Devil's in the Details (Clause 5, Sub-Paragraph d reviews)

[MUMBLES-TheRedEyedSamurai]

Spinlock wrote:Thanks .. . .. . what does that mean?
I just think it's a really good track, and europe is just where I pictured this song coming from.

[martyr]

caravan ray I agree with the B52s backdrop assessment. The vocals are bit more bluesy though. The Yeah Yeah Yeahs later sound very Jim Morrison. How good lovin turns into clause 5 sub-paragraph d) was hard to hear. Liked the abrupt ending. This inspires the knee to shake sideways.

Dr. Fizzle + mc schweaty Pretty cool groove. I like the phat synth bass and the overall beat. The bookend samples about being humble is pretty cool too. The production is clean. I like the part when the rap is in center, and then a word or two pops through panned to the right. Overall cool rap in my book.

Dr. Incredible Distorted voxs! I have to be partial to that this week considering the Monty Carlo entry. Kind of a bluesy classic rock groove. The beat has good hat and snare samples. The practice amp feedback during the solo is a nice effect. The lyrics and song is too repetitive -- you need verses or a chorus or something to break it up!

Gamma Man Electro madness. I like that the Vocoder vox come in right away -- a long instrumental intro would have killed this. I want the vocals to bust some power pop melodies like Aha or Depeche Mode, but they stay in a monotone 2-3 note range.

Into the Lab Time waster

Ken's Super Wow -- this is clearly top song. I love the harmonized vocals, especially the low bass one. Structured pop with a huge sound that is a joy to listen to. I'm biased -- Ken has earned a place in my heart for his awesome production advise and listening to this track makes it impossible for me to say "dude you don't know what your talking about". I still don't want to move my huge bass amp to be inline with the bass drum... But if that's what it takes to sound like this, maybe.

Klownhole Hmm starting off with some really crass advise. This songfight advisory would never get any radio play. The actual rendition of clause 5 subparagraph in the metal style would have been good if it actually completed, but then it transitioned into the negative pshyco "don't vote for klownhole". Ok, I'll follow that advice.

Luke Henley This is like Bright Eyes meets a crying tiger caught in a bear trap. The desperation and emotion of the voice and simple guitar is actually quite powerful and moving. I like entries like this one!

MC Eric B A little casio banjo riff with a straight blues vocal rendition of the title. More melodic variation and space in the melody would be good. Also, the spoken bits should be eliminated.

MC Wanna B This spoof of the last song is actual pretty funny. I mean if someone can actually make a blind entry that is back-to-back alphabetically and a perfect spoof of another artist -- that's a great play on the mundane, predictable portions of songfight. Some grad student could write a paper on this == self-correcting social ecosystems. You've made other artists jealous actually. We all want to be spoofed now!

Melvin I like this song way better than your winning entry last week! Man this is great follow-through. Your sound is developing into something very similar to Weezer. I never saw the similarity before this week's o o o s. Compositionally I really like the pre-chorus minor bit and how the song ends that way. The chorus is really catchy too.

Monte Carlo This is my entry this week along with Drummer Roger, and Guitarist Steve. Roger actually played the first guitar solo, and I played the second one. We were going for a Modern Lovers vintage Garage sound which Steve had the lead vision on. Some production problems along the way: Bass and Snare mics were lost due to technicalities (all drums are overheads), also the scratch vocal track was clipping. We liked the energy of the original live take, so tried to preserve it, but trimmed it down to a tight 2:55 structure.

Anyway, just to make this the longest review post ever, let me include Roger's mail about the solo: "i wouldn't mind takin a crazed crack at the guitar solo. i think what we need here is someone with almost no solo ability at all; just sheer attitude and energy. that would be me. maybe you'd be open to this. maybe i could come over and knock it out of the park on saturday morn or sunday?" He totally knocked it out of the park on the first take!

Project D Another divorce rendition with key backing. The banjo is good. A classic blues/country/pop number. The electric organ tone and backing vocals are nice.

Rabid Garfunkel Dive bomber intro. Is that a cello in there? The announcer vocal style isn't very song like. It's more like a broadway show transition. This would be way better with a video of the stage show -- lights, fog, people marching around, climbing on buildings, swinging around on ropes...

Renwick Phat guitar tones -- this track is riding the max track volume nicely without losing much tonal quality. The guitar tones remind me of what DK amps sound like -- like what NIN uses. This reminds me of the band Failure a little bit. Some unrealized harmonies on the chorus could have made this melodically brilliant.

Ross Durand Classic singer/songwriter story episode. I can see hitchhiking on the open roads of Big Sky America. So what was the problem? Drinking while hitchhiking? Oh speeding... The dialog with the judge reminds me a little of "little bunny tootoo" -- you know "I don't want to see you bopping heads"... Ethanol?! Stock tips in a song fight song? PEIX? Never heard of that one. Does it have a good P/E ratio?

Sheail Nice brit accent. Is this the song, or the BCC? I'm pretty far into this and still don't get it. Oh, some trance keyboard part turns into a funk bass by minute 2. I don't know about this. This confirms I am a hater of spoken word.

Signboy Crunchy. Did you really get a deal? Vocoders are fun. This is a bit too disjoint to follow. I like ecclectic, and there are parts that are cool, but perhaps a bit more time to smooth the composition linkage would have helped.

Spinlock Acapella insanity. This is great for the genre. Makes me want to hang out with Baptists on Sunday.

Steve Durand The organ is great. I'm not enjoying the vocals on this as much as last weeks entry. Actually the part starting with "their eyes got big" is good -- i like the melody there. The other parts don't have the same level of melodic interest.

Steve Handpuppet This definitely carries a Handpuppet feel -- its interesting to hear which bits of the sound are directly from the Steve influence! What I'm noticing and like are the rhythmic stylings of the main progression: the turn-arounds and the pseudo modulation bits in the verse. Overall, I like the direction, but think the song could be improved if you focus on the strengths (verse/chorus) and trim the weaknesses (cowbell intro, talking transition to excerpt, longer solos). Also, a slightly "bigger" production would intensify the track.

Urban Mail Intro is electronica without direction. First deep rap voice isn't so compelling. Deeper into the track reminds of someone on the radio, but can't think of who. The work sucks^ rap is good. The trickle backdrop is growing on me. That intro was really bad -- I almost didn't listen long enough to hear all the rappers. The flip side of you dude wasn't as good as the others. The outro is too long. Cut the fat out of your final mix! There are many seconds of wasted space in this track.

Weakest Suit A straight forward classic rock number. Mentions a number of states. I like the second half of the verses -- reminds me of some other decent melody/progressions. The first half is okay -- just a bit repetitive. The electronic drums in the middle are distracting.

WreckDom Ween style crazy punk noise ecclectic rock.

[MintyHandy]

You love me because I disappear for weeks, then suddenly show up with reviews. Admit it; you do.

---

WreckdoM
What the hell is this? It's too incredibly bad-ass awesome to exist, that's what it is. A giant dildo made of candy is on my wish list as well, so I can relate to this. Well done, wouldn't change a thing. Possible vote.

Weakest Suit
This song is rife with production issues, which is a shame, because it's also full of great little sonic baubles and beads. The bridge suffers compared to the rest, as the melody disappears, and "nobody cares/about you/I'll make them care/about you" isn't quite what I'd want to hear lyrically (wanted something like "I know you/so don't try anything stupid" from a fight several weeks ago) but it's a fundamentally solid -- if hookless -- song overall. Not bad at all, more please!

Urban Mail
Your band name sounds like a trendy clothes shop in a suburban mall. What the fuck do I think you are? I think you are a white guy rapping in odd voices, but I really like your old-school beats.

Steve Handpuppet
Mix has too much guitar, not enough dynamic range, and your voices are somewhat muddy and lost. As for the song: I like it, and I especially like the drum arrangement. "Make up your mind/sign on the dotted line" -- every time you get around that lyric, you're in the best part of the song. Wait a minute, did you just quote one of your other songs in here? Key takeaways: work on vocal pitch, and get more dynamic range in your mix.

Steve Durand
I do believe that's the definitive opening lyric of this fight. You sound more like your brother than ever in this one (good thing) but the lack of winds makes me sad. Delightful steel guitar (or whatever it is.) Mostly great lyrics on this one, enjoyed it a great deal; just watch awkward lines like "It was a moment of pure bliss" and "I think they're slightly worse than mold", where the lead-ins are rushed; on the other hand, "There was silence in the gallery" and "then their eyes got big as saucers" are flawlessly executed. Charming organ and harmonies, too. Nicely done.

Spinlock
I applaud what you did here, even though your voice isn't quite up to the task of carrying the lead -- worked beautifully for the harmonies and counterpoint, though. Nice claps, dead-on arrangement, strong lyrics...some awkwardness getting back into the build after the first silent break, quickly forgiven when you hit the chorus again. "All my troubles are roses/picked up from off the ground/safe and sound/all my troubles are roses/growing from the crap that's all around" -- great, great choice, just fantastic lyrics to close on -- listening again just for that part. Possible vote.

Signboy
The vocal choice on "Rock Star" pulled me out before the rest pulled me in. A fun concept, and the techno section made me laugh, but not enough melody or hook to hold the whole thing up. A bit meta, too. Still, fun. "Oh-ver!"

Sheail
Silliness. I enjoyed it very much, and the backing track was very Ben Folds. I don't know if I could vote for this, as it's more a comedy number than a song, but it was really well executed, and your writing and delivery were both top-notch.

Ross Durand
Wow -- a six-note false start and I already knew it was you, I guess you have a signature sound. I was a bit soft on this musically, but couldn't help but sit through this to find out what you were going to define Clause 5 Subparagraph D as. Very interesting choice of what it turns out to be. Very Woody Guthrie approach to the whole thing, and well done overall.

Renwick
Solid performance, dynamic recording, very polished. Here's a quibble: your opening arrangement and chords were so strong that the three chord guitar transition from 0:37 to 0:39 really needed to repeat the single chord you played at 0:32, even though it breaks your structure. Nitpicking? Yes, but that's all I can do here -- strong song, well played sir, right up to 0:56 or so when the low-key vocal becomes a yell, and you lose the tension you had developed. Also, "How will this unfold" not quite the lyric I wanted to hear right there, but again, a quibble. Overall really good, I'd kick this in the car. Possible vote.

Rabid Garfunkel
Very theatric, but goes on too long. Interesting concept.

Project D
Textbook execution, straightforward interpretation of the title, well played and performed, light and boppy. Nice banjo, too. Not quite enough to get a vote from me in this crowd, but right up there. I think I'd have enjoyed it more if the banjo weren't so pervasive, and if you'd kept it pulled back until a musical break in the middle of the song. As is, it's a lot going on, too fast for me to appreciate it. But a good song nonetheless.

Monte Carlo
Too garage band for my tastes, and I can't understand a word you're saying. I can't tell if you're trying to be like Ween, or if you're just new to this whole recording thing. I can hear solid musicianship in here, though, so I hope you'll enter again with an entry with better dymanics and cleaner vocals.

Melvin
Great harmonies, fun song; the kind of song, in fact, that I often wish I could get out of my head and into everyone's ears. Some of the lyrics are rushed, and with your quality of vocals, you'd do well to drop some words and go for a more stretched (and less chatty) delivery. Strong musicianship, hooky vocals, and an overall "Weezer after a good night's sleep" vibe -- good stuff. The "ooOOoo!" vocals tip you over into possible voteland.

MC Wanna B
It was only a matter of time, wasn't it? Let me be clear: THIS ISN'T ME, despite my criticism of Eric B's beats in the past. Also: I had this keyboard when I was a kid. Long live the SK1! It's a bit long, though, and the hillbilly rap/if you want to get votes part could have been discarded completely. Daaaaaaaaaamn, Eric, you gonna take that crap? No vote, because you didn't use the SK1's sampling feature to repeat your name over and over.

MC Eric B
Well, that's a fortunate ordering in my music player! Oh shit, you did bring the hillbilly rap, WTF? Have you been doing this for a few weeks now (I've been away) or did MC Wanna B just make a lucky guess? I don't even know what to say, you hot pancake stack you. Points for mixing it up, though, and I'm glad you sung part of this; arguably the "don't want a dee-vorce" part was the best.

Luke Henley
Given how this starts, I fear the fact that it is 6:10 in length, considering you're not sure if you remember the words. I think if you're Neil Young you can get away with this, but you're not quite enough of a poet/famous person enough to pull it off, sorry. I like your voice when you belt, though.

Klownhole
I don't think I've ever complied with these rules; certainly I've voted for you on at least one occasion. I really enjoy listening to you; hard to top you when you're letting it all hang out. On this one, I think you're holding back a bit, which is a shame -- this could have been the Klownhole equivalent of Tom Waits' "Step Right Up" if you'd heightened the rules a *lot* more. As-is, you paid the bill but couldn't quite bring it home. Laughing on the track is totally cool, by the way, as long as it comes from the band instead of you.

Ken's Super Duper Band 'n Stuff
Very trebly mix, kind of hurt, and I wanted to hear your voice more forward, and the harmony is lost on the end of the chorus, which is a shame. Production notes aside, this is a fun rockin' tune with exactly the happy energy I was looking for today. Possible vote for a great song, and I wish I were listening to this in the car with the top down. Of course, that would require me to own a convertible, so it's not really your song's fault. Possible vote.

Into The Lab
Oh no. Sorry, no. Nuh uh. Compared to you, MC Eric B is Elton John AND Bernie Taupin.

Gamma Man
Hahaha, this just makes me laugh out loud. Excellent. Not that the lyrics are good, but they *fit*, which is more than you can say for half the songs submitted these days. Not that the arrangement is good, but it *works*. A shining example of style over substance, and so I tip my hat to you. A heavier kick, lose the deep voices in the middle, and a more pronounced bassline/snare lead. What is that, a glockenspiel synth? As a song it fails, as a work of art it's terrific. Possible vote.

Dr. Incredible
You get points for trying, sounds like this is your first attempt at recording a song? If so, keep 'em coming, because you've got the basics covered (in tune, stable tempo, words rhyme, decent recording) and now you simply need to keep at it until you nail the lyrics/vocal or stumble across a hook, then you'll be vote-worthy. I hereby publicly predict that by your fifth submission you'll be...what's the word I'm looking for? Awesome? Terrific? Something like that. You read it here first.

DJ Fizzle and MC Schweaty
Interesting beat, and the production quality is top-notch, but you need more variation and less scratchy-scratchy. As for you, Mister Schweaty, you're doing a great MC Chris impersonation here, so tighten your lyrics and pump the crazy a bit more -- and drop some of the meta references in favor of more clever. As the nerdcore entries go, this is better than most, and I salute you -- most entries I wouldn't listen to twice, but you I just did. Possible vote, and could you take MC Eric B under your wing?

Caravan Ray
Another festival fun! Heh. Great way to end the set. All I can say is "wheeeeeeeeee!" Only problem here is that you're driving this with energy instead of a hook, and so halfway through it gets boring. You get it back by the end though, and close strong. Possible vote. "AAAAAAAAAaaaaaaaaaAAAAyeah!"

---

Dunno who I'm voting for yet, lots of good ones here.

[MC Eric B]

In the prefight thread I said I was doing a hip-hop bluegrass song this week, so that's how MC Wanna B knew.

I did start making my own beats since you left though. My previous 2 Songfight entries (King Me and Ten Lies) were 100% beats I made myself. This week is mostly Casio, with some hip-hop thrown into the background. I have stopped using totally premade beats at least.

===================
MintyHandy wrote:
Have you been doing this for a few weeks now (I've been away) or did
MC Wanna B just make a lucky guess?
===================

[MintyHandy]

Excellent, you totally tipped your hand and someone put a cherry bomb into it. Hilarious. Bravo on bringing your own beats recently, and you were absolutely better this week than in past weeks (when I was around.)

Sometimes improvement is slow, sometimes it's fast, but it's inevitable. Keep at it!

[doorite]

[quote="
Urban Mail
Your band name sounds like a trendy clothes shop in a suburban mall. What the fuck do I think you are? I think you are a white guy rapping in odd voices, but I really like your old-school beats.

.[/quote]
A white guy or many white guys? haha, im sure its not just me on there, no wait, is it, hmmmmmmm........ no.

[MintyHandy]

By the way, just went back and read the other reviews; man, people dumped on MC Wanna B pretty hard (not Eric though, obviously he's got a proper sense of humor.)

My two cents: rap is about self-promotion, and about dissing the other guy. Nerdcore is a subset of rap, and as far as I'm concerned MC Wanna B made a brilliant choice -- specifically, to level his criticism of Eric through a rap response instead of in the forums. If we were talking about any other genre I think it would be misplaced, but here I think it's definitive, putting your money where your mouth is. Plus, he didn't do it with fantastic production values and brilliant rhymes; he did it IN KIND, Casio and all.

As far as I'm concerned, it's the definitive Nerdcore review. And it felt right when I listened to it. And, ironically, I think his point is made: decent rap can be done with a Casio keyboard.

Having said all that: if that's an established player who did it, he needs to admit it, so that Eric (and a lot of the rest of us helping him) can formulate an appropriate response in the genre that Wanna B most often submits in.

[MintyHandy]

im sure its not just me on there, no wait, is it, hmmmmmmm........ no.

Aw, man, I thought it was just one guy doing voices. Heh.

[Ross]

===================
MintyHandy wrote:
Have you been doing this for a few weeks now (I've been away) or did
MC Wanna B just make a lucky guess?
===================

By the way, Eric, there's this handy auto-quote thing in the BB software. I think it's less work that what you're doing. Just click on the quote button in the upper right and delete the part you don't want to use.

[MC Eric B]

Thanks, I kept meaning to figure that out, so thanks for showing me. I have run my own Internet company for the past 12 years, but for some reason I never learned that little trick.

rdurand wrote:

===================

By the way, Eric, there's this handy auto-quote thing in the BB software. I think it's less work that what you're doing. Just click on the quote button in the upper right and delete the part you don't want to use.

[SteveHandPuppet]

And now for the obligatory response to the various reviews. Thanks everyone for listening, and particularly for those who offered specific advice of what worked and didn't work (even if I don't always agree with you).

Let the nitpicking begin!

trim the weaknesses (cowbell intro, talking transition to excerpt, longer solos)

That's funny; the cowbell and backwards vocals into the It Belongs To Me excerpt were the most contentious elements of the composition. Congratulations on being the only reviewer to hear the Devil. Considering how the song is about accidentally selling your soul while browsing the internet, he proved impossible to cut. Lyrically it belongs there IMO.

I'm not sure if you mean the solos should be longer or that they were too long. I'm guessing at 16 measures you mean too long? Considering it is breaks into 2 8 measure pieces (dual 6 strings for 8, 6 and 12 for 8 ) it seemed pretty tidy to me.

There are some sour notes in the solo.

There’s some bad notes in one of those guitars in the solo section.

It's weird, but the only thing that really bugs me about the solo is about 4 notes in the fourth measure that are individually picked and really needed to be pull-offs. Lame. But the overall dissonance in the solos was fairly intentional and probably reflects some internal rebellion against the otherwise pop feel of the rest of the track.

Steve Handpuppet- I’m not really into it until you hit that disjointed change at 1:05 and cool guitar solo, that gets me interested in what’s coming next, but the overall sound doesn’t do enough to draw me in. Staggering the vocals and dissipating at the end is intriguing also, I wish you’d used more ideas like that throughout the song.

Yay, the solo gets some love. pppttthh, you haters. I was worried that the song was too gimmick-heavy [backwards vocals, excerpt from previous SongFight! entry, contrasting dirty guitar solo with the 60's 12-string solo, drumless reentry, key changes, layed vocals on final chorus] I guess not. More gimmicks, it is!

I would've like you to commit more to the lead vocal delivery

Yeah, well you should have heard the earlier takes. The final take was after $17 in gin & tonics, which helped, but not enough. I'm insecure enough about my voice and singing and have yet to find the sweet spot along the sobriety continuum.

Steve Handpuppet – This is a catchy tune. I’m sure you’ll get a lot of votes. I enjoyed this one. One of the standouts for sure.

Thanks, I'm glad you liked it, but I doubt it will generate many votes. I suspect this is as close to "mainstream appeal" as I'm likely to venture, ever.

MARGINAL PASS:
19. Steve Handpuppet

Yay, I don't totally suck!

but I can hear a kind of early New Order buried in here.

You have NO idea how much this hurts. Normally I would approve using "New Order" and buried in the same sentence. This is just cruel.

Steve Handpuppet
Mix has too much guitar, not enough dynamic range, and your voices are somewhat muddy and lost.

The whole song seemed kid of faint so I did not really follow everything that was said.

It was all just "blah blah blah". Vocals just get in the way of the guitars anyhow.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Ross]

Reviews are yet to come (but I have been listening in my car).

I wanted to say thanks to those who have made comments along the lines of listening to hear how the story turned out, or commented on how the song ends in some way (ethanol, PEIX, etc...) It is a pleasure to be listened to in this way. Especially in an environment that, at least when I joined, seemed to antogonize the solo-acoustic idiom, commonly termed "GnG" here.

Thanks!

[wages]

Just a quick one-off review.... MC Wanna B.... great name! Decent rap, but a bit repetitive (needs some variety musically and a little in the melody). Great lyrics and concept! Kudos 4/5 (would be 3/5 if lesser lyrics or 5/5 if suggestions taken to heart)

[trunkpoppa]

---
Urban Mail
Your band name sounds like a trendy clothes shop in a suburban mall. What the fuck do I think you are? I think you are a white guy rapping in odd voices, but I really like your old-school beats.

im glad you liked the beat ...

[Ross]

Knee Jerk reviews - by Ross Durand

So after a Nur Ein! and an Evil April - I'm gonna give some quick reviews. I have listened in my car, so all songs have been heard all the way through at least once, maybe twice, some three times. If I don't remember some details of yours, that tells you something right there.

here we go!

Urban Mail - I don't really like rap, but I thought that this was better than most at this site - I prefer this to nerdcore in general, I especially liked the middle rapper. ok

Caravan ray - feels good, but I find it lacking in structure. Great falsetto stuff. Good at a dance, I give it a n 85 on Australian Bandstand. an ok+ in songfight.

Fizzle and Shweaty - nothing here for me - you like yourselves - great. thanks for playing.

Dr. Incredible - hook isn't bad the rest is sort of monotonous. oh, that's cause al there is is the hook, it isn't a hook if that's all there is. thanks for playing.

Gamma Man - sounds allright. as something of a title snob it bugs me that you reversed the title. thanks for playing - neat sounds, though

Into the lab - sounds like a14 year old boy. I'll bet it compares pretty good to what most people here were doing when they were 14. lots lacking, but the structure is alright - keep thinking like that and as other aspect of your writing mature you'll be ok. thanks for playing - keep trying.

Ken etc. Great pop song - I'm totally distracted that who has to follow the rules seems to change from the first verse to the chorus. Even so, it's stuck in my head all week. Excellent middle eight. Good +

klownhole - someone needs to do this - better you than I. I considered voting for you just to confound it. ok

Luke - imagery - and that's all. I'm sure you'd argue, (don't bother) but there's no evidence this was written for this title. I was waiting for the payoff, no payoff except it all came to an end. ok

Eric B - "Don't wanna D-vorce" "I see a gray Rainbow" interchangeable. more eric b. concept ok. not a very good song overall. chord changes help a song quite a lot. Thanks for playing.

MC Wanna B - I like spoofs, I'm glad Eric thought this was funny. not something I'd usually listen to, but funny in context - unfortunately that makes this a niche tune - ok

Melvin - sounds good as usual.something about your vocals on this makes me want to hear you and Ken do a duet. Again, content-wise I'm not sucked in. "super star reality.... eh] Good

Monte - This is much more like the bootleg gem you mentioned last week. I love the who sound at the beginning. i wish the vocals weren't so distorted. BTW - I've thought about the lofi issue since early on here. Classical fans love to hear Toscannini even though the recordings are tinny and mono, because they hear the music through the recording. I don't however agree with you when you say you think people here are looking for these diamonds in the rough. I like this quite a lot. I wish I could better assess how the words relate to the title. Good - It would be fun to collab sometime

Project D - vocals a bit too straight for my taste - sounds like you're not really a hick is what I mean. The track sounds that way, too. It's almost like I can hear the click track. johnny Paycheck reference is nice though. Good but not grabbing me.

Rabid Simon - sorry, this goes in my "not a song" file. i realize this could be debated, but heck, it's my review. i like this though, pretty funny and nicely relevant. As you can tell from my own output I like that. The sax is perfect. nicely produced, which is key for this. All hail PEIX!!!!! Good but not a song as votes are concerned.

Renwick - this is loud. Do you know Melvin or Jordan Seavers - oh wait, are you from the Eels? that's what this really reminds me of. REally good, but I'd love your vocals to be just a smidge closer to losing it at the chorus. Good +

Me - I like Me

Sheail - not a song. Cute. Why submit? Thanks for Playing

Signboy - I like this. Who is saying "rock star" is that asample. It's a novelty song, but a good one. I just wish you had done the reggae part in half time. Good

Spinlock -Performed, arranged, and produced well. I don't care much for the underlying song much. nice changes, words ok - the package doesn't roll up for me. It seems like a singer's song, if you know what I mean. Ok

Steve D - this song was okay - it just sounds sort of morose to me. The low vocs didn't work great, I think, I kept waiting for you to take it up an octave for dramatic effect. The chorus changes are interesting, but sound a little forced. OK

Steve hand - Man that's a neat guitar! - just kidding. Neat layered chords at the beginning. Good use of percussion. It sounds some how dispassionate. I want it to really open up. Open your mouth and sing!!!! It sounds like you're holding back, but the music doesn't want you to. The out of tune doubled guitar stuff doesn't work too well for me. Ok +

Weakest suit - i like the sound concept, but not too into the song concept. What is that sound, are those GM toms? really distracting. I would say listen tot he mountain goats, they make this kind of think work pretty well. Ok

WreckdoM - that's one way to slap a title on a song. A few good lines and some infectious sounds. you do what you do very well. i think I know some people I could recommend this to, but it's not me. Ok - credit for dedication to artistic vision.

So I guess my tops are Signboy, Renwick, and Ken. Some other good ones, like Melvin, Monte, and Project D, and Ray.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Voted Renwick. Reviews to come.

rdurand - "All hail PEIX"? Missing that reference, I am.

[Renwick]

Renwick This reminds me of the band Failure a little bit.

I didn't think many people knew about Failure. They're one of my favorite bands, so thanks!

I liked the Ken's Band song the best with Melvin a close second.

[Project-D]

rdurand wrote:

johnny Paycheck reference is nice though

Heh, good catch.

[Ross]

Voted Renwick. Reviews to come.

rdurand - "All hail PEIX"? Missing that reference, I am.

That's just an attempt at a little intra-fight humor. your song orders us to worship corporate idols, my song mentions the stock symbol PEIX, for Pacific Ethanol, inc. That's all, just following orders

Oh, I voted Renwick, too.

[doorite]

---
Urban Mail
Your band name sounds like a trendy clothes shop in a suburban mall. What the fuck do I think you are? I think you are a white guy rapping in odd voices, but I really like your old-school beats.

im glad you liked the beat ...

and im sure me and mumbles, and the rest of urbanMAIL appreciate the compliment and WILL continue to bring it on.

[Rabid Garfunkel]

Quick ones.

Caravan Ray
Looking forward to adding this to the Dirty Hearts' live repertoire.

DJ Fizzle and MC Schweaty
Opening & closing spoken word samples sap the energy. Zoning out.

Dr. Incredible
Are you John Carpenter, in the period between Big Trouble in Little China & They Live?

Gamma Man
Uhhh... all those samples imply heavy bass sounds, but the sound quality is AM radio, at best.

Into the Lab
I once recorded a commercial for a fictional vegetarian fast food restaurant. Acapella. When I was 8.

Ken's Super Duper Band n' Stuff
Thanks Ken. Better than mouthwash (I'm listening alphabetically).

Klownhole
I laugh every time. This should go in the FAQ.

Luke Henley
Starts out like Jared, the Butcher of Song, then gets under the skin like a rash filled with uncut coke. I like it.

MC Eric B
The redneck in me says Suck It.

MC Wanna B
Heh. Entertaining. For a while.

Melvin
Liked last week's better. Sounds like you've got a throat cold.

Monte Carlo
Kill the maracas' butcher! Are you having a seizure or what? Grrr.

Project D
One-off. Nice, but not for more than 2 listens.

Rabid Garfunkel
Freak.

Renwick
Madness-"Rise and Fall". As covered by someone like Tool. Welcome to my heart. Vote.

Ross Durand
Cleverest lyrics in the fight, especially the multi-tiered payoffs/punchlines. PEIX, gotcha. Thought you (in song) were green-ly praying to the wallet gods with the PEIX line.

Sheail
Listened... twice.

signboy
The drawn out "ooooover" in the choruses killed the good feelings from this song. Sorry, eh?

Spinlock
One listen. No thanks.

Steve Durand
This refuses to stick in my head. Pro'lly the multiple law-songs preceding it. Go rasta-lounge-neck, yo!

Steve Handpuppet
Wall of fuzzy noise. Personal bias against tambourines. Thank you for not sucking at it, though. Half-point of good will.

Urban Mail
Is it time for WreckdoM yet?

Weakest Suit
Bendy/slidey guitar sounds like cat being squeezed. Next.

WreckdoM
Bliss. Always the perfect nightcap. Thanks for the vote (which I'm assuming had nothing to do with our playing one of your songs on the recent songfight tour... and getting the crowd to sing along with it, as well.)

[signboy]

Knee Jerk reviews - by Ross Durand

Signboy - I like this. Who is saying "rock star" is that asample. It's a novelty song, but a good one. I just wish you had done the reggae part in half time. Good

Yeah, that's a shameless sample. I figured "Rock Star" by Nickel Smack fit my theme really well, and I phoned Chad and had him sing that bit over the phone. He's pretty good about helping young Canadian musicians.
As for the raggae part, Wreckdom, that is as raggae as I can get.(and I love your avatar) I should have taken Spinlock's advice (had he written it sooner), and submitted a preview of the song in the prefight. That half time idea might have made it much more listenable. Of course, it wouldn't have fixed the vocals. I can't even use auto-tune, cuz I'm so bad it fritzes out.
And just as a side note, I learned that compression is a delicate process. A lot of people are saying that they don't like the guitar. Well, it was nicely tight with the drums before I compressed it. Then I lost the project file & couldn't fix it. The mixing/mastering stage really is an art unto itself.