The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Q:Don't go breakin' my heart...

Baby, you're not that kind 8)

Ooh-ooh, nobody knows it
Nobody know-oo-wohs...

this is a very strong fight.
lots of great songs.
congratulations to everyone who submitted.

jackfrost wrote:this is a very strong fight.
lots of great songs.
congratulations to everyone who submitted.

Did hell freeze over?

Billy's Little Trip wrote:

jackfrost wrote:this is a very strong fight.
lots of great songs.
congratulations to everyone who submitted.

Did hell freeze over?

BLT: your entry is one of the best this week.
it's definitely the one that's stuck in my head.
the guest vocals are great.

Thanks Jack, guess who's singing.

Initial listening now. May be until after the weekend until I can get my reviews out. If I'm unusually industrious tomorrow, I may have time to do it then.

I think the whole of BLT + Wages is greater than the sum of the parts.

Lunkhead wrote:I think the whole of BLT + Wages is greater than the sum of the parts.

I agree. We might have to act on that if it seems to be the consensus.

...why do I want to put on a polyester uniform and work a drive-thru now?

Oh, yeah, those two names together had me flashing back to the darker ages, heh.

Shit-fuckin'-hot, Paco. Nice.

EmbersOfAutumn wrote:Initial listening now. May be until after the weekend until I can get my reviews out. If I'm unusually industrious tomorrow, I may have time to do it then.

was that intensional to have the music panned left? Other than that, cool song.

Fights on!! Initial listening is aurally pleasing:)

Billy's Little Trip wrote:

EmbersOfAutumn wrote:Initial listening now. May be until after the weekend until I can get my reviews out. If I'm unusually industrious tomorrow, I may have time to do it then.

was that intensional to have the music panned left? Other than that, cool song.

I jiggled my earphone jack to make sure I hadn't shorted out the right channel. I say if you're going to push so much to one side, do the whole thing that way. You could alternate from left to right between the verse and chorus. Or for each measure.

It's nice that there's not so much garbage to wade through this time. I'm going to listen at work a couple of times, then I'll come back and do reviews as I go through the songs again.

HansGruber wrote:

Billy's Little Trip wrote:

EmbersOfAutumn wrote:Initial listening now. May be until after the weekend until I can get my reviews out. If I'm unusually industrious tomorrow, I may have time to do it then.

was that intensional to have the music panned left? Other than that, cool song.

I jiggled my earphone jack to make sure I hadn't shorted out the right channel.

so did i.

Commuting on the freeway, leaning into the center of the car trying to figure out if my stereo was on the blink, heh.

Round 1, the separation of the keepers from the non-keepers,
and for the non-keepers, notes on why it didn't make the cut
for me... as last time, reviewed in order of file size,
smallest to largest. Sorry if I get any band names wrong,
I'm just interpreting from the filename...

Blues Train Blues Ind:

Can you do anything about the "thudding" and crackling on
the recording? Also, are you trying to record so that
somebody in the other room can't hear you? The things the
singer is saying seem like they need to be delivered with
way more enthusiasm than we're hearing here...

Slit Tear Duct:

Next time, try. You suck.

MC Eric B:

The vocal style seems wrong for the musical style, although
if the piano was a little bit more Narleans and a little
less gospel choir, you might be able to pull it off.
Some chord changes under the melody line would make this
more interesting.

Hell Yeahs:

Wishing the vocals had a little more oomph to them (might
be an EQ issue, just a bit more lower mids for strength)
and that that piano thingie didn't start out sounding like
something nobody could actually play, but I like the story
line and the overall song. Keeper.

Rabid Garfunkel:

I heard that first horn squawk and was thinkin', "oh
yeah," but then it turned into a ska instrumental thing
with pained screams and I wasn't quite so interested.
Theremin is cool.

ADD:

I like the way you vary the guitar so that there is some
dynamic variation in the song, even though it's just
G&G. I'm having a bit of trouble following the story
line, you start out with a good guy vs. girl premise,
but then there are a lot of lines later in the song where
I'm really going, "how does that fit into our story???"
Keeper for being well performed and recorded, but I think
if you'd refined the lyric a bit more you'd have grabbed
my attention from start to finish and had something
great...

Sheail:

Wishing you'd spent a little bit more time tuning up
the guitars. The switch to maj7 stuff about 1:15 seemed
a bit jarring against the almost-metal stuff earlier in
the song. Lyric isn't grabbing me, but overall the
song sounds good, so call it a keeper.

Ross Durand:

"History" approach is interesting. Wishing there was a
little more low end on that guitar, since there's no
other instrument through most of the song (some low
notes on the harmonica here and there, maybe?).
Keeper.

Weakest Suit:

More vocals, please. Are you running the guitars
directly into a mic input? They have kind of an
unbuffered sound to them... if that is what you're
doing, if you can stick a Pod or guitar fx box or
something betwixt the guitar and the soundcard, it'll
help the guitar sound. Keeper.

Embers of Autumn:

Watch the booms on the vocal (?) mic. Some (or more)
reverb on the guitars would make it sound a little more
like a group of people playing all at once. A couple
places in the song where the rhythm is kinda choppy,
the instruments don't stick with each other. Maybe a
keeper, depending on how much other good stuff shows
up later on...

Hans Gruber:

Liking this, wishing you'd vary up the chord pattern a
bit more (the chorus seems like just a slight variation
on the verse bit). Yeah, that instrumental bridge helps.
A bit more oomph on the part of the singer seems like it
would be appropriate on this one. Liking the horns.
Keeper.

Paco del Stinko:

Not my fave PdS song, genre bias, I guess. Not my
thing, but that may be a good thing...

Lonbobby:

Hey, an old timer! Melody goes slightly astray on
"I'm sorry for this," but I'm even digging the pitch
correction. My favorite so far in the fight... keeper.

Senza Volare:

I think your bus compressor is pumping a bit, makes it
a little hard to listen to. Nice sound other than that.
Not sure that high voice thing before the verse is my
favorite sound. The switch to major key around 1:30
doesn't seem like it quite fits. Wish the lead vocal
was putting more feeling into the part. Also falls
below the desired pitch in a few spots.

Andre Was Here at Midnight:

Not enjoying the lead guitar, it's kinda spoiling the
song for me... the lyric seems like it just kinda
meanders along, but doesn't seem like it's headed
anywhere in particular...

Kristin:

I like the sound of the synthstrings with the guitar,
but they need to agree on what that fourth chord is
(maybe it's just the bass note that's not changing
but should???). Some of the vocals could stand to be
a bit less pitchy. Hmm... parts of this song I really
like and other parts not so much. The "do do do" bit
around 2:15 is nice...

Billy's Little Trip:

Yeah, Wages has a really good rock voice, we just have
to make him keep doing it over and over 'til he gets
it right The short delay on his voice sounds good,
too. This is probably harder rock than I'd normally
dig, but it's well done, and I've grown attached to
that voice... keeper.

Audio Video Intercourse:

Thanks for playing.

Melvin:

Yeah, this is working for me. Nice. Keeper.

Vegetarian Rage:

I like the instrumental, but the vocal needs to be more
on pitch for this style. And the fake-phone at the
start sounded more like a Kid Rock out-take. This
is the sort of stuff I would go for if it was really
well done, but it needs to be tighter than this.

KB Bren:

Mix seems very down-the-middle, I'd like to hear this with
the rhythm guitars split out wide. The singer is getting
the notes, but not getting my attention... maybe that
distorted electric guitar needs to lay back when the
singer is working...

Bushido Stylus:

I'm staying up late to do these reviews, and this is just
not doing enough to keep me awake...

Lord of Oats:

Well, ya had my interest 'til 0:24, at which point, it
becomes "not my thing."

Tig:

Not loving the vocals...

Klownhole:

As always, not my thing. Sorry...

So, okay, after one listen, I'm thinking Lonbobby is my
favorite, but since I'm getting around to reviews so
early this time, I'll listen to a few things again before
voting.

Charles (KA)

Billy's Little Trip:

Yeah, Wages has a really good rock voice, we just have
to make him keep doing it over and over 'til he gets
it right Smile The short delay on his voice sounds good,
too. This is probably harder rock than I'd normally
dig, but it's well done, and I've grown attached to
that voice... keeper.

I agree, KA. I've always liked Phil's power and passion and I've been dying to have him sing on a song like this, but I get so busy. I realize it's not your genre, but I really like how this song came out. I'd like to hear him sing more like this. Thanks Charles

edit: oops.

(*)'S are keepers

Add - It's cheesy, but not necessarily the delicious kind. I'm thinking like... kraft singles.

Andre - I would almost rather this not had any words. It's good hotel lobby music. The tremolo is being... abused.

AVINTERCOURSE - pretty catchy. the vocals are abrasive, even for industrial. nice chorus.

BLT - I had a little "Billy Idol fornicating with the lead singer of the Yeah Yeah Yeahs" out of the verses. The chorus is weakest part, not to say that the song really has a bad part. I particularly like the drumming.

Blues Train - You're pretty terrible at this. Try singing a melody. Congratulations on stepping away from the meterless diminished sound.

Bushido - Nerd core... at least the piano effects make it a little more interesting. Rap really doesn't work if it's out of context. You have a lot of varying intensity in the voice without any change in any other aspect of the song.

Embers of Autumn - Protip: bending/mashing strings makes the guitar sound out of tune. The chorus and bridge vocals sound alright but the verse sticks way out. I think this would be a good song if you found a pop-punk group to play it for you.

Hans - I like this. Particularly the bridge. It feels like the song should pick up but it doesn't. I like the reggae feel in the verses. The EP solo is cool but I wish it were more than 4 bars.

*Hell Yeahs - Hell yeah! I don't know why I like this. I guess it sounds like BLT's verse's little sister of the same parentage. It's just a fun tune. And short enough not to ruin the mood. Hyvä!

KB Bren - Bored until the guitar started adding flair. It's a little Counting Crows but noisier. Appetizing solo. This sounds a little unfinished, like you made the chorus bleed over for 4 minutes and then stopped.

Klownhole - Having not heard anything else you've ever made and with your name as the only reference, I can honestly say that I was expecting it to sound like this. Take it or leave it. I hope you put devilish organ into everything you do... forever. Making the song 7:30 long just adds to the hopelessness that is seeping out of the vocal and melting background guitar tracks. I would liked to have listened to the lyrics more closely to see if you really drove the desolation home, but I couldn't make myself do it. Congratulations.

Kristin - I think washy background pads are really underrated.

*Lonbobby - Is that auto tuning? You know what, it's better than sounding off-pitch. Good decision not ruining the song. The effect it has on your voice really fits the mood but be sure that the pitches you choose match your chord progression. There are some spots where you sing some perfectly in tune, dissonant notes. Somestimes it's cool, like the major third "miss this", but the bar just before that you go major on "I'm sorry for this" and its grating. Also, where did you get that sitar patch?

Lord of Oats - What happened? the guitar sounds pretty digital but that might just be the clipping that overwhelms evertything. This needs some pretty serious compression/limiting/turnthefuckingmastertrackdown in the chorus. Nice rockout. The screaming is actually pretty good... for screaming... maybe hold it out longer, it's kind of blast-y.

MC Eric B - Delicious piano intro but then it all disappears. Turn up your vocal track next week it's hard to pick out. Poo lyrics. There are chord changes happening in the chorus melodically but the piano just bulldozes them with the tonic. Boring.

*Melvin - Damn you you're always good. Most importantly, the lyrics feel organized and <i>interesting</i>. Congrats and not making the chorus just bleat out the title like the rest of us . This is fun. It's tough to end a song nice and early without compromising anything. You win some kind of prize, buy yourself something nice.

*Paco Del Stinko - l0ll3rskat3z!!11one I'm totally into this. The lyrics are crazy, the melody is dirty, the guitars are violent, the solo is sufficiently face-melty, killer. The ghost wail (?) into the solo really ties it down. Rock. This reminds me of Mägo de Oz and, well, they're famous. So good job.

Rabid Garfunkel - You ass. At least it's emotional. You get this week's balls award.

Ross Durand - I don't like this song, but at least it's good. Props on the harmonica. All I visualize about these lyrics is the idea of heart condoms.

Senza Valore - The sampling is pretty cool but it pops out of the mix. Slap some 'verb or something on it and turn it down a little. It all sounds a little ethereal, which is neat. I feel like the melody is the weakest part of the song.

Sheail - I couldn't help but notice that it's tagged as "twat's life". There's not really anything wrong about this song, I just don't like it... except the bridge or whatever that is around 1:40. I think it may require bigger balls than your voice has to offer. I like the solo.

STD - "Well fuck you." At least the ending is strong.

Tig - Groovy intro. It feels like an inexperienced Pink Floyd song. The chorus is pretty sweet too.

Myself - Trying to do all the recording in an hour or two turned out to be a mistake but deadlines are deadlines. I put the remastered (post-deadline) version up on my website, just some level changes and reverb. http://johntyree.blogspot.com Maybe if I had spent a some time on the vocals i could have gotten out of the lounge style. That seems to be my home turf.

Weakest Suit - Lovely music. Not-always-so-lovely singing. This seems like it would have me a great duet. Get a girlfriend and give her some n64 games or something until she helps.

king_arthur wrote: Vegetarian Rage:

I like the instrumental, but the vocal needs to be more
on pitch for this style. And the fake-phone at the
start sounded more like a Kid Rock out-take. This
is the sort of stuff I would go for if it was really
well done, but it needs to be tighter than this.

Charles (KA)

Thanks for writing these in a way that is actually helpful .
Do you mean the vocals are out of tune or over embellished (out of character)?