Nur Ein VII Round Five "Cassettes"

[RangerDenni]

I am going to write my reviews and accompanying linked Too Much Informational Blog concerning my entry which is Optional reading on my iPad tomorrow, during exciting Jury Duty.

[Jefff]

I wanted to write something about the songs. I forgot to bring my earbuds to work, and if I don't write now I'll forget to later, so I'll just try to remember them from listening in the car yesterday.

BGM - God such great harmonies, and your production skills make them shine that much more. For as good as your pop instincts are, you share with Frankie the ability to come up with melodies that aren't just catchy but also unexpected and satisfying. I got a little bored, and I wanted to hear some elements to shake it up, but it's possible successive listens would change my mind on that.

DJ Ranger Denn - Hmmm... Really wish I had me earbuds right now because I only sort of remember this one. I do remember the drums and your voice sounding very good. I hesitate to write anything critical without a refresher listen, so I'll try to remember to do that and update. Sorry!

Frankie Big Face - I didn't get into this in my single listen, but it doesn't strike me as a single listen sort of recording. The bells sounded way loud in the car, but the speakers in there wreak a lot of havok on mixes that sound fine elsewhere. I do appreciate that you took the challenge as an opportunity to try something interesting, and it is interesting to me. I'll need to revisit. I always enjoy when you pull out some of the other Big Face vocal styles. Leah didn't recognize your voice, and I have made her listen to several of your songs.

Genevieve Johnson and the Chiefs - I really enjoyed this, especially "voila ma funky cassette". I might start saying that randomly to strangers. Dopey, fun. Your French sounded good to me, but I'm not French, so how would I know?

Manhattan Glutton - This was alright. I got the same impression I did from Frank's song: that you took the challenge as an opportunity to do something different. (Guessing people's intentions is dangerous work, so tell me if I'm getting that wrong.) The short length makes it an easy listen, and I think it would work well sandwiched between two of your "bigger" songs.

Ross Durand - So I was in the car with my girlfriend Leah, listening to the songs. And she was being catty. As each song started, I explained a bit about who it was, so I told her that while your style was not my cup of tea, you were a thoughtful and skilled songwriter that most other people enjoyed. Then she said, "I get it. He's trying to sound like [the name of a songwriter I can't remember. Bruce Springsteen?]" and I said, "Well, I'm sure he's an influence." And then she said, "Or is he trying to be [another one. Dylan?]" but then a moment later she thought it was somebody else and then finally she said, "I like this!" (I enjoyed it too. I thought the harmonica sounded really good.)

The Worldly Self Assurance - Catchy, fun. Definitely plays fast and loose with the challenge, but musically it was probably worth the risk, regardless of what happens contest-wise. The lady-vox sounded out-of-place in the mix, but that might be my car speakers again. Love the production style.


I was surprised at how strict most everybody was with themselves regarding the challenge. I'm still not convinced the challenge had to mean what you all thought it did, but I will say that a) I seem to be out-voted on that score, at least by contestants, and b) if I had put in the work a lot of you did to avoid choruses and bridges, I would likely be annoyed that other people didn't hold to that standard.

[Manhattan Glutton]

add - Despite breaking the challenge, because of the awkward metering this does feel villanille-esque, so you're not quite on the same shitlist as glennny, who should just hang his head in absolute shame. It does feel a bit long, so maybe cutting it off would have been the better choice, 'cause it's kind of quaint and repetitive.

BGM - Yep, you win. This is fantastic and meets the challenge.

DJ - This is also fantastic and meets the challenge. I think you done a great job. Nice lyrical interpretation.

Frankie - Not quite my thing, but I can respect the experimentation while trying to fit the structure.

Genevieve - It made me laugh. But it's annoying.

MG - Well, what can I say. I thought I wrote great lyrics and I thought I could carry this round on performance. It's looking more like I'll be cut, but I'm pretty happy with how this turned out. I had neither the time nor desire to add more layers.

Ross - Definitely not adventerous of you, but not your A-game. It's pretty good.

WSA - Oh, this is an awesome song. Probably my favorite WSA so far this year. I'm just curious what competition you thought you were in, because it's certainly not fun when someone flagrantly ignores the challenge, particularly since the judges are historically unlikely to rank based on challenge.

I'd rank like so:
8 - BGM
7 - DJ
6 - Ross
(the middle pack)
1 - WSA

[glennny]

MG,

Dude you are crazy! We embraced the challenge! The verses are Villanelles! The instructions were one word "Villanelle". If we thought for a moment that we weren't hitting the challenge square, we would have adjusted. Just as easily as you could've added a chorus or refrain to pop up your song or whatever were you to interpret it like we did. Also the chorus is a variation of the form it still keeps to the rhyming scheme of the villanelle. Besides, I didn't write any words on our track, I just read them before they were submitted. All 5 of us thought we were hitting the challenge squarely. It's really strange to be accused of this.

Thanks for the review and the compliment!

glennny

[Jefff]

add - Despite breaking the challenge, because of the awkward metering this does feel villanille-esque

Funny, I would've guessed it was the villanelle that made it feel villanelle-esque.

[furrypedro]

FBF: I'm digging the atmospherics here. I think perhaps the bells are a touch too loud (and their kind of at that ear-piercing frequency) but it's no biggie. It's disquieting how the track changes form sounding dreamy and ethereal to subtly (but sharply) changing to a much more sinister beast altogether. Is that a didj in there?

Genny Chief Johnson: You will very much benefit from my current appreciation of Sebastian Tellier. Fun and dirty sounding sleaze-cheese pop. I don't normally give a crouton about the lyrics but I like your blend of throwaway and political commentary.

Mutton: I was worried that this would not hold my attention from the opening bars, I've never been a fan of the plod and this sounds a bit ploddy. That said, if I was on my own rather than hiding behind numerous other band members I would struggle to come up with a song of this calibre, particularly 5 weeks into Nur Ein. The vocal melody is engaging - I was gonna say the "aahs" at the end could have been done better, but then there would be an issue with the black pot/black kettle interface.

VladiROSStock: Really nice little finger picky thang going on. Your voice sounds more like Bob in some places than ever. Overall good song, what really kills me in this song is the middle and when it swells just as the harmonica starts up. It makes me wish that it went on for longer, but then maybe the fact that you cut it off just as it gets big sounding makes it more poignant and prevents it from being overblown.

ADD: I think this is probably my favourite of the fight. It's real simple, but I love the vocal refrain, and the way that though the beat and progression is simple the guitars keep poking their noses in-between lines. The backwards bit is perfect. As for apparently screwing all the judges in the bungholes by flagrantly throwing the challenge out the window - good for you, a song like this is worth it.

bgm: This seems pretty restrainted but I love all the subtle changes here, like the way you'll do a bar of guitar stabs instead of arpeggiating, and then the organ very briefly. Adds drama. Excellent recording. I envy anyone with such a strong handle on vocal harmonies - I need to try a lot harder to get technique like yours down.

DJRD: It's funny listening to the bgm, yours and frankie's song all in a row, works out to be quite a dark fight which was not anticipated by me. Anyway, about your song, very impassioned and I like the way it shifts between laid back and sultry and then shifts up a gear. Great voice. Another very restrained arrangement but it absolutely assists the song.



Thank you everybody for your comments so far (and throughout Nur Ein, sorry that these are the first reviews I've posted ).

Regarding the loose interpretation of the challenge. We could've omitted the chorus in the WSA track, but:
1. I write my songs for me, not some gosh-darned judge! (I know, I'm in the wrong competition right?)
2. The chorus fucking kicks it (apart from it's mixed a bit too loud - instead of spending all Sunday on it I got drunk and high, whoops )
3. Suck my nuts (in a nice way. why do I even say stuff like this. Sorry!)
4. I could use a break from Nur Ein, might as well get chucked out in style.
5. Sorry about Glennny this year folks.
6. Sorry Glennny, just tone it down a little, yeah? (I say this to him when he's recording guitar solos too)
7. I've gone off-topic but this is my tribute to Adam Yauch, and someone else we lost recently (who probably hated hip-hop).

Nur Funf!!

[furrypedro]

Also the chorus is a variation of the form it still keeps to the rhyming scheme of the villanelle.

If this is remotely true then it's an accident.

[Manhattan Glutton]

(ad hominem) (argument from ignorance) (consensus fallacy)

Nope, I'm callin' you out. You're a good artist. You've got a good group. You don't need to cheat the challenges to progress in this game.

[Jefff]

Shit. Dude brought links.

[Billy's Little Trip]

(ad hominem) (argument from ignorance) (consensus fallacy)

Nope, I'm callin' you out.

lmao! So this is what a nerdy tickle fight looks like?

Nerd Ein!!!!!!!

[glennny]

ad hominem- you misunderstand my "check yourself before you wreck yourself"
argument from ignorance- you have a point here, but I wasn't arguing as much as explaining my perspective
consensus fallacy- Ummm isn't that your argument?

You insulted me for the last time MG! I demand satisfaction! I challenge you to a Song Fight at 10 paces!
you do the production, rhythm guitar, and drums, auto tune your share of the vocals
I'll do the lead guitar and bass, we'll trade argumentative insulting verses. (you don't get to autotune my scoopy vocals)
You get the whole bridge vocals, I get the whole guitar solo.

NUR EIN!!!!!

[Manhattan Glutton]

You insulted me for the last time MG!

Pointing out that you are wrong shouldn't be insulting. You should feel humbled by your imperfection.

I challenge you to a Song Fight at 10 paces!

That's a lot of work for a song I probably won't like. I will consider it, but I propose an alternative: You're going to be at SF Live, right? I fully expected Frank to sucker punch me last year, so maybe both of you can ally to beat me up this year.

[j$]

Please now, less time bickering, more time spent on making better songs next time round.

Read that as you will

I also concur with whoever said it earlier, the cover art is awesome this round.

Be warned, I have just given up smoking (we'll see how long it lasts - I tried last week and managed 12 hours. Including 6 of them asleep.) So I am not taking the crap you lot have been tootin' out this time out.

Read that as you will

[Billy's Little Trip]

Be warned, I have just given up smoking

Congrats and good luck. Just remember the cravings will go away in about a year. Be strong, good sir.

[glennny]

I am constantly humbled by my imperfections, and I can thank Song Fight for most of that.
I don't think I'm wrong.
Congratulations! Calling me a cheater is about the worst thing you can call me. I am not a cheater. We did not come anywhere close to cheating, you're looking for buttons and you found one. The worst you can honestly say is that we misinterpreted the challenge' s restrictions. I'm still not convinced they were there.

Not sure about Song Fight Live, still trying to make that happen.

We should work together some time though, we have nearly opposite strengths. Thought it would be fun to make a fight song. Oh well.

I like you MG, we're just trash talking and playing the game of Nur Ein

Cheers

[frankie big face]

Be warned, I have just given up smoking (we'll see how long it lasts - I tried last week and managed 12 hours. Including 6 of them asleep.)

OH. EM. GEE.

Paul, I sincerely wish you the best in this endeavor. It's obviously in your best interest health-wise, but I also understand the addictive nature, and more significantly, the pleasure principle. Not everyone cares about living until they're 80 and you obviously enjoy it. But if you've made the decision to stop, I hope it tuns out to be easier than you ever expected!

[frankie big face]

I fully expected Frank to sucker punch me last year, so maybe both of you can ally to beat me up this year.

You were at SongFight Live last year?

[frankie big face]

@furrypedro - You're right, the bells (crotales, actually) are piercing. When I pulled them back in the mix, they lost something I wanted so I put them back. THERE HAS TO BE A WAY. I wanted the ending to sound like annihilation at the hand of murderous machines. It's insanely noisy, but it's just a bunch of stock loops from Logic, crotales, guitar, a synth patch (some kind of flute played really realy low) and voices.

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face - I didn't get into this in my single listen, but it doesn't strike me as a single listen sort of recording. The bells sounded way loud in the car, but the speakers in there wreak a lot of havok on mixes that sound fine elsewhere. I do appreciate that you took the challenge as an opportunity to try something interesting, and it is interesting to me. I'll need to revisit. I always enjoy when you pull out some of the other Big Face vocal styles. Leah didn't recognize your voice, and I have made her listen to several of your songs.

Thanks. Regarding your first point, I took a calculated risk with this song, figuring that with just eight contestants, the songs would get played more than once by the judges. I agree this is probably not a song you can get into on first listen. There's a lot going on. I'm actually pretty happy with it overall. It was a little bit in response to comments made by The Chocolate Chips last week that my songs sounded like I was trying hard enough or it was too easy or something. Someone also said I was "showing off." I didn't quite know how to take that stuff but thought I would respond with something a bit more ambitious that might appeal to some of the art rock crowd (which includes Roymond, so again, the risks were calculated).

[roymond]

Be warned, I have just given up smoking (we'll see how long it lasts - I tried last week and managed 12 hours. Including 6 of them asleep.)

OH. EM. GEE.

Paul, I sincerely wish you the best in this endeavor. It's obviously in your best interest health-wise, but I also understand the addictive nature, and more significantly, the pleasure principle. Not everyone cares about living until they're 80 and you obviously enjoy it. But if you've made the decision to stop, I hope it tuns out to be easier than you ever expected!

What he said. Plus, I might see a hawt lady and I'm distracted by her simply being on this planet...then I notice the cig in her hand...suddenly the stale deli sandwich I'm eating gets all my attention. Take that and translate it to your own situation. It never fails.

[roymond]

thought I would respond with something a bit more ambitious that might appeal to some of the art rock crowd (which includes Roymond, so again, the risks were calculated).

Is roymond really that predictable?
Will this risky play pay off for the Big Face?
Will roymond weave an interpretive justification into his rating?
Will Frankie's crotales be left in the recycling bin of history?

Tune in later when roymond publishes his colorful lava lamp of reviews...

[Jefff]

Tune in later when roymond publishes his colorful lava lamp of reviews...

FYI, I still haven't been able to read your last reviews due to a permission error.