Nur Ein IV Round Two "Schadenfreude"

[ken]

Hey Folks,

I just listened to everyone's entries and wanted to say GOOD JOB!!! I'm glad we had immunity this round and don't have to complete with everyone's excellent entries.

Ken

[glennny]

2. Are you suggesting a similarity to Lithium? Because I could definitely understand the comparison.

Not necessarily, I am suggesting your song sounds like Nirvana. Were you 3?

[Billy's Little Trip]

Yeah your second half is much more effective than the first, good stuff.

Thanks - I feel as though the bridge in this one was a lyrical victory for me - I usually can't convey an image properly to the audience, but I feel as though this one came across more fluidly (albeit a little literal). Thanks for the review! Hopefully you're right and I'll have a chance to redeem myself next round.

Yeah, I heard it too Andrew. You are really starting to let that feeling out. It got a tad repetitive because of how identical you were trying to do it, but I enjoyed how you projected the emotion and energy to the listener. I know a chorus is repetitive, but on one like you did, it helps to stretch or change pitch a bit on the the lead vocals and the way they fits in the chorus measures. Just thinking out loud. But good solid rock either way.

[Ross]

If I were a judge - a quick ranking - not very nuanced, based on very subjective criteria.

Tie: WreckdoM/Paco
Frankie
Jon eric
Signboy
Tex
Howl
Andrew
Todd
Student Band
Nouveau Pauvre
John K
Swilington
Test Week Hiatus
Adam Adamant

[Reist]

Not necessarily, I am suggesting your song sounds like Nirvana. Were you 3?

Nope, I was 2. Wasn't listening to that crazy rock music yet.

I know a chorus is repetitive, but on one like you did, it helps to stretch or change pitch a bit on the the lead vocals and the way they fits in the chorus measures.

Cool, I'll consider that for later songs - I always hear that in other music, but I've never really considered doing it for my own.

[frankie big face]

My favs this week are Student Band, Todd (despite the lyrics), Tex (despite the song--I mean, I was so excited by the lyrics, but the song didn't quite live up to the hype), Nouveau Pauvre (despite the brevity), Wreckdom, Howl (despite a slight genre bias) and Adam Adamant in no particular order. And to be fair, I only listened to most of the songs about 1/2 a time, but I have to go to bed now.

[Caravan Ray]

My preferential ranking, based on my own personal genre bias:

Howl
John K
Paco
Nouveau Pauvre
Reist
Swilington
Adam Adamant
Student Band
Wreckdom
Frankie
Ross
Test Week Hiatus
Signboy
Jon eric
Todd

[adamadamant]

I was sure I'd be out this round, there were a lot of good songs. Particular nods go to FBF and Tex, and sorry to see Test Week and Student Band go.

[frankie big face]

Aw, man--I am happy and sad! I appreciate the win, but I really thought Student Band was definitely worthy of advancing. Oh well. Sorry guys.

[bambamoozle]

Congratulations Frankie, enjoy your week off!

[Student Band]

Thanks, its alright the first few weeks were fun and hopefully we'll be back next year. I should probably use this time to make the move from GarageBand to Logic. And congratulations, you definitely deserved the win this week, probably one of my favorites of yours so far.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Great job, Mr. Face! Easily top song this week. Also sad to see the others go, but thanks for providing some good music along the way. Also, tip of the hat to those that scrambled in a tune on time, some of whom made the cut to boot! Way to go!

[Henrietta]

I'm still alives....?

Thanks, its alright the first few weeks were fun and hopefully we'll be back next year. I should probably use this time to make the move from GarageBand to Logic.

Wait, don't take your music away from us, there's still regular old Songfight! where you can compete for no cash and not prizes.

[Niveous]

I'm still alives....?

Make a note here. huge success.

[Billy's Little Trip]

I'm still alives....?

I know you said it didn't fully develop to your completed design, but we didn't know that. Not only did you meet the challenge, but it was written and delivered wonderfully. Glad you gave it that last push to get it in.

@Frankie. Congrats to you and JBB! I was shocked that I enjoyed your entry as much as I did. I have a hard time enjoying things that don't have that punch and groove, but your song rocked on a whole different planet. If someone was to describe your piece to me, I'd say no thanks. But after hearing it, I want an entire theme album of it. It was very visual for me and executed perfectly.

[signboy]

whew, that was close. I'm gonna have to start bringing the A game, I guess.

[Student Band]

Could the judges please give us some comments. Even if they're harsh we always appreciate anything that can help us improve. Thanks.

And I think we might do some of the regular SongFight this summer, after school is out and we have more time.

[Niveous]

Many comments from me coming soon. As you saw before, I tend to say alot in these comments so they take a little time.

[furrypedro]

Frankie: I commend you for responding to a challenge I know you didn't like with aplomb. I've never heard you tackle the Disney style before but you absolutely nail it. Well done for enlisting a guest vocalist (ah, JB, cool), and you receive honours for the sprawling arrangment. This is why the challenges are good, cos they stretch talented songwriters like yourself to your limits (of course I don't know if this is your limit but it sounds like you tried a hell of a lot harder than last round). Best song about soup ever.

Reist: Yes sir! this is more like it. This song is proper lean and you absolutely sound like a fucking rock star, there isn't a single off note/wavering vocal/dodgy lyric in earshot. The "happy when your sad" chorus immediately plants itself in your brain and to cap it all off you have done the most badass production job, the guitar is beautifully dirty, the bass is a real kick in the guts and you could be a session player with drumming like this. The instrumentation aids the song rather than hinders it. See? no solo needed to kick out these jams. Very good effort.

Wreckdom: Haha, man there are some twisted lyrics here, "It's Italian fruit porn! I read it in Hustler". I love what you've done with the music and in terms of personal taste this is probably my favourite track this week. It reminds me of Karl's Mom and The Delicate Flowers at their finest. Quality.

Howl Down the Chimney: I love that bass sound and this totally reminds me of Pink Floyd's "Money" but in an OMD type way. I have great respect for you for making a full sounding track which for the most part has only bass and vocals, and your vocals really do carry it, they remind me a lot of the choral parts in Moondog's Elpmas album. Two small criticisms for an otherwise excellent track, the "day after day after day" line sounds like you tail off a bit, and also the organ solo at the end, it doesn't sound bad but it doesn't really integrate with the rest of the track very smoothly and as such sounds like it was done for the sake of it rather than cos the song needed it. Personally I wouldn't have dropped the bass out at the end, and let the song layer up a bit.

Todd McHatton: I'm getting a massive Beatles vibe here, you clearly have a comfortable handle on some fun chord progressions. This would probably sound good in a GnG format which helps, and I also like some of the arrangment choices, mainly the twinkly ones. I think I'd have preferred this without the last minute of the song, as it is I don't have that "I want to hear it again right now!" feeling when it ends.

Pacinder Del Stinkonia: From past experience I knew that the intro was only going to last so long before you changed direction sharply, which in this particular instance is a shame cos I was enjoying where it was going. However, your style does benefit the schizophrenic nature of the challenge. When I first heard the slide guitar I found myself looking over my shoulder, it was really weird. I don't hear anything spectacular in the song but it is a most enjoyable listen. Good work.

Ross: I wanted to mark you up for expanding your arrangment from last round, The tone on that guitar is splendid. The chorus is catchy but the verses kind of pass me by and I would've liked a more gradual build up in the intro rather than just coming straight in. I considered placing you above Paco but I found the song to be slightly too conventional and his take on the challenge was more imaginative than yours.

Jon Eric: You're in the middle of benefitting from a conversation I had with RG about judging this thing. There's plenty about this track that irritates the crap out of me, mainly the supercheesy sounds, but I've got to admit that in terms of song craft/lyrical flow and content you've got an edge here. Personally it's the "rancid fucking cancer" line that saves it for me.

Adam Adamant: I actually really like this, it's one of two songs this week that remind me of Karl's Mom & the Delicate Flowers (best band name ever). I like all the parts, I feel the bass could be bassier, it sounds a bit tinny as it is, and all the samples are cool and they keep the song interesting throughout. I guess I just feel that it doesn't develop enough for me to rank it higher, you drop bits out and occasionally bring in other sounds but all the sections sound like a variation on the main motif. It's thoroughly enjoyable but doesn't really go anywhere, I suppose if you're on to a good thing why change it? But if you had changed it up and the next bit was even better you could've got 1st place. keeper.

Nouveau Pauvre: Interesting inunciation of some words. I'm glad you got your entry in and I hope this will encourage you in future that you can scrape together a pretty good song under pressure. It's mainly the vocal that carries this. I reckon you could sleepwalk through the next round but I'm looking forward to you stepping up your game.

Tex: Good track, nicely up beat and breezy. My main qualms are that I can't really hear the challenge fulfillment, and I find it slightly unnecessary for you to repeat the song title behind the verse.

Test Week Haitus: You need to have a pretty damn good song to make such a sparse arrangment work. Overall the track is quite nice but there are bits that I really like. I don't really get the "sea can't into a sea can..." line, I think I'm missing something there. With a bit of a lyric shuffle, some sweet harmonies and a some other small tweaks this could be great.

John Koberdanz: A good change of tempo for you here. The song for the most part works well but the musical motif of the main part of the song (after the intro) isn't compelling enough to justify the length, especially considering that it's quite a quick song, I'm ready for it to end by the time the solo is over. Also, I'm not really getting the two sides of the argument thing in the lyrics.

Swilington: You always win points for inventiveness but sometimes I wonder about your execution. The production level is fine but there are some really terrible lyrics here ("moaning and groaning like some kind of chimp"?), and sometimes the songs (particularly this one) have too many ideas/different sections for their own good. I commend you for your ambition, but I'm guilty of exactly the same thing and unfortunately I've learnt the hard way that more often than not less really is more. And if you're going for more is more it needs to be pretty damn special. This is good, but I don't feel that it's special. I think I'm extra critical of you because I know that you've got something awesome drifitng around inside your brain.

Student Band: Interesting jazzy intro, your vocalist sounds like he's aged about 2 decades. When the rock kicks in it's cool, not just cos it rocks but I like the contrast between sections. I'm not sure the change at 1.14 works and are those handclaps? Sounds like somebody's attacked your track with a staplegun. Once again the execution is a bit sloppy, but there are some good ideas, moderately well pulled off.

Signboy: The two main things that bug the crap out of me about this entry are the lead guitar at the intro, it sounds like ass and it's badly played, then there's the line "whenever you go down and hit the ground I've always been around to see what kind of pain you've found". The desperate cramming of as many rhymes into the line might be acceptable in hip hop but in this track it is absolutely cringeworthy. The vocal acrobatic moments when you go for the Maroon 5-rockin-out vibe don't quite work out for you, and you should consider yourself lucky that I'm trying to be more objective than normal this round cos I hate Maroon 5. The backing track here and most of your singing is solid in terms of production. Of all things it's your lead guitar playing that lets it down, but ultimately after repeated listens I can't find anything compelling in the melody or lyrics.

[Caravan Ray]

Tex: My main qualms are that I can't really hear the challenge fulfillment

Is this the standard of judging we have to put up with!!!!! My bloody cat could do a better job

Go and have another listen Pedro. I will explain it to you if it is too difficult. The cartoon duck is arguing with the cartoon rabbit about which one is about to get shot by the cartoon Elmer Fudd. It isn't rocket science. There are no deeper levels. It is one dimensional. There is a cartoon argument and constant repitition of the title

Would you like frikking explanatory footnotes with next weeks song?

I find it slightly unnecessary for you to repeat the song title behind the verse.

aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh

[jb]

I am experiencing the song title right now.

Tex: My main qualms are that I can't really hear the challenge fulfillment

Is this the standard of judging we have to put up with!!!!! My bloody cat could do a better job

Go and have another listen Pedro. I will explain it to you if it is too difficult. The cartoon duck is arguing with the cartoon rabbit about which one is about to get shot by the cartoon Elmer Fudd. It isn't rocket science. There are no deeper levels. It is one dimensional. There is a cartoon argument and constant repitition of the title

Would you like frikking explanatory footnotes with next weeks song?

I find it slightly unnecessary for you to repeat the song title behind the verse.

aaaaarrrrrrggggghhhhhhhhh

[JonPorobil]

Whoa. Whoa whoa whoa whoa whoa WHOA. Wait just one cotton-pickin' minute.

Frankie: ... Best song about soup ever.

You can't be serious. Better than this song about soup?

Five and a half years later, that song still cracks me up, and it still gets stuck in my head every time I order soup.