So is she a 10? - that's metric. (Canadian Girlfriend revs)

[Ross]

She drinks Moulson, she loves Rush and Joni. But will we love her?

[dr_wankenstein]

In an effort to speed up this process and hopefully get a new song title in the next few hours (The Wankers have a party and no song title, oh no!) I'm submitting some art... use it if you can... (i don't have an art submission password)...

[chocolatechips]

Very wanktastic cover art!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Damn, great block of songs this week! Wish I was in the mix.

I have to give mad props to Gert, The Look Outs and Son of Super Car for bringin' the rock! Keeping it alive is step one. Step two is what you guys did. Step three ????. Step four is money for nothing and chicks for free.

Son of Super Car, I know you'll get dogged for the long intro, but I personally LOVE a long mood setting intro. By the time the vox came in, I was in your zone and diggin' it all. And that didn't sound like a Ken mix, well comparing to BSS. Because this mix had the drums panned out beautifully and the guitars not so wide that the center would be empty. Plus the 22nd century freshness to old school rock is killer! Way to bring it.

Gert, it's always nice to see you boys in the lineup. Rockin' goodness as always. Great music, good lyrics, awesome vox and a killer mix.

I don't know who the lookouts are, but I hope they keep entering fights. I like wide drums, but you REALLY need to second track the snare and kick mildly up the center to pull it off right and move the hard panned guitars towards the center a bit so they're not by themselves on the side of the stage. But other than that, rock! Love it!

I'll get to more reviews.
Chips. I'm liking the new collab. CR has smooth vox. I'm a bit too pumped up on coffee right now to fulling enjoy the mood you set, but after some alcohol later today, I can tell I'll be slowed down enough to melt with it.

[dr_wankenstein]

I have since realized that the art I posted here was cheap and gimmicky, much like our songs. I appoligize. (For both)

[Ross]

I have since realized that the art I posted here was cheap and gimmicky, much like our songs. I appoligize. (For both)

If you're saying this because it wasn't used, my guess is it had more to do with carefulness about copyright.

[dr_wankenstein]

Oh, I don't really care that it wasn't used... Just obvious that I didn't put much effort into it, Haha. I was just being funny about it. Although I did try to color in the girl so she's kind of cartoony. Don't know how that works for copyright, but not something to discuss here. If I do art again I'll make sure it's original.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Oh, I don't really care that it wasn't used... Just obvious that I didn't put much effort into it, Haha. I was just being funny about it. Although I did try to color in the girl so she's kind of cartoony. Don't know how that works for copyright, but not something to discuss here. If I do art again I'll make sure it's original.

I think it has more to do with it not being in the "submit art" archive. If Spud isn't alerted to art in a thread, chances are he didn't know it was there, as he spends most of his time behind the scenes to keep things running here.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand, reviewing songs.

[Caravan Ray]

OK. Lets review.

I will start slowly. And edit as I go. Keep checking back. Your gradings will probably change.:
CHIPS ABBOT AND RAY

I won't grade us - but I will review. I had very little part to play in this song. I got the words and music at the last minute and just sang it.

BUT - I like it.

I was not privy to early discussions between Joanne and Chips - but what I received was pretty cool. There have been comments about the lyrical obsession with beavers. Yep - it is a one joke song. What I loved when I heard it - was that it was a one joke song - with a slow backing and strange phrasing - and I thought my "big man" voice added to it. And a repetitive one joke song can be pretty cool. We might not have hit it. But it was worth a crack.

This is a genuine effort of 3 individuals. Joannes lyrics were bizarre with just a hint of crudeness. Chips music was a bit eerie. And I went for the sleazy lounge sound. Oh well...maybe it will work next time.




HIGH DISTINCTION:
The Wankers I like this
THe Lookouts. - this is cool. I live opening guitar riffs. Nice noel-Youngy-Canadian-style vocals...oops - I just heard the "heart of gold " reference - you are doing it on purpose.....OK - I can live with that. ....Yeah - this is good. I love it. Well done!

TRJones -
You will get a vote my friend.

Will you remain as High Distinction? I don't know. I have listened to your song a few times. And I like it. Actually - i really like it. But you live in that bizarro world of are you "cool" country - or "uncool" country - I am prepared to anoint you as "cool". And a Caravan Ray annointment is all you need.

You are cool.

Johnny Cashpoint: THis is cool. I like the guitar. And nice melody bits]

DISTINCTION:
Ross Durand
I like this. Nice variation Ross.
R Mosquito

This has a Flight of the Conchords to it. It is very funny. Slightly too clever by half. I enjoyed immensely - but we both know you can do better.
DJ Ranger Den:
It is hard to know where to place you. You do this so effortlessly. But you are so entertaining. That "little miss Canada" line had me felling guilty - and I have done nothing - especially not with a Canadian.

You a a true entertainer Den. Gods speed to you.


DaddyBobSwingSet:
I hate jazz. But this is pretty awesome. I may even move this higher. It is very entertaining. Well done.

CREDIT:


ten dollar Pony
]First. I like The Lookouts name. Not yours. Cross. Second - I like the start of your song. 2 seconds in - and you are someone I want to listen to. You have passed the first - and most important - test.

Your vocals are not great. And your lyrics are not that flash either. But that is OK. Your voice is fine - you just need to do a) more vocal takes, and b) more lyric re-writes. Essentially - I like your stye of music - and you seem pretty good at it. Keep at it and soon I think I will be your biggest fan boy. I really love that echoey guitar thing. All songs should have strummed acoustic guitars and echoy guitar things.

Son of Supercar:
You get Credit status on quality of recording alone. Love the drum build up a 2:00. Essentially - this is not what I listen to - but I am so glad I got to hear this and I really enjoyed it. Not my scene - but I really enjoyed it. Good job.


PASS:
GERT
Don't get me wrong - It is great to have you guys back. It is great to hear STMike vocals again. But seriously - this is all a bit too "Journey/Foreigner/sad 70s guitar" I really didn't like it.
American Boyfriend OK
Turners Union Good. Just not my cup of tea
Greg Boethin:
You are a competent musician. This is shit. - and just to clarify that - the whole song fight reference/vampire thing is shit. You really are a good musician though - please keep submitting


FAIL: Nobody

Votes to wankers, Lookouts, TRJones, $j and the one I was in.

[Jim of Seattle]

VOTES for: Gert, Lookouts, Ross Durand, sonofsupercar, TRJones, Tuners Union

American Boyfriend

This okay as far as it goes. It's really immature, and that gets old fast. "Canuck nookie" - really? That's a joke phrase, but it's not particularly funny, and the song is delivered straight, so it's just sort of dorky sounding. And there's a problem I'm hearing in some of the songs in this fight that this song has, and that's the "let me make a list of all the Canadian stereotypes I can think of and just string them all together in my lyrics". Not terribly inventive. Guitar playing is good but having two fuzz lead guitars makes the whole thing an audio train wreck.

Chips, Abbott & Ray

Almost the exact same problem as American Boyfriend's song, and that's the adolescent snicker at "beaver". It's not really funny to me and you are trying to get a lot of mileage out of that. So my eyes rolled and you lost me right there. Otherwise, it's fine if a little plodding and dull. I was reminded of part of the verse to "Ruby Tuesday" at 0:32.

Daddy Bop Swing Set

Very nice playing. You sound like you do regular jazz gigs and this is a rare attempt at writing an original with lyrics and vocals. I say this because the quality of playing far outshines the songwriting, lyrics and singing. Rapid changes, athletic melodies and rhythmic complexities are cool, but your vocalist doesn't have nearly enough chops to pull them off. The songwriting isn't helping either; the melody seems to jump about somewhat arbitrarily, I can never seem to get a handle on where we are. And the lyrics are mostly unimaginative.

DJ Ranger Den

Interesting. This sounds like a promising first draft. You have a good setup which is spun out with good specific imagery, but it just kind of stops and doesn't take me anywhere new by the end. The music doesn't tell us much about her emotional state either. Again, it might be a first draft thing. I get a mild whiff of commitment to some sort of musical statement, but it's not fully realized yet. And I wish you would work a little harder on crafting singable lyrics. This sort of falls into Alanis Morrissette Syndrome, where it sounds like you're reading a page out of your diary. Honestly, if that's the style you're going for, I'm totally in favor, but you need to be committed to that so it sounds more on purpose.

Gert

Fine work. I especially like the break at 2:30, how you build onto it. No complaints, this is ready to go. VOTE

Gregg Boethin

(You lose points for referencing Song Fight in the lyrics. But that's just my own peeve, I kind of hate that.) OK, so this doesn't work for me. It's not cohesive enough. You start out with a country song about a vampire, but then you reference Song Fight, and then you're back to the vampire thing, but the chorus talks about a Canadian girlfriend. Too schizo. Also, when you get to the title, you go up to this admittedly cool chord. The problem with that is that it's completely out of context musically. It sounds like you stumbled across it accidentally and thought it was cool so you included it regardless of whether it fit with the rest of the song. Singing and playing and arrangement all good. Songwriting is bizarre.

Johnny Cashpoint

I just don't like fuzz guitar. It's like olives. Seemingly ubiquitous yet to me, abhorrent. Why do people like olives? They're nasty. So it's hard for me to say "this dish is terrible" because I know I'm saying it's terrible because it has olives in it, and a lot of people seem to like olives. Go figure. Otherwise I like this song okay. "Lust in wanderlust" - great line. Falls victim to "let's make a list of Canada stereotypes and call it lyrics" a little bit, but not as bad as some other songs in this fight.

The Lookouts

OK, she would be wanted in provinces, not states. Just sayin'. This is great. Probably an excuse for some cool guitar licks, but that's ok, nothing gets in the way. It rocks. VOTE

R. Mosquito

She's from "a future that I don't tie this car"? "A future without a talent scout"? Couldn't get that line. Anyway, it might as well be, because this song makes no sense. That's ok. I love the surprise augmented chord near the end. Completely strange, but comes across strange out of laziness more than choice.

Ross Durand

See, everyone else characterizes Canadians by listing their stereotypes, but you cleverly did so by listing American stereotypes that, by inference, we then assume are not characteristics of Canada. Nice idea. Nice job. VOTE

sonofsupercar

Awesome. Nice tasteful use of feedback and other effects. Song Fight is so often The Land of Songs With Too Much Crap Going On, but this one is just a nice blend. I rarely like single chord drone songs, but I like this one a lot (and yeah, I know it's more than one chord). I keep expecting Jim Morrison to sing out "This is the end....". This is a great track. VOTE and I'm rooting for this one to win the fight.

ten dollar pony

Lyrics are way too ordinary and sung on this bong bong bong bong bong bong string of quarter notes. Totally uninteresting. The playing is quite nice, vocals really weak.

TRJones

Very nice. The chorus sounds a lot like the children's song "Oh Playmate, Come Out and Play With Me", but hey, that's a good song too. Simple but effective and sweet. VOTE

Tuners Union

Still sounds like the Beta Band. Very schizo, but all the unrelated parts are cool and the playing is tight and it's well-recorded. Lots of chops on display here, fun to hear them being used to such good effect. VOTE

The Wankers

I remember just enough Japanese to know that I don't remember enough Japanese to understand these lyrics. "ano tokoro e" I got, and "nani nani nani", "hajimaru yo". This is okay. Beyond the fun novelty of the Nihonjin girls I don't find it terribly interesting. I think it could be more successful with less cheese and tighter vocals.

[Caravan Ray]

. I was reminded of part of the verse to "Ruby Tuesday" at 0:32.

Heh! I wondered how long it would take for that comment to come up! I was very aware of it - but didn't seem to be able to avoid it.

[dr_wankenstein]

I don't remember enough Japanese to understand these lyrics.

The lyrics and translation are in the lyric archive for anyone who is curious, although this being a song by The Wankers, it shouldn't be too difficult to guess what it's about. If anyone wants to sing along with these lovely girls and needs the roman characters, just say the word.

[greggb]

Here's my second set of SF song critiques. Before I begin I want to mention that I'm offering to mix as many songs as I can for for the next title, “Starting A Witch Hunt”, for any willing contestants here. This means you'd send me your recorded tracks and I'd compile them into a song for you. More information in the Collaborations forum. Please note I did the mixing for my own song, and “The Lookouts” song this week, if you'd like to hear some examples of my mixing. And here are the critiques.

Daddy Bop Swing Set: Great horn playing. The drums sound decent, although they have too much reverb, as do just about all the tracks in the song. The bass line is turned up a little high. As far as songwriting goes, the melody is easy-listening, but the lyrics are kind of hard to understand due to some mixing issues. What I hear of the lyrics sounds fairly repetitive and lacking in real substance. Then again, this is an easy-listening song, so I don't hold that against the song. Now, later in the song, the drums don't sound that good. I'm also a real stickler for clean beginnings and endings, and at the very end of the song I hear your squeaky chair... could be a nice, authentic touch if done properly, but it wasn't done properly. All in all a good, easy-listening listen. I forgot to mention that the vocals were good, and pleasant.

Gert: Decent sounding intro... the drums are a little on the low-volume side. Good guitar playing, but you could work on tone (as we all could). Good vocals. The lyrics are hard to understand due to mixing and annunciation issues, especially when you bring the harmony in. Nothing of what I hear in the lyrics really grabs my attention – not to say they're bad, just not very intriguing. There are other parts where the lyrics are pretty easy to understand. Overall this is a good-sounding song. Good vocals, playing, and decent production.

Tuners Union: Better sounding drums than last time, if I remember correctly making a remark about the drums in your last song. Great vocals. Easy-listening song with some nice changes to keep things mixed up. I really don't have too many complaints about this one. If you were looking for something to work on, those drums could still sound a little better.

Johnny Cashpoint: The song is lacking a full sound that might really be improved with a little reverb on your guitar. You need an instrument for harmony. Also, you shouldn't pan your drums to one side, as you have here. They should be spanned over both left and right channels and be a little louder. The rhythm section is really lacking in this song (bass and drums, and possible rhythm guitar). You should have your guitar panned to one side when it's not playing lead... again, with another guitar (or harmony instrument) on the other side. This would allow your vocals to cut through better and make it easier to understand your lyrics. I did catch some lines here and there that sounded entertaining, but the mix of this song is lacking to the point that I really couldn't enjoy it. I think the songwriting was pretty decent, but you really need to work on the production.

American Boyfriend: Good tone on one of your guitars, the other one not so much. I want to say that the drums could use a little reverb and be turned up, but they're not bad. Good vocals. Good guitar playing. Good dynamics in your vocals, though I do have a fairly hard time understanding the lyrics. This is a good-sounding song with some mixing issues, but not bad.

Ten Dollar Pony: Your acoustic guitar playing is good, but there's something about the way it's recorded that makes it sound a little too electronic. It may have been that you only recorded plugged in. I'm not sure about your choir awws... I think they could be really cool if... I don't know exactly what you'd need to do to them, it might be that they just have too much reverb. I think you had too much low-end on your vocals. I've said it before but you need to roll-off the bottom 150Hz or so on male vocals. This is a cool-sounding song with some production issues.

Ross Durand: Good sounding drums, right off the bat. Good guitar playing, good vocals, good melody and lyrics. I think you have too much reverb on that guitar on the left side. I think more delay and less reverb would sound better. My biggest problem in your production is that guitar. Also, later in the song, you start doing something on the right side, and again there's too much reverb. The panning is right in this song, IMO. Now, I just got to the end, and it would have been good if you would faded out, instead of just leaving it up to all the tracks to lose volume on their own. I'd suggest a fadeout of about 6 seconds, that starts on the final strum and reaches 0 at the exact time the song ends. Definitely one of the strongest songs this week.

The Lookouts: I mixed this song, so I'm not going to make any comments, except as to my own mixing. I'd tell you that the bass line is a little low in volume and the drums seem to be low on volume on the left side. Again, I'm offering to mix as many songs as I can for contestants in the next song, and if you'd like for me to give a shot to mixing your song please visit the Collaborations forum.

Chips, Abbot and Ray: Appropriately creepy beginning. This is one of the few songs where the lyrics are really easy to understand, so nice work on that. But, the instruments on the left and right side need to be turned up a little bit, IMO. Still a good production, good playing, and good vocals.

R Mosquito: Sloppy beginning, where I hear static right off the bat. It should only take you a few seconds to move the cursor forward before bouncing and delete any static sound before your song starts. That static before the song starts is a flashing neon sign telling me you're an amateur, where with the production of your song (which is pretty good) I might not have thought that. I mean, nothing says, “home studio” more than static at the beginning of your song. I could understand the lyrics reasonably well, and I enjoyed them. I thought the melody was cool, and kind of 80s sounding. I think you have too much low-end (roll of bottom 150Hz on your vocals) and reverb on your vocals. The drums sound kind of fake, but we all struggle with that. Good vocals. The song is pretty short, and ends before it feels like it should, like you got bored and decided to go eat dinner instead of finishing your song. You definitely needed to take some more time to explain how your future girlfriend from 1993 (which I thought was a cool concept) had anything to do with the “Canadian Girlfriend” title.

Songsofsupercar: I like the intro, though the drums are kind of weak. And now, about 30 seconds later I'm ready for the song to start, but, wait for it, wait for it... I think I'll go grab a sandwich real quick. No, I think I'll go to 7-11 and get a few burritos, and hit on the cute little Canadian teller. Now I'm back, and at last I can hear some vocals. The production in this song is decent. Cool effects. The vocals are good, but there's some sibilance, and I really can't understand what you're saying. And now the song is over, and I'm not really sure what just happened.

DJ Ranger Den: Really cool lyrics. I like the piano playing, but it sounds like you have it centered when you should have it spanning both left and right and channels, with your vocals a little louder. This would give the song a fuller sound and make your vocals cut through without simply overpowering the piano. This song is probably a little one the short side. Very interesting, though.

TR Jones: I wish I didn't hear those room noises right before your song started, but I did. Again, a few seconds of editing gives your song a much more professional start, affecting the way I perceive it from the first second on. With that, great guitar playing, cool country/south of the the border melody and lyrics. The production wasn't bad, but there was something about the way you recorded your vocals that sounded really cheap-mic-ee. If I had to guess I'd say this time you didn't have enough bottom end on your vocals, and I think your vocals needed some reverb. If you're planning on doing anything else with this song I would definitely address your vocals, and get those things fixed, because they're the only thing keeping this song from sounding pretty darn good. That, and your beginning.

The Wankers: Sounds like a pretty decent production, although the vocals are a little off-key, and weak in the mix, and really just not very pleasant to listen to. I should probably be thankful that the song is in another language, so I don't have to even try to understand the lyrics.

[j$]

olives?

You don't like olives? What is WRONG with you? Otherwise I couldn't disagree - playing with being self-aware about the stereotypes doesn't mean you're subverting the stereotypes. Which I hope I I was making clear with the whole aztec / mexican reference at the end. Still, not my favourite lyric and it was written to colour the melody and not the other way round. But yes, you're not wrong. For once

[j$]

Johnny Cashpoint: ... reverb on your guitar. ... shouldn't pan your drums to one side, as you have here ... rhythm section is really lacking in this song (bass and drums, and possible rhythm guitar) ... but you really need to work on the production.

Production tips are always going to be wasted on me ... just to say I didn't pan the drums to one side, they bounce from left to right and back again, quite delicately, and there is bass and drum on this song ( I don't think you're saying there isn't but for the record ...) - but yes, I agree I need to work on the production, particularly on this song, but only so that people don't feel they are excluded from appreciating whatever the song has to offer, right? Production for its own sake is as bad as lack of it for its own sake?

[gert]

Production tips are always going to be wasted on Production for its own sake is as bad as lack of it for its own sake?

As my brother Helmutt always said you can't polish a turd. Gert is pleased!

[j$]

Oh I think certain "super"groups have proved otherwise in the past, don't you?

[j$]

W.A.I.L. I.A.A.C.

AB – pretty enough tune, the vocal is a little lacking in confidence which makes it more of a chore to listen to than it needs be. There’s a lot of nice arrangement / songwriting touches almost lost under the “default rawk” mix but overall it works well. Have to say there are some vocal melody choices that don’t do the song any favours either. Made its point by the “shredding” (is that the right word?) solo. That last minute isn’t really very necessary.

Chips ‘n’ All – I like the vague Leonard Cohenisms in the vocal phrasing and the loucheness of the overall mood. There some nice (synth?) bassing going on quiet in the mix. For me the best parts of the collab are when Chips emerges through the more standard slow-pop arrangements (especially the keyboard flourish right at the end). I’d like this to have more of its own unique identity, with the individual elements clashing more. As it is this is fine but doesn’t really stay with me.

Daddy Bop Swing Set – that’s very nice swing backing (be it sample, pastiche or great jazz band, I know not, nor care) but the vocal is unpleasant on the ear. Which is a shame. And means by a minute I am deciding for sure that I am not listening to four. I think crooning is one of the cruellest vocal styles unless you have a beautiful instrument (oo-eer) cos the gentle smoothness of the backing is almost accentuating the inaccuracy of the vocal.

DJ Ranger Den – as ever you nail the kooky tori amos to the wall. (which frankly is where I ‘d like to see Tori Amos). However I liked it very much this time out. Different but charming enough to lure me over to the kooky dark side. VOTE. Despite quiet mix meaning I actually had to turn my speakers up, forgot to turn them back down again and nearly deafened myself with ...

Gert – In your favour I knew within three seconds which band this was, and that's, what, five years, since I last heard a Gert song?
Same as it ever was; perfectly pleasant Faith No More style songs, Not my thing, but undeniably not bad.
Same as it ever was; in the end, Johnny Cashpoint is not pleased, or displeased, just unmoved. *shrug*

Gregg Boethin – great music, but I find the meta references and the forced “surreal” nature of the lyric make me intrinsically resistant to it. And that being the case I start losing interest around 2 mins. If the lyric clicked with me I think I would find this absolutely wonderful. I think that quirky mood you’re going for is impossible to pull off unless you are actually a bit of a nutjob. Acting shouldn’t show.

J$ - is me. I wanted to get back into the SF swing. I like the melody, my vocal, and despite previous comments to the contrary, the lyrical angle (an angry woman using Canadian sterotypes to denigrate her husband’s [possibly imaginary] Canadian girlfriend), but it’s a little throwaway in retrospect.

The Lookouts – this works just fine, I like it. Lyrically it’s nothing special but the mood works well with the music, and it’s all done well. I love the tone on the drums. But it’s a minute and a half too long for no reason, so no vote this time.

R Mosquito – you had me at the drum machine. VOTE. (I might hi-pass out some of that low end to really make it breathe but I appreciate the four-track mentality).

Ross Durand – nice. Love that boppy bass line. I love the “call and response” chorus but maybe it’s not strong enough or different enough tonally from the groove? Or maybe the guitars are too loud in the mix? It doesn’t really funk as much as it should. But I like it.

Sonofsupercar – you had me at the unnecessarily over-long intro - It really does sound like great musicians making it up in the rehearsal room as they go along only recording it all really well – which is awesomeness. JUST WRITE A CHORUS ONCE IN A WHILE, WOULD YOU? No vote until you do. Fucking hippies :p

Ten Dollar Pony – loved that super creepy instrumental opening. Not so keen on the none-more-nerd vocal performance. It’s a little mawkish. I certainly wouldn’t hold those last notes of each line, it makes the vocal sound wonkier than it needs to, for no great benefit. Probably about the right length. I wouldn’t listen to this again, particularly, but I certainly would listen to other entries by you.

TR Jones – a nicely done pastiche. Your voice has a lot of charm to it, even though it’s singing something for which I don’t feel any great passion, and the arrangement / mix accuentates that charm very ably. The Kinks’ “Come Dancing” keeps coming into my head, but I am sure there are plenty of other songs written round similar melody / blues progressions. Not bad.

Tuners Union – I love the opening. In fact I love the musical track very much. For me your vocal tone is pretty mannered and I don’t warm to it in the verses at all, but when you hit that lovely chorus it all clicks and sounds great. I love the variety, perhaps a little too much in terms of showing-off-proficiency. Lyrically it passes me by, but I guess it’s not that important here. Well, I hope not, as it passes me by. Really enjoying the clash of styles beneath the surface yet holding together to make something really interesting and listenable. Possibly voting for this, need to listen a few times more.

The Wankers – This is brilliantly pointless but sadly not pointlessly brilliant. When I saw the lyric you posted, I thought, “job done –actually doing a J-/K-/C Pop pastiche would only ruin this”. Which it kind of does but I really like the song and would listen to it again (and again) and it being in a language I don’t speak means my enjoyment isn’t spoiled by having to soldier past bad lyric splotch. In fact it’s my favourite song in the whole fight, so have a VOTE.

[chocolatechips]

Chips ‘n’ All – I like the vague Leonard Cohenisms in the vocal phrasing and the loucheness of the overall mood. There some nice (synth?) bassing going on quiet in the mix. For me the best parts of the collab are when Chips emerges through the more standard slow-pop arrangements (especially the keyboard flourish right at the end). I’d like this to have more of its own unique identity, with the individual elements clashing more. As it is this is fine but doesn’t really stay with me.

the bass is bass guitar I played (and I appreciate the "nice" comment) but the fact that it sounds like it could be synth to you means a mixing failure on my part - I wanted it to come through the mix more, hard to get the sound I want with that, it's a nut I must crack because I do like playing bass guitar on my tracks (although sometimes a synth bass fits better, I can dig that too)

my own reviews are coming

[Smalltown Mike]

A couple thing about a couple songs:

American Boyfriend
I liked this enough to tell you about some of the things I didn't like. 1) Canuck Nookie: I've got to agree with Jim of Seattle on this one. Lame. Canuck on its own is really out-of-date, but the combo is just unbearable. 2) And you say you can't wait to meet her face to face, so how do you even know that Canuck Nookie (ugh) is unbeatable? 3) Really: "Hey Hosers, my girlfriend's Canadian?" In what context would you ever say that to a bunch of Canadians? Hosers is as out-of-date as Canuck and Nookie. BUT like I say, I like this tune enough to want to tell you this.

The Lookouts
Great opening riff. Really dig the voice too. I don't know why she would ever actually have to say: "I'm your Canadian Girlfriend." Wouldn't you already know that without being told? But I dig it a lot, and here's the thing. We really did have a maple syrup heist here. Ridiculous, we know. But serious question have you ever tasted our maple syrup? Then you understand how there could be a heist.

Ross Durand
My favourite. Love it. Love the chorus, love the take on the title. This is your sound. I think the ending could be fixed, but this is great.

DJ Ranger Den
This is quirky and cute, yes, but I think the starts and stops would be better if there weren't so many of them. It'd be a stronger effect, I think.

Gregg Boethin
Yea, I find the songwriter a little odd, too, though it sounds great. I'm not a fan of the referencing of songfight in songfight songs. And in a song about vampires, the reference to "by the way, vampires like Canadian girlfriends" comes out of nowhere.

Tuners Union
I like it. For some reason I really like the rhyme of Canadian Girlfriend/This will not be the end." Very nice.

Gert
I like Gert because Gert likes Canadian girlfriends.

[jb]

American Boyfriend - Offkey singing, some parts seem out of rhythm. Hrmm.

Chips, Abbott, & Ray - Goofy. Meh. I like the vocals, and the music is nicely done.

Daddy Bop Swing Set - Keep playing music like that! But consider getting a different singer.

[Leaf]

To review a songfight called “Canadian Girlfriend” I had to do some prep work. First, I watched my Leafs totally demolish the Habs. Now. This is the tricky bit. Simultaneously, , I have also consumed a number of Molson Canadians. I think I’m ready. This is first pass through, “typing as I listen” comments. These are my opinions. Any advice is with the explicit understanding that it’s your song and you can do what you want. Any negative views are simply what I felt as I listened, and I stand by the explicit understanding that I’m gonna feel different things at different times for different reasons.

SONOFSUPERCAR: Is it weird that the beginning guitar shots remind me of the RHCP’s “car crash” etc from By the Way… the bass tone sounds great, I like raunchy bass. Snare sounds a bit “paper-ish” like a mic was on the bottom of the drum. Reminds me a bit now of White Zombie. You know what? I realize what it reminds me of, LAUNDRY! Wow. Does that singer ever remind me of the guy singing in Laundry.

I didn’t mind it, but it isn’t something, if I heard it out there on the street, that grabs me.. although I think if I was hanging out in the room with these guys, I’d be TOTALLY into it. Feels like a “listen live thing”. Okay. I once watched SONOFSUPERCAR do an online concert or some such thing, so I’m imagining that setting for some reason, which makes this a better experience. I guess I want to like it more than I do, is the final thought on this puppy. It didn’t evoke any canadiana.

DADDYBOPSWINGSET: Oh yeah, right off the bat that grabbed me. Hmm… the singing isn’t as spot on as I’d want to hear with this vibe, but whatever. Okay, a few more bars in and it’s not just the vibe of the singing. It isn’t for me. Love that drummer, and the mix of the drums. Really want some more horns… so is this a band or one person? Oh yeah, that bridge bit was cool. (right before a verse…half way in..) ohh.. there’s the trumpet with some bossa feet going on lol. That trumpet solo section is fucking great… oh, and I like the way you panned out the vocals at the end. Okay, seriously the singing needs stuff, and I can’t believe with the quality of musicianship displayed that you don’t already know your singing needs work, so you get a pass on that. GREAT DRUMMER. Overall loved it I think. I like jazz, but I don’t love it. This has some edges of modernism that blends the jazz yet can escape the definition. Cool.


TRJONES: um.. it started then it stopped..one sec… okay. Hang on. I’m gonna grab another beer… wait one sec. DAMN THIS F*** computer. Sorry, I still run XP.
Okay.
I like this kinda vibe. Feels like I’m in a pub or something.
I like this… now, if it was me (it’s not, I know, but if it was) a more definitive groove would come in part way to help the dancers… I played bass in a country/classic rock band for a number of years, and I always dug (for some reason) playing bass lines like this on tunes like this… although I gotta tell you it definitely is fun.

WANKERS: What a hilarious follow up to TRJONES… it’s making me laugh but at the same time I like it. For some reason the out of tune moments on the vocals work totally fine. I’m now imagining that SNL skit about the ..um.. what is it… anyway, it’s a Japanese culture spoof.
Oooh…that one singing bit did not work. The programming stuff sounds solid and fun.
Those mommy mommy bits are neat, or at least that is how I hear them. Wait a minute. It occurred to me that this is Canadian girlfriend. I can not tell for the life of me how this is about a Canadian, a girlfriend or anything like that. This song should be called “Japanese momma”. Hmm. This is also the song that ends some wacky movie starring a thin, tall gankly mop topped over 30 year old pretending to be 17” guy. A bunch of people died, but they are going out for coffee!! The end.

Hmmm. Upon reflection, if this is the kind of reaction your song gives me after one listen, it’s doing alright. Yeah… alright.

ROSSDURAND: I know this name, but I have forgotten.. oh, I recognize the vocals. I like the way you drip with some … I want to say John Fogarty but I don’t want to at the same time? Chorus is hot. Some cool stuff in here. I love the on the beat cleanish guitars. Gives me that clash/police etc feel that I LOVE. This is fuckin great actually. I’m really.. gonna just listen and not type now…

I could picky on some stuff, like something about the backbeat in spots seems not as tight as it could be, blah blah. But I really dug that Mr. Ross.

AMERICANBOYFRIEND: So not tight, and I just really have a hard time with stuff that isn’t tight. Hmm. Here’s a positive for ya. Guitar tones and overall mix sounds good to me, no complaints about that stuff.. but the erratic way things are interacting makes it hard for me to even think about the merits of the song.. what is this nookie bit.. hey hosers, my girlfriends’ Canadian bit I like. Sure, as SM says, a bit dated however it gave me this quick thought about SNFU and then of course that slipped away. You know what? you got ideas, and as I get further into this I like where your head is at with your ideas, but this is a collection of mess as far as execution goes. Is this a band or one dude?
Oh.. .when you said “hassle” again I get this weird moment of thinking about SNFU. It got tighter as it went on, or so it seemed. Things I liked, things I didn’t.

CHIPSABBOTTANDRAY: computer music. Nice vocal. Is this someone I’ve heard before? Something about the male vocal there feels familiar or something. Odd. Lol. I hear that rollingstones bit too.. haha. Don’t you hate when you get stuck on a melody, and it totally works, and then you realize fuck. This is someone else’s. Pet beaver. Caught my ear. I can be a bit of a perv like the rest of you, so I gotta say now I hear this a dirty little ditty, and like it even more. Actually, wow.. those backup ahh’s are great. I could do with out the guitar being … you know, a bit disconnected in it’s strum.. .but that’s nitpicky stuff. Some very cool stuff in there. Some weird tone choices and instrumentation that I’m not fond of (not big on the stuff that sounds like it’s borrowing from an Atari game) but at the same time, this had a GREAT FEEL that overrides my commentary. Very good.

GREGBOTHEIN: ugh. Really, take everyone’s advice on the songfight referencing. Not for the people here. For the people who listen to this and have no idea what songfight is. I don’t’ find this nearly as bizarre as others do. The mix is rich and loud. Not what I’d do if I it was me. Maybe the bass tone is a bit farty though. Tons of good skill here eh. I bet this is another thing I’d like WAY more live than as a recording. You are a good singer, but you know what. I’m not getting off on the shuffle in this one. Clearly this has zero to do with Canadian girlfriend. Ooooh.. the ending bit came apart for me.. lead… I like the lead, it would have been cool to hear a ripping country solo..thought you were going there. Not sure if that’s in your wheelhouse or not but ..oh it’s over.
Okay. I’m interested in the guy, but not this song.

TENDOLLARPONY: I’m feeling a little more of this beverage than before. Case in point, I haven’t started you tune yet , but I’m typing.. hang on.
Okay. Cool. Too bad I read the other reviews first, cause my first thought was.. cool like the panning then I remembered people thinking it was a bad idea. Makes me think of late sixties mentalities, you know Beatles would do this all the time. The idea, as far as I understood, was that you weren’t listening in headphones… so a few feet away you get all this trippy stereo referencing… anyway too much about that. Song is alright but it’s also kinda dreary in a way I find dull… although I just loved that windchime bit..lol. This was okay, but it didn’t give me much impression of the musican(s) beyond “I’m trying to get some ideas out”. Not sure if that makes sense to you… my personal thing is that I like to hear the person I’m listening to at a depth beyond just the material, skills, etc etc. So, when I think about what kind of person you might be when I listen, I imagine someone in college, with glasses, doesn’t talk much, kinda an introvert. Not sure if that’s the impression or vibe you want. Also, I didn’t have a moment of really grasping what the song was about. So, I’m gonna say below the bar on this one.

LOOKOUTS: snare sounds weirdly off to the right. Okay, this is a pan job that doesn’t work for me.. .maple syrup theft.. you read the news? Lol. I liked that bit that ended your chorus, and the lead with the acoustic… that was hot. Okay, into the second verse and I’m liking it WAY MORE. Just didn’t start in a way that pulled me in. Not a fan of the word bum. Damn. I finished that beer. I gotta get another one. And I gotta pee.
This is not helping me review you…oh.. another fun guitar bit.. I like your guitar playing cause you go for it. I’m sure you can hear how you could have a slightly better run down there, but the vibe of the solo was sweet. This is cool.. I love the way you’re singing the chorus for the most part. Okay, this is something that has all these bits that, if it was me, would lead to trying to work the parts out better. The core song I totally am digging, and the vibe of the playing. Just feel like it needs.. tightness, some polishing. Pretty fun and cool though, thanks.

<piss break>

TUNERSUNION: oh.. I love love the vibe off the top. This is Quadra Island music man.. this is the type of grooves we’d jam (without the cool singing you got going on) back in the day (early nineties I’m going back to). Some pink floyd ish. Reminds me to of that wicked guy that used to come on here… um… damn. Can’t remember his name but enough about that. This is pretty fucking cool. Is this a band? I LOVE THOSE VOCALS. This is so good, you got silky smooth…
If I was to critize, I’d say do the drums again, tighten up some parts, you know, polish bits of it. Yes. I’m totally using the word polish over and over cause I thought that whole discussion was funny…
This was fucking cool Thanks for doing this one, I liked it!

RMOSQUITO: … the terminator has impregnated Ian Curtis and given birth to Wang Chung’s younger brother.. that was my feeling off the top. Okay, this has too much of the bad 80’s in it. Yeah, sorry man, this one isn’t …oh.. I liked the ending though..lol. Use that some where else, it was cool.

JOHNNYCASHPOINT:It sounds like you!
I know you have said you don’t want “production tips”.. but whatever. These are not production tips. Lol. Those heavy guitars need more bass… the bass needs more bass. This mix needs bass. Maybe a tuner too man. There are things in here I like. I have always liked your lead verse style vocals.( the way you are doing your thing in the verses is what I mean I guess) But damn it man, get a tuner, that guitar sound awful and it’s hard to listen to the tune cause there are dissonances that just are too strong to be cool. Bits I liked in the strategy and ideas.


Well. That is my view on the songfight called “Canadian Girlfriend”.

I’d like to take a moment to review Gert now.

GERT: Here’s the thing. If you don’t love the people you jam with, and love what you are doing with them, then I think you’re doing it wrong. Is this the greatest song ever written? No. That was “Live and let die” by Mr. Paul McCartney. Is it a close second? No. No, I’d say that Master of Puppets is an epic masterpiece that claims number two. But is it NUMBER THREE???
No. That’s a tad unrealistic.

Look. I can’t run through the entire list for you.


Thanks to you all for writing some songs.