Nur Ein XVI Round Four "Waiting For The Sun To Fall"

[arby]

Oh good, I was concerned I wouldn’t have a reason to bring up the villanelle incident this year.

omg. I read that whole thread and it was hilarious. Mean as hell but the insults were pretty funny.

[Niveous]

It makes sense that the judges challenge would be talking about the poetic form but there's just something about that other definition! It's gotta be circles, right? The judges couldn't have just out right said the word circles. That would be too easy and it can't be a poem. It's gotta be circles. No, 4 rounds of this competition has not started making me go stir crazy. I just know I have to write about a rondel circle. That's the way!

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Nur Ein 16. We're wild and crazy this year!

[grumpymike]

omg. I read that whole thread and it was hilarious. Mean as hell but the insults were pretty funny.

Haven’t read it in years… wow, that was hilarious! …in retrospect.

Y’know, new people come around and think these forums can be heated… but today it’s mostly friendly jabs compared to back then. We’ve come a long way, fam.

[furrypedro]

omg. I read that whole thread and it was hilarious. Mean as hell but the insults were pretty funny.

Haven’t read it in years… wow, that was hilarious! …in retrospect.

Y’know, new people come around and think these forums can be heated… but today it’s mostly friendly jabs compared to back then. We’ve come a long way, fam.

To think Frankie could tell Glen to "fuck off" and not even be the harshest person in the thread
aaaah great days...

[glennny]

My old band Dust Pipe had an album called "High Speed Chase", track #3 was entitled " Fuck Off Glen!"

[furrypedro]

My old band Dust Pipe had an album called "High Speed Chase", track #3 was entitled " Fuck Off Glen!"

Was it written by FBF?

[arby]

Can i just say that as usual I misremembered the round title and thought it was "Fall Into the Sun" so then when I went back to check it I immediately got this earworm (thanks judges!):

[ken]

I keep hearing this chorus:

[ken]

I keep hearing this chorus:

Damn, that's a good sax solo.

[Cybronica]

Would anyone be willing/interested to do some guest guitar on the Mandibles shadow for this week? The rest of my band went on vacation before we could finish the track...

[governingdynamics]

Would anyone be willing/interested to do some guest guitar on the Mandibles shadow for this week? The rest of my band went on vacation before we could finish the track...

I could take a crack at it although it might not be until tomorrow.

[Cybronica]

Would anyone be willing/interested to do some guest guitar on the Mandibles shadow for this week? The rest of my band went on vacation before we could finish the track...

I could take a crack at it although it might not be until tomorrow.

Thank you so much for the offer! Jon P was able to come in and help, but I’ll keep you in mind for future collabs.

[Cybronica]

Mandibles is IN with its shadow, with guest artist Jon P!

The rondel line limitation has given us what might be our shortest song yet- only 2:06 all together, though I’m not convinced it doesn’t need a minute long solo and trading fours section in the middle….

[arby]

Mandibles is IN with its shadow, with guest artist Jon P!

The rondel line limitation has given us what might be our shortest song yet- only 2:06 all together, though I’m not convinced it doesn’t need a minute long solo and trading fours section in the middle….

Me too, my song is only 2:08! No instrumental!

I struggled a lot with this because I wanted to have better sounding drums, so Nivs lent me his drum pedal. Figured out how to use it (first recording a whole song's worth of drum parts and then losing them by mistake because I fucked up with the song mode), then had to get myself in synch with the drums - something I have been terrible at for literally YEARS - then when I got that (!!!) I had to redo the vocals bc they were flat. But I am happy with the result, even though (after listening to add's "Cassettes - OMG what a BRILLIANT song - over and over) I decided to take a page from their book and put in a chorus and outro that didn't conform to the rondel rules. But I learned a lot AND I like my song. Win-win! Thanks Nur Ein!!

PS hit by lyric posting bug AGAIN so my whole liner notes spoiler tag did not take. and I lost the color coding I tried to do in slavish emulation of Max Bombast.

[heid]

I am in with a 3/4 piano ballad about historical fiction lesbians, woowoo! And yeah I feel both of you on the short songs! Really had to get to the point quick with this challenge

[Cybronica]

I am in with a 3/4 piano ballad about historical fiction lesbians, woowoo! And yeah I feel both of you on the short songs! Really had to get to the point quick with this challenge

Note to self: next years round zero challenge should be haiku (singular).

[crumpart]

I'm very pleased to accept the award for Longest Song this round. I made it a mini (secret) challenge for myself.

[governingdynamics]

Sent in my pre-apocalyptic dream pop shadow just now.

[noma]

I'm very pleased to accept the award for Longest Song this round. I made it a mini (secret) challenge for myself.

Wow. Congratulations! I wouldn't have guessed there would be another entry longer than mine. For a while I thought about extending my instrumental bridge to prog rock dimensions but then I scrapped that idea. (Also, I just realized that if I had disposed of my coda and ended the song with that same instrumental section, it would have sounded horribly depressing.)

I quite like your song, beautiful ambience. It really reminds me of Yo La Tengo.

[crumpart]

I'm very pleased to accept the award for Longest Song this round. I made it a mini (secret) challenge for myself.

Wow. Congratulations! I wouldn't have guessed there would be another entry longer than mine. For a while I thought about extending my instrumental bridge to prog rock dimensions but then I scrapped that idea. (Also, I just realized that if I had disposed of my coda and ended the song with that same instrumental section, it would have sounded horribly depressing.)

I quite like your song, beautiful ambience. It really reminds me of Yo La Tengo.

Well, this is a huge compliment, because Yo La Tengo is exactly the vibe I was going for.

[furrypedro]

Having listened to all these songs a few times I think I'm for the chop this week.

And now for the reviews you never knew you didn't want from someone who's opinion doesn't matter!


Balance Lost: This is me. Yuki helped with the "wooahs". All of my tricks this week came from the Supergrass song book.

Brown Word: This mix of guitar and electronics makes me think of Tears for Fears or something 80s/90s like that, or The The maybe. It's got a bit of a hippy vibe. I can imagine crusties wigging out to this at a muddy festival. The impression I get left with from the song is very much focused on the style of the music and the arrangement, but having listened 3 or 4 times now there aren't any hooks, lyrical or musical, that are sticking with me. So, stylish but perhaps lacking in substance? In summary, perfect for a drug-addled rave-up.

Vudget Vears: Big fan of these guitars. I'm easy to please. Jangly and bouncy gets three thumbs up from me. Nice tune too, makes me think of Turnover, but less emo. The "meet at the town hall" line and section takes me out of the moment a bit, the rest of the song sounds so ethereal and then to have such a pedestrian image in the lyrics jars a little. Also is there a reason the vocals (and drums) were mixed to sound like they're in the next room? I actually made the massive effort to check for liner notes to see if there was a reason for this but I was left empty-handed. It feels like the guitar is at the front and everything else is distant. I mean, I quite like it, but also it makes the whole mix seem a bit loose and sloppy. Apart from that I really liked this song though.

Crown Shy: We were listening to these songs in the kitchen and Yuki remarked that this was a particularly nice tune. That you can knock this together in a few hours makes me feel like I should just give up and go home. The pads running through are really cool, and I think I recognise the patch (which is always what producers hate to hear, but I like the sound).

Ever Kenievel: It's nice to hear you pick up the pace a little with this track. You do have a knack for a memorable tune and this one might be the top of the heap from you so far this year. The picture painted in the verses is compelling and fits nicely into the lyrical meter, and it's punctuated well by the hooky chorus. The middle section reminds me of the Pet Shop Boys spoken parts. It wasn't until about the fourth listen that I finally understood the lyrics (I didn't read them). This was really good.

Heid: It boggles my mind that you already have a musical maturity that most of us will never achieve. This is a sweet musical theatre-type number, also makes me think of Final Fantasy. I really like the way the melodies drop and lift. The arrangement may be minimal but the strength of the performance and the backing vocals give it all the atmosphere it needs.

TLB: This might be the most straight-up (though obviously not straight) love song I've ever heard from you. It's actually really nice to hear you singing almost completely positive lyrics, and the crepuscule line reminds us this is definitely a Lowest Bitter song. It may be a love song with twinkly harp(?) sounds, but it's not all chocolate boxes and roses, it's dirtier than that, like some small animal that only comes out at night. As always the arrangement is fantastic. I love the gradually developing loops, the shuffly drums sound very cool and I really like the wide-panned synth in the breakdown, and all the synths really. Just all-round great stuff. If I were judge I'd rank this top.

Max Bombast: Your playing and recording is all top drawer, but there's something about that intro guitar that sounds like ass. My first thought on hearing that intro was "oh this must be one of the shadows" cos it sounded so weak, but once the whole arrangement comes in it covers that up for the most part. I have all kinds of problems with the composition of this track, but it's all personal taste stuff so it's probably pointless for me to go into it. Buuut...I will say that this is the most rocking song in the fight, but not once do I feel like rocking to it because it never has a driving rhythm. It's just a constant jerk-fest. I love some angular guitars and drums, but 100% angular is too many angles. There's no head-banging/foot-stomping/fist-pumping bit. A prog rocker's dream maybe, but altogether too wanky and melodramatic for me.

Moss Palace: Schmooooove. It's all very tasteful and nice. This would be an absolute smash in the corner of a restaurant somewhere. Probably deserves to go through on the quality of the recording alone, but it is also a pleasant tune.

Nick Soma: Twinkly ballad action from Nick here. I didn't notice it on speakers, but on headphones the delay on your vocal is slightly off-putting. Snake of Death sounds like a band that wouldn't ever play this kind of music. I like a song with tempo changes, I think they almost work here. No, they do work. The flute gives a bit of a medieval vibe. This is all very well done. I doubt I'll listen to it again after this fight but I can't fault it in any way.

see-man-ski: 13 seconds before an instrument appears. Was that intentional? Yet another downtempo tune, and while it is a tiny bit ploddy it's not nearly as ploddy as some earlier entries. The chord progression and melodies are strong. I like the crunchy drum beat and the production is solid. Cool song.

Dented Bento: Why would you put band-aids on bruises? As a nonsense line I quite like that and some of the other lines, such as "extroverts became reclusives" and "solitary zooming oddballs". I'm not too hot on the vocal take though. The music in the instrumental sections is tolerable, but that lead guitar can go.

Glennny: Ooh these guitars sound cool. [Insert inevitable Edge comparisons because you used a delay pedal]. Those high stabs sound a bit Andy Summers actually. I like the chords and spacey feel to this. It would definitely work as an instrumental in a kind of Durutti Column/Lanterna ilk. Nice tune. One for the glennny solo instrumental album? Although having said that why do BSS never do stuff like this?

It's good to have more shadows these days but it does slightly negate the reviews-get-easier-as-the-competition-progresses thing. (Deep breath...onwaaaards.)

Governamics: Ooh synth drums, how unexpected. I was quite enjoying this until the 80s mullet lead guitar shoved it immediately into the songs-I-wouldn't-want-to-be-caught-listening-to category. But the other guitars are good, nice chords and it all fits together nicely. The vocals start sounding a bit Sunny Day when you strain to go high (i.e. whiny and off-key) but for the most part they're good. I paid zero attention to the lyrics btw, I wasn't describing them as whiny.

HPH: Nice vibes. I enjoy the feel of it, but the problems here are in the execution. Particularly in the upbeat section the drums and guitars seem to become completely disconnected. I think once you nail the art of tight rhythmic playing your stuff will go up a notch or two in quality because the tunes and the sonic palate are all there.

Mandibles: Finally a tune that sits comfortably in the criminally underused medieval-jazz-metal genre. The bit after the first verse when you vocal going goes into the high "faaaall" bits is a cool effect but something in it seems to jar, I think there are two tracks working against each other perhaps. An interesting experiment in shifting soundscapes. Sounds like you had fun making it.

Virgo Power: Lots of good bits here. When you've got a rhythm behind you you make some nice hooks. All the sections feel disjointed though, like you're stringing lots of ideas for different songs together, and the transitions between all the sections are awkward. I reckon a bit of subtle editing to stitch those transitions together a little more smoothly would fix that issue. Get the scissor tool out.

[vowlvom]

Vudget Vears: Also is there a reason the vocals (and drums) were mixed to sound like they're in the next room? I actually made the massive effort to check for liner notes to see if there was a reason for this but I was left empty-handed. It feels like the guitar is at the front and everything else is distant. I mean, I quite like it, but also it makes the whole mix seem a bit loose and sloppy.

I wanted the massed vocals to sound like a doomsday cult waiting for an apocalypse that never arrives, so that's partially an intentional attempt to make multiple versions of me blend into a sad room full of confused idiots, and partially that I've never really tried having a song with five layered vocals going (nearly) all the way through and I don't know what I'm doing. I figured I'd get the same effect on the guitars, recording most of them with a room mic a way off rather than my usual method and having several layers panned around, but I guess they ended up with a different feel. I didn't do anything particularly different with the drums this time though, I've just been putting distortion on them all the time because I've been putting distortion on everything else and I don't want them to feel left out.