Nur Ein XIX Round Five- "House of Cards"

[Niveous]

The Nur Ein continues with Round Five

Title: House of Cards

Challenge: Use of a Breakdown



Create a new original song from the prompt by Jun 16 at 11:59 PM Eastern.

Email your song to nurein.sidefight@gmail.com

[Spintown]

So Dooley would be a good example of this? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dBg835ytdfA

It features a different instrument after the chorus, but the other instruments still playing. Joe will be having to deal with this, but I still want to make sure I understand it.

[Niveous]

FYSA, I may be slow in sending out "I got your song" replies as the wife and I are celebrating our 5th wedding anniversary out at Niagara Falls. So, don't freak out. I'll let you know eventually.

[Lunkhead]

Happy anniversary!

[frankie big face]

Happy anniversary!

Stop kissing up to the judges, Sam!

Niveous, I apologize on Sam’s behalf and want to wish you and your wife a sincere and heartfelt happiest of anniversaries!

:heart emoji:

[frankie big face]

I haven't been a very good participant this year. I'm enjoying making the songs, but I haven't carved out enough time for listening and reviewing. So I'm jumping on these reviews early! This is how I rank them after one or two listens each. (I could flip-flop BL and The Friends, but I'm going with the one that made me want to get up and dance.)

Starfinger - This is the first song (listening in alphabetical order) that really engaged me from start to finish. The chorus and verses are nicely contrasted and the palette of sounds is well-chosen. I don't think this is a long I *like* exactly, but it's the best of the bunch in terms of it's construction and presentation.

Moss Palace - Moss Palace bringing the Katrina and the Waves pop! (Or maybe No Doubt, actually.) Signature Moss Palace vibra-slap - nicely placed. Generally, I like this punky pop song, but I want more from the chorus. My gut says dress it up with backing vocals, but a nice synth countermelody could do the trick. You guys ever listen to The Beths? I could see this in their repertoire. Great production as usual.

Balance Lost - When this song starts, I'm immediately hooked by the arrangement. This kind of bouncy pop music is right up my alley. I expect the guy from Modern English to start singing at 0:45. Once the vocal starts, I start to see the flaws, unfortunately. We just never get a melody that lives up to that opening music. The chorus is a little too similar to the verses, maybe, and doesn't have the hook I felt promised at the beginning. I want something much bigger! Seems unfinished to me. The breakdown is very effective. Also, good job using the word "escadrille." Felt better to me on repeated listens.

The Friends - Singing seems uncertain during the verses. That's a hard range to sing at that dynamic level. I would have doubled it or tried to dress is up a bit more. (Reminds me a little of Neil Young and he made a career of it, so what do I know?) The part that follows the verses works better with the support vocals. The song is okay, but maybe lacking in variation - those three chords get monotonous after a while. But I can appreciate the mood you're going for. On second listen, I was more forgiving of the vocals and enjoyed the song much more. Reminds me a little of Sparklehorse.

Glennny - I love the herky-jerky verses. And, like Balance Lost, it psyched me up for the big hooky chorus, but alas, it didn't come. The breakdown is nice and reignites the song, but then the chorus comes back and its a letdown for this reviewer. I would have just ridden that vocal breakdown part all the way into the sunset.

Cavedwellers - Similar to BL, there's nothing really hooking me in this mid-tempo pop song. Unlike BL, it doesn't have that brilliant opening music. Good breakdown in theory, but I think you have to nail the singing if you're going to do an extended a cappella section and a lot of this singing sounds uncertain to me.

MechaKarp - 5/4 riff is fun, but in support of a melody that lacks direction. The 6/8 part is somewhat contrasting, but has a strikingly similar descending bass line. And a melody that seems equally lost. I think to pull this kind of thing off, you have to have like a powerhouse Robert Plant voice or a Jeff Buckley wail.

SHADOWS:
Brown Word and the Big Whine - I don't know how you record exactly, how many of you there are, or really anything about you. But I know this sounds like a band in a room playing together. So if it isn't, congrats on an amazing facsimile. Love that flip into 12/8 (or 6/8) time during the breakdown. The song is not calling out to me for repeated listening, but it's not bad at all!

Spintown & Company - Full disclosure, I don't care about Minecraft at all. I would like you to write songs about other things. But you do you! This song strikes me as a song that would be in a movie where there isn't a music royalty budget and they really wanted this cool Smiths song, but they had some friends with this "Smiths-like" song that they used as a placeholder until they realized they weren't going to be able to raise the money for that Smiths song after all. It's not the worst thing I've ever heard.

[Spintown]

Spintown & Company - Full disclosure, I don't care about Minecraft at all. I would like you to write songs about other things. But you do you! This song strikes me as a song that would be in a movie where there isn't a music royalty budget and they really wanted this cool Smiths song, but they had some friends with this "Smiths-like" song that they used as a placeholder until they realized they weren't going to be able to raise the money for that Smiths song after all. It's not the worst thing I've ever heard.

I've done 2 songs that weren't about Minecraft to date. Nobody listens to either other than my grandma (1 was about my grandpa). Not a ton listen to the Minecraft stuff, but it's still WAY more than would listen otherwise since all my socials have Minecraft followings. Besides, I enjoy making stupid videos for them.

I'll take "It's not the worst thing I've ever heard."

Thanks for the review!

[Siebass]

MechaKarp - 5/4 riff is fun, but in support of a melody that lacks direction. The 6/8 part is somewhat contrasting, but has a strikingly similar descending bass line. And a melody that seems equally lost. I think to pull this kind of thing off, you have to have like a powerhouse Robert Plant voice or a Jeff Buckley wail.

Thanks for the listen and review, Frankie. I was sick as heck when I tried to get this vocal done, and it definitely didn't finish out where I wanted, but I do often get dinged on my vocal quality, so I appreciate that I still have a long way to go on that. I was hoping that more emotionally resonant lyric would carry with solid music, but perhaps it was too meandering and not direct enough. Honestly, I thought I'd be gone last round, so I guess we'll see how far the 'Karp can go.

[WreckdoMelle]

Brown Word and the Big Whine - I don't know how you record exactly, how many of you there are, or really anything about you. But I know this sounds like a band in a room playing together. So if it isn't, congrats on an amazing facsimile. Love that flip into 12/8 (or 6/8) time during the breakdown. The song is not calling out to me for repeated listening, but it's not bad at all!

Wow, Quick Draw McGraw on the reviews. Well, thanks a bunch, I find this a supreme compliment because BWATBW is a one-woman operation I once had Geoff WreckdoM as a guest for a Nur Ein challenge that required a guest but almost everything is me except canned drums and I do use a lot of crazy rando samples like risers and occasionally very weird loops, but I play all my guitars, bass, keyboards, and do all the vox and twiddle the knobs.

[frankie big face]

Brown Word and the Big Whine - I don't know how you record exactly, how many of you there are, or really anything about you. But I know this sounds like a band in a room playing together. So if it isn't, congrats on an amazing facsimile. Love that flip into 12/8 (or 6/8) time during the breakdown. The song is not calling out to me for repeated listening, but it's not bad at all!

Wow, Quick Draw McGraw on the reviews. Well, thanks a bunch, I find this a supreme compliment because BWATBW is a one-woman operation I once had Geoff WreckdoM as a guest for a Nur Ein challenge that required a guest but almost everything is me except canned drums and I do use a lot of crazy rando samples like risers and occasionally very weird loops, but I play all my guitars, bass, keyboards, and do all the vox and twiddle the knobs.

Well god damn, girl! Good for you. It is a supreme compliment. You sound like a band and that ain't easy.

[frankie big face]

MechaKarp - 5/4 riff is fun, but in support of a melody that lacks direction. The 6/8 part is somewhat contrasting, but has a strikingly similar descending bass line. And a melody that seems equally lost. I think to pull this kind of thing off, you have to have like a powerhouse Robert Plant voice or a Jeff Buckley wail.

Thanks for the listen and review, Frankie. I was sick as heck when I tried to get this vocal done, and it definitely didn't finish out where I wanted, but I do often get dinged on my vocal quality, so I appreciate that I still have a long way to go on that. I was hoping that more emotionally resonant lyric would carry with solid music, but perhaps it was too meandering and not direct enough. Honestly, I thought I'd be gone last round, so I guess we'll see how far the 'Karp can go.

Been there. It sucks to get sick during Nur Ein. There's no time to recover and you just have to plow ahead. Good luck with the judges. You never know!

[Siebass]

Not sure if listening party is happening tonight, but posting this link here just in case from Tommy G's youtube

[frankie big face]

Not sure if listening party is happening tonight, but posting this link here just in case from Tommy G's youtube

Looks like 10:30pm.

[glennny]

Cavedwellers lyrics are posted. Sorry for the delay, I think I left them in "preview" mode.
My apologies.

[ujnhunter]

Cavedwellers lyrics are posted. Sorry for the delay, I think I left them in "preview" mode.
My apologies.

Too late. Obviously already ELIMINATED!

[starfinger]

I did not really spend any time trying to listen to or make sense of any of the lyrics, but all of these songs are pretty good!

* balance lost
this is great. i like the way you sing on it a lot, and the chord progression
is really pretty.

* cavedwellers
It kinda loses me at the a cappella section, and the rest of the song feels
like something from a high school dance on TV. It all sounds really good
though.

* frankie big face
those vocal fx during the verse(?) are awesome. i like the repurposing of the
led zeppelin. i like all those notes in your guitar solo! i think the
scratching is too quiet, but it's all very interesting and fun. the fx on the chorus
give it a weirdly amorphous transition from the other part, but it sounds cool.

* the friends
i like the glossy haze over the whole thing. it's like a fever dream. it
does not seem to really ever go anywhere, but that's not a criticism. yeah i
like this a lot.

* glennny
this is my kinda song. the synths are all nice and the arrangement keeps you
guessing! there are places where the vocals get in the way of the cool stuff
happening in the background.

* mechakarp
something weird is going on with the vocals. i like the drums a lot in the
breakdown, with the faith no more-ish piano line. yeah the music is all great.
it's pretty long!

* moss palace
this is like a lost bangles song. amazing. and the breakdown into the guitar
solo is really nice. i'm not as excited about the chuggy rhythm of the verses.

* starfinger
i wrote a totally different song, and then decided i hated it and was about to
give up and not turn anything in, but then i spontaneously made this on sunday
morning.

* brown word and the big whine
this sounds awesome and is really weird. two of my favorite things.

* spintown
this really nails the eurovision vibe i feel like most of your tracks have
been aiming towards. but good lord the subject matter is ... not great.

[starfinger]

I don't think this is a long I *like* exactly...

Hey Frankie, I cannot parse this sentence.

[frankie big face]

I don't think this is a long I *like* exactly...

Hey Frankie, I cannot parse this sentence.

Haha. Just showing everyone that it’s possible to rise above “genre bias” and recognize a well-crafted, well-performed, and well-produced song, even if it’s not my “cup of tea.” But, you know, I only listened once or twice to each song so maybe it will grow on me if I come back to it. But I did put it at the top!

[Spintown]

* spintown
this really nails the eurovision vibe i feel like most of your tracks have
been aiming towards. but good lord the subject matter is ... not great.

I don't really have a feel I try to get with every song. Sometimes I want a rock song, sometimes dance track, sometimes polka, sometimes rap (like for the next round), but I'm glad you think we nailed the vibe of eurovision this time around. As for the subject matter, yeah get it, but this really isn't my target audience either. Thanks for the review!

[HeuristicsInc]

Balance Lost - i like the rhythmic guitar that comes in partway. And then the one that comes out of the breakdown is very nice. The lyrics are interesting, poetic.


Cavedwellers - the echoey guitar is cool. And that bass after the chorus is killer. I enjoyed this breakdown.


Frankie Big Face - not sure how i feel about such a prominent sample. I don’t think i can give you full credits for music you didn’t compose…. I’m sure i’ll get yelled at for that, but oh well. Anyway the vocals are good.


The Friends - i like the chorus better than the verses. Interesting breakdown. I like the repeated “and i don’t know what to do about it”.


Glennny - right away i love the music. Heavy and interesting. Different for you. Good rhymes too. Hmm some of the lines don’t scan right, though.


MechaKarp - i can see what you mean about the vocals. I felt the sameness was a bit of a problem by the end of the second verse - but the changeup after the breakdown with the piano brought the excitement back. Hey that solo section is really rad.


Moss Palace - this one isn’t as special to me as your other entries. Maybe too straight ahead. The breakdown bit is cool though.


Starfinger - very cool sounds, a little messy. You are full of destruction this nur ein! Love the echoey stuff. Great. Sometimes the vocals are a little lost in the massive sounds.


Brown Word and the Big Whine - it disturbs me a little that fate and tonight don’t rhyme. I like the guitars coming out of the verse there. sometimes the vocals get lost in here too. Might want them more front and center. The ending is great.


Spintown & Company - this style kinda wants more present vocals and synths - maybe the mix and effects could make this more punchy. Man that map looked kinda annoying. How many times did it take to do? Anyway this was fun.

[Aciniform Artifice]

I don’t think i can give you full credits for music you didn’t compose….

[frankie big face]

* frankie big face
those vocal fx during the verse(?) are awesome. i like the repurposing of the
led zeppelin. i like all those notes in your guitar solo! i think the
scratching is too quiet, but it's all very interesting and fun. the fx on the chorus
give it a weirdly amorphous transition from the other part, but it sounds cool.

Thank you for this actual review of my song. I wanted to do more (and more interesting) scratching, but didn’t have the means. (Why is there not a website where you can just feed in some music and it comes out scratched?) So I may have subconsciously hid it in the mix (especially later in the song) so as to mask its sameness. Glad you approved of all the notes in this guitar solo!