Thanks! Without wanting to sound weird, it means a lot, I'm a big fan of your music, even bought one of your albums.Jefff wrote:It would've been an unforgivable crime for the judges to have eliminated you for that excellent song, sir.adamadamant wrote:Skin. Teeth. Phew!
Ok so some reviews too:
Lord of Oats - Ok, it does sound like an intentional bowout. It has merit in places (the drums are often nice, the layering works occasionally) but on the whole pretty awful and hard to listen to.
Glenn and Rachael - Lovely vocals and the harmonies with them are brill. The guitar gets a bit lonely, but it works.
Jim Tyrrell - Cool upbeat number, the chord progression is a little dull and it could be longer. I like the bass the whole thing is nice and cheery.
Starfinger - Nice synths, vocals are a bit weak, they don't ruin it but I feel like you could have avoided the falsettos and saved some face. Ok but nothing special.
Frankie Big Face - I loved this. I think you said before it was a good idea with poor exececution, whilst, yeah, it could have been better produced, it's still fantastic. Engrossing atmosphere and interesting structure make it a real stand-out track.
Tex Beaumont & The Dirty Hearts - Cool wooping synth, there's a nice swooping feeling through the whole song in fact. The vocals could be a bit crisper, they were hard to make out, but I like the echoey 'ahs' and 'nahs'.
Octothorpe - Not sure how I feel about the alarm clock noise, it's a brave and interesting touch, but they are essentially quite irritating sounds. The vocals are pretty cool, interesting delivery. The whole song is fun and interesting but the production could be better.
Cock - This is cool, it has a thick and deep sound. I prefer the verses to the chorus(?) bits, the simplicity and repetitiveness works. Good vocals too and nice touch with the cello/violin/whatever. Perhaps a bit short, it could have more variety.
Reïst - I started off with this thinking i wouldn't like it, but it builds and evolves really nicely and by the end I was really enjoying it. Not sure about the 'and walking' lyric being repeated, the 'away' should come sooner maybe. Good though.
Add - Another great song. Nice piano, simple but sounds really good and all the other instruments work really well to make it interesting but stay uncluttered.
The John Benjamin Band - A rightful winner, great atmosphere, rhythm, lyrics and everything really.
MC Eric B - I'm curious, did you play the guitar part, I remember you said a while ago that you sampled stuff from your keyboard. Anyway playing (or at least writing) the parts is important for me. The tune is a little dull, more chord changes would be nice. The drums at the end sound a bit out of place/time too. Not terrible but definite room for improvement.
Ken Mahru - Great drums, not such a fan of the guitar, it's a bit muddy (a bit loud too perhaps). The chorus is really cool, it's pop and uplifting and I like it. Good stuff, though there were better this week.
Sausage Boy - Interesting stuff but the production is just too poor, it ruins the song. Vocal delivery is also pretty suspicious (your voice is fine but the timing and melody is strange). 'I wish I had more time', I guess you were pushed because I'm sure you've done better in the past.
Paco del Stinko - The guitar, little-drummer-boy and plinky keyboard are really nice. I think I might have prefered it without the bass and the electric guitar at the end. and the vocals are a bit dull, I think they follow the other instruments too closely, though it does create quite a sleepy effect. Overall: thumbs up.
King Arthur - Hmm, the second fade out intro, I don't know if that was supposed to be for the challenge but it's a but odd. Once it gets going it's lovely, the chorus is especially cheery. Lots of bounce in this song from the bass and I like that. Interesting lyrics with good delivery on them too. One of my favourites this week.
Sven - Nice, I found it a bit heavy for my taste, too much reverb I think, but it's a well written and well performed song. Not really my thing, but well done.
Billy's Little Trip - Great guitar noises. A rocking number, lots of interesting bits going on, I especially liked: 'huh!', the guitar arpeggioing through the chorus into the verse, 'turnstyle', guitar riffs throughout.
Ross Durand - I like the harmonies the vocals have with the guitar in the chorus, felt it could have been supported with another instrument though. Drums are occasionally a bit wobbly, but hardly noticeable and mostly very good. Overall nice structure and nice use of all the different instruments, nothing feels wasted.
Bryan Kandel - Fantastic vocals throughout (though they clip a bit) and I like the guitar in the intro. From 2.03 to 3.30 it sounds quite repetitive because the organ keeps going to the two high chords, the bridge isn't different enough from the choruses. Good song though.
The Worldly Self Assurance - Ok gripe first, I'm not a fan of the main singer. He has got a good voice but he a. isn't as strong a singer as some of the backing vocalists, b. reminds me too much of the awful punk and ska bands I used to go see when I was younger. Apart from that the rest of the track is top drawer, I loved it. Gentle and slightly moving guitar, great backing vocals, classy percussion, good everything really. Too short if anything as well, I could have easily listened to another 2 or 3 minutes.
Faves were BLT, King Arthur, Add, The JBB, Frankie Big Face, and The WSA, but most of the tracks were extremely listenable, though I felt last week had a better haul, it's been another great Nur Ein selection.