The Song Fight Bulletin Board

I've decided not to make comments about rap songs just because I don't have anything meaningful to say about them. Me talking about rap would be like Ashlee Simpson talking about Death Cab for Cutie.

Apply Liberally To Inside of Mouth In some ways this is really awesome because it is really musically interesting and original and catchy at the same time. But the distorted off-key affected vocals make it so I can't even listen to it. This might even be my favorite if it wasn't for that annoying vocal effect.

Brass Gopher This is funny. I really enjoy ones like this where it turns out the whole thing's a joke, and it is a really well excecuted joke too. It's perfect because you don't sound intentionally bad - you sound like my friends from high school who thought they were the shiznit on the guitar. And the end is really well-delivered too - ties in perfectly with song title. Possible vote.

Cutie Pies Unlike the last two, this is one I would actually listen to more than once. I'm downloading it. The high synth thing is always cool, same with boy-girl vocals. The drums aren't bad for fake drums, they add to the song. I like the line "I like to pretend you and I are friends" - it's a clever way to execute the title. The only negative is that I'm not really a fan of how it breaks into total Cher-style techno in the middle bridge thing.

Dankin Strike Back I have to immediately say that instrumentals just don't cut it for me unless they have any undeniable connection to the title. This doesn't. Apart from that, I get the sense that you weren't even playing the piano with two hands: It sounds like you recorded 3 different tracks of you playing with one hand - which isn't necessarily bad if it is well done.... but I definitely think there is room for improvement as far as playing goes. The songwriting is pretty good though: It has a nice feel. Try again next week with words.

Doscientos I like your melody. It seems to follow a fairly predictable pattern a song from the 50's might have, but it has a strange twist to it that keeps it interesting and cool to listen to.

Gert (sigh of relief) It's always nice to come across a well-produced song on SongFight. Sounds very much like Pearl Jam. Oooh I like the part at 3:04ish where it descends like that.

Jacob Lynn Once I crank up the volume and strain my ears through the hiss, it's an okay listen. I like the guitar playing. Check out my recording tips for Wren Edward below.

Jeff Robertson This seems pretty messy production-wise. I don't like how the rythm guitar just hits twice per bar or the distorted vocals. This song makes me want to like it, but I can't.

Jeff Travis Henderson I'm probably going to re-record this later this year (for a CD) with a different melody for the bulk of the chorus. The choir was fun to do.

Jim Fallope This was awesome. One of my favorites of songfight ever. I really dig the production, the sped-up vocals, the funny lyrics and pretty much every thing. Good Job. "Closest I can get to sin without sinning" Hahaha, that's awesome.

Ken Woodward Really good backing guitar and stuff. But for a good chunk of the song it sounded like the vocals don't know what the guitar is doing.

Marcus Kellis Nothing is really sticking out to me about this song.

MMMC The non-rap stuff is good. The "ba ba ba ba ba ba" part kind of reminds me of the Oompa Loompa's of of the new Charlie and the Chocolate Factorie Movie. As stated above, I can't discuss the rap part.

MonorailRT I can't say anything that hasn't already been said: Background music is kind of cool, but the vocals are meh and it get's kind of repetetive.

Rone Rivendale Because of my rap policy, I can't make a comment on the majority of this song, but I will say that the rant at the end puts you in my good books.

State Shirt This sounds really good. Definitely a possible vote. Really good chorus and ending (which has some of the best sounding strings I've heard on songfight) Lovely instrumentation and use of background vocals. Woah I just realized that the chorus has like the same chord progression as "Unbreak My Heart" by Toni Braxton...not that I listen to that stuff....

Sub-Atomic Particles I've been in moods where I felt like making songs like this, so I totally see where you're coming from. But the reason I never ended up making those songs is because they are not normal enough. But next time I'm in one of those moods, I'll probably enjoy this.

Tim Hinkle I've noticed two things about your last two entries: (1) They are totally groovy and; (2) They are not recorded well. Number (2) makes it hard for me to enjoy number (1). Please work on your recording so I can enjoy your groovy songs more. If you need help getting a better sound we have lot's of people on the boards who can help.

TOMDG Nice chord progression especially the minor thing. Other than that I don't have much to say.

Truth and Regret This isn't rap, but I like rap, I don't feel like I can comment on this style of music fairly.

Wren Edward Once I crank up the volume and strain my ears through the hiss, it's an okay listen. I thought there was a shower at first in the background, then I realized it was just an obscene amount of hiss. Because there have been a couple songs with this problem this time around, I'm going to give you some easy steps to fix this problem:*

Jeff's Free and Easy Steps to Making Quiet, Hissing Recordings a Little Better:
1. Download Audacity
2. Record Song
3. Select a portion of pure hiss (with no other sounds) and then click Effect > Noise Removal > Get Noise Profile
4. Select the entire track and then click Effect > Noise Removal again. This time move the slider all the way left to "Less" and then click "Remove Noise"
5. Now select the whole track again and click Effect > Normalize. Check both boxes and hit okay.
Fantastic. Now you're ready to show Songfight who's boss.

Your Money Wasted Really cool and good and awesome. I hope to see you in more fights. I'm definitely downloading this one and tossing a coin between you and Jim Fallope for a vote.

*Upon reading this I feel like I came off patronizing and stuck-up. I totally don't mean to; I honestly want to help you become better at this.

erikb wrote: Choosing which songs to review based on the first letter of the band name is arbitrary.

Arbitrary? Not for me. The letter "R" is pure evil.

Thanks for your clarification on the inner workings of blue's psyche.
I now understand.

Jeff - Thanks for those tips on Audacity. I've struggled a bit with that so I'll have to try it. I'm personally not going to call anyone patronizing, it's probably clear to most people that there's a lot wrong with the two songs I've posted so far, and comments like "try ..." are why I'm here. Thanks to everyone else who left me helpful comments too

blue wrote: Right now, you're just a rude wee noob who should learn to shut his fucking mouth until he learns to read and comprehend.

No...no I wont. But thanks for your suggestions.

JeffHenderson wrote:Jim Fallope I really dig the production, the sped-up vocals, the funny lyrics and pretty much every thing.

the vocals weren't sped up, that's my normal voice. but i do appreciate the compliment. i really did adjust my vocal pitch for not exactly normal, but i'm guessing you won't like that song as much.

JeffHenderson wrote:I've decided not to make comments about rap songs just because I don't have anything meaningful to say about them. Me talking about rap would be like Ashlee Simpson talking about Death Cab for Cutie.

Hey Clats, shouldn't you be ripping this guy a new one, too? He's not reviewing songs that he doesn't like!!!!!111!!!OMG

erikb wrote:

JeffHenderson wrote:I've decided not to make comments about rap songs just because I don't have anything meaningful to say about them. Me talking about rap would be like Ashlee Simpson talking about Death Cab for Cutie.

Hey Clats, shouldn't you be ripping this guy a new one, too? He's not reviewing songs that he doesn't like!!!!!111!!!OMG

erik you did not review ANY of the songs! ASSHOLE!!! clearly you hate EVERYONE and EVERYTHING and are filled with DISREPSEXT FOR MY HOMIES.

i think i speak for all of "us" when i say: "DOUCHE."

jim fallope wrote:

JeffHenderson wrote:Jim Fallope I really dig the production, the sped-up vocals, the funny lyrics and pretty much every thing.

the vocals weren't sped up, that's my normal voice. but i do appreciate the compliment. i really did adjust my vocal pitch for not exactly normal, but i'm guessing you won't like that song as much.

Wow. I'm impressed. I certainly can't sing that fast.

Dear Wren and Luke,

Your song earned my ire. It has all the goods and yet it was plagued by bad production (which Luke can do better) and lack of feeling. Luke, drag Wren to SF Wayne and we can do that song with some fury. That tune will come out like a Courtney Love bad trip.

Sincerely,
Niv

Ended up voting for Tim Hinkle. I hope it wasn't already tallied.

JeffHenderson wrote:Me talking about rap would be like Ashlee Simpson talking about Death Cab for Cutie.

Or Ashlee Simpson talking about music?

jolly roger wrote:

JeffHenderson wrote:Me talking about rap would be like Ashlee Simpson talking about Death Cab for Cutie.

Or Ashlee Simpson talking about music?

Yes, that was the joke.

Would she be actually talking, or just mouthing the words?

Apply Liberally To Inside of Mouth
Hmm. I like this. I don't like this. It's 15% too atonal for me. If it could resolve into something, sometime, I'd like it more. That' said, I like the ideas. Some of the lyrics are great in their delivery. It's too repetitive though. Too many of your tricks got used too quickly.

Brass Gopher
I like the laugh track.

The Cutie Pies
I like this. Mostly. I wish the female vocal was stronger, not so tentative. This type of music gets tired quickly for me, though. I had a tough time giving this the two listens for reviewing. Awesome intro.

Dankin Strikes Back
Peanuts Piano Posse. It's a bit not enough of stuff for me.

Doscientos
I'd like to hear that strong lead vocal not doubled all the time. It would be tighter, and I think you have a great voice that gets lost in t's and b's and s's that don't line up just right. It's a strong melody that could use a bit more fleshed out music backing it. Not bad, just sparse.

Gert
I enjoyed working on this. Thanks for the comments.

Jack Calico
I like the effect on the voice, sort of. I don't like the lack of going-somewhere musically. A couple of humorous moments, but that's not enough to make this a good song. It doesn't sound like much effort went into it.

Jacob Lynn
Do you realize that the hissing is almost as loud as your voice in the intro? You've got a cool voice. Pretty uninteresting chord progression, but it's not bad. Brushing up on basic recording and mixing techniques would greatly benefit your music. I'm not generally a fan of this kind of stripped down, GandG music. I think with some work you can be better than that.

Jeff Robertson
Something totally doesn't line up. I'm guessing it's the drums. Ugh...that drum part doesn't feel right to me. You might want to try to variate your vocal dynamics, get out of your comfort zone and that low register which I find a bit dull, especially with the music your singing over. Nothing really bad about this, except it's repetitive, needs that tough-to-get-to-in-a-week third part. And better drum programming. Some of your guitar tone is, like the last tune of yours I heard, very cool.

Jeff Travis Henderson
I don't really dig how the drums are assembled on this song...not sure why. I like and dislike at the same time the fast changes off the top. I like it 'cuz it says to me you're being creative with your arrangement and production. I don't like it 'cuz I'm not sure you pulled it off. I do like the backing vocals. Don't like the metal guitar in this song, though it's well played. Not that it couldn't have a place, but not sounding like that. Not a bad song at all, something compelling about it. I'd like your main vocals to be sung with more intensity...sounds like you're trying to be quiet.

Jim Fallope and his Fallopian Dudes
I wonder if the vocals need to be doubled that much.... Use it to accent certain lines maybe? But all the way through just serves to show the spots you didn't hit the t's and s's the same way. I'm not sure of the connection to the title, but this is fairly well executed humourous GandG.

Ken Woodward
I'd like to pretend you sang on pitch. What is that percussion stuff? Sounds like a tupperware container and wooden spoon. Sorry, this is GandG that I can't get into. Keep workin' it.

Marcus Kellis
Not bad.

MMMC
Nice sounds. I dig this, but I wish the vocals lived more in the middle some of the time. The telephone voice effect is pretty worn out though. Some great moments in this tune. Keeper.

MonorailRT
Nice. Your voice sounds like it's got the disco smile eq setting on...lots of mids missing. This is cool. Keeper. You picked a great sound for the constant running keyboard part. Keeper

Rone Rivendale
Wish I could dig it, but I don't. To me this sucks.

State Shirt
What a great lush sound. I hear way more harmonies in there. Nice feel to your chorus. And a nice transition out of it. Sweet. Definite keeper. Man this is great.

Subatomic Particles
I like it better when it all kicks in there. Thats good. I think you could work building to that point better. I dont' like the mix but it works for this tune. Fun tune. Keeper.

Tim Hinkle
I'd dig this way more if that beat was punchy and tube edgied a bit. I did not see that chorus coming. It's a tough jump into and out of the chorus. Theres a monotonous quality to this song.

Tomdg
Not bad. I'd like to hear the guitar part strummed a bit more rythmically, Same part, just tightened up a bit more to carry a groove more obviously. Vocals sound a bit dull.

Truth & Regret
That's a rippin' synth sound. You might try to work on defining your sections with different instruments to vary the feel and texture a bit. It starts strong but goes kind of same-ish after awhile.

Wren Edwards
You've found a cool melody idea that works over a nice chord progression, but you're wearing it out.

Your Money Wasted
I like this mostly. Nice moments for all the players in there. Just needs a little more tightening up.

Apply Liberally to Inside of Mouth: I’m a sexy robot! This is catchy (I can’t imagine why). I’m humming it. I’m doing a funny voice. I’m dancing jerkily around the room. Damn you, this song will be detrimental to my marriage.

Brass Gopher: This is awful. I think that may be the point, so it may be successful on its own terms, but that doesn’t mean I want to listen to it.

Jack Calico: It’s all perception. This song isn’t really awful; I just perceive it that way.

The Cutie Pies: Are the two voices the same person? I like to pretend I'm my own girlfriend. I really like this.

The Dankins Strike Back: In the order I played the tracks, this worked very nicely as an introduction into MonorailRT’s song.

Doscientos: I would have enjoyed drums, possibly coming in around the thirty second mark. I do like the way the voice and guitar sound. This is a nice song.

Wren Edward: Enjoyable early-Liz Phair vibe.

Jim Fallope and his Fallopian Dudes: This is so cheerful that it should be illegal. I love it despite myself. It could use some handclapping.

Gert: Nice harmony vocals. The recording is very good.

Tom di Giovanni: This is nice.

Jeff Travis Henderson: I love playing hide-and-seek with invisible people! This is one of my favorites.

Tim Hinkle: OK, I should have stayed up another couple of hours and messed with the mix—I see that now.

Marcus Kellis: There’s no one home.

Jacob Lynn: This is dull, mainly. I like the sense of sadness that hangs around it, but it doesn’t go anywhere with it.

MMMC: The first song in the fight to remind me of the film Brazil. It’s put together pretty well. I don’t like it much, though.

MonorailRT: What I said above about Dankins Strikes Back is not, in fact, true. I had to relisten without it in order to get a sense of your song. This is actually one of my favorites. It’s very pleasingly mellow.

Rone Rivendale: Until the outburst at the end, it sounded to me like a rapping Cyberman. (Before playing it I was reading an essay on Cyber-history in About Time: The Unauthorized Guide to Doctor Who so this may be meaningless. The music does seem to have something that reminds me of the freaky radiophonic BBC soundtracks.) I like this a little.

Jeff Robertson: This is OK. It seems like it’s about to fall apart on occasion.

State Shirt: This is beautiful stuff.

The Sub-Atomic Particles: I like it!

Truth and Regret: At first I thought: Nine Inch Nails. Then about a minute in, I thought: They Might be Giants doing a Nine-Inch-Nails-esque track. It’s largely the vocal which just doesn’t present the sense of real angst Trent Reznor sometimes manages to get across.

Ken Woodard: Bob Dylan built his reputation on stuff that sounded like this. Obviously, the laws of probability can’t allow it to ever happen again.

Your Money Wasted: Great sound on the recording. I like the quiet bit the best.

I'm voting for either Jim Fallope or The Cutie Pies.

I'm generally not one to post reviews on a fight i'm not participating in, but what can i say, i'm opinionated and i like to hear myself talk

In all seriousness, i wanted to post some very brief reviews because i was so impressed by some of the songs on here. I've only listened to all of these once, so there's your grain of salt.

Aplly...
For some reason the opening vocal melody reminds me of the verse portion of Soul Asylum's Crawl. Outside of that it kind of wanders. I hear elements of a good song here...actually, I hear elements of maybe, three good songs here.

Gopher
I was so scared that this was a legitimate effort and I was scared. As it is it's no worse than the actual song to me.

The Cutie Pies
I pretty much knew that I was going to like this song by the band name. I mean, how can you not like something by a band called The Cutie Pies. I dig it. A lot.

Dankin
I agree that this doesn't really stand on its own as a song well, however, that said I really like it and can imagine some vocals being built into it to make it killer.

Doscientos
Of the songs I've heard from you guys since I started, I've pretty much formulated that you can do no wrong. This is very simple, but it's very catchy and i STILL love your voice

Gert
This is a pretty good song, arrangement and performance-wise it's all good, but it's a little too...Candlebox. Don't get me wrong, I liked Candlebox...in 1993


Jack Calico
This sounds like Tom Waits' Top of the Hill and Butthole Surfers' Pepper got thrown in a blender and then run through a strainer.

Jacob Lynn
I'm glad I listened to this all the way. The opening didn't thrill me, but when the song kicks in it's pretty decent. Kinda Lou Reed-y. I can imagine it as a deep track on an album, but a little too mellow for competition's sake (my entry for Not Exactly Normal will probably get the same response).

Jeff Robertson
Um...Aspects I like and aspects I don't. Definitely some vocal issues as far as being a little off-key, and some general production problems. But everyone knows I'm more for song than for production, and I don't know if this song were performed flawlessly if I'd like it much better. Just not my thing, but not bad by any means.

Jeff Travis Henderson
Wow, I simultaneously love this song and can't stand it. It's like taking cold medicine and drinking coffee at the same time. It's kinda disjointed. The chorus is very Roy Orbison's You Got It (is that the name of the song?). The guitar is kinda Weezer Blue Album which I like. Your vocals are dead on sometimes, and not quite right others. I absolutely loved the backup vocals at the very beginning. Wow, weird. Awesome...kinda.

Jim Fallope
Yours were some of the only reviews I actually read for this fight. You were too hard on yourself. I really like this song. You get like a million bonus points for creativity. I'd call this one a contender.

Ken Woodard
Vocals are Bob Dylan-esque, as are the lyrics, or at least the lyrical style. I like it. I don't think Bob Dylan would have a chance of ever winning Song Fight and this song doesn't either, but that's not because it's bad. It's just not flashy.

Marcus Kellis
I can hear your finger blisters forming. Have you been playing long? You sound new to music, but it sounds good for an early effort



MMMC
Haha, I love it. Not in a "I'll vote for it" kind of way, but very engaging and amusing.

Monorail RT
Wow, I haven't heard much scratching on here. Not the song I would have expected to hear it in either. It reminds me of an older song I could hum to you but can't remember the name or lyrics or artist It's a little repetitive. It could use some bridges to change it up and some vocal variations.

Rone Rivendale
Um...no.

State Shirt
This starts out a little too Emo shoe-gazer for me. I know there's a huge audience of people this would appeal to immensely, but it's not for me. Very well done for the genre though, IMO.

The Sub-Atomic Particles
I believe in dissonance as much as the next guy, but random music and random vocals do not a song make. Look mom, I'm Yoda.

Tim Hinkle
Some obvious production/vocal flaws, but I like the Nick Cave-yness of it.

Tom DG
This is a song that gets away with not being terribly original as far as the melody is concerned, and with lacking production, because it's clever. It's the kind of song bands like Magnetic Fields can get away with because hipsters like witty and I like it because i'm a pseudo-hipster

Truth + Regret
I choked on my pacifier and cut my hand with a broken glowstick and couldn't finish listening to this song.

Wren Edward
Wow, quiet is annoying...now I know why people yelled at me so much
Very sweet sounding song. Sounds like I should be able to hear a subway jetting by in the background. This song is also not terribly original sounding as far as actual melody, but your voice is kinda heart-melting so it's impossible not to like.

Your Money Wasted
I feel basically the same way about this song as I did for the State Shirt song. It's very well performed and there's an audience for this music, unfortunately I'm not in it.

Wow, after all this I have no idea who I'm going to vote for. I think it's between Cutie Pies, Doscientos, Jim Fallope and Wren.

Wow, I say wow a lot.

Wow, could someone post a tutorial on how to correctly ID your song tags, because it's annoying when song's aren't tagged and I'm lazy.

kill_me_sarah wrote:Marcus Kellis
I can hear your finger blisters forming. Have you been playing long? You sound new to music, but it sounds good for an early effort

How does it sound for being my twenty-first entry over three years?

mkilly wrote:

kill_me_sarah wrote:Marcus Kellis
I can hear your finger blisters forming. Have you been playing long? You sound new to music, but it sounds good for an early effort

How does it sound for being my twenty-first entry over three years?

It sounds like you have sounding amateur down to a science. It makes me wonder if missing chords changes is a stylistic choice for you.

kill_me_sarah wrote:It sounds like you have sounding amateur down to a science. It makes me wonder if missing chords changes is a stylistic choice for you.

BURN!!!

ken wrote:

kill_me_sarah wrote:It sounds like you have sounding amateur down to a science. It makes me wonder if missing chords changes is a stylistic choice for you.

BURN!!!

Haha, I know it sounds like it, but it really wasn't intended as such. I meant it in the same way that someone might say that Neutral Milk Hotel has bad production down to a science and clipping is a stylistic choice.

And if it's not intentional, well, Thom Yorke supposedly played Cumbaya until his fingers bled trying to do it right because guitar came so un-naturally to him so there's hope for everybody.

It sounds like you have sounding amateur down to a science. It makes me wonder if missing chords changes is a stylistic choice for you.

When I said "how does it sound for my twenty-first entry" in regards to your saying it sounds good for a first entry, it was a noncomedic self-depracation. I guess the consensus is that I'm shitty and have hardly improved, it looks like. You're the second person who figured I'm just some noob in the reviews for this fight, at least.

I don't think I missed any chord changes. If I do miss chord changes I do another take. This song particularly I did about twelve complete takes before I came to something I thought was usably good and absent of errors. I'm trying very hard to be a real boy that makes real, tolerable music. Not to be a little whiny emo bitch about it all, but it's clear from the reviews I'm not there. Please excuse my flippant remark but you'll understand I'm more than a little aggravated that I don't seem to be getting anywhere, and that my voice and guitar playing still seem to be strictly amateur.

I don't know if you saw from my link there but this was my first SongFight entry proper in almost a year. I've started stuff but then don't finish or submit it because I don't think it's good enough to do so. I'm pretty ashamed of some of the shit I've submitted, actually. I'm not looking for sympathy or consolation because I know I have a small sect of people who say they like my stuff, just trying to explain the position in which I find myself here.

As a member of the small sect Marcus mentioned, let me make the following observations.

1. This is a songwriting competition. This fact is often overlooked in both the reviews and the voting. More often than not, people comment on performance, production, or other aspects of the submission that are not entirely germain to the main focus of this competition. You know, it occurs to me that most people aren't really very good at separating out the actual songwriting from these other factors.

2. Marcus writes good songs. Interesting songs. Fun songs.

3. As Blue has pointed out, Marcus gets his stuff into recorded form in a more than passable fashion, so one should be able to remove production issues from the discussion.

4. This brings us to performance. Why was Marcus Kellis the darling of the Austin Song Fight! Live show? Because he brings it. He performs these songs like he means it, and the audience is sucked right in. I believe that it is only a matter of time before he figures out how to get this feeling into his recordings.

5. I for one appreciate the sparse nature of this most recent recording. It focuses the attention where it should be: on the song itself.

6. If sounding amateur is a problem, we should all go home, since with only a few exceptions, this is pretty much an amateur website. If you are more interested in slick recordings and master performances, perhaps you have come to the wrong place.