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Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:17 pm
by Pigfarmer Jr
(Coming Soon.)

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Mon Sep 10, 2018 5:17 pm
by Pigfarmer Jr

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 9:07 pm
by Lunkhead
It might be a bit before I get things updated. My laptop that I had been using to do the updates bit the dust and I've got a replacement now and I'm trying to cobble together the myriad bits and pieces I use to do the updates. Sorry folks!

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Wed Sep 12, 2018 11:52 pm
by Lunkhead
OK, songs posted, with a few bumps.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 4:00 pm
by Lunkhead
For those that don't know, Collin Cunningham aka narbotic is the original creator of Song Fight! Great to see him back!

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 4:46 pm
by Jerkatorium
Lunkhead wrote:For those that don't know, Collin Cunningham aka narbotic is the original creator of Song Fight! Great to see him back!
Help us out a little: Collin Cunningham aka narbotic is back in what context? Did he submit a song? And if so, under what band name?

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 5:31 pm
by Lunkhead
Oh, haha, I haven't added the song to the fight yet, whoops. Someone submitted a song with Collin as a featured performer. Unfortunately they submitted a .m4a instead of a .mp3 so it didn't get picked up by my script that downloads the submitted songs. They sent a fixed file last night. I was trying to add it to the fight this morning when I posted that inadvertently cryptic comment to the boards, but I had to stop in the middle to go to work and didn't get the last couple steps of the very manual process done. Song should be up later tonight and the artist name has Collin's name in it at which point my premature comment will make more sense.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Thu Sep 13, 2018 7:53 pm
by Lunkhead
OK song added.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Sat Sep 15, 2018 11:40 pm
by fluffy
I missed that voice in these things

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Sun Sep 16, 2018 8:36 pm
by Chumpy
The Jerks are back with another podcast with our reviews for the Thin Air fight. If you'd like to join us for our upcoming review of the Tearing Down History fight, drop me a PM on the boards, and maybe you can Skype in with us for our next podcast!

There are a few ways you can listen to it:
Also, if you'd like to give us an earful of what you liked, or didn't like about this podcast, you can email us at: feedback@twojerksonevote.com.

We won't blame you if you don't want to hear us yammer on about every song. Use the timings below to jump right to the song(s) you're interested in, the entire podcast is the better part of an hour an hour.
  • 00:00 - Intro song
  • 01:07 - Beginning-of-podcast yammering
  • 08:44 - Berkeley Social Scene
  • 12:20 - Bob and the Boggles
  • 15:01 - gasm
  • 20:02 - jmDtt (ft. Collin Cunningham)
  • 23:55 - Johnny Cashpoint & Marcus Kellis
  • 29:40 - Paco del Stinko
  • 33:16 - Phillipso
  • 36:45 - Pigfarmer Jr
  • 39:26 - Third Cat
  • 41:17 - Travels With Brindle
  • 47:23 - End-of-podcast yammering
Hope ya enjoy it!

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:27 pm
by Lunkhead
BSS - This is me and glennny and Ken as a trio. We wrote the music and lyrics and tracked the drums/bass/guitar live on a Tuesday night, then glennny took the tracks and did the vocals. I like the emoting and melodies in the vocals. I wish I'd had time to record a second/double rhythm guitar track so we could have had two guitars panned left and right to make it a bit less mono sounding. EDIT: Thanks to the "Two Jerks One Vote" podcast I realized glennny already posted info about who played what, with the lyrics. My bad!

Bob and the Boggles - I like the off kilter vibe, from the percussion and the chord progression. I'm not sure your vocal melody totally fits over the chord progression, mostly at the end. I like the percussion sounds and the instrument choices. Vocals could be a little louder in the mix. It's a decent initial idea, could use some more development. I was disappointed that Rhodes bit at the very end wasn't the beginning of a new song, I liked that part a lot!

gasm - I'm not a huge fan of the rap singing style in the verses, but that's just my genre bias. I like the chorus lead and backup vocals a lot though, and the whole chorus in general. Nice use of phaser on the guitars as a little extra flavor sprinkled in. Performance and recording and mix all sound really good. Definitely Smalltown Mike on vocals but who are your collaborators this time? Somebody is shredding a sweet guitar solo. Is that Boltoph? Anyway, fun song, I liked it.

jmDtt (ft. Collin Cunningham) - Nice ambience. I like the synth tones. I like the mix of synths with reverb with the very dry vocals. Might be good to put a hi-pass filter on the vocals to cut out the low bass frequencies. I think they'd blend in with the music more that way. I'm not sure if the hard left/right panning of the vocal tracks is cool or annoying. On headphones it's very intense. I think I like it ... ?

Johnny Cashpoint & Marcus Kellis - I'm excited just by the possibilities of this collaboration before even hearing the song! Fun song, good singalong chorus, and I like the gag with the lyrics.

Paco del Stinko - Fretless bass this time? I like the staccato quarter notes in the rhythm guitar, gives things a nice bouncy rhythm. I could do without the telephone effect on the vocals but I guess it's pertinent to the lyrics. Nice Police-esque moment after the bridge. The upbeat/major tone of the bridge seemed a little out of place to me. Sweet solo. The double time made me wish the whole rest of the song would be double time with the tempo ramping up and up and up. I felt like the switch back to normal time kinda robbed the song of some momentum, and right near the end too.

Phillipso - glennny going for it again in the vocals, I like it, although it gets a little borderline cartoony in a few moments. I like the drums, are they live? Some of your falsetto harmonies sound like they're either wrong notes or not good notes, if that makes sense. I like the slide guitar, wished that had been the solo. The double-tap delay solo was OK although when it played through the transition I liked that change. It sounded maybe a little out of tune though. EDIT: I see that it's Woody on drums. The guitars sound good, nice work Woody!

Pigfarmer Jr - Nice guy and guitar song, though it's a bit straightforward. Also there are some pitch issues in the vocals. Might be good to track them separately and put a little subtle autotune touch-up on them.

Third Cat - Cool intro and I like the drum beat. I wish your vocals didn't sound muffled. Pitch issues too, some autotune could help. I like the bass and the overall vibe. Nice switch to shaker and guitar, good way to break things up. Nice last choruses/outro. The layered up vocals sound really good.

Travels With Brindle - Welcome to Song Fight! I hope you made it through the last 4 days of your 100 days of ukulele. If you're trying to get on the boards and you need your account activated please reach out to the fightmaster email and let me know what username to look for. Uke playing sounds good, good singing though there are some pitch issues. Cool chord progression around midway through. Nice work overall! Hope we hear you around here again. (If you do come back, one tiny request, please edit off the intro and signoff if you have the means to do so. If not, no big deal.)

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 4:58 pm
by Lunkhead
Re: the discussion in the podcast, it's definitely Collin, not an impersonator.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Mon Sep 17, 2018 5:50 pm
by Smalltown Mike
Lunkhead wrote:Who are your collaborators this time? Somebody is shredding a sweet guitar solo. Is that Boltoph? Anyway, fun song, I liked it.
Hey thanks — that's Rob /thc, the other half of Flaming Tiger.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 5:54 am
by vowlvom
Berkeley Social Scene - this is pretty great. The few issues that I repetitively bring up when critiquing BSS are all absent and while I've heard a few tracks from you that I like more than this one, I'd still put this in the top tier.

Bob and the Boggles - love the vibe of this one, the unusual chord sequence and the wobbly keyboard sounds. It kinda loses momentum and ends before I really got into it, though. Give me more, Boggles!

gasm - really well written, performed and recorded but just my thing at all, sorry. I always feel bad when my critique is nothing but "this is not to my personal taste", but that's all I've got.

jmDtt (ft. Collin Cunningham) - love the music. I'm usually into this sort of glitchy ambient backing / close-up vocal thing but I think the vocals are just a touch TOO up-front here, especially early on. And then they get a little lost later on when the music swells. Lunkhead's production tips above sound like smart ones to me. Other than that, I thought this was really cool. Interesting lyric, too.

Johnny Cashpoint & Marcus Kellis - I really like the mix of fuzz and acoustic guitar and the lyrics are witty. The layered vocals get a bit overly messy for my liking in places but not enough to spoil my enjoyment. Kinda wish some proper drums kicked in later on to give it a bit more.. erm... "oomph"?

Paco del Stinko - there are parts of this song I like more than others but even the parts I'm not crazy about are pretty fascinating. That crunchy guitar pulse gives it a great momentum and I continue to be envious of your ability to include quite busy lead guitar parts throughout the song without it feeling overcrowded. The double speed bit towards the end is ace. Have you ever heard the band Ten Benson? Because your songs increasingly remind me of them, in some odd way.

Phillipso - some great stuff going on with the guitars here, there's some lovely instrumental breaks (some of which remind me of the other BSS, a bit). The all-shouty-all-the-time vocals didn't really work for me though which is a shame as I like this a lot otherwise.

Pigfarmer Jr - solid song, good performance, and I like the hammered flourishes in the guitar part. It didn't massively stand out to me, but I enjoyed it.

Third Cat - really interesting production, as usual! The drums in particular sound great, crunchy and punchy and satisfying. Vocals remind me a little of Animal Collective on this song, I think. I don't think the vocal melody is particularly strong but there's enough interesting stuff going on elsewhere to make this a winner for me.

Travels With Brindle - interesting lyric from what I can make out, solid melodies, maybe a little too long. It can't help feel a little unpolished compared to the other entries in the fight but I guess that makes sense if you're in the middle of a 100-day writing marathon. Would love to hear what you can do when you're not so rushed!

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Tue Sep 18, 2018 6:57 pm
by Pigfarmer Jr
Berkeley Social Scene - Rock guitars are always welcome in my house. And I like the vocals right from the start, cool sound to them. Yeah, this is one of my favorites so far. It's also the first song I've listened to. (Just kidding. I just added that to be an arsehole but didn't have the guts to stick with it.) Seriously, though, I'm digging this one.

Bob and the Boggles - Kind of a Marcy's Playground vibe to start (Sex and Candy) which... I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not, tbh, but I like it. Okay, not to start. To almost finish, too. Heh. I like little sit down and see what the hell comes out songs... but more when I make them. And that's what this seems to me.

gasm - I like the guitars and for some reason I've been hearing references to trashcans a lot of late. Like.. I have no idea why, but they keep popping out. For instance, Aubrey Plaza said she listened to a spotify playlist of people screaming into trashcans to prepare for her role in Legion. (Lenny. She played Lenny.) I like the vocals, they are well performed and fit the music well. I never get a good phase sound on guitars, but it sounds like a touch here. If so, it worked marvelously. I liked the mix, too.

jmDtt (ft. Collin Cunningham) - I like the music. The vocals don't quite sit well with me. I mean they don't quite sit well in the mix, especially to start. I kind of liked it when they blended in with the music a bit more. It gave a cool, lost feeling.. not lost. Erm.. I think it reinforced the vocal performance, the laid back, almost detached inflection. Okay, so new take on the Vox. I think just a bit too much up to start, but I kind of like the slow fade into the music as the song progresses. I also liked the panning, although upon subsequent listens I'm wondering how well it'll standt he test of time.

Johnny Cashpoint & Marcus Kellis - I think I would have really enjoyed being a part of creating this confusing piece of wonder. I like the attitude behind the song. Not sure I'd come back and listen a lot, but it was fun through the first couple.

Paco del Stinko - Paco guitars are cool. Another one that I'm enjoying listening to. I like the single note guitar line that adds a interest and also helps with the transition out of the chorus. Sounds cool. Solo is cool. I like your guitars, dude. I think this would be fun to play.

Phillipso - This style sounds vaguely familiar. Like something I like but can't place. But I think that's cool, cuz that means I like it. I'm not usually drawn to this type of vocal styling, but it works here. Lots of tasty bits in the music, the guitars especially. The mix sounds pretty good, a little live-ish, but in a good way. Cool guitar solo. Yeah, this is growing on me the more I hear it, which rarely happens, I think.

Pigfarmer Jr - Me. This is the rough recording of the first time I played through it all the way. I sent it in with intentions of sending an all new full band recording but with the knowledge that I'd probably not get around to it. I like this song well enough, but agree it needs a better arrangement at the very least. re: Two Jerks. I've submitted a lot of full band or at least more full offerings since I first started but my computer crashed and I'm just now getting the new one set up to do full arrangements. I don't disagree, but it's not like it's been 9 years of G&G.

Third Cat - I like the rhythm on this song. The drums, the scale back on the chorus. Just sitting back to listen I am enjoying it, actually. I like the little touches in the music to keep it from being too static. The melody works well enough and has a few notes here or there I wasn't really expecting but that work well to keep my interest. Good arrangement.

Travels With Brindle - You named your dog Brindle? I like the melody. I can't quite make out all the lyric but part of that is my poor ears and hearing. Part of it is you submitting a G&U (Gal and Uke) song. I mean who would do that?* I think I would like this song more if there were a bit more of a dynamic change in the recording/arrangement/demo. But I enjoyed listening.
*Me. I submitted a G&G song this week so that was supposed to be a joke. Not funny, maybe, but either way don't take it personal.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Wed Sep 19, 2018 2:08 pm
by thirdcat
:::arrows for votes:::

Pigfarmer - I don't usually like guy & guitar style entries, but this one is pretty good. Cool song - and a pretty good performance. I dig the way your acoustic sounds. But yeah I see you meant to do a full band version and I can definitely hear potential for that.

:arrow: gasm - This is pretty sweet. Vocals fit the style well and the guitars sound great. The mix/production is impressive too. Sounds pretty pro but not overly polished (this style I think does well with a touch of roughness.) Backing vocals are a great touch. Totally dig the phase section. Great solo too.

phillip - Interesting, has a bit of a haphazard vibe but at the same time I think it sort of holds together. Like it's teetering on the edge of falling apart but it keeps going. And yeah lots of great little touches instrumentally. I love the instrumental sections.

travels with bindle - nice little intro there. pretty nice voice & and the uke playing gets the job done. I do think that with this kind of minimal arrangement short & sweet is usually the way to go. based on the intro & outro you must have a youtube channel? I'll check it out - welcome to songfight!

:arrow: jmDtt (featuring Colin Cunningham) - Been recently listening to Thom Yorke's solo stuff quite a bit; the music reminds me of that. the vocals are interesting, a bit "talky" for my taste generally... but I like music/production enough that I am enjoying the track. maybe vocals could be mixed a bit lower (I think they work better when the music gets louder - and the vox are lower in relation.) Overall I found this to maybe be the most my type of thing so ... vote. I really dug the music and the vocals did grow on me a bit over the course of the track.

:arrow: Paco del Stinko - I don't love the vocals, but the instrumental / production is so good I have to vote for it. Some really kick ass moments here instrumentally. Love your guitar leads.

BSS - This is one of those songs that reminds me of a lot of stuff "Heroes" by David Bowie ... "Green Tambourine" by the Lemon Pipers ... I think I like the song more than the recording. It's one of these things where I'm not liking it as much as I feel like I ought to because it's kind of up my alley.

:arrow: Bob & the Boggles - Talking about being up my alley; this is pretty great. Reminds me a ton of '90s Beck and I love that stuff, so ... vote. Yeah it's short and kind of a song snippet rather than a full thing, but I love "Polythene Pam" - it's all good.

Johnny Cashpoint & Markus Kellis - Interesting mix of acoustics, distorted guitars, and weird synths. I think the layered vox work in a kind of neat way too. I mean it's sort of falling apart and maybe not quite holding together but has a definite charm to it.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 9:32 am
by ken
thirdcat wrote:BSS - This is one of those songs that reminds me of a lot of stuff "Heroes" by David Bowie ... "Green Tambourine" by the Lemon Pipers ... I think I like the song more than the recording. It's one of these things where I'm not liking it as much as I feel like I ought to because it's kind of up my alley.
I love the Green Tamborine comparison. THANK YOU FOR MAKING MY DAY!!!

Also, if you like the song, but not the recording I request that you record a cover of the song recorded to your liking. That would be awesome.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Thu Sep 20, 2018 12:21 pm
by thirdcat
I might take you up on that Ken, sounds like a challenge I would fail miserably - if I weren't struggling to finish "Tearing History Down" (I have to finish tonight 'cause I'm out of town tomorrow/Saturday) I''d give it a go right now.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Sat Sep 22, 2018 5:31 pm
by jack
Johny Cashpoint? Marcus Kellis? Paco? The Hip Cola? I feel like I'm in a time warp. My people! :D

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 4:40 pm
by thehipcola
Jack!! :)

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Tue Sep 25, 2018 7:37 pm
by Paco Del Stinko
Thin Air comments done quickly and late, with beer. There wasn't anything that I really disliked. Edits or re-makes might be nice for them.

Berkeley Social Scene - Love to 60' vibe. Cowbell. How'bout a 12 string or impression? Heady and melancholy enough, love the chorus hooks.

Bob and the Boggles
- This is infectious. Or, perhaps, mildly intoxicating. Great that it leaves you wanting more. But more might be bad for you.

gasm - This could be in Heavy Metal, but it's not that dated. Bridge is great, hint of trippy over heavy cool. Eddie Von Crayon lead is great, and post bridge caps it.

jmDtt (ft. Collin Cunningham) - Great soundscape, i'd ilke to hear the vocals lean towards creepy. Why not? Digital and human collision factor 9.

Johnny Cashpoint & Marcus Kellis - I think this is great, generously sloppy, but no skin, man. If I ever had time, would love to cover this. The hook in my left ear awesome. Clean it up, but don't apply polish.

Paco del Stinko - Wanted to do Pixies meets KISS, landed somewhere else. My best attempt at a drunken Carlos Bandana guitar solo. Trusty old Greenbullet for creepy guy vocal.

Phillipso - This should be softened up, production wise and give it a haze. Oh yeah. C'mon. Great delays, slide, rhythm. Great song to tighten up and smooth out. Think Dave Gilmour for vocal re-do.

Pigfarmer Jr - This keeps your attention with the dark themes and not common rhythmic patterns. Nicely arranged and an excellent chord structure. Warm voice, nice.

Third Cat
- This is very nice. The Katamari at times keys are delicious. The vocals need smoothing, and backing vocals. One day, perhaps. Enjoyable trip. Colorful.

Travels With Brindle - You sound relaxed, which is a big plus. The song has a nice round and round loop and your voice is warm with a pleasant ring, pitch needs work. great bridge. Just needs more practice, shorter arrangement. Don't like the ad at the end. Boo.

Re: Look At The Awesome (Thin Air Reviews)

Posted: Wed Sep 26, 2018 9:19 pm
by Lunkhead
Congrats to Paco!