Nur Ein VIII Round Three "All Hail the Snake"

[frankie big face]

@Skypup - yeah, I guess this is Flaming Lips-ish. I hadn't thought about it while I was making it but it's a good comparison. A diving bell is a bell-shaped thing that deep sea divers use as transport. (There's an awesome film called The Diving Bell and the Butterfly if you need a good flick sometime.) So it's not a traditional bell that rings per se but I liked the way the words sounded in this context.

@Glen - I really want to sound like Portishead! Sadly, not skilled enough or have enough time to make the drums as cool as theirs or to add scratching. This time around I gave you a fad out AND a fade in. Every time I fade out, I think of you. I may make it a goal to fade out every Nur Ein track this time around.

[Eric Y.]

I guess this is Flaming Lips-ish. I hadn't thought about it while I was making it but it's a good comparison.

Agreed.

A diving bell is [...] not a traditional bell that rings per se but I liked the way the words sounded in this context.

Agreed.

[Caravan Ray]

I can see how the phrasing and structure are comparable, but the genre (jazzy-speak-easy/tango-ish) itself is pretty formulaic. It seems to me that any actual similarities are more influenced by the style of the genre.

Yeah - I figured that. It is not a style I would listen to a lot, so they would all sound a bit like Tom Waits to me.

[BoffoYux]

Tonight I'll be hosting the Nur Ein 8 Round 3 Listening Party on UStream
Show starts at 8 pm EDT. Preshow is starting around 7:30ish.

The Google+ Hangout won't be happening again because I ran out of time to troubleshoot the audio issues. Maybe next round!

Drop on in if you have some time. 20 new songs created just for this contest, and we'll whittle them down to 'Only One'.

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/nur-ein

The chat room is on Chatzy here
http://www.chatzy.com/85010334701393

or irc here at SongFight
http://jan-krueger.net/sf-irc

[Caravan Ray]

I may make it a goal to fade out every Nur Ein track this time around.

D'oh - I'd forgotten about that. I usually like to do fade outs too, just to annoy Glennny

[glennny]

you guys can always use hand claps, in a 12 bar blues progression while singing about the song you're writing, singing playing.

[Niveous]

Hey folks. Come visit the listening party. I'm in there causing havoc.

[j$]

Go get 'em, tiger!

[BoffoYux]

Hey folks. Come visit the listening party. I'm in there causing havoc.

Havoc? You were acting like you owned the place!

Nice job on the history of Nur Ein drops.

[glennny]

I count 18 of my 216 song fight entries that have E bow. Yeah I thought it was higher.

[Ross]

Hey folks. Come visit the listening party. I'm in there causing havoc.

Havoc? You were acting like you owned the place!

Nice job on the history of Nur Ein drops.

Would it be too selfish of me to say I was slightly disappointed "El Balazo" was not mentioned?


But I am enjoying all the history bits.

[glennny]

speaking of history, are the judges voting in the final round? In Nur Ein 4 they weren't allowed to. I think that was the case for 1,2,3 also, but 5,6,7 the judges had a vote in the final round.

Also has the longer song cycles of the earlier Nur Eins been mentioned?

[Ross]

According to this, the jury gets a vote.

http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 36#p180936

[glennny]

yep, but that also says they're a group of 5

[Niveous]

@Glennny: Judges get a vote.

@Ross: Couldn't find a good trivia tidbit about Anja Claire.

[Geoff WreckdoM]

Man, I'm sad I missed out on this weeks listening party, sounds like it was a good one, with new bumps and everything. Oh well. Maybe they'll get rerunned.
Work has been crazy, the fact that I'm not getting fired, retiring, quitting, sick, or on restricted duty due to an injury means I'm in the minority. It's just me and an entire motherfucking city. Seems like it anyway. On that note, I finally posted our lyrics.

[governingdynamics]

Niveous, can the song page be updated with the final mix I submitted? It's still my safety track right now. There's not much difference but... ya know.... judging and what not...

[Paco Del Stinko]

Paco FTW with the ultimate judge pandering collab. Well played sir.

Ha! Let's just say I'm very lucky that a lot of things lined up well. One thing that I thought of was how would the judges know if the collaborator was a mom or not, like the "must be autobiographical challenge" from a few EINs ago. How can you prove it? Then I thought of this quote "jack wrote:heather is the hardest working mom on songfight (in addition to being arguably the rockinist chick....)." from Heather's signature. Maybe not proof but if it's pandering, it's to familiarity over favoritism. But mostly, I am a big fan of the Hell Yeahs and Abom. If the song does well, it'll be due to her.

NOTE: Not being pissy, just 'splainin'

It's been a while since I've collaborated, besides doing guitar bits for BLT. Exciting and fun! I tried to dump lyric duties on her but she said she had little time, so I wrote them and she replaced lines, moved others around. Melodies are all her. I told her to have Phil do the leads if he wanted to, and he did a great job. I had some slide licks there in case he didn't, but they weren't that good and have been thrown to the ethers. My songs for this NUR EIN! haven't been stellar, but Heather and Phil put some fire in this round and I am grateful.

I am not so sure about winning, though. There're some good tunes in this batch. But if I were to win, it'd be the only time, I think, that I won a round besides the zero and final rounds. Never won an immunity round as I am generally a middle-placer.

[Niveous]

The revised Governing Dynamics song is up.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Quick comments after several listens. I'll be glad to clarify or further expound if you'd like me to. The mom challenge was hard, and I got lucky. If I had had to use my closest mom. I'd be in HUGE trouble!

Balance Lost - Oops! I thought it was the Friz singing at first! Harmonies would have set the voices more apart but this tune is very pleasant and more musically complex than might first appear. Will survive the round easily.

Boffo Yux Dudes - Clever idea and well done if a little unbalanced. Arrangement-wise, that is. More sample heavy than obvious collaborator heavy and this could spell trouble in surviving the round.

Carlo Bruno Jr. - Great rocking, dangerous and reckless. I am a fan of your voice and your drums are/have always been great sounding. Collaboration challenge use is unclear: are the gals actual moms or nicknamed like the Glimmer Twins or whatever? Is there enough of them?

Cavedwellers - Glen-e-bow-P-Dawg in da house! Sunny convertable drive on the coast. The synthy bridge is nice, but kind of wandery and the ending makes the song feel incomplete to me. However, very nice tune and will make the cut.

Chokehold Princess - It's amazing that you can toss these songs together so quickly. The theme is simple but maybe doesn't come off as hailing the snake. Fun and easy going but the good vibe may be spoiled by feeling rushed. As a fan I hope you get more time to polish. As a competitor...phew!

DJ Ranger Den - Very experimental, to say the least. I admire and applaud your courage. But you may be in trouble this round. Is that your mom talking or the TV? Is your mom on TV? I love how gonzo this is but it may lack too much focus. Chin up, troop!

Frankie Big Face - This is great. Maybe a little dissonant at the start, but that works for me. Love the progression and the voice from the subconscious. Should place very high if it doesn't win, which it probably will. Excellent mom-age! As far as the mom vs. mom challenge goes, it may be my song vs. yours.

Governing Dynamics - Love how this flows, river-like. It's a little loose but that's ok. Nice arrangement. Who's the mom? Nice voice, if phasey sounding. This has a strong emotional feel even if I don't know what I'm feeling. Put this on top of your polish it up list. WIll make the cut this week.

Inflatable Vegetables - The tabla rhytthm is too up in the mix against the guitar. Yeah, not Production Fight, I know, but distracting. I'd like to hear this more Stonesy I think. Good rock riff, sleaze it up a bit and delivery more vocal scruff on the verses. On the fence as to whether you'll pass the round: Where's the mom?

Manhattan Glutton - I like this, but somewhat reluctantly. Nice that you obliged with the immunity round submission, anway. What I am struck by most here is the singing. I like the held notes and the emotion comes through despite the boxey sound. OK. Not get over it and move on.

Merisan - Big Tom Waits fan here, so yeah, I heard it too. Doesn't matter unless you blatantly rip him off and I'm sure you used him as a very strong influence. Great balance of...everything. Love the mysterious subject. The instruments, backing voices, breaks in the arrangement, the whispery voices. Mom sounds nice but is she strong enough? The song is, so see you next week.

Paco del Stinko - I wanted to keep this simple and lean. I think I did except for the bridge, which I dig the most. Any success will be due to Heather.

Ross Durand - I think this may be the tune to beat. Not due to any stand up and salute the flag feeling, but the story telling and arrangement. Love the use of the mom, her placement and role are excellent. Nicely constructed chorus and the horn work may (barely) wobble at times, but I'm impressed. Strongest entry for you this EIN so far.

The Tydon Docks - I dig this tune most of your EIN entries this year. Good fun and I was excited to hear Rummy included in your list of shitbags. The Irwin stuff is fun but the judges may have an issue wth the collaboration part. Is it strong or evident enough? Excellent guitar work, too.

WreckdoM - I have no idea how you guys put this together. There's like a million things happening, somehow all breathing and fitting in together without crowding each other out. The lrics are fine but I love the sleazy pimp snake voice best. Where's mom? Is that enough collaboration for the judges? I say see you next week!

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face - This is great. Maybe a little dissonant at the start, but that works for me. Love the progression and the voice from the subconscious. Should place very high if it doesn't win, which it probably will. Excellent mom-age! As far as the mom vs. mom challenge goes, it may be my song vs. yours.

Thanks Paco! I haven't had a chance to listen to the songs yet but I'm happy with this song and I think it's different and effective. Whether the judges see it that way is anyone's guess. I like dissonance! I got some good advice from another participant about making the intro more interesting and I decided to go with a lot ring modulation reverb which creates all the noise you hear. It comes back at the end as well.

As I said earlier, this song never would have happened without the spark that Amy's keyboard line provided. It was actually really easy and makes me wonder if I should be collaborating more often. Thanks for the review!

[WreckdoMelle]

Where's mom?

Thanks for the positive review! That's my madre praising the snake, accompanied by my BFF (mom of a 2-year-old). I hope they're mom enough for youse guys! My mom has a wooden leg with a kickstand. That's right.