Bender for President (Robot Candidate Reviews)

[Spud]

Just a note to those of you who have already reviewed. City of Dis has been added, in case you care to go back and add one more. Don't slag him for being late, though. It was in the mailbox the whole time, I just didn't see it for some reason.

SPUD

[The Weakest Suit]

Just a note to those of you who have already reviewed. City of Dis has been added, in case you care to go back and add one more. Don't slag him for being late, though. It was in the mailbox the whole time, I just didn't see it for some reason.

SPUD

Well, it may be on the front page, but i just don't see it for some reason.

[City of Dis]

here are the thoughts from Level 6:

Ben Krieger - Like the heavy hum under the tremolo for the intro. Good guitar tones. Call and response/telephone filter!!! Well done solo. The bends (but, only the bends) are a bit Slashish. Second major section kinda Whoey; good rhythm. Dig the Rhodes Piano-esque tones. More Who!!! 'til the vocals come back in. Appreciate your thoughts on subtlety, hehe... Acoustic Whoey guitar! Very good synth parts, there. Pink Floyd synth part before the spoken word!! Nice pseudo-jungle drumming during "beep-boop" keys. Pink Floyd/Deep Purple/church organ. And there's some Rush in't. Styx, maybe?? The other vox during the vocoder sounds like Freddie Mercury fronting ELO. This song is WAY LONG, but not too long being that it continues to move and change during its 15 minutes. These kinda song length discrepancies can be chalked up to a problem of perspective. I like this song rather better than "Cable Beach", which was well done, but didn't really do it for me. You obviously put a hell of a lot of work into your songs! But, hey... Good job!

City of Dis - Mic pop during the word "syncopate". You got real lucky that it's in time. I like the riff under the robo-vocal part, but really... what's with the delay on the vox? Seems like it would have been more appropriate if the title were "SPACE Robot Candidate" or something. Ending kinda falls off rhythm a bit, but it seems to fit the feel... barely. Brackish. But, hey... Good job!

Elastic Waste Band - Dramatic Drum Machine Rolls!!!!! But, hey... Good job!

Electro the Wonder Boy - I really like the music. I feel the lyrics are shit. Good song length, all things considered. But, hey... Good job!

Flvxxvm Florvm - Guitar sounds like the lyrics should be "Goin' to tha roadhouse! Goin' to tha roadhouse!" Wah-wah part COMPLETELY changes the feel. But, hey... Good job!

G3RT - Once you start singing the verse (without the filter) it gives a David Byrne feel. Good lyrical rhythm. Like the sound of the chorus. Harmony isn't perfect, but carries some "sweet" tonal quality, which I tend to like. Didn't like the bridge 'til the piano and bass started their interplay. But, hey... Good job!

Gibson - I like the drums. And the synth. Not the vocals so much. But, hey... Good job!

Ignite Your Face - I'm REALLY sick of the "Malaguena" chord progression. That isn't your fault. All the dipshit spoken word garbage, though, very much is. Keyboard part under spazzy "solo" probably the only part I like at all (sounds a bit like the staircase from Super Mario 64, except it isn't a Shepard scale here). But, hey... Good job!

Kid Cruiser - Wow. So, last week you succeeded with your joke. Apparently that was just luck. That song displayed some creativity and skill. But, then again, some people believe the Universe displays some creativity and skill. (re: Creationism). Turns out, though, shit just happens that way sometimes. Looks like your one trick pony's completely crapped out. Prove me wrong?? But, hey... Good job!

Matthew Nellis - Good progression. Don't dig the vocal delivery. Or the lyrics. Walking bass is OK. yes, yes, Mother rhymes with Brother, we know. also rhymes with "smother"... (inordinately long time passes)... Waitaminute. This fucking song is still going. Why? Can you give me a good reason? The lyrics aren't good enough that they simply "deserve" to be delivered, or any BS like that. And the parts aren't great, or anything. You proceed to drive some potential straight into the fuckin' ground, man, and there's no return! But, hey... Good job!

Melvin - Don't like the organ. Like the weight of the bass when it comes in. Decent beat. I actually like the bass overall. Probably my favorite element of the song. Maybe another part would be in order? The beat and the bass are good. The rest? Not so much. But, hey... Good job!

No Horse Town - It is quiet. I like how the swinging, "human" riff falls apart, rebuilt then into rigidity. Like the doubled creepy robot voice. Vox are obviously monotone, for the most part. Seems fitting to the style, I suppose (robotic?). Though, I think you should have gone ahead and employed that little dive more. Appreciate the desperation that comes off in the vocals in the middle section there. The end is a little long, but it changes. When the drum goes into double time, and has the off breaks, the frenzy reminds me of Queens of the Stone Age. Nice dinky ending guitar part. But, hey... Good job!

Paco del Stinko - Ooh! Aah! The music isn't at all what I expected when I first read the lyrics. Interesting... Has a 90s classic-rock revival feel. I like the second solo better than the first. Nice diving end. It's a decent song, overall. But, hey... Good job!

PiGPEN - Little solo melodies are the only part I even start to like. The rest is the same boring shit over and over. But, hey... Good job!

Renwick - Good guitar tone/rhythm/riff. Very Weezer. Like the song "Buddy Holly". Really. Or "Holiday". Fuck, like that whole album. Or "Suzanne" off the Mallrats soundtrack. I like this song, but it is RIDICULOUSLY FUCKING DERIVATIVE. And too long for its repetition. But, hey... Good job!

Robots do the Work - Too many thoughts to relay. Mostly negative. Pretty sure that ANYONE could have written this song. And that ANYONE could have let the same noise crap continue for 10 seconds at the end. But, hey... Good job!

signboy - Good synth bass. The beat is pretty good. Rather Peter Gabriel in those respects. Actually, I really like how you change that beat around. Nicely. Not digging the vox. But, hey... Good job!

The Sober Irishman - I suppose this could be liked by someone. Someone who isn't me. But, hey... Good job!

Wax Malachai Confessions - Is this 3 songs going at once? Or just one song performing the rarely seen "autoabortion"? I appreciate what you're trying to accomplish with the extended syncopations in the drums. Can't say it was successful, though. The drums are OK-ish. But, hey... Good job!

Weakest Suit - Nice, simple guitar part. I like the "off" melody (deliberate or accidental) on the "forever and ever and ever..." part at the beginning. Could certainly do to be fleshed out (not in terms of production, or any of that stupid bullshit. moreso in terms of composition. feels like it just loops on itself over and over and over forever and ever and ever.) But, hey... Good job!

that is all.

[Sober]

Elastic Waste Band: This is a pretty poor vocoder performance. There's not really any production value to speak of, as it sounds like a bunch of reason stock instruments. Kudos for complex arrangement and cool progression.

Sober,
Could you expand on your comment about the vocoder performance? I only dust off the vocoder about once a year and would like to do it better.

Steve

Take a great solo voice or spoken word piece and run it through a vocoder. It sounds like crap, doesn't it? That's because vocoder is completely different from anything we ever do.

Getting a solid vocoder performance does take practice. The only proper way to lay down/practice vocoder is to monitor it live. You have to enunciate, project, and have good breath control, so you can keep the air/sound flow going to give the plugin enough to work with without dropping out. Pre-compressing is a good crutch, but not an end-all. Remember, you have to have a constant and consistent level of volume coming out of your mouth, to give the vocoder that 'talking synth' feel. Listen to Daft Punk's Harder Better Faster Stronger for the best vocoding I can think of. The dry vocal take is so smooth that near the end, he rips a solo over it and nothing is lost to vocal dropout.

As much as I love vocoder, I have yet to use it.

[jeff robertson]

If you are going to talk about your song's production, please do it in your review post, under your own band. See my post above. This makes less clutter in the thread and makes sure people know who you are. Like Jeff Robertson. Who the hell are you?

Whoops.. for the past few fights I had entered under my real name, so I got used to not having to say what my band was. Flvxxvm Florvm.

[PiGPEN]

Melvin
Good i guess but ultimately boring. I dont think your voice fits the style youre trying here.

Kid Cruiser
Man it's too bad you didnt make the song really on subject.....no.....rather....its too bad you had to stick the title in this song. I much prefer a good clean Penis Fencing Rape Blues then Penis FenciROBOTCANDIRape Blues.

City of Dis
But, hey... Good job!

g3rt
I like this. Nothing to bitch about. Possible vote.

renwick
BOOM DISTORTION! I like this. Simple but works. Only thing i would suggest is emphasize the vocals on the chorus.....i didnt know it was a chorus until the end and by then it was too late to sing along! Possible vote.

sober irishman
I very much enjoy the choir chorus and the music throughout is pretty cool.
But unfortunately lame rap is lame. Someone didnt ready the jets before they took off.

signboy
That distortion tap on the left.....ITS PISSING ME OFF SO MUCH. Ugh and when the drums go off tempo. This really isnt that bad but theres too many things pissing me off about it to really enjoy it.

Matthew Nellis
ah that intro is cool....and thats where the cool stops. A CHANGE IN MY HORMONES MY VOICE IS DIFFERENT NOW made me lawl coming from your voice....i hear no puberty. Not annoying but not liking and....and....and im quitting before its done.

electroboywonder
ugh voice thing....ugh feedback thing.....ugh thing.....and then some crap rock. NOTHX.

robots do the work
OK IM EXPECTING SOMETHING GOOD SINCE YOUR NAME MATCHES THE TITLE...
oh wow....this is nice....the caps ^ were supposed to be sarcastic! I like the....and the...and... cool. P-P-P-POSSIBLE VOTE.

ben krieger
lol this is what i was expecting from robots do the work. Neat play intro.
Ah this is good...mmmm gets kinda super cheesy. Ok and the leads kicks in and your cheese is forgiven.
Ok and...another song? This one not as good. .....and another song. Is it really fair to submit an entire album?
OLAWD THE EPICNESS IS POURING FROM EVERYWHERE. Ok im at the highpitch organ solo and now i feel this has gone on too long...but theres so much more
ok it gets cool again after the campaign ad. ....but not cool enough...end damn you.
i dont even know whats going on at the gunshots part.....NO I DONT WANT A SLOW OUTRO....fuckin 'ell.
"The revolution will be televised." NO! NO! BAD! STOP THAT! YOURE RUINING IT!
end.....end......please.......oh god thank you.
...........................................................im gonna say possible vote but i dont really mean it.....no matter how good a song is...if the listener is begging for it to end youve wrecked it.....unless it was quite obviously intentional and clever like at the end of Earthbound.

Paco Del Stinko
Voice goes off-tune at important parts. I want to like teh rawk but no. Meh.

gibson
lol no. if this is the best song true democracy can get to endorse it we're SCREWED.

teh wax
What youre doing....ITS NOT CLEVER OR MODERN OR COOL SO STOP IT.

Elastic Waste Band
ROBUTTTTTTT! Finally something that meets my expectations of standard submission for this title and its nicely done too.

ignite your face
bad intro. ok guitarin. bad drums. awful singing. buh.

Flvxxvm Florvm
neat. cool breakdown is cool. feels kindve lame to go back after the cool breakdown.

no horse town
ummm levels much? so quiet. I dont think im missing much though.

the missing suit
the missing instruments FAIL!

Ok well....relistened to possible votes (EXCEPT YOU KNOW WHO YOU LONG FUCKING CAT) and imma vote for g3rt.

[signboy]

signboy
That distortion tap on the left.....ITS PISSING ME OFF SO MUCH. Ugh and when the drums go off tempo. This really isnt that bad but theres too many things pissing me off about it to really enjoy it.

I know I'm being a bit of a sucker for getting riled up over a bad review, but...
The static sample on the left, ok. I can chalk that up to bad discretion, as it apparently pissed everyone off. Lesson learned, that's what I love about SF. But the drums going off tempo? They'e sequenced, for #@*! sake!

[PiGPEN]

Yeah.....sequenced off tempo.
...or it was something else i donno.....i just know something was off tempo because i made my off tempo cringe...its an involuntary thing.

[signboy]

I've been staring at this post, giggling too hard to type for like 20 minutes. I just got told that I sequenced the drums off tempo. That made my day. Thanks, man.
In all seriousness, though, I had another listen, and I think I hear what you're talking about. The vox in the bridge are a bit out of sync, as I did 5 vocal takes, and was (honestly) too lazy to try them again to fix the timing. Again, lesson learned.
*don't be too #@*! ing lazy to fix the little things that will piss everybody off.*

[City of Dis]

Yeah.....sequenced off tempo.
...or it was something else i donno.....

It was something else. Maybe your "off-tempo cringe" is miscalibrated...

There's a difference between "rhythm" and "tempo". The tempo never changes in signboy's song. For that matter, the drum rhythm DOES NOT fall out of time.

Think before you oink there, PiGPEN.

Also, signboy: the static in the L channel didn't piss everybody off. I think it's just fine. However, I'm not listening through headphones, which may account for the difference between my experience and that of others.

[signboy]

Aahhh... this shit takes me back to the first time I realized why the site isn't called
"Song Cuddle!"

[Sober]

Aahhh... this shit takes me back to the first time I realized why the site isn't called
"Song Cuddle!"

Fuck you.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Gentlemen! You can't fight in here: this is the War Room!

[boltoph]

There's a difference between "rhythm" and "tempo". The tempo never changes in signboy's song. For that matter, the drum rhythm DOES NOT fall out of time.

Think before you oink there, PiGPEN.

Actually I think the fact of the matter is that PiGPEN can say whatever, whenever he feels like and maybe we can all learn something from "City of Dis" and your endless technical know-how and expertise with regard to rhythm versus tempo. Bwaaaaa.

Actually what PP could have just said was that he thought the song sucked or just "didn't like" it, and then finished his review with "Good Job!" Then he'd be in your ranks, City of Dis, and we could all just carry a big one with a severe lack of knowledge about what the difference between tempo and rhythm is, in a song.

[No Horse Town]

I have this fun new policy where I'm not gonna "review" fights I'm in. But real quick:

I voted for G3RT. Ben Krieger's song is awesome, but so is G3RT's and it's way more listenable. Runners-up: Flxxvm Florvm, Elastic Waste Band.. and My Quiet Ass.

[Smalltown Mike]

Ben Krieger: This is really good. Nice work, great effort. I was nervous when I saw 15 minutes on the song, but this is nice. Well performed, the speaking parts, too.

Sober: This is pretty cool, but I wish you'd done the verses in one take instead of splicing together the clips. It always sounds better when there isn't that slight overlap. I think the vocals could come down a bit, too, but cool tune.

G3RT: Ah, you Gerty Bastids. This was fun.

[PiGPEN]

PiGPEN can say whatever, whenever

damn straight!

[No Horse Town]

Actually I think the fact of the matter is that PiGPEN can say whatever, whenever he feels like and maybe we can all learn something from "City of Dis" and your endless technical know-how and expertise with regard to rhythm versus tempo. Bwaaaaa.

Actually what PP could have just said was that he thought the song sucked or just "didn't like" it, and then finished his review with "Good Job!" Then he'd be in your ranks, City of Dis, and we could all just carry a big one with a severe lack of knowledge about what the difference between tempo and rhythm is, in a song.

PiGPEN was more of an ignorant ass in his reviews than Dis. "But hey..." -Piggy's old school or something? Gawd, I wish you guys would stop proving me right. Good ol' boys club - you fucking know what I'm talking about. Fucking human nature, I guess... WORTHLESS, SHITTY HUMANS! We *do* need a robot candidate. Those google reviews are the best of the bunch.

-peace, fuckers!
NHT

EDIT: PiGPEN's website is really funny. I mean, I really liked it. Shucks.

[adamadamant]

Kid Cruiser just made me cry,

[ujnhunter]

for rubbing penises with a robot?

[LukeU]

Hey I haven't visited songfight in a year or something! I figured I would check out this week's songs. Well, the ones that stand out to me are Krieger, G3RT, Kid Cruiser, and Renwick. I listened to them a few times (Mr. Krieger's only once because it's so long) and I think that G3RT's is my favorite. Kid had me laughing so hard I thought i would die, though. Nice blues voice and mixed with the lyrics it's just perfect. I would vote solely for that, but I think the deserving winner is the best song in which you know they put in a lot of effort. So good job G3RT, you have my vote. And if I didn't mention your song I apologize, but I did listen to all of them.

[glennny]

Good fight, not sure if I'll have time for full reviews. i just have to give a shout out to Ben Krieger. Cable Beach has been my favorite song on song fight of all time. This is as high of quality! This is just amazing! I've been listening to your album, and the Parker Street Cinema (Ken Mahru) album more than any others since January. I loved your solo performance, but if you want, next time we play a show together I'd totally love to back you up on guitar and/or bass. The set could be 2 songs (35 minutes) CB and this gem! Will it be another 2 years for the next one?
Awesome job!