Nur Ein XV Round Three "Rear Window"

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Geech
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Re: Nur Ein XV Round Three "Rear Window"

Post by Geech »

Lunkhead wrote:
Sun Jun 07, 2020 9:20 pm
In response to the podcast, the BSS song actually started off with Ken making a version of the drum track. I went and wrote all the music parts on the guitar, to the drums. Ken wrote lyrics, Geech revised them a lot. Geech sings lead and his kids' piano teacher if the guest vocalist in the bridge. The guest vocalist also revised the bridge lyrics. I'm surprised that it was hard for folks to understand what the song was about. The last line of the chorus, "I've become the guy in 'Rear Window'", seems like it ought to sum it up pretty plainly? Maybe folks never heard of the movie and didn't even bother to look up it's plot ... ? Oh, Ben said he doesn't read the lyrics, so, I guess maybe if you don't read the lyrics and don't hear the words then you wouldn't know what the song is about, haha. Anyway. The guy is turning into a voyeur, unintentionally, and he feels guilty about it. He's watching a couple fighting. The bridge is the guy from the couple telling their story from his perspective, all is not what it seems, etc. etc.
All true. An additional point is that I wrote the vocal melodies and rewrote the lyrics to go over the music and drums that Lunk and Ken had already tracked. Those parts had a fair amount going on already so I tried to not to over-complicate things, but at the same time, I didn't want just to follow those parts. Ken tracked his harmonies as the final piece.
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Re: Nur Ein XV Round Three "Rear Window"

Post by owl »

Glad to see the return of the New Ugly! (Jerkatorium, where are you?) Fun listen and you guys kept it short and sweet.

Sorry I haven’t posted reviews for Rear Window yet, work has been crazy and will probably remain so for the next couple of weeks. I’ll try to get caught up on those if I can after the next round of reviews.
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Re: Nur Ein XV Round Three "Rear Window"

Post by Cybronica »

Nur ein xv r4

I didn’t have time for full reviews, so here are some short thoughts on rear window:

Glow worm: GOD DAMN. I like the raw emotion in the voice. the synth at the verses is a great counter. Dropping out the instruments under the two of you in burn to the ground. Rear window shopping is an odd phrase, but you make it work.

FBF: beautiful tone, vivid imagery. love the symmetry between the verses. This song is like a punch in the gut, having basically done this this two weeks ago. Cathartic. The high glass harmonica synth is great.

Nick soma: I like the back and forth between the voices. Like that the rear window is metaphorical. Reminds me of the iconic dont you want me. Love the 80s vibe.

Jon Eric: beautiful vocal tone. Surprisingly upbeat for such a bitter song. What an interesting chord progression to take us to the prechorus. Love the guest vocalist. Reminds me a little of Norah Jones. Unrelated to the ailing itself: it drive me nuts that he’s mad they gave him what he asked for, but not what he needs. Ask for what you need, or don’t be a dick when you don’t get it. But that’s the point of the song, right?

Max Bombast: love the concept. Would have liked to have the crowd sounds fade in instead of just START. Banjo is great. All the guests are fabulous. Pass it on is a great hook.

Micah: Love this concept, too. A mournful song that isnt a break up! Also not very sad musically, but it still feels sad. The guest sounds great, but you can hear her room, and it’s very different from yours. Might have adjusted we to make them match a little better. Needs a music video.

Balance lost: love the strings/cinematic start- I reeeeeeaaaaalllllllyy want it to continue into the verses. The verse start is abrupt in the tonal shift. Love the interlude before the guest vocal. This sound like a profound song, but I didn’t have time to read the lyrics. Second guest has a really unique and pleasing tone (both are great). Great cello sound. Is it real or midi?

Cavedwellers: catchy! Reminds me of the 80s. Transitions between the sections are a little rough. Some lyrics are very odd/out of place (ex “wasn’t yet in want of a wife). I like the car metaphor. Harmonies and double vocals sound really great. We wait a long time for the guest, and she more admonishes rather than give another take on the story. She sounds great.

Mandibles: this one reminds me of our “We Should” a couple years ago. Our guest had some issues with his mic (sang too close, signal was too hot), and did another take, but he didn’t send it to me in time to get it in the mix. I played with the eq to get it to match Estaphonia a little better, but still not as good as the new take. Truth is the genius behind this song. I love it. I’m particularly proud of the mix on the solo- the panning gets farther apart to symbolize the split. If you want to hear with improved vocals, check it out here:

https://soundcloud.com/cybronica/rear-window

Lowest bitter: this is a bop. The samples are a little high in the mix for me, but I like the distribution of panning. I like the mixing, and the accel at the end.

Seemanski: no idea what this is about, but it’s got a great groove. Play between the voices is great. I like the use of echo.

Bss: I like your chorus, but I don’t find this very memorable. Good groove, and I like the singers. After reading your explanation, I think my issue is I just couldn’t hear the words consecutively enough to get the whole story. Rear window is actually the only Hitchcock I’ve seen, so I feel like I would have picked up on it, even if id had time to read the lyrics.

Grumpy Mike: I am SHOCKED that this got you out. ITS SO GOOD. Def in my top 3. Btw, not meta if it’s literally sci-fi/fantasy and you just use a name. Love how you guys sound together. Your voices go really well together. Yeah, your voice is a little shredded at the end, but you’ve done that before to great reception, and also it plays perfectly into the drama of the song. Lyrics are great, but sometimes max says “you’re looking down at me” instead of up.

Third Cat: cool concept, and I like the effects you put on it. The guest vocal is cool, but I thought it was just a synth until I went to write this. Cool effects. I like how you put the upper octave on your voice to match with the guest.

Lucky spoon: yeah, your voices are very hard to tell apart. It was a really good take on the title and challenge, but I think the execution could have been better.

BW&BW: quirky mix. A little carnival to me. That summoning section is crazy. Great concept.

HPH: there an interesting dichotomy between the upbeat driving music and the laid back vocal line. Voices are a little low in the mix. I would like you to sing out more.

Lichen Throat: I had fun on this song! I like the words, and I enjoyed recording on you music. It was begging for vocal harmonies, so I’m glad you kept what I sent you! Your singing is getting better with each week. Nicely done!

NSRFD!!: cool mix, story sounds like gaslighting. I really like what you did with panning.

The serviettes: initial vocals are to high in the mix. This is a really cool song/story. Love how Alexa is your guest. Good story. Very like if Asimov and poe wrote a short story together.
“It's like opera for toddlers or something.” -furrypedro
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Geech
Somebody Get Me A Doctor
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Re: Nur Ein XV Round Three "Rear Window"

Post by Geech »

Cybronica wrote:
Mon Jun 08, 2020 9:02 am
Bss: .....After reading your explanation, I think my issue is I just couldn’t hear the words consecutively enough to get the whole story. Rear window is actually the only Hitchcock I’ve seen, so I feel like I would have picked up on it, even if id had time to read the lyrics. ....
Wow, I thought it was so obvious that the whole song, especially the "I've become the guy in Rear Window" line, was a reference to the movie that I didn't even bother to submit liner notes.
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