The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I've been thinking about my comments on Steve's song, which I liked, and his comments. It made me realize something about a defeciency in my own songs. I'm basically a stringed instrument player (as long as I don't have to use a bow) so I can be a "pop" ensemble by myself. The problem is that there's a "sameness" to everything.

Everybody has a style, and even if you play different instruments, that style pervades every track. I know bands have an overall style, but speaking in generalities, there's an individuality to every part that isn't there with just one person. I'm not saying it can't be done by a single person, just that it's easier to overcome. Plus there's the more "human" feel with a band. I think that's why I seem to like band songs better, or why I make comments about needing a group to fill out the arrangement. So Steve, I hope you don't think I was knocking your song or your playing, I was just imagining how the '73 Tower of Power, the one that did "Live and in Living Color", could tear it up.

I suppose the answer is more collaboration.

Bands ARE a really valuable asset to have, on Songfight and in the real world. You have more input, and more sound to fill out your set. I've noticed the main problem I have is that my songs essentially all start with the same intro, and the end always slows down on the last 2 or 3 chords when I play them live. I mean, there are a couple exceptions, but for the most part that's the truth.

Of course, I really have to envy those who can make a guy/guitar song sound great without a band. I keep trying it, and I think I came fairly close this time, but man if you go back and listen to something like Deshead's Wrath of God, you'll see what I mean. He totally should've won that fight.

Bands ARE a really valuable asset to have, on Songfight and in the real world. You have more input

Yeah, when I get a bright idea, it stops with me, with a band it bounces around, 1 good idea spurs another idea, which in turn spurs another and so forth. You're right about the guy and guitar though, I'm just not a good enough singer to pull it off and keep peoples' interest. G&G really puts a spotlight on the strength or weakness of the song and the performer.

Project-D wrote:

Bands ARE a really valuable asset to have, on Songfight and in the real world. You have more input

Yeah, when I get a bright idea, it stops with me, with a band it bounces around, 1 good idea spurs another idea, which in turn spurs another and so forth. You're right about the guy and guitar though, I'm just not a good enough singer to pull it off and keep peoples' interest. G&G really puts a spotlight on the strength or weakness of the song and the performer.

Even being able to sing well, it's still hard to keep peoples' interest. It's all about the melodies and what you add to the song. My problem is that I tend to have the song sound the same for far too long, and though I try to change that, I just never seem to be able to come up with the good ideas. At least, not on Songfight. For whatever reason, I can hardly write a good song for this site. I guess it's because that inspirado just doesn't hit me as hard.

Then again, a couple of my best live songs came from here, i.e. Red Skates and Wrong Girl. People eat up both of those.

Project-D wrote:

Bands ARE a really valuable asset to have, on Songfight and in the real world. You have more input

Yeah, when I get a bright idea, it stops with me, with a band it bounces around, 1 good idea spurs another idea, which in turn spurs another and so forth. You're right about the guy and guitar though, I'm just not a good enough singer to pull it off and keep peoples' interest. G&G really puts a spotlight on the strength or weakness of the song and the performer.

Bands do rock, and it is fun to have the collaborative thing -- conversations of mutual excitement about the new song creation. I would say there are few things better in life than jamming with the band. There is a flip side however -- they are much more powerful and therefore harder to control. Also, bands take more time to polish and produce. In a limited time context to cut a song, your mix may need to deal with tracks bleeding all over the place, minor flubs or clipping in one track may be everywhere (damn I checked levels for the drums, but forgot to sound check the vocal track and guitar 2?!), you have to listen more times to salvage scratch tracks of various live takes, and generally can't take as simple of a "build one layer at a time" approach the one man army can. I mean if you have a serious studio, and time to spare, then yeah there's no beating it.

Anyway, I tend to personalize this down to two projects I have experience with: Older Brothers and Zipline. I *like* Zipline songs more, and have more more fun in the band context, but Glenny and I doing a pure studio play with Older Brothers has done better in the voting.

writing is different with a band. with gng you only have to make yourself happy. or sad..or whatever emotion you want to come up with.
but a band is more fun.

<snip> Decided to do real reviews.

Wes - It's also about the rhythm. If you're getting stuck trying to come up with interesting melodies, you could try re-writing your song to a swing, 6/8, or two step/uk garage beat - it works for me sometimes.

Bands - in my experience - suck for recording. 30 takes in the time available, not one of which is perfect, and the final mixing is a pain and no-one wants to do it.
I like the current Spinlock approach, which is just two people (- music and drama majors -). That way the direction stays as foccussed as it does with just one person, but there are 2 sources of ideas for when the momentum slows down. You can judge for yourself if you think it's working

spinlock wrote:<snip> Decided to do real reviews.

Wes - It's also about the rhythm. If you're getting stuck trying to come up with interesting melodies, you could try re-writing your song to a swing, 6/8, or two step/uk garage beat - it works for me sometimes.

Bands - in my experience - suck for recording. 30 takes in the time available, not one of which is perfect, and the final mixing is a pain and no-one wants to do it.
I like the current Spinlock approach, which is just two people (- music and drama majors -). That way the direction stays as foccussed as it does with just one person, but there are 2 sources of ideas for when the momentum slows down. You can judge for yourself if you think it's working

Two people does work really well. I did that with Pipefist, and the only problem we ever had was too much weed sometimes. Good thing I stopped that, or I'd never get anything done for this damn site.

Billy's Little Trip! - Good chorus - great rhythm - rest of the song follows through.
Ending felt a little sudden - I was expecting it to go back to the original riff and do something funky.
I really liked this. For my taste I would have preferred the drums less reverbed as it reduces the ass-shaking funk-power they would otherwise had - maybe even a breakdown to a drum solo. I'm guessing these were programmed and so wouldn't have sounded so strong if unhidden from all the reverb. I would LOVE to hear this live with a real drummer.

Country Blumkins
Intro is a bit long but hints at interestingness. What is the wobble on the splash about? A compression artefact, or have you got some sort of modulation on it? That's not good. Other than that, chords, notes and arrangements aren't too bad, but by the time you start mumbling I'm afraid I lost interest. Still, it sounds like you have plenty of potential. Just compress your ideas into a lot less play-time, bring forward your vocals a little and I may really like your next song.

Finding Nemoy
Pleasant enough song - reminds me of blink 182's material - though I'm not sure if it would benefit from their yelly singing style. It's not at all a bad song, but the arrangement and singing are pretty straightforward and unsurprising. I might want to watch Ally McBeal while eating myself to death on cake and icecream to this song, but I wouldn't want to vote for it on songfight. I'd like to hear more variation in the accompaniment.

Jack Shite
There's lots of space in this song, filled with quiet noodling. It's not bad, most of what I said for Finding Nemoy applies to you, too. I'd suggest you consider making your strumming, drums and bass agree on the rhythm. As it stands they all do their own thing which means as a whole they unfocus the song. A shorter, more focussed song with tight integration between your instruments would have made this a song to keep on the cake and ice-cream playlist.

King Arthur Heh! First I thought this was Ross Durand. Really Good. I think more could have been made of the bridge.

Klownhole Each week I like your stuff more. I'm assuming that's because your music is changing me, rather than the other way round. So there's no point my writing much else.

Lymph OK, so musically it's not amazingly original, but that's not grounds to dismiss it out of hand. Although a couple of wobbles in places I really enjoyed the performance, and the lyrics. Simple, right length, good ending. Very nice.

MC Eric B Heh. I'm disappointed that a nerdcore - you're still nerdcore, right - song makes such massive generalisations about an entire gender. Your production skills are improved, if you made this from scratch by yourself, but the lyrics make me very very sad.

Melvin Another good entry, as always, but not as high as my favourites of yours, partly due to the style I think.
I like your wordplay (particularly, if you point the finger then the point is moot), but it doesn't flow as well as it might - do you use 'discerning' in normal speech? The solo felt a bit sub-par as well.

Monte Carlo Lots of reverb. Too much. In fact, the whole song is suffering from production issues. I was enjoying the beginning, but I can't make head of tails of what's happening at the end. Sorry. I could imagine the start as a nicely produced mild sample-driven electronica thing, like modjo might do, and the end as some sort of crazy punk song but I can't get a feel for what you wanted to do here as a whole song.

NatchDan The organ's a bit a loud, voice could have been louder.
I'm feeling about 60 seconds of song here - it doesn't particularly build or grow, and I don't know what to do with the gap in the middle. Were you missing a verse, or a solo, or did you just want to make it > 3minutes long? That's not a requirement. I would vote for a 60 second song that was complete, but I would never vote for a 3 minute song that was too long and had a big empty section in it. If a lot shorter, I'd like this.

Odiferous Valley Pretty introduction - though both it and the guitar fills distract me because they really don't go cleanly into the verses, making the song untidy. However! Other than that, the arrangement is interesting and varied, and the song is the right length, solo is appropriate. Overall it's a really good song, I hope you do more.

PiGPEN Yeah, not bad, I could hear what you were singing, and it's nice to hear a banjo from time to time. I suppose from the style I expected it to be funny and it didn't make me laugh.

Primitie Screwheads I have to enjoy the hand percussion, but the lyrics felt uninspired. The song didn't tell a story or incite a feeling, it felt more like listening to exam notes set to music. I think I would have liked this a lot without any lyrics at all, as all the creativity was in the accompaniement.

Project D Not bad tune, but I don't understand why you're multiplying all the lies all over the place. Other than that I quite liked the cheesy happy vibe of it all. It is the most bizarre piano playing I have ever heard - which is rfascinating, but then you fade out. Interesting puzzle of a song.

Ross Durand I'm not sure if this is supposed to be a comedy song or not, but I enjoyed it in a Tenacious D does Dire Straits sort of way. Really polished - and the first song I've heard in a while that a fade out seems the right choice for on an ending. As always with your story songs I would have liked it to be more extreme, but that's a taste issue that doesn't spoil this at all.

Signboy I totally dig this song. The lyrics are dense and interesting, the chords are unusual, and the harmonies pwn. I'd love to hear about how you did the vocals - is it you singing higher, a M-F converter or a real female?
Major flaw of this is the drums. The actual pattern isn't bad at all, but the crash/splash sound on "the only thing the BBC wanted to say" is pants. Anyway. Partisan bonus points for referencing UK institutions even if you're not 100% accurate in history, geography and corporate psychology. My vote this week.

Steve Durand - This is really good.
Great intro and ending - and though I was going to slate the lyrics for being cliched, after repeated listens I think it actually adds to the lightheartedness. As always you have an amazing talent for arrangement!

Those Meddling Kids - Being different
Too much going on in this song. It sounded interesting, but the tempo changes on the singing made it really hard to listen to this and work out what was being said. Shame, because other than that I liked it, the interesting variety in the rhythm and accompaniment were in the sweet zone.

Wages
I actually liked the yelling + singing thing. Like other songs in this fight, I couldn't really tell what the overall thrust of the song was. The lyrics ranged from interesting to awful. Yelling people's names at the start was an encouraging start, but all the energy disappeared instantly with the quiet verse. What are the ten lies? Do they represent people who the focus of the song has cheated with? You're really good at expressing emotion, I totally get a betrayed and angry vibe from it, but what it's actually about I can't tell.

Wes Davis
CHEESE. WHAT.
This is a pretty song, but it's quite inconsequential. What was the idea behind it? When you get a good idea you can do really good stuff with it (house of hodgman for example) but all I'm getting from this is a dude is going to lie predictably to a girl to have dispassionate uninteresting sex. I can't really care about a song like that. Did she have an extra toe? Are they on a magic carpet? Is he cheating on her with 10 other people? It doesn't seem so. C'mon Wes.

This was the week of many potential collaborations for me, but I was super busy. The collaboration I did do was actually part of a business trip. (I flew on Saturday instead of Sunday to the East Coast to hang out with Paco Del Stinko on Sunday, and work on Monday).



Billy’s Little Trip: 1st of all I can’t help but think of Derk, from the other web-site I’m obsessed with, whenever I see your new Avatar. http://www.boardgamegeek.com/user/derk
Drums sound great, bass sounds great, very cool riff! I think the chorus is a little disappointing after such a cool verse (musically speaking). I don’t what the lyrics are, I don’t really care, the vocal noises are pleasing. The backing vocals high pitched in the background, are strange, but good strange, I dig. This is a keeper, a contender, great job!

The Country Bumpkins: Now I understand who is who. You actually sound like Country Bumpkins. Very forgettable. Vocals are loud and forced. Music is boring. I don’t dig it. At least with the Lymph track there’s some excellent playing. Nothing really offensive, at first I was kind of impressed with PigPen for such a genre hop, but it wasn’t the case.

Finding Nemoy- I love it! You’re such a Thanks for the Frisbee rip off! Frisbee is a friend of mine, it’s not cool to rip him off like this! (jk). Just beautiful! Great melody, great lyrics. You’re one of my favorite songwriters period. My favorite nuance is the guitar during the chorus. Beautiful man! So I didn’t get a hold of this song to spice up, but I did receive a non-SongFight Finding Nemoy song, that I plan on juicing up, I can’t wait to have the time. Keeper, contender, very successful!

Jack Shite: I always thought of you as a critic, it’s good to see you submit. Although your voice sounds very familiar, you must be part of a SongFight super-group. I looked in the archives, looks like it’s been almost 2 years for you, at least as Jack Shite. The song: Sounds like you and Billy had the same backing vocal idea. I like your voice. Some of the spaces between vocals feel too long. There’s a Warren Zevon vibe in this for me. In a consistent mid-tempo rhythm that carries the whole song. I enjoyed this!

King Arthur: You have a very good and stylized voice. Vocals are the best part. I hate the drum sound. I don’t like the drum rhythms either. The lead guitar has some very nice playing. Not a fan of the tone of the clean tone guitar. I think the chorus lacks a hook. This doesn’t sound like a single. Sounds like a deeper track. Yeah this is pretty cool, but the drums really take it down a notch for me.

Klownhole: This is way over on the punk side and not so much on the metal side. I like it. This reminds me of Jr. High circa 1985 playing Hockey with the punk crowd. Good stuff, one of my favorite Klownhole songs.

Lymph- Love the production! Drums, guitars, vocals, harmonies sound wonderful! However it’s a fucking 12-bar, yawn! Nice guitar solo! Great playing all around. Maybe due to not having to think about the composition.

MC Eric B- Your flow sucks. The inflections are tedious mockeries of early rap. Nothing too special about the beats either. Ummmmmm, you seem like a nice guy on the boards! Sorry, I just don’t like this one.

Melvin- Here we go! A chorus with a catchy hook! Playing is fantastic and tight. I think this is the track to beat. I love it. You seem rather inspired lately Melvin, your last several tunes have been above and beyond. Wonderful dynamics in this one. Wife chimes in “sounds pop ready”. I actually think the guitar solo could be stronger, but that’s an angstrom length gripe. Fantastic song man!

Monte Carlo- You poor bastard Martin, you have to follow probably the best song of the fight. I somewhat reviewed this song earlier in the thread. There are some great ideas here, but the recording is asking a lot of the listener to re-mix, re-record, and project the intentions into this one. It’s just way too loose to groove to. We should Zip this one up with one (or 2 drummers?). I agree the 1st half is stronger than the 2nd half. Lyrics need a lot of help too. You know how I feel.

Natch Dan- Production needs a lot of help. It’s very boomy. The lyric device of “You said: yadda yadda yadda” is tedious. The melody is nice however. The Organ is haunting. It’s a bummer that the breakdown instrumental section didn’t end with drums kicking in and a huge finish. Instead it returns and winds down. Some good stuff, nice melody and singing, but poor production and lacks as much dynamics as I really want tot hear.

Odoriferous Valley- This is my project this week. I had told martin that our name was going to be “Paco und Glinko”, but I think I failed to tell Paco that. So we’re the Odoriferous Valley. I flew into Boston and drove up to New Hampshire, for the express purpose of hanging out with PDS and collaborating.We got my guitars and both of our vocals down while I was there. Paco finished it off adding real drums and bass, and some very tasty guitar nuances. The most fun for me was requesting which of Paco’s many voices I wanted to hear where. Yes that is an E-Bow in the solo. This was just a great day, I got to Paco’s and he told me the news about the Gray Rainbow fight, along with the fact that a brand new title had been posted and there’d be plenty of time for him to finish off whatever we started that day. I really love the result. I think my singing is the weakest link, but it’s actually not bad (for me).

PiGPEN- Best thing about this is the genre of it took me by surprise. It’s pretty forgettable and sounds very forced. Not digging it. I just realized when you do the individual tracks on the front page that PigPen and the Country Bumpkins are reversed.
Here’s what I really thought: From the intro of this, I was sure I wasn’t going to like it. I was wrong, I like it. The pulse is annoying, but the echo guitar is nice, some good keyboard tone. I wish the lead vocals varied more. The voice is good, but I think it doesn’t quite carry the song. Screaming section? Powered up top of lungs section? This might be a little long for what it is. Whisper-Core?

Primitive Screwheads- Hey you used 2 of the same lies we did. How funny. This is a novelty song. Are there any serious songs with emotional hand farting? The music is very story time or beat poet back-up like. Sounds more like a skit than a song, but I enjoyed it!

Project D- I dig this. Nice chorus melody, great hook. Always great to hear some good piano playing. Fade-out? Weird. I like this. Solo is the best part of this song. I highly suggest an ending. End on “…loaded”.

Ross Durand- I was starting to doubt my speakers, but ah yes some good production. Somebody say Pink Floyd Dogs of War? I totally hear it. Maybe FZ Stinkfoot. Just playing, this is it’s own song. Guitar tones are beautiful. The huge reverb really works in this context. Composition is not so inspiring, but the production and performance is. Good stuff.

Signboy- Love your voice! Nice groove. This is a very strong entry. Nice guitar tone. This is a contender. No complaints

Steve Durand- Love it. I like the Sir Duke nod at the end of the 1st Chorus. The band is pretty loose. The whole thing could be tightened up a lot. The writing is great. This is fun and a little too loose to be funky. Cool stuff.

Those Meddling Kids- If I had the time this track would have turned out very different. Furry Pedro sent me the instrumental track, but I had no time to devote to it. He finished it off himself. The result is great. Always love FP’s vocals. This is my daughter’s favorite song she drops everything and comes near the speakers and dances. So the breakdown followed by the long super-interesting outro is sooooooo cool, that I almost endure the 1st part of the song on repeated listens in order to get to the outro. I just love this song! You’re probably the most inventive artist on SongFight.

Wages & Project D- What did Project D do? I was expecting some killer piano, or production like unto that song 5 songs ago. Not digging this. This time Wages singing isn’t so bad, I just think the song is uninspired.

Wes Davis- Acoustic was recorded well. Nice vocals. It’s imperative that a GnG be recorded this well. The vibrato on the long notes I don’t really care for. I don’t think the melody is strong enough to stand up this naked for this long. I keep thinking of “Ice Cream” by Sara Mac Laughlin. Not bad, just not great.


So my Favorites are Melvin, Those Meddling Kids, Finding Nemoy, which is very predictable (and I think Mel, TMK, and FN might find a little funny). Other gems are BLT and Steve Durand. ( I think the Odoriferous Valley is pretty good, but I can’t be the least bit objective about it).

spinlock wrote: Wes Davis
CHEESE. WHAT.
This is a pretty song, but it's quite inconsequential. What was the idea behind it? When you get a good idea you can do really good stuff with it (house of hodgman for example) but all I'm getting from this is a dude is going to lie predictably to a girl to have dispassionate uninteresting sex. I can't really care about a song like that. Did she have an extra toe? Are they on a magic carpet? Is he cheating on her with 10 other people? It doesn't seem so. C'mon Wes.

Damn, I can feel the disappointment oozing from this review! But yeah, the idea behind it was that the guy is telling the girl extravagant lies that you tell someone you're in love with, and she knows he's not actually going to have the opportunity or the means to do any this, but she also knows that this is the measure of his love. Although after reading your review and thinking about the lyrics, it really does seem like the dude is trying to get into her pants for a hot romp in the hay. I guess that's what I get for writing a love song when I'm not in love.

But yeah, a good idea is pretty damn important, and while I thought this was a good idea, it doesn't seem to have turned out all that well. I have a song written for Clause 5, but I don't see how I'm going to get it recorded and arranged in time for that fight. Which sucks, because I had a pretty good entry streak going there for a while.

EDIT: Oh yeah and Glenn thanks for the comments on the recording. I agree now that the song is a little boring, but I worked pretty damn hard on getting the production right on it, and I'm glad that at least that portion of my effort seems to have paid off.

spinlock - Yes, I made the beat for Ten Lies myself.

spinlock wrote: ...is it you singing higher, a M-F converter or a real female?

It's definitely not me, cuz the pitch is ok. It's my roommate, who I hire once in a while when I feel the song is too good to be ruined ny my own voice. The funny thing is: my roommate's a guy, although a very effeminate guy. People actually assume I'm gay when they find out we're roommates.

So... anybody need female vox? I'll pimp him out for $5.

Reveiws


BLT: This is a little different for you. I was expecting the distorted guitars at the start. I like your bass line at the start. That chorus is really different stylistically from what you normally do. I think the chorus needs to be a little tighter to come off right. The link to the title is very tenuous at best. I had to read the lyrics to even figure out. Mostly I like it.

PiGPEN: Sonically interesting at the beginning. Cool sound overall but too repetitive and way too long for what it is.

Finding Nemoy/Frisbee: This ought to be a good team. It pretty much sounds like what I expected from this pair. Earnest lyrics and delivery. I think that it could have used some change in the chord structure somewhere along the way but overall it is pretty good.

Jack Shite: I’m so glad that Jack is in this fight. You have a catchy melody here. Decent lyrical work. Another song that could have used a good bridge or something. There seems to be a fair amount of time in here where it just the guitar noodling along and the soloing isn’t remarkable enough to sustain it. Good job Jack.

King Arthur: I like the idea that you brought up the Ten Commandments in a song called Ten Lies. Very well produced as always. Clever lyrics. I like the resume-resume tie. Very good.

Klownhole: Sorry guys, I am just not a Klownhole kind of guy. I did enjoy the little narrative part in there. Where I work we actually spend a fair amount of time talking about known unknowns and unknown unknowns.

Lymph: OK bluesy. Enjoying the lyrics. Pretty basic but I really like it.

MC EricB: I appreciate that you’re trying to do this better. You whole lyric basis here is a bad cliché. Your rapping is really awkward. You need to try and write lines with right number of syllables so that you can stay with the beat. Mainly the problem is that it is rap and that is anathema to me.

Melvin: The start of this isn’t nearly as clean as what you usually do. You are one of the most consistently good people on song fight. But I don’t like your production choices on this one compared to most of your other work. I think the lyrics are pretty strong.

Monte Carlo: OK I’m trying to listen past the production to get at the song. Hard to do. The lyrics aren’t grabbing me either. That tempo change really caught me by surprise. Oh, I just looked and saw I’m only about half way through. Sorry, I’m stopping here.

Natchdan: This is the first song where I was able to pick out that you actually stated the ten lies. This has a nice dirge kind of feel to it. The organ helps create the funereal atmosphere. That one organ chord was an interesting choice considering you don’t have any other dissonance like that anywhere else in the song. Good job.

Odoriferous Valley: Nice guitar work. It doesn’t really flow into the start of the song. Hey I recognize Paco’s voice there. The timbre of the voices together is nice. The guitar work at the end would have made a better intro than the one that you did. This was a really nice listen.

Country Bumpkins: I kind of like this. You could have done without all of the “yee-ha” and stuff in the background. Cute song.

Primitive Screwheads: Ah, hand farts. Quite a novelty song. When this first started I expected to be more amused than I actually am. Can’t explain it.

ProjectD: Pleasant enough song. The backing tracks kind of sound like paint by the numbers up until the piano solo part. I like the harmony signing. Good Job.

Ross Durand: Nice sound. Unlike some others, I like the sound of the pad in this one. You have evolved to be one of the stronger producers on Songfight!. I like your idea of the genie granting ten lies. “The emperor with no clothes has no disguise” I think that’s a great line. Really good job.

Signboy: I don’t know why but it took me quite a while to figure out that this was is 3 the first time I listened to it. Good lyrical work. Good harmony. Nice job.

TMK: I find this song to be more accessible than a lot of your prior work. Maybe I’m just getting used to you. I like your little instrumental conclusion. I enjoyed this.

Wages & ProjectD: I think that your efforts are paying off. I find your singing much more tolerable in this one because you are hitting the notes much more accurately. Overall the song is not really grabbing me but it’s OK.

Wes Davis: The guitar sounds pretty good. It’s probably mixed a little too loud. Once again, I really like your singing. I’m gonna have to get you to sing on one of mine sometimes. I like the lyrics too. It maybe goes on a little too long. Pretty good.

So, my top picks in no particular order are:

King Arthur
Lymph
Odoriferous valley
Ross
TMK
Wes



Steve

Overall a pretty enjoyable listen in the car, once again. Here are my amateur critic’s reviews. Sorry they’re so late, I always put recording first and between “The Clause,” Phil’s Hxaro and another side project this came very late in the week for me.

Wes – very pretty. Nice Changes (I am a sucker for M7 chords). Nice additional guitars to support this otherwise Spartan arrangement. Your voice along with the tune and ornamentation sounds great as a always. Other wise, it is just sort of ear candy – would be great as background at a restaurant – in a good way. Good – probably a little long for what it is in this form.

Wages – The tune feels forced. A decent song I think, but it’s almost hard to hear through this performance and production. A few nice pieces of word work. And some that are a little amateurish sounding (the bitch line for instance). Ok

TMK – see, I like this one. Your tight little guitar sound is always so cool and used well to serve your songs. Is that a hollow body? Archtop? Did I see a pic of you playing a hollow Rick? I like the fast talking chorus. Your patter style is working well through out the song. Good +

Steve Durand – funky, man! As others have said. I wish your horns had a bit more punch, more of a carrot accent? Nice changes in the chorus. Nice list of lies. I do wish it was a bit longer of a structure, but the short and sweet works well, too. Lips are moving line is great!! Idea and delivery. Good song.

Signboy – I really like this song, I wish I new more about what you’re singing about. There’s so much right here!! But just a little distance between me and the content that holds me off. Good.

Me – I’m pretty proud of this. Many have commented on the pad sound. I did actually start with an organ sound, but it seemed to static given the simplicity of the changes and I liked that the swirl set a supernatural tone for the song. It was fun doing the Genie lines.

Project D – I like your basic sound here. But the more I listened the less I liked the song. I’mnot sure how all the words connect. Two different lyrical ideas put together here, math and puns on gun loaded and shot our mouth off. Great piano solo, I was gonna solicit your playing sometime, or your wife’s, until you revealed how it was done. Still, a great musical contribution to the song. Not many words here. Good-

P++ - I only got all the way through this once. I think it probably succeeds well at it’s intended purpose. I hope you had fun. Ok-

Country Blumpkins (listed as pigpen) – well done song! Not my thing but you pulled off this song concept very well. Reminds me just a smidge of the spirit of “The Rodeo Song.” Are you Disciples of Beer, but better? Good.

Odorifierous – great guitar work, not surprising coming from this pair. Paco – I guess your voice really does sound like that – I just have never been sure if your putting that deep thing on. Good song. Very solid many ways. The “skepticism” bridge feels like it slows things down a bit. Nice ebow solo. I like the turn around on the last chorus. Solid and good + ooh, little almost Steve Howe ending J

Monte Carlo – Wow, it’s a little hard to listen past some recording issues here. I like the end of the chorus, ooh rock for four more bars there, let me feel it. Sounds like s singer who likes the sound of his guitar more thatn the sound of his words. To me that’s reverse if the song is the question. The verses are sort of boring – oh, big flanger change – two songs in one? The second one just seems self indulgent. Ok

Natch Dan – pretty texture, nice lyrical tools, “You said…” in the overall scheme of the s song, though it just doesn’t develop a lot for me in terms of lyrics or music. The Organ solo (while reminding me of the Koyaanisq’atsi organ) needs to have a little more tune to not just slow the song down. Ok

Melvin – I’m not sure if I really get this song. But I appreciate that you reach for something to say here. Sounds ok and I like your development. But as I say it’s not reaching out to me. Good.

MC Eric B – man, you have to work to refine your words so that you don’t end up having to put so many syllables in a beat – or else go for that and do the Twista thing, but when it only happens every tenth line, it just sounds like you are not a skilled lyricist. I like you overall idea and structure an the “Men Lie” chorus – you need to do that at the end again though, to give the song even more glue – and then you don’t have to fade out. The song didn’t seem to end, it just went away. OK+

Lymph – Sounds like Fluxxum Florum lost their distortion box. Good solid bluesy approach. I think the solo comes to soon and I was thinking about how well the golden section seems to work in music, unless you’re going to have two solos. The last line kinda takes a few points away for me – seemed like just there for no good reason. Good except for last line.

Klownhole – not your usual vocalist? No offense, but you sound better with the other guy. This song kinda goes in one ear and out the other. Really monotonous. I hope you had as much fun as usual! Thanks for playing.

KA – good stuff. I like the “res – oo- may” verses “re-zoom” work. I’m not sure if I get the big picture of the song and if I do, then it almost seems like it doesn’t deserve a song this good. Grade A King Arthur. Good +

Jack Shite – good drinking party song!! A little repetitive, but I think you meant to do that. Infectious and good internal rhyme. Nice to have you in a fight. You haven’t done much during my time here. Nice falsetto, but ultimately a little too long for me. Good –

Finding Nemoy – this is pretty nice and I like the way you brought the title in. In the end it goes round and round a bit much. I like how you are willing to let a syllable have lots of notes – it works really well for this song. At the end I feel for you. I’m rooting for you, man. Good

Pig Pen (listed as Country Blumkins) – this sounds like some sort of worn out joy division Tape from 1983 – I like that. Really different for you. But you did a great job - a bit long for a fight, but perfect for 12 inch remix. Nice build on the synth and delay guitar layering. My guess is you nailed exactly what you were going for. Would be a really good album cut. Good song.

BLT – hey neighbor! I really like your bass/acoustic counterpoint. It sounds like you’re channeling David Byrnes and Perry Farrell’s love child. Ah, the F word is treacherous – well used here. I like the contrast of the chorus and the verse. I hope this isn’t a true story. Some really good words here. I like this - Good.

Lots of good songs here, it’s hard to narrow it down to a short list. Good fight! I guess I gave “Good +” to Arthur, Odiferous, and TMK

Hey all. I'm kinda burned out (in a good way, finishing & shipping 2 songs in 2 days) and more than kinda drunk, so in honor of that, the grading system will be stripper-related. A little bummed that no-one got the cover art's joke (the girl is, in pinyin, saying "nine... one" while teaching the boy the wrong numbers in english, but hey, mebbe I fucked up the chinese, yeah?). Still, it looks pretty...

Billy's Little Trip
Mid-shift song, good for the shaking inbetween the money songs that open and close a set. Good groove, I can hear it early on a friday night.

The Country Blumpkins
'80s-tastic. Beggar's Banquet '80s, not pop-radio '80s. The slightly "off" dancer would play this closing on a wednesday, but her piercings, tats, and personality is cool.

Okay, this is getting under my skin. I dig it (and I'm friends with the alt-stripper, and would have asked her who-the-fuck this was). No brainer tip.

Finding Nemoy
Oy. This is an end-shift song, where the stripper doesn't care about the audience anymore, and wants to play something that'll keep her going until she can get home and just relax.

Also a tip, because it makes someone happy (or at least keeps them going for a few minutes more). Nicely done.

Jack Shite
Slutty opening, grindy groove, lotta hip shaking and strutting here. Closing song, when there's still an audience throwing dollars on the rack.

And holy crap Jack, you're singing un-pitchshifted, heh. Thanks, another tippable song.

King Arthur
I *know* the dancer who'd groove to this. She might even do it justice. Her name's Beth, by the way.

This'd get me sitting at the rack. Even if it wasn't Beth. Good stuff, Charles, thanks.

Klownhole
As always, Klownhole punches me in the neck and makes me like it. I could get free drinks from the bartender who digs you guys, for hooking her up with this. Thursday night, once people are getting off work is when I'd hear this. Mooching and a tip.

Lymph
Hmmm. Content is conducive to stripper-content songs. Delivery, not so much. But wait... there's a dancer who plays Simon & Garfunkel. I'd tip it, especially if it was sandwiched between S&G and Jim Croce. Tip.

MC Eric B
Sorry man, this is a Monday morning song, and then only if you were in the audience and tipping to hear it. Double your main vox track to give it a touch of ballsy-ness. Really thin, as it is.

Melvin
I like this more than most Melvin songs. Mainly because I hear some honest emotion in the primary vox. That and the upbeat feel to the music. The harmony/falsetto vox seem to rob the words/content of that same emotion, though. Another thursday night song, but the dancer who'd play it is a happy one, with really bizarre muscle control. I'd tip for her, but not for the song, with the lying harmonies and falsetto hiding the message.

Monte Carlo
Ugh, another monday morning opening song. You'd be the boyfriend of the dancer. The morning drinkers might tip nicely though, it's not so bad, though the 'verb on the main vox renders it unintelligible for the most part.

NatchDan
This is a nighttime, late nighttime, pick-up song (the song where the stripper makes the rounds of the rack, and tries to score lap-dances/drinks, what-have-you).

Nice fucking organ. I'd tip, solely for that. I like the the messy sounding transition chords. Tasty.

Odoriferous Valley
Wanking intro! Bathroom break! And then into Moz/10,000 Maniacs content. Pushing beat and technical ability/pretty sounds makes it a candidate for any damned shift, but not tipworthy in my personal opinion.

PiGPEN
Funny thing, the stripper who'd dance to Melvin's song would put this in the same set. Lara Lee's pretty cool. Not bad, but eye contact would be necessary to get a tip from me for this.

Primitive Screwheads
Long story short... it was after the west coast tour, and we're sitting on the porch waiting for an ex of mine to repo her washer & dryer from the apartment. Sun was shining, and guitars were handy. Written, recorded and produced in the space of mere hours. Mike on his acoustic bass, mike on the hollowbody guitar, and a condenser in the middle to pick up the rest. Pass for the axes & vox, pass for the "percussion", pass for the hand farts (which p++ has an unhealthy obsession with).

No way in hell a dancer would put this on, but the bartender & cook ask for it in the CD player when I give them a ride home. Make of that what you will.

Project D
Guitar sound and piano sound cancel each other out (as in opposites in not a good way). Don't think I'd hear this in the club.

Ross Durand
Friday night, prime time. This is the shit. The Floyd-y pads would make a stripper come out of retirement (and oh man, I'd pay through the nose for that. Sweet sweet Shannae. Tasty). And the throbby goodness deep down too. I'd buy this dancer a drink, top shelf, just to say thank you for playing it.

And there's actual message/meaning in the lyrics too. Vote.

signboy
Maybe in the middle of a sensitive set this'd get play. I'd tip it for being in 3/4, but I'm weird.

The hat's got a lot of clicky bite in this mix. Dunno, pot down the mike that's on it or muck with it's channel's high end eq or I dunno. It's distracting from the rest of the instruments and the vocals and such.

Steve Durand
The dancer who'd promised to see p++ in Seattle would play this and make money on it. She flaked on seeing us play, but she'd dig this song, and she has impeccable taste, musically. Worth a tip, easy.

Those Meddling Kids
Early friday night. It's got that happy/slappy/manic feeling to it. And the retro keyboard goodness. Tip.

Wages feat. Project D
The screamy second vocals come in way too early, there hasn't been a chance to get the listener drawn in and identifying with the primary vocal line. Don't think I'd hear this onstage. But damn, there's potential there.

Wes Davis
The stripper who'd play the Lymph song would play this. Tip'd depend on mood/drunkenness.

Thank you for putting a second guitar in this G&G entry. That's something on the side of good. Nice stereo separation in the mix.

/reviews

sdurand wrote:I’m gonna have to get you to sing on one of mine sometimes.
Steve

Just say the word, man, I'd love to sing over one of yours.

Thanks, RG! Gotta say, I like your stripper rating system.

Thanks, heh. Sometimes the state of mind gets really... lucid... and you go with what's wedged in there at the moment.

Congrats Melvin
I haven't finished my reviews yet, but I've been rock'n your tune all week. Great stuff Muh brutha from a Canadian mutha.

Righteous.

I promise I will get reviews done. can't promise them this year though

Wow! It's been a long time, and I really didn't expect it. Thanks for the nice reviews and of course the votes! There were a few really outstanding tunes in this fight, so I'm touched. *sniff*