The Song Fight Bulletin Board

pego Me. The idea was to try a rythm gtr part with the 3rd beat open and then have the hihat and bass bubble up on the 3s. I never got around to recording the bass, and the drums sucked so I pulled them way down in the mix. That left nothing structural for the other stuff to rest on. I recorded a bass line and better drums last weekend but its still to slow to be intersting - bummer
AndyBalham This is good - I wish you had cut loose and wailed with the 'tugging at your soul line'
Ashok and the Squid Kinda dissonant and cranky. The chorused voices were to shrill for me to stay the distance. It was interesting.
Dos Enemigos Great voice and great guitar. great stuff
East bay acolytes Really alot of densely packed words. OK music beneath, I just wish there was a measure or two break between each rapped stanza. To make it less tense
CricketCrew You can sing so why rap at all. good stuff
Jop I think this sorta worked - you need some drums to complete the feel youre after.
Jordan Marshall Some clipping in spots good song, well performed
Melvin Damn how do you people write, learn, record, and mix so many parts in a week - this is great - gonna give Dosenemigos a run
Motormonkeys Bowie with a spanish gtr. it builds really nice.
Noway jonesI'm loving the gtr. is this deshead or pieces of the gert? funky break down at the bridge to cool. damn another in the running for a vote.
pigpen Again - I think chanting/rap is closer to listenable when its not so vox dense. more musical breaks to let the tension lay back. ka ka poo poo damn shit - see im cool too.
pinkpope Such a great vocal performance, and interesting chords. It sorta has a hook but still - my mind wandered before is was done.
Primitivescrewheads The lyrics sound like the stuff my dad used to make up to keep himself awake on long drives. The words seem to be there for rhymes sake more then for meaning.
rossdurand The rythm electric gtr is to overdriven. everything else is very listenable.
starcrossed I cant understand the words, it sounds like a soundtrack to a nintendo game.
thornberry This seems really well arraigned. you've got a vercitile voice. To much wanking around for a pop song - but maybe for a soundtrack.
xlmotherfscker I had to bail out early because of the 'singing'.

AndyBalham,Dosenemigos,Melvin,Motormonkeys,pinkpope,rossdurand,thornberry,jordan Marshall - whata fight! it would have been quicker to list the ones I didnt love. I think I'm digging nowayjones most.

pegor wrote: CricketCrew You can sing so why rap at all. good stuff

Because we were drunk. And it was fun. Thanks for the kind words.

Ah well, better late than never. My worthless reviews:

Andy Balham
Ah, there's that j$ bass. Nice arrangement. I like this song's subtlety, but at the same time, you could sing and play with a little more conviction. Would like to hear the drums brought up somewhat, and the acoustic taken down somewhat. Tends to lose its cohesion in parts, esp. around 1:30.

Ashok and the Squid
Interesting. This could have been a B-side from Bungle's "Disco Volante" album, or maybe an extension of "The Bends." OK, at about 5:30 I start to lose interest.

Dos Enemigos
Like the voice, the singing style seems just a wee bit forced. And I agree - it needs more comp. Dig the slide, though. In fact, the slide and the acoustic compliment each other nicely. Very solid entry.

East Bay Acolytes
Vocoders make me think of those songs in high school everybody breakdanced to. Ugh. Beats and keys are catchy, but a bit droning. Like the delivery, rhyming scheme is solid, but your subject matter is less than compelling.

Ill Cricket Crew
Like a frat party version of "Love Rollercoaster." Can't deny the groove and the vibe, it grows on you. Like mold. However much of it is sampled/looped, you've made me not care. Kudos. The fusiony synth is a nice touch.

JoP
Man those guitars are grating. And you're too close to the mike. Again, percussion would help.

Jordan Marshall
Your guitar and voice have a decent sound. But Em7/C9/D/G is a fairly common progression, why not mix in a major 6th or something?

Melvin
Aha! See? A dominant 7th right off the bat. You've scored points already. "Intellectuals make me retch" = second best line in the fight. Nice little head-bobbing song here. A contendah.

Motor Monkeys
A lot of people seem to like the vox in this, and I'm inclined to agree. Good interplay between bass and guitar at around 2:30. Solid song all around.

No Way and the Joses
Nice build up at the very beginning. Good percussion. Really like the chord changes around 1:25. Dunno why, but this strikes me as ZZ Top-ish. Oy, song just kinda peters out. Liked the beginning better.

Pego
Trim the silence. Please. Lose the hi-hat. Hell, lose the percussion entirely. This could work as some kind of psychotic free-form guytar-gone-wrong.

PiGPEN
The good: that spooky hook is kinda cool. The bad: Ross Durand was right - delivery seems forced. The ugly: Profanity works best when it's used sparingly for emphasis. This is just gratuitous.

Ross Durand
"Fine line between funny and asshole" = best line of the fight. I find the lyrics as whole endearing. I like how the ensemble kind of cuts in and out. Not quite as high on the distortion.

Star-Crossed Voyager
Vocoder kills it for me.

Thornberry
This suffers from what I like to call "Casiosity." What might have worked better: take it all out and just go with piano and vocal. Keep the leads. Keep the backing vox. Addition by subtraction.

XL Motherfscker
Um, OK. Heh, the ending was good for a snicker.

and...

Primitive Screwheads
Merely serving as Rabid's stickman this go-around. He asked for a "sloppy drum track", and he got one. Bah, perhaps I should have just slept in that day.

Pink Pope
It's all about the Morbidity.

Thanks to everyone for their feedback. Even the rectal rapings.

Honorable Mention: No Way and the Joses, Motor Monkeys, Ross Durand

Top three:

3 - Dos Enemigos
2 - Melvin
1 - Ill Cricket Crew

18 songs, ten reviews...

pegor wrote:Noway jones...is this deshead or pieces of the gert?

Ah, it's actually Johnsonic and Carmine doing all the instrumentation and the only Gert representation here is my lead vocal. Should've tried to get Deshead to throw down some harmony vocs

johnsonic, that 10/18, even includes two from the East Bay fellas and is missing my reviews which would make two from No Way as well...hmm. But there's no obligation, right? I'll try to get to some late reviews...

Don't forget Chief Takaha on the keys

~Johnsonic (who's soaked right now, looking at it pour, at work and worried about my gear which is in a room where the ceiling started to leak. )

So, I voted for East Bay Acolytes. I've had this on repeat in the car all week. Rock! I plan to do reviews after work today.

I dont know how many of you still read these old topic posts, but if you happen to, I have rerecorded by entry of "Boundaries" in a real studio, not just at home. This means i have rid the song of the "Kmart" string sounds and put in studio-quality strings, and have reworked some parts to make it a song i am really proud of. You can listen to it using the myspace link i have at the bottom of this post, as my signature. Comments are always appreciated, but just listening means alot to me. Thanks and hope you enjoy it!

Hmmm....

I dig the song Boundaries alot. I even played it on the X-Tokyo Radio Show. This new studio version is good too but there's still something off. I think it's the drumming on this one. But it's getting closer to be the epic you desire.

The drumming was me, after not playing the drums for about 6 months, so i was personally impressed by my playing

No but i know what you mean, and trust me this is not the last time i record this. i will not rest until the epic is achieved!

Thanks a lot for lettin me know