Tribute Reviews?
I agree, I used to be that way, but over time, they grew into some of my favorites. Like, I hated Summerteeth when I bought it, it got exiled to a cardboard box for years and I found it about 3 weeks ago and it just sounds better now...pop music with really down, disturbing lyrics is where it's at.
Honestly, if Watch Me Fall and songs of that like didn't fit in as close as anyone else could with Jay's songs, then nothing ever will. I think most of my Tweedy affection of late comes from my shocking realization that no matter how much I try to emulate the influence I have from Jay, I end up sounding like Tweedy...perhaps that's why Tweedy sounds like he does. On the old demos, etc. it seemed more like Jay was writing most of the songs and Tweedy came along after a while...who knows...
Honestly, if Watch Me Fall and songs of that like didn't fit in as close as anyone else could with Jay's songs, then nothing ever will. I think most of my Tweedy affection of late comes from my shocking realization that no matter how much I try to emulate the influence I have from Jay, I end up sounding like Tweedy...perhaps that's why Tweedy sounds like he does. On the old demos, etc. it seemed more like Jay was writing most of the songs and Tweedy came along after a while...who knows...
As a judgmental prick who gets off on bitching about everything the world has to offer, I gave my psuedo-journalistic take on it. (Hey! I've got a degree dammit!) Let it begin:
Greenwich Time - Sounded like the Flaming Lips covering the song. The soft vocals, the drum machines, the airy-ness of it all. Good show.
Tear-Stained Eye - I dug the song, but after listening to it twice, I skipped past it on subsequent listens to this. I compare it to the Son Volt cover of Open All Night, it's really slow feeling. It was a cool interpretation, but calls for more patience than I currently have.
Drain - I would have left the keyboard out of this. This is one of the few songs where the vocals outdo the instrumentation. The guitar worked well when it came in, but the keyboard felt too dischordant. Was it ran through a chorus? The mixing could have been better.
Vitamins - This came out really well. The instrumentation was great. The vocals layed underneither the music at times, but don't feel bad, I do the same thing because my voice annoys me. The horn was great and the group chorus for the outro was a nice touch.
Six String Belief - Man, I didn't think this song could translate to the rock format this well. Awesome song, one of my favorites, the vocals sound disconnected at time, but without professional mixing, it's tough to do at home. Good job.
Blind Hope - I wanted to at least give everyone some pointers, etc, but I wasn't blown away or bummed out by this. It stayed pretty true to the original. Good job.
Wipe The Clock - This is probably in my top 5 songs Jay has done. I dug this version, the vocals are bit rough, but it fits the lyrics and tone of the song perfectly. Really good.
All Your Might - Classic. The reverb/echo on the vocals were annoying, but the musical additions were nice. For some reason, I can't place the song you sampled, I know it, but I'm spent mentally now, so that's probably it. I wish the vocals would have been left alone, but that may be just me.
Before I Break - Accurate to the original. The vocals made me laugh at times due to the "alt-rock" drawl that hit the ends of some of the words, but I'm weird that way. No a negative, just something that stuck me funny. Felt a bit rushed at points, but accurate and cool.
Still Be Around - You suck. I say this for everyone. I've spent a day recording a song and got nothing like this. The backing vocals were good. I think that's what did it for me. I was impressed with difference between the two you were able to get. Of course, some of the peaks hit too high and distorted, but it came out well...and I'm married, so don't say I'm trying to score cyber-love with a positive word for a girl.
Grindstone - Damn vocal reverb again. I've never more people use one effect so much on their vocals. Was there a pact going into this? Came out great, I'm just wondering why everyone is using reverb or echo on their voice...does it help it sound in tune? It give a live vocal audience microphone feel to the vocals with a polished instrumentation...
Clear Day Thunder - Awesome. The bass setting on the vocals killed them at points, but an good accurate recording. Just the lyrics got intelligible at points due to the overwhelming bass. That was definitely a negative.
Station to Station - Killer, Ben Folds meets Jay Farrar. Good job. The piano was awesome...as was the drums added. This definitely ranks as one of my favorites on here.
Back Into Your World - Accurate to the original, no interesting changes, but came out really nice.
Farrar - Good job.
This is my in-depth take on the whole thing. I've been on message board before and even participated in some of these things and I can say this, you guys did better than any board I've ever been on. I guess Jay Farrar fans who their instruments better than most.
Greenwich Time - Sounded like the Flaming Lips covering the song. The soft vocals, the drum machines, the airy-ness of it all. Good show.
Tear-Stained Eye - I dug the song, but after listening to it twice, I skipped past it on subsequent listens to this. I compare it to the Son Volt cover of Open All Night, it's really slow feeling. It was a cool interpretation, but calls for more patience than I currently have.
Drain - I would have left the keyboard out of this. This is one of the few songs where the vocals outdo the instrumentation. The guitar worked well when it came in, but the keyboard felt too dischordant. Was it ran through a chorus? The mixing could have been better.
Vitamins - This came out really well. The instrumentation was great. The vocals layed underneither the music at times, but don't feel bad, I do the same thing because my voice annoys me. The horn was great and the group chorus for the outro was a nice touch.
Six String Belief - Man, I didn't think this song could translate to the rock format this well. Awesome song, one of my favorites, the vocals sound disconnected at time, but without professional mixing, it's tough to do at home. Good job.
Blind Hope - I wanted to at least give everyone some pointers, etc, but I wasn't blown away or bummed out by this. It stayed pretty true to the original. Good job.
Wipe The Clock - This is probably in my top 5 songs Jay has done. I dug this version, the vocals are bit rough, but it fits the lyrics and tone of the song perfectly. Really good.
All Your Might - Classic. The reverb/echo on the vocals were annoying, but the musical additions were nice. For some reason, I can't place the song you sampled, I know it, but I'm spent mentally now, so that's probably it. I wish the vocals would have been left alone, but that may be just me.
Before I Break - Accurate to the original. The vocals made me laugh at times due to the "alt-rock" drawl that hit the ends of some of the words, but I'm weird that way. No a negative, just something that stuck me funny. Felt a bit rushed at points, but accurate and cool.
Still Be Around - You suck. I say this for everyone. I've spent a day recording a song and got nothing like this. The backing vocals were good. I think that's what did it for me. I was impressed with difference between the two you were able to get. Of course, some of the peaks hit too high and distorted, but it came out well...and I'm married, so don't say I'm trying to score cyber-love with a positive word for a girl.
Grindstone - Damn vocal reverb again. I've never more people use one effect so much on their vocals. Was there a pact going into this? Came out great, I'm just wondering why everyone is using reverb or echo on their voice...does it help it sound in tune? It give a live vocal audience microphone feel to the vocals with a polished instrumentation...
Clear Day Thunder - Awesome. The bass setting on the vocals killed them at points, but an good accurate recording. Just the lyrics got intelligible at points due to the overwhelming bass. That was definitely a negative.
Station to Station - Killer, Ben Folds meets Jay Farrar. Good job. The piano was awesome...as was the drums added. This definitely ranks as one of my favorites on here.
Back Into Your World - Accurate to the original, no interesting changes, but came out really nice.
Farrar - Good job.
This is my in-depth take on the whole thing. I've been on message board before and even participated in some of these things and I can say this, you guys did better than any board I've ever been on. I guess Jay Farrar fans who their instruments better than most.
-
- Posts: 217
- Joined: Thu Jun 19, 2003 2:33 pm
- Location: Denver
I liked all of it. Sadly life's pitfalls shelved my contribution indefinitely, congrats to all who participated.
The sean thing, well all I can say is let it go. The smartass thing is his shtick; I've seen it on the other board he frequents. I doubt he knows that only he and his group of friends find him funny. One or two "funny" comments are okay once in a while but this is a music board not the gong show board and people are tired of your act son.
The sean thing, well all I can say is let it go. The smartass thing is his shtick; I've seen it on the other board he frequents. I doubt he knows that only he and his group of friends find him funny. One or two "funny" comments are okay once in a while but this is a music board not the gong show board and people are tired of your act son.
It had nothing to do with one post. I invite critisim of my work, it's how I get better. Many of the regulars have my personal information and know me by name. Even the non-regulars will tell you I'm nothing more than a good-natured idiot. But, I'm still TRYING to learn to use my powers for good. I am still very, very capable of inherently evil things. It only happend in this thread because I finally had enough. I wasn't the first to get pissed. I even thought it was funny at first. But, how or why do you start a fight in a potato thread on a music forum? Simple fact of life: If you spend your life pissing people off, there is a good chance you'll piss of the wrong person. Jeez, he was an ass when I offered him the CD, he finally wore thin. It's the internet, there's a 50/50 chance that "sean" and "his family and kids" are really a 14 year old troll living with his mom that's never heard a Jay song in his life. The poor desperate child gets beat up at school and goes home and hops on the internet and wreaks havoc on a message board. Would I release his info to the whole board, no. But what if he runs into somebody else that would do a lot worse?
My apologies to the board for snapping. Your information is always confidential with me. Even trolls.
cheers
PS - I'm looking forward to d/l'ing this tonight. Traffic seemed a little high when I tried earlier. I've heard a few already. Unlistenable? I know mine is. At least I can't stand it anymore. They called Dylan unlistenable when he first came around. Good company to keep.
My apologies to the board for snapping. Your information is always confidential with me. Even trolls.
cheers
PS - I'm looking forward to d/l'ing this tonight. Traffic seemed a little high when I tried earlier. I've heard a few already. Unlistenable? I know mine is. At least I can't stand it anymore. They called Dylan unlistenable when he first came around. Good company to keep.
-
- Posts: 6677
- Joined: Mon Jun 14, 2004 7:36 pm
- Location: The corner of Awesome and What The Hell?!?!
This is still the Tribute Review thread, right? Or has it morphed into the Tribute Restraining Order thread? Come on brothers, you’re causing people to focus on things OTHER than talking about how stunningly talented and wonderful I am. I mean, how stunningly talented and wonderful all the people who poured their efforts into to this Tribute project are! Shame!
Boogieman: Yay! Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it!
Sticky: Bitch, you crazy. I love your version of STE. I too spent 3 days crying in the corner after sending in my contribution. Damn, I wish I could have balanced out those peaking vocals a bit!! WHAAAAA!!!!
Cowboydown: Reeooowwww! Gracias. I’ll continue smoking 3 packs of filterless camels a day in order to keep up the smokin’ low vocals. ; >
Lawrence Fan: Thank you! And as suspected, you MUST be easy to please! ; > If I’d been more skilled with the knobs and dials, I’d have toned down my loud-ass vocals a bit. Ah well. What’s done is done, and I’m glad ya dig it. I feel much better about it now and wish I could hear the REST. I hope to download it this weekend. I really can’t wait to hear the whole thing, it sound like everyone has done a beautiful job.
Boogieman: Yay! Thank you for your comment, I appreciate it!
Sticky: Bitch, you crazy. I love your version of STE. I too spent 3 days crying in the corner after sending in my contribution. Damn, I wish I could have balanced out those peaking vocals a bit!! WHAAAAA!!!!
Cowboydown: Reeooowwww! Gracias. I’ll continue smoking 3 packs of filterless camels a day in order to keep up the smokin’ low vocals. ; >
Lawrence Fan: Thank you! And as suspected, you MUST be easy to please! ; > If I’d been more skilled with the knobs and dials, I’d have toned down my loud-ass vocals a bit. Ah well. What’s done is done, and I’m glad ya dig it. I feel much better about it now and wish I could hear the REST. I hope to download it this weekend. I really can’t wait to hear the whole thing, it sound like everyone has done a beautiful job.
Re: the abominable seanman
Is that not something to which we are entitled?saratoga jay wrote:...keep his info private.
-
- Posts: 6665
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:02 pm
- Location: South Jersey/Philly
the abominable seanman
i just wanna send fruitcake to a fruitcake. no wait, i wanna send a fruitcake a fruitcake. wait a second.....now i'm confused.
oh well, he probably still has some from last year. keep his info private.
oh well, he probably still has some from last year. keep his info private.
I agree. While there's certainly room for fun and games, too much can get in the way of serious discussions, and people have put a lot of effort into this tribute. Having only scanned it a bit, I can't give a full review, but there are some songs on there that are really excellent (Greenwich Time and Still Be Around come to mind), and I would hope that people would not belittle my contribution if I had the balls to put my own performance on such a compilation.Lawrence Fan wrote:The problem, sean, is that ALL you make is wise-ass comments. Sure it's the internet and you can say whatever you want. One or two posts here and there, no problem. But continuously acting like a dick gets a predictable response. I think you've run out of slack.sean wrote:If you feel that is an appropriate response to some wise-ass comments on the internet, then please feel free to make public the information I provided you in confidence. I'm sure we'll all learn a valuable lesson...
-gk-
However, as far as I can tell, the only objectionable thing sean has said about the tribute project is that it is "unlistenable," and he explained that one. The rest has been in response to everyone else's reaction to that ONE JOKE. I don't think anyone is going to argue that sean's posts haven't been asinine and juvenile, it is just as (if not moreso) juvenile to threaten to post his personal information in retaliation. Not to mention, I would imagine it would be legally actionable as well, if it were done with the intent of harassing him and his family.
-
- Posts: 6665
- Joined: Tue Jun 17, 2003 6:02 pm
- Location: South Jersey/Philly