A parade, or a marathon?! (A Grand Parade reviews)

[BoffoYux]

I'm thinking of doing another Listening Party for the 20 songs that came in after/didn't get played on the original LP.

Any interest to hear them next Monday during the Spintunes judging break?


Tommy G

[Bjam]

Bjam: These lyrics are super cute. I understand this one.

I used to write sad teenage girl unrequited love songs. Now I write happy adult woman who loves her three year old kid songs. Twenty years!!

[HeuristicsInc]

Bjam: These lyrics are super cute. I understand this one.

I used to write sad teenage girl unrequited love songs. Now I write happy adult woman who loves her three year old kid songs. Twenty years!!

Yeah, my kids are 14 and 12 so I'm a little ahead of you, but the idea stands. I've written some loving my kids kinda songs too.

[rone rivendale]

Melvin said

RoneAI
Rone! I’ve missed you, buddy. I am guessing at what’s going on here - you wrote the lyrics and asked an AI to create the music? More than anything, I am glad that you still have music as a creative outlet. I mean, that goes for all of us here. We are lucky, at least, in that we found something good to focus on. A safe and healthy way to take leave from time to time. Cheers to you and God bless you, Rone.

I'm only 44 but I think I can die happy now. Appreciate the love. I'm always trying new things. AI has been my recent obsession but I've tried many different angles over the last 20 years to keep it fresh. And bless you as well, Melvin.

[sleepysilverdoor]

Yep, 34, started here at 16 and now my kids are 9, 5, and 3. It's a wild ride and SongFight has always been there!
Also Melvin I'm glad you like Lockheed Symphony as a bandname as it's what I was using when you and Pete were part of my first ever online collab. Ah, so many memories here!

[Sober]

Love seeing this recounting of lives led while part of the Songfight community. This is exactly what I had in mind when writing

[Mr. Car]

I’m kinda bummed Duboce Triangle didn’t make a submission.

[mo]

me too, somebody go lean on those a-holes

[Ross]

Ross Durand: I could totally hear this as a fully-produced country ballad, with a string section accompaniment, and it'd win a Country Music award. I'm sorely tempted to try making a remix of this along those lines. I'm gonna make a note of this for later.

Thanks for the review and the kind comments. If you do anything with it please be sure to share it with me

[fluffy]

Okay, my goal is to make it to the half-way point tonight. My enthusiasm is flagging, though. At least some of the stuff that had me busy and stressed for this week got postponed, although that's because there was a fucking COVID exposure at my choir rehearsal and everyone's getting sick and I hope I'm not about to go through COVID hell for a goddamn third time.

Seamus Collective: Farty tuba noises! Drunken drinking song sounding thing! Hello! Slide guitar! This is confusing to listen to! I'm imagining cats in a marching band walking down small-town main street in the 1950s!

Glennny: The extra N is for extra NOISE. I love the bouncy rhythm and stuff, I wish the vocals were a little louder so I could actually hear them, great vibe though, love it, strong Frank Zappa vibes on this (from when Zappa was still trying to make stuff you could listen to and wasn't obviously a giant middle finger at the music industry, anyway)

Agony Sauce: I was all ready to make a joke about being "lost in the sauce" but there's nothing particularly agonizing about this song I tell you what. Well okay the bridge is kinda dissonant in an annoying way I guess. Not a fan of the whole outro thing though. I was about to complain about how you needed to trim off your audio tail and then it's just like, oh, no, 90s hidden track but for Song Fight!. Whatevs.

The Hell Yeahs: I didn't even have to look at the artist of this song to know who it was, y'all are so freaking distinctive even after all these years.

Prob Trull: This makes me think of oldschool Song Fight! in a good way.

King Arthur: I'm glad that you're still with us to keep making music. The subject matter is so fitting, though: you sound very tired, my friend, and I hope you are resting well.

Chumpy vs. Lichen Throat: This makes me think of a nu-wave version of Bauhaus or something. The song doesn't really do much for me, though. I guess it's like uh. Background music for the bar scene in a David Lynch movie? Post Inland-Empire.

Gareth: Why hullo there Ms. Sparks, it is lovely to hear your voice again after all these years. The volume could be a lot higher though, and everything seems so mumbly. Are those voices both you, and is the femme voice processed? Because it sounds pretty good, at least as far as I can make it out.

sonofsupercar: Having another sonofsupercar song is such a privilege and I'm glad y'all could make this happen. Deliciously dissonant and loud and in-your-face.

Abominominous: I wonder if there's actually just something wrong with my ears because this is another song with kinda muddy vocals which there seem to be an awful lot of in this fight.

The Worldly Self-Assurance: Okay it isn't my ears, these vocals are good and clear and crisp. This makes me think of Arcade Fire if it were fronted by Daniel Johnston, and I like that. a lot.

<3: Yeah yeah I already navel-gazed about the context around this one, but here's my attempt at reviewing one of my own songs, objectivity be damned. I like the overall sound of things, the vocal treatment is still troublesome although way better than the old-style <3 vocals at least (but that's mostly just technology getting better over time). The lyrics being "about" being concerned about a cat running outside during a parade but really being about being socially anxious and not wanting to be in the middle of a big overwhelming crowd is one of those things that might be only funny/meaningful to me but that's how I've always approached <3 songs, darnit. I guess nobody really feels like trying to uncover the meaning of these lyrics though, and I can't really blame anyone for that.

McHaggis: I implore you, turn your vocals up. This song has so much potential and could sound so good with better mixing and EQ. My toes are tapping on this one anyway.

Giraffes for Wings: Angry folk song about being disaffected? I totally get where you're coming from. Good guitar work on this. I wish there were more to it.

mzmo: Another song where I wish there was more to it, although at least the production is decent.

Dead Ambassadors: Getting a strong Dead Kennedys vibe from this. I probably don't know Dead Kennedys very well. Kinda wanted it to be longer but it does what it needs to do in the time that it has.

Moody Vermin: I like the abstractness of this, and would probably listen to a whole album of stuff like this. It'd be nice if it had an actual ending rather than a vague mid-solo fadeout though.

Explino!: Oh hey it's a song about how I feel when I'm ruminating about all the things I've said to upset people in the past when I didn't mean it the way it was taken

Okay I didn't make it quite to 50, but 48's closer to done than I was before.

[melvin]

I've just become aware that I somehow missed a review that I would never want to miss:

Glenny
Great riffs, tones, licks, and guitarmonies, as expected. I like when guitars make those little metallic squeaks. I'm never happy with the guitar sounds I get from Logic and I've become too lazy (and hearing-damaged and considerate of others) to plug in an amp and mic it at home. If anyone has tips for heavy distortion like this via stock Logic plug-ins, I'm listening! A few nice vocal harmony touches her, and I love the bridge! Especially the gliding bass. Catchy part and such a great sound. Nice solo. Good track from a great musician.

[BoffoYux]

'A Grand Parade' Make it to 100! - SongFight Listening Party.

Join me to listen to the 20+ songs that put us over the top for the longest SongFight in history! Over 100 songs celebrating 24+ years with the largest fight we've ever had.

I'll Start on Monday 4/8 at 9pm EST. Drop in and chat with the artists.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_r617tP0nRs

[glennny]

Melvin said:

Glenny
Great riffs, tones, licks, and guitarmonies, as expected. I like when guitars make those little metallic squeaks. I'm never happy with the guitar sounds I get from Logic and I've become too lazy (and hearing-damaged and considerate of others) to plug in an amp and mic it at home. If anyone has tips for heavy distortion like this via stock Logic plug-ins, I'm listening! A few nice vocal harmony touches her, and I love the bridge! Especially the gliding bass. Catchy part and such a great sound. Nice solo. Good track from a great musician.

Thanks for the kind words!
Melvin the tone is 2 parts. 1- The Logic preset called "Heartbroken" under the "Crunchy" tab. But you won't get the tone unless you're using: 2- a Gibson Les Paul or in my case a Gibson 335. Probably any humbucker will do. My brother built his own Les Paul style guitar and that gets similar tone. I don't like the sound of "Heartbroken" on my Jazzmaster, and especially not on my Rickenbacker 12.

[crumpart]

(Sometimes I choose logic presets purely for their names. Making an angry song about colonialism? British Invasion. Missing home? Dublin Delay. Feeling silly? Pop Sparkler. Etc. And by sometimes I generally mean “all the time”.)

[fluffy]

Yeah some of the names are brilliant, especially on Alchemy.

I'm glad they changed the name of the "acoustic to electric" guitar preset though (formerly "sex change," ugh)

[Caravan Ray]

Sometimes I choose Surfin in Stereo. And by sometimes I generally mean “all the time”. I should just delete the others.

[melvin]

Melvin said:

Glenny
Great riffs, tones, licks, and guitarmonies, as expected. I like when guitars make those little metallic squeaks. I'm never happy with the guitar sounds I get from Logic and I've become too lazy (and hearing-damaged and considerate of others) to plug in an amp and mic it at home. If anyone has tips for heavy distortion like this via stock Logic plug-ins, I'm listening! A few nice vocal harmony touches her, and I love the bridge! Especially the gliding bass. Catchy part and such a great sound. Nice solo. Good track from a great musician.

Thanks for the kind words!
Melvin the tone is 2 parts. 1- The Logic preset called "Heartbroken" under the "Crunchy" tab. But you won't get the tone unless you're using: 2- a Gibson Les Paul or in my case a Gibson 335. Probably any humbucker will do. My brother built his own Les Paul style guitar and that gets similar tone. I don't like the sound of "Heartbroken" on my Jazzmaster, and especially not on my Rickenbacker 12.

Just tried out Heartbroken - it sounds pretty nice with my SG - thanks for the tip!

[glennny]

Why do I always forget about SGs? between Frank Zappa and Angus Young you'd think that would be impossible. Yeah SG would sound sweet too!

[king_arthur]

To fluffy and anyone else: part of the reason why my entry may have sounded "tired" is that the vocal track is definitely a scratch vocal - I only took one shot at the vocals, because the Mrs. and I are both retired now, so I have a lot less "home alone" time than I used to, and I'm not real comfortable doing vocals when somebody else is here.

However, yes, I am tired. I'm almost 72 years old now, and while it sorta appears that the prostate cancer treatment was a success, the radiation and hormones also took a lot out of me. I can still get around, but even walking around the house is tougher than it used to be. I haven't had that big fall that really knocks me for a loop, but I sense that it's coming one of these days. I definitely sacrificed quality for quantity (just hoping to contribute to the 100-song goal) this time around. Also, of course, it's been a couple years since I've attempted a SF song.

So thank you for the concern, I don't expect any votes this time around, but I just wanted to be here for the reunion!

[Sober]

It's a treat to have you back, KA ♥

[Mr. Car]

First review:
king_arthur because I totally identify with regrets about using the vocal scratch track. Most of my vocals on sonofsupercar songs was me reading lyrics I just wrote. No overdubs after a bunch of reps. But it’s what you’ve got in the moment in songfight.
And your moment matches the sense of reflection of the lyrics perfectly. Kinda sad but not overly heavy. The delivery is roots. Very much like a lost 1969 Nashville song by someone with big sideburns and no record company backing.
If the vocals were any more polished I wouldn’t believe the authenticity.
Love the guitars. Actually first thing I thought of was “All The Way To Reno” by REM, and that’s a good freaking record.
You put up a great song, king. Vote, and to your health.

[Lunkhead]

I haven't read many of the other reviews so sorry if I'm saying the same things as some of those.

I think I'm going to try to do this in four parts, so here are my first 25 (!!!) reviews.

Abjure!:
This is cute and just fine. I think I would have liked it more if you'd just stuck to the one-take live vibe, with the stereo backup vocals that don't sound at all like they were recorded live with the uke and main vocal. It probably could have been a bit shorter, and for Abjure! maybe a bit raunchier.

Abominominous:
I really like the ambience on the drums, they sound awesome and the playing?programming is great. I dig the feel overall with the guitar and the drums. Guitars sound good too, nice chugga-chugga. Is there no bass guitar? I'd love to hear more low end. Is this about cryptocurrency?! Or maybe capitalism in general? Whatever it is I enjoyed the lyrics. Good stuff? I'd enjoy seeing this played live. VOTE!

Add:
Nice, classic drum machine sounds to start. I immediately enjoy the 6/8 groove. I enjoy when a song has both drum machine and acoustic drums. This chorus absolutely rules. Very choice f-bomb dropping. Chorus major/minor ending is great. I can really hear contempt and disgust in the chorus vocals. Love it. Good idea to have a little instrumental break. I think you could have brought things down more after that, pared things back right out of the gate and built up vs paring down as you went toward that final chorus. I think that would have given the a cappella "eat shit and die" even more impact. Anyway, whatever, this is great. VOTE!

Agony Sauce:
Nice groovin'. I kinda wish the verse vocals were a little smoother and less strained sounding. And that the vocals layered up in the pre-chorus and chorus. This is really solid. I'm somehow not getting who this is about even though other folks I think said it's pretty clear? Not much to say. Maybe I'd love to hear some funkier bass playing. Oh, wow, I do not enjoy the little sketch at the end, sorry. Cut that!

All The Robots:
I like the musical style you've got going. This is like Argentinian tango? I really enjoy the accordion playing, in particular. This is my favorite style of music for accordion. Everything sounds good and this is very competently put together. Sometimes the lyrics take me out of it a tiny bit, and I think a smoother, suaver take on the vocals might work better for me, like huskier singing in a lower register maybe.

Another Future of Music:
AI generated barf. Hard pass. Vocal fry, f that. It is impressive how this AI perfectly nails pop music production though. I look forward to a generation of kids who grow up on AI generated facsimile of pop music who then try to make their facsimile of the AI generated music.

Balance Lost:
I like the nice twinkly intro. I liked the long instrumental outro. Wish I had more to say, this is solid and well done.

Basket Robbers:
Rawk! Nice to hear you doing a fast rocker like this. I'd love to hear some group shouting backup vocals, like responding to some of the main vocals, and maybe a wile, out of control short guitar solo.

Berkeley Social Scene:
I was able to be in Oakland to jam with the guys like the old days for this one and be part of writing and tracking all the music. Martin took the project home and did the lead vocals. There were some recording issues with the instrument tracks so I wound up taking over mixing because I had Izotope RX and could pretty easily fix the recording issues. Then I had a blast adding a bunch of backing vocals in the chorus. I really enjoyed getting to make music with the BSS guys again.

bgm:
I dig the spooky sound. Great instrumentation choices. Good lyrics and the approach of the main vocal really fits. The initial distant backup vocal that comes in works great, adds to the vibe. The dizzy penny whistle solo or whatever it is is another great choice. Gives me a bit of a Tom Waits vibe even. I dig it. VOTE!

Bjam:
It's super cool that you got into the fight! Great to see you back for it. This is just a really sweet wonderful song. Well done!

Brian F:
I dig the Pavement-y indie/garage sound. The lo-fi vocals fit that style but I kinda wish the main vocal was a little less distorted. Backups are great, bah bah bah baaaaaah, nice. Oh, huh, cookie monster backups? Novel choice but it takes me out of the song a bit. And we're done, fun and short.

Cannonade Streete:
Cool drum machine beat. Vocals have some pitch issues. The instrumental break lead guitar could use a little more melodic variety for my tastes. I like the change at the "Hold still, hold still" bit, good idea to change things up a bit there.

Caravan Ray:
Vocals have some pitch issues and I think they could have been recorded a little farther from the mic. I like the music although the thing with the phaser or filter or whatever on it I think doesn't blend in well for my ear. I like when the energy goes up for the "Follow me" part, really nice change and that part has a great vibe. The instrumental break a bit later is really fun, good 80s New Wave moment there. I like the "follow me" repeated backups, might have been cool to layer that up more sooner. Good head bobbing sing along ending.

Carol Cleveland Sings:
It's really great to see you come back, yay! I like the subtle vibrato or whatever is on the guitars, the pitch warbling. I like the intro but I'm so stoked when the song really kicks in. So good! I just wish it were longer!

The Chebuctones:
Aargh, sad but true story in this song. You captured the situation smartly, it comes across as sincere and it's very effective. It's all well done.

Chthonic Black:
Ooh, spooky. We are somewhere cold, dark, windy. An owl hoots. Thunder rolls. Crunchy gnarly guitars swell in, yes! Oh geez, whoa, straight into the blast beats and death growl, hahaha. This is some good solid black metal. I Googled "Gran Soren", is this song about Dragon's Dogma?

Chumpy:
This is some just fine guy-tar. It could have used some more takes. But then we might not have reached 100 songs!

Chumpy vs. Lichen Throat:
Was there an explainer somewhere of who did what for this collab? I like the pairing. I dig the lyrics. I hear very Lichen Throat elements in the music but they seem to have been guided into a shape that feels more familiar and regular, in a way that I like. Oh, I see, the Chumpy entry is the same lyrics, aha. I like the guitar lead in the instrumental section.

Cloverdance:
At first I thought maybe this was going to be King Arthur. Something is very overly clicky in the drums, it's the kick or snare or both. Musically this is a little monotonous. It dwells too much on the same chord, the root chord, for too long, and the vocal melody is also very repetitive. It could use some more musical variety for my ear.

Cybronica & Estaphonia:
This is cute. I like the idea. The singing is good except, maybe I'm imagining this, I feel like there are some pitch issues. Since it's just piano and vocals, the feeling I have that the vocals are ever so slightly off sometimes make it a little hard for me to stick it out through the whole thing.

Dead Ambassadors:
First we had Glenn Case goes punk, now Pigfarmer Jr goes punk! This rocks. Off pitch vocals are maybe more on brand for punk but I still find the pitch issues a little challenging. I'm probably being overly sensitive to those. Anyway, nice short punk tune.

The Def Author:
This is great. I especially like when the drums speed up to double time, and then when they bust into the break beats. I enjoy the contrast in the dry/up-front tracks with the reverbed-out tracks. Not much I can say about this, it's tight.

Dr. Spectacular's Power Circus:
Nice opening blast of rock. That lead guitar tone sounds very Joe Satriani to me, like "Surfing With The Alien", I like it. Good drop down starting the verse and then building up, the "melt your brain" like is great. This is cracking me up and I like it even though it's overly meta. Nice choice to repeat the "melt your brain" a few times before the second chorus. LOL "here's a blistering solo". Solo and solo section are great. This is some very high quality parody cheese goofiness that really works for me. VOTE!

The Dutch Widows:
I like the dark acoustic sound. I wish the vocals were a little clearer in the mix so I could make out the melody more, or if the melody was better defined somehow. Something sounds off in the notes at the very beginning of the bridge, but I like the chord progression through the bridge. I like this but I really wish the vocals were a little firmer and clearer, I think I'd like it a lot more that way.