Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by mo »

What if you only have like, 11 Matchbox cars
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by owl »

then you do a cover of Matchbox 20 in the style of 311
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Lunkhead »

mo wrote:
Thu May 30, 2019 9:33 pm
What if you only have like, 11 Matchbox cars
Then you write your song in 11/4.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by mo »

Did I ever show you guys the song I did with my college math rock band, we named our songs after the time signatures and one of them was 7/11 because it was a section of 7/4 going into a section of 11/4 hahaha true story
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by BoffoYux »

Round 5 Listening Party is here on Monday - 9pm EST!



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JpslbkDEx88
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Niveous »

"I'd like to see 1984 redubbed with this in the soundtrack."- Furrypedro.
NUR EIN!
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by iVeg »

Shadow in Ohne Ruhm. I was late.
facebook.com/ivegband
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Cybronica »

Yeah, Mandibles was not able to make the dead line due to a confluence of travel plans. Well try to post to ohne Ruhm before the listening party!
“It's like opera for toddlers or something.” -furrypedro
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by theSundayColors »

It's probably for the best that I'm last in line - the mixing is not done properly, and my song is very quiet. My apologies in advance.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Cybronica »

Holy cow, Vowl Sounds! That song gave me goose bumps.
“It's like opera for toddlers or something.” -furrypedro
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by thirdcatmusic »

been a Vowl Sounds fan for a while, becoming a Rain Watt fan through this Nur Ein, really like the last couple Rain Watt songs. Such a knack for catchy melodies and a very expressive voice. So many great songs this round, based on my first listen just now I imagine it's gonna be tough on the judges to find three to cut out of this group.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by theSundayColors »

I'm traveling for work this week and next, so I wont be able to submit the last two weeks of the competition On the bright side, I have some downtime in the airport, so here are some early music reviews!

General comments...
-Many of these songs went on for too long without really changing sonically. I'm not sure if the storytelling element of the challenge made people a bit too wordy, but I was "checking my watch" while listening to a few of these.
-Props to the judges for this challenge. You can tell the prompt had us thinking about the lyrics and storytelling of our songs in different ways. The challenged opened up our creativity, which is what any good challenge should do in the first place =)

Agony Sauce - the kinda dreamy start, it's like you are really considerate of the fact that you're the first band we hear. It serves as a nice introduction to your song, and to the challenge as a whole. And then it's briefly Tom Petty, and then the real song starts and it's very catchy. The story is really good, some really hard hitting lines. I love the choral voices in the background?? Totally didnt see that coming from you.

Berkeley Social Scene - I like the high organ(?) during the chorus, but I felt the instrumentation during the verses just kinda had to be there, and the song kinda drags on as a result. The bridge is really good, I like your voice when it kinda shakes on the higher notes. And then the guitar breakdown. Not sure exactly what the story is, but it's sung compellingly. Some of the rhymes are a bit paint-by-numbers... "fame" and "blame" to rhyme with "name" come to mind.

Grumpy Mike - again with the "\m/" right away. I like the build of the guitars around "when her journey was complete", but that drum beat is distracting. Distracting like that high pitched ding in the song "gooey" by Glass Animals. The story is good, but I do feel like the song goes on for a little long. Maybe it's that lead guitar that is a bit overpowering and unchanging. Solid song, either way.

Max Bombast - love that high pitched "oooooo". Your sound reminds me of...of... not one band in particular, but the emo rock genre as a whole. You have a good voice, anyway. And I think your instrumentation suits the sound of the song, everything is very cohesive. It sounds professional.

Merisan - love the creepy vibe, and the lyric delivery is well done. I think the general way you deliver your lyrics to the beat of the song is excellent. Maybe the vocals are a bit soft? Sounds like your other singer was not available, I could imagine this with two voices together. I love the high tone strings in the back going "buh-buh". It's a very clean song, overall. I think your band has a good synergy of the different elements, the production always sounds deliberate and professional.

Rachael Layne - throwback to chiptune week! I love the high pitch chiptunes. And the vocal harmonies on "behind" are so good. I'm not a huge fan of the lower bass chiptune that's almost constant. I'm not sold on the lyrics either. But as I'm writing this that "behiiiiiiind" harmony came back and I'm gonna have to repeat this bad boi because it sounds so catchy.

Rain Watt - strong Front Bottoms vibes again. Also MORE THROWBACK TO CHIPTUNES, YES PLEASE. Those two sentences back to back dont make sense, I suppose. I love love love the chiptune breakdown. The lyrics are a bit vague, not sold on whatever story is being told. Especially important this round because of the challenge. Really good song either way.

Vowl sounds - the opening gives me serious Human League vibes. Your voice is so amazing, your sound is so polished, I'm so glad you guys are a band. One of the best stories being told this round, I thought the way you brought back the butterfly lyric was well done. The LOVE/EVOL line has me questioning how I've never heard this wordplay before. The music + satanic messages portion is a really solid breakdown in the song, and I suppose a tie-in to the ouija-verse you are building? SO good, as always.

Faster jackalope - you guys always sound like you had a blast recording. Love the lead guitar and instrumentation. I think the melody is weak, so it's difficult while listening to pick up on any lyric or tune in particular. And your vocals always sound like they're kinda far away? The fade-out of the vocals at the end is a failed experiment, imo.

Lichen throat - I love the timbre of your voice, although you're missing almost every note. Is this on purpose? I feel like your voice with some work could sound really stellar.

the Sunday Colors - a mixing disaster. There was originally another section before the end, but i couldnt get the transition right so I scrapped it. As it is, the last transition into the quick part is sketchy. I'm very happy with the lyrics, so I will likely revisit the mixing and transitions when I'm back home.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by glennny »

Where the Streets Have No Name- Reviews

A lyrical challenge. Gross. (channeling my 13 year old)

Agony Sauce- What I love is everything Glenn Case : he vocal performance and melodies. The drums , bass and guitar are all nice. Then there’s the fucking spelling thing. Stop it. Then there’s the atrocity of verbosity, but that’s a trap this challenge laid out and you fell in to. The lyrics require reading. I don’t get it from just listening. I’m not enjoying the chiptunes synth, seems out of place also.  The sample of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir? (I’m half kidding) , I can’t understand it. What are they saying? I like a lot of the chord choices you make. Overall it feels too long, and I’m not engaged with the story.

Berkeley Social Scene- This is my horse that is still in the race. Geech took the lead. I love the fantasy/myth lyrics. I’ve had a lot longer to absorb them. I enjoyed the Impossible Germany guitarmonies we did. I wish we did a little more of that. I enjoy the riffs. Great performance by Geech on vox! Awesome to have Ken drums! Cool song, I love the live band feel.

Grumpy Mike
- This reminds me of October 18th, 1993. In those days you would hear a new album was being released, and then you’d drive to the Tower Records in West Covina which would stay open until midnight. They would stay open a little longer when a big release was happening. So that night at midnight (technically Oct 19th) the new album by Pearl Jam “Vs.” was released. I showed up and I was there to buy that album, but I was more excited about the other album being released at that moment - Counterparts by Rush. This is a nice hybrid somewhere between those two albums. The ⅝ riff reminds me of Double Agent on Counterparts. I love the music. I wish you did your Chris Cornell vocals for this. This does lean towards Spoonman. Vocals are good, just too nice I think. The switching between the 6/8 and the ⅝ is done very well. Cool song!

Max Bombast- This is awesome. On first blush this is the winner. I am blown away with your vocal performance! The melody is great. I can imagine Jeff Buckley doing this song. In fact the stripped down instrumentation evokes the whole My Sweetheart the Drunk album. I love the writing and the drumming. I guess I should read the lyrics. Here I go. Very cool! Love them! FTW!

Merisan- Wins for best production. I love all the space and how well I can hear the drums. Every instrument has its place. The lyrics are great, you do an excellent job of not getting too verbose. The whispery verse vocals are nice, they provide great contrast to the mellow delivery of the chorus. The worst thing about this is the elephant in the room: Where is Erin? If I didn’t expect Erin I would enjoy this more. I still love this though. It’s probably my 2nd favorite after Max. Excellent Job!

Rachel Layne- I really don’t like the synthy music. Awesome vocals, nice melodies. I hope you do the regular instrumentation version of this song. I don’t really care for the vocal/synth doubled melody. I love the “...leave it behind” bits- beautiful. The instrumentation makes me want to skip this.

Rain Watt- Glad you made it! Though you too were infected with chiptunitis. Your use of the chippy synths is mostly good, but it's a bit much at times. Great melodies! The “understatement” insertion is kinda genius. Such a hook! Great addition to your album, not sure if it’s a single, but solid!

Vowl Sounds- Wonderful vocal performance. For the most part I love the production. Something about the drums bothers me. They seem a bit quiet, especially the kick. This is all very pretty. It’s a bit samey. It feels like a lyrical challenge song. Ouija-verse- groan. You’ll be fine, the judges will eat up everything about this.

Faster Jackalope- I’m glad we didn’t know we were eliminated. Memorial day (Monday) I went and hung out with my brother. It also happen to be out late mother’s birthday, so it was good to be with my brother. We wrote the drums first. I wanted to record live drums this round. Frisbee wrote some 1st draft lyrics. The song was done other than vocals when we found out we were cut. I mostly left it alone, crying into my pillow for days and days. Then on Sunday I had magically come upon a 2 hour window to put down some vocals, before the Warriors wonderful game against the Raptors. Is this really Faster Jackalope? It’s more like Phillipso with 1st draft Frisbee lyrics. I expect a lawsuit from Truth, we’ll see what the lawyers say.

Lichen Throat- Your vocals are less pitchy than usual, but there’s still a bit to go. This reminds me of
https://youtu.be/hQv6TNS9RG8. Similar groove. Fun song.

The Sunday Colors- It’s funny how loud the string squeaks are when there’s nothing else to mask it. Again this sounds like a demo. Great lyrics, great vocals, great melody. What’s here evokes many ideas. I really want to add bass and drums. Perhaps I’m a muso like Steven McDonald. I think he fixed the White Stripes. https://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/25/arts ... ernet.html


Here's How I'd rank them:

1- Max Bombast
2- Merisan
3- Berkeley Social Scene
4- Rain Watt
5- Vowl Sounds

6- Grumpy Mike
7- Rachel Layne
8- Agony Sauce
Phillipso, Older Brothers, Semolina Pilchards, Zipline , Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, The Odoriferous Valley, The Worldly Self Assurance, Berkeley Social Scene, Very Gentle Knives, Daddy Bop Swing Set, GUNS, The Kraken Lives, Cavedwellers
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Geech »

theSundayColors
Berkeley Social Scene - "....Not sure exactly what the story is..."
This is why I posted a painting of a minotaur along with our lyrics.

It's the story from his perspective; the labyrinth is where the streets have no name.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by grumpymike »

glennny wrote:
Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:16 am
I wish you did your Chris Cornell vocals for this.
Thanks. It turns out that writing and delivering vocals in 5/8 is harder than I expected, so I didn't have time beyond just hitting the notes on beat (ish). Honestly, I thought about a lot about simply forfeiting. It's a mathy concept song that didn't get to the level of quality I'd have liked.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Cybronica »

I am quite enjoying the songs for this week. Unfortunately, the bulk of instrument for our song haven’t been recorded, so there’s nothin for the listening party. At some point we’re gonna finish this song, but for now there is nothing. :(
“It's like opera for toddlers or something.” -furrypedro
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by lichenthroat »

glennny wrote:
Mon Jun 03, 2019 11:16 am
Lichen Throat- Your vocals are less pitchy than usual, but there’s still a bit to go. This reminds me of
https://youtu.be/hQv6TNS9RG8. Similar groove. Fun song.
I misread the title of the song that you linked to as "I Eat Cannabis." I can see the resemblance to my song; thanks for the link!
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by vowlvom »

Good round! Nice work everyone, I've been really enjoying these.

Agony Sauce - love the guitar tone, it's kinda jangly, kinda crunchy, sounds really good. Vocal sample really works well, I love it every time I hear it. Clever storytelling, and the way the arrangement works in reverse complements the lyric - although it does have the side effect of making the last chorus feel slightly anticlimactic. My only real critique is that the melodic shift on the very last line feels really jarring to me, which is probably the desired effect (and sticks in the head) but the end result is a really great song that finishes on my least favourite element which leaves me in a Weird Place.

Berkeley Social Scene - some good layering here, the keyboard stuff adds a lot to the overall vibe and I love it when the main guitar riff comes back in at the end. Lyrics are a good take on the challenge, vocals sound particularly good when they go up into that higher register on the middle 8. Again this doesn't appeal to my personal tastes as much as your 'Color Me' did but it's a solid rock song.

Grumpy Mike - more interesting texture / layering stuff here, I like that interesting acoustic / guitar harmonics (?) bit that comes in and adds some light to the churning distorted guitars. Odd-time-signature songs don't tend to be my favourites as a whole but you do it well. Not my favourite lyrics of the round, and some of the vocal layering feels like it could be tighter but it's possible I'm just over-sensitive in this area after spending hours editing the 4,000 vocal layers in our song!

Max Bombast - I like the slower tempo, this is probably my favourite of your songs so far. The lyrics appeal to me as a fairly recent Vonnegut convert, vocals are impressive, especially the falsetto parts and the killer harmonies on the "sky is full of tornadoes" verse. Still not crazy about the general hyper-compressed vocal sound though, it leads to some very loud breath sounds, sibilance and other weirdness that takes me out of the moment a bit. Also I love that you got the word "oubliette" into the lyrics, as a lifelong fan of the film Labyrinth that made me smile.

Merisan - enjoyed this a lot despite the lack of Erin, vocals sound good and the sound is appropriately atmospheric for the lyric. Only real criticism is that it's a very low-key song, sounds like a solid album track rather than a stand-out, so maybe it doesn't stick in my memory quite as much as some of these songs do.

Rachael Layne - interesting take on the title, good lyrics and some gorgeous vocal melodies and harmonies. Oddly though I'm not that into the synth arrangement despite being heavily genre-biased towards synthpop. I think the sounds feel a little too aggressive for the song, I'd like to hear some warmer synth tones and a little more layering perhaps. I did really like the very ending, that closing line and the way the track drops out is very effective.

Rain Watt - pleased to see that you managed to get a submission in! Even if it makes the competition harder for everyone else, haha. This is really strong stuff again, I like the lyrics a lot and the clever way you've expanded the window of time with each verse. Chiptunes and guitars blend beautifully and the chorus is very catchy.

Vowl Sounds - this took a hell of a lot of work, but it was worth it. One of my favourite songs that I've ever been a part of, and I'm so pleased that the challenge pushed us to make it! I've wanted to do a backwards guitar solo for years, haha.

Faster Jackalope - I'm a sucker for harmonised guitars and there are a LOT in this song so this was very enjoyable for me. I wish the mix was a bit tighter in places but I like the song a lot, the lyrics are done well, vocals sound good.

Inflatable Vegetables - fun lyrics, I like the German elements. Mix is tricky, I think I tend to prefer your productions overall when they have less guitar because they feel cleaner but I guess a song that mentions Rammstein wouldn't be complete without some fuzz!

Lichen Throat - I'm not sure whether to be delighted or outraged that you rhymed "page" with "orphanage". Vocal timing is pretty good here, tuning less so, but I like the sound of your voice in general here. Mix is good, like the organ, but the chorus feels like it needs something to give it a bit more of a boost.

The Sunday Colors - love this, possibly my favourite lyric of the round and the harmonies sound GREAT when they kick in, especially with that soft arpeggiated guitar behind them. I don't think this is a disastrous mix, my only real issue is that one bit of lead guitar which is much too loud, otherwise this is really very good indeed and one of my favourites of the round.

Agony Sauce, Sunday Colors and Rain are my stand-outs for this round but excellent stuff all round, I love Nur Ein!
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by Geech »

This is a really solid round. Not a clunker in the bunch. More than ever, the judges are in an unenviable position. Nit-picking it will have to be, and, clearly, because of whatever seemingly arbitrary criteria they use, hellfire will be sworn up and down the boards at the result. Judges, whatever you choose will be wrong. I feel for ya.
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by mo »

Some quick hits:

BSS: This riff oozes classic rock, reminds me a bit of KISS in feel. I like the guitarmonies, but I think I hear one of the guitars is clean and the other much more saturated, and while vive la difference, I would've preferred these to be a little bit more similar in texture. After our song this feels really dark in timbre. There are a couple of lines that sit a little awkwardly in the vocal phrase, but otherwise I think it's pretty cool--it fits right in with the classic rock feel.

Grumpy: I listened to this a couple more times than usual, to see if I could crystallize how I feel about your vocals. I'm about to get down to my tastes and associations with music, so grain of salt, etc. Let me first just say that I am a math rock guy, so all the time signature changes are right up my alley, some nice crunch guitar tones, the harmonics for texture, etc. Mostly what I feel from this song is questions of what I would call overwriting and over-phrasing--and I say that understanding that 5/8 can be weird to phrase in. But for example, when Tool does that (i.e. every other song) MJK usually sings across the riff with less syllables and sustained notes that smooth the feel, or he matches the riff right on for that unison feel. I feel like you're trying to get a lot of things out there and not giving yourself enough space to do it, so the vocal phrases feel congested to me. And the chorus, I kind of feel like that its a bit overwritten lyrically, in the sense that I would've just kept the key ideas, and not even made them parseable sentences, e.g. Lost my friend/He's lost himself too/Detained/ Where the streets have no name/Please help him find his way through. Maybe something like that, of course I haven't tried to sing it along, so that particular example might suck.

You have a voice that has a good amount of cut to it, which I envy, since my voice is very "backing vocal", no matter how I EQ it, it just blends into things unless I push it into ranges it has no business squeaking along in. That makes your voice good for lead harmonies as well, that stuff is fine. There are times, like in the verse vs the chorus, where I hear you moving from pushing the beat with the vocal to dragging it, and that can be effective, but in this song I found it a little odd.

This sounds more negative than I mean it to, but I'm just trying to answer your question of what I don't like about your vocals, so it's just sort of going that way; I hope you don't mind. Normally I just tell Glenn what I don't like about his vocals hahahahahahaha

Max Bombast: Ok I take it all back from last week. This tempo really lets you shine. You're milking those notes vocally and I can feel the atmosphere. This is a great track dude.

Merisan: Although it says porn groove, I would've listed it as demented slide carnival music. Glenn and I were talking about it though, and the vocal needs a bit more separation, level or EQ or something, probably both (you should hear Glenn and I talking about his vocal levels--he likes a pop approach and I prefer a rock approach, re: dominance of the vocal in the mix. When we agree that a vocal is too low, it's probably too low). Great atmosphere again. Love the slide guitar, kind of wanted you to let it lift off at the end.

Rachael: I like the unison vocal/keys hook, it's a nice thing to build a song around. While a lot of the other songs have matched brooding atmosphere to dark story, marrying this sort of happy pop hook (no intentional reflection on Glenn here) to this subject matter is a great move too, and definitely transforms the feel. Ironically or not, this was the same sort of approach that I took to the music for the Agony track--where it is just a vi IV I V, so a dressed-up pop progression, relatively positive sound, for this story of the death of a factory town. But this is even happier, so I guess you get all the iron. We just get an "y"

Rain: With the caveat that it does sound a little last second compared to what you normally do, I think this sounds pretty good. You have all kinds of talent for this type of songwriting, and I'm glad that you were able to make an entry, because I like having more Rain Watt in my ears. I am not totally convinced that this is an end-to-beginning story, as I understood it, or at least it's more oblique than most other people's takes, which is fine. That said, I like the hook, and I like the feel. I do want to hear a fully polished version of it.

Vowl Sounds: From the first tones, this is gold. I love the way the guitar hook interweaves, and that sort of spaghetti western cum White Wedding melody goes into the vocal. Great vocal performances, lots of nuance. As a guitar geek, I heartily approve of any reverse guitar stuff. When you go to the relative major in the chorus (F, I think, but I'm not next to an instrument), that's a good move too. This song is so loaded with little arrangement details that I wish we'd put more time into ours.


Just to be clear, in my personal metrics, I tend to be more concentrated on "songwriting fight" and "arrangement fight" than "production fight" or "performance fight" when I'm listening to the songs. And ironically enough with the cumulative challenge thing that we seem to be still doing, I (luckily) don't (have to) care if people "meet challenges" or not . So thankfully I'm not a judge, but rather I think, which song would be fun to cover/reinterpret, what lines would be fun to sing, what's fun to reharmonize, etc. After a bunch of listening, I would take the Vowl and Max songs at the top, Rain next. I would have a hard time ranking after that, but every song offers something, so good work and good luck everybody!
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Submitting as: duboce triangle, ellipsis, agony sauce, moody vermin, spite, yaks
Pronouns: n/a
Location: hell a
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Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by mo »

vowlvom wrote:
Tue Jun 04, 2019 1:43 am
Good round! Nice work everyone, I've been really enjoying these.

Agony Sauce - love the guitar tone, it's kinda jangly, kinda crunchy, sounds really good. Vocal sample really works well, I love it every time I hear it. Clever storytelling, and the way the arrangement works in reverse complements the lyric - although it does have the side effect of making the last chorus feel slightly anticlimactic. My only real critique is that the melodic shift on the very last line feels really jarring to me, which is probably the desired effect (and sticks in the head) but the end result is a really great song that finishes on my least favourite element which leaves me in a Weird Place.
Well, to be fair, we're always in a Weird Place. It's next to the Black Lodge.
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iVeg
Mean Street
Posts: 531
Joined: Sun May 12, 2013 10:06 pm
Submitting as: inflatable vegetables

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Five "Where The Streets Have No Name"

Post by iVeg »

This is the first round where I listened to everybody's songs straight through without major interruptions. I'm so glad I'm not a judge. My favorites this week are Max Bombast and Vowl Sounds.

I have a blast writing shadows. Even when they don't work. Next year I might not enter Nur Ein. :D I'll just start Round 0 with shadow[s]. :roll:
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