Why go to sleep only to (Wake Up Again reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

when you can stay awake instead?

[Pigfarmer Jr]

You are encouraged to put your lyric here: viewtopic.php?t=12584

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[BoffoYux]

SongFight 'Wake Up Again' Listening Party - Monday 1/29/24 9pm EDT
Looking forward to knocking the dust off with a new LP before we start with SpinTunes and Nur Ein in the coming months!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sY1i94fXj8Y

[Chumpy]

Add: Right away the synth patch and tempo put me off a bit. I'm a sucker for crackly spoken word bits. The food that fills our belly gives us life! The energy picks up nicely near the end of the song, the vocals intensify, and by the time it's over I'm won over. Vote.

An Annoyed Android: Dig the flange acoustic. Oh hi Pigfarmer. Blood. Blood. I wish upon a shooting star. The alarm tone was a good idea. There's a tone of two wooden sticks banging together and it's featured on cheesy synth percussion patches. There is already too much cheese.

Basal Bark Band: Feeling woozy. Sounds are swirling all around my head, timing is shifting and oozing. It's as over and I snap out of it. Bleak. I shudder and take another swig of coffee. Vote.

Berkeley Social Scene: Big rock sounds. Drums and bass thuds along, flangy ethereal vocals sound pretty I have no idea what they're saying though. Oh there are backing vocals. They're adding some nice feels. Bass and drum are locked in tight, great snare crack when the mood shifts suddenly. Vocals are sounding great, timing ebbs and flows, two guitar solos are playing at the same time, it doesn't start off working, but ends up good. Heh, the bass is so loud in the mix, it feels pretty great, but every dragged or missed note pops out. Overall I was entertained for 6 minutes, vote.

Cannonade Streete: Drums sound big! Timing sounds pretty ... organic. Digging the heavy riffage, glass breaking sounds are cool, but the one at the end, haha, a bridge too far.

Duncan Martin: I listened to this one twice. Great lyrics, phrases like "...by the time he hits the midspan" "...50/50 raffle where the winner don't show" really hit. Food and felonies, what's not to love? Vote.

More as time permits.

[AJOwens]

TRIGGER ALERT: Not all of these reviews are kind, but they are all well-meant.

Add: A gentle song with a pleasant composition, and an earnest message about waking up to what truly matters, delivered with the help of an old, crackling voice recording. The sincerity of the message is well-matched to the warmth and intimacy of the instrumentation and delivery. The arrangement is simple and elegant, and mostly spartan until the end, when the song thickens and strengthens, ending dramatically on the minor. With the exception of the subtly coupled vocals, the sound is very dry and "in the room." The keyboards, and maybe the drums, could use a hint of reverb to add depth and gravitas.

An Annoyed Android: This entry is a truncated version of the one submitted as Pigfarmer Jr., with slight differences noted in the bass line, and marked differences in the distortion and flanging effects. I don't know why you did this, but I prefer the clean version, which I'll review later.

Basal Bark Band: The drums seem to be dragging themselves like wounded limbs through a smouldering battlefield of flailing guitar licks, under a leaden sky of dark synthesizers, as a disembodied voice drones dispiritedly in one ear. Is this my own voice? Am I dying? Or is it just really hard to get up in the morning? A good tone poem.

Berkeley Social Scene: For six minutes of muddy vocals you used 256 kpbs? I will forgive all that and listen to the music, which despite some rhythmic unevenness succeeds overall, taking on various interestingly grungy textures within a bass-heavy framework. Sometimes the guitars get a bit out of hand. Not an especially memorable song, but while it's happening it has presence.

Cannonade Streete: Several cores of hard rock have been tossed into a mixmaster of experimentalism. The result is an interesting collection of fragments, but I don't know what to do with them.

Duncan Martin: Crisp, clever, earthy lyrics over a lightly played bluegrass ambience make for an entertaining experience. Stiking use of the chorus. The lyrics move from earnest to ironic, transforming the song with prismatic colours as it progresses. Highly effective timings, and an imaginative yet unobtrusive supporting arrangement. A very engaging listen, and definitely a vote.

Flvxxvm Florvm: Is that fuzz bass, or just an overworked amp? This song jumps into its gross lyrics with both feet, while a gross accompaniment built from low harmonies develops gross tension in a grossly climbing, stomping way. Everybody's on the same page, and with no half-measures; I like that about it. This is the song to play at a party for orcs.

The Freezing Hands: This song employs unexpected or ambiguous timings and chord stacks to deconstruct a genre in a refreshing way. I feel like I know what should be going on, but I'm not quite sure what is going on. But the band seems to know what's going on, and that's impressive. The slightly dissipated New- York-undergroundish vocal delivery fits perfectly. The whole thing is constructively dissonant, conveying the mood of the lyrics nicely. Possible vote.

heine: A melodic song with a good, solid sound, cleanly recorded and well-mixed. The rhythm has a shuffling and sometimes slightly uneven quality. The verse and chorus are very similar in construction and arrangement, and so the song has trouble building interest. The lead break offers some relief with a slightly different chord pattern, and the strong synthesizer near the end provides refreshment both in the timbre and the melody, before fading out disappointingly. Putting the synth melody somewhere in the middle, as well as at the end, would improve the song.

Hoblit: The opening guitar threatens to drown the vocals, but then the balance gets much better. The recording has a bright, clear sound, and the singing is delivered well. The doubling on the voice doesn't add much; harmony or octave coupling might be a better call. This is a good rocker, with a little drama here and there (although the drama can slow things down), and a guitar solo with splendidly frenetic moments.

James Owens: CynicalMonkey posted some good lyrics to the Olde Lyric Marte, for which I'm grateful. They're appropriate, because it's time I got back into Song Fight!, and music in general. Somehow I wrote the chorus as the bridge and vice-versa, but it all worked out. Adding the organ was his suggestion, and it really brought things together. The synth-strings track was already laid down and I just left it in. I should have clipped it from the first verse, where it starts out in a low register and causes a certain muddiness.

Johnny Cashpoint & Andy Balham: A good mix of textures in a surprisingly open and clear sonic space, given the delicious dissonance and distortion it contains. With its one-two drumbeat, quarter-note bass, and unreconstructed vocals, the song revels in simplicity, yet is layered, especially toward the end with all the heavily echoed whispering. Playful lyrics, great screaming guitar solo.

Joy Sitler: A gentle indie-folk song with warm personality. The tune is limited in range and variety, and the thematic repeat of the title throughout the lyrics threatens to wear it out, but the imaginatively changing and developing accompaniment and arrangement maintain interest, there are short instrumental breaks for relief, and the track doesn't overstay its welcome. The lyrics convey a sort of directionless anomie, a story of homelessness or displacement informed by disconnected observations. One of the better entries for its expressiveness.

The Mellfire Trifecta: A melodic composition with strong vocals and some exciting musical moments, resting partly on the softness of blurred major-seventh chords and minimalist movements, and partly on a contrasting section with highly articulated melodies and rhythms. The snare seems a little out of place at times, maybe too out-front in the mix. The lyrics are a celebration of waking up in love, and the music communicates the tender craziness of a life together. Could be a vote.

The Pannacotta Army: Drenched in mysterious tremolo arpeggios and cavernous reverberation, with dark minor shifts in the harmonies, this song pulls all the stops to create a haunting mood. The thrumming fat synth and insistent drums add grim desperation, and the strings contribute a tragic dignity. A well-delivered vocal track, tinged with pain and exhaustion, seems to suggest dire circumstances, although I'm not sure exactly what they are. It's a good portrait of a mental drama, and a likely vote.

Pigfarmer Jr: I have in my notes a reference to J. Frank Wilson and the Cavaliers' "Last Kiss," evoked by "screeching tires and broken glass" (in that song it was variously "crying" or "screaming" tires, and "busting" glass). If this entry were for teenagers, it might rank among the teenage death songs that were popular in the late fifties and early sixties. Your scenario is strong and strongly communicated, but the imagery is brutal almost to the point of goulishness, and the sound effects drive the tragedy home a little too hard. A little sensitivity and delicacy seems called for at such a sorrowful time. I will say, however, that I noticed the lyrics naturally, rather than having to force myself to pay attention to them, as is usually the case. The music is very nicely played, recorded, and mixed, and sounds very much like a Pigfarmer Jr. tune.

Reve + Ujn: An opening vaguely suggestive of a Bach toccata, leading to a landscape of creepy singing, lingering minor-chord pads, big drums, soulfully howling guitars, and foreboding ambience. At about 2:39 the drums go epileptic, while the rest of the band maintains its mesmerized gloomy fixation. The lyrics are quite poetic. As I wrote this, I had to reach for adjectives not already used in my Pannacotta Army review. Both go for a certain great and terrible awe; he he he's has more musical sophistication, but yours feels more tongue-in-cheek.

Robyn Mackenzie: This goes successfully for a pop-rock sound, and it reminds me of something, maybe a Joan Jett number, although come to think of it, Kathleen Edwards' "Back to Me" might be what I have in mind. (If you look it up, it starts slow; stay for the hook). For this genre, you want a big fat sound, which I think means you need to compress the hell out of it, and also make sure the pauses don't get too thin; anyway that's what I'd try. Good catchy tune, nice playing and singing; the production needs some craft, but the potential is there, so it's a vote.

RoneAI: You can tell the AI who wrote this that its work is derivative and without artistic merit, and has all the authenticity of a slice of American plastic cheese. I trust its feelings won't be hurt.

[jeff robertson]

Is that fuzz bass, or just an overworked amp?

It's a clean electric guitar (not bass) recorded direct into the interface, pitch shifted down an octave, and then run through an amp simulation plugin that is set for some overdrive.

[AJOwens]

Is that fuzz bass, or just an overworked amp?

It's a clean electric guitar (not bass) recorded direct into the interface, pitch shifted down an octave, and then run through an amp simulation plugin that is set for some overdrive.

So, kind of both and neither. For a while I had a vintage Acoustic 126 bass amp, and if you turned it past 5 it sounded just like that. Good to know you can get the same effect without making your ears bleed.

[Chumpy]

Flvxxvm Florvm: I took the text my four reviews for your "Don't Come Here to Live", "Hot Mess", "The Rat Brain", and "Good Luck Charm" and fed them into ChatGPT and asked it what to expect of this song. It refused to answer, and told me I should get a life.

The Freezing Hands: I like the vibe a lot. I don't like that I can't understand a single word of the lyrics, which I'm sure are great, and totally not regurgitated by an upjumped Markov chain.

heine: I hear a lot of traditional Vietnamese and Thai bamboo flute jams, often soaked in rich plate reverb, in restaurants. Sometimes they mix it up with Western music, and this is kinda what this sounds like ... for the first 17 seconds. Lyrics are pretty literal. The flute returns, things are more .. hopeful. Guitar solo note duration are all too even, needs more variation and contour. Second guitar solo, which mirrors vocal melody is the keeper.

Hoblit: I like the rhythm slinky guitar sounds, sorta sounds like a 60s garage rock/surf sound. Solo stuff is great. The ending "But then I wake up again" vocal should be the cherry on top, but like a lot of the other vocals are weak. Maybe it just needs to be louder in the mix, or maybe there needs to be more air being pushed out your throat, or your mouth needs to be open super wide, the tone is just not where it needs to be. If you want to hear more examples of anemic unsupported singing, check out the Jerkatorium back catalog.

James Owens: Has a loose live feel to it, at times I feel like I'm swimming in it, and I'm trying to grab on to parts of the rhythm section as they pass by ignoring the grid below. The wake up / rise up section is great, I especially love the electric organ there. It'd be so much better if the bass wasn't off the beat, or if it was just maybe down -6dB. Overall I dig it, if this was a live effort awesome. If you had .. tools ... and time .. mix the bass way down and get those big-ole bass notes within spitting distance of the beat.

Johnny Cashpoint & Andy Balham: Needs more creepy whispering. Lean into it.

Joy Sitler: This is nice. I like your rhymes, I like your vocals, nice guitar sound. Not too much cheese. Is that a mandolin towards the end? Could have been louder in the mix maybe, not much else was going on. Nice, I do not want my 2:33 back.

The Mellfire Trifecta: I find that organ patch a bit depressing, but it's totally grown on me by the end. Vocals sound really clean and present, some nice Aaaahs in the chorus, piano also sounds nice. Very nicely done! Vote

The Pannacotta Army: Smoky. Spooky. Heavy. It sounds good, it's well arranged, and the recordings are top notch. The problem here is that there isn't a strong vocal melody, or other melodic hook to bring me along.

Pigfarmer Jr: Sounds really familiar, I like this version better. Wishing upon a shooting star is a cliche, once is OK, but 4-5 times hurts IMHO.

Reve + Ujn: Love the slow and deliberate intro, sounds great in my headphones. I was once a king propped up on synapses firing ... the two voices slightly apart here work really great. Dig the feel and the drama, getting some Nick Cave vibes. Woah tempo change ... the drummer is going apeshit .. in a different time signature than the rest? I was entertained. Vote.

Robyn Mackenzie: Love it. I'm a sucker for tightly doubled vocals, bubble gum hooks, fuzzy bass, jangly guitar, and sparse little lead licks. Bass is a tad loud. Cutting out the rhythm section on "before you can wake up again" is great. The "again and again and again" hook is excellent. The counter melody line at the end needed to cut through the mix more, I wanted to hear it louder. VOTE!

RoneAI: ERR_CONNECTION_REFUSED

[jeff robertson]

So, kind of both and neither. For a while I had a vintage Acoustic 126 bass amp, and if you turned it past 5 it sounded just like that. Good to know you can get the same effect without making your ears bleed.

I just went and looked at the actual effects chain, and realized most of the fuzz on that "bass" is generated by my own heavily modified version of Reaper's "Transient Killer" plugin that I made back in like 2007 to try to get it to sound more "analog". I missed the sound of hot mixes clipping the op amps in a tascam portastudio.

[AJOwens]

[James Owens: Has a loose live feel to it, at times I feel like I'm swimming in it, and I'm trying to grab on to parts of the rhythm section as they pass by ignoring the grid below. The wake up / rise up section is great, I especially love the electric organ there. It'd be so much better if the bass wasn't off the beat, or if it was just maybe down -6dB. Overall I dig it, if this was a live effort awesome. If you had .. tools ... and time .. mix the bass way down and get those big-ole bass notes within spitting distance of the beat.

This surprises me, because I used a click-track, and as a bass player since the 1960's I can generally hold a pretty solid rhythm. In fact, during the recording, I remember noticing how the kick drum in the bridge lined up nicely with the bass notes for extra oomph, an effect I hadn't actually planned. So either this is a recording artifact, or the way I chose to treat the bass with that lagging jump in the verses isn't working for you (and possibly the song). Or maybe the bass effects chain screwed things up (I believe I added a little ReaVerbate) . I'll have another listen to the MP3.

I agree that the big-ole bass (I broke out the p-bass for this one) is too up-front, especially in the bridge.

Thanks for reviewing!

[Heine]

heine: I hear a lot of traditional Vietnamese and Thai bamboo flute jams, often soaked in rich plate reverb, in restaurants. Sometimes they mix it up with Western music, and this is kinda what this sounds like ... for the first 17 seconds.

No bamboo flute, it's supposed to be the spherical sound of wine glases (glass armonica vst).

[reve]

REVIEWS PART ONE (of two).

Add
I'm a sucker for an organ, ya. I like the harmonies that come in at 0:40ish. I like the repetitions of the wake up, wake up, wake up... it kinda throws you off and makes you listen. I have sampled many old sources, and in retrospect, they generally just fill time. In industrial music, it's like, yeah, that's the solo. But here it just seems out of place. UNLESS I AM OLD (true) YOU ARE THE NEW WAVE.

AAA
I like the CR-78-style drum machine. Your bass sounds are dope. I love the blood. I'm actually rewinding to hear it all again. I'm a sucker for car crash songs. I like the beeps in the waiting room and the alarm -- excellent touch. Good work!

BBB
I'm listening in headphones, so it's kinda weird that you're just living in my right ear. Unless I have my headphones on backwards. I like your trippy acid guitar business, but the drum sounds super repetitive. I totally looped a drum line in the middle of mine, though, I don't want to be the pot calling the kettle black. I love any song that ends with death, though, so bonus points there.

BSS
Ah, BBS is always toooo good. So I'm upping the criticism to extra-extra-critical. I'm not sure what's up with the (main) vocal line here, it sounds kinda phase-y in a way that's not 100% working for me. Also, the guitars kind of come into conflict some times. Annnd I also think there's been too much high end rolled off the backup vocals. But like, salt heavily here. If I recorded this I'd just roll over and die because I'd never do anything better.

C. Streete
Sounds like NI drums. I was not expecting the sample reduction on the vocals, so congratulations on surprising me in sonic territoriy as well as lyrics. I'm not totally sure it works, but it grabbed me. I really, really hope you actually threw stuff on the floor, broke things, and recorded it for art. If you did, vote.

D. Martin
This is really far, far too good. Which is why I think the band-pass vocals detract. The listener winds up getting pulled out of the song. Sometimes that's the desired effect, but here the listener really just needs to fully concentrate on your absolute genius wordplay. Just stream of brain, simple left/right panning would have been a better effect, but I'd totally invest in your ponzi scheme.

FLVXXMFLOR3VR
TIME TO DIE!!!! While music mostly trades in cliches, Kidneys in the rain is a phrase I've never heard before. There's an old adage about Fugazi's second album. I don't remember if it was Guy or Ian who said it, but they were like, "yeah, steady diet of no reverb." The lack of reverb made it sound unnatural, which would be my only criticism for your track here. If this were TikTok, I'd love to hear a "reverb'd and slow'd" version. (Which is most stoner metal, frankly.)

Freezing Hands
You know you're like my favorite SF band, right? I'm trying to think of what would make this better. I'm wondering if, like, strokes-style parallel compression on the vocals would make it sound better? It'd add distress. You're too good.

Heine
One of my favorite Robin Hitchcock songs is "My Wife and my Dead Wife." You should listen to it if you're not familiar. I'm jealous of your guitar solo skills, as well as the production in general here. It's like butter. You even beat the safe-money pick of BSS for the best produced track in the first half. (Don't tell them.) I've never liked a fade out, but in my mind this'll go right into the next track, which is fine. Nothing really to criticize, even upping to extra-critical levels of criticism. Great work!

[Heine]

Heine
One of my favorite Robin Hitchcock songs is "My Wife and my Dead Wife." You should listen to it if you're not familiar.

Thanks for your kind review! And thanks a lot for introducing me to Mr. Hitchcock! (At first I thought his voice belonged to a britisch indie band called Garlic [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qSApwALtGc&t=2149s]. It sounds a little Lou-Reed-ish to me as well.)
Fascinatingly there are indeed some similarities between Robyn Hitchcock's song and mine: the overall topic, the coffee and there are spooky spherical high sounds in the end. But his is way lighter and kinda funny and obscure.

[reve]

REVIEWS PART TWO (of two).

Hoblit
Rise!! I like the overall sounds. Coffee / Shake it offa me is a great line. I mean, obviously you're a consummate professional. I guess if I wanted to pick nits, I don't like the ping-poing vocal delay on the vocals. The delay on the guitar works really well, but IMO just dropping it all together would worksy betterly.


J. Owens
Yeah, it's hard to make a track with bandpassed vocals work well but congratulations, you did it. As I try to think about how this song would come through better, I think that you've gotta just put the vocals more forward. You're probably a guitar player, but I'd mix the guitar down. Go for more of a Tom Waits vibe, y'know?


J. Cashpoint + A. Balham
Okay, I was admittedly excited for a J$ / Balaham combo, but when you mentioned Chthulu, I was even more excited. Obviously Chth-obsessed Ujn and I love a Chthulu-based song. Pyrrhic Victories are also super-swell and I love it. Last I recall

J. Sitler
Maaaaan, I wish I could play this G&G kinda thing. I sleep way too long, it's amazing. If you were going for a "lost Postal Service" vibe, you hit it. That said, if Ben Weasel were my personal puppet, I'd have him re-record this song because it would make an excellent punk song. You ended it at exactly the right time.


Melfire Trifecta
So it gets outright fantastic at like 0:55 with the great piano part and harmonies and the rhythm change. When you do the add-on bridge thing you do at 1:50 is also super great. The rest of it kinda just washes over me.

Pannacotta Army
Okay, I had to pause the playlist when I saw you were coming next to emotionally prepare myself. And I was rewarded. This is still fantastic, and the drop at 1:10ish is great. The guitar is just soooo good. I can't even concentrate on what you're saying this sounds so good. My only criticism was that this build was so great that at 2:01 I thought you were gonna come in and destroy me, but you then just said "wake up again..." again.... and it diddled on a few more seconds... and THEN you absolutely crushed it at 2:20. This is super microscopic nit-picky, but imagine eliminating the 10-ish seconds between 2:01 and 2:10 for a tighter track. Congratulations, you got the smallest nit in an otherwise fantastic track.

PFJ
Wow, it's funny. This is -- as always -- a fantastically done track, but I was super confused at first because I'd forgotten I'd listened to your track already and was confused about how I'd heard it before. I think the source of this confusion was the fact that the hospital motif kinda overlaps with (inverts? complements?) the themes on "I Won't Let You Go."

R. Mackenzie
I like the lead riff at 0:50ish! I'm listening in headphones, and think the doubled vocals don't totally work. To be clear, the harmonies totally _do_ work, but the just like, vocal doubler doesn't work. I like it at 2:05 when they go away. But maybe I'm just projecting because I generally dislike doubled vocals and totally ran out of time and doubled vocals this week.

R. AI
Your techniques just get better and better. AI has officially conquered 2002 NuMetal, and the world will never be the same.

[reve]

Thanks for your kind review! And thanks a lot for introducing me to Mr. Hitchcock!

Please stop whatever it is you're doing (yes, even if you're driving) and go listen to the album I Often Dream of Trains. I think it would enrich your life and up your game.

[jeff robertson]

The lack of reverb made it sound unnatural, which would be my only criticism for your track here.

I don't tiktok so I don't know how much reverb you'd typically add but here's some more reverb (there WAS a tiny amount already) and slowed down 5% which is about the most I can do without giving the vocals that "pitch shifted to hide identity of crime witness" sound:

https://jeff-robertson.com/flvxx/sf/flv ... a_slow.mp3

[reve]

The lack of reverb made it sound unnatural, which would be my only criticism for your track here.

I don't tiktok so I don't know how much reverb you'd typically add but here's some more reverb (there WAS a tiny amount already) and slowed down 5% which is about the most I can do without giving the vocals that "pitch shifted to hide identity of crime witness" sound:

https://jeff-robertson.com/flvxx/sf/flv ... a_slow.mp3

Oh yeah man, I'm listening in full hide-identity-of-crime-witness mode. But is doooooope (see attached). I mean, you might not think so... but is my jam!!

[Duncan]

Reve and Ujn: nice atmosphere. I'm always up for a 70s triumphant castle wizard song vibe. Parts of this sound like Judas in JCSS.

Annoyed Android: lots of panning here not complaining though. I'm not sold on the drums or instrumentation choices, but I do like where it's going. Toward the end Im liking the synths a bit more. A sad tale

BSS: heavy out the gate. I like that high harmony in there. It's a bit difficult to hear what's being sung. But you guys have great texture and variety of movements in your songs. I think this songay be a bit longa

Mellfire: love the mellotron(?) And these scale-climbing choruses.The beginning verses and jokes sounded slightly too earnest for me to get into it but I was sold later. I love the "peculiar sounds/react" chorus followed by the "hold me your arms" bit. I think words like "kisses" and "specially" and are dangerously mushy, but I'm getting pretty curmudgeonly here. Hell I listen to the Jayhawks so I shouldn't talk. It's a hard line to walk -- the melody is really good.

Freezing Hands - this has a cool sound to it. The drum machine sounds a bit out of place. I hear this more as a basement punk recording where some angry kid named Spencer or Kevin should be destroying a drum kit. A bit of Springsteen/Lou Reed here.

Cannoade Street - some great dirty rock here. I like your vocal energy and the wail. I don't feel like there's a memorable melody here, but I don't think that's the point.

Joy Stilter - Housing crisis lament. Some Dave Mathews Crash vibes here but luckily they subside. I like your use of the challenge title, where this narrator keeps waking up into various scenarios and none are where he wants to be.

Pigfarmer Jr. - Nice mix and everything sounds in time. Gruesome imagery. Kind of an indie folk rock take on those 60s songs about lovers dying in a crash. I think my mixes often suffer from too little compression, but I think this has a tad too much. I feel like something needs to pop in it

Add - I'm enjoying these intro chords. This is super chill, this monologue about food and family. The whole song is a bit mysterious. I love this.

Basal Bark Band - nice sound. I wish there were more lyrics and melody to accompany the guitars

Pannacotta Army - That intro bit reminds me of Tomcat Prowl by Doug and the Slugs. Then it goes in another direction. You are a master of these spooky moods. That tremolo sounds great. I like the way your vocals float on it - great delivery and effect.

Getting late. Will try to finish reviews tomorrow before results are in. Been a tough week. Songfight is a great little break from the bad news

[MellyP]

Mellfire: love the mellotron(?) And these scale-climbing choruses.The beginning verses and jokes sounded slightly too earnest for me to get into it but I was sold later. I love the "peculiar sounds/react" chorus followed by the "hold me your arms" bit. I think words like "kisses" and "specially" and are dangerously mushy, but I'm getting pretty curmudgeonly here. Hell I listen to the Jayhawks so I shouldn't talk. It's a hard line to walk -- the melody is really good.

Thanks for taking time to review. It’s a very personal song and I agree that it may not straddle the line between saccharine and pleasantly sweet. It was written for my wife, who challenged me (additional optional challenge) to write a personal, but most of all happy song instead of political, complaining or sad, which tend to be my go-tos. Thx again!

[Duncan]

Mellfire: love the mellotron(?) And these scale-climbing choruses.The beginning verses and jokes sounded slightly too earnest for me to get into it but I was sold later. I love the "peculiar sounds/react" chorus followed by the "hold me your arms" bit. I think words like "kisses" and "specially" and are dangerously mushy, but I'm getting pretty curmudgeonly here. Hell I listen to the Jayhawks so I shouldn't talk. It's a hard line to walk -- the melody is really good.

Thanks for taking time to review. It’s a very personal song and I agree that it may not straddle the line between saccharine and pleasantly sweet. It was written for my wife, who challenged me (additional optional challenge) to write a personal, but most of all happy song instead of political, complaining or sad, which tend to be my go-tos. Thx again!

That's a great reason for some sentimental lyrics. And a very hard challenge. I have a ton of songs where I mean to revisit them to rework things and get the exact tone I'm looking for, so that's the lens I was looking through. Thanks for talking that review as you did, given that it's a personal song-- I love it overall.

[Duncan]

Robyn Mackenzie - I love these layered vocals. Very playful arrangement. Great variety and mixture of motifs, refrains -- keeps it fresh throughout. "Speak to my lover in the tongue of my mother's broken heart" - I like how tongue and heart both aren't literal references to organs. - I appreciate that that you took the title challenge and integrated it into a real thesis statement for your song.

Johnny Cashpoint and Andy- This grew as I listened. Spooky, a real full effect. I don't know quite what it's about but that's okay. Reminds me of that one song on a 1969 psychedelic rock album that comes after your favourite song, so you end up hearing it a lot and starting to dig it. Right before the band breaks up because someone finds Jesus or maybe an accident, knock on wood. Great track guys

James Owens - More 60s psychedelic rock. This is more like 1967. Half the band is still trying to get their former mop top bangs to tuck behind their ears, but clearly everyone is getting into some pretty heavy shit. Stick it to the square life, while being secretly terrified of the void. And a classic theme - Like a Rolling Stone - dream time is over baby, this is the real world. not so easy now. mid-pass vocals sound cool here, very appropriate. A voice calling in from the room where you left reality

Heine - This is dark. I love your arrangement and how your whole sound comes together. Creative sonic turns. That little acoustic hammer on makes me chuckle and think of Kyle "Rage Cage" Gass playing his licks on "Best Song in the World (Tribute)" I think it would end better with a wail of despair. Your best wail, with some good delay on it.

Hoblit - Oh this is a fun build here at the beginning. I like the authentic feel of all your instrumentation. I know we all have our gear limitations, but it's nice to hear what sounds like all real instruments. Your vocals are great "behi-ind" fun cheeky pronunciation stuff. Guitar solo is wonderful, surfs up, hang ten. I think a little more of that final vocal delivery throughout the song would give it more punch.

Flxxvm Fru.... - Ceasefire Now. I think this is a collab. Great interpretation with the slow rising chord structure. There's an ugliness to this guitar solo that is fitting. Masters of War. If I had any notes, I'd say make sure to plan your breathing before singing, and maybe incorporate a second lyric section with a different pattern to it. like maybe a contrasting movement with really clean Tiny Tim style singing, or something else that breaks it up. Enjoyed it.

Duncan (me) - As I was singing the titile line to myself I was hearing it in Mark Knopfler's voice from his Tracker album, maybe 2011. I think I got as far as the first 2 lines about waking up in a rotting bin of fruit, and then it kind of veered. From there it was just a matter of keeping the lyrics from veering off into complete nonsense. I think I did okay on that front. Vague story of someone trying to con their way through poverty in the face of limited options.

I hope i didn't miss anyone. If I did, let me know and I'll do a bonus review