The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Future Boy wrote: why beat a dead horse? If you are good enough to accomplish creating such a good "shameless pop rock" song, then you are good enough to be innovative in some way that pushes it just far enough outside of the cookie-cutter genre to be interesting"

Not this argument again. We went through this with Brother Machine. I'm not saying anything further. You know it was a silly thing to say.

the sober irishman wrote:Not this argument again.

<irony marked for slow people>
Yeah, why beat a dead horse? If you're good enough to rehash the 'originality' thread again, you're good enough to innovate a new one in some way.

It saddens me to think some people will argue the same shit over and over again, and be *upset* when a new argument comes up...
</>

the sober irishman wrote:Not this argument again. We went through this with Brother Machine. I'm not saying anything further. You know it was a silly thing to say.

ohhhhhyeah, I remember now. We all got together and decided we all have to think the same way about things.

Wait, that never happened.

The Likely Lads tune didn't come out quite how I wanted it this week, I think because of the poor mixing, I'm glad some people found it amusing though.

The ones I saved:

1) The Sober Irishman

Nice harmonies. Not that keen on the noodley guitar in places. Very bluesy and that's good. The flamenco bit doesn't work that well. I thought it was going to end and then it totally changed pace, very interesting. Ambitious and I think you pull it off. Stands out for being different and one of the best songs this week.

2) Glenn Case and the Half Racks


Cool chorus and solo. The mix sounds a bit weird, like it's coming from a radio. The bass could do with being a bit energetic. The harmonies and singing are good. Timing on the guitars is slightly off in places. One of my favourites of this week because of the chours melody.

3) Ken's Super Duper Band n' Stuff

What the hell is that wibbley noise? Surprisingly it fits ok with the acoustic guitar. Catchy but I think the distorted guitar should be used more sparsely. Cool song.

4) Deshead

Very pop. Piano coming in on the first chorus is good. Put together well overall. Catchy but a little bland for my tastes. The stops in the song come at just the right places. I like it when the verse melody goes down and then lifts into the chorus. Well done.

5) Bell Green feat. Leaf and Andy Balham

I like it. Nice use of samples helps to set the mood and the singings pretty good too. Catchy chorus and the sparse distorted guitar is well used. Feels a bit flat, maybe a slightly faster tempo would help lift it. Slightly too long and I get 30 seconds of silence on the end. When you've 20 odd songs to listen to that doesn't go down well. Bit of clipping on the vocals but it wasn't that noticable.

6) The Motor Monkeys

The drums and bass sound a bit too close and the vocal too far away, but generally this is a really well put together song. It's hard to get strings to sound good and you manage it pretty well. Good song but not really to my tastes.

The ones I didn't (in no particular order):

Southwest Statistic

Up to you usual high production standards. The vocal's a little quiet but not by much. I think I liked your entry from last week better, this one is still good though.

McCulloch/Carlier

Well performed and not a bad song. Relaxing chilled sound and you singing's good. It didn't really stand out for me though.

Kapitano feat. TV's Kyle

Stands out for being a pretty well done rap. The second vocal is a bit quiet. The backing music is pretty bland but it allows the vocals to take centre stage. The arrangement is good and I like the bongos section. I think I would save this one if the backing was better.

Jake Holmes

Sounds like it could be used in horror film soundtrack. If you'd started shouting 'the zombies are coming, the zombies are coming' I may have saved this one.

Heuristics Inc.

Very industrial sounding. I was really getting into it until the vocal came in. Clever use of rhythm on the distorted guitars. If you used some catchy vocal samples I'd like it better but I guess you'd loose the dark atmosphere you were trying to create.

Rockin Oxen Ft Huge Coxin

I wouldn't have forgiven the lyrics even if this was a good song. Unfortunately it isn't even that.

Poor June

Is that a recorder? Whatever it is I like the eerie quality it brings to the song. The productions not great but I guess you know that anyway. The vocals sound a little seperated from the other instruments. I quite like the melancholy feel of this but it drags on a bit.

WreckdoM

If you cut this down it would be a really good intro to heavy rock song. I kept expecting the distorted guitars to take over and for the song to begin. Warped and entertaining but it could have been so much more.

FWC

This is very downbeat but then I guess the title lends itself to that. The synthesised noises are interesting at first but I'm afraid I can't listen to 4 minutes of them.

A Different Monkey

Stripped back drums/synth bass work well with the vocal. The guitars are panned too far left and right, if you brought them in a bit they would sit better. I would have liked the organ sound in the chorus to have been more prominent. You could have made it build and build and it would have fitted nicely with the melody. Overall a good effort, apart from the ending where the vocal is out of tune.

Andre Was Here At Midnight

You should stripped this back to just the guitar and vocal. The timing of the precussion is all over the place and is very distracting. It would help to lift the song if everything was rhythmically tight but as it is they just add to the confusion. In places this shows promise but it needs more work.

Anonymous Musings

If it was a good piece of poetry read over the atmospheric guitar I can see it working. Unfortunately I can't really understand what your saying.

Bjam!

Interesting acoustic guitar. It would be nice if the echoy guitar was louder as it's hard to hear. The chorus melody is good but I think if you sang it with more passion it could be great. I'm not saying the singing's bad, I like it, I just think if you belted it out and added some harmonies it would be better.

Creep

Very laid back with a nice chillout feel. The drums get really monotonous after 4 minutes of the same thing. Not bad but nothing about it jumps out at me. There seems to be very little change in the song.

Cheers,

Gareth.

The Rockin' Oxen with the Huge Coxin

awful, just awful.

Hoblit wrote:The Rockin' Oxen with the Huge Coxin

awful, just awful.

word.

I wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you for the encouraging comments to BJAM's (bee-jam) contribution this week.

In fact we put this together on Sunday afternoon including installing and setting up Cubase, a Tascam 448 and other stuff that has been sat in my office closet for over 2 years. Actual recording time and time to try out some things ended up being limited.

We really enjoyed doing the song and with a bit more time, attention and exprience here's hoping we can get the quality up.

Thanks once again everyone, love being a part of Songfight.

Stueym

Well, since my connection's been dropping out once every hour or so, I haven't even gotten HALF of the songs downloaded yet.

So far, The Likely Lads, PJ, and Bell Green are the standouts. Sober's was a pretty good listen, but I keep hearing a "different" song with very similar lyrics (and parts that remind me of still other songs that I can't quite place) struggling to surface, which is distracting to me. (esp. the lines "When my lover is gone. She leaves me alone. Alone in the dark.") Does anybody know the name of the song I'm thinking of?

Side Mention:
Rockin Oxen w/ the Huge Coxin--After reading some of the "goings" on... I gave this a listen, just to see what all the fuss was about... Overall, it was rather unimaginative. But somehow, I sorta get the "impression" you don't like 15-16 all that much...
"Funniest" (for lack of a better word) thing about this is the band name, itself.
My uncle's had a dairy farm for years, the "oxen" were the draft/ slaughter animals-- ie. the castrated bulls. (maybe you should try the next one falsetto? )Then that combined with the second half of the er... imagery of the name taken as a whole...

DELETED

slowRodeo wrote:apperently i failed english.

i can't imagine why!

haha. dang it. and i can spell too.

stueym wrote:
1. I wanted to say a quick thank you to all of you for the encouraging comments to BJAM's (bee-jam) contribution this week.

2. Actual recording time and time to try out some things ended up being limited.

3. We really enjoyed doing the song and with a bit more time, attention and exprience here's hoping we can get the quality up.

4. Thanks once again everyone, love being a part of Songfight.

Stueym

1. I hadn't said anything yet..but I do want to take the opportunity now to say ...in general, this is a great fight and ya'lls song helps contribute to such a listenable one.

2. Nooo, you don't say... *SMILEY* Thats the point of the thing. The most loved and hated part about getting a song done under this weekly format.

3. Practice makes pe...better... And over time, you'll learn how to do things quicker..even if it's some of the little nuances...over time you'll learn what works and be able to impliment it faster withouth having to experiment so much.

4. BACKATCHA

Southwest_Statistic wrote:

Future Boy wrote:Lay off the pitch correction.

Though I will admit to abusing it on my own voice, my singer Jeremy didn't really have any on his this week... What you are hearing pretty much came out of his mouth that way without any modification. He's just a fantastic singer.

As far as being Pop goes, it could be worse:

This post earned brownie points in my book. Playful disarmament. Taking criticism. Not taking yourself too seriously. Good karma. Keep submitting.

IMO, his use of Pitch Correction should be referenced differently. It's not 'pitch correction' if you are using it AS AN EFFECT... it's auto tune at that point. And stick with it... it sounds cool. It'll be dated in a few years and down the road your kids can make fun of you for using it!

slowRodeo wrote:
glenn case + HR- thicker than batter? the vocals sounded like the guy was in another room off to the left. i sure wish he come in here and stand out front and dance like i picture him doing.

this is how i viewed everyone in your band dancing:
like this.

i could watch that all day. im listening to your song and watching it. its funny.

dang it. ill fix it.

Too many songs to review them all for a fight I’m not in myself – so I’ll just give a shout out to the ones I liked:

Poor June: Liked the eerie backing stuff and your vocals. A bit slow for me to really enjoy today – but that’s my mood not your song – good song.

Sober Irishman: This is great. Great vocals and great backing vox too. Stands out from the crowd in a good way.

Wreckdom: Your stuff is really becoming consistently enjoyable. I look forward to it every week.

Andre WHAM: Good song. With a bit more attention to the performance/production this could have been a winner. Anyway – as it is, I still liked it.

Bjam: Also a very good song – belt those vocals out, it sounds like you’ve got a pretty good voice.

Kapitan + TVskyle: Liked the beginning a lot – sounded like Wall of Voodoo. Chorus bit seemed to let the song down a bit though. Overall – I liked it.

Likely Lads: This is hilarious. “It’s the darkness that I feel that leads me to the dev-eeel”. Oh dear. That’s the worst rhyme I’ve heard on Songfight since “I do fear I’m bewitched by your rear…” (Oh, that was you too, wasn’t it ). It sounds like you had fun with this one.

I think I’ll vote for TSI

Stand out favorite (and vote) went to... A Different Monkey. Loved the lyrics and the "feel" of the music.
After that would be "The Likely Lads" loved the totally "whack" rhymes... glee inspiring
Poor June-- your vox have vastly improved, (though I sorta liked the "rough" prefight version better)
Motor Monkeys-- Sounded like something I'd hear on the radio, solid tune, but somehow lacked "staying power"--at least for me.
Sober--This was really cool, loved the arrangement, but then I've liked most everything of yours I've heard. Distracting still (reefers to previous statements) that I keep connecting this to some other song that I can't place, and no :::sigh::: I haven't thought of the name of it yet.
H-inc. Loved the music, but w/o the lyrics sheet... damn yo-- I had no idea what you were saying, still-- pretty cool though.

other end of the spectrum:
The "Rockless" Oxen (refer to previous statements)
and the Anonymous Ramblings etc, etc, etc.

The rest are somewhere mid-rainbow, somewhere between dark and day

Reviews (it's been a while):
* indicates a keeper

A Different Monkey: I like the intro. The verse melody is a little wearing and tiresome. I think your voice fits nicely into the music. Wow, that chorus is pretty ok. So far you're pulling a solid 3 stars. It's kind of boring overall though. And you might want to work on making those harmonies tighter musically. 3 stars.

Andre Was Here at Midnight: Never sing in your falsetto. Ohhhh man you were so close to staying together rhythmically. But I can hear it getting more and more off. Lyrics are lacking majorly. The song is lacking majorly. 1 and 9/10 stars.

Anonymous Musings: Hmmmm. Improvisational guitar stuff in the backgound with strange lyrics. That's a no in my book. 1 and 4/5 stars.

Bell Green, Leaf, and Andy Balham: I don't know, decent music, decent lyrics...but it's just really not grabbing me. Too long as well. It's well thought out but not every interesting. 3 and 1/10 stars.

Bjam!: You've got a pretty good voice. The song is pretty average though. No downers, no uppers. Good first entry. 2 and 3/5 stars.

Creep: I like the melody. It's a pretty nice little thing all around. For some reason the drums make me kind of cringe especially how they don't change throughout the entire song. Although the song would probably be worse without them, I suggest finding something not quite as grating I guess is the word. Almost 4 minutes is a little too long for having no bridge, so I'm getting a little bored by the end. Overall very nice, but work on making it less tedious. Please submit again, I want to hear more of what you can do. 3 and 1/3 stars.

deshead*: Wow really nice vibe. Hooks me right away. Great chorus. I'm loving this. No complaints. Great job. 4 and 1/4 stars.

fwc: Postal Service imitation? You could use some lessons from them. It sounds really thin to me. Like not enough bass or substance, not enough for me to really grab on to. You do have a nice voice though. I'd say this certainly has potential, it definitely has it's moments. You're right in the same realm as Creep, almost keeper-worthy but not quite. Especially not when it's 4+ minutes and not enough variation. Please submit more. 3 and 1/3 stars.

Glenn and the Half Racks*: The guitar sound is kind of bugging me. So is the repeating 'It's dark all day!' But on this second listen I have determined that this is a keeper. The pre-chorus I think it is really nice. The chorus is actually pretty nice if it weren't for the repeating line. Great bridge. Pretty good song, but I honestly expected a little more from Glenn. 3 and 3/5 stars.

Heuristics Inc.: FANTASTIC INTRO. And you shot it all to hell with that voice. That horrible computerized voice. It makes me want to shoot my computer. This is really great music too. But I'm not sure I could stand to listen to it again simply because of that voice. I'm really sorry, this would be a contender if that voice wasn't so grating. Ugh. 3 stars.

Jake Holmes: I don't know what to make of the intro. You're voice sounds like Max the Cat's. OUCH, that piercing high note you throw in there randomly. And randomly a really pretty guy and guitar part. Wow, that's really pretty. And you kill it with that intro. Ugh. That's the second potentially fantastic song in a row ruined. 3 stars.

Kapitano and TVs Kyle: I was pretty disappointed by this collab. I really like both of you two's music. I really like the chorus however. But the second verse sounds really gawdy and awkward. The music is lacking. The whole song is pretty lacking. Some very nice ideas. And I like the bongos. 3 and 1/10 stars.

Ken's Super Duper Band n Stuff: Not really a drastic enough change from verse to chorus. If I was only half listening I probably wouldn't really even have noticed. I like the synthesizer noises and stuff. Gets kind of boring overall. I like the ending. 3 and 1/4 stars.

The Likely Lads*: I enjoy your 2 minute bursts of energy. They're refreshing. Not too long, tons of fun, makes for a pretty good song. Very nice job, I really enjoyed this. 3 and 2/3 stars.

McCulloch/Carlier: Really pretty and folksy. But pretty boring as time goes on. Maybe after the first chorus you should add some bass or a tambourine or shaker or something. But it's really wearing after a while. I like some of your stuff over on Somesongs, but I think I had a similar complaint on your last song over there. 3 and 2/5 stars.

The Motor Monkeys*: You guys remind me of Squirrel Damage in that you're a little rough around the edges at times but overall you make pretty damn good music. Great synthesized strings. This is probably too long but it's very enjoyable so I can deal with it. Great chorus and especially the chimes on the chorus. Probably could be a little shorter. Really pretty. Great job. 4 stars.

Poor June: The panpipe thing or whatever sounds like something you though 'hey this is cool' and just kind of threw on even though it didn't really fit with the song. The entire is kind of awkward. The transitions are pretty awkward. Pretty average over all. 2 and 1/2 stars.

Rockin Oxen feat. the Huge Coxen: This song would get the average rating but the lyrics brought it down a full star. 1 and 1/2 stars.

The Sober Irishman*: I really enjoy this. I like the little breaks with the crazy guitar leading into the next verse. Nice harmonica. I really like the break leading into the doubletimed verse. Really great job. My favorite Sober Irishman in a long while. Wow just a really great job overall. 4 and 1/4 stars.

Southwest Statistic: I don't get the fuss over your music at all. It's just boring and cliche to me. It's well produced and decently written I guess. It just sounds too emo-by-numbers to me. I have to say I do like the bleep things in the verses or whatever. 3 stars.

Wreckdom: You've grown on me. Or maybe you just go better. Probably a little of both. This is really cool and creepy, but I don't think I could listen to it multiple times. You know, when you take out the words, the music is really fucking cool. But the words are just kind of 'what are those doing there?' Can you guys not sing well or is it just not your thing? Not too shabby. 3 and 1/4 stars.

Top 5:

1. deshead* (vote)
1. The Sober Irishman*
3. The Motor Monkeys*
4. The Likely Lads*
5. Glenn and the Half Racks*

Freudian Slip wrote: H-inc. Loved the music, but w/o the lyrics sheet... damn yo-- I had no idea what you were saying, still-- pretty cool though.

Er... lyric sheet has been posted since Monday:
http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?p=7680#7680
Check them out!
-bill

hey, look, i did reviews!

motor monkeys - this sounds pretty good. the chorus is especially nice. the vocals are pretty interesting, in a non-standard way. i feel like this sounds kind of like a radio band, but that's ok by me.

bjam - hey, don't leave default id3 tags on. speaking of id3 tags, stinking itunes fooled me into thinking it had tags on my song when it didn't, so i don't have any in mine. argh! anyway, dad's got a good guitar sound. is that your natural vocal register? it sounds like you're trying to sing low to me in parts. this is nice-sounding.

poor june - the flutey sounds are cool. you know what you should do, is do a song with some electronic beats, clean up the vocal and stuff. hey, i could do that sometime. hmmm.... as for this song, i think it needs more dynamism. my favorite part is the flutes.

likely lads - very 80's metal... pretty enjoyable, but not really my chosen genre. reminds me of iron maiden or something.

wreckdom - the background music is cool. the voice fits. you know what i keep expecting, is michael jackson to come in with "thriller" you've got a nice buildup, but i'd like to hear a real freak-out section. good ending. nice sounds.

andre - pretty catchy, actually, in the dark dark dark part. one thing that you do that i don't like is to repeat a lot. i'm not bothered by the dark dark dark part because each line has a different ending, but some other parts repeat a lot. i think this is a nice improvement over the older stuff.

southwest - nice loud sound. i dig that. reminds me of jimmy eat world, whose new album i bought yesterday. i like the synth arpeggio. catchy and good. hey, sing out more on some of these parts, more vocal variance would be good.

fwc - nice synth and drums intro. vocals are a little weak, but who am i to talk. i like the synths. drums at 2:55 are cool. the bassdrum seems a little too hot... clipping? synths get too loud at the end.

different monkey - nice bass. hey, this is a cool intro. i like the guitar and drums too. vocals aren't as good as the music, but they're not bad. the chorus is pretty cool, actually. i'd cut the last couple seconds off, that didn't add to the song.

ken - i feel like i'd like to see the lyrics. your voice sounds good, but it's not that clear to me. the twiddly synths are great. nice fuzzy guitars.neat ending.

mcculloch - the just-guitar instrumentation isn't very exciting to me right now... i'd say bring up the harmony vox, they're too backgroundish. pretty good.

kapitano - cool music. the opening vox don't sound as good as the rest. the air & hair lines are good. i like the lyrics in general. ooh, nice organ. and the reggae dub keyboards, i like that. this is cool.

bellgreen - might be a bit hot? it's pretty loud. i like that guitar. the way the background sings "dark dark" might be a little cheesy, sorry. sing that a little different, perhaps. this is pretty good but there are things i like better.

sober - "shereturns" is rushed in the wrong way, i think, go for a more relaxed sing there? this is pretty cool. what's that at 1:18, an accordion? i like it. nice guitar. this might be better ending a little earlier than it does. then again, i like the ending.

glenn - you have a lot of different "sounds", don't you? i especially like the background vox here. pretty cool. this is enjoyable. i also like the main vocal sound.

creep - kind of a weird vocal sound. i like it. i'm not sure if it has a lot of substance behind it, but it's pretty cool.

heuristics inc - so i was playing around with convolution filters, and i put one on an old vocal (from happy happy head, actually). then i recorded some vocals, without effects, but i decided to sing kind of hoarse-like. when i recombined the new vocals with the convolution, i discovered that it accidentally sounds a lot like ogre from skinny puppy. fun, i think. anyway, all the lyrics are from a bunch of internet research i did on theories about the extinction of the dinosaurs... that was even more fun.

anonymous - i really don't know what's going on here. and i've read the lyrics. pretty strange, but interesting.

jake - i absolutely love that bass sound. it's awesome. vocals are a little too loud. pretty strange. also good. very odd segue. i liked the first half better. ooh, there's that bass. and then it's gone.

deshead - nice guitar. also drums. it's getting kind of late. you know, this is nice. the piano there is a nice touch.

1: motor monkeys, southwest, ken, kapitano, glenn, creep, heuristics inc, jake, deshead
2: bjam, poor june, likely, wreckdom, andre, fwc, mcculloch, bellgreen, sober, glenn, anonymous

nothing bad here i think.
who to vote for... yesssss.... whoooooooo....
-bill