There's no place like Everest (Mountain Home reviews)

[Smalltown Mike]

Uh, sorry. That's all I got.

[jseavers05]

mountains exist where my home will be

[beatlebrent]

mountains exist where my home will be

Are you calling me Fat?

[jseavers05]

your mom

[GlennCase]

In case you did not know, I had nothing to do with the Mr. Man and Dr. Funk entry for this fight.

That is all.

ROCK!

Glenn (DR FUNK)

[Smalltown Mike]

A boy and his dog

The vocals are really obscured, tough to hear. Too quiet, too mumbly. There does seem to be an interesting enough melody in the vocals somewhere, but it just seems a little buried. The music needs more variety, too—it’s the same staccatto rhythm through the whole thing. More guitar I think would make this a little better.

Chris Braniff

I like the break that kicks in at :30. Sounds like you’re holding back a bit from cranking it out—who’s in the other room? A lot of nice late 70’s new wave guitar riffs in there, like The Cars. Dig it.

Launchpad’s Revenge

Love the break at about :25, but that’s one nasty vocal pop after that. Back from the mic a bit. And the vocals are a little quiet. More variety needed in the guitar riff. It’s a good riff, but not enough to carry the whole song. The gtr solo could use some presence, too. Pretty good, though. Nice ending.

MC Paul Denyer

Dig the video game synth melody. But I don’t know. I dig your voice—dug it in the Give Peace a Chance remake. I read the lyrics first, and loved them. I think the basic idea is good, but it’s more a snippet or idea for a song than it is a song.

Mr. Man and Dr. Funk

Why make a person wait 38 seconds until some sort of song kicks in? I was pretty sure you didn’t have a song, and was about to turn it off. There’s some great stuff in there, some not so great stuff. Mostly I think it walks too much on the line between an honest effort to write a song and a bunch of guys wanking around.

Paper Cut Brigade

Again, I think the vocals could be a little more prominent. But the melody and the harmonies are great. Great song. Great lyrics. Seems unfinished though.

Steve Durand

The genre fits the title, of course. Even though it’s written within a pretty structured genre, it doesn’t feel forced. It really fits (if that makes sense.) Nice.

Tiny Robots

I wasn’t so crazy about the way this started, because it seems to get mellow when it all kicks in, but it really is great when it all kicks in. I like that little melody in my right ear. This is nice, and it’s not usually my cup of tea. So then I listened to the intro again and it does fit.

Lin-Z

Funky funky. This is really good, but the vocals seem too close. I like this a lot, but I can tell I’m going to get ripped off if I want any change in this, which is too bad.

Smalltown Mike

Me. I think my vocals should have been a bit louder. But I do dig it.

[jeff robertson]

Warning - listening on laptop speakers, not headphones. This may seriously affect the objectivity of my review.

Commence throwing of stones by man who lives in glass house:

A Boy and His Dog - Music is nice, words are hard to make out. Possibly just my lack of headphones. The guitar doesn't really fit in with the rest of the instruments.

Brent Seavers - Reminds me of the themesong from MST3K. I like, but I'm not sure if that's just because I liked the show.

Chris Braniff - that couple of seconds of chords and palm muting at 0:30 makes this song. The promise of something interesting is fulfilled a 0:48, when that riff turns out to be the lead-in to a section that compared to the rest of the song is downright psychadelic. In comparison, that is. It makes me wish that the solo was based on that part, rather than the verse. Could've gotten Jeff Beck-y with it.

Flvxxvm Florvm - Yes, I submitted so quickly after the titles were announced that it got spam-filtered. Premature songfightulation, I guess. As I threatened last time, GnG. When I first recorded the guitar, it was very, very faint (maybe related to not using a pick). Bringing it up to the level I wanted, brought up a lot of white noise as well. Messing with it to try to get the noise out is what resulted in the garbled sound that you hear. The vocals sounded too bass-y at first, but taking out everything below 300 seems in retrospect to have done more harm than good to them. I am about 99% sure I am subconsciously ripping off someone, possibly even one of you, in addition to the ripoff that I am aware of (Johnny Horton's "You Fought All the Way, Johnny Reb").

Launchpad's Revenge - I assume your band is named after Launchpad McQuack. That wins some points with me right there. The opening guitar and drum is pounding. For some reason I imagine you playing drums with your feet and guitar with your hands at the same time. Are there really only two instruments until 2:15, or can I just not hear the others? As for the vocals, I wish they were either more Ramones-y, or more TV-Eye-era-Iggy-Pop-y, more something.

Lin-Z - I want to dislike this, but I just can't. The vocals are too "cute". I want to be able to say I don't like them, but they somehow fit the music. If this was on the radio I probably wouldn't change the channel.

Denyer - Can't even try to review this. Too much genre bias/ignorance. I can't tell the difference between good rap and bad rap. This could be either.

Mr. Man and Dr. Funk - Gets listenable, possibly even likeable, after 0:30, but someone who wasn't reviewing the song wouldn't listen for long enough to ever know that.

Paper Cut Brigade - Your Fresh Dog sounded like the real deal, straight outta 1968. This time, your vocals give it away. Creeping modernism in the main vocal line. The background voices do what they can to keep it real.

Smalltown Mike - Neil Youngy. If I heard this in my car, I'd probably crank it. Needs a solo, not even neccessarily a good solo, just some sort of solo.

Steve Durand - Some points for convincing instrumentation and style. Problem is, I don't believe you. You might actually be from the mountains, but I don't know it from this. Sounds like you might be joking. If you're going to make fun of bluegrass or "hillbilly music", the lyrics need to be out-and-out funny.

Tiny Robots - This gets my vote for the week. (And no I wouldn't vote for me if I was up for voting.. check my record of getting zero votes) Maybe I'm sexist for saying this, but I think different styles of music are suited to either male or female voices. Whatever style you call this, really benefits from the lady's voice. If a guy tried to sing this exact same song, exact same arrangement, I'd probably hate it. As it is, I love it. (Lord I hope my speakers aren't just so bad that that's really a guy...)

[erin.]

Ok, here are some personal thoughts that I have arranged into the form of some quasi-reviews.

Chris Braniff:
After a few listens, this song has grown on me. I like all the elements, I like your voice and harmonies. I like the drums and guitar. I'm not sure that I connect with the lyrics at all. There's nothing there that really grabs me yet, my toes are still tapping. Hmmmmm. Tricky little popsong.

MC Denyer:
Your lyrics are amusing. Not my cuppa tea bloke. Points for the toy piano.

SmallTownMike:
This is a Patti Smith Song with a PJ Harvey chaser. Your guitar is rocking out in all the right ways. Your harmonies weren't working for me, but I'm sure that's not the songs intention. Nice job.

Saucy Steve Durand:
This is exactly the type of song I thought more people would write for this title. Steve, you're all heart. You could sell this song to Dolly Parton.

ABAHD:
Someone likes New wave. I do too. It's as if Joey Ramone has stumbled into a New Order recording, and the Echo and the Bunnymen took over.
Whoa.

Brent Seavers:
Speaking of the eighties, the intro of your song reminds me of the Iggy/Kate Pearson ,"Candy". That being said, I really dig this song. No complaints here except that the end solo/fade out is a bit long.

LPR:
I would and did pay $3.00 to see you at the all ages punk rock show in my small town when I was 15.
Rock!

LinZ:
Any song about Gnomes is allright by me.
Cute, the whoa-ee-o-o-o-whoa-o part is my favorite.

Mr Funk and stuff:
Did you guys just watch a Cheech and Chong movie?
moving along...

PCB:
Cool psychedelic effects, only the drum beat gives this a current date. I was almost transported to the 60's. I love the vox on this, so groovy!

TinyRobots:
This is our first song! My favorite part is the fade out! Ken is a genius per usual.

My picks are between PCB and LinZ with shout outs to ABAHD and Brent Seavers.
Thanks for the tunes y'all.
e.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand - Some points for convincing instrumentation and style. Problem is, I don't believe you. You might actually be from the mountains, but I don't know it from this. Sounds like you might be joking. If you're going to make fun of bluegrass or "hillbilly music", the lyrics need to be out-and-out funny.

I'm not actually from the mountains although I did live in northern Alabama for a while. I'm not trying to make fun of anything. I like bluegrass.

Steve

[Smalltown Mike]

Two songs that got missed in my first reviews:

Flvxxvm Florvm

I like the little harmonica (?) that kicks in at 1:12, but other than that this is the kind of GnG that I don’t dig so much. The last line is good, adds a nice twist.

Brent Seavers

Nice low-fi intro. But do you really “ write dreams?â€

[jeff robertson]

I'm not trying to make fun of anything. I like bluegrass.

Now I think I know why I thought you were kidding. Something in your song, not sure if it was the chords or the melody or the vocal delivery or what, reminded me of some part of "Grandma got run over by a reindeer". After that, no matter how serious the lyrics, I kept waiting for a punchline that never came.

[ken]

I haven't done reviews in a while. Now I remember why. I just don't have all that much to say.

A boy and his dog: Cute ‘Pop Goes the World’ intro. Vocals are lackluster and have too much reverb to try and compensate for the flat recording and performance. They are pretty hard to hear overall. I think I hear some nice guitar playing there, but the sweepy synth covers up a lot of it. Yeah, bring up the vocals. I think there is a pretty good song in there somewhere, but it was hard to hear.

Brent Seavers: I don’t know why I think this sounds like Bryan Adams. You have a good voice, and the arrangement of this song is nice. Excellent guitar playing on the solo!

Chris Braniff: This is a good song. I think if you could make your recording sound better it would help.

Flvxxvm florvm: I like your voice. Not much to say, this song is fine.

Launchpad Revenge: The guitar on this track is so loud and trebly it is hurting my ears. It also covers up the vocals. Is there bass on this track? It is pretty rocking, but it needs to be recorded better. Your vocalist is mostly in tune, but it sounds like he can’t hear himself well enough. Guitar lead at the 2min mark is nice. I think you should have used it more and sooner in the song.

Linz: Whoah, that is some vocalist. Who are you? I like the vibe of this song, but it is very repetitive. Could you add some changes in timbre or arrangement?

MC Paul Denyer: I like the mouth click percussion.

Mr. Man and Dr. Funk: This is a pretty good song with lots of good stuff going on. It is just a bit too loose for me to really enjoy.

Paper Cut Brigade: This has a lovely 60s vibe to it. Why does it end so suddenly? Definitely my favorite so far.

Smalltown Mike: This rocks. Reminds me of Spinal Tap in the wordplay. Solid.

Steve Durand: Nice bluegrass tune. I like your other songs as well, and prefer the more orchestrated stuff.

Tiny Robots: Damn this sounds like Loyalty Day.

Enjoy.

Be well,
Ken

[Lunkhead]

a boy and his dog
kinda scared by the intro... the vocals might sound better in a cleaner, breathier style. the beat etc. is tolerable. i think the guitar is not really necessary, at least not all the time. it maybe takes too long to reach the "bridge" or whatever it is about 2/3rds of the way through. this could probably be quite a bit short, with fewer bars between the sections with vocals. at least it has some instrumentation and dynamic changes.

brent seavers
aargh, a played out chord progression. very early 90's pop rock sounding. i think the twangy guitar part is maybe a touch too loud. i like return to lo-fi in the bridge. "destroyed my crops and shot my horse"? i admit i wasn't paying much attention to the lyrics till then. usually for me that means that the vocals aren't clear enough in the mix. the outro solo is a bit weak. probably you should just skip that and the fade out and just end it.

chris braniff
ok, more pop with a generic chord progression... this song really needs a good hook, but i just don't hear one. i'm also wondering which part is the chorus, even. unusual song structure isn't necessarily bad, but a poppy tune definitely needs a repeated hook to rise above the crowd.

flvxxvm florvm
guytar, whoo! johnny cash could maybe pull this song off. your vocals sound muffled, unfortunately. you sound a bit unnatural singing in this style, too. i do like the harmonica, though, and the song's OK. it's probably longer than it needs to be, too. maybe just do all the lyrics first then end with a shorter harmonica solo? i don't know, it's heading for cash/dylan territory but doesn't quite get there. not bad, though.

launchpad's revenge
mix sounds very muffled. those drums are pretty irritating, maybe turn down the hi-hat and up the snare? whoa, you need a windscreen, also, to prevent those popping p's. aargh, drums making my head hurt with the excess cymbal crashing. maybe the cymbals should be quieter, too.

lin-z
i really liked this one. i wish at the end, after the drums cut out, you'd brought it all back in for another 20-30 seconds or something. i would also like to know who this is. if i had to guess i'd say future boy but i don't think i'd be right. anyway, nice groove to the song, and good melodies, and quirky vocals and lyrics. please do more as this persona, whoever you are.

mc paul denyer
the bell and 8-bit synth noises are too loud and piercing. the mouth clicks are novel but shouldn't go the whole time. aargh. at least it's short and too the point.

mr. man and dr. funk
ok, let's hear some funk! hm... that intro has got to go, go away. not so bad after that. sweet shaker action. i think that harmonica is not in the right key. oh man, what the hell is happening? this is getting painful. trumpet? yeah, messy, and not as clever as you think.

papercut brigade
groovy. seems a little quiet, could use another mastering pass to boost the levels. i wish the drums were clearer sounding. you're maybe overdoing it with all the backwards stuff. nice singing and song, though. i do like it. you should add some theremin, that would rule. good ending.

smalltown mike
the singing seems kinda atonal. the rockin' is kinda generic and the drums are maybe too cymbal happy. something about the snare sounds bad (too much compression or something?). the chorus is not hooking me. the bridge "na na na" part doesn't work for me either. ok song but maybe i'm just suffering from genre bias or something.

steve durand
your vocals sound a bit muffled, too. that's too bad as you've put in some nice harmonies. too bad you don't have pedal-steel part for the lead guitar. (i wish i had a pedal steel and some skillz to offer in that dept.) maybe acoustics would have sounded better for the rhythm guitar parts. overall a solid song for this genre, needing some better production.

tiny robots
this does sound like loyalty day! dang, tis some low bass action in the bridge. awesome outro.

i think lin-z has my vote.

[furrypedro]

a boy + dog: nice, if this was half as long it'd be neat. I like the diy electro + bass sound, classic simple but effective type thing.

brent seavers: I was bummed out that you got more votes than me last week but this is sounding much better, not that last weeks was bad this just has less chance of getting irritating. love the quiet bit. good length, really nice jangly guitars, I love guitars that jangle. not sure about the fade out but that was really good, you Seavers' certainly have got a knack for writing a tune. was that a dig at the papercut brigade in there?

chris brainiff: This sounds pretty Seaversish too, with a slight Kinks edge. good, but not blown away.

Flvxxvm Florvm: Until this song I found your entries slightly embarrasing, sorry to say so, wasn't really my thing and it wasn't very well done. This shows a versatility and proficiency I hope to see in all fighters; really simple sure, but quite evocative. I admit I don't love this, but I do want to listen to it again. well done

LPR: oh man, you used up all 4 chords in the first verse, where do you go from there? ah, half time drop in. if in doubt. There's very little in this song and for that it's way too long, but its something to build on, the chorus adds to the dynamics so you need more stuff like that in there. and stoppy starty bits they usually work pretty well.

linz: I love Mum. this sounds a lot like early Mum (thanks in no small part to the vox) so i like this. If you wanna sound even more like Mum we should collaborate , I've been waiting for someone with a voice like that for ages.

MCPD: not too hot on this

mr man & dr funk: ah that was just an intro. this is actually pretty good. yeah shakers! and claps, that's it I'm voting for you right now. and the song just disintegrates like I hoped it would, sweet.

PCB: and this week Matthew we're going to be impersonating Slowdive. no sorry, thats not totally fair. This is pretty nice. I like the reversy sounds. It's all a bit quiet tho and you could've done way more with this; I'm all for keeping it short but when yer doing shoegazey type stuff you can afford to develop it slightly. good though, nice one.

Smalltown Mike: This is pretty good, but my favourite bit is blatantly the nah-nah-doo-doo verse which doesn't reflect that well on the rest of the song.

steveyD: of course you moved to Nashville, as if any other city exists outside of the world in which this song was written. This would've been great with either, a) a massive sing-a-long chorus at the end or b) a karaoke verse where the listener could do their own little hoedown. nice ending

Tiny Robots: this reminds me of loads of other nice bands, softies, joyzipper kind of thing. hmmm, I'm not gonna vote for it but I will d/l it. yoink, cheers

Kudos to Mr Man AND Dr Funk, Linz and Brent for being my faves. Tiny Robots, Chris, Papercuts, and that boy and his dog were cool too

[ofscienceandnumbers]

My fav's are:

Brent Seavers
Chris Braniff
Lin-Z
Papercut Brigade
Tiny Robots

However, I think I'm going with Papercut, because it sounds like something Kevin Hearn of Barenaked Ladies would write and sing (and I do love the Ladies). Great job to all of you, though.

Also, my compliments to Smalltown Mike for the great production quality. Good work.

[jack]

i haven't reviewed in awhile. here's what i think. don't take it personally. i decided to review this fight because i hardly knew any of you. i'm glad i did as it turned out to be a really good fight!

tiny robots
hey, this is nice, and sounds like loyalty day even. maybe thats why all you loyalty day kids did reviews this week.... i gotta say sam, i think you play some of the sweetest slide on songfight. the arrangement is pretty simple and straightforward, and you give it lots of nice dynamics with the instrumentation and especially with the singing. you dudes need to harmonize though.

lin-z
wow, this is amazing. from the beginning of the mix you had me intrigued and the vocals completely sucked me in. really original, fresh, and awesome. stunning. never heard of you but you made quite the impression on me

smalltown mike
this is really solid but the mix sounds kind of flat, like i wish the guitars didn't sound so compressed, or maybe sound so dead center. the phone filter vox part made for a nice break. solid playing and the recording isn't bad, but it just makes me wish for better seperation of it all. has a very crazy horse sort of feel to it too.

fluxumthingorother
actually, i kind of liking this in an oh brother sort of way, and the harmonica seals the deal. yes sir, i'm a digging this alot. you're not mocking the genre, and i'm definitely digging it. nice job. you could have cut the last little half verse thing and shaved about a minute off and it would be just right.

papercut brigade
all kinds of nice beatlish overtones, and beautiful vocals. it's light as a feather, easy to digest, with no aftertaste. nicely done but i think i need more stick to my ribs fare.

MC Paul Denyer
well, i liked your lennon rap.

launchpads revenge
i like the guitar but the drummer needs to learn where the crash and splash cymbals are. ok, it picks up nicely when he finds them. singing isn't doing much for me, but guitar playing is pretty solid and love the tone. i can appreciate going for it live and if this was miced better, i'd undoubtably like it more, but it's hard to hear the lyrics and get a grasp for the tune as it's recorded.

mr. man and dr. funk
i'm sure it was more fun for you to make than it was for me to listen to

brent seavers
the intro made me think "oh no who let woodward back in here..." but then you bust out the jangly emo guitar. it's really nicely done, totally commercial ready, and frankly kind of bores me, if only because it sounds like almost anything else playing on the radio these days. there's not much to nitpick about the song as it's very well done, just not really giving me a chubby.

chris braniff
are you brent seavers? see above.

steve durand
thank god for steve durand. i too like your horny stuff better, and i totally respect you going outside the comfort zone on this, warbly vocals and all, and you actually do a pretty nice job with it, respectful, the MIDal steel is a nice touch. now if you'd thrown some pancho and lefty type horns on this in that break instead of that wanky guitar, i'd be singing it's praises.

a boy and his dog
not bad in a cure kind of way. could use a bit more variance somehow, but nicely played and recorded.

lin-z gets my vote. good fight everyone. lots of good stuff!

[jseavers05]

mr man & dr funk: ah that was just an intro. this is actually pretty good. yeah shakers! and claps, that's it I'm voting for you right now. and the song just disintegrates like I hoped it would, sweet.

im voting for you too!!! even if you dont have a song, ill still vote for you. thanks champion.

mr. man and dr. funk
i'm sure it was more fun for you to make than it was for me to listen to

haha, i bet it totally was.

[Steve Durand]

steve durand
thank god for steve durand. i too like your horny stuff better, and i totally respect you going outside the comfort zone on this, warbly vocals and all, and you actually do a pretty nice job with it, respectful, the MIDal steel is a nice touch. now if you'd thrown some pancho and lefty type horns on this in that break instead of that wanky guitar, i'd be singing it's praises.

This is even further outside my comfort zone than you might realize. I'm trying to play a real guitar and a real banjo here. It's not MIDI stuff.

Steve

[nyjm]

a boy and his dog
+++ tone +++
--- monotonous vox ---
+++ break-down at 2:06 +++
/// the nearly full-minute fade is a bit much ///

brent seavers
+++ crescendo +++
/// maybe the solo could break out more ///
+++ guitar arrangement +++
/// what's with the long-fading outros? ///

chris braniff
+++ guitar arrangement, esp. the chorus +++
--- timid vox ---
/// cute but also quaint ///

flvxxm florvm
--- muddy vox ---
+++ guitar chops +++
+++ harmonica +++
/// needs a more satisfying ending ///

launchpad's revenge
--- muddy mix ---
--- singing ---
--- unrelenting power chords ---
--- vocal pops ---

lin-z - downloaded
+++ singing +++
+++ beat, tone, arrangement +++
+++ the rhyming is almost silly, but appropriate to the mood +++

mc paul denyer
+++ mouth percussion +++
/// chav rap?///
--- too short, not enough development ---

mr. man & dr. funk
--- opening ---
/// improvement with the guitar vamp ///
--- but then disintegrates ---

papercut brigade
--- quiet mix ---
+++ gorgeous vocal harmonies +++
--- too short ---

smalltown mike
+++ rock! +++
+++ "na-na" breakdown +++
+++ lyrics, especially the 2nd verse +++

steve durand
+++ perfect genre song +++
/// the melody is REALLY familiar ///
+++ vocal harmonies +++

tiny robots
+++ vox +++
+++ reminds me of juliana hatfield +++
+++ outro +++

[jeff robertson]

actually, i kind of liking this in an oh brother sort of way, and the harmonica seals the deal. yes sir, i'm a digging this alot. you're not mocking the genre, and i'm definitely digging it. nice job.

As the only member of Flvxxvm Florvm, I am taking this song as the point of departure for a solo career away from my "band". In future fights, stuff like what I did this week will be under my real name. Flvxxvm Florvm will be for things like my "Leaf Blower".

[Steve Durand]

Noah,

Thanks for the reviews. You haven't posted here in a while.

Welcome back.

Steve

[nyjm]

Noah,

Thanks for the reviews. You haven't posted here in a while.

Welcome back.

Steve

you're quite welcome. i've been busy like mad during the semester (who knew preparing for a dissertation would be this much work?) it's good to be back.

btw, i was fairly shocked (but also pleased) not to hear any trumpets on your track. it's good to see you branching out and succeeding.

- njm