Nur Ein VI Round Six "Kids"

[Caravan Ray]

Is this about a movie or something?

I guess that education standards in the USA are falling as fast as the value of your dollar. That is a shame. Oh well - the Third World is still a nice place to go for holidays.

[Caravan Ray]

I knew the lyrics were a risk, but I'll be damned if I have to write about children or goats. That was the first thing I thought of.

Don't apologise for your lyrics. They were fine - but when all the songs are good, I am going with gut feeling - and your lyrics simply don't match my DNA. In any normal Songfight you would win easily. The American judges haven't commented yet (though we can assume Jast will hate you - Jast hates everyone)

[Manhattan Glutton]

There's a 50-50 chance I actually offend the American judges. I was really counting on the foreign bloc for this one.

[Caravan Ray]

There's a 50-50 chance I actually offend the American judges. I was really counting on the foreign bloc for this one.

Would you be excited about my fantastic new song about Nick Minchin?

[roymond]

There's a 50-50 chance I actually offend the American judges. I was really counting on the foreign bloc for this one.

Well, over-all that would be 49-51 chance. But in this crowd it's closer to 5-95. You're safe by me, anyway, on that count.

[Caravan Ray]

There seems to be jast one judge missing....this could go anywhere at the moment...I am so excited! Voting is all over the place (the other judges are such idiots).

[roymond]

The foreign block is, as usual, out of their minds. Doesn't bode well for the future of the space station.

[glennny]

Kids

It’s an honor to be in the company of you all. All 5 of these songs are winners. All of my forthcoming critiques are bitchy nitpicks.

Ross Durand- On the one hand I like the atonal aspect of the things you’re hitting, but my ambivalence holds hatred for it in the other hand. I also think maybe this is too short. This doesn’t have the full arc of a song. I am impressed and jealous of your concept. Good freaking idea! The melody isn’t much of a melody. Don’t get me wrong it totally works, but I think a melodic hook somewhere good elevate this song. You know like “too much, Magic Bus!”. This is very cool, and very good. I won’t be surprised if this makes it to the finals. Awesome job!

Manhattan Glutton- I love the wonderful production. I really like the non-instrument instruments. The groove is very cool, it’s strange to me that there is essentially one beat throughout. I like the lyrics, I just think you’re in tough company for lyrics with everyone left. I actually don’t think this is poppy enough. A vocal melody hook that was a little catchier could make this stand out more. Your snarky vocals really fit a song called “kids”. Your delivery makes you sound like a sarcastic kid who is repeating what the square adults are saying about you. I’m not sure that was the intended angle. This is wildly impressive, I won’t be surprised if this makes it to the finals.

Merisan- This is my favorite song other than ours. The melodies are impeccable. The song structure is awesome. The execution is perfect. I’ve been watching a lot of Glee lately (my 5 year old daughter makes me). This fits right in with the ready for TV production. The breakdown is my favorite part. The little nitpick I have is that there’s that damn Hand clap pattern AGAIN. Perhaps that isn’t fair since I listen to your catalog all the time. Well there’s something that is a shaker, but other than that, I think it’s all a capella. That saddens me a bit, I thought you guys would have been super clever with non-instrument instruments. The song doesn’t need it, it’s just that pesky challenge thing fiddling with expectations for a song. This is just awesome. My kids get up and dance when I have it playing, it’s nearly the cutest thing not related to a cat you’ll ever see, because they join in on the “…yeah yeah yeah”. Awesome!

Paco del Stinko- The stooges intro is great. Though I can’t hear it from you and not go into the Wedding Song riff in my head. As with Merisan, I listen to your catalog all the time. Wedding Song is one of my all-time favorites. This has the most hilarious lyrics. The Paco del Stinko wit is in top form here. The “wah wah womp” cracks me up. Bee-Box drums yeah? This actually reminds me of a slowed down “Girls” by the Beastie Boys. Yeah, I think the tempo was a little bit slow on this one. Overall, awesome! I won’t be the least bit surprised if this moves on to the finals. Well done!

WSA- Where as “Heart Shaker” was heavily glennny, this was the other guys. This started as a Pedro song. Ken collaborated on additional lyrics. Melvin made this huge gorgeous chorus. Frisbee is the 2nd voice to enter. These guys vocals are so immaculate I like to stay the Hell away from the mic, especially in a challenge like this. I made some rubber-band bass, some wine glass chords, and some cutting room floor tracks. The sound is soo full and huge. Melvin is a freaking genius the way he can sort through and mix all of the tracks we throw at him. I may not be objective, but I think we have the best song. We nailed the challenge, the lyrics, the performance, the melodies, the song arc, the everything I look for in a song. I won’t be surprised is we make it to the finals, nor if we are bested by this fantastic competition.

Hoping for Nur Ein 3 style ties, to take us all to the finals.

If I had to rank I’d go:
Worldly Self Assurance
Merisan
Paco del Stinko
Ross
Manhattan Glutton

[Manhattan Glutton]

This is going to come down to the judges' interpretation of the challenge. All these are really good. I kind of feel like I showed up to the a Capella party unprepared.

[Ross]

Seems to me it will have to do with how the judges weight each aspect of a song. So far the reviews seem to feel each of us did something particularly well, and other things less well.

Edge of my seat.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Quick comments. As always, I'll be glad to clarify or elaborate further. Anyway, I am surprised and honored to have made it this far into the competition. This is the cream of the crop here. Perhaps I'm the crap of the cream? Regardless, a geat thrill. As much as I love to compete (I hear JB saying "This is Songfight! Not Song love! in my mind) I thank you all for the great music and wish the next rounders well. NUR EIN!!!!!!

Manhattan Glutton - I like this better each time I hear it. Starts off almost Depeche Mode-like, warming up when the bass notes come in. I like the lyrics, and share a similar perspective. We also share a minor commonality in that we both kind of list things at points during our entries, versus tell a straight story. Great work, especially on a shortened schedule.

Merisan - Sweet and delicate. I agree with the comment about almost not needing the lyrics. They seem to place behind all of the cozy vocal work. However, the yeah yeah lines are hooky. Best part is the bridge. Time stands still and all is puffy clouds and warm sun. Makes the return to the main body all energetic. Great stuff, most likely to win, I'm betting.

Paco - The only tricks here are the low voice is through an octave pedal, and I sped up the voice for the kids. No loops or keyboard samples. All the voices are done live. What can I say? I'm both old fashioned and dopey! Glen: Ha! I thought of you and that song after I was under way doing that intro, but figured you'd be the only one to remember!

Ross - Love the concept and the bold execution as well. I love Lord Of the Flies (book) and totally dig this. You could almost run it parralell to Man-Glut's, using it to speak of today's frothin media fear mongers. Feels longer than it is, not a complaint, because so much happens. I think the length is fine and the 'conch' wonderful. Predicting either this or WSA to go up against Merisan in the final.

WSA - The lush vocals are the strongest thing about this. Oh, Pedro and the Friz are fab, but the Wilson-esque backing vocals are too fantastic to deny. The lyrics are good, if maybe a bit sentimental at times, but provide fantastic imagery. Hard to tell there's no actual instruments here, they've all been wonderfully reproduced. I would imagine that Pedro's abdomen kick drum had to be pitch-shifted, as he's a tall, lanky fellow, no? As mentioned above, I pick this to fight with Ross for honors to go against Merisan in the final.

[Manhattan Glutton]

WSA - Your best song all Nur Ein, and just in the nick of time. The guitarish sound is fantastic. Full of hooky hooks and all of you are at the top of your games. Even pedro's on key! The bridge is great, if a little cliche. If I were a judge, I'd probably just eliminate everyone except you at this point - not that the others aren't good, but this is really good.

Merisan - This is fantastic as well, but a little thinner than WSA's. The "yeah yeah yeah" is totally something I would do, however, it's still cheap even when I do it. The delay on the claps at the bridge is a nice touch, as is the additional vocal line at the end. Great work!

Paco - I think you've been drinking with BLT too much. This is fun and pretty catchy. Your lyrics are as precious as your vocal percussion. The telephone tones and other samples are used perfectly. It sounds like you had a lot of fun making this, which fills the listener with a sense of childish joy.

Ross - I can sympathize with this percussion focused entry. It's very cool. You gain points in my eyes for not doing vocal accompaniment, and it sounds like you didn't even pitch your samples. Definitely hardcore, and if the judges are challenge sticklers, I believe you should make it to the next round. If not, you should be proud of manning up and doing something this bold.

MG - I feel like I'm the weakest link here. I enjoy my song, but it's a little rougher than I'd have liked (indeed, I didn't have much time, but this is serious business and that is no excuse). I'm pretty much crossing my fingers that my interpretation of the challenge carries me into the next round.

[furrypedro]

Ross: Conceptually, totally rockin'. I think you did an awesome of marrying the lyrics to the music (I think that's partly cos the music really reminds me of this Miho Hatori track called "A song for kids"). I dig the tribal nature of it, but there's something about the vocal meter which makes me think more of a Vietnam GI chant or something. I think Glen makes a valid point about the song arc issue. The song is over too soon and is missing some kind of climax somewhere. Of course this is a hard thing to do when you're so limited in what you can use.

Mutton: Similar to Ross' in the plinky banginess in the arrangement but there's a very distinctively different feel. The production is really good, but this is my least favourite song in the whole round and it's all because of the vocal melody. There are obviously other melodic elements in the song but your voice is clearly the strongest one, and for most of the track you sound like you're droning on a bit, rather than creating a hook for us. There are bits where the vocals get better towards the end but it's too little too late for me. For the most part the singing seems robotic and hence the track seems to lack life.

Erinsam: Textbook, you've taken the easy route (the same one we took!) and you did it really well. I love that bit where it goes half time and you hold the high note. Great chorus. Nice middle bit with the echoed claps. I really like the syncopated overlapping vox in the final chorus. Neato.

Charles: Have you ever heard the song "Any female bunny rabbit that farts out unrequited love and has a name like Ed is okay by me" by The Avalon Singers? I'm guessing not, I'll link to it and hope the authors never find out. Your song is like listening to that covered by the Butthole Surfers. Hilariously freaky, and to think I worry about Person-in-the-next-room syndrome. What the hell must your neighbours think when you are recording?! My favourite bit is the swooping horn-type parts. I can find no better way to describe it. Fun times, well done.

Us: We would have been boned but for Mel's awesome backing track here, although I honestly don't know about half the stuff going on in this song. I'm also surprised nobody has ripped us for stealing Alice Cooper's lyrics. Should I have kept quiet about that? I'd still like to hear this with guitars and stuff.


I vote we call off the final and all have a nice friendly BBQ.

Even pedro's on key!

You noticed! blame it on the autotune

[jast]

I'm a bit short on time today. Most of my day got eaten up by something else. Sorry.

Unless otherwise noted: excellent job with the challenge!

Ross Durand: This rocks. Unfortunately it's hard to make out a consistent-like melody (and the "bass" doesn't keep the pitch, neither in itself nor relative to the lead vocals), which I think detracts from the song quite a bit. Inventive, though. Very metaphorical song (disclaimer: haven't read the novel). I can stomach that today. Nice job.

Worldly Self Assurance: Woah. I mean, it's clear you don't have tons of experience with arranging and mixing choral-like stuff, but surprisingly good job, and props on staying true to your style. I don't like the pacing of the melody... it keeps hammering in the same kinds of phrases over and over and over. The arrangement is tops, though. Nice light-hearted lyrics. Mostly very likable.

Merisan: Great example of how a pretty sparse vocal arrangement can be quite effective. Shoddy timing on the "shaker" detracts a bit, but not too much. Would have enjoyed a bit more oomph in the vocals in some parts. Like the other songs I've listened to so far, this doesn't really have a very strong hook, but it's a nice little song that I like very much as long as it plays. Great job getting that sentiment across in the lyrics.

Paco del Stinko: Hey, that's... two billion layers? Seriously wonky prosody. Deliciously silly, all the stuff you threw in there. Some of the notes (bass, chorus) are not very clear. Fun song, you're stretching the musical material quite a bit though. This wins more on the creative side than the musical side in particular. Lyrics are (intentionally) stupid... again, perhaps dragged out a bit too much. No hard feelings, though. The megaphone effect is a great fit for this kind of proclamation.

Manhattan Glutton: And again, the kids serve as a metaphor, though it's a lot more blatant this time. Not sure yet whether I like that. I think the melody isn't that great that it can stand on its own like this. The arrangement is kind of cool, I just think you might have needed a stronger melody (whatever that means) to really pull it off. The build-up at the end is too little, too late for me. Oh yeah, I think I don't like the lyrical approach all that much after all. It goes in the "okay" category.

[Ross]

Regarding pitch and my song. Based roughly on the approximate C# pitch of my conch. I ntentionlly did not tune my items perfectly, hoping to conjure at once a primitive feel consistent with the song content and to also emulate island world tunings such as that of the balinese gamelon. S the bass is less of a "bass" and more of an atmospheric "base."

In terms of structure i also struggled, but it felt lyrically complete to me. The climax never arrives, much as it never does in the novel, where the final hunt is interrupted by the presence of an adult.

I realize you hear it how you hear it, but those were my thoughts during my process.

I'm down with the bbq idea

Nur Ein!!!!!!

[Niveous]

It's an interesting result.

The winner of the round is Paco del Stinko, winning with 21 points.
Manhattan Glutton (16 pts) and Ross Durand (13 pts) are eliminated. Tschüss!

But what about WSA & Merisan? They tied with 20 points each. In the past, we would have a 3 band finale but this year, we have an alternate judge...for the tiebreaker!

Going into the finale is..... The WSA.
Merisan, tschüss.

WSA vs. Paco at the end of a Nur Ein. I'm having flashbacks! Will NE3 repeat itself or will the Stink finally defeat the international supergroup?!

[Manhattan Glutton]

I... blame it on ginger.

Good work everyone! Ya'll will always be special to me!

[jast]

Except jast.

[Spintown]

I guess that education standards in the USA are falling as fast as the value of your dollar. That is a shame. Oh well - the Third World is still a nice place to go for holidays.

Yeah, I never read the book...sorry. I did see the movie once, but it was a long time ago. Not enough for me to get all the references, but enough where it made it sound familiar.

[Billy's Little Trip]

As soon as he said conch, I got it. Great delivery of the story in song.

[The Weakest Suit]

Manhattan - you had my favorite track of the week.
Paco - second favorite.
All the other ones, I didn't like at all.
Sorry. These were very hit and miss.

[frankie big face]

Oh come on! The alternate judge was not intended to break ties. Put all three in finale and let the people decide. ALL THREE! ALL THREE! ALL THREE!