3 MONKEYS - 1 BEER! (3_monkeys_-_1_beer.xm)

Overall Impression (10/10)

A whimsical, slightly mischievous and incredibly entertaining piece of music, which you are likely to enjoy more than you think. The mood grows on you, and you find yourself coming back to it again and again...

Technique, Arrangement, Composition (10/10)

DRAX is known for his jazz-influenced compositions. This one has a very distinct orchestral big band sound to it, but even here Thomas manages to insert some jazzy sounding bends.

The tune is deceptively simple, it has a standard verse-chorus-break structure, but the big secret is in how the looping is done, which gives an impression of a much more complicated setup. Somehow, when this track is on repeat, you get lost in the islands of choruses and verses and it doesn't feel standard at all.

And the flow on this one is mesmerizing. It's uncanny how DRAX takes what could have been a simplistic refrain and turns it into an ambient experience. I would listen to the tune on repeat for an hour, and yet it doesn't get old!

Development (10/10)

As usual with DRAX's work, Thomas achieves several things here.

First, impeccable production quality by starting with well treated compressed samples which make the whole tune on average much louder and fuller than a lot of other mod music. Very smart panning work, solid volume levels, each sound sits well in the mix. Even by today's standards this sounds better than what most amateur composers are able to achieve by using a whole amalgam of effects. And the interesting thing is that Thomas frequently uses samples available to other mod composers as well, such as the very well known MAZ sample pack.

Another important bit is his superior handling of percussion. He definitely knows what he is doing and the pattern is realistic, unlike what you get when someone just randomly assembles samples into what ends up being an incoherent mess.

It takes one quite a number of loops in order to realize how much actually went into creating this nice little piece, and how detailed the arrangement is. For instance, most will probably not notice the light organ licks. But they add to the overall movement. Or the excellent use of delayed notes with inverted panning.

Creativity (10/10)

DRAX, the master melodist, nails the balance between the simplicity of the main theme and somewhat jazzy, subtle decorations. No note is unnecessary, and yet there are enough details to miss many of them at first.

Enjoyment (10/10)

This goes into my all time favorites folder. While one can imagine this being a soundtrack for a platformer game, to me this tune can work on many levels. Not only can it support a mood you are already in, it is definitely a mood setter as well. Perhaps this is just me or maybe I am one of those 3 monkeys, but this tune speaks to me.