The Song Fight Bulletin Board

So you see, if the title had been like, leaf rustytromboner, the same joke would apply!! Because hahaha, his name is Leaf. And ...

Well, at least it brought Gert back into action.

GERT!!!!

One might say that Gert has gerted this title around.
Had to verb it once Leafman

Hmmmm...

This week I accidently stole a line. I searched it in google and nothing came up so I figured it was original. Upon further reflection, it was very similar to a line from one my favorite songs. Oh well.

And no, it's not when I say "Mr. Moonlight".

Gert is the Canadian Frontalittle Squad

wow like i havn't heard everybody yet but i must say the poor gets magical sexiness points.

Big Dumb Jerks - my first impression was 'ug - that midi is clean' but the vocals works really well in contrast - its imperfections contrast the cleanliness of the music I guess, although by 1:30ish I am waiting for something else to happen. Pleasant enough.

Cheap Bastards - good opening ....I like the way the song emerges from the sonic soup ... 'nuclear spring, winter, autumn and summer' is a pretty lousy line in my book. Once again I am a little bored at 1.30 ish, maybe it's me. It's like early Human League, certainly camp enough Not bad, just a little uninvolving, maybe. I very much like the synth tone.

CIA - Sounds like it belongs on remixfight, I guess. I like the guitar riff very much could do with turning that up. Not cohesive enough for me. I think it's the effect on the vocal which while cute makes for less focus in the listening.

Darren Sethe - Damn those vocals are low in the mix - I can make them out but why on a straight-forward (and good fior it) rock song would you dip them so low? It's not like they're bad, turn them up! They are spoiling my enjoyment of the song, especially as their lack draws attention to the slightly dragging nature of the drums ....

FF - nice fretwank opening. Vocals are slightly loud (they're obscuring the music at their peaks). This is kind of the sort of music a guitar player would play at an open audition - look what i can do. It's good but the rest of the song is suffering as a result.

Fourth Doctor - Everyone knows Patrick Troughton was the best doctor. Good mix. I don't really have anything else to say about this. It's all there but it's not gelling for me.

Gert - Ah. I kinda liked Faith No More - so I kinda like this, I guess.

Johnny Cashpoint is me. Why I bother is a question i can't seem to answer these days

LLL - Showy, for sure. Pretty, for sure. Too slow for my tastes, for sure. If the guitars were a bit uglier in tone then this could be Black Hole Sun. I think this is my favourite so far.

Luke Henley - I like the lyric to this, as read in that other thread. *listens* Oh, you sell out. [almost certain VOTE]

of Science & Numbers - you need to get some mastering software. Everything sounds so distant, when it could/should be a kick in the head. I mean it sounds good but as is lacks a good bite. Master that up on some good rock preset even and it would be killer (and thankfully, not the Killers)

PYF - I give you one minute to change my mind. Nah. What I expected, pretty much, in concept if not in execution.

The Poor - Hey, great opening! Oh this is good. First minute is a contender for [VOTE] along with Luke. I love that grinding nerdcore stomp very much. I'd like a big chorus sometime. Oh you're losing me on the 'do ya' section. Yeah a minute in and I am not listening up to what you say. Bye &c

Ryan Ryanbach - Very nicely done, if you like the jangly folky thang you've got going on. Waiting for this to have some connection to the title... i hope you won't use lawn blower as some awkward simile / metaphor for how tough life is. OK getting bored at 1.30 but that's clearly a me thing, as this is the third song I've got bored around that time. Only still listening to see if you bring the leaf blower thing in - 'kick the leaves cos they can't kick you back' is not a great line. Nah, a good song that has very little to do with the title, is my overall impression. Where you try to bring it in are the worst points imo.

Assuming this is TMK - ah yeah pretty enough.

Underhwelemed by this fight. I imagine Gert will win for all the wrong reasons, so I'm voting for Henley.

Johnny, no fair ripping us off...what are those wrong reasons??? Ambiguity has no place in a review thread.

Can't wait to hear all of these tracks! It's been awhile since I reviewed...pencil has been sharpened.

Big Dumb Jerks - Not my kind of thing. You can sing and play and all that, but the piece sounds kinda dead.

Cheap Bastards - The intro starts out sounding pretty cool, but when the actual song pops in it ends up sounding a bit dull. I like the sound effects, but they could stand to go down in the mix. I'd like to hear more volume on the vocals and drums. Cool.

CIA - ...my God. Why do you guys even try?

Darren - This has a great blues drive behind it, and I like it a lot. Mixing seems sort of dodgy and the volume is pretty low as well. Thumbs up though.

Flvxxvm Florvm - Ow, the vocals! Those need more consistency in volume, when they came in they stabbed my ears through the headphones. :[ I can't tell if there are any drums in there besides the hihats, which is kind of disappointing. Guitars are very fun, but the mix tends to downplay them.

Forth Doctor & KGB - Cool instrumentation, good mixing. Love the song, vocals could be better I guess. They seemed kind of random and sparse. And...well..pointless. But yeah, nice work.

Gerb - Having not been here for long, I don't have any bias for or against you for whatever reasons j$ was mentioning. So that aside, this sounds frickin' cool all around. Only complaint is the vocals could have been a little cleaner.

Johnny Cashpoint - Don't really like the shrill synth, but I do like the relentless flow of the bass and the vocals mesh nicely with the track. All in all, it's very good. It just doesn't make me go "WHOOAA AWESOMESAUCE"

Location^3 - This is fun stuff. Needs mo bass, I think? All around, very mellow, very professional track.

Luke Henley - Man, I think you could pull off an acapella album if you wanted to. Nice work. There's not much there, but I can hear what there is in almost uncomfortable detail.

Of Science And Numbers - Hrm. Not a fan of intros that occupy the entire first half of the song. Guitars are kinda being choked by the highpass filter, I'd allow them some midrange freqs or at least add some reverb. Vocals could use more volume too. Not bad, overall.

Phunt Your Friends - You make it hard to be constructive, you guys. :[

The Poor - Sound in the beginning is kind of squished and painful, but maybe that's what you were going for. I love the awesome lameness of the rap in there. Beautiful breakdown, too. I think this is my second favorite so far, next to Gert. Aaaand I'm continuing to listen here, realizing that I'm not even halfway through the song. Holy crap you guys. This is like a cut track from an Anticon production. And that's a good thing. Very surreal and weird. Love it. I think you just stole my vote from Gert. OW MY EARS. That came out of nowhere and really, really hurt. Okay, nevermind. Gert still wins. Awesome outro.

Ryan - Vocals seem slightly off-key occasionally. All in all though, quite good. The mixing is nice too, if pretty dry.

Those Meddling Kids - This is very cool and spacey. Being me, I'd love louder drums, but they work pretty well as they are--very snappy. I really like the lyrics, though I myself have found leafblowers to be extremely useful at times.



All in all the songs were okay, but there were definitely some gems in there. I'd go with Gert for 1st, TMK for 2nd, and then The Poor. Nice work guys!

With my song this week, I wrote it over a few days but recorded and produced it in 2 hours. I already have about 10 things on my list of things I would change If I could re-record (like my flat "ooohs"). But production values aside, I really like my tune.

I might review...I really don't feel like my opinion on people's music is worth a damn, but I know how much I have valued and benefited from the reviews, so I guess I should.

<b>Big Dumb Jerks:</b> Gets a 'Meh' from The Cheat. Not bad, just not really doing anything for me.

<b>Cheap Bastards:</b> First jerks, now bastards? The intro is good, and the stereo effects at 0:40 are really cool. Ugh, forcing in too many syllables. That save the day drop seems a little out of place too.

<b>Clever Intarweb Name:</b> Are you doing the scratching at the beginning with your voice? Echo.. echo... echo... This could be really kickass with different vocals. Like some screaming raspy guy or something. LEAF BLOWAAAAARRRRRRR!!!! Uhh, anyway.

<b>Darr(i/e)n Seth(unnecessary e):</b> Nice ZZ-Top groove, but I CAN'T HEAR YOU! I see you did take my suggestion to CIA even before I made it, though. This should really be about a minute shorter.

<b>Fluxxorm Flavawhatever:</b> Good fancy guitar work. The vocals ruin it. You and Darren Sethe and CIA need to get together and rotate singers for a song. For some reason the 'gonna burn you up' part reminds me of the song on the bus in star trek 4.

<b>4th Dr. & KGB:</b> Is this a CIA vs. KGB fight? Oh crap, is that the dead kid from that movie whispering? Creepy. The part at 1:14 was really cool right up until the 'leaf blower' rhyme made me start laughing.

<b>Gert:</b> Ahh, the 'Intro being transmitted from an Apollo capsule' song. And then... WTF?! I either love or it I hate it and I'm not quite sure which. Awesome rockopolousaninjananophone solo.

<b>j$:</b> You bother because you have talent. That's all I need to say.

<b>The Three Ls:</b> Intro sounds familiar, but quickly goes in another direction. Nice piece though not terribly distinguishing. Definitely a keeper even if it doesn't get the vote.

<b>Luke Henley:</b> Too sparse musically for my tastes, but some people like that.

<b>What we need more Of is Science (and Numbers):</b> The, whatever it is (highly distorted piano?) in the beginning seems to stutter now and again. It just begs to have some percussion and bass kick in at 2:20 and start rocking out. Well, sort of happens at 2:52 but not quite what I had in mind. All right, I can do slow songs. Lot of them this week too. What's with the fade out at 4:43? Okay, now this is what I'm talking about. Could do with a better transition into this part though. And another fade out. Yuck.

<b>Phunt Your Friends:</b> You guys just keep doing your thing. Um, except for the phlegm at 2:00. I could do without that.

<b>The Poor</b> gave me sticker shock. 8 minutes?! This had better be good. Isn't this what meatwad was dancing to on channel 666 right before he got shot? Aaaagh, whatever you did to the stereo separation on the vocals, it's making my head turn inside out. Feedback makes me hurt, lyrics are amusing. Got some Dire Straits thing going at 2:05. Some interesting parts, but the overall lack of direction isn't doing much for it. You trying to give Phunt a bad name? LOL, I'm glad I skipped to the end rather than just going on to the next song.

<b>Ryan Rickenbach:</b> Kumbaya! Sounds like it's exactly what you want it to be.

<b>...and I would have gotten away with it if it weren't for:</b> Is that background supposed to be warbly like that? Sounds like MP3 compression gone bad. I can't make up my mind on this one either. Some parts I really like, others not so much. The lyrics seem a little silly to me, but that's purely subjective.

This fight is a tough choice. I can't decide on a vote yet, I'll have to come back and edit this after giving everyone a few more listens.

Ryan Rickenbach wrote:With my song this week, I wrote it over a few days but recorded and produced it in 2 hours. I already have about 10 things on my list of things I would change If I could re-record (like my flat "ooohs"). But production values aside, I really like my tune.

Yeah, I didn't manage to convey how much I actually liked it in my mini-review, but I thought it was really good.

Great freakin' fight! ..Just had to get that out before replies and reviews. "Leaf Blower of love," fresh pumpkin pie and coffee, this fight rocks serious whatnot.

insomniac wrote:Um, except for the phlegm at 2:00.

Which, incidentally, is Egg swallowing a bug.

Mogosagatai wrote:

insomniac wrote:Um, except for the phlegm at 2:00.

Which, incidentally, is Egg swallowing a bug.

Wow, that's commitment - but have you ever considered just playing a guitar like everyone else?

Caravan Ray wrote: Wow, that's commitment - but have you ever considered just playing a guitar like everyone else?

I am still in training, and the bug flew into my mouth while I was wailing. It was not voluntary. But including it in the final song was, and how!

This fight intrigues me. I will probably listen a lot before writing reviews.

TheHipCola wrote:Johnny, no fair ripping us off...what are those wrong reasons??? Ambiguity has no place in a review thread.

Ambiguity? I liked it, I thought it sounded like Faith No More ... ???

j$ wrote: I imagine Gert will win for all the wrong reasons, so I'm voting for Henley.

I found that statement to be pretty unclear....judging by reviews and comments so far, there's lots of awesome entries this week...so I was curious to learn what reasons you figure Gert would win wrongly win with. That's all

Ah I see. Now that's plenty clear enough as is, thanks.

Also if you perused the rest of my reviews, or indeed the one preceeding the one you quote you will see that I don't think there are a lot of 'awesome entries this week'.

j$

TH89 wrote: This is very ...spacey. I really like the lyrics.

insomniac wrote:Is that background supposed to be warbly like that? The lyrics seem a little silly to me

TMK -
dividing opinions worldwide since 1999

TH89 wrote:I myself have found leafblowers to be extremely useful at times

yeah, I don't know why they don't just market them as hair-dryers for dogs.

insomniac wrote:<b>Ryan Rickenbach:</b> Kumbaya! Sounds like it's exactly what you want it to be.

What?

j$ wrote:
I imagine Gert will win for all the wrong reasons, so I'm voting for Henley.

Like talent? Crybaby.

HANK. wrote:

j$ wrote:
I imagine Gert will win for all the wrong reasons, so I'm voting for Henley.

Like talent? Crybaby.

Come on now...SF voters are horny for raps that are produced well. If there is a well put-together rap song it will almost always beat a well produced rock or folk song. That's kinda a given.