Aminet 22

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Text File | 1997-10-21 | 115KB | 2,030 lines

WMR (Reviews [week #20]) __ __ __ | \ __ ______/ |_ | | | o \ | | | / o | \ |o | | \| o| |o _/ | o\ []=======| |==| \ |=| |/ | \========[] []=======| |==| \ |=| | |\ \=======[] []=======| |==| \|=| | |=\ \======[] :: | | | \ | | | / / :: :. | | | |\ \| | /| |/ / :: : | | |/\ | \ | |/ | | / : | | / \| |\ | | | | / :. | | / \ | \ | |__| | / .: :: | |/ \| \_| | |/ : :: | /\ | | __| |\ :: []=======| / \ |=| |==| | \==========[] []=======| /| \ |=| |==| | \=========[] []=======| /=| |\ |=| |==| | \========[] |o / | | \ o| |o | | |\ o\(mansooj) |_/ | o | \_| |__/ | o | \__/ |___| |___| (Originally compiled and added on June 16, 1997) (last updated 08.29.97) -----========================================----- -----================================================================----- "Factory" by Mixmaster (9ch S3M, 01:59) (Factory.zip [208K/287K]) [Electronic/Industrial] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Rebriffer 85+ 80 70 85 85 WolfSong 77= 74 75 84 69 ChroMix 72+ 79 60 50 75 ESP 70+ 55 50 60 70 MING 68+ 65 50 90 70 PanDuh 55- 51 50 68 60 Fanta C 52= 49 68 72 67 Mansooj 40= 40 -- 45 60 Skullsaw 10+ 0 50 0 70 DRift 10= -- -- 50 50 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Not bad. I'll admit, I've heard better electronic before, but this isn't bad, really. It's kind of neat, in its own way, and really does paint a valid picture of a factory, as the title indicates. It's certainly not danceable in any way, but that's fine since a lot of music in this genre isn't either. The main problem I see in this song is the blatant, and sometimes inappropriate sampling of Kraftwerk...especially with that "Music non-stop" snatch that constantly comes through. If he wanted to use THAT many samples from that song, he really should've just done something more appropriate--made a remix. On the other hand, though, he does make good use of a couple of rather eerie samples, "I love you" and "Bio reading on the green..." which adds a really freaky, almost scary tone to the song; something Kraftwerk was so good at. Technically speaking, there isn't much here that's really good. Only two different effects were used in the entire song! Given the style context, I really don't think any additional effects would have been necessary, but still.... As for the composition, although the piece ends at a rather inappropriate point, it's really good. Again, this song isn't that bad, but the total Kraftwerk ripoff has been spotted and does detract from the overall value. There is a fine line between original work and remixes, and I think it may have been crossed here. But don't sweat it Mixmaster, you've done well. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ If 7-in-1 multi-tools (you know, the ones which transform from a screwdriver, into a torque wrench, a spanner and then into a oxy-acetelene cutting tool you see advertised in things like "Tele-Shop" late at night on ITV) are really as clever as their manufacturers make out, I'm sure this is the kind of music they listen to when their Kraftwerk CD is worn out. Overall, Factory is a good track, but one I feel would be more suited to a minor role, perhaps as an interlude between more involving tracks. Certainly, I wouldn't be moved to buy an antire album of it. It's electro, I suppose, with a very industrial (I don't mean as in the musical genre) flavour, a very rigid and minimal beat sustains the track and doesn't change much, which I think is a virtue in this style. The variability comes mainly from the vocal samples which are laid over the top of the beat, and from a sweepy synth sound which alternates pitches most of the time. The latter of these is fairly well handled, and the former is well done to a point, but the track loses its edge entirely when a sample ("bio readouts are all in the green...") from one of the Alien films cuts in, reminding us of how little the track has to offer apart from interesting vocal samples. It's a shame that this sample ruins the effect so much, but I can see why it was included, and it does add a touch of finality to it, occuring just about at the end. A simple track which has heads nodding, but ones that won't stay conscious for long. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ As the title implies, this has within it the sound of a factory, and one that is apparently on a freeway if the presence of a constant stream of cars-whizzing-by sounds is any indication. Early problem: I've already outlined a third of the sounds this tune has to offer! The rest are the usual suspects of this sort of music: run-of-the-mill electro-industrial "hammer on metal pipes" hits, techno-acid twitches, a metallic barrel-drum type bass drum, a few miscellaneous industrial sound fx, some electronic beepy-booperisms, and heapin' helpin' of ripped Kraftwerk computer vocals (and one or two others). This narrow spectrum of samples is put together in an equally narrow framework. The song, from beginning to end, is nothing more than the barrel-drum banging away at a constant beat, a more or less constant accompaniment of the sound fx, various vocals tossed in with brief breaks in between--and that...is...it. Yes, I'm afraid it is every bit as boring as it sounds; and it manages this quite well in just a fraction under two minutes. There is absolutely no character at all, unless one assumes the intent was to portray the tedium of industrialized society. If so, fine, the point was made--but made also was one seriously bland module. Mixmaster's cleverly titled Mixmaster was much better, and even that wasn't so hot. --- References --- Mixmaster by Mixmaster ([download]/[reviews]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ When I heard the first few bars of Factory I was pretty pissed. I mean, all we have here is an almost direct lift from Kraftwerk's Music Non Stop. The included samples "Boing boom cha" and "music nonstop..." were lifted which is bad enough, but the overall sound of the mod is just like Kraftwerk's right down to the groove, though at a more brisk BPM. Hmmm, sounds like the passing cars from Autobahn are in here as well. Inexcusable plagiarism here. All we have here is a very simple drum track, stuttering vocal bites, Kraftwerk spoken word samples and assorted bleeps. Now, if I'd never heard Kraftwerk's version of this I would surely give high marks to this mod, I love German electronica, but I am trashing this mod because it is stolen. No originality whatsoever is present. Zero. As a minor saving grace, though they are stolen the samples sound very clean, so I assume I must give some credit for this. I can, however, recommend this to people who may be unfamiliar with Kraftwerk as the mod is quite good electronic music, but if you should download it, keep in mind that this is Kraftwerk's music, not Mixmaster's. Nowhere in the comments does the composer say anything about this being a remix, so I'm left to believe that he's calling this his own work. Shame on him. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I'm certain I've reviewed tracks from this composer before, because the name is really familiar to me--but there again, when everyone is calling themselves a variant of this, it gets tricky for a reviewer of little brain. The track starts with a percussive vocal that sounds like 'boing bum cha' (but don't quote me) and is absolutely delightful--one of the best vocal samples I have heard in a while. In fact right throughout this track the vocal samples shine waaay above the rest of the track. That is not to say this track isn't very good--because that plainly wouldn't be true. This, my disbelieving, nay sceptical, buddies, is the pearl we all search for--a brilliantly planned, well mixed track that steps well out of the crowd. It's an industrial/robotic track that's as sparse as the surface of Mars. The only thing enlivening what is essentially a basic drum track are the brilliantly placed vocal samples. If you like this style--and as a Rebel Riffer, I have to because it's a musical furrow we also plough--you'll love this. Obviously then, I am biased beyond all get out, but don't let that put you off tasting this well made, well thought out track. And it was all done with the barest minimum of coding...! /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Aha. That's exactly how I felt after hearing this: Aha, so that's what it sounded like. When I told Mixmaster to go home and get a personality and some talent, after reviewing his last tune, of course, I didn't expect him to follow my advice so literally. Well, strike me blind if he didn't. This tune has many of the things Mixmaster's tune, Mixmaster, so evidently lacked. It has a good, unique rhythm, it has personality, it has pointers towards tracking skill, it has intelligent twists and turns, and more than anything, it has charm. What we hear is not so much the sound of a factory, as it is that of a kitchy Star Trek kinda spaceship environment, with bleeping computers and whooshing doors; and the steady and deep bloopy rhythm that goes through this song only adds to the effect. It still lacks a lot of mod making craftsmanship, such as good texture building and a decent texture for the dynamics. This is due to samples that are too hollow and little work building an atmosphere. But, it's still a charming piece with a good, minimalistic groove. --- References --- Mixmaster by Mixmaster ([download]/[reviews]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Hehe! I don't think this is a song at all! I think somehow the composer just connected my speakers to what my computer is thinking. If there is a song that *sounds* like what a computer would be thinking, this is it. And a nice job, I must say. The composer seems to have a very good ear for rhythm, as he uses different "computery" sounds and a few vocal samples. There is no real musical progression here, as this song is obviously intended to be a rhythmic piece. Actually, I can't think of any outstanding complaints. Just a few nitpicky things: one of the samples seems a little grainy; the rhythm could have been a little more dynamic....stuff like that. It was quite short, only two minutes. But in this case it seemed to fit the song, though I wouldn't have complained if it had been a little longer. You've definitely got nothing to lose by downloading this tune, and I can almost assure you you haven't heard anything quite like it. You'll want to check this out for the "Whoa! Weird!" value at the very least. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ PanDuh ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Hmm...the name "Factory" is very appropriate for this Experimental/Industrial mod. It doesn't quite fit into my qualifications for music (which is the requirement of a melody), but rather fits quite nicely into ambience. In this case the ambiance is one of a futuristic manufacturing plant. The sounds heard within consist of a hammer hitting a piece of steel over and over again, the sound of a car zooming by, complete with Doppler effect, repetitive chirps, beeps and bass drums and some miscellaneous futuristic sounding voice samples. It is a monotone song, and the same "melody" basically repeats itself over and over again, as various sound effects are thrown into the mix at fixed intervals. I'm not prone to listen to and enjoy this type of "music," so I can't recommend it. However, if you ever need some background music for a video on automobile manufacturing, this would be a good choice. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Pick a beat, progress it up through some two minutes, add in some cliched samples and soundbites then release it. Hmmm. What a waste of bandwidth. I guess this'll be interesting to somebody somewhere, but that somebody isn't me. Maybe if you were to loop it, it could come in handy as a metronome? Sample one is described in the sampletext as "EarthShatter.kickdrum". Well, maybe an empty oil drum, but earth shattering...no. This we hear as "Boom, b, boom." That's basically it. This track is "Boom, b, boom" for two minutes with a few sound effects added. It does have merits, if viewed as an experimental track. One, it's very short. Two, there is a an ambient air to it; I got the impression of heartbeats, increasing awareness and indeed, a mechanical feeling to the proceedings. Dr. Frankenstein maybe? Music it's not. Complex it's not. Interesting? It may be worth one or two listenings. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ DRift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Well, it does sound like a factory. Loud, extremely repetitive thumping noises, and some apparently random samples played over it. There is no discernible structure other than the drums; the samples are in time with the drums, but there is barely even an attempt at a melody. A whisper-quiet beeping sound appears for a few patterns, but what there is is completely drowned out by the drums. Pretty terrible, in short. I hate to be so mean, but this one is even worse than Mixmaster (another mod by the same composer which was reviewed earlier). --- References --- Mixmaster by Mixmaster ([download]/[reviews]) -----================================================================----- "Passion Play" by Basehead (16ch S3M, 05:28) (passplay.zip [300K/450K]) [Fantasy/Light Jazz] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Fanta C 90+ 93 90 93 91 WolfSong 88+ 95 91 86 84 Mansooj 87+ 80 -- 82 85 Zaigamor 82+ 82 82 77 85 Araneus 80+ 73 -- 80 80 DRift 80+ -- -- 75 90 Rebriffer 80- 80 90 70 85 MING 75+ 65 90 90 75 Shrift 65+ 65 75 70 65 Skullsaw 50- 50 60 40 80 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A shorter Basehead track from late '95. This one has "skill" written all over it. It's the ideal length for its basic concept; that of "I have a tune, here's my implementation of it. It's not too complicated, you can listen to it". Basehead does it here in just under six minutes. You can tell from the intro this is going to get excellent marks, can't you? Starting with the instrumentation for a change: Basehead has chosen a real nice piano as the main lead in the first part. This switches over to soft, watery sounds in the second part. The drum kit is "spot on," as are the fx instruments, used exactly where they should be. Not over used, not underused, used just right; a little here, a little there. Just enough to be noticeable but not get in the way. Back to the percussion play for a second--you can't help noticing the way Basehead can play this kit almost for real. The amplitude variations on, for example, the snare drum at various places throughout the track, are impressive. Also of interest in this piece is the mixing of the instruments. It's nigh on perfect. The choice of instruments is something a lot of authors might do well to examine. Here, for example, the string section is barely noticeable, yet if you switch them (the strings) off, the piece falls apart. The music is based around two melodies, even though there is only one "primary" melody. The background work and melody has a nice enough structure all to itself, and is brought out to the foreground every now and then as the focus. Then, just as quickly, we're back on the piano for the primary work, but only for long enough to remind us of the main course; then it's off into another little variation. The only way I can describe the style of this piece is as the WMR has it tagged--Fantasy/Light Jazz. There are lots of variations at play, the bass guitar work at 3:56 shows just why this author is recognised as rather talented. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This really starts out with the face of a watery trance style tune, but quickly changes to a fairly brisk tempo piece that somehow reminds me of Rush meets ambient. The Rush-iness seems mainly relegated to the base feel of the style and the percussion/bass tracks, but to my ear, the resemblance is there throughout. There seems to be just the right mix of tempo to percussion and beat to foreground instruments to get you moving a bit, but also to keep your ears perked for what's to come. In actuality, not much of any major difference actually does come, but the focal sound is nice in and of itself. There are some injections of additional instruments here and there, such as some strings, something that sounds like horns played underwater, and later, some nice bell-tones. I also particularly liked the frequent use of something I can only describe as a marriage of voice choir and cymbal crash rushes. This provides a nice dramatic counterpoint to the more smooth-flowing tones that comprise the majority of the song. Basehead never seems to fall down when it comes to conferring a certain sense of style to his music. The quality level is always high, from the structure to the samples, even if the appeal is somewhat muted by the occasional dubious attempt at breaking some new ground or another. In this case, the sound is quite accessible and should be of wide appeal. I don't notice much in the way of true innovation in this one, but there's little feel of sameness--I imagine that's a hard trick, but it's pulled off here. As always, there is a slickness to any Basehead track that certainly isn't lost here, and as usual (at least so far), I feel quite justified in a fairly strong recommendation to seek out this track and give it a spin. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The sample list message boldly states "The 80's will never die!" And despite my initial repulsion of the notion, I slowly start to remember all the positive brewing that went on during that time, besides Boy George, Wham! and such geniuses. (What am I saying?!? Oh, I'm being ironic? Ok then. :)) I'm talking about people such as Depeche Mode, Nitzer Ebb, The Cure, Jean-Michel Jarre (yes, I'm serious), Enz, Neubaten and a whole bunch of others. Roughly you could say that if you mixed the birthmarks of The Cure's Faith, Jarre's Concerts in China and Depeche's Black Celebration, divided it by three, and added Basehead himself as a topping, Passion Play is EXACTLY the result. Furthermore, because these three great melody-makers would kill each others' ideas, all that is left are a bass line which dominates the whole song, some sampled steelwork sounds and straight-on melodic synths and piano stuff, all in an ambient/fantasy wrapping. It is well produced and sounds good, but that's about it. It doesn't have me drooling over the keyboard or anything. I must admit I like it, since the style is rare and utterly cool, but as a complete tune, it just doesn't make it, due to the lack of an identifiable theme. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ After order 34 I thought this one might actually drop the shaker rhythm and get dark with the bass, which it almost for a minute did. But alas, another pleasant song by Basehead. This guy is one of the best computer musicians at soldering delicate melodies and rhythms together into an ambience that is unique and very well textured. This is the sort of music you hear for a while, not thinking much of, until you start subconsciously humming some of of its subtle melodies. This piece, like many of Basehead's, sucks the careful listener inside of it, almost giving the listener the arrogance of thinking that he himself has unravelled the mysteries of the piece, and not that Basehead has engineered it that way. The subtle texturing of melody is both refined and beautiful, even in contrast to some of the typically repetitive rhythm and bass lines. Aside from my typical criticism of Basehead's perpetual use of poppy snares and shakers, and his all-too simple bass lines, my only specific complaint is about the use of piano. To me, the -keyboard- sample only amplified the other goofy rhythm samples, and entirely contrasted the subtlety of the melody. Other than that, another fine Basehead piece. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ What can I say here? This is Basehead. One of the biggest trackers on the scene right now. Why? This song's a good example. All this piece needs is a vocalist and it would be sitting in your CD pile at home. "The 80's will never die!!" screams Basehead in his song message, as though it were a war cry, and then proceeds to make good on it by whipping out a perfectly mixed and balanced song with a wonderful array of 80's pop style synth sounds, and a brilliantly executed progression of ups and downs that never gets old or boring. And all of this put together almost seamlessly, making a smooth, very enjoyable soft rock song, that if you hadn't downloaded, you'd almost swear it came from the radio. I find myself at a loss for what to say about this song. It's one of those that just SOUND GOOD, pure and simple. Basehead has obviously put a lot of (dare I say) work and thought into this piece, and I would definitely put it on my download list. Even if you're not fond of the style of music, you have to respect the talent displayed in this work. If Basehead isn't careful, he's going to wind up with a recording contract if he hasn't already. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ DRift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Yet another great song by Basehead. The tempo in this one is a few notches faster than average, but the song still moves slowly, and smoothly, from section to section. The percussion track is again, loud, fast, amazing, and complex. The other sounds are just angelic and are expertly layered together. After playing through the song a few times, some of those sounds seem to be at too high a pitch, but it's only a small annoyance. Several times, the melody fades away and the emphasis is put on the drums; because of the quality of the percussion track, this technique works very well. Repetition is a small problem. Usually, only one part of the music is changing at a time, and the other parts are left to repeat over and over. Perhaps even six minutes is too long for this type of song. The repetition is, however, not much worse than any other song. The ending is also too abrupt. But despite these small problems, the quality of this track cannot be denied. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Zaigamor ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This poptune by Basehead has some freshness generally lacking in other Basehead tracks, probably because this one's in a different style than his usual work. The use of the drums is very interesting and refreshing, with some breaks and small changes here and there. A lot of other composers often use very static drum parts in their poptunes, focusing more on things like melody and chord progression, which is a pity because clever drum parts can add quite a lot to a tune. There's an evident building up of the song and compositionally everything has been worked out well. Maybe the main melody of the track could have been made a bit more distinct, because it's a bit hidden as it is. Anyway, I like this one very much and I'll certainly keep it on my hard drive. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ "The 80's will never die!" Basehead shouts in the sample notes, although quite why, I'm not sure. This track is a little sugary/disco-y for my own personal taste, and as such I didn't enjoy listening to it endlessly the same way I do with most other Basehead tracks. There's a lovely breakdown at 2:16, or so, that really does the biz though. It's a lilting rhythm that just picks you up in a cloud of sound. Unfortunately, it leads back into another segment of the track, so although I may play that break a few more times, I don't think the track itself will become as much of a fixture in my playlist as other Basehead tracks have. Still, that shouldn't stop you downloading *every* *single* *one* of Basehead's tracks, just to see how it's really done.... /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ After hearing what Basehead can do, Passion Play is a big disappointment. Limp and lite is how I'd decribe this mod. It reminds me of 80's synthy film music that one would hear during end credits or after the hero is left pondering his lost love whilst driving through the desert. It is arranged well with clean samples but it just never really takes off. Lite jazz pop like this just leaves me cold. I can appreciate the skills involved here but it just doesn't do much for me personally, though I would expect that some that favor the genre would enjoy this. Techno types should stay clear. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A contemporary easy listening piece with lots of tempo, a piano, and a synth orchestra. Basehead really knows how to use a good bassline and dress it up with lots of tasteful synth-sounds. Although very pleasing to the ear, it isn't a very memorable song, especially in its midsection. He uses the chords and notes in the right places, but sometimes, that just makes the song a little, I hate to say it, boring. Not very many surprises, but still a wonderful piece, nonetheless. -----================================================================----- "When I Dream" by Chimp&Z of PARSEC (14ch XM, 07:18) (WhenIDream.zip [568K/1067K]) [Mellow Techno] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== MING 71+ 70 60 80 80 Rebriffer 70+ 70 65 75 70 PanDuh 47- 50 45 47 57 Nova 44+ 45 40 39 60 ESP 40= 55 40 75 60 WolfSong 39= 42 40 57 56 Fanta C 39= 37 35 30 39 Mansooj 26= 10 -- 20 45 ChroMix 23+ 40 30 50 40 Skullsaw 10+ 10 10 10 10 /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Certain parts of this song would have had me out buying the album it was included on; except...these parts are too fragmented and uncommon to make that really worthwhile. First, there is just a bass-pad riff looping, and one I don't much care for. Then the main ingredients are thrown in--the voices. Lots of people saying, and repeating a little bit too much, things about dreams. This is actually arranged in a good way, even becoming rhythmically addictive. And then what makes the song worth the effort kicks in. A hectic, heavy breakbeat starts pumping, and turns the somewhat so-so beginning into something absolutely brilliant. But soon, after only a few seconds, we're back to the bass loop (which was there all the way, actually), a rearrangement in the voices, and a reappearance of the drums. That's the way it goes, on and on and on. Maybe another voice is added or some neat drum additions. After about half of the tune has come and gone, the last session of that great beat, which is really what makes the song, is played and dissapears, never to be heard from again. What is left is an uninspiring glob of rather unmelodic background, and as usual, those voices. Chimp&Z has a great sense of rhythms. If he exercises this for a while, I think he'll even grow to understand more of the potential variety beyond great drumloops. Unfortunately he lacks two things. First, a sense of what notes sound good together. I can't say this in terms of the musicality, because of those great rhythm sections, but melodically, he seems to lack something. Second, he seems virtually unaware of his skills and shortcomings. He should have aimed for more rhythms, and less of the main bass slinger, that, frankly, didn't hit home at all. Lastly, the technical aspects are not perfect, but they're at least on the good side of the scale. Although I could protest about the choice of some samples, and a wee bit about the bland mixing (including lack of panning), these things aren't poking me in the eye, and they in no way spoil the occasional moments of magic. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I think the most descriptive word here is "borrrr-ing." Within a minute or so, virtually everything this module has to offer is laid out in front of you, and it isn't a very palatable spread. In a nutshell, this is a collection of voice samples, a dance/hiphop drum loop, some wonderfully unattractive synths, and some cymbals which are, here and there, smashed together, seemingly just for the sake of doing so. Half the time, the voice samples sound completely out of place within what little accompaniment or background is around at the time. There is virtually no articulation of chords or melodies, and what microscopic bit there was was amateurish to the point of seeming intentionally irritating. The only thing that actually sounds nice only shows up now and then, and it is simply a single "tinkling chime/bells" pad. Really, this is wholly unspectacular and spends vastly more time than it needs to tell you so. I honestly hate having to be so completely negative, but there's simply nothing here to praise; and the composer's chosen handle "Chimp&Z" could be considered humorously appropriate in this case. The feel is something between techno and dance, but a kind of wooden-legged dance with an odor of death and stagnation--the dream here is more a nightmare of hopelessness and despair. In actuality, the negativism is only fair, since I get the overwhelming impression the composer really put little effort into this--it is drab, repetitive, and seems free of any notably pleasant musical qualities whatsoever. In the right hands, it could have survived the junkheap, but not without a lot of effort, and the investment of far more vision than is exhibited with this depressingly unpleasant piece of work. In essence, this is a meg's worth of samples, jumbled up in a bag and thrown at the unsuspecting listener. Pray you're not too slow to step aside in time. Booooooooo! /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ If I didn't know any better, I'd say this song has the sound of someone who's just starting their tracking career. If that's true, then I hope what I have to say doesn't discourage the composer from tracking more modules. I've *never* heard anyone make a good MOD within their first few tries. The first thing I noticed was that the song didn't flow very well. All the samples stepped on each others' feet. The song progressed into a techno-like rhythm with a lot of vocal samples and a ripped break beat that was used almost through the entire song. Next, I saw that the song uses next to no effects whatsoever. I've never seen my little MOD4WIN effects indicator screen so lifeless! With the exception of a two instrument, three note climb and descend, there didn't seem to be much actual music. There was something that might be called a bridge around the middle of the song, but it was more a clash of seemingly random cymbal crashes (all cutting each other off) and vocal samples. After that, the song continues along the same path as before until you either turn it off or run from the room screaming. Was there anything that *wasn't* bad about it? Well okay, the samples were pretty good quality, and the mixing wasn't bad either. Nothing was overly loud or too quiet, and nothing sounded out of tune. Assuming the composer is a beginner, I'd like to encourage him to practice, practice, practice. Good module composition doesn't happen overnight, but if you persist, you *will* get better at it. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Ahem. Well. Er...I really, really, REALLY do NOT like this song, but I'll try my best to be impartial and judge it on whatever merits it may have. This piece has a LOT of problems. The most glaring of which is the annoying vocals that are played over and over and over and over...ugh. The bassline and strings, that I assume are supposed to be the "lead" in this song, are also repeated over and over--an equally distasteful facet. Around pattern 30, though, the song does save itself by becoming somewhat polyphonic, but it still comes back with those same stupid vocals...grrrr. The drums sound okay, but now that I'm examining them further, I see they're looped. Oh well. At some points, a rip snare fades in for transition, and it sounds awful, like it's being played at the wrong frequency or something. Terrible. Technically, there's a bare minimum of effects used here, which isn't suprising, seeing as how this song was obviously written by a novice, or at least someone that continues to exhibit novice-like techniques. In terms of originality, I'm not sure WHAT I think...how does one judge the originality of a piece that is only original in the context of it being bad? Overall, this song is just flat out unenjoyable. I appreciate the effort of the artist here, but it just didn't work, for whatever reason. Sorry Chimp&Z. Better luck next time. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Bizarre, this one. To start with, there's a strangely tricky bass line which sounds too offbeat (though it isn't at all) to work. Apparently it does, though I feel that it's this bassline rhythm which gives the rest of the track its ultimately infuriating feel and groove. I don't know exactly how Chimp&Z would describe this track's style, and I can't really decide myself, but if pushed, I'd probably say it was a kind of demo/old house hybrid, but even that doesn't really hit the mark. Anyway, an ambiguous style cannot disguise the fact that this isn't really a particularly good track. It's mediocre, contentwise, and it's also over a megabyte, though its samples don't show this at all. It sounds disjointed, rather unfinished, like there's a part which needs to be slotted into position to make it "work." But alas, there is no last jigsaw piece to come, and the track begins and ends pretty much the same, though it does take a brief excursion in the middle to a land where beats are even and basslines don't cause nervous breakdowns, but unfortunately, the track doesn't seem to feel welcome there and soon leaves. I'm not going to be generous with the marks here, because even if I imagine the track minus its bad points (groove, size...), it is still ultimately a linear and unremarkable track. Some of the vocal samples are okay, but don't cooperate with the rest of the track very well. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Uggh. The world's most uninspired and flat bass you'll hear anywhere opens this one. The second thing you'll probably hate is the complete and inane repetitiveness of the voice samples. Are these people trying to brainwash me? Is there a subliminal message trying to get at me here? We can split this track up into about four different sections. All related, and very much like the previous. In essence it's E,D,C and back again. Somehow this repetition is kept going for far too long, seven minutes and seventeen seconds to be precise There are some three voice samples employed, along with some overly long samples belonging more to the cut'n'paste variety of music than tracking (this track is almost 1.1 meg, by the way). The actual samples used are poor in that, because this is more or less a collage of pasted sounds, these five second samples could have used some judicial compression and expansion in places to improve the overall mix when pasted together. As previously noted, the bass (sample #1) is dreadful in that the first half a second of the sample is extremely clipped and would seem to need compressing badly. It is almost a square wave at the start and sounds like it too. Was this intended? If it was, I don't like it. In conclusion; it's repetitive, has some sample problems, and a poor music to size ratio. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Once upon a time a MOD was made that came from the US. I know there seems to be a kind of European bias in the MOD scene, but I think that's simply because the European tracker/composers picked up on the whole idea a damn sight quicker than our Western brothers 'n' sisters. Since then, however, things have improved to the point where there are several very good American trackers, and it's most refreshing to report that Chimp&Z (great name!) is also worth checking out. The track itself isn't the total wonder it should be (it's central theme is more than a little overused), and there isn't a whole lot in the way of FT2 FX or tricks, but it's nonetheless quite enjoyable. I listened to it several times all the way to the end (and at 7+ minutes that's an achievement in itself) so it can't be that bad. The track is a typical house-y, rave-y thingy and as such not even a standout treatment of the genre. What lifts it enough is the amiable way it creeps up on you...it's very, very deceptive. A good, if uninspiring effort. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ When I dream I don't hear this in my head, which is good because this mod is maddening. A simple three note bassline, a speech sample and melodic counterpoint parts are repeated endlessly with almost no variation. What variation there is consists of parts dropping out. After about four minutes there's a convoluted break in the "action," but even this can't save the mod. Nothing much happens here, the same sample set is used continuously throughout the mod, the bassline is incessant and boring as is the accompanying counterpoint parts. The use of the same spoken word sample throughout really got on my nerves. I don't have much good to say about the sample quality either. The drum loop was scratchy to no good effect, a lot of aliasing on many of the other samples as well knocks off a lot of points. I tried to give this mod a chance to redeem itself but I disliked it more with each listen. By the way, this mod weighs in at over one meg, a lot of mass with no substance. My advice is to stay clear. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ PanDuh ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This module is much too long and repetitive. The words "when I dream of fairy tales" is literally ingrained in my brain because it's repeated so many times in this song. The composer makes an attempt to create a "hip" sounding techno song by mixing voice samples with some instruments and a breakbeat, but it comes off sounding more contrived than anything else. The tune itself is very, very simple. It consists of an "I love you. You love me" melody that's repeated over and over again by different instruments. The bass-line is laughable--it's simply a variation of the basic melody. The voice samples are played too often and become very repetitive. The breakbeats are the redeeming factor here, unfortunately, they occur very infrequently, and they aren't very original (they *are* breakbeats after all). I can't recommend this module, especially at its current size, which is over 1 megabyte. Not nearly worth the download time. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Nova ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ When I first heard this song, it reminded me of another little song that I learned in primary school while in music class. Here we go up, here we go down. The main bass instrument does this nearly throughout the WHOLE song. Up and down with only a four note variation. Basically, the song is lots of neat sound clips all thrown together with some basic music accompaniment. I even think I heard a sample from the Art of Noise. The biggest problem with this mod is that it should not run for seven minutes. The author does everything that there is to hear in the mod within the first three minutes. If Chimp&Z is just starting out at tracking, then this is a decent beginning. I enjoyed the samples. They were creative and well produced. It's just that they were overused and not backed by a very catchy tune. -----================================================================----- "Beez" by Sidewinder (4ch MOD, 03:21) (beez.zip [685K/471K]) [Pop/Light Techno] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== ChroMix 87+ 90 88 75 90 Rebriffer 85+ 85 70 85 60 CypherMonk 85+ 70 60 60 70 Skullsaw 80= 60 70 80 75 Mansooj 76= 73 -- 70 -- MING 75+ 88 35 75 40 PanDuh 60= 61 53 62 54 WolfSong 54+ 56 48 62 66 Fanta C 44= 50 45 43 37 JuiCe 32= 45 20 -- 80 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I have a lot of respect for Sidewinder, acquired over a number of years of listening to his output, right from the OctaMED days, through Protracker, and the more recent transition to studio work. In the last year or two, he seems to have adopted the stance that he'll make "real" studio music, and then resample it down to something that can fit into 4 channels for distribution to the masses. This is all well and good, but, unless he still only has his Amiga and hasn't moved on to a PeeCee, I can't quite figure out why he consistently forces music not designed for 4 channels into those confines when he can easily adapt or write music right into any good multi-channel tracker. Hmm...well, again, this is just a what if scenario, so he may still have only his 'miggy. In which case I would say, if you can afford studio equipment, getcherself a PeeCee and show us what you can do in 16+ channels. Your earlier work, such as Jasmine, Liverman, Advent, etc. were very good--the more recent sardine-can versions of your studio work are suffering greatly by comparison. Addressing this tune in specific, it has a light, cutesy-poppy beat and tone to it, which might not appeal to a huge number of people. It has a good sound, but comes off a little too saccharine for my particular tastes, what with the main vocal alone, "I'm just a little...technobee...." At points it gets rather minimalistic, but still sounds rather swift. At others, echo-backed vocals fill out the empty spaces. Throughout the entire song, though, there's a static, rarely-changing snare-hat-snare-hat type rhythm going on without much in the way of supporting percussion variants, quite in the standard pop-80's fashion, and unfortunately, tending towards the repetitive side. Coming to a conclusion as to whether this is worth your time to download, I'd have to say, sure. It's unusual, and kind of refreshing in that Sidewinder doesn't seem to care if anyone finds the sweetness of the lyrics to be a problem. As I said, they're a bit much for me, but so what? Turning to value in terms of it being a masterpiece of module-making, no, hardly. The main reason is that this is, as implied above, not tracked, per se, but rather it is a collection of resampled sound blocks strung together, supported by some bits of articulated instrumentation; leaving virtually nothing here to dissect and learn from. The thing that bugs me about this is that the song isn't extremely complex, and would appear to be perfectly suited to a fully articulated 4 channel track (however, there remain considerations regarding effects which might not be supported in the ProTracker format....). Check out Ravebuster's My Wonderland for a sharp example of this sort of phone-booth packing stuff. So, in the end it's a simple little tune, with a candy-coated premise, but with the aid of some appropriate synth-work and backing accompaniment which has an appropriately "buzzy" tone to it, it works well for what it obviously claims to be. As a "module" it's nothing much; as a song, it has its charm. Sidewinder has his talents, and if listening to his work straitjacketed into 4-channels, with 8-bit resampling doesn't exactly thrill you--check out one of his music CDs instead, I don't think you'll be disappointed. --- References --- Advent by Sidewinder ([download]) Jasmine by Sidewinder ([download]) Liverman by Sidewinder ([download]) My Wonderland by Dax & Turbo.B. ([download]/[reviews]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )---------------------========[ CypherMonk ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ What can I say, but "Wow!" This song had my toes tapping, my butt wagging, and my fingers swinging from side to side from the first pattern to the last. I almost got up and started dancing to it. With quality almost as good as something one might hear on the radio, Beez by Sidewinder is a catchy, feel good tune that makes you want to listen to it over and over and over again. It flows excellently from one part to the next, with each part leading logically from the previous one. There are many good changes and much variety between each segment, and though the song itself is somewhat repetitive, this is essential to its overall mood. The percussion is somewhat lacking, with a few of the hihats and cymbals sounding tinny from time to time, but this is hardly noticeable next to the rest of the song. I'm not sure who's voice is being used for the lyrics, but they also are very well done, adding just the right finishing touch. All day at work I kept singing, "I'm just a little bee, this is what you mean to me!" over and over, so that my co-workers began giving me strange looks. Needless to say, I think you will enjoy this tune. The only downpoint to Beez is that most of the song relies on a small handful of complex samples wherin most of the song's melody lies. And while to the causual listener this may not be a consideration, it goes to the heart of what separates 'tracked' music from other mediums. Too often tracking programs are used simply as inexpensive mixers for entirely pregenerated works. Songs are written, relying not on a composer's abilities as a tracker, but on the quality of hardware used in the creation of their samples. This frequently causes schisms along uneven lines, giving certain modules an unfair advantage that many do not have. Not all trackers have access to professional recording equipment, and must rely solely upon their own ingenuity and imagination to see them through. This, however, is just a consideration. Beez is still an excellent song, and I think that if enough people listen to it, I may soon be hearing Beez' lilting refrain wherever I go... "I'm just a little bee, this is what you mean to me, I'm just a little bee, this is what you mean to me...I'm just a little beeeeee...." =) /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Well, this is a bit of a novelty. We have here a three minute "dance"(?) single which could well achieve cult status. The quality is bad, the style is sickening, and it's huge for a 4 channel MOD. In essence, this MOD consists of a guy who can't sing (and I'm sure he knows it) coupled with incredibly terrible "plastic" backing. I mean, you have to download this just to see how weird it is, although don't bother if you don't have free "net" access. Technically, it's not good. The sound comes out muffled and hissy. Some samples are quite long loops, and indeed most of the MOD is not so much tracked as pasted samples (yes, I do know that technically a MOD is pasted samples, but this is taking it a little too far). And as mentioned, it's also rather large for a four channel MOD at 680k. Musically, it's simple. Almost a kiddie's tune, albeit a mildly catchy kiddie's tune. Unfortunately, its lacks imagination and originality, although I'd guess it's been deliberately "cut" as a three minute single, and as such achieves it's aims of simple verse/chorus/verse/chorus mechanics. The lyrics, well, here's a sample "I'm just a little bee, this is what you think of me..."; at least thats what I think he's saying; it is a little muffled. Really, there isn't much you could say about this poor MOD, apart from that it's not good. I'm sure the author deliberately made it this way, and as such we go with the benefit of the doubt and avoid such terms as "crappy" or "rubbish" when reviewing such an item (although those terms could easily apply in this case). /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ JuiCe ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Hmmm. Sidewinder used to be an excellent mod musician, but since he started producing music with professional equipment his mods suddenly got awful and bloated. It sounds like he doesn't want to do mods anymore, but feels obliged to do so for some or other reason, so he just slaps together a couple per year to get it over with. And this one isn't an exception. Just a bunch of huge loops sampled from studio gear and strung together. This wouldn't be bad, though, if only the loops were not so carelessly cut and pasted together. There are so many glitches, jumps and slack between them that the song is virtually unlistenable. And as if that isn't enough we are graced by the vocals of the man himself. Somebody oughta tell him he can't sing. It sounds terrible. And that's not counting the incredibly stupid and infantile lyrics. The plus points are naturally the high quality of the samples and excellent stereo-work, using small delays on one channel to bring more spatial depth to the sound. But it doesn't mean much with all the bad points dragging this song down into my trashcan. I really hate to come down on this song so hard, because I used to have respect for Sidewinder as a musician back in the day, but the new stuff just doesn't cut it. Get half a dozen of his old tunes from the days of his Scorched Tanks soundtrack--It's an incomparably better use of the same diskspace one of his new songs would waste. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ PanDuh ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This little techno mod is brought to you in full effect by 4 whopping channels! Whoop-di doo! Sometimes I just don't understand why some people cling to the old 4 channel format. It is outdated, limited and unless you are still playing with a Commodore SID chip, its not too hard to grab one of them "new-fangled" trackers and tack on a few extra channels. Although there have been 4 channel'ers that have impressed me recently, one of them being from Ravebusters, it is a difficult task to compose a good song with the constraints of the .MOD format. In the module, Beez, the composer uses long looped sample melodies and plays them at the C-5 note one after another. This has traditionally been the work-around for the restrictive nature of the .MOD format--but the thing is, the composer didn't have to do it in this case! Beez could conceivably have been composed with 4 channels using instrument samples and the effect would have been the same or better, since some of the loops were mis-timed. I don't know if the composer intended it this way, but the loop samples were also slightly out of tune, which had a discordant effect. The only part of the song I liked was when the composer actually played out a few notes with a pan flute synth and a bass, and it didn't sound too bad. The whole song would have been better if the composer had just ditched the loops altogether and stuck with putting the notes together ad hoc, as with the pan flute section. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Sweet song. Cute song. Fun song. And also a fully vocal song. "Open up and set me free, I'm just a little technobee(?)," the composer himself (I suppose) sings gaily to the sound of cute, buzzing, upbeat synths and electrodrums. There is just one problem. It's not a tracked piece. It is just a series of chunked up recordings of a synthpop-band playing on their keyboards. And they're not even of any high technical quality, and often sloppily put together. One too many times you're reminded of the way it's made when listening to it, and at least I find it highly annoying that so little effort has been put into making it sound somewhat professional. Because the music itself sounds very professional, the bouncy popstyle it is made in could probably produce at least one one-hit wonder in the commercial world, and this song, in itself, might have what it takes to put a big warm smile on the faces of potentional audiences. Hell, he's even a fairly good singer. He's no Pavarotti, but at least he has a voice that can carry a tune. Normally, I wouldn't recommend this as a MOD, because it isn't a "real" one. Not the way I think of MODs at least--the sound and tracking qualities are almost non-existent. But it is jolly good music, and it put a definite end to my spoiled-the-exam depression. Hear it out and call it a mod if you wish. To me it's just a pop song...and a good one too. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Well, for what it's worth, this song is pretty good. At first I thought he had taken an existing song and just done a remix of it, but after noticing that the instruments played within the full music samples are then utilized later in the song, plus that the vocals sound "home-grown," I've come to the conclusion that this is an original piece that he mixed down to 4 channels, as is also the case with another WMR reviewed module, My Wonderland. Whatever it is, though, he does a good job of combining the samples with his own percussion in certain sections. He merges the vocals well with the rest of the song by looping them to give a very cool echo effect. By using the offset command accurately, his timing is almost flawless. This song is a lot of fun to listen to, and produces a very vibe-y type of dancey techno-pop that is as danceable as it is attractive. It even *sounds* like the musical incarnation of honeybees. Overall, an excellent tune. I like the song as a whole, whether he composed it himself or not. [He did. -Boris] Kudos to Sidewinder for an excellent dance piece! --- References --- My Wonderland by Dax & Turbo.B. ([download]/[reviews]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a neat little tune. Kinda 80's synth pop. With vocals even. Luckily, lyrics are way at the bottom of my list when it comes to music because Beez' lyrics are a bit trite. Sidewinder uses a simple, albeit, repetitive chord progression through the balance of the song, played by slushy synths that just sound neat to me; played on opposite channels, they give a nice flanging effect too. The samples, overall, aren't the most vibrant, but I think they suit the tune just fine. The vocals aren't half bad either, I assume they are performed by Mr. Gieseke? Compositionally, there's not a whole lot here, just a very good, simple song. I won't be humming the tune all day, but it's a worthy tune nonetheless. The mod has a certain charm in it's low-fi sound, and it earns extra praise for being a vocal tune--something I didn't think could be done. Get this one, well worth a listen. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ It's the beez, Guv'nor, it's the technobeez!! This is a truly splendid little ditty. I'm having a hard time putting this into words. It's a good techno tune--complete with all the things you would expect from the genre. The one thing about techno that I wouldn't expect it to deliver, however, is a recognisable *song!*. Let me issue a WMR Sanity Warning here: do not download this track if it embarrasses you to sing lyrics like "I'm just a techno bee," in public. A couple of listens to this track, my friends, and that'll be your fate! Brilliant little track, for all its obvious flaws. The composer recorded the vocal which probably accounts for the wooliness of the sound, but I can forgive this track anything because of its sheer charm. A really light, fun kind of track which won't be to everyone's taste, but I love it! A really innovative MOD. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ There's not a whole lot I can say about this song. The samples are nice and the mix seems to be good. Everything else was decided by what's in the samples themselves. The artist of this song has recorded some material, taken it apart and put it back together again in the tracker, adding some lyrics. As a piece of music, it wasn't bad, though a bit repetitive. The lyrics weren't outstanding. Actually about normal for what you'd expect in a module. Nice rhythm however. A good dancy beat. Though as a module, it's hard to say. For the most part, the only tracking work to look at are the places where the next piece of sampled pre-song kicks in, and there are many pops and snaps in between them. The tracker was basically used as a recording device, which of course there's nothing wrong with. It just makes it a little tough to write a review on. -----================================================================----- "Pure Devotion" by CSM of Crazy Creations (10ch XM, 04:22) (PUREDEV.ZIP [164K/259K]) [Demo/Dance/Pop/Light Techno] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== ChroMix 89+ 90 85 80 60 PanDuh 82+ 85 81 78 60 Mansooj 76+ 80 -- 72 65 MING 76= 80 70 75 70 ESP 75= 80 70 70 65 CypherMonk 75= 75 70 70 60 WolfSong 62+ 71 68 79 49 Fanta C 57+ 65 61 58 52 Rebriffer 55- 50 55 50 60 Skullsaw 35+ 30 65 25 70 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Decidedly upbeat, mildly dancey, but maybe more demo-ish, but not quite. It definitely has elements of both, and is, to me, reminiscent of some of the better early/mid-90's Amiga synth-based demo tunes, but again, not quite in the same mold. The opening quickly pushes the overall brisk-paced and moderately energetic tone forward without beating around the bush. Early on you hear a "let the bass kick" and a "yeahhhh" sample, both of which have been around and used for ages, and consequently hold no special appeal. The latter seems innocuous enough, but the former and a few others ("are you ready," "...where is the money?" etc.) just seem gratuitous and do little to further the listening experience. There's a good deal of internal variety, with plenty of small synth interludes, most of which are nice, fresh, and actually aid the progress of the music as it moves along, rather than just pushing it towards a purely repetitious end. Of interest also is the percussion track. Overall, it is not extremely complex, but there are a good number of variations strewn throughout. Mettalic pinging comes and goes for the duration, just enough to add flavor, and avoid sticking out each time it shows up. The overall body tends to remain somewhat similar, despite the variations, but this is mostly due to the tempo and instruments rather than the actual articulation. The only major change is a two-part breakdown beginning around 1:10 that sweeps away most of the main instruments, leaving the percussion to show through a bit more. This is a short interlude, but a nice perk is that when the main tune comes back, the percussion track has been modified somewhat, rather than coming back entirely the same. Errr...though it eventually does revert back to the "main" layout. Hmphh. Still, it's a good, fairly energetic perc track with more variation than in most dance/demo type tunes I've heard. The samples are not overly numerous, which helps to keep the filesize down, but they are good and clean, and provide a worthy palette from which CSM managed a very well done track (though things seemed a little on the trebly/high-pitched side). Staying on samples: he could have easily done without most of the vocal samples. They sounded clear, but were, as noted above, essentially unnecessary. He also could have left out a guitar cry (something used at a couple of points, first at about 5 seconds in), because it seemed to have just been slapped over the rest rather than being part of it. Minor sample quibbles aside, there's not too much to pick at. The tune, overall, is somewhat repetitive in feel despite its rather high internal variety quotient. However, this sense of repetition isn't really obvious until you've had the track playing for a half hour or so, and even then it's not that big of a deal. Taken as a whole, this is quite a good piece of modulage, well worth the minimal download time. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Sometimes I wish I had a split personality; and when a tune like this comes up, I get one step closer to it. This is a song you'll either hate or love. The problem for me is that I found it difficult to make up my mind on which side of the fence to stand. With this song, the term Dance-Pop has never been more accurately defined. Combining synthpop patterns with a light dance/demo beat and some demo type lead melody creates a style that is just this side of being silly, and creates a good drive for a pleasant listening experience. Patterns of classic synth beeping and little swirls of overlay melodies, along with some good percussion effects now and then, and well placed voice effects (I make an issue out of this because nine times out of ten, they aren't done well at all) gives the production a genuinely professional touch. What doesn't add to it at all, is the mixing. Unfortunately, themes and effects often drown in the general sound, and there's just too little in the way of low and high spectral sound. It's sometimes like listening to a Dolby noise-reduced tape...you're kinda trapped in a muffled cell. The lack of panning also adds to this sense of flatness. Additionally, although the tune itself is pleasant and catchy, the main theme is so vague and...slippery, it's almost impossible to get a grip on. Concentrating very hard, I can hear a really nice little melody playing, but it fades away both in volume and musical qualities when compared to the textured wall of music intended to back it up. As you can see, there are strong arguments here, both on the plus and minus side. On one hand we've got a strong, catchy tune, which through simple means has created a good mood, and also posesses enough cool oddities and originality to be really interesting. On the other hand, we have a muffled sound, an almost nonexistent lead, and quite unrefined production. But if I have to decide, I think I'll vote for the positive opinion. Okay, I like it. There. Now I've said it. So if you now download this, and find it to be pure shite, don't blame me. I DID warn you. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Demo music is a strange beast. It's a genre of music which was entirely created in the demo scene, and has remained there all along. I don't know of any producers who make this kind of music commercially, and I'm not sure why, since it strikes me that it would be quite listener-friendly on the whole. But enough of this mindless waffling, get to the point mate. Right, Pure Devotion is a demo tune, and does all the things a good demo tune should do, i.e. have a good beat, a reasonably distinctive melody (which remains somehow unwhistlable), a rigid four-beat structure and progression, and uplifting feel, a spacey, futuristic sounding lead which seems almost over-emotional at times through applied portamentoing, and of course, the obligatory samples of people saying things like "yeah" and "let the bass kick." If I make it sound rubbish or predictable, then I don't mean to, the fact remains that despite all these stereotypical elements and book-following, Pure Devotion is still very listenable, if not exactly ground-breaking. However, some would say that it's just as difficult to come up with a successful track that epitomises a genre as it is to make one which is genuinely ground-breaking. There is never a moment in the track when you have a chance to be bored, as the whole thing is almost always progressing at a fair old rate, and there is usually three or four melodic instruments at work, which at least shows a decent sense of solidity and vision. My only real fault with the track is the awful electric guitar sample which appears at the beginning. To be honest, I don't think it does fit in very well with the tunes, but really, and more importantly, I just don't like the sound of it personally. :) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a happy-happy, joy-joy, poppy dance tune. Happy chord changes. Happy melodies. Happy beat. So why does this mod make me feel so unhappy? For starters there are the speech and vocal samples. I'm sorry but the use of such samples as "Yeah," "Let the bass kick" and "Are you ready?" should be banned from all further use. At the very least someone should come up with a mod filter that would prevent one from ever hearing these again. Now on to the notes, musical that is. There a lot of them. A sixteenth note bassline relentlessly gallops along as various synths put in their two cents melodically. A wailing guitar pops up now and then as do those damned "Oh yeahs," etc. Underneath it all is a four on the floor bassdrum and 80's, New Order type snare. Every now and again, to break up the monotony, various types of breaks are used, dropping of instruments, harmonic modulation.... I just don't like this one. It's all to perky, like junk food for the ears. The quality of the samples is top notch, soundwise, but the use of the aforementioned vocal snatches is inexcusable. There is a universe of spoken words out there for the taking, some imagination is needed here. The composer does show some arranging skills , everything seems to be in the right place. He also makes use of glissandos to good effect, but the actual music is unispired and forgettable. Fans of house, techno, trance should stay clear. Demo fans and lovers of happy, perky, upbeat tunes may find substance here, even if I don't. /----------------------------------------------------\ )---------------------========[ CypherMonk ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a tough one. The first four or five times I listened to this one, I found it very hard to keep myself attentive. Truthfully, I have to say that this particluar song didn't stir my interest as some others have. However, despite the fact that I didn't find it intensely intriguing, it's a very well written song which possesses a nice grasp of all the tracking essentials. CSM uses solid compositional skills along with just the right amount of tracker effects to create a well thought out tune. The song starts out with a snappy, upbeat tempo, which it maintians throughout the course of the song, giving it an early 80's dance feel which is a style not often heard within the tracking community. It has some nicely varied percussion (none of which are pre-sampled beats) showing CSM's confidence and competence in his ability to create decent drum tracks. The song flows very well, transposing from one 'segment' to another without any noticeable glitches. Each pattern builds on the previous one with a neat precision, so that while the main melody is consistent, it's not overly redundant. And although the separate parts within the song are not themselves very distinct in their individuality, this doesn't detract from the final quality of the music. Pure Devotion is a well executed, well planned, and nicely written song. And despite the non-enthusiasm of my own feelings for this style of music, I have to take my hat off to CSM for a job well done. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Cool song. I've just gotta say it, though, this totally reminds me of a song I might hear in a Megaman game or something (which by the way, isn't a negative thing at all...some of my favorite tunes are Megaman level themes :)). The groove in this song is really what makes it so cool, and combined with the melody makes it a lot of fun to listen to. It really makes you want to get up and dance around. Very interesting. The composer really shows a lot of prowess with his use of bassline, vocal samples, and breaks and so forth to give the song the continuity that allows you to really jump into it thinking "How clever," and "That sounds really good there," and so on. Technically speaking, CSM does a very good job as well. He makes good and appropriate use of samples the way any composing guru should. My only complaint is that the samples he uses are really old-skool sounding, rooting from mainly U4ia, I suspect. I love the tune though, and the fact that he can make such a cool tune with such samples is a good thing. Nonetheless, the song _would_ be better with higher quality samples. Bottom line, this is a rocking tune and I absolutely love it. It's definitely going into my collection as a cool tune from which I can learn and receive inspiration. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This track made me go and check my calendar to make sure I wasn't going backward in time. Then I went and checked the sample notes, and sure enough, there it was in plain black and green 'Released 1996.' Well, to these ears anyway, this reminded me so much of music that I *loved* 5 years ago I almost had flashbacks. A MOD in the 'classic' sense is often a thing of beauty, and although this tries real hard, it doesn't quite make the grade. CSM obviously know his way around FT2 because the coding work is excellent and the samples are bright and well mixed, but the niggles definitely outweigh the raves by a mile. The track starts with some piano samples that, to my ears anyway, sound out of tune. It may be that the composer wanted it this way, but I tend to think not. It may be that he had trouble fine tuning the sample, which is a common complaint for all of us, in which case, there ya go, it happens.... The track, overall, is decent enough and I may play it a few more times before it departs this particular hard drive, but I feel that CSM has better tracks in him--if not ones already released. If you come across it, check it out by all means, but I, for one, wouldn't actively seek it out. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Not bad! This is a fantasy/rock piece that has quite an original sound to it. Nice rhythm and an exciting progression that bounces around under numerous synth leads and techno-like overtones. The shame of it is this: I would have given this song a *much* higher score if only the composer had taken a minute or two to make sure his samples were in tune. This is my main complaint. The song *is* good. I think it's a very nicely designed and constructed piece, but because of a few pretty badly untuned samples, the entirety of the song sounds like a dying 8 track tape! (Does anyone remember those, or am I just getting too old?). And all because a couple of numbers were a little off. That's really my only complaint...okay, maybe not. The solos could have used a little smoothing out. They seemed a little awkward. Nothing serious, but I would dare to say that had this song been treated to a little bit more care, it would have been a very professional sounding piece. The music and composition are all there, it just needed a little more attention paid to the technical aspects. Though, even with its problems, it's quite an original sounding and enjoyable tune. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ "Let the bass kick" is the phrase uttered at the start of this track. Well, wow, that's original; not! This could have been a most excellent mod with some more work, and if the basic ideas had just been developed more. Unfortunately, they weren't and so it falls into the big wide chasm of average demo type mods, just not quite to the very bottom. How could it have been better? Well, firstly, the lead synth lacks a lot of punch, and having a punchy lead instrument is crucial in this type of track. Next, the basic backing rhythm is bland. This really needs a percussion section that is "working" and not just ticking over. Give it some energy. Thirdly, some of the samples could be clearer and less distorted. Some sound distinctly Commodore 64-ish. Musically, the lead riffs just don't sound fully developed. For example, there's a run at fifty seconds which should have been carried through with, and not terminated early; it just didn't fit well. As you can see, with just a little more work, this could have been excellent. Without that work it exists as just another demo mod destined to be quickly forgotten. Indeed, it's happened already. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ PanDuh ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I really like CSM's style. The samples in this module are not of the greatest quality, in fact, they are quite out-dated, and the 8-bit tinniness and scratchiness can be heard on many of them. Yet, it doesn't seem to affect the module adversely, rather, it adds a nostalgic charm. CSM is obviously musically proficient--it can be seen in the timing and the composition of this module. Although this is not one of his best songs, it's the style that I really enjoy. The particular style is action-packed with a good amount of variety and an energetic melody that's able to provide some enjoyment, even if it isn't the most original or technically superb. The music in this module is reminiscent of what one might find in an 80's sci-fi flick or in Japanese animation. If you're into the tunes of that particular decade, like I am, then you just might enjoy this little mod. -----================================================================----- "Tripping to Neptune" by Basehead of KLF (14ch S3M, 11:55) (TrippingToNept.lha [234K/479K]) [Deep Trance] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Skullsaw 90+ 90 90 90 90 Rebriffer 85+ 80 90 90 70 Araneus 84+ 85 -- 89 92 ChroMix 74= 75 80 90 75 WolfSong 71- 73 74 70 77 Mansooj 68= 75 -- 85 80 DRift 60- -- -- 50 -- MING 37+ 30 50 85 50 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I normally love Basehead, and I generally regard him as being a total genius, so looking at this song within that context allowed me to understand that this is probably very good trance, and therefore should be looked at with an open mind (I've learned from listening to a little hardcore trance here and there, that my opinions and ideas about trance are somewhat limited by my lack of experience with it). The first thing I noticed about this song was that it has a very cosmic, head-in-the-clouds, trippy type of tone to it, which is very pleasant to listen to and is really quite absorbing. The accents added throughout the song, even when repeated a lot (as with a spacey "wo-o-o-E- E-E-E-E-o-o-o," or "dOOdOOdoo," or even a really weird "Ave ave" vocal that makes no sense :)), are audibly pleasing without getting too boring and monotonous. I like the way the tune kind of grabs the brain, straps it into a waterbed, and takes it on a joy ride through layer after groovy layer of space-laced trance. The thing I like most about this song, though, is its rhythm. It's the same kind of rhythm that defines a lot of Basehead's music, and I'm glad he didn't abandon it here. I also like the progression of the song, and the very creative ways the composer used transitions between movements. Strangely enough, I found that the song just kept getting better as it progressed; my favorite part being a dancey-acid type of groove that's introduced around pattern 90. As far as the samples go, most of them appear quite good (aside from that odd vocal mentioned earlier). The overall composition and technical aspects seem quite sound as well, and again, Basehead makes use of a quite a few effects (although not as many as usual), and uses them wisely. It's also a very original song, as far as experience tells me. The only thing that I didn't like about this song is that it failed to affect me in any way that would make me want to listen to it again. This is most likely because I generally prefer dance over ambient and trance. Still, a truly great song can reach anyone regardless of their preferences, and, in a way, this one did that. Overall, I give Basehead a high-five for a strange but good piece of music. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Another of Basehead's filibustering tour de forces. This one comprised of a mishmash of sounds drawn from a wide audio spectrum. The word "tripping" should be capitalized and used in big, bright, bold colors and rendered in a humongous font, because, boy, this is a trip alright. It's kind of rave, what with its generous use of rave bass drums. It's kind of trance, what with its nearly ubiquitous (after about 3 minutes) employment of a sort of drugged out version of a broad harp strum. It's kind of jungle, what with the use of appropriate percussion beats and rhythms, and nearly unintelligible tribal-style vocal samples, at various points. It's even kind of drum'n'bass/acid after about 9:30 when the appropriate beat and blips and twists come in. Sheesh, and there's some intermittent use of a kind of house-synth too. Bizarre, hard to get a grip on, stuff. I hereby declare Basehead a weirdo. Only a weirdo would do this to me. Hmm...aha! The truth is hidden in the sampletexts (okay, I didn't look until now, lemme alone). I quote, "composed in a few hours following a very bad hangover." Well, well, the cat's out of the bag. This is quite a good musical image for such a thing, kudos for that, but please don't go on a mass murdering spree and follow it up with a song, eh? How many people will enjoy listening to an audio-hangover is beyond me, but it's definitely an interesting experience. Not one I care to repeat many times, but interesting. Something like the way a person who has a fear of heights gets cajoled into taking a ride on one of those parachute contraptions at an amusement park. They do it 'cause they feel compelled to by others, but once done they snarl and say, "Ok, I did it, now leave me the f*ck alone." Got the idea yet? /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Another mega track (13:00 this time) which starts with a wonderful percussive section using what sounds suspiciously like talking drum samples. On closer inspection they turn out to be nothing of the kind, which is why Basehead is revered by many composers. Take a look under the hood of this little beauty, and the coding will explain that, although the samples may sound like nothing unusual, the way Basehead codes makes nonsense out of most MOD tracks. Another one of my particular Basehead favourites, not for the tune which is OK enough, but for the excellent and sometimes genius way he twists the samples to his own needs. The tune itself is again a "techno/bleeper" in the classic sense, and as such you are going to either hate it or love it. Can't fault the twists and turns in it, though. That's what keeps you glued to it, waiting to see what happens next. By the way, there's a great vocal section around 3:15 that knocks 7 shades of hell out of those purists who say MODs shouldn't be using vocal samples. This section shows exactly *why* we should all try it at least once or twice. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I'm sorry. Even Basehead, normally a good composer, can't succeed all the time. This attempt at being eccentric and artistic is a total disaster. Medium deep, constantly changing drumming that's never the least bit rhythmical starts things off...and keeps going and going. Somewhere along the way a slightly drunk producer stumbles into the room, with some slightly drunk vinyls and plays them, slowly scratching on a slightly drunk record player. It tries to sound like a psychedelic nightmare, but only sounding like a chaos of badly synched and unrhythmic vocals, slides and drums. Normally I kinda like all sorts of experiments out into the deep waters of pseudo music. This attempt was almost lethal, though. It's from '94--the pre-panning age, and it's, soundwise, not very well produced, so however hard I try, always telling myself "This is one of my favs, this IS one of my FAVS," it doesn't help. I still regard this song as unworthy of existence in my presence, and I'll seek out FM's archives for more of the Basehead I'm familiar with. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is an ambient piece that has a tendency to break into some nifty dance beats now and again. Though it is quite a long song (over 12 minutes), the length itself didn't seem to detract from its overall appeal. Actually, you could almost say this is several songs in one. It shows you a certain "mood" and then moves smoothly to the next. This was a relaxing song to me. At first when I saw the length I didn't think I would get through the whole thing without being bored to tears, but I wound up sitting in my recliner and listening the whole thing through. It had enough transitions to keep it interesting and never seemed to go out of character. I don't usually like ambient songs because they usually bore me, but this one had many interesting aspects. Basehead seems to use sound as a tool here, crafting different colours and moods. And if, as much as I like this song over most ambient songs is any indication of just how much more ambient fans will like it, then I'm sure they'd want to download this one and check it out. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I usually don't take a liking to "noise" modules, but this one held my attention throughout the entire song! Basehead starts with an East Indian bhangra style tempo, adds a few blips, later includes a sample sounding like it came from the Star Trek transporter, and ends up with a wonderful ensemble of instruments to form an organized and well-behaved module. A chant sample, a 'buzz'ing rhythm, and a pair of organ chords add wonderfully to orchestrate an effective sound. A subtle, but lovely bass-line adds to the mass of the module--crank that stereo up! An added plus--a change to a quicker tempo and some new instruments makes the 13+ minutes that this song takes up seem to pass by quite quickly! /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Musically, this is a big mod encompassing many styles. From ethno-ambient beat music to house and trance, Basehead covers a lot of ground in this 10 minute plus opus. Just when things get a tad tired he smoothly switches gears keeping me interested. I very much like the sample set that includes a potpourri of electronic swirls, bleeps and sweeps, very colorful. Tripping to Neptune is a musical journey of sonic exploration. I recommend it to lovers of music as it is almost like a how-to of dance styles. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ DRift ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ For some reason, I don't like this song nearly as much as some of Basehead's other mods. Why? I'm not sure. On the surface, it doesn't sound different. The samples are the same (very high) quality. It isn't much more repetitive than average, though that factor exists. It's just the melody itself. Beep beep thud, beep beep thud. There's no emotion in it.... As background trance, it's decent, but I was disappointed. -----================================================================----- "Parliament of Dreams" by Pirat of Phase Distorsion (4ch MOD, 04:25) (phd_parl.zip [201K/392K]) [Acid/Atmospheric] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Skullsaw 80+ 75 70 60 85 Araneus 75+ 70 -- 72 75 MING 75= 80 85 50 75 Mansooj 73+ 70 -- 70 75 Rebriffer 70+ 65 70 65 70 ESP 65+ 70 80 55 70 WolfSong 63+ 65 68 70 50 Shrift 60= 60 60 40 65 DRift 59= -- -- 25 75 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A simple but aggressive percussion track drags this piece of acid along at 165bpm through about four and a half-minutes of bleeping, blooping and twisting. Another channel is mostly devoted to a dreamy synth with a somewhat sinister, suspenseful edge to it. Being only four channels, the minimalism is understood, and with this sort of music, even doubly so. This is almost trance, but doesn't have the right edge to it. The synth accompaniment being too...normal and laidback for that, and the beat being a bit too frenetic. Acid has always presented something of a quandary for me, because being essentially simple and usually fairly repetitive, it has the basic earmarks of something I probably wouldn't like if someone just described it to me. But when I listen, there's something there that hooks me, and I still know full well the points that I ordinarily wouldn't get worked up about. Strange. At any rate, there really isn't a great deal to go on about simply because of the module's sparse nature. The samples are homemade, and quite good, if accompanied by a few slight pops and clicks here and there during note transitions. The percussion is basic, but broken up now and then to make its repetition less problematic. The acid blips are acid blips; same thing you've heard in virtually all other acid tunes. And still the oddity of something so inherently stark remains. It is neat, despite itself. What Pirat would do here given more than 4 channels, is beyond me, so I can't quite qualify this one as a definite beneficiary of such a transition. In fact, now that I think of it, I don't believe I've heard enough multi-channel acid to really be able to consider that question properly. Hmm. Get it if you're into acid or trance, or just like minimalistic stuff of this general nature. Don't bother if you're looking for complex melodies or intricate mergings of wide numbers of samples, 'cuz it just ain't gonna happen here. And the reviewer wanders away...with a big question mark floating over his head. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Subtle and minimalist are two ways I could describe this track. Predictable and empty are another two. Pushed for a judgment like I am, of course, I'd steer towards the first description. This is a track which sounds as if it doesn't have much going for it, but that sound is really what makes it. Not much happens in it, it's very simplistic in structure, consisting as it does of a bit of ambient blah, and a verse and a half (long verses, mind) of acid bass. If this doesn't sound very exciting, that's because really, it isn't. But it is mildly so, and the quality of the actual music is high. The 303 squeaks sound fairly authentic thanks to a combination of great samples and clever programming and articulation, and the 909 drum loop pounds away in fine fashion, but at a level and intensity which makes the rhythm too obvious to ignore but not so hard that it carries the track away by itself. Quite why the drum loop needs to be 4 beats long I'm not sure, since each beat is not very different from another, but every little nuance in a track makes its mark, and I suppose Pirat reckoned those differences were important. And who am I to argue? A well fashioned track which almost makes up what it lacks in straight excitement with its high production quality and overall fluency. Could do with being a bit longer, however. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Classic rubberband stomp here. :) Starting with horror-space-theme pads and soon adding a technotrancebeat that's good enough, I suppose, but painfully monotonous as it keeps going all the way through the song in exactly the same way. Once the song has settled into itself, a typical 303 freak shows his true face and starts assaulting you with those creaks and quirks, in endless small variations. Unfortunately, that's about all that happens for the last three-quarters of the song. Apart from the overall lack of big scale variety, not much is wrong here. Technically, samplewise, musically, nor in terms of entertainment value. It's only that I've heard it all before. One too many times, I think. The basic concept is way too old to be even remotely interesting by itself, which makes it a pity with regard to such an otherwise generally good tune. And yet...I'm, as always, very impressed with one thing: however hard I try, there is no way I could ever squeeze in as much sound as Pirat has done here on only four tracks. Believe me, I've tried, and it always sounds small, tiny, minimal, hollow and stupid, while this is deep, rich and massive. How? How?!? /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is atmospheric acid-house. It uses a beeping-bass synth lead with a reoccuring ambient synth running alongside. The lead is composed of several samples of differently flanged bass synths. There are two drumtracks which largely carry the rhythm section. The bridges are average, and the transitions are sometimes a bit awkward. The alternation between the hihats and the bass drum during one such transition sound like they get slightly out of step due to the opposition between them. There is not much new here, but it is composed simply (in 4 channels), and has a generally effective sound. The effective use of the "beeping bass" synths, as I call them, which really give this piece its acid edge, are styled well, and add much to the song. The atmospheric background is simple and churning, giving a fine theme. The drum tracks are well looped to give some variety, and mix well with the theme. Overall, a simple combination of multiple themes, each very concise and clear. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A trance module very effective at conveying moments of tension and thrill. When you first hear it (for those of you really into trance), you won't be able to avoid bobbing your head a little to the beat. For the part of the song closest to a melody, a single note is used, but is transformed somehow to make it sound slightly different (same pitch, but different sound). I'm sure there's a musical term to this, but I'm not a tracker so I can't describe it exactly, but believe me, it works in the professional music industry, and Pirat has used it very well here. Pirat not only knew how to effectively begin this module, but also ends it nicely. What comes between is a little short-lived compared to most other trance modules, but that works well in not giving you enough time to become bored with it. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song begins with a neat, suspenseful "voxy" synth-like progression, which I actually rather liked. I certainly couldn't have predicted the drum style as they faded in. To be honest, they've been done before, but it was interesting to hear them where they wouldn't be expected. From there, the composer plays with echoing, acid-like bass samples--displaying some tracking experience. Probably my biggest complaint is that the song sounds "empty." There is a lack of depth which I think comes from the lack of a better bass track. I was forgiving on the composition score because this is a MOD, and it's much harder to get a "filled out" sound with only four tracks. However, it CAN be done with a little work and trickery, so no more freebies. Keep at it Pirat! /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ DRift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ There are basically three separate sounds in this song. The first is a ghostly, high-pitched sound that fades in and out in the background. The second is the excellent, 300 bpm, pre-recorded drum track. The third is a standard acid sample. It bloops and beeps and jumps around unpredictably, and what comes out is a rather good, though sparse, melody. The overall effect is that the song sounds very high-strung. This song felt unfinished. It's not unpolished, but the beginning, the middle, and the end sound mostly the same. Repetition is not a problem, since there are varying combinations of the above three sounds, but, it feels like something is missing. Maybe it was the four-channel MOD format that stopped this song from developing completely. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Another 4 channel MOD, this one is speed, speed, speed!! 165bpm and rising. So fast. I can only. Talk in. Short. Sentences. Hard to. Get my. Breath.... Loads of hyper hihat, an unrelenting bass line and arpeggiating synths combine in this strange little number to assault our delicate earholes. The rhythm track is jaunty and upbeat, which is a bonus point because, overall, I didn't feel the track went anywhere adventurous. You can hear better, and more innovative tracks from any of the Netherlands based trackers working in this genre. A worthy effort yes. A groundbreaker, no. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I really like this one. It grabbed me right away with the opening ambient chordal synths that make for a sensuous yet sinister mood. I really became hooked after the high BPM, simple bass drum/clap set the stage for the acidic TB303 riffs. PoD chugs along while the previously mentioned synths float in the background. A couple of drum part drops and breaks later and it's over before it can get boring. POD is a good acid/trance tune to be sure. My usual caveat applies though, I've heard it before, nothing groundbreaking here, but what there is is executed expertly. Go for it. -----================================================================----- "