Did you see the moon shine? (Morning on Bourbon reviews)

[erik]

Optional challenge: Review while drinking.

[Billy's Little Trip]

*old Jewish guy* That's a challenge?

[king_arthur]

For some reason, the "Speedy Atkins" song does not appear to be downloading from the .rss podcast list. It can be downloaded manually from the front page.

Charles (KA)

[Billy's Little Trip]

Wow, a great block of songs this week! I think Little Jimmy Cratner and the Strawberry Marshmallow Sensations accidentally hit the stop button when he reached over to hit record.

Who's Flintstone? That is a cool song.
Space Dust made me laugh, pretty cool. Sounds a little like a project that Paco and I have discussed.

Actually, I'm really diggin' all the songs this week. High fives around the room!

[Lunkhead]

Is Speedy Atkins the return of Balls to Monte? If not, there's some serious similarity in their voices.

[genecawley]

Damn you! Yeah, it's me again.

[jeffhenderson]

Flintstones – This is fantastic. A good female vocal performance always gets people riled up on SongFight and rightfully so. I really love the chorus, it’s just the catchiest thing ever. Great lyrics. The instrumentation is perfect. The synths are smooth and fit perfectly. My only complaint is that the vocals are about 1% closer to Jimmy Durante than I usually like, but overall they are very strong. Possible vote.

Jeff Travis Henderson – Is me. I was a bit frustrated in the mastering process because I couldn’t really get as full of a sound as I would have liked. I tried adding a little compression and turning up the master volume, but that totally killed the dynamics, so I didn’t keep that. Any suggestions from you audio wizards out there?

King Aurthur – If I could live my life over, one of the things I would try to remember to do is not use the flute synth as a lead instrument in my “You Get The Wiser” entry. It always bothered me when listening to it. It has a sort of ‘my keyboard from the nineties has a demo that sounds like this’ feel to it. So I can’t help but be irked when I hear the flute synth being used as a lead instrument.
Putting my irrational feelings towards flute synths to the side, this is a pretty well-written song. It has some chord changes that remind me of some more recent Paul McCartney stuff. I like the “tea time in Lisbon” idea. My only other complaint is with the guitar distortion in the left ear. It sounds more like a bitcrusher than distortion, which I am not a huge fan of… but once again, that’s just personal preference. Solid entry overall.

John Mayor – Okay, I’m sure I’m not the only person whose going to mention this, but what were you thinking when you asked the third grader to just play around randomly on a recorder over top of this song? Minus the screetching recorder, this has a pretty cool vibe, and it’s the kind of music that I think it would be cool to play video games to. While the connection to the title is usually tenuous on instrumental songs, I actually felt like the vibe really fit not only with the title but with the overall feel of the rest of the songs so far. But really, you should tell that kid with the recorder to go practice somewhere else.

Carbetburn – I have pretty mixed feelings on this one. I like the variety, and most of the song writing. I think what I dislike is that sometimes it sounds like some of the instruments don’t mesh that well, and this issue would be resolved if you played more notes that directly harmonized with the chords being played rather than constantly playing one or more different lead instruments – but that’s just personal preference. Your voice misses a couple notes, which is unfortunate, but overall it has a really cool and unique quality that I think fits in well with this genre.

Lord of Oats – If you ever go to a college campus and they have talent show, you will inevitably find a white guy who ironically raps, but is clearly somewhat musically talented, and it is a smash hit with the crowd. That is what this reminds me of. It’s mildly amusing, and that is more than enough to stand out from the crowd at most talent shows, but I can’t really see myself enjoying this kind of thing in many other contexts.

The Weakest Suit – I like this. I suspect you listen to much of the same music that listen to. Parts of this remind me of ELO, Danielson, Elliot Smith, and Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs. I could use a little less of that vocal effect during the “last call for that alcohol” part.

Thanks For The Veritech – I like the songwriting and vocals on this one. The production leaves a lot to be desired. Duplicate the guitar track, pan one to the left and one to the right, and then delay one of the tracks by 30 milliseconds or so. I’m not sure what your set up will allow you on drums, but at the very least turn up the volume. Maybe throw on a bass track and you will have a much better sound.

Speedy Atkins – This is just fantastic. I am definitely downloading this. I don’t even know what to say besides I really enjoy this. You have a great voice especially when you go into falsetto. Probable vote.

Billy’s Little Trip featuring Paco del Stinko – I love how the rock gets cranked up at about 0:54. The song really picks up and I can’t help but nod my head to the rest of it. I am not a huge fan of the guitar tone, and there is definitely some room for improvement in the guitar solo department, but overall this is a strong entry.

The Pathetic Wannabes – This sounds like Octothorpe recorded live. I can dig it.

Steve Durand – The production is really good, and the performance is great. This is really well done. Of course, it’s sort of a novelty song, and so I can’t take it too seriously. But the horn is perfect, and it was altogether an enjoyable listen and I will never ask for that 2 minutes 43 seconds back. Possible vote.

Swillington – The vocal delivery is pretty unnatural, kind of like you’re reading the lyrics, but I like the music in this one. Sometimes it’s a bit too experimental for my taste, but heck when I get in the right mood this is exactly the kind of thing I want to hear.

Spacedust – Dialogue? Okay. It’s a little dinner theater-ish, but it’s still enjoyable. When the rapping begins, I get really impressed. Well done, good sirs. You have some flow. Pretty cool samples in the background too. Possible vote.

Spinlock – This is cool. You are good at giving things a real danceable vibe. Great performance, great writing, pretty good production. If there weren’t so many other great entries in this fight this would probably get my vote.

Seamus Collective – I feel kind of the way I felt when I first heard ‘Crazy’ by Gnarls Barkley. This has a really really cool retro sound to it, while still sounding modern and original. I am really impressed with that. How did you achieve such an authentic sound? Please share all your secrets with me. Also great songwriting and performance. I love the ending. Probable vote.

Ross Durand – Another song with good production. This is an enjoyable listen, but it feels kind of generic. Except for the guitar solo, which really stood out for me, it is perfect for this song. Nice background vocals as well.

Melvin – I really like your songs. This one reminds me of ‘The Resistance’ by Sam Roberts, which was one of my favorite songs for a while, but it also has a really strong Steve Miller vibe.

Little Jimmy Cratner and the Marshmallow Strawberry Sensations – It took me longer to type your name than it did for me to listen to your song before the silence came in. I feel like I’m not in on the joke. Was the 9 minutes of silence supposed to have some kind of hidden meaning?

It was a really close call between the Seamus Collective and Speedy Atkins for me, but Seamus ultimately won my vote.

Massive props also go to the Flinstones, BLT feat. Paco, Steve Durand, Spacedust, Spinlock, and Melvin.

Great work everyone, this is the one of the best fights I can remember.

[genecawley]

Okay, here are my reviews. There are a ton of good ones this week.

Billy's Little Trip featuring Paco Del Stinko - Great start. Really good song and arrangement. Particularly love the guitar solos and the middle part.

Carpetburn - Very intricate arrangement, kinda like Pavement meets Sonic Youth, which endears it to me tremendously. If you are an actual band, you are incredible. If you are a single person, I'd seek professional help. And by that I mean that you think musically like four or five people at once.

Flinstones II - Wow. Another great one. This got amazingly better as it went along.

Jeff Travis Henderson - Yet another great one. Love the Simon & Garfunkel opening and the chord progression. Totally unpredictable in melody and tempo. My favorite so far.

Jon Mayor - Great soundscape, though it goes on bit long. Disqualified nonetheless.

King Arthur - You always come up with great stuff and this is no exception. Love how it builds to the "It took a hurricane" part.

Little Jimmy Cratner and the Strawberry Marshmallow Sensations - Damn it, neither you band name nor your mostly silent file were nearly long enough.

Lord Of Oats - Liked the story behind this. Needed a bit more enthusiasm in the delivery. Good overall.

Melvin - Good production. Solid song.

The Pathetic Wannabees - Now, you're a real band. That much I'll give you. Having a very hard time hearing the words. The ones I can make out at the end are hilarious.

Ross Durand - Very good solid song. Like the alcoholic Jekyll & Hyde angle. Didn't really grab me, though.

the Seamus Collective - Loved the production, the playing and the singing. Had a hard time making out the lyrics. Still, really good.

Space Dust - Always open with a joke, I say. This is great. Almost fell out of my chair when I heard "wasn't me." Well done. The ending was in somewhat poor taste(tee hee).

Speedy Atkins - (aka. Balls to Monte) - we wrote this one really quickly the day before. It turned out better than I thought considering how little time was spent on it. I'll work harder next time, I promise.

Spinlock - Again, well written, sung and executed, but it didn't really do much for me. I'm sure it's partially ear fatigue on my part.

Steve Durand - Like the old-timeyness of this one. The vocal delivery makes it sound a little Avenue Q, but this works in its favor for me. Is that a real trumpet, by the way? Keep in mind, I'm easily fooled.

Swilington - Something about the guitar work sucked me in. The middle part is pretty cool. But it's not much of a song, unfortunately.

thanks for the veritech - This is pretty good, but I wasn't crazy about it. It sounds a bit like you wedged the chorus in to fit the fight.

The Weakest Suit - Good. Liked the middle part more than the rest of it, if that makes any sense.

[genecawley]

Speedy Atkins – This is just fantastic. I am definitely downloading this. I don’t even know what to say besides I really enjoy this. You have a great voice especially when you go into falsetto. Probable vote.

Wow. Thank you very much for the kind comments, especially since it's your song I voted for. But don't get me wrong. I'll take any compliment anytime from anyone.

[Steve Durand]

Steve Durand - Like the old-timeyness of this one. The vocal delivery makes it sound a little Avenue Q, but this works in its favor for me. Is that a real trumpet, by the way? Keep in mind, I'm easily fooled.

Yep, the trumpet is the real deal.

I've never heard any of the stuff from Avenue Q. But since it's singing puppets and I basically have a muppet voice I'm not too surprised.

Thanks for the review.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy’s Little Trip featuring Paco del StinkoI am not a huge fan of the guitar tone

All of the guitar tones? I was experimenting with a some new plug ins. Thanks for the comments. I'll have to rethink how I used them.
By the way, you really brought it this week, too. I don't remember hearing you like this before. I like it.

Billy's Little Trip featuring Paco Del Stinko - Great start. Really good song and arrangement. Particularly love the guitar solos and the middle part.

Thanks Gram. You did a good song yourself. Great voice and some fine strumming.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Billy's Little Trip featuring Paco Del Stinko - I've been tossing around some new arrangements and wanted to try combining two songs written for the same title. So I asked Paco if he wanted to write the bridge. Neither of us knew what the other was writing about. The only connection was the title. Paco is always fun to work with. He always entertains me with his unique style and as usual, he kicked mad ass.
On to the reviews.

Carpetburn - This kicks ass right out of the gate. I like the the changes. Nice guitar work. Good song.

Flinstones II - This song caught my ear when I had my first listen. Love the vocal harmonies. The keys are an interesting addition and the horn is cool too. Good song.

Jeff Travis Henderson - I like this a lot. Kind of a mix of Beatles and The White Stripes, We're Going To Be Friends sort of vibe, which I really like. I don't remember you sounding quite like this in the past. I was pleasantly surprised. Cool guitar changes. The track sounds a bit hissy in the quiet parts, which is a bit distracting. But the song is really good.

Jon Mayor - Cool instrumental. I'd have loved to add vocals to this. I hear a strong melody in my head. Pretty cool.

King Arthur - Nice casual rock. I like this. You always write so well. How do you get your MP3s so loud without killing the dynamics? I like the dirty guitar, it sets the song apart from the average.

Little Jimmy Cratner and the Strawberry Marshmallow Sensations - I get it now. The silence is a metaphor. Brilliant!

Lord of Oats - This is a new style for you, or at least that I've heard. I like it. Sounds like the songs from the Vanilla Ice days. Entertaining lyrics, I'd like to go surfing on some alcoholic waves, lol. Cool tune dude.

Melvin - Sounds like your Morrissey song influenced you a tad. But then you kick into your usual Melvin sound. Very cool mix, I like the the acoustic and electric mix. Well done.

The Pathetic Wannabees - Sounds like you guys are having a blast! I wish I could hear the vocals better. But what I can hear, sounds pretty damn rockin'. Cool song

Ross Durand - Cool parrot head beach song. I can see you in your Hawaiian shirt and straw hat rocking this song to a bunch of sunburned drunks. I'm the drunk in the front of the stage yelling FREE BIRD in between all of your songs. Good song, Ross.

the Seamus Collective - Cool tune. The guitar work is awesome, but rough through headphones because of the panning or the high frequencies or something. Loved the sound of the distortion guitar. The vocals are on the money. Interesting arrangements. Cool song.

Space Dust - This song is entertaining. I do enjoy breaking up my music play list with some fun dialog. Cool tune.

Speedy Atkins - Some great guitar strumming, and good vocals. Simplicity at it's best. Very cool key changes that really is the hook for me. Good song.

Spinlock - Funky, I do like it. You always manage to interject a lot of creativity to your music. A lot of little tid bits of interesting things going on. Good song.

Steve Durand - Man, can I relate to this song, lol. I'm picturing you performing this on stage in a musical in some Max Bialystock production. I like it, good song.

Swilington - Is this Fluffy? If not, you sound a lot like him. Interesting mix. I love experimental stuff and this is mixing some cool changes and sounds. Cool tune.

thanks for the veritech - I kept expecting the drums to kick in any moment. Guitar and vocals sound good, I just wish this song had some kick and snare driving it. But it's still a good tune.

The Weakest Suit - Cool groove. You always come up with catchy ideas in your music. I liked the room effect on the vocals. Has a Pixies vibe. I really like the main riff and I like the the extra note added to the riff towards the end. Cool tune.

Well, there we have it. This will be a tough vote, everyone really put their hearts into this weeks songs.

[drë]

damn! this fight kicks some serious ass... loving that BLT and Jeff Henderson tracks so far....
but all the songs are above your usual SF entries.

[king_arthur]

King ArthurHow do you get your MP3s so loud without killing the dynamics?

- when I'm recording, I make sure there is a LOT of overall song dynamics going on

- I don't use a whole lot of compression

- since my drums are MIDI anyway, I tend to mix them lower than a lot of people would, so I don't have a lot of snare and kick hits as the loudest thing in the mix, I push the guitars and bass more

- my current mixing method, due to a broken CD writer in the AW16 recorder: I send the analog mix output over to a standalone CD recorder and, umm, run it into the red more than I should. If it was going to an analog tape deck, the mix would be incredibly warm As it is, it's, umm, loud without killing the dynamics...

Charles (KA)

[Billy's Little Trip]

King ArthurHow do you get your MP3s so loud without killing the dynamics?

- when I'm recording, I make sure there is a LOT of overall song dynamics going on

- I don't use a whole lot of compression

- since my drums are MIDI anyway, I tend to mix them lower than a lot of people would, so I don't have a lot of snare and kick hits as the loudest thing in the mix, I push the guitars and bass more

- my current mixing method, due to a broken CD writer in the AW16 recorder: I send the analog mix output over to a standalone CD recorder and, umm, run it into the red more than I should. If it was going to an analog tape deck, the mix would be incredibly warm As it is, it's, umm, loud without killing the dynamics...

Charles (KA)

Interesting. Maybe part of my problem is that I push the snare so hard. So it's peaking and keeping the rest of the mix down. I could push it louder, but it kills my instrument separation.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Billy's Little Trip featuring Paco Del Stinko - Kind of like the Pixies at the prom, bumming out about detoxing. I'm always psyched to work with the BLT master, and he let me do whatever I wanted in the middle, w/o hearing the rest of the song, of course. Any success this song has, however, all belongs to him. I like how the guitars sneak up into bigness here.

Carpetburn - I almost didn't know who this was, from the intro. After it got a grip on itself I felt a little more hip. It's angry, then sunny, then has bouts of moodiness. I'm not sure that the day-dreamy stuff works as well as it should/wants to, but I like the effort. Complex enough to require a few listens to grasp, that's also a positive comment on the outstanding musicianship.

Flinstones II - I like the mood of this in the start, although I kind of don't want to. The second voice and gentle synth and horn accents are a nice touch and help ease some of the hungover feel of the main parts. Catchier as it goes, I'm not a fan of the unresolved ending. Still, a pleasant and enjoyable tune.

Jeff Travis Henderson - Very White Album here, without sounding like a blatant rip-off. I like the chorus although I'm initially put off by the ABCD line, I'm back in for eins, zwei, etc. Very nice singing if a little breathy for me at times. Obviously a man of many talents, your hard wok is appreciated by me, if nobody else. Comforting, eh?

Jon Mayor - Nice moody piece, just waiting for a Roger Waters scream. But as others have hinted at, enough with the damn recorder already! Hey, whatever you like, man. Some vocals, even narrating a creepy, short story would have given this a little depth in the title's direction. Good playing, and the bass tone is tasty.

King Arthur - Dark and brooding, I like the on the run theme, no doubt bringing your troubles with you wherever you go. The guitar is hungry sounding, like it wants to take a big chomp out of you, but is held back. I actually like the flute accents, I think they are a nice contrast, sonically, to the more electric sounds. Some soaring support vocals would have been an added treat.

Little Jimmy Cratner and the Strawberry Marshmallow Sensations - Lame-o-riffic. I would have enjoyed a manic, goofball punk song like it started to do, but disappointing. Next time send in the song, not the out-take. Boo.

Lord of Oats - Is this the one that sent you to the hospital? Hey, it's not that bad. Alcoholic ocean is appropriate, as this has a woozy quality to it. Just about every rhyme that fits, I suppose, some work better than others but you made a story of sorts out of it. I like how the bass and guitar feel like they're playing two different songs. Easy-going, but actually quite dark in tone.

Melvin - Starts out moody, then the sun comes out and everybody can join hands and sing along. There's almost a hymn-like or pardon me, but churchy feel to this and I think that's the secret to its success. I like the open ended production allowing each cpmponant to be heard. Nice seperation on the snare as well. Good tune.

The Pathetic Wannabees - Phantom of the Wannabees. The drum fills are classic, my complaint would be that the tempo lags a bit after the first fill. Great live sound though, and this song avoids lurching probably through its dark and serious sounding intent. I can't understand much of the vocals, but what a delicious growl to the voice. Rough and scruffy, which is fine by me.

Ross Durand - This song is so much sadder, lyrically, than it's delivered. I mean, this poor bastard is just a mess, but the music is closer to Margarittaville than the darkish tale being told. That sounds like harsher criticsim than I mean. I wonder how a minor key, dark and moody approach would have sold it. All that said, the playing is tops and sounds great, and both lyrics and chord structures are well put together.

the Seamus Collective - I like the dark mood and chop chop attack of the guitar, sweet vocals, especially when the second voice plays off of the first. My favorite bit is the minor to major chord change in the chorus: subtle, but effective. This song took a while to grow on me, and I'm not sure why. I'm aware of the talent here, and the song is very far from being bad, but it just wasn't a quick grab for me. Glad I'm at least smart enough to listen many times, over time as well.

Space Dust - I think of Crates when I hear this: are you in there, Crates? I like the silly story and the boozey culture expose. The rap parts are well done if the music seems kind of typical. The deep voice that comes in, as near silly as it could be, works well for me. I guess that I like the soft musical support under the voice, it's not all in your face slapping. I have no idea where the story goes, but fun to listen to.

Speedy Atkins - I kind of scratch my head at the chord progression, but like the unexpected turns it takes, especially when it starts to get a bit dark. I love the voice and hate to mention Squeeze, but there you go. This goes in a circle and you can almost feel it being written as it goes, but there's a nice never heard it before feel to it as well. Nice layers and varied tones, the horns sound car-hornish. The vocal delivery is good as well although wouldn't suffer from some added harmonies.

Spinlock - The intro is almost comical sounding, but I dig the I'm too hip funkitude of the main parts. Nice layers and varied tones, the horns sound car-hornish. The vocal delivery is good as well, although it wouldn't suffer from some added harmonies.

Steve Durand - Easily the wooziest of the fight, when the ice hits the glass, you know it's all over. How much longer will this guy even afford ice? Even if I didn't like this song, I would have to give it mega points for the word 'snoot'. This is a classic, and another of yours that deserves to win.

Swilington - I really like the first guitar pattern and the feel of the beat. I think the vocal might've been better delivered almost whispery, like you're talking to yourself. Don't be frightened, but the dissonant guitar stuff midway through reminds me of stuff I used to try a long time ago (I don't mean that it sounds dated, or that I was ahead of my time time, either) The last section is a little off and it may be because you tried too hard to make a mini-epic, but nice appraoch to all. Just keep the beat flowing.

thanks for the veritech - This feels a little experimental, or tossed off. I know it's the Friz, is it a certain Sarah someone trying his still new guit-fiddle out? I like the second half of the song better after it gets its feet under itself a bit, but before it falls apart at the end. Slamming drums and booming bass would've propelled this much better, but I understand if those weren't available options. Just saying.

The Weakest Suit - I wasn't sure of this one at first. Kind of a goofy, loping feel, but as it went, and the week went, I got into the feel and appreciated it more. I like the descending bridge and the extra beat at the end best. It's like Misty Mountain Hop by Pixies. Production-wise it could use a bit more punch, but the arrangement is good. Nice to hear something less middle of the night moody from you, although that's not meant as a complaint towards your other material.

[Ross]

Ross Durand - This song is so much sadder, lyrically, than it's delivered. I mean, this poor bastard is just a mess, but the music is closer to Margarittaville than the darkish tale being told.

Yes. I was intentionally going for a type of irony with that pairing, but I see how it could be heard as a mismatch.

Thanks for the review.

[jackfrost]

Lord of Oats: even though i didn't like all the lyrics, i liked this song a lot more than i initially thought i would.
feel better soon.

[spinlock]

Reviews so far

BLT + paco:
Great chord sequence. Great Melody. Lighters in the air kind of thing. I didn't love the middle section- the vocals were aggressive (which was cool), but the drums and surrounding arrangement didn't do it - Not enough bass in it. Heh. I don't know, can't point a finger to what it is. Anyway, On the whole very good.

Carpetburn:
I still don't know quite how to approach your music. It's technically very good, and you've got a bunch of variety here, though in the 'hoooah hoooah' quiet bit, I would have dropped the snare down to something a bit less punchy. Other than that I can't find anything that I'd know how to improve, it's already a very high standard.

JTH:
I love the casual blend of styles, and the poppy upbeat music with the depressing subject. The weird vocal ending is great too. Some of the transitions are a bit untidy- like your second "I can't let go" - and I wish there had been another bridge to smooth over from the "A B C D" part into the second verse.
I have to admit to a massive genre bias - whatever quirky field you write in, it is my favourite, so bear that in mind. Still, I have grabbed this for future re-listening.

Space Dust:
I love the random interruptions. The whole song was worth listening to, just for the 'Disney poisons my water' line. The second narrator's diction and delivery is a little harder to follow - particularly when there's a line followed by a gap.
Recording is excellent. The sound effects are pretty good too. Well produced.

Speedy Atkins:
Some of the high notes ended a bit suddenly, would have sounded more awesome if you had held them - or gone quieter+closer to the mic - as the melody and chord sequence is very good. And a cello. Although I don't relate to the lyrics, they hold my interest.