Labels:text | screenshot OCR: AM/FM AM/FM BASEMENT TAPES! Allister Brimble: "Sounds Digital" (CD) Reviewed by Bjᵒrn A. Lynne Tapes. "home Before I go on with this review, please keep in mind that the music I'n reviewing comes on CD from one of the best Amiga musicians through many years. I will expect a nore professional product than what I normally do with AM/FM Basement If I were to review this CD on the same basis as I do with all the made" amateur-tapes that are sent to me, then this CD would obviously score VERY high. But this is a fully professional CD released by a full-time professional musician who works with the best equipment available; so I will be harder on this review than on other Basement Tapes reviews! It wouldn't be fair of ne to compare this CD with an amateur tape recorded by a movice musician. I will compare this CD to any other CD I would go out and buy. AM/FM ratings: (0-10) Compositions: 6 (Actual musical originality and qualities) Production: (Sound quality and choice of instruments) (Packaging) Presentation: 4 Contact: Equipment used: Allister Brimble Synths: Kurzueil K2000 Hill House Korg 01/W Lapford, Crediton Yanaha TG77 Akai $950 Devon EX17 7QE ENGLAND Alesis SR-16 Roland D-110 Effects & EQ: Alesis Quadraverb Microverb III Aphex aural exciter type B Ibanez GE3101 31 band graphic EQ Mixing: SECK 1882 Analogue Recording: Fostex B16 Digital Recording: Casio DA?, Casio DA-R100 Here it is then! Allister Brimble's first CD... I'm sure many of you have been waiting for this CD to appear I certainly have! After Chris H"Isbeck and nyself, Allister is the third "Aniga musician" to nove over on professional equipment and release a studio quality CD. It really pleases ne to see this happen to more and more of the old Aniga musicians - I think it goes to show that you really can develop your music skills and your creativity in the Aniga scene, and what you learn there can forn a basis for a future music career. It is also a great source of inspiration for other Amiga musicians, just like most of you readers, that the way from MED/Protracker to "real" music and CD production isn't really that far! Working with Protracker is NOT just a dead end so far there have been 3 CD-productions to prove that. Chris H"Isbeck's "Shades", my own "Hobbits & Spaceships" and Allister's "Sounds Digital". Well, actually, there's 4, because Chris H"lsbeck has just released a 2nd CD, "The Apydia Soundtrack" (But I wasn't supposed to tell yet! - Never mind. -Read the review of this CD in this issue of AM/FM, or in the mext issue). Allister's CD "Sounds Digital" comes in a very simple CD cover. On the front, there's a simple, but delicate DPaint picture made by Tean-17 graphic artist Rico Holmes. But the "booklet" inside is just a single folded paper, with NOTHING what so ever written on the inside. A bit disappointing, methinks... Ok, I know that it's the music that counts, but especially with a CD like this, it's more fun if you can read some background info, maybe look through some more drawings, etc. neatly put together in a CD booklet. The CD itself also had only a very simple press... So the presentation gets only a 4 on the AM/FM rating. Well then!! Now onto the main thing: The Music! The first thing I did, naturally, was to check which songs were here. I already had Allister's cassette tape "The Team-17 Works" which he released about a year ago, with 6 songs some of then taken from various Team-17 ganes, and some of then not. Allister sold this tape for about 4 GBP I think. Well, upon looking at the song titles on the CD, I noticed to my great disappointment, that almost all of the music from this old cassette was also on the CD.. Hunn... sone of these songs are more than 2-3 years old now, and for a CD release, I think Allister should have come up with new material, instead of re-releasing the exact same versions of the exact same songs that he released on a ú4 cassette tape a year ago. Surely Allister, who works full time with music, can come up with more than about 4-5 songs a year. Of course he does - but why not share more of the new material with us? There was in fact only ONE song from the and to my despair, that was the one song old tape that wasn't also on the CD on the tape that I liked best; the "Alien Breed" music. Ok, well, we still have a few new tunes to listen to here, so I eagerly started listening. First song: "Voyager". Great sounds. Wonderful synth sounds. That Korg 01/u and Kurzweil K2000 really does their job... Those sounds float and swish and swoosh and creep in on you - they sure put a very professional touch to the music. But I wonder if the "search for superb synth sounds" hasn't taken away some of Allister's inpiration, and the whole creative process has 1/2 consisted of locating great sounds, and just 1/2 actually composing music? It sounds that way to me, unfortunately. I think Allister has simply concentrated a bit too much on showing off great synth sounds, and let this cone before the actual music. When I reviewed N.M.Parker's tape "Ethneric Realm" a couple of issues back, I wrote something like "Ok the sounds aren't particularly exciting, but if the music itself is good, that doesn't matter...". Well, I'm afraid this works the other way around as well: It doesn't help you much to have all the brilliant synth sounds in the whole world; if the music doesn't grab you. This applies to the whole of Allisters's CD, but it's most obvious in the song "Voyager", which opens the CD. Once you have heard all the great sounds, this song isn't really all that exciting. The big chords float around, but I feel they lack "nerve", if I can put it that way. Upon listening several times, I found out that there was a nice melody line, but the song just didn't work for me. The sound effects dominated this song - not the music. AM/FM Rating 4. The next song, "Himalayan Sunrise" is a smooth, oriental sounding piece. There's also another oriental piece here ("Full Contact"), has Allister got a bit of Thai blood in him? (Kidding!). Onto the song itself this piece starts with a kind of whistle-sound playing a very oriental sounding melody line. Slow chords, slow, soft instruments... But what's this? The melody line that starts the song is repeated over and over and over again throughout the whole piece... Is it just me, or is the CD getting boring already on the 2nd track? I chose to think it was just me, for now, and kept listening. This piece actually lifts from the start and delivers some very nice bongo type drums, lovely airy string and flute sounds in a nice, pretty melody line. The occasional Sitar and other strange plucked string instruments appear from time to time. All in all, I think this song repeats the same things over and over again too often, and should either have been just 2-3 minutes long, or should have had a lot more variety. Better than the opening track, but I still think this is a bit boring. AM/FM Rating 5 on this song. The next song was a refreshment after the opening with two slow songs. "Assassin" is a funkier, with a muted guitar playing a nice riff some real drums (finally), and a very enjoyable, rough yet mellow melody line. Nice bass line too! This song got ne thumping my feet and listening closer. While listening, I though, "ok this is it - things are getting a move on nou", and I looked forward to the rest of the CD The melody line here had the kind of nerve that I'd been waiting for. My only critisism to this song is, like with the previous song, that the same thing is repeated too often. Allister's got a nice chord progression there, and a powerful melody line: but that doesn't mean he has to repeat it so often. Overall though, I found this song very good indeed. More stuff like this please - AM/FM rating 8. The next piece is called "Drifting to heaven" It starts with slow, airy strings, and some bells - somehow I wasn't surprised by this. Only problem is - it goes on like that. Throughout the song. This is the kind of song that I would call "cosy" and my girlfriend night like this, but personally, it's a bit too sweet for me. This is the 4th song on the CD, and the 3rd slow one! (Well, then I've counted "Voyager" as a slow one, but I can't really decide whether or not it is...) Some pan flute (Allister seems to use it all the time) plays an increadibly "heavenly" melody on top of everlasting string Nice chord-lifts! No druns. There's a fretless bass though, but it do anything worth noticing. I found this piece very "pretty", and with it's highlights (the key changes), but most of all I found it a bit boring. AM/FM Rating 5. chords. doesn't Onto the next piece, "Creation", surely this one must be poppier, rockier, faster or funkier? Wrong. ANOTHER slow one... Hunnm... This is the 5th song on the CD, and the 4th slow one! An incredibly nice guitar-sound plays a couple of standard grips in 6/8 as the song opens. It's joined by a piano (very nicely played!) and some (surprise) airy strings and a soft lead guitar. The guitar-emulations here are in fact very realistic and nice. I think the 01/W made sure of that. This piece has a drun track, but it isn't very just a nonotoneous simple beat with a clicking bass drum, a too dry rinshot and a too loud hihat... However, the fretless bass sounded very "live" and realistic, and so did the guitar- playing The tune carries a strong and mellow theme, and although I think the same parts were repeated a bit too often, I really liked this song. AM/FM rating 7. The next song is "Magnetic Drops", and this is one of the really old ones: I was made as an Amiga-only song first; some time about 2 or 3 years Korg exciting, think it Throughout the WHOLE song, over and over and way through the ago (Correct me if I'm wrong: I'm not dead sure about this). there's a pattern of claves that's reapeated over and over and over and over, until it makes you climb the walls some half song. Apart from that, the song is very nice - it has some they do their jobs crazy! After lovely floating chords, nice solos. The drums and bass are very "anonymous", they just stay in the background, but even though they're not that obvious, in their. This is probably the most "Jarre"- like song on the CD, just in case there are some Jarre-fans out there, reading this. I liked this song but I have to point out two things. Yet another semi-slow, mice and easy song?! And that claves-pattern drives me listening to this song 5 or 6 times, you will think the world would be a better place without claves!! Apart from that: a very nice song. But it was "old news" for me, as I already had it on Allister's cassette tape from way back, and I think it was old already when it appeared there. AM/FM rating 6. The next track is probably Allister's best known piece, "Project-X". This of) rave-ish piece is at least different from the rest of the CD, in it displays sone agressive instrumentation and even a kind of sinister (sort that and hellish feeling, by the main rave-instrument that Allister uses as a lead. The problem with this song is that it is meant as a rave- tune, but it doesn't quite qualify for that. Not that I would have liked it to, I hate rave, but at least that would have given the rave-fans something The sound is much too "friendly" for a rave-tune - the drums are much too soft, they should have been much louder and with more aggressive sounds. The Amiga-version was ok, but this song has no business on this CD, I think. It has some interesting turns, but all in all, this song is a failure, because it tries to be a rave tune, but fails. AM/FM rating 3. is "Thesmophoria", which I know for certain started out as an Next out Aniga-only piece a long, long time ago. And for the n'th time during this CD, we're treated to some bells and some long, floating, airy strings. As if to convince everyone that we're dealing with Allister Brimble, we're given a pan flute on top. Please, no more pan flutes Aniga-only music last 2-3 years, and they have to be played in a very special way to make them sound "real". For starters, the dusty "attack" that they have been over-used in the the a high pitch and immediately falls to the carrying note, should only on the first note in a series (i.e. after each time the flute player starts on be played has to draw air). Since Peter Gabriel released "Sledgehammer" God knows how many years ago, pan flutes have been used, misused and downright abused by every synth ouner in the world. No more please!! Ok, excuse my little "sidetrack" there, I just had to say what I think about pan flutes in computerized music. Back to the song well, it's pretty much like many of the other tunes on the CD, nice and cosy, with a bell-pattern repeated behind chords, slow and some quite nice nelody lines. I think this song could have been left out and replaced by a faster one with a bit more "kick" and power to it. But the song itself is nice. AM/FM rating 7. As if to complete my is heavily dominated theory of the pan flutes, the next song, "Full Contact" by pan flutes. (Sigh..). There are other flutes here too, and there are airy strings and there are long, slow chords. I like some parts of this song. And I dislike some parts. One part is especially clumsy and is probably the worst part of the whole CD; that's when Allister starts to play a happy, (sort of) oriental piece with a short flute sound, which sounds out of place, and it even sounds out of tune (although I'm sure it completely it plays). isn't, just seems that way because of the nature of the sound and what he I hate this part, and it appears at least twice in the song. (First time at 00:23 into the song). But there are also some nice and really nellow parts here, where superb sounding the one that starts atmosphere the pan flute (!) plays some long and crying notes on top of strings. the section starts 03:20). The drums and bass also help to add great examp at all I have here for a few seconds. But despite it's feu good moments, all in to admit I don't like this song much. The fact that I heard it on the Amiga, on the game "Full Contact", then on the cassette tape from first Allister a year AM/FM rating 4 The next track is called old Aniga-only tune. think this song has disappointing that Allister ago, and now on his first CD, doesn't make it any better. "Wild West Kid" and is yet another conversion from an song. This is a playful, but terribly childish and clumsy I no business what so ever on a CD, and I find it filled the CD with this material, instead of piece is a happy, childish kind of thing with composing something new. This merry bopping chords, and a cute and merry melody line that's played over and over and over. I definitely (!) did not like this. AM/FM Rating 3. The last track on the CD is called "Mid Summers Heat", and if I remember correctly, this piece was used as the "Oldtiner node" music in the gane It's a calm, cosy and warn piece with sounds of birds singing in "Project-X". the background, while beautiful melody. acoustic guitars and strings play a very soothing and I liked this song, because unlike sone of the others here, this one on ne - it's soothing and relaxing, and it has great atmosphere. best ever. Nice chord progressions. AM/FM Rating 8. Conclusion: The sound quality production is a bit thin times. But Can't get it any better. The time to time though I sort of like a bit more meat some this is a personal preference of mine. Many would say it's good that he doesn't overdo it with massive sounds etc. four small complaints: I have It was cheap 1) of allister to release a CD half filled with music that had already been out both on the Amiga and on a cassette tape he released a year ago. If you tape, and you're after new music, already have his your money's worth. you'11 only get half 2) It seems to me that Allister's has been using a bit too much time flicking through synth-sounds, looking for "big" and impressive sounds, and this has limited his actual composing creativity a little bit. 3) For taste, slow songs. 4) No more pan flute please. too many "Assassin" My favourite songs were and "Creation". On the other side of the scale, my non-favourites were "Wild West Kid", "Full Contact" and "Project-X". I found the rest of the songs "good" but not "great". Now then, do I recommend that you buy this CD? Of course!!! If you're an heard lots and lots of Allisters great Amiga-only and getting this music and other songs by Aniga-fan, you must have music during the past Allister on CD with proper a collectors is of course worth it's money. And this CD is definitely iten, which you will also have a lot of fun listening to. Even though I didn't particularly like all that doesn't mean I didn't enjoy listening the CD of the songs here, in general. Afterall, Allister is "one of us", that means a dedicated Amiga freak, and I listen to with much more excitement any CD that I would normally buy in a his music record store. Aniga-fans to buy be that I definitely do recommend all Song Title: 1. Voyager.....…. 2. Himalayan Sunrise. 3. Assassin.....… 4. Drifting To Heaven. 6. Magnetic Drops 5. Creation... 7. Project X... 8. Thesnophoria 9. Full Contact. 10. Wild West Kid. 11. 8 had a certain grip One is 100% my personal of Allister's top notch quality. from then again, years, sound than So my conclusion must this CD. Refer to the advertisement elsewhere in this AM/FM ! AM/FM Rating: Mid Summers Heat. Bjºrn A. Lynne AM/FM If you'd like your tape written about in AM/FM, just send it to: AM/FM c/o Bjorn A. Lynne Schleppegrellsgt. 10 - 0556 Oslo NORWAY The only condition is that the music is your own compositions. You may use whatever equipment you want to - or even just the Amiga. All tapes welcome. If you want your must include 20 NOK in unused tape back, you Norwegian stanps. AM/FM
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