arabian_nights (linus_-_arabian_nights.mod)

Overall Impression (9/10)

Another excellent work from linus. Each time I listen to his work, I keep forgetting these are 4 channel mods. The ease with which he seems to construct these is short of magic: it's as if he doesn't even need more than 4 channels!

Technique, Arrangement, Composition (10/10)

This is 10/10. Linus pulls out all the stops here.

First, the piece is visually fun. I honestly don't understand what he's doing with all those pattern loops: it looks fun visually, but there seems to be no musical reason for this.

If you watch pattern 2, there's a pattern loop, but if I am reading this correctly, it doesn't do anything: he has F06 in terms of ticks, and then he sets a two row pattern loop, while setting the amount of ticks to F02 and F04, which add up to F06.

This means that there is a fun visual glitch, but the musical effect is completely the same. In fact, I even tried setting two notes on each row and then removing the loop and the speeds - and I think the sound is identical.

He's got a lot of those. I must admit, it's really fun to watch, gives you this visual effect of vinyl scratching.

Development (8/10)

The samples have a lofi feel to them, but don't get fooled - they are high quality and you're getting a really confident sound here. That's at least part of the reason why this doesn't sound like your typical mod.

The panning has linus' signature naturalness to it: you don't notice it at all. He also uses it to his advantage in ways I rarely see in other mods: he would have a beat in one channel and then have stray snares "run away" into another channel on occasion, creating this lovely delay effect.

There is one flaw: sample 21 has a bad loop which creates a very audible click. It is possible linus intended this as part of the vinyl crackling he employs, but the click is a bit too loud and I would have preferred it to be quieter.

Creativity (8/10)

Linus' ability to develop these sampled compositions is flawless: it never gets boring.

The secret here is constant movement: nothing stays the same. Things fade in or fade out, drums stop, the restart.

But interestingly enough, starting pattern 33 linus gets this very loud and repetitive part going. I imagine this would actually be a great bit for the dance floor, when everybody goes wild. But as a listening experience it's a bit dull. I do love everything before that.

Enjoyment (9/10)

Because of the way the tune concludes, I think this might actually pretty cool in a club. Very impressive drum work and groove. The droning samples eventually explode into a frenzy. A great addition to my collection from the master.