The agony of victory, the thrill of your (Feet Reviews)

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Had to use the line somewhere, heh.

[Leaf]

Nice rabid...nice.

[j$]

IMO. Written as I listen,

Baron Von Smith - starts out co-incidentally sounding like Blur - but then sounds like that 'stuck on a feeling' song in vibe - certainly something Tarantino would like on one of his soundtracks. Can't really knock anything here - except the lyric (talking to an uborn kid about the wonders of the world?) is hackneyed. Am I wrong about that? Hope I am, bearing in mind the 'Tidal wave' line Nice tune though. Good stuff.

Caravan ReggRay - someone has Garageband loops - ha! Nice bit of pastiche. Good groove. Needs to be mastered (or at least volume-ised) - a little bit novelty but I am glad you veer away from too much of a 'jamacian' accent. I love reggae but not really big on slow dub. Nice trumpets Garageband has Good work. Another song about kids??? You breeders are so unimaginative

Deshead - Rawk! In a Springsteen mould anyway! Good.

Dr Calouse - cute in an unintentionally ripping off Dan the Apathetic's maths = '666' way. It took me a while to recognise that riff. And it kind of fits that whole Dan vibe, in that I can imagine him doing it, albeit in a more charming way.

Hello to Ruin - and hello right back again. I really hate the la-di-da bits for some reason. Oh yeah and I dislike the cutsey break that only serves to remind you how annoying the la-di-da bit that follows it. Could you not find enough words to fit 1.35? That having been said - I like the voices very much, and the vibe is good, and the list of feety bits is oddly entertaining. I just don't like songs that try and sound like they're a joke - it's a personal thing.

Me is Me. Drum sample comes from '5.45' by the Gang of Four. Fingerclicks, handclaps and tambourine the artist's own.

Max the Cat - That's nice. Really good shuflly vibe. I prefer it lyrically when you're not punning. I'm not really one to speak but more often than not they seem kind of forced, like shouting 'THIS SONG IS ABOUT ... FEEEEEEETTTTTT!!!!!' having said that when it's more oblique it's actually quite affecting, (we made a fine quartet') then I can imagine it's about a hazy recollection of some double-date me&mybestfriendandherandherbestfriendareallsuchgoodfirendsbutthenitwentsobadlywrong kind of way - OH NO DO NOT TALK ON YOUR RECORDS - YOU ARE NOT A SLEAZY DJ! (I hope) I must stop shouting....

The Nutwalls - That chorus melody is a bit tuneless and you could do with some mastering to bring out the shininess of the song. That said, I like the verses. I don't particularly like the take on the title, but I couldn't do any better so I won't hold that against. Maybe throw a slight change on every second loop of the chorus chords - just to make it a little less clunky. Punk does not neccessarily have to mean simple in that way, imo.

RG - nice bass lope (no, I said Lope, not loop). [edit] You appear to have been using your harmonica a lot recently, but this might be my mis-remembering ... you play well, but it is generally not a great sound for me - until I use it for one of my own songs that is. haha [/edit] This sounds like the 11 minute slow track that Biafra would throw in amongst the thrash - only of course he would be ranting about something or the other. I kinda wish you were doing the same [edit2] but I understand that the title kinda precludes that [/edit2]. It's good stuff as always. i like your jazzy grown-up punk vibe.

Sandcastlesurgery - As soon as you had the urge to start scatting you should have realised your song was done and stopped the record button. Can't really knock it other than that. If you like wacky (as most of the people in this fight seem to do) then it's good. Just not pushing my personal buttons, except maybe to record over the scatting:)

Steve Durand - go write jingles! I mean it - you have an good ear for that cheesy Glenn Miller swing stuff - and it's pretty well realised but i can't stand it personally! Someone like Jim of Seattle would wee himself to hear this. Or possibly feel threatened. I can think of no finer compliment from me for someone who digs this sort of music.

Sven Mullet - oh I knew that you would bring the metal-punk! Wait too long for the words to kick in but when I do i want to vote for you instantly. Not even waiting for the chorus. 'Some guys just masturbate ... but not me' works really well (but is clearly a lie) should end 30 seconds before it does. Is that the longest fade-out in the history of songfight? Don't like the little voices at the end. Overall the closest to my personal taste musically.

Good fight musically, lyrically pretty weak - not surprising for a title that was always gonna sound cooler as a suggestion than when realised, I guess.

[Märk]

Reviews, this fight first because I'm in it. (I've already listened to all the fights, this is round two)

Baron von Smith: This works really well. I like your voice, it reminds me of Craig (Starfinger) trying to be earnest or something The guy and guitar genre seems a bit overdone on Songfight! but I'll give you a pass anyway. Really nice song.

Caravan Ray: Mastered really low compared to Baron's. Good for it's genre, but I don't like this genre.

Deshead: I voted for you last week. Your song totally blew me away that time, this time.. eh. Not really doing it for me. Streaks of brilliance eventually run out I guess. Excellent performace, good songwriting, but it's just not doing it for me.

Dr. Calouse: OH WOW YOU SHOULD TOTALLY WIN THIS FIGHT! NO SERIOUSLY. Okay, for real, this is stupid. Kind of cute I guess.

Hello To Ruin: This reminds me of Phoebe on Friends doing one of her cafe songs. That's not a good thing.

Johnny Cashpoint: There's a lot of cool stuff happening in this song. Keeps it interesting. Reminds me of, oh, I dunno- some English band or something Awesome basslines. Not even remotely reminiscent of Boy George, BTW. Great job. Probably going to win the fight.

Max The Cat: Nice choice of chords. Don't know if the vocal style fits the style of song, or maybe something like this should have femal vox? Not sure. I'm enjoying this a bit. Gets tiring towards the last minute or so. Still, good. Oh crap, that spoken part should not be in there.

The Nutwalls: Garage punk rock. My favorite type of music. This comes across as a bit dorky, but isn't all punk a bit dorky? The beats are a bit simple, and there's not really anything compelling in this song, but I still dig it.

Rabid Garfunkel: No sir, I don't like it. I don't like it at all. The lyrics are *so* bad. I mean, the actual song is okay, but... could use a remix, too. Sorry, not meaning to pan your hard work, but I was glad it was over when it ended.

Sandcastle Surgery: See my comment to RG above

Steve Durand: You seriously need to collaborate with Jim of Seattle. This type of music makes me want to evacuate the contents of my skull with a powerful firearm, but you seem to do it quite well. So, good for that.

Svën Müllët: Me. I think the music turned out good, never happy with my vocals, and these were all first take. Plat generously donated some time and voice to the outro part, which sort of saved the song IMHO. The point of the song is that foot fetish isn't really all that weird when you compare it to other weirdness out there.

Not sure who gets my vote this week. I'm thinking either Cashpoint or The Nutwalls, I'd think. Or myself

[DramaofSeaArt]

Reviews are as follows:

Baron von Smith - As I said on somesongs, I really like this song for some reason. The combination of Van Morrison meets Fogerty is apparent, but I still think this has a unique feel to it with a good mix to boot. Cheers on this number.

Caravan Ray - I agree with Sven, this just isn't my genre at all, so its hard for me to rate it. Outside of the low mix volume, it is very well made, and the vocals are right on, so good job on that I suppose, but it just isnt my cup of tea.

Deshead - Another well produced entry, and your vocals are right on, but for some reason this is a disposable listen for me. The lyrics arent particularly engaging, but they definitely arent bad at all. This sounds like something I've heard before, which isnt necessarily bad, but was distracting. Interesting sound on the solo though, cheers to that.

Dr. Calouse - Yes, well, I guess feet are much more than eggs. As someone who is just learning how to produce a song from home, I am in no position to knock the production of this tune, but that should be noted too.

Hello to Ruin - This sounds like a folk song someone would make to mock folk songs. So yeah...I think I understand what you were going for here, but it just didnt hit me in a good way.

Johnny Cashpoint - The double vocals bit is well executed, so cheers to that. The bass/guitar interaction is enjoyable too, the lyrics enjoyable for some reason as yet unknown, and all of this adds up to cheers for a fine entry.

Max the Cat - Musically, I love this song. It is very pretty and rocks my socks in that sunday-morning-coffee sorta way. Lyrically, it is a bit of a letdown, and the vocal bit was...for some reason worthy of a chuckle, but probably not the best decision for the song. Still, the execution was there, and I think this was a good song despite the sometimes painful wordplay.

The Nutwalls - A unique take on the title, for better or for worse, and I think this was pretty interesting for the first minute and a half or so, but the vocals just couldnt keep me interested. It may just be that I'm tired, but my mind wasn't up to deciphering the fast/slurred delivery. Cheers on the sound though, on a different night it might have played better with my mind.

Rabid Garfunkel - I'm a fan of the harp, but that was pretty much the only engaging part of this song for me. Just a little corny for me tonight, sorry...

Sandcastle Surgery - Ah yes, so The Nutwalls weren't the only ones then. Whistle solo and scat bit kind of ruined the vibe of this for me, and I couldn't convince myself to have a second go at it, but the production wasnt the problem, so it may just be the medicine I just took kicking in.

Steve Durand - Listened to Dizzy Gillespie and Louis Armstrong all day at work, so I was in a jazzy mood to begin with...this was a smile inducing song for me. The horn solos were well done, and it just felt happy to me, which was nice. Corny in the best way possible.

Sven Mullet - The guitar tone is wonderfully frightening, . The outro part is probably the best in the song, and I liked the overall concept behind the song. Cheers to rock...or something like that.

[Nut #2]

Thanks Sven and J$. Ours is totally a garage punk song. It was time to rock out. Due to circumstances, we only have about 6-8 hours to write, record and master these. There was a lot more we wanted to do, but we ran out of time. That's the beauty of Song Fight though, what can you do in the time allotted? Doing these fights is improving our skills, and I hope that shows in our tracks. Getting into this has been a really great motivator for me, and I love having the criticism of such a diverse crowd, and going up against some pretty amazing musicians.

Cheers,
Nut #2 - Chris

[Caravan Ray]

In order of general decreasing merit:


9
Deshead – This sounds hard to beat. Great vocals and I really like how the chorus kicks in

8
The Nutwalls – You’ve hit on a pet hate of mine – fucking Americans and their insistence in hanging onto the imperial fucking system of fucking measurement. Once you people learn to use SI units, stop forming naked Iraqi pyramids and stop making episodes of Everyone Loves fucking Raymond – then you’ll probably find people will be less inclined to fly planes into your buildings… Sorry – I feel better now.

Apart from that – this is pretty good – shows a lot of promise and there are some good lyrics in there, although I’d like to hear a bit more grunt in the vocals – I like it

7
Sven Mullet – Nice start – I like the bass, but panning in my headphones is making me ill. There seems to be a lot of foot fetishism this week – but I like this. It seems though to be lacking some energy – everything sounds a little murky – I thing the vocals need to cut through more. Overall though – I like it.

6
Steve Durand – Hmmm – totally daggy, but not entirely without merit. I’m liking this even though I really don’t want to – like the theme from the Muppet Show – you can’t help tapping your foot

6
Rabid Garfunkel – The intro with bass, guitar, harmonica is wonderful – but your lyrics are not wonderful, alas. Overall it’s a good effort – but I think it would have been better sung in some sort of a fake accent – Russian maybe.

6
J$ - Musically this is very good – but the lyrics are really turning me off – the feet references and attempts at obtuseness sound a bit laboured

6
Sandcastlesurgery – I like your vocal delivery – with better lyrics I could have liked this a lot – as it is, it didn’t quite do the job for me

5
Baron Von Smith – Loved your entry last week – this isn’t exciting me at all though. Wait..I like the guitar solo.. but that’s it really

5
Max the Cat – Very professional as always, but not really doing much for me.

0
Dr Calouse - This is doing nothing for me

0
Hello to Ruin – This is doing nothing for me

and.....
Caravan Ray – Thanks to everybody for pointing out the volume thing – I wasn’t aware it had come out so soft. Basically I was stuck for lyric ideas this week – so this is about the suburb I live in, and the fact that the Manly Fish Café makes very tasty crab sandwiches. The baby sounds weren’t originally planned – it’s just that in my house it’s very hard to record anything nowdays that doesn’t have baby sounds on it. Gotta admit – I’m not really a reggae man myself – but I am very happy with this – I’m sure I’ll drag it out to play at Harri’s 21st birthday.

looks like I'm voting for Deshead

[j$]

– the feet references sound a bit laboured

'Tis entirely the point .... but there is nothing obtuse there. "You think I am deep - why? I am not even shallow."

[deshead]

Baron Von Smith:
Best part: your strumming really carries the song.
I'm ambivalent about this song. On one hand, I love the roots-rock sound, and you pull it off close to perfect. But on the other, the song just doesn't grab me. Some of the lyrics are dodgy, especially "in a rich penetrating baritone." (What's the saying? "Show, don't tell"?) I also think the guitar solo is about 8 bars too long, and it sounds like the guitar is panned off-center which throws the mix out of balance. The solo sounds ... too spare. So, I guess good song overall, but I'm afraid it's not for me.

Caravan Ray:
Best part: The way everything picks up around 1:40 with the congas.
I'm hot and cold on this track too. I mean, it sounds great! But even for a wacky dub track, I keep thinking the laughing kid is out of place. That said, I've listened to it 5 or 6 times, and it holds my interest. So you definitely did something right! Good job.

Deshead:
No one else took the "caught my woman in bed with another guy so I buried their feet in concrete and sent them to sleep with the fishes, only to discover I couldn't walk right on my own feet afterwards 'cause of my stupid sea legs" direction, eh?

Dr. Calouse:
Best part: The 2nd-last "feet" made me laugh.

Hello to Ruin:
The repetitive chord-matching melody is annoying to the point of distraction.

Johnny Cashpoint:
Best part: The bass line is pure awesome.
The music is fantastic, and you did a great job on the mix. The vocal melody strikes me as a little repetitive, though I dunno, maybe it had to be. And things got a bit too eclectic and messy at the end for me. The phrasing at 1:32, "you tell me..." throws me off every time I listen to it. I can't decide if you're doing it on purpose. Well, no matter, I'm enjoying the track regardless, so thanks.

Max the Cat:
Best part: Clever lyrics.
It's pretty. And the performance and mix are perfect. But the song itself doesn't jump out for me. Too constant, maybe? A lot of the word play is really clever, and I appreciate the effort you put into that. (I groaned at the "defeat" line, though .. I hope that was the point.)

The Nutwalls:
Best part: good take on the title.
I enjoyed this, notwitstanding the lo-fi mix. The track runs about 10BPM slower at the finish than at the start, though, and I think that makes it feel sluggish, or like you guys just ran out of steam. You could make the song a lot snappier by cutting the post-chorus instrumental bits, and tightening up the timing.

Rabid Garfunkel:
Best part: the harp riff.
Ya, I have to echo everyone else: the lyrics are pretty rough. If I was going to tweak the mix, I'd make the kick and snare drum louder, and drop the level of the harmonica.

Sandcastle Surgery:
Best part: "ya gotta work with your feet" is catchy.
"Atrophy" is one of those words that shouldn't be used in a song. And I can't fathom what possesed you to add the police whistle. Some might argue "genius".

Steve Durand:
Best part: the dueling horns, no doubt.
I enjoyed this a lot. I think your song has the best hook of the week. "Show me with your feet" was about the only thing I remembered after my first time through the fight. My only criticism is that the drums and bass don't actually swing. Probably just a matter of humanizing things a little. All-around nice, though!

Sven Mullet:
Best part: the guitar that comes in at 0:16
This is a solid track. I'd like the drums a bit louder (or at least the kick and snare), but they work where they are too. Nice wall of guitars there, dude.


Sven Mullet or Cashpoint, both deserve my vote.

[j$]

"you tell me..." throws me off every time I listen to it.

Yeah, me too. I didn't notice that until after I'd recorded it; and then decided it to leave it in anyway ... so I guess it was deliberate

j$

[boltoph]

caught my woman in bed with another guy so I buried their feet in concrete and sent them to sleep with the fishes

I've had your song ripping through my head all morning. It's the rhythm and melody of the vocals in the chorus and how well the instruments gel with those vocs; and the last line also. And you've given me some bad bad ideas here too...

[j$]

Great job. Probably going to win the fight.

Thanks, Sven. I think the smart money would be on Deshead but that's the first time I've seen my name attached to the phrase 'probably going to win the fight' ... and I like it

[Fusty Nut]

The Nutwalls:
Best part: good take on the title.
I enjoyed this, notwitstanding the lo-fi mix. The track runs about 10BPM slower at the finish than at the start, though, and I think that makes it feel sluggish, or like you guys just ran out of steam. You could make the song a lot snappier by cutting the post-chorus instrumental bits, and tightening up the timing.

Yup, you're right on about the ending. We absolutely ran out of steam. And then we ran out of time, and hence, no new steam. I'm a fairly new drummer, and although the drumming and the energy on my part blew, it marks a personal best in terms of speed for me. I've never played so fast for two minutes and still maintain a fairly coherent beat before. I kinda like the post instrumental bits(though my work on the floor tom didn't quite come out on that portion of the song, which is unfortunate), so I think I'll just work on becoming a better drummer.

Thanks for the feedback! That goes to everyone else on the boards, too. This is a new experience for me, and I really enjoy being a part of this process.

Cheers,

[baronvonsmith]

<b>Caravan Ray</b>
DUB!!! And good dub at that. This has a nice vibe going for it. The congos come in at just the right time for those who might lose interest in the repetitive dub groove (not me, though). And I think the baby from that Aaliyah song added some backing vocals.

<b>Deshead</b>
This is sounding a lot like U2's "Desire." Which is not a bad thing, because I love "Desire." The vocal melody on the verse sounded a little labored on first listen, but after hearing it a couple of times, i don't notice it anymore. As always, I like your lyrics and your voice. I wish you'd stop writing good songs, cuz i'm gonna run out of good things to say.

<b>Dr. Calouse</b>
Anatomically correct! Okay, i laughed at this, but i don't know if it has staying power. or, maybe it does...i did listen to it 5 times, and will listen to it again. it sounds like a song you make up with your friends when you're drunk. which is fine.

<b>Hello to Ruin</b>
silly. i don't care what anyone else thinks, i enjoyed this. maybe because it's so apparent that you're having fun. and i like the "hurray" at the end.

<b>Johnny Cashpoint</b>
Great lyrics, great bassline. You sound like I imagine Jude Law would sound if he sang. I like it a lot. I noticed the phrasing of "you tell me..." but I didn't care. Listen to some of MY timing for goodness sake! Thanks for this little gem. Will more than likely get my vote.

<b>Max the Cat</b>
Like your lyrical take on the title. "i miss your pumps" ha ha. for a broken heart song, it has a great sense of humor. nice and mellow. okay, i wrote that "sense of humor" line before the last line of the song. weird. Overall, I really enjoyed it, but I must agree with the majority on one thing: the talking threw me out of the nice mood the rest of the song put me in. aside from that, i loved it.

<b>The Nutwalls</b>
never even crossed my mind to tackle systems of measurement. points for originality. i laughed out loud at "even when you drive 110 you're still going slow." liked the song a lot. reminds me a little of NOFX, but less obnoxious. Good job. And I didn't notice the slowdown in tempo, if that makes any difference to you.

<b>Rabid Garfunkel</b>
nice harmonica. the lyric is a little creepy and a little funny. i think this might sound good in a heroin den. it was alright.

<b>Sandcastle Surgery</b>
I personally liked the use of the word atrophy. And of all the silly songs, this was my favorite. i think.

<b>Steve Durand</b>
Absolutely love the horns. Always love the horns in your entries. Very catchy melody and the lyrics sound better in the context of the song than they did when i read them before listening to the fight. i like all of the internal rhyming (for some reason, didn't notice them at all when i read it).

<b>Sven Mullet</b>
Whoa! The intro is good, except in my headphones it keeps making my right ear feel weird when it cuts out. Afer that, i'm diggin' it. The guitars are really good, and your singing reminds me a little of J. Mascis (good). It's got a great drive to it. You like feet--i like your song.

<b>me</b>
i didn't realize how lame the lyrics sound until listening to it a couple days after submitting for the fight. but, i do like the guitar parts. oh, well.

I agree with Sven, my vote goes to Johnny Cashpoint!

[nyjm]

baron von smith
- the verse melody sounds a lot like "margaritaville"
- i like the acoustic guitar riff
- i'm not too fond of the second guitar tone on the chorus; it's either too tinny or too muddy, i can't tell
- the guitar solo is too long by about 8 bars; that, or there's needs to be something more dynamic about it

caravan ray
- very interesting sound; good groove
- this would sound better with real horns
- the baby thing gets a little old
- sounds more like a meandering jam than a good dynamic song; you should bust out vocally at some point

deshead
- good chorus: it kicks it out nicely; [edit]: great chorus
- there's something odd about your voice in the first verse; i don't think you're out of tune, just lacking the proper intonation; it goes away in the second verse
- i'm jealous

dr. calouse
- next
- positive feedback: this could be the basis of a cute little TMBGesque tune

hello to ruin
- you know, i think there's a decent nugget of a song under here...
- ...i take that back with the whole "meta-tarsals" thing
- positive feedback: i like your vocal harmonies

johnny cashpoint
- great bass groove
- one of the thing that is so signature j$ is your distinctive vocal rhythms; this song makes unparalelled use of them
- i like the overlapping vox at the end, but it would have been nice to have everything come back together in a more solid way

max the cat
- i really like the smoky tone of your voice
- great metaphor in the lyrics; could do without the "agony of defeat" thing, tho
- could use a bridge to break up the pretty guitar bit

the nutwalls
- hehe
- on the chorus: hit a note and stay there
- otherwise a mediocre one-trick pony song

rabid garfunkel
- very nice harmonica
- i like the walking bass groove
- the vox, on the other hand, are disappointing; as are the lyrics, whose humor seems out of place in this seriously grooving music

sandcastle surgery
- interesting little ditty;
- cute, but only that: this is just you having fun with a keyboard
- and the whistling solo gets a little old

steve durand
- vaudeville! you are swiftly becoming the local genre/soundtrack artist
- i can see someone doing a little tap-dance to this; fred astair and ginger rogers would be pleased
- nonetheless, much of this seems to be an amalgram of various harmonies and rhythms from old musicals

sven mullet
- oooh: good grumble
- the bouncing/echoing guitar bit is weird; cool, but gives me a slight headache
- i think the vox should be sung higher; they melt into the rest of the music too much

[Dan-O from Five-O]

Feet are a complicated appendage. This title not so. It's one word. Let's see how you all did with it.

Baron Von Smith: You voice is terrific in this song. The guitar playing is kind of so-so, but I’m getting the feeling it was meant to be. It’s recorded well, all around, although maybe a tad bit bass heavy. Don’t take this the wrong way but in parts of the verse I think you had Van Morrison on your mind. Certainly not in a deliberate way, but there’s a couple of times I’m hearing “Brown Eyed Girl”, but just a little. Overall this is a really solid entry, and I look forward to hearing more from you in the future.

Caravan Ray: Reggae, wow. This is pretty cool. Is your child helping out with the vocals or was that a general sample? I’m betting that’s your kid, which is cool. I’ve got some stuff on tape like that from my daughter that's all but grown up now, she’s 17 going on 23. We can swap Dad stories sometime, but for now back to your song. I’m not really fond of songs that mention the artist who wrote it by name, but you’re still working on “forgiveness” points from the aforementioned “cute” factor. The vocals are really hard to make out with all of the delay going on. I know it fits the style but I can’t really make out how good of an interpretation this is of the title. Nice work anyway.

Deshead: Wow this song RTFO! Just kidding everybody, I mean what the hell do I know about it anyway? Let me see, it’s well produced but you know that, have heard that or will hear that again. There’s a part in the melody that sounds a little too familiar. I can’t quite put my finger on it, but maybe U2’s “Desire”? Again, I’m sure it’s unintentional and just my mind playing tricks on me mostly. Maybe it’s part of this http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1102 phenomena. After I block out that kind of stuff, what I’m hearing is another well written Deshead song. It’s not one of my favorites by you, but it’s one of the better ones I’ve heard so far. It’s early though, don’t get your hopes up quite yet. BTW, I like the slide stuff. Cool.

Dr. Calouse: Cool you learned how to play “Smoke on the Water” and changed a couple of notes. Good for you! Oh and you got a recorder too. Very nice. Now if I could just direct you back to the little bus, it’s right this way my "special" little Songfighter you.

Hello to Ruin: I hate to re-hash someone else’s review but “Tune”. To expound on that singular point, I mean your guitar. Tune your guitar. Please. Oh and stop wasting your parents tuition payments and hit the books ladies. At least ask them for more money so you can get some guitar lessons.

Johnny Cashpointless: Your recording skills are getting much better, or maybe it’s that you have better equipment. I’m not sure which or if I really care, all I know is your songs are so much more easy to listen to now compared to when I first came around this site. There’s still some things I don’t really like, but the recording is so much better I don’t mind as much. I think you’re in much to stiff a competition to pull out your second win, but this isn’t bad.

Max the Cat: Nice play on the title to go along with the good guitar playing. I was afraid I wasn’t going to like this because of the softer quality of the song, but this has a nice James Taylor kind of feel to it without any kind of direct reference to a particular song. (Sorry about the repeated comparisons to other artists everyone. Hell, I’m not even sure why I keep doing that.) Anyway, it’s a good story, I like the musicianship going on, nice vocals, and I even like the stupid pun at the end. It’s a stupid pun, you realize that right?

The Nutwalls: What did I say last week? Let your vocals go man. Just let ‘em rip, OK? Maybe you haven’t been singing long and haven’t quite found your voice yet, but I’m willing to bet if you would just throw caution to the wind and really belt out a vocal you would impress some people. I’m impressed enough to go out on the limb and say what I just said, so come on out here with me man. It’s fun out here. Sure the limb might break and we’d both come crashing to the ground, but remember what I said about the body’s amazing recuperative powers? I swear it’s all true. Anyway, the rest of the song was ok, but let’s fix that vocal first before we get the rest of the guys to adopt that same reckless style I’m talking about, OK?

Rabid Garfunkel: Delay doesn’t normally work on bass, but it works fairly well in this instance. The harmonica is cool and well recorded, no easy task. I wish it was running through a slightly distorted amp and one of those bullet microphones. Throw some delay on that sound and step back brother. Foot fetishes never sounded so good. The lyrics are amusing enough to allow me to overlook the semi-adequate vocals, which aren’t bad. But could you imagine Muddy Waters doing the vocals on this? I can. Man that and the other thing with harmonica would have me loving this song. As it is, I really enjoyed it.

Sandcastle Surgery: Pan flute? The only thing worse than pan flute is FAKE pan flute. Congratulations, you made me nauseous in under 5 seconds. Now that I’ve flushed my system out and brushed my teeth let’s get back to the review. Damn man, is that like a pseudo-rap? And whistling? And scattin’? I have to vomit again. Ok I’m back. Nope I’m done. Every time I come back to this song it makes me want to yack.

Steve Durand: I have a song I might need some help with on the trumpet, care to assist? Man you do play that thing very well. Do you have a mute? If you’re using one, get a better one. I think if you had a classic muted trumpet sound going on, it would really enhance this song. The lyrics are pretty good, not great, but pretty good. You know what else might help this song? If the vocals had that classic 30’s kind of sound. You know what I mean? Like the vocalist was singing into a tin can. Man that would be sweet. This is my sentimental favorite, but not quite the best song here. I may vote for it just because I’m a sentimental guy. It's true believe it or not.

Sven Mullett: The intro goes on too long to grab me as well as you probably hoped it would the listener. It’s not bad once the riff gets going, but the chord at the beginning needs more going on than just itself and distortion. Maybe the riff should begin immediately instead of the one chord trying to build the song. The vocals are hard to understand, but from what I understood of them, you like feet. But who doesn’t? I mean what would you replace them with, hooves? It would be pretty hard to impress the girls with those. “Did you see how small his hooves were?” is a lot less impressive than, “Did you check out the size of his feet?”. Anyway, the song is just OK to me, kind of like the reference to the title. It just isn’t strong enough.

For me it’s Deshead finishing maybe about a foot (sorry, I said I like stupid puns) in front of the Baron, Steve, Max, and a Rabidly running his ass off Garfunkel. Good fight between you guys, the rest of you just also ran. On your feet. Get it? Nevermind.

[Mostess]

Deshead: This is great. I'm hearing you tolerating and even relishing some roughness (asynchrony, vocal scoops and slides). I love it. As usual, the melody writing is sharp and concise, the lyrics obscure enough to be interesting, and the delivery smooth like individually-wrapped slices of brand name American cheese. But this one's more like pepper-jack. Which I love.

Damn I'm missing this forum. I'll be back soon.

[Dr. Calouse]

Smoke on the water?! I invented that riff (the feet one) . . . yay! I don't know how you got smoke on the water from that one . . . LSD maybe? I am going to copyright every musical note individually so that anytime someone plays anything they will be ripping me off . . . . . . . . then I can sue (is that how you spell that? I doubt it.) and I'll make tons of money . . . yay! I like money . . . yay!

[deshead]

Mostess, thanks very much.

Damn I'm missing this forum. I'll be back soon.

Cool, and bring new tunes with you!

[Jim of Seattle]

In an attempt to maximize time, I decided to try recording my reviews on my commute. I am speaking into a cell phone, so audio quality is lousy. This is an experiment. I have no idea whether it will work or not. Any feedback, let me know. These recordings are only going to stay posted for a limited time.

Baron Von Smith
Your recording was the first one I did, and therefore, I screwed it up. Suffice to say I loved the song, but it sounded too much like Van Morrison's "Brown-Eyed Girl". Sorry the rest was lost.

Caravan Ray
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Reviews/Recording6.wav
Deshead
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Reviews/Recording7.wav
Dr. Calouse
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Reviews/Recording8.wav
Johnny Cashpoint
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Reviews/Recording9.wav
The Nutwalls
htp://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Reviews/Recording10.wav
Rabid Garfunkel
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding11.wav
Steve Durand
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding12.wav
Sven Mullet
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding13.wav
Hello to Ruin
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding14.wav
Max the Cat
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding15.wav
Sand Castle Surgery
http://www.jimowen.org/Songfight/Review ... ding16.wav

[Rik]

I hope it's not bad form to review songs without having one in the competition. I had hoped to get one in, (Something along the lines of 'feet don't fail me now'. Cliche yes, but from an angle of getting away from a nasty broad at a bar and so on.) but hardware problems prevented me from getting anything done last week. I am on track for getting into this week's fight, but I'm impatitent and want to get involved.

My take on this weeks combatants: (In no particular order)

Johnny Cashpoint: There is a lot going on here, I dig the bass walking here, there, there, and everywhere, all while mingling nicely with the doodling guitar. Some nice trumpet in there too. I personally didn't care for the stiffness of the drum sample, but it worked with your verse giving it that steady drive forward, probably intentional.

Baron Von Smith: This is a solid song, cool falsetto vocal action, and a catchy tune. Easy to get this one stuck in your head, especially if your listening in the car (as I generally do) and it's the last song before you get out. Guitar sounds a bit muddy but over all it's a good mix, everything can be heard well. Bottom line, it's fun to sing along with.

Sven Mullet: I just can't get into this one. It seemed to me the tone of the distorted guitar was at times overdriven to the point of fuzzyness and lost definition. At other times it was buried under the bass line. The drums were pretty soft as well. I do like the 'clean' guitar with delay happening thoughout the song, especially in the middle when almost all else drops out. Then Riiiip! back into the hook, nice dynamic.

Deshead: Have you written a bad song yet? This, while not the best Des song I've heard (maybe OBS last week was, or BNC was), but it is still damn good and sounds like it was done by a pro with endless studio time. It amazes me what can be accomplished by some in a week. I'd have to say, favorite part of this one is the high harmony vocal on the hook. Clean, bright and cuts right through lifting the whole hook up a bit. On a side note, I didn't hear the 'Desire' similarity until someone else mentioned it, and even then the timing is off enough to keep me from hearing the wrong song.

Max the Cat: I really like this one. Simple, clean, yet full. I really get into this sound, quiet and a little moody. This song would have gotten my vote this week if it weren't for the talking at the end. I have to agree with the other posts, it's out of place and a really bad joke to boot.

Dr. Calouse: Hey, Madness called, they want their house back. 'Our House in the middle of our street, Our House that was where we used to sleep' I really want to say something positive but I just can't.

Rabid Garfunkel: The harmonica needs to come down, or the rest of the mix needs to come up. Either way, it's hard for me to get a good feel for this song with the mix as it stands. A little gruffy blues 'tude on the vocals would help liven up this song and give it some energy.

Sandcastle Surgery: This is another fun song, cool groove happening here. The simple minimal instumentation works well, great dynamics. This is good stuff. Great clean vocals, I can get into the lyrics and the timing, even the scat action works for me. And then there was a whistle solo, and it's really out in front of the mix. That lost it for me. Listening to this at work loud enough to hear the mix, people couldn't hear the music and thought I was just off in my corner whistling.

The Nutwalls: Tough one, I like the style and the idea behind this one, but this song lost me. Let's face it, punk rocks! and this song is rooted in punk, but the repetitve nature of the hook and the dramatic slowing of the song really left me out of it. I want to hear more from you guys, I'm downloading Mad City right now.

Steve Durand: Wow, that caught me off guard. This is a refreshing sound, not really something I could jam to, but definately well done and musically spot on for the genre. Only one problem, the vocals. I was waiting for something tinny and sharp, the music had me ready for Dickie Crickets, The King of Megaphone Crooners (Mr. Show Anyone?). Don't get me wrong, you've got a good voice, you just remind me too much of Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys for this sound. Just a thought, a little simulated vinyl LP crackle would be fun on this one.

Caravan Ray: This is a fun song, I find myself bobbing my head unconciously as I write this. Very nice groove happening here. I needed to up the volume to compensate for the quiet mix.

Hello to Ruin: At least it's short.



In all fairness, my song would have been pretty weak. I was having some verse melody problems, and my hook was shit repetitive. Bottom line, everyone is better off having not wasted ~3 mins of their life on my bit.

[Jim of Seattle]

I hope it's not bad form to review songs without having one in the competition.

Quote the contrary. Huzzah! What's bad form is entering a song and then NOT reviewing the fight.