A mahogany 1979 Gibson Les Paul Custom (Immovable Object reviews)

[Pigfarmer Jr]

makes my back hurt just thinking about it.

[Pigfarmer Jr]

Lyrics: viewtopic.php?t=12683

[Lunkhead]

Songs posted!

[Jefff]

3-listen reviews!

Dead Ambassadors
1. Powerful-sounding intro, nice thick guitar sound. I missed the title on this listen. On first blush, the rapid-fire lyrics could use some more precise diction.
2. Like the descending melody "weighs me down more and more every day". Thematically appropriate too. Oops forgot to listen for the title again.
3. Really like that intro. Not sure I fully get the message, but I like the line "but you welcome the attack". Okay, no title (not an issue, to be clear), but is government the immovable object? Is it making the populace an immovable object?

Frankie Big Face
1. Beautiful guitar chords. I would never lay my own out so bare. Nice energy on the bass. That word "immovable" is hard to squeeze in sometimes.
2. I'm a sucker for a mellotron. "Lost tornado". That's an album title.
3. I like the chorus a lot. I'll sing along if you perform it in Denver.

heine
1. Nice little acoustic intro. I like that lead electric line. "Object" is emphasized like the verb, which is a little distracting.
2. Nice touch where the guitar doubles the vocal for "grief I'm in".
3. Not sure about the lyrical thing you're doing where you say something, then repeat it more poetically, ie "our mutual trip", "our journey". Feels redundant, but maybe there's a way to use it to color in the image a bit? Or maybe it's already doing that, and I just haven't gotten it yet.

Idiot Kings
1. Well I do love fuzz bass. Good driving energy. Absorbing.
2. Love when a groove is strong enough to let you just use noiseas the lead for an instrumental break.
3. Probably the closest of this fight to what I listen to normally. Lots of great little production details, including the swell before the guitars come in.

The Magnetic Letters
1. Inviting vibe. I like the thin vibrato in the vocals. Don't know why but I'm taken by the line about clay, sand, and rocks. I guess concrete language is always a winner.
2. Strong songwriting. I like the concept, and it's well-executed.
3. Just a very likeable song. I wanna hang with this tiny insect under the house. Great job.

See-Man-Ski
1. I like how all the sounds come together. Something about that stately piano backed up by the high and low fuzzy noises. Like to hear the fuzz break out for a solo. Didn't catch the title.
2. Still enjoying those tones. Still no title. But the statue is probably the immovable object, right? You might pay a price in the voting for the extended outro, by I think the song deserves the breathing room.
3. Well-placed piano chords for the groove.

The Semolina Pilchards
1. Hey there's that title, fitting just perfectly. I like the bass line. I like the chords under "No storm can scare me".
2. I need to learn how to get my bass sit in the mix like this. Mix that synth louder though, you tease.
3. I like the reveal of the immovable object's pathos in the bridge.

[the idiot king]

Add - With such a familiar chord progression and melody style, I’m really glad you got weird with reversed guitars and Farfisa organs. If you pulled the vocals back in the mix and drenched them in reverb this could’ve been played at the roadhouse in Twin Peaks: The Return. The outdo’s a bit long but you’ve got enough fun things happening with it that it’s not a slog. Have you ever heard the band The Veils? This has a vibe similar to some tracks on their album Sun Gangs. Cool tune.

Dead Ambassadors - “It weighs us down more and more everyday” I mentioned digging your “Unstoppable Force” and this has a lot of what I liked there as well. I like hearing properly pissed off songs here. I’d love to hear the bass a bit more clearly; if you gave it a boost in the 5-8k region that might give it a bit of definition so survive alongside the heavy guitars.

Frankie Big Face - If I had to describe this song in a single word, it would be “pleasant”. It’s really just easy on the ears and has enough ear candy to keep a fairly straightforward song interesting. The mellotron was fine, but then the synthesizer pad swells add so much texturally. The vocals and harmonies sound excellent but the lead vocal is a bit dry and loud; it feels a bit on top of the song as opposed to a part of the arrangement. I really like the lyrics.

heine - I think this song is really cool, but the vocals are pushed too far forward and are a bit too dry for my liking. A tiny bit of reverb or delay would go a long way, and automating them could make for some cool ear candy . That would give the instruments a bit more room to breathe and for it to all gel together a bit more, which would help it sound more monolithic. The harmony at the very end was very cool and unexpected.

The Idiot Kings - Me! Last week was my first time back in a few years, and since it was the first time I’d completed a song in over a year, I kept it simple. This week I wanted to be noisy and fuzzy. I’ve been doing meditation recently and some of the lyrics came out of that, a bit more subconscious than conscious.

The Magnetic Letters - Really fun chord progressions and melodies. “This is the most exciting thing in my life at the moment” is such a killer line. Vibe-wise this feels a bit like a more laid-back version of the indie rock coming out of the UK in the early aughts - Bloc Party, Franz Ferdinand, etc - swap out their dance beats for some jaunty acoustics and I think it’s the same ballpark. This is a good thing as far as I’m concerned, I loved that stuff then and I love that stuff now.

See-Man-Ski - Impressive amount of vocal overdubs for Songfight! I’m a sucker for great vocal harmonies, and you’ve got them here. There are rhythmic nits with them here and there but generally it sounds good enough that I don’t care. I wish you posted the lyrics, I’d like to engage with the song a bit more. If the outdo is going to be as long as it is it would have been nice for the lead guitar to be a bit more “featured” in the mix. All in all I want more acoustic guitars with hip hop drum loops and great vocals.

The Semolina Pilchards - Another bassline driven tune, cool! If sped up a bit this would have almost a Joy Division/early New Order vibe. I didn’t think you’d be able to pull off the “metronome/poem” couplet, but dammit, you did it you crazy son of a gun. I would’ve liked a smidge more of the harmony vocals, what I could hear sounded great.

[frankie big face]

3-listen reviews!

Frankie Big Face
1. Beautiful guitar chords. I would never lay my own out so bare. Nice energy on the bass. That word "immovable" is hard to squeeze in sometimes.

My guitar seems to ring well with a capo on the third fret. Of course, there’s a lot of processing on that sound, but that was a thing I was going for.

2. I'm a sucker for a mellotron. "Lost tornado". That's an album title.

Just saw Plant & Krauss a few days earlier and they used a *real* mellotron — I loved it. So I went looking for one in Logic and I dug it. Tried to kind of replicate their drummer’s style as well with my friend Kyle, one of the Apple Drummers. “Lost tornado” — I just smiled so much when I stumbled on it because it works so well.

3. I like the chorus a lot. I'll sing along if you perform it in Denver.

I will! Thanks for the review!!

[Heine]

Immovable Object - reviews by heine

A strong fight, not one song I don't like!

Add:
Oh, a waltz! I like the Neil Young-ish distorted guitar sparks. This is well executed and very well sung. All sounds are carefully chosen.

Dead Ambassadors:
Right-into-your face-music. Cool! Maybe a bit short, but why not?

Frankie Big Face:
This is great! I love the bass work, but on my speakers it is causing some turmoil down in the low end. I would turn it a bit down in the mix. But also lift the higher frequencies so one can hear the cool bass notes you were playing. And I really love that mellotron! Great choice!

heine:
This is a track I wrote together with a friend for our Stark-autark-project. We're still working on it, it evolves and just got another a middle section and of course German lyrics.
This is still the raw version. I took it to songfight with completely different lyrics that fit to this fight. (I often thought about writing a songfight song in my native language – but if the listeners would barely understand it… I am not too sure about it. - What do you think?) I posted this song to get some ideas what I could do better production wise. So I am grateful for every comment! Thanks a lot!

The Idiot Kings:
What a crazy bass tone! Two guitars, different notes. Very driving. I really like this rather soft and melodic voice. It creates a nice contrast to the instruments!

The Magnetic Letters:
I listened to the songs a few times. My first thought always: Beatles! My second followed very soon: No! It's The Kinks style! Whatever it is: it is very nice and lovely.

See-Man-Ski:
This is quite loud, maybe already a bit distorted. Great intro line: Sink like a stone! I'm always looking for an unexpected first line to grab the attention of the listener. This one does a great job! This is very hypnotic in a cool way. The funky piano chords are the topping that makes it special! (Are this 7th chords?) Great dynamics within this ever flowing song. – My favourite one this fight! Love it!

The Semolina Pilchards:
Is this Ken? Seems to be his voice. (…me looking into the forum…) Yes, indeed he is! This is such a cool band name! (Sorry, I am the Walrus is my favourite Beatles track.) And it is a very solid song. The quiet middle section works great. First I thought that the end of this track was near - but no, it builds up nicely, again. What about doing some harmony vocals? Anyway, this is very well produced!

[the idiot king]

The Idiot Kings:
What a crazy bass tone! Two guitars, different notes. Very driving. I really like this rather soft and melodic voice. It creates a nice contrast to the instruments!

Thanks! That bassline is so fun.

heine:
This is a track I wrote together with a friend for our Stark-autark-project. We're still working on it, it evolves and just got another a middle section and of course German lyrics.
This is still the raw version. I took it to songfight with completely different lyrics that fit to this fight. (I often thought about writing a songfight song in my native language – but if the listeners would barely understand it… I am not too sure about it. - What do you think?) I posted this song to get some ideas what I could do better production wise. So I am grateful for every comment! Thanks a lot!

I'm pretty certain there are no rules about language. I submitted one over twenty years ago (yikes) in Esperanto. I am by no means a Fightmaster though.

[seemanski]

Add:

The emotion in this track is where it really shines. You can feel the sense of longing and also just loosing the will to fight for it in the way you sing, that's really lovely. I liked the laid back lounge bar feel to the track but I felt it was very busy. I thought you could have zoned on just a few instruments to bring the track to life. I thought the bass riff (although it did need some more low end), distorted guitars, drums and vocals are what really drove it. The reverse guitar felt out of place to me and lot of instruments just got buried away in the mix, I heard some rhythm guitar at the start but that fell away very quickly. Long story short, bit like this critique, less is more.

Dead Ambassadors:

Great little topical song venting all your frustration. I thought it was a fun listen. Struggling to come up with things to critique, maybe it needed to be a bit less polished, I want me squealing feedbacking guitars, strained vocals etc to really give that sense of being pissed off.

Frankie Big Face:

The first thing that caught my attention was that lovely sliding bass. Really liked how that added to the grove of the track. I felt it was very well mixed, I did wish that the plucked string like noise could have been brought forward in the mix, I felt it could have complemented your singing melody really well and it got a bit lost. I thought the chorus was super catchy and I really loved the follow on harmonies.

heine:

The biggest gripe I have with this was my first thought was "that's a really nice acoustic sound" and then it just disappeared. I kind of like that I was drawn in expecting one thing to have it completely change within a couple of seconds but I can't help but wonder what it would have been like. I really liked the guitar riff leading into the chorus and you do have a really nice raw sound. It's a bit too dry for my taste and I was left feeling like I wanted more harmonies, I think they might have been placed too far back in the mix for my taste.

The Idiot Kings:

I really enjoyed this track, my foot was tapping throughout. The distorted bass just sets you up for a great delivery and you didn't disappoint. There is a great pace throughout and your vocal treatment is spot on. The mad noises in the instrumental are inspired.

The Magnetic Letters:

This song has charm busting out of every direction. Your vocals are soooooo good! I loved the harmonies, I loved the vibrato you have in the chorus and I loved the tone you are getting out of them. I wasn't keen on the percussion, it was a bit too ploddy for me but the vocals really stood out and I was immediately taken away from the simplicity of the backing track.

See-Man-Ski:

This is me and I am really trying out a new workflow at the moment. I decided I didn't want to write a song with a song with a chorus that contained the words "Immovable Object". Instead I wanted to write about being an immovable object in a relationship that has ended i.e. I sink like a stone with nothing getting in my way, I stand like a statue watching them walk away etc. I just like writing songs with an idea rather than with already written words, I enjoyed the process and I would do it again.

I got a novation control xl for my birthday which came with a copy of ableton live lite, so I tried it out. Must say, I'm leaning more into using reaper, I felt it was too restrictive and didn't want to fork out more money for something I already can do. I also couldn't work out the arrangement view so ended up leaving in things I wanted to fix out of frustration. I decide to record guitars and vocals together, and I would do that again because I felt I got better vocal performance, need to work on mic placement because I found it hard to isolate the vocals.

The Semolina Pilchards:

I thought that this had a really nice full mix, the tone on the guitar sounded wonderful and everything fitted really well. I felt it was a bit samey and kind of felt like you were playing it safe, it sounded really nice but there was nothing that really grabbed my attention. I did here a little organ in the mix that I wanted bringing forward.

[seemanski]

See-Man-Ski:
This is quite loud, maybe already a bit distorted. Great intro line: Sink like a stone! I'm always looking for an unexpected first line to grab the attention of the listener. This one does a great job! This is very hypnotic in a cool way. The funky piano chords are the topping that makes it special! (Are this 7th chords?) Great dynamics within this ever flowing song. – My favourite one this fight! Love it!

Interesting you should say it is loud, one thing I struggle with is the loudness wars that the tend to go on in songfight and the sidefights. I decided to push it more then I usually do, that was probably a mistake. Thanks for your kind words.

[seemanski]

3-listen reviews!
See-Man-Ski
1. I like how all the sounds come together. Something about that stately piano backed up by the high and low fuzzy noises. Like to hear the fuzz break out for a solo. Didn't catch the title.
2. Still enjoying those tones. Still no title. But the statue is probably the immovable object, right? You might pay a price in the voting for the extended outro, by I think the song deserves the breathing room.
3. Well-placed piano chords for the groove.

Thanks for the review, not including the tile was intentional. I wanted to write a song about being an immovable object at the end of a relationship, rather than reference the words directly. I don't think there is a hard and fast rule that says a song title must be included in the lyrics.

[seemanski]

See-Man-Ski - Impressive amount of vocal overdubs for Songfight! I’m a sucker for great vocal harmonies, and you’ve got them here. There are rhythmic nits with them here and there but generally it sounds good enough that I don’t care. I wish you posted the lyrics, I’d like to engage with the song a bit more. If the outdo is going to be as long as it is it would have been nice for the lead guitar to be a bit more “featured” in the mix. All in all I want more acoustic guitars with hip hop drum loops and great vocals.

Oops, sorry, bit late but I've posted them now

[Jefff]

I don't think there is a hard and fast rule that says a song title must be included in the lyrics.

Of course not, and I respect the choice. Just observing.

[Aciniform Artifice]

ADD - a few people incorporated this week’s title into their songs last week, understandably since the two phrases are so often paired together. But it’s funny to have the references to outer space here, given next week’s title. Enough about that, though, this is a lovely song.

Dead Ambassadors - nice, although do you worry that your message might be too subtle for some listeners to pick it up?

Frankie Big Face - guitar tone is very pretty. Is that a real fretless bass or is it synthesized?

heine - no offense intended, but I’m guessing the singer is possibly a non-native English speaker? The pronunciation of “object” like the verb, not the noun, is kind of distracting throughout, because I cannot think of any possible context in which the verb form of the word could make sense here. (If pronounced AWB’-jehkt, the word is used as a noun which means “a thing”; if pronounced uhb-JEHKT’, the word is used as a verb which means “to have or to state an objection.”) Otherwise, the song is good. I liked the line “I did what I could, ‘til I could no more.”

The Idiot Kings - now this sounds more like The Idiot Kings we all know and adore (than last week’s song did).

The Magnetic Letters - sounds rather Kinks-y (not to be confused with sounding Kinky, which is totally different). Well done.

See-Man-Ski - nice and chill, this is what I would expect to hear from a satellite radio station called “Mellow Gold” that specializes in late-70s soft rock deep tracks. Not to be confused with the Beck album of the same name. Although to be honest, throw a few random non-sequiturs in the lyrics, and this might not be TOO far off of some of his more straightforward material.

The Semolina Pilchards - something about the rhythm and/or melody here is bringing to mind “Islands in the Stream”; specifically, the karaoke version as sung by Steve Carell and John Krasinski in an episode of The Office. I’ve listened a few times and I can’t put my finger on why, but I also can’t seem to shake that mental connection.

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face - guitar tone is very pretty. Is that a real fretless bass or is it synthesized?

Not fretless or synthesized. Just me sliding around on my Rickenbacker 4001. Guessing you didn’t like the song much!

[Aciniform Artifice]

Guessing you didn’t like the song much!

Nah, the song was fine -- song was good. Can't always have something witty or interesting or descriptive or useful to say about everything all the time. Sometimes I might have more or fewer (or zero) thoughts to share, but that in itself shouldn't be interpreted as a judgement.

[Heine]

heine - no offense intended, but I’m guessing the singer is possibly a non-native English speaker? The pronunciation of “object” like the verb, not the noun, is kind of distracting throughout, because I cannot think of any possible context in which the verb form of the word could make sense here. (If pronounced AWB’-jehkt, the word is used as a noun which means “a thing”; if pronounced uhb-JEHKT’, the word is used as a verb which means “to have or to state an objection.”) Otherwise, the song is good. I liked the line “I did what I could, ‘til I could no more.”

Yes, non-native. I dig most English texts, lyrics and their meanings. Even a lot of puns! I think that my active vocabulary is quite okay for the everyday usage. But there are still some (or better: a lot of!) words I still need to learn. Until this fight I didn't even know that object could be a verb! (In my mother tongue there's also Objekt as a noun but for the English meaning of object as a verb there are other words.)
When I started submitting I always used to worry how annoying my English (accent or grammar) might be for you.

Growing up with some Beatles records, later Uriah Heep... I always had a crush on the English language. I was learning a bit at school, most things from my record collection and nowadays in the internet. That's why Songfight isn't only about the music - I also enjoy all the fight discussions and reviews within the forums. So, I am really grateful for any advice to make my English better! Don't be shy!
I'll keep on learning. - Promise!

[Pigfarmer Jr]

I am really grateful for any advice to make my English better! Don't be shy!
I'll keep on learning. - Promise!

You're skill in the written language seems excellent to me. I'd say you're doing pretty darn well.

[Aciniform Artifice]

I always used to worry how annoying my English (accent or grammar) might be for you.

No worries! I'd say you are doing better than most folks could do.

Fun fact: around 20 years ago I started writing a song in German for a Song Fight! title, based on my very rudimentary knowledge of the language from 3 years of studying it in school. I only got about half of it written, realized I would never have time to actually record it, and gave up.

But when I showed a German speaker what I had done so far (which I thought was a clever interpretation of the title and which I at least managed to get somewhat of a conventional rhyme scheme), they pointed out a LOT of grammatical mistakes I had made. I couldn't even imagine how bad the pronunciation would have been if I had gotten as far as trying to sing it.

Spoiler

Vergessen Sie nicht, zum mein Hause am Mittwoch kommen.

[Lunkhead]

In an unusual voting pattern, we got a huge turnout, but only for three artists. Add rode the very crest of that wave to victory!

Specifically over half the votes apparently came from New Jersey and were for all three top finalists. I haven't seen anything like that before.

[frankie big face]

In an unusual voting pattern, we got a huge turnout, but only for three artists. Add rode the very crest of that wave to victory!

Specifically over half the votes apparently came from New Jersey and were for all three top finalists. I haven't seen anything like that before.

Obviously, these were illegal bot votes and all three contestants should be disqualified, leaving the fourth place contestant as the true winner. Let’s check on who that was… What? Me again? Aw, thanks guys!

[Jefff]

Thank God for New Jersey I guess.