The Song Fight Bulletin Board

Mars, from The Planets by Gustav Holst. Most prominently at the moment where there is all the chanting.

We used the opening of "Clair de Lune" as our intro and in our first and third verses. I had to tweak it a bit since the original is in 9/8 and our song is in 4/4, and our tempo is much faster, etc.

I used a piece of Vivaldi's Spring as the solo section in my piece. I added some fake strings to get the ELO vibe.

The ones I keep listening to are Merisan, Nick's Nein entry, Ken and Ben. Erin could sing the phone book or want ads, and it'd sound good. Nick's is the one that's really sticking in my head [in a good way]. Have fun, judges!

Clair de Lune? Vivaldi's Spring? I sense a lot of Louie Louie-ness. Glenny would not approve of that!

Anyway, here are some reviews by my humble self!

Note: The music is what really matters to me. Unless your lyric is really atrocious or the challenge was not fulfilled in any way, my opinion on your songs is based mostly on the music. (That doesn't mean that I don't have an opinion on your lyrics or your challenge implementation, it's just not what is most important to me.)

Ken Mahru: This is my favorite entry. I like the ELO style, and I think you did a great job of incorporating the classical sample without making it sound awkward or out of place. Plus, I really dig your voice.

Krautkitten: Sounds good as always, but it does not stand out that much. The drums are a bit too loud. Apart from that, I don't have much to criticize here. It's just not very memorable, at least not after the first few listens. My favorite songs by you from this year's Nur Ein were "Your Light No Longer Shines" and "Watertight" (that one was really cute).

Merisan: Your implementation of the challenges is a bit boring sometimes; not this time, though. In fact, challenge wise this is the best entry, to me, at least. I like your chord progression and, of course, Erin's wonderful voice. Very slick production, maybe a bit too slick for my taste. The one thing I don't like here is the synth, which I think does not fit the mood of this song. All in all, good song and my second favorite.

Ross Durand: Big brother, huh? You always manage to sneak in some political message, don't you? I like those lyrics, that's exactly how I feel about video surveillance, too. Musically, I like your percussion a lot. The rest does not grab my attention that much, and the classical sample part feels a bit out of place to me.

The Tydon Docks: My least favorite entry here. That does not mean it's bad, though. The kind of style you chose for this song is unusual for you, at least from what I've heard in this Nur Ein. I prefer your previous entries over this, especially "Full of Courage" and "Watertight". I dig your funny lyric for this one, though.

If I had to rank these songs, it would probably be:

1. Ken
2. Merisan
3. Krautkitten
4. Ross Durand
5. The Tydon Docks

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Now for the Nein entries:

iVeg: Cool guitar work! Also, glad I'm not the only one who used a popular Beethoven sample I like this song, especially the guitar. If it were a regular entry, I'd rank this third or fourth, I think.
Oh, and kudos to you for keeping up the Nein thing. I think the Nein is a cool concept and I would have loved to hear some Adam Adamant or LWA Nein entries. However, you (sadly) seem to be the only one who consistently does that for each round. Props to you, anyway.

Myself: I think I did a nice job here. Funny how my lyric idea often seems to be different from what most of the other guys had in mind ("Full of Courage", "The New Ugly", "Fast Lane Junkies"). In this case, I took it to mean "Video Game Land" for my lyric.
The piano "riff" you can hear during the rock part and in the outro is the same sample as in the intro, just cut up a bit to fit the straight 6/8 time and layered with FX for the outro.

Piano from "Der Lindenbaum," Schubert's Winterreise, used as a hook.
Trumpet solo: The opening of Mahler's 5th symphony. Used as a sample that needed to be composed under.

noma wrote:The drums are a bit too loud.

Eeeesh...you're right.

Thank you to the five remaining contestants for the prompt answers.

By the way, all of these songs are amazing. Once again, you've made judging very difficult.

noma wrote:and the classical sample part feels a bit out of place to me.

Hmm, sorry to hear that. From the time I got the idea for the song concept, I was thinking of a big, sort of ominous moment, and this piece seemed a natural. It then drove much of the composition of the song, particularly the 5/4 meter.

Thanks for the reviews!

Nur Ein!!!!!!

In other news, that final title looks awful. "Bravura?" It's like Top Chef and being made to cook with natto. Or Veggiemite.

BenKrieger wrote:In other news, that final title looks awful. "Bravura?" It's like Top Chef and being made to cook with natto. Or Veggiemite.

Never mind. Good title.

BenKrieger wrote:

BenKrieger wrote:In other news, that final title looks awful. "Bravura?" It's like Top Chef and being made to cook with natto. Or Veggiemite.

Never mind. Good title.

That was a quick change of heart. What happened, did the Nur Ein! Mafia get to you?

Quick thoughts on this week's songs:

Krautkitten - The vocals on this song are really good. I like the harmonies.

Merisan - Such great rhymes in this song. My favorite lyrics of the fight.

Ross - 5/4 = awesome!!!

Tydon Docks - My favorite execution of the challenge this week. I think you really featured the sample.

iVeg - Nice use of Beethoven's 5th as hook. I like the bouncy groove of your song.

Nick Soma - Your integration of Moonlight Sonata is really good. Who knew it was a metal song?

Ken - This turned out good! I think the ELO vibe really makes this song. I wrote this song earlier in the week and was a little disappointed by the demo. I tracked the basic instruments (drums, bass, guitar) on Friday night and tried a few guitar and key overdubs. Saturday morning I added the fake strings and that is when things started coming together for me. Sunday I did all the vocals and am very thankful all the backing vocals fell into place. I think this all works really well and feels like a complete song.

Ross!
You have by far my favorite of the fight! Best song you've done this Nur Ein, by far the best use of the challenge: inventive, musical, and one of my favorite classical pieces! This kicks so much ass! Great lyrics and vocals and production too ! Bravo!!!

Ken- This is an awesome song, with excellent production! This is a classic for the ages!

Merisan- Great song! Excellent production! Great lyrics! Sometimes the pop hooks are so sticky sweet I cringe, but I'm pretty sure you were going for as pop as possible, and succeeded.

Ben- great melody and story! I like the song, it's tough to compete with the production value of the Californians.

C-Ray- Good song! I'm not a fan of the challenge treatment. Very tough competition.

I'm going to try and finish my Nein entry now. I struggled to make Bartok work. This will be a glennny solo Nein if I finish, Lee turned 40 yesterday, so I didn't want to burden him with a vocal deadline.

I'll check out Nick and iVeg in a little while. Great Nur Ein everyone!

Cheers!

glennny wrote:Ross!
You have by far my favorite of the fight! Best song you've done this Nur Ein, by far the best use of the challenge: inventive, musical, and one of my favorite classical pieces! This kicks so much ass! Great lyrics and vocals and production too ! Bravo!!!

When I heard Ross' song I thought, "this song will get Glennny's vote."

Ross wrote:That was a quick change of heart. What happened, did the Nur Ein! Mafia get to you?

I just figured out a good angle to approach it from.

My quick thoughts:

Merisan - I'm a sucker for a good synth line and this is the best song this round. Good lyrics. The vocals are always top notch. The electric guitar and the vocals together don't gel me...the vocals don't seem to be pushing as much air as the guitar, if that makes any sense.

Ross - 5/4. I'm not sure about how everything gels, but this one has that intangible quality that makes it special...attitude and humor go along way. It's actually one of my favorites because of that.

Ken - I like that someone did the "play over a string orchestra" maneuver. Really, really well.

T-Docks - This is hilarious. I think others are underrating it. It does go on a little too long. Just a little. I would have jumped straight from "money shot" to "hallelujah" and incorporated the chorale earlier (because it is nice).

Me - I like the idea. The drums are too 3-4db too loud. I think I pulled a slight of hand with the vocal harmonies...this one doesn't hold up quite as well without them. I spent most of my time recording drums in the pro studio this weekend, getting ready for the next record. This mix/song suffered, and that's alright.

The Nein songs seem solid. Nick's gets an extra star. But YOU ALL LOST. NO REVIEW FOR YOU.

Ross wrote:

noma wrote:and the classical sample part feels a bit out of place to me.

Hmm, sorry to hear that. From the time I got the idea for the song concept, I was thinking of a big, sort of ominous moment, and this piece seemed a natural. It then drove much of the composition of the song, particularly the 5/4 meter.

It took me some time to get into your song, but now I think it's actually really good, up there with Ken's and Merisan's. It's just not that kind of song that clicks with me on first listen. The 5/4 meter felt strange at first, but now it doesn't sound out of place at all anymore

Oh, and thanks to all those who posted a review for my Nein entry. Big NO THANKS to Ben.

Nur Ein is constructed nicely in that as the weeks go on, there is less to concentrate on, especially if one is still in the competition. 2-3 additional passes at two additional songs, plus reviews, is 20 minutes I ain't got at this point. I'm too obsessed with the new Miranda Lambert record.

https://soundcloud.com/glenartrock/glennny-videoland

finished it off! Mix could be better.

Hopefully Tom will play it in the listening party.

Glennny - You really embraced the videoness of this challenge. Love the 8bit synth sounds.

Those indeed synths are killer, Glenny. I envy the drum sound at your immediate disposal.