Poopot's Cover Challenge #24 - K - voting

flying_pie

Well it's finally time to vote on the letter K

you can hear all the tracks in the playlist:

https://soundcloud.com/thefretboard/sets/poopots-cover-challenge-24-the


All that is required is to pick your top three and post them in the thread below.

Points are awarded as follows - 5 points for first place, 3 points for second place and 1 point for third place.

There is a bonus 5 points for covering the specified track which was Killer Queen by Queen

Entrants obviously aren't allowed to vote for themselves. Voting closes at 11.30pm on  Friday 6th October 2023

The entry with the most points gets to pick the next song to be covered. In the event of a tie for first place then all those tied will choose a song.

ALL ENTRANTS PLEASE HAVE YOUR IDEAS READY FOR THE NEXT CHALLENGE. YOU WILL HAVE ONLY 48HRS AFTER VOTING CLOSES TO MESSAGE ME WITH YOUR SONG CHOICE. IF YOU FAIL TO DO SO THEN I'LL END UP CHOOSING IT FOR YOU! 

Good luck

fnpt

1- IMC1980

2- Flying Pie

3- Stratman

stratman3142

5 points : @IMC1980 ; : You've got a head start with this one, because I really like the original. This is a great rocky treatment. Big punchy sound. Great vocals.

3 points : @thecolourbox ; : A sparse and melancholy treatment. Nice guitar and I like your voice, as I've said before. Nice subtle vocal layered effects.

1 point : @mrkb ; : I was unfamilar with this one, which put it at a slight disadvantage. I need to listen to more Motley Crew as they're a bit of a blind spot for me. Great version. You've capture loads of energy, giving it a manic punk rock type sound. Blimey those vocals sound high.

guitartango

5: Point to Idiot Wind, karma reminds of Country Joe and the Fish 
3: @thecolourbox , also like a bit of Simon and Funkel 
1  @mrkb Nice tune (no idea of the song !) 

  

IMC1980

I have really struggled with this crop of entries due to only being able to give points to the three people and really liking everything submitted. Spent the last 4 days trying to decide and this is the closest I have been to a firm order:

5 points @Bezzer - This is what the cover challenge is all about IMO, I often feel like a bit of a one trick pony with my covers and I love a rendition that is this left-field. Dark, ominous vibes from the very beginning and it only gets more hypnotic. I am also into the epic Arabian backbeat and the general twisty, writhing uneasiness of it all. Brilliant!

3 points @idiotwind (Karma Chameleon) - This is like the inside of head when I am going through a mood swing, reminds me of Sergeant Peppers in the verses and bridge and I am a sucker for a backwards guitar solo. Really close to being top spot.

1 point @flying_pie - I love Killer and this is a tasty rock version with some quality breaks. Some nice notes hit vocally as well

Also wanted to mention @thecolourbox your acoustic guitar recording really hit the spot and you vocal harmonies were very cool.

Well done to everyone else! 

flying_pie

5 points @IMC1980 - absolute banger and superb vocals. When you're totally on it the end result is fantastic.

3 points @thecolourbox - I don't know why you didn't want to send this in. Such a nice version

1 point @idiotwind - karma chameleon - very creative and well executed. I love that you had the idea well in advance and went balls deep with it. 

Sorry to the others. It's a cliché but there really wasn't much in it and my top 3 changed on more than a few occasions. Loving the variety all round

thecolourbox

My Votes are as follows

5 points - King Nothing - @Bezzer. Just a ridiculous piece of music, so many outrageous things going on at the same time and somehow holds together as some kind of nightmarish collage

3 points - Killing Queen - @stratman3142. Nicely done, probably fairly close to what I was hoping to do with Killer Queen actually, a kind of jazzy swung version although I would have been on piano and vocals instead of guitar, though I was hoping to do the solos on guitar (which held me back unfortunately as I couldn't play them well enough).

1 point - Kids in America - @IMC1980. Professional sounding and full of energy as ever, nicely rocked up.

Well done to everybody though, feels mean to leave people out, I genuinely liked something from each of them. Thanks all for sharing

thecolourbox

I'm genuinely surprised to be scoring any points amongst a very strong field with my entry, as I said in the other thread I wasn't very happy with it overall. Thank you all for the very kind comments above

Some very brief "liner notes" as is my oversharing tradition:

• Acoustic guitar recorded with a vocal mic near the soundhole and a single coil magnetic pickup into the interface. Panned left and right and a fair amount of EQ and compressor added to make it sound ok. The more electric guitar sounding side is the magnetic pickup, then the stringy attack is the mic
• I was playing along to a metronome, which is something i find extremely difficult to do (my background as a solo pianist would probably account for this). I feel like the playing sounds like I'm constantly about to trip up, struggling to keep in time.
• Another thing I find extremely difficult is singing the same rhythm twice when harmonising, hence there are a few times where the harmony comes in way before the tune and sounds a bit "eeek". I think I need to get the Vocalign plugin or something similar
• I think there are two main reasons why I'm not very happy with it. Firstly is that recording acoustic guitar is incredibly annoying and takes an age to get it sounding right without bashing the mic with my picking hand or the mic picking up my breathing or chair creaks etc. Secondly is that it sounds cheesy - I don't really like "happy" music very much and therefore struggle to sing it with any real feeling. I sound like I'm trying too hard to sing it in the style of both Simon and Garfunkel at the same time so my phrasing and accent sounds odd at times, the phrasing especially sounds old fashioned to me and not "cool" and "relaxed" as I normally tend to sound.

IMC1980

thecolourbox said:

I'm genuinely surprised to be scoring any points amongst a very strong field with my entry, as I said in the other thread I wasn't very happy with it overall. Thank you all for the very kind comments above

Some very brief "liner notes" as is my oversharing tradition:

• Acoustic guitar recorded with a vocal mic near the soundhole and a single coil magnetic pickup into the interface. Panned left and right and a fair amount of EQ and compressor added to make it sound ok. The more electric guitar sounding side is the magnetic pickup, then the stringy attack is the mic
• I was playing along to a metronome, which is something i find extremely difficult to do (my background as a solo pianist would probably account for this). I feel like the playing sounds like I'm constantly about to trip up, struggling to keep in time.
• Another thing I find extremely difficult is singing the same rhythm twice when harmonising, hence there are a few times where the harmony comes in way before the tune and sounds a bit "eeek". I think I need to get the Vocalign plugin or something similar
• I think there are two main reasons why I'm not very happy with it. Firstly is that recording acoustic guitar is incredibly annoying and takes an age to get it sounding right without bashing the mic with my picking hand or the mic picking up my breathing or chair creaks etc. Secondly is that it sounds cheesy - I don't really like "happy" music very much and therefore struggle to sing it with any real feeling. I sound like I'm trying too hard to sing it in the style of both Simon and Garfunkel at the same time so my phrasing and accent sounds odd at times, the phrasing especially sounds old fashioned to me and not "cool" and "relaxed" as I normally tend to sound.

Glad you put it out mate, the feel of the recording reminded me of this:

Habanero

Well done everyone on a set of quality entries. After much deliberation my votes are...

5pts: @thecolourbox

3pts: @IMC1980

1pt:  @stratman3142

thecolourbox

IMC1980 said:

Glad you put it out mate, the feel of the recording reminded me of this:

Yeah I know what you mean, my Mrs has said before my acoustic playing and singing sounds like him, well like that one he did for the Sony advert ages ago with the colourful bouncing balls going down the street. This was your posted vid before the  post edit broke the link i think 

And the bouncing balls one 

mrkb

Enjoyed hearing all the entries this month - a wide range of styles!

5pts - Kids in America - @IMC1980 ; would love to find out the technique you use to record vocals and backing vox - sounds great
3pts - Karma Chameleon - @Idiotwind - thats alot of effort and a great result for a completely new take on a cover!
1pt - Killer - @flying_pie , haunting interpretation.

Emp_Fab

Nobody's going to mention it then ?  The one with the um....  interesting vocals... ?

I don't want to rock the boat but is this one of these things where everyone gets a medal for taking part ?

mrkb

Emp_Fab said:

Nobody's going to mention it then ?  The one with the um....  interesting vocals... ?

I don't want to rock the boat but is this one of these things where everyone gets a medal for taking part ?

Hey I did my best. Who let the troll in???

Emp_Fab

What makes you think I'm talking about you ?  

I'm not trolling.  It's a genuine question !  I'm not staying in here, I just happened across it and was slightly puzzled by everyone pretending not to notice.

Bezzer

Emp_Fab said:

I'm not trolling.  It's a genuine question !  I'm not staying in here, I just happened across it and was slightly puzzled by everyone pretending not to notice.

It is trolling, even if not intentionally. To give an honest answer ... because unlike vast swathes of this forum THIS bit is about encouraging people to take part, to hear different ideas, to improve yourself and maybe learn from everyone else. I can hand on heart say I've enjoyed listen to every track everyone has submitted for every challenge. Absolutely genuinely.

But you know, noted, if you choose to enter one I will make sure to give you a suitable critique of your talents or lack thereof.

Bezzer

Right now that's off my chest ...

Honestly, so much good stuff again. Inventive arrangements, cool sound choices, the full gamut of styles it's really hard to pick which to give points too. Please forgive me if you're not on my list!

5 points : @thecolourbox - One of my favourite records of all time, which I still listen to probably weekly, is Graham Coxon's The Spinning Top, this reminded me of Graham at his peak and sounds absolutely perfect. Actually bought a tear. Well done.

3 points : @IMC1980 - that is some slick rock right there. I've done this song in various bands and it's never sounded that good, you annoying twat!

1 point : @MRKB - I was going to do this and the idea of Vince's vocals scared me off, even if his version is so far from in tune I could probably have shat through a kazoo and got closer. Something about the raw energy of this appealed to me and it's a banging tune.

That order and even selection could change tomorrow when I've not had a beer ... I don't know. It's been another fun one though, and really glad to see a decent number on entries. Same for L please y'all!

Emp_Fab

Bezzer said:

Emp_Fab said:

I'm not trolling.  It's a genuine question !  I'm not staying in here, I just happened across it and was slightly puzzled by everyone pretending not to notice.

It is trolling, even if not intentionally. To give an honest answer ... because unlike vast swathes of this forum THIS bit is about encouraging people to take part, to hear different ideas, to improve yourself and maybe learn from everyone else. I can hand on heart say I've enjoyed listen to every track everyone has submitted for every challenge. Absolutely genuinely.

But you know, noted, if you choose to enter one I will make sure to give you a suitable critique of your talents or lack thereof.

Ok.  But how can anyone "improve themselves" if they don't get any honest feedback?  Not one person here has offered any help or constructive criticism for the particular entry I'm referring to. In fact, no-one has made any reference to it at all.  Pretending it doesn't exist isn't helping the artist improve, it's just selfish.

That's not trolling - it's honesty.

Anyway, I'll leave you all to it.  I have no desire to derail this thread any further.

Habanero

We should definitely all do ‘More Than A Feeling’ for the ‘M’ round. 

flying_pie

Habanero said:

We should definitely all do ‘More Than A Feeling’ for the ‘M’ round. 

And "We Don't Take About Bruno" when it comes to W

There's actually a perfect response track starting with L

 but I'm not going to name it as I'lm going to track it this weekend and wouldn't want to influence the winner's song choice

mrkb

flying_pie said:

Habanero said:

We should definitely all do ‘More Than A Feeling’ for the ‘M’ round. 

And "We Don't Take About Bruno" when it comes to W

There's actually a perfect response track starting with L

 but I'm not going to name it as I'lm going to track it this weekend and wouldn't want to influence the winner's song choice

Is it Becks classic hit?