The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Was trying to take myself out of myself, while still staying there... fewer instruments = (ideally) less complications.

And on that, stop strangling Sam's guitar in the master! I know it's not your call (I'm guessing) but it sounds so... anemic.

Erin, I never see you post much. So while you are here I just want to tell you, I'm blown away with your vocals. I've had this weeks Berkley Berkeley song on rotation. You have such a range! One of those things guys just can't hit. As usual, I'm looking forward to more Berkley Berkeley this year. That kind of new girl that's just now getting popular sounds like you. I can't think of her name, but here and her band kicks ass. The song is something about internet relationships. I'll try to find. You may already know the song I'm talking about, I'm just drawing a blank.

(edit: You're welcome - Spud. btw, aren't you down there somewhere? Look on a map, dude.)

Billy's Little Trip wrote:Erin, I never see you post much. So while you are here I just want to tell you, I'm blown away with your vocals.
I've had this weeks Berkley Berkeley song on rotation.
You have such a range! One of those things guys just can't hit. As usual, I'm looking forward to more Berkley Berkeley this year. That kind of new girl that's just now getting popular sounds like you. I can't think of her name, but here and her band kicks ass. The song is something about internet relationships. I'll try to find. You may already know the song I'm talking about, I'm just drawing a blank

Thanks for all of the nice compliments BLT! You have some major skills behind the mic as well, and continue to bring the rock and or roll in every track you enter.
Songfight needs a female presence here to mix up this sea of guy and guitars a little bit from time to time, and I am just the lady to do it.
I have no idea who I sound like, but I can't wait to find out who you think my voice resembles. I guess we all think we know who we want to sound like, but what everyone else hears can be totally different.

Oh, thank you Spud. Perfect timing as usual.

Ross wrote:As I recall, a fair amount of the grief had to do with the fact that the phrase "Brownie Points" has no appropriately idiomatic translation.

Hm, I seem to recall it differently. I seem to recall somebody reviewing our entry thusly:

Ross wrote:Knee jerk rankings. Based on one listen and a system that scores equally on: concept, lyrics, structure, arrangement, and challenge. If I was real judge I'm sure I would have had a second listen
...
16. Merisan - Because of my little "system" - you lost points for both concept and lyrics. Realistically. based on performance and structure, I suspect you're really in the top 15 (sorry Bryan).
..

This time since you're a judge we probably won't mess around with foreign languages. I didn't see if you explained why the points off, but I assumed it was because you didn't speak Spanish, not because you did and our Spanish was bad, but maybe I was wrong? It was Kill Me Sarah who pointed out some oddities in our hacked together translation (which was based partly on help from two native Spanish speakers we knew, partly on Google translations, and partly on my hazy memories of high school Spanish classes...).

http://www.songfight.net/forums/viewtop ... =26&t=3862

Next I'm going to research to see if this is the earliest in the competition that Nur Ein has gone off the rails.

http://spintown79.blogspot.com/2010/04/ ... eview.html

These are the ones that stood out to me:

Chris Cogott - I thought of the Beach Boys while listening to this...and that's a good thing.

Milo Dunderville - I would suggest sending this song to tikibartv.com. They might be interested in using it in an episode. Heck if you rewrite a couple lines it could be their new theme song. Fun song, it'll get numerous plays from me.

DJ Ranger Den - I really liked the direction Denise went here. Afterall...nobody else wrote about being stranded on a space station. This is either my 2nd or 3rd favorite song from Denise....one of the few I can follow the story of.

Berkeley Social Scene - In a couple places where the vocals overlap I couldn't follow the lyrics. Otherwise I loved the song, well done.

Therman - I liked the story, but thought some of the lyrics felt awkward. (make sense?) The music & production were great though, and I dugg the chorus.

Jon Eric - I think it's a really well written song, but I'm not a fan of Jon's performance of it. He's totally into it, but I don't think he has the voice for it. Still one of the better songs this round.

Boop Boop - Me gustaría ser bilingüe. Esta canción sonaba muy bien, yo simplemente no podía entenderlo. Todavía terminó bailando en la silla un poco...tan bien hecho. (I'm hoping that's translated right.)

Still awaiting that last judge, folks. As soon as his votes appear, I'll get things up and moving as fast as I can.

Niveous wrote:Still awaiting that last judge, folks. As soon as his votes appear, I'll get things up and moving as fast as I can.

Perhaps one judge should be eliminated each week along with the competitors?

Post Round 2's title anyway, this is my morning to work this week. I'd rather start thinking about it ASAP and give up later if I find I was eliminated in Round 1.

I'm still patiently waiting. If you're still patiently waiting, then why don't you pass the time by checking out http://nurein.songfight.net ? I definitely think it's worth checking out.

Lunkhead wrote:[

Ross wrote: 16. Merisan - Because of my little "system" - you lost points for both concept and lyrics. Realistically. based on performance and structure, I suspect you're really in the top 15 (sorry Bryan).
..

This time since you're a judge we probably won't mess around with foreign languages. I didn't see if you explained why the points off, but I assumed it was because you didn't speak Spanish, not because you did and our Spanish was bad, but maybe I was wrong?

Well, I am almost certain the concept thing is exactly what I said earlier this thread, which is that there is apparently no idiomatic equivalent to "Brownie Points" in spanish. Did you post a translation, back in the day? if you did then I may have dinged you on lyrics for some other reason, if not, then I did because I had no idea what the words were.

Nur Ein wrote:Nur Ein V - Round Two
Hey...did you check out http://nurein.songfight.net ?

Mmmmm.

The other challenges were more or less speedbumps that I attempted with caution. But this is going to be genuinely challenging...

Hopefully y'all have checked out http://nurein.songfight.net while you're waiting.

Here's some reviews:

Adam Adamant: My girlfriend listened to this and described it as electronic Belle & Sebastian. I can see where she was coming from, from a vocal standpoint and that’s the charm but the song is very lyrically threadbare and after a while the stutter stops being as cute. This song is the middlepoint of my voting. It wasn’t horrible enough to evoke hate but not good enough to evoke joy.

BSS: Erin Lyman is one of the best vocals in SF and BSS knows it and having her singing will continue to carry BSS through the Nur Ein. She is great on this song and Ken’s drum work on this is very well done. The whispering on this is forgettable but the song is solid and something I foresee listening to in the future. It’s not a hit single but it's a deep cut gem. One notable flaw though... Erin's voice may be super pretty but she's gotta make sure that it's also delivering the emotion too.

BLT: There is a lot of good things going on in this song. The harmonica bits are fun touches. The bassline in this is great. The two problems I have with the song are the use of whispering which is odd, distracting and doesn’t add anything to the song; and the chorus. God, could the chorus be any cheesier. Overall, it’s a good song. If it had a different chorus, I would like it more.

Boop Boop: Mr. Kreiger is always an enigma. I saw him perform live a month ago and it was wild and full of unexpected sounds. His Boop Boop work is no different and this is an experiment that worked. Deciding to do this song about a deserted island and a clam in Spanish (with a very interesting musical arrangement) was a stroke of genius. The end of the song is so well put together. This song wins the round for me.

B & G: I have no clue what happened here. This just didn’t come together. The guitar is flanged and lyrically the song is very weak, especially on the chorus which screams out rhyming dictionary desperation. I’m guessing that the Nur Ein time crunch must’ve hit B&G hard because this song is just all over the place.

Chris Cogott: Is there anything really wrong with this? The performance is fine. The vocals are tight and the music is fine as it’s a mix of Beatles and CSNY. So what’s the problem? It just bores me. Simple as that. There’s no emotion in the delivery and it makes listening to this a very sleepy experience.

DJ Ranger Den: This was the hardest song for me to rate. The verses are a crazy spoken word. The chorus is this piano torch song. I can get into the latter with the whisper at the end. I don’t know is I’m into the verses, especially because the second verse is so talky. If Den could make that style more songlike and less poetry reading, then it would hit. I wanna hear her take that lyrical style and turn it into Tori Amos (see: “Talula”) and I’ll be a DJ Ranger Den fan. Right now, I’m on the fence.

Emperor Gum: I’m guessing Gum didn’t intent the whisper to be creepy from the tree, but if I heard that voice talking to me, I would be quite hesitant to follow. It was a good idea to add some extra instruments in the second verse. There is some charm to this song and I think E-Gum had some more time, this could be something. Right now, it’s like an unfinished mural. I can kind of make out the picture he’s presenting but it can’t get into it. And the end of the song was not the best choice.

Hoglen & Wages: This is best Wages song that I have heard in a while. I guess I should thank Hoglen. It’s simple and nice. The harmonies ain’t the Beatles but I don’t mind the grit in their voices. It’s like grunge era MTV unplugged. The whispered “believe” was a nice touch. It stood out. Nicely done. It’s not the greatest song ever and not going to win this round (or any other) but it’s good.

J$: I like the topical lyrics, or at least the play on something topical, but I struggle getting my hooks into a song that’s 80 seconds long and has no chorus. It’s not a bad little song but it’s 100% forgettable. In fact, I’ve listened to the song a bunch of times since I received the entry and still needed to listen to it twice more before even starting this review. Just too little to make an impact.

Jon Eric: Six minutes of this is a bit too long without some serious musical variation, instead it just drones on after a while. I like that Jon is putting in some emotion in your delivery. The problem is that his voice gets very pitchy when he does. The percussion was all over the place and I couldn’t get into it at all. Everything after about the 4:00 is unnecessary and really brought the song down with repetitiveness and some really off notes.

Milo Dunderville: I’m joining with Jon Eric in the wondering if Milo Dunderville is Jim Tyrrell. Anyway, this song is just plain fun. It’s well put together from top to bottom. It”s a nice play on Stranded and the whispered bridge is one of the best uses of the challenge in this round. If Milo Dunderville proved to be the love child of Don Ho & Jimmy Buffett, I wouldn’t be surprised. Well done song. And extra points for a bass solo.

Minty Handy: I like the style of this. It’s got some 90”s new wave charm. I could hear World Party doing this. The greatest flaw is that the vocals are so flat on the verses. The chorus on the other hand is one of my faves from this round. I know the flat verses is a choice but there has to be a way to keep some dynamics in the delivery. Goth bands do it all the time, right? Gotta review some Love & Rockets/Daniel Ash/Peter Murphy/Bauhaus and get back to you.

Naked Philosophy: The more I listen to this, the less I like it. The initial feeling was “Ha, it’s about Walmart and retail hell”. But after a while, the verses get a bit boring with the tick-tock rhythm and some really cheesy lyrics. The King of Walmart, really? And there was no reason for the whispered lines. He wanted to portray a loudspeaker and did it with a whisper? It’s a decent song but nowhere near great. Middle of the road.

Noah McLaughlin: The whispering in this did nothing for me. The thing that I connected with was the French. Noah found the song’s energy and passion when he began delivering the lines in French. Too bad, it wasn’t all in French. This is pretty much textbook Noah McLaughlin with maybe a few extra guitar licks thrown in. Not bad, but it loses a lot of points because it’s the song sung once in English and then repeated entirely in French. Just pick one and go with it.

Rabid Garfunkel: My favorite Rabid G song ever. He needs to stick with this Tom Waits-esque sound, instead of the rockabilly. I don’t have a lot to say about this. It doesn’t overstay its welcome but it’s not very catchy. It’s not a phenomenal performance but it hits its marks. Overall, it’s an okay song that sits in the middle of the pack.

The Real Sign: I love when some brings some rock to the table but this is just blah. The music needs some change ups. It’s a very pedestrian song. This could be any local rock band. In fact, the first time I heard it, I thought about Wounded Soul”s “Rx”. The songs are built much the same way but Rx comes off better because of the dynamics. The Real Sign needs to really go for it. That chorus needed Realist to really scream. You’ve got a whispered bridge about burning it all down. Where’s the matching fire in the vocals and music? Too reserved. Go for it.

Sid Denison: I may be into mythology but I’m not big on the Norse mythology lyrics. But the way this song is put together carries it. The guitar and the percussion are just so strong. My favorite part is the break. I couldn’t listen to this kind of stuff all day. Great rhythm and harmony. One of my favorites for this round.

Therman: I have problems listening to this. Literally. About 45 seconds in, Therman loses the loudness war. I love the style. I am always thankful for some hard rock and guitar riffs but the production is caving in my ear drums and the chorus is lost to me. After a few listens, I have been able to muddle my way threw it and it moved up my ranks from dead last but still, this is a sonic mess and I can’t get into it. And when I strain and try to get into the lyrics, they aren’t interesting in the slightest. He rhymed that with that!

Same Day Positive: I don’t know what to think of this. I hate the strings warmup sounds on the song, but when they kick in, they are a great addition. The first verse was way too threadbare. There’s a build to this song. Too bad, that it doesn’t deliver. The pieces are here for a good song but they aren’t together. In the end, it’s a bit of a mess.

Who Fly: It took me quite a few listens to get where you were going with this. It is in serious sonic need. There needs to be more bass or something else in the musical landscape. It’s way too barren and this should have a real triphop feel to it. And why didn’t the vocal delivery change with the musical change at the end. The lyrics were delivered like a Xerox copy throughout, even when the song was becoming (a little more) musically interesting. Overall, this is just too sparse.

Ross wrote:Well, I am almost certain the concept thing is exactly what I said earlier this thread, which is that there is apparently no idiomatic equivalent to "Brownie Points" in spanish. Did you post a translation, back in the day? if you did then I may have dinged you on lyrics for some other reason, if not, then I did because I had no idea what the words were.

I posted a translation but maybe not till after your review. I don't think anybody pointed out the fact that there was no real Spanish translation for "brownie points" until Kill Me Sarah's post after the results.

http://www.songfight.net/forums/viewtop ... 265#p85265

Thanks Niv, that means a lot to me It sounds like the KISS (either "keep it simple, stupid" or "keep it singer/songwriter", I haven't made up my mind) experiment might be bearing fruit...

...though I won't know until the results are posted, urgh. Songwritus-interruptus!

Siouxie's "Burn-Up" is fighting for my attention (though it's not where I'm headed iff I make it to round 2), both for its accelerando and the harp tone (that's for you, BLT, heh).

From http://nurein.songfight.net:

Current Round

Nur Ein V - Round Two
Title: "Spanish Lessons"
Due Date: May 3rd at 12AM (Eastern)
Non-optional Challenge: Accelerando

Yep. Might as well let that cat out of the bag while we wait for the missing judge.

Every Nur Ein that had a challenge of tempo/time changes have always kicked my ass. If I make to round 2, I hope I do better with this challenge than I have in the past.

By the way, Boop Boop was a week early with his song, lol.

Lunkhead wrote:

Ross wrote:Well, I am almost certain the concept thing is exactly what I said earlier this thread, which is that there is apparently no idiomatic equivalent to "Brownie Points" in spanish. Did you post a translation, back in the day? if you did then I may have dinged you on lyrics for some other reason, if not, then I did because I had no idea what the words were.

I posted a translation but maybe not till after your review. I don't think anybody pointed out the fact that there was no real Spanish translation for "brownie points" until Kill Me Sarah's post after the results.

http://www.songfight.net/forums/viewtop ... 265#p85265

My point is - to simplify my opinion as having graded you down merely because the song was in spanish is to oversimplify the issue, and implies a shallowness to my assessment that is, I think unfair.

Niveous wrote: BLT: There is a lot of good things going on in this song. The harmonica bits are fun touches. The bassline in this is great. The two problems I have with the song are the use of whispering which is odd, distracting and doesn’t add anything to the song; and the chorus. God, could the chorus be any cheesier. Overall, it’s a good song. If it had a different chorus, I would like it more.

I have no excuse for the whispering. I just tried my best to incorporate something new that I've never done, and thought I did ok. But the cheesy chorus is indeed meant to be as cheesy as possible. The cheesiness was not meant to go unnoticed.

mattb5 wrote:I like how the bass and clarinet (?) came in after the first verse. I especially like the little 2-note lines around 1:35 the way they jump up and down the scale. I was expecting it to stay just acoustic and vocal - which would have been fine with me. Just a simple Working Class Hero kind of vibe. Double tracking the whispered part panned hard left and right definitely made it jump out on headphones. "The voice is coming from inside my head! Arghhh!" hahaha So I'm assuming the tree is the one stranded?

glenny wrote:Maybe this is the worst recording of the fight. I like the song. Nice playing! Clarinet is nice to hear. You really have to do something about your recording techniques. This is a charming song that is just murdered by poor recording production. What system or headphones did this sound good on? Or even passable? I fear for your survival.

Niveous wrote:I’m guessing Gum didn’t intent the whisper to be creepy from the tree, but if I heard that voice talking to me, I would be quite hesitant to follow. It was a good idea to add some extra instruments in the second verse. There is some charm to this song and I think E-Gum had some more time, this could be something. Right now, it’s like an unfinished mural. I can kind of make out the picture he’s presenting but it can’t get into it. And the end of the song was not the best choice.

I left myself too little time to do this in and ended up doing a rush job. As such I forgot to put the accordion part in which made the call and response section awkward. I also didn't mix the levels properly, so the whispering is far too loud and the vocals are far too quiet. It was the best I could do by 23:51 on Sunday. As a note, I recorded the instruments on my laptop mic and the vocals on an old cheap computer mic; sorry it sounds rubbish. Niveous' opinion sums up my own feelings pretty well. The tree is stranded; apart from being alone on the hill, it was formally a jilted lover who lost everything and then transformed into a tree Ovid's 'Metamorphosis' style (for some reason I couldn't think of) and so is set apart from humanity. Both the Guard and the Princess are stranded from each other at the start, the former by class and the latter by being locked away out of sight.

I'm kinda annoyed they posted the next challenge without saying who's out, why not just postpone it? Am I supposed to assume I'm out and not bother, or start on a song I may not have to do? Hm. Assuming I go out this round, I have to say that I am disappointed in both my entries, but that there is no shame in being beaten by opponents of your calibre. Its been a pleasure. I haven't been recording/mixing very long so your feedback is legitimately very useful. Thank you! Nur Ein!

Title: "Stranded"
Winner: TBA
Eliminations: TBA

I'm so stupid. I saw the results for Stranded and thought, wow TBA, those poor bastards. They won and got immunity and then got eliminated. I wonder what they did wrong? :face palm: