OK since the boards seem to be dead (I dunno why, what do you guys have like a life or something?!
), I will take this opportunity to post my reviews.
Overall this was a very strong round. I liked the songs overall much more than the previous rounds. Proud to be competing in such company. My favorites are underlined:
Bmac - This is quite a departure from your last two entries. I like it better. It’s got more character. The podcast made me think about your strumming and I see what they mean about the downstrokes only but it doesn’t bother me, I think it feels appropriate for the song. Production is a bit ragged but again it seems like a real person made this. I like the background “oohs” and the spoken parts. Overall good effort. Sorry you got cut, I would have liked to see what you did next week.
Berkeley Social Scene - I like the bassline and overall groove, the reggae feel is cool. The vocals kind of kill the vibe though, they’re too loud/strained and nasal for me to really relax and enjoy it. If they were mixed considerably farther back in the mix, or had more reverb, that could have made a difference. I like the first solo, sounds like a backwards synth?
Boffo Yux Dudes - pretty wacky song, I like the music quite a bit. I wish there were more verses sung by a single person, or even spoken like in the intro. the chorus would then have more contrast. The pronounciation of “Eye-talian” makes me laugh. I like it but I think it’s a bit too “busy” in production for me to truly love it.
Carlo Bruno Jr. - first of all the lyrics are hilarious. “Shut up if you want me to love you” - I laughed out loud when I read that in the lyrics thread. The music is also really nice, great groove. The audience chatter in the background is well mixed, though not exactly versimilitude because if this were an actual live recording the rest of the song wouldn’t sound anywhere near this clear, but it still works because overall it sounds good. Nice guitar playing. The punch out in the solo is hilarious.
Cavedwellers - I really
love the middle section of this. If the whole song were like that, it would be so much better. But the first section leaves me cold and the last section is too screamo for my taste.
DJ Ranger Den - deeply creepy, well-executed. I love the creaking and chain-rattling sounds in the background. I guess my only beef with this is the song itself doesn’t really grab me. Like I completely admire every aspect of this but I wouldn’t listen to it as much as your song for “Trial By Fire” (which I LOVED, btw, and the pronunciation of “funeral” is fabulous - reminds me of one of my favorite songs by the band 20 Minute Loop (
https://20minuteloop.bandcamp.com/track/parking-lot)).
Fisher & Diaz - Intro is pretty funny. I really like your overall sensibility and sense of humor. The rapping doesn’t bother me at all, I think it’s funny and cool. But then I have a high tolerance for wackiness (Weird Al, TMBG, early BNL and early Beck being some of my favorite artists). This is a good song and I am personally annoyed you got cut because I want to hear more of your music. Would definitely listen again.
Grumpy Mike - I like the intro a lot. Your singing is quite good and your voice reminds me a lot of Tom Brislin from the band Spiraling (formerly (You Were) Spiraling). The arrangement gets a little busy for my taste though, somewhere around the 2 and a half minute mark. I like the ending too. basically the sparse parts of this work better for me than the busy parts.
Inflatable Vegetables - This is well done but it doesn’t really grab me. Like I find it fun to listen to but I wouldn’t listen to it again unlike some of the other numbers. Reminds me of Pulp? Some band that I can’t quite put my finger on. TMBG on Apollo 11?
Lookylu - Your voice reminds me of a poor man’s Peter Gabriel. Or like Thomas Dolby’s album “The Golden Age of Wireless”. It’s perfectly fine but a bit too slow and dragging for my taste. Well constructed but didn’t move me.
Lucky Witch - Me, personally - I like our song a lot (Jerky Boys ref in case anyone is wondering). A return to our grunge roots, with a side tour to Pink Floyd via shoegaze, Radiohead and Mazzy Star. My main issue is with the whiny/piercingly high-pitched sound of the Q-chord (usually I play Omnichord, which sounds better, but Q-chord has the sound effects). I should have put the vibrato on which softens the tone a little bit. Also I couldn’t sing the second part and play at the same time, so I dropped out of playing on this take. (On other takes I played it but didn’t sing it right.) But given the annoying sound of stupid Q-chord, it’s probably just as well. Btw the line “timor mortis conturbat me” came to me in a dream several months ago. I don’t usually dream song fragments, let alone in Latin. I must have read it in a book somewhere.
Mandibles - Sounds like an Irish folk song or something. I like the background swirly parts but the lyrics don’t really grab me. It’s a bit too earnest for me. It sounds very pretty though.
Matchy Matchy - This sounds fabulous (production-wise) but the vocal is too “jokey” for my taste. I think it’s a good song but it’s hard to tell because of the aforementioned silly quailty.
Nick Soma - Great production, nice sounding, obvious Pink Floyd pastiche. I like all of the individual sounds on this (I adore the Floyd) but the song itself doesn’t stick with me.
Owl Chemist - The bells are quite nice. Again I like the music but the vocals are too loud/intrusive. Wish they were mixed further back. I like the ending.
Rob from Amersfoort - Cute tune, I like the synths a lot. Reminds me of Lemon Demon. I like how you mixed the vocals low and with a kind of telephone/megaphone effect. Overall one of my faves for this round.
Third Cat - This is very pretty and meditative. Sometimes the vocal delivery is a bit awkward. Reminds me of the Dodos without the drumming. Again I wish the vocals were quieter in the mix. (This voice is too loud, just give me silence!
)
Vom Vorton - I like the distorted/echo effect on the background synth. This is technically very, very good. (I can see why you won the round!) Something about it reminds me of The Good, The Bad and The Ugly. Kind of a Sergio Leone quality. Not sure I love it though. I dunno why.