It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

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Pigfarmer Jr
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It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

but it's all we got.
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Songs posted. Thanks for the art, PFJR, although I wish it hadn't been so low res. But at least you provided some. I was not impressed with the Songfight Coverbot's art this time around. :/
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

YW. I was in a hurry and didn't realize how crappy the 400 was till I was done.

On a side note, anyone know what the record is for the number of continuous art submissions? (ie, without missing a fight?)
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Post by saunter »

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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

Pigfarmer Jr. - solid riffage, and it works surprisingly well with the antiquated language, but it does feel a bit rushed. A fine listen, but not one of your best.

Ken’s Super Duper Band n’ Stuff - I’m torn between loving the stripped down arrangement (the chord sequence remind me a little of Pants Yell!, one of my favourite bands) and wishing there was a bit more to this one, but it’s a really enjoyable song with a catchy melody.

Lichen Throat - love the lyric, you tell a fascinating story. I think the vocal timing could be a little tighter in a couple of places but generally really liked this one a lot.

Lunkhead - gorgeous dusty-sounding electric piano! This has a real Yo La Tengo vibe to it, with the soft hushed vocal and slightly jazzy chords. My favourite from this fight.

The Sheeple’s Choir - charmingly lo-fi, and the conspiracy-theory lyrics are a lot of fun.

Berkeley Social Scene - love the instrumentation, and the vocals are appropriately anthemic. Enjoyed this very much.

WreckdoM - the lyrics are pretty funny but this was a bit too repetitive for my liking. The shift halfway through is fun, though!

Heuristics Inc. - nicely produced, the mechanical synths match the clipped tone of the speech. It didn’t really grab me, though.
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by HeuristicsInc »

The People’s Republic

Bss - lyrically, it doesn’t have much subtlety. Can’t disagree with the sentiments, though. Not the most accomplished vocal… and the banjo (?) seems mixed oddly and is distracting.

Hinc - this is me. It’s nice to be back in a fight, it seems like i have less and less time these days. Thanks to my guest vocalist, who i’m sure has no idea he helped out. I can’t disagree with his sentiments, either.

Ken - i find myself wanting to hear more instruments. Not bad, but it isn’t grabbing me.

Lichen - intro sounds kind of weird and robotic. And the vocal feels like it’s in a different space from the rest of the instruments. Similar reverb might make them move together. Of course texts are unsatisfying. I like the bit about the terracotta army, that’s clever. Ending is good.

Lunkhead - i like the ambience. Not quite on those high notes, unfortunately… but i like it anyway. The bit about consequence is good.

Pig - i like what you’ve done with the music, although i feel like the vocals could be brought more into sync with it. This is certainly different, in a good way. Nice solo. Does this poem relate to the people’s republic?

Sheep - lizard people! Illuminati! Yeah, i like that stuff. This is fun.

Wreck - great sounds in the intro. Squirrels? Heh. we do want hops. That’s another sentiment i can’t disagree with. I like the bassline in the second part. Odd and disjointed, but interesting.

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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

HeuristicsInc wrote:Pig - Does this poem relate to the people’s republic?
No. Well, not directly. Okay, sort of. Do I get kicked out if I don't say yes? *sigh* Thanks for the kind words. I threw this together in a matter of minutes after reading part of my "Anthology of Modern Poetry" published in 1938.

Okay, let's analyze. This lyric is two verses from Don Juan by Lord Byron.
A vulgar tempest 'twere to a typhoon
To match a common fury with her rage,
And yet she did not want to reach the moon,
Like moderate Hotspur on the immortal page;
Her anger pitch'd into a lower tune,
Perhaps the fault of her soft sex and age--
Her wish was but to "kill, kill, kill" like Lear's,
And then her thirst of blood was quench'd in tears.
"She" is intended to be The United States of America. Both in the internal struggles (the football controversy as well as other protests and movements) and external (the ongoing war on "terror" or shadows or anger or... I digress... the ongoing control of the country by the military industrial complex.) I take the last two lines as being about blowback. Bombing wedding parties and killing families with the survivors willing to become suicide bombers for revenge and our (the USA) only answer is to bomb more people and make more "terrorists."

A storm it raged, and like the storm it pass'd,
Pass'd without words-in fact she could not speak;;
Though horrible to see, yet grand to tell
Like ocean warring 'gainst a rocky isle;
But now it flow'd in natural and fast
As water through an unexpected leak;
For she felt humbled-and humiliation
Is sometimes good for people in her station.
Basically I take this verse (which is cobbled together from two separate verses) to be the USA basically being humiliated by our ongoing war against a concept. (Again a war on terror means nothing. Like a war on tears or a war on mixed emotions. It's like the ocean vs the rocky isle, nothing changes at least in my lifetime.) That last line gives me two feelings. One, is that it would be good for us, as a nation, to realize that we are doing more harm than good by dropping bombs on women and children all over the world and also it reminds me of the Jefferson quote about replenishing the tree of liberty with the blood of patriots and tyrants. Although that certainly doesn't come out in the verse.

So, your question was "does this poem relate?" And the answer is, it does to me. Probably not to anyone else. And even what meaning I get out of it that does relate can be contradicted in the rest of the verses if you want to read it literally. Your interpretation is probably better than mine.

Thus ends our literary lesson for the day.
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by HeuristicsInc »

Ah, thanks. It's interesting to know how your thinking here worked. I think I am far too literal to figure that one out on my own.
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by lichenthroat »

Berkeley Social Scene—I’m not sure the vocal needs the deliberate harshness, but otherwise, this is quite good. Clever lyrics, all the instruments sound good, lots of variety, nice mix: good work! Vote.

Heuristics Inc.—This is a cool idea, and I like the “vocal”. More variety would be welcome, though; this feels like it ought to be building to some kind of crescendo. The very end is pleasantly abrupt.

Ken’s Super Duper Band ’n Stuff—This is sweet. Simple, pure, well done. Nothing to dislike. Vote.

Lichen Throat (me)—I was pretty happy with this. For the first time ever, there are a few moments of vocals that I actually like, as opposed to just not hating. The bass sounds a little weird, however. In answer to Heuristics’ comment, I’m not sure why the vocal doesn’t seem to fit. I applied the strongest reverb setting I’ve ever used to both the vocal and all the individual instruments, but I agree that they don’t sound like they’re all in the same space.

Lunkhead—This is very competently made, but not my style. The serious, carefully worded lyrics are an intriguing contrast to the laid back music.

Pigfarmer Jr.—This is an ambitious, super cool idea, and I’m glad you did it. I’m not sure everything quite comes together, but I regard it fondly. Your delivery reminds me of Steve Earle’s “Warrior”.

The Sheeple’s Choir—It’s a folk song making fun of folk songs! This is fun. I’d like the female vocal to be a little louder.

WreckdoM—I like the squiggly guitar at the beginning, but overall I like the second half better than the first.
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Congrats to ... oh, er, me. Yay!
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Re: It Ain't Plato's (The People's Republic Reviews)

Post by glennny »

Good job Lunk! Great song!
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