Autograph the Cube (Sign My Box Reviews)

[ken]

Big box or a little box?

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Public Service Announcement: My song may be offensive, to you or the people within range of your speakers. Not the language so much, but the content is... off.

Just so's you know. Is there a Parental Advisory Sticker icon out there?

[jimtyrrell]

Here ya go.

[Albatross]

Just so's you know. Is there a Parental Advisory Sticker icon out there?

Edit: damn, beaten to the punch again.

[jimtyrrell]

I like yours better. Looks like a CENSORED BOX over Donald's naughty bits.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

ahahahahaha! Awesome. Thanks guys, I'll bang that together tonight. Sweet.

[Albatross]

I like yours better. Looks like a CENSORED BOX over Donald's naughty bits.

Perv.

[j$]

Baker - without the drums it sounds like the vocals and the guitar aren't at the same bpm. When the drums come in I like the sleazy nature. Unfortunately the voice, though clear, doesn't sound convincing - the slowed down bit works well for a couple of lines. This is a song waiting to get going and never does....

Bell Green - nice hammond. The dragged out phrasing of the verse is spoiling the mood - maybe it could afford to be a little faster, or just clip down on those syllables? The chorus I like - with its 90s Rowetta feel. Nice enough but not prime Bell Green in my opinion.

Cutie Pies - I hate the Cutie Pies. They are such a manufactured band, a PR man's wet dream. CONTENDER.

Flying Brick - oh I recognise that sample at the beginning .... this is actually quite cute, but ultimately annoying. Then again if Chicks on Speed played it I would probably dance

JB Hucklebee - the vocals are a bit quiet. I don't like this bluesgrass-esque shuffle - it turns up with alarming regularity on songfight, and every time it turns me off, and almost every time it wins. So what do I know? nice lead guitar work, mind.

Melvin - I like this. A lot. CONTENDER. Especially the kick-in on 'adolescent bitch' - yeah, this should win, imo.

Octothorpe - Then again .... starts off like first band practise version of 'Sympathy of the Devil' then goes off into beautiful # territory. And the moog comes in exactly when i am thinking 'where's the keyboard?' - God bless # and all who sail in her. CONTENDER, because I am difficult like that

'Over - dum di dum. la di la. Apart from some really bad phrasing choices - 'ould jhiam beaammmm'? - this is pretty pretty. I like the insanely reverby piano. Fairly insbustantial unless I missed some profundity, but very lovely despite it.

Rabid Garfunkel -

Small Town Mike - Yeah, I like this apart from the 'hey! Capitalism is BAD!' suck-eggs message.

Three Finger Salute - This is me and Andy Balham. My 100th songfight song. Suffers a bit from mp3 > mp3 > mp3 recording and mixing but i like the song a lot. Extra special j$ points to the first person to correctly the guess the song I accidentally partially ripped off in the writing of it.

Almost certainly voting for Melvin.

[fluffy]

Octothorpe - .... And the moog comes in exactly when i am thinking 'where's the keyboard?'

SIDstation, actually.

[j$]

Aah, my ignorance is exposed once again. It's great, regardless ...

[Spud]

This would seem the right venue to point out some Octothorpe credits for this week. I love the j$ characterization of the Good Ship Octothorpe, and extend a warm welcome to all those who have climbed aboard, regardless of the length of the journey for which they have signed up.

This week, we welcome the debut of fluffy in the recording unit. He performed with us in Boston, and proved his mettle. On this cut, he provides acoustic guitar, keys (on the sidstation - you don't get much more # than that), and backing vocals. He also served as recording engineer and did the mix. God only knows what else he threw in there.

Additionally, Marcus Kellis was in town for Bumbershoot, and appears on electric guitar and backing vocals. I had a great time recording bass and guitar simultaneously with Marcus, thanks to fluffy's setup. It felt a lot more live that way.

Finally, 90% of the lyrical credits go to longtime # lyricist Stubs. However, I cut and pasted his chorus into an additional verse, and Mad Dog wrote the final version of the chorus.

The lyrics tell the story of [rapper name redacted]'s adventures at a recent show. Gleen knows what we are talking about.

[fluffy]

God only knows what else he threw in there.

Softsynths. Lots and lots of softsynths. The final project was like 15 tracks or something.

[EDIT] 19 tracks, though that includes Logic's virtual tracks for mixing buses. And each softsynth gets its own track, while most of the audio tracks do double or triple duty.

[Future Boy]

What, am I supposed to have track envy now?

[Egg]

What, am I supposed to have track envy now?

I set a personal record with 65. And nobody is envious of this week's phunt track.

[fluffy]

What, am I supposed to have track envy now?

Only if you feel that it's appropriate.

[Bjam]

Baker
Erm, okay. This isn't really working for me, personal genre bias most likely. It sounds like you're not into the song at the beginning, then you're all “Whoa! Box! BOX!â€

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Bjam, that'd be Gary Coleman on the non-growly vox. Well, sound files of Mr. Coleman, to be more accurate. Glad you enjoyed it

[Bjam]

I'm thinking that just adds to the creepiness.

[Egg]

Bjam, that'd be Gary Coleman on the non-growly vox. Well, sound files of Mr. Coleman, to be more accurate. Glad you enjoyed it

I'm so glad he made it into both fights. What a weird sample. Funny song, Rabid. Super creepy.

[Smalltown Mike]

Melvin

I like it right off the bat. Love the vox, great lyrics. There’s a real similarity to Weezer, but enough of a difference, too. Great placement of the John Wayne sample. Very strong song.

Baker

I think the drums should kick in way earlier, like a couple lines into the first verse. The vox sound like you don’t want to wake your neighbour/roommate/parents. They need to kick it to make this work.

Three Finger Salute

Good intro, and good build into the song. The chorus is good, but the verses don’t work for me. Everybody seems to be doing something different. But I do like the chorus.


Rabid Garfunkel

Very funky from the start. The kick, I think, sounds a little ugly—it doesn’t blend with the song. This sounds great though, very Tom Waits-ish. I would like to point out that the speaking parts by Gary Coleman is the creepiest thing I’ve ever heard. Ever. Very very very wrong. What was he like to work with in the studio? I love the guitar in this, too. This seriously is the most demented thing I’ve heard in a long time. I hope his little body never climbs all over me.

Cutie Pies

Some of this works really well, and some of it really doesn’t. I love the sound of the instruments, the back and forth between the male/female, but at 1:47 things fall apart a little bit. I think it’s because the singers suddenly seem to take themselves too seriously, which I don’t think you can do with this type of song. The verses work really well.

Flying Brick

Very disjointed song, which is too bad because the robot voice actually works in this. If the verses were longer, I could really nod my head to this. Nice heavy chorus. Better the second time around. But you know, this could work just as well, likely better if you had a real person doing the rapping. Male or female. Definitely.

JB Hucklebee

Like that riff. The vocals are hard to hear, though, and the guitar seem to have a lot of effects on them. This song has a lot of potential, though, because I dig that lead guitar, and the chorus is catchy.

The ‘Over

I like the overall groove of this. Nice and laid back. I don’t like the accent you use to say Jim Beam. Nice chorus-take on the title. It doesn’t seem to really go anwhere. Nice guitar work, and some of the lyrics are strong.

Octothorpe

Great beat. Great synth. The vocals are so over the top; they grew on me quite a bit by the end. Odd, odd song.

Bell Green

Funky. The chorus has a nice take on the title (minor nitpicky point: does anyone really call them their “box of cigarettesâ€

[melvin]

This is my first post on any board, ever. I’ll try to make it decent:

Baker: Timing seems messed up in spots, but the sloppy-young-white-kid-rapping thing makes me smile. I get the feeling your name is Kevin Baker, and your embarrassment quickly turns into anger when your mom walks into your room right in the middle of a hot vocal take. Hey, I’ve been there!

Bell Green: Bass and drums are sweet. Cool production. Nice voice. Good song. This is pretty great all around!

The Cutie Pies: This is excellent! I’ve got a soft spot for girl/boy synthpop, and this captures just about everything good and wonderful about that genre! Well constructed, good lyrics, great sounds, and a few little production details that tell me beyond any doubt that you people have truly good hearts. Exceedingly cute. The name is apt. I would vote for this, if I wasn’t obligated to vote for myself (I’m sorry - is that poor Songfight etiquette? Or is it only natural to want to make sure you’ll get at least one vote?!)

Flying Brick: Some neat textures and changes, but not really much of a “songâ€

[Smalltown Mike]

I bet you’re a bit of a scary dude in real life.

Yes, I'm quite terrifying and tough, especially in the morning when I'm pushing my toddler in the stroller and we're walking my six-year-old to grade one.

Congrats on your first post, and welcome.