Nur Ein II Round Two "Brownie Points"

There can be only one.
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Billy's Little Trip
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

Puce wrote:
Billy's Little Trip wrote:Oh, cool. So these member move to round 3.

Wooo Hooo!!!!! I didn't get knocked out.
But, according to your list, I did. :?

EDIT: Glenn beat me too it
ooops, sorry, I forgot about the immunity thing.
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Post by GlennCase »

Puce wrote:EDIT: Glenn beat me too it
I beat you to it as well.

That's the trick to two, too, and to. There's more than two spellings of the word, and there's more than two meanings too. Sometimes I fail to get it right too.

(j$ would be so proud of me!)

:D

ROCK!

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Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Hooray Frankie! Sorry to see you other guys go. Good luck everyone else!
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Post by bck15 »

Thanks for the comments guys. I'm sad to be booted out, but I can't say that I don't understand. I can see how the novelty would wear off my song after a couple listens. In fact it would probably be down right annoying. Plus, I would have felt bad if my song had made it in and someone else who wrote a real song would have been left out. Based on the talent level in this competition, I wasn't going to last much longer anyway.

I had a lof of fun for the few weeks I survived. I will definately keep following to see what happens in the coming weeks. I may even keep writing according to the topics just for fun. I also hope to jump into some of the main song fights.

Good luck to all who remain.
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Post by j$ »

GlennCase wrote:(j$ would be so proud of me!
The funny thing being - I was just wincing at that 'too' when I glanced down at your post. Yes, I am predictable, clearly, but also proud! :)
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missing vote

Post by mo »

Deepest apologies to everyone for not getting my votes in on time. I was in the middle of a 6-day shoot and didn't have access to the internet for most of it, plus needed to get the first episode of the tv show cut during the shoot. I didn't even realize the songs were out until a few hours before the judging deadline. We aren't shooting again until the end of June, so I shouldn't fuck up this bad ever again.

Please don't take out my kneecaps.
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Post by bz£ »

Abom. I probably ranked you lower last time than your song deserved because at some level, I can't help but compare each song to what I expect from each entrant. Not that it was a "bad Abominominous song" but it was way different. What I like about this tune is how seamlessly the non-4/4 time works. Everything flows together naturally and the song sounds like it is the way it should be. I'm a big fan of the odd time signatures and this song is a good advertisement: you can be different and still rock.

BeWells. And this is a song that I maybe ranked lower this week than it deserves because it's not as good as your Sister Cocaine which I really loved. Life isn't fair! This is a nice song and an excellent example of the guy-and-guitar genre but at some point a song just has to offer more.

Billy's little trip. I think this week I'll probably be the judge that gives you the best score so you'll have to find someone else to be snippy at! I know the chorus was the result of a screwup but it's a good error. The crazy voices provide a nice separation between verses and choruses and actually make the song work better as a whole. Plus I like the way they sound. Ponder this and fear: Imagine if you'd entered the song the way you wanted it to be (i.e., without the goofed-up chorus). You might have been relegated! Music is not rational.

Bovine Rec. That god damned Kool-Aid man. I wish I had the mental capacity to fully appreciate your songs because I would probably be a happier person overall. This is what I'm talking about when I want a song to "offer more;" all sorts of different instruments and complicated changes and such. This song actually comes down on the "too chaotic" side of the line (as y'all usually seem to) but that's a much better flaw to have than being boring.

Cynthia Size. This is a song that I wanted to be over long before it actually was. You are, of course, welcome to throw that right back at me, for I recently recorded a tune that was more than ten minutes longer than this. It doesn't really go anywhere, which is okay, I suppose, in the techno-dance world, but it doesn't make me want to dance either. That may be a failing on my part which is probably due to genetics. It is capably constructed and performed, as were both of your previous entries, but at some point this style simply can't compete with some of the other folks who are still in. I don't mean that as any sort of personal attack; it simply is what it is.

Ross D. This is nice enough. From my standpoint it is completely unmemorable but there's nothing wrong with it either. Time changes are very smooth and so are the transitions between song parts. If anything I think I'd like the lyrics to be a little less straight-forward but that is more of a personal thing than an objective valuation.

Steve D. My subconscious loves this one. It is taking physical effort not to get up and dance along and for that alone you win lots of points. I wish you didn't make the 3/4 break in the middle so slow because it really interrupts the groove. At least it only happens once and doesn't last long.

Frankie. This is another song that I feel compelled to dance along with. It has all the complexity that I like without being so obvious about it and even the nits that I would normally pick at seem okay here. When the song ends I am sad and want it to not be over.

Jolly r. Your drumming here is unusually ostentatious and inappropriate. I suppose there are situations where you would want to play like this (dual with the devil and his fiddle was broken?) but it's just distracting in this song. The lyrics are so whiney that I am seriously considering how difficult it would be to build a golf club that is three thousand miles long just so I can whack you with it without having to do any traveling.

Bryan K. I realize you're relatively new to songfight! and I'm one (of many, I'd expect) that hopes you stick around. It seems like the majority of newcomers these days are writing embarassingly bad spoken word pieces with little or no effort involved, and you have eclipsed my expectations with two very nice songs. Self-reference is something that doesn't usually play well here, though, and this song is basically saying "I couldn't write a song this time so good-bye," so I don't think you'll be too surprised with where it placed. Nur Ein is supposed to be harder than songfight! in general anyway and not being able to pick the titles that inspire you is a big part of why.

Merisan. My knowledge of Spanish is limited to Yo La Tengo and names of food items, so it's nice that you've provided a translation. What isn't clear to me is why you chose to do it that way. It's not bad; I think of it like another different choice of instrument. Thing is, by making it impossible to focus on the lyrics, all I can grasp on to is another gal-and-guitar tune which doesn't do anything special to distinguish itself. It sounds nice but it's gone as soon as it ends.

Paco del. There's something about the voice here that bothers me just a little. It's all a bit unnatural; like you're making too much effort to sound, well, different. It's obvious at the breakdown about 1:35 in, but really, all the way through. I really like the (mostly) arpeggiated guitar.

Puce. Why does this work and BK's doesnt? Well, it kind of doesn't, but it's not a throwaway either. If you ignore the words it's as carefully crafted as ever and it even meets the optional challenge. Then you stop ignoring the words and it's really funny. It also fits the title perfectly, and not in a "Haha I don't have to write a song called Brownie Points" way. Maybe that last thing is the key. There's nothing inherently evil about self-reference (or any of the typical songfight! no-nos). I guess I'd have put this in the upper middle of the table somewhere, probably not as high as some other folks have but not too far behind.

Tex Beaumont. Starts out too quiet, and I know that you can make a song not quiet if you want to. When it finally kicks in I don't even have to turn the volume back down. I like the part with the whips, but I've always said that. There are maybe too many disparate parts here that don't work together well; the whole thing comes off as unfocused and we (the listeners) are probably missing some clever stuff below the surface because the surface isn't clear enough to see through. Does that make any sense?

Thanks Glennny. That is some seriously awesome bass tone. I wish y'all had a real drummer. I don't have a pathological hatred of drum machines; I'd just really prefer a human drummer here, because something just doesn't sound right with the drums. I've done songs with this sort of percussion before (not as good!) and it's hard to put into words what the difference is between drums and drum machine, but it's a good difference.

Jim T. Oh, the heady symbolism! And that is a nice fade-in. This sounds like you want to be playing it acoustically, though I suppose that the vocal take wouldn't fit quite as nicely. I still wanted the rhythm guitar to have just a little more definition, though. This is also a song that you could have drawn out more: a few more words and another thirty seconds or so wouldn't have hurt.

Wreckdom. This is not nearly as good as your two previous Nur Eifforts. It's not so rockin' and it isn't even sleazy-- it just sounds like you want to make a bunch of poop jokes and they aren't quite working this time around.
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Post by Lunkhead »

Why we used Spanish: Generally we try to write a song that we think is going to be enjoyable completely apart from the context of SongFight! or in this case Nur Ein. We weren't sure how to do that for "Brownie Points". We felt like the term "brownie points" would have felt and sounded awkward and unnatural for us, unless we wrote a throwaway cutesy or novelty/joke song. Erin had me make up something on the classical guitar, and then we thought that singing in Spanish would fit well over what I was playing and would make "brownie points" sound less awkward and forced.
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Post by Kill Me Sarah »

Incidentally, now that this round is over and you guys are still in it, I found it funny to have a song in Spanish written about an English idiom. Obviously there's no exact translation (or at least not one that would make sense) for "brownie points" which was why your actual lyrics say "merit points". But then since I guess the rules have never stated that the song title must appear in the song, it's a moot point.

Where did you get your translation, anyway? I ask because in parts it's spot on, and in others not so much. For example No hay personas para conducir actually means "there are no people to direct" (and who the "people" are is equally ambiguous in English and Spanish". Also, Tú harás lo que toma is a literal translation that makes no sense in Spanish since saying "to do what it takes" is another English idiom. Toma literally means "take" in the sense of "to carry" or "to bring".

Not a criticism, btw, I was actually fairly impressed. Your accent and pronunciation were very good.
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

bzl wrote: Billy's little trip. I think this week I'll probably be the judge that gives you the best score so you'll have to find someone else to be snippy at! I know the chorus was the result of a screwup but it's a good error. The crazy voices provide a nice separation between verses and choruses and actually make the song work better as a whole. Plus I like the way they sound. Ponder this and fear: Imagine if you'd entered the song the way you wanted it to be (i.e., without the goofed-up chorus). You might have been relegated! Music is not rational.
Aww c'mon, you know I love the Charcmyster. :wink:
I wasn't being snippy, just sarcastic. I respect peoples opinions, good or bad.
I do let my music control my emotions, so it can ruin my day, week month, if I feel I let myself down musically. But I always manage to pull out of it and move on.
Thanks you, you probably saved me on this round.

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Post by Nigel (spOOn) Clements »

bzl wrote:Cynthia Size. This is a song that I wanted to be over long before it actually was. You are, of course, welcome to throw that right back at me, for I recently recorded a tune that was more than ten minutes longer than this. It doesn't really go anywhere, which is okay, I suppose, in the techno-dance world, but it doesn't make me want to dance either. That may be a failing on my part which is probably due to genetics. It is capably constructed and performed, as were both of your previous entries, but at some point this style simply can't compete with some of the other folks who are still in. I don't mean that as any sort of personal attack; it simply is what it is.
That's absolutely cool Bzl, I fully understand and appreciate the failings of my chosen style and although It's a dodgy route to follow, I've never been one to get carried away with what I do (just what is it I do??? :? )
I fully welcome this kind of constructive examination as it helps to maybe not make the same mistakes again (though sometimes I need to be told again and again and....) anyhoo cheers for that, and good luck with judging the subsequent rounds... you know it's gonna get harder and harder, all the best dude.
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Post by Lunkhead »

KMS:

Erin did the initial translation using babelfish.altavista.com. Two friends gave us a couple points, mostly saying that there was no direct equivalent to "brownie points", one suggesting "merit points" as an approximation. I tried to quickly improve the lines that stuck out to me the most as we recorded Erin's vocals, using ancient memories of high school Spanish, an online conjugator, and more babelfish. (The biggest problem with babelfish was that it would only translate into the formal "you", and not the familiar "you".) I also did the best I could to recommend how to pronounce things. I think Erin has a good ear for language and is a good mimic, and has listened to lots of music with Spanish lyrics, so that probably helped. We could have gotten the lyrics to the point where they were all intelligible if we'd had one more day or so.
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Post by frankie big face »

Lunkhead wrote: We felt like the term "brownie points" would have felt and sounded awkward and unnatural for us, unless we wrote a throwaway cutesy or novelty/joke song.
I felt exactly the same way. I never use the phrase "brownie points" and, in fact, I despise it. (I would list other phrases I despise, but you know one of them will be the title next week, so I won't.) So I was like, how can I make this song with a title I hate so it still sounds like FBF and I'm not embarrassed to sing it down the road? I really never did answer that question (not directly anyway) because my song hook just sort of came to me and I decided it was worthy of FBF, most probably because the emphasis is less on "brownie points" than "lovin' you the way I do." Once I started writing verse lyrics, it became pertty obvious that this song belonged in the FBF canon.
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Post by Lunkhead »

We were happy just to have something to submit that we were mostly satisfied with, even if it wasn't necessarily going to blow away the judges. It was a tough title for us and because of the deadline pressure we just had to commit to whatever inspiration we got that felt genuine.

This new title, on the other hand, is so wide open that I'm having the opposite problem. Rather than feeling like we can't do anything with it, I feel like we can do -anything- with it, and therefore I don't know where to start. Oh well...
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Post by Billy's Little Trip »

Lunkhead wrote: This new title, on the other hand, is so wide open that I'm having the opposite problem. Rather than feeling like we can't do anything with it, I feel like we can do -anything- with it, and therefore I don't know where to start. Oh well...
HaHa, me too. Why does that happen. I do have a pretty good concept to write about as of this morning. I don't know if anyone else does this, but I need to be inspired to the point that I can make a little movie in my head. Then as I play the movie, I write about it. The movie in my head is what dictates the music and the lyrics, then all I have to do is arrange and record everything.

By the way Lunk, I loved the Spanish lyrics. They were a perfect compliment to the song.
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Post by sausage boy »

For Brownie Points, I quite enjoyed

BoRe, BLT, Tex (i got it Tex, and I thought it was hilarious. Especially the refrences to drought and such) Cynthia and Puce (though I don't know if that technically counts.

Carry on.
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Re:

Post by Caravan Ray »

glennny wrote:Tex! I love your song! What's funny is it reminds me of Jethro Tull (one my favorite yet uncool bands)

I'm not kidding, this is VERY Jethro Tull!
Thank you Glenny! (but Jethro Tull!?!?! WTF!?!?!)

In a bit of Nur Ein nostalgia - I've been listening to some of my old songs. I'd forgotten all about "Brownie Points".

Damn - I cracked myself up with that! I am ranking that song as one of my finest moments (even though, Glenny and Sausage Boy aside - the reviews were not particularly good).
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