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Rikimbo's Comments |
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Title: the story so far? Filename: f-story.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 7 / 10 |
| I thought the sound was pretty harsh at first, even for chip. But once it gets going, I don't mind it so much. I really like the bass and beat towards the end. Good stuff. | |
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Title: lazytune Filename: uc-lazy.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Very nice melody, once it gets started. This is very good for an ohc tune. It's simple, of course, but there's definitely enough there to hold up a decent tune. Good! | |
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Title: acidic-lampshade.md Filename: acidicla.mod |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 6 / 10 |
| Transitions are sometimes a bit harsh, but aside from that, pretty tight. Lots of little themes in here. A few really cool bits. Didn't blow me away, but its still not bad at all. | |
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Title: time to go (away) Filename: timetogo.it |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 6 / 10 |
| This sounds pretty bare, but simplicity isn't a bad thing. Hard dark melodies and slightly ominous mood. Enough variation to hold interest. Not bad. | |
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Title: Italian Wave Filename: fighters3.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 5 / 10 |
| There are some bits I really liked in this one; particularily the slower bits. The really fast beats came off as noise to me, but that's probably just personal preference. This didn't work for me. | |
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Title: in for the count Filename: meanbeat.mod |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Mean beat indeed! This is pretty catchy. I liked this alot. Quite a fun little thing. Good! | |
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Title: TRASH_01.XM Filename: TRASH_01.XM |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 6 / 10 |
| Despite the scratchy quality of the samples, this is quite listennable. The vocals honestly made me laugh. Not too bad for a thrash metal attempt, or whatever it is. | |
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Title: Winterhearts Filename: warg.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 7 / 10 |
| I'm not a fan of metal at all, but I'll admit I found this quite listenable. Good rhythm and cool dark leads. Not bad at all. | |
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Title: The Hypnotizer Filename: a-hypt.it |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Now this is cool. It's so delightfully weird, it definitely kept me listenning and interested to the end. Not quite hypnotized, but close enough. Good stuff. | |
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Title: channel_hopping Filename: chanhopp.mod |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 6 / 10 |
| Neat sound! I like how it slowed down and built up again. There are other pretty cool bits too. I'm not much for this style of music, I'm afraid. Not bad though. | |
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Title: Datura feat. Robert Miles Filename: dat-mile.s3m |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 6 / 10 |
| Pretty neat trance-ish thing. Tight, true to its genre. It didn't blow me away, but I like it. The piano melody reminds me of "Project X" by Pow and Spindizzy... | |
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Title: Art Of Art Filename: ARTOFART.XM |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 6 / 10 |
| This one could come off as a bit messy, but I like that. Very intricate piano work -- quite impressive for a tracked tune. it could perhaps use more intrumentation, but I like it as is. Good. | |
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Title: Angel Eyes Filename: rld-eyes.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Aww, now this is nice. So light, so smooth. I really enjoyed this. Harmony changes and such make for subtle but interesting variation. Very nice work, here. | |
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Title: I'm a spy! Filename: i_spy.it |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 5 / 10 |
| This thing is a bit chaotic, and some parts I found kind of annoying. But there's alot of interesting things in this one, and quite a few bits that I liked very much. Lots of variation. Not bad. | |
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Title: Paralyzed Groove Filename: atm_pagroov.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 8 / 10 |
| Awesome! There's alot of jazz fusion influence in here, though I guess I'd call the tune psybient. Interesting moods, interesting beats, greath rhythm -- just wonderful! I love it. | |
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Title: Mystical Dreams Filename: vr_mys.xm |
Posted Wed 23rd Aug 2006
Rated 8 / 10 |
| Very pleasing, uplifting easy listenning tune. I really enjoyed this one. I've never liked panflute much, but the piano work is fantastic! | |
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Title: blacked out name Filename: ub-name.it |
Posted Sun 6th Mar 2005
Rated 8 / 10 |
| I was genuinly impressed with this piece. There is alot to be said for simplicity, and uncleBen really nailed that point with this one (whether it be intentional or not). It doesn't surprise me that this tied for first on a #mod_shrine one hour compo. It starts off by setting up a light and slightly melancholic piano progression. The higher notes help create a brighter, sparklier mood for the thing. As is often done, the different elements come in one by one (progression, bassline, melody), which seems to work here. And then the piece gets interesting: I enjoy one hour compos because the artists don't have time to overwork their melodies, making them raw and impulsive ones. The melody here is the most impressive part of this package, nearly beautiful beyond words. I'm not going to over-analyse it, as that would just destroy everything it stands for; beauty and simplicity (again, whether that is intentional or not, I don't care). It just reeks of emotion and melancholy all over the place. And that's enough said already. Very well done. My only complaint is the ending. But that's because this is a one hour compo, and you stop when time's up. The artist has done great work with the sample pack here. I already mentionned the piano work that I really liked, but I'm even more taken by what's been done to the lead. I wouldn't have expected that sample to be used in this way at all. uncleBen has turned what was probably supposed to be some kind of synth bass sample into something more along the lines of an oboe, while still using it as bass in another channel. Very ingenious! This was achieved using tone portamentos to avoid the ugly sound it makes when the note triggers, and vibratos while the note is sustained. I also really like the use of a portamento down at key parts where the note comes off. As I stated earlier, I am thoroughly impressed with this piece. Simple, beautiful, and perfectly crafted. If that's what you like, and even if it isn't, download this one now! | |
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Title: The land of fantasy Filename: dn-thela.xm |
Posted Fri 4th Feb 2005
Rated 9 / 10 |
| You can hear the influence from Awesome right from the beginning of this track. It opens with some animal call taken straight from Awesome's "Ancient Stories". This one has a darker, more mysterious mood however, established by the opening chords. Pretty soon the echoed accoustic guitar comes in and prepares you for the general feel of the song, followed by the drum section a little later. The drumbeat is pretty simplistic, but it just about does it for me. I personally really like this almost indian style of drums, and it fits the fantasy genre perfectly. The accoustic guitar dominates the first half of the piece (up till pattern 24), playing different variations of the opening idea. Even though the same riffs keep coming up, it really doesn't feel all that repetitious. The reason being that there are some interesting things going on in the harmony, and there are a couple of breaks where the other instruments take over. Removing the drum section for a bit is a nifty trick that's been used here also. At pattern 24, the piece takes a different turn. A panflute then takes the lead, the same panflute that seams to be quite commonly used in fantasy mods. This is when the piece gets most interesting, I find. After the flute leaves the spotlight, a clean electric guitar (or at least that's what I think it is) takes it away until the end of the piece, backed up by a subtle but important vocal section. This last section achievessome pretty neat vibes and is superbly done. Overall, it is very well put together musically. It has a very relaxed feel, which was the intention of the artist, but I wouldn't limit it to just that. Strongly recommended for any ambian or fantasy fan. I'm always out of breath by the time I get to the technical section (figuratively speaking of course). So let's have a look at this. The samples are all 8-bit, save some 16-bit percussion samples, yet the filesize is still a whole megabyte unpacked. This really isn't much of a concern these days though, what with high-speed internet and almost limitless storage space. Pointing these things out is really just a formality. The whole thing is tracked using 32 channels. The echo effect the artist has set up here really eats up alot of channels, but it is a great thing to add to a fantasy piece. It give the whole thing a bigger, broader sound, contributing alot to the mood of the piece. There are also a number of sound effects hidden in there, and though you may not notice them at first, it makes a big difference. Very well set up, this is. So kudos to Area 51 DNA for this great fantasy piece. And if you like this one, you may like his sequel to it, "The Land of Fantasy II" - find it on his artist page. | |
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Title: Angel's Deep Shadow Filename: adshadow.xm |
Posted Thu 30th Dec 2004
Rated 9 / 10 |
| Yes! Morgan hit a home run with this one. I think this is his best work so far. The song starts off with a rather long vocal telling a story that I don't think I have to write down here. To be honest, I don't like storytelling vocals, because it really kills the replay value of a song (the song's ability to be played back over and over again without getting annoying). That's only my opinion though. Really the way the vocal sample is embedded in there with the wind blowing and the strings is masterfully done. Right after the storyteller shuts up, it's all good from there. Morgan catches your attention right away with his usual style of drumbeat and brings in some great piano shortly after. Some subtle effects using techno noises and panning really give this a great sound. The strings throughout are beautiful. The piece has great variation, always moving in waves of sound, bringing in and out the beat. And this goes on for over six minutes! I especially like the part with the bells. Patterns 27 to 32 strike me as somewhat annoying, but it's right before the bells, so it makes them sound that much better. Overall this is an excellent piece of work, with extreme contrast and really great sound. Very little to complain about. As I've said in another review, Morgan's been doing this for long enoug that's he's pretty much mastered the technical stuff. I can't find anything to complain about this time. Well, maybe I can complain about filesize, but really for a six-minute whopper like this one, it's worth it. Great use of panning and volume slides, especially on the strings. Clearly alot of attention was put into detail here. Oh, one little thing; I have no idea what the title has to do with the story... Oh well, it must be my lack of poetic-ness. Like I said earlier, I think this is really Morgan's best work, so download this masterpiece now! | |
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Title: Revelation Intro Filename: revintro.xm |
Posted Thu 30th Dec 2004
Rated 7 / 10 |
| Now this one is dark. Very dark. It starts off with a low, pondering string section to set the mood, and it builds up from there. The beat eases in effortlessly, and I tell you, it's really hard not to start bobbing your head; especially when it gets to patterns 10 and 11. Right after those two patterns, the music dies down a bit and agent Mulder from X-Files starts rambling untill the end of the song. That Mulder speach makes this piece feel like the intro to some sci-fi flic (or possibly an episode of X-Files?), when the credits go by at the beginning. Even if that's what this song was intended for (and it probably wasn't), I would still have much liked this one to be longer; you know, for a high-budget movie with alot of credits ;) Overall I like the feel of this one. This kind of dark techno really appeals to me. It's disappointing that it is so short, even if it is only an intro (as the title says). It is only about a minute long before Mulder starts talking. I don't mind that all that much though, because I like when the strings fade back in while the agent is blabbing. The only thing that I really don't like is at the very end when the strings go out with the overdone vibrato, though I guess playing with effects is what Experimental songs are all about. With an artist who has been here as long as Morgan has, it's virtually impossible to find something to complain about in the technical section. This one particularily shows that he's mastered panning and volume slides, as there is alot of that going on. Filesize is very reasonable, as is 18 channels. My only complaints are with the song's length, and that vibrato at the end that I plain don't like. I'd say this song is quite interesting and a definite recommendation for download. | |
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Title: Atlantis Lost Long Edit Filename: xeegee-atlantislostlongedit.it |
Posted Sun 28th Nov 2004
Rated 8 / 10 |
| It's not often that I can say that I enjoyed a trance song, and I can say I was pleasantly surprised with this one. The beginning isn't particularily interesting, it starts off as alot of trance songs do. The underlying beat is established right from the top, and other things add themselves in one by one. It's after this preliminary intro that you start to hear all the interesting things that XeeGee has put into this one. After the intro, it dies down for a bit, in order to build up to the entrance of the main idea. It does the same for an impressive set of other passages, always dying down then building up again. The transitions between the passages could have been smoothed up a little bit to give the piece more continuity, but the way it's actually done allows for each section to be independant from the others with it's own style and drumbeat. The first idea comes back at the end, with more momentum and added effects. Some of the effects strike me as a little odd and perhaps a little out of place, but as a whole it works. Alright, well something I can rat about is the file size, as I can do with many of XeeGee's songs. But really, a little over one megabyte isn't all that bad. This song makes use of a wide array of samples, most of which are percussion. There are quite a few 16-bit samples, but the longer ones are for the most part 8-bit. Everything sounds clean and the various seaside sounds fit in nicely. Well, I'm not going to say the tracking is lazy, but the song certainly doesn't need as much as 53 channels. There are many areas with huge gaps between used channels. It could no doubt be cut down a bit. XeeGee says this is one of his better songs. I haven't listenned to much of his other work, but I'm inclined to agree. | |
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Title: xcentric repulse mix Filename: xcentric.xm |
Posted Sun 28th Nov 2004
Rated 4 / 10 |
| Well, lets see, the author says "6 minutes of hardtrance in your face!" Well, it delivers what it promises, and really not much else. The beginning sounds rather rough and very chippy, but it loses that feel as the song progresses. A little less than a minute in, it loses all the chip samples and becomes much easier to listen to. There are a few parts that I thought were interesting, but there is an aweful lot of recurrance, even for trance. This is probably due to the song's length. At six minutes, I tend to tire of trance quickly. In between the recurring themes, there are some interesting buildups and little asides that may be worth listenning to. If you're the trance fan, there's a chance you might like this. As I stated earlier, alot of this song sounds chippy, and I'm not sure if that is intended. More care could have been put into achieving a better sound, in my opinion. Granted, hard trance is supposed to sound like just that, hard, coarse, but I think it could be better than this. Some transitions I find to be a little too harsh, notably when it goes away from the main idea for a while at around 3:40, and when it jumps back into it a little later. There are a few places I noticed earlier on too. My last complaint is that it is too long. This might have been a more intense song if it was all done in three minutes or so. That's only my opinion, however. If six minutes of hard trance is your idea of time well spent, then be my guest and click the download link. | |
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Title: Final Showdown Filename: xa-final.xm |
Posted Sun 28th Nov 2004
Rated 5 / 10 |
| My first thoughts apon opening this one were "oh no, a chiptune! This is going to drive me nuts!" But then I thought "yay, at least it makes the music classification easy." :) Chips often overuse the arpeggio effect, and it makes for more noise than music in my opinion. That was in fact the impression this one gave me at the beginning, but the arpeggios quickly withdraw to the background to make room for a melody. The whole thing is fast-paced and wild. There is enough variation in it it to stop me from calling it repetitive, as annoying I happen to think it is. There really isn't that much more I can say. Not being a fan of chiptunes, my objectivity is impaired, but I know that I have heard much better within this genre. However, if chiptunes do it for you, you may enjoy this more than I did. Sound quality is limited by the fact that this uses beepy chippy samples, but I've heard better uses of them than this. As I mentionned above, the usual arpeggio effect is used as it is in most chiptunes. This song is compressed into a relatively small amount of channels, not the traditional four, but eight is pretty close. File size is of course very small, something to be expected of this genre also. I'd say this is your average chiptune, so I'll give it your average score. Sound fair? | |
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Title: Rapper On Christmaz Filename: xmasrab.xm |
Posted Sat 27th Nov 2004
Rated 4 / 10 |
| Ok, so Christmas is coming up so maybe I should take the opportunity to review some of the xmas songs that crowd the X directory. Well here are my professional comments for this one: *ahem* Bwaahahahahaha! Alright, fine, I'll do my best to write a serious review for this one, but I really don't think this song is supposed to be taken seriously. The whole thing sounds like a parody of rap music. Really the only thing that makes this remotely close to a christmas song is the tambourine. The rest of the beat is all over the place, along with a random assortment of brass and scratcher noises. Throughout the whole thing I couldn't keep a straight face. In fact, when the muted trumpet came fumbling in, that was it for me. I cracked up and I think someone might have heard me laughing from the other room. If you're in a good mood, go ahead and give this thing a listen. Despite how absolutely rediculous this thing sounds as a whole, a considerable amount of work was put into creating this. Putting this beat together takes time, and I can respect that. Tracking is done properly and efficiently using ten channels. Most of the array of samples used are 8-bit, and appropriate to the rap genre. I don't know if rap music normally makes use of a muted trumpet though. If this was supposed to be a serious piece of music (and I doubt it) the trumpet really kills it. So not your typical Christmas carol, but I suppose everyone has the right to celebrate in their own way. | |
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Title: Indiana Dope Xam Filename: xam_indy.it |
Posted Sat 27th Nov 2004
Rated 7 / 10 |
| This fun little tune is a trance take on the Indian Jones theme song. It starts off great, with a whip noise to set off the beat. The familiar theme comes shortly after, following a vocal sample taken from one of the Indy films: "Don't call me junior". At first, I thought it was hard to figure out what Indy was saying but once you know what it is he says, it seems easy make out after that. This one's got good structure. After tossing around the main theme a little, it moves into a softer movement. Well, I say softer for the lack of a better word; trance is never very soft, but you get what I mean. it goes through a couple of variations before it builds up to the main theme again to finish the piece off with an ecxellent feel of closure. This piece is a neat little package, and I encourage you to have a listen if you're familiar with the Indiana Jones series, especially if you're also a trance fan. 700K may be a little much for such a short and simple piece, but now that everyone has massive disk space and high speed connections, anything less than one megabyte isn't even a concern. Most of the samples are 16-bit, but for the most part they aren't very large. The vocal sample is 8-bit, but it sounds clean in the song. A skim over the pattern data shows some clean, organized tracking, making use of many channels. This I found surprising since it comes off as such a simplistic song. As usual I don't have much else to say in this section. This isn't an amazing piece, but it's a fun little thing to have lying around on your hard drive. Download and enjoy. | |
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Title: Radiant Nova - XenoEnder Filename: xe_radiant.it |
Posted Sat 27th Nov 2004
Rated 6 / 10 |
| This ambiant piece is split into two parts: Serene Radiant (0:00 - 4:50) and Rising Nova (4:50 to 6:47) The first part starts off nicely with a basic string progression, soon followed by hints of percussion. The progression is steady, and the drums become gradually stronger, and vary in rythm. This is a good way to start a piece, but it should be followed by the introduction of a melody. Don't bother waiting for it in this one, it never happens. The strings are constant throughout the whole four and a half minutes of the first section, while the drums go through a series of interesting variations. I like the drums, and I suppose the overall sound is pleasing to the ear, but it gets tedious, and could really use a melody line. The second movement is a livelier one, especially when juxtaposed with the first one. The transition is very well done, and I like the drums in this section also. Unfortunately, as in the first part, there isn't much else. In fact, when you listen to this part, it really feels as if it ends abruptly, since the piece finally gets momentum when a set of piano arpeggios come in, and this is at the very end of it. To sum it up, this is a fine example of chording and percussion for an ambiant piece, but it needs more. The artist says "it might be sort of long, but it really isn't. Just give it a listen and you'll see what I mean." I suppose he is right, because I've listenned to it while working on something else, and it does seem to go by quickly. The reason this module gets a reasonable score is because technically, there isn't all that much wrong with it. Is it semi-pro? Well, I don't like to use amateur for it, since it has such a negative connotation to it. Most of the samples are 8-bit, save a few of the percussion samples. The file size is reasonable, and tracking is done efficiently with a total of ten tracks. There are really no dissonant chords or unpleasant noises, besides that piano at the end that strikes me as a little odd somehow. There aren't any discontinuities between patters, and as I said above, the transition between both parts is very well done. So I'd say if you're looking for more filler songs to add to your ambiant/background playlist, this may do the job. It is lacking, however, so don't expect anything exciting if you do download this. | |
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Title: SoftLight /AaRD/ Filename: aard_sftlite.it |
Posted Sun 14th Nov 2004
Rated 8 / 10 |
| This is an easy, laid back soft rock tune. The artist also classifies it at Gothic. I suppose that works too. To be honest, I really have no idea what that style implies, but I assume it involves use of an accoustic or classical guitar. Speaking of which, the work done with the accoustic/classical guitar is suberb. It sounds crisp, easy on the ears, and very convincing. The piece goes off with a rather weak start, involving some simple string patterns. Then the aforementioned guitar eases its way in there, bringing along with it a steady, at times a bit overwhelming percussion. The piece goes through a set of musical ideas, the transitions between them being very well done. I really like the way the drums stop and start up again, I think it brings so much more realism to the piece (as opposed to the drumbeat being copied and pasted from pattern to pattern). I also makes it harder to spot repitition, which this piece has quite a bit of. In terms of the musical themes themselves, I have little to complain about. Each idea has it's own mood, it's own pace, and it all fits beautifully as a whole. I love the way the artist brought out the background guitar every now and then to create kind of a countermelody to the whole thing. One thing I can find problems with is the ending. Though those cadences may be a proper way to end the piece, it still sounds abrupt. It seams to come unexpectedly, like a slap in the face. Ok, maybe it's not as bad as a slap in the face, but you get the idea. As a whole, this si a very soothing and quite enjoyable piece of music. Great for either the ambiant, soft rock, or I guess gothic fan's playlist. Though I'm sure that almost everyone can get something out of this one. As I mentionned above, the guitar sounds beautiful, convincing, and whatever else I said up there. Taking a closer look at it, it's actually fashioned out of four 16-bit samples, and one 8-bit sample. The 8-bit sample is for the lead guitar, and the four others form a single instrument for the backup guitar. Aside from those 16-bit samples, there is one more, a panflute. Funny, I didn't hear it anywhere in there, but it's probably somewhere amonst the underlying harmony. I'm not going to go hunting for it in the patterns, I'll just assume it's in there somewhere. Ok, the song has 20 tracks, which is fine. File size is reasonable. You know, unless something's been done terribly wrong, it's hard to find things to say here... um... aha! No message! There's my major technical complaint. No message. Yeah, that's it. Good work, AaRD! Write us some more! :) | |
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Title: Without You /AaRD/ Filename: aard_woya.it |
Posted Fri 12th Nov 2004
Rated 8 / 10 |
| One could argue that this piece sounds like any old sappy love ballad, but there is alot to be said for structure. In fact, this one's strong point is just that, it's structure. Everything in this song fits it's genre perfectly, from the brilliant instruments to the signature drumbeat and broken guitar chords. I can certainly recognize that a considerable amount of thought was put into that. That said, this piece has it's ups and downs, which makes it really hard to rate. It starts off with strings, that in my opinion sound too discontinous, chopped up. A smooth, continous sound might have been better in this case. The same goes for the piano melody. But then the piece turns the other way, when a beautiful panflute melody comes in, and it is smooth as a baby's arse. And yes, quite beautiful. The piece alternates between two main musical ideas, the one introduced by the strings in the beginning, and the one carried by the panflute. This means, of course, that there is a fair amount of repitition involved. I don't know if I should mark too much off for this since this style is usually accompanied with lyrics. This shouldn't stop you from listenning all the way to the end, however, because the ending for this one really is superb. It's a return to the panflute theme, but it is complete with more musical answers and countermelodies. Very impressive. I'm even happier to see that it isn't a fadeout ending, and those who know me know how much I loathe fadeout endings. To wrap it up, it is a very well built ballad, though it could use just a little bit more. Keep in mind that the artist apparently didn't have much time to finish this. But if you're a fan of this genre, I strongly encourage you to download it. For the record I have to say that I enjoyed this piece. Alright, on to the technical stuff. Usually I mention structure here, but it seems I mentionned that already in my musical rantings. Well then, lets move on to the samples. All the samples are 8-bit, save two; the panflute, and another one which I honestly don't know what it is. The panflute really makes this piece, so it's fitting for it to be 16-bit. As for the other one, well, it's not that long of a sample anyway. As far as the tracking goes, I have no major complaints. 13 Channels is a reasonable number these days, and I can't find any discontinuities between patterns. Hey, look at that, there are comments in French! It's a pity these reviews have to be objective ;) Beau travail mon homme, n'arrête pas ici! | |
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Title: In The Moonlight-XRZ Filename: itm_st.xm |
Posted Fri 22nd Oct 2004
Rated 9 / 10 |
| This piece is quite impressive. Xerox, uh, I'm sorry, Xeroz is a fan of Awesome, and you can hear the influence with those opening A minor broken piano chords. Actually, C-6, E-6, and A-6 play on the piano all throughout, but it took me a few listens to notice, as he sure makes it sound like he changes his harmony. It starts off with the simple piano that I just mentionned, then adds a little more every few patterns, until the piano becomes quite elaborate and very enjoyable to listen to. Before you get bored of the piano progressions and that mesmerizing tick-tock rhythm, in comes the bass drum and panflute. And the timing is key here. These deliver a combination of a smooth melody line, as well as a deep, powerful ambiance. The piece contains two climactic passages, and I found the transition to those to be not as smooth as they could have been. But I'm just being very picky. This piece is musically superb, but it is lacking that extra something to make it amazing. "When I started this song, I thought that I could do some beautiful music." Well, if this isn't beautiful music, it comes pretty darn close. Good work! You know, I was getting ready to start complaining about the file size of this one, when I realized... it's only 181k zipped. I am without words. I thought that for sure with such a well sampled piano I'd be dealing with 16-bit, possibly megasamples. But all the samples are small, and 8-bit. For such a recent song (2003), 181k, I'm boosting it's score up an extra 0.5 just for that. "Greetings to: All the people whose samples I ripped, ..." Haha, I like that one. | |
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Title: Ode to hopelessness Filename: xct-ode.xm |
Posted Thu 21st Oct 2004
Rated 6 / 10 |
| Alright, this piece seems to have two movements, so I'll look at them seperately. It starts off with some, well, I guess humourous is the best way to describe them, pizzicato strings and orchestral hits. Soon after, some instrument starts playing a first theme, I think it's supposed to be a cello. About a minute in, a high, fast-paces string section comes in, which I found strangely reminescent of Alfred Hitchcock's Psycho. Some parts I found to be slightly dissonant. It sure gives a chaotic feel to this part of the piece, to say the least. About halfway through the piece, there's no clean line seperating it, but I'd say it gets into a second movement. As you may tell, I really didn't like the first part, but the piece redeems itself with this second half. Attention was put into giving the lead a fair range of dynamics, and the guitar fits in nicely. Deep percussion and lower overtones make this part sound mysterious, almost suspenseful. Very well done, this part. However, as much as I liked that second half, the ending is disappointing. In an orchestral work such as this, I was expecting a powerful ending, especially considering the way the piece started. However, it's a fade-out ending. In my opinion, he should have recapped to the first movement (even though I hate it so much) to give the piece more form. So in general, not a bad example for an orchestral piece. I'd recommend you have a listen just for that second half, if you're a fan of the style. My first and probably most obvious complaint is about the cello. I call it a cello, becaus that's probably what the sample was supposed to be used for. It really doesn't sound like anything like a real cello. It's too harsh and choppy to be a bow running across strings. I don't understand, the artist has got multiple channels for his four-note string section chords bleeding onto eachother, and his guitar (which I really like) is also spread over around four channels. So why use only one for the cello? Aside from that, it looks like the artist knew what he was doing and file size is reasonable. Really, if it weren't for my hating that intro and first bit so much, as well as my personal hate for fade-out endings, I'd call this a pretty good piece of work. | |
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Download:
Title: Bright Sign [remix] Filename: xg_brightsign.it |
Posted Tue 19th Oct 2004
Rated 7 / 10 |
| This is a remix of Bright Sign, commercial song by Traveller. It starts off with the common trance beat and begins to flow in the usual way, building up as most trance songs do. I must say, it does sound clean, and just about as musical as a generic trance song can get. Puzzling thing, about a minute into the piece, it stops rather abruptly. But, though I think the way it stopped isn't so great, the manner in which it builds up again is properly done; starting with a clean string progression, then bringing in the beat and trance feel, bit by bit, just as it should be done. The strings follow the same progression throughout the piece, and the same passages keep coming up time and time again, yet it is still a pleasing tune. Repetition is part of this style of music, so I can't rat on it too much. The trick is to play around with the percussion and such so that you can kind of trick the listenner into thinking it isn't as repetetive as it actually is, and I think this song has accomplished that fairly well. Bottom line, this is an adequate, perhaps catchy trance tune, but really doesn't present anything new or exciting. The first thing to note is that the samples in this file are huge, most notably the megasamples for the string progression, taken straight out of the original song by Traveller. And those are 16-bit, too! Aside from that, everything is tight and clean. Ok, maybe not so tight, this song uses 64 channels. But more importantly, none of the samples make your ears bleed, and at no point does this song sound dissonant (not to me, anyway). I noticed one transition between patterns that didn't seem as fluent as it should be. That's by looking at it in ModPlug Tracker, though. I didn't notice it when I had it running in XMPlay. Volume is well adjusted, which is a strong plus, as I find that with this genre many artists will get carried away and make the beat rediculously loud. In this mod, the pounding beat is only as loud as it needs to be. So if it weren't for those megasamples boosting up the filesize, this song is excellent on a technical level. | |
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Download:
Title: .marie (soft remix) Filename: xr-msoft.xm |
Posted Mon 18th Oct 2004
Rated 9 / 10 |
| Wow, I'm suprised this little gem hasn't been reviewed yet... This is a remix of Xerxes' original version of Marie (which I also recommend you listen to), this one featuring softer percussion and more accoustic instrumentation. This one appeals more to the ambiant fan, starting with a slow, soothing accoustic guitar. Then the strings ease in ever so smoothly. The same thing happens with the laid back beat. Then the lamenting sound Xerxes created with those strings, right before he introduces more beat, it's just beautiful beyond words. This piece is mellow, smooth and very soothing. The beat keeps it from getting anywhere neer boring. Musically, this piece is ear candy. There's a reason this file is 2.5 megs unpacked. Most of the samples are 16-bit, and rather large. In addition to the samples being very smooth and pleasing to the ear themselves, Xerxes has used the usual multi-track tricks to make the guitar and strings overlap onto eachoter to achieve a very convincing, realistic sound. The piece is properly structured. As I mentionned above, it has a clean intro, introducing more and more elements, until it reaches a climactic rich, full sound. It then follows a wave pattern, until it fades out at the end. The only thing I can complain about in this one is that it is quite repetitive for it's length, but then again, I have been listenning to all throughout this review. There is one musical passage in the original rendition of Marie that I would have liked to see in this one, and the ending is slightly disappointing. But those are really minor concerns. Download this now if you haven't already! | |
Title: moby.progressivefunk
Filename: prg-funk.mod
Rated 7 / 10