Nur Ein V Round Zero "Time to Panic"

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JonPorobil
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by JonPorobil »

Caravan Ray wrote:
Reist wrote:
Generic wrote:And especially, to hear a guy that I know is Canadian talking about the fueding Republicans and Democrats just rubs me the wrong way.
I'm a little flabbergasted by that comment. Care to elaborate?
I don't know what J-E is on about there either - but I seemed to have the exact opposite problem with your lyrics to Jon

He wrote:
Lyrically... I dunno. I think political songs tend to work better when they're couched a bit more abstractly.

I found your lyrics a bit too abstract and much prefer political songs to be completely unambigous. I think the line "cause anarchists bow down to other anarchists" bothered me the most. Why would anarchists bow down to other anarchists? Who are the anarchists you are referring to?

Unless of course you are actually referring to something specific which is beyond my comprehension because I am not Canadian/North American. That is fine. I know a lot of my songs in the past have been completely indecipherable to everybody except Sausage Boy and Denyer.
I appear to have been on crack a few nights ago. Sorry about that. In an effort to explain what I mean, I'm going to go off on a rant that has nothing to do with Reist's song, and hopefully I'll bring it back on-topic in a manner that makes a sort of sense.

See, I don't mind political music. Of course, that's a very broad definition that encapsulates pretty much everything from "We Will All Go Together When We Go" to "Big Yellow Taxi" to "Livin' on a Prayer" to "Jesus of Suburbia." But I feel like a political song - at least, my ideal of a political song - shouldn't be a song about the act of politics. In fact, it really grates on me to hear real political issues talked about as political issues, when more often than not, they're actually human issues, the responsibility for which has been placed on the lecterns of senators and MPs. Health care isn't a political issue, it's a distinctly human problem, and yet some combination of pundits and media outlets have managed to convince a lot of Americans (U.S., anyway) that health care is a strictly partisan debate. Same with welfare, industry regulation, immigration, drug legalization, discrimination, and even most international conflicts. Nothing gets on my nerves more than hearing real issues which affect regular people on an everyday basis boiled down to an argument between whichever names you feel like giving the two parties: Liberals vs. Conservatives; Red States vs. Blue States; Democrats vs. Republicans. In political discourse and in rock songs alike, the fastest way to dehumanize an issue is to phrase whatever you're talking about in partisan terms, treating the political argument as though it were an end unto itself, instead of the means for significant real-world progress.

A rock song ought to be passionate. When you're asking me to invest a few minutes into your song, I expect you to make me care about what you're singing about. I admit, I'm kind of a sucker, so cheap tricks often work. Maybe you did something with the production to draw attention to your voice. Or maybe you're just singing something with an inherently personal message (politicians do this all the time, with their stump speech case studies - "My opponents say that progress has a cost. I'd like to see them tell that to Tommy, who's been forced to sell his guitar because his union won't let him work, even while his girlfriend Gina works double shifts to pay the rent"). But as soon as you drag "Republicans and Democrats" into the song, I'm falling asleep, reaching for the skip button, and getting bored. Because, as far as I'm concerned, politics is the process by which lawmakers build policy for human issues, whereas the discussion about politics for its own sake is antithetical to why I listen to music.

As for the part about you being Canadian... well, that was me being insanely geocentric. You shouldn't be barred from singing about Democrats and Republicans just because they don't go by those names in your country, and I'm sorry I put it that way.

I listened to your song again, Reist, this time while reading the lyrics, and I can see that I've had a disproportionate reaction to one line in your song, which my brain pulled out of its natural context (obviously, the line "republicans and democrats making people cry"). In fact, your song makes some of the same points I just made above. So feel free to disregard my reviews, and just bear in mind that if I ever wind up being a Nur Ein judge, it might be a mistake to refer to political parties by name.

We cool? 8)
"Warren Zevon would be proud." -Reve Mosquito

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Reist
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Reist »

Generic wrote:Nothing gets on my nerves more than hearing real issues which affect regular people on an everyday basis boiled down to an argument between whichever names you feel like giving the two parties: Liberals vs. Conservatives; Red States vs. Blue States; Democrats vs. Republicans.
That was the point though. The whole song is against extremism, and the Republicans/Democrats line is just that - mocking people who constrain their views within such narrow labels.
Generic wrote:A rock song ought to be passionate.
The song's about my apathy to everybody's passionate views, so I don't really know why I should force a passionate approach.
Generic wrote:As for the part about you being Canadian... well, that was me being insanely geocentric.
Yup.
Generic wrote:You shouldn't be barred from singing about Democrats and Republicans just because they don't go by those names in your country, and I'm sorry I put it that way.
Apology accepted.
Generic wrote:I listened to your song again, Reist, this time while reading the lyrics, and I can see that I've had a disproportionate reaction to one line in your song, which my brain pulled out of its natural context (obviously, the line "republicans and democrats making people cry").
I can't really blame you for it - most people have negative reactions to my lyrics. I've been trying to make them more literal, cause for a bit there I wrote only for the sake of rhyme, and nobody ever knew what the hell I was talking about. :P
Generic wrote:We cool? 8)
Yeah.

ps - for a little context, Ann Coulter visited my school a few weeks ago, and free speech has been heavy on my mind ever since. Naturally I'm a little touchy about it (the far right/far left kids at my school were trying their hardest to censor each other during her visit, even violently) - but no hard feelings, dude. Life's too short to hold grudges.
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by JonPorobil »

Reist wrote: Ann Coulter visited my school a few weeks ago

Ohhhhhhhhhhhh
"Warren Zevon would be proud." -Reve Mosquito

Stages, an album of about dealing with loss, anxiety, and grieving a difficult year, now available on Bandcamp and all streaming platforms! https://jonporobil.bandcamp.com/album/stages
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Billy's Little Trip »

^ I like how Reist said "flabbergasted". Everything else is just a bunch of yammering.

....wait, yammering does mean hitting someone with a yam, right? :?
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Lunkhead »

Reviews! Now with trash talking, since it's NUR EIN. You're going DOWN!!

Adam Adamant - Overall this doesn't bother me that much, except I can't understand quite a bit of whatever it is you're mumbling in the main vocal track. I wish you could record and mix your vocals better. Anyway, the song's kinda cute in a lo-fo Casio-core way.

Billy's Little Trip - Your guitar tone is pretty bad. It sounds all fuzzy and thin. Pretty weak incorporation of the challenge there. Your vocals, particularly the backups, all sound slightly off pitch in the choruses. I don't really like the lyrics, especially in the bridge.

Boop Boop - I really do not get what people love about this. It's kind cute, but for a cute little weird song it goes on too long for my tastes. It's not outright bad but it's too much of a novelty song that's not all that funny for it to rank very high to me.

Brodeur and Gliniecki - Another bomb song. Real original. ;) Your acoustic sounds OK, and the song isn't really bad, it's just not good enough for me to stay interested in it as a guy-tar song. Also, weak incorporation of the challenge.

Chris Cogott - You remind me of Manhattan Glutton. I like the energy of the song, and the vocals. The song's not very original but it's enjoyable. I wish the song wasn't mixed so hot/loud/noisy. Overall not too bad, I guess.

DJ Ranger Den - I like the creepy vibe and the instrumentation, but I think it's too sparse and amorphous for me. It just feels like there isn't enough song there, and not to sound like a jerk, but it's really bordering on Tori Amos territory in parts in a way that sounds kind of derivative.

Emporer Gum - I'm not into the concept in this one. It takes too long to build, I think, and is too repetitive and minimal for me. When the singing comes in at the end it sounds pretty bad, as it's way too bassy and sounds muffled.

Johnny Cashpoint - This song's pretty amusing. I like it, but it doesn't have a lot of replay value for me. Still, better than most of the other songs in the round.

Minty Handy - When I first heard this I didn't realize it was you. That intro riff sounds exactly like some other song, but I can't figure out what. I like the verse melody and the chorus is hooky. I wish it had a bridge and more to it than just verse/chorus/verse/chorus.

Naked Philosophy - Your drums suck. The song is OK, though. In the first half, I wish there were some different music happening during the "time to panic" lines. You probably didn't need the guitar bit at the very end after the bomb drop.

Noah McLaughlin - Your singing is a little off pitch at spots. It also seems like you never sustain any notes, like your vocal lines are all very staccato the whole time. Your drums suck, too. The rhythm of the melody is getting pretty repetitive. ("Daah da da daah da da, daah da da daah da da, etc. etc.) You should maybe vary that some. This feels like it goes on way too long.

Rabid Garfunkel - That intro seemed pretty pointless. Your singing is off in a few spots. Ha, is this about the census? That's kind of funny. This is a long stretch in the middle without vocals... I'm kind of wondering what is going on. "Not time to panic", I think maybe you're repeating that too much. And that's basically it for the song? Hm....

Same Day Positive - Ooh, you're using an odd time signature, I guess that's cool. I hope you don't just stick to that same rhythm for the entire song, though. Your vocals are sounding kind of forced, and a little off pitch to me. OK, good, a switch to 4/4, phew. Your drums suck, too, btw. Points off for using "stuff" in your lyrics. Oh, these last couple riffs are actually kind of cool. Probably the best ones in the song, but too little too late at this point for me.

Sid Denison - Catchy verse melody. The guitar's getting pretty spazzy in the chorus, though. I like the bridge, it's creepy. This song is OK. Your drums suck though.

Therman - Your drums suck. Just kidding. Your mix is too hot/loud for my tastes. It sounds like it's getting noisy and distorted especially in the high end. Maybe your cymbals are mixed too loud or something. Good use of different guitar tones/effects in that little instrumental bit. Your main rhythm guitar tone is pretty shitty, though. It's all fuzz and no meat. You need some metal sounding scooped mids distortion. I'm not really into the monotone singing after that part. OK, the instrumental part may be my favorite part of the song. I'm really not into the kind of rappy part, and can you please go one whole song without using the falsetto? The ending feels pretty abrupt.

The Real Sign - Rawk. Female vocalist? Interesting. I wish the vocals were more present in the mix. The guitars are crowding them out a bit. The vocals have some good edge in them but they aren't entirely on pitch all the time. I like how you incorporated the 1,2,3,4 into the chorus lyrics. I don't really like the spoken part in the bridge, it's a bit heavy handed. Overall OK song though.

Wages - Your guitar doesn't sound very good. That's too bad because it's the only instrument in the song... Part of the problem is that it sounds like you're banging the hell out of it. Try playing with a bit more subtlety. Also it sounds like it's plugged in, you might want to try using a mic. Your lyrics and melodies aren't really drawing me in much, which they really need to for guy-tar format.

Who Fly - Cool lo-fi intro. Ah, it's i.p. Something weird is going on between the different rhythms of your drums and keys. I'm having a hard time hearing where the real beat is. Ah, the drums are back. Cool chorus. The section after the second verse feels like it meanders a bit too long before it sort of coheres with the repeated "what a waste of time" line. I'm waiting for the chorus lyrics... but are they not coming back? Ah, there they are, cool, and it's over, nice.
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Reist »

Lunkhead wrote:can you please go one whole song without using the falsetto?
uuhhhh .... you might not want to listen to my round one song. :lol:
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Ross
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Ross »

Lunkhead wrote:Reviews!
Welcome to Nur Ein!'s first annual drumfight everyone :-)
Lunkhead wrote:Minty Handy - That intro riff sounds exactly like some other song, but I can't figure out what.
I think it's "Jumpin' Jack FLash"
"I don't like this song, but at least it's good." - veGetar Ianra Ge
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by JonPorobil »

Man, am I glad you're not a judge. I didn't even get a review!
Lunkhead wrote: Minty Handy - That intro riff sounds exactly like some other song, but I can't figure out what.
That would be "Jumpin' Jack Flash." :P

Sorry, Minty. I still liked your track a lot!
"Warren Zevon would be proud." -Reve Mosquito

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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by MintyHandy »

When I first heard this I didn't realize it was you...
Better get used to it -- I'm doing all of Nur Ein V (at least until I get kicked out) down low, as per request of my wife, who's sick of hearing me sing all whiny.
...I wish it had a bridge and more to it than just verse/chorus/verse/chorus.
Yeah, I want to blame it on finding out about Nur Ein V a few days late, but really it is because I'm obsessing over production values right now (got my new copy of Pro Tools and all that), and I've been (for rounds 0 and 1) completely without songwriting inspiration.
Jumpin' Jack Flash
Argh. I sat down to record something else, but when I stroked my fingers over the keyboard to see if it was patched correctly, that's the noodle that came out, and I thought "hey, I'll just use that" and ran with it. Argh argh argh. Mind you, I just listened to 'em back to back just now, and it's not really the same, but still: argh.
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Emperor Gum »

Spud wrote:Your fresh approach on the counting, totally embedded into the lyrics, skipping over number but definitely progressing, intrigued me. The female HAL seemed a good fit for this style. Unfortunately, you kind of lost me when the guy came in and started from seventeen again. Lost the mood. VOTE.
Generic wrote:Is that a real voice? I can't tell (probably because it's speaking German) whether it's a sample or a text-to-speech program. Did I hear the word "Texas" in there? The narrative implied in here is compelling, and clashes compellingly with the organic music in the background. I'm taken out of the mood, however, when you actually start singing yourself. It was compellingly eerie until then. The vocals could have been better if they had been recorded with a better mic, or recorded farther from said mic, or if they had been mixed lower in the track... but honestly, I still think it would have been a better song if there had been no singing at all. Now, I don't say that too often.
Ross wrote:What I liked: Clarinet duo, interesting foreign voice
What I didn’t like: it took WAY to long to get to the song proper, vocal production on sung part
Challenge: I like the way it occurs twice and the sung version is not a straight count
Lunkhead wrote:I'm not into the concept in this one. It takes too long to build, I think, and is too repetitive and minimal for me. When the singing comes in at the end it sounds pretty bad, as it's way too bassy and sounds muffled.
Hello guys, my name is Graham Porter; I am appearing under the handle of Emperor Gum. I am not the Graham Porter that won song fight. Thanks for the feedback guys! One of reasons I entered this contest is I'm not very good at writing songs quickly, usually I take weeks if not months. So whilst I am pleased I produced anything at all in the time limit, I pretty much had to run with the first solid idea I had, even though I didn't like it. The result was something that was over thought; I agree with Lunkhead that if you don't like the concept the music wasn't strong enough on its own. Yes the vocal quality is bad, sorry; I have ordered a new mic, hopefully it will be here for the third round should I make it that far. The song is based upon 'Ever 17: Out Of Infinity'. The German and English female parts are both computer produced.
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by MintyHandy »

One of reasons I entered this contest is I'm not very good at writing songs quickly
Isn't that why we're all here? Welcome to the funhouse!
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Chris Cogott
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Re: Nur Ein V: Round Zero

Post by Chris Cogott »

Caravan Ray wrote: And finally, to take an early stab at the rabbit and place the kiss of death - based on current form and assuming he has the ticker to last the distance - I am seeing very short odds on Chris Cogott being the last man standing in this whole shebang.
I just caught this. Thanks for putting the whammy on me dude! Actually is anybody really in this thing to win? I'm just in it for the excruciating stress of trying to finish a song on time! :D
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