The Song Fight Bulletin Board

go

Buh?

Jim of Seattle wrote:go

Where?

Some places I've been, if you said "I don't like eggplant!" you could get beaten the fuck up.

Justincombustion wrote:Some places I've been, if you said "I don't like eggplant!" you could get beaten the fuck up.

God not ron jeremy O_o... discusting man...

and you must live in one hardcore eggplant eatin' neighbor... you best not let this get out...

actually i'm frontin' quite abit in my song... cause i love eggplant parmesan
haha... but that's just me

Mousaka

that is the ONLY way Hoblit will eat eggplant

be prepared to be thoroughly bababa-babaganooouched by the finger of Star. as someone previously stated, he seems to be at his best when discussing his convictions on food.

roasted eggplant flavoured hummus is pretty good stuff. just thought i'd share.

Me wants the songs!

tviyh wrote:roasted eggplant flavoured hummus is pretty good stuff. just thought i'd share.

Oh man, I so totally read that as "roasted eggplant flavoured humans."

My faves:

Madi-got my vote because it reminded me of myself and my sister when we were little.
starfinger-reminded me of the gorillaz and then limp bizkit.
I dont really like the others, however denyer's american accent was funny

Dave Stiles
I like this. I like the relaxed, competent feel of it, but it's quite a bit too long for me, and I wish there was more material, both lyrically and musically, which I suppose ties into the too long complaint.

Dreamy Mo and the Commoners
This is a cool kind of Steely Dan thing, and musically it's cool, but the lyrics don't work for me. Too many in-jokes. Even though I get them, they're still in-jokes, and the lyrics are just kind of silly and absurd, which goes against the much more accomplished musical sound. I'm also confused that you're singing you like Mo, but you ARE Mo, according to your band name.

Future Boy
This is cute and catchy and fun. When I thought to myself "what would I think if I heard this on some kid's CD?" I realized that it wouldn't stand out because but it doesn't go anywhere lyrically. I found myself waiting for the punch line that never came. Needs to be more clever to ring my bell. But… make it more clever and it definitely would.

Grovy Coldslaw
This is kind of funny. Short and sweet. The drums seem to somehow not blend into the mix right, but I can't say how exactly. Good job.

MC Denyer + Crapalot
Don't know what to make of this. Sort of amusing. The beats are way too repetitive and lame. But hey, I can understand everything you're both saying, so that's good.

sonofsupercar
Pretty cool. Nothing to not like about this. Great job.

Starfinger
Sounds like a poor man's More Than Soup, but still fun. Likely winner. (But I'm usually wrong.)

Madi, Singer/Songwriter, Age 8
This song is at least 80% Madi's doing. The dialog is all improvised.

STUFF MADI DID:
Composed all the music
Chose all the instrument patches
Played all the tracks

STUFF I DID:
Recorded and mixed
Edited the improvised dialog from 5 minutes down to 2
The microwave was my idea

Hooray for reviewing on the first listen:

Dave Stiles -- This song is basically 2 minutes too long. The "I like, I like, I like, but I don't like eggplant" wears thin after the first verse. If the song wasn't so slow it might work out better. Maybe you need to turn this into a jumpy ska number. There are some production issues but I was able to look past those with no problems.

Dreamy Mo and the Commoners -- This is a fun song. However, I thought it's connection to the title was tenuous. Maybe if you named it "I don't eggplant, but I like Mo" that'd be OK. Well done, though. I wish I was in China too.

Future Boy -- I think it's a cute song. I played a kazoo.

Grovy Coldslaw -- Wow, your song is the exact same length as mine. Mildly amusing lyrics, but I really don't like the song all that much.

Madi, Singer/Songwriter, Age 8 -- Wow, do you really need that much reverb on your vocals? Has Madi been influenced by WreckdoM? I think so. The background vocals are wonderful, though.

MC Denyer and Crapalot -- Um, OK. People need to stop name-dropping MC Frontalot in their crappy songfight raps.

sonofsupercar -- I like this song. The mix is great and so is the performance. Wow, I'm really talkative today.

Starfinger -- You need to do something with the vocal. It sounds stuffy and like it doesn't really fit in the mix. I dunno, put some flange on it or something, play around. The mix as a whole needs to be opened up a bit. For example, put the hi-hat off of center. Right now it's like everything is coming from the middle, except for the stuff that's got muti-tap delay on it and that's all living out in hard right and left. If, for example, there was something that lived at 50% Right and something at 75% Left, I think it'd open up a bit more. Really, the main problem is the sound of the vocal (not the performance).

Jim of Seattle wrote:I found myself waiting for the punch line that never came. Needs to be more clever to ring my bell.

The punch line, if there is one, is in the bridge where we discover that the singer doesn't eat much because they are "trying to get thinner / for fashions in the Fall". But maybe it's just not that funny. Just out of curiosity, *how* would you make these lyrics more clever?

Future Boy wrote:You need to do something with the vocal.

I think I mixed the whole song too bassy. on speakers that emphasize the bass, the vocals do end up buried in there. I need to adjust the bass response on my new monitors and remix it brighter.

you're probably right about the panning. i should try to be more clever in my stereo placement, instead of just ping-pong-delaying everything. thanks for the thoughts.

-craig

Jim of Seattle wrote:I'm also confused that you're singing you like Mo, but you ARE Mo, according to your band name.

but the name of the band is in tribute to mo. sort of like how nobody in pink floyd was named pink or floyd but the name was a tribute to early american bluesmen pink anderson and floyd council. i bet they were pretty dreamy guys in their day as well.

Dave Stiles: I really like this, it gives off a My Bloody Valentine or Jesus and Mary Chain vibe. It could use some refinement in the length, though, I think. Drums are a little soft in the mix, too. Solid, though.

Dreamy Mo and the Commoners: Letterman's the jerk, not Leno. I've done too many crappy list songs to much dig this, but the backup vox and some of the songfighter namedrops are neat. Lemme listen and see if it mentions marcus kellis... nope. thumbs-down.

Future Boy: The bit around :50-1:02 is golden. Also the xylophone. I wish you would've ended on the root, but it's great, still.

Grovy Coldslaw: Drums sound more than a little tinny. Go crazier with the vox. Faster and louder, I guess, is what I'm saying.

Madi, Singer/Songwriter, Age 8: I kept thinking that the spoken biz was an intro, but then at around a minute I realized it were not. Madi and you both did pretty brilliantly with the acting. Also the microwave beeping and cookin' sounds. Backing Madi chorus is cool too.

MC Denyer + Crapalot: Bit tired, I'm afraid. You mentioned Evel Knievel without Twin Falls Idaho! That's like eighteen miles away, where he jumped.

sonofsupercar: Man what the hell, you had that great intro and I thought it was going to be fast and awesome. Then we get this slow mellow shit. Better kick up in the chorus. ... Yeah, it does, but not enough. God! Turn down the suck, motherfuckers! Shit! No seriously, it's all right. Haha, that list of songfight titles is great.

Starfinger: Good stuff. You'll probably win.

I'm gonna vote FB.

<b>Dreamy Mo and the Commoners:</b> I like the lyrics (particularly the mullets/Sven joke), but I don't like the music. It feels sorta sloppily thrown together. That electric guitar in particular doesn't meld well with the vocal melody. If they <i>are</i> in tune together, it's a tune that I don't like. I was entertained the first time through, but not enough to keep the song.

<b>Grovy Coldslaw:</b> Pretty generic. There's nothing particularly wrong with this, except that there's nothing particular good. Meh.

<b>MCs Denyer & Crapalot:</b> Man. This sucks. What are you, thirteen? (No response required--I'm aware that at least one of you <i>is</i> thirteen, give or take two years. The rhetorical question was meant to imply that if any music is such that the average listener can tell that it was made by a more or less thirteen-year-old, then it sucks.)

<b>Starfinger:</b> Freakin' awesome. Great, thick beat, and crazily entertaining rapping. I love your reference to eggplant as the devil.

PLEA TO FIGHTMASTERS: Make more songs titles about food, kind sirs, so that Starfinger will be more prolific.

<b>sonofsupercar:</b> This is really cool. It takes more than one listen to really get into it, but it's definitely worth the relisten. Nothing wrong with this.

<b>Madi, Singer/Songwriter, Age 8:</b> The choir of Madis in the background is quite cool. This is more like a play than a song--an amusing play, to be sure. The funniest parts are the microwave pause followed by the intensified "I don't like eggplant" chanting, and the ending line about brussel sprouts.

<b>Future Boy:</b> Polka! While intensely silly, this is clever and entertaining enough to be worth keeping. You're a strange lad, Future Boy.

<b>Dave Stiles:</b> This is sort of Idiot Kings-esque, which means I more or less like it, though it borders on boring here and there. The doot-doots are a nice touch. This is too long, though, with not enough change-ups to justify the excessive length. But overall, decent job.

***********************************************

The vote goes to <b>sonofsupercar</b>, with <b>Starfinger</b> at a very close second.

mkilly wrote: Starfinger: Good stuff. You'll probably win.

Let's count how many people say that, and then don't vote for him.
-bill

dave stiles - i really like the sound of this, it's a style i can kind of get into in a early 90's alternative slacker rock kind of way. like back when people like dinosaur jr were popular. i like the guitar solo at the end, it really fits in with that type of genre as well, but i wish it had lasted a little longer. but i surely would not have made the song itself any longer, so maybe you could've cut out a verse or two. especially considering with all the reverb and the guitar drenching over everything i didn't really pay attention to most of the words so all the verses sounded the same to me. anyway, nice job.

dreamy mo and the rest of us - when the first verse comes in the guitar sounds a little strange, i think there is too much happening all at once here. i love the backing vocals throughout though (especially on "but i LIKE MOOOO!!!" and "THAT GUY'S A JERK!") and the lyrics definitely rock. if i didn't know better(*) i'd think everyone involved was working together in the same room totally having a blast putting this one together. it's definitely got a party kind of vibe.

future boy - some of the rhymes seem a little bit smooshed together (i.e. mammals/flannels), but i really liked the line about leeches. very cute, overall. [edit #2: it's been brought to my attention that you are not actually saying leeches. but i think it is funnier to believe that you did, because it rhymes with peaches and they probably WOULD stick in your mouth!]

grovy coldslaw - nice job bringing the rock.

madi, singer/songwriter, age 8 - wow this one really strikes a chord with me because i also have to deal with a kid not wanting to finish her dinner, and secondly because i have never liked most vegetables either and i remember not so long ago my own parents fighting with me about it. the ending is awesome, and i love the waiting for the microwave part although i think it went on just a wee bit too long and took away some of the momentum the song had going. although probably that was the whole point. anyway, this was a lot of fun, although it didn't really feel like an actual song so i'm not sure if i can justify voting for it.

mc's denyer and crapalot - this is probably the best rapping i've heard from MCPD. of course, that isn't really saying much. i don't mean this to sound like an insult to either of you, but this is actually a pretty good pairing.

sonofsupercar - i am really digging the mellow trippy verses, but on the chorus i was hoping for some huge chunky distorted power chords and some crazygonuts bellowing. the singing you've got going on sounds really great but a little bit disappointing that it doesn't open up and just totally go off like i was hoping. also speaking of the trippiness in the verses, the way the bass is sliding around on the notes really adds a lot to the feeling there; the bass has a great tone in general.

starfinger - this sounds really good as expected. the lyrics aren't quite as inspired as 'MtS' -- i don't really find myself getting into the lyrics very much at all, but the music sounds really neat, my favourite part is the organ thing that's going on for like the last thirty seconds.

wow, that fight seemed really short. but everything in it was at least okay, some of them were rather good. as far as voting, i really find myself leaning towards mister stiles. i'll give them all another listen or two though.

[edit: ok i have definitely narrowed it down to dave stiles or sonofsupercar. i really like both songs, and this is one of those occasions i wish i could vote for two! the sos lyrics are better, and more discernible, and it is really a great song; on the other hand, my first impulse was to vote for DS, and i really like the sleepy vibe that's going on there, and i like the yes-sounding (i.e. "i've seen all good people") "doot doot doot's", and by the third listen the song doesn't seem nearly as long as it did the first time. oh, what to do!!!]

(*) - disclosure statement: i am the bassist for dreamy mo and the commoners.

I was gonna try to be in this shootin' match, but got caught up with a sore back and some work tings so Isa gonna review these fights. As I listen; two times through.

Future Boy - Vaudevillean, madcap, midi zaniness, a splash of community theatre thrown in with a little Queen harmonies for a cadenced moment that would have made Zappa happy (especially the xylophone/marimba? ending). 8)

Grovy Coldslaw - Feels like Monster Magnet trying to be funny.

Madi - Coupled with a nagging father who thinks microwaves make everything taste better , eight year old Madi is really, with her naiive pallette, the only songfighter who can give a true perspective of the dislike of eggplant and who also gives Wreckdom a run for their money any day. 8)

MCs Denyer & Crapalot - Bad American rap done by some Kiwis.

sonofsupercar - Cool tune and good performances but could have been titled I Don't Like Gary and had the same effect. 8)

Starfinger - The massa comes to bring the Parmesan ala Stevie W./Jamiroquai with a chorus and bass line that kill in the vein of Salmonella.

David Stiles - Catchy and could grow on me like a fine fungus, on some old baba ghanouj in the fridge, 'cept it goes on too long and makes you too much of a fungi.

Dreamy Mo and the Commoners - More about Mo than Eggplant in such a jazzy love fest way that it'd be hard to dislike Eggplant or Mo by the end of it. 8)

So my favourite musically and catch wise was Dreamy Mo and the Commoners, but Madi who really expressed the title in many words and really got to the meat on the bone (oh can I say that to all you veg-heads out there?) got my vote. Starfinger and Future Boy were kinda searching the same place, were uber cool submissions, but couldn't measure up to the mouth of babes'.

So the top 5 are:

Madi
Dreamy Mo and the Commoners
Future Boy
Starfinger
sonofsupercar