MLA or APA? (elements of style reviews)

[Ross]

Hey man, you drunk tonight? 'Eye' instead of I?

I'm not saying I wasn't drunk, but I was trying to be cute - your lyrics comment on phonetic spelling "4 u. Eye" Just goofing around - like the bunch of commas, too.

[j$]

Ah, yes, that would make sense. *doh*

[rone rivendale]

wtf is up with you reviewers giving negitive comments for Posyden because he is bashing Basket. Did you people not hear the last two week's worth of songs where Basket insulted every other rapper in SF?

Can you f'ing say bias? I knew you could.

[Ross]

wtf is up with you reviewers giving negitive comments for Posyden because he is bashing Basket. Did you people not hear the last two week's worth of songs where Basket insulted every other rapper in SF?

Can you f'ing say bias? I knew you could.

Dude, chickity-check yourself before you wreck yourself. Not one of the previous reviews is critical of posyden for bashing Basket of Hands, some of us appear to be not very interested in bashing in general, and some reviews have specific musical/compositional criticisms.

Are you sure you're not biased because Basket dissed you, too? Just sayin'

[Spud]

Three pages. Four reviews. What ARE you people talking about again?

[j$]

Your birthday.

Jonas Murdock - Like the 'bassline' - voice suits the music. No BrightEyes I guess, but it's OK. The 'lead' is a little too piercing, but nothing too terrible. A little boring by about 1.49. I do like the 'orchestral patch' but the production on this, while perfectly acceptable, makes the whole thing a bit mono-tonal in impact. A big fat OK from me.

Johnny Cashpoint is me. I like this one, except the way the guitar seems to disappear in the chorus a little.

Kamakura - Nice guitar playing at the beginning. Nice melody too - reminds me oddly of 'Suicide is Painless' - don't think it's very similiar. I guess the lyrical concept is set up by a minute in and doesn't evolve that much, but there are some great 'inappropriate' words being used well here - 'Wanker', 'Squidy-oooo'. Cute, maybe a little slight.

MC Kohlz & DJ TJ Maxxx - nicely done. Vocal is a bit squidy and a little loud in the recording. Voice 1 - You sound not unlike Mad Dog out of Octothorpe. This again is cute but novelty and therefore not really my bag. Really like the chorus but it's too long coming and should be about half the length each time. Overall well done but I think of Morris Major & the Majors.

Motor Monkeys - Previous review "Trent Reznor fronting Jamiroquai" made me so not want to hear this song Actually this makes me think of Toploader or some band like that. This is a great song. The isntrumentation could be individually compressed and seperated a bit further, for this sort of sound, to make it really sharp and clear. Great bass line. Nice wah effects. Yeah, lacks a little crispness in the mix, but the best so far.

Noah - Hmmm the verses could do with a bit more instrumentation, they sound a bit too sparse. The lyric is a little pompous but not in an unbearable way at all. The chorus makes me think of the Mighty Quinn or that sixties folk-pop groove. Oh, the solo is too loud in comparision to the rest of the music. Overall I think this is a good song, but a bit fragmented. A re-recording/re-arrangement would serve it well.

obs - great opening. Nice oddly electornic take on Joy Division. There's the Eldritch vocal style which either kicks your football or doesn't. I think the chorus could do with another layer of harmonics to really distinguish. The lyric is a bit agressively preachy for my tastes, I don't think the subject matter really needs such a kicking. But again that's a matter of taste. Great music, only good song for me.

# - toms are always good. I have to say that for # the backing is pretty jazzy spoken word standard - i.e. great but a stepdown musically that you have set for yourselves by previous songs? Having said that as the groove get stronger and stronger, I'm engaging more and more. Nice build. I want a big monastic style chorus, or refrain. If I could hear the backing vox a bit more that might do

Poysden - I really like your rapping voice (I might hi-pass it a little to take out the spittly tone at times) and the groove is very cool. But songs about SF annoy me, and I don't really care about you or basket of Hands so your little MC battle passes me by. One thing - the slide back in after each 'acapella' section is a bit sloppy. Maybe you should drill the spoken parts to the beat a bit more to make the return more predictable?

Ross & Steve - nice surf song pastiche. I find myself concentrating on the words, because I have heard the well-recorded but predictable groove a hundred times before. Not into the complaining about fashion thing, for the same reason that I don't dig Obscurity's take - just not worth of the energy of complaining about. That's a personal thing though and this is a good song.

I pretty much liked all of these, although most of them weren't to my tastes. I would vote obs on the music but overall maybe the Motor Monkies just pip it with their 'toploader' moment.

j$

[jack]

from paula to randy...........

posyden
the backing mix is pretty well done, even though it's pretty standard fare. the rapping needs work. really doesn't hold my interest beyond the intro.

durand durand
i've always wanted to write that. this is pretty hip and swingin. i could see this in a john waters movie. as always, steve your horns are butter man. and i like the response harmony vocals. and man, a trumpet solo with backing eggshaker....this rules.

damien verrett
vocals don't sit too well in the mix, and that synthy riff gets annoying for after about 5 seconds. maybe if it was mixed lower or more subtle instead of so dominant. even in the bridge that build up to the second part, it just seems a bit loud. otherwise, this has some cool Cure moments.

kamakura
it's well done for guy and guitar. seems to suffer from a bit too much on the high end without a backing bass. the little hardpanned lead part is a nice touch. whether this is good or bad, it reminds me of something rod stewart would do (for roymond, i know this is a bad thing...). good song man.

johnny cashpoint
ah, paula paula, and all the drama.....

i like the guitar riffin on the intro. vocals could definitely come up i think. and i have to say johnny, i've noticed how effectively you use and embrace the harmony vocal these days and it really makes a difference i think. mix sounds really good too. wow, weird changes on the outro. excellent.

i just have to say we've hit the meat of the lineup here, with cashpoint/obs/octothorpe....

obscurity
as always, the mix and production is excellent. singing is standard obs, chorus is really good dude. go fuck yourself

octothorpe
ah, i've played that old DD-55. pretty cool stuff. nicely produced. guitar sounds good too. the spoken word delivery works good here too. me likes.

mc kohlz and dj tjmaxxx
backing mix is pretty good, rapping needs work. back off the mic for starters. the female singer is pretty solid though. yeah, she's real good.

noah mclaughlin
the lyrics seem pretty goofy. mixwise, it's all over the place. the lead is way too loud. the playing seems ok, but timing wise, things are on and off. same goes for the singing. maybe it's my bias but it just seems like creed lite which isn't my thing.

motor monkeys
wow, class of it's own. nothing wrong with this at all. there's you and there's everyone else. kick ass tune.

motor monkeys will be tough to beat. i also downloaded octothorpe, johnny cashpoint, obscurity, durand durand. good fight!

[a bebop a rebop]

JM - I really like this one quite a bit. You have a way of delivering almost all of the vocals right on the beat, almost robotically, that I really dig. I wish you had posted lyrics, it's kinda hard to tell what you're saying a lot of the time because you sing right in the same range as a lot of the instruments, and they're mostly louder than you. What I could hear of them, though, I liked, especially the line about pre-fucked-up jeans.

Johnny Cashpoint - It's a grammar march! The delivery here is similar to Verritt's, and I like it a lot here too. I like the chorus a lot as well, nice harmonies.

Kamakura - The guitar at the beginning is nice and pretty. I keep waiting for some "na na na na". I can't say I was bored by this one, I rather liked it actually, but I kept getting the feeling that something ought to shift up somewhere.

MC Kohlz and DJ TJ Maxxx - Nice job on dem beatz. The clipping on the vocals is really annoying. The female singer is pretty rad. Alright, the rapping around 2:20 and thereafter is really pretty awesome, even with the annoying clipping. That ending is pretty hilarious, actually made me laugh.

Motor Monkeys - This is nice and groovy, I like it a hell of a lot. I like the funky guitars, and your voice works really well for this. Not really much else to say, really nice song.

Noah McLaughlin - I think I like your lyrics but I still really don't care for your voice, I'm sorry. That guitar that comes in around 1:10 is too damn loud. Nice tune though.

Obscurity - The vocals are tuneless and kind of annoying. I like the lyrics but not the delivery at all. Nice sampling and beat-smithing though.

Octothorpe - Nice groove here. The spoken word thing doesn't do it for me at all, but it's certainly an interesting song.

Posyden - Dem beatz is solid. Too bad you didn't make 'em.

Ross D/Stevie - Nice job, but on a really tired format that doesn't really do anything for me. Nice trumpet work.

In the spirit of the Games:

Gold - Mr. Cashpoint,
Silver - Motor Monkeys, and
Bronze - Kamakura,
with Damien Verritt just off the podium.

Great Britain takes more medals in this fight than in all of the events in Torino combined... interesting. Strong fight.

(EDIT: I didn't even know Motor Monkeys was from the UK. Guess that makes it a clean sweep.)

[fluffy]

from paula to randy...........

octothorpe
ah, i've played that old DD-55. pretty cool stuff. nicely produced. guitar sounds good too. the spoken word delivery works good here too. me likes.

That's not the DD-55!

[Damien Verrett (Jonas)]

Yeah, I'm going to put the lyrics up.

I didn't actually write them down or anything but I remember them pretty well.

[Stevie Windsor]

Noah McClaughlin First time round, I wrote down repetitive and droning. But on second hearing I get it. – I like the vocal tones. Solo is okay although it does come in somewhat abruptly.

obscurity Great mid 80s electronica riff. I would mix the bass and the Curtis/Eldritch vocal a little louder to make it more intense but otherwise a great listen.

MC Kohlz & DJ TJ Maxxx Though I don’t know the book you’re referencing, this is quite funny and entertaining – but leave the girl singer to sing the last chorus please.

Posyden Ok mid 80s electronica riff, but it lacks any energy or anger. If you’re gonna diss someone I really want to hear it like you mean it in the vocal.

Ross Durand feat Steve Durand This comes as a relief after the last track, even if it is a standard 12 bar blues progression. Nothing at all radical here but good fun.

Damien Verrett Listening to this, its impossible to hear past the annoying toy keyboard sound and you have it just about all the way through. Since you show at 1.50 you’ve got access to much more listenable tones, why don’t you use them.

Johnny Cashpoint I really like the guitar riff though it reminds me of something else I can’t place, but its the chorus that really hits home the way the hook builds around the drum pattern. I would have done a fuller arrangement on the song but that’s just me.

Octothorpe As all the other reviews say, you either get it or you don’t. I like the lyrics and appreciate the sentiment. The Beefhart lounge jazz music doesn’t do much for me.

Motor Monkeys Us – TopLoader?!! Fucking TopLoader???!!!

Kamakura I make it Four Brit entries in this fight. Usual understated and well played stuff – doesn’t have the variety of melody some of your other songs have had but still nicely done.

1 J$
2 Obscurity
3 Noah McClaughlin

[j$]

[Motor Monkeys Us – TopLoader?!! Fucking TopLoader???!!!

Har har har - I thought that would get a response

j$

[Denyer]

Posyden Ok mid 80s electronica riff

I thought it was a standard mid 00s rap riff.

[rone rivendale]

Dude, chickity-check yourself before you wreck yourself. Not one of the previous reviews is critical of posyden for bashing Basket of Hands, some of us appear to be not very interested in bashing in general, and some reviews have specific musical/compositional criticisms.

Are you sure you're not biased because Basket dissed you, too? Just sayin'

Nah, I thought Basket's rap about me was great. The problem I see is that people didn't bash him for his rapping of other people in SF. But for some reason Posyden is getting flack for it.

[Ross]

Dude, chickity-check yourself before you wreck yourself. Not one of the previous reviews is critical of posyden for bashing Basket of Hands, some of us appear to be not very interested in bashing in general, and some reviews have specific musical/compositional criticisms.

Are you sure you're not biased because Basket dissed you, too? Just sayin'

Nah, I thought Basket's rap about me was great. The problem I see is that people didn't bash him for his rapping of other people in SF. But for some reason Posyden is getting flack for it.

Fair 'nuff. As for me, I have been reviewing fights I'm in - I wasn't in those. Just a matter of time management/availability.

[Denyer]

what did basket of hands say?

[jack]

i really wasn't interested in or listening to whatever dissing was going on. i couldn't get past the sucky rap to care.

[WeaselSlayer]

Well then you can't really answer his question, can you.

[rone rivendale]

I only reivew for the fights I'm in too lmao.

[Denyer]

i listened to bitter orange and it sounded like the usual YO IM THE BEST epmd rap that doesn't talk about anyone in particular.

[fluffy]

Could we all please just get back to gushing about how wonderful Octothorpe is?

[Kamakura]

Octothorpe is, without doubt; very wonderful. and due to this wonderocity I have cast my paltry vote in that direction.

I much like, in no particular order
J$
Noah
Kohlz & Maxxxx

But for pure ??? # 'did' it for me.

Doff's cap.