Welcome to another edition of Demo reviews. That thing where readers send me in songs so I can tell them what I think. Why they do it? i dunno. But it keeps going so I keep doing it. On the bright side, While I’m NOT accepting new submissions right now, that day is coming. Sometimes Next week I’ll announce the flood gates opening (along with the strict rules that all submitters must follow closely) and you cans end me you shit. SO, be on the look out for that.
As for this week, gotta say, after the shit show that was the last edition, this may b the most solid batch I’ve ever gotten. Is it coincidence that EVERY demo I got this week features vocals? No clue. Whatever it is, I can’t recall a week with more solid contributions. Well done.
Anyway, the reviews work like so: I write a paragraph or two giving my thoughts and then rate the songs from 1 to 10 in these arbitrary categories:
Production
Vocals
Listenability
originality
Simple stuff really. Let’s get into it.
Artist: Clamber Standback
Song:Dreaming my days away
Hmm…I honestly don’t know what to with this. First off, the picture of a mime threw me off from the start. Kinda wish this guy was mime though.
Anyway, this is silly and harmless but also pretty bad on any serious level. It sounds like someone rapping who doesn’t really rap (or even like rap that much). I can’t be that mad at it though cause the silliness factor is so through the roof I can’t take it that seriously. On the bright side, The production isn’t bad. It’s simple but the sounds are good and it’s well mixed. So points for that.
Production:5 out of 10
Vocals:2 out of 10
Listenability:4 out of 10
originality:4.5 out of 10
Artist:H.W.
Song: Walk with me
The beat is pretty awesome. It samples some old gospel shit without sounding like some shitty Moby song. It’s almost too clean (the drums could heavier) but I like it. The rapper is…well…fine. He’s not bad but he got dat white voice pretty badly and that’s always a tall hill to climb, no matter how good your lyrics are. Still, overall, this is decent.
Production:6.5 out of 10
Vocals:4 out of 10
Listenability:5 out of 10
originality:4 out of 10
Artist:Sleep Sinatra
Song:No rest for the Wicked
This kinda reminds me of a decent album cut from any number of late 90’s indie hip hop albums. The beat is cool and the rapping is solid. Nothing really makes it stand out to me but it’s nothing if not listenable. I might turn down those scratches at the end though, they come on mad loud, especially considering how mellow this song is.
Production:5.5 out of 10
Vocals:5 out of 10
Listenability:5 out of 10
originality:2 out of 10
Artist: Galactic Brethren
Song: Time Bandits
The name “Galactic Brethren” had me nervous. It’s very 90’s or techno but it turns out that these dudes are pretty good. I like the understated beat and the rappers can do their thing as well. It’s spacey, which I suppose is why they are the Galactic brethren.
The production changes in a nice subtle way throughout and works more as a compliment to the rappers, which , in my eyes, is a good thing.
Production:6.5 out of 10
Vocals:5.5 out of 10
Listenability:6 out of 10
originality:4 out of 10
Artist: Raymond Strife
Song:En Sabah Nur
This is one of those not good/not bad demos. There’s nothing inherently wrong with it. But there also isn’t a thing about it that would make me wanna hear it again. The beat sounds like a Freeway throwaway track from the early 2000’s and the rapper isn’t quite stable yet. It almost feels like he’s winging it off the head at times but I’m pretty sure he’s not. He’s just kind of a lazy writer. It’s too bad cause there is potential in there somewhere. He just needs to tighten the screws a little and focus.
Production:4 out of 10
Vocals:4 out of 10
Listenability:4 out of 10
originality:3 out of 10
Artist: Minotaur
Song: Cameron Vale
This is some lo-fi shit made by someone who LOVES cage. I mean, it’s over the top how much he tries to sound like old cage.
It also sounds like the beat was made by someone who LOVES Madlib.
So ,clearly, this isn’t winning points in the originality category. That said, he’s a pretty good rapper. Perhaps he’ll find his own lane and something original and fresh will come of that.
The beat is weirder than it is good but fits the mood I suppose. Also, it sounds like this was recorded on a cassette deck.
Production:4 out of 10
Vocals:4.5 out of 10
Listenability:5 out of 10
originality:1 out of 10
Artist: Gangstatank
song:Grillz
I’m not sure if this is parody or not. That’s not a good thing. Either way it’s not particularly funny or it’s just a really bad rap song. The more it goes on, the more i think it’s a joke. Whelp, that’s unfortunate. The beat is a nightmare of shitty synth sounds and failed trappy drums. The rapping is dudes trying way too hard (Or joking) who just aren’t good at rapping at all. Regardless, doing parody rap making fun of gangster-ish rap is about 15 years past any point of relevance or interest.
Production:2.5 out of 10
Vocals:3 out of 10
Listenability:3 out of 10
originality:2 out of 10
Artist: This side up
song: Power
I like the sample aspects of this beat but the drums are simply not doing the job. The beats got a cool vibe though. The rapping is fine. I’m a known skeptic of rapping in foreign accents but this doesn’t bother me much. Irish rapping. Who knew? They aren’t really doing anything special lyrically but it’s solid.
Production:4.5 out of 10
Vocals:4.5 out of 10
Listenability:5 out of 10
originality:4 out of 10
Artist:Hard Target
Song: Down a road
This is a good “Times is tough, I’m downtrodden” rap song. It’s been done to death but, hey, when you can pull it off, more power to you. The rapper is good and raps in a musical manner that works half the time. The hook is kinda corny to me though. Not mad at what he tried to do, it just didn’t work for me. The beat is good too. It’s the perfect backdrop for this kinda song.
Production:5 out of 10
Vocals:5.5 out of 10
Listenability:5.5 out of 10
originality:4 out of 10
Artist:Jac Sound
Song: Sugar Ants
Whoa…what’s going on here? I’m so not used to getting songs with singers on it It took me a minute to figure out this was an actual person singing a song. Well, now that the confusion has subsided…This is strange. It’s kinda 80’s in it’s tone and the singer has a definite drama club dork lean to him. Like he should be on broadway over emoting his words. His voice is fine though. Musically, it’s a bit of a mess but not a total disaster. I dunno…I’m still confused.
Production:4 out of 10
Vocals:4 out of 10
Listenability:4 out of 10
originality:5 out of 10