Imposter by Orla Gartland

Nur Ein XII Round 1 Reviews

All the songs can be listened to or downloaded HERE.

Jerkatorium - This was just beautiful.  This song came in around 4 minutes, and you left me wanting more.  At the start the music was sad & hopeful at the same time & your vocals perfect.  You could feel when the chorus was coming & at that point I was thinking to myself, “Don’t fuck this up.”  You didn’t, and at the time of me writing this you’ve got my favorite song of the round.  Now I’m only halfway done with my reviews so I’m not sure if you’ll stay at the top, but nice fucking job. Not sure about the “humming” & “coming” lines in the chorus...but I’m complaining.  I’m struggling to find something bad to say.

Merisan - I can see you winning again with this song.  Dark & lovely, and THANK YOU for thinking outside the box with the title.

Zed Dead Baby - Probably a song a lot of people can relate to, even the listeners who aren’t musicians.  I mean who hasn’t had to give a speech or presentation after someone who just killed it?  Nice job of storytelling, and it’s actually a really catchy barroom song that could easily get a lot of people singing during the chorus.

Inflatable Vegetables - I felt like I was in this song.  Any complaints I might have would be nit picking when you take that into consideration.  Very well done.

Glenn Case - Great use of the counter melody.  Incredibly sweet & moving song.  If one of the judges breaks down & cries during their reviews...you’re probably to blame.

Glenn Case (Fingers Crossed) - Your song more than any other that round grows on me with repeat listens.  Had I had longer before posting rankings you could have climbed a few spots.

Skub - You got me.  I thought this was going in a different direction completely.  I loved the attitude at the beginning.  I even had a bit of a snarl on my face.  Then you switched gears completely.  You set a great picture, the music was funky, and your vocals were very impressive.  I told someone else this topic was uninspired, but you just proved the topic wasn’t the problem...it was the execution.  *tips hat*

Pigfarmer Jr - This is the first direction I thought of when I heard this challenge.  You did it well.  Only thing I disliked was how long it took to get to the line “I am a better man after you”.  I know you used the previous 2 lines with the counter melody later on, but they seem to stall the song when people already get where you’re going.  Get on with it.  Overall...well done.

Cavedwellers - The music in this was beautiful.  Metaphors & similes often take me out of a song if overused.  I don’t think you went that far, but the line “obsolescence like a rotary phone” is just awkward in an otherwise lovely song.  Well done with the vocals btw.

ROTL - “A stain on the blue dress of life”... Worst line of the contest so far.  Aside from the 2nd half of that verse I enjoyed the song.  Singable, flowed well, and solid all around.  Too bad the thing that stuck out the most was that line.

73 Keep It Beautiful - Ok, most people are going 1 of 2 ways.  1.  You made the world so much better when I found you.  2.  You made the world so much worse.  With so many people taking this approach it makes it hard to stand out, and I think you’re middle of the road this round.  Very relaxing music though.  Lowered my blood pressure a bit I’m sure.

Berkeley Social Scene - There is nothing wrong with this song...aside from the fact there’s so many other songs that went in the same direction.  Not really your fault, but it doesn’t stand out.  As for actual constructive feedback, the vocals were pretty good, but a little more emotion could have been put into the bit right before the guitar solo.  Nice work with the counter melodies.

Lucky Witch & The Righteous Ghost - The music was a little more pleasing to the ear this time around, and the lyrics were again top notch.  Not sure you’ll climb much in my rankings though, mostly because too many people went down the same road as you this time around.

Nick Soma - Your vocals get a little lost in the mix.  Some of the lyrics seem lazy or pointless.  I mean “Felt like drunk” is only acceptable if you collabed with Yoda.  There’s a number of other lines that just seem to give pointless information not important to anything.  Unless that unnamed Spanish guy is making an appearance in an upcoming sequel to this song...drop him.

Strangelove - Failed to tell a story that could hold my interest.  Music was very chill, but became boring after awhile when nothing else about the song stood out to grab the listener's attention.

Paco Del Stinko - This didn’t really grab me at all. Music was more enjoyable than some others, but the topic & lyrics were uninspired.  

Boffo Yux Dudes - Not sure why you decided to do this at such a slow tempo.  I mean if this is supposed to be funny stop trying to simultaneously bore me with the music.  I almost feel like you should have went straight & just made a song about being the bigger man without the attempt at humor if you’re going to use this music.

Wendy Wiseman Fisher - Vocals were again pretty, but lyrically you don’t really paint much of a picture.  Not exactly a happy song…  Some of the lyrics felt like they came out of Speak & Spell...just an awkward delivery.

Balance Lost - I actually found the music interesting.  Other than that I’ll be completely honest.  I didn’t get it.

Micah Sommersmith - Ok...you’re a hated guy...but why?  You left out the interesting part.  If you’re only going to be a minute long...at least give me something interesting.

Lichen Throat - The vocals sounded like you might have bored yourself.  Overall there were too many things competing for my attention (in a bad way) for me to focus on the lyrics.

Attention

Thong Song (Jazz Version)

Nur Ein XII Round 0 Reviews

A lot of you know how I judge because I've reviewed here in the past & of course I've judged SpinTunes a lot. For those new to my reviews I'll tell you a little about how I do things.

I'm not a musician of any kind. So when it comes to technical stuff I'm pretty useless. I can just tell you what I like & what I don't. Often can't tell you why as skillfully as other judges. So you'll notice I focus on lyrics a lot. My final rankings are just how much I enjoyed a song. No fancy system that factors in performance, music, lyrics, production, etc...etc...just how much I'd want to hear your song again. Pretty simple. The type of music I tend to like is upbeat, tells a CLEAR story, fun to sing, and I do like a little humor in my music. If I can't decide between 2 songs, I will often look at how creatively you met the challenge. Not that anyone here would or should write to please any 1 judge, but I hope this helps people understand where I'm coming from when you read my reviews.

Anyways, overall...it was a fun round to listen to. I wasn't amazed with how most of the backwards lyrics were used. Too often felt tacked on, but a lot of talent was displayed nonetheless. Looking forward to hearing the songs from round 1.

All the songs can be listened to or downloaded HERE.

Skub - ROCK! Take all the good things I said in all the other reviews & pretend they’re written here as well.

Merisan - How can something be so beautiful & horrifying at the same time? This is sick...in a good & bad way. Excellent work.

Pigfarmer Jr - Ok...I got nothing bad to say here. Just well done. I like a little history in my music, and you did a great job of telling a story & keeping it interesting.

Glenn Case - Want reviews? Post lyrics....

Jerkatorium - Didn’t think you incorporated the backwards singing very well, but A LOT of people failed in that. However, I really think you did a great job otherwise. Lyrics flowed well, it was funny, and you had plenty of personality in the performance. Sometimes when people try to be funny they fail to sell it with the performance, you didn’t.

Nick Soma - As someone who has some anxiety issues I could relate to this a little. Enjoyed it overall, but there were a couple of lines that could flow better. 1 minor thing I’d point out is the “shit” you included might not be needed. I’m not against cursing in songs...or anywhere else. I fucking do it all the time. If you’re going to do it, I think the emotional level you’ve taken the listener to needs to be at a certain point. You don’t want the curse to be a distraction vs an emotional peak. In this case I didn’t think it was needed. Lyrically you COULD argue you were there, but performance wise it didn’t feel like it. This is going to a very useful review or utter bullshit….

Paco del Stinko - What’s on the list? Some really catchy elements here, and I enjoyed the performance A LOT. You can sell a lot with personality...except an ugly girl.

ROTR - Has some catchy moments, but the story itself is a little dull. Solid performance. Oh, and why tell her to throw salt over her shoulder if the song is about you not believing in superstition?

73 Keep It Beautiful - Would like a little more backstory in there. Was well done though. It has some memorable moments & was fun to sing along with.

Berkeley Social Scene - Who am I supposed to be looking out for exactly? This is another song where the lyrics leave me wanting more details. Otherwise, very enjoyable.

Strangelove - Had a nice groove to it. Lyrically there wasn’t much there, too repetitive for my tastes. More of a mood piece. I can see someone listening to this to motivate themselves to keep driving forward out of some bad times.

Cavedwellers - I enjoyed the music a lot, but couldn’t really follow the story.

Zed Dead Baby - I liked the “House rules, house wins again” line. Overall I felt very “meh” about this. Nothing much too bad or good to point out.

Lucky Witch & The Righteous Ghost - You really do create some great images with your lyrics. But I’m still waiting for the music to reach that same level of awesome. The topic was on point for the technical challenge we gave you.

Lichen Throat - Vocals made it hard for me to get into, but if I overlook that & try to picture someone else singing it...I could see myself listening this again. I liked the simplicity of the music, thought it fit the situation of the character.

Inflatable Vegetables - Music was chill & set a really good mood for the direction you took. Lyrically I didn’t find it funny enough or catchy enough to keep my attention. Especially when the rhymes don’t really hit at times. Like “sandals” & “Angeles”, that extra syllable on “Angeles” annoys my left ear. The right one is on the fence...but that left one got pretty annoyed.

Boffo Yux Dudes - What are they trying to get away with? Why is it so bad? I mean you thought of a decent idea & left out all the interesting parts.

Wendy Wiseman Fisher - Nice vocals, but I didn’t really follow the story. Then there was a lot of fucking & it ended. I was left feeling like most of my ex’s…puzzled & unsatisfied.

Micah Sommersmtih - There’s probably a reason it said "section of backwards singing or instrumentation" in the challenge. An entire song of it isn’t easy to do. I can pick out good points if I wanted to here, but what it boils down to is having every other line backwards made it really hard to get into the song at any point.

Balance Lost - Way to set the tone right at the start. Liked the vocals, but other than that there wasn’t enough lryics for me to say anything about. The music was interesting...

All The Small Things

Postmodern Jukebox featuring Puddles Pity Party.

Geometrie Variable