Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by jb »

Jim of Seattle wrote:It's like the motorcycle helmet law. It's there to protect the rider's loved ones for years to come, and the psyches of anyone else involved in the accident.
Helmet laws are there, ostensibly, to reduce the financial burden on society of saving and maintaining invalid bikers. Whether they actually do that is endlessly debated.

JB
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

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Where is the Like button? :?
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jerkatorium »

Jim of Seattle wrote: <something> Calico Like the rappers in the fight, you are working too hard to be clever with the lyrics, and a lot of the rhymes feel forced. "plight/fright", "survival/rival", for example. "Sparrow without marrow" doesn't really make a lot of sense, it feels like a rhyme for rhyme sake and just made me go "huh?". There are certainly a bunch of clever things in there, but maybe you should have been satisfied with the best ones and cut the so-so ones. Your middle school teacher vocal performance mirrors the content really nicely! I don't think that octave leap in the title gets you much mileage. It's hard to sing and feels unnecessarily awkward.
Reading this review was a big surprise to me, especially since I thought there was a good chance that <Something>Calico was Jim of Seattle. This song and performance reminds me so much of your "The Math Lesson".

[BTW I'm a big fan from way back, I've had nine of your songs on my various playlists for the past decade or more.]
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jerkatorium »

jb wrote:
Jim of Seattle wrote:It's like the motorcycle helmet law. It's there to protect the rider's loved ones for years to come, and the psyches of anyone else involved in the accident.
Helmet laws are there, ostensibly, to reduce the financial burden on society of saving and maintaining invalid bikers. Whether they actually do that is endlessly debated.

JB
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

jb wrote:And thusly Jim of Seattle maintains the proud Song Fight tradition of review assholery. *golf clap*

JB
Oh, hell with it. So long.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by jb »

*continues golf clapping*
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

Do I need to buy you guys a beer? Ben Franklin said beer is proof God exists and that he loves us. But then I always wondered what cancer was proof of...
DT
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

This is a review thread, expect to be reviewed, likely critically, even just for posting here. :P

But seriously, JoS, don't go! Stick around, enter a fight, vote and review! The more the merrier around here.
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by PepperJane »

Jim of Seattle wrote: Peppr Jane ... seem to be trying to make either cutting or suicide noble or cool... unelentlessly bleak that you lost me... seems to ramble a bit... page from your journal... I would really love to hear you do some covers ...
Yeah, don't go. It was rambly, yes (these weren't the real verse lyrics, and I'm a little disappointed but liked the overall rawness of the product), and bleak, mostly intentionally (also 'bleak' was one of his most beautifully eloquated words, though I believe he's still clinging to life somewhere) and I was actually meaning the opposite message to this first point (which was clearer in the real lyrics, talking about "wish you'd tried for one more year").
I guess a few of my influences' lyrics read like journals: Dido, Jewel, Jeff Buckley, Katie Noonan, Sarah Blasko, so I'm actually encouraged by that comment.

I share your sentiment that there is nothing noble about taking one's own life. My story is about two depressed people, one who gives in and one who identifies sharing those feelings, but resists, and keeps hope for a better answer.

Mostly don't go because I want YOU to pick what song you'd like me to cover... I'm very intrigued. I've not heard any of your songs, so this seems to promise to be interesting :) Also, my voice is much better than this bang-up offering...

Additionally, I'll be in Cali in a few weeks and could make it to Seattle, were there a place you might suggest I play said cover for you!
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by glennny »

DId you say Jeff Buckley? You know, you could actually pull off a Jeff Buckley cover. I'd love to get your vocals on a Buckley cover. What's you favorite Jeff song? Morning Theft? So Real? Last Goodbye?
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by PepperJane »

LAST GOODBYE IS MY LIFE

Also I do Hallelujah his way.

Neil Young is coming to Bluesfest in Byron Bay, NSW, to play a 3 hour set. That's my Easter done. [CENSORED], Mary J Blige, Santana :o [Edit: why does it censor Bonn!e R@itt?!!]

Also, currently at this moment I'm watching a girl bust out I Have Nothing by 'the' Whitney as the final song at karaoke in a stingey bar (I know, I used to have a residency here) and I fully believe I can do this :'D
Last edited by PepperJane on Wed Oct 05, 2016 8:56 am, edited 1 time in total.
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

I used to put "Everybody Here Wants You" on mixtapes for girls I liked. Haha, now that I think about it, one of the times was a tape I made for my wife before we started dating. Guess it worked!
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by PepperJane »

Haha cool - were you singing it?
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

Everybody saying a bunch of stuff
OK, I managed to semi-spoil the rest of my day after my "so long" post, first by remaining incensed, but then gradually turning into more sheepish regret, ultimately deciding this morning to come back and apologize for any unintended assholery. I certainly understand how it could have been construed as such, and so I realize I might have come across as a jerk, and I'm sorry about that.

I think the most assholoholic thing I posted was not reviewing some songs for being "ordinary". I think I was trying to convince myself that I did indeed have the time to review fights every week like I used to, if maybe I just stuck to those songs I had an opinion on. I used to always feel I had to offer SOMEthing for every single submission, and usually for half the tracks, that was a challenge, because so many simply didn't engage me.

Ideas for overcoming this shortcoming are welcome. To be more clear, it's not just SF where I find rampant ordinariness in music - it's everywhere.

Anyway, sorry about yesterday.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

Jerkatorium wrote:
Jim of Seattle wrote: <something> Calico Like the rappers in the fight, you are working too hard to be clever with the lyrics, and a lot of the rhymes feel forced. "plight/fright", "survival/rival", for example. "Sparrow without marrow" doesn't really make a lot of sense, it feels like a rhyme for rhyme sake and just made me go "huh?". There are certainly a bunch of clever things in there, but maybe you should have been satisfied with the best ones and cut the so-so ones. Your middle school teacher vocal performance mirrors the content really nicely! I don't think that octave leap in the title gets you much mileage. It's hard to sing and feels unnecessarily awkward.
Reading this review was a big surprise to me, especially since I thought there was a good chance that <Something>Calico was Jim of Seattle. This song and performance reminds me so much of your "The Math Lesson".

[BTW I'm a big fan from way back, I've had nine of your songs on my various playlists for the past decade or more.]
Thanks for the nine! Wondering how you came across the Math Lesson. My new album which is already duplicated and printed and should be "officially" released in a couple weeks has a much much better version of the math song on it. Preview and stuff at www.jimofseattle.com, and maybe half of it is re-done versions of SF songs, though I don't want anyone to think I've come back here just to promote it.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

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Jim of Seattle wrote: ...so many simply didn't engage me... it's not just SF where I find rampant ordinariness in music - it's everywhere.
Hi, Jim of Seattle, I'm Pepper, and I'm pretty new here. Good to meet you :)
I was going to say something like *actual applause* but reconsidered what you said to be of gentlemanly enough quality, that in reality, I would just give a knowing grin and a nod.

This week did have a lot of entries, hence fewer reviews I guess. There were some that didn't engage me (perfect way to put it) and I guess I keep listening to those until I come up with something that I'd suggest is why that is, or that might turn that around, as an audience member, skewed by knowing the incredible talents (people) that I know (hence I concur with your everywhere ordinariness line). Usually by that stage I've either also/instead found something that connects to me. Takes more time, but that's what community is about... and why so often I'm guilty of procrastinating past the review 'relevance' timeframe.

Anyway, pick a song?!! (Or I can send you my repertoire excel file)
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

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PepperJane wrote: This week did have a lot of entries, hence fewer reviews I guess. There were some that didn't engage me (perfect way to put it) and I guess I keep listening to those until I come up with something that I'd suggest is why that is, or that might turn that around, as an audience member, skewed by knowing the incredible talents (people) that I know (hence I concur with your everywhere ordinariness line). Usually by that stage I've either also/instead found something that connects to me. Takes more time, but that's what community is about... and why so often I'm guilty of procrastinating past the review 'relevance' timeframe.

Anyway, pick a song?!! (Or I can send you my repertoire excel file)
Yeah, it takes more time, that's the crux of it. And the reviews for so many entries could almost be identical, sometimes it's a matter of coming up with a new way to write the same review for the twentieth time. I remember years ago a friend of mine submitted a comic book to a publisher of comics, and he got back a form letter with a few dozen paragraphs of critique on them ("The art isn't good enough", "The story is not compelling", "This isn't the kind of thing we publish", etc., though they were more complete thoughts than that.), and someone had just made check marks next to the 3-4 critiques that applied to his submission. I've pondered whether that was a good thing to do or not. It does acknowledge this conundrum of how to give the same critique over & over.

For me, the most common response I have for an entry here has always been "Nice enough. Band sounds good. Vocals are problematic, lyrics maybe a bit lazy, and musically it needs to be more unique." I'm one who appreciates effort above all else. If I hear a song and think "I could write that song in fifteen minutes" or "I've heard five hundred songs that sound exactly like that" then it's tough for me to be glowing about it.

I also rail against what I perceive as "lazy cool", where artists anoint musical laziness as some sort of statement. In my experience, those artists are usually just trying to hide their own insecurity about their art. It's easier to act like you don't care than to have the bravery to try and possibly fail. And "lazy cool" has been so legitimized in the culture that, sadly, attention to craft and detail and high standards may now come across as being stuck-up or "artsy". So sad. The same insecurities that have given rise to "lazy cool" were evident back in music school in a different way, when student composers of modern classical music commonly wrote music that was so dissonant that no one could tell what they were even doing, and the composer could hide behind that. "Well, you just don't get it, but _I_ know what I meant." <--- That defense pisses me the hell off.
"Here's I made you a casserole."
"Ugh, it tastes terrible"
"Well, you just don't get it"

I used to be around here a lot. My post total next to my avatar is a bit misleading though, because I haven't been around in a few years, so I'm sort of a newbie all over again. I was known as a very tough critic, and that's justified. But I'm not unsympathetic by any means. I just have very very high standards. When I listen to SF songs, I'm looking for effort, and individuality. I think the bravest, most honest thing an artist can do is to be unique, to not sound like anyone else. And for me, that's definitely the music I'm most attracted to. I strive for it in everything I write as well.

One last metaphor: When I think of art, I sometimes imagine the artist is sitting at the shore of a shallow lake. There are rocks and stumps sticking up in the lake. The artist decides to see if he can hit them with rocks. Now, if he throws rocks at the big stump 7 feet in front of him, he'll hit it pretty often, but really, how much of an achievement is that? I picture him hitting it or coming very close with regularity, but no one watching him remarks on it. If instead he takes aim at that stump 50 feet away, he's much less likely to hit it, but everyone takes notice that he's going for it, and cheers him on. The ironic thing is that he likely won't ever hit that stump. But when he misses by just a few feet, people will cheer the effort. It's so telling: No one cares when he hits the stump 7 feet away, but when he misses the faraway stump by a yard, people still cheer the effort. "Oh! You nearly hit it!" I guess I have no interest in people hitting stumps that are 7 feet away.

As far as a song you should cover, I thought about it for a few minutes, and couldn't really come up with one. I thought of something by Alanis Morrisette maybe, and then I thought of "Honey Molasses" by Jill Scott, (but I think that one just came to mind because I love that song so much, not because it would necessarily be appropriate for you!)
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

PepperJane wrote:Haha cool - were you singing it?
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHHAHHA!

...wait, are you serious? You've listened to my songs, right? Buckley would turn over in his grave if I ever sang that tune.
DT
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

Jim of Seattle wrote:...Preview and stuff at http://www.jimofseattle.com, and maybe half of it is re-done versions of SF songs, though I don't want anyone to think I've come back here just to promote it.
Oh, you whore. :D
DT
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

dirgetheband wrote:
Jim of Seattle wrote:...Preview and stuff at http://www.jimofseattle.com, and maybe half of it is re-done versions of SF songs, though I don't want anyone to think I've come back here just to promote it.
Oh, you whore. :D
I asked myself "How long can I contribute to the SF community without bringing up that I have a new release coming up?" I hoped it would be a while. So much for that. But in fairness, someone brought up a song that is ON THE NEW ALBUM, so it was impossible to resist.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by dirgetheband »

Jim of Seattle wrote:
dirgetheband wrote:
Jim of Seattle wrote:...Preview and stuff at http://www.jimofseattle.com, and maybe half of it is re-done versions of SF songs, though I don't want anyone to think I've come back here just to promote it.
Oh, you whore. :D
I asked myself "How long can I contribute to the SF community without bringing up that I have a new release coming up?" I hoped it would be a while. So much for that. But in fairness, someone brought up a song that is ON THE NEW ALBUM, so it was impossible to resist.
...and I, for one, am glad they did. I went on your site yesterday and poked around a bit. Liked what I heard. Me thinks I'll be buying something shortly.

I actually think there could be a bit more self-promotion on this site. Everyone is too modest for their own good.
DT
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Re: Are You There God? It's (Young Blood Reviews)

Post by Jim of Seattle »

OK, that's one sale! My master plan is working perfectly....

I had to go look at the board sections to see that yes you are correct that there is no designated place to announce any releases of real album or anything. There's the Concerts and Events section, but that's more for live gigs. Anyway, yeah, I have an album coming out, and there are previews available at jimofseattle.com.
Here's my record label page thingie with stuff about me if you are so interested: https://greenmonkeyrecords.com/jim-of-seattle/
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