No Flava Original Twists Reviews (coverfight)

[JonPorobil]

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all these covers! Here's part 2 of my reviews!

The Idiot Kings cover King Arthur's "Cosmic Confirmation" - This is another one of those songs that I was pretty sure I'd heard before, but couldn't remember it. I heard practically none of King Arthur's voice in this cover, which isn't a bad thing, as it stands. I do think this cover rambles a little too much, but it somewhat justifies its length with its sweeping version of ambience. Replacing that Arthurian guitar lick with that repeating piano/synth was sort of a stroke of genius. I'm really struck with the contrast between these two versions - Charles' original feels playful but unambitious and unpretentious. The Idiot Kings' cover feels sweeping and grandiose, but loses that freewheeling whimsy. It's hard to believe these are the same song.

Naked Philosophy covers LMNOP's "Am I Forgiven?" - Hey, someone had the same idea as me! Funny thing is, out of LMNOP/Milo's whole discography, this is perhaps the one that least evokes Naked Philosophy. And yet you inhabit it pretty comfortably. Some of the lyrics are twee enough to sound out of place in a NP song, and I would have taken a few more liberties with the melody in changing the genre, but overall, the transition to punk song works surprisingly well here. I also like the sections where the guitar and bass drop out - those compliment the barbershop phrasing of the original melody well. In terms of recording, this is one of the best-sounding Naked Philosophy songs I've heard yet. I think something about working with each other's material has inspired most of us to go above and beyond; that's one of the coolest things about Coverfights!

Johnny Cashpoint covers Lonbobby's "The Wrong Girl" - Wasn't familiar with the original, though I can see how, given the lyrical subject matter, this would appeal to J$. One weird observation I find myself making a lot is how "straightforward" some of these sound (this one included) in spite of a significant genre change. I guess it's amazing that this can sound like basically the same song even when most of the sequenced instruments (plus voice) have been replaced with their acoustic equivalents.

Berkley Social Scene covers Lord of Oats' "How Much Will You Give Me?" - You guys deserve major props for sorting through all the Lord of Oats songs and finding the perfect one to cover. Sometimes I feel like there's a huge disparity of quality between the original artist and the coverer, and in those cases, the covering artist just needs to coax out the song that was hiding in there in the first place. Duboce Triangle and Frankie Big Face have both done this with my old songs, so I think I can imagine how Oats probably feels listening to this. I love this cover. It feels like what the original was trying to be. The chorus is bouncy and catchy, and you really bring out the feel-good pseudo-inspirational vibe that comes from all that personal nostalgia in the lyrics. This is spectacular. Great job!

Sockpuppet cover Sven Mullet's "Moscow, Idaho", AND Minty Handy covers Sven Mullet's "Feet" - Poor Sven, he got two covers, but neither one of them was really full. In covering the orignal, :20-long joke song "Moscow, Idaho," fluffy did a decent job, but I couldn't help but wonder whether it was necessary, or even worth the effort. Minty's cover of "Feet" has more potential, but it doesn't feel finished. I don't know if it was Minty's intention to submit an instrumental as the final version, or whether he plans to go back and add the vocals later, but this doesn't feel done. I listened to the Sven original for the first time after hearing this cover, and I was really impressed. The catchy conceit, the time-changes, the clever take on the title, the coda, they all worked really well. Minty captures the time changes, and I hear hints of the melody there, but with such a dramatic genre shift, and with no lyrics to keep track of, it's hard to even identify this as the same song.

Sockpuppet covers Minty Handy's "Tomato" (twice!) - I'm not crazy about the instrumental version; it sounds out of tune, almost like elementary-school orchestra bad. I also wasn't familiar with the original, which sounds like it was REALLY fun to record. Sockpuppet's orchestral version made a lot of changes, but retained that playful quality (with lyrics like those, it'd be very difficulty to shake that playfulness, I suppose). Oddly enough, perhaps the most effective change that fluffy makes here is the addition of a little more swing in the vocal melody. This was a fun experiment, and if you ask me, it paid off really well.

Hoglen & Wages cover Octothorpe's "Acid Mouth" - I thought I'd been through the whole Octothorpe catalogue, but listening to the original, I have to say it doesn't sound familiar. I get why you picked this song, though. It's got that combination of darkness and playfulness that seems to be your stock-in-trade. I kind of feel sorry for whoever winds up with Octothorpe in these coverfights, because it's such a challenge to make something listenable while divorcing these songs from the - ahem - unique performance that drives them. The liberal application of kazoo helps. I find it interesting how you managed to dig into the meat of this Octothorpe track and actually find some fairly familiar melodies and blues-rock riffs. You know what, maybe I should just quit trying to dissect the frog. I dig this. The Beatles-ish after-coda noise piece at the end, I could have done without.


Caravan Ray covers Rabid Garfunkel's "Stranded" - Hey, one that I remember! And fairly recently, too! Rabz really brought his A-game last Nur Ein, and I was sad when he dropped out. A little surprised to see Caravan Ray tackle this instead of some of Rabid's more playful material. I like what C-Ray did with the harmonies, though. Other than that, though, this cover is pretty straghtforward. A little smoother around the edges than the original. A better ending. This is an example of a cover that doesn't have to stretch or distort the source material to be particularly effective. Well done, John.

Octothorpe covers Ross Durand's "Evil April" - As we all know, Octothorpe is something of an acquired taste. Earlier I remarked that I kind of feel sorry for whoever has to cover Octothorpe. I also kind of feel sorry for whoever Octothorpe covers, because they literally can't cover anything without leaving their tracks all over it, and unless the recipient has acquired the taste of the 'Thorpe, then he'll be in for a disappointment. It's a good thing, then, that Ross has a sense of humor, and that some of his songs are somewhat whimsical. Heck, this one seems to have been tailor-made for just in case Octothorpe ever had to cover Ross. I seriously doubt if Octothorpe could have tackled any other RD song and had it come out sounding this close to the source material. The Octothorpe touch makes this sound even more like a children's song than the original did. I loved Ross' original, but I'm digging on this cover, too. Spud, my only suggestion would be to seriously rework the drum machine, or maybe cut it altogether. It seems to be accenting the wrong beats in some places.

Rabid Garfunkel covers Roymond's "Shoelace Soup" - Another song that I'm not familiar with the original. Rabz, how did you get that weird, clipped-off-sounding synth? It's very evokative of Roymond. Absent that synth, this would have come out sounding fairly Baltic, or at least akin to Beirut. Unlike Minty's take on Sven, I get the distinct impression that this is complete without the vocals. It's surprising - considering how much of the heft of the original track comes from its lyrics - how well that impact is preserved without the lyrics. I wonder if it's because my mind fills in the blanks with information that I already know? This is a really unique take on the song - like some of the other fighters, you've taken the song in a new and wholly unexpected direction. Kudos!

LMNOP covers Sockpuppet's "tw3rp" - This song came up on the playlist at my birthday party last weekend, and it made me smile. I love that we have this hobby which enables situations like that. If I'd drawn fluffy/Sockpuppet's name in the coverfight, I would either have picked this song or his "Night Terrors." LMNOP, you've done a great job with translating all the little details in the background of this song into cleaner synth analogues and spot-harmonies. Have you heard the final version, from the foodsexsleep album? For reasons I can't pin down, I get the impression that you based this cover on the Songfight version of the recording. I don't really have any constructive criticisms. You've been doing absurdly clean-sounding practically professional-level recordings for quite some time, and you clearly know what you're doing. Great job!

Billy's Little Trip covers Wages' "Crush" - To me, most Wages solo tracks sound like unfinished BLT demos, so this is a particularly fortuitous pairing. BLT makes a couple of smart production decisions - inevitably, he throws some of his electric guitar stylings and harmonies over there, but he also wisely jacks up the tempo by a lot. Chris, I love how you throw yourself whole-hog into Wages' refrain "WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAY?" I think maybe the bass is a little too high in the mix, which makes the song sound hollow during the breakdowns when the bass drops out. But on the whole, you've done a really great version which I'd imagine sounds closer to what Wages had in mind when he recorded his, anyway.

[JonPorobil]

Hey, since I modified the lyrics of Jan's "Half a Million Nerds," here's a transcript of what I sang and rapped.

I first noticed it on IRC
No scriptkiddies, so spam, and no abuse
I thought a netsplit isolated me
But when nothing changed, I checked the news

It was all over reddit, stumble, digg, and slashdot too
Romania is gone; no one knows why, but it is true
A funny language, now it's gone, the countryside as well
I can't believe it - this must be what it feels like in hell


[chorus]
Half a million geeks
Will never see the light of day again
Can't you see it's wrong?
All the rest were freaks
They had no brains and no attention span
I don't think they belong
Half a million nerds, I can't tell you how much it hurts.


Now reddit doesn't update anymore
How am I supposed to last the day?
I don't remember what I did before
Let's see what the stale news have to say

CNN reporting: New York City disappeared
Well that explains why reddit's dead; the killers interfered
Who are they? What are their goals? And why the bloody war?
So many brilliant minds are gone, I can't take it anymore


[chorus]


Yo
They got Scotland and Silicon Valley
They got most of Geneva and the northern half of Cali
Got Austin as well - the gamers rebelled
But there was nowhere to turn to when Gates and Jobs fell
A geek's the linchpin of any economy
When the brain drain hits, you got no more autonomy
So we're burning in the furnace and Copernicus is turning
Off the verge of a flat Earth, to never return
Department of Defense has been baffled, they're after
Any old IQ that's half above laughable
When Tokyo met its demise
We had no tears left, and we were not surprised
We gotta buckle down, think it out and determine
Who's the one who's been drilling in our minds
If we don't, then they're gonna suck the brains from the world
Half a million nerds at a time


[chorus]

[Rabid Garfunkel]

That synth is a software version of a Mellotron's violin option/voice/whatever, in Reason. Pretty sure it's a Mellotron and not an Optigan organ. Anyway... originally the song was done with a good sounding Reason violin, but it just wasn't doing it for me. Too damned pretty and not darkly playful enough. Changing it to the Mellotron violin made me laugh, and so there it stayed.

Of course, if I hadn't procrastinated all the way into the depths of a nasty week long sick, there would've been vocals and a much more straightforward cover.

Thanks for the review, Jon!

[fluffy]

Happy Thanksgiving! I'm thankful for all these covers! Here's part 2 of my reviews!
Sockpuppet cover Sven Mullet's "Moscow, Idaho", AND Minty Handy covers Sven Mullet's "Feet" - Poor Sven, he got two covers, but neither one of them was really full. In covering the orignal, :20-long joke song "Moscow, Idaho," fluffy did a decent job, but I couldn't help but wonder whether it was necessary, or even worth the effort.

I did it because even though Minty agreed to take over covering Sven for me (since I knew I couldn't do a good job on a Sven cover) I still needed to do it in case Minty didn't pull through, since King Arthur threatened me with the consequences with a Sven cover not getting done. So I did the only song I knew I could.

Sockpuppet covers Minty Handy's "Tomato" (twice!) - I'm not crazy about the instrumental version; it sounds out of tune, almost like elementary-school orchestra bad. I also wasn't familiar with the original, which sounds like it was REALLY fun to record. Sockpuppet's orchestral version made a lot of changes, but retained that playful quality (with lyrics like those, it'd be very difficulty to shake that playfulness, I suppose). Oddly enough, perhaps the most effective change that fluffy makes here is the addition of a little more swing in the vocal melody. This was a fun experiment, and if you ask me, it paid off really well.

Yeah, the instrumental version was just a scratch track that I submitted in case I couldn't get the full one done. Disregard it for the sake of the coverfight, I guess. I wasn't trying to shake the playfulness for the full version - actually how it sounded in my head would have been even more playful but the constraints of recording in a bedroom and not an actual concert hall with a full orchestra and chorus got in the way.

LMNOP covers Sockpuppet's "tw3rp" - [...] Have you heard the final version, from the foodsexsleep album? For reasons I can't pin down, I get the impression that you based this cover on the Songfight version of the recording.

I got that impression too, and I'm not entirely sure why either.

[LMNOP]

LMNOP covers Sockpuppet's "tw3rp" - [...] Have you heard the final version, from the foodsexsleep album? For reasons I can't pin down, I get the impression that you based this cover on the Songfight version of the recording.

I got that impression too, and I'm not entirely sure why either.

You're both correct. Had no idea there was another version. Now I must go have a listen.

Also, "Night Terrors" was my Plan B, but Plan A worked so I never really worked on it.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy's Little Trip covers Wages' "Crush" - To me, most Wages solo tracks sound like unfinished BLT demos, so this is a particularly fortuitous pairing. BLT makes a couple of smart production decisions - inevitably, he throws some of his electric guitar stylings and harmonies over there, but he also wisely jacks up the tempo by a lot. Chris, I love how you throw yourself whole-hog into Wages' refrain "WHAT DO YOU THINK THEY SAY?" I think maybe the bass is a little too high in the mix, which makes the song sound hollow during the breakdowns when the bass drops out. But on the whole, you've done a really great version which I'd imagine sounds closer to what Wages had in mind when he recorded his, anyway.

Ha. It's funny that you say this. I guess it's time to come out of the closet. I.am.Phil.Wages. Or should I say, Phil Wages is me. My gynecologist was treading on a new method of vajayjay therapy which includes surfing as multiple personalities on the interwebz super highway. It turns out that the methods proved to be extremely effective. Not only did it get rid of my mental yeast infection I had from my childhood, but I, or should I say we, morphed into two completely different people, and both as fresh as a daisy down there.

Yes, it is a big hard thing to take in all the way. But we have two completely different lives. Different families, different hair styles, different weight issues, etc. We are both musicians, but we live such different lives that one of us always sings out of key and the other can't write worth a shit anymore.

There are many others out there suffering from childhood "not so fresh" issues in this world. I'd like this therapy to become available to any and all that need it. Yeah, you may say that I'm a dreamer. But I'm not the only one. I hope someday that you'll join us. And the world will live as one.

Thank you, Jo Nerik
Sincerely,
BLT
Peace, Love, Rock, Sex and BBQ

[j$]

Johnny Cashpoint ... though I can see how, given the lyrical subject matter, this would appeal to J$.

Actually, I chose this one purely based on the strength of the melody and the intruiging chord progressions - my orginal plan was to make it sound like something off "Melody Nelson".

To be entirely honest, I am not sure the words mean anything. That said, I do love the lines "Can a lie be the same as the truth?" and "What is wrong with the wrong girl? / Can it be this life is easy?"

[king_arthur]

Okay, so we're still waiting on roymond and Mark, both with good excuses, correct?

I'm going to work on a cover of Niveous' "Cute Boots" so he doesn't get entirely stiffed. Oats doesn't seem to be checking his messages, even...

Charles (KA)

[Märk]

I'm feeling about 50% better now. Any day. Once again, sorry. I'm embarrassed.

[king_arthur]

Understood, I'm just making sure I didn't miss something that got posted. It's going to be a while before I can do vocals that do justice to Niv's song, too.

Charles (KA)

[Märk]

Yes, it is a big hard thing to take in all the way.

That's what YOUR MOM said to me!
(come on, you knew I was going to quote that before you even typed it)

[the idiot king]

I'm going to work on a cover of Niveous' "Cute Boots" so he doesn't get entirely stiffed. Oats doesn't seem to be checking his messages, even...

granted, it would be another project for people to consider, but it would be pretty rad if in the future all involved parties agreed to do a collaborative effort for anyone who may not have had a cover finished. could be fun to do a "do they know it's christmastime" style cover with someone taking on bass and drums, another person on guitars, maybe someone on synth and everyone else on vocals.

[HeuristicsInc]

i think that was the idea for the gom stiffee committee last year. not sure if it really worked out that way ...

i finally got to listen to everything. all good listens. will try to review asap! things are v busy.
-bill

[roymond]

Okay, so we're still waiting on roymond and Mark, both with good excuses, correct?

I'm going to work on a cover of Niveous' "Cute Boots" so he doesn't get entirely stiffed. Oats doesn't seem to be checking his messages, even...

Charles (KA)

I didn't want to have to use it but I've been dealing with arranging on getting my dad into Hospice care. He's 93 and got pneumonia last week, so I've been in VT a bunch. Sorry to have resorted to the last minute, only to have no last minute to do anything about it. Not sure what to say about getting it done before xmas...maybe it'll be a pleasant surprise at that point?

[Billy's Little Trip]

Yes, it is a big hard thing to take in all the way.

That's what YOUR MOM said to me!
(come on, you knew I was going to quote that before you even typed it)

I was hoping it wouldn't go to waste. I just set'um up, someone else has to spike them.

Verbal Volleyball ~BLT 2010

[king_arthur]

I didn't want to have to use it but I've been dealing with arranging on getting my dad into Hospice care. He's 93 and got pneumonia last week, so I've been in VT a bunch. Sorry to have resorted to the last minute, only to have no last minute to do anything about it. Not sure what to say about getting it done before xmas...maybe it'll be a pleasant surprise at that point?

Thanks for checking in, and best wishes on dealing with life. Not trying to pressure anybody, just following up to make sure this thing gets wrapped up eventually. And thanks for your patience, Heuristics, tuuur and Niveous. Not forgotten...

Charles

[HeuristicsInc]

very sorry to hear about your dad, roy... don't sweat it too much. i was there this year too.
-bill

[Niveous]

Sorry to hear about your dad, Roy. If you need any help with your song, you know I'm here to help.

[fluffy]

Same here. I've recently gone through a similar thing with my grandpa, and my grandma just went into a nursing home a week ago, so I can definitely sympathize. Feel free to assign parts to people.

[king_arthur]

I've added a somewhat self-indulgent six-minute cover of Niveous "Cute Boots" to the fight results page - here.

I've kept Niv's lyrics pretty much untouched (unusual for me), except for swapping the second and third verses. I changed it from a 3/4 to a 4/4 and left some space for a little Garcia-esque lead part, changed the chording a little bit, and then just sang the melody that seemed to fit the new chords. I think you'll be able to tell it was the same song, anyway. And then just medicated the heck out of my mouth so that I could do some vocals.

Anyway, enjoy Niveous! To everybody else who thinks it just goes on and on for way too long... yeah, I know. But the story of the song kinda compels it to move pretty slowly, and I suppose I've been listening to too much "Stella Blue" lately...

If the face really heals up one day, I might go back and add some BVs on some or all of the choruses. Or not. This might be as good as it gets...

Charles (KA)

[Niveous]

Thanks King!

[BBABM]

I didn't compete, but I have listened...
Good work folks! Really cool to hear everyones takes on other peoples songs. I'm gonna have to get in on the next one, when I have a few more songs to pick from. It has been a treat going back through peoples catalogue and listening to old songs, and has given me new insight into this whole song fight thing, and the people involved. I must say that everyone picked exactly the right song. there are obviously so many good ones to pick from, but all of you did a rockin job picking through, and finding the ones that deserve a cover.
If you don't mind I would like to give some comments on some of my favorites.

Niveous covering BSS "thinkin' about the old days": at first I thought maybe you set the bar too high with that song, but the words actually go really well with the somewhat wishy washy background music. I like the harpsichord(?) synth over top. Very minimalist, I like that. Plus you have a good voice. Good job making a rocking song your own, and doing it well.

Ross Durand covering billy's little trips "convalescence": I wasn't quite sure how you were going to do the main riff. Took it 180 degrees, in the right way. Man, you get that guitar to sound good. I may actually like your take on this song better than the original. But, again it's hard to compare apples and an orange rabbit with clown shoes. I am just a fan of your voice, so you could have just said "whats up" into the mic all low like that, and I would have liked the song. Luckily For everyone else you are a mean musician too.

Lonbobby covering idiot kings "boarding call": I like it, the auto tune is a little distracting, but I really like the beat.

Naked philosophy covering LMNOPs "am I forgiven": wow wow and wow. The original made me smile really big... You broke my face. I don't know how you did it but you made a perfect song better.

Minty handy covering Sven mullets "feet": I was interested to find out how you were gonna do those words, quite a racy song. I was surprised to hear that you tackled the problem head on and axed them completely. However, something I hadn't really noticed while trying to hear all the words was how different, and cool the music really was. You brought this out to the fullest, and knocked it out of the park. Without vocals.

Fluffy covering Minty handys "tomato (orchestral version)": again, I thought the bar may have been set too high with what may have been the most adorable song I have ever heard. Yet, I am blown away again by you pulling out all the guns. The only thing I could venture to say about this song is that the volume on some of the background vocals are a little loud, and drown out the main lead. I would also like to hear an instrumental version of this. But either way, I love it.

Billys little trip covering wages' "crush": holy crap, talk about saving the best for last. I didn't know quite where the original was going, now I do. It was into this cover fight, to be redone by you. Awesome job!