Nur Ein XI Round Three "Walking On Eggshells"

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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by BenKrieger »

I'm out, folks. I turned my song in, but I loathe the final result so much that that I asked Niveous to take it down, allowing as few of you as possible to be subjected to it. I'm glad I got "This Is Not A Test" out of the contest this year!
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Lunkhead »

BenKrieger wrote:I'm out, folks. I turned my song in, but I loathe the final result so much that that I asked Niveous to take it down, allowing as few of you as possible to be subjected to it. I'm glad I got "This Is Not A Test" out of the contest this year!
:o :o :o
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Levittdown »

BenKrieger wrote:I'm out, folks. I turned my song in, but I loathe the final result so much that that I asked Niveous to take it down, allowing as few of you as possible to be subjected to it. I'm glad I got "This Is Not A Test" out of the contest this year!
Ahhhhh, I never thought of myself as being shameless but perhaps I will rethink my perception.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by grumpymike »

Is Michael forfeit or is a song missing?
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Lunkhead »

grumpymike wrote:Is Michael forfeit or is a song missing?
I thought he was eliminated in round one...?

http://nurein.songlander.com/titles/E99 ... C3258EB1C5
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by RangerDenni »

BenKrieger wrote:I'm out, folks. I turned my song in, but I loathe the final result so much that that I asked Niveous to take it down, allowing as few of you as possible to be subjected to it. I'm glad I got "This Is Not A Test" out of the contest this year!
I understand this, and only JUST read the reviews for Round 3 while cringing because I wished I'd withdrawn my last week's rodent tune. But the reviews were alarmingly kind. So we never really know. You might have won this round. That's how these things go. The important thing about this is how YOU feel about the song--and if you don't want it up then you did the right thing. NUR EIN.
ps. yes. your Rd. 0 was stellar :)
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by PepperJane »

BenKrieger wrote:I'm out, folks...
Are you gonna put a Benfriendly version over in with the n.e. leftovers where mine will go?
Waiting for my guest spoken word artist who recorded our tiny track in Toronto to send me a copy that actually mentions walking on eggshells (I was vague in my instruction). Do spare 1.5min of your time if any of you want to hear a Peruvian native gush psychojargon in Spanish). It may not really meet the title challenge but it sure is sexy! :-o
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by BenKrieger »

Ok. So what if my guest spoken word artist has encouraged me--especially after all the hard work that he put in--to go through with this. Can I unresign? That seems very un-Nur Ein-ish. Caravan Ray would laugh at me.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by glennny »

I want Ben back!
Does Tommy G have a copy? Will we hear it at the listening party?
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by RangerDenni »

BenKrieger wrote:Ok. So what if my guest spoken word artist has encouraged me--especially after all the hard work that he put in--to go through with this. Can I unresign? That seems very un-Nur Ein-ish. Caravan Ray would laugh at me.
All these reasons make me think you should be back in the ring :) and what's more Nur Ein than some emotional highjinks! :) I say do it and that's my 2 cents!! :)
"Really interesting how the point you’re making slowly emerges like Martin Sheen from the mud in Apocalypse Now..." ~j$
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Caravan Ray »

BenKrieger wrote:Ok. So what if my guest spoken word artist has encouraged me--especially after all the hard work that he put in--to go through with this. Can I unresign? That seems very un-Nur Ein-ish. Caravan Ray would laugh at me.
I laughed at you for resigning in the first place. That was very un-Nur Ein-ish.

It's a competition. Songwriting as sport. Out on the paddock, no one remembers the odd dropped ball or missed tackle - if you have the points on the board when the fat lady sings - that is all that matters.

I am happy for the judges to overlook Ben's premature resignation and let him back in. Nur Ein will be the real winner.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by PepperJane »

Caravan Ray laughs at everyone.
I did see a cartoon recently of the cow who jumped over the moon and it was the re-entry that killed him... still I'm on the Aussie side of 'havago' :-D
Everything is about perspective. :shock:
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by j$ »

W.A.I.L. I.A.A.C. 1+5+1+ ...

BGM – good pastiche but doesn’t go anywhere else with the idea. I was just listening to The Mothers of Invention’s ‘Freak Out’ just before listening to this round so you may be suffering in comparison to some of Frank’s doo-wop/50s pastiches. Wow, if that’s your son, he *does* have a deep voice! Very pretty and nicely done but doesn’t leap out at me. Goes past very easily, mind.

BSS – Lovely vocalising. Actually there’s very little here not to like – I must admit the spoken word part doesn’t bring anything much to the song. I like it (especially the stereo delay effect) but it’s basically just a spoken backing vocal and the song wouldn’t be any the worse for its absence. The ‘woodblock’ keyboard tone (sorry I don't know how else to desccribe it) under the chorus (just the sound not what’s being played) isn’t one I would’ve picked. Other than that, all good! The harmonies work well. Good song.

CD – Love the guitar / keyboard interaction/arrangement. As always there’s lots of interesting changes in the various parts to keep the pecker up. Usual complaints - the song’s a little too long and a few of the lyrical choices are clunky. Aside from those, I enjoyed the listen muchly.

DJRD – I love the soundscape created by the layering of samples. I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say there’s a specially recorded piece or two in here to meet the challenge (I’m guessing one at the start and one at the end but I’ve got cloth-ears ). Really interesting how the point you’re making slowly emerges like Martin Sheen from the mud in Apocalypse Now. As a piece of art, it’s great; as a repeated listening experience … ummmm.

DuToVa – Don’t like the spoken word piece. It feels unnecessary. However challenge met! Damn your voice sounds so good on this. At first I thought ‘oh this is fine but nothing new’ but damn it gets stuck in my head. The only thing I don’t like, I think, is the kick-drum – it’s a bit dry to be that relentless in the percussion? Maybe more reverb or go for a tom sound instead? Knows when to finish efficiently as well. Yeah, this a good’un. Just ditch that kick tone – you may even not need it at all.

Grumpy Mike – Another great dirty riff. The spoken words sit really well with the overall sound. I like the (sour take on the) message though the lyric isn’t the strongest part. Not sure the qualities carry the length of the song but I can imagine it going down a storm on stage. Not sure it’s linguistically correct to use “literally” followed by a simile but that’s neither here nor there. This is fine and impressively put together. I love the ‘cardboard box’ tone on the drums.

I-Veg – The tones take me straight back to the 80s. Which isn’t necessarily a good thing  The ‘doo doo’s work very well but the chorus isn’t quite as memorable (though when you bring in the guitar over it at the end I find it more interesting). Actually I really like everything the guitar is doing here.

Ken – Is that guitar slightly out of tune, at least with the other instruments? Probably not, it’s just something slightly off to me in the lower end. I love what’s being played especially the Rhodes-y keyboard. I really like the spoken word part here – it makes for a great vocal contrast. And the Moog-y solo is great. Harmonies are well placed, also. Yeah, it’s just my perceived thing with the guitar that’s stopping me embracing it further. I have listened 4 times now trying to prove to myself that I’m mad but that’s still what I’m hearing.

Levittown – Ah, no. My bête noire is meta. For me writing about writing is the last refuge of a man out of ideas. As suicide notes go, there are some great things here. The bass, simple as it is, really gives the song more depth. You do that country-ish thing well, the voice sounds good (though sometimes the phrasing is ever so slightly ahead of the track/clumsy). It’s short, to the point and tells a story. All ticks in my boxes BUT it’s just whining about yourself so this is not something I’d ever listen to again. Sorry.

Paco Del Stinko – loving the claps. Claps are good! BVs are well considered. Lovely bass tone/playing. I like how it’s a different direction of sorts but with Rock Paco still there, fighting to get out and let rip. The lyric is a bit earnest. Nice warm sounding guest spoken words. It’s good. Maybe not the most memorable chorus (despite the impressiveness of its arrangement) but not much else to complain about.

RankCorps – The words are great. This may be the RankCorps song where the noise filter on the vocal is too much for me. I think the vocal is mixed slightly louder than previous songs? Anyway it’s overpowering the song at times, particularly with the slightly sour backing vocals. That said the guest spoken word part is very funny. The tune is funky and cute. I do like this a lot, it’s just my ears hurt now and not in a good way.

[EDIT FOR REINSTATEMENT]Solo Frijoles Not sure what all the drama was for (though I did it for 'Baseball vs. Opera' entry years back so I guess I can appreciate the angst) I like this - it makes me think of Laurie Anderson and a little bit the spoken parts in Talking Heads 'Once in a Lifetime', which puts you in good company. I like the sense of melody hiding beneath the furious, unrelenting pace and the "non-musical" interludes make a nice change - it could do with a change of pace and maybe the instrumental section underneath the end when it really goes for it could have been presaged earlier as some kind of off-kilter chorus? I like the experimentation, the fun lyric (with same great individual phrases) - I am not sure overall it quite adds up to more than the sum of its parts but I am really glad you re-entered as it's good and sounds like very little else here.

Strangely Brown – Big problem here for me - the chorus bits don’t have anywhere enough impact to carry the momentum of the song. Your voice sounds really good and I like the simple but effective drive of the musical arrangement. Spoken word works well. Everything works for me except the chorus bits.


and ...

Micah Sommersmith
– Does this count as a shanty? The lyric is fun and the guest spoken word is cleverly used. It feels slightly underdeveloped, perhaps but it’s smart and sassy and exudes fun, so all’s good.
Last edited by j$ on Tue May 10, 2016 3:54 pm, edited 2 times in total.
BenKrieger
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by BenKrieger »

Well, I put in my reinstate request, we'll see.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by grumpymike »

Thanks for the consistently thorough and fair reviews, j$! As an FYI, I wrote the words with some tongue-in-cheek! (I laughed really hard at "dozen planets" and my reference to egg-and-spoon race!)
j$ wrote:I love the ‘cardboard box’ tone on the drums.
Do you think it the samples or the processing? I had a heck of a time mastering this one!
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by j$ »

TBH I think 'cardboard box' is probably just bad choice of words on my part. I wanted to compliment them and just couldn't think of another way of describing the sound. It's definitely not the mastering, they've just got a crunchy, slabby sound which suits the song perfectly. I am assuming therefore it's the samples, with some phattening from a slight delay or reverb on them? Either way, whatever you did, keep doing that. it makes them sound slabby-me-like!

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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by grumpymike »

Indeed, I spend a lot of time trying to get the right drum tones! Had a lot of fun with the toms this time!
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Niveous »

BenKrieger wrote:Well, I put in my reinstate request, we'll see.
You have been reinstated. Your song is up for listening.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Niveous »

j$ wrote:As suicide notes go, there are some great things here.
One of my favorite J$ statements ever.
"I'd like to see 1984 redubbed with this in the soundtrack."- Furrypedro.
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by Levittdown »

Niveous wrote:
j$ wrote:As suicide notes go, there are some great things here.
One of my favorite J$ statements ever.
I'm glad I could help facilitate this!
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by RangerDenni »

j$ wrote:W.A.I.L. I.A.A.C. 1+5+1+ ...
DJRD – I love the soundscape created by the layering of samples. I am going to give you the benefit of the doubt and say there’s a specially recorded piece or two in here to meet the challenge (I’m guessing one at the start and one at the end but I’ve got cloth-ears ).
Thank you for your review! It was much enjoyed and appreciated. Yes. The voices dealing with the Leakage Situation and then continuing to talk about the dating and boyfriend bringing supplies and what product one might switch to in order to facilitate an easier period and how to manage the whole thing; all the way thru the fade out... those were my guest artists Dave Leigh and Tom Giarrosso. They were good sports and we talked a LOT about what I call 'The Time when the Traveling Minstrels come through to trash Hotel Luna.' I also did a pianoteq vibraphone and used an iPhone tool called Figure by Propellerhead that I think jb told us about when it first came out long ago. I love that thing. :)
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Re: Nur Ein XI- Round Three

Post by BenKrieger »

Niveous wrote:You have been reinstated. Your song is up for listening.
Cool!
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