The surface of things is deceiving. Seeming can hide beauty, pain or consuming power.
On the surface of it, The Lure of Dangerous Women is a trifling thing: seventy-odd simple pages filled with black symbols and white pages that we see every day. On the surface of it, this is the kind of thing that I barrel through in less than an hour. On the surface of it, this is simply another collection of short genre fiction of which there is an embarrassing surfeit. But this book is alive, a breathing, writhing thing that grips you with ever turn of the page, that entices you along like a pied piper. It is not a pleasant ride; it is terrifying and erotic, icy and scalding, messy and precise, all at once.
It took me three days to finish this book. I had to put it down every other story, surfacing to breathe. I had to walk away and let its characters talk to me some more, let the shadowy cling of their adventures become brittle so that I might brush it off and begin my next journey anew, without the weight of the their sexy, horrifying pull.
All of the women in these stories are dangerous in different ways. These are not Ripleys and Amazons; they are not all sirens and femme fatales. Rather, they are fully-realized characters, at once sympathetic and wholly themselves. There is as much pain as power, and many of them are so strong as to push past simple binaries of dominance and submission (sexual, political or otherwise) to offer themselves as sacrifice, or even just a part of themselves, for the good of others. There is no bowing involved, but an entirely self-possessed decision. These are the kinds of heroines we need more of.
A very thorough review might walk you step by step through each of the seven offerings, but I'd like to focus on a few highlights. "Trill" is a study in disturbing subtly, taking a familiar trope and turning upon itself. A dark version of the pied piper is only the starting point; it dips and weaves its song into dark and daring places that set the tone of this collection. "Seed" and "One Woman Town" are terrific examples of worlds that are at once alien and accessible, offering a fantastic reality with its own lexicon, its own culture and sets of ideas, but one that also immediately draws us in with both wonder and lust tinged with the fear of Germain's razor-sharp observation.
For it is Germain's style, flexible, expressive and keen, that ties all of these disparate tales together. Make no doubt, these are imaginative stories of terror that are equally very sexy; but they are also stylish bits of prose, a style that engages and engrosses, that pulls you in with a siren's song that can drown you.
Shanna Germain's latest collection, published by Wayzgoose Press, is heartily recommended reading for those seeking something extraordinary. Bring your red wine for the libido, your teddy bear for your fear and your shotgun for protection. And even still, you will succumb to The Lure of Dangerous Women.
As seems to happen with frightening regularity, a new Song Fight is up! The Fightmasters often like to chuck out impossibly-long and awkward titles and it's a fantastic prompt for creativity, in my opinion. I would have loved to contribute to this fight and the title is tucked away on my list for the future.
Let's start with the cover art, which is awesome! Love the blending of textures, text and images. I could easily see this on a professional album cover.
Berkeley Social Scene
--- opening vox ---
+++ fem backing vox +++
+++ lead guitar tune +++
+++ chorus melody +++
This is much more catchy than many other BSS songs to my recollection, and I love it. Vote!
Everything I love in a song: melody, solid production and performance, a biting story with evocative imagery. Huge vote!
Billy and The Psychotics | lyrics
--- I dislike fake openings ---
/// wait, that's not Denni... but it's still damn fine +++
/// I'd like more grit from the bass tone ///
+++ CHORUS! +++
The chorus is hands down the best part: has me immediately pumping my fists and singing along. Do more of that. I love the way the second verse goes; I would open with that, and move the guitar shredding to the middle. Not a fan of how this begins, but it does nothing but get better the whole time, so vote!
This is a fantastic study of tonal counterpoint. Great layers that compliment each other and create an evocative aural fabric. Even when the tune takes a left turn at Albuquerque during the guitar solo, it's an awesome detour. I'm less a fan of the choppy break-down towards the end, but still: Vote!
Dejected Motives
+++ low-end guitar +++
+++ there's some good melodies here ... +++
/// but they're not really fleshed out ///
--- that screeching tone ---
--- clipping vox ---
--- way too gorram long without any interesting dynamics ---
Vocoding is a favorite whipping boy these days. Given the electronica bent of this tune, I think it's okay. But you've got to get that damn microphone out of your mouth and/or check your levels while mixing.
Dirge | lyrics
+++ soundscape +++
+++ solo guitar +++
--- singing ---
+++ did I mention that solo? +++
--- lyrics ---
--- metal power breakdown ---
This was such a promising tune, then you turned on the Metallica. *sigh*
I'm generally a fan of DJRD, (aka, Denise Hudson) and I'm happy to hear her deliver again, ditching her usual piano for some sparse guitar that still takes us in interesting directions. As has been mentioned on the review boards already, I'd love to hear this fleshed out with some more instrumentation, some nice R&B drums and an organ tones. Vote!
Emperor Gum
+++ creative instrumentation +++
--- hate that reedy flute sound ---
--- poor performance misses the beat here and there ---
--- why are you singing in a Port-a-Potty? ---
This submission gets full points for ambition. It follows in the footsteps of The Beatles' White Album, but it has too many production and performance flaws.
Future Boy | lyrics
+++ opening swell +++
+++ dynamics +++
+++ story +++
As this opens, I feel like I should be snapping softly along with a cigarette in one hand and a glass of red wine on the café table in front of me. Then the bridge hits like TNT. Fantastic: vote with enthusiasm!
Hip Hop Anonymous
/// reminds me of "Nightmare on My Street" ///
+++ creepy plot-twist +++
--- misogyny, rape and torture ---
I started a row by using the "M-word" last round, but I'm sticking by it. Straightfoward stories of rape, torture and victimizing women are not entertaining. Nor is yours even edifying; Kechiche you are not.
Klownhole
/// props for taking on the awkward title right in the first line; but it doesn't work to grab me ///
+++ it gets better the second time when you let the grove take you +++
This is straight-forward garage rock that was probably really damn fun to play, but I don't feel part of that vibe.
Pretty much standard Euro-pop that has nothing to stand out or interest me. Solid production and pretty good performance. Please come again with something more creative.
Mom&Data
+++ dynamics +++
+++ melody +++
/// singing is a little flat ///
+++ guitar tones and panning +++
I really like how this builds. It takes a while, so it won't grab impatient listeners, but I think it's worth the wait. Small mixing quibble: that backing organ, the primary instruments, is too loud. This is lovely, so vote!
As much I love that fuzz tone, you need to lower it in the mix during the more melodic bits. It ruins the dynamism of this tune.
Pigfarmer Jr | lyrics
+++ story +++
--- boring prosody ---
--- chorus ---
This this sounds like an amateurish version of a much better song. Such a simplistic chorus needs to be sung with much more conviction; you need to channel Kurt Cobain
Ripping Hammer
+++ immediately gets me dancing +++
/// those electronic blips on 1 and 3 are little loud ///
--- it just stops ---
I would have voted for this if it had gone somewhere.
This would be a great song were it not for the deliberate odd time signature, which for me is just constantly jarring. I want to sway and waltz to this and the tune keeps tripping over itself.
Like your other entry for this fight, this has some good elements, but the performance (and, in this case, instrumental) choices make it sound amateurish.
Song Fight! is a place that you should visit - often. It a nutshell, it's a songwriting competition. In a slightly larger nutshell, it's a community of songwriters crafting music of every color and kind, from lo-fi Casiocore to surf-rock pyschedelia to country and grunge. About every other week, Fight Masters Spud and JB post a title (and the occasional optional challenge). Your mission, should you choose to accept it, is to write, record and submit an original song by the deadline. Then you get to listen to everyone's else's submissions, vote for your favorites and, hopefully, share your thoughts on the review boards.
There's all kinds of other great stuff that goes on associated with Song Fight! including Nur Ein, coverfights, the Daily Roll Call and the splendiferous annual Song Fight! Live event, but let's focus on the current fight.
A quick introduction to my review process. Usually, I only have time to listen to the whole fight once, and while listening, I jot down:
+++ what I like +++
--- what I don't like ---
/// what leaves me indifferent, or other comments ///
It's a quick and dirty but efficient process and I always try to provide constructive criticism unless a song is either too far outside my ken or, in my opinion, beyond saving. This time around, I'm going to go back for at least a second listen in order to introduce new readers to some Song Fight! stars and further develop my reactions. One of the great things about Song Fight! is the dizzying variety of musical genres available each fight.
Al Gore Band | lyrics
--- poor production ---
--- pretentiousness and self-reference fail ---
+++ internal rhymes and prosody +++
The production here is deliberately lo-fidelity, which some times I like (see Elephant Finger below). But here, while I like many of the lyrics, the abstract anti-mainstream nature of the ensemble is alienating. It's sloppy and self-righteous at the same time.
Berkeley Social Scene
+++ guitar tone, as always +++
--- wobbly vox "looooouuuuuder" ---
+++ tempo change for chorus +++
BSS is a Song Fight! staple, an LA-area (oops) a San Francisco-area jam band with a often-shifting line-up. The "plant your flag" line reminds me of Baudelaire's "Spleen IV," I wonder if the reference is intentional?
— Et de longs corbillards, sans tambours ni musique, Défilent lentement dans mon âme; l'Espoir, Vaincu, pleure, et l'Angoisse atroce, despotique, Sur mon crâne incliné plante son drapeau noir.
I'll be the first to admit to admit that much BSS's more complicated stuff goes right over my head: various key signatures and chord structures that my ear is not trained to hear. Though, if it weren't for the uneven singing, this is one of my favorite offerings from them.
Billy and the Psychotics | lyrics
/// thought at first this was DJ Ranger Den's solo submission; then the band kicked in ///
+++ it was a pleasant surprise +++
+++ rock opera awesomeness, fully channeling stuff like November Rain +++
Vote! Billy and the Psychotics is something of a Song Fight! superband, a collaboration between Billy's Little Trip, Denise Hudson (aka DJ Ranger Den, who also submitted a solo work to this fight) and, often, Paco del Stinko or other guests.
This is hands-down one of their best works to date. They excel at hard rock with a feminine snarl, and previous attempts to stretch their musical boundaries have been mixed successes. This one is a perfect blend of Denise's subtle piano sensibilities and Billy's hard-rocking drums and bass.
c.layne
+++ groove and tone +++
+++ love that plucky guitar tone +++
--- maybe it's my sound equipment, but some of this is right on the edge of clipping ---
+++ breakdown +++
Vote! A fantastic slice of ambient music and independent rock-pop. c.layne has just put out a new album, I'm Glad We Met.
Dealin' Doug and The Rocky's Autos
+++ grungy guitar riff +++
--- intro goes on way to long ---
+++ very creative take on the title +++
--- bop bop bop bop bop bop ---
--- fake horns are really fake ---
--- nasal singing ---
Like a lot of my own offerings, I get the impression that there's both a lot to like about this song and a lot that needs to be improved. The vocals sounds consistently bored and always sung through the nose. I like that the synthesizer line mirrors the chorus melody but, damn, it sounds so cheap!
Dirge and Sara
+++ i'm a sucker for female vox +++
+++ great vibe and overall tonality +++
/// this is one of those tunes you really love and bob along with when you're at the bar, but then you forget you when you get in the cab ///
This song has a great, solid vibe. I love the contrast of the clean vox and the dirty guitars and there are great accents all over the place. The main problem is that the whole thing lacks something for me to hang on to. It's not necessarily a matter of a hook, but just a memorable bit of melody or a really great line somewhere.
DJ Ranger Den | lyrics
+++ melody "you won't occupy my heart" +++
/// I wonder if the piano isn't too busy ///
+++ the lyrics and pining tone remind me of Ani DiFranco's "Dilate" +++
and i learn every room long enough to make it to the door and then i hear it click shut behind me and every key works differently i forget every time and forgetting defines me that's what defines me
DJ Ranger Den is a somewhat recent addition to the line-up for Song Fight! regulars and the feminist in me is very happy to see a woman contributing to what can be a pure sausage fest.
My only quibble with song is the very busy piano part, which seems to try to make up for the lack of other instruments. However, the "you won't occupy my heart" line makes this for me; the delivery is perfectly vulnerable. This is easily one of the best songs she's submitted, so vote!
Elephant Finger Et Le Casio Ensemble Contemporain de Paris | lyrics
+++ delightfully lo-fi +++
/// the accidental mispronunciation of cœur, renders it corps (body), which actually works anyway. but there is a proper miss on liquidation [lee kee dah see-on] ///
Vote! The difference between this and The Al Gore Band is that the singer here (J$, or Johnny Cashpoint), is having fun. The Al Gore Band sound like they're sneering at the conventions and being snide.
Jon Eric | lyrics
+++ there's the core of a really good song here +++
--- but it's lost in some extraneous material ---
/// I would cut the verses in half; pare it down to the best lyrics ///
Jon Eric is another SF! veteran. In general, I'm a fan, and learning to play a bunch of his songs for this past year's Song Fight! was a real eye-opener about chord progression and composition. Here, I feel like Jon has just submitted too much. He jokes in this lyrics post, "I'd have written a shorter song if I'd had more time," and I think he should take this to heart and revisit this tune in order to pare it down. King Arthur | lyrics
+++ lead guitar in the left ear +++
--- oh, but it stays in the left ear for the solo and really just kind of noodles ---
+++ it's always astounding that you program your drums +++
King Arthur is a Song Fighter in the stratosphere of nearly 100 submissions like Paco del Stinko and Ross Durand below. The critique I made of Dirge and Sara applies here: well put together with some great individual elements, but nothing for me to hang my hat on.
I'll admit to some genre bias: rap and and Hip-hop needs to be exceptional for me to enjoy. This is worse than unexceptional, it crosses one of my few really firm ethical boundaries. I do not tolerate misogyny and hit the "skip" button the moment MC Charlie Oh took the lazy and hateful route singing about "bitches" and masking his own insecurities in machismo.
This is an example of half of a great song. I love the instrumentation and the arrangement. However, the prosody of the lyrics makes the song unlistenable. It trips over itself, forces the wrong places and just rubs me in every wrong way.
This contribution is something of a conundrum, because while it's nearly unlistenable (it certainly isn't enjoyable), someone obviously put some thought and effort into it. Maybe not a lot, but enough to set up the recording equipment and some... percussion and riff for two and a half minutes.
noah mclaughlin | lyrics
+++ chorus +++
--- not the right development ---
/// singing needs to be tightened up; probably more like battened down ///
As is my wont, I came up with a better arrangement for this tune just minutes after the deadline passed. The link above with play the submitted version, but for your listening pleasure, I'd rather you listen to this one:
In the very beginning, the third "verse" was supposed to be a 16-bar guitar solo. I didn't have anything interesting to say with the guitar and ended up riffing some lyrics over that bit instead. Alas, they pretty much repeat the second verse. To boot, the opening guitar riff really isn't that strong. Hence, the new arrangement that opens with the swelling chorus instrumentation and cuts the third verse to an 8-bar breakdown.
Paco del Stinko | lyrics
+++ AWESOME FIRST LINE +++
+++ RAWK! +++
/// chorus is kind of cliché... ///
+++ Did I mention the RAWK?! +++
+++ Owns the outro +++
Vote! This song almost lost me with the outro. Rock is already pretty frakkin' sexy, and layering overt sexuality on top of it is usually overkill. But Paco (another SF! vet) plays it so straight and with such talent that I end up convinced.
The Pannacotta Army
+++ channels the Beatles in all the good ways +++
+++ solid production +++
+++ great melody +++ Vote! There's nothing not to like about this tune: catchy melody, dynamics, solid prosody in the lyrics, good performances recorded well and mixed well. Pigfarmer Jr | lyrics
+++ guitar lick +++
--- "You need a break today" : awkward prosody ---
+++ cello is a pleasant surprise +++
This is an example of the "GnG" done right. The guitar work is interesting, the singing is solid and the cello is a great minimalist touch. An often-denigrated genre at Song Fight is "Guy/Girl and Guitar," and rightly so It's an easy paradigm to record, and you often get naive beginners who think they're the next Bob Dylan. This is not one of those cases.
Ross Durand is a Song Fight! regular (and FAWM and SpinTunes). He's a really talented writer, singer and guitarist. This tune is pretty representative of his work: folk-influenced guy n' guitar work. Individually, the songs and their recordings are always strong, but it gets kind of samey. I always want him to expand more with his arrangement and production.
sonofsupercar
+++ boldly surrealist lyrics that are still accessible enough to invite analysis +++
--- live production/recording is a little too raw ---
/// this sounds like an B-side, or something from Pearl Jam's Vitalogy album ///
I might actually vote for this, because it is so daring and its unusual elements congeal so well.
Sportswriters | lyrics
+++ opening that makes me go "Ooh! That sounds good." +++
--- lyrics rhythm is uneven; it kind of trips over itself and doesn't resolve in a satisfying well ---
+++ really solid, profession production +++
/// I feel like this should be in a scene from a Brat Pack movie... ///
This song is written 15/8 time, which might account for weird lyrical rhythm. Sportswriters is a newcomer to Song Fight! and his work reminds me of Manhattan Glutton. This offering is basically a list-song and it doesn't do much with that genre.
If I can remix my stuff, so can Sportswriters, check out a version with punchier vox, reworked drums and a new ending:
State Shirt
+++ delicate and fully-realize soundscape +++
--- some of the vocal effects are grating ---
/// this would be a great song for a montage ///
The only thing that keeps me from voting for this is that the grating vocal effects pull me out of the "ooooh, this is pleasantly spacey" vibe.
Tony And Juan And Adam
+++ RAWK!+++
/// some one likes Rage Against the Machine, I see ///
/// as fun as this is, the lyrical take is kind of obvious for the musical genre and the music itself is derivative ///
I'd love to see this live. It would be a lot of fun, but then I would have another beer and forget about it.
The Yyarrell Brothers Band
+++ groove +++
--- tinny solo guitar tone ---
+++ melody +++
/// lyrics are kind of emo ///
One of the few straight-up pop song offerings this fight, and as such a refreshing part of this listen. I love the piano tone and the production is tight, but I can't relate to the story, which is very adolescent, and that guitar tone is horrendous.
