The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Or maybe to bring water from the sky... Possibly just to have a good time on Halloween.... one of those.

Songs posted.

Lyric thread: viewtopic.php?f=5&t=11313

Pigfarmer Jr: Probably my favorite part of this track is the pretty subtle use of distorted guitar underneath the strummy jingle jangle rhythm guitar. That adds a nice bit of texture to what is otherwise a bit of a straightforward story tellin' folk rock sort of thing. The lyrics about college football (I think?) are not my bag as I don't follow it. Is this a real guy or a story you made up? I don't know. Melody doesn't thrill me but it's OK; same really for the instrumental and the singing. No real problems, it's just not a song that I'm really drawn to. Might just be genre bias or something. It is nice to hear your stuff with more full production the last couple of weeks.

Rachael Layne - Real nice mix, instrumental, vocals, etc. This sounds close to pro for the style. The lyrics are engaging and the harmony vocals help keep it interesting. Some cool little rhythmic bits in here. I do have a bit of genre bias against this style too though, so I don't honestly love this song myself. Still objectively I think it's good and imagine you're a favorite to win this fight.

Metro Boys - Sludgy rock isn't really my thing on its own but I love the atmospheric tripped out sounds that float around, that makes it a much more interesting track to me. I also really like the lyric "blinded by me, you can't see the programmer" (my guess at the lyric.) I like this one even though it does maybe overstay its welcome a bit.

Paco del Stinko - I like the reverb on the vocal on the minimalist intro; reminds me a little bit of Radiohead's "You and Whose Army." The heavy guitar that drops in is extremely well done, the quiet opening really sold it. Probably my favorite moment of the fight. Love the guitar tone and the riffage. The quiet ending was a really tasty way to tie it together. This is a definite vote for me. One of my favorite PdS songs I've heard thus far.

Fauxthorough - I really liked your "Indigo Wave" but this one just didn't work for me. The vocals come across a bit jokey and the lofi drums/synth stuff just doesn't work in the context imo. Might just be a genre I don't get or whatever. I know this is SongFIGHT and all, but I don't really like being negative, at the same time I'm trying to not just BS with these reviews right? It's better to get honest feedback I figure. Still I'm just one dude who doesn't get this style. I figure none of us should take the reviews too seriously, we might just be going for a different audience.

Berkeley Social Scene - Great vocals on this one. Really like the heavily effected keys and all of the changes. This is one where I'm really just enjoying listening to it and can't think of any constructive criticism or anything; I think you just did a great job with it and this is a style I like so... Yeah. I like it. Really impressed by the changes between sections, really nice & natural sounding. It's in the running with Paco's for my favorite of the fight and another definite vote. Maybe my favorite BSS song to date (although there's been some others I've heard I really liked, I'd have to go back and compare.)

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Third Cat - There are parts of this one that I really like but one part I just tried many different approaches and couldn't get it to work. The final result is basically me giving up and saying I guess that'll have to do as the clock ran out. I won't bias reviewers by saying which part of the song it is; maybe you guys will feel differently. Curious.

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BSS & PdS will get my votes for sure, might add another vote or two later after more listens.

Pigfarmer Jr. - really interesting storytelling (even if, like Third Cat, I don't totally get what the story actually is), strong melodies and I love the arrangement and the way that it subtly develops. Would love to hear more of the keys / brass that come in towards the end but it's a good reason to hit play over again. I think this is some of your best work! Really good.

Fauxthoreau - I'm not crazy about the growly vocal style but I do still kinda like the song, it's weird in a way I find pretty engaging and I like the seasonal spookiness, especially the spoken word stuff which I'm assuming is a tribute to Vincent Price's (objectively perfect) contribution to Thriller? I definitely don't like this quite as much as your last track but I do think it's pretty cool all the same.

Paco del Stinko - the rawwwwwk guitars on this are superb, the song as a whole isn't massively to my tastes, unlike a lot of your recent ones, but is obviously done extremely well.

Third Cat - pretty great. I like the way you've turned the title into an unusual hook, and those harmonised bendy lead guitar lines are great, as is the smart use of echo on the vocals. This goes totally nuts later on and I can kinda see what you mean about running out of time and ideas but I quite like the weirdness to be honest!

Rachael Layne - gorgeous opening chords really caught my attention, and the vocals are very slick but with plenty of feeling to them too. The mix of strummed and picked guitars and that warm electric piano is really nice. Kudos for turning this weird title into an acoustic pop song that feels like it'd fit straight onto any number of radio stations / chilled-out playlists.

Berkeley Social Scene - this is a really cool track with a lot of extremely interesting ideas in it, and they pretty much all work I think. The only moment where I had any doubts was an early section where the dreamy keys seem slightly at odds with the stabby guitars but it creates an interesting tension. Everything else is just excellent, and vocals are particularly great this time around.

MetroBoys - this is a genre where I nearly always seem to struggle with the vocals and this is no exception, but there's an appealingly weird, sludgy looseness to the music that made this still work quite well for me despite being well out of my musical comfort zone.

Interesting bunch of entries! I'm working on less listens than usual due to a sudden shortening of free time, but I'll definitely be slinging a few votes in here!

The Jerks are back with another podcast for the Burnt Orange Offering fight, and Ryan is craaaaaanky!

There are a few ways you can listen to it:

• Download or point your browser directly at the mp3
• Point your podcast software at the feed
• View the podcast on iTunes

Send your hate mail to: feedback@twojerksonevote.com.

You probably don't want to listen to the whole thing so:

• 00:00 - Intro song
• 01:07 - Beginning-of-podcast yammering
• 02:58 - Berkeley Social Scene
• 05:42 - Fauxthoreau
• 08:16 - MetroBoys
• 10:00 - Paco del Stinko
• 13:42 - Pigfarmer Jr
• 17:17 - Rachael Layne
• 21:27 - Third Cat
• 24:27 - End-of-podcast yammering

Enjoy(!?)

Great podcast, that one was pretty funny.

Yeah, I enjoyed it. Thanks for making the time to do it in spite of being busy with SpinTunes.

That was definitely fun. I liked how both of you were mean by the end - cranky is contagious! Pleased you found time, also kinda pleased that I didn't get a song in for this fight, haha.

Thanks for the shout out!

I liked the podcast. I actually liked the review of my song as well. Erm, well I agreed with it. The things I worked on seemed to improve and the problems I knew existed were confirmed. Thank you for doing it.

BSS - I like the vocal (and the melody) quite a bit. And the arrangement is good. I checked the lyric thread but there ain't nothing in it. On first listen this seemed like something that I would appreciate more than I enjoy. But I am enjoying.

Fauxthoreau - I like the chiptune feel (again) and agree with whoever said it didn't quite live up to the previous challenge entry. The vocal worked with the low fi rhythm and overall sound... at least for me. (Not my favorite but, but it works.) This is another one that I like more on second listen (arrangement, and feel) but the vocal is gonna grow a bit stale in a hurry, I fear.

MetroBoys - Cool stoner rock feel. The slow burning heavy is likable. While I like the vocal effect, I find it might be too much or maybe too low in the mix? Just doesn't quite work for me (but then I like to hear what's being sung. Or read it... lyric thread would help.) Multiple listens reveals not much new and the mix is just too... muddy/active/concealing for my ears for most of the song.

Paco - The fairly long winded theatrical intro vocal was interesting but it didn't really draw me in. It wasn't until the dirty guitars kicked in that I really started enjoying the song. But I do like those guitars. Although they are mixed a bit up in the mix. Not my favorite of yours, but at least I enjoyed rocking out a bit.

Pigfarmer Jr - me - Texas University is sometimes called the Burnt Orange Nation (due to the crappy color on their uniforms.) Garret Gilbert was part of their 6th ranked class of 2009 in which the coaches somehow ruined like 17 three and four star recruits. But Garrett transferred, had a good senior year and eventually made it to the NFL as a backup. Blame the title for the lyric which wasted an otherwise decent musical backing. I make no excuses. (Oh, and my brother loves Texas which is the only reason I know anything about them... well, that and google.)

Rachael Layne - The music and part of the melody reminds me of "strong enough" by Sheryl Crow. But I do like the song. The sound is good. The arrangement is fairly simple but good (those backing oohs and aahs are good.) The vocal is the highlight (and I like it a lot.) I wish I'd thought of your take on the title (although I would have ruined it.) This was my favorite on first listen through and remains my favorite after repeated listens. Honestly the only drawback/downfall/nitpick is that it reminds me of that damn Sheryl Crow song.

Third Cat - I like the groove. And that vocal bit in the middle sounds cool in this context. The guitars are a plus for me as well. I like the panning/playing. But I find that it didn't a ton for me on repeated listens. Still, I enjoyed it well enough.

Pigfarmer Jr wrote:BSS - I like the vocal (and the melody) quite a bit. And the arrangement is good. I checked the lyric thread but there ain't nothing in it. On first listen this seemed like something that I would appreciate more than I enjoy. But I am enjoying.

Doh, I completely forgot to post the lyrics. Here they are: viewtopic.php?p=208253#p208253

Wow, this whole time I had a typo in the title on the homepage, "Burn Orange Offering". Oops! Did somebody report that and I didn't see the report? I'm feeling a little off my game here...

Berkeley Social Scene wins!