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Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Pigfarmer Jr
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̶S̶t̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶O̶d̶d̶ ̶U̶n̶u̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶r̶d̶ (Freak Flag Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Peculiar turn of phrase, don't you think? Let's get some reviews in, shall we?
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Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

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Post by Lunkhead »

Songs posted! Thanks again for the art and review thread.
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Post by jb »

Third Cat
  • I like the delay on the vocal.
  • Chorus is too short.
  • You get into a groove on the second verse, and the performance is like 2x better than the first verse/chorus.
  • Short as it is, I really like that chorus melody and arrangement a lot. So I wish there was more of it. Another couplet would have been a great improvement.
Pigfarmer Jr
  • I like the heavy guitar, though when the full arrangement kicks in it seems to get a lot thinner.
  • I really don't know why you have the snare in stereo.
  • I like the hat break a lot, though I wish it dropped into something more impactful.
  • I guess I like the effect of going up in half steps to mimic "raising" the flag, but it kind of winds up meh.
Fussy Britches
  • I'm listening in nice headphones, so the difference between this track and the rest of the field is significant. I would have been shocked if that hadn't been the case. So, do you get credit for living up to your credentials? ;) Yeah, of course you freaking do. In Song Fight you don't get credit for only having one leg, but you get hella credit for having 8 legs. (of course, if you suck with 8 legs you get EXTRA DEMERITS.)
  • I think the verse is too complicated, though it is at least a contrast from the drawn-out lines and melismas of the chorus.
  • I like the chorus a lot, sonically. Nice melody and thickness, and I wonder if your voice suffered from singing that way... or is it an effect that gets that kinda raspy thing?
  • Bridge is cool too.
  • Only thing I'd tweak is making that verse arrangement more purposeful, maybe?
  • It's all cool. Nice job, natch.
Dimetrodon
  • Your panning decisions are making my eyes cross.
  • Levels are wrong so the instruments are burying the vocals and I can't make them out.
  • I hate that electric guitar tone.
  • I feel like this would have come across a lot better if you were screaming the words as if you had my neck in your hands and were shaking back and forth. Then I woulda done a self-defense move to break the hold and dive for the high-mid EQ knob on that guitar track
Sockpuppet
  • Need EQ on that cello "bass" track to make the notes more defined. Keep the reverb though.
  • It's a little Soul Coughing eh? I like the parade of scenarios, the lyrics are nicely evocative.
  • A couple more takes would have helped in spots to get the vocal rhythms more exact. I know you threw this together last minute-- ref Song Fight One-Leg Rule
Paco del Stinko
  • Dad-joke shtick! Heh.
  • Maybe bring the vox just one hair forward so I can hear them just one smidge better.
  • I like the tail-off end of that first section, that's pretty cool.
  • Have you ever done a collab with Roymond? I mean, your musical sensibilities are in sync.
  • Those backing vocals and harmonies flash me back to Zappa. It's a groovy little number.
  • Oh I like the synth bass thing.
  • This track is all about the musical textures and ear candy I think. That fake kazoo solo thing is pretty rad too.
  • I love the attitude of the lyrics. Look at me as I wave my freak flag high!
  • There's a group in Atlanta called the Seed n' Feed Marching Abominable. They're basically an amateur marching band, but that doesn't capture their grandeur. This song reminds me of them.


Balance Lost
  • I like the little synthy note at the start.
  • Sections at the start are a little disjointed though.
  • I wish the two vocal lines were more precisely performed together.
  • Feels super 80's which is kind of cool.
  • Oh I like that synth bass that pops in, and it works well with the backing synths and guitar.
  • I think the chorus is nice.
  • I kinda wish you'd just drive your points in the arrangement more firmly. "A future that holds the unknown". Really nail that.
  • The fade-out is a bit clunky, seems like stuff just stops and gets softer before the track actually fades out? Kinda weird but I'm listening critically, otherwise nobody'd care.
Unionvillains
  • Nothin' wrong with a good ol' fashioned lo-fi guitar and vocal songfighting.
  • Probably should've had the singer closer to the mic than she was, so she's more over the guitar than beside it.
  • I like the song, the rhythm-guitar hooks with the step-wise chord shifting are interesting enough.
  • I think this recording would have really KILLED if it was a roomful of people all singing either the whole thing or even just the chorus, and clapping on 2 and 4.
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Post by fluffy »

My first time entering in nearly 3 years, so I figure I should also review for the first time in who knows how long. Order is just what the front page shuffle gave me.

Dimetrodon

I can't really make out the vocals because they're so far back in the mix. The guitars are also really messy. Are the lyrics about saying that people don't need to be visibly queer? Or is it an indictment against folks who want to be an individual, just like everyone else? Either way I'm not a fan of the message.

Third Cat

I like the overall sound design on this, nice and refreshing to hear something that isn't just typical rock guitar + vocals these days. Lyrics seem a bit muddy to me and could use a bit of midrange boost I think. Love the chord progression and the song being from the perspective of someone who doesn't feel like they fit in.

Balance Lost

Yay, something in 6/8! I'm always a sucker for non-4/4 time signatures. I'm not a fan of the vocal doubling. The lyrics are weirdly optimistic to me. On the whole I like the song.

Unionvillains

Turn up the vocals please! Also maybe pan the guitar to one side and the vocals to the other, to give them a bit more separation. Great chord progression and phrasing. I can't understand a thing you're singing except "synergy."

John Benjamin Band

Oh dang you're always so good at mixing and singing clearly and stuff. I feel like the intro drags on a little long but when the song kicks in it gets pretty great. The lyrics seem pretty meaningful to me, too — eff the dinosaurs with their outdated attitudes towards society and how things are changing. Life is a moving target, embrace it. Ending feels really abrupt though.

Pigfarmer Jr

Reasonably good mix on this, and I like the contrast between the various sections. Everything feels really flat to me though, especially the drums. The song feels really short. Not necessarily a bad thing.

Fussy Britches

Great production on this relatively straightforward rock track that has just enough variation in it to keep my ear interested. I like the lyrics, yeah you can fly whatever flag you want and are comfortable with. And you can push things too but it's not necessary. Find your own way and do what feels right.

Paco del Stinko

Fun chord progression, decent straightforward production, I should read the lyrics to figure out what you're singing. The clean guitar sounds a bit out-of-tune to me.

jb wrote:
Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:47 am
Sockpuppet
  • Need EQ on that cello "bass" track to make the notes more defined. Keep the reverb though.
  • It's a little Soul Coughing eh? I like the parade of scenarios, the lyrics are nicely evocative.
  • A couple more takes would have helped in spots to get the vocal rhythms more exact. I know you threw this together last minute-- ref Song Fight One-Leg Rule
That's actually an upright bass loop from the Logic loops library, but I did have trouble with EQing it all the same. And I thought about fixing the vocal timing using flextime or whatever but I thought I'd try for a more natural delivery for once. I actually did an embarrassingly large number of takes on this and couldn't get it quite right.

But yeah in recent years I've been mostly doing instrumental shit for video games and I'm really rusty at this kind of songwriting. Gotta get back into it.
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Post by jb »

Ha, shows how knowing just a little about someone's process causes one to make incorrect assumptions.

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Post by lichenthroat »

fluffy wrote:
Thu Jun 13, 2019 11:24 am
Dimetrodon
I can't really make out the vocals because they're so far back in the mix. The guitars are also really messy. Are the lyrics about saying that people don't need to be visibly queer? Or is it an indictment against folks who want to be an individual, just like everyone else? Either way I'm not a fan of the message.
I was definitely not trying to make any statement regarding visible queerness. I consciously avoided discussion of sexuality to prevent such an association from being made; apparently this was insufficiently clear, so I apologize.

What I was trying to address in the lyrics is the concept that conforming to an ideal of nonconformity is significantly different from doing something that is genuinely culturally transformative. My intent was to illustrate this point through the opening references to biker gangs and punkers, which are two groups that perceive themselves as individualists, but who tend to be quite orthodox members, both in outlook and appearance, of their own communities, which tend to be homogeneous. The reference to Leon Czolgosz, who shot William McKinley to demonstrate his credibility to the anarchist community (rather than out of much of a philosophical devotion to the cause of anarchism), was intended to illustrate the potential dangers of desire for this kind of conformity; the result of this incident was Czolgosz’s own execution, followed by a long-lasting government crackdown on the community he had been trying to impress.

During recording, we changed the lyrics a little to make the phrasing less awkward, and I didn’t realize until after I had submitted the song that we had unintentionally introduced ambiguity into the interpretation. In particular, the chorus ended up appearing to be a lot more anti-weirdness than I had in mind; the intended idea was more that weirdness, independent of context, is neither inherently desirable nor undesirable.

The closing reference to Flannery O’Connor’s short story “Revelation,” which ends with the fairly bigoted narrator having a vision of all the social outcasts she looks down upon preceding her into Heaven, was intended to summarize one of the main themes of the lyrics: that the genuinely marginalized people who have been rejected by various human communities are undeserving of such treatment and are likely, in fact, to be more morally worthy than members of the communities who have rejected them.
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Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

jb wrote:
Thu Jun 13, 2019 9:47 am
Pigfarmer Jr
  • I like the heavy guitar, though when the full arrangement kicks in it seems to get a lot thinner.
  • I really don't know why you have the snare in stereo.
  • I like the hat break a lot, though I wish it dropped into something more impactful.
  • I guess I like the effect of going up in half steps to mimic "raising" the flag, but it kind of winds up meh.
The hat break was kind of a compromise. I couldn't get the "If 6 was 9" drum feel correct in the limited time I had for the drums. (Mostly due to the timing of the guitars in the break.) So I ended up going for a War Pigs feel instead.

The half step raise was originally suppose to mimic the intro riff from "The Wind Cries Mary" but the timing got mussed up a couple of times and I ended up just rocking it out.

The lyric is just a reworking of those in "If 6 wad 9" and the music is basically a bad rip off of Hendrix, although I did intentionally try to make it my own (to the point that it lost some of it's shine, imo.) In other words, this was kind of a tribute to Jimi Hendrix (my favorite freak.) All that being said, it's sticking in my ears today after listening again so apparently I like it at least subconsciously.
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Post by vowlvom »

Mildly tipsy reviews between Nur Ein mixes! I listened a couple of times when they were posted and now listening again as I write.

Balance Lost - love the music on this one, there are a load of interesting jangly guitar layers that would put this musically on the Balance Lost top tier for me. Vocally I don't think it's necessarily your strongest, there are a few bits of slightly sloppy layering that slightly bugged on me on a hyper-critical level. Lyrics are pretty great, I've noticed that I'm more likely to be won over by a killer couplet or two than the message of the lyric as a whole, and as such I'm very much here for "I've got just as much right / to piss in this alleyway". My favourite from this fight, probably no surprise as I'm a long-time fan, but good to hear you keeping up the high standards!

Dimetrodon - I have to agree with jb that the (real) guitar tone is horrible, and there are various other (intentional or unintentional) decisions here that I wouldn't have made in a million years. And yet! There's something I really like about this, especially the bits where the clean (fake?) guitars and the distorted (real?) ones interact. It feels like a lost b-side from some weirdo post-punk band and I'm into it! I'm glad you posted the extra explanation for the lyric, I enjoy the writing as always but I don't think the message you were going for fully comes across without the extra context.

Fussy Britches - I assume this is some other combination of Gert members? The verse sounds like Smalltown Mike, but my usual complaints about the melody hitting the same two notes over and over are slightly less bothersome than usual here (again, this is only a personal issue - you have a style and are totally justified in sticking to it, it seems to work for most people better than it does me). The chorus is super impressive all-out rock. I have some genre bias but I think I might have to vote for this anyway because it's so well done.

John Benjamin Band - really anthemic. I have some mixed feelings about the mix - there are some phasey sounds in the guitar that are probably intentional but don't totally work for me (again a personal thing, I tend to enjoy more natural guitar tones a little more I think) but they do sound well-suited to the track. The vocals seem very clean in contrast to the fuzzed out guitars and bass which again is probably a conscious decision but I feel like it leaves the vocals very disconnected from the music in a way that doesn't totally work for me. Still one of my favourites from this fight though and a definite vote.

Paco Del Stinko - I totally forgot about the optional criteria until your intro, haha. Following on from comments on guitar tone in the Dimetrodon / JB comments, yours are always amazing and this song is no exception. I feel like it's been a few Paco songs since I've run into a melody that has really caught my attention though and this is in that same category. I like the song on the whole but it doesn't really stick in my head. The synth bass stuff is really abrasive, but in a very enjoyable way, and that (pitch-shifted?) guitar solo is absolutely filthy. Lyrics are mostly fine with a few killer lines, I absolutely love "I'm an open pack of Skittles"!

Pigfarmer Jr - I wouldn't have picked up on the Hendrix inspiration, I'm such a bad appreciator of Classic Rock. This is definitely working at the extreme end of my retro-rock genre bias but I can appreciate the solid guitar work and I second the love for those drum fills. Not your best vocal in terms of timing, although it's not too bad either.

Sockpuppet - the bass definitely feels like it could be a bit punchier but once the guitars come in I really like the sound of this. I like your laid-back melodic semi-rapped vocals most of the time although the lines that shake up the timing (it's just polite / mmm yeah!) don't feel like they quite pay off, for reasons I'm struggling to articulate. This really stands out from the pack of songs this week though and it made me smile, so another vote I think.

Third Cat - love that electro-intro and generally really loving your synthwork here. Some of your vocals are kinda loose rhythmically, especially in the first verse, which I think is possibly intentional but doesn't fully work for me - I like the second verse onwards a lot more where it feels like you've warmed up a bit. Chorus has a strong melody that sticks in my head, and there are so many cool production touches here, I think I'm gonna vote for this one too.

Unionvillains - I can't get past the recording on this one really. I don't mind a solid one-take recording but the vocals really fade into the background here and I struggle to focus on the melody or lyrics. It's clear that you've got some good songwriting skills, I like the bits where the guitar rhythm changes up, and I can hear enough of your vocal to hear that you've got a good voice, but you really need to position the mic so that we can hear your voice better!

Interesting pack of songs, I wasn't really a fan of this title but I like the places you all took it!
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Post by furrypedro »

Sockpuppet: The beat starts kinda cool but it doesn't really go anywhere so I lose interest after a while. I'm gonna make a wild assumption here that this is fairly tongue-in-cheek, and based on that assumption it's hard to criticise the goofier lyrics (content warnings, etc.) as I feel like goofy is what you may have been going for. So where do you get these reflective rubbers from anyway? Sometimes the mirror room just isn't Patrick Bateman enough for me.

Dimetrodon: There are a few moments where I feel this is gonna be badass but it seems like it slightly overstretches you, by which I mean the riffs are cool, the acoustic guitar riff for example, but it's just a bit too quick to sit in the rhythm properly. Possibly a case of needing another week to practice before recording, an issue I understand all too well. EQ-fight this isn't, but the low end on that acoustic rhythm guitar needs to go cos it makes the mix muddy as fuck. Also a louder, clearer vocal might make this feel more focused. I feel like this has the building blocks of a good song, but this version isn't the final one. I do think these are amongst the most interesting lyrics in the bunch. Not sure how Fluff could read an anti-queer message into it when there's no particular reference to queerness and there is a concrete reference to conforming punkers, etc. I *am* a fan of the lyrics and I feel in these times of hyper-individualism the conversation about what being individual (or trying to be) really means, and what value it has, is an interesting one that should continue.

JBB: I've listened to this 3 or 4 times now (not in a row, hence being unable to remember how many), and it's frightfully good, though I agree with the "too long" comments from above. It has plenty of interesting sections but it feels like it should be a kind of in-and-out-in-3-minutes-power-pop kind of song. Weirdly, when it does end I'm thinking "where did the song go?". It just deflates rapidly. Not even a shitty fade-out a la Balance Lost. But anyway, I dig it. It reminds me of Turnover, I did get plenty of mileage out of there Peripheral Vision album and this is satisfying in a similar way.

Stacko Del Pinko: It wouldn't be a Paco song without a mention of nipples (right?) I'm reading this as a lampoon of kale-eating hiptsters and I love it for that reason. The solo is sick, and I like the bit where it breaks and the shimmering guitar echoes wibblingly into the distance.

Union Villains: This is a pretty nice song. Maybe I'm being lazy but I can't quite make out the words as the vocals are a bit lower than the guitar and there are no lyrics in the lyric thread. There is potential worth building on here.

Fussy Britches: This stands out for it's musicianship and structural twists. The half-time is very cool, and that jagged solo guitar riff leading into it has an awesome sound. The goodies here definitely lie in the rocking and the mathing. There's nothing in the lyrics that would turn me against it but they're oblique enough that I can't take anything from it, hold up...I'm gonna headphone it to take a closer listen. Nah, didn't really add much, in fact listening more closely seems to reveal some slight vocal timing issues but I'm nit-picking. Thanks for ending on the coolest bit.

Third Cat: The intro was really cool. Instrumentally it goes in lots of interesting directions and the vocal melodies are strong. I feel like the delivery is missing something, I hate saying that, sorry. The changes between sections are good, feels like a gear change when the chorus kicks in. Plenty to like here, and it takes a few listens to reveal some hidden goodies which is cool.

Balance Lost: This is me. I got halfway through before realising it was in 6/4. Smart. I remember getting similar comments re: vocal doubling before, most notably in the TMK Kim Deal entry, which had a pretty shit vocal performance and I've taken note since. This time, I've listened again, and while I acknowledge it's not Taylor Swift-perfect, and I probably just about had time for another couple of takes, I'm gonna stand by my performance on this occasion. I don't feel distracted by whatever looseness there is between the doubling and I've definitely heard professional recordings which were looser. The track also fulfills 3 important criteria for me; 1) It had an idea I've wanted to do for a few years and I've finally done it. 2) I could sing it with only an acoustic guitar (so suitable campfire fodder.) 3) I'm happy enough with the results to consider it for an album release.

Thanks for the listens and comments all. Taking the time is always appreciated.
vowlvom wrote:
Sun Jun 16, 2019 11:20 am
Balance Lost ...I'm very much here for "I've got just as much right / to piss in this alleyway".
That's funny, because that was the last line I wrote of this set, I'd gotten tired of writing and I threw out the first dumb thing that came to mind that fit rhythmically. It's literally in the song only because it scans and I don't even know what it means.
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Post by vowlvom »

furrypedro wrote:
Tue Jun 18, 2019 5:27 am
I remember getting similar comments re: vocal doubling before, most notably in the TMK Kim Deal entry, which had a pretty shit vocal performance and I've taken note since. This time, I've listened again, and while I acknowledge it's not Taylor Swift-perfect, and I probably just about had time for another couple of takes, I'm gonna stand by my performance on this occasion.
Fair enough, as I said that was only an issue if I was really looking for something to pick apart. And probably only even then because I've spent the last eight weeks absolutely immersed in the painstaking editing of millions of vocal tracks and it is now the only part of music that I can hear.
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Post by thirdcatmusic »

Balance Lost - I really like the indie rock lo-fi type vibe here, really like the instrumental backing, nice guitarin', the vocals fit the style alright and I think have a good bit of personality, I am with vowlvom on the "I've got just as much right / to piss in this alleyway" line - I like that one a lot. and you saying it was a throwaway line reminds me of that classic Beatles reference where Paul McCartney said he wrote "movement you need on your shoulder" in "Hey Jude" as a placeholder and Lennon told him it was his favorite bit. Sometimes those stream of consciousness throwaway lines are the real winners. At least for me, I love that kind of thing where it's evocative but you're not really sure what it means. Well now I'm rambling like a podcast ! Overall I really liked this song instrumentally and while I didn't love the vocals, I think they work alright. Will probably be giving this one a vote.

Dimetroden - I'm really digging some of the musical choices here - especially that repeating guitar(ish?) line on the left during the verse. I would say it sounds like two songs playing at once at times, different parts don't feel very rhythmically connected. Mix / arrangement is just a bit too messy to really get into, but I like a lot of the ideas here and I like the lyrics.

Fussy Britches - This one is really impressive, great guitar riffing, strong vocal performance, drums sound good. Good mix/production. I think you pretty much nailed what you're going for. Not 100% my thing, but I enjoyed it and am very impressed by it. Definite vote.

John Benjamin Band - My favorite of the fight. Reminds me of '90s Flaming Lips (although you're a better singer than Wayne Coyne.) Really like the guitar tones and just overall vibe here. Really nice how open your verses are in contrast with the chorus. As much as I liked this on first listen (and it immediately grabbed my attention), I'm liking it even more with repeat listens. This is pretty great.

Paco Del Stinko - This is a groovy PDS song, love the little guitar lines, some funny/clever lyrics. Some great backing vocals. Pretty great groove. Killer solo, very inventive way those sounds twist together. One of my favorites of the fight (maybe just after JBB) and definitely deserving of a vote IMO. (coulda done without the U2/YouTube intro but was kinda funny the first time) I want to add one more time how cool that solo section is. I don't know exactly what I'm listening to as it happens and it makes me just want to listen to it again and again.

Pigfarmer Jr - I dig the hi-hats on your drums during the break downs and the lead guitar is pretty cool. I was getting kind of a black sabbath vibe at times. Vocals sound a little off rhythmically at times.

Sockpuppet - Some nice sounds here in the instrumental and I like the weird backing vocals quite a bit. Overall I'm not really buying into the vocals/concept too much.

Third Cat - Some sloppy vocal timing on the verse is my biggest irritation with this one, I knew it wasn't right but ran out of time and am pretty happy with the rest of it. I would have liked a better vocal on the chorus too, but the notes were too high for me and had to do some tricks / layering to get there. Needed more time or to be a better singer. That'd be nice.

Unionvillions - Vocals are buried, with this kind of simple vocals & guitar thing you really need more upfront vocals to make it work. What I can hear isn't too bad though - I hear some catchy bits in the vocals from what I can hear and the guitaring is pretty good - sounds like it has some potential.

-----

FAVORITE: John Benjamin Band

ALSO DEF VOTE: Paco Del Stinko & Fussy Britches

MAYBE VOTE: Balance Lost
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thehipcola
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Post by thehipcola »

Paco del Stinko
First Words: Love that open ringing snare in the intro.
What I dig: Overall sound and composition – fantastic. This is class PdS stuff – left turns all over the place. I imagine you love doing what you do – so good. That lead synth section is fucking awesome. LOTS to love hear. Great title take.
What I don’t: Lead vox are hard to make out/muted sounding… Some of the strummy guitars could be better defined.
Vote: yep

JBB
First Words: This sets up nicely – great sounds and excitement from the drums off the top.
What I dig: I love the contrast between the very clear vocal and it’s melody and the dirge-ish guitar work in the background… works well. The little trailing delays/verb swirlies between sections – nice detail. I really dig this… the chorus is awesome – hummy and repeat listen worthy. Great mix.
What I don’t: 1:55 I hear some possible guitar tuning/intonation stuff that grabs my ear. Don’t mind the outro but the way the music sort of collapses seems …facile?
Vote: Yep.

Dimetrodon

First Words: I’m intrigued by the intro. The crunch guitar is pretty stark when it comes in – but I’m game to listen further to see what’s gonna happen.
What I dig: I like the prog-ish sense of structure -seems decidedly unconventional and I dig that. I really dig the guitar work – acoustic especially. Nice.
What I don’t: Some drifting off the clock – timing issues here – though it’s a challenging piece to stay on track. I feel the electric guitar overtook the mix at times – vocals I’d love to have heard more clearly. My sense is that the electric gtr could have used about half as much crunch and still had that heavy impact you were going for, but fit better tonally.
Vote: Cool tune but not this time.

Balance Lost
First Words: I’m digging the tone of this right away.
What I dig: Great musicality. I like the progressions and the various bits here and there adding interest. It reminds me of the 80’s in a good way – in the vein of XTC or something.
What I don’t: The vocals, while singing a great melody, don’t always hit the mark and the doubling accentuates that. I want to hear these exact words and melody sung better. But – I really like what they’re reaching for.
Vote: Solid Maybe. – but I definitely like this tune a lot.

Third Cat
First Words: Ominous intro – cool. Sounded like a Peeping Tom track.. .but clearly not once it gets going.
What I like: The way it opens up around :42 is sweet. Transitions into the verses are quite nice. Great melody in the chorus with attendant sweet bits supporting. Sweet song.
What I don’t: I want to hear full and punchy production on this track. Aside from tone’s and mix – nothing to complain about – it’s a great song. One small quibble – while I liked the intro – it doesn’t connect with the song now that I’m through it. It’s different enough that I immediately wondered what the point was, musically speaking. Might be cool to bring it back somehow? Spitballing here…
Vote: Not this time but cool track!

Fussy Britches:
That’s Smalltown Mike, Tom Skillman (Leaf62) and myself. Thanks for the reviews and comments.. JB – the chorus vox didn’t hurt my throat…mainly because I’m a terrible singer and have made a singing career out of oversinging the absolute shit out of everything. The cords are used to the abuse now. Haha. No special effects on there – but it was about 7 tracks of vocals and harmonies which gives it a smooth, chorusing sort of vibe.

Pigfarmer Jr
First Words: Instant crunch guitar grabbing me. Love it.
What I dig: Verse rocks out awesomely. Nice! I like that crazy guitar solo thing…ha. Great and climbing up works nicely. The ending is cool too. I expected more and fired the track up again.. great sign.
What I don’t: Not sold on the chorus – I dig where you are going and it feeds back to the verse pattern nicely.. but it doesn’t hook me the way I think it could. Not sure why.
Vote: Not this time but hell yah nice work.

Sockpuppet
First Words: Cool bass groove off the top.
What I dig: Great lyrics – singing/talky thing works well for this jazzish tune. Safe word to your mother – awesome.
What I don’t: The vocals sound tentative and I wish they weren’t.
Vote: Not today.

Unionvillains

First Words: Nice chord progression.
What I like: chord work is nice – especially like the sliding chords after the word Synergy. Nice.
What I don’t: the single mic or phone recording this makes maintaining interest difficult. It’s a lovely song behind that though – and the strength of the composition kept me listening.
Vote: not today
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fluffy
Eruption
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Post by fluffy »

Glossary of terms used in my song, in alphabetical order. Since we don't have content warnings or spoiler tags I'll put this in a blockquote to make it visually distinct.
Ace: Shorthand for "asexual;" someone who doesn't feel sexual attraction to others. They may or may not have a libido, and they may or may not be willing to engage in sexual practices with others. Some asexuals do form romantic attachments, or have limited circumstances in which they can feel sexual attraction as well (although typically not to a specific person). Just like any other orientation, there is a lot of variety in what they are interested in and comfortable doing.

Bondage: An erotic, parasexual practice involving the complete domination/subjugation of one partner by another; the dominant party enjoys the feeling of control, and the submissive enjoys not having any control. Often involves being (safely) tied up and tortured in various ways. Consent, safe words, and communication both beforehand and after are key.

Bottom: Someone who typically takes a submissive position during sexual activities.

Breakfast: A meal enjoyed after a good night's sleep. In the US, stereotypically involves bacon or sausage, eggs, and pancakes.

Consent: Ensuring that all participants in an activity want to be a participant in it. This is not limited to specific physical things, but also, for example, being part of a discussion or being made to see imagery of it. There is also a concept of "statutory consent" in that living beings (people, pets, etc.) who do not have the faculties necessary to make an informed decision as to their participation are de facto unable to consent. This can be due to them being e.g. asleep, under the influence of medication, mentally-impaired, limited in personal experience (often measured by age), and so on.

Content warning: A warning about something that others might not want to see (such as erotic or disturbing visuals or descriptions/discussion thereof) for whatever reason. Usually combined with some mechanism of hiding the content from those who don't actually want to see it or making it visibly distinct enough to skip.

Coupling: Mutual masturbation; two or more people using a device or (more often) their hands to bring each other to orgasm rather than direct penetration.

Dungeon: A place where bondage and domination play can take place. Usually just someone's specially-equipped bedroom.

Fencing: A sport in which two or more people knock their swords against each other. And by "sword" I mean "penis."

Furry: Someone who is part of the furry fandom; there is a stereotype that this is all about sex while wearing animal costumes but there is actually a wide variety of ways in which people participate. The furry fandom is a predominantly-queer space filled with people who have had to throw away and rebuild their identities as part of their acts of rebellious self-discovery, and much of that identity revolves around what could be, rather than what is.

Horny: Someone who is in need of sexual release.

Humiliation: Some people find their intimate practices to be very personal, and would be very embarrassing if it became widely-known. Some people find the perceived embarrassment itself incredibly gratifying.

Itch: A physical sensation of needing to be scratched or rubbed; also used metaphorically as a general urge.

Kinky: Someone who is very much into exploring different forms of physical intimacy, often involving props, body modification, and exploring different positions.

Lad: Someone identifying as male and generally perceived as being fairly young.

Leather: A material derived from the skin of an animal, usually cow, which is often associated with articles of clothing used during BDSM. As it's animal-derived, some folks prefer to use artificial/simulated versions of it.

Legal: Above the age of consent, and able to give consent.

Mother: Literally, the person who gestated and/or raised someone. Figuratively, someone who takes a figurehead role within a group, possibly in the form of domination play but also possibly in the form of keeping a social circle together or establishing the rules and mores of a close-knit, found-family community.

Murr: A thing that furries stereotypically say while aroused. Often written "mrr."

Normie: Someone who is "vanilla," i.e. only into very mainstream ideas of sex, sexuality, and partnership. All y'all, apparently.

Peg: Wearing a prosthetic phallus and using it to anally penetrate someone, typically male-identified.

Rubber: Both a euphemism for a prophylactic (which is usually made of some form of latex or similar material), and a material often used to cover various body parts in a form-fitting way. Some people very deeply appreciate that aesthetic, especially appreciating the smooth, shiny texture.

Safeword: A phrase used before initiating an activity where words such as "stop" or "ouch" are ambiguous, due to possibly being part of a roleplayed scenario or being part of the erotic nature of the activity. This is agreed upon by all partners beforehand so that if someone is feeling uncomfortable or needs to cease the activity, all who hear it will immediately know to stop. Ideally it is a word which will not normally come up during the activity, such as "lemon" or "asparagus," although in the case of erotic chef roleplay two choices will obviously not be suitable.

Shiny: Highly reflective of light.

Social: Shorthand for social media; Twitter, Tumblr, Facebook, that sort of thing. More broadly, Internet sites where everyone you know can see a thing and where it remains accessible in relative perpetuity.

Strap-on: A prosthetic phallus, usually held in place by a belt around the wearer's waist.

Switch: Someone who alternates between being a top and a bottom.

Top: Someone who typically takes a dominant position during sexual activities.

Trans: Identifying with a gender other than what they were assigned at birth. An adjective, which typically modifies a further specification of what their identity is, rather than their external assignment; for example, "trans girl" refers to someone who was born with a penis but identifies as female or feminine.

Yuck: A thing you're not supposed to say about someone else's "yum" (a thing they particularly enjoy) although there are certain things that most would agree absolutely are a yuck (e.g. incest, bestiality, pedophilia, and situations where consent cannot be established).
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lichenthroat
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Re: ̶S̶t̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶O̶d̶d̶ ̶U̶n̶u̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶r̶d̶ (Freak Flag Reviews)

Post by lichenthroat »

Balance Lost—I love the opening. The echo/reverb/delay/whatever-it-is on the vocal fits very well with the song. This is a good song—probably my favorite of yours that I’ve heard. Vote.

Dimetrodon (me)—Well, apparently I don’t really know how to record live instruments. This is David singing and playing bass, electric guitar, and acoustic guitar, with robo-drums programmed by me. The electric guitar tone sounded okay on the system I mixed on, but I listened to it later on a different system, where it sounded unpleasantly shrill. I think that this mix isn’t suited for any sort of treble boost. (How are you supposed to record electric guitar, anyway? We just put the microphone next to the amp.) I also wish I would have brought the vocal up higher. Not that I expect a lot of demand for this, but just in case anyone is curious about what this would sound like with my typical fake instruments but with David's vocal, here it is:
freakflag_fakeinstruments.mp3
(3.78 MiB) Downloaded 115 times

Fussy Britches—Well-tuned mix. I like how you’ve attempted a punkish song with elements of metal. I appreciate the tight timing on all the performances. I like the verses more than the chorus. Vote.

The John Benjamin Band—This is my clear favorite this week. Good lyrics, excellent melodies, good production, lively rhythm. Great work! Dig the low notes on the section beginning at 1:31. The music supports the sense of inevitability that is described in the lyrics. Nice and long without being too long. Vote.

Paco del Stinko—Amusing way to get a U2 reference in there. I like the lyrics. The music seems a little too discontinuous to get into a listening flow, particularly at the beginning.

Pigfarmer Jr—This has a feeling of being a little too bare-bones, at least for my taste. Maybe try more bass and less guitar volume? I like the guitar playing.

Sockpuppet—I like your vocal delivery; I kind of get a mixed sense of enthusiasm and “I’ve done this all before,” which seems well suited to the lyrics. The bass sounds good.

Third Cat—As usual, I feel like you’re doing something that’s too sophisticated for me to fully understand. That’s okay (and maybe even a positive), since I like this. Vote.

Unionvillains—The vocal needs to be mixed higher; I think I like the vocal, but it’s hard to hear. The guitar part is nice. Another instrument might be welcome.
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Lunkhead
You're No Good
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Post by Lunkhead »

Balance Lost wins!
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vowlvom
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Re: ̶S̶t̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶O̶d̶d̶ ̶U̶n̶u̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶r̶d̶ (Freak Flag Reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

Congratulations to the Balance Lost Fun-Time Band And Recreational Choir!
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furrypedro
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Post by furrypedro »

Yay!

(this is to meet the minimum character limit)
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Pigfarmer Jr
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Re: ̶S̶t̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶O̶d̶d̶ ̶U̶n̶u̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶r̶d̶ (Freak Flag Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

Congratz!!
Evil Grin bandcamp - Evil Grin spotify
T.C. Elliott bandcamp - T.C. Elliott spotify

"PigFramer: Guy and guitar OF MY NIGHTMARES." - Blue Lang
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thehipcola
Ice Cream Man
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Re: ̶S̶t̶r̶a̶n̶g̶e̶ ̶O̶d̶d̶ ̶U̶n̶u̶s̶u̶a̶l̶ ̶W̶e̶i̶r̶d̶ (Freak Flag Reviews)

Post by thehipcola »

congrats Balance Lost! Great song!
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jb
Hot for Teacher
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Post by jb »

Good win, Balance Lost! Now go make that chorus longer!
blippity blop ya don’t stop heyyyyyyyyy
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thelowestbitter
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
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Post by thelowestbitter »

Congratulations Balance Lost! Didn't get a chance to participate in or review this one unfortunately, but I did listen and yours was probably my favourite
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