Sorry for being late! I'm not going to really review lyrics this time because I'm in a hurry. You'll all get what my first impression of the lyrics is. Sorry for that, too.
Adam Adamant -- 12/15
C:3 L:2 F:2 P:2 (Guitar is out of tune. In some of the chords, the high E string in D minor in particular, you have half-open strings. That means you have to practice playing chords. Pretty good and fitting vocals. Occasionally off but it's not that bad.) M:2 (I find the staccato synth rather shrill. Some people are reviewing these songs on headphones! Guitar sounds a little bit boxy.)
Andrew Reist -- 9/15
C:1 (almost boring arrangement and no musical variations. Suboptimal combination.) L:2 F:2 P:2 (the falsetto isn't very accurate and you often mess up the timing and/or pitch when you go back to normal voice. Rest is good.) M:2 (I think the crunch thing is a bit too loud. Bit less early reverb on the vocals? I dunno. In some places I think the reverb on the drums a bit too much.)
Ash Kanna -- 13/15
C:3 (I don't normally like this sort of stuff. Good thing you did it a cappella, that almost makes it an automatic win.
) L:2 F:3 P:2 (So your lead vocals are very good. I'm starting to think I'm doing something wrong in recording my lead vocals... or maybe I just suck. Everything else though sort of muddles together a bit. I think that's because you're using a rather soft vocal style in all voices. Especially since I think you could do rather awesome things with a bit more power, I'd really like to hear you experiment with that.) M:3 (I find the reverb on the lead vocals pretty bright; I'd have used a low-pass filter on it, I guess. Considering the things I said in the previous category, though, the mix is pretty punchy.)
Berkeley Social Scene -- 9/15
C:1 (arrangement sounds improvised. If it isn't, that's a bad thing.
Not a fan of the overall composition.) L:2 F:2 P:2 (unsteady vocals. I have the same sort of problem, I guess. There are a fair number of notes you don't hit right away. Interesting contrast between guitar tones. I'm not sure if I like that. I guess it doesn't gel too well. Could be a problem of the mix, though.) M:2 (I'm not quite sure but I think there's a bit of clipping somewhere in there. Backup vocals in chorus are too far up front to my ears.)
Billy's Little Trip featuring Quimby -- 13/15
C:2 (I find the intro a bit weird. Fun guitar stuff! Reminds me of Lovin' Spoonful and Beach Boys at the same time, if that makes sense, though the song clearly isn't close to either. Cool!) L:2 F:3 P:3 (Lead vocals are a bit off sometimes. No biggie.) M:3
The Bourbon Drops -- 14/15
C:3 (I like this sort of composition a lot. Not too predictable either... nice.) L:2 F:3 P:3 (awesome live feeling, too. Well done!) M:3 (if this really is live, it's great. If it isn't, it's still more than good enough.)
Charles Cack & His Little Cack Surprise -- 11/15
C:2 L:2 F:2 P:2 (bad timing. Otherwise you pretty much succeeded.) M:3 (it's obviously what you were going for. Can't say I like it that much, though. I think the whistling is not thin enough, compared to everything else.)
deetak -- 11/15
C:2 (some of the chord progressions sound a bit far-fetched to me.) L:2 F:2 P:2 (rather poor intonation; vocals are fine apart from that, I guess, though they're probably a matter of taste. Good guitar playing.) M:3
Drew Styles & the Blue Velvet Band -- 12/15
C:3 (This isn't really all exciting or anything but somehow I still like it a lot. Probably because of all the stuff in the chorus.) L:2 F:3 P:2 (The doubling isn't very synchronous in places. Vocals sometimes sound rushed. I think many things are actually badly timed, mainly the lead guitar. I like the drums very much though.) M:2 (vocals are a lot weaker in verses than in the chorus. I think the verses would also have sounded cooler without all the doubling. Clean mix.)
Jedi Spaceship -- 12/15
C:2 L:2 F:2 P:3 (I don't personally like it but it does what it's supposed to do. I think.) M:3 (pretty dark and grimy mix, if that makes sense. Cool.)
Jim McCarter -- 12/15
C:2 (pretty standard stuff. Not to say it's bad, but it's not genius either.) L:2 F:3 P:3 (your vocal sustains sound a bit wobbly. The vocal style fits very well with the song, though, so I'll look past that for now.) M:2 (try avoiding handling noises especially at the beginning of a track. I don't like how the guitar panning changes. I would suggest cutting low end from the vocals, not just because of the plosives. I think you have way too much bass in them. Or, if you've got a microphone with proximity effect (very likely), try a bit more distance when recording.
Ka Maua Hana Punahele -- 14/15
C:3 (this is
really fun. Nice to distract me from all the rain outside, too.) L:2 F:3 P:3 (lots of genius in this.) M:3
LML -- 12/15
C:2 (I think the bass line really doesn't fit the verses. I like the overall song, very 80's. That's normally not a good thing as far as I'm concerned, but sometimes it is.) L:2 F:2 P:2 (this song would have needed vocals with
power! I'm pretty sure of that.) M:2 (bring up the vocals a bit, and turn down the reverb a little bit to compensate. Rather sudden ending.)
LSK -- 2/15
C:0 L:0 F:0 P:1 (bad timing, weird vocal tone, doubling isn't too great either) M:1 (clipping)
MC and LK -- 11/15
C:2 (it's great in the beginning but doesn't get even better. Too bad, really. You don't start with your best bit!) L:2 F:3 P:2 (I guess the out of tune instruments are sort of okay for this kind of music. Timing is a bit unsteady. Did you double each of the singers? I think that doesn't fit well with the styles.) M:2 (plosives.)
mc joebudy -- 6/15
C:0 (That's just two alternating loops. You can auto-generate this sort of stuff.) L:2 F:1 P:1 (if all you're going to do is speak over a loop of stuff, casual style talking like that doesn't cut it. Speaking is almost an art; it doesn't show in this song. M:2 (could have compressed away a bit of the dynamic unevenness of the vocals. Bad plosives.)
noah mclaughlin -- 11/15
C:2 (I dig the arrangement. I don't like the vocal melody quite as much.) L:2 F:2 P:3 (I'm not much of a fan of the vocals, as you might have noticed. There's not really anything wrong with the rest, though, and vocals aren't really bad either, so I'll just shut up.) M:2 (the fake choir sounds pretty fake. No complaints apart from that.)
Paco del Stinko -- 13/15
C:3 (interesting changes in this) L:2 F:2 P:3 (vocals sound a bit rushed sometimes, but I've heard some songs of yours where I liked the vocals a lot less.) M:3
Pathetic Wannabees -- 10/15
C:2 (it's actually pretty fun) L:2 F:2 P:2 (a lot of the vocals is just a matter of taste, I guess. The parts that have a melody are a bit off.) M:2 (pretty bad mics, I guess. The vocal reverb sounds cheap/artificial. Clipping at times.)
paulotteson -- 13/15
C:2 (I don't like this as much as I think I maybe should. Too bad.) L:2 F:3 P:3 (great vocals in particular) M:3 (kind of minimalistic)
The Sky Looks Pissed -- 11/15
C:2 (I don't get the double notes on the guitar.) L:2 F:3 P:2 (sing out!) M:2 (is that the same mic on the guitar and the vocals? Anyway, the vocal recording isn't very good... thin and boomy at the same time, if that's even possible. If you can, try another mic. At the very least, use a high-pass filter to get rid of the very low end, not least because of plosives.)
South Sycamore Wheelbarrow Factory Ensemble -- 7/15
C:2 L:2 F:1 P:1 (either the vocal timing is
really off, or you're just way more experimental than I am. Same for pitch.) M:1 (awfully fuzzy mix. Tons of clipping? Not convinced.)
Those Meddling Kids -- 13/15
C:3 (I really love this. Great chorus. I'm not so sure about the ending. I tend to like it, I think.) L:2 F:3 (great pads in chorus!) P:3 (extra points for real glockenspiel playing!) M:2 (this may be a gear issue, but somehow you have slight plosives while the vocals sound rather thin otherwise. Try getting closer to the mic and cutting more low end in the mix. Or get a different mic. The second alternative will probably work better. What's that almost constant buzzing doing? It doesn't help the song if you ask me.)
Toasted Sandwich -- 14/15
C:3 (fun, lots of it. Excellent arrangement.) L:2 F:3 P:2 (you sound like your nose is stuffed. Otherwise great. I wouldn't normally go for vocals that are this weak and falsetto-y, but it sort of works for this song.) M:3
Wages -- 10/15
C:2 (this really would have livened up with a fuller arrangement. As it is, I think it should have been a bit shorter.) L:2 F:2 P:2 (vocal timing is off in a weird way, pitch is off in some parts, too. Since other parts were fine, I think you might want to practice your parts better, and concentrate. I know, It's easy to get carried away...) M:2 (weird noises in the mix. Bad mic amp? Sometimes the guitar is too loud compared to the vocals. Too much delay in the bridge, I think. Clipping/stuttering.)
The Weakest Suit -- 12/15
C:3 L:2 F:2 P:2 (I think you've done better singing before. The guitar really helps drive this.) M:3
Votes would have gone to Ash Kanna, Billy's Little Trip feat. Quimby, The Bourbon Drops, Ka Maua Hana Punahele, Paco del Stinko, paulotteson, Those Meddling Kids, Toasted Sandwich... but I missed the voting period.
.If you have a lyric that you want to borrow my pitch-imperfect voice for you're more than welcome.