The Smiley Smile Message Board

Three I recorded today, two a recorded a few weeks ago, and all five acoustic demos (plus some old stuff) are at Myspace.com/danscarpamusic.

I would love to hear your opinions. Really I would. I know that I have a very polarizing sound that most people are turned off by. But I would still like to hear what you think. Don't hold back! Almost every one of these threads I post here, no one responds! I know it's because you think I suck. Just be honest.

Haven't listened to everything, but here are some impressions:

"Albany" : The slow parts are quite similar to "Knockin' on heaven's door" .  Since it's not in the best sound quality, I couldn't understand all the words, but I think I like 'em.

"Bad breath" : I think it's a funny song. In fact I don't know a song with this topic.

"Back to winter" : Sounds too similar to the other stuff imho

"Glasses" : There are some heavy "pops" in there.

"Jar of honey" : I kinda like this as a song.

"Coda" : Now that is something that clicks with me, but maybe you should work a little more on the songs. They sound a little unfinished. From what I've heard "Coda" has the most potential imho. Work on this, arrange it a little and give it some structure. You don't need to have more than a guitar to make it sound interesing, but you have to know how to use it.

You should try to use another way of recording. Try multitrack-recording. If you play guitar and sing live (that's how it seems to have been recorded when listening on my boxes) you can't concentrate enough on your playing or singing. It's quite simple nowadays with garageband, etc.
And try to work on your singing or you won't get above Dylan's level. Be sure to get all the notes and concentrate on hitting them.

Thank you for your comments. It's funny that you like "Coda" the best, that's one of my oldest songs and the recording is from three and a half years ago. Almost all of the songs (except maybe "Coda") are recorded using Audacity, with one track for instrumentation and one track for vocals.

Check everyone else's posts, man: nobody responds much to anyone here. A few of us try to, but not many. I'd guess we'd all like a (mostly complimentary with some constructively critical) thesis on our own work, but nobody seems too into listening to and talking about others' songs.

10 AM Yesterday is my favorite of your songs, though I think it's in the wrong octave or at least key for your voice. The low part sounds like you're pretending to sing low. When you bring it up toward the end, the pitch is shaky, but it's more believable. Generally speaking, your voice misses pitch pretty often. To me, that's usually an immediate turn-off. Even guys like Dylan, Reed or Waits whose voices are considered shaky are more problematic in tone than in actual pitch. But what I love is that you are (second use of the word) believable when you sing. Your vocals remind me of a great friend from college whose songs I adore to this day. I agree with Rocker that better vocal accuracy (assuming you wouldn't lose authenticity) would be great for you.

Allright, then I would try to make them a little cleaner. Just take your time to make it right.