Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Discuss upcoming, current, and previous song fights.
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Ross
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Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Ross »

Best I could do, but it had to be done.
"I don't like this song, but at least it's good." - veGetar Ianra Ge
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by nyjm »

Hey, it's better than what I had, which was a whole lotta nuthin'.

Just a quick reminder that it's very much appreciated if you post you lyrics. Thanks!
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by MisterQuoons »

wow, this is bullshit. probably the best thing I've ever composed for SongFight, and gmail chooses that particular moment to be retarded and not send my attachment. ffffffffffffffuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuu... I really hope my second one went through this time.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by JonPorobil »

Listening party is going great so far. Here's a list of influences people were able to discern from Paco del Stinko's entry:

The Who
Queen
Green Jello
Spinal Tap
Primus
Frank Zappa
System of a Down
Motorhead

Paco, you should be proud. :)
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by inevitableguy »

Looks like you are in, Mr. Quoons.

I'm keeping my fingers crossed that I show up as well.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Daring Front »

Hello, your beauty stirs my weary heart.
Many fine submissions for "Ashes." I now present these brief, loosely informative reviews.

Stevie D
Instrumentation is fun and refreshing. Cohesive story. Changing rhyme scheme throws me off a little.

Ross D
Guitars are very well played and recorded. Lead vocal has great depth. Vocals somewhat shrill in a few spots. Nice mellow song.

BSS
Short and sweet. Nice rhythmic variations. Weird kid voice… real or transmogrified?

Heine
Is okay; wouldn’t ruin my cappuccino at the coffee shop as long as I had a very comfortable chair.

Egg Nog Adam
Fat boy slim-ish, but truly your own. You make fun music.

Sevidemic
Vocal Sounds much like Slug. Beat is lush. Burn it all, I agree.

Missions to Proton
Instruments are awesome start to finish. The vocals don’t do it for me in rhythm, timbre, or content. Very well put together.

Menbah & Swampjaw
Song is okay. It is a little generic and the guitar a little sloppy. Good simple solo.

Life in Decibels
I like grainy synth patch. I would like more instrumental diversity, like bass, xylophone, filter strings, whatever.

Synfonic
Nonsequitor drum beat = no good. Hard panning = not tastefully done. Sorry man, this is bad.

Juliet’s Happy Dagger
Good dynamic variation and instrument arrangements. Mix is a little hollow, lacking on the low end [not a big deal].

Paco del Stinko
Intro is pure evil. Turns into something a little more “muppety.” Tom Waits is made out of bourbon-tanned leather, I think. Guitar break is powerful.

BPM & Vic Walters
Too disjointed from beat. Whether deliberate or not, it sounds like you have no rhythm at all.

East Coast Coin Company
Get a p-p-p-pop filter. Cool hook. Voice is lacking.

Larry
Unconvincing mix on midi drums despite decent samples. Rhymes are weak.

Dutova
Straight ahead poppy alt rock. Technically correct.

Jake Bernado
Funny vocal backing. Way to sing the many parts.

Midnight Society
Solid song, though little variation. Could use some hand percussion, like a celtic drum.

Serge Trousers
Vocals have a touch of Joe Walsh. I like reverby watery piano.

I love you,
Daring Front
Last edited by Daring Front on Tue Aug 23, 2011 9:16 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Marzo »

I really dig Midnight Society's version. I've actually listened to it a few times now. Sevidemic's is dope too. I found myself grooving to Daring Front's jam.
Last edited by Marzo on Wed Aug 24, 2011 7:28 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by reve »

Bummed I missed the listening party...

Anyway, I dug particularly on the entries by Dutova and Missions to Proton. Dutova, were I wearing your pants I would have driven everything up into ear-bleeding territory and it would be Husker-tastic. MtP, I'm sure you recognize the way the vocal levels jump.

S. Durand, Egg Nog Adam and Paco also got votes.

Other comments:
L.B. Hakala - +1 for "ring around the larry" -- that was awesome.
J. Hughes - Please don't hardpan like that. I am a delicate soul.
-- reve mosquito.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by lalabrookie »

Just now listening and couldn't wait to comment on this: Heine, I love your song. LOVE.IT. I'm going to make some "I love Heine" T-shirts - (but I'm going to spell it Hiney - is that OK)? :lol:
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Kapitano »

That is one big pile of ash.

It's smokin'.

You must have busted your ashes to get it done.

It'sh almosht ash if....

ANYWAY. I'm not in this week, but in order to put off beta-testing my new sequencer, here's some reviews - part 1.

Berkely Social Scene: On the one hand, the composition, playing, recording and production is all very good.

On the other...what kind of person gets home after a rubbish day and says to themselves "I know what'll get me feeling good and happy again - An album of extremely soft rock by Berkeley Social Scene!"?

Lord knows my own stuff is mechanical as Kraftwerk on tamazepam, but BSS sound like bored session musicians playing background at an octogenarian's birthday party. Whatever you did different with Yardley Social Scene, do it some more.

BubblePipeMedia: This sounds like a song I might hear in a dream. It's like a series of rough sketches for different songs, strung together without breaks.

I think you need to focus on developing 3 or 4 ideas per song, rather than making stabs at 8 or 9 in sequence. Even when you've got 8 or 9 good ideas, save 5 or 6 of them for other songs.

Apart from that, the voice sounds like it's sitting on top of the other instruments, rather than in with them. That's probably an EQ thing.

Daring Front: I like the vocals, a lot - especially the harmonies above and below. That voice could also do power ballads - it's got that grainy quality and an unforced ability to convey emotions.

Have you had rock-singer training?

The trip-hop drums give the track the forward momentum it needs. The bass is a little boomy for my taste.

The 2:00 break/outro with the wiggly synth doesn't quite fit somehow - maybe if it had been quieter, shorter, and not the outro it would have cohered better with the rest.

DuToVa: Unpretentious, happy, poppy.

Nice intergration between synth and rock sounds. The beach-boys vocal harmonies could have been mixed higher.

And this is something I rarely say about SF songs: It could have gone on an extra minute.

East Coast Coin Company: When a rapper says "Yo check it, check it out" I'm instantly prejudiced against them - it makes them sound like the egotistical bling-obsessed jerks of the 90s. So saying it several times isn't good.

The beat and music's okay. The vocals - rapped and sung - need to be bought out more with EQ. Catchy chorus.

"Like Bridget Fonda, makes my penis grow longer"..."Couldn't see me coming even if you saw me wanking". This is either a brilliant parody of crass trash-talking sex-fixated rappers...or you've been listening to too many crass trash-talking sex-fixated rappers.

Okay, I've heard the end now, and it's a parody. And the globe-trotting accent isn't South London trying to be Compton by way of New York - it's Australian!

I think. Ask Caravan Ray - I have trouble placing ozzy accents.

EggNogAdam: Your production skills are getting audiably better with each song.

The horn break around 1:00...why?

Lyrics a bit predictable, especially the one about holding the world, but no big issue.

Heine: Nice tone and playing on the guitar.

Stolen words? It's not often a GnG song quotes Kim Wilde - or indeed Marty Wilde. Oscar Wilde occasionally.

I've written a few songs composed entirely of quotations - which once led to the unfortunate couplet: "Video killed the radio star / You were working as a waitress in a cocktail bar".

The singing is slightly flat on the high notes. The word 'do' in the first iteration of 'all you can do' in each chorus is always off. We all have a few notes which are in our range but tend to miss - and I think you've found one. Find that note and practice it.

Jacob Bernado: A vocal-centric song needs a very strong voice. This voice isn't bad - it's better than mine - but without some pitch-correction, chorusing and compression, I don't think it can hold the song.

You have used compression on the overall mix - too much of it. There's nasty pumping when the drums come in. I think the drums need either to be a lot bigger sounding, or left out entirely. Here they don't make enough of an impact on the overall sound to signify a transition from one segment to the next.

I'd suggest using congas or brush-snares instead, if you want understated drums.

Okay, this has been a negative sounding review - but actually all the ideas in the song are good ones. You just need more practice.

Juliette's Happy Dagger: Very nice use of reverb - turning a sparse recording into a big sound without screaming "REVERB!" at us. Did you use an exciter too?

I could hear this coming out of a radio. Structure, mixing, dynamics...all just very well done. This is a real pleasure to listen to.

Okay, I'd have liked louder drums, but that's just me.

Larry B Hakala: An odd song structure: 45 seconds of nursery song pastiche...then a drum roll which sounds like it's going to launch into something big...then 15 seconds of something that isn't big...and the song starts properly, still small.

The voice is slightly out of tune with the guitar - about 20 cents. Did you pitch correct the voice to 440A concert pitch but tune the guitar by ear?

"Love me tender but don't be cruel" - another song that quotes!

It's pleasant, only slightly corny, and...nothing major bad to say about it.

Life in Decibels: The right-panning of the 'guitar' and left-panning of the telephone vocals helps give separation and intelligibility, but gets wearing on the ears after a minute - especially when there's no vocals.

At nearly two and half minutes, we could use more variation - a break or solo, or a change of vocal rhythm.

It's okay as a demo, but could use a remix.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by glennny »

Kapitano said:
On the other...what kind of person gets home after a rubbish day and says to themselves "I know what'll get me feeling good and happy again - An album of extremely soft rock by Berkeley Social Scene!"?
These last couple of songs were made for a different situation. We have 53 entries, and we try to make each song unique. For the scene you're describing you should go back to the 1st album:

The Temescel Years:

1- Calico Alley
2- Interesting Times
3- Stomach for It
4- Hollywood Wax
5- Elegy for Industry
6- We Keep Them Alive
7- Thinkin’ About the Old Days
8- Sold Out
9- Made to be Played
10- Monkeys on My Back
11- Your New Dress
12- Frostbite
13- Let’s Get Bloody
14- Front and Center

That stuff will rock/prog/impress as best we do.
Thanks for the review!
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Heine »

lalabrookie wrote:Just now listening and couldn't wait to comment on this: Heine, I love your song. LOVE.IT. I'm going to make some "I love Heine" T-shirts - (but I'm going to spell it Hiney - is that OK)? :lol:
Haha, 'Hiney' is quite funny. :lol: It's a German name and I guess it should sound a bit more like 'high nay' - but anyway...
I'm not very satisfied with my sloppy performance but I loved the chorus - so I had to be in this fight. Thanks for lovin' it. You made my day! :D
Kapitano wrote:Stolen words? It's not often a GnG song quotes Kim Wilde - or indeed Marty Wilde. Oscar Wilde occasionally.
The Kim Wilde version was my first to know. (I recently rediscovered my vinyl single.) Supremes were first but Vanilla Fudge is a lot freakier.
Well, there are some more borrowed words... Ian Gillan's Speed Kind inspired me. The LP liner notes simply say "just a few roots, replanted". Well, I replanted mine.

Reviews are coming soon. Got to listen some more times.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by hillbilly »

DARING FRONT ---- Love the backing smooth, very raw but i dig it.
DAGGER BABES-----enjoyed this, all was good, vote
STINKO-----man your getting good on guitar, your voice scares me ;0
MISSION TO PRONTON---- Dam baby, good voice
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Lunkhead »

Holy cow, Balls to Monte is back, awesome. I was just listening to one of his songs the other day and wondering where he'd gone. Check out Serge Trouser's previous identity:

http://sfjukebox.org/artists/Balls%20to%20Monte

He covered a King Arthur song and did a spot on Rolling Stones impression:

http://www.songfight.net/covers/songs/b ... edflag.mp3
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by bubblepipemedia »

Okay, so I listened to all of these during the live chat and many artists didn't seem to have names? I tried my best to keep up, but I know I missed some, sorry guys. I was also 3 songs late.

eggnogadam
great use of old school synth-sax-sound. It reminded me of old point and click adventures, in a good way. I digged the solo section a bit more for some reason, but the vocal section was really grooving too.

Midnight Society
good harmonies, I definitely got into it, but I'm still waiting for more instruments to come in.

Paco
really cool 90s rock vibe. Really cool. Great. I noticed a lot people didn't like the voice, but I liked it a lot.

I am the slime (this isn't listed? This is what they said the name was in the chat I thought)
great female vocals, but maybe mixed a little loud? Honestly, I couldn't hear much else enough to comment. lots of clipping. Drums sounded a little fakey. Aside from the vocals themselves, the track didn't grab me until the instrumental section, where I finally got to really hear other things. Good

DuToVa
I can hear lots of what sounds like mp3 issues in the high end, not sure why this effects some high ends, but not others. Is it simply the converter? Must research more. I found it really distracting.

Larry B
You know, I'm honestly tired of hearing old songs in new songs. My personal thing, but I've just heard it too many times. This and enny meanie miney moe. Too loud vocals again, but not as nice as the female vocals I heard earlier. But, at least there isn't any clipping. The vocals were a bit off at times, and because they were so loud, it was hard to give merrit to much else.

Daring Front
Good vocals, little loud, but I'm beginning to wonder if my ears are wrong hah. Good guitar. Just needs a bit of mixing work. I went back and listened. The vocals aren't too loud by much.

Ross Durand
Good EQ! It felt warm and just right (though, I know I have a preference for a 'warm' sound, which I'm very conscious of). One of my favorites.

Life In Decibels
Finally, vocals that are too low! Guitar is too loud maybe, but hard to tell with the rest of the mix.

Berkeley Social Scene
I like the backing vocals, everything seems like it is well mixed, good guitar and bass sound. Another great one. Great solo and instrumental parts.

Jimmy Hughes
...

East Coast Coin Company
Good stuff, though you need a pop filter to help with plosives. Good voices. Rap is repetitive to me in general though, and the vocal effect in the right channel and the music got to me quickly. The ending made my dislike you a little bit though, lol.

Missions To Proton
This is great. Another great entry. I like that it sounds different instead of like anything else I know off hand. Okay, I should probably find something to say that isn't praise... uh. There perhaps some over compression that seems to happen when the piano comes in? It's not particularly audible, I'm reaching here, great track.

With so many vocals 'too high', I wonder if I just don't have a preference for lower vocals? This may be learned on my end, as the chair of the department of one school I went to and oft teacher was a fan of low(er than these) vocals.

My favorites: Missions To Proton, Ross Durand, and Paco Del Stinko

I think I was more impressed, in general, last song fight, but this time we had (at least) 3 great ones that really won me over.
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

After four listens, hasty comments. Always feel free to ask for clarification.

Berkeley Social Scene - Glen on vocals again, wow! Backed by the voice from The Smiths "Bigmouth Strikes Again". Is it all Glen 'n Ken? Anyway, nice easy-going tune, I like the short length, it includes all that you need. Maybe not terribly strong hooks, but catchy.

Bubble Pipe Media and Viktor Walters - I like how this goes in several directions at once, threatening to break apart but holding itself together. Glad I can't think of who it reminds me of so I can take it for being itself. I'd like some highter melody/harmony via vocals or some similar voiced instrument. Ambitious and complex.

Daring Front - Smooth nocturnal urban music. Images of some hands in pants guy, looking at the street as he walks in furrowed brow contemplation. Well done all around and nicely balanced both structerally and instrumentally. I almost hear a saxophone in there, but wonder if it'd be too much. Doesn't matter, as the rubbery synth at the end adds a sweet 70's taste to this.

DuToVa - After a hundred years, I'm still a sucker for progressions like this. The vocals are hard for me to decipher, so I imagine this as a cartoon show theme or something similar. The short length makes you want some more, and I think you could've tagged on another 20 seconds or more without overstaying your welcome. Good fun tune.

East Coast Coin Company - It's like PiGPEN regressed and became less good. The energy and sense that you're having fun are the biggest strengths here. I like the loop, some of the lines that I can understand. And the foolish rambling at the end is fun a time or two. Get or make a pop filter.

EggNogAdam - I like the melody here, it sounds effortless. But the counterpoint bridge is really cool, especially with the sax sound being its own voice. A little incomplete feeling at the end, a surprise second bridge or similar there could've added a little nugget of meat to this without overdoing it. Good tune.

heine - I really enjoy the main riff. There are some nice chord changes as well, and interesting minor to major transitions also. The lyrics are a bit weird at times, maybe just too many references to other songs. I like your voice but feel you could benefit from a boost in confdence. Smooth out the delivery a bit. SImple harmonies here and there wouldn't hurt, though not needed.

Jacob Bernado - This is fun. The all vocal support is well done and nice. The lead vocal is a bit too up in the mix and could benefit from a bit of vibrato on the held notes. Would love to hear some bass tones in there to lay a nice bed for all of the rest to lay on. Good tune structerally if in need of some polish here and there.

Juliet's Happy Dagger - Well, this is the best effort frm this team yet. Nice melody and harmony work. My favorite bit, though, is the little descending riff right before the chorus ends. Nice instrumentation and playing, the guitar sounds nice. I wonder if some vocal notes are a little questionable as in singing a major note over minor key, but nothing hurts to hear. During the fade-in intro, I expected a dance song to come in. Who's doing the re-mix?

Larry - I like the dark tone to this though am not a fan of the 'ring around the' theme, surprisingy, as I like the darkness associated with it. Drums could use some pop, but I like the trickling notes, whatever they are. Good tune, nice vocal work, could use a bit more cooking.

Life in Decibels - Did your fader button fall off of the voacl track? Bring it up, man! The music is fine, sunny day cruising. But I can't hear yer voice, Chester. Way undeveloped, this is a skeleton for future development.

MENBAH + Swampjaw - This is sloppy, but I like what it does and wants to do. Stones meet the Animals in a cave with a one-pattern drum machine. Dark but shiney, the energy carries this under-rehearsed demo. Good idea in need of re-working.

The Midnight Society - Nice playing from the start and well done vocals that compliment each other nicely. Oceanic feel, gently rocking. I can imagine cello in here but glad it's implied and not there. I hope there's more from this team, varied in tempo, mood, structure. Very nice, impressive.

Missions to Proton - Good young people music. Ha! I like this a lot. The voal lines lay across the music just right and I like how they kind of stretch and smooth out when the music slightly chops up. Nice mix of instruments and arrangement though I am telling myself I am not hearing auto-tune. Hate the auto-tune. Regardless, strong contender to win. Nice work.

Naked Philosophy - I like how this comes in all ready to go. Energetic and serious about it as well. The structure of the song works well, the instruments dropping in and out are nice. Drums are muddy and missing snap, I like the acoustic tone but would be better served with more full bass. End feels a bit incomplete, but the song is on the right track.

Paco del Stinko - I miss my drum set. Wah. Cheap lyrics inspired by the novel "The Road". I almost dropped the "Happy Trails" bass line but ran out of time. And no, I didn't do Muppet voices on purpose! HA! All amped guitars, though.

Ross Durand - My favorite SongFight! acoustic guitar tone. Sigh. Anyway, a nice vehicle for R. Durand. This is far from being a bad or boring song, but I a little snip somewhere in there would make this more crave-worthy, I think. I mean, I'm patient and enjoy the pace of this. It's balanced nicely with supporting vocals and gentle guitar accents in all the right places. You know what? Never mind. No snippage. This is one of your best.

Serge Trousers - I like the hearty piano and guitar, so solid but not dense. Nice voice in what comes across as a naturaly reverberated room. Anyway, the melodies and chords are very nice, especially on the chorus. I could imagine a ghostly pedal steel doing very select and minimal accents here and there, but obviousy not needed. Strong tune, the ending arrives quickly but doesn't feel abrupt or brick wall slammed. Nice song.

SevidemiC - The voice initially sounds, for a moment, like the guy in Lord Of Hip-hocrasy, but this isn't as good. I like the verses best, but don't care for the low pitched voice. Maybe a splash of melody somewhere in there. Good energy though and doesn't overstay its welcome.

Steve Durand - I love when you get all noir-ish. The muted trumpet coolest amongst all of the superb horns. I enjoy your voice and wonder if adding a bit of ham, and maybe even cheese, might not help. Sell it more, as your voice is fine. Good story that comes full circle. Thank you!

styop quoons - This is fine video game soundtrack or a good attempt at whatever dance music is called nowadays. Uh, dance music, I guess? A little auto-pilot for you though, isn't it? Good groove, but lacks development. I guess that's fine for dance music though. It's just a beat, basically. Sounds good, though.

Jimmy Hughes - What happened here? This is a mess. If it were only voice and guitar it's be easy to say "Oh. A scratchpad for later". But this would be better if it were mockery, but I don't think it is. Try harder, for yourself, first.
Bringin' the stink since 2006.
lalabrookie
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by lalabrookie »

Paco Del Stinko wrote:During the fade-in intro, I expected a dance song to come in. Who's doing the re-mix?
I heard you were going to do the remix, Paco style. I'll expect to hear it by the end of the week. Should be amazing :D
Yea, I lost my groove...I lost my groove all over the place - Kat Criswell
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glennny
Jump
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Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Dobro, Banjo, E-Bow, Glock
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by glennny »

Paco said:
Berkeley Social Scene - Glen on vocals again, wow! Backed by the voice from The Smiths "Bigmouth Strikes Again". Is it all Glen 'n Ken? Anyway, nice easy-going tune, I like the short length, it includes all that you need. Maybe not terribly strong hooks, but catchy.
This time around we have :
Ken- Lyrics, Drums, Keys, production
Glen- Guitars, Bass, Vocals
Annabella- Chorus vocals (age 6, no effects)
Phillipso, Older Brothers, Semolina Pilchards, Zipline , Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, The Odoriferous Valley, The Worldly Self Assurance, Berkeley Social Scene, Very Gentle Knives, Daddy Bop Swing Set, GUNS, The Kraken Lives, Cavedwellers
bubblepipemedia
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Posts: 30
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Instruments: Voice, some piano and keydrumming, and if I'm brave, guitar and bass.
Recording Method: Logic 8
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Location: New York City
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by bubblepipemedia »

"Kapitano: This sounds like a song I might hear in a dream. It's like a series of rough sketches for different songs, strung together without breaks.

I think you need to focus on developing 3 or 4 ideas per song, rather than making stabs at 8 or 9 in sequence. Even when you've got 8 or 9 good ideas, save 5 or 6 of them for other songs.

Apart from that, the voice sounds like it's sitting on top of the other instruments, rather than in with them. That's probably an EQ thing."


I tend to like experimentation more than imitation. The original goal of the song was to have a ska, jazz, rock song. I was going to try to make it a little more connected, but the lyricist suggested having different tempo setups, and I dug the idea and the different contrasts that could bring.

It doesn't surprise me that I try to bring too much to the song as I view these as experiments more than attempts at mainstream writing, though I want there to be a mainstream polish and enjoyability to it, which can be a difficult thing to balance. The big experiment this time though for me was working within a genre I wasn't used to: ska. The rock section was more folky than I was used to working with as well. The jazzish B section was much more a style I'm used to.

Someone in the live chat nailed it: I was too close to the mic. This was because I was reading from a lyrics sheet and getting really close seemed to be the only way to see it. Lesson learned: find another way. I couldn't EQ out the harmonic distortion which meant I either made it dull or brittle and I couldn't find an inbetween.

"Daring Front: BPM & Vic Walters
Too disjointed from beat. Whether deliberate or not, it sounds like you have no rhythm at all."

Oh snap! Do you mean the singing, the drums, swing, the sections in contrast with one another, or in general? I felt the singing in the C rock-out section could have been a little more on beat, but I also felt it fit well with the style I was going for. The sections themselves were a bit disjointed, but I liked how that turned out, though I could see someone not digging it.

"Paco Del Stinko:
I like how this goes in several directions at once, threatening to break apart but holding itself together. Glad I can't think of who it reminds me of so I can take it for being itself. I'd like some highter melody/harmony via vocals or some similar voiced instrument. Ambitious and complex. "

Thanks! This really made my day coming from you, since your track was so awesome.

microretrospecto:
I liked that the lyricist and I got a little more involved in each others jobs. I wrote 6 lines and he gave a solid plan for bpm and form. I liked trying out a new genre that I hadn't before. Things I learned: stand back from the mic and keeps the lyrics simpler, especially when you only have a limited time to record. Perhaps next time I'll try an incredibly normal song, but I doubt it. Also, I spent way too long on those horns.

More reviews of songs I missed:

Steve Durand:
you know, this is really good, but it doesn't pull me in entirely and I can't figure out why. But, I definitely dig it. Your horns sound great though, seriously.

Jacob Bernado
Well, at least it's different. Bad compression on whole track. Cool backing vocals for sure though. I'd like to hear it without the bad compression.

If I missed you, let me know.
[shameless self-promotion] For more tunes, check out my soundcloud page http://snd.sc/pdDBe6 [/shameless self-promotion]
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Kapitano
Push Comes to Shove
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by Kapitano »

The second half of my reviews...

MENBAH & Swanpjaw: Nice vocal harmonies. Some more variation in what the guitars play would be good. The drums go too low when the vocals start. Solo's a bit quiet too.

The ending is abrupt, but works.

Night Society: Very pleasant and restful. Doesn't build at all, which is okay for one short song, but would be seriously annoying over an EP.

I like the guitar riff a lot.

Mission to Proton: It's not often I get to say this to a lady but I really like your wobbly organ.

The bass booms rather too much for me, and the vocals need to be EQed up, especially in the first verse.

The overall structure is somewhat meandering. The organ intros, then drops out, then comes back for the second verse with a tinkly piano that's never heard again...and near the end we get some bowed strings.

I'm sure someone will point out that the title is supposed to be 'Ashes', not 'Racing to Ashes'. Ignore them.

Naked Philosophy: I admit it, I'm prejudiced against guy-and-guitar songs - mainly because I've heard it done badly so many times, usually by people who insisted it's just a matter of picking up a guitar and letting your emotions out.

But this...has a great sound to it, both guy and guitar. It's emotional without being overblown, and simple without being boring. More like this, please.

Paco del Stinko: I think you've found a way to make grunge sound clean.

And a way to breakdown from a good chugging bluesy rhythm to an overblown angsty ballad after an minute. Experiments are worth doing, but I don't think it worked.

Overall a very diggable sound, just a structure that drains the excitement from the song.

Ross Durand: I can just imagine it, the cowboy grandfather sitting outside his log cabin at midnight, with a glass of whiskey and a battered guitar, mulling over a life of regrets.

Though most grandfathers can't do their own understated backup vocals - nicely done, that.

It's a pleasant genre piece, though it could be a minute shorter.

Serge Trousers: I was brought up being told that the word 'trousers' wasn't in the American lexicon. Together with 'maths' and 'accelerator'. Can anyone tell me what the real situation is?

As for the song, it's a nicely dense blend of reverby piano and strummed guitar, with a slightly whiney, vocal on top. The singing sounds strained - as though you're pushing the top of your register. It's not a bad sound, but does have that character.

So I like it - And I'd like to know where you can take your sound in future fights.

Sevidemic: Is there such a thing as nerd-hop? Apart from my own experiments in rap, I mean.

Pitch shifted vocals - surprisingly difficult to do well. It's okay here, but you could try shifting down 7 semitones instead of 12.

PS. I'm a sucker (sucka?) for tape stop effects.

Steve Durand: Your playing of various horns is always good, and I think especially good here. But could you get a guest vocalist? You know you're not a bad singer, it's just the voice sound much less polished than the instrumentation it sits on.

Maybe try double-tracking? Or just some exciter and reverb?

Stypo Quoons: A perfectly good synthpop demo - just needs a remixing producer. As a synthpopper, it took me a long time to realise the EQ, compressor and reverb are a lot more important than the actual synth sound.

Apart from that, you don't need four and a half minutes to do a minimalist hypnotic track - I think a lot of good repetitive tracks are spoiled by being repetitive for too long.

Jimmy Higgins: My right ear hurts, with that hard-right guitar. My left ear is sulking and not talking to me, after that hard-left doped-up vocal. And my brain is puzzled by that centered guitar from a completely different song.

I'm going to put this down to a novice experiment that didn't pan out. You've got some reasonable ideas, so keep trying.
<a href="http://kapitano.me.uk/">Kapitano's Site of Musical Stuff (Under Construction)</a>
lalabrookie
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by lalabrookie »

Bubblepipe - wouldn't have mentioned it, but you said to let you know if you missed anyone. I think you missed Juliet's Happy Dagger. Unless I am missing it....?
Yea, I lost my groove...I lost my groove all over the place - Kat Criswell
lalabrookie
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
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Re: Let's see who kicks all our......oh...ASHES? (reviews)

Post by lalabrookie »

hillbilly wrote:DARING FRONT ---- Love the backing smooth, very raw but i dig it.
DAGGER BABES-----enjoyed this, all was good, vote
Noah, how's it feel to be a Dagger Babe? 8) hee hee
Yea, I lost my groove...I lost my groove all over the place - Kat Criswell
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