Nur Ein IV Round Four "What Once Was Grand

[Ross]

What if he inserts nazi stanic backmasking into our songs - secretely biasing the judges against us.

That would bias the judges against us, right?

This is proof that you weren't at the show last night. The XTRG set was all about the backward masking.

Yeah man. Someday I'm gonna make a trek like that. I have sampled xtrg though, nur ein I.

[Lunkhead]

OK, the songs are up on the boards. (I added the links to the first post of this thread, too.)

[signboy]

Holy crap, great job, everyone!

[Niveous]

OK, the songs are up on the boards. (I added the links to the first post of this thread, too.)

Lunkhead ftw! Thanks!

[erin.]

This weeks challenge really had me thinking that there would be many ballads, and I was right! Well done everyone.This round is going to be the hardest yet for elimination I think. Everyone brings such a unique quality to this competition, and I really enjoy hearing everyones take on the title and challenge each week.

Andrew Reist- Your falsetto has begun to crack me up a little, as I think it has sort of become a bit of a signature. I am not sure if this is intentional, but I like it anyway! Your vocals come in a little quiet in the mix starting out. I really like the keys. Not crazy about the distortion of the end. It's a strong ballad over all, with lot's of emotion. I appreciate that.

Frankie Big Face- Immediately, I am enjoying the Rhodes. The psychedelic interlude works. The brevity of this song is appropriate because I really feel like you went where you needed to go. Maybe things get a little too muddy and distorted for my taste, but it just makes it that much sweeter when you do come back to wrap it up at the end.

Jon Eric-I am a sucker for the feel of the lo-fi, paired down track. Lot's of space, shakers, and a pretty harmonica solo are all personal faves.

Nouveau Pavre-I really like the spoken word intro. It think it's a bit fairy tale/epic tale like. Your singing is very pretty per usual, and this genre/style is a good fit for you. Your bass is actually what draws me in the most. It's watery effect is a nice contrast to the airy quality of your vox.

Paco Del Stinko- You are so sensitive Paco! Your acoustic guitar sounds really nice, but my favorite part is the harpsichord sounding bit.

Ross Durand-Nice bass! Your lyrics always stand out to me, and often win me over even if I am not crazy about the song. That being said, I really like this song. The half time feel of the chorus is a nice change.Whoa, double solo in the bridge. Ok, that might be a little much for me.

Signboy- Thank you for bringing some more rock in this line up. The chorus is really the magical part of this tune. Nice use of the challenge! So far I have not been connecting much with what people are singing about, but the tempo /cadence of your lyrics sort of demands a closer listen.

Swilington-Hmmmm, jazzy riff? Harp? I applaud your creative choices for instrumentation. Very smooth bridge. Not super thrilled about the spoken word/rap portion. I don't think you need to do that at all in this song.

Tiny Robots- I truly enjoyed this weeks challenge. We too brought a little rock/and or roll. I was thinking that the sonnet format was a shoe-in for ballads, so I am glad we chose to go a different route. Boy, do I love me some hand claps! My favorite part is the bridge, and the ooo-ooo-ooohs. It was fun to write a 14 line pop song, and would use the sonnet format again. Sam really rocked his solo this week, and Ken ever-so-skillfully beat the heck out of his drums! It's a short and sweet little song packed with lot's of energy!

Todd McHatton- I really like your vocal qualities. Liking the strings. I wish there was a little more variance on the song overall, but I also like the feel of the repetition too. I can see where you were going with this.

WreckdoM (Immune)-MMMMmmm...Twangy! You are a fierce competitor in this competition, and you get major props for submitting when you didn't have to. I am looking forward to hearing what you do in the next round. Excellent banjo jam. If you played the musical saw, I would be a groupie.

[Geoff WreckdoM]

Whoah, everybody sure knocked it out of the park this week, seriously. I don't think there is any clear front runner or easy elimination, this a collection of awesomely solid entries. If we were in this round, I suspect we'd have gotten our asses kicked, guess you'll have to wait and kick our ass next week instead. Here are my initial reaction reviews and rankings, the latter comes solely to a matter of personal taste, all these songs are really, REALLY fantastic. Seriously, great job all of you. Now stop it.


10. Nouveau Pauvre – There have been moments of Déjà vu in your entries but not here, this one immediately separates itself and is instantly my fave NP entry yet. Has such a cool supernatural feel to it. Beautiful and haunted, all the new sounds that come in and build as the song progresses make an already captivating tune just irresistible. This is damn near perfect.
9. Swilington – Starts out almost like a lounge song and then this underlying weirdness progressively creeps in and takes over. This is great, your best in this competition yet. Finds a way to be totally bizarre and unpredictable but still keeps a groove to it that is relaxed and fun to listen to. Definitely a standout this round.
8. Ross Durand – Great opening, lovely rock groove, reminiscent of Tom Petty. Awesome lyrics and I love the layered vocals at the song’s emotional highlights. Really well put together and produced. Almost seems like the main vox should be a little gruffer considering the subject matter (swearing) and style of instrumentation. The vocals in no way seem out of place, that’s just an observation based on my personal tastes. This is a badass song.
7. Andrew Reist – Your best entry yet. This one really seems to branch outside of your comfort zone, and it has an almost epic quality to it. Really like the piano, sounds fantastic in this deep and loud and powerful rock song. The last section is great, but the ending seems awkward. That’s a small complaint though, this is awesome.
6. Frankie Big Face –Catchy and thickly layered Beatlesesque pop with a fantastic vocal performance and captivating changes throughout. Really nice, grabs you right away and don’t let go, the massive third act is quite rousing. Love the background oohs and ahhs. A fun and memorable song.
5. Tiny Robots – Well, I don’t know what to say, this is a great pop song, very catchy, danceable stuff. What may make it a lesser entry is that there is less variety and surprises in here than your competitors’ songs. But it is certainly a strong, lively, driving number, great production and the instrumentation is nicely layered and everything complements the others nicely. Guitar solo is a bit awkward, vocals are fantastic, love the breakdown near the end. Good stuff.
4. Jon Eric – Very pretty, easy going and relaxed atmosphere, great delivery of some tricky lyrics. It’s catchy and it’s easy on the ears. I like how these nice haunted voices sneak in from the background. Musically it gets a little repetitive here and there but that’s a minor criticism, overall you nailed it.
3. Signboy – Catchy and strong right off the bat but it gets wordy and redundant. I’d like to hear some doubled vocals on the verses, some of your lyrics lose out on the power they could’ve had. Much as I like the instrumentation, the wordiness becomes distracting, and seems reminiscent to your Bullets and Lovers. I really like the change up at 2:35, it’s an attention grabbing surprise.
2. Todd McHatton – Starts out nicely and has a smart if not somewhat familiar choice of instrumentation, but the song treads a lot of the same ground. I keep wanting this song to burst into something powerful or at least different, but the sections remain very similar, and I start to lose interest. I really like the rich, dreamy quality of the vocals, and the combination of strings and piano.
1. Paco Del Stinko – I really like the first two parts of this song. Strikes a great tone right off with the first singing section, and the instrumental interlude is playful, clever and enjoyable, the song's standout for certain. Then the end starts to drone and comes unwound. The feeling left afterward is that this could’ve been better but went on a tad too long and lost its way.

[JonPorobil]

4. Jon Eric – Very pretty, easy going and relaxed atmosphere, great delivery of some tricky lyrics. It’s catchy and it’s easy on the ears. I like how these nice haunted voices sneak in from the background. Musically it gets a little repetitive here and there but that’s a minor criticism, overall you nailed it.

I seem to have earned myself a new fan these last few weeks. Thanks!


So... Wow.

First pass, I want to say that everyone's safe, but really that means that nobody is. Eek!

I'm glad WreckdoM got the immunity, otherwise I'd think they're a shoo-in for first place again. An obvious standout.

[Caravan Ray]

I'm glad WreckdoM got the immunity, otherwise I'd think they're a shoo-in for first place again. An obvious standout.

Wreckdom are immune from losing - but surely that doesn't also mean that they are immune from winning another immunity does it, if they actually submit a song?

[Ross]

I'm glad WreckdoM got the immunity, otherwise I'd think they're a shoo-in for first place again. An obvious standout.

Wreckdom are immune from losing - but surely that doesn't also mean that they are immune from winning another immunity does it, if they actually submit a song?

(a) yes it does , since they will not be ranked towards eliminations (this standard was set way back in nur ein I)
b) there are no more immunitiess this ein!

[Geoff WreckdoM]

Yes, I was under the impression the judges would not rank our song w/the others as it has no bearing, and we'll just always have to wonder...

And yes Jon, I dig what you've done in your more recent songfight entries than what I remember from way back, especially in the vocals, and you've really brought the game in this years Nur Ein, it'd be no surprise if you made it to the last round.

[rone rivendale]

b) there are no more eliminations this ein!

Or immunities. Whichever.

[Reist]

Andrew Reist- Your falsetto has begun to crack me up a little, as I think it has sort of become a bit of a signature. I am not sure if this is intentional, but I like it anyway!

Haha, I don't insert it intentionally as my signature, but you're definitely right that it's in a lot of my newer songs. Every time I listen to my songs, I'm like ... damn, there's that falsetto again. But I guess if the falsetto writes itself into every song, who am I to stop it, right?

Thanks for the kind comments, guys - I'll get to downloading and listening right away.

[JonPorobil]

Semi-random order.

Nouveau Pauvre - You've got a great song, but the bassline in the verses is ripped straight from "Handle With Care." Your lyrics are great. Definitely safe.

Swilington - For once, the rest of your song lives up to the intro. It goes in so many places, and never feels lost. It's great. Unfortunately, the vocals drag it down. There's a lot of muddiness, and unfortunately, I'm not the dude to ask about how to fix it (in fact, my entry this week suffers from it a bit as well).

Reist - I didn't believe this was a sonnet until I read the lyrics. Pretty nice keys there. The lyrics and melody both feel a bit bland on this track.

Frankie - This feels uncharacteristically rough for you. The vocals are a little hot. Near the end, they overpower the mix. If I were a judge, you'd be getting bonus points for writing an Italian sonnet, and MAJOR bonus points for incorporating the volta into your arrangement.

Paco - I'm sorry, Paco, but you really don't sound comfortable in this cadence, and that awkwardness bleeds over into every other aspect of the track. The vocal performance contains a lot of stresses falling on the wrong syllables, which makes the vocals sound less confident than usual. And Paco, what are you without that confidence? The guitar interlude is great, but your singing and lyrics bring this one down.

Tiny Robots - Man, you're gonna wipe the floor with me. Definitely safe.

Ross Durand - Man, you're gonna wipe the floor with me. Definitely safe.

Todd - I wonder whether you're going to benefit from some judge bias here. This is pleasant and all, but it feels a little like it's slipping through my fingers. Part of it is the lack of variation in the vocal melody. Part of it is that this is a lot less ornate than your usual stuff, too. Not much to it.

Signboy - So. This is really ambitious, and I can appreciate that. I've tried to write a poem that worked with its lines inverted before. It was really difficult, and I never got anything I was satisfied with in the end. It's especially difficult if you want the backwards version to say something especially different from the forwards version. You came closer than I did way back when, but I don't think you nailed it. I also find that the melody doesn't seem to fit well around the line breaks, which causes it to be very abstruce, which in turn causes you to miss a couple of notes. Listening through the first time, I was halfway into the bridge, thinking "This verse is so much better than the first two," then I realized why. You're rapping Shakespeare, dude, and that's awesome. If you wanted to save this, I'd work on revising that melody first, grounding it, then making sure the vocal melody is down pat, then I'd tweak the lyrics.

WreckdoM - Lyrics, style, music, and performance all make this stand way taller than the rest of the songs this week. I'm glad you enjoyed your immunity.

If you put a gun to my head and asked me who was going to be eliminated this round, I'd pick myself, Paco, Signboy, and Swilington. But good lord is it a tough call.

[Ross]

b) there are no more eliminations this ein!

Or immunities. Whichever.

right - original post edited appropriately

[Ross]

So I listened and wrote reviews - and I think they tended overly negative sounding. So I am going to wuss out just say some things I like about these songs instead of dwelling on the areas for improvement, because they are all good songs. Tough challenge, for the most part well met. Waiting for the verdict with baited breath.

Andrew Reist - Damn! this one is all about those drums and the big ending, baby! Ambitious.

Frankie Big Face - nice Sonnet - neat concept well represented in the arrangement. Great vocal performance. Is this a Klaatu cover?

Jon Eric - I like this sonnet. I like the simplicity. Nice closing couplet.

Nouveau Pauvre - Nice shape to this, I think the spoken word is a good listener grabber. Nice words and arrangement - the vocals are a given by now.

Paco - I enjoyed hearing this side of you and especially like the Steve Howe type layering in the middle section.

Signboy - great opening. I enjoy the urgency of this track and think your lyrical device was a great idea.

Swilington - lots of neat sounds here - good groove. (I'll admit - it was harder to assess the sonnets of those that didi not post.)

Todd - Heartachingly beautiful. Probably one of my favorites of yours, but I am a sucker for lyrics about the night sky.

Tiny Robots - Upbeat. Fun. Lunk's guitar layering is nice and the stereo handclaps are excellent!

WreckdoM - Super fun to hear you guys do this Soggy Bottom Boys sort of thing. When I come to Austin can we drink 40s of Mickey's together?

As much as it hurts to say so - I hope I can beat four of you and move on to round 5.

Nur ein!!!!

[swilington]

(I'll admit - it was harder to assess the sonnets of those that didi not post.)

oops, i didn't see that there. sorry. they are up there now.

here you go:

http://songfight.net/forums/viewtopic.p ... 63#p139763

[frankie big face]

Frankie - This feels uncharacteristically rough for you. The vocals are a little hot. Near the end, they overpower the mix. If I were a judge, you'd be getting bonus points for writing an Italian sonnet, and MAJOR bonus points for incorporating the volta into your arrangement.

Thanks. I've been experimenting with making louder recordings and using less compression, but I think I went a little overboard this time. I am always curious when I get a comment like yours about the vocals at the end however, because on my setup, the vocals are buried under the instruments and I resisted the urge to make them louder. However, when I listened on little computer speakers, they did stick out. What can I say--I just suck at mixing/mastering.

P.S. I'm hoping for bonus points in any way I can get them, especially for the volta! (I have no idea what that is)

P.P.S. Okay, I just went and looked it up and, even though I didn't know what it was called, I actually did do that intentionally so bring on the bonus points! Glad you liked my sonnet--I had never written one before. It was fun.

[frankie big face]

Frankie Big Face - nice Sonnet - neat concept well represented in the arrangement. Great vocal performance. Is this a Klaatu cover?

Klaatu? You're old!!

[JonPorobil]

So I listened and wrote reviews - and I think they tended overly negative sounding. So I am going to wuss out just say some things I like about these songs instead of dwelling on the areas for improvement, because they are all good songs.

Jon Eric - I like this sonnet. I like the simplicity. Nice closing couplet.

Hey, don't you wuss out on me. Bring it on. I know I can take it.

NUR EIN!!!!

[Henrietta]

the bassline in the verses is ripped straight from "Handle With Care."

OMG! Good thing I changed it up after one verse. It's funny because after I recorded it, I thought "Huh. Is that 'More Than a Feeling'? {checks nets} Nope! Whew. What a relief! I definitely invented this...."

[Henrietta]

Wow, great job everybody!! Ranked by personal chill factor:

Signboy: I love this song. The chorus just seals the deal for me. It might use some kinda instrumental breakdown somewheres after the first chorus, just to give some breathing room before diving into the second half, but that's splitting hairs.

A.Reist: I love this song. The opening line didn't grab me right away, but then your vocals and piano lines drew me right in and made my top #2.

Ross Durand: I can't not think of Tom Petty meets original Ross Durand meets Fastball, in an awesome way. Cerebral, yet catchy enough for commercial radio... although the F-bombs would get editted out by Clearchannel for sure.

Wreckdom: An extremely close #4. I love this groove, and I'm a sucker for banjo. Great choice! I'm so glad you guys entered this week.

Jon Eric: A really close #5. I'm a big fan of simplicity, and your melody and lyrics are great. It's pretty brave to veer close to g+g this late in the game... you got some bonus points for that.

Frankie: I can't not think of John Lennon, which of course is a compliment. Awesome lyrics, I read them early on and made me eager to hear the tune. Wow! Perfectly constructed, great work all around. I love the burst of fuzz towards the end.

Tiny Robots: You guys could be signed and selling these downloads instead.

Swillington: Wow, this has a great vibe. I tried to put this much higher on my list, but I relistened to the whole round and I just can't bump anyone.

Todd McHatton: Your production is always so smooth. Absolutely beautiful melody!

Paco: This is really pretty, especially the gorgeous guitar layering. The song itself doesn't quite grab me as much as the competition.

[glennny]

Todd McHatton, please post your lyrics somewhere, or direct me to where they are.

Thank you!