The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I have meticulously recorded every bowel movement I have had since 1982. My doctor doesn’t want to hear them but the joke is on her!!! Finally I get a chance to use one!!!

Caravan Ray wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 3:22 am

I have meticulously recorded every bowel movement I have had since 1982. My doctor doesn’t want to hear them but the joke is on her!!! Finally I get a chance to use one!!!

Redacted the obvious joke about what most of your songs sound like.

Pigfarmer Jr wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 4:16 am

Caravan Ray wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 3:22 am

I have meticulously recorded every bowel movement I have had since 1982. My doctor doesn’t want to hear them but the joke is on her!!! Finally I get a chance to use one!!!

Redacted the obvious joke about what most of your songs sound like.

Like the sound of angels being released to the heavens with the background stench of worldly corruption.

seemanski wrote: ↑

Sun May 23, 2021 10:39 pm

I wasn't sure how to take field recording so I took it literally and recorded my backing vocals in a field.

Glad to have you back this year seemanski

Caravan Ray wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 4:24 am

Pigfarmer Jr wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 4:16 am

Caravan Ray wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 3:22 am

I have meticulously recorded every bowel movement I have had since 1982. My doctor doesn’t want to hear them but the joke is on her!!! Finally I get a chance to use one!!!

Redacted the obvious joke about what most of your songs sound like.

Like the sound of angels being released to the heavens with the background stench of worldly corruption.

Exactly!

Where is the lichenthroat shadow? I see dented bento, but not LT’s

W.A.I.L. I.A.A.C.

I was hoping for more urban field recordings getting made and used. What I got was far too many bird sounds

Anyway, I use "F.R." often below as I got bored of writing field recording over and again.

Also there was an incident (described below in my review of Grumpy old Mike's song) which made an entire re-listen required, so a)I.A.A. good C, apparently and b) if your review sounds like it was meant for someone else, let me know and I will re-listen again before I turn these into scores. I certainly feel I owe GM a more balanced review, which I will correct in due course.

Balance Lost -
It's OK. The vocal doesn't sound off-key to me. Nice moments but it feels a little rushed. Liked the join between field recording and the song, and I do like that 40 seconds or so, so...

Berkeley Social Scene -
Good tune but fairly standard fare. The "call to the cop" section is fairly unconvincing and my inherent impatience at song lengths kicks off fairly big time around then.

Boffo Yux Dudes -
I quite like this except for two things - the rather unimaginative arrangement which makes it feel draggier than it could be, and the chorus - the high note is quite offputting, I would suggest.

Brown Word and the Big Whine -
Good start! I think this be my favourite so far, but then i went to Girlschool. There may be a part too much to the chorus. But the section at 3.00-ish is tremendous. That was really good.

Budget Bears -
Some lyrical choices surprise me and drag me out of the good song. Now i have to go read your lyrical contribution to figure out what I missed instead of commenting on the nice use of field recording. A bit bland in its construction structurally, perhaps, but good.

Cavedwellers -
I like the use of the field recording, but i hoped the crashing percussion would be used throughout the song. Damn it, i like a cavedwellers song! It has all the usual red flags (ropey singing & ridiculous pomposity, mainly) so I should be ripping you a new one. But the campness of it all shines through, just about. But nearly five minutes is enough to dampen my ardour. I stopped for a well earnt breather at 3.13 before going back into the caves, so that should tell you all you need to know. The musical equivalent of being recommended the Descent but watching Descent 2 by mistake. That last minute and a half is a massive indulgence.

Crown Shy -
Like all the songs I've heard so far, the impression i'm getting is the use of field recording has nothing to do with the song that follows it. That's by the by - this is undeniably pretty. Really lovely and I do like the way the FR turns up through the song (even though it doesn't add anything to it).

Ever Kenievel -
Not bad but a bit overly "sensitive singer-songwriter" in the arrangement and performance. The words try too hard to seem clever when I don't think they are. Still, nice enough!

Frankie and the Mountweasels -
This could be a very good 1.44 song but as it is, it's a very average 2.44 min song. There's bits I like, more i don't. Songs about pooing - I wasn't nice about Lucky Spoons last entry for the same reason.

Governing Dynamics -
Damn I hate this, except for that guitar riff at the beginning. Sorry! I don't have much of use to say. Based on the tremendously indulgent lyric, neither do you I am sure we will be coming a cropper for another six rounds, so feel free to ignore what I write!

Grumpy Mike -
So, true story -I downloaded all the songs today ahead of reviewing, and somehow yours got missed. I write my reviews alphabetically, so when I got to the end and there was someone missing, it utterly threw me. I checked and some of my reviews were mis-allocated so I had to listen again to ensure that they all eventually matched up. Wrote this as I listened to your song, which did nothing to drag me back from this little confession. Not a fan, i'm afraid. It's OK is the best i can offer.

Heid -
What's not to like? Apart from the length, of course. But you're not the worst offender on that front, and French chanson style cafe music happens to be something I really go for. Though either your interpretation of the challenge is incredibly subtle and nuanced, or i've gone deaf cos i can't hear it at all. I jumped around the song after listening to see if it was my cloth ears and all I could find was a 10 second silence at the end of the track, which makes me think something went wrong in the mixdown. Or I am remarkably dumb. Probably the latter. [Edit: Ignore that last bit. It's the latter. I heard it. Twice. That effect is too subtle for me, trying to review 25 songs]

Hot Pink Halo -
Nice guitaring. Strangely this reminds me of a Balance Lost song (that i like). Or maybe it the phrasing, the stumbling cadences make me think of a late era Clash song which inexplicably has gone out of my head. Not "cut the crap" though, thankfully for all involved. Good field recording usage.

The Lowest Bitter -
Good to hear the use of Urban FR, which is more to my taste. After that, it goes a bit bland. Its also very pretty. OK, it suddenly got much more fun when the drums/bvs kick in. Also, knows when to end.

Lucky Spoon -
The spoken word intro makes me think of "The Midnight Gospel", thankfully it goes to stranger (and better) places than that. It suffers from the "look at my sensitivity" trope that I have witnessed a fair few times this round, but I like the melody so I think it gets the pass from me. Also suitably short.

Mandibles -
I cant really praise the chanson style of Heid's song without liking this one too. Just not as much. Mainly cos the faux-almost-operatic vocal style choice.

Max Bombast -
Like this one better than last round's but it's a trick -it's gonna go hideous metally isn't it? But the melody is better and the slower pace allows me to appreciate the song. Not the meta lyric, though. Ah well, it went punk instead, which is fine.

Moss Palace -
Not to my taste, i'm afraid. Well-performed and written, of course. But these reminds me of one of those 80s "Epic Vista" songs a lot and I can't get beyond that prejudice. Sorry.

Nick Soma -
Not bad, I guess. If you like the vague country-meets-"the Housemartins/Wonderstuff" vibe, which I don't. But that's not your fault as a) only i know what i'm talking about in this instance and b) you do it well.

see-man-ski -
I like the chord sequence very much and it sounds very nice. Though Im not sure you recorded all the BVs in a field. Just saying. I'm expecting a sample at the end from the field BVs. Hmm ok. I didn't hear anything ...

The Serviettes -
If i have to hear another bird recording, i'll ... oh. Never mind. I like the arrangement, with the "brass" going some way to off-setting a not very memorable tune. The vocal is much better than last round's. By the end, I'm wondering if this was your attempt to write a Bond theme.

Third Cat -
Met the challenge, not a bad song all told. The vocal seems a little quiet, not badly, but just under where I'd like it to be

Virgo Power -
Starts great but i'm not sure I like the vocal so much this time. However the arrangement / mix is great, I love little squiggles of sound like that.

wombat! -
Oh you know i'm going to love this. Though i think i complained last round about children's songs/nursery rhymes so may have to mark it down as I must stay consistent. A little slab of quirk. Will do for me.

WreckdoM -
The bass synth sounds great. The vocal in the chorus not so much. All the bits present for a great Wreckdom song don't really hold together so well. Good field recordings though.

Dented Bento -
Oh god, do I have to? The first four lines are so annoying (but that's probably just listening to 26 songs in a row two weeks in a row, my ears are burnt out). No, i'll forgive the slighly pitchy vocal a lot quicker than that lyric. I can feel my skin crawling once again ...

j$

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 9:14 am

Where is the lichenthroat shadow? I see dented bento, but not LT’s

I hadn't received it. But I have it now.

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:16 am

Crown Shy -
Like all the songs I've heard so far, the impression i'm getting is the use of field recording has nothing to do with the song that follows it. That's by the by - this is undeniably pretty. Really lovely and I do like the way the FR turns up through the song (even though it doesn't add anything to it).

Thanks for the prompt reviews! Not sure if you looked at the lyrics, but I described the intended connections to the field recording in the liner notes under the spoiler tag—the four-note musical motif you first hear on keys, that comes back on ukulele later, is the same one you hear the birds singing at the start of the field recording, and the lyrics are about serial killer Ed Gein, who died at the mental institution near my house where I took the field recordings. So it’s tied in both musically and content-wise, although on the surface it might just sound like a recording of birds.

owl wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:48 am

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:16 am

Crown Shy -
Like all the songs I've heard so far, the impression i'm getting is the use of field recording has nothing to do with the song that follows it. That's by the by - this is undeniably pretty. Really lovely and I do like the way the FR turns up through the song (even though it doesn't add anything to it).

Thanks for the prompt reviews! Not sure if you looked at the lyrics, but I described the intended connections to the field recording in the liner notes under the spoiler tag—the four-note musical motif you first hear on keys, that comes back on ukulele later, is the same one you hear the birds singing at the start of the field recording, and the lyrics are about serial killer Ed Gein, who died at the mental institution near my house where I took the field recordings. So it’s tied in both musically and content-wise, although on the surface it might just sound like a recording of birds.

Thanks for the prompt response! I did but as stated in previous Nur Eins where I have been a judge, I try not to comment on liner notes or lyrics but rather listen for the immediate impact of the song upon listening for the first time, as I think "show not tell" is far more helpful. Though I am sure i've been swayed by them, maybe even this round. It's good to have a framework.

j$

Niveous wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:22 am

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 9:14 am

Where is the lichenthroat shadow? I see dented bento, but not LT’s

I hadn't received it. But I have it now.

Hooray!

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 11:46 am

Niveous wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:22 am

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 9:14 am

Where is the lichenthroat shadow? I see dented bento, but not LT’s

I hadn't received it. But I have it now.

Hooray!

Thanks for your enthusiasm! I thought I sent it on Saturday night, but there was some sort of email mixup; I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it was probably my fault.

lichenthroat wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 11:50 am

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 11:46 am

Niveous wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:22 am

I hadn't received it. But I have it now.

Hooray!

Thanks for your enthusiasm! I thought I sent it on Saturday night, but there was some sort of email mixup; I'm not sure exactly what happened, but it was probably my fault.

Round zero I thought I’d sent mine then realised right as I was about to go to bed that it was just sitting there in my outbox doing nothing. Made sure to triple check it this round...

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:16 am

Mandibles -
I cant really praise the chanson style of Heid's song without liking this one too. Just not as much. Mainly cos the faux-almost-operatic vocal style choice.

j$

Ha. Haha. Ha haha hahahahahahaahahahahaha

Sorry, I always chuckle when people still say my vocals are operatic. Its no secret that I've studied opera, but with the sole except of the 'Is this Real Life?' fight, I never sing truly operatically for Mandibles. To my ear, while this delivery was warm and full and supported, it was too close and intimate to be operatic. That said, I'm tickled to hear that that was your interpretation. We stand at opposite sides of the spectrum, so it's interesting to hear your impressions. (and I do see where you put faux-almost. I just really hear this more musical theater... and maybe it makes me a snob to hear them as starkly different? Who can say)

Anyway, thanks for getting these reviews out so quick! I'm glad you did like it.

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 12:31 pm

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:16 am

Mandibles -
I cant really praise the chanson style of Heid's song without liking this one too. Just not as much. Mainly cos the faux-almost-operatic vocal style choice.

j$

Ha. Haha. Ha haha hahahahahahaahahahahaha

Sorry, I always chuckle when people still say my vocals are operatic. Its no secret that I've studied opera, but with the sole except of the 'Is this Real Life?' fight, I never sing truly operatically for Mandibles. To my ear, while this delivery was warm and full and supported, it was too close and intimate to be operatic. That said, I'm tickled to hear that that was your interpretation. We stand at opposite sides of the spectrum, so it's interesting to hear your impressions. (and I do see where you put faux-almost. I just really hear this more musical theater... and maybe it makes me a snob to hear them as starkly different? Who can say)

Anyway, thanks for getting these reviews out so quick! I'm glad you did like it.

I did like the song and I would say I struggled to find a way to discuss my problems with the voice. Which was why I chose to add the suffix "style" as I couldn't quite describe it though I can definitely hear it; and not the prefix "cod". I'm glad at least you found the review amusing..

j$

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 12:45 pm

Cybronica wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 12:31 pm

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:16 am

Mandibles -
I cant really praise the chanson style of Heid's song without liking this one too. Just not as much. Mainly cos the faux-almost-operatic vocal style choice.

j$

Ha. Haha. Ha haha hahahahahahaahahahahaha

Sorry, I always chuckle when people still say my vocals are operatic. Its no secret that I've studied opera, but with the sole except of the 'Is this Real Life?' fight, I never sing truly operatically for Mandibles. To my ear, while this delivery was warm and full and supported, it was too close and intimate to be operatic. That said, I'm tickled to hear that that was your interpretation. We stand at opposite sides of the spectrum, so it's interesting to hear your impressions. (and I do see where you put faux-almost. I just really hear this more musical theater... and maybe it makes me a snob to hear them as starkly different? Who can say)

Anyway, thanks for getting these reviews out so quick! I'm glad you did like it.

I did like the song and I would say I struggled to find a way to discuss my problems with the voice. Which was why I chose to add the suffix "style" as I couldn't quite describe it though I can definitely hear it; and not the prefix "cod". I'm glad at least you found the review amusing..

j$

I get it. My voice has always been an enigma, and the not-quite-pop-not-quite-classical sound has trouble finding a genre to fit into.

j$ wrote: ↑

Mon May 24, 2021 10:16 am

(...blah blah blah...) feel free to ignore what I write!

Seems like the best move for both of us, yeah.

Governing Dynamics chose his/her edit option kindly when j$ wrote:Damn I hate this, except for that guitar riff at the beginning. Sorry! I don't have much of use to say. Based on the tremendously indulgent lyric, neither do you I am sure we will be coming a cropper for another six rounds, so feel free to ignore what I write!

Bien sur! It's just a stylistic difference. However, I have a duty as a judge to review so I will keep doing it but I invite you not to give a f**k as to my opinions as I hope it would be easier. Though if I say something which makes you mad, feel free to chip in as it's good to have people keeping me in my place.
j$

Tonight's Listening Party can be found here - I'm hoping to be up for 9pm, but work commitments might make delay things. I'll update in the chat.
Good luck everyone! 27 new songs!



https://youtu.be/8QJ298lo_Qo

Wow, really strong showing by everybody this round! I will not be at all surprised if I get cut, and frankly a little relieved because I do NOT want to do Round 2's challenge!!!

What I did this round was more of a mashup between my "straight" Virgo Power sound (as more or less exhibited in Round 0 - usually I don't even use the drum beat on Omni) and my experiments under the name Kitchen Sync Productions - aka me messing around in Garageband using bootleg recordings of my friends reading poetry and then cutting them up, remixing them and making 8 million loops and using allllll the filters. In case anyone is interested, you can hear these on my Soundcloud here:

Thank you j$ for the review. I did all the recording but particularly the vocals super fast and without caring much about "writing lyrics" as I was so excited to get to the mixing part, particularly incorporating the field recordings. I then regretted this strategy instantly as I started listening to everyone else's songs.

Also I must say that I'm quite chuffed that Geech called my song "weeeeeird" in the LP chat. "Looks like we made it"

Here are some brief opinions. I listed these vaguely in the order I would've ranked them if I were a judge (shadows not included in ranking).
Apologies if anything I say below is too mean.

Balance Lost: The greatest thing I've ever heard. Cancel the whole tournament now and just give them the award.

Lowest Bitter: When the slow drums come in it counterpoints the arp nicely and the fast drums is a cool gear-shift. There are familiar vocal melodies from you hear but it suits the song.

Nick soma: Upbeat and with catchy melodies. Since i discovered you're Austrian I'm trying to discern an accent and it's not super strong, you hide it well. Among my favourites of the round.

Crown shy: Understated track, but the most sophisticated melody of the fight. I really like the casio and guitar overdubs. I feel like I'd like to here some 16th note percussion on this track.

Third Cat: I like the airy nature of this, the mix is expansive and tight at the same time. The vocals are nice, but occasionally a little loose in the timing.

Heid: Nicely done. Good performance and writing.

Moss Palace: I listened to this after Max's track and the space in this mix is a breath of fresh air after that. The guitars sound really nice, the melodies are strong and it skips along at a satisfying pace.

Hot Pink Halo: I like this song, it's good a cool jangly 80s indie feel. I like the song more than the performance I feel. The main rhythm guitar seems a bit too loud and the rhythm feels a bit stuttery. I'd like to hear a version of this that flowed a bit better. When the drums and claps come in later it helps a little, but the mix still isn't quite right. A bit of a rough diamond.

Budget Bears: A nice peppy little rock track. I like how the intro guitar lines weaves around a bit to make it more interesting. You have an over-reliance on rhyming couplets, but you do have some of the best lyrics so you get away with it (mostly, I will give you this week's Bryan Adams award for rhyming "you" with "do"). Catchy chorus though.

Cavedwellers: Another nice example of making your field recordings match the rhythm of the song. I like the phat synth bass here and the echoey guitars in the chorus and pre-chorus are sweet, super 80s sounding. A surprisingly restrained bit of 4-armed van halen-ing in the solo. Probably could lose a couple of sections. I insist on singing "call me Clyde" along to the chorus of this. If those are the real words then great.

Seemanski: A bit ploddy and slow, but the lyrics/melody, playing and arrangment is strong.


Wreckdom: I like the funky bass. Feels like Quincy Jones is guesting on production duties. Seems to go all over the place in the middle, but stays fun throughout.

Mandibles: Pleasant tune. I like the flutes (mellotron flutes?). Overall I like the song but the clipping in the middle really ruins it. You need to sort that out.

Grumpy Mike: Catchy midi pop. Pretty good.

Ever Keneivel: Pretty well executed minimalist synth pop. Doesn't seem to do much until the final chorus when it starts to build, but then ends as it's getting good. Probably will improve with repeated listens.

Mountweasels: The lyrics are initially amusing. Decent little song. I don't feel like a 3rd listen will make it better.

Wombat!: Creepily atmospheric, but in a kind of cute way. Is that Yuri Gargarin I can hear? It hints at a melody, but only in an ephemeral way. I nearly like this.

Serviettes: I like the "I'm still here, I need a sign" part. The arrangement is cool. Whenever you slip into those blues scales your melodies follow very well-trodden territory.

Brown Word: I like how your field recordings are incorporated into the intro rhythmically. The drums need to be much louder imo. I can barely here the snare throughout most of this and that makes it feel less rocking than I think it's meant to be.

Max Bombast: The sped up section is welcome. All your stuff is really overcompressed and this might be the worst of the bunch for that. Unsquish your mixes my dude. This is so lacking air it's suffocating. Well performed as always.

Governing Dynamics: I feel like there's an okay song trying to get our from under this but I have all sorts of issues with this recording. Mainly the drummer/drum programmer seriously needs to chill out. The vocals seem to be permanently stuck in whine mode, and the guitars seem less tight than I would expect from you. That intro riff in particular smacks of teenaged bedroom shredding. So, probably decent but I think you fluffed it.

Lucky Spoon: An interesting genre switch from your previous. Lacking something in execution though. The drums are too thin and weak, and ultimately the song just doesn't do it for me.

BSS: A competent dish of meat and potatoes. Seems to be more to do with paranoia than pareidolia. Slightly overlong. Nothing really interesting happens.

Boffo Yux: A not-quite competent dish of meat and potatoes.

Virgo Power: More than a little bit dirgy. Sounds likes it was fun to record. Lacks a strong melody or a hook.

Dented Bento: The acoustic guitar part occasionally sounds nice , but generally the song is a bit too meandery and messy. Those machine gun hi-hat bursts seem ill-placed.

Lichen Throat: There are interesting musical ideas here. I wish that some other bands with many accomplished musicians were as inventive as this, however I also feel that your my-first-midi-keyboard arrangements don't show the song in it's best light. There are familiar issues with your vocals. Singing is tough when you don't have a great voice for it, but the timing is so all over the place it seems as if you recorded the vocals over different music before adding them to this track. I don't want robotically in time vocals, but just a little more in sync with the rhythm of the music would be an improvement.

Come watch Max Bombast inspire and madden the world: