Take two. Hell, take the whole lot. (double take reviews)
Posted: Tue Mar 02, 2010 2:42 pm
This is a review thread.
Because we need more positivity in our lives and less negativity, I will write nothing but positive reviews. It is up to the reader to determine the level of sincerity.
Berkeley Social Scene: These collaborations are always fun to listen to. A few fun turns of phrase, and a great arrangement which turns the common bluegrass formula on its ear. I love the mandolin, especially how it isn't made the central focus of the song like in most mandolin-using tracks. Song Fight! needs more bluegrass like this. My only complaint would be that the vocals are mixed a bit too thin, but that's turning into a signature sound for you. (vote)
BLT and the Hoblit: Individually you guys are always fun to listen to, and when you come together it causes a funness singularity. Is funness a word? I don't think it is. It should be. Anyway. There's a lot of musical variation in here for something which is at its core just two chords over and over again. Fun lyrics, great little harmonica break, and some great-sounding guitar and bass lines. (vote)
Chopped Liver Meat God: While the instrumental parts are a bit long and repetitive for my tastes, it's a pretty good musical setup for the rest of the song. The vocals need to be brought forward a little and sung more confidently (regardless of the subject matter), but there's the basis of a very good song here.
Dale Chase: I'm not normally a fan of the sorts of rap that get submitted here, but this is pretty good. You have good lyrical rhythm and decent production, and the music bed is pretty original, although it does use that Biz Markie sample way too much, and could also use a bit more variety in the musical arrangement. (vote)
Flvvvxm Florvm: This was obviously fun to work on. Really, having fun while making music is what this site is ultimately about, and I think you have captured the spirit of classic Song Fight!. The production could be a bit better especially as far as the mix is concerned, and that abrupt fadeout at the end is a bit of a letdown, but this is at least a track that makes no pretenses.
Jonathan Mann: I love it, an epic ballad, about one of the original epic myths, about the first recorded catastrophic double take in history. I really wish you had a better-sounding drum setup because they detract from what is otherwise a fun track (and there's a bit of clipping in the mix), but the song is solidly-constructed and I can't help but love that you've done a song about Orpheus and Eurydice. Your songs always manage to be incredibly nerdy without making it obviously nerdy. (vote)
Ross Durand: As far as guy-and-guitar songs go, yours are generally the better ones, and you're always improving with every song I hear. Your vocal delivery seems a bit slurred and is a little pitchy in spots, but it actually works pretty well for this song anyway. It's a bit short, though. But every moment of it is vital to the song, so that might not be a bad thing. (vote)
Rycehat: Heh, this is a song I can relate to pretty well. I think we've all known someone like this, who was the diva in high school but became just as ugly on the outside as she was on the inside. Mine was named Gina, rather than Rachael. For a song like this it doesn't matter so much that the production is sloppy, since it's just a lot of fun and clearly cathartic.
Shawn Loveless: This would be a bit easier to listen to with better mixing and EQing, and a limiter on the microphone. But it also makes me think of a lonely blues singer in the back of an empty bar, performing to a nonexistent crowd aside from the broken old man who is slowly mulling over the cheapest beer in the house. He doesn't like that beer, but it's all he can afford after the alimony payments. His tears add flavor.
Sockpuppet: This started out as a Thom Yorkey thing but as usual I couldn't get the vocals quite right for that, and the cello track sort of evolved into a Jami Sieber thing. The lyrics are pretty much just stream-of-consciousness rambling about the end of the world due to us ignoring the warning signs of global warming. I'm more or less happy with the track, although I need to go back and EQ and mix it properly. I am slightly surprised that for how much as I hated being forced to learn the cello as a kid, I absolutely love playing it as an adult.
State Shirt and Glenn Case: I was disappointed when I heard State Shirt's original backing track, because it was obviously a great basis for a song, and I was hoping that if anyone handed my ass to me in this week's fight it would be State Shirt. Glenn Case has made this possible. I think you guys should collaborate more often - if this is what you guys can unexpectedly pull off at the last minute, what would you do with some actual time and preparation? (vote)
Stucco Lobster Breadbox: It's been a while since I've heard a song that was performed on some cheap Casio. Like Flxxxvm Florvm, this also pretty much sums up classic Song Fight!. A fun track that is kept mercifully short.
The Weakest Suit: My biggest pet peeve with drum machine tracks is when people try to use them to do fills, especially when trying to back an acoustic guitar. I feel like this track would work a lot better if you just dropped the drum machine and just banged on your guitar's body as a sort of hand drum. Still, the song itself is pretty bouncy and fun. Maybe a bit long though.
WTFBBS: I am of course a fan of glitchy quasi-symphonic things. I'm not sure what this has to do with the title but I'll assume it was inspired by it in some way. That creepy sound in the background that sounds like you repeatedly compressed some random noise as an 8kbps RealAudio clip and then added a noise gate to it is a bit disturbing. How did you do that? This could use a bit more variation and a more proper ending.
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Banditt: I am glad you have decided to submit a rap song, as that is a severely underrepresented genre that has a lot of room for rhythmic and musical exploration. The production values are wonderful, with your crisp vocals over a professional-sounding backing track that is obviously of your own composition, as evidenced by how well your words and the music flow together. Good job.
Doug Funnie: I am glad you have decided to grace us with your presence, as this is simply the most phenomenal rap track I have ever heard. The stylistic decision to have overpowering kick drums and clipped vocals does nothing but bring the listener in, and the double-tracked (or is that double-taked?) vocals are as tight as something that is extremely closely or densely packed together, with perfect rhythm and pitch. And, of course, rap is a severely underrepresented genre, so I am glad to hear more explorations along these lines.
Maxo: This song is incredibly brilliant! I love how you have deconstructed the title into the premise that you are trying to play a song and, despite any indication of a mistake, use a swear word to indicate that you have, in fact, messed up, and need to do another take. The instrumentation is not jarring at all, and the joke only gets funnier every time it's repeated. You truly deserve every single vote that is coming your way.
RE:FLEKT: I am a fan of ambient music, so I was very interested in your introduction. Then when the "I try" came in, I discovered that to my joy and merriment that this is another rap track! It's amazing how many excellent, amazing rappers have decided to come out of the woodwork for this week and this week alone, especially considering how absolutely no rap clichés have been invoked in their composition or production.
Remus and Romulus: It is a simply brilliant idea to take completely unrelated chord structures and fuse them together in a way which makes something that is pleasing to the ear and totally unique in all of musical history. The overly-straining vocal delivery evokes the sense of pain and frustration that you are attempting to convey to the listener, and the non-stop dissonance is a biting invective about the conflicts that we all must face in everyday life, as well as the conflicts between id, ego, and superego, leading to our modern-day ennui. I believe you have created an entirely new genre of music which would make Freud and Jung both battle to the death for the right to claim it as representative of their respective philosophies.
Rone Rivendale: Over the years you have improved to a ridiculous degree with your music. You obviously now know how to handle a microphone and a drum machine, and your lyrics show a grasp of rhythmic structure and vocal delivery that is unprecedented in the independent music scene. Between this and your wrestling videos, how do you ever find the time to do anything less vital, such as eating and breathing? I am certain that your talents are proof that you have ascended beyond such triflingly mundane affairs of mortals.
