A parade, or a marathon?! (A Grand Parade reviews)

[GlennCase]

Listening to the songs as I work my second job, and I am absolutely loving the Hostess Mostess submission. Surprising no one. Gorgeous melody.

I will almost assuredly review the other songs, but that one stood out for sure.

Add is also stellar as always.

[Lunkhead]

A late entry from Motley Cyrus has been added to the fight.

[jb]

REVIEW TIP:
If you go here, the songs will be in alphabetical order: https://songfight.org/currentsong.php
That way you can keep track of how far down the list you are, since the front page randomizes the order.


ALSO here is a Google Sheet that you can copy and use to review-- I have split the fight into 8 tabs with a few bands on each, linked to their song. Use it if it will make your life better, ignore if it will have no effect or, god forbid, make your life worse.


HTH,

JB

[mo]

Do we have a betting pool on how many people will review the full fight?

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face: This is one of those songs which sounds super familiar but I can't place it. Very 90s alt-rock vibes to it. I'm also a sucker for those scale runs, and the vocal harmonizing. Were those intentional Song Fight title references for 1000 words and swords?

Thanks for the review, fluffy. I would say that line was a slightly conscious reference to 1000 Swords, but I didn't even know there was a titles called "1000 Words"! Heh. A lot of the lyrics in my song are playful jabbing at the longevity of SF (and SFers), even though the song is about something else entirely.

[Lunkhead]

A late song from Basket Robbers has been added to the fight.

[fluffy]

Frankie Big Face: This is one of those songs which sounds super familiar but I can't place it. Very 90s alt-rock vibes to it. I'm also a sucker for those scale runs, and the vocal harmonizing. Were those intentional Song Fight title references for 1000 words and swords?

Thanks for the review, fluffy. I would say that line was a slightly conscious reference to 1000 Swords, but I didn't even know there was a titles called "1000 Words"! Heh. A lot of the lyrics in my song are playful jabbing at the longevity of SF (and SFers), even though the song is about something else entirely.

After 1000 titles it's getting hard to not make an accidental reference to a Song Fight! title at this point.

[Sober]

Between the listening party on Monday night and my own meanderings I'm about halfway through, and I saw this post and jumped to sober's song. It is truly golden. It achieved something that no other songfight song has ever done, it made me look at myself differently. Positively Westerbergian, PW is the king of making me look differently at myself in song, and there is no higher compliment from me.

Appreciate the kind words. I'm just messing around in my garage.

Sober: Man your production has gotten so good. But you're also, like, an actual professional at this stuff, so that makes sense. I love the mandolin and this entire genre of music, and I'd totally buy an album of this. When are you putting out an album, Jimmy? Have you put one out and I somehow missed it?

I talk professionally, but I'm hacking away at music like anyone else here. No album yet, but I've been tinkering, and may release one someday™

Sober: Fuckin a what a great song dude. Maine seems to be good for your soul and muse.

Ok this has to stop now.

[Heine]

A Grand Parade
reviews by heine

A great battle in terms of quantity and quality! It seems everybody did an extra mile to submit a good production. Due to the sheer mass of songs there will be only some short initial thoughts I had while listening.

Abjure!:
A uke-song. Nice vocals harmonies. Well done!

Abominominous:
It comes along quite raw. The verses have a great chord progression. I miss a bass – or is it buried in the mix? (Send me a pm if you are in need of a bass line next time.)

Add:
In 6/8. I could imagine this as a folky Pogues song.

Agony Sauce:
Nice funky vibes in here! Cool bass line, especially in the chorus. Love this!

All The Robots:
Alors! C'est un son merveilleusement français!

Another Future of Music:
Only a sketch? It could grow into a good song you'll hear on the actual rock radio stations.

Balance Lost:
Some charming indie pop. Well done! I really like this!

Basket Robbers:
This rocks! You've got a very good voice for this kind of music!

Berkeley Social Scene:
BSS with a punk song? Did not expect that. It is quite good! – That's one of your song I wish you would've played many times live on stage before recording it. I guess it could've been even bigger and tighter.

bgm:
I like how it builds up slowly. Interesting drum sounds. I had to laugh at the musical quote. Great!

Bjam:
When the guitar sets in I immediately had to think about Chelsea Wolfe. But your voice is much more gentle. A fine piece of music you have!

Brian F:
College Rock? I love this straight approach. Beach Boys Bababa-backings. This is fun.

Cannonade Streete:
It's nice. But I think it would benefit from some more changes to keep it interesting.

Caravan Ray:
"Follow me!" That's a catchy singalong. Nice guitar work. A good song.

The Chebuctones:
A solid song. Country. (Strange! Here in Germany nearly no one refers to the style of classic German folk songs.)

Chthonic Black:
This sounds evil! Every little ingredient tries so hard to avoid any slight pleasing feelings of relief. So, I ask myself if I should appreciate this execution as a genre or more as a parody. Sorry, not my cup of tea. – But anyway: technically you did a good job.

Chumpy vs. Lichen Throat:
This is well sung! Nice progression. What sound is that on the right speaker? Ebow? Cool. Only the drums seem a bit repetitive.

Cloverdance:
The electric guitar sparks are cool.

Cybronica & Estaphonia:
A classically trained voice! If there wasn't that slight synth setting in it could be something from good old Franz Schubert. Oh! A Capella at the end! Your voice has even more expression without the keys. Good job!

Dead Ambassadors:
Garage rock. Nice but much too soon it's over.

The Def Author:
Change of BPM. Okay. One more time! Oh, more often than one more time. A bit confusing, but interesting.

Dr. Spectacular's Power Circus:
Wow! That intro is right into my face! It is well-arranged and produced! I like everything about it! Vote!

The Dutch Widows:
Wow! I like the hook. Great ear catcher! The subtle vocal backings are so good! I would have produced it exactly like that! Vote!
Btw: Do you like Camel?

DuToVa:
This sounds underground. Double tracked vocals. Well done. I like the sparse arrangement; it works quite well on this track.

Entropic Pincushion:
Not really a song, more kind of a collage like Revolution No. 9. Sorry, I'm not the guy who can digest things like these if it gets too artsy.

Explino!:
I love the dry production. Cool how you change into another key with the second guitar on the left! Overall a very good song.

Falcon Artist:
Guy & guitar song. Nothing wrong about it.

Frankie Big Face:
Some parts sound a bit beatle-esque. I like that! - PS: I love your Jon Eric Cover of Violet wants it her way!

The Frontalittle Squad:
Some old style rap music. Not my genre, but I dig this! A lot of things and breaks going on here. That keeps it really interesting for me. A lot of good hooks. I love that the singers change throughout. There are a lot of good flavours in here. First I thought 5 minutes would be too long, but you really carried me through until the end. Btw: the ending is cool, anyway!

Future Boy:
Sounds like made for some German 70's political cabaret.

gareth:
I like the guitar. And the vocals, too (reminding me of Acetone from LA). But they're buried too much in the mix, which made it nearly impossible to understand.

Giraffes for Wings:
Guy & guitar song. The pauses between the words work very well!

Glenn Case:
This is very laid back. Love how it builds up more and more.

Glennny:
The guitars and drums sound fine, but the lead vocals seem a bit muddy. Maybe some EQing would help. Great chorus hook, acoustic guitars in the middle, and – oh! – wahwah! Some great sonic ideas in here!

heine:
Mine. It's about the Pied Pieper trying to catch children. (I live near that town where the story was located.) Musically I tried to mix some parade music with some Lou Reed vibe. (Hopefully!)

The Hell Yeahs:
This is straight forward. Great! I like it.

Henrietta20:
This one is charming. The sparse arrangement works well.

Heuristics Inc.:
The longest song in this fight? Synth pop. A little doughy but okay. I would prefer to hear this one in a smaller fight. If there are close to 100 songs to listen to I feel how my patience is fading. (Although I really love lots of long prog tracks.)

Hoblit:
I really like the intro/solo section and the funky guitars. Cool!

Hostess Mostess:
James Taylor style? This one is really good!

Hot Pink Halo:
Some fine indie music.

Inflatable Vegetables:
There is a lot going on here. Some really cool ideas. I love the Gary Numan like guitar riff. Cool chorus!

James Owens:
Song-writing-wise it could be a fine song from Belle and Sebastian. I really love that kind of stuff!

Jerkatorium:
A good song. But what I like most is the double tracked guitar solo! Great!

Jim Tyrrell:
This is beautiful! I like your piano and organ arrangement.

The John Benjamin Band:
The bass is really driving. Love that! Good song.

Josh Woodward:
You are a great singer! Love your voice! A very tasteful pop song.

King Arthur:
Very laid back. I love the little guitar melodies. Is this a B3 sound? Nice! I like this one.

<3:
I like the sequencerlike arrangement. It has some strong vocal melodies! Very good!

Lockheed Symphony:
The beginning was very Geigerzähler-like, very Kraftwerk-y overall. Nice.

Lucky Witch and the Righteous Ghost:
Cool! This sounds just like cut at a rehearsal. Warts and all. I like that raw sound.

Lunkhead:
All the ingredients are very 60's. I love that. It has a nice vibe of just feeling carefree. Very well done!

Madame Breathehard:
Oh, an instrumental song. Nice idea to include some parade sounds.

MC Frontalot w/ Baddd Spellah:
Some old style rap. Not my genre but okay for me. The vocals could be a bit more in front of the mix.

McHaggis:
A bit quiet. But I love this classic Kinks feeling! So great! (In my car I listen to their 90s Phobia CD over and over again. Great songs!) – Vote!

Melvin:
"Grab my Gibson, turn my Fender on." – Best line!

mico saudad:
In 6/8. A well written song. I really like this one! But at least a bass is missing.

miscellaneous owl:
I don't know any bad Owl song. This one is gold, too. Why do I have a Mitski feeling? Love the delay guitars.

Miss Fancy Pants:
Baroque music? This is witty!

Moody Vermin:
Is that 7/8? Then 6/8? Quite proggy feel.

Motley Cyrus:
Just when I was asking for a climax the marching band set in. Great!

Mr. B and Mr. C:
This could be something for an independent black white movie. Oh! The Ahh backings near the end are very cool! (Reminding me of Cream's Pressed Rat and Warthog.)

mzmo:
This contains some very fine guitar work! I like it.

Nodal Nim:
It's uke-time. I wish the middle section was more fleshed out.

One Future of Music:
Only that short? Why am I thinking of some kind-a T. Swift songs? Is it the chords? Anyway, a great pop song if it only was a bit longer.

Paco del Stinko:
Cool, you're back! Olé! Some nice Spanish guitar in here. Well done as always.

The Pannacotta Army:
Great as always. Ben Folds style? Brit pop? Oh, and a Brian May solo! Cool!

Pigfarmer Jr:
A solid song.

plusdot:
This one is interesting! Love the way how you recite the verses. But it ends a bit too happy – doesn't it?

Pringle Can:
There seem to be an odd mix of unusual ingredients inside this Pringle Can. But it is very listenable. Maybe it is a bit short.

Prob Trull:
A Capella? Oh, not quite. This is different. I like it.

Rachael Layne:
Some unusual chord voicings, a very fine vocal line, well sung and a mellotron. Cool!

R. Meowsquito and the Tiny Ujns:
Sounds to me like fun at the rodeo. Simply feel good music to me!

R. Mosquito:
Oh, this is scary. I never listened to Tom Waits because his voice sometimes sounds close to vomiting. (Sorry! Bad comparison.) But you deliver the scariness I wanted to achieve with my entry. So, this is kind-a well done!

RoneAI:
Some Hollandian girl group from the late 70s? – Ah, okay. AI…

Ross Durand:
Guy & guitar. Dylan style? Not quite. But nice. Well delivered.

The Seamus Collective:
The Hawaiian guitar really adds a special mood to it. Wow! And then the marching band sets in! How did you do it? Real players or samples?

See-Man-Ski:
Country music. See-Man-Ski good as always. Love the chorus.

Sell Crazy:
This one is well written. It has some great hooks. This could have been a fine track on Buffalo Tom's Big Red Letter Day.

Shark Tornado:
Cool band name! It is a great song which has a great energy!

ShoehornTC:
Very uplifting. Love this one. Vote!

Sober:
This one is so good. Well played, sung and produced. It has great dynamics. Great!

Somewhere Off the Left Coast:
This sounds like a current production. It has some pop elements but also some dark, bluesy vibes that keep it interesting. Cool.

sonofsupercar:
It seems a bit noisy but there are still quite melodic structures… Oh! A change in the tempo! And then back again. It is a bit confusing but quite attractive.

Spy Vs. Pie:
It comes lightly. I like the double tracked guitars. Nice!

Stacking Theory:
Well sung voices! I really love this rather depressing and halting melody. So it's a pity that it all ends much too soon. Maybe you shouldn't write a thousand songs but rather a few longer ones… Anyways… I love it. Vote!

Starfinger:
The voice sometimes sounds like Grobschnitt's singer Wildschwein when it gets guttural. Getting kind-a weird towards the end. But I like the way you include a marching band's flutes and stuff.

Sugar Johnson:
This one has a nice bluesy feel. This should be a cool live song.

Swampy Nethers:
This is a beautiful song. Your voices complement each other well!

T.C. Elliott:
Some country flavors. A solid song.

Thanks for the Frisbee:
Cool drums! Very 80's. Overall a good song. But the drums make it for me!

Tiny Robots:
Slide guitar. And a vocal line I did not expect. You know how to create some excitement. "…lost yourself in the crowd" – great how you return to the start. Love this. Clear vote!

Vom Vorton:
The Casio-like drums give it a new wave feeling. It's really worth a listen.

The Worldly Self-Assurance:
Some nice indie stuff. Oh! There's a cool slide guitar! Nice harmony vocals.

WreckdoM:
Some Marvel Comics for the ears. A bit dystopian, well recorded.

Yaks of the Industry:
Did we already have these loudness wars in the 80's? A very nice pop song. Great vocals. Nice choice of synth sounds. Oh! A guitar solo. Very cool!

[jeffhenderson]

Special award to Heine for posting the first full set of reviews!

No small feat! I’m slowly working through it, but I’ve only made it to the letter “C” so far.

[ken]

A Grand Parade
reviews by heine
The Seamus Collective:
The Hawaiian guitar really adds a special mood to it. Wow! And then the marching band sets in! How did you do it? Real players or samples?

Actually, it is a mix. Ross played trumpet and french horn, Bryan used Logic for the trombones and tuba. Bryan also added the slide guitar as a tribute to our brother Evil-E.

[mo]

Heine should win something for this. I don't know what, but something

[WreckdoMelle]

Awesome Heine! Thanks!

[fluffy]

I need to work on my next batches of reviews. Gah, been so busy with other stuff! I'll try to knock a bunch more out tonight.

[HeuristicsInc]

Heuristics Inc.:
The longest song in this fight? Synth pop. A little doughy but okay. I would prefer to hear this one in a smaller fight. If there are close to 100 songs to listen to I feel how my patience is fading. (Although I really love lots of long prog tracks.)

Let me just point out that my song is 4:20, hardly a long prog track? For some reason, though, it appears that with some players the SoundForge mp3 conversion made it look like the song is over 7 minutes, so I guess that's what you were looking at. Never fear though, it's just 4 mins.

[Lunkhead]

Late song added from ... Carol Cleveland Sings!

[mo]

woooohooooooo

[Heine]

Heuristics Inc.:
The longest song in this fight? Synth pop. A little doughy but okay. I would prefer to hear this one in a smaller fight. ...

Let me just point out that my song is 4:20, hardly a long prog track? For some reason, though, it appears that with some players the SoundForge mp3 conversion made it look like the song is over 7 minutes, so I guess that's what you were looking at. Never fear though, it's just 4 mins.

That's interesting and good to know. On my PC it has a length of 6:54 and on my smartphone it even takes 7:15!!! I guess it all should play way more quicker and less "doughy".

I really want to know how it sounds in the right speed. So, please try to encode it with another app and post a link!
Thanks in advance!

[Heine]

Late song added from ... Carol Cleveland Sings!

Belated Review...

Carol Cleveland Sings:
This is very well recorded! I did not expect the change; after half of the song it changed tempo and turned into a funny Sparks kind-a tune! Even vocals-wise! So, I have to vote! (Oh, I wished that it was just a little bit longer...)

(I saw Sparks last year at the RAH! That 74 years old singer was jumping more lively on stage than I ever did. Speechless! I really love their music and humor. They still keep on exploring new things. And they never gave up. You really can see that they want it and still have fun doing it!)

[HeuristicsInc]

I really want to know how it sounds in the right speed. So, please try to encode it with another app and post a link!
Thanks in advance!

So... when it showed me 7-something in the web browser it still played at the right speed, but it showed the long length till it got to the actual end of the song. It's possible that the doughy is actually how it's supposed to sound? Hahaha. If you play it, does it actually play 4 minutes of music?
I used to convert with WinLAME but I recently changed computers and thought I could simplify my process, but maybe that's a bad idea.

[fluffy]

The length issuue is purely one of display, and is caused by encoders not setting the total length tag combined with players trying to guess the length based on a bitrate estimate and getting it wrong. It’s an extremely longstanding issue with mp3s, and even if everything does get set correctly many players still don’t know the actual song length until it gets to the end. This is mostly due to how the mp3 format evolved over time; variable bitrate was hacked on later, as was display metadata, and the mp3 container format itself was pretty much just a quick hack that wasn’t originally intended to be used directly and was meant to be embedded into other higher-level container formats. (The original implementation actually used .wav as the container! Basically nothing worked with it and it was a giant hassle to play anything!)

Everything we take for granted is a big collection of hacks held together with duct tape and it’s amazing things work as well as they do.

It’s also fun how some older players get really confused by mp3 files with different sample rates.

[HeuristicsInc]

Yeah, fluffy, I knew some of that but not all. Bizarre that they don't just set the length for display. So I installed WinLAME and reconverted and it still says the song is 5:09 in Chrome player. Which is also wrong, but not as wrong. Sorry all, I don't know how to fix it! But I could re-upload the new version if needed.