Sorry I hit you (with my car (Hope You're Okay Reviews))

[Poor June]

* Poor June I look forward to your song, more than anyone else's, each week. Heh, maybe it's a bit of what Leaf said, hearing your recordings improve each time. This is a great track, maybe the best one of yours I've heard. Some mix thoughts: are you mic'ing the keyboard, or running it line-in? If you could get it in stereo, and EQ out a hole for your voice, I think your sound would jump to the next level.

thank you very much... right now i've been mic'n the keyboard i wanna line-in... i don't know exactly how that'll work out... but at the moment i have no cables to do so... not really exactly sure what kinda cable i'd need for it... i'd have to check the back of my keyboard... and the scrounge up a bit more money...
(i don't exactly know what you mean when you say EQ out a hole for my voice?)

[Morbid Morgan]

Hey, thanks for the props, Morbid
And I'd much rather listen to CLayne at work than that infernal Modest Mouse stuff you keep inflicting on the department, heh.


yeah yeah yeah...a simple thanks and you have to point out my obvious lack of research. and as for modest mouse...you are a snob, and had the song appeared on songfight, you'd be dancing around the office with me. carpool at 3? hehehehe yeah I forgot how to qoute...[/quote]

[Morbid Morgan]

TO BUTT_BABY: IM NOT GOTH. DOES MY SONG REALLY SOUND GOTH?

[deshead]

right now i've been mic'n the keyboard i wanna line-in... i don't know exactly how that'll work out... but at the moment i have no cables to do so...

You might also try close-mic'ing the keyboard speaker, with the keyboard volume lowered. Get the mic right up to the speaker grille (if there is one) and make sure the volume's low enough that it doesn't distort when recorded. This might not work for every keyboard part, but it can give you a much tighter sound that's easier to place in a mix.

(i don't exactly know what you mean when you say EQ out a hole for my voice?)

Your voice produces a lot of the same frequencies as a piano. To make sure your vocals "sit in the mix" properly, it's often helpful to reduce the volume of those frequencies on the piano track, so there's less competition between the two parts.

If you want to read more, this is a pretty good primer: http://www.bluebearsound.com/articles/mixing101.htm

[j$]

TO BUTT_BABY: IM NOT GOTH.

To butt in: Oh yes you are!

[/panto season]

j$

[thehipcola]

alright, here's a few more I managed to scrape up...

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Morbid Morgan
I like the bass line on this track. The voice needs a little rolloff action..
The constant kick seems to be a copout rythmically..something you'd use to track with but not keep through almost the whole song. I keep waiting for the drummer to come bustin' in with his sticks flying.. It's a nice moody piece, I think the vocalist (morgan?) needs to belt it out a bit more..seems like you were playing it safe. Let it rip.

Mix is pretty neat and clean, well balanced... Not bad.

Gareth Duncan
This seems a bit Lynard Skynardish...'nuff said. Nah, just kidding. It is 70's Southern rock, and because of that I'm probably being a bit biased...I like the full band sound...like where you were going with backing vox.
I guess it doesn't grab or wow me, but it's got that rawk thang goin on. OK.

Glenn Case
Nice chords. Like, really nice...especially in the chorus. Wow. I'm not big on guy 'n guitar stuff, but this one works. And it works well. Sweet, Glenn!

C. Layne
The steel drummy intro threw me...but I like the mellow tropical vibe it gives...I like your voice's tonality..but imo it needs more ooooooomph. Maybe a little dynamics processing, or even a bit of fader riding. As usual, your tune is underheld by a nice groove. I found the changes to be a little abrupt...some creative use of verbs and such might make them flow better...(if that's something you agree with...) Love the tone of the guitar solo...wow. All in all, a very nice song that I'd change very little, maybe just some polish.

Ants (Invisible)
This is pretty cool...too bad it's like only a vignette of a song...this smacks of an era of writing that has passed us by. Not sure which one, it just resonates with me. Great chords..the 6 that you used...

Points for Trying
Your voice has great, great character. The 1987 chorus guitar is the detractor here...lose that cheap sounding f-ect and this song would be much better. Tighten up the programming and really work the sound of your voice..it smacks of the greats! Reminiscent of the Ghandarva's..
I hear big things in your SF future...looking forward to more. Ok...the clipping is bad. And maybe some judicious editing might have served the track well..but I wanna like it. ON the strength of your voice's character I will say I like this tune. Sort of...

ok...the third installment of the hipcola's gigareview pak coming up after some food...

[RedSkyHawk]

it sounds like a you wrote an Art of Noise tune, gave her the mix, and she recorded her vocals on top.

Man that is the most amazingly accurate thing to say about my tune. And a compliment too. AON is the thing that got me into computer music. So for my music to be assimilated to theirs is a bit of life realization. You are right on for what the process was. Voice and words are always an afterthought in my music. Maybe less so this time around. But enough so for my track not to cut it as a legitimate song for all its sophistication. I wish there would be such a thing as SountrackFight! I am not giving up on songwriting though...
Thanks for the comment.

[tonetripper]

Art of Noise ruled the world at one point. Still got a soft spot for them. I think it's a bit of a stretch the comparison myself but one I can sort of acknowledge. (eensy teensy hairs of acknowledgement)..... cough...... cough..... pass some more of that whiskey Butt.......

[thehipcola]

alright then...my last installment...man, reviewing is a task now that we're back to 2 fights, isn't it?
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R. Mosquito
This has great feel..too bad teh vox are not more stand-outish...hard to tell what you are singing. The high-hats are awesome! The mix could use a bit more dynamic manipulation, to help the music move. Having said all that...this track is catchy and fun. Good work.

The Cow Exchange
This song has the seed of a hook. But it's too pop-rockish for me. Kinda Spin Doctors-ish for me. I found the various instruments didn't coheeeze well... The sound of the vox was the best part of this track, and the rest of it didn't support them well. IN this tune you have the great voice of Johnny Everysinger. Good but forgettable. I did appreciate the quirky changes, but they seemed like they were used to draw the listener away from what is a mediocre song. Not the best CE I've heard. But that said, better than some of the stuff in this fight for sure.

PipeFist
Forgive me...but this has to be the worst drum programming I've ever heard. I question what you are trying to achieve here, 'cuz your vox sound nice..the guitar ain't bad..so what happened? Without knowing what you intended, all I'm left with is my own impression, and it isn't good. Either you have it but forgot to bring it, or I'm not pickin' up your signal. Which is completely possible... so for me, meh.

RedSkyHawk feat. Jill Bari
The tinkly back beat of cymbals/bells/hats is distracting in the verses..I think it(they) could use a ride down the fader highway... Nice chord progression. I like the resolve into the verse pattern from the chorus...especially the flutey lead yer playin...very nice. The heavy guitar into the chorusy stuff is a bit cliche..but it fits... nice song. nice mix. Quite moody...

Children of the Devil
...sigh....silliness in songwriting...why not be silly AND try to make it sound good...I know..it's crazy. I'm crazy. They call me Van Guard.

Except After C
it's all good...get yourself some other voices, like keys, bass, drums, kazoo...and get on it. This is the guy'n'guitar I don't like..it's so quiet I have to strain to make it out, and after all that effort, determine that it wasn't so good. I'm cool widdat yo, I started the same way, hesitant and tentative into my mic into my 4 track... So here's my 2 cents..BUST OUT DUDE!!!! MAKE SOME NOISE AND BE HEARD!!! I'm sure you can and want to...so just do it. I'll be lookin' for you outside after the fight....

Me$$iah
This mix is really empty and hollow...that bass slide at the beginning set you up to fail, cuz that bass tone never reappears. This wouldn't be so bad if it wasn't for the freaking vocals...I'll restrain from harpin' here, but man oh man...I'm not down with silly irreverant entries..I guess because so many people are insecure, they feel that they need to be funny or something.... NOw...that said..I liked the guitar solo..nicely done. The song isn't bad, but it's pretty standard issue. I wouldn't play it again.
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My apologies if there was a negative tone to these last reviews...I'm a cranky bitch right now. Too much silliness, not enough good songness.

Glenn Case, CLayne, Fourty4, R. Mosquito, and Hedefine..you all made my list of fav's for different reasons. My vote is gonna go to...Glenn Case for just great songwriting in general. Thanks for the tunes!

[HeuristicsInc]

awaa.
these are late too.
so, just some favorite tracks:
1: clayne, fourty4, sober, hdefine, mosquito, jami, cowex, glenn
2: pipefist, children, redsky, except, pft, gareth, poorjune, ants
-bill

[Gemini6Ice]

I didn't get to listen to the songs early enough to have voted, but I really dig your "I Hope You're Okay," R. Mosquito. It earns my (now useless) vote. So add 1 to your score.

[Leaf]

We need more Butt_baby reviews.... splits my gut...

[Plat]

I found these unposted reviews sitting on my hard drive, and although they're incomplete, I suppose it's better to post some of them than to hold back them all. Sorry to the 4 or so artists I couldn't find words for at the time.


Ants - Congrats, one of the first songs under a minute that I actually want to hear more of. The vocal texture is great, though I couldn't make all the words. The instrumentation sounds skillful too, save the sparse intro. If you can keep it interesting for another 1+ minutes, you've got my ears.

Children of the devil - Crazy instrumentation. I like the brass action mingling with the other stranger sounds (a sort of bell/pipe-ish sound, and something that sounds like an old MacOS system alert sound). Not a huge fan of the singing, though something more on-pitch might stray from the feel of this. The rapping seemed sloppy at parts (not that I can rap), but after the third listen it just seems to flow. Bonus points for silly lyrics about trees and furniture.

C. Layne - Great harmonies and (hawaiian?) guitar solo, I like the tropical feel of this, between these and the steel drums. A little quiet, but that's the easiest thing to fix. Probably not something I'd listen to a full album of, but as a single track of this feel, very cool.

Deshead - Love the chorus hook, vocals and harmonies. Very easy on the ears. Hope your back-catalog has more gems like this.

DJ BrownStar + Baloon Knot Collective - Is this Wreckdom by another name? Definitely a unique tribal feel to it. I don't get the title's connection, but maybe you're being sneaky. I'll bet on sneaky. Kind of long, and not something I'd otherwise listen to. If it weren't for some of the really super crazy voices bouncing into the mix above the chanting, I'd take it more seriously. As it is, I'm not quite sure how I'm expected to react.

Except After C - Relaxing and quiet. It's hard for me to make boy+guitar songs sound engaging like this one does, so I salute you for that.

Fourty4 - Strange compression choices. Seems like the guitar and kick/snare levels are way high. It's cool how the song changes intensity, but with the distortion and varying volume levels, it comes across rather irritating. Couldn't find a hook.

Gareth Duncan - Feelin' the groove. Reminds me of Lenny Kravitz for some reason. Great job on the high notes and harmonies. Very retro feel.

Glenn Case - Very laid back, relaxed. So weird, I'm not usually a boy+guitar aficionado, but you and Except really evoked something from me. Must be my crumby mood. The two guitar tracks sound awesome together, great takes. I thought it was just a stereo-mic'd guitar for quite a while.

Morbid Morgan - Wow. When I read the name "Morbid Morgan", I was expecting some rough goth recording. This is incredible, I love your voice, vibrato and all. I'm not a huge fan of the backing instruments, save the guitar parts; they seem to repetitive and "normal". But that voice, wow. It's easy to block out the rest.

My apologies for the late reviews. And the short reviews. But mostly the reviews. Hope you're okay.

[Me$$iah]

heh
One of my very few fights, and Im one of the few to get no extra review..not that I mind, sheesh these were ages ago.

tho way to go Plat for reviewing these tunes after so long, now that is impressive