November Contest: Gossip

[farlukar]

I did a washing machine thingy once. The washing machine provided a rhythmic backdrop for some obnoxious sounding frogs I recorded in a patch of tall grass after midnight in the rainy season in Congo. Only later was I told that the frogs attract all sorts of snakes, so the locals cross the street when they hear those loud frogs.

Odd that — I can't recall the music but I do remember the frog story. Ain't selective memory great

[Echo Voodoo]

I'm really not suited to this "angry, raging music" thing. My voice is still sore after recording the vocals yesterday.

[vespers75]

I'm really not suited to this "angry, raging music" thing. My voice is still sore after recording the vocals yesterday.

It does have an old thrash feel to it, though it could've had some more aggressive vocals, IMO.

Your voice is sore from singing that?


Seriously though, I've got to give you props for the subject matter of your song...that kind of shit does indeed go on. Child Protective Services seem to harass people they shouldn't, but ignore those they should be helping way too often.

[vespers75]

Beanpole - I like this. Lofi punk/garage rock dripping with attitude.

Gamma-UT - Indeed, the vocoder/autotuned/whatever the hell they are vocals were annoying. Musically, sounds sort of dubstep-ish. The glitches sound very Soniccouture-like.

Lagunarising - The weird genre cut-n'-paste thing actually kind of works here.

Thomekk - I'm not even sure what the hell I'm listening to here, but I like that. Its almost like someone took some music stems from a Type O Negative album them FSU'd them to hell, if that makes any sense.

Max el Belga - Easily the most commerically accessible track in the contest yet.
Music like this usually wants to make me stab myself in the eye with a fork. Its quite good for what it is though, and the recording quality is great.

Nikp2000 - A sort of fun punk track, this. The sleazy guitar lead thing at the end was pretty cool.

[Echo Voodoo]

Your voice is sore from singing that?

I was trying to make my voice more growl-y and aggressive than it is naturally. There's probably a better way to do it than what I do; whatever it is, my throat gets sore. Like I said, not something I'm suited to.

[vespers75]

Your voice is sore from singing that?

I was trying to make my voice more growl-y and aggressive than it is naturally. There's probably a better way to do it than what I do; whatever it is, my throat gets sore. Like I said, not something I'm suited to.

Nah, I know what you're saying. I was just joking with you a bit.

These contests are interesting, in that the participants often come from "different worlds" musically. As such, the voting is likely more subjective than objective for some themes, I'd imagine.

[LauraMichelJarre]

These contests are interesting, in that the participants often come from "different worlds" musically. As such, the voting is likely more subjective than objective for some themes, I'd imagine.

No. It's objective. If it were subjective, we'd be voting for ourselves.

[Voidoid Surrealist]

Over-sized post in which comrade VS quits slacking the reviews:
(keep in mind that I suck at reviews, especially for stuff that's outside my areas of interest)


Psy-T - Shut Up
Always enjoy a bit of Python. I assume it wasn't made to irritate, but as far as anger goes, it seems "miffed" at the very most.

Folderol - I Know a Song
A repetitive nursery rhyme quality with dull monotonous vocals. Annoyance achieved.

Zombie Queen - Is Reason Better Than Logic?
A miasmal MIDI melange, like a circus act utilizing a quartet of keyboard demo tunes.

Patrick9 - Go Down
The guitar was a pleasant surprise, I think it could have been utilized a bit more for this track. Vocally, it seems a bit flat (metaphorically, not tonally); more disconnected than pissed.

Knockman - without unreason
Like the intro to a John Carpenter soundtrack that can't quite muster up enough strength to get started, or possibly just a reminder to buckle my seat belt. I can only assume this was meant as annoying rather than angry, but I found the minimalist rising tones to be pleasantly soothing.

Robojam - Piece of Meat
Effective mix of post-punk riffs and modern beats, I dig the distorted bass. Zombie Queen may have a point, though— while it's certainly aggressive, the emotion that it brings to my mind the most isn't so much an anger, but a maniacal glee. I can practically see the butcher's grin as the cleaver makes it's way down at the ol' "Piggy Palace".

Laura Michel Jarre - Who Do I Have To Sleep With To Get Out Of This Show?
Clever lyrics and great presentation. Seems more annoyed than angry, but I'll forgive that just for the wit of it all. I'd still like to hear some of that Hello Kitty guitar death metal from you someday...

farlukar - lotted
A great track, has a lovely "heartbeat of the factory" feel to it. Maybe it's because I listen to a lot of stuff like that, but this track just puts me in a nice mood. Not much in the way of anger, and definitely not annoying to me, but I really like it.

vespers75 - Bitter Seed
So far, this one is definitely in the lead for me.
Best chunk o' rage in the contest yet, I'm impressed with how fast you managed to crank it out! Might be worth fleshing this out into a non contest-length track sometime...

thomekk - St.Martin
Has an interesting "swirly" quality to it. I like all the high-frequency stuff going on there.

beanpole - Fuct
A good feeling of frustration going on here; I dig the vocals. As someone mentioned before it's got a bit of a "live concert" feel to it.

mrblitz000 - Angry Surf
An interesting bit of almost Zappoid noodling, though it seems more resigned in it's disjointedness than it does furious.

Max el Belga - sheet
Definitely the slickest production of the entries, 'tho I'm afraid I'm with vespers75 when it comes to appreciation for this sort of stuff.

nikp2000 - bobbleheads
Good punky stuff; follows the theme well. Really dig the guitar solo at the end.

Laguna Rising - Timewaste
An effective cut-up style, almost Pattonesque at times. Not sure how well it fits the theme, though.

Gamma-UT - Purple Pain
Autotune always has the ability to annoy me. Combine with children's music and you've got a recipe for annoyance.

Echo Voodoo (and Steever) - Who's Watching the Kids?
Good riffs (Am I the only one here besides you who's heard What Does it Take? before? ) and a great use of subject matter. Considering the passion behind the lyrics, I would've liked to have seen that same sort of frustration in the vocals, though.

Jerru - All Hail the King
The guitar works quite well here, but the vocals could use more force behind them (I think you guys may be noticing a trend in my reviews by now).
Lyrics were bog-standard freeper fantasies worthy of a yawn and an eyeroll, but not really enough meat there to piss me off.

[EDIT]Damn it, I just noticed that comments on vespers75's "Bitter Seed" somehow got fuxx0red when I was formatting. Sorry, Joe, fixed it now![/EDIT]

[Laguna Rising]

LagunaRising_Timewaste
Well, the psychedelic late-Beatles first part is passable but badly bemoodoposolibofaxed. The crazy instrumental prog part works better especially towards the end around that looney elfmanic tune. Actually pretty good as a whole. I'm more cheery than PO'd, not sure if that is good or bad news for you.

Lagunarising - The weird genre cut-n'-paste thing actually kind of works here.

Laguna Rising - Timewaste
An effective cut-up style, almost Pattonesque at times. Not sure how well it fits the theme, though.

Thanks so much to this-month's reviewers, your effort is much appreciated


Cheers

[Echo Voodoo]

Echo Voodoo (and Steever) - Who's Watching the Kids?
Good riffs (Am I the only one here besides you who's heard What Does it Take? before? ) and a great use of subject matter. Considering the passion behind the lyrics, I would've liked to have seen that same sort of frustration in the vocals, though.

I'm not personally familiar with What Does it Take (I'm assuming you don't mean ), but perhaps Steever is. As for the vocals, I try, but I've got limited range.

Thanks for the comments; they're always appreciated.

[vespers75]

These contests are interesting, in that the participants often come from "different worlds" musically. As such, the voting is likely more subjective than objective for some themes, I'd imagine.

No. It's objective. If it were subjective, we'd be voting for ourselves.

Ha, but you couldn't do that anyway per the rules, and with good reason of course. Nice try Julie, but a spoonful of sugar doesn't always help the medicine go down.

[vespers75]

Jerru - McCain is a rock musician? Nice to see you posting at KVR, John. (Next time don't choose a VP candidate with a single digit IQ, and you might have a better chance. ) Some pretty cool guitar riffs in this, though a few spots could benefit from some pinch harmonics (just IMO, of course).

[vespers75]

vespers75 - Bitter Seed
So far, this one is definitely in the lead for me.
Best chunk o' rage in the contest yet, I'm impressed with how fast you managed to crank it out! Might be worth fleshing this out into a non contest-length track sometime...

Thanks VS!

The anger was legit on this, as I was "singing" from experience.

Thanks to everyone else who took the time to listen and comment as well.

[folderol]

Another rich and varied batch of submissions.

tomg evil(DQd)
The vocals on this just came over as noise. Sounded a bit unhappy, but that was all. Pity, the backing wasn't at all bad.

beanpole Fuct
Very definitely 'angry young man syndrome'. I hope you're feeling better now

MaxelB Sheet
This is really very good, but I guess that means it's bad, I mean if I like it, oh but wait a minute, well, OK, you know what I mean.





I think

nikp2000 bobbleheads
Another angry one. I can imagine a guy coming out with this at the local council office.

LagunaRising Timewaste
Ouch! Owwww. Ouch! OK, you win.

gamma-ut purplepain
I too hate autotune. Kindly leave the room.

echovoodoo steever whoswatchingthekids
It seems everyone associates distorted guitars with aggression. I wonder why?
Very thought-provoking song actually.

Jerru All Hail The King
I think this is our first purely political song. Well done.

[Echo Voodoo]

echovoodoo steever whoswatchingthekids
It seems everyone associates distorted guitars with aggression. I wonder why?

Guilt by association, probably. Every aggressive song I could bring to mind involved distorted guitars, or something that sounded very much like them.

Very thought-provoking song actually.

Thanks for the comments.