Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Pigfarmer Jr
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Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Post by Pigfarmer Jr »

I like spam so I'll have the spam, spam, spam, spam, eggs and spam.
Evil Grin bandcamp - Evil Grin spotify
T.C. Elliott bandcamp - T.C. Elliott spotify

"PigFramer: Guy and guitar OF MY NIGHTMARES." - Blue Lang
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Lunkhead
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Re: Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Songs posted.
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lichenthroat
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Re: Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Post by lichenthroat »

Lots of great choruses this week.

2 guitars and a bass live—The Superman stuff was funny. The emphasis seems to be more on the spoken-word elements than on the music, so it’s hard to comment effectively on the music.

Jonathan Mann—The songwriting here is excellent. The chords on the “Take out the garbage” line are perfectly chosen and had me instantly hooked. This sounds better and better on every listen. I’m very impressed.

Lichen Throat (me)— I obviously had a little trouble recording the vocal, and the ending now seems too abrupt. Otherwise, I’m happy with this one.

Pigfarmer Jr.—I like the doubled vocals in the chorus. The long note the end was cool, too. Guitar seems a little high in the mix, but I’m not sure it’s inappropriate for this type of song.

Starfinger—This is a weird song, but somehow it all comes together. Great chorus. I’m also impressed with how smoothly you can slide between your normal voice and falsetto.

Versus Verses—Lyrically, you’ve done a masterful job with a quite literal take on the title. The music goes well with the mood of the lyrics, too. Good song.

Vom Vorton—Great beginning. Did you use a different recording process than usual? The sound quality seems a little below your usual standard. I really like the song, though. Great sense of energy. Classic Vorton.

WreckdoM—I’ve been meaning to ask how you get a different image attached to your song when I download it as a podcast. (I don’t intend to do this myself; I’m just curious.) Good use of the echo effect in the song.
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vowlvom
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Re: Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Post by vowlvom »

2 Guitars and a Bass Live - this is extremely odd. Some amusing stuff in your fantastical ramblings and I like the conversational style. A fun listen but I guess a little too abstract for my liking.

Jonathan Mann - I like this very much indeed. It has that soft, intimate indie-pop quality that Yo La Tengo do really well. I love the busy-but-gentle drumming. Definitely my favourite from this fight.

Lichen Throat - a really unusual arrangement! That fast picking / fiddle is crazy, it’s like a robot country song. I think this is fundamentally a good song but some of the instrumentation really feels like it needs to be a little “humanised” on this one. I know you’re working from notation software so that’s easier said than done!

Pigfarmer Jr - probably duplicating my comment from FAWM but I really like this one, especially the doubled chorus vocal and the heavy guitar chug. That feedback at the end is great too.

Starfinger - I like the combination of that dreamy romantic-ballad piano and the in-your-face synths, and I also very much like how the lyric gets stranger and stranger as it goes on.

Versus Verses - duplicating from FAWM again, but your harmonies are absolutely killer and this has great power-pop vibes but with bonus wandering guitar-riff goodness.

WreckdoM - really fun. The guitar is kinda buried in the mix, I like the main riff so I’d have liked it to be a bit more dominant. But otherwise, this was enjoyable, and the layered vocals and FX at the end are really cool.

Vom Vorton - this is me. As lichenthroat notes above, a slightly more scrappy recording than usual as I kept holding off while I waited for a lingering cold to depart and let me sing without coughing, but it never happened so I just went for energy and a sort of live-ish sound without attempting too many takes of anything. I’m basically trying to sound like Superchunk but not quite getting there.
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Re: Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Post by starfinger »

These reviews are brought to you by the letter "%".


2 guitars and a bass live
=========================

You should remove the vocals and then slow the whole thing down
300-400%


jonathan mann
=============

Congratulations on such a well-crafted production. Not my thing,
though I would like to hear an instrumental version of this, reversed
and then slowed down 350-500%.


lichen throat
=============

This is peak listenable songfight weirdness. It is robotic country,
as mentioned above. By all accounts, this is an improvement over
human country, and I like it, for realz. The vocals kinda absorb the
whole mix. If you continue to work with it, I suggest speeding the
whole thing up 25-800%


pigfarmer jr.
=============

This is great, and it reminds me of an L7 song from the 90's (I don't
know which one, but I'll keep you posted). I would keep this at 100%
of its current speed!


starfinger
==========

I made this song and I wish that I retroactively had the attention
span necessary to create more than one drum loop. I am fond of the
bass playing in the weird choral interlude. You should hear the
version of this where everything is operating at 105% of capacity.
The recording equipment could not capture it.


versus verses
=============

This is catchy. I'm told that my mother voted for you. It is a
quality song, and I like the reverb. I am presently at 80% on your
harmonica. The vocals veer into Green Day + Weird Al territory, which
is a valid artistic choice.


vom vorton
==========

This is a genre gem. I am not fond of the line about social media (I
don't want songs to acknowledge that this exists, I guess) but "I
don't need x-ray specs to see right through you" is such a great line
that the lyrics are overall GOOD (97%). Yeah, this is a great
song. The current speed is OK. You could try starting really slow
(38-60%) and gradually make it faster (200-2000%) by the end of the
song, but it would not be an improvement.


wreckdom
========

This is a catchy song. Have you considered running the entire song
through a vocoder? You might also try slowing it down to somewhere
between 7% and 91% of the current speed. I listened to this song
twice (200%).


I voted for 4 songs (50%)!
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Lunkhead
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Re: Can you see through the spam for the (X-Ray Specs Reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Congrats to Jonathan Mann!
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