The Song Fight Bulletin Board

erm... never mind. Do 'em or don't. idc

Lyric thread here: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11681

Please add your lyric if you haven't already. THA-ANKS!

Songs posted, with some slight difficulty. I decided to modify somebody's file, which I am very loathe to do, and I apologize to that person for that. I did it so that there wouldn't be an indefinite wait a new version to be provided to me, before I could post all the songs. The actual song portion of the file is up and included in the fight as is, but I trimmed off a non-song part of the file at the beginning. I want to be transparent about it, and let folks know I generally never modify an entry. I definitely will never modify the actual song portion of an entry. I don't want to get into the details too much but please, everybody, just send in an mp3 that's only your song, and no other content before or after (or in the middle!) of the song. Please be respectful of listeners here who are listening through all the songs and are not expecting other types of content to be inserted into that experience.

If you are the person whose file I modified, I hope you are getting the emails I've sent from the fightmaster account. I have not gotten replies to them so I don't know if you're getting them or if they are disappearing into the void. Please reply there or if you didn't get those please send another email for me to reply to. I'd like to help you sort out your issue signing in to the boards.

Oh Vom - it sounds like you're singing a Luke Haines song. Nailed the bitterness nicely.

Dang, this is a strong set of songs!

Reviewing on shuffle this go round, so "trying something new" I guess.

Phlebia (liner notes) - Ha, my own came up first on shuffle. So I already elaborated quite a bit in the prefight the ways in which this one was “different” from most of my other entries. Personally, I think the production and especially the care put into the production was probably the biggest difference throughout -- maybe the “field” will disagree but sonically this is probably my “cleanest” entry by a mile. Anyway, Owl nailed (no pun intended) exactly what this was about in the prefight. I tried to be kind of subtle about it in the first half with all the springtime/coming-of-age/puberty metaphors but yeah it’s basically an ode to being frustrated with various birth control methods and then a celebration of vasectomies. Wife’s idea, I just rolled with it

Pigfarmer Jr. - 44 seconds. Geez, what a short little tune. Catchy though. I noticed a slight inconsistency in the lyrics in the song and on the page though, you sing “crazy” but you typed “creepy”. For what it is, it’s pretty solid -- I did listen through it a couple more times typing this out to get a better grasp of what to critique about it. Maybe I’d have wanted to hear the bass a little louder. For some reason it reminds me of something smalltownmike would submit.

Vom Vorton - I definitely understand looking at the news and thinking “what in the hell kind of world are we even living in”. My brother in law lives in Telford on a (soon-to-be-failed) marriage visa and he was not at all thrilled with the development, especially since now he’s super worried about his legal status over there and whether or not he’s going to be able to stay at all.I’ve always thought that Boris Johnson and Donald Trump had the same sort of weird disheveled haircut and seem to share a lot of similar appeal (if that’s the word for it) so Brexit seems a whole lot like y’all’s version of “BUILD THE WALLLL” only, y’know, it actually happened and you actually have to deal with it. Anyway, this song is fierce and catchy and filled with the best kind of angry pissed off vitriol that makes for a great political protest song. I’m trying to think about what I could actually criticize about it if I had to...and maybe it’s drum mixing decisions? The hard-panned cymbals sit weird in the mix to me, and I’m not sure I’m huge on that shaker/snare sounding thing? But the synth solo is gnarly! Yay synth solos!

Berkeley Social Scene - There’s a few times in here where the vocals kind of drift off beat a bit “cut the lights and drift off to the side” comes to mind. I really dig the background vocals, especially in the chorus. I’m a sucker for 6/8 time (given how much crumpart loves her some ¾ I’m curious if she’s also a 6/8 enthusiast...guess we’ll see if she’s able to review mid-move). The production on this track is pretty solid, and I kind of like the bits where you start picking the harmonics before the rhythm shifts. Personally I think the panning in the guitar solo is a bit too much, I would have liked to hear the rhythm and lead there sharing a bit more stereo space. Personally this song doesn’t really stick with me for the most part. I wish that cool synth that comes in on chorus #3 made its appearance earlier in the song...and maybe was a bit louder? Maybe cut the second chorus and start the solo earlier.

Miscellaneous Owl - Well, this is a bit harder edged that what I’ve heard from you in awhile -- maybe your most distortion heavy tune since your “I Used To Know You Better” entry, only the mixing is way cleaner this go-round. I really like how stripped back the musical accompaniment is throughout a fair chunk of this song, though I kind of wish that pounding “tom + crunchy guitar chord” was more prominent throughout the whole song, cause the chorus of this one with that organ and everything else isn’t doing it for me and I don’t know why. I think it may just be I don’t really like that leslie’d organ sound. It could be that I’m sad to see that syncopated crunch go away. Matter of taste, honestly. There are a few times throughout the tune and the chorus where the tempo seems to wobble up and down a little bit. Deliberate? I hate that this is the first song of yours in a few weeks that hasn’t been one of my favorites of the fight, but they can’t all be bangers I guess. Maybe I just don’t like apartment living, ha!

Hot Pink Halo - Your experimental side! Beep! Rumble! Field ambience. Experimental crumpart is the best crumpart. Crazy panning with percussive elements, curious bells, tinkling sounds, echoes, all sorts of...things. I kind of dig the higher “crack your voice upwards” thing that you do here, though I’m not at all sure what word to actually use to describe it. I kind of wish that this track was a bit longer, though I’m well aware that you and Toshiro are mid-move which kind of complicates things. I’m sure there are some geographical references in your lyrics that are flying over my head, as you tend to write stuff that’s kind of autobiographical (which both makes it interesting and kind of opaque). Like what’s the river that splits in two? Is this literally a river? Or a metaphor? I like whatever that deep bass rumble is.

Brown Word And The Big Whine - Your voice sounds a lot more natural in this one and I like it! The kind of dinky midi-tastic instrumentation in the first half of the song and the over-the-top enunciation on “no stop signs” kind of reminds me of the first impulse that I had with this prompt -- make something that sounds like a song from some kind of kid’s show. An aside: I watch Sesame Street all the time due to the young age of my children. I’m not sure which one I like the best. I kind of like Big Bird. Or maybe The Count. And oh hey, it got heavy for a bit. There’s still something in the production in that heavy parts that doesn’t quite sit right with me. I think it’s the kind of flat sounding distortion and the power-chords being panned totally opposite the higher guitar line. And those down-shifted backing vocals, I could pass on. It’s probably obvious through several rounds of reviewing that unless stereo work is done extremely deftly (and I’ll single out smalltown mike yet again as an example of someone on here that almost always nails it), I tend to prefer stuff that’s more mono sounding. Anyway, “THE STREETS ARE YOURS” is awesome. I wish you delivered the whole song like that hahaha.

Lyrics Experiment - Well your name draws attention to exactly what you’re doing...cause musically this is *very* dull. I wish it had just been a capella instead of having that kind of dinky keyboard in the background. So I’ll critique the lyrics (which I wish you’d have put in the lyrics thread, ahem!) I like how you gradually go through a list of different streets instead of just dwelling on Liberty Street entirely. The bit about the petals and the lovers hands dropping sounds was a good line. Was that “comedy court” pronounced with a long “O”? Anyway, not my favorite of the fight, but all in all pretty solid for what it was. I’m a very audio-centric person, so it’s rare that I give gushing reviews to songs with well-written lyrics but very forgettable melodies and backing tracks...don’t feel too bad.

Clavikill - Ha, I’ve been praising you as an example of well-produced music in the stereo field throughout the whole fight, though I notice the lead vocal seems to be oscillating back and forth from the left and right channels and I actually...don’t like that all that much. And when it comes in it’s a little too soft in the mix, I kind of wish that you’d mixed your vocals higher the mix cause when they come in they sound kind of anemic. But whatever, the mixing and drums, and the general vibe of this song is tremendous and your vocals sound great as always. I like the synth-pop vibes of this and wish you’d dabble in this style more. The drums are tremendously well organized. And the spoken word/rapped bit is really well executed. And the robot-y type vocals were a lot of fun! I liked last week’s Slither entry a bit more, but this was still a bop.

Gizo vs the 17,455 - Mmmmmm this sounds good, slow, swooshy, warbly in the best possible way. This is exactly the sort of sound I’m in the mood for right now and this may be one of my favorite songs that I’ve submitted. Like I said to clavikill, I wish you’d have mixed your vocals a little bit higher in the mix. But those spacious, slow guitars are just speaking to me, man. This kind of reminds me of like Mojave 3 or something like that. Reading through the lyrics I wasn’t sure how you were going to deliver that “right on red” line several times and still have it sound good to me. Personally I wish you’d gone for a different snare sound. I don’t know if it’s too dry in the mix or what, but I feel like it’s too bright and sustains a bit too long. Like maybe a shorter, more muted “pop” would work better and maybe adding a bit of reverb to blend it into the swirling ambiance? Just musing aloud. I had to hit replay a few times cause I love this song. And that audible string noise is yummy. I really wish you gave this at least one more verse. Or maybe two. Favorite of the fight.

Paco Del Stinko - I don’t know if that’s a fretless bass or a keyboard, but it sounds so smooth. And the production on this is tight, and while I’ve said it before, I tend to like the more downtempo Paco songs compared to the more intense, bouncy ones. Though there are a few moments, like where you start talking about grilling hot-dogs where it sounds like you’re going for a slightly amusing lyrical delivery, which is generally alright but kind of takes away from the general nostalgic vibe. It could just be where so many of your songs have this excited zany vibe where that works so much, but maybe not so much in this one. The lyrics? Love them. The mellow vibe? Love it. Those kind of airy keyboard sounds floating around in the background of the song? Love them. And again, where its driven by that fretless bass type tone, I can’ complain cause I think it sounds good...though it reminds me of *SOME* song I heard a long time ago heavily but can’t place it. Like one of the background pieces in Tetris Attack for the SNES. I always dug the music in that game.

Nick Soma - Geez, hyper syncopated, chunky as hell riffing, chuggy chugga, double kick drum pedal galore! Not really a style that I’m use to hearing around here. I find the actual musical structure of these riffs kind of interesting because they’re so far off from 4/4 for the most part that they’re fascinating to try and follow, like each measure just doesn’t quite meet my expectations for what you’re going to do next and it’s exciting. And the hand drums! Yes!!! And that kind of drony swelling ambiance in the bridge, hell yes. I kind of wish you’d have used less reverb on your vocals, if only because the guitar/drums are so dry that it doesn’t really match in the mix. And I feel like you ought to have belted out those words a bit more man, like it’s all so heavy that the sedate by comparison vocals seem like a mismatch. I dig the “do you really care if you are free” line. Structurally, there’s something about this that seems a little off to me in a way that I can’t quite place, like it never really gets momentum going? Perhaps if it were a little faster and the vocals sat in the mix better that wouldn’t be an issue, but for now it seems like a super cool demo for a chugging metal number that could still use a bit of work. I still liked it by and large though.

Travels With Brindle - Gotta go vote now! Your vocals are more confident than they have been in the past few entries you’ve submitted. I kind of like how you hold off on the cynicism until the very end, and it sounds all patriotic and “yeah, go vote!” and then “bam, poll tax! Voter IDs, it’s fishy!”, minor chord in a totally different key, dissonance. Which added a whole lot of musical interest the track...which wasn’t really grabbing me before. So far of the tracks you’ve submitted that I’ve listened to this is my favorite, though I’m still not sure I love it -- but that’s just style bias on my end.

WreckdoM - Oh good lord. I feel like that sentence is how I start off every review of a WreckdoM song. I have no idea what you’re talking about, something something monkey noises, weird background noises, backmasked vocals, and that cool beat during the transition, and what is this a trombone I don’t know what’s happening. I dunno I feel like WreckdoM songs are very hit and miss for me, and this one doesn’t hit that sweet spot that the best examples of your dadaist weirdness achieve so beautifully. I made a mention to Ellewreckdom a couple fights ago that you are responsible for my all time favorite SongFight entry -- Punk Bartender, which has had me threatening to shit on people’s tongues as a tongue-in-cheek (nah, totally legit) threat ever sense. But this one? I’m not sure. I liked last weeks better, even if it made me feel more squeamish.

Top 3: Gizo, Paco, Nick. Well played, everyone.

sleepysilverdoor wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 09, 2020 8:02 pm

Hot Pink Halo - Your experimental side! Beep! Rumble! Field ambience. Experimental crumpart is the best crumpart. Crazy panning with percussive elements, curious bells, tinkling sounds, echoes, all sorts of...things. I kind of dig the higher “crack your voice upwards” thing that you do here, though I’m not at all sure what word to actually use to describe it. I kind of wish that this track was a bit longer, though I’m well aware that you and Toshiro are mid-move which kind of complicates things. I’m sure there are some geographical references in your lyrics that are flying over my head, as you tend to write stuff that’s kind of autobiographical (which both makes it interesting and kind of opaque). Like what’s the river that splits in two? Is this literally a river? Or a metaphor? I like whatever that deep bass rumble is.

Thanks! Turns out there’s a Liberty Street in Cork City, and it starts exactly where the bus drops me off in town. It’s a very short street (two blocks) that was built over the part of the river used to power a mill way back when. If you have a look at the cover art entries for this fight, mine is a photo I took of the street sign when I went in to do the field recordings. All the sounds you hear are taken from about 30 minutes of audio from Liberty Street (except for the celesta; that’s from the GarageBand programmed chord patterns on my ipad). There’s a big Franciscan cathedral on the street, so I walked in while I was sneakily recording and there were a whole bunch of people praying a rosary. The “kick” I’ve used is a man dropping coins into a prayer box with his kids to light some candles in one of the alcoves (this was one of the few sounds I added specific reverb, compression and eq to; most are as is or only altered very lightly to reduce wind noise). The big rumble is probably a bus accelerating. Cork was a walled city built on marshy wetlands, with the river Lee running through it. The river splits in two then rejoins before the harbour, and Cork City is essentially an island inside that split bit of river. I’m seeing the whole thing as both literal and a metaphor, for the record.

My favourites this round were owl, gizo and Paco. Loved the first half of the Phlebia song probably more than anything else in the fight, it reminds me of the album Everything's Alright Forever by the Boo Radleys (a long-time favourite). You lost me with the change-up though! Enjoyed the Brown Word song too, just wish the chorus and verse were a little better defined. BSS song is almost great, I love the layered chorus vocals in theory but the first response vocal struck me as being far too loud and the gang vocals far too quiet which threw things off. Enjoyed the solo though!

vowlvom wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:49 am

...reminds me of the album Everything's Alright Forever by the Boo Radleys (a long-time favourite)...

Ha - who would've thought The Boo Radleys made any music that wasn't Lazarus....

gizo wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:06 am

vowlvom wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:49 am

...reminds me of the album Everything's Alright Forever by the Boo Radleys (a long-time favourite)...

Ha - who would've thought The Boo Radleys made any music that wasn't Lazarus....

They were my first ever favourite band, the first proper band I ever saw live*, and I was in their fan club when I was about 14. 'Memory Babe' is still one of my favourite songs!

Also gizo I forgot to say that your song reminded me of Benjamin Shaw, his album "There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet" is worth a listen if you don't already know his stuff. He moved to Australia recently, as it happens, so you probably know each other (it's not a big country, right?)

* my first actual gig was Meat Loaf which doesn't count

vowlvom wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:38 am

gizo wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 3:06 am

vowlvom wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 2:49 am

...reminds me of the album Everything's Alright Forever by the Boo Radleys (a long-time favourite)...

Ha - who would've thought The Boo Radleys made any music that wasn't Lazarus....

They were my first ever favourite band, the first proper band I ever saw live*, and I was in their fan club when I was about 14. 'Memory Babe' is still one of my favourite songs!

Also gizo I forgot to say that your song reminded me of Benjamin Shaw, his album "There's Always Hope, There's Always Cabernet" is worth a listen if you don't already know his stuff. He moved to Australia recently, as it happens, so you probably know each other (it's not a big country, right?)

* my first actual gig was Meat Loaf which doesn't count

Funny that y'all keep comparing it to the Boo Radleys, I've only listened to Giant Steps a couple times, thought it was okay, and then put it back on the shelf. I was worried everyone was going to think "this sounds like a rip-off of pre-Loveless MBV", cause I realized after I made it that it sounded more like "Don't Ask Why" than I was comfortable admitting.

Completely unrelated, my first actual gig was Incubus on their "A Crow Left Of The Murder" tour. And I'm not counting my mom's blues band, cause I didn't opt into that (though the woman has some pipes, I ought to try and get her to submit something, though the only instruments she has at her house are some hand drums and a piano).

Also: you made my wife's prediction totally true. "People are going to either love the first half of this or the second half, but you're going to lose people with that transition!" Also, speaking of Incubus, she also said "Quit singing so high during the heavy part, you're not Brandon Boyd, use your lower voice, it's more natural for you". She's not wrong, I had to cap the highest note lower than I'd have liked cause I couldn't go any higher without my voice cracking.

sleepysilverdoor wrote: ↑

Mon Feb 10, 2020 7:11 am

Funny that y'all keep comparing it to the Boo Radleys, I've only listened to Giant Steps a couple times, thought it was okay, and then put it back on the shelf.

Well, Everything's Alright Forever is a MBV-esque shoegaze album for the most part, it doesn't sound much like Giant Steps.

Hasty reviews this week. I wasn't going to even review this fight because I went out of town for the weekend and am feeling behind on everything, but I figured since I'm listening through again anyway as I try to decide who to vote for, I might as well write a few quick notes.

Berkeley Social Scene: Enjoyed this a lot; good storytelling, good melodies, satisfying chorus, nice production. The response backing vocals sound kind of pinched and sharp, those are probably my least favorite bit of this song. Lead vocals sound good, although there's a few lines that sounded either like they were delivered too nasally for my tastes or they were aggressively tuned. The guitar solo also seems oddly muffled? (FYI to everyone, though, I've done all my listening on not-very-good equipment)

Brown Word and the Big Whine: Quite a different sound for you (in the first half, anyway), I always enjoy hearing people take different approaches, and I like the more naturalistic-sounding vocals, although they seem generally mixed a bit loud and dry. The quieter instrumentation sounds a little bit like the theme song of a kid's show from the 80's, and a little bit like a demented carnival. I like that little chime thing that you add as punctuation between lines, makes me want to turn to the next page in my storybook. The melodies on this don't really grab me on the whole, but I like a lot of the instrumentation and arrangement experiments you've done here... arrangement-wise, I like the switch to the heavy part, and the a cappella outro. Also love the "pig in shit" verse lyrics.

clavikill: Not a fan of the actual lead vox--insert my usual style complaint, exacerbated this time by feeling like it's a mismatch to the style of the song and feeling like the delivery seemed a bit too rough/croaky, and also the melody is very repetitive. The rapped part was enjoyable but seems buried and kind of hard to make out (again, this could be an issue with my crap speakers). I think the synthesized vocals are pretty cool! The lyrics seem serviceable, I guess, but a bit first-drafty, "get moving your feet in the right direction" just sounds so awkward to me, for instance. I enjoyed the instrumentation a lot, it's a fun, catchy groove--I really like the synth bassline.

gizo vs. the 17,455: This has excellent floaty, hazy vibes, and I like the lyrics a lot--you pack a lot into just a few words. I think it's the kind of song that would benefit from a really huge, wide-sounding production and an extended instrumental outro (or just making the whole song longer?); it kind of swings by to drop a little bundle of melancholy achiness in everyone's laps and then runs away again right away.

Hot Pink Halo: I loooove the backstory for this, huge fan of your imaginative conceptual productions. The celesta sounds lovely, it's too bad it's not found sound, but it adds a lot to the general vibe of the track. I also love being in old cities and thinking about all the history that happened right where you were standing, so your second verse really spoke to me lyrically. Much like gizo's song, the song itself didn't stick with me as much as the general feel of it did, but again I can't really complain when I enjoyed going to the places the songs brought me to.

Lyrics Experiment: The lyrics, melody and vocal performance are all pretty solid, but honestly, I think I would have rather heard this a cappella rather than with the single piano notes exactly following the vocal line, which got annoying fast. If you're super committed to playing one piano note at a time, even just doing a root-note-eighth-notes thing to keep time under the vocals would work better than just completely mirroring the vox. The lyrical conceit is clever and I really like the chorus lyrics with all the flowers and trees, but if I were you, I'd probably edit it down to take one or two weaker streets out of the verses; I think this overstays its welcome a bit. (Maybe it wouldn't with a bit more production?)

miscellaneous owl: Well, I don't love the guitar tone I settled on for the verses--it seems kind of mushy--but I lost patience for experimenting with getting something more muscular. Also, I think if I hadn't recorded this the way I did, process-wise (making the guitar track and then adding everything else around it) or if I had had more time to tweak this, I would cut back on the amount of guitar I'm playing in the chorus, it's a bit too much when there's everything else happening, so it adds noise without particularly contributing to the arrangement, and I think it would be be better going to just a lead melody there. It was fun taking a different process approach, though. @sleepysilverdoor it's funny, I posted this on FAWM and the response from commenters there was generally the complete opposite re verses vs. chorus--one commenter said "The verses are fine too but the chorus is great." (And if you think the tempo is wobbly, that is not surprising to me at all, that's why I try to play to a click or drums usually instead of doing it this way around!)

Nick Soma: This is pretty well executed, I think, but metal is not really my thing genre-wise, so it's generally kind of hard for me to get into it or give a lot of meaningful feedback. I really like those hand drums that come in around 1:40, and that general dropout/ON THE FLOOOOOR re-entry. The vocals don't seem to fit in super well stylistically--it's not a terrible match, but they stood out to me slightly. Cool chugga chuggas, lotsa kicks, that all sounds about right.

Paco del Stinko: Granted, I haven't caught up on all 242 of your songs in the archives, but this seems atypical for your more recent songs, anyway... I love the bass groove and it's excellent to hear a Softer Side of Paco, but the vocals felt a bit buried and mumbly, doesn't sound as compelling as your productions usually do to me. I love the lyrics, I always enjoy reminiscences with ultra-specific details like this.

Phlebia: I'm impressed at how many guitar doubles you did! I thought I was one for doubling tracks but I've never come near 10 copies of the same thing. I might be the only person who enjoyed both the quiet and noisy halves of this song--though I definitely liked the quiet half better. I see the resemblance to that MBV song in the quiet part since you've pointed it out, but I wouldn't have necessarily come up with that on my own, the effects on their guitar make it feel pretty different in my mind and the heavy part doesn't sound like it at all. I don't mind the higher vocal. Also, I just looked up the word "guttations" and it's a Good Word for these lyrics.

Pigfarmer Jr: The "smelly feet" lyric didn't really work for me. I really liked the chorus melody. As a whole, this came and went so quickly it's hard to find much to say about it! Just feels like a sketch more than a full song. But I think the chorus would be worth expanding on.

Travels With Brindle: Oh wait, voting machines? I thought you said "floating machines" the first time I listened, and was super into this dysfunctional Matrix-style scene I was picturing but voting machines would make more sense--equally dystopian, less exciting, though. Stronger performance this time around than some previous songs, I still think tracking vox/uke separately and taking a few pauses or making a few changes in the rhythm would be helpful.

Vom Vorton: My favorite song of the fight, this is catchy, well produced, and lovely to listen to while effectively getting across all sorts of rage and despair. I commented in more detail over on FAWM so I won't repeat it all here, but I will re-mention how much I liked the "bitter" line because someone I was hanging out with over the weekend was talking about English bitter and I thought of the song again.

WreckdoM: I like the synth melody that comes in around 1 minute in, and the bass is cool. Not sure what else to say... sorry, you're suffering from being last alphabetically and also doing a very specific thing that is sort of hard to critique meaningfully multiple weeks in a row.

@owl: knowing you tend to look into lyrics relatively in depth, I was curious if you'd look that one up! Yeah, I picked it up reading through mycological field guides...and a botanical/mycological term meaning "droplets of exuded liquid" was such a perfect, if obscure, fit for the lyric I couldn't not use it!

sleepysilverdoor wrote: ↑

Sun Feb 09, 2020 8:02 pm

Gizo vs the 17,455 - Mmmmmm this sounds good, slow, swooshy, warbly in the best possible way. This is exactly the sort of sound I’m in the mood for right now and this may be one of my favorite songs that I’ve submitted. Like I said to clavikill, I wish you’d have mixed your vocals a little bit higher in the mix. But those spacious, slow guitars are just speaking to me, man. This kind of reminds me of like Mojave 3 or something like that. Reading through the lyrics I wasn’t sure how you were going to deliver that “right on red” line several times and still have it sound good to me. Personally I wish you’d gone for a different snare sound. I don’t know if it’s too dry in the mix or what, but I feel like it’s too bright and sustains a bit too long. Like maybe a shorter, more muted “pop” would work better and maybe adding a bit of reverb to blend it into the swirling ambiance? Just musing aloud. I had to hit replay a few times cause I love this song. And that audible string noise is yummy. I really wish you gave this at least one more verse. Or maybe two. Favorite of the fight.

Well gosh - I'm very excited to know that it worked for you. I've just used one of Garageband's magic drummers, but I think I pumped the mids up a bit, which could explain the snare.

I knew the length (or the VC structure) would be an issue for some, and I did play around with that idea, but I found this song pretty draining and was cautious about pouring too much more time and energy into it.

owl wrote: This has excellent floaty, hazy vibes, and I like the lyrics a lot--you pack a lot into just a few words. I think it's the kind of song that would benefit from a really huge, wide-sounding production and an extended instrumental outro (or just making the whole song longer?); it kind of swings by to drop a little bundle of melancholy achiness in everyone's laps and then runs away again right away.

Spot on with the production thoughts - that's where I would've loved to take it if I had the know-how.

I'm really grateful that it's been enjoyed - out of darkness comes a little light, eh?

As usual, I provide only a terse conclusion and perhaps these are helpful in some way, perhaps not. Do know I enjoy listening to all of the songs and I appreciate the in-depth reviews that many of the others provide, I feel like personally getting others' read on my stuff has helped for future fights.

Liberty Street reviews:

Berkeley Social Scene - I like most of this song, especially the low background vocals. Not such a fan of the pop punk vox in the chorus but that's just me, it's all very good quality.

Brown Word and the Big Whine - I was going for cheesy AM radio jingle that gets its mask ripped off. I am working on honing my production skills and agree with sleepysilverdoor that there was some off-quality in the heavy section.

clavikill - Nice synths, and good creation of texture. Good dynamic between verse and chorus, and I liked that chorus btw. Points for the rap.

gizo vs. the 17,455 - Very pretty guitars, dreamy sound. Quite forlorn-sounding.

hot pink halo - I love how you've used sounds from the city to create the music for a song about it.

Lyrics Experiment - Sometimes less is more, it's true. This is a perfectly-formed song.

Nick Soma - Ah heaviness, my natural element. This is easily the most badass song of the fight and of course I like it very much. Would've really liked to hear you let it rip vocal-wise but it's good just the way it is, kind of understated and Jethro Tull-y. Big plus for tablas in the breakdown.

Paco del Stinko - Loved the bass - it has a really good tone and the part is interesting. Does this have beach sounds in it?

Plebia - This certainly sounds different than the last few I've heard of yours. Wall of acoustical etherealness, then the heaviness kicks in, and I approve of heaviness.

Pigframer Jr. - That second half was really good. I could've stood to hear a bit more, but sometimes, as I said elsewhere, less is more.

Travels With Brindle - This is a pretty song about an important issue. I'm already nervous about the election...

miscellaneous owl - While I like the song overall - it has catchy melodies and beautifully sung vocals - I found the verse guitar and drums rather tense. But they grew on me and I even had the melody pop into my head the other day.

Vom Vorton - The song is very well constructed and executed - I like your voice, and it's about a serious issue to boot. I felt for you in listening to this and have always supported song as a means to convey political discontent.

WreckdoM - We took our walk on Liberty Street. My favorite part was all of it, but if I had to pick, it would be tablas in the breakdown and the secret baby-cry.

I had to go back and listen to all of these on my headphones. I think my auxiliary speakers are giving out and not the best way to listen to everyone's efforts. Though I try to listen in terms of song fight and not production fight (mainly because my ears aren't too good at discerning production quality), any critiques I might've had about the features being lost in the mix magically disappeared, go figure.

Liberty Street ART reviews:

Vom: I absolutely love the "Freedom rigidly enforced" sign. My wife bought me a t-shirt that says "Don't tell me how to freedom!" that I adore.
Songfight Coverbot: Meh
Crumpart: I like the sign and the songfight on the sidewalk was a super nice touch. This would make a good album cover.
Piggy 1 (Liberty Street Sign): I had to be a little creative into making this into a 400x400 sign but I think it came off well. I like that it has so much open space reinforcing the "no boundaries/freedom/liberty" theme. Pretty happy it was used for the fight.
Piggy 2 (Oil Painting): I bought an app for the phone that turns pictures into pseudo oil paintings in a couple different styles. You'll probably be seeing more of this type.
Piggy 3 (high pile up): A picture of I-44 in Missouri from Winter 2018. I love the idea of liberty street having a traffic jam/accident pile up. That'd be just my luck.

It's a tie between Berkeley Social Scene and miscellaneous owl!

Congrats BSS and owl!

Sorry for no reviews this week. Apart from the three hours I spent on my Peak Misery song, every moment of my life recently has been spent battling this house move.

Two good songs. Congratz to ya both.

Congrats BSS, lovely to share the win with you!