NUR EIN
almost 4 years agoeliminated
3:43
Summer Robot
Moss Palace image
Moss Palace

Entry from Summer Robot in Nur Ein XVII.

Sonic palette comprised of instruments/sounds/timbres not used in previous rounds

LyricsShow lyrics

"Summer Robot"
by Moss Palace
Spoiler
- "kick drum" - me hitting an SM58 with my open palm, sampled and tweaked
- "bass synth" - the low C on a ukulele, sampled and tweaked
- "aaah choir synth" - Erin singing an "aaah" for a measure, sampled and tweaked
- Mellotron flutes (which are technically a "sample" of sorts, sample of a tape of a sound, etc.)
- other percussion instruments are live played claves, cabasa, and sleigh bells
- Erin's harmonies are fake, instead of her singing them per usual I duplicated her lead vocal and autotuned and pitch shifted the copies to create the harmonies myself
- we also used a sample of Erin playing a note on a recorder, it's in the second half of the first verse and the final chorus
- glockenspiel is live played by me
- I tried to make Erin's vocals sound grittier and less pristine and creepier with effects processing
- oh yeah, we also have a "tongue drum" which Erin played a note on and I sampled and played starting after the second chorus

It’s the same place every time
As if I left an x to mark the spot
An indelible print left in the sand
An oil stain on my towel from your hand

Lined up bodies on their backs
Abandoning all shame to face the sky
So intimately baring everything
Emerging from the chrysalis of spring

A grand parade of flesh
And no one seems to mind
Behind our dark sunglasses
We are blind, we are blind

Hear an echo in the breeze
Of a seagull flying, crying for more
Not a head lifts or notices the sound
So subdued we are, laying on the ground

Baking in the bright sunshine
Nobody dares to leave their special home
An invisible force, taking our will
Summer robots programmed to stay still

A grand parade of flesh
And no one seems to mind
Behind our dark sunglasses
We are blind, we are blind

Reviews

4 posted notes

Evermind

Forum post

I like how nice a kick drum you were able to get out of tapping an SM58 with your palm. It's really weird, in a good way, to hear the artificial pitch corrected harmonies. I like the imagery you've used to describe people sunbathing, the phrases "a grand parade of flesh" and "emerging from the chrysalis of spring" are both really cool. I feel like there's some layer to this song that I'm missing, something more to the concept that didn't come through. Timing on the percussion feels a bit late in the last chorus.

furrypedro

Forum post

Every time I listen to this I hear something new in the mix that I hadn't noticed before and I do particularly like it when that happens. This feels like it inhabits the ethereal world of late-90s Björk; both dreamy and a bit creepy at the same time. The shift into the second section evokes some kind of dark wilderness which I think would fit in well on a Final Fantasy soundtrack. The vocals are fantastic, as ever, and the use of autotune adds to the otherworldly quality which permeates the track. Regarding the instrumentation, I'm never quite sure exactly what it is that I'm hearing which makes this quite an exciting listen.

vowlvom

Forum post

this is super lush, maybe my favourite of your songs this Nur Ein. The tuned harmonies work really well against the flutes and choirs, and the glock is a perfectly twinkly addition. Lyrics took me a while to figure out, but they're very clever - great take on the title.

sailingmagpie

Forum post

Lovely icy vocal sound! It sits really well with the Twin Peaks vibe you're going for and the production is spot on, though the very start of the first syllable of "Hear an echo..." sounds like it's cut off slightly. The little run up before the last chorus might be my favourite moment in the whole round and the switch to minor for the chorus works really well. However, it does feel like this is slightly too long. It could maybe do with some sort of middle 8 to mix things up. Lyrically, this is comfortably the cleverest approach to the challenge.

Moss Palace - Summer Robot | Nur Ein