Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

There can be only one.
User avatar
grumpymike
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:12 pm
Instruments: Rage and curmudgeonry
Recording Method: Zero-turn lawnmower
Submitting as: Grumpy Mike

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by grumpymike »

frankie big face wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 10:11 am
What I should have said more clearly is that I think the sample forces you into that tempo. If the song were a little faster, it would work, but then the sample would need to be adjusted. Or thrown on the fire...that would work too! :D
I did speed up the sample to where I wanted it... this is the tempo I wanted!!! If it were faster, I think it would have cheapened the lyrics. Then I'd have to change the lyrics, and if I'm doing that, I may as well not be writing a bluesy waltz at all. So, you're basically telling me rewrite the entire song. That's fair criticism and I'll take it.

I suppose everybody has their own internal clock and it even changes depending on mood and context. I often think people should slow down their songs. The nature of this competition encourages hyper-upbeat songs, especially when you're surrounded by them and only get short listens. IMO, Vowl suffered the most this round - play them at 0.8x and it's a much better song. You and Max are both great at the recorded speed, but around 0.95x sounds really good. Faster Jackalope would have been closer to my top choices at 0.9x (the weird part is I want the verse closer to 0.7 but the chorus is way too sludgy that slow). I'm probably in the minority, so none of this matters and I'm sure everyone's bored reading. I enjoy cherishing all the creative details and hanging on the vocal melodies. I like the way your drums thunk and the hanging on "know". But then you'd need more vocal takes to nail the longer sustains... and time is tight.

Anyhow, I originally started with two song ideas from this sample. One sounded like a really bad "(You're) Unbelievable" rip-off. We should all applaud my discretion.
Last edited by grumpymike on Tue May 21, 2019 11:08 am, edited 1 time in total.
frankie big face
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1939
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:26 pm
Instruments: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Saxophone, Flute, Keyboard, Violin, Other Stuff
Recording Method: Logic, UAD Apollo Twin, aging iMac
Submitting as: frankie big face
Location: Lancaster, PA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by frankie big face »

glennny wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 10:47 am
Frank said:
It's a little creepy that you have that at your fingertips. I bet if you dig deeper, you'll find this is not the first time I compared you to Mike and the Mechanics. I don't know that for sure, I just know it's true. But yeah, you guys can play and we should focus on the nice things I said! :D
I don't have to dig, I remember. You did. You know how to rib a Genesis fan.
I'm hoping these judges feel like those judges ;)
I'm not making fun of you when I say that! (Not much, anyway) I love Missing Persons, by the way. Super-underrated, imo.
User avatar
Lunkhead
You're No Good
Posts: 8104
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:14 pm
Instruments: many
Recording Method: cubase/mac/tascam4x4
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene, Merisan, Tiny Robots
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Berkeley, CA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by Lunkhead »

Glen, is one of your massive spreadsheets one that contains every review any song you've contributed to has ever gotten on the boards? Or do you collect them all in your master spreadsheet of all the songs? :P
User avatar
glennny
Jump
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:39 am
Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Dobro, Banjo, E-Bow, Glock
Recording Method: Garageband
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene
Location: Castro Valley, California

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by glennny »

My OCD is a strength at work, and weakness elsewhere. I'm trying to control it.
Frank is like one of my older cousins, I'm always trying to impress him, I care too much what he thinks.

here's a distraction since Pentangle was brought up. WARNING: it sucks you in for 40 minutes. At least it did me and Truth. You should only check it out if you have 40 minutes to do so:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vCRmuy0tLaA&t=546s
Phillipso, Older Brothers, Semolina Pilchards, Zipline , Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, The Odoriferous Valley, The Worldly Self Assurance, Berkeley Social Scene, Very Gentle Knives, Daddy Bop Swing Set, GUNS, The Kraken Lives, Cavedwellers
User avatar
grumpymike
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:12 pm
Instruments: Rage and curmudgeonry
Recording Method: Zero-turn lawnmower
Submitting as: Grumpy Mike

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by grumpymike »

Lunkhead wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 11:02 am
Or do you collect them all in your master spreadsheet of all the songs? :P
The thought has crossed my mind of putting reviews into the database... I should probably work on other things first though.
User avatar
Chumpy
Twilight Sparkle
Posts: 691
Joined: Sat Apr 18, 2015 2:06 pm
Instruments: Vocals, guitar, bass
Recording Method: Logic
Submitting as: Jerkatorium, Chumpy
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Seattle, WA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by Chumpy »

glennny wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 11:56 am
here's a distraction since Pentangle was brought up.
My first girlfriend was really into Pentangle's Sweet Child album and played it a lot when we lived together. I really loved Bruton Town and was stoked to find this live performance of it, thanks Glennn!
"I don't recommend ending on a bad joke." --ken
owl
Panama
Posts: 974
Joined: Mon May 15, 2017 1:29 pm
Instruments: vox keys uke guitar
Recording Method: REAPER
Submitting as: Vowl Sounds, miscellaneous owl
Pronouns: she/her
Location: Madison, WI
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by owl »

Chumpy wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 1:01 pm
glennny wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 11:56 am
here's a distraction since Pentangle was brought up.
My first girlfriend was really into Pentangle's Sweet Child album and played it a lot when we lived together. I really loved Bruton Town and was stoked to find this live performance of it, thanks Glennn!
I hadn't thought about "Let No Man Steal Your Thyme" in many years and I was happy to hear it again :) Thanks for the link glennny!
frankie big face
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1939
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:26 pm
Instruments: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Saxophone, Flute, Keyboard, Violin, Other Stuff
Recording Method: Logic, UAD Apollo Twin, aging iMac
Submitting as: frankie big face
Location: Lancaster, PA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by frankie big face »

glennny wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 11:56 am

Frank is like one of my older cousins, I'm always trying to impress him, I care too much what he thinks.
Just saw this. You are definitely right. No matter how much or how little you care, it's too much! :mrgreen:

For the record, I love your OCD. It's endearing.
User avatar
ariskofrain
Ain't Talkin' 'Bout Love
Posts: 29
Joined: Sat Apr 27, 2019 9:03 am
Submitting as: rain
Pronouns: they/them
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by ariskofrain »

frankie! thanks for the kind words! the sample is indeed the "i missed out" part, it's from a song called old kid (that you can find here - https://rainrain.bandcamp.com/track/old-kid-3), so it is like, a part 2 song? it was the only way i could imagine tackling this challenge really, it felt so natural. imagine it as a track 8 on an album where old kid is the track 2. callbacks!!
User avatar
vowlvom
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1091
Joined: Wed May 17, 2017 3:29 am
Instruments: guitar, keys, "other"
Recording Method: PC, reaper, ableton
Submitting as: Vowl Sounds, Vom Vorton
Pronouns: he/him
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by vowlvom »

Congrats Rain! Funny that you win immunity for the chiptune round in the week that you’ve revealed your chiptune expertise, I hope you’ll still submit a song!

Some real surprises (to me anyway) in the judges scores again, looking forward to hearing / reading reviews! I’ll hopefully get mine posted later.
User avatar
vowlvom
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1091
Joined: Wed May 17, 2017 3:29 am
Instruments: guitar, keys, "other"
Recording Method: PC, reaper, ableton
Submitting as: Vowl Sounds, Vom Vorton
Pronouns: he/him
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by vowlvom »

Really interesting round. It didn't have the "every song is great!" factor that the diss track round did for me, but all of these were interesting and I really enjoyed listening, with a few particular standout tracks. Really good shadow entries, too!

Abominominous - this is easily the weirdest song you've submitted so far, and I really enjoyed it! Something in the music reminds me of Deerhoof, and I mean that as high praise. The vocals are mostly pretty hard to decipher while listening, which maybe isn't ideal, but it didn't bother me personally. It took me a while to figure out the sample, the way you've recontextualised it makes it sound like a flute stab or something. BUT now that I get it, I love the song even more! Probably not a great idea to call out the judges while I'm still in the competition but judges! How could you rank this so low!? You crazy!

Berkeley Social Scene - LOVE the guitar and synth work on this one. The intro and verse are so gorgeous and shimmery. Chorus lets the song down slightly I think, the resolution into the "you colour me..." line is really nice but the melody on the other lines just feels a bit simple / uninspired. Sample sounds good, doesn't really feel like an essential part of the song but adds to the charm. Love the headphone-candy panning stuff in the solo. One of my favourites, both from this round and from BSS.

Faster Jackalope - really ambitious writing and sampling. The execution doesn't quite come together for me, but I think that's mostly because I struggle with that U2-meets-Van-Halen guitar tone you've got going on, which distracts me from the good stuff. Sampling is clever, but some of them feel like they've really been forced into the song which lessens the appeal for me.

Frankie Big Face - this one is ambitious too. Crazy dynamics from the verse to the chorus, effective but perhaps a bit too much? I absolutely love a lot of the little synth touches in the verses, and the clicky, tempo-changing hihats are great. Unfortunately the sample really grates on me, I think the song would be vastly better without it. Can't get this one out of my head though, it's definitely the one I find myself thinking about when I'm not actually listening, and I know I know I know I know I know there must be some reason for that.

Grumpy Mike - think I can only really fall back on genre bias here, there's nothing objectively wrong with this song but the kinda atmospheric, slow, bluesy hard-rock vibe isn't my thing at all. If I were to get really nitpicky, there are a couple of places in the instrumental / sample sections where it kinda feels like the bass is playing on the beat and the drums swing a little and it sounds a bit weird to me, but that's like... micro-level critique. Sample sounds good but doesn't feel as cleverly used as some.

Max Bombast - I really wish you'd cut the Amazing Grace sample off after "wretch like me", having that whole tuned verse in there three times really makes this drag for me. But then I think I'd still be complaining, super technically impressive though it is, I just do not like the sound of that sample at all. Love the Omar sample though, and this is really slick as usual, just not my cup of tea.

Merisan - gorgeous harmonies, fantastic sample usage, and you've reminded me how much I used to like Iron & Wine. It's very slow and low-key for a contest entry song but that's not really a criticism, I think this might be my favourite track of the round. If I was judging based on a combination of personal enjoyment, title usage and challenge then this would definitely be my #1.

Nick Soma - there's a really good song in here, but the mix does its best to keep me from enjoying it. Lots of muddy low frequencies and once the weirdly boxy but also incredibly loud drums come in they dominate the whole song which isn't ideal. Your voice sounds good (although too quiet!) and there's some gorgeous stuff going on with the piano lines, guitar and the melodic sample.

Rachael Layne - total genre shift here! It's like a gothy trip-hop thing? An interesting change, not sure it totally works for me but it's pretty fun. There are some vocal lines early in the song that sound way off key to me in a really distracting way, but since you're such a good singer I'm thinking maybe it's a deliberate choice? The harmonies sound really good when they kick in.

Rain Watt - I don't think there's anything wrong with picking one of your own songs to sample, but it does mean that this just sounds like "a Rain Watt song" rather than "a Rain Watt song based around sampling" because it's hard to tell which bits are the samples (even when I know which bit is the sample... if that makes any sense). It's a Rain Watt song though, which means I loved it. The slowdown bit catches me off guard a bit every time, I love the way it builds back up but maybe the initial halt is a bit severe? But then I tend to find myself struggling a bit with this kind of tempo / dynamic shift, one of my favourite bands (Martha) does it a lot and those songs never end up being my favourite. These are nitpicky things though, this is still one of the best songs of the round and probably my favourite outside of challenge / title boosts (see comments on Merisan for further confused ramblings about song rankings).

The Sunday Colors - more good storytelling, although I guess I'm not entirely sure what "color me Sunday" means outside of the nod to your band name. The sample integration is pretty low-tech compared to a lot of the others and is probably the least enjoyable part of the song for me, although I do love the way you come back out of it at the end.

Third Cat - this is another one that rewards headphone listening. Lots of cool sample layering bits, I like that you've really used the samples as a textured layer throughout, and your voice sounds good. The big "because!" swell bits are great. The song as a whole didn't really stick with me that much, although I do find myself thinking about THAT weird lyric quite a bit!

Ujn Hunter + Friends - another wild genre-swing! I feel like I need to hear this one a few more times to really figure it out, it's unusual but I think I like it. It almost feels like a song from a musical or something, super dramatic, but with the twist that it has your very non-musical-theatre vocal leading the way. Not sure which bit the sample is? I wonder if not stating the origins of your sample hurt this in the ranking?

Vowl Sounds - this was the last of FOUR ideas we came up with for this round, and I struggled with it for a while (think I was Very Tired while working on it which didn't help) but the more STUFF we added the more I liked it, and now that it's finished I'm really happy with it.

---

Agony Sauce (immune) - pleased you're immune because otherwise I think you'd have had a good chance of winning this round too! This is really fun, and one of my favourite sample usages of the round. I like the way the sampled chorus section has a slightly melancholy feel to it.

---

Inflatable Vegetables (ohne ruhm) - super catchy and fun, possibly my favourite of your songs so far this year. My only real complaint is that the word "crayon" is pretty rhythmically awkward a lot of the times that it's used - I think you'd be a lot better off just going for "colour me with crayons" in the last line of the chorus - the "crooked" detail is already set up elsewhere and it'd scan much better without that extra word in there I think.

Mandibles (ohne ruhm) - I think the way you've tied colours into the song is my favourite take on that particular part of the challenge, the Bob Ross details are fun too (although the cut up sample feels like it could be made a bit more rhythmically satisfying, maybe). Good performances, and a generally sweet, warm feel that makes me feel calm and happy, much like Bob himself. Edit: Also I really enjoyed the use of the word "nomenclature".

Vom Vorton (ohne ruhm) - as I said in the Ohne Ruhm thread this was a proof-of-concept for Vowl Sounds that we didn't end up using, but I liked it enough that I fleshed it out into a song. Very quick and copy-paste heavy but I had fun with it, I think the vocal harmonies came out well.
User avatar
grumpymike
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:12 pm
Instruments: Rage and curmudgeonry
Recording Method: Zero-turn lawnmower
Submitting as: Grumpy Mike

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by grumpymike »

frankie big face wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 8:48 am
The sample was probably annoying in its original context but it's super annoying here.
frankie big face wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 10:11 am
Yeah, I'm into electronic sounds right now - trying on a new hat.
Dang it! I'm slow like my song's tempo! What a missed opportunity to use this vocal sample I still have.

User avatar
glennny
Jump
Posts: 2196
Joined: Sat Mar 04, 2006 2:39 am
Instruments: Guitar, Bass, Mandolin, Dobro, Banjo, E-Bow, Glock
Recording Method: Garageband
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene
Location: Castro Valley, California

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by glennny »

Glut Boy Slim!
Phillipso, Older Brothers, Semolina Pilchards, Zipline , Thank Glennny for the Frisbee, The Odoriferous Valley, The Worldly Self Assurance, Berkeley Social Scene, Very Gentle Knives, Daddy Bop Swing Set, GUNS, The Kraken Lives, Cavedwellers
frankie big face
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1939
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:26 pm
Instruments: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Saxophone, Flute, Keyboard, Violin, Other Stuff
Recording Method: Logic, UAD Apollo Twin, aging iMac
Submitting as: frankie big face
Location: Lancaster, PA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by frankie big face »

grumpymike wrote:
Wed May 22, 2019 5:57 am
frankie big face wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 8:48 am
The sample was probably annoying in its original context but it's super annoying here.
frankie big face wrote:
Tue May 21, 2019 10:11 am
Yeah, I'm into electronic sounds right now - trying on a new hat.
Dang it! I'm slow like my song's tempo! What a missed opportunity to use this vocal sample I still have.

Yes, this would have been much much better. Much much much much better.

Remember when we could submit songs like this and not get eliminated? (Not this remix - the original.)
User avatar
grumpymike
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:12 pm
Instruments: Rage and curmudgeonry
Recording Method: Zero-turn lawnmower
Submitting as: Grumpy Mike

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by grumpymike »

frankie big face wrote:
Wed May 22, 2019 6:41 am
Remember when we could submit songs like this and not get eliminated? (Not this remix - the original.)
I never could submit a song like that and not get eliminated. I do remember when champions did their job of judging the next year. :p
User avatar
thirdcatmusic
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
Posts: 214
Joined: Sun May 06, 2018 8:52 am
Submitting as: Third Cat
Pronouns: they/them
Location: US
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by thirdcatmusic »

congrats to everyone who moved on to the next round and big thanks to the judges for all the work you put into this thing. lots of fun and I plan on coming back again next year. i'll be watching this thing as it goes forward, curious to see who gets to the finals with so many great competitors. (and I remember from last year I get a vote in the final round.)
frankie big face
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1939
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:26 pm
Instruments: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Saxophone, Flute, Keyboard, Violin, Other Stuff
Recording Method: Logic, UAD Apollo Twin, aging iMac
Submitting as: frankie big face
Location: Lancaster, PA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by frankie big face »

grumpymike wrote:
Wed May 22, 2019 6:50 am
frankie big face wrote:
Wed May 22, 2019 6:41 am
Remember when we could submit songs like this and not get eliminated? (Not this remix - the original.)
I never could submit a song like that and not get eliminated. I do remember when champions did their job of judging the next year. :p
I forge my own path, Mike. You should know that by now.

I have been a judge, for the record. At least I think I have... Glenn, what does your spreadsheet say?
User avatar
grumpymike
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 418
Joined: Sun Apr 17, 2016 3:12 pm
Instruments: Rage and curmudgeonry
Recording Method: Zero-turn lawnmower
Submitting as: Grumpy Mike

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by grumpymike »

frankie big face wrote:
Wed May 22, 2019 7:43 am

I have been a judge, for the record.
Wasn’t specifically pointing you out. I blame all of you champions! You’re all the same! Get addicted to winning and then complain about the judging because y’all didn’t keep up your end of the bargain.
Cybronica
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 314
Joined: Mon May 14, 2018 2:38 pm
Instruments: Vocals, Bass
Recording Method: sm7b, Scarlett 8i6, Logic Pro
Submitting as: Mandibles, Cybronica
Pronouns: she/they

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by Cybronica »

Congrats, rain! Well won, and I enjoyed hearing the original samples song! And congrats to pretty bleich everyone for making amazing music this round. Reviews will (probably) be forthcoming.
“It's like opera for toddlers or something.” -furrypedro
frankie big face
Ice Cream Man
Posts: 1939
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:26 pm
Instruments: Vocals, Bass, Guitar, Saxophone, Flute, Keyboard, Violin, Other Stuff
Recording Method: Logic, UAD Apollo Twin, aging iMac
Submitting as: frankie big face
Location: Lancaster, PA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by frankie big face »

Rain Watt's song is amazing. Well-deserved win and the player to beat in this competition as far as I can tell. You're great.
User avatar
Spintown
Push Comes to Shove
Posts: 399
Joined: Fri Oct 02, 2009 9:27 pm
Submitting as: Spintown & Company
Pronouns: he/him
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by Spintown »

Abominominous
With your previous songs I struggled to follow the story because of the lyrics. This time I couldn’t understand 90% of your lyrics without reading along on the Song Fight website. The vocals are totally lost in this mix. I enjoyed this more just reading without the MP3. I actually think the topic is clever, and even though some of the lines just seem out of place to me, I was able to follow the story. As someone with multiple tats, I’d warn you to hold off on that impulse buy.

Berkeley Social Scene
Man this is going to be a tough one for me. The music & vocals are by far the best you’ve done this Nur Ein (imo). I enjoyed every minute of the sound. What has me in a pickle is the lyrics. I get that it’s about a couple people that see the world differently, and who just click right away. But as someone who doesn’t like much ambiguity in lyrics, there are times when a line is just a little too weird for me or that I just don’t get at all. And I get that it’s probably intentional to highlight how differently they see the world, but to me personally, it’s just annoying.

Faster Jackalope
“I’m nearly killed, but most alive”? Nobody talks like that… Another interesting idea for a song, and at times pretty well done. Along with lines that need reworked, you give us some really great ones like in your chorus. I like how you used your first 2 samples, but I don’t know who Miss Anne Thrope is or get the reference, so that part was lost on me. I enjoyed the overall sound of the song.

Frankie Big Face
Gotta say, my biggest issue is your sample annoys me. It’s just kinda abrupt, and I grow tired of the repeating. Slower songs generally don’t do it for me, and since the one place your song picks up is when the sample comes in...well it’s just unfortunate.

Grumpy Mike
Little slow for my liking, but I can’t really say I disliked anything else. Vocal performance, music, lyrics… I’ll have to see how much I enjoy this after repeated listens, but for now I can’t see you ranking very low. Probably the best use of the title this round.

Max Bombast
I’m going to be honest here...you’ve established yourself as a personal favorite mine (judges, teachers, parents...they all have favorites kiddos). I also love Amazing Grace, so I was excited for this song. Unfortunately that didn’t last long after I hit play. That sample not only hurt my hears, but it may have damaged my soul a bit. The rest of the song was actually about what I’d expect from you. Quality work that I enjoyed, but that sample makes this song something I never plan to listen to again.

Merisan
Everything about this sounds wonderful. It’s a bit repetitive at times, and I wish I knew what was going on in the story, but it sounded great. Your use of the sample seemed to fit in really well, and it almost felt like it was something done FOR your song.

Nick Soma
I should have popped a Prozac before listening to this song. You set a mood, and that mood was depressed. It’s actually well done though. The lyrics weren’t bad, and I really enjoyed the music. If I was going to cut my wrists to something THIS IS IT! I really liked your use of the sample as well, I thought it was perfect, and I wasn’t really expecting someone to make that choice. What I thought the song lacked, and needed, was a win. You bring the listener down, down, down, and it really needed a build & pick me up at some point. I guess where he’s saying goodbye & basically saying he’s done with this could be that...but it needed more HOPE in the music & vocals to leave me feeling somewhat satisfied. Not really something I’d want to listen to again because it’s not my type of music, but I was impressed with it at times.

Rachael Layne
The music sets a creepy mood, and you bring attitude & personality to the performance. Overall though, this doesn’t work for me at all. There’s no hook to grab the listener nor is it fun to sing at all. The sample works, but it’s not the greatest use this round, and it really don’t ADD much to this. Honestly would have thought there would have been a lot more you could have used sample wise WITH this topic & style. So I was left a little disappointed there. Just my opinion, but this was the weakest round of the contest for you.

Rain Watt
This is heart wrenching. Your lyrics, the story, and your performance...I didn’t think you could top your last song, but you did. The music was good enough, but the thing that drives this song is your performance. Putting out music this honest can’t be easy, but I’m glad you’re doing it. Some people, and I’m including myself in this, might be uncomfortable at first when they hear a more baritone voice refer to themselves a female. But often it’s because this stuff isn’t talked about & there is little experience with the topic. What better way to make someone think than having them listen to this moving piece of art.

The Sunday Colors
I enjoyed your story this time around, and of course your guitar work was very solid. You made me laugh with the message to Lionel above your lyrics, but it wasn’t that bad. I mean it did feel a little out of place, but not much. “Color me Sunday” wasn’t my favorite use of the title. It’s fine, you used it prominently in your song, but it’s just a weird phrase. Overall...good job.

Third Cat
What the fuck? Digging out an eye & frying it up in butter? Not sure why that's there, but other than that, I didn't hate this song. The chorus actually kinda stuck in my head, and I liked the instrumental section at the end. Lyrically it wasn't all that creative or was just really strange. Look at your rhymes: Down/Clown, be/see, blue/to/you, real/feel... None of them bad in an of themselves, but there wasn't anything creative about any of them throughout. I think this could be a keeper if you spent a little more time reworking your lyrics.

Ujn Hunter + Friends

Enjoyed the vocals. The first sample you used was kinda lame. This needs a hook. Despite me liking your lyrics (the music wasn’t bad either), this doesn’t leave a lasting impression or make me want to sing along.

Vowl Sounds
The story is fine, but I did get disinterested after awhile. So I looked at the time & it was like 3 ½ minutes in. I’d suggest cutting this down & start wrapping it up after the first time you use,”Color me anything that brings your far-off gaze to fall back on me”. This song is like that 1 friend everyone has, that you really like, but he never knows when it’s time to go home.
User avatar
Lunkhead
You're No Good
Posts: 8104
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 2004 12:14 pm
Instruments: many
Recording Method: cubase/mac/tascam4x4
Submitting as: Berkeley Social Scene, Merisan, Tiny Robots
Pronouns: he/him
Location: Berkeley, CA
Contact:

Re: Nur Ein XIV Round Three "Color Me _____"

Post by Lunkhead »

Thanks for writing reviews. I'm feeling a little confused because I'm having a hard time squaring away the reviews with the rankings that were attributed to you here:

https://www.songfight.net/forums/viewto ... 77#p210277

Did the rankings get attributed to the correct judges in that table? For example, your Grumpy Mike review is relatively lukewarm but in the table you ranked him 2nd? Third Cat's song "could be a keeper" but you ranked him second from last, in the elimination zone?
Post Reply