Nur Ein II Round Zero "Let Me In"

There can be only one.
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jack
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Re: percussion

Post by jack »

MC Eric B wrote:the thumping noise was me hitting my penis against a DVD box I had on my desk.
- MC Eric B
ok, i have new respect for you now.

definitely winner of the most unconventional percussion in my book.
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Post by mico saudad »

almost everyone wrote: what's the deal with your song?
Everything in my song was at least second or third hand of something else, samples of sampled samples and the like. Even the lyrics.

"I can give you what you want... but you've got to just let me in."
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Post by Ross »

Allright, I don't want to piss anybody off, but I thought it would be interesting to post my "If I were a judge" list. I think it woudl be interesting to see yours, too. If I was really a judge I might mull this over a bit more, of course. I devised a little point system for my very subjective judgement of concept, lyrics, structure, arrangement, and the challenge.

I would keep -
1. Puce
2. Paco
3. Abominominous
4. BLT
5.Frankie Big Face
6. BeWells
7. TGFTF
8. Balancelost/Regained
9. Jim Tyrell - this would have been higher, but I dinged you on the beatbox and claps, both of which were mentioned early in the thread as probably not meeting the challenge
10. Steve Durand
11. Merisan
12. Tex
13. ;-)
14. Marcus Kellis
15. Ice 9
16. Cynthia and sp00n
17. Bryan Kandel
18. MC Eric B
19. WreckdoM
20. Mr. Lostman
21. Jolly Roger
22. Sausage Boy
23. Calfborg
24. Rabid Garfunkel

I would keep myself in the fight :-)

and I would eliminate
Spinlock - just really not my thing and if I was just judging this song...cause I like a lot of your stuff
The Bovine Recyclery - lots good here, but I have a title hang-up, and I don't think this song is titled "Let me In"
Mico Saudad - for Plagiarism

I'll be very interested to see what the judges say.
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Post by spinlock »

Here you go Ross.
It turns out that today 'amount of balls' is the main metric for my listing.

1) Bovine Recyclery - Yeah, this rocks, despite the unusual incorporation of the title
2) Wreckdom - Hardcore. Yeah!
3) Puce - If placebo was good, you'd still kick their ass.
4) Abomonominous - Performed with balls, and the percussion rocks.
5) Mico Saudad - People say you nicked part of this? but I don't know nothing about that, so here's the unadjusted position.
6) Jim Tyrell - I love your sound.
7) Balance Lost / Regained - took three listens to go from 'meh' to 'yeah!'
8) Merisan - Nice tight vocals. Fairy tale theme works.
9) Ross Durand - Something, the mix maybe, holds this back from being the awesome epic this wants to be. Still rocks though.
10) Steve Durand - Yeah! This experiment pwns.
== Great, Not achieving awesome boundary==
11) Tex Beaumont
12) The BeWells - Simon&Garfunkly. Nice.
13) Paco del Stinko
14) Thank Glenny for the Frisbee
15) Love the rhythm and crazy progressions, but still not a fan of Cynthia Size.
16) Sausage Boy - I don't actually get the song, but the performance sells it.
17) Billy's Little Trip - Rockin song. Alt percussion feels a bit added-on.
=== Not that great boundary ===
Rabid Garfunkle - Really good alternative percussion, but the song is a bit slow/boring.
Frankie Big Face - Somehow like the Bewells song... but I don't like it so much for some reason.
Lostman
Ice 9 - This wasn't particularly special
Jolly Roger - Dubious about this as it's mostly regular percussion with sound effects, but guitar-seals are fun.
Calfbourg - This crazy dissonance is like love it or hate it. Averages to not bad.
MC Eric B - This shows a continuing improvement over your previous songs, though the lyrics are still a little over-sweet. Have you thought about trying J-Pop as a style?
Luke Henley - The percussion didn't really add anything
Bryan K -
Marcus Kellis - Performance sounds like you're making it up as you go
along.
Spinlock - Gross-out songs aren't funny, they just gross people out.
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

Just curious, are the songs listed in your "not that great" section still listed in your order of preference?
"[...] so plodding it actually hurts a little bit" - Smalltown Mike
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Post by spinlock »

No. I had real trouble ranking them. In fact within the other sections the ordering isn't exact. Which one were you?
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

spinlock wrote:No. I had real trouble ranking them. In fact within the other sections the ordering isn't exact. Which one were you?
Ice 9. So firmly w/in Not That Great :lol: but wondering if we would have made your cut.
"[...] so plodding it actually hurts a little bit" - Smalltown Mike
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Post by sausage boy »

spinlock wrote: 16) Sausage Boy - I don't actually get the song, but the performance sells it.
Hmm, perhaps I was too obtuse?

Basically its a song about being turned away from a venue that is playing a band you want to see.

Specifically, it is about when I went to see The Grates play at Heaven II and they wouldn't let me in because my footwear didn't 'meet their requirements'.
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Post by Jord »

Spinlock's Review: Ice 9 - This wasn't particularly special"


Not Special?! But my mom said...
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

Jord wrote:Spinlock's Review: Ice 9 - This wasn't particularly special"


Not Special?! But my mom said...
Remember though, this is the guy whose "unconventional percussion" was him going potty in the real toilet like a big boy
"[...] so plodding it actually hurts a little bit" - Smalltown Mike
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Post by Rabid Garfunkel »

sausage boy wrote:Specifically, it is about when I went to see The Grates play at Heaven II and they wouldn't let me in because my footwear didn't 'meet their requirements'.
Answers *that* question. The bridges made me laugh, at least the ones I'd recognized, heh.

And now, some comparisons:

Spinlock: Ever listen to Stump? Or is it just something in the water over there? :wink:

Jim Tyrell: Reminds me of either version of T Bone Burnett's "Human's From Earth". Not knocking it, it rocked.
"Urban cartoon music." -- Paco Del Stinko
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Post by bwell »

While I have not had time to rank or review everything, I at least wanted to say before the results and new details for round one are released that there is a lot of great work here. I have listened to everything at least a couple of times and my favorites thus far are Puce and Merisan.

Also, the zero round is a great idea for determining the twenty-five Nur Ein competitors. It takes away the timing issue of when everyone happens to stumble across the thread.
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Post by jimtyrrell »

Busted! :lol: I've been listening to T-Bone Burnett lately.

Not that particular track, though. I found an old CD of "The Talking Animals" in the basement, and it's been in the "car music" rotation for a week or so.

Side note: Deshead's "Waking Up In August" is also getting a lot of in-car play. It's one of my favorite albums to listen to when it gets warm enough to roll down the windows. Nice work, Des. :)
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Post by ken »

Jim's track reminded me of the band Morphine.

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Post by mr_lostman »

Thanks for any and all comments guys. It seems if these peopl were judges i would at least make the first cut. IF we cut five next round though... i might be gone. Plus I'm really worried if I'm gonna have time this week to record...

But people seemed to want to know unconventional percussion:
Door knocks at beginning and before each chorus
Random things on my desk:
desk lamp i never used except for this entry,
desk itself
and the metal caging on ym computer speakers
All hit with a drum stick

I tried my best and I was really damned proud of my entry till i heard everyone elses and realized it sucked. But i gotta say I really like Abom, Ice 9 (reminded me of new pornographers in a great way), and steve durand (friggin great horns love it).

Sadly I doubt I'll find time for reviews this week. Thanks for listening, great job guys. 8)
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

I also had intended to post reviews and ranks.

A couple things from memory: My number one was Balance Lost/Regained. If there were an "non-optional challenge award" I would give it to Puce. Steve Durand, your song was one of my absolute favorite's of the fight, but please do not ever sing in that voice again :lol: I would actually love to hear a re-recording of that song exactly as it is but w/ new vox. sp00ns, I loved your track as well. My only disappointment was that the vox weren't very distinct so I couldn't sing along. I realize you probably spent a massive amount of time programming that voice, but if there's any way you could just make the words a little more discernible, that would be awesome. Also, I want to learn to program drums like that. Thank Glenny did not disappoint either and many, many of the other songs were fantastic as well.

A note about the Ice 9 song: I think I did us a tremendous disservice by not getting started on it sooner. I know the track is a bit rough, but I believe there's a really good song buried in there and I intend to re-record when we have time. I think if we polish everything, drop a chorus or two, insert a bridge with a decent solo, and re-mix to get some of the "muddiness" out, that it might be track that would catch people's attention more.
"[...] so plodding it actually hurts a little bit" - Smalltown Mike
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Post by jimtyrrell »

ken wrote:Jim's track reminded me of the band Morphine.

Ken
Yeah, strong influence there too. But mostly, since I was eliminated in round 5 of the last Nur Ein, I really wanted to get a song with a bass solo in. So, that's out of the way.
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Post by spinlock »

kill_me_sarah wrote: Remember though, this is the guy whose "unconventional percussion" was him going potty in the real toilet like a big boy
Papier maché too. And 'lemonade'. Don't you forget it.

Definetly not my best work. :P But if I didn't do anything then Spinlock wouldn't have a shot at getting into the contest proper.

If you're re-doing yours, in my unsanitary opinion, stick a bass where the power chords are. Then both your guitar tracks can play as equals, and bring out the structure that you've got in there. My first reaction was 'there's no variation' .. but after listening again and again, there is. It just isn't obvious enough for me. As you can probably tell, I'm a guy that likes things obvious.

Yes, there's a good song buried in there.
I still don't get the "Boy with a pocket knife" line though.
Good luck with the rest of Nur Ein.
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

spinlock wrote:If you're re-doing yours, in my unsanitary opinion, stick a bass where the power chords are.
I may PM you later to elaborate on this.
spinlock wrote: I still don't get the "Boy with a pocket knife" line though.
Really? That was one of my favorite lines, although when I wrote it there wasn't a chorus between Verse 1 and Verse 2 so maybe reason he's a boy w/ a pocket knife (to cut the line of the kite that got stuck in the marquee) didn't come through as clearly with the chorus in the middle?
"[...] so plodding it actually hurts a little bit" - Smalltown Mike
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Post by Reist »

Oh man. I just looked at those results, and I'm going to have to step it up.
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

Well you can't say the judges aren't consistent. We ranked (if my finger counting isn't off) 16th, 17th and 18th. One judge had it out for us though and ranked us 26th. Phew! Thank goodness for averages.
"[...] so plodding it actually hurts a little bit" - Smalltown Mike
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Post by bz£ »

Finally, after all these years, my opinions count! God help us all.

abom. Near top. Great guitar tone and I love whatever you've done with the vocals. Maybe it's just singing but it sounds very cool.

bewells. Normally I'd class doorbells, knocking, etc. as kind of cheesy, especially in a song called "Let Me In," but in this context I'll give it a "pretty clever." So it's cool and I can't think of anything I'd suggest changing because this is such a nice song already.

bk. Solid but unspectacular. That's not really a fair thing to say, though; I think this is another track that would grow on me. Your voice is good and you do a nice job of showcasing it, productionwise. The percussion fits naturally.

blt. Good enough but i don't like it. All I hear for percussion is a drum kit, but I'm sure there's more in there somewhere.

bovine rec. I guess this is slick and all, but the fact that you weren't even able to get the title correct is un-encouraging. I suppose you were trying to be clever but it just comes off as dumb. Lucky you, there were enough people who wrote awful songs called "Let Me In" that you survive anyway.

br/bl. Percussion is excellent; the twitchy sounds just seem to work here. The buzzy part (starts at about :30 and disappears at :51) is irritating, mars an otherwise catchy masterpiece.

c.size/sp00ns. There is some potential here but the vocals suck hard. If you go out of your way to make it impossible to tell what the words are, I have to assume that you wrote crappy words and don't want me to find out. Gotcha!

calfborg. A favorite. The wiper sounds are a little overpowering. I do like the chaotic feel of drum hits that don't fall quite where you'd expect them to be. Why do I keep expecting death metal every time I see your name? Probably my own dumbosity.

eric b. The piano sounds just like the demo song from my old keyboard. If this is supposed to be a "ballad" with some emotion behind it, you can't just read the words. I don't care if you aren't a good singer; I'm disappointed that you didn't even try. Prosody is better than last time I looked at your lyrics, for whatever that's worth.

fbf. Almost. This does not sound like it was recorded over a telephone from Europe. The timing seems a little off with the percussion; enough to be a distraction.

ice9. Catchy but gets repetitive. The shakers need variety-- it sounds like you recorded about four bars and just looped it all the goddamned way through. More subtly, it sounds like there might be too much reverb on the vocal and you might also try some low-cut eq.

jim tyrrell. Groovy. The percussion gets a bit irritating eventually. I don't care that it's basically all mouth sounds, that's unconventional enough to keep me happy. But, hmm, maybe if it broke into a full drum kit halfway through, that'd be a good dynamic shake-up.

jr. Competent performance. The (standard) drums are particularly good, perc so-so. I'd add a second guitar so there is something happening in my left ear. Doesn't have to be complicated, just counterpoint.

lostman. Here the perc doesn't work right-- the twitchy sounds feel more like unintentional digital artifacts than a deliberate part of the song. I like the groove that the song gets into.

luke h. Almost. Something is funny with the shaker-y sound. Maybe it's because it all seems to come from the same place in the stereo field, but it doesn't quite blend in. This song would probably be better without the required percussion.

marcus k. You didn't mix this one well. I think it would do better with a louder vocal, and maybe a stronger take, but this one might be good enough if it wasn't so buried.

merisan. Very nice across the board. This isn't anything compicated, but it's executed so well.

mico. This doesn't offend me quite as much as it seems to have everyone else, but this wasn't the best time to try it.

paco. Another of my favorites, this is very catchy. I'd tone down the high-pitched clicks a little.

puce. Excellente. How do you sing stuff like this without cracking up?

rabid g. I like the atmosphere, it works well with the percussion. Song seems to go on a little too long.

ross d. Very good, you win the Durand war by a landslide this round. I find the shaker sounds distracting.

sausage boy. This may not be the best song of the bunch, but it is the one that I will want to hear again in a few weeks. It's the passion that sells it, folks! Also, it reminds me of something, but I can't quite put my finger on what. Good tip for everybody: One good way to make people like your song is to remind them of something else that they like. They won't understand why, but they'll keep coming back!

spinlock. The percussion all mixes nicely together, but the song is weak. At least it's over quickly.

steve durand. Voice is so annoying. Makes me want to kill. I can see what you're going for and it would be pretty damn impressive if you pulled it off. But you don't so it will be your fault when those dirty prostitutes get what they deserve.

tex b. Clever. This is awfully loud on my ears, but it's not like it is overcompressed or anything. I don't really know what to say about it, which in itself is probably a good thing, because I'm mostly looking for bad things to talk about in these reviews.

tx glenny. Drums sound programmed, but I guess there are some whoopy sounds here and there. Didn't strike me as anything particularly special but it's fine. This is one that I would probably have rated higher if I had more time to let it grow on me.

wreckdom. Awesome! The high-pitched grunting gets to be a bit over the top in the spoken word part.
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