Nur Ein IX Round Seven "The Usual Bravura"

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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by chocolatechips »

Congratulations to the tyson docks ! Eh
.. auto correct!
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Ross »

Congrats John!! Slow and steady, eh?

I guess this makes me the losingest artist of the Ein! :-)
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by noma »

Yay! Congratulations to the Tydon Docks! Excellent work! :)
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by BenKrieger »

If Caravan Ray doesn't deliver weekly reviews as an obligatory judge next year, Nur Ein is dead to me.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by noma »

BenKrieger wrote:If Caravan Ray doesn't deliver weekly reviews as an obligatory judge next year, Nur Ein is dead to me.
I understand your frustration... I enjoyed the reviews in the first few rounds, particularly those by Niveous (I like that plus/minus thingy a lot). Then suddenly, that stopped and so, the last rounds became less fun to me. The reviews really are an important part of the Ein experience :|
Thanks to Jon Eric and Carlo Bruno (I especially appreciate your reviewing work, considering your difficulties with writing in English - major props!) for keeping up the reviewing in the last few rounds. :)
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by JonPorobil »

BenKrieger wrote:If Caravan Ray doesn't deliver weekly reviews as an obligatory judge next year, Nur Ein is dead to me.
It's not quite obligatory. There is precedent for the winner throwing his hat back into the ring instead of judging the following year, and I wouldn't blame anyone who'd rather participate in the big NUR EIN ZEHN. Nonetheless, I for one would love to see C-Ray's particular brand of snark in the judging panel next year, reviewing each week. I will reserve a seat on the panel for him until I hear one way or the other.

I'm sincerely looking forward to doing this all again next year. Hope to see you all come back to try again!
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Is it only Sir Frankie Face that hasn't been judge after winning? I would have rather participated than judged after I won, to be honest, although peering behind the curtain was very interesting. We'll see how I feel after I win again next year. Ahem.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Niveous »

Ben & Nick,

I understand your frustration when it comes to the review aspect of the Nur Ein. At the last Nur Ein listening party, I did some special spots where I looked at each round and highlighted some of my faves and I hope that makes up for some of my absence.

I have to be honest here. (I'm not gonna take time to self edit this so if something comes off a little weird here, I apologize)

Somewhere down the line, my heart stopped being into criticizing the bands. I felt like I was nitpicking and looking for faults where I wanted to just give praise and enjoy.

Ben, remember that time when we were outside of Sidewalk talking with Brian (Ligers with Attitude) and he was talking about how the criticisms of the Nur Ein kinda dug at him (the "Niveous made me slit my wrists" conversation)? Well, things like that have been stacking up in my mind. As much as I love the Nur Ein, right now in my life, I want to do things that are a bit more curatorial than they are critical.

There was a point in this conversation where Glenny looked the votes and saw that one of the bands had given the Cavedwellers the lowest score and he wrote that he hoped to hear from that judge to find out what they did wrong so they won't do it again. I read that and I said to myself "That's not what I want. That's not what I wanted out of this at all". Now, I know that a big aspect of this contest is the judges. It's the judges giving you a big misshapen box and you trying to figure out how to fit in it. Here's the thing, I don't want to be the one to tell you just how to fit in the box. I don't want the bands making music to appease the judges. The number one thing in my eyes should be to be creative and make the most badass music that you can that appeases yourself. If the song is good then the judges will follow suit. The judges should be jumping on to your bandwagon, not you conforming to appease the judges.

That's how I felt... so I stopped reviewing. I wanted to see where this all went without a guiding hand. And I'm thrilled at where it went. One of the absolute best Nur Eins ever. Just look at the Videoland round. 5 top notch tunes. But I also know that what I was giving is not what the bands of the Nur Ein signed on for. Songfight is a place where bands get a ready and waiting audience on which to try out their music and then they get to hear back on what people felt. And I wasn't giving the contestants more than just more scores. And for that, I'm sorry.

I want to do something different. I don't want to be a music critic. I want to find good music. Promote it. Build it up. See where it goes. I don't want to focus on the negatives and have to eliminate good songs or songs that just need a little cultivation to grow. And you, kind of, have to do to be a Nur Ein judge.

So I'm not going to be one.

I'm stepping down for being the head judge at the Nur Ein. I'll still be around, handling the backstage stuff. When you send it a song, it'll still be me saying "All Systems Go" but I won't be a part of the judging panel. I've asked Jon Eric to take my place as the head judge and he graciously agreed. I think he did a great job navigating all the pitfalls of the competition and will do wonderful work leading the panel.

Thanks everyone for competing and taking part in Nur Ein. I hope that the songs that you made as a part of the challenge aren't just throwaways but songs that you'll be able to hold on to and make into parts of your repertoire. That's the whole reason I did this. I'll probably be back in the Nur Ein panel for the 10th anniversary. But that's a maybe. Anyways. Thanks to everyone. And a big congratulations to Tydon Docks. I've taken up enough time in a spotlight that he rightfully deserves.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Lunkhead »

Congrats, John.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by glennny »

Congratulations Caravan Ray!! Well deserved! you had an excellent year. It's true I didn't care for your lyrics on the last song, but wow you had some great and hilarious lyrics on most of the other songs this year. Sorry about the chat.
I'm sad for Merisan, they made some great music this year, I thought they were going take it this year, I had some serious issue with their final song also, but we indeed went for Merisan, but not without a lot of debate.

Niveous, Thanks for running the contest and all your effort! It's super fun and a great experience every year. That said, I'm baffled by some of your reasoning. If you don't have time you don't have time, I get that. Do you really think that I'm ever going to make a song that i don't think is awesome? I will always swing for the fences and do my best work that time permits. The majority of this contest is judged by 5 judges. If one or more of them hates jazz, I'd like to know that so I don't jazz things up. If I choose not to jazz things up that doesn't mean that what I choose to do instead is going to be any less awesome to me. When I was a judge, I told everyone what bugs me and what I had soft spots for, I tried to explain where I was coming from. This year some judges had some problems with some of our songs, but I never learned if it was lyrical, or musical, or production, or anything. It was nice when J$ would say he had very little tolerance for songs over 3 minutes, that was a nice guideline. I'm as happy to make a 3 minute song as a 5 minute song, in the end I will think both of them are awesome, but knowing that would keep me from a dumb mistake. I think feedback is always good. We can all handle it. I doubt Caravan Ray is the slightest bit offended that I didn't like his lyrics. He's expressed that he thought many of my songs over the years were shite, that doesn't mean I like the guy any less.
It's the judges giving you a big misshapen box and you trying to figure out how to fit in it. Here's the thing, I don't want to be the one to tell you just how to fit in the box.
We don't know the shape of the box! It'd be nice to continue with aspects that worked well for the judges, and steer away from ideas that didn't go over well.

Anyway, thanks to Jon and Carlo for the feedback! Thanks to Niv and Geoff and Mysteria for listening and judging!

All hail Tydon Docks, the new Nur Ein!!!!
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Caravan Ray »

Well. That's a genuine surprise! Again.

Thanks all.

I'm currently out driving around the bush - will check in later where I get better internet
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by frankie big face »

Paco Del Stinko wrote:Is it only Sir Frankie Face that hasn't been judge after winning? I would have rather participated than judged after I won, to be honest, although peering behind the curtain was very interesting. We'll see how I feel after I win again next year. Ahem.
I like to do my own thing. Like winning TWICE. Er, I mean....congratulations John!
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by glennny »

Who is Frankie Big Face?
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Caravan Ray »

glennny wrote:Who is Frankie Big Face?
Just another band name I record under sometimes
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by iVeg »

Congrats, Caravan Ray/ John...
And congrats to Merisan, too. It was close!

Looking forward to next year, even if Niv isn't head judge.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by BenKrieger »

Niv -

I get this completely. For the record, though, the criticism means a lot to me. I'm getting ready to record my next record, and I really like how the combination of the kooky challenges and comments from everyone get me out of my comfort zone and pushing myself. There have been times when Jon Eric hasn't liked some of the self-aware stuff I do, but without (hey, hi Jon) his criticism in the mix, my songs for this Nur Ein wouldn't have turned out the same. For "Videoland," I really pushed myself to write a bridge and coda, and even with "Fast Lane Junkies" I tried to find ways to tweak verses so that something new was introduced to the listener. I haven't written like that in a while and Nur Ein has been a fun way to be nudged back in that direction.

I have social circles of biased friends and family to play stuff for if I want universal praise for what I do. For Nur Ein, I expect that people will tell it like they really hear it. :roll:
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by skypup »

Huge congratulations to Caravan Ray!!!! A well deserved win! Nicely done!

Loved the Merisan song too. And a bunch of the other songs I heard while quietly following along. Well done everyone!

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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Caravan Ray »

BenKrieger wrote:
I have social circles of biased friends and family to play stuff for if I want universal praise for what I do. For Nur Ein, I expect that people will tell it like they really hear it. :roll:
Yeah - I get that impression from you. It is great you are also taking on board comments from Nur Ein - and random nutjobs like me (though, I think we did meet personally - but I can't quite remember, I was drunk - in NY in 2009).

Anyway - I love you stuff Ben. I loved your live show in 2009. But there must be so many great performers in NYC. If you can use the feedback from non-NYC people and non-USA people to become non-NYC-USA specific - you could be an unstoppable force. Playing Nur Ein is a great way to try to do that.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Paco Del Stinko »

Any thoughts on judging yet, Johhny Ray?
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by Caravan Ray »

THank you to everyone that voted for me.

Would you like to show your colours now it is over? I'm sure both I and Merisan would appreciate it?

But..whatever...let me give you some back-story on my song:

I hit a 'perfect storm' of inspiration for that final week.

1) The title was "The Usual Bravura". "Bravura" is a concept not unknown to "Caravan Ray".
2) I was up against Merisan - who - I think everybody realises are a bit more musically competent than I am. I was never going to beat them on production values.
3) I wrote the whole song on Saturday morning, and I had a dinner date with a lady that Saturday night. This was a very new situation for me personally - and I was feeling a bit unsure of myself.


I really was wondering if I could be "the one" on so many levels.

I saw that Glennny didn't like the lyrics on the chatty thing. If that was because they were horribly cliched - I agree with him. They were horribly cliched. But it was also the most honest song I have ever written. Cliches aside.

I knew that Merisan would sound great - so I purposely tried to sound raw as a contrast. And also steered away from silly novelty songs about my dick - cos even if I won with that - it would be a suckky way to win.

So - I'm not sure if I even really like that final song. It was the best of my Nur Ein songs (except for maybe 'Full of Courage' - I liked that) - but is was fair dinkum - and I don't do that much.
Last edited by Caravan Ray on Sat Jul 05, 2014 1:16 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by BoffoYux »

Congrats, Caravan. It was a tough round - I liked both tunes, but the edge went to the rawness and honest personal feel that came out, and reading the backstory, I can see you dug deep to find it.

I've been a little tied up but am still going to put together the final round LP on mp3, and if someone wants to host them, I'll make them available. Ustream kills the files after a month. I'm doing SpinTunes 9 this month, and trying out a new playback system which should be more user friendly and hopefully without ads. And maybe graphic cards on the artists which make things more fun - I'd like to see the lyrics when the songs come up - but it might dissuade people form using the chat live, which gives great feedback to the artist. So I'm on the fence, but want to make the presentation better for the live and the people watching after the show.

Great job to all the folks this Nur Ein!

Tom

And congrats to Jon Eric in picking up the reins for NE10. I love Jon's reviews of BYD. We listen and do the opposite, so the other judges will rank us higher. :lol:
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Re: Nur Ein! IX - Final round

Post by BoffoYux »

Niv -

Thanks for all the effort in getting Nur Ein as far as it has. It's a big accomplishment, but I can understand wanting to take a step back and let others take a turn at it. The LP's wouldn't have come together without your efforts, and it seems to be making a positive impact on the participants. Who knows - we might get more than 25 artists in for NE10!
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