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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 2:41 pm
by ken
Lunkhead wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 9:19 am
bgm did a Song Fight entry so I figured he'd be back for Nur Ein but I don't think he is. I didn't hear Ben Krieger in there but he's a bit of a chameleon so who knows. I think two years ago there were seven returning champions but this year has topped that.

(Is your "x2" meant to indicate folks that have won Nur Ein twice? I think that only applies to Frank and Adam/Puce/etc.)
Yes, you must be correct. I guess I read the artist page at https://nurein.songlander.com/artists.html wrong. It made it look like Caravan Ray won once as himself and once as Tydon Docks.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 2:57 pm
by glennny
The return of Champs:

NE #1 Champ- Glenn Case is back in Agony sauce, and sounds like he contributes to Rachel Layne to some degree.
NE # 2 Champ- Puce is also #12 Champ Skub is back as Max Bombast
NE # 3 Champ - WSA is 3/4 back as Faster Jackalope
NE # 4 Champ- Frankie Big Face is also NE # 7 Champ s back
NE # 5 Champ - Ben Kriegr is NOT back , as far as I can tell
NE # 6 Champ- Paco del Stinko is back
NE # 7 ( see # 4 )
NE # 8 Champ- Carlo Bruno Jr. Is NOT back, as far as I can tell
NE # 9 Champ- Tydon Docks AKA Caravan Ray is back as Mousehole
NE # 10 Champ- Nick Soma is back
NE # 11 Champ - BGM is NOT back , as far as I can tell
NE # 12 Champ ( see # 2)
NE # 13 Champ- Merisan is back

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 3:11 pm
by Lunkhead
ken wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 2:41 pm
Lunkhead wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 9:19 am
bgm did a Song Fight entry so I figured he'd be back for Nur Ein but I don't think he is. I didn't hear Ben Krieger in there but he's a bit of a chameleon so who knows. I think two years ago there were seven returning champions but this year has topped that.

(Is your "x2" meant to indicate folks that have won Nur Ein twice? I think that only applies to Frank and Adam/Puce/etc.)
Yes, you must be correct. I guess I read the artist page at https://nurein.songlander.com/artists.html wrong. It made it look like Caravan Ray won once as himself and once as Tydon Docks.
Ah, yeah, it's a little confusing there. "Wins" means _rounds_ won, not contests won. "Nur Eins" is the column that shows how many Nur Ein contests the artist has won.

Dang, I'm going to have to update that page now, aargh.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 3:18 pm
by Manhattan Glutton
Maybe I don't know what I'm talking about, but isn't Rain Watt Ben Krieger?

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 3:24 pm
by Niveous
No. Rain Watt is not Ben.

Speaking of, they are one of the folks waiting to be activated during the forum lockdown. Name: ariskofrain.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 3:29 pm
by Lunkhead
Niveous wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 3:24 pm
No. Rain Watt is not Ben.

Speaking of, they are one of the folks waiting to be activated during the forum lockdown. Name: ariskofrain.
Done!

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 3:36 pm
by Manhattan Glutton
I’m glad my ignorance was useful. 😀

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 5:27 pm
by Mike Lamb
bennyharv3 wrote:
Thu May 02, 2019 5:24 pm
Sorry for the long delay, but the New Ugly review of Round 0 is finally live! http://podcast.songlander.com/?name=201 ... in14-0.mp3 or on iTunes. If you want it anywhere else, ask Mike, because he has all the admin stuff.
Hey, thanks a lot for hearing what I was trying to achieve! Hopefully my next song will be less ambitious and more put-together. I should have known better than to try and lead off with a concept album. 8-)

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 6:03 pm
by ariskofrain
hello, hi, and hey! it's me, rain (she/her!), and it's nice to be nur ein'in with you all.

so, boy howdy, am i embarrassed, not reading stuff right! i thought message received was the name of the challenge, not that it had to be the name of the song. oops. thankfully, i have begged forgiveness, and have not been disqualified for my blunder. thanks all for the remarkably kind things about my entry, being compared to bands that i don't listen to a lot of but that i know people like is really nice, and i am always glad to be reminded that i do need to listen to neutral milk hotel at some point.

some entries i'd like to shout out:

max bombast: wowee. this is absolutely gorgeous, there's something magical about that sweet chromatic descending line, and your voice is in-cred-i-ble. i get the prior comparisons to muse, but i think that does you a disservice, this is a thousand times better than anything they've put out in ages.

vowl sounds: genuinely lovely details all over the place, there's an intricacy to the arranging of elements here that makes this a real delight to listen to.

merisan: this is GREAT. i want a lil heavier hand from the production, a little more dirt. having said that, i imagine havin this on a cassette tape, and playing it til it warps, really killer entry.

frankie big face: this has a lovely vibe, though i have to admit i keep waiting for the space-oddity-style drums to come barreling in. very very much looking forward to more fbf.

the sunday colors: i mean, i feel like i'm just a sucker for this kinda thing, if my own entry didn't make that obvious enough. i think there's a lot of songs i've heard, and saw people perform, and heard people write that sounds a lot like this, but there's a certain cleverness and craft to this one that elevates it beyond. <3.

damn. what a good line-up. looking forward to the rest of the rounds with y'all.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 6:57 pm
by Spintown
For those who don’t know me, I used to run SpinTunes. I’m not a musician, I’ve only written lyrics for a few songs/parodies/jingles, and I have no real background that qualifies me as an expert of any kind. This won’t stop me from judging you & possibly talking out of my ass from time to time.

How I Judge:
When it comes to the technical stuff, I’m pretty useless. So expect me to focus a lot on the lyrics & just tell you what I thought sounded cool. Because I do focus a lot on the lyrics a lot I may or may not hold it against you if you don’t post your lyrics in Ye Olde Lyric Archive. (I totally will hold it against you, so post that shit.) Judging isn’t as hard as writing the songs, but it’s still time consuming, and having the lyrics available is a huge help to speeding up the process. So if you don’t post lyrics, I’m likely not going to review you until you do. I’m a big fan of clear stories that aren’t left for the listener to “figure out” their own meaning. You don’t have to use the title of the challenge in your song, but I do enjoy that…

-----------------------------------------------------

Vowl Sounds
This was the last song I listened to, and I’m glad you ended things on a positive note. The idea was a natural, and honestly I was getting tired of some of the same old same old takes on this title. The story was entertaining, cute, and everything was pretty well executed. You win this round for me. This was kinda like a walk off home run in extra innings...

Max Bombast
Cut that start down about 10-15 seconds. There wasn’t much there when it came to the music, but I didn’t get bored because everything else was pretty solid. The vocals were really good, the story was entertaining, the lyrics flowed well, and honestly I had a blast singing along with this one.

Faster Jackalope
Music is relaxing & pretty, and the vocals match in tune perfectly. The first verse has some Yoda like moments in it. I mean nobody speaks like that, and it just throws me off as a listener when I get lines like the first 4. I l-o-v-E the chorus, but you get an F in spelling. Other than that I thought the chorus was wonderful. I had to look up what “cloying” is...so I learned something because of this song. Not sure the average joe would know what that means (the 2 people I asked online didn’t), so careful with your word selection. This song seems like it’s aiming for a broader audience, and things like that might limit the appeal.

Agony Sauce
I didn’t see your lyrics posted.

Mandibles
Do people refer to Rhodesia as “dry Rhodesia” on the regular? Because if not that just sounds off, and it’s the start of your song, so you really want to get that first line right. Also, “night-ly” was kinda lame. Overall though, I enjoyed the story with the twist ending. The vocals & music were solid...I guess my complaints are minor considering I liked the song. They just set a bad tone since those things were right at the start.

Frankie Big Face
Tranquil as fuck. You set a mood, maintained it throughout, and I didn’t get bored. Well done. The chorus was probably my least favorite part of the song, it just didn’t really hook me, and felt like a throwaway almost.

Grumpy Mike
The vocals are too low in the mix for me, especially at the start. It annoys me more when I hear that you can actually sing. I thought it was an interesting choice to write this in the form of a letter, and even though I don’t know what it’s all about, I think it works well. Oh, and the ending was great.

Boffo Yux Dudes
This is a very BYD idea, and one of their better ideas. A fight song for the zamboni driver is funny, but a fight song also fits the challenge perfectly. My only real complaint is that the vocals during the verses don’t seem all that excited & the music also seems a bit uninspired. I mean drink a Red Bull or something prior to recording, cause Mr. Zamboni is going to think your heart really isn’t in this song.

Merisan
I mean the story is lacking, but the music & vocals were really tight. I would like to hear the vocals a little hotter in places. They get a little lost at times, and that voice doesn’t deserve to be lost...ever. It’s a very solid entry. Not an entry I’ll remember in the long run, because of the lack of an interesting story, but for right now I hear it’s merits.

Rachael Layne
No lyrics posted.

Inflatable Vegetables
I liked that the story was very clear from start to end, and the lyrics flowed well...mostly. I say mostly because after “Can’t make her stay” in the chorus the pause before “LA’s calling” feels uncomfortably long. The music wasn’t really inspired, but it got the job done, and I could say the same for the vocals. Just good enough not to complain about or compliment you on.

Abominominous
At first listen I enjoyed the sound you created, and the vocal flow? Is that a thing? I’m making it a thing if it’s not. However I had no idea what the fuck the song was about. So I listened again while reading along with the lyrics. That didn’t help, I’m still confused as fuck as to what it’s about. I did like that you used spelling in the song without really screwing up the flow & forcing it in there. The story needs to be a little more clear for my liking, at points it was like random words thrown together...but with style!

Ujn Hunter + Friends
This is hard for me cause I don’t get it. I like the energy, I the sound...but yeah...this will end up near the bottom of my list cause I simply don’t get it.

- Another judge gave me some insight into your song. I still like the sound, but the lack of an interesting story limits how much I can enjoy this. Props for doing Song Fight & Nur Ein both though.

Rain Watt
No lyrics posted.

The Sunday Colors
No lyrics posted.

Third Cat
You sound bored with your vocals. Overall the story about a crazy guy who I’m assuming is also on drugs (because if this isn’t a song to trip to nothing is), is interesting enough. Unfortunately nothing about this song screams “I’m in this round to win it.” Because I feel you can probably improve on everything here if you wanted to.

Mousehole
Nothing really grabbed my attention with this song, but my biggest complaint is the use of spelling. Sure you spelled a lot, but I glazed over before you made it through the chorus once.

Nick Soma
I love your take on the challenge, and I wish more people would have thought outside the box a little. However, I don’t think it was executed all that well. You songs flow is that of an old man with a kidney stone problem. Those letters seem so forced, and I know it’s not easy to make that work & be smooth, but still... Overall the music just wasn’t for me, not exactly helpful feedback I guess, but I just didn’t like the sound.

Paco del Stinko
The story was pretty bland. The thing I’ll probably remember most is the “I G-O-T-I-T got it” line. That was kinda catchy, but the rest of the song was very forgettable to me.

Berkeley Social Scene
Vocals seem a little sloppy & the the way you used spelling the first 2 times sounds like an autistic kid in a spelling bee. I kinda liked the instrumental that starts around 1:35, but overall this one wasn’t for me.

Lucky Spoon
You can sing, and I at first I was interested in the lyrics. But then I get a bit lost, and I’m wondering who James is...and the rap starts. After getting a little context from the lyrics page I had to laugh. I don’t think I’d seek this out to listen to again, but I think you did what you set out to do, and it’s gets you in round 1. So nice work?

Lichen Throat
For the first 18 seconds you had me interested. I thought the sound was interesting enough, but then the vocals came in & I thought you got Ben Stein as a guest vocalist. Also, that sound I thought might be interesting wasn’t after more than 2 minutes. The song just came at you nonstop like a horny turtle attracted to a stone. Steady...slow...misguided...but motivated. When things did change up briefly it reminded me of a Sci Fi flick where someone was traveling through time & they hear voices speeding up & slowing down oddly. Lyrically you told a pretty clear story, and it’s poetic at times. But as is, you didn’t package & present it as a song I’d want to listen to again.

Fisher and Diaz
No lyrics posted.

Mike Lamb
No lyrics posted.

Pigfarmer Jr.
I listened to the entire thing, and I think you know me well enough to know that I wasn’t happy about it. My intro pretty much tells you why if not.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 7:34 pm
by Lunkhead
Just an FYI to the judges, the boards are on lockdown because of spam bot registrations. They have been for a long time, like years, like since before I had admin rights. That means new users have to have their accounts manually approved by an admin. I'm the only admin that's currently very active on the boards. To approve accounts I have to go look at the list of inactive accounts. I don't get any kind of real time notification about new registrations. I was checking semi regularly originally a long time ago but nearly 100% of the registrations were spam for so long that after a while I checked it less and less frequently. Any Nur Ein participant who is new and makes an account on the boards now would not have been able to post lyrics here even if they tried, because their accounts would have been sitting around waiting for approval, and even then, the first few posts by new accounts also require approval too. Dinging people for not doing something they can't do no matter how hard they try (because it requires other people to be involved) is going to give folks who already have board accounts an unfair advantage. If you really really want folks to provide lyrics it might be a good idea to email everybody and tell them that, and have them email in their lyrics. That doesn't preclude folks from posting lyrics on the boards too if they're able to. And any participant who's new and signing up should contact fightmaster@songfight.net over email or message the Song Fight Facebook page (not the group) to let me know they signed up and need their account approved (please provide your account name). Also if it's required for participants to submit lyrics it might be a good idea to add that to the rules.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 8:07 pm
by Spintown
Thanks for the heads up, but I didn't ding them in the rankings. Just dinged them by not reviewing them. So shouldn't affect the outcome at all. At least on my part.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 8:51 pm
by Cybronica
BoffoYux wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 2:30 pm
Mandibles. Cybronica’s vocals are interesting because it’s blues rock as done with a hint of opera. It’s quirky. I enjoyed it but I can see how it may not be everyone’s cup of tea. The song is a decent li’l rocker, like a Heart b-side. I dig it, though there was no need for those high notes towards the end.
Agree to disagree. There's always a need for a high not at the end! ^_^
ariskofrain wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 6:03 pm
i thought message received was the name of the challenge, not that it had to be the name of the song. oops.
Nice to meet you, Rain! Don't feel too bad- I did EXACTLY the same thing when I first joined, and I didn't realize until after the next round, where I was disqualified... oops.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 9:11 pm
by Lunkhead
Spintown wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 8:07 pm
Thanks for the heads up, but I didn't ding them in the rankings. Just dinged them by not reviewing them. So shouldn't affect the outcome at all. At least on my part.
OK cool, just wanted to make sure everybody was on the same page about the ability (or lack thereof) of different folks to post lyrics.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Fri May 03, 2019 10:00 pm
by arby
hello all. I have not caught up on the thread because I've been busy writing my reviews. I really enjoyed most of the songs in this round - congratulations on a great start!!!

Note about using the title in the challenge: It is my understanding (and I've asked Nivs and he agreed with me) that you must either use the title directly (i.e. say it in the lyrics) OR write the song so that it sounds like it should be called the title. I personally think the latter would be an interesting thing to try to do (without actually SAYING the title, make the song so that all the rest of the lyrics add up to the title),but it is risky as the judges might not agree that it sounds like it should be the title. However if you do neither, you will get dinged in the ranking. Sometimes I forgot to do that this round, I will be listening more closely for the title in future rounds.

Vowl Sounds - utterly charming from the get go. This is a great little song that I will definitely listen to again. The music reminds me of Vampire Weekend somehow, I don't know why but I love it. The only thing I would have liked to add or change would be if there was a call back to the “light as a feather” line later on, because that line sounds so good over the melodic riff that I wanted to hear it again. This song made my heart feel light as a feather! I’m grinning so hard at the end of this. Also I love the clever use of the Ouija board to do the spelling part of the challenge. Very, VERY well done.

Frankie Big Face - This sets a mood instantly and it's a nice one. I like sad songs with sparkly bits. nice voice and nice production. I will listen to this again for sure. Interestingly enough this one didn’t really stick with me as much as some of the others did, but every time I listen to it I still like it a lot.

Rachael Layne - so poppy and catchy. Something about this is just the tiniest bit country, which I usually I hate, but I find this very charming. I L-O-V-E the harmonies. and the chord change at the end of the chorus is very satisfying ("it just ain't no good"). also I love the bridge. This reminds me of an obscure Canadian band I love called The Waltons. Check ‘em out. I had this song stuck in my head literally all day today.

Max Bombast - Love the morse code - great idea, well executed. I was hoping someone would do that for this challenge. This song grabbed me from the first line. I should have dinged him for not using the title, but I was so busy bopping along I didn't notice. He has such a unique voice that always reminds me of the band Spoon. I will definitely listen to this song again.

Lichen Throat - I just love Lichen Throat's voice. Always reminds me of Echo and the Bunnymen. That said, he's a bit pitchy at times. fix that and you're golden. The music is great, I’m immediately taken back to the 90s.

Third Cat - This has a kind of 60’s-via-90’s feeling to it that I really dug. His voice is unique sounding, even though his pitch is a bit questionable at times, somehow it works for him. Reminds me of Martin Newell/The Cleaners From Venus (jangle-pop). The chorus is v. catchy. Key change is great. The way he claws his way up to the high note just makes it. Nice solo and instrumentation throughout. I just wish it were longer!

The Sunday Colors - Great lyrics, great music/playing, great voice. Not great production values. It's simply way too quiet in the beginning (verses) and then abruptly gets loud in the middle (bridge). Poor production values are something my band got dinged for every time in Nur Ein/Spintunes and it always made me mad because I was like "it's a songwriting contest, not a production contest!" but now I see the problem, which is that your song and performance can be awesome but we can barely hear you, it's really hard to judge how good it is. Listen to all the submissions on shuffle and it becomes really obvious. I should have dinged this for not using the title but I didn't notice before I did my rankings.

Rain Watt - Reminds me of Semisonic, which is a huge compliment as I love them (Feeling Strangely Fine is an amazing record). Love the lyrics and the tune is incredibly catchy. A 2 minute piece of power-pop heaven.

Grumpy Mike - this reminds me a LOT of Tool. I love Tool. So why isn't it rated higher? The vocals on the chorus high notes are pretty weak/pitchy. I love me some Maynard James Keenan, but you, sir, are no MJK. Also the lyrics are only okay, kind of generic high school angst. The music is great, though.

Paco del Stinko - This was fun. I like the spelling in this one and the chord changes over those 2nd set of “Got it”s are great. The thing I didn’t like as much about this one was the rhythm guitar sounds too fuzzed out/crunchy, it kind of hurt my ears. But a cute, good effort.

Faster Jackalope - Pretty instrumentation, I like the slide guitar a lot. Nice alliteration on “worried weeks” The chorus is very catchy though the spellilng is a bit corny. I like the harmonies. I like how the arrangement is always adding bits and keeping it interesting (“sameness is cloying”, indeed). The bridge SOUNDS great but the lyrics bug me (“I’ll ignore the words you say” sounds kind of rapey, sorry.) This was very solid but the flaws prevent it from ranking higher.

Fisher and Diaz - Fisher & Diaz always crack me up. I just like their sense of humor. even the way the guy says "Diaz" in the beginning makes me laugh. And the rapping is not bad! The lyrics are funny. "dinosaur, dinosaur", ha. The Message in A Bottle homage was awesome, I was like “what does this sound like” and then they said it and I was v. amused. Pitchy backing vocals and a somewhat abrupt ending moved it down my list, but I liked it.

Merisan - I find Erin’s singing irritating because she has a kind of coy affectation in her vocal delivery. While her voice itself is good, she lacks emotion. It all sounds very AOR, radio-ready in this way that just doesn’t really do it for me. That said, this song is pretty good musically, though lyrically slight (that's another way in which they remind me of Top 40, the lyrics sound like they're saying something but if you try to actually parse out the story, it goes nowhere). If I think of it as Susannah Hoffs it makes me like it more. I like the harmonies and the arrangement. I just wish she would sing out in a straightforward manner with some feeling behind it, instead of trying to sound “sexy” all the time.

Agony Sauce - This chorus is *exactly* what I expected someone to do with this challenge. Points off for being so predictable. That said, I enjoyed the bridge ("what we have here is a failure to communicate" etc) and the production is nice. The guitar sounds meaty and the drums are really surround sound in my earbuds. If only I liked the rest of the song as much as I like the bridge!

Ujn Hunter + Friends - This is a trip. i'm instantly reminded of G.S. I Love You, a compilation of Japanese garage rock bands from the 60s. Catchy AF, the music is great. however big dings for not posting a translation of the Thai lyrics. There's only so much I can make of a song where I don't understand most of the words and even what i can understand (i.e. the English lyrics) doesn't really make much sense. Also a ding for the kiddie voice sample at the end. I hate that kind of thing.

Mandibles - First off, I have to say I am apparently alone in being not a huge fan of Cybronica's voice/singing. She's got that over-singing, too much vibrato, Broadway/theater club, swooping at notes and sometimes missing them thing going on that drives me crazy. That said, I really like this song. Lyrics are clever ("fourteen fortnights later" especially made me smile), though I don’t really understand why the couple is back together at the end. I love the chord change at the end of the pre-chorus ("crater", "traitor" etc). I just wish I could get past the singing. Maybe try letting the guy sing one?

Berkeley Social Scene - I like the prog rock touches on this a lot (riffs and solos). The singing is kind of typically aggressively mediocre. BSS is fine. They're just not my cup of tea. Lyrics are pretty funny. Points for balls. I wouldn't listen to this outside the contest, that's all.

Mike Lamb - eh. I see what you did here, it just doesn't speak to me at all. Music is pretty generic hard rock, lyrics are scifi. Ok. Very nu-metal, reminds me of Linkin Park. Wouldn't listen to.

Nick M. Soma - Anagram concept is cool but because I have a short attention span I lost track of what it was spelling. Reading the lyrics back it is cleverly done. This is not bad at all, but it doesn’t really move me. Cool guitar solo. Wouldn’t listen outside of the contest.

Mousehole - I kept having to double check that this wasn't Berkeley Social Scene. it's fine, just generic. nothing new here either musically or lyrically.

Abominominous - There's nothing technically wrong with it. I just don't care for the style of music. There's a lot going on in this production. Sounds like the Ramones singing 90’s alternative. Lyrics are trying too hard to be clever/badass and leave me cold. 5 dollar words indeed. Kind of obnoxious overall.

Lucky Spoon - This sounds like half the dudes with guitars I hear at the open mics. His voice is ok but not great, ditto the guitar playing. I like the echo/reverb “can you read what is written” part. That’s probably the only part I really like about this song. Lyrics don’t make much sense. Who the hell is James?? And oh my GOD the rap. The rap is pretty bad. I’m sorry. I know it’s an in-joke/personal reference but it ruins the song just the way the rap apparently ruined the song they were listening to that “inspired” them to ruin their own song. Why, guys, why.

Boffo Yux Dudes - This is a cute, catchy, fun song, but it barely shoehorned in the title and it doesn't sound like it should be called Message Received. I wanted to like this so much more but I had to ding it a lot for failing to meet requirements. Lead vocal and in fact everything about this reminds me of my friend Mitch Friedman, which predisposes me to like it. (BYD you should check him out on bandcamp, you'd love his stuff. he's got the same corny sense of humor as you do.)

Inflatable Vegetables - Meh. The lyrics really turned me off on this one, and the music didn't move me either. I feel like this is like half the Eagles catalog. Shallow woman sick of narrator's sad sack lack of achievement? So boring. Been there done that, hated it on the radio.

Pigfarmer Jr. - This would have been really cool if it were the experimental START of the song, and then an actual song followed. As it was, I looked up at my computer after a minute in and said to myself “Wait, it’s like this the whole song?” Yeah, no. It’s Round 0 so it didn’t hurt you, but I skip it every time it comes up in my shuffle.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 12:19 am
by vowlvom
Damn, I've only just remembered that I was going to make a "hilarious" joke in my Mandibles review about it being a story about a couple who are really into B-A-C-O-N and it saves their relationship. Oh well.

Enjoying all the reviews, thanks to everyone writing them!

Also hi Rain! Your first song was a great introduction, excited to hear more from you!

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 9:41 am
by BoffoYux
arby wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 10:00 pm
Boffo Yux Dudes - This is a cute, catchy, fun song, but it barely shoehorned in the title and it doesn't sound like it should be called Message Received. I wanted to like this so much more but I had to ding it a lot for failing to meet requirements. Lead vocal and in fact everything about this reminds me of my friend Mitch Friedman, which predisposes me to like it. (BYD you should check him out on bandcamp, you'd love his stuff. he's got the same corny sense of humor as you do
Good points. The song was inspired by the title, but we did emphasize the spelling use. We got to the final draft and realized it didn’t have the title IN the song, but I wasn’t aware it was a requirement for the song to be about the title, just inspired by it. So if you notice the lyrics for the 3rd verse had changed, it was because we did have some time just before the buzzer to adjust it.

It might be more appropriate for ‘Message Sent’, since the fans are imploring the driver to get the ice ready, as opposed to the driver getting the message, but that’s just point of view. I focused more on the ‘inspired by’ part of the challenge, since I didn’t see where it was a requirement or obligation other than actually calling the song the same title.

We do have a flaw in trying to get too cute with the challenges. In ‘Trial by Fire’ we added a mythological siren as well as a physical one. 3:20 added ambiance of an Olive Garden. Colorblind ended up being an XTC / Dukes of the Stratosphere homage to a cuckholded Elizabethan. Not the most accessible material, but if it amuses us, it’s fair game. It will usually ding us in judging time, but we still got a song out of the process, which was the original intent.

But thanks for the feedback, and I’ll check out Mitch. He sounds like he has some fun material.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 10:20 am
by arby
BoffoYux wrote:
Sat May 04, 2019 9:41 am
We do have a flaw in trying to get too cute with the challenges. In ‘Trial by Fire’ we added a mythological siren as well as a physical one. 3:20 added ambiance of an Olive Garden. Colorblind ended up being an XTC / Dukes of the Stratosphere homage to a cuckholded Elizabethan. Not the most accessible material, but if it amuses us, it’s fair game. It will usually ding us in judging time, but we still got a song out of the process, which was the original intent.
A hahaha XTC are one of my favorite bands of all time. I'll have to check Colorblind out (we got eliminated before that round, so I never listened to the rest of the rounds). I remember your 3:20, it was definitely amusing. Nothing wrong with making music just to amuse yourself!

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 10:48 am
by Lunkhead
I thought the BYD song was super fun, and I _loved_ the out-of-left-field ness of its topic. It was a very welcome relief for me among the 25 entries in that sense. Great job on it!

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 3:46 pm
by grumpymike
Thanks for the detailed input, Arby! And everyone else too, really. It’s amazing to have so many round 0 reviews.
arby wrote:
Fri May 03, 2019 10:00 pm
OR write the song so that it sounds like it should be called the title
I don’t want to rehash the age-old philosophical debate on this, but for any judge following this heuristic, I do humbly request that you be charitable and give benefit of the doubt, and also consider rewarding rather than punishing. You guys don’t have time to analyze 25 songs’ lyrics, so it’s likely someone will be cut and there will be more hard feelings than need to be. It’s also likely that contestants will write more joke and kids songs to avoid being cut. Arby, I don’t think you would like if Maynard made the chorus of Lateralus “lateralus, lateralus, round the block drives the yellow school bus”. I assume we all want to make and receive good music that doesn’t go into the trash immediately. I put forth this humble suggestion as both a contestant and listener. :)

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sat May 04, 2019 7:22 pm
by iVeg
Thanks for taking the time to multiple listens and reviews. I'm glad to see I have almost totally polarized two of the judges.

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Zero "Message Received"

Posted: Sun May 05, 2019 6:48 am
by Niveous
grumpymike wrote:
Sat May 04, 2019 3:46 pm
I don’t think you would like if Maynard made the chorus of Lateralus “lateralus, lateralus, round the block drives the yellow school bus”.
The bigger question here is does that lyric fit the Fibonacci sequence.