March Contest: Gossip

[Legion Hush]

translation of my lyrics (roughly):
(not a typical phantasie-prog theme, I know...)

the sun shone, it was warm, it was nice
and tears were cried
because something was over

I come over to you one more time
to fetch my stuff

why do we have to hate, love, argue, forgive, here on earth ?
aaaahhh

tears were cried...

...because something beautiful was over

I will quit this contest if you don't win

[Nils_B]

me too

hehe, thanks...

btw, I like your funky track...

[kara]

Kara - Tribute to Zelda
Lovely theme, great melody and nicely played with varied instruments. Weak point for me is the sound of the drums.

Now TBH that is a disappointed surprise from me. The first version was with very realistic accoustic drums, and I tought it just didn't fit the 70's sound.
So I worked for hours to change and layer drumsamples to get a result that I tought was closer to the 70's drum sound.

Just a prove of how less I know about all this I guess.

[mellotronaut]

Interesting, these different opinions: I like the drums very much in this song. They give it a special unique touch. Maybe, an acoustic set would have been more prog, but this drum-setup is good for the song, imo.

mel

[Echo Voodoo]

Jonny Quest - freeway jam -> Nice melody, a good "on the road with the top down" kinda sense. Cool sounds, good feel.

Nils_B - es flossen traenen -> Lovely voice, great ballad feel, nicely played. Very smooth track, I like the way it progresses: excellent stuff.

Hovmod - Miromurr -> Has a spacey, out-there feel. Is that a cat mew-ing in the middle? Definitely got a 70's movie soundtrack vibe out of it.

[mellotronaut]

retropolis

Hovmod: holy proggy weirdness! Absolutely great track and totally gaga. Luv it! Can't describe it.... .

Nils B.: Reminds me of some former 70's' GDR-bands like Karat, but it's a lot better. The second part has a floydy feeling. The playing is top notch, good vocals. Klasse!

mellisse

[Legion Hush]

me too

hehe, thanks...

btw, I like your funky track...

....it's my way of saying "who needs prog when you can be high on coke and dance naked in Studio 54"?

-Your boogie man Hush

[Nils_B]

....it's my way of saying "who needs prog when you can be high on coke and dance naked in Studio 54"?

-Your boogie man Hush

[Jonny Quest]

Jonny Quest: Allman Bros go groove. The unisono-part is outstanding. Catchy impro and great player!

Thanks mate Just did my best to pay tribute to and copy the master of the stratocaster Did my best not to butcher it too much.

Jonny Quest - freeway jam -> Nice melody, a good "on the road with the top down" kinda sense. Cool sounds, good feel.

Thanks E.V. Always appreciate your reviews.

Peace,

Jonny

[Markleford]

Contest radio is up to date.

[Marc JX8P]

And heeeeeeeeeere's... some more reviews!

The Set Up - Offthewall:
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Nice track. I love the guitar, bass and drum sounds you're using and the atmosphere feels very authentic. There are a few moments where the lead feels a bit 'wrong' but it's nothing major and it does add to the live feel of the track. A pity about the ending though, this could have used something more. Still, a very cool track!

Freewayjam - Jonny Quest:
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Great stuff. I love the drumming though the drum sound could have maybe been a bit more powerful, it seems to lack punch. The guitars are very nice. Brilliant!

Es Flossen Traenen - Nils B:
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Very nice! A great arrangement and very cool vocals, brilliantly executed. Top notch!

Miromurr - Hovmod:
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Great guitar driven prog rock, I love that synth solo that weaves through the guitars in the first part. The weird vocal effects give it lots of dramatics in the middle part. The ending is a bit sudden though. Great stuff!

[emdot_ambient]

I've strayed from the contest, in case you haven't noticed So I've donned my long blonde wig, my shiny gold foil cape and started listening to some of these . . .

Hovmod: Excellent track! It's like I just jumped into the middle of a 20 min track from someone like Phil Manzenera or someone. That keyboard lead sound and the key change that came afte it ends reminds me of Happy The Man . The only thing that kind of broke the 70's trend was the very clean dealy/verb ending. Not enough of a faux pas to lose you points, though. Great job!

Nils_B: Been listening to Novalis much lately? Nice work. Actually, this reminded me of something from the LP Sommerabend, so I looked it up . . . listen to this and see if there isn't a distince resemblance: Listen where the acoustic guitar and voice come in. Yours is a bit too clean of a sound, though. Sounds like a digital remastering.

Jonny Quest: Snare and HH way too loud and processed sounding. Where did that melody come from? That sounds like a Camel song . . . but none of the rest of it does. It's got a 70s flavor, but a bit too buzzy and hard edged. Interesting take on things, though.

offthewall: Ah, you've captured the lower-fi sound fairly well. Nice change-ups. Sounds like too much verb on the drums and the guitar playing is a bit . . . well, if you're playing that live, you're doing better than I could (which isn't really saying much for you) What was that at the end, an ocarina or pan flute or something? Nice addition. That put you up a few points.

(P.S. I haven't read through this entire thread, so I have no clue what's been said before)

duncanparsons: Nice work on the overall sound but that panning effect is making me dizzy! It sounds very programmed. No one back then could have panned like that. Interesting composition, but the keyboards are far too quantized. They sound sequenced. The snares are too bright, too high up in the mix and the cymbals are too widely dispersed in the sound field. Live drums didn't get that kind of stereo separation back then...so you're close but not quite "there."

Core: never thought I'd hear the Camel classic done like this. Interesting interpretation, but if you were really going for that 70s sound the drums are far too modern in their breakbeatishness (I'm listening from the KVR contest radio so I haven't read your submission notes, if any--or the rest of this thread, so I have no clue how you interpreted the contest). I don't really like the grunge put on the drums, but overall you've done an interesting take on a very dear old classic.

Patrick9: shades of Sensations Fix in that guitar lead. Once again the snare's too bright and too high in the mix. Very interesting change up about 40 sec. Not sure about the one at 59 seconds. The keyboard lead kind of loses its steam there for a bit but when the guitar comes back in you start Rokken . . . he he. Not bad.

groovesys: Oh, yeah, there we are. You've got the prog sound happening all over. At 34 sec the keyboard part is too clean and too precise, otherwise and outstanding job. Compositionally you've got all the right moves, groves and licks. Progaliscious.

Khepira: Well, synth sax. Nuff said about the start. Drums and bass way to prevalent. Those power guitars are too modern as well: very compressed. Yeah, things are bouncing around a bit too much for me. Not much of this sounds like live performers. Prog was all about performance. Not a terrible song, just not right for the theme IMHO (which doesn't actually mean much).

Echo Voodoo: Okay, so I had to jump over to the actual submission page to see your justification for this one. Kraftwerk. Thought so, but had to make sure. I don't count them as prog at all. I know they were contemporary, and some people put them in prog (Krautrock being a subset of prog) but . . . I never considered them Krautrock either The vocal pads are really nice. They're about as close as this gets to Kraftwerk. Nice little song, but too crunchy even for Kraftwerk's sound. They tended to be very clean and precise. Amazing how much of their early work was minimoogs because not many people make minis sound like they did. Anyway . . . there you are!

Shane Sanders: Nice drum wankery. Not sure about the bass synth stuff or even the bass guitar popping thingies, but the synth leads are right on. Nice little jazzy bits thrown in. The stereo pans aren't quite "of the period" but not a bad entry on the whole.

Kara: No prog rock in France? How can you say that? What about Heldon, Magma and Clearlight? Even Gong, which was really an international band, had French members and partly based/recorded in France. But your track's certainly interesting. I don't know the references you're making so I can't really comment much further. Nice article here, though: French Progressive Scene

Legion Hush: Um . . . okay. 70s maybe. Prog? Nein. And even so . . . Donna Summers wouldn't have been very worried about your competition

Marc JX8P: Nice composition. Way to digitally clean. That Leslie type sound is a bit drastically panned. Very nice keyboard/bass work, though. The drums sound mixed well, but there's not enough wankery in them. Needs more noodling with the drums. Drummers have egos too, you know. Well, except Ringo, and he doesn't count for Prog

Conclusion: All your entries make me wish I had time to do one . . . and glad that I don't 'cause the competition's going to be fierce!

[offthewall]

@ Echo Voodoo, mellotronaut, Marc JX8P.

All comments appreciated here, with thanks.
I'm feeling way out of my league on this one after listening to the entries so far.
Thanks.

[mellotronaut]

Great reviews!

Thanks EA!

[offthewall]

offthewall: Ah, you've captured the lower-fi sound fairly well. Nice change-ups. Sounds like too much verb on the drums and the guitar playing is a bit . . . well, if you're playing that live, you're doing better than I could (which isn't really saying much for you) What was that at the end, an ocarina or pan flute or something? Nice addition. That put you up a few points.

Thanks for the comments, also.
Yes, all played live, I'm afraid....the arthritis is in the fingers now (poor old soul)....and it's a penny whistle at the end (live too)