Reviews done as first impressions during the listen party, so everything is listened in Mono and I haven’t read the lyrics. I quite enjoyed this batch, and look forward to hearing these in stereo as i listen to them this week.
BSS: I like that pre and then how the melody moves in the chorus! That upward lick is tasty. Uuuuhhhhhh love that post chorus bass. I like how the orc heat ration is building on the challenge progression - love the layers coming in and out. that ending sound like there was a bad splice to the last hit
BYD: love a data song. The shaker is kinda high in the mix, dominates the others. lol the spoken word break down. Like the vox harmonies
Cavedwellers: love the verses, very pretty, a magical tone on the arpeggiated guitar. The “I am myself again” after the solo is great, it’s like you went on a journey and came back changed. Ooooohhh love that harmony on the breakdown
Chewmeupspitmeout: this feels slow. I’m not against slow songs (mine is slow this week), but this feels like the song want to be faster. Love any excuse to put ‘asinine’ in a song. Chord prog under “you play the protagonist” is really pretty. I wanted that ending to build to something bigger. Went out with a whimper, but I wanted a bang.
Cybronica: me! I’m not sure why all my songs are mixed so quietly this year. I gotta bump up my level. Now I’m worried my song should be faster… who am I kidding, I can’t play the mando any faster than this yet lol.
Ellipsis: cool synth at the start here. Very groovy. I like the bloom of instruments on the chorus. Ripping guitar solo oooh esp at the end of it. Love how this is building at the end. Is that backing vox supposed to be lagging a bit?
Erik Novak: really hard to hear the words. Your vocalism is so relaxed it’s melting away. It’s a bit over nasal and way under supported. Nasal isn’t a bad thing per se, but your using it to over compensate for the lack of support on the voice. You need better breath for your sound, breath deeply into your abdomen and thorax, and practice some held vocalises, like “z” on a single note, see how long you um an hold for. Then, place the sound like you’re aiming it straight out the top of your skull. That will help with the flat pitches and enunciation.
Glennny: grooving opening. I like the sound of your voice a lot, and sometimes it feels like the amount of processing you do strips away some of the uniqueness, like an over eager insta filter. There are some parts in this song where you use less of it, and I get more of that nice YOU sound. It makes the other more processed bits stand out all the more. Great guitars of course.
Grumpy mike: so atmospheric… trigun? Cowboy bebop?? Attack titan??? Love how you did this challenge. SO ANIME. ONE AND ONE AND ONE MAKE ONE YAAAASSSS. This give me the same pumped up, take over the world energy dragon force give me and I’m LIVING FOR IT. DAMN that solo is so 80s Saturday morning cartoons. Have you pitched this to Netflix yet?
Lowest bitter: oooh love the use of the orchestra hit synth. I really like the grove and the orchestration, but something feels off about the song as a whole. It doesn’t like up with your vocal, I think because your vox style is decidedly not that punchy, upbeat style. Not a bad thing, just miss matched here.
Mama Pils: love that upward moving bass in the cello. The extra line adds something special Here. Ooh, and backing vox?? So pretty! And that vibrato on the highest notes- so so gorgeous. I love that even though you are singing quietly for your neighbors, you aren’t clamping down on your voice, you’re singing with your true, full voice. That’s not easy; good for you!
Max Bombast: SO FAST VOX, and such a relaxed instrumentation under. Then the rhythm comes in and blends those two elements. Really well done. Really cool how youve taken the different elements and made them work so well together. I can even notice some of your lyrics (I rarely hear lyrics on a first pass), and they are nicely done, not cliche, which I think was a risk for this title. Like this a lot, amassing vox, again.
Moss palace: I actually read your lyrics cause you posted them right before mine, and I think they’re your best so far this year. You have a good take on the challenge, and a cohesive story. Oooh I like those high “haaa haaa haa” vocals in the chorus. This song is like Britney Spears, Peter Gabriel, and Israel Kamakawiwo'ole wrote a country song together.
Nick soma: oh wow such a deviation from your usual sound. Glockenspiel?? Oh here it is- I missed the jazz organ! So sweet and unassuming. The Glock hurts my ears, but given my dislike of high partials, I think that’s a me thing rather than a you thing. Ooh like the swishy Echo effect guitar strums on the bridge. YEAH BRING IN THE GUITARS. This song had a great build to it. Love the big shredding, then pulling back. Special
Slimeparty: vox feel really high in the mix. Maybe it’s just they’re so much boomier than the guitars under them? I like how instrumentals swell when the voice drops out. Not wild about the counting section. I like Everything about it but the fact you’re singing numbers. I get why you put it there, but not for me.
Stacking theory: now I like the counting in this one. It’s a part of the texture, which is a nice effect. Oooh love how the floaty guitar comes in and paints the whole song with a watercolor of sound, and the crunchier guitar sound comes in… you have a lot of different sounds coming in, but they all work together. Even though they’re different, doesn’t sound out of place. Reminds me of ravel’s bolero. Well orchestrated.
Virgo Power: the Omni is back! And you brought a chorus synth. I like that Synth in with the Omni, they compliment each other really well. Def recommend you use it more in the future. This tempo change is way more elegant that last week. OOOOH THOSE HIGH VOCALS they bringing the Virgo POWER. But the tune on numbers was a direct lift from peaches, so
. Loving this powerful high stuff in your voice. It’s really well sung, well supported, and you’ll notice the pitchiness you sometimes get is GONE when you do that- it’s the breath support! Keep doing that!
Third cat: I’m not wild about this opening. It’s like your signature sound lost its way. Hard to hear your voice, and feels lackadaisical, lackluster, lacking something… I like that sax solo tho. Ooh and then when it comes in for real is phenomenal. Best part of the song.
Lichenthroat: your entrances are a bit late again. Have you checked the latency on your daw? That might be hitting you there. If that’s not the issue, the I’ll just reiterate what I said before- Imagine you’re coming in too early. In fact, try to come in too early on purpose, and see if you actually split the difference and hit right on it. Following the music to get your entrance instead of anticipating it is what’s messing you up, I think.
Last Minotaur: I like the guitar tone, but you vocals don’t match it at all. The timbre is so out of place, it makes it sound like karaoke instead of a finished song. The echoed/reverbed vox section helps, but it’s still out of place. Bring down the vox in the mix, put a small amount of reverb on the verses, and add a bit of distortion on the vocals. That will let them fit in better. And to be clear, I’m not saying your voice has a bad tone, but the timbre is so different from the rest of the instruments that it sounds out of place. You and arby should team up and do a duet. I think your voices would match well.