Nur Ein I Round Six "Condescending Prick"

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:34 am

We are at the final 4. The songs have been posted. Feel free to enjoy the tunes and review as the jury deliberates. The jury will also be posting reviews in this thread but the actual scoring will not be announced until friday. On Friday, you will find out which 2 have been eliminated as well as the final title and non optional challenge. Friday, we are left with only 2. Thunderdome time baby! Two men enter, one man leaves!

NUR EIN!!!

jack · Post by **jack** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:52 am

there will be one significant change this week. the judges will be voting anonymously, in order to be completely fair and impartial. the judges will be sending their votes individually to spud, who will then send niveous the final results. as a result of this, judges reviews will not be posted until after the vote is announced.

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:58 am

??? After the vote is announced? Why not just after our votes are in?

Post by **Spud** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 11:59 am

I would think after all four judges votes are in would be fine.

SPUD

jack · Post by **jack** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:00 pm

yeah, thats fine.

jimtyrrell · Post by **jimtyrrell** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 12:26 pm

Round six reviews. Actually, more like initial impressions, as I'm writing this while giving a first listen.

Calfborg - I have no idea why, but during the instrumental intro to this, I kept expecting Johnny Cashpoint to start singing. The off-key vocal delivery sounds intentional, but it's distracting. Oh, the second part of this song is much better.

Glenn Case - This is just my sort of thing. I could see myself doing a piano/voice cover of this one. That car horn is embarassingly funny.

Ken - Not bad. I like the guitar sound on this. A little played out by the end, but that ending is a good strong finish.

Leaf 62 - This would be Propaghandi if it were about three times faster. I'm digging this, I think this is my favorite.

The non-optional challenge (at least, what I wanted to hear of it) was virtually non-existent. Where's the good old rousing question/answer call and response? What do we want? A NON OPTIONAL CHALLENGE! When do we want it? NOW! Like that.

GlennCase · Post by **GlennCase** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:08 pm

jack wrote:the judges will be sending their votes individually to spud, who will then send niveous the final results.

IT'S AMAZING!!!! OCTOTHORPE is back in the competition, and they WIN!!!!

Also:

<a href="http://www.songhole.org/glenncase/conte ... 3u">STREAM ALL</a>

ROCK!

Glenn (DR FUNK)
http://glenncase.songhole.org

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:22 pm

Thanks Glenn! Much appreciated!

ken · Post by **ken** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 3:48 pm

You are a funny man Glenn Case.

Ken

furrypedro · Post by **furrypedro** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:56 am

I can't believe what you lot have pulled out of the bag here, I feel unfit to even review. Here they are anyway

Calfborg: Your voice here kind of reminds me of the way the guy from My Morning Jacket mumbles, I'm down with that, and I like the keys riff and those synth spazzes dotted throughout the 1st section. The second section is a bit more haphazard; I still like it but cracks start appearing. There's a couple of pops, the bass sounds a bit rumbly and at times I think the flange gets a bit too much for the guitar. very cool song though

Glenn: Not much to say here apart from at the halfway mark I'm enjoying it thoroughly. I was just about to type that all the elements are perfectly well placed when the car horn beeped as if to confirm my point. I love the backing vocals.

Ken: This is okay, but it doesn't quite have the class of the tracks I've listened to already and it suffers from STM-constant-fuzz syndrome, laying off the distortion would have helped the dynamics I think, as it is it passes me by a bit. Also, the vocals are good but they seem to sit on top of the mix rather than in it if you know what i mean.

Leaf: I love the intro, I always feel like good driving rock has much more impact when it's preceded by a slightly off-beat rhythm or weird structure, and then when this does kick in it hits all the buttons. Your voice sounds really versatile in this song as well, it seems to shift between various tones which is cool. The spacey bit comes in at the perfect time to hold my attention but I would have liked a short burst of uber-rock outro or something instead of the fade-out, not to bring this down though. tight as hell, amazing effort.

j$ · Post by j$ » Thu Apr 20, 2006 12:30 pm

So Spud, have you got all the scores yet? i have these reviews I' just itchin' to post

j$

jack · Post by **jack** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 6:17 pm

not mine. tonight.

jack · Post by **jack** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 7:25 pm

ok, i just gotta say that all 4 of these songs are really excellent.

in fact, the whole run of nur ein has been 99 44/100 percent stellar. it should be a model of quality of what songfights should be. the fact you 4 guys have brought the A game to the table for 6 straight weeks is might impressive, and all 4 of you deserve the undisputed title of the one.

serious ironmen ye are.

reviews later but there's not much to say. cept killah.

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Thu Apr 20, 2006 11:57 pm

Reviews written during a second listen. -

Calfborg â€“ unfortunately the opening riff almost immediately got on my nerves. When the bass comes in, though, it starts to work for me. Vocals seem too obsured considering the clarity of the rest of the mix â€“ Wow, abrupt transition. Not a very focused song. Itâ€™s not that I mind â€œsuiteâ€

Leaf · Post by **Leaf** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 1:12 am

I gotta say, that as I understand it, call and response is a musical techinque where the melody, riff or personality behind the part either "asks" a question, and then a melody, riff or whatever answers it.

I find limiting it to "obvious question in english" loud shout out answer in english to be ... I dunno.

So, I can't speak for the others, but my outro has a whole jam out call and response between two guitars.

Uh, it's no biggie, but I'd hate for anyone to think I igored the challenge, or worse failed at it, cause I think I abused the shit out of the concept.

I had a teacher once tell me that he figured the origin of the concept stemmed from tribal african groups signalling from a mountain top with a drum, and on another mountain top, the answer would come in either the same or different depending on what message was being transmitted.

Jazz players use call and response all the time.

So...uh, just cause it wasn't used in a classic rock sense by any of the four doesn't mean they weren't using the technique....

Boy, FrankieBigFace has me so pegged as defensive...

GLENN CASE: Man, I dig this one. I'd say it's your best yet in Nur Ein. The SOUND QUALITY IS SO BEAUTIFUL!!! The backups are great, your playing is all very good. The only reason why I don't call the performance part something more grandieous ...why can I tell I've spelt something wrong, but I can't remember how to spell it right??? Fuck I hate that...ok, anyway it's simply cause you don't do, on this song, any chops oriented style playing...but it isnt' important...anyway, I love the sound, the arrangement, the performances...man it's just really fuckin good. This is so allbum ready, and I'm so appreciative of those things that I haven't even paid attention to the lyrics yet!!! So, very great man. Loved it.

KEN: I have things I dig, and things that I just think could be better. I love your voice, but that's pretty much on anything you do, but I like the snotty, condescending tone. It stands out (not sure if that was your intention) but it stands out cause it suits the tune. I had mixed feelings about the drum part. Firstly, and mostly, I think it sounds lame, plus you're a good drummer!! Then, I thought, fuck that, it's his song, maybe he's doing this for artistic reasons...maybe he has the same lame-ass constraints like the wrong time to record for neighbour relations!! I dunno, but that guitar sounds great, and it CRAVES good solid real drum tone.

Just my opinion on it. Man, the guitar tone, and the vocals are great, not a fan of the drums, and the key part... I dunno, I like how it reminds me, of all things, of 40 second songs or some such thing...

You know, here's how I just described your stage presence to my wife...gonna sound weird, but I was saying "man, when you see him live, he has this ...feroscious (fuckin spelling bullshit) ...now have to use dictionary cause mispelling this word ruins my ... hang on....

ferocious poutyness. I fear you may misconstrue this as ... I dunno, but it was just great. I couldn't sit down. This tune, minus the drums, has that vibe to it, and I dug it. But those drums gotta go...

CALBORG: I dug this intro. I think when the drums come in, it feels too... narrow? A compression thing? What I feel about this tune is that it's a real good tune but it has mixing issues. Mostly ... fuck, I hate to say it, cause it's probably only something that matters to someone like me rather than a majority of people... (maybe not...I dunno) but... the drums...

I like the 80's vibe. I LOOOOVVVEEEEE the main guitar tone. I dig your voice.

HAHAHAHAHAHA! I'm suck a dork. I replayed Ken's again...heheheheh.

Fuck. Well, at least I'm constant in my opinion regardless of who it is!! Fuck. What a tard... well, it is beer number 4 in the last hour...what can I say.

Let's try the real CALFBORG:

Guess what? I dug this intro too. It has this groovey vibe to it.

I gotta say again... I am a tard tonight!!! I've listened to these tunes like 10 times, and so how I could review Ken twice as if I was hearing Calfborg blows me away... I'm laughing... heh.

Ok, proper Calforg review:

I really like this song for the most part. It reminds me again of Jane's Addiction for some reason. I think that you wrote a cool tune but didn't perform it as well as you could. You should re-do it some day,

I think the intro riff is great, and something you could build a great song around. The bass sounds great, but ...is it out of tune? Your vocals are good.

Yeah, I really dig the sound and direction and musical orientation of most of the tune (drums right off the top... too straight... didn't sit right with the into keys)... but basically, you didn't perform it very well.
EDIT: I did not stress how much I like this song. The ideas, the sounds were great. I really wanna hear a version that is performed with less time constraints so that the song can breathe right!! ok...hopefully that gets across what I was thinkin better... man, I'm so Poor June tonight...

Me: I'm happy with what I did.

Well, let me say that Nur Ein is a grind! You all know that have been in it. I think that this is an awesome venture... anyone else that has been listening and reading, if it happens again, or some similar marathon thing (gotta try the album in a day thing...) would gain gain gain!!!

Uh... I know some of you say things like "I'm not into growth" but you're merely in denial...

NUR EIN!!!!

j$ · Post by j$ » Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:54 am

Well, scores are in and something is being debated, In the meantime here are myFirst off, all good songs. All would be a contender in a fight I was reviewing, so I have to get TOUGH! (That's right, girls, tremble!

)

Calfborg - ncie keyboard / hammond organ combo - this first bit's a bit patchy, i.e. a little bit sloppy not a little bit patch-heavy. For a cheesy pop section the melody isn't that strong. Seems to float in the mix. Love the abrupt change. Vocals sound much better in terms of relating to the music. I really like this backing track - though the keys are a bit loud in the mix. The whole mix is a bit erverything up to 11 which doesn't suit the subtleties of the music. Not bad at all.

Glenn - First impression - oh no I don't like this. It's Deep Blue Something at moments. Not sure by the chorus whether i like it or not - good phrasing there, mind. Nice organ sound here too. Call and response oddly comes across as quite subtle - first time listener might not realise the response is to what the caller is singing. Cheesy horn is cute but an afterthought? Doesn't seeemmmmmmm to fit the mood. I like 'selective photograph memory'. Hmmm best mix/production of all your songs so far, but possibly the one I like the least on a personal level. Deep Blue Something / Toad the Wet Sprocket / Mister Mister even, those are the bands that are going through my head by the end, and for that I can never forgive you

Ken - Switch back to Weezer safety mode? Hehehehe. great keyboard under the bridge. I like the weirdly uninvolved vocal delivery. Maybe the vocals are a tad loud in the mix - I want that keyboard louder, I want to hear if it's interesting and complicated or just mirroring the chords. Heh, I like the stupid panning. That's the sort of thing I would do. Good but kind of gone from the head a few seconds after the song finishes.

Leaf - Good huhs. Good groove. Is the snare a bit dull in the mix here? Could do with being really snappy/sharp. Hummm, 1.25 in and no discernable singlong melody yet ... like the huhs. Yeah this is very well recorded, and there's lots and lots of good things going on, but nothing great. It's hard to hear past the good mix, the good groove, the well-played instrumentation, because it is all really good, but I just don't like the tune. Sound & fury, man, sound & fury. A really fabulous album track but not immediate enough, or maybe too immediate if that makes any sense. Probably not.

And now I'm outta here!

Ross · Post by **Ross** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 10:24 am

Leaf wrote:I gotta say, that as I understand it, call and response is a musical techinque where the melody, riff or personality behind the part either "asks" a question, and then a melody, riff or whatever answers it.

I find limiting it to "obvious question in english" loud shout out answer in english to be ... I dunno.

So, I can't speak for the others, but my outro has a whole jam out call and response between two guitars.

Uh, it's no biggie, but I'd hate for anyone to think I igored the challenge, or worse failed at it, cause I think I abused the shit out of the concept.

I'm not sure if you were responding to me, a previous poster, or both. I see and take your point. I think I heard where each writer tried to incorporate the concept, except that I did not catch it in your outro, although it makes me appreciate that part of your song more. I jus twish that teh challenge had been more fully incorporated into the songwriting as a whole - my preference, that's all. It did prompt me to give another listen in the car this morning. Good songs. I think that Glenn's lyric work on his last verse is awesome - I think it bumped him up in my rankings.

Nur Ein!

Niveous · Post by **Niveous** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:52 am

The judging is over on the Condescending Prick battle.

Glenn Case takes a narrow victory.

The scores were extremely close, so much so that the judges have decided to put 3 contestants in the final round. Only Ken Mahru has been eliminated. Glenn Case, Calfborg and Leaf 62 will battle it out for who will stand all at the end of the Nur Ein!

Total Points (out of a possible 16):
12 Glenn
11 Leaf
11 Calfborg
6 Ken

Juror #1
4 Leaf
3 Glenn
2 Ken
1 Calfborg

Juror #2
4 Glenn
3 Leaf
2 Calfborg
1 Ken

Juror #3
4 Calfborg
3 Leaf
2 Glenn
1 Ken

Juror #4
4 Calfborg
3 Glenn
2 Ken
1 Leaf

ken · Post by **ken** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:30 pm

Ouch.

Ken

GlennCase · Post by **GlennCase** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 12:33 pm

Niveous wrote:
Only Ken Mahru has been eliminated. Glenn Case, Calfborg and Leaf 62 will battle it out for who will stand all at the end of the Nur Ein!

HOOOOOOLY CRAAAAAP!

I was NOT expecting to see this. Not after reading the J$ review. I figured that I was the one that was eliminated for SURE!

Obviously, I am sad to see the better half of Explino! go. Fourth place is pretty freaking respectable 'though, Ken! Congratulations on making it this far!

I have been SO bad about the deadlines throughout this competition, waiting until the last minute to make a song for each round. I am very lucky to still be standing for that reason alone.

I am ABSOLUTELY going to try to do my best and bring my 'A' game to this final round for sure. It will be tough to compete with these 2. Hell, it's been tough competition throughout the whole sidefight, honestly.

Seriously, best of luck to both of you Leaf, and Calfborg. I can't wait to hear what all 3 of us come up with for this one.

ROCK!

Glenn (DR FUNK)
http://glenncase.songhole.org

jack · Post by **jack** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 5:49 pm

seriously, whichever judge voted leaf last has their head up their freaking ass. you can quote me on that.

Caravan Ray · Post by **Caravan Ray** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:14 pm

OK - I'll quote you:

jack wrote:...i... ge.t leaf ...up the...ass...

sorry - couldn't resist

Nur Ein I Round Six "Condescending Prick"

Nur Ein I Round Six "Condescending Prick"

my two cents,