Hi, everyone. Sorry it has taken me so long to get all of these reviews done. Been a busy week around here. Anyway, thanks to everyone who reviewed my song, it's nice to get the input...And it's especially nice to get the occasional complement.

In that vein, here are my reviews of your songs. Please don't take any of it as hypocrisy, as I know that my songs have their fair share of trouble.

If you absolutely hate anything that I say about your song, feel free to write me off as a crack-pot and forget about my existence. (I'm sure that my family and friends do it all the time.)
BTW, I haven't had time to read the majority of the posts on here yet (I typed these reviews off-line), so if I comment on an issue that has already been addressed in the forum, then just disregard it, and I appologize.
Big Crouton - Obviously the instrumental work is really good on this one. I also really enjoyed the shift in the guitar at 3:05. Nice effects on that. As I'm not good at mixing vocals (see my song for details), I can't put my finger on it, but there is something "off" on the higher sung parts of the vocals in the beginning and end parts of the song. They are also a little hard to hear. Much easier to hear in the softer and slower parts after 3:05. Maybe it’s the mixing, or maybe your voice is more suited to singing lower parts? Fun story idea (well, not if it was a real event, but you know what I mean.) Truthfully, I felt like the song was a little long, but maybe that's just cause I wasn't expecting something of this length for a song fight entry. Anyway, all-in-all nice song.
Billy's Little Trip - The opening is very soundgarden (whom I like). Later it feels like it gets mixed with a little Deep Purple. I really like the shift in the lead guitar line at 1:30 to the "da-duh-dee-da-duh" variation. It is kind of hard to hear the vocals; I had to be really careful about EQ settings when listening to this one. I really hate to say it, but the lyrics weren't my cup of tea, though. When the distorted guitar drops out at 1:57, the bass really stands out, and I must say that I really like the tone quality of it. It's at that fun point where it's hard to tell if it is a real bass with effects, or a synth that the factory couldn't quite get to reproduce a bass. Good stuff.
Feldspar - Obviously, very folksy. Some good stuff in the guitar part, like the stops on the strums with the chord changes at 0:33. Obviously not flashy, but sometimes the best additions to a song are the ones that don't really stand out as technical. It’s a shame that you guys got some weird line noise at 0:50 and a couple of other points in the song. The ocarina sound was a nice touch, would have liked to have heard it a little more throughout the song. Definitely would have preferred it to that "fly-buzzing" sound.

Once again, may sound mean, but I didn't really care for the lyrics...except for one line. "Broken fragments of conversations, hang around the open window all winter long." This is a GREAT line. It just oozes with feeling and mood. Don't let it end with this song. Seriously, I would love for you to write this into another song some other time.
Jim Tyrell - Nice and funky. The change from the middle range part to a treble one with the guitar was very nice. Like the shift in chord progression for "You can say what you wanna say." I like the lyrics for this one, too. Especially "One mystery solved..." Complaints are few, a small one: every now and then some of the right-hand muted strokes produces "chucks" that are a little too loud. If you ever revisit this song, maybe drop the level real quick at those spots. The biggest complaint I have is that the guitar and bongos seems to get out off sync at the outro of the song. Didn't notice this at all in the middle of the song. Overall, though, this was a great song. I think that it'll be staying on my computer for quite some time after this songfight is over.
Legless Bill Tubbs - I just have to ask, is this actually ad-libbed, or did you just do a really good job of making it sound that way? If it was planned, then it is very funny due to just the "uncomfortableness" you achieve in the song. But, I have *no idea* what the heck this has to do with "House of Hodgeman." Although it is always fun to hear a banjo, I have to say that there is a lot of slop in the playing (and maybe some bad tuning?) BTW, nice sound design on the vocals.
Limu - The right side vocals are OK, but it sounds like you need to sing out a little more and get some more power/stability behind your voice. I hate to sound mean, but the left side background vocals need more help. You get a lot of noise in the vocal part with the second verse. It sounds like it’s because you boosted the levels on them there. (Once again, if you were to sing out a little more to start with it should help with this problem.) I really liked the piano work, though.
Melvin - I really like the rhythm guitar. It rides nicely on the rhythm of the drums. And going for the shorter "clean-gap" stabs was the right choice for it. The whole song has a nice 80's feel to it. I have nothing against synthesizers (I like the bass synth), but the bit from 1:46 to 2:29 was a little heavy on them for me. I can't claim to understand all of the lyrics because of a "country gap" here, but if the general impression I'm getting is correct, then I like the direction you took your theme in, so nice interpretation of "House of Hodgman."
Paco Del Stinko - Funny theme. Could almost have been the plot for a B-80's horror movie. I really like the guitar riff in between the verses. The instrumental (not vocal) part of the verses reminds me of The Offspring at times. There was some great sound design on this one. All of the instrument parts have their own "space," none of them get in each other's way, and they all gel together to make a really fun song. Fun treatment of the vocals by the singer, too. BTW, the "ribbit" at the end got me. Nice touch.
Ravenhide - Sounds like something from an 80's anime or action movie. Hate too be too critical, but the vocals really need help. For one, you need to sing out, as your voice is underpowered and that really negatively affects the sound. Also, it sounds like Adam Sandler did your vocals. Next, you need to mix your vocal and instrumental tracks better. The instrumentals are WAY too soft. Maybe you don't have the proper software to do this, but I'm pretty sure that you could probably find some appropriate freeware on the web. Anyway, don't be discouraged and good luck on your next try.
Ross Durand - Nice to hear a guy singing a song from a girl's perspective. For those who don't know, songs like this used to be a little more common back in the day. (No, farther back...keep going...) I guess macho-ism kind of killed a lot of this style, but nice to hear people still doing it. BTW, good job of getting a very traditional sound out of this in both composition and lyrics. The instrumental all sounds very good and I like the lyrics, a lot of good turns of phrase and plot. Nice melancholy little ditty. I figure that you are probably trying to emphasize the treble in your voice, but the vocals felt a little thin/top-heavy at times. I don't that feeling that much when the background singers join in, so maybe do something a little different with the EQ would make it sound better. Never thought about interpreting "House" as one's bloodline with this week's theme. Very imaginative.
Sh*tload of Dolphins - From the opening, I really expected this song to go pop-punk. The "nintendo" synth in the background is WONDERFUL! And it grows on you even more as the song goes on. Are you using a sample of something, one of the sound-chip emulators for a gaming system, or a VSTi to get that sound, or what? Anyway, bravo on that. The theme is a lot of fun. From a comedy perspective, there were a lot of good lines, like the pregnant alien, the conversation piece, and (even though it is far from rhyming and you could have added a few more words to get a the last bit to get a better rhythm going)"Please don't call the police. We need this 20 G." (What can I say, it made me laugh.) Once again, I may be being a little harsh, but the vocals are little off pitch and off rhythm at times. Other than that, though, I liked this song. Funny stuff.
Spinlock - The piano is really well done up. The subject of the lyrics and the "mood" of the vocals fit the piano well. I thought that it was a very well written topic. For me, there were only two main problems with the song: 1. Through out the song, the beatbox seems to bounce between being in sync and fighting quite a bit with the beat implied by the piano. 2. From the lyrics, I realize that you were trying to go for a disconcerting sound with the guitar that kicks in at 1:37, but it was a little too out there and distracted from the song for me. The guitar is a nice addition when it settles down, though.
Steve Durand - I actually expected a straight swing song from the intro, until the guitar kicked in. It ends up being a kind of mix between swing, mariachi, and Dr. Seuss for me. The "less orthodox" rhythm fits the M.C. Escher house theme nicely, but I probably would have picked a different rhythm pattern for the guitar. Stating the obvious, but you can tell that this song was meant to really showcase the brass. Speaking of which, the brass "hits" in the chorus are a nice shift for the horns and to emphasize the chorus. The rhythm needs to be tightened up just a little between the individual parts, as most everyone seems to get off beat at one point or another.
Wes Davis and DesMLs - Absolutely NO complaints about the instrumental. Well done, bravo! I like the harmonizing on the vocals, might have liked to have heard the background vocal part pulled up to the front a just little more, though. No problems with the theme of the song, but not crazy about some of the lyrics. And a little bit of nitpicking here, but I would have preferred if you had ended the song with the whole ensemble fading out, not just the strings. For me, the "slower" feeling of them causes the song to lose its momentum in an undesirable way.
Zoosneakers - Really like the drum work and the guitars. Afraid I can't say the same about the effects on the vocals, though. Not only does it make it hard to catch the vocals, but it seems to emphasize the treble end of the vocals in a bad way. Just a little suggestion, but maybe the song could benefit from a little bit of compression (esp. on the drums) to get a "tighter" mix. Now, sorry if this sounds really brutal, but I didn't
really like the lyrics that I could catch. Although the theme fits the psychedelic sound, I think that it could have been covered a little better. If this song had different lyrics recorded in another fashion, I think that it would have been really good.
Anyway, those are my reviews. (Hope I didn't offend anyone out there too much.)

It's been a fun song fight, and hope to see you all around.
-cr410