Conversational reviews? Don't mind if I do.
So, the challenge this week. Yeah. At one point I believe it was "include backwards elements", but was reworded to the less ambiguous "include backwards
recording". A small but important distinction. In my mind "backwards elements" allows for some wiggle room for the technologically challenged or the compulsively experimental; for instance, I think learning how to say a phrase backwards and recording that would count as a "backwards element". If you made it
really obvious you could even use the lyrics to tell a backwards narrative. But, for the sake of clarity, it got parred down to just "backwards recording". Hmmm.
Anyway, on to the songs. What was it about the title that made people think "ROOOOCK!!!"? Or "PLASTIC SURGERY!!!", for that matter.
FBF - This is my favorite Nur Ein 3 song so far. If I am being pandered to, I like it. I'm totally in awe of those drums. Double kicks, thundering toms. Are they real? Programmed? Either way, I'm impressed. I have no idea how you achieved this staggering volume while still retaining a punchy drum sound. Killer guitar tone. The oppressive echo on the vocal obscures the verse lyrics completely, although after reading them I'm not sure I'm missing too much. Love the Ann Coulter stanza, though. Cool wide bass sound in the breakdown, great sounding flute. Love the rewind joke, it totally makes the song for me, and ties for the cleverest use of the challenge in the fight. I feel like I should be the one providing the talk-back voice. Why are the vocals so loud in the last verse?
Tex - This is the quintessential Tex Beaumont song. Fantastic humable melody, driving drums, funny and filthy lyrics, spaghetti-western/surf-rock backing woo-oohs, handclaps, detailed basslines, catchy little guitar licks, that epic double-breakdown/buildup, and last-but-not-least, vibraslap. I can't say enough good things about this song. The only thing I wish is that you had played up the backwards-demonic vocals aspect, to tie the challenge in better with the lyrics; you may actually have tried to do this, but those backwards vocals just aren't demonic enough.
Glenn & more Glenn - I'm a sucker for backwards drums. Clever use of a long vocal reverb to convey desolation. Ooh, circular panning at the end. It's nice to hear some cool new production tricks from you, Glenn. Man, you've got Twilight Zone on the brain these days; love this episode. The first-person amnesiac-mystery lyrics remind me of your Greenwood Cemetery album. This song is full of some seriously heavy riffs; it's a shame that the guitar tone is so ludicrous, an indistinct wall of fizzy noise. I'm impressed by your backwards-enunciation, which fooled at least one reviewer. Needs more Rachael. ROCK!
Ross - Those headphones were worth every penny: this mix wraps around my ears like warm caramel. Especially nice, after last week's mix. Love your voice in this song. I found these lyrics a little too unsubtle, however I suppose one needs to make the satire obvious with this kind of subject matter. The backwards solo is the best in the fight (a co-worker stopped me to ask if I was listening to Kenny Rogers'
Just Dropped In), and that backwards storm-leaving sound works well with the lyrics. You drop some specific preacher names I'm not familiar with, but given recent-ish events in America I assume the storm in question was a literal one. Cool song, well thought-out, and a great use of the title.
BLT - Some cool sounds here, especially the backwards ambiences and what sounds like filtersweeps (but probably aren't). Intro guitar riffing reminds me of
The Bazaar, by The Tea Party. The later guitar solo does not sound as cool. Some really sketchy vocals (by Nur Ein standards) in the last half. The catchy chorus really boosted this song.
Adam^2 - What a pleasant surprise. The tired sounding vocals fit quite well with this song. I'd like to hear this with a real bass. The reggae-ish guitar rhythm, coupled with the cool reverse guitars and fairly catchy chorus melody make this a keeper.
Starfinger - I started off not liking this song, but once I payed attention to the lyrics it just grew and grew on me. "Science is willing when the flesh is weak" is a great line. A very believable and sadly-funny character study of an unscrupulous plastic surgeon. I'm assuming this must be what happened to Michael Jackson. The vocals are pretty sketchy in places, specifically when you're singing at the top of your range, and also around the word "pro". A couple instruments come in that sound really neat, then suddenly appear to morph into your voice... don't really know how you did that, but I like it. Use of the challenge is pretty cursory; seeing as you have a line about reversing the processes, I figured you'd tie the backwards stuff in there somehow.
TWSA - handclaps, dance drums, songs about a robot takeover (wait, I just realized I don't know what this song is about)... I've made the Tokyo Police Club comparison before, right? I like one of your vocalists a lot more than the other. Sorry, other-vocalist. The chorus is totally great, with fantastic backing vocals. Aside from the chorus and the guitar solo, nothing really grabs me melodically. Still, it's never boring. Lots of nice change-ups.
JBB - Cool sounds immediately. This may be the most heavy-handed 2-buss compression I've ever heard. Sounds like you're pulling down at least 6db with a pretty fast release. Pumpy. A manly guitar tone like that could really use a nice loud snare to complement it. Catchy melodies and the top-notch singing I've come to expect from you throughout. I wish there was more work put into the arrangement to help differentiate the verse from the chorus. You copped half the bridge melody from your Kick Start (both lines in each song end with "... to recover"); was this intentional? I spent a short while trying to figure out if this was a lyrical connection between the two. You didn't really do much with the challenge, but then again you didn't have to.
Cock - See my Adam Adamant review (except the reggae part). The pianos and strings in the chorus work really nicely. The verse vocals are pretty terrible, but the chorus is solid. Why am I hearing "and it's not
s natural" in every chorus? I really wish you would do something--anything--other than a plodding, never-pausing bass groove coupled with a 4/4 beat. I think all your Nur Ein songs so far have followed this formula. Oh... I just realized you won't be in the next round... damn, raw deal, dude.
15-16 - The most adventurous track I've heard from you since Let's Get Naked. Love the verse, hate the chorus. I guess I was waiting for some cool, fleshed-out,
sung hook... but instead it sounds pretty much like the verse, except with embarrassing pitched-down vocals and some annoying groaning added in. Love the "found-sound" percussion (ice-cubes?). I like your flow in the verse. The backwards guitars-or-whatever don't do much for me. I believe you when you say this song turned out exactly how you wanted it. Sad to see you go so early.
Reist - This song earned you last place!? WTF? I mean, it's ain't
great, but LAST? No justice. There's less interesting stuff going on in this song than your last two. Guitars and drums are spectacular as usual. Cool breakdown. As you yourself noted, the vocals are weaker than you're capable of. Melodically speaking, I like whatever's going on in the last 30 seconds of the song the most, and I wish there had been more of that earlier. As for the challenge, it sounds like you learned how to pronounce a few words backwards and then recorded that, which is a trivial but admittedly creative way to address the challenge, especially considering your recording restrictions. I wish it had a more obvious connection to the song. Like last year, I was very surprised you didn't make it farther in the competition.
Ken - The intro's guitar feedback, glockenspiels and panned drum machine made me go "ok, this is going to be the coolest song ever"; unfortunately, the song immediately drops all those elements after the first 10 seconds. Meh. I want to hear THAT song. I like how you seem to have built the song around that lead backwards loop. What the heck is wrong with this mix? Your vocals are WAY out in front, and while they sound full, the music in the background sounds thin and brittle. The synthesizer that comes in on the right feels like a dentist's drill right in my brain. The verses get a little repetitive, but the chorus and bridge are a real treat. The deliberate enunciation and slant rhymes make the vocal feel a bit unnatural. Short but sweet.
BK - Am I enough of a jerk to just write "See my Kick Start review"?
Apparently! For me the coolest part was when the reverse guitars came in and made a bunch of weird dissonant chords.
Paco - That verse riff is pretty ugly. I like the chorus, which feels like it's actually a pre-chorus buildup to the real hook that never comes. Drums are great, again, although in the intro they make me say "You gotta' keep 'em separated!". Challenge feels tacked on.
JT - Funkmetal, eh? That guitar tone is over-the-top. I like it. Very cool playing. It's a shame that this song is basically 95% that one guitar riff (or, slight variations on it) over and over again. Those drums need to be much punchier and more in-your-face. That backwards solo ain't doin' anything for me. Maybe I'm not hearing them right, but the nebulous lyrics offer me nothing to grip onto: all I know is the song is about someone who did some stuff.
EDIT: Just read the lyrics. OK, once you're familiar with the subject (which, for me, took reading through a couple wikipedia articles) the lyrics actually do a great job of talking about this specific 'unnatural disaster' in a way that leaves the lyric open to interpretation. Still, to those who are unversed in Indian Industrial Accidents, it just sounds like a bunch of tired, generic lines. In retrospect, you might have gotten a little screwed by me not getting the lyrics.
Octothorpe - I'm getting more of a Rock Lobster vibe from this song than usual. The verse is nice, but I really don't like the chorus. Firstly, each one leads in with an irritating sound effect. I don't care for the hook melody, so I quadruply don't care for it when the bass and both keyboards are playing the exact some melody octaves appart. Even though it's justifiable considering the story, "that one should use the word 'disaster'" feels very kludged into the chorus. That all said, Octothope has scored a hat-trick: once again they have the cleverest integration of the challenge. Backwards vocals as alien gobbledygook: genius.
Add - Maybe it's just me, but this song puts me straight to sleep. Fantastic vocals, and a pleasant enough melody. The delivery kind of reminds me of Destroyer's Rubies (which is too bad: I can't stand Destroyer's Rubies). As far as I can tell this song is mostly two chords over and over again for 5 minutes, with very little to break that up. The backwards keys and choir synth that comes in for, like, 2 seconds are awesome... I want more! Like 15-16's song, the pitched-down vocals are silly sounding. The lyrics have some very cool imagery, but lyrics are pretty low on my list of interests. The Mormon in me (he's very small: my family stopped going to church when I was young) wonders why you chose the samples that you did. This song is like the energizer bunny.
King Art - Top of my list last week, at the bottom this week... quite the reversal. I ain't going to mince words: this song is
so boring. You must repeat that short little two-chord motif nearly 100 times; by my third spin of the song it had nearly driven me completely mad, like
Torgo's Theme. The long, long phrases with sparse rhymes hidden 20 seconds appart make the verses feel like some weird sort of rambling free-verse. I like the little bass flourishes. The backwards stuff makes lyrical sense, but I have to second the chipmunk sentiment... also, the reversed parts are really jarring. Sorry Art.
Oh god, bedtime.