Second chance music glance

What music (song) post -- yours, someone else's -- do you wish had gotten a closer look or a bigger response in terms of comments/feedback?

Music has been around for over two years now; some of us have been posting from day one, others came along more recently, and certainly the mix of folks around here has changed a bit over time.

So in the spirit of both giving some by-circumstances-neglected recording a second chance at life, and sort of pulling stuff out of the archives for folks who might have come to Music after it was posted, I think it'd be neat to see folks toss out a track that they wish had had more discussion attached to it, and perhaps talk a little bit about why.

posted by cortex (31 comments total)

For my part, this song came out of a weird creative period for me, and while the recording is imperfect in a lot of ways (oy the timing on that opening banjo track!, etc), it's also something that, going back to on a lark two years later, I really like a lot of.

I don't do that much stuff with synths and VST in my recordings, so trying to meld those into the original track guitars-and-vox tracks that me and my former bandmate Brian was an adventure in after-the-fact composition and mixing. Tons of rough edges in there -- I was just winging the synth parts live and usually only did one take for each, layering one after the other -- but there's transition points that are a bit different from most of what shows up in my more guitar-oriented recordings.
posted by cortex at 11:02 AM on July 25

I really liked A Theory of Everything by unSane. It's an instrumental surf-rock track dripping with reverb. It has a nice spy-sounding bridge at around the one-minute mark that could pass for an entry into this month's challenge.

Also, Ruth by Astro Zombie isn't getting much love (though it's still on the front page). I suspect some people are feeling fatigued from all of his Old Songs posts, but you should really check it out. It's one of my favorite songs of the month, and I've heard 'em all.
posted by danb at 3:40 PM on July 25

That song has some catchy parts to it, cortex. I rather like your vocal performance too. Some of those screechy synth sounds are pretty insane though. But on second listen, there is almost a kind of stereolab thing going on with those sounds that becomes pleasant after a while. Interesting.

I was going to say that when it comes to my own songs, "you've been awake" is one I had hoped would get more responses. But I just checked and I guess it didn't really get any less attention than my others. I suppose I just feel like that's one of my better ones.
posted by edlundart at 9:37 PM on July 25

I really don't have a song in mind (unless it's this one by Ira_metafilter aka Ira_), but here's a few people I love here that everyone should at least listen to again (excluding chococat, cortex, and several others because everyone listens to them already, which the should because they're wonderful):

::Corduroy is wonderful, as well as one of my favorite songwriters here--and he's young, so he'll only get better (and not just because he introduced my username as a tag).
::snsranch and micayetoca carried this place for months. You all should favorite everything they've done 678 times.
::The world, and metafilter, needs more songs by verysleeping. This is the truth as you should know it.
:: freya_lamb = awesome
:: anything by ORthey that has fewer than 90 favorites = awesome
:: OH WAIT, this song by barmaljova is one of the most favorite songs I've ever heard here. "Ode to a dead deer" by isopraxis is easily the most mind-blowingly amazing recording I've heard here, but also anywhere in a long ass time.
:: This one, by jessamyn = yeah, awesome. (and, of course, the original by divabat.)
:: these people-- umbú, saulgoodman, astro zombie, es_de_bah, kimyo, COBRA!, goodnewsfortheinsane, humannaire, Karlos the Jackal, Wolfdog, not_on_display, pazazygeek, inoculatedcities, and everyone else I'm ignoring because I actually need to work on my own music before falling asleep that I haven't mentioned, including the music contributor with the greatest voice of all (but I may be biased--oh wait, I'm singing on a few of those; just ignore those).
::So, when it comes down to it, I really love metafilter music and that's how I spent my summer vacation with bacon and a wonderful mustard made by Sierra Nevada from their pale ale with honey added.

Sorry, cortex, I really tried to limit it to a few, but couldn't.
posted by sleepy pete at 11:41 PM on July 25 [6 favorites]

I'm in dial-up land now for vacation (and haven't been able to check out any songs lately because it just takes too crazy long, it's so frustrating) but I second everything sleepy pete just said.
And I'll add sleepy pete to his own list of people who are so great about consistently contributing in a constructive way. Con con.

As far as under-appreciated or under-considered goes, here's a bunch of songs I remember really liking on first listen, which didn't get a ton of comments and of which I was the lone favouriter:
NemesisVex's Imprint, v. 1.1
degoao's crisp crimes
tehloki's Undercurrent
chuckdarwin's Atlantic
fingers_of_fire's Manhattan
goodnewsfortheinsane's A Sincere Ballroom Song
ORthey's The crazy stories
And there's buckets of more songs that I loved that aren't popping into my head 'cause I was too tired or drunk or dumb to favourite them.

With regards to my own stuff I just feel happy that I got some awesome feedback and responses on lots of stuff. It's funny how things are just hit or miss. I remember posting my first song here, Light On, and really liking it and feeling good about posting it and feeling great when people liked it. But I posted some other stuff that I thought was better that didn't get so much feedback. And I remember not wanting to post Olivia right from the start, because I thought it was too sappy. And when I finally just said what the fuck and uploaded it and I remember being kind of nervous because it was so personal and melancholy that I thought people would make fun of me (this was the first days of Music, before we knew that people are mostly nice.) Go figure that lots of people liked it and said nice things. You just never know. And maybe it's just a right place right time thing. I still really like Jesus at a Table for Two (uploaded in an earlier form as He's Dining Alone) which got a few comments and faded away and then you get into the stupid trap of finding yourself feeling a little "hmmm?" but how can I be anything but happy when people have been so nice about so many songs.
God, I talk too much.
posted by chococat at 5:44 PM on July 26

Thanks for doing this post, cortex. This is great.

I think ignignokt's brilliant Dental Plan (Fuck the Man) and Stupid Bee deserve far more love than they have received. Instead of the usual endtimes-y metal lyrics, ignignokt finds mundane, everyday situations that actually do invoke the kind of visceral rage that the power chords convey. How can you resist lyrics like these?

Dental Plan/Fuck the man/Get what's mine/Any way that I can/
It's a way to fight/To sate my spite/To settle the score/Use my mouth for war/
But there's so many rules/In the dental plan/Kinda hard on my/Attention span/
Wanna give in/Let the man win/Goddamn dental plan/

I'm thinking of recording a bossa nova version of it.
posted by umbú at 6:21 PM on July 26

Also anything by kimyo, but especially badge of hope. Kimyo is definitely one of the best mixers on MefiMusic.

I've always liked this tune, where cortex messed with David Bowie before Flight of the Conchords were pitting 70s Bowie against 80s Bowie in outer space.

And Blackbox Blues by es_de_bah is fantastic.

Oh, oh, and corduroy's achingly melancholy That's All, which with a little polish could become a staple on breakup mixtapes worldwide.
posted by umbú at 6:40 PM on July 26

I feel a little awkward mentioning my own song, but I'm proud of muster, and I think it slipped through the cracks the first time.
posted by umbú at 6:52 PM on July 26

chococat hit on something that is true for me as well. I just never know which of my songs are going to get a good reception and which are going to go by almost unnoticed. I think I have kind of a weird self confidence issue with MeFi Music because the first song I posted ("criminal") was really popular, and I've never gotten anywhere close to that kind of response in the more than 25 songs I've posted since. I'm never sure if this means all my other songs are that much weaker than "criminal", or if it's just that MeFi Music was so new back then that everyone was excited. But this dynamic also makes it exciting to post a new song here and see how it gets received.

Just listened to "That's All", and agree that song has a lot of heart. "Muster" is really nicely done. I'm so envious of drums like that! And I'm going through some of the other recommendations in this thread -- this will become and stay a cool resource. A kind of curated MeFi music.

Dental Plan is cracking me up. Hilarious, and to me it seems more genuine than a lot of metal outrage, as umbú suggests.
posted by edlundart at 11:59 PM on July 26

Sorry, cortex, I really tried to limit it to a few, but couldn't.

No, that's actually pretty fucking awesome and I'm glad people are running with it.
posted by cortex at 12:34 AM on July 27

I am a fan of es_de_bah's lyrics and the way he sings them. This one's really good and you should check it out.
posted by Karlos the Jackal at 4:25 PM on July 27

I wholeheartedly agree with sleepy pete that snsranch and micayetoca deserve much love and many, many listenings, as do es_de_bah's songs, which I've decided I, too, have not listened to enough.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 6:15 PM on July 27

Oooh! That's right! I forgot about ba! He's got such an eclectic range of odd songs, and they're wonderful.

Man, I had almost completely forgotten about his Champaign Song.
posted by The Great Big Mulp at 6:22 PM on July 27

Thanks from me too cortex, this is great.

There are SOOOO many little beauties that fly right under the radar, it's insane. In fact, I would have to do some homework/research to pull a good list of the ones that I love.

How many songs are we up to anyway?

Speaking of ba, if you feel like some bitchen sax, check this one out.
posted by snsranch at 3:21 PM on July 28

I'm a fan of sleepy_pete and edlundart. Maybe not like a squealing 14 year old girl fan, but I always am sure to check out whatever they do.
posted by dobie at 6:20 AM on July 29

Thanks for starting this thread. I'm still trying to come to grips with the enormous piles of material-- old and hot-off-the-press-- on MefiMusic, and this is a damned helpful thing.
posted by COBRA! at 12:11 PM on July 29

I've just been uploading songs out of some strange compulsion, but I have pledged myself to regularly listen to and comment on other songs, starting tonight. I'll listen to some of the suggested tracks in this thread.
posted by Astro Zombie at 11:56 PM on July 29

Dang, I wish I'd seen this thread earlier. Cortex, great post.

Personally, my favorite song of mine is one that got some of the least attention. Or at least, less than I was hoping. But then some others attracted way more than I expected. Whatcha gonna do?

Thoughts:

- I wish Adrian_h would post more. Great fingerpicking.
- This song by snsranch is deceptively simple, and very beautiful, and makes me happy every time. Would love for it to be heard more.
- I like Flyball's Lament by The Great Big Mulp so much I covered it. My favorite all-time MeMu song.
- Another favorite I wish more folks would hear is micayetoca's las garras del destino. (although it does have a good amount of comments). That song is lovely, catchy, and teaches me Spanish all at once.

If I had more time now I'd list way more. I love this place.
posted by ORthey at 11:42 AM on July 30

Another thanks for posting this - I'm going to try to catch up with some of this older stuff this weekend.
posted by arcanecrowbar at 3:53 PM on July 30

ORthey, I just listened to that favorite song of yours -- I had completely missed that when you posted it. It's another winner. You have such a natural and relaxed vocal delivery!

The banjo lullaby by snsranch is also really sweet.
posted by edlundart at 10:22 PM on July 30

Well, I agree with all the names given above, that's a bunch of great contributors. Loose filter's stuff is fine. I also like xmutex's tracks, especially the guitar ones. I would also point to Rabo de Nube, my first music post, an instrumental cover of the beautiful song by silvio Rodriguez.
posted by nicolin at 3:24 PM on July 31

I wouldn't want to forget LN, who makes you feel like it's sunday afternoon - as you're reading a newspaper in a cozy armchair, surrounded by the swarm of your red-haired kids, you're listening to her singing lines as she fixes a cake in the kitchen.
posted by nicolin at 3:46 PM on July 31

I have about fifty million tabs open and it's going to take me ages to just check out all the wonderful suggestions here, but here are a few more:

It Must Be The Neighbours by ddf
Meet Me Tonight At The Landfill by kellykessler (already on a few people's playlists, but deserve more I feel)
and I think this has been underrated as well.

Thanks sleepy pete - that means a lot.
posted by Ira_ at 9:38 AM on August 1

Oh, I have to agree with nicolin and put a vote in for xmutex. I think those ambient-ish guitar tracks are really good. Very fully formed and confident.
posted by edlundart at 8:33 AM on August 2

And the beauty of mefimusic is that you can add comments two years later. Yeah!
posted by sleepy pete at 8:07 PM on August 2

Ah, hell... *knocks back shot of whisky* ... you get one chance, and that's it... BARTENDER! Gimme another! ... *stares at drink coaster with dirty joke and cheap bawdy cartoon* ... you write yer little masterpiece, put it on the internet... is anybody LISTENING? ... Hell, NO!! ... *knocks back another shot* ... Second chance? Second chance? Shiiiiiit... ain't no goddam second chance! .... BARTENDER! Gimme another!
posted by flapjax at midnite at 8:02 AM on August 3

This thread makes me want to ask for a pony.

In our music activity page, could we get a link to our Music posts RSS as well?

I'd like to check all these folks out, but I think the most efficient way would be to subscribe to the individual feeds and let my Winamp podcast directory take care of the downloading.
posted by NemesisVex at 8:49 AM on August 5

Oh, duh, I just noticed the RSS link on the user activity page.
posted by NemesisVex at 8:53 AM on August 5

The answer is yes.
posted by cortex at 8:54 AM on August 5

I mean user activity page. I can't copy and paste today.
posted by NemesisVex at 8:59 AM on August 5

How have I not heard gfrobe's stuff yet before today?

And why has he not posted more? These are way unappreciated here. Listen to those progressions and harmonies.
posted by umbú at 8:16 AM on August 8