jlsc-ifc6-reviewer-16-Haze

ARTIST & SONG	COMMENTS
01-Melina S Troubles by Alicia Keys	You know, I have to say that hearing Alicia Keys usually makes me want to reach for the nearest bucket; all that mindless meandering Whitney-esque adlibbing that sounds like cats wailing on the roof at nighttime... So, the fact that I listened all the way through this cover is testamount to your great voice! The song itself does pretty much nothing for me, but your arrangement is darned impressive. I would've liked to have heard more of you, a longer arrangement, but perhaps given the inherent limited appeal of the orginal material it was wise to keep it snappy and short instead of degenerating into the aforementioned catterwailing in an attempt to make it last a few more rounds. Great talent and good job here - love your voice!
02-Nancy G In My Room by Brian Wilson	So simple, but it works! Lovely textural qualities; it sounds like to me youre really familiar with performing making your voice intertwine with the guitar like that. Youve got really good dynamics in this performance, which is hard to do when theres no other instrumentation to help fake it for you! I just had a listen to the original; Id take your version anyday. You should add your unique fire-fly harmonies to it, and make it even more yours. :)
03-Markus Lullaby by Tom Waits	I almost did a Tom Waits song myself, glad I didn't now because you would've seriously showed me up. Love the acoustic feel of this, the piano backing is gorgeous as are the matched vocals and harmonies. It all comes together really nicely. This song made me close my eyes, slow down my breathing into the moment, and just listen. Thankyou! Teensy bit of off-key singing down low in your register, but hey, if I'm going to be that picky I can hear a hundred worse things going on in my own recording!
04-James I Can't Get Next to You By The Temptations	Good solid mix, where everything comes through at the right level; makes it easy (and hence immediately more enjoyable/accessible to listen to). This shouldn't be underestimated, 'cos it's very hard to get right! Good strong voice which I thinks suits the style of this arrangement well. Would've liked to hear something a bit more feral going off solo guitar-wise in that last minute, I think the song could've used the energy boost.
05-Iggy Deramer by The Beatles	Cool piano stuff. I like the feel of this arrangement, 'tis better than Ozzy's. Hard to make it all out though, but that's probably 'cos of the mono lo-fi mix. Would've liked the vocals to have cut through more, they were quite swamped and it was quite hard to make out the lyrics and assess the vocal performance, but I think it sounded pretty good. Guitar and piano works really well together there in the middle.
06-Solpig Buona Sera by Louis Prima	Hey, where's the rest of it? I was just getting into it... I quite liked what I heard, but I can't really comment on this as a cover when you haven't shared with us what you would do with the rest of the song.
07-Kris S Wonderwall by Oasis	Good feel in the guitar intro; sets the pace solidly and effectively. First verse vocals set just against the guitar also is really good. However these elements are lifted exactly from the original, so I can't really give you the credit. After that it loses omph for me somewhat, doesn't seem to go anywhere else. I think I just find it to be a rather a dull song, 'cos the original doesn't do much for me either. If you intended your version to be a replica of the original, then well done! But I'd much rather hear something more of "you" coming through, rather than a clone.
08-Tim W Nowhere man by The Beatles	I'm really glad you guys had a good time; but I think I needed some of what you guys were on; 'cos I totally didn't get it. Maybe it's because it's a sober Sunday morning here and I'm sitting in my PJ's having brekky with the bright sunlight streaming in through the window, instead of being in the club late at night with you guys and riding the same vibe as I nurse my umpteenth drink! The whole, erm, 'comedy act' was lost on me, and from reading other reviews it seems I'm the only one who doesn't know what the "Schmenge Brothers" are, so obviously it's my shortcoming! Nor did I find the inclusion of the word 'shitting' to be as extremely hilarious as y'all apparently did! [Yes, I know, I'm being a party pooper]. Nice harmonies, I'll give you that.
09-Nigel Happier Than the Morning Sun by Stevie Wonder	Very nice silky, shimmery voice was my first thought. Good musicality; meshes well with the guitar part. However, and I'm not sure why exactly, can't put my finger on what the quality is; but for such a happy song you (assuming it's you singing) sound really quite sad and wistful. The guitar arrangement is also similarly melancholy and pensive, so the whole thing ends up somewhat mismatched to the vibe of the actual song you've chosen. I don't know the original, but I imagine it sounds a lot more upbeat and happily infectious. I think I'd really like to hear you sing a song with a more down-trodden vibe, probably you'd pull that off really well. But anyhoo, your arrangement is very nicely put together and performed.
10-EED (Emily) Every Rose Has Its Thorn by Poison	Hey this is really nice; delicate, ethereal. Pity the recording quality wasn't better; because I would've liked to hear it all more clearly. Yes I know we're not supposed to be assessing recording quality, but when things are muddy and hard to make out (especially the words), then you find as a listener you tend to drift and lose interest. Vocals are quite off-key a fair bit of the time, which kinda makes my left eye start twitching. [But hey, my own recording doesn't stand up to much scrutiny in that department either!] As a suggestion, perhaps the backing needs to build in intensity to create some interest/colour as the song progresses; or at least change in some way. I could tell the singer was trying to do this, but the instrumentalists weren't moving with her.
11-David T Day Tripper by John Lennon & Paul McCartney	OK, a fun track to listen to! And while I don't know the song particularly (yes I am that ignorant!), obviously the main riff is familiar. Some very cool guitar work going on here too; loved the solo. The synth however, hmm...I dunno... To somebody who doesn't know how the melody is supposed to go, it sounded a bit random/meandering to me. I wonder with covers, should they hold up on their own or is it reasonable to expect that the listener should already be well familiar with the original? Methinks the former. Actually I wanted to hear more; this track was a bit short and to me it sounded like you were just getting going!
12-Dave C Autumn Leaves by Joseph Kosma & Jacques Prévert	Gosh I have to be honest; 'cos this showcase is all about performance. If you're proposing that your song cover arrangement contains nothing but a lone guitarist, then you need to make sure it's a really good player being featured and that you also have something interesting/different to offer arrangement/interpretation wise. I don't hear either here, instead it's just a beginner plunking awkwardly through some very standard chords. This does not a cover make. If you've listened to the other efforts by now, you'll have noticed that most people have worked hard at pulling quite a few arrangement and performance elements together to create their cover. I wish there had been more elements to yours, 'cos I would've loved to have found something in there that I could be complimentary about. Sorry!
13-Hoaby Just A Little by The Beau Brummels	This rocks! Lead singer has a good kind of voice for this style of song, although volume-wise it was a bit lost in the mix (particularly in the verses). Could just be a lo-fi abberation, I dunno. I liked the building vocal harmonies a lot. Was kinda itching for a solo guitar break or somethin' to kick in though. Drums lack the realism/energy that would really help this song along (I always have the same problem with my recordings
14-Todd Joker by Steve Miller	Ooh, quality stuff! Fine attention to detail and recording. This performance sits really well in its groove. If you want me to be really fussy, I'd say the stereo chorusing/reverb of the drums in the chorus is too extreme and affects the pulse/sync adversely. Best of all, with your fresh arrangement you have really made this song yours; added a lot which tells us about yourself and your talents [which are pretty darned good, methinks]
15-Meikow You Won't See Me by The Beatles	This has really good energy; I especially like the guitar work; has lots of live presence and colour. Its very complete; youve thought of everything. The best thing about this song is it has lots of variation to hold interest level. The bridge sounds so Beatles-esque but is that a good thing or a bad thing for a cover I dunno! This is my favourite out of just about all the songs here for holding my attention.