Twenty Past Four (High Time reviews)

[mkilly]

lkjh

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

Hostess Mostess: Now that's delicious, you've almost nailed my perpetual John Sebastian comparisons... aww shit this is endearingly lovely, nuff said!
EIGHT POINTS

UDAHL: Ummm! awfully similar to your 'Switch Hitter' submission, can't really say a lot else, but I guess by my comments there and here I just don't get it, sorry!... but your drumming is excellent!
FIVE POINTS

Tam Lin Music: Pleasant enough, lovely vocals, very pretty song, just not doing enough to stand out from the crowd, and yes I agree that is a harsh statement considering that this is an emotive piece of music and would quite probably hit all the right numbers if the listener (I in this case) were in the correct mood.
SEVEN AND A HALF POINTS

WreckdoM: This is more like it guys, totally irreverent head blastin' nonsense, I've only got one minute so I'd better suck it all in.
EIGHT AND A HALF POINTS

Fish Sausage: Electro-Mindscaping Nightmare music, gets me up and leaves me begging for more, teasingly too short.
SEVEN POINTS

Abominominous: Can I hear 'Roobarb and Custard' in there? if so then hats off to you guys, if not then it must be my twisted mind, a touch repetative though completely accomplished in a sub-PUSA kind of way.
SEVEN POINTS

Melvin: Sorry Melvin, I'm a bit bored with all this "George Bush is a wanker" stuff and the constant wailing against the war/wars attitude, so because of that this is gonna get marked down in my book, though I'll try to be objective, This is generally well put together, nice easy flowing rap, the chorus seems a touch laboured to these ears, I like the US anthem reprise that's a nice touch, and the sound samples used are doing their job well, but overall this is maybe a touch clichéd.
SIX AND A HALF POINTS

Shane Ackerman: More emotive music and quite obviously very good, flows along gently, vocals tweak in just the right places, but once again I feel that this falls down if your audience is not feeling the obvious emotions that you've poured into it.
SEVEN POINTS

King Arthur: Okay this review is really gonna suck, I haven't anything to say, you know I'm a fan and this does nothing to refute that position, I love the line about not listening to the band and.... I didn't know you had a bus!
EIGHT POINTS

Paco del Stinko: Nice rocky edge to your usual style, could easily become 'The thinking man's Carpetburn' runs out of steam a touch but then builds nicely to it's conclusion.
EIGHT POINTS

spOOn: God I've been dreading this, possibly my best vocal efforts to date, yes I sing across the beats in places, and I like my growly bass...
Yes the lyrics are provocative and essentially wrong, but this is based on a true story, one I don't really want to go into in detail, but needless to say I lost a bloody good mate because he was a weak twat in a fucked up situation and the girl concerned was no angel!
Sorry if I've offended anyone.
AN INCONCLUSIVE AMOUNT OF POINTS

This is gonna go between King Arthur, Paco del Stinko and WreckdoM.

[Paco Del Stinko]

There were some excellent songs in here, one of which may be my favorite of all the fights - they've still got to settle, though.

Abominominous - I like how the verses are almost coughed up or scraped out. Good and rippin' bridge section into the end and lead. Good one.

@Eclectic Spoons - The lyrics are a bit brow raising, I'm glad that you clarified. Musically, I like the bass line - direct and tough and I like the key changes. A bit stiff, maybe a light, distant pad or something to take an edge off here and there.

Fish Sausage - A little cold, a little sexy. I like the "boo-wowwrrr" key in the 2nd third of the way in. Good scratch-pad to expand and explore. This could be sent off to Thrilles-Ville.

Hostess Mostess - It's right there, so good. Sweet, well balanced and structured. It may be too sentimental for some, but that's OK. Very nice.

King Arthur - Another fave. It's a delight when the sun comes out during "listen to the band". There's a pleasant confidence to this and a good energy. Excellent.

Melvin - Very well constructed and some good feel vocally, in parts. I like the singing coming from the rappy stuff, but am 50/50 on the "say can you..." as I wonder if it might've been cooler a bit less. So many ideas well executed. Polished w/o feeling slick.

Paco - Sloppy and silly. I like the spoken section and return of the 1st riff.

Shane Ackerman - Did you write this for this fight? Well, it is very nicely done. Rich sounding and serious. The vocal effect works for me as it doesn't dominate. Good performance.

Tam Lin Music - Very nice intro and chord progression. "Stay some more.." is good. Man, this is very good - love the changes, voice, recording. I get lost in this one and it is one of the best in all of the fights.

UNDAHL - There's a bit of swamp-rock in here, but not all yee-haw! (not that there's nothing wrong with a little yee-haw on occasion!)

WreckdoM - I didn't want to like this one, but I couldn't not. Seems almost tossed off but still kicks ass.

Thanks again for all the tunes, there's not one I dislike. I don't like to announce my votes, but it's pretty obvious where it's going (not to me!)

[Treachjuris]

Good scratch-pad to expand and explore. This could be sent off to Thrilles-Ville.

What's Thrillesville? Have a ton of good beginnings then I tend to OCD and start a different tune somewhere else. Thanks for the kind reviews elsewhere, too. I'd love to throw my idea/scraps out for someone with the time/inclination to work up. Prolly the last fight of the year for me, this. Damned grad school. Fucking time-sucker.

[Treachjuris]

Abominominous – B
Something odd from you. Unusual. Too grungy on the vox for me, but totally diggin’ the chorus.

Fp00n – B+
Oh, my. I love the work with the vocals, in re: top, top, top, suck me, suck me, suck me, bite me, bit me, hurt me etc…convoluted, indeed…but the subject matter frightens me. Maybe we need to be frightened. A bit close to home from the memories of younger years, I suppose, things that really happen that people don't like to think about. Lovely of you to bring it to the fore for a moment, get people to think.

Fish Sausage – B+
Play with a vocoder much? – Oh, nice break out. Too short. Get over yourself.

Mostess – A
James Taylor, re-incarnated. Beautiful vocal work. Awesome harmonies. Nice lyrics, beautiful guitar work. This is really one of the stronger entries for you this week, but hey, they’re ALL strong.

Da King – B+
Nice horns. A little bit o’ bad IS good for everyone. And you know, bus on the beach sounds awesome. A palatable entry, this.

Melvin - B
Buzz buzz buzz bass…groove groove groove drums…passion passion passion vox…clappity clap. You bring this together well. Oddly enough. Like your Give It To Me Entry better, though. Nothin’s bad.

Paco del Stinko – A
Mmm – nice bridge vox – very robotic without those nasty plug-in fx. Ready, set, 1.2.3. Beautiful transitions. Nice harms. Odd fx on the guitar. Very nicely done. Drums are a bit hot on the high-end, but not damaging. 800 mile long clock face? :p

Shane Ackerman – Tidal Wave – A+
Eh? – You have a beautiful voice. I don’t know about the relevance in re the title, etc etc etc, but damn, a nice tune…

Tamlin Music – A
Mmm. More beautiful pipes. Remind me later to hit you up for a collab – you keep right on, vocally flawless. I enjoy the lyrics in re: drowning in her rapid stream of chatter - heh

UDAHL – A
Tight track.

WreckdoM - A
Dig the message. Substantiate, ambiguous. You give me balls of articulation. How do you pull it off??? So hard, so raw, killer punk, this, and yet, you cannot hide your intellect.

[Paco Del Stinko]

What's Thrillesville?

I thought that this was a good start, if taken further could be quite exciting!

Glad to hear that you are edumacating yourself, sorry to hear that this might be your last fight for a time - I enjoy your entries, all varied and adventurous. There are many people that I'd love to work with here, but during this batch of fights I thought of this "super group": You, Glennny (Semolina Pilchards, Zipline) Sausage Boy and myself, daring to put me up on that level. I dare not make it a serious proposal as I think that I may not be technically compliant with formats or whatever. Good luck, and please return!

[Treachjuris]

Hey, down but not OUT. Will be tweaking with shit still, but unable to complete anything for a fight. Could be a perfect op for a tight collab. effort. All formats can be worked out. Let's do it! I'm happy to contribute what I can, albeit likely naught more than a killer beat. See you in the PMs.

[UDAHL]

Hostess Mostess - a very solid entry
Melvin - j to the r.o.c.
Abominominous - i super dig the enthusiastic vocals
and the solo @ 1:40 is just what i'm tryin to hear
Fish Sausage - you could do japanese movie sound tracks
Tam Lin Music - so much soul
Shane Ackerman - Tidal Wave ?
UDAHL - outside my genre of choice
@eclectic spOOns - (amphetamine) christine 16
King Arthur - now thats a good mix
WreckdoM - 420% cooler than the beastie boys
Paco del Stinko - no really, d.d.ramone was in white zombie

[Paco Del Stinko]

Mmm – nice bridge vox – very robotic without those nasty plug-in fx.

Scary part is, there's no effect on my voice save for a teeny, way short delay and splash of reverb! I am probably just a robot.

no really, d.d.ramone was in white zombie

Poor Dee Dee. Rob Zombie was a couple of years ahead of me in High School. I remember him being intense and brooding in my art class, though I never spoke with him. (Haverhill High, Haverhill, Mass. Go Hillies!) I was friendly, however, with his younger brother Mike, who went on to front Powerman 5000, although I haven't seen him in many years.

Not knowing Rob was in the band, I saw White Zombie open for Bullet LaVolta at the Channel in Boston. Zombie were OK, LaVolta blew my face off!

[king_arthur]

Abominominous:

Like the dynamic variation going into the verse (:30). Lead break
at 1:41 is also nice, I was starting to feel like the song was
becoming very repetitive musically, but you changed it up.
Added as a keeper after hearing all the other stuff...

Sp000ns:

Keeper, for the, umm, subject matter. Musically it's "not my
thing," except that the messiness of the track fits the story
line so well. Call this my guilty pleasure.

Fish Sausage:

I'll pass on it for general listening, but I may come back and
grab this one as part of my "megafight album" as an instrumental
transition sorta thing.

By the way, the "web" link at the bottom of your posting isn't
working, at least in netscape - it looks like you tried to list
two different URLs and the board is treating it as one long one
with a space in the middle...

Hostess Mostess:

Keeper, makes me think of Paul Simon with CSNY on BVs (which is
a good thing). Something between the two acoustic guitars sounds
out of tune or out of time or something to me.

me:

This didn't quite come out like I was hearing it in my head, or
maybe what I was hearing in my head just wasn't that good...

Melvin:

This one goes into my collection of "war songs" for my "Art and
War" class next semester.

Paco del Stinko:

Wow... I wasn't quite sure, and then you got me at "4-3-2-1".
I like the way this varies up as it goes on. You get such a
good sound on your stuff... keeper.

Shane Ackerman:

Keeper... you varied up the guitar pattern just in time, I was
afraid it was going to be that same riff over and over.

Tam Lin Music:

Keeper. Loved the opening, kinda felt like the drums coming in
spoiled it... sounds very drum-machine-y, just some simple percussion
might've fit better. Bass sounds like "acoustic bass" patch from a
synth, but it works mostly... I'm not actually allowed to complain
about MIDI/synth sounds, but on this song, I did think that the
just guitar and vocal parts worked better, maybe some strings (or a
"pad" patch that is clearly not trying to sound like a "real"
instrument) might've been a better way of varying up the song. Great
lyric, though...

UDAHL:

Hmm, are you mixing your stuff to mono? I can't quite tell if the
drums are stereo spread or not, but everything else seems like it's
right down the middle... even if all you have is drums, one guitar
and one voice, you might try panning the guitar and voice out to the
sides a bit. As with Fish Sausage, I'll pass on this as a listening
song but I may come back and pick it up for my megafight album...

WreckdoM:

Well, that one got a "that was mighty outrageous" smile from me...

[Cärpetbürn]

Paco del Stinko:...'The thinking man's Carpetburn'

bit too lowbrow for you are we? eh??

[Nigel (spOOn) Clements]

Paco del Stinko:...'The thinking man's Carpetburn'

bit too lowbrow for you are we? eh??

How About this one then...

Paco del Stinko: No I'm not gonna sit on this anymore, you are really Furry Pedro's american cousin

Just picking up on a bit of friendly rivalry

[Paco Del Stinko]

Low brow? I love German beer!