some songs on soundclick

[Protege]

Hi,

For anyone interested protege now have two downloadable songs;

www.soundclick.com/protegescotland

would be good to hear your oppinions, sadly the quality isn't great, we ran out of money before mistakes! but it gives an idea of what the band is about.

Thanks.

[Larsen B]

First off the quality sounds fine to me and there aren't any mistakes I notice, although i'm sure some petty twats on this site will point them out to me.

Digital Dreams: hate the title, don't like what the song is about personally because it all seems rather specualtive, but listening to the song i could easily think it was about something else. Musically i liked the piano and the vocals were spot on tune-wise and it sounds suitabley sparse. The bit where the bass comes in is good although i wondered if you intended it to have more impact when it came it in, tho i think it is fine as it is.

The other one, Another Average Weirdo (that right?), i thought lyrically was stupid and picking on an easy target. Musically it's interesting but it someone doesn't quite hold together properly for me.

There's certainly potential there.

[Chi 666]

not my cup o tea but fuck it i like it man, im more into the metal side o things but likein the tunes man. keep it commin.

[-matthEw-]

this is pretty darn good. really like the 2nd one.

[less_than_stu]

Digital Dreams:

Piano's a bit reminiscent of "Feeling Good" by Nina Simone, but then you can't escape that if you have a descending bass-line. Very atmospheric nonetheless. I like the Floyd-esque vocals, although they're slightly better when you get a bit of power behind your voice there. I'm a bit of a fan of distorted bass, especially since I have a nice ol' overdrive pedal, and yet usually have to play bass instead of guitar.

One criticism would be that this riff has been looping under the vocals for a wee while now. My ears want it to be slowly building into a climax. You know, heavier drums, heavier piano, heavier bass, voice getting more powerful. Then again, that's just what my third ear hears.

Overall, the song's a little limited by only really having the one section over and over again, but it was a good section nonetheless, and I did like it.

Another Average Weirdo: Worried by the synth-strings...

First thing I'm thinking is that I prefer the Radiohead side of the band to the 80's side of the band. Of course that's just my taste. The vocals definitely suited the more atmospheric and serious setting of the first piece though. One thing I'll say for this track is that I like the acoustic guitar being strummed from the right-speaker.

Don't get me wrong, it's not bad, I was just more impressed by the first piece.

Keep it up though... I'd be interested to see what else you guys are creating.

[Mick Maverik]

I liked both songs. Good work.

Andy

[Larsen B]

One criticism would be that this riff has been looping under the vocals for a wee while now. My ears want it to be slowly building into a climax. You know' date=' heavier drums, heavier piano, heavier bass, voice getting more powerful. Then again, that's just what my third ear hears.[/quote']

Your third ear wants a gargantuan post-rock crescendo. You are right about the repetition. Digital Dreams also sounds a bit like Safe by M83, but similarly to Feeling Good it's purely because it's descending.

[Ollie]

aye interestin'

[Protege]

Thanks

thank you for your comments,

In response; when played live digital dreams does build a lot more and the bass is louder, therefore it does have more impact.

Thanks for the comments on the vocals, never like the sound of my own voice so I liked that. ;0)

Another Average Weirdo is a song written for people in pubs (and A&R men) who just want something catchy to listen, one for the kids if you like. As for goths being an easy target... I've nothing against the actual goth community, infact I have many goth friends. The idea of th song is getting at the people who dress like goths but don't really share their values. I'm sorry if it offended anyone, unless of course they are one of those 'designer goths' themselves.

Thanks again.

P.s. there are a few more tracks available on the site for free download,

Material Society, Socialist Sacrifice (recorded 3 years ago) & Another rose garden.

[Marsh]

I really like your stuff even though it's not the kind of thing i'd usually go for. More into punk and heavier rock, but your tunes really grabbed my attention.

I downloaded all 5 tracks and listened to them last night on the way home on my Mp3 player and I liked them all.

I got a Pink Floyd sort of vibe from some of the tracks, in an atmospheric sort of way. the keyboards and effects add texture to your songs. You are all good solid players - some of the songs have the odd fluffed bit here and there, but I'm sure every pro band sounds similar before they shell out 200,000 on a producer and Pro Tools! It's good, however, that the songs have a "live" feel to them - definitely keep that aspect to your sound when recording again!

Your vocals are pretty unique in a Jarvis Cocker kind of way in places (fully a compliment, by the way) You sound yourself (I've never met you, but what I'm trying to say is you don't imitate anyone - another plus point.)

My constructive criticism:

Your other two singers have good voices and I think they are a strong addition to your songs, but I think the lack of harmony slighty spoils bits of the song, so I would say work on the harmonies - that's easily fixed - practice makes perfect.

The "Designer Goth" song sounds to me like it doesn't fit the music very well in some way. I honestly would like to hear an instrumental of that track beacuse the music's really good but to me it sounds clumsy with the lyrics on top. You know you mentioned how it's for A & R folk and the like - why not give it a punchier, more compact sound and hammer home the chorus? The lyrics are very good - I enjoyed listening to them - thought provoking is the term iId use.

It is great to hear a local band making music that's slightly different - I hope everyone, regardless of your fave style of music, can listen to at least a couple of the tracks and see what they think.

Good work fellas, and make sure you let us know when you are playing live next. I'd be really keen to see you.

Cheers,

Marsh.

[Protege]

Thanks marsh, will post when we play live next.

We're going to head down to Cellar 35 on Thursday 29th Sep for a wee set there, just a few songs though.

Thanks again to everyone for their comments.