The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Berkeley Social Scene- I love this song. I hope someday we do a proper recording of it. So Ken wrote the lyrics. Then ken and myself plotted out the chords and I had a temporary melody. Then Erin was able to rehearse with me, she improved and promoted the vocal melody to the executive melody it is. With more time and practice and a better singer I would have gone for a harmony. However I opted to just do the octave drop. Our melodies break apart on “…what divides them”. We were flirting with going from 6/8 to 4/4 for the chorus, but we decided to keep it simple. Sam picked up the bass line and fancy inrto riff super quick , like the pro he is. I think as a serious song goes we nailed it. But no serious song can compete with the Voltron assembly if the undead Jackson Five. Well deserved win there Kasper! I hope the site fight is as kind!

Crank Radio- Great freaking singing dude! I’m a little bothered by the big scoop, but it’s pretty cool! It’s a good riff, I with there was a counterpoint to it or another melody on top of it. Drums are awesome! “girl leave me alone…” is kinda weak. I think the chorus could be much stronger. This is very entertaining. Not quite a vote getter, but good stuff! This whole day, or maybe it’s my camera, or both, I wish the bass was louder.

Glenn & Rachel- No Mrs Pac Man reference? I thought there’d be the musical allusion if nothing else. Your sense of pop melody is amazing. Ken and I were marveling at the raspy mixed with sweet nature of Glenn’s voice. What a great voice! It seems like the backing music could compliment the melody and great song this is a bit more, rather than the banging out of chords. Perhaps that energy adds to the song. Great song!

JBB- Awesome lead guitar! (JK) I kept wanting to sing the Eddie and the Cruisers Dark Side (you know the fast part) for the EADA. You got the crowd with you! You’ll see on the video that my first couple notes were much too soft, I turn around to turn up. These vulgar lyrics I keep singing a week later. Great song, great fun!

Jon Eric- This was a mess. I’d be interested in hearing a studio version of this to hear what you intended. The band was tight, drums and bass especially. The harmonica was a nice touch too.

Kasper- You guys ruled the live fight. Great delivery. This is obviously very sloppy in a few places. However you had me laughing pretty hard, you had the crowd laughing too. It was live and fresh. How much earlier than the fight was it written? This gets a vote. This proves that topical zombies beats out vulgar lyrics. VOTE!

Naked Philosophy- It’s a solid 3 chord song. I appreciate the humility of the pre-song commentary. This song probably sums up the sentiment of the weekend best. Goos job!

Octothorpe- Running Down a Dream. Pretty good for 11minutes of writing. (I’m counting the 9 during the break plus the 2 on stage before you got going. Fun stuff!

Sockpuppet- Beat poetry with jazzy rhythm. Short and sweet.

Those not in Spokane:

Authors of- Cool beat. Lit school of vocals. There’s some seriously pitchy bits in the vocals. Cool voice, but needs a few more takes to nail it. I like the slutty reverb guitar that sustains for ever. I’d like to hear more movement in the bass line. Is there a bass? Or just a kick drum? Some cool stuff!

Balance Lost- Takes about 4 measures for me to know I’m going to love this. The piano line is very cool! BTW, Bella is mad at you for not visiting more often (she doesn’t comprehend the size of the world). This song progresses beautifully! I especially like the OOOhs and frantic bells. You’re treading some Sigor Ros territory here. This gets the BIG VOTE!!!!!

Colour of Infinity- I like the 6/8, and the female vocals. The melody really doesn’t go anywhere. I imagine troubled teens shoe gazing and mumbling high school poetry. I actually have no idea about the lyrics, I can’t understand them. This sounds young and dark. Needs a hook. There is some nice atmosphere, but not enough of a song for a vote.

Everlasting Gobstopper-I like this. The noodling guitar is nice. The strummy guitar is done well, but I wish it wasn’t the only percussion. I’m afraid I was with this song, then it began to drag for me. Desparately needs a rhythm section. I like your voice. I wish it varied more in the chorus. It’s very pleasant. Cool sound effects at the end.

Future Boy- Cool chords. Interesting beat. Very good melody and nice harmonies. I like all the key tones.This is a keeper and a vote getter! The Rhodes is just AWESOME sounding! Great touch, great feel!

Gooey Caramel Centaur- Elvis Costello lost his drummer. Your singing a bit outside of your range. POP SCREEN! Your P’s are poppin way too much. I realize there’s no drummer, but time seems really loose. Did you use a click track Please don’t sing in false etto anymore. . This was off to a pretty good start, but I can’t say I enjoy where this goes. Is there a chorus?

James Owens- Nice bass vocals! I count “tell” and “prom” as the one. I count 8 beats in each phrase. The tempo fluctuates in a big way. Hence the reason for the bell. Which seems to come in on the 3. Are there 2 bells? A couple times I hear a ker-Bling instead of a nice Bling. All that is fine, the bass vocals are AWESOME! The lead vocals and melody are very good. I’ve listened to this like six times now, it’s very nice. I have no idea what you’re singing about. (I have a problem paying attention to lyrics). This would be very fun to see at a SFLive show. Good Stuff!

Jeff Robertson and the Neo-Candylanders- I like this. Vocals are great. However they could stand to come together more on the syllabic timing. Pitch wise they are on it! The country folky vibe is wonderful. I just wish there wasn’t that stuttering that comes from 2 vocals not lining up as well as they should. Great stuff!

King Arthur- Cool guitar, very cool bass! Terrible keys!, Vocals are always great, I don’t like the huge slap back reverb on this one though. The vocal melody and guitar guide melody are fighting for my attention rather than complimenting. Wow I hate those keys. The drums are rather cheesy too. Great vocals, great bass, bunch of weird production choices.

Lord of Oats- 4 on the floor! Square waves! Lo-Fi new wave charm! A little whinier than usual. Your speaking voice is much more pleasant than your singing voice. This song is really fun with all the different bits. That sample of whatever freaked me out. Cool song, I think a few more vocal takes and this could go up a level.

Melvin is God- This should be funny.

Paco del Stinko- Ken Glase! LOL! THIS IS awesome!!! Great guitar! Love the drums and bass as well! Killer PDS vocals. The Booing cracks me up, and the Rone joke is great! Big vote!!!!!!!!!!!

Pathetic Wannabees- The guitar is too loud and distracting. I like the Mad Dog insanity. I like the urban jazz in the background. A fun listen.

Raised by Wolves- Mellow Goth. I really like the echo pedal work. The backing vocals don’t sound as good as the lead vocals. Although the melody really needs the variant the backing vocals attempt. Wah wah has me singing “Wow wow wow”. I don’t get the ending, building of intensity was great and then it wimpers rather than climaxes. The heavy Tom use in the drum machine strikes me a bit awkward also. The 80’s key souonds are great for the genre. You have some whistling “S”s in your vocals also. I subscribe to the Dennis De Young school of making your S’s more Z like to avoid such S whistling. Something you may consider. Pretty damn cool song, sorry for all the nit picks.

Rone Rivendale- You make the least musical music I’ve ever heard. This makes it rather fascinating actually. I have to intellectually listen to this. Because every other sense of dance, pleasure, soothing, intensity, drama, comedy, poetry, and groove is void in this track. Yeah this is hard to listen to, but I’ve made it through twice. I clearly don’t get it.

Scomber & Friends- Piano is nice. The vocals have a bit of over affectation. The vocals also seem to struggle with meter. Nice voice though. The lo-fi production doesn’t really serve this song. The key tones are a bit painful. This is a well written song. I like the dynamics. I’m bored by the story however. Not Bad! OK this is way too long, there’s been nothing new for a while here. This isn’t increasing in drama, or much of an ending. Is there more of the story you have to tell? Ouch “blind but made me see” gag…

The Sky Looks Pissed- This is sooooooooooo quiet. Wow Conor Oberst fan? I’m actually wondering if this is an old Conor recording. I love Bright Eyes, so I’m kind of a sucker for this. Recording is terrible, but the quivering voice is rather compelling.

Stypod Queers Experiment- Not my thing.

Surf Train Surf Stuff- Why is “They Meet” a new wave Goth title? There seems to be a bunch of the anti-live entries in this fight. Is this Nigel? Elcectic Spoons? This is very cool. I suppose it is live for a Robot. I mostly suspect this is Nigel due to the Magix plug-in. If not Nigel, are you using Magix? Anyway, I enjoyed this track.

Todd McHatton- Freaking Beautiful! Nice stretch from, your usual fare. I love the guitar playing. Nice recording! This gets a vote. Great melody, great dynamics! Well done!

The Voice Inside Your Head- This is very sloppy. Up a step? Yikes. Vocals are way too loud. Harmonica is way too loud too. I assume it was on the vocal track. A train song needs to be super tight.

The Weakest Suit-I like the “They Meet, they sleep, they drink, they dream” part (or whatever you exactly say. This is a nice little rocker, but It’s screaming for drums and bass and electric guitar.


OK votes go to us (BSS), Kasper, Balance Lost, Future Boy, Paco del Stinko, Todd McHatton

glennny wrote: Kasper- You guys ruled the live fight. Great delivery. This is obviously very sloppy in a few places. However you had me laughing pretty hard, you had the crowd laughing too. It was live and fresh. How much earlier than the fight was it written? This gets a vote. This proves that topical zombies beats out vulgar lyrics. VOTE!

Thanks so much for the kind words, Glen. Irwin and I talked very briefly about it on the drive up to Spokane, but didn't get much farther than "we should write a song about the undead Jackson 5 meeting in hell." We talked about it a bit on Friday, but didn't get much farther. Saturday morning, we felt some pressure, so banged out some lyrics and a vague riff in a few minutes before heading over to the Empyrean. We finished the song in the alley under the train tracks, practiced it once when we went back to the hotel room to get our instruments, then did what you saw. I wasn't kidding when I said we did it in 10 minutes.

I'd love to do a studio version of this, or a least a version with more time to practice, but I fear it would lose its immediacy. It was a live song for a live show, and I am so happy that everyone liked it. We really weren't sure how well it would be received, and after your set, even less so, but fortunately, the crowd responded.

-Mike

Black Tyrano wrote:Also, Glenn and Rachel, I hope you make a nice recording of this one, as I think that would really let some of the drowned out elements shine through.

I'm a drowned element!

glennny wrote:Those not in Spokane:

Hi Glenny,

I know there were a lot of entries in the "those not in Spokane" catagory, but you forgot us. Well, maybe you didn't forget us, maybe you just hated our song and decided to not say anything rather than being mean? Whatever the reason, if you have a chance, would you be able to add a review for the Hell Yeahs? I'm curious to know what you thought of the song, either good or bad. Thank you and sorry to have to ask.

-Heather

Heather,

1st of all I'm triple N glennny.
2nd- I'm very sorry I overlooked your song. I listened and reviewed out of order then tried to organize after the fact. The Hell Yeahs were lost in the shuffle.

without further ado-

The Hell Yeahs- The Hell Yeahs are much like AC/DC to me. You can count on them for a catchy solid song. However they seem to NEVER surprise me. That said, I do like If You Want Blood more than say Problem Child. So once I accept that your song will always sound like the Hell Yeahs, I can say that this is one of the better riffs. Also, it's so short and sweet it's very listenable. I've got 5 listens in at this point, and I'll always enjoy a listen. You guys would be an asset to a movie executive, you could be counted on for a new original snarky teenage angst song for "1st Beer" scene. Production wise everything sounds GREAT! love the guitar tones and guitar licks. SOOOOOOOOOO nice to hear the real drums! Vocals are super solid. I enjoy the backing vocals more than the lead vocals. Why can't the lead vocals hit the high notes? Why can't the vocal melody sustain a long note? I know, I know, know,... it's The Hell Yeahs "sound". It struck me in one of the Iron Maiden documentaries I watched ages ago how they would write some songs, but couldn't use them for the band, because the song wasn't "Maiden" enough. Then you have the Beatles and Van Halen who try their best to vary genres and chase the "different" and yet always sound like themselves. I think I subscribe to the latter ethos. Anyway, you have a great rock voice, and you guys are dialed in to your sound and no one does it better. Unfortunately I already voted, before I listened (8 times) to your song and reviewed it. I don't think it would grab a vote from me. My usual votes go to Paco and Balance Lost because there is nothing usual about their songs. They continually surprise me. However, sometimes the Hell Yeahs just rock so hard I vote for them too. This is a keeper and will go on my weekly mix CD, but no vote I'm afraid (if I could go back in time and include you)

glennny wrote:without further ado-

Wow triple N glennny, thank you for the extensive review!

Thank you also for explaining your comment about the Hell Yeahs having a "sound". Yes, we do (and we enjoy it). I know it bothers some people out there. In my opinion, we have experimented here and there over the course of the 5 years we've been doing this Hell Yeahs thing. Every time we do, we tend to get more "negative" comments, so I think we naturally gravitate back to the tried and true - the thing I think we do really well.

Since you're the second one to say that this entry sounds like a "Hell Yeahs song", if you don't mind me asking, how would you like to hear us experiment? Dre, or anyone else, feel free to pipe in too. I'm really interested...

Thanks again glennny. I think this feedback will be helpful and might push us to try something new. (we'll see!)

Heather,

More than anything I think a more adventurous vocal melody is what I'd want to hear. Covering a larger range, sustaining some notes long, maybe hitting some high notes in the main melody.

I also like much more jazz in all my music. You guys could keep it rock, but give the bass line a more prominent role rather than just exaggerating the root note of the guitar chords.

Rather than power chords, a big dissonant jazz chord can carry a lot more darkness. One diminished 7 has the darkness equivalent of 5 frenetic power chords.

I hope you keep your sense of pop song structure, and production sense. All the instruments sound really good, and the production is tight. I guess I'd just like to hear you stretch your chords and melodies.

Keep in mind, this might just make me impressed, sticking to your guns will always get you good reviews and plenty of votes.

Cheers!

i had no idea there were two glennys.
what else haven't i been told?

Just one, often misspelled (since I see no wink or jk, i thought I ought to respond)

glennny

glennny wrote:SOOOOOOOOOO nice to hear the real drums!

That makes me happy, clap clap clap!

Deetak voted for me, along with the Hell Yeahs. The privilege is mine to rub shoulders with the Redmons. Seeing my name mentioned in a Hell Yeahs review also makes me happy. But seeing mention of a lack of prominent bass in their songs, at least per Glennny, feeds right into my fantasy of being their 'live on tour' bass player. Send the kids to granpa's for a spell, and let's hit the road!

Aw, man, Paco! Thanks! That sure would be fun, I'll call up the grandparents right away

glennny wrote:

James Owens- Nice bass vocals! I count “tell” and “prom” as the one. I count 8 beats in each phrase. The tempo fluctuates in a big way. Hence the reason for the bell. Which seems to come in on the 3. Are there 2 bells? A couple times I hear a ker-Bling instead of a nice Bling. All that is fine, the bass vocals are AWESOME! The lead vocals and melody are very good. I’ve listened to this like six times now, it’s very nice. I have no idea what you’re singing about. (I have a problem paying attention to lyrics). This would be very fun to see at a SFLive show. Good Stuff!

Thanks, I'm glad you enjoyed it. The "bell" is supposed to be a sledgehammer hitting a spike, and there are supposed to be three, one for each of the three singers. They start in stereo, one centred and one in each ear, and converge by the end of the song (they meet). Also they are not always synchronized, but for the last strike they are (they meet}.

The rhythm is steady (I used a click track) and the strikes are regular, but the singing is loose on the rhythm, and at two points the singer pauses for a couple of beats, so the strikes fall at a different place for some verses.

please excuse the fact that I have completely ignored the challenge with regards to these reviews.

authors of - Yeah not bad. cool layering of vocals and stuff. it's like Swilington fronted by Bob Pollard.

Balance Lost - I wanted to make something that sounded like America Won and America Too off the Hymie's Basement album. In retrospect it sounds more like 2nd rate Sigur Ros with somebody talking over it.

Berkeley Social Scene - Aye it's good an' all, chords/melody aren't doing much for me and the changes don't seem to do much dynamically. The singing is good. I prefer Amsterdam.

The Colour of Infinity - I dig this. It's kind of spooky, the drumming and weird sparse guitar playing are really good and I like the vocals though they kind of waver out of tune occasionally. keeper.

Crank Radio - Cool song. I like

Everlasting Gobstopper - This is a good song. When it's not being all Dawson's Creek it sort of reminds me of REM being acoustic. not sure about the widdly lead guitar but i love the uber fuzziness of the solo.

Future Boy - yacht pop. can't fault it. not really into it.

Glenn and Rachael - Best song so far. you needn't have been worried about the performance.

Gooey Caramel Centaur - S'not bad but not really grabbing me and the little falsetto flourishes kind of sound a bit diva-ish.

The Hell Yeahs - Good stuff. I listened 3 times in a row but yeah glennny has a point. Although a lot of the time I just think "phew, a good song at last" it would be good to hear something a bit more out of your comfort zone. I'm not saying do a ballad, but maybe try the same song but with only a cowbell and a recorder.

James Owens - I was trying to listen to get whatever the story was, dunno if maybe I kept drifiting in and out but I didn't get it. Maybe the lyrics are a bit vague for anything specific to be gleaned from them. Is it some kind of commentary on international politics? I hope you can get a Welsh valley choir next time you try this style.

I wrote and then lost the next couple of reviews so these ones are a bit slapdash and lazy...

Jeff Robertson and the Neo-Candylanders - It's funny how anything so traditional sounding could be labelled "Neo". Sure ain't a bad song, I like the bits of slide guitar.

The John Benjamin Band - Awesome. I had a big ol' review about how I wanted to be you but I lost it. Sorry.

Jon Eric - I would sure appreciate being able to hear the lyrics here since the music is fairly MOR. none in the lyric thread. Enthusiastically played.

Kasper - I think I missed out on something by not seeing this live, unfortunately it didn't make me laugh. I'm surprised there are still people who want to be like Tenacious D. The middle section is good fun, you should've made that the song, and then made the main bit of the song the middle section.

King Arthur - If this was a single you should sell it with a free disco ball and a cream blue suit.

Lord of Oats - I like this, you have similar melodic sensibilities as me. and I'm gradually getting into the Magnetic Fields. My main gripe is that you seem to be freestyling around the root note of the key which gets old really quick, I've learned this from experience, and also your voice breaks all over the place. I reckon if you sang in a more comfortable key (say, down 2 or 3 tones) it would be more seamless. I like the synth at 0.43.

Melvin is God - music is not great but is effortlessly more effective than Rone. Vocals are annooooyyying. Score!

Naked Philosophy - yeah s'alriiight. sounds a bit like Crowded House.

Octomoctothorpe - Takes a few listens to get in to. At first it sounds sloppy and a bit lame, but...well, it is sloppy but I like the lyrics and I would totally have been shouting along had I been there.

Paco del Stinko - Ooh, it's not often we get really driving stuff out of you. I love the little plinky bit around 1.29. Here's a question, what would your dream songfight backing band be? I'd love to see you with blue on drums. nice outro.

Pathetic Wannabees - Sorry to say this but I don't think I've ever listened to one of your songs and not felt like I was wasting my time.

Raised by Wolves - yay. Good to have you back though I'm still sore at you for stealing our win in the "beauty is a burden" fight :p. Really interesting entry, reminds me of "atmosphere" by Joy Division or James in their spacier moments. Cool.

Rone Rivendale - Bad rhythms, drum sounds are thin and cheesy but have a funny casio techno vibe. There's a section which appears first between 25 and 29 seconds which threatens to sound coherent and listenable. I don't know if you got a new set of sounds, this track seems a lot clearer, much better mix than previous entries. Still not down with your melodic choices, the vocals have nothing in the way of tune or rhythm and with the synths it sounds like you chose the notes arbitrarily. Do you know much in the way of scales? might be worth investigating. Not that I want you to think inside the box or anything but might make your stuff more accessible. Overall, not particularly enjoyable but showing some signs of progress.

Scomber and Friends - Accomplished. Drags a fair bit. Reminds me of Bowie. Some lines could do with being re-recorded.

The Sky Looks Pissed - My typing was drowning out the song. You sound like Connor Oberst. Quite nice, I'd like to hear more if you learned some more musical tricks other than just strumming chords. Like using some nice picky bits a-la Mark Kozelek.

Sockpuppet - lounge poetry

The Stypod Queers Experiment - haha. There are parts of this when it sounds like you're trying to sound like Stephen Hawking. I'm not sure I get this, why is there no more butt sex for you? What are you gonna do to stop it? That's what I'd like to know. Do you have a vampire gaurdian angel? Have you picked up any STDs? there's so much more that could;ve been explored in this song. Can we expect a part 2? Nice solo.

Surf Train Surf Industry - Your vocalist could teach rone a thing or two about emoting. Swithc up the beat! nice arpeggio but it's not particularly subtle. I was listening to the Life Aquatic soundtrack the other day, this would be cool if it was a bit more like that, y'know the cheesy 808 style tracks with the cool arpeggios? nearly there.

Todd McHatton - This is the first time I've listened to you since NE. It's a nice tune and I like your acoustic guitar sound. Some of your chord changes remind me of Sting.

The Voice Inside Your Head - Reminds me of, A) Johnny Cash - Old '97, but with boring vocals which have only a tenuous grasp on meter, and B) Cow Exchange, but not funny. Good idea, needs better execution.

The Weakest Suit - What's with those squeeks? Is it cos you're saying "rat" and they squeek? You're no Frank Black. Not a bad song, not your best but I think it's largely down to execution. This sounds like it would be awesome if played by Spinal Tap. But then, I suppose everything would sound awesome if played by Spinal Tap.

fürrypedro wrote:The Weakest Suit - You're no Frank Black.

who? the guy from millennium who was in aliens? my voice isn't that gravelly, is it? does this mean anything or are you just being random?

I'm pretty sure he means Frank Black of the Pixies.

Nah, he means Frank Black of Frank Black and the Catholics. The guy from the pixies was named Black Francis. (I can see where you'd get them confused though).

Eric Y. wrote:Nah, he means Frank Black of Frank Black and the Catholics. The guy from the pixies was named Black Francis. (I can see where you'd get them confused though).

Wait a minute...I saw Black Francis perform the other night, and he played a bunch of Frank Black songs! Is he confused, too?

But... but... but Black Francis is white. Pasty, even!

jeez, that was sarcasm. i've been listening to frank black for twenty years now (which is kind of hard to believe, but true).

Furry Pete wrote:I'd love to see you with blue on drums.

Shit yeah! I'd love to see that as well.

Paco Del Stinko wrote:

Furry Pete wrote:I'd love to see you with blue on drums.

Shit yeah! I'd love to see that as well.

There's hardly anyone here I wouldn't want to hear with blue on the drums. That guy is incredible.