but that was enough for me...

I downloaded all songs and am planning a marathon listening session... can't wait to hear what you guys all came up with!

[Billy's Little Trip]

BLT - Thanks for the rockin' version of my melloncollie tune!

You're welcome, good sir. I heard the chords and changes and it hooked me. I instantly pictured a post grunge thing and it took off.

Also as a bonus, if you are interested. I will send you the music minus all vocals and mix yours in and your guitar or anything else you want to do. I figured because yours was G&G, it might be fun to have a Phil Wages featuring BLT song for your catalog.

[the idiot king]

By the way, Idiot King(s) - I am digging what you did on my "Cosmic Confirmation," I just had to listen to it several times to get over myself and get my "you me and Julio" rhythm out of my head. The thing I think you captured here really well is the feeling of a guy standing out in a field on a cold December night, looking up at the stars for a sign. And somebody who expects every new relationship to turn out to be "just another lie." So, thank you! I would rather have somebody take one of my songs and really make it their own than just copy my arrangement note for note, even if the new version is a little surprising at first. And you did that very nicely, sir!

Charles (KA)

i'm very glad you liked it. i was listening to various songs of yours, trying to decide which to do, and for some reason this one in particular struck me as capable of being "BIG". so i made it big.

[wages]

BLT - Thanks for the rockin' version of my melloncollie tune!

You're welcome, good sir. I heard the chords and changes and it hooked me. I instantly pictured a post grunge thing and it took off.

Also as a bonus, if you are interested. I will send you the music minus all vocals and mix yours in and your guitar or anything else you want to do. I figured because yours was G&G, it might be fun to have a Phil Wages featuring BLT song for your catalog.

Does a bear shit in the woods? Yes sir, I'd love to do that!!

[Billy's Little Trip]

BLT - Thanks for the rockin' version of my melloncollie tune!

You're welcome, good sir. I heard the chords and changes and it hooked me. I instantly pictured a post grunge thing and it took off.

Also as a bonus, if you are interested. I will send you the music minus all vocals and mix yours in and your guitar or anything else you want to do. I figured because yours was G&G, it might be fun to have a Phil Wages featuring BLT song for your catalog.

Does a bear shit in the woods? Yes sir, I'd love to do that!!

Ok, I'll email right now. I think I still have your email. I'll PM you if not.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Just pm'ed King Arthur the url for my cover of Roymond's "Shoelace Soup". Roymond's bridge totally blows me away every time I hear it.

http://pats-lies.com/songfight/rabidgarfunkel_ss.mp3

It's instrumental. I either need more cold medicine or less, heh. Gotta love that mellotron sound.

Edit: Wow John, that was fucking awesome! Thank you!

[wages]

Hey Chuck! This was a "Hoglen and Wages" entry, not just Wages. Please to fix for dexterity.

I will fix the index file.

Thank you sir!

[inevitableguy]

Well, I'm completely slammed at work this week - I haven't even had a chance to listen to the all of the songs yet, much less even consider writing reviews. I gotta say, however, that the Jan Kruger Artificial Orchestra had me grinning from ear to ear. I love this!

Well, Naked Guy, you’ve put me squarely in the “I wouldn’t have guessed…” camp. My “Am I Forgiven” is a barbershop quartet arrangement that moves from a languid 3/4 to a zippy 4/4 and back again with a vaguely verse-verse-verse-verse structure with no chorus. You reached through all that and found a rock song lurking in there. You’re nuts. I love it.

Ah. 3/4 time. That's why I had so much trouble with the phrasing.

This is the first time I’ve done a coverfight so I may pretend that I’m interesting and write a long post later that no one but Fluffy will read about my approach and experience. I’d be interested in what others have to say about how you picked your song, whether or not you had an approach in mind ahead of time, what the biggest obstacle was for you in adapting your specific coveree’s work, etc.

Well, since you asked...

I was originally stumped by your catalog - songs that tend to be a bit silly and range from a capella to blues-based rock. I'm pretty much a morose indie rocker, so I figured common ground might be hard to find. My gut instinct was to take on the song that was least like something I would do, which is how I ended up at "Am I Forgiven?" I'm not a terribly good musician, so it took me three days to figure out a set of chords that made sense with your melodies. Once I had that down, it all fell into place pretty quickly - I just turned everything up to 11 and went to town. I knew that I wanted to leave one section a capella as an homage to the original, so I tried to build everything up to that point.

Anyway, I had a lot of fun doing this, and I'm glad you liked it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I haven't had a chance to review yet. But the one thing I love about these covers are the complete changes of genre. It would be pretty boring to cover someones song here exactly like the original. So it's awesome hearing the different interpretations. Everyone did such a good job on their covers.