Reviews - Nur Ein! V - Round One
“Stranded” - must include whispering
General Comment - why was there so much fire and burning in this round?
Note: I have not read the other judge’s reviews as of this posting.
Adam - What I liked: some of the counterpoint was interesting, I am impressed this was made on a ds
What I didn’t like: the sheer repetitiveness, vocal production
Challenge: fine
Berkeley Social Scene: What I liked - Great Production and arrangement and such, interesting three dimensional “story”
What I didn’t like: ok, I know we have been ‘round about this before, and I would never accuse Erin of not meaning what she is singing, but there are times when I wish that would project more so that I could feel what she is singing. Great voice, but I wish it emoted more and I think it could give momentum to your tunes, especially in places where the arrangement or playing ramps up and her voice does not follow - in this tune that is in the chorus. She sounds so content and happy to be stranded, but the lyrics don’t say that to me. I know this is your sound, but as long as I am judging I might as well let you know it affects what I hear. - Oh, and I wish she’d sing in spanish more
Also, While I like your arrangement and variety, there are a couple of busy stereo spots that distracted me from the center, if you know what I mean
Challenge: Fine
Bill and Matt: What I liked- I appreciate that you went for an extended metaphor, but you accidentaly did two, and they didn’t mix well. What does the car metaphor have to do with purgatory?
What I didn’t Like - repetitive melody, clumsy performance, terrible rhymes
Challenge - barely, and not contextual in any way
BLT: What I liked - it rocks, the energy changes in the pre-chorus
What I didn’t like - innacurate vocals - I didn’t really care about the words much
Challenge: Fine
Boop: What I liked - the committed and proficient performance
What I didn’t like - the lyrics, the overly dramatic spoof of melodramatic music,
Challenge - Good, done perfect for the context of this song
Christopher Cogott: What I liked - the sentiment, the aesthetic, the harmonies, everything spot-on
What I didn’t like - the length, a little sterile
Challenge: Perfect and charming for the context of this song
PS - I thought it sounded more like the 80s Alan Parsons Project than like The Beach Boys, although there is transferred influence there.
DJ Ranger Den: What I liked - Risk taking, strong vocals, interesting piano stuff
What I didn’t like: Lack of focus in the strong vocals and interesting piano stuff. You just sound all over the place. In contrast to my comments to Erin, singing like you REALLY REALLY mean it does not necessarily make it meaningful, and I think your vocal mannerisms are a little over-done and distracting in spots.
Challenge: Meh
Emperor: What I like - I really like where you were going with the writing of this song: the theme, musical context you set, patience, etc...
What I didn’t like- almost unlistenable production, the performance needs to be more convincing to pull a folk tale like this off, especially at over 4 minutes
Challnge: Great
Wages: What I liked: some interesting chord changes, subtle use of harmony (assuming it was intentional). Words were nicely simple and elegant
What I didn’t like: Feeling like tha band changed out of desperation, how much of this was written by who? Will this still be the band next week? Weak vocals remain in spots. It was better but still needs to improve. The strict stereo mix
Challenge: eh
J$: What I liked: Great take on the title, energy
What I didn’t like: I wish it was more fleshed out. The overall sound of the track bugged me in a way I can’t quite articulate. i felt a few of the lyrics were overly simple. Second week I have felt that your ending was too abrupt
Challenge: good for the song context.
Jon Eric: What I liked - song arc, the way the time signature stuff has to do with a naturalistic approach to language. commitment. Fleshed out story and structure
What I didn’t like: Your voice sounds a smidge too high, I wish you sounded like you felt more comfortable except in the tense parts. The drums seemed busy. I think it would have played better as piano with strings or something, even an organ patch could fill it in, but the drums were distracting to me. the Big ending was just a bit too big for me, as if I could hear that you were going for a big ending instead of having it emerge.
Challenge: fine
Milo: What I liked - FUN! tiki-tiki, how the whole things sounds like it’s about a real place - totally internally consistent. Well performed, arranged, and produced
What I didn’t like: not much
Challenge: fine for this song
Minty handy: What I liked - the lyrical extended metaphor, well constructed lyrics
What I didn’t like - monotonous tune, and I know you can do better - when you sing higher your melodies are so interesting but this is like the “One Note Samba” with out the samba, and the low voice throughout adds to it, I think you should have popped it up at some point.
Challenge - eh
Naked Philosophy: What I liked: the idea of being stranded in Wal MARt was an interesting concept
What I didn’t like: it just didn’t come off for me, I never could buy in to how the guy was there, etc.... I just couldn’t do the willing suspension piece for some reason. Ended too soon for the narrative I thought
Challenge: eh, I can’t really figure out why it made sense to make all that stuff whispered.
Noah: What I liked - More on pitch this time. it is almost a Pete Yorn feel, nice rock sections
What I didn’t like - not knowing what it was really about, not quite on pitch enough, especially the harmonies - it got a little long
Challenge: ok I guess it is the madness talking?
Rabid: What I liked - the overall feel - lyrics, arrangement, delivery, orchestration. It was very Tom Waits for me. One of my favorites of anything I’ve heard by you
What I didn’t like - your singin is one degree to imprecise, there were a few spots where the piano vamp was too long without more color
Challenge: eh
Real Sign: What I liked: great riff work, solid vocals especially when higher, great John Doe-esque harmonies, great use of the whisper tied into the song theme
What I didn’t like: more enunciaton and less chesty voice will bring out the words when Real sings in the lower range like in the beginning of the song. I couldn’t tell the words the first three listens
Challenge: me likey (see note above)
Same Day Positive: What I liked - the cello
What I didn’t like: unfortunately - almost everything else especially the ...clarinet? accordian???
challenge: eh
Sid: What I liked -as always, the groove and layering (I think I recognize the drums) the take on the title, the invoking of norse gods, the way the sound effects slowly take over.
What I didn’t like: the groove/topic juxtaposition was a little weird, for some reason this doesn’t sound like norse music to me, of course, neither does “immigrant song”, I wanted another section ala bridge.
Challenge: meh
Therman: What I liked - Rockin’ interesting breaks and colors, solid performance and production, the McCartney-esque, half time break near the end (2:50).
What I didn’t like. A vague comment, it seems self-consciously “cool,” the overly thick production made it hard to hear the vocals ind interplay of the parts, too much sound. Either I didn’t “get” the story, or it seemed not nearly as interesting as the music implies it should be. kind of a bunch a nothing, yeah?
Challenge: ok
Who Fly: What I liked - the overall feel/presence of the voice in the groove (a little Eels-ish), how it takes time for the listener to get that there is a triple and not a duple groove, the colors
What I didn’t like - once it got going it just kinda went, in fact it took me several times through to get a solid memory of it to rate it. the way “stranded” is inflected. Never much noticed or got engaged in the words
Challenge: eh
....well, for me, anyway. 
