TL Battle of the Bands June 2008 Voting!

Come to Life:
This is like almost opposite spectrum of what I listen to nowadays, so I really can't comment that much. I think its a pity that you had to go through the youtube audio encoding, because this would probably sound a lot clearer. I'm nervous about the lead singer's voice though. The overall production sounds pretty high-quality though.

Crystal Blaze:
Again, I really think it's a pity that your songs suffered the youtube audio encoding, because damn, this quality sounds so professional. I don't mind the vocals, actually, I think they really suit the type of music. I mean, I think the thing that stands out the most are the guitar leads anyway. The vocals kinda back things up. I can see why people would disagree though, it sounds like something from nu-italo or something.

Jens Sunden:
Nice cover. Are you singing and playing guitar at the same time when doing that song? I think the main issue is just the recording. Vocals might be a bit loud, but I THINK that youtube's audio encoding has a lot to do with it. I like the way you pronounced a lot of words, made the song seem very smooth. Listen to yourself a little more, and see which parts you can kinda modify, so that the second half doesn't just sound like the first half repeated.

Johnny:
PFFTTT, I was hella hyped up from people saying you were on shrooms, but wait until you guys listen to stuff like IDM until you say that lol. The singing was not terribly great..... but it may be the different language that's making me say that. A lot of it reminded me of Flight of the Concordes. lol.

Kayser/Meisingset:
I never listen to this genre, but man, I swear this sounded so professional. Not too many instruments playing at the same time, but just proof that keeping the sound clean and clear pays off. I noticed a lot of little leads in the backgrounds that the piano and other guitars got, and I think those were spot-on in keeping the song different and interesting throughout. Only thing that I might pick at is that, there were a couple key changes that threw me off when I first listened to it.

Los Chicharronesz:
HEHE, I loved thiss...... for like the first minute. And then all that stood out were the rhodes playing the main melody lol. Maybe some balance issues in the bass, but it sounded like a live recording, so thats always difficult.

Mikeymoo:
They're not 100% my thing, but they were really nice sounding songs. They were put together really well. Acapella is really, really difficult because its only vocals, so any little mistakes will stand out more than usual. Was it all done live? or were a lot of parts recorded separately and then sampled? There were some tiny intonation issues, but nothing that would mess up the song.

I really, really like the second song. It flowed extremely well. There might be a spot that you might want to touch up, just right before the explosion part, and gotta watch the high notes. But it was still my favorite of the 3.

Motiva:
What comes out of you seems really, really experimental. I like how you're experimenting with different sythesizers and everything, but you gotta play around with layering different effects a lot more. You've got some nice ideas though. Do you have any producers that especially influence you?

Phase:
=]

Snowbird:
Thats so awesome, there is so much inspiration from all differeng genres in the songs that you sent. The first couple really sounded like some of the soundtrack that I heard during a Las Vegas show, so yea, props. I want to try to nitpick something out, but I can't really do it, so great job.

Star Track:
Well, everything sounds pretty good, quality-wise. You have a synth bank that is of superb quality. 1st song was a little too much for me. 2nd song was better, but I think you gotta just watch out for making your production smoother. Certain melodies pop out of nowhere, but i supose it sounds ok if you aren't really listening to it with a musically strict mindset, and instead letting it run in the back of your head. For the 3rd song, I don't think that choir lead in the beginning and the middle added anything to the song. In fact, I think it detracted from the song. I liked your 4th song most, as the transition between the two different percussion lines kept things interesting in the high-end, where you didn't have much going on. Pity that the rest of the song constantly got washed out with every kick drum. You'll have to watch the levels, to make sure that they're decently balanced, or make sure you use a multiband compressor at the highest channel, and EQ everything perfectly.

Tal:
I don't play guitar, but that sounded like massive skills to be able to play that. Some mistakes here and there, but yea, its gotta be difficult. The only other thing is that sometimes I think you confuse the listener with your rhythm because you would be pretty free with it, and not give clear enough signals through accented notes or whatnot to say oh, this is the downbeat, or at least, this is what the rhythm is going like now. Still, it sounds really difficult, and props to that.