YAY PODCAST!!! I can’t wait to listen!
Here are my thoughts. I am not a judge! Good work everyone.
Caravan Ray – Peak Misery
Double dipping, I see! I can’t get over how much this sound likes your nur ein entry a couple years ago for never knew the guy (one of my all-time favorites, btw), and while this song is good, its not as awesome as Never knew the guy. I can’t help but compare the two, so it is unfairly diminished in my ears. I think you could have done more with the panning; it would have been cool to have the call and response peak miseries going back and forth, but as it, it just wears on my right ear.
Hinkle – Number Line
I’m really glad that I read the bio for this one, cause I totally thought this was a song about suicide at first. I really like the chorus on this one. The harmonies are really lovely, and the post chorus synth is nice, too. You have a really nice voice! It has a classical inspired laissez-faire to it, though something about it is just a little pitchy. I’m not sure it is a case of needing to be a bit more comfortable with the melody, or what. Normally I would say you need a more solid foundation of breath under you, but your technique is already so classical, and I’m not sure if that’s the direction you want to go. It might be that you need to bring up the energy level just a little to get that control a little better. Love the outro./ Your choice of synths is perfect to bring to mind cars wooshing by underneath the bridge.
Joko Homomorphism – Discretion
This has a really cool bio and makes me want to take math again (what??), but I have to say, this song is… grating. I love jazz, but very much dislike free jazz. The closer this gets to chaos, the more distressed I feel… isn’t music fun?? I suppose it makes sense with the subject and with the effect you’re going, for, but it’s not my thing. I really like the low horn synth, it’s a wonderful sound, but the muted trumpet synth goes on too much and bores into me. Your voice is a little pitchy, because your breath support is very shallow. Try taking deeper breaths lower in the body, and practice using that air to help control the sound. I think you’ll find it helps. Cool song!
BucketHat – Countin’ Dice
Alright, a DnD song, and with an accordion too! This is a fun song (you can tell by the finger snaps). There’s something vaguely TMBG about this. Again, I think pitchiness in the vocal line can be solved by better breathing. I really like the dice rolling sound. This song is a fun little package. Very nice.
Steve Stearns – The Finbonacci Sequence
Are you trying to teach me something in the early ninties? This would be a long video break in Sesame Street, or something they show you in math class when the teacher doesn’t feel like teaching. I am hesitant to call Fibonacci counting, but can see an argument. Eitherway, you have the third verse to hedge your bet (I like that panning, btw). The bass is funky and fun. Love it. This is going in the perm collection.
Faster Jackelope – Limerance
L O V E this song. Truth’s vocals are wonderful, and I love glennny’s interjections as the chorus. This has such a hazy dreamy hazy quality, and the backing vocals are great. The thing you do with the vocal reverb coming on and off is really cool. This song has a good grove, and the second chorus layering is really great! This song is what I would call immersive; it sucks me in entirely, and feels like I’m in another world. If this review doesn’t make much sense, its because I write them while I listen, and more than half of my brain is ignoring the writing choosing instead to just listen.
Rob from Amersfoort – Count Me Out
I like the harpsichord a lot! It makes the music sound a little… ominous? The chorus for this a bop. The flutes synth you have is cool. There is a quality about your songs that always feels... set back? Maybe it’s well-balanced compression, but it’s a little like listening to a recording of a recording. It’s a cool effect! I think the song is enjoyable, though the lyrics are not particularly inspiring. Aside from saying “count me out” in the chorus, the counting in the bridge really has no connection to the song. Even then, the connection is tenuous at best. Its there, you did it, but I’m not impressed.
Vowl Sounds – Blood on the Tracks
Great punny title! Theres something interesting with the panning going on in the intro (and the rest of the song). Kinda disorienting. Vocals are lovely, as usual, but I wonder if it’s a little low for you, owl? It sounds a little unsteady and maybe just a little pitchy at times. The backing vocals are always good, and I like how they twist the lyrics (looking for some/a change, for example). These lyrics are, well, theyre not my favorite. The story is a bit predictable, and the second verse in particular is a little clunky (opened up the box, opened up his mouth- I see the symmetry, but the sounds are not poetic, and the image is not poetic, either. Maybe box/heart? Mouth, without a follow up of what his words were, falls a little flat). The song is good, well sung, well played, well mixed, but it didn’t stand out the way I’m used to your songs standing out.
The Quantifyers – The Terrible Trivium
The glaring issue here is the mix. The piano is MUCH too quiet. But you knew that. Let’s talk about the singing. You sound like you are trying to stay quiet (nosy neighbors banging on the wall?). Don’t! Sing out! That goes quintuple for the ‘Milo’ voice singing backups, and Milo needs to enunciate! I can barely understand the words, and enunciate the melody more, too. That is to say, the mumbling quality of the singing makes the notes themselves rather indistinct, so take a deep breath, and really concentrate on the notes themselves. The song is good! I just can’t hear it through these issues. Again, great choice of subject matter.
GGS – The Wire
RAWK. Love the guitar. The song has a good groove. I really like the harmonics solo after the first and last chorus. I want more of it! I honestly haven’t noticed the lyrics until right now as I read them. Suitable to the song style. Now that Ive read them, and I’m listening, I really can’t discern what youre saying, even knowing what youre saying, except for the chorus. Enunciate more? Dunno if that’s stylistic, though. You made a good choice.
Governing Dynamics – Get Lost!
This is a pretty song. That opening, especially the VHS sound and buzzy bass is so pleasing to the ear. The first verse is very 1 2 buckle my shoe, but I like how you go to eleven then a dozen in the second. The chorus is nice, but the multivocals don’t always match pitch. Pitchiness comes in the backing vocals, too. Needs a bit more vocal control. This end too abruptly. Did you delete your outro?
Outlyer – Napalm
Oooooohhhhh loooooove this opening. It gave me chills. Your voice is great, and I really like how you mess with the vocal effects on it. The chorus is so satisfying! Please, a little more breath under “time” just cause I worry about that timbre causing vocal damage. The bass is really good, too. It feels like… I dunno. Like its holding me. And when it drops away, that creates a really special moment. This will likely make it into the perm collection.
Nice Work - reasons i love you
This is a good song, but I have some genre bias against it, which is not your fault. The orchestration all sounds pretty bare, and the vocals are stringy and tight, not my thing, but as a thing you do it well! I do like the guitar solo double time!
Ross Durand - dont blink
Well, punch me in the heart, why don’t you! This song is so lovely, and the lyrics are Really nice. The sentiment is like Stephen Swartz’s Hardest part of love. I like the toy like bells you have going in the start- a good color to add! The strings are subtle, but add a lot to the genuine feeling. The whole effect is Like Copland Meets randy Newman, and Sounds a bit like the Kruger Brothers. My one drawback is the whistling. It’s just enough out of tune to pull me out of the moment. I think a couple more takes could help with that. Great song in general, though!
Glen Raphael - Song of Many
Another really sweet song! I like how you layer in the vocals. The idea is good, and well executed. When you bring all the voices together at the end, they’re not quite all lined up, and maybe just a little out of tune, adding a layer of chaos that I don’t think the song needs. Maybe it would work better if there were different singers and you could distinguish between their vocal lines, but right now it needs more takes to smooth out the ending.
Tenmere - Cynics Anxiety
I really like the melody on this one. This one feels a bit gentler that what I’ve come to expect from you, and I like it- it’s a good contrast (im also a fan of your other sound. Both are good!). The melody is really soaring, heartfelt, and it add that piece of wonder and mystery that one has when thinking about space travel. Then that juxtaposed with the lyrics, which are rooted in past experiences and fears for the future, it’s really poetic. As always, your drumming is superb, and the orchestration in general is fab. Good song!
Jerkatorium- 8 Bit Love
I could complain about not really counting, but you’re just counting in base 2 with base 10 characters, so I suppose ill let it slide on a technicality.
This song is fun! The guitar is really fun with it s flourish before the chorus, and I like the solo quite a bit. the words are sweet with out being too specific, though the bridge is a little more specific, and really funny. It plays into the obsessed gamer trope without being mean about it. I like the backing vocals; the 11111111 la la la la bit wears on me the more I hear it, but I also know what you’re getting at, so I like it for the sake of the vision.
Ominous ride - Seven Naughty Children
This is cute and fun, for the first three minutes, and that’s pushing it. I don’t think you need the first verse about the mom. Just go from the counting straight to the chorus and then the verse about Gail. The story has overtones of struwwelpeter, which I both admire and find terribly off putting. Back to the length, I think this song would have done well with more variation in orchestration as it goes on. The piano gets to be a bit much. I will say, the song does a really great job of being fun and playful and thEN OH MY GOD TRAGEDY STRIKES. that moment toon several listens to get used to, so good on you! That’s good writing right there.
Mandibles - Breathe
I promised my band mates we could have a happy song that week, but when the counting challenge came up and we were discussing counting scale tones, I started getting this breathing exercise in my head, and thinking of the incident that this song is about, and became a bit fixated on it. We decided to focus on the happy ending (I fall asleep in the end!), and the music leans more on the end of sleepiness than on freaking out. The piano is my brothers, with whom I’ve been staying; it’s nice to have a baby grand around to play on! Truth did most of the song contruction, and Estaphonia came up with those beautiful chorus harmonies and sings the counting. The slide guitar was a last minute add, but it REALLY adds a lot in my opinion. I wasn’t sure I liked the song while I was mixing it, but with a little distance from it, I’m actually really have with it!
Boffo Yux Dudes - When the Band Counts Down
Cool concept! At first Listens it kinda sounds like you don’t like the count down, more than it makes you pumped up, but further plays it becomes clearer. The open ing is too long, and the bit from ABC (which isn’t a countdown) detracts from the point you’re making. I don’t have a lot of feelings about this song, it’s fun, not something I’ll listen to a lot.
SHADOWS
Menage a Tune - Same Old Dance (SHADOW)
Great harps! The difference in countings is distracting. I would stick with the even, not-dotted rhythms in the male voice. Is the whole song about corona? It’s a bit of a stretch, but is topical! Still some troubles with lining up the beat in the vocal and harp lines. I don’t think you need to be so militant in your singing to tempo. The harps have a lovely relaxed feel, and your singing would benefit from that rubato. A little more head voice in the mix will help tuning on your high note.
The Brewhouse Sessions - Please Come Home Faye
Good sound to the mix. The auto tune is distracting. There isn’t enough to be a stylistic choice, so it becomes evident that it’s there to fix pitch issues. This probably is a case of more experience with the tech will make you better at it. The song itself is very pretty, and has a nice, genuine feel to it. Very pleasing to listen to. Hmmm, reading the lyrics, this is very upsetting. Did you find her?? Also, while you are counting the minutes, I’m not hearing actual counting in song... but I am not a judge, and this is a shadow. This song might be too long. I’m not sure.
Jeb and Iwa - Fibonnacci Encounters Pie
The accents are too distracting. Reading the bio, aaaahhhhh I’m a sucker for a pun, and a clever chord progression, and you have a clever punny chord prog. *chefs kiss* clever idea, but I’m not convinced of the execution.
PigFarmer Jr - Gal For Me
I like this. It fun and funky and country. I could hearing this driving inbetween NPR stations on my way to visit my parents. I like the story. She sounds fun.
Micah Sommersmith - Chuck and Juanita
This is brilliant. I LOVE how you did the counting in the languages (SO MUCH PUN YAAAS). This song is beautiful. Good piano playing, too!
Heather Miller - The Good Stuff
I think the instruments are a little low in the mix. The counting is jarring- add a little reverb and lower just a tiny touch in the mix. A little pitchy, not sure the sure (for once I’m not convinced its all the breath). The chord prog in the bridge is lovely. Ends too soon.
