Thank God for Reviews!

[Billy's Little Trip]

Embers of Autumn: Mushy cereal

Alright, I'll buy some fresh milk....

Two words....grape nuts

[Ross]

Two words....grape nuts

Did you get the right artist, I was thinking that's why Steve needed the Grape leaves.

[Ross]

Ross Durand: Meatloaf

I'm taking this as a compliment.

[Billy's Little Trip]

Two words....grape nuts

Did you get the right artist, I was thinking that's why Steve needed the Grape leaves.

hahaha.

[HansGruber]

Wow, what a lineup. I thought it was a great fight - really enjoyed listening. A lot of these songs grew on me over the past few days writing the reviews. I love how the live recordings co-mingle with the studio gems, country-rock and electro-pop. There's a lot of songs and a lot of solid competition. It's a tough vote.

Props to everyone doing it live and raw - I like the focus on songwriting and performance.

Forgive my rambling reviews - I wrote a few here and there when I could, usually pretty tired and incoherent. I haven't really proof-read them.

ADD Music - love the groove - great musicianship. kinda wish the drummer would kick it into double time over the m-e-m-p-h-i-s's. But randomly rattling off city names is the lowest, cheapest way to get the crowd to respond (react? Lancaster, PA???). Chrissakes - everybody lives somewhere. It's worse than the obligatory "It's great to be here in (insert your town here) tonight!". The beef in the middle of the performance is your penance for being such a ham. Otherwise, this is a top pick from the live category.

The Anchors - Good song, love the style and the drums. Sounds live ++ It's really a taste thing, but I'm not really crazy about your vox style - I like the forcefulness, but it's too nasal. That said, there's a point "You used to be my brother" where it works really well, so maybe it's just a matter of finding the sweet spot.

Andre/Hoblit was here at Hoblit/Midnight - Maybe it's just the style of the song, but it's not one of my favorites of yours. I think I'd like to hear some more dynamic stuff going on, like bringing some drums in and out with different parts. Not a bad song, though, and really nice work on the performance.

Bad Cactus - Damn good song, and expertly executed. I like the style for the most part, but find the percussion track a little too David Grey; I think this needs a more conventional beat, something that sounds like a drummer playing a kit, even if it isn't.

Big Matthew Hyatt - I love the rockabilly on mushrooms vibe - the wavering detuned vocals remind me of some butthole surfers song. Big points for hootin' and hollerin' like a crazy chimp.

Billy's Little Trip - Great psychadelic stuff - love the all the guitar tones. The drums freakin rock - great groove with the bass. You win the drum prize for the fight. The flanged out voice is great on the quiet parts, but is a little too noisy on the loud parts, there's a lot of high frequecy slush going on there.

Blues Train Blues Industry - Damn you for including that jolting piece of white noise at the beginning of the clip - it's like pulling my auditory nerve out though my ears. There's some good stuff here, but it's mighty disheveled.

Blumptown Singers - Love me some old school. I'm not sure if it's intentional, but it sounds like it's playing on vinyl, a nice touch for a Memphis tune. A little sweet and predictable, but hell, that's what this kinda song's about.

Booty Chesterfield Trio - Niiiiiice. Lovely groove - really reminds me of some Animals-era Floyd with that slide. I'd like to hear the vox tightened up a little bit - not sure if I like the call-and-response - It muddies things up a bit. The few spots where you're harmonizing over yourself sound great.

Brainpipe - Wonderfully Ridiculous - especially considering the live-ness...was this improvised? I can't hear much through the delay tunnel, but I can make out a few Thank God for Memphises... Definitely the most fun song in the fight, and one of my favorites.

Chris Cusack - Great style choice for the title. I can see the Carter family rockin' this at some revival. Lovely harmonies. Just the right amount of edge in your voice, it throws a little grit in the mix.

DJ Big Dick - You get points for the atmosphere, and I'm generally a fan of this sort of thing - but it don't say Memphis. Great segue material for a concept album.

Embers of Autumn - You get the extra-credit gold star for recoding live (or at least the takes were), and everything is played competently. Hell, this is a damn good song, and the style is sort of what I had in mind for the title - I think if you did a more polished-up fancy version of this it would really do it some justice.

Fluxxvm Florvm - Another nice, warm, analogue-sounding live recording. Love it. All the instruments sound perfect - steel string guitar, great vocal styling, and I especially like the lead foot thumping along behind the beat.

Gurdonark - Imaginative and interesting, with some tasty textures. Your wacked-out vocal injection breaks the spell you began to cast at the beginning - I think it would be better as an instrumental - more haunting, mysterious...

Hedonistic Calculus - I love the mellowed-out mood - great chill tune to listen to after work. Beautiful atmosphere - the only seam in it's otherwise perfect surface are the lyrics after 'Manifest Destiny' - they feel a little rushed...but are otherwise in keeping with the drunken-master delivery. Especially like how the bass line shines through at the end of the measure ba - ba...

Iron Man Bobby Graham - While the song's a little boring - It's pretty good. I like the drunken moodiness. The off-time tambourine and banjo(?) don't help - It would be better off without.

Jeff FlapJack Robertson - Another great blues tune - good hillbilly dual between you and Florvm. I think the drummer may need to sober up a little, but he definitely adds some crackhead flavor.

Ken's Super-Duper Band n' Stuff - Nice work on the performance - real solid. Drums are killing the groove a little, but the song is great. Another live one I'd like to hear studiocized.

King Arthur - Good style choice - it may be the most pitch-perfect rendering for the title. The Memphis Chamber of Commerce could use this for their 'Visit Memphis' tourism spots. Although "The road that I ride ain't exactly straight" might freak out some of the more God-fearing types.

Lord of Oats - The song itself is really good, I just find your singing irritating. No big deal, I can't sing either That said, I think all you need to do is loosen your belt a little and sing more from the gut. Finding the right range also helps stay in tune a little easier. It's also a bit sing-songy for my tastes, but that's not your problem.

LSK - I was somewhat interested by your delayed vocalizations at the beginning, they're very wierd, which I enjoy. But the spoken parts stick out like a sore thumb without any effects to wierd them out as well. Ultimately, there's not enough happening to keep my attention - but amused by your satanic back-tracked message at the end...classic.

Lyric Burglar - Ok, I love the ripe cheeziness - the backing instrumentation is great, though the piano is a bit noodly behind the chorus. The singing is beautiful, love your voice. The lyrics are a Greatest-Hit collection of Country-Rock cliches, but you ARE the Lyric Burglar...Another contender for the Memphis Commerce Board tourism commercial.

MC Eric B - The swingin' groove is fantastic, although the instrument choices are terrible, and certainly don't do your gritty singing any justice. Rather underwhelming, but percolating with potential.

MC Wino - Nice mellow song, really well played. Oh, it's not so mellow anymore. Well, it's still good - though i think I'd like it to stay mellow - I think the drama cheapens it a bit. But that's just my taste, it's a solid song. Love that feedback guitar solo way out in the stereo mix.

Melvin - Another one that sounds like it's playing off a 45 - really beautiful tone, I especially love the muted lead guitar. I'm already aware of your genius, so I'm not surprised this is so damn good, but damn it's good.

Paco Del Stinko - Holy Elvis impersonator (Johnny Bravo?)...great freakin' job. I really like the 'live' crowd, "Play something good!" ha. I'm so envious of your Elvishness - I tried it, and failed so miserably I embarrassed myself. This is a contender for the gold.

Paduaxe - A good little song, somewhat quiet and rather strange. It doesn't reach out and grab me, but has great atmosphere, and a nice groove. - unusual and moody. Love the whiskey and heroin singing. The noodling guitar distracts over the vocals, me thinks... just bring it in after you're done singing.

Ross Durand - I'm not always a style-fan, but I admire your musicianship. This tune however really hits a sweet spot - I freakin' love your voice in this song...damn, good work. Especially love the church organ - sets it solidly seventies style. The only thing that I can suggest is to fix that lead guitar tone. It sounds like someone blowing on a reed of grass Damn - another vote-stealer.

Snape Killed Dumbledore - You get props for rockin the Alan Rickman character.

Steve Durand - Not one of my favorites of yours - sipping a little too much from the clever-but-silly punch bowl. But it's technically good as always, and you get mad props for the Ed Wood Mummy Movie soundtrack vibe.

Urine Luck - Damn, freakin awesome. Love the vocal harmony. This reminds me of a hidden track at the end of a CD, when you let it play 20 or 30 minutes past the last song.

Wages - Is this another studio-live one? Man, you're all over the place with those vocals, but you sure as shit can belt it out. There's a bit of an Eddie Vedderishness to it, which I think only Eddie Vedder should rock, but I'm impressed. Extra credit for wailing and moaning. Damn good song despite yucky "don't want to puke anywhere but Memphis" lyric.

The Weakest Suit - Great rock-n-roll anthem! Love the OoooooOoooo's - nice hook. After the first one, the verses lose a little momentum, and lose my attention, but the chorus is gorgeous. This is worth re-recording a pumped-up studio version: strings, back-up singers, lead guitar solos, the works...

Wreckdom - Love the pinched synth tones, and wildman vox. Short, sweet, and very tweaked.

x-tokyo-river-god - I can't decide whether or not I like the click track in there - It's kinda playful on one hand, but it's also a bit distracting. I love the picked acoustic, and organ. The vocals delivery is great - what a voice...

4am Cigarette - Ouch. I try not to dwell on recording quality, especially for a live fight, but damn. I do hear talent through the ruthless pickup buzz and mouth farts, so I hope you consider re-recording (Is that really a word? seems redundant) a more polished version.

[size=x-small]If I were to chose a soundtrack to accompany my (very limited, touristy, Mystery Train influenced) memories of Memphis I'd pick:
LyricBurgler, ChrisCusack, Melvin, Ross, Lord of Oats, Ken and his SDBnS, Billy's Little Trip, Embers of Autumn, MC Eric B, Starfinger, Flvxxvm Florvm, Bad Cactus, Blump Town Singers, x-tokyo-river-god, Paco del Stinko, Big Matt Hyatt and his RRR, Puadxe, Urine Luck, Weakest Suit, Booty Chesterfield Trio, Blues Train Blues Industry, Jeff Flapjack Robertson, Hedonistic Calculus, Wages, King Arthur.[/size]

[Ross]

This was a pretty interesting fight to listen to: The live recordings added an interesting break, the live-in-the-studio stuff was also interesting, lots of realy good songs, good sounds, good grooves, and plenty of “other” as well. Here are my rough reviews

Brainpipe/Starfinger – I did not get all the way through. Remind me never to have, lyrics, no music and a laptop. J There might be a decent song under here somewhere, but I can’t get to it. – Thanks for Playing

4 am – Hard to listen to (see Jeff’s note). Trying. What I can hear is not doing a lot for me. The words are ok, but feel sort of forced. Thanks for playing.

ADD – this seems like a location song: Had to be there. Sounds like it was tons of fun that night. You have a knack for a good feel and excellent delivery. OK

The Anchors – nice overall feel – the lyrics don’t do much for me – it’s pretty specific to know that it’s about the movie – I would have had no idea what to make of it without your explanation. Would have been good, but that lack of connection for me makes it an OK+

Bad Cactus – nice changes and vocal line to go with them. Nicely structured the chorus drags a little compared to the verse – ouch one of the many Elvis references – I admit during this fight I tired of the Elvis references. Good!

Big Matt Hyatt – hard to listen to. Yeah, caon’t get through this. Thanks for playing.

BLT – I like your post-Nirvana chord change sensibility. Nice when the loud kicks in froma structural point of view. Other than that it’s not playing that great for me – not sucked into the words – I guess they’re about being mummified - Good.

Blues train – poor recordings and poor performances can each be tolerated and often a good song can shine through. But when you combine both it makes it hard to tell. I’m pretty sure the song behind here is not very strong, and much too short. Thanks for playing.

Blumptown singers – nice historical feel to the track – let’s here what that’s about. Oh, it’s a spoof? Ok, I guess it’s kinda cute and I get how the doo-wop style supports it. Not my kind of joke I guess, but I think I get it. OK +

Booty – for awhile I thought this was going to be an instrumental – I’m glad it wasn’t but somehow the song “proper” didn’t seem enough to deserve this long of an intro. Yeah, the song didn’t actually do a lot for me. You guys seem to like your sound a lot, and it’s a cool sound, but I was listening for a song. Much too long for sure. OK-

Chris Cusack – this is sort of sweet and I liked the first verse a lot – the words of the first girl verse just seem a little trite, I guess. Reminds me a little of Cold Mountain. Harmony on the last chorus would have been nice (I mean between the two leads) Good.

Embers of Autumn – The intro was rough but I like the chords once it gets rolling. You need to take the time get a tune down that goes with the changes – it sounds you’re just stabbing for notes to sing, that hurts this a lot. OK

Fluxxum Florum/Jeff – I think I like this best of the acoustic/”Blues” numbers (drop D rules). The briefest change up (4 bars) between a couple of the verses as a makeshift “bridge” could have supplied a tidy little ear break. Two different keys, interesting. I like the studio one better. Good +

Gurdonark – terrible. Didn’t like this. Thanks for Playing

Hans Gruber – Love the opening, I wish your vocals lived up to the promise of the guitars. The little picked bit reminds me of the Pretenders. Oop – another Elvis reference. Not enough song in between the guitars for me – but I’m loving the guitars. OK

Hedonistic – I get that you’re referencing some historical stuff here – why Memphis? Maybe my history knowledge isn’t strong enough here. Not doing a lot for me musically either OK

Andre…hoblit (studio version) – the live one was kinda tough for me to listen to. “Georgia on my mind” is nice. The sound is fat, maybe a little distractingly so for me. Pretty nice song. Not much structurally to build it and give it shape, if you had let that fatness build more (I know you did this, I guess if you had let the song start more lean it would have been more effective). Good. PS – it’s weird how on the live version your 12string almost sounds like a harpsichord.

Bobby Graham – not a very interesting song to me. There is no poetry in it. OK-

Ken – good song – I almost wanna go all title-snob on you (you know how I am with that). Nice bridge. Good song, though. Nice changes, tune, structure. Good+ (with title penalty)

KA – great opening line. Quality King Arthur. Good take. Good bridge. Nicely written and performed in so many ways. Probably my current leader. Good +

Lord of Oats – Oh, is this the one based on Wikipedia? Ok research is one thing, a cut and paste school report that you sing is another. I don’t really like this lyric style – like in the chorus. That’s probably taste – this reminds me a little of Mountain Goats, and I know some people who love them even though I’m not a big fan of the sort of “everyman” word choices. You make this work ok, but I don’t really get how the research and the chorus hold together as a song and I guess I think that’s a major flaw - OK

LSK – can’t do it – thanks for playing

Lyric Burgler – nice job with the words. I wouldn’t ever vote for it since you STOLE them J good song, though. Might be a smidge long for what it is. Too bad for Eric B that you come right before him in the list.

MC Eric B – you just have to learn how to write chord changes and things. Is this song all one chord? Your heart has a good song in it. But without more chord and melody variety the song can’t seem to get out of you. OK

MC Wino – great textures good delivery, nice build into the chorus – I have no idea what this song is about which doesn’t help for me. Why do we want to burn Memphis to the ground? – it’s very impressionistic and I can appreciate that, but I would like a slightly stronger impression or else more image laden lyrics that allow my brain to run with something. OK+

Melvin – I like what you went for, but your voice doesn’t seem to blend with the content and style for me, your singing sounds little frantic. Pretty nice and tidy little song – I don’t really mind the derivative nature here, I think it works good. And nice to hear you do something outside your usual box. Good.

Paco – great great sounds as always – the words are pretty meaningless to me. So I guess as a song I’m not all that into it – fun to listen to, though. OK +

Puadxe – I like the aesthetic. A little hard to hear some of the words. Structurally the one verse one chorus ting isn’t really working for me here. It sounds like you recorded your first draft and didn’t have time to return and flesh it out compositionally. OK

Snape – I put this in the not a song file. Not very interesting froma n instrumental point of view for me either. Thanks for playing.

Steve – very well executed, pretty clever – fun take once you decided to go for the exypt thing. As much as I think it’s put to gether well, I kinda find it boring once you get past the solo – I realize that has largely to do with the idiom you are imitating, even so. Well done, but not really for me as a listener. Good-

Urine – too bad this wasn’t longer. I guess it’s complete, but I can also imagine a more complete version, and I wish you had, too. I really like what you did, though. Good-

Wages – I like the spirit of this a lot. I don’t like the songs theme very much, I guess I think it’s sort of adolescent and not worthy of blues it’s emulating. The sloppy playing is a little bit of a problem for me. Many great blues is played very simply, by going for more than you could play I think you handy capped your self. Why do you howl about BBQ? OK

The Weakest Suit- This might be nice at the end of an evening in a coffee house, but it didn’t sustain much for me. Shouldn’t thi be called “Thank God for Liverpool?” I am a little content confused, who tried to kill rock and roll?? Are you suggesting the Holly crash was a set-up? Was rock dead? Weren’t the Beach boys on the charts before the British invasion for instance? But those are nitpicks. The song is basically nice and well delivered, but a little long for me (and leaves me asking some questions). OK+

WreckdoM – this is so refreshing after a long fight. Good sounds. Thank god you went to jail? Huh? OK+

x-tokyo – didn’t expect these vocals. Nicely sung, the texture is a little stiff in spots. And the story isn’t engaging me. OK

So my top six are:

Bad Cactus, BLT, Flvvxvm Florvm, Ken, Melvin, King Arthur…and of course I like mine

Vote to King Arthur for best overall package.

[Bad Cactus]

...ouch one of the many Elvis references – I admit during this fight I tired of the Elvis references.

I totally empathize. I had the same reaction a few songs in. I should have realized this was going to be a problem.

On the plus side, I tried not to deliver the requisite "Elvis" reference with a badly-drawn Southern accent!

Thanks for the review.

[HeuristicsInc]

Brainpipe - Wonderfully Ridiculous - especially considering the live-ness...was this improvised? I can't hear much through the delay tunnel, but I can make out a few Thank God for Memphises... Definitely the most fun song in the fight, and one of my favorites.

More or less improvised, yes. We finished our run-through of the live set (first time we played together in the last two years, mind you) and realized we had only about 10mins to come up with music for the live fight
Reminds me we need to post those lyrics. Thanks for the nice words!
Ross - We had TWO laptops!
-bill

[Ross]

Ross - We had TWO laptops!
-bill

Oh, well, in THAT case...

[The Anchors]

I would have had no idea what to make of it without your explanation.

I don't actually WANT people to know it's about that movie...

I mean, did you see it? Yecch!

[erik]

More later. woowooo

Ken: This is an okay song, it sounds like all kinds of people could play it. I wish it was a little slower and I could hear what you're singing about. Ahhhh, seventh chords, okay, I like this song now.

King Arthur: This is not bad, really. If I heard this song in some country bar and some hot older lady wanted to dance with me, I might just dance with her. And I hate dancing. This song has a seam of happy-go-luckiness sewn throughout it, and I kind of want to sing along.

Lord of Oats: Oh brother, this reminds me of that Ben Lee song, "Catch My Disease". I really hate that song, to an unexplainable degree. The whole "lyrics which are clearly not lyrics" thing always rubs me the wrong way, but I can kind of overlook that if the chorus is really good. The chorus seems so vague, I want there to be some sort of deepness that I never get. This song is okay and all, but really not for me.

LSK: Oh, come on. This is really, really bad.

Lyricburglar: This is king cheese, but it makes sense in the confines of the song. It makes me feel like swaying back and forth, in the seventies, and then like cleaning up the side of the highway so that Indians don't shed a lonely, solitary tear. I sound awful. It nicely evokes a very nostalgic feel. I mean, this is very well done, seriously. But it's not doing anything for me.

MC Eric B: Oh, these are your lyrics. When you sing them, you sound so insincere. The song is just totally generic, and the delivery isn't doing anything for me. I don't really like this at all.

McWino: Hey, this is okay. It's restaurant music, but it's good restaurant music. It's very pleasant and atmospheric at background music. Oh wait. Now it's all trying to rock. The rock parts are not gelling as much as the other parts, the guitar sounds not present enough, and the vocals sound not screamy enough. I like the first part of the song, but not the loud part of the song.

Melvin: hehehehehhe, I find the word "stoned" to be funny. This song is okay enough, but there's not really much to it.

Paco Del Stinko: hahhahahahahahahahah, this is sweet. Gawd, this is awesome. The lyrics kind are kind of shoehorny on the slowed down part, but the verse comes back and makes me forget that. This is really nice. WTG

Puadxe: Oh, that first line is lame. It makes me hate this song a little. This song is okay. I wish the lyrics were trying less hard to be about Memphis. Oh, what the... Okay, the song needs to be about twice as long as this. It seems like a mistake or something.

Ross Durand: Oh, that first line seems so forced. The whole thing doesn't ring true for me. There's seems to be so much exposition in something that wants to be a love song. I don't really care for this song.

Snape Killed Dumbledore: It feels like one long intro in search of a song. I don't really like this.

Brainpipe: Dude, this was really cool. I like how it's not really clear what's going on. Elements get off here and there, but I like the overall vibe of this.

Steve Durand: If this had become "King Tut" at 0:30, I might have liked it. But it sounds like a song written for a school project about Egypt: it's filled with knowledge and stuff, and the music seems almost like an afterthought. I hear some groanworthy rhymes in there. This is not a song for me.

Urine Luck: hahahahahhahahaha, funny, very funny

Wages: This is okay blues, but it seems a but uninspired. I wish the lyrics had been more pathetic, because that would be something. As it is, there's not a lot that I can remember about the song... wait, did you just say "I don't want to puke anywhere but Memphis" That's just weird. This song is not really doing anything for me.

Weakest Suit: Oh, I'm not digging these lyrics. Again, too much exposition. It's like a book report instead of a song. You sound too young to be enough into Elvis that you would want to write a song about Elvis, so it just seems false. I don't care for this song.

Wreckdom: hahahahahahahhahaha, damn, the songs I have heard from you have just been like insane sound collages. This is pretty good. This is insane.

X-Tokyo-River-God: This is interesting. I like your voice better when you are just singing, rather than affecting a vocal tone. I can hear this song sounding really good in alot of different arrangements. This song is okay by me.

[MC Eric B]

rduruand - Yes, as a matter of fact it is all one chord on this song, and I was worried that would be a problem. That problem is made worse by the fact that my vocal range is very very limited, although on the plus side I think I would sound even more out of tune if there were chord changes. In my past few songs I have started adding some chord changes, but on this one the Elvis style bass line sounded odd when I changed chords (maybe because my vocals did not change with it) so I kept it simple.

MC Eric B – you just have to learn how to write chord changes and things. Is this song all one chord? Your heart has a good song in it. But without more chord and melody variety the song can’t seem to get out of you. OK

[Paco Del Stinko]

Thanks for the crop of reviews, people. Although I'm surprised Melvin didn't assign me the corndog.

Jefff - Yes, I did the fake live thing last year. The fight was "All Tan", complete with the same heckler. And you're right, that line ended up not making any sense and it's one of those things that somehow made it past the censor. No excuses, just all in all sloppiness.

Erik - I torture myself when reading reviews, reading through all of them and waiting to get to mine without skipping ahead. When I saw that you had written a batch I was all uh-oh. But I was very pleased to see that you enjoyed it, and appreciate the kind words. Made my morning!

I know this song won't change anyone's life, but if what you got out of it was "it was fun to listen to", like Ross said, I think I did OK. Thanks again, everyone!

[Caravan Ray]

rduruand - Yes, as a matter of fact it is all one chord on this song, and I was worried that would be a problem. That problem is made worse by the fact that my vocal range is very very limited, although on the plus side I think I would sound even more out of tune if there were chord changes. In my past few songs I have started adding some chord changes, but on this one the Elvis style bass line sounded odd when I changed chords (maybe because my vocals did not change with it) so I kept it simple.

EricB:
If you listen carefully to Lyricburglar's interpretation - you will notice it uses only two chords through the whold song. It's pretty simple.

It is good that you recognise your limitations and work within them - but you need to start trying to stretch yourself on the things you do well. You can write decent lyrics - but try to mix them up more. Play with rhythms, aliteration etc.

not every pair of lines has to rhyme, especially when you're not rapping, think outside the box

...Lyricburglar noticed that too - which is why your chorus was broken up especially so it didn't rhyme.
I've heard you do some good vocal delivery in the past. Don't fret too much over what you might see as your musical shortcomings. You don't have to be a great musician if you can convey interesting ideas in an interesting way

[Hoblit]

Just note, I'll be writing my reviews tonight when I get home from work. Just havn't had time but I've listened to the fight a gazillion times so it should be easy as I have already well formed opinions.

THANKS to everybody who has taken the time to listen & review our song. We do appreciate it.

-Hoblit

[king_arthur]

The old guy decided to try reviewing in order of file
size this week... so here we go... realizing that I'm
being pretty negative about a lot of stuff here, but
my approach to reviews is: if it's a "keeper" I liked
it, and if it's not a keeper, I try to explain why it
wasn't... all of this is pretty much from a single
listen.


Urine Luck: hmm, well, if this had developed into a song,
I might've been interested... well recorded, in tune, well
sung...

Blues Train Blues Ind: gonna have to do better than that on
the recording... you sound like a "grownup," so get your
recording stuff together if you're gonna play...

DJ Big Dick: interesting, but nothing in it that I'll remember
after listening to the next song...

Puadxe: hmm, a 1:36 song doesn't need a 20-second fadeout...
sufficiently well performed and recorded that you got me to
give it a second listen. Maybe a keeper...

Ironman Bobby Graham: that tambourine (or whatever) is not
helping your cause, it keeps losing the beat...

Hedonistic Calculus: I like the intro... yeah, the whole
instrumental thing is very cool. Reasonably well sung, though
it kinda leaves me with this feeling that it needs someting
different in the voice... maybe Neil Young? Keeper.

Wreckdom: Oh, yeah! Oh, yeah! I'm lovin' this, wish there was
lots more of it. Keeper.

MC Eric B: one-chord boogie woogie, huh? Not bad, but if you're
going to have such a repetitive instrumental track, SOMETHING needs
to stand out and make the song special. The intro metronome taps
really make the MIDI-ness of the track stand out.

Blump Town Singers: I think you could've "arranged" the lyric to
give more emphasis to the humor, the craziness of the guy... if
you're gonna bring the doo-wop, the humor just about has to be
over the top, a la Ruben and the Jets (Zappa). Just seemed like
you didn't push it far enough, there needs to be a really big
laugh in there somewhere.

Snape Killed Dumbledore: MIDI-ness of the sounds is bugging me, and
I'm usually willing to put up with a lot of MIDI-ness.

Gurdonark: maybe just not my thing, but I'm not getting what all
the sounds have to do with what's being sung...

Melvin: how close can we get to Elvis and still call it an original
song? This close, I guess...

Chris Cusack: performance isn't wowing me, but this is the first song
where I felt drawn into the story, felt like the song tied together as
a whole piece. Keeper for that. On the chorus, it feels like the first
chord should be the VIm, rather than the I chord...

Anchors: I'd have liked to hear the bass come in a lot sooner than it
did. Even when it does come in, the song feels rather thin... it sounds
like you've got two guitars playing, why not split them out in stereo?
Maybe a keeper.

X-tokyo-river-god: the electric guitar seems like it gets off the beat
from the other stuff here and there, I think I'd like this better without
that guitar. this seems to me like a basic g&g song with some intentional
weirdness laid on top, and the weirdness isn't doing it for me.

LSK: too artsy for my tastes

Fluxxum Florum: I'd like this better with clean vocals. By the third verse
(1:48 or so), I'm really wanting another instrument or two to join in, a
bass or something to make the sound bigger. Keeper, the lyrics have
something to say.

4 a.m. Cig: I can't even listen to this with all the fumbling sounds
on the mic and the horrendous buzz on the guitar. Sorry... however,
since you were asking about your vocals, I did try to give it another
listen; as I said in my separate post, vocals are the least of your
problems right now. Even a 12 year old kid with a cheap computer mic
and a soundcard would be able to produce a better sounding recording
than this: give us something we can listen to and maybe you'll get some
useful comments back.

Ross Durand: the piano part sounds very clumsy... this is the kind of
song where rhythm is what it's all about, and I keep listening but I
can't settle into the beat and flow with it. Liking the lead guitar,
but the whole thing needs a stronger beat to it. Maybe a keeper.

Steve Durand: Best "first line" so far... you got my attention at the
start and set me up for what the rest of the song would be about.
This is fun. Keeper. "I'd like to thank God for Memphis, but I can't
decide which one." Love it! Now I wanna watch a Stargate marathon

Hans Gruber Ultimate Villain: guitars sound good, wish the vocal was a
little more prominent, and the mostly I-V chord pattern mixed it up a
little more. Maybe a keeper.

Weakest Suit: interesting portrayal of Elvis as the "savior;" I think
(but I'm not sure) that the story line in that first verse was that
Elvis as the savior and then the Beatles and everything after that
took over from Elvis were the "satans." That idea starts to come back
at the end of v2 and into the bridge... or was the British invasion
the "resurrection" ??? There's some interesting stuff in here, but I
get to the end not quite sure who our cast of characters is. Good
g&g recording and performance. Maybe a keeper.

Bad Cactus: nice guitar sounds; the very "fake" drum sounds don't seem
like they fit in with all the other real sounds. It also seems to me
like the percussion gets off the beat a lot, were you playing this on a
keyboard? I don't mind MIDI drums, but it seems the rest of the sound
of this song calls for something a lot closer to real drum sounds...
good use of doubled/octave vocals on that last verse. Keeper.

Lord of Oats: By the time you're singing "metropolitan" in the first
line, you're emphasizing the wrong syllables, which makes it sound
clumsy (or modern, I dunno; to me, it sounds clumsy, but I hear it on
the radio a lot, too). My suggestion: print up the lyrics and before
you start singing, go through and mark the important words in each line
and then really focus on fitting the words to the beat so that the
important words are emphasized. I've heard much worse examples of
"getting it wrong" in this sense, but I think this is something you
could do fairly easily that would be an improvement. At the very end,
the ringing chord is chopped off... let it ring out naturally. On
my songs, after I've mixed them, I open them in a "wave editor" program
and cut off everything before the first real sound and add 1.5 seconds
of digital silence at the very start of the song, then go to the end,
chop off the "junk" and do a fade to zero volume, and then add on 1.5
seconds of digital silence at the very end. You might try something
like that with whatever software you're working with... Keeper.

Me: yeah, I knew I was gonna take a hit for going honkytonk, but that's
what the story line of the song called for. A friend did the mixdown
for me, my only issue was that I think the backing vocals are a little
too prominent.

Embers of Autumn: can you do anything to get rid of the static in the
right channel (listening on headphones here)? Winamp suggests that
you've got lots of low end going on here, almost nothing above midrange.
Vocal pitch issues, but burying the vocal under the piano isn't really
helping... sometimes it's better to let the vocal stand out, even if
it's not great singing - especially in a song where there's a story
the listener is supposed to pick up on. The mix here never really
focused my attention on the lyrics.

Lyricburglar: The I-IV chord pattern gets old by the time we hit the
chorus... nicely performed and recorded, and I realize you had to whip
this out pretty quickly, but I feel like it would've helped to spend
a bit more time getting into the lyric and using the melody and chords
to tell the story.

MC Wino: sounded like you should've un-muted the guitar a little earlier
at the very start, it kinda comes in in mid-strum. The out-of-tuneness
and instruments falling off the beat bother me (0:45, for example, the
guitar on the right - it doesn't happen often, but it's distracting when
it does happen). Sort of like with Lyricburglar, I'm not feeling that
the music is helping me follow the story, especially when the big guitars
come in and bury the vocals on the chorus (1:30). A big guitar solo could
be cool, but not while we're hearing the chorus the first time. I dunno,
I'm three minutes in and I have no idea what you're singing; like I said
about one of the other songs, the music never focuses me on the story.

Paco del Stinko: "being a Yankee" misses the beat, and it shouldn't have
to... well performed and recorded, maybe a little too heavy on the bottom
end in the mix, even though winamp seems to suggest that it's well-spread
across the spectrum... the Elvis voice may be a little overdone, too, but
I guess that's on purpose. Keeper.

Starfinger/Brainpipe: Thanks for playing. I know you guys are serious
about what you're doing, but it didn't show here...

Wages: nice recording; I think the g&g style leaves the voice a little
too exposed... without being able to give you specfics, the thought I
had at the end of hearing this was that it would be interesting to go
back and see if the verses and lines could be re-ordered to create some
sort of a more perceivable perception or order to the story... you have
a bunch of blues verses about Memphis, but it didn't strike me that there
was any reason for them being in the order they're in.

Ken et. al.: I know you have no control of this, but too much acoustic
guitar, and it sounds like the drummer wasn't hearing the song 'til it
bounced off the far wall of the room. I'll have to check the review
thread to see if you guys did a studio version of this, the live track
isn't doing it for me... the guitar doesn't really have any dynamic
changes, either, but I suspect it's supposed to be a lot quieter than
it is in the recording...

Big Matt: The second, disconnected vocal, isn't doing it for me... this
isn't as bad as I expected it to be from some of the other review comments,
but it is kind of a mess as a song...

ADD Music: drums seem seriously behind the beat this time, I'm guessing
there wasn't a monitor back there??? I like your studio stuff much better...

BLT: the guitar riff at the start is in straight time, so when the drums
come in on a swing beat, it's kind of a disconnect... the guitar never
quite seems to get what's going on in the drums, rhythm-wise... I'm just
gonna say "not my thing" on this one...

BC3: apart from the way-too-long intro, this is the first BC3 thing I've
liked... (Blue pm'd me that when they were recording this, they were
standing around joking about how "well, at least King Arthur will
like this one...") The first couple lines of the song, I thought this
was going to be about one of my favorite subjects, but I guess it's about
growing up listening to Elvis. Other bands take note, while this has a
much-repeated riff in the verses, they manage to keep it interesting,
and the chorus has different chords and a more full, "ring-y" sound to
break it up. Maybe a keeper.

Hoblit Was here at Midnight: ohmigosh, they're gonna do "Hotel California..."
no, I guess not... I keep losing the 3/4 beat during the parts where I
shouldn't be losing it... as with Ken's song, I wish there was some
dynamic variation in the guitar; since it's the only instrument, it needs
to switch things up here and there...

Jeff "Flapjack" Robertson: spoken intro is cool. v1, non-rhyming blues,
huh? I think the line, repeated line, and something clever that rhymes
is how the blues "works..." You do an above-average job of keeping the
rhythm going in the acoustic guitar. Liked the studio version a lot better, so that's the keeper version for me.

Charles (KA)

[The Anchors]

it sounds
like you've got two guitars playing

Only during the solo

[Jefff]

Mas...

Urine Luck -- Nice cameo.

LSK -- It's not a bad sound. You should've built a song around it. Or at least affected the vox a sh'load.

Booty -- I like it, but it's just way too fucking long for not changing much. Love the mosquito guitar.

MC Eric B -- Didn't do much for me. I don't like the canned sound, and Elvis-referencing is canned in its own way as well.

Blumptown Singers -- This I like. You've got a really nice voice, and the lyrics are fun.

Flvxxvm Florvm -- You're trying too hard with the vox. I liked the more direct singing on the live version. This version isn't much less droning than the live one. There's that beat, but it doesn't add much. That said, I think the underlying song is pretty good.

[Hoblit]

Sorry for the late reviews...I'm really a busy guy these days. Kinda sucks actually. Overall I enjoyed the fight. (many times)

Reviews:

4amcig: Outside of obvious production issues due to the optional challenge, this isn’t a bad idea for a song. I think if you cleaned this up and worked a little on the actual rhythm and structure you would have a good song. This version however won’t end up in any of my play lists. Other note: Concentrate on singing using less of the acting. The acting should be secondary.

ADD Music: I know your dirty secret and how you win hearts. In my opinion this should have won the live fight based on the Tampa, Florida shout out alone. Seriously though, I think this song was one of the better executed live fights of the night. I especially like the Boulder , 10 years older bit a lot. I have always liked your vocal style and this song is no exception. Most of all this song reminds me of how much fun (and drinking) occurred at this year’s Songfight! LIVE.

Anchors: I really dig the guitar on this track. I’m not sure if this is live or not but it SEEMS like it is. I really like the overall sound you/ya’ll get. The rhythms the guitar use and the dreamy chord slides and all of that really sell this song for me. The weakest parts are the vocals. That may just be out of lack of practice on the song. I do like the ‘used to be my brother’ bridge vocally best out of all the other vocal parts. This is worth the listen and benefits this fight in general.

Andre/Hoblit: Live version sucks because my voice was shot. Studio version: I need to fix the end of the second verse and the beginning of the third verse. Perhaps push the vocals up in the mix a little in general.

Bad Cactus: I like almost everything about this song. The guitar is pretty. The second guitar compliments well. I love the vocals and the lyrics. The bass, while basic is perfect for this piece. This song is well executed and decently produced. This one is definitely a contender for my vote. The drum track is its only weakness. I even like the drum track…I would have used different samples though. Or maybe do the whole –old radio / phone – EQ filter and added a perfect 250ms echo.

Big Mattyetc…: No Sir, Didn’t like it. If maybe you concentrated on the story and made it more of a focus in the song. It just falls apart and I don’t know what to focus on. It’s poorly executed but well recorded. I’m not sure what you were going for and it’s only two guitars doing a basic blues rhythm that doesn’t have much of a change up. Sorry.

Billy Trip: At the very beginning of the intro I thought I was about to hear a Sublime song. Ha. Overall this is a good song. I like the general feel you get. It reminds me of a Blind Melon song missing a guitar or two. The structure here is excellent and the mood it creates is very cool. This is definitely one I might consider voting for. It kind of haves a classic rock psychedelic. Well executed and it’s a decent production. I could have used more bass and the guitars could have been turned up maybe a hair. I like the vocal effects. You already proved you could sing on this track and then tripped out the vocals later.

Blue Stained Blues: I like the band name. I like that you tried and seemed to put forth some effort. I’m not all that impressed with this track though. I can get past the bad production but in the end it’s too short and I have no idea what the subject matter was. Sorry.

Blump Town Singers: This is cute. I’m not digging it that much but I hear what you were trying to do. I like some of the lyrics and it sounds like ya’ll know how to play and it’s a really good idea. I think the vocals are a little high in the mix or maybe they are just a little dry as if they don’t blend into the song quite right. I look forward to hearing more from this group. (or person if that be the case)

Booty Chesterfield: OK, I really dig the sound you guys get. It’s dark but not saturated with distance or too much effect. I’m expecting Nick Cave or Tom Waits to come in and start in with some wobbly but yet punchy vocals. Instead I get a poem or spoken word which I must admit is kind of a disappointment. I don’t think it’s a total loss though. I think that it could be improved if you made the vocals more dreamy. Both vocals are so dry that it just sounds like two guys talking at the same time. If you made one echo and maybe cranked the EQ low ends on the other, you’d have a very nice piece of art work. The content is pretty good though. I like how the words work together even if I don’t quite understand the relation to the rest of the song.

Chris Cusac: This isn’t bad at all. I don’t know if ranks with some of the others but its certainly a decent list and I can’t fault it for a songfight song. The female vocals are a nice touch. I think this song just needs practice and it could be dramatically better. I know, you only get a week or so. I totally understand. I think the ooos & ahhhs are great. I like the simplicity and the folky sound you get overall. Nice work.

DJ Big D: No sir, don’t like it. I’ve heard way better mixes than this. I have no idea what this has to do with the title. It has a very amateur ‘lets throw a bunch of stuff together’ feel. The samples don’t to relate to each other and the only common theme is that you have repeated your band name over and over. The title of this song should be Thank God For Being Short. (Haven’t looked but I can’t be the first person to make this joke)

Embers Of Autumn: I can’t help relating you to Andre Was Here At Midnight. I hear some very pretty ideas but I hear everything that is about to mesh together fall right apart instead. It breaks my heart because I can hear a good song in there but for the most part I’m not hearing a good song. I doubt AndreWHAM is reading this but I would offer him the same advice. Work on the structure…start counting where the changes should be. (Around 2:45 the song comes together with the simple rhythm) Relax on the singing…start working on getting the root notes of the chords vocally. Move from there. I like the passion of your singing… but you could use a little more focus to really sell them. The piano is very pretty.

FLXLFOURFLEXM: I think this is the best live to studio translation. You kept it very similar which is nice. I like the live version almost as well as the studio version. The singing on the studio version is a little more stable for obvious reasons. This is one of my favorite songs for this fight. I could vote for it even if I don’t. I love the lyrics even if they are a little cliché to the genre. But it’s a nice dark blues that is kept dry like the old shed it might have been recorded in.

Gurdonark: While I think there are some nice ideas here, overall I can’t say that I like it. I have never been the biggest fan of the electric piano to begin with so I struggle from there. Then we go to the video game piano to the almost creepy 80s horror music back to the electric piano. Not a big fan of the vocal track either. This might just not be my thing all together. Sorry.

Hans Etc…: Well produced. Very nice on the ears. I like the guitar rhythm and the soft vocals over top of that choppy chunk. I think the vocals could be turned up a little in the mix. It gets a little Pretenders here and there but overall this is a pretty good song. I think the amount of reverb on the distorted guitar is perfect by the way. This is a nice strait up rock song with a fat bass sound that I can listen to in a list of similar songs. Good work. I especially like the chorus “Thank God For Memphis, Oh Yeah”. Standard, cliché but catchy and well executed.

Hedonistic Math: Nice mood. I like the atmosphere created here. I like the tremolo guitar. (For obvious reason) I like the minimalistic instruments. Very nice. However, there isn’t much to it after that. It suffers content wise but I suppose its short and sweet. Its good but I could listen to this for another minute or so. It would have been nice to have another break or something where it swelled dynamically a bit more. I am NOT knocking this song though. I think its one of the better songs of this fight.

Iron Bobby: Hey, this isn’t bad at all. The vocals are a little out of tune but I can get past that for a song that was written and recorded in such a short time. If you don’t already listen to the Magnetic Fields, you should. That’s the fist thing I thought of when I heard this. One of their singers has pretty much the same vocal range. Listen to him and sing along with him until you master your range. I think your song illustrates structure enough to make the slippery ending kind of cute.

Ken: The vote was rigged. I know it was too because JB said I was going crazy for you when in fact I was cheering for both of the Jeff’s. However, upon listening to this song. You rival ADD as best song execution of the evening. You actually stick to your guns in this song so your performance is slightly better. So maybe you deserved the win after all! I love some of your chord choices and this is one of those things that makes you a superior musician to me. Those kinds of chord changes don’t come to me as naturally. (That and you can play drums better and sing better and …) You already won part of this fight so you ain’t getting’ my vote! Seriously, record me a studio version of this song!

KA: Dude this is one of my favorites by you. The song seems natural and almost like it was recorded years ago and you lucked out by getting the title. This song seems like something that would be in a movie montage during our lead’s approach to Memphis. Your song drives that kind of imagery in m head. (pardon the pun) This has a very Dire Straits feel to it and all of the instruments are well performed. (Assuming the drums are programmed, those are very good too.) The lyrics, while trite are simply perfect. I totally expect the lyrics and could even predict them BUT in a good way. In a ‘I want to sing along’ type of way. Very good and you are definitely in the running for my vote. (love ALL of the guitars btw)

LOA: This isn’t bad. This song reminds me of a lot of the other songs in this fight. The acoustic / vocals thing. The lyrics are kind of cute. Reminds me of something Ken’s Super Duper Band would have written a few years ago. Unfortunately this song really kind falls into the same mediocre bin that some of this fight came in. I do like the ‘I’m so glad you came’ line though. It’s hooky and does help to make the song stick out just a little. Overall, pretty good and I look forward to hearing more from you. Suggestions would include practicing the singing. There’s an interesting voice in there… reminds me a little of early Flaming Lips vocally. Just get stronger.

LSK: No sir, Didn’t like it. Yes, Memphis is a place/city in Tennessee. Yes, there is more than one Memphis in the U.S.A. Ask yourself, would you listen to the album this came off of?

Lyric Burglar: This is probably the best song in the whole fight. This ain’t my thing but that’s my fault. This is a pretty darn good performance. The production only enhances the song. Nice guitar and the piano offers nice salt and pepper accents. The vocals fit right in there and the guitar solo sells the rest. The bass slide is sweet. I’ve never been a big fan of songs where the singer stops to talk. I even love country music and they did a lot of that in the 70’s BUT in your case…perhaps it’s the slight accent…it seems to worse. It’s almost a rest for the listener in a sense. Great song.

MC Eric B: I can tell you tried. I can’t say that I liked it at all. The acting in the vocals are not convincing. I’m not familiar with the history of this song but I imagine somebody posted some lyrics and both you and Lyric Burglar took em’. I bring this up because he DOES sell me the lyrics. I want to point that out so that you can kind of see what I mean. The rest of this isn’t savory at all. Not digging the ‘toy sounding’ rhythm section either. Sorry.

Mcwino: This has a very pretty intro. I think the two guitars trying to keep in time with each other is distracting here and there. If you had more time to practice this I think that would clean that up and this would stay pretty throughout the then song. Vocally it sounds like you are trying to do something you can’t. While you get it right here and there I think you are pushing yourself too hard. I did the same things when I tried to learn ‘control’ over my voice. The heavy guitars are nice but a little too messy. I mean, I love the idea that is this song. I really do love the first guitar solo after the heavy guitars drift off back to the acoustics. That reverbed and distorted guitar spilling its guts in the corner there. KEEP THAT MESSY… just give it an ultra clean bed to piss all over. I think that emphasize the guitar there. I love the “you really did it / you F#@$ing did it” parts. (even if the vocals are a little thin there) VERY CATCHY, it’s a sweet hook. It makes your song stand out. I think this song has to be long so I wouldn’t complain about that. It needs that time to illustrate its dynamics and build it’s passion. I just think it needs a little cleaning up to really make that sell. I’m ALMOST voted for this song.

Melvin: I’m assuming his was recorded live. Good work on the balance. Also, good execution in singing and keeping it perfect with chord changing. If this isn’t live… I still commend those thing. I like the lyrics and I love the way they flow over the guitars. I think the solo lacks a little but its alright for what its trying to do. This is one of the better songs in the fight for sure.

Paco The Stink: This is a lot of fun. This would be my second choice for vote. This sounds great and vocally it’s a perfect balance between notation and acting. The guitars are also excellent. This definitely has a professional feel to it. I would totally listen to a full album of this and its definitely enticing me to look into some of your past entries that I might have missed out on. I think the bass could use some more bottom or be higher in the mix but that’s a very trivial thing. This song is probably the best song of the and I struggled with voting between this one and Wino. Ultimately you win my vote.

Puadx: Another boy and guitar one. I guess even I’m sorta guilty of this myself this time around. I think the recording suffers a little but this one is pretty good anyways. I like the lyrics. I think vocally you could have done a little more. It ends up being a little in the way of monotone. I do like the ‘for you for you for you’ repetition. Short and sweet. This was a nice piece but could have used something more I supposed. Overall, its something that I could listen to in any playlist.

Ross Durand: This reminds me of those late 80s and early 90’s pop ballads. Screams of liquid nacho cheese pouring down the side of your classic rock roots. I’m not saying this is bad and I can hear how you beat out some of others with this. However, I can’t like this. What bugs me is that with a few minor changes this could have easily been a Tom Waits song. I can hear a lot of potential here I just don’t like the overall sound you achieve. Sorry. I mean…this isn’t all that bad..I just don’t happen to like it.

Snapekill etc…: Not digging this. Not sure I can translate the bloops and bleeps into the title. Probably my fault. I just don’t think there is enough going on here to really keep my interest. Some of the bloooooooooops go on too long and I don’t know why you would lift that old ‘place in france/ naked girls dance’ riff unless you were trying to make a connection to Memphis, Egypt.

(Starfinger) BrainPipe: Everything else you did that night was gold. This unfortunately is not representative of that. That’s ok, our song wasn’t all that great either. However, you were a lot more fun that we were so this song has that. Unfortunately this recording doesn’t translate the fun we had that night. Ya’ll rule though and I do hold ya’ll in high regard.

Steve Durand: This is obvious about Memphis Egypt. I admire you for tackling that angle. This is certainly not a bad song. However, I’m not digging it. My fault though. This is otherwise executed well. The singing is right on and the ‘instruments’ are perfect and seem to represent this style of music very well. FOR ME it’s a steady shot but a sure miss.

Urine Luck: Iminwhat? Everything you touch is gold. Short and sweet this time. You lunge at me, slap me around a bit, and the leave me feeling confused. I’m like what…Memphis not there… keeping people from driving into the void..wha? huh? Hey, where’d he go? Simple, sweet… singing is perfect for this. It’s almost like your half whispering this into my ear and they you escape before I can look.

Wages: While I’m not crazy about this it somehow reminds me a bit of Alice and Chains or Pearl Jam covering a blues tune on one of their less popular albums. I like the vocal track the best. It’s sloppy as if you were drunk but yet in tune. I like that. While it doesn’t sell me authentic blues, it sells me that you listen to them. (even if you don’t) I think you could have used some of that crisp ‘small room’ reverb or maybe some slap back echo. I hear the reverb…but I think it’s too soft for what you are doing. I imagine you and some friends are jamming in an empty bar or late at night on a front porch and smoking cigarettes.

Weakest Suit: Memphis gave their only son? I’m not sure I get it. I think the production of this song is good. I think the vocals are good. I’m not sure that I like the song all that much. It reminds me of a soft track from a 70’s track trying to relate something spiritual or celestial with something in history or some other familiar physical item. The oooOOOs are nice though as well as some of the other vocal melodies being very catchy.

Wreckdom: This is pretty good. It’s got the elements of ‘different’ along with some good structure that makes it easy to keep in sync with. The lyrics are very Tom Waits as well as the vocal style. Its like an ELECTRONIC Tom Waits tune. It ends just before it gets annoying. It’s hard but comfortable and right when it starts to rake…the relief of the reverb at the end. Thank you for a good song.

X Tokyo etc…: This is very interesting. I think I like it. Reminds me of very early Pink Floyd with a modern female vocalist. The only complaint I’d have vocally is that, like the other female vocalist this fight is that your vocals don’t blend with the other instruments. It’s like there on a stage somewhere and you’re up here , RIGHT HERE singing while looking down at them. I think just something to blend…reverb… anything would help make the blend good. This is a nice little tune though and I look forward to hearing more from you.

[MC Eric B]

Hoblit - No, I wrote the lyrics and sang my own song just like I always do.
Lyric Burglar "burgled" them from me, because that is what he does. I agree his version was much better than mine, but at least I want to get credit for writing the lyrics.

- Eric

MC Eric B: I’m not familiar with the history of this song but I imagine somebody posted some lyrics and both you and Lyric Burglar took em’.

[Niveous]

X Tokyo etc…: This is a nice little tune though and I look forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks! I love how you say "I look forward..." as if we're newcomers. (For the curious- the XTRG line up this time was Anti-M, J$ and myself)

[Hoblit]

X Tokyo etc…: This is a nice little tune though and I look forward to hearing more from you.

Thanks! I love how you say "I look forward..." as if we're newcomers. (For the curious- the XTRG line up this time was Anti-M, J$ and myself)

This goes to show you just how out of the loop I am. I've been 'listening' to fights..but I haven't been 'paying attention' to the fights.