Aminet 22

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Text File | 1997-10-21 | 101KB | 1,818 lines

WMR (Reviews [week #04]) __ __ __ | \ __ ______/ |_ | | | o \ | | | / o | \ |o | | \| o| |o _/ | o\ []=======| |==| \ |=| |/ | \========[] []=======| |==| \ |=| | |\ \=======[] []=======| |==| \|=| | |=\ \======[] :: | | | \ | | | / / :: :. | | | |\ \| | /| |/ / :: : | | |/\ | \ | |/ | | / : | | / \| |\ | | | | / :. | | / \ | \ | |__| | / .: :: | |/ \| \_| | |/ : :: | /\ | | __| |\ :: []=======| / \ |=| |==| | \==========[] []=======| /| \ |=| |==| | \=========[] []=======| /=| |\ |=| |==| | \========[] |o / | | \ o| |o | | |\ o\(mansooj) |_/ | o | \_| |__/ | o | \__/ |___| |___| (Originally compiled and added on December 2, 1996) (last updated 09.24.97) -----========================================----- -----================================================================----- "Giggle of the Fairies" by Shudder of YOE (xxch IT, 04:16) (s_giggle.zip [200K/302K]) [Fantasy/New Age] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== CCerberus 95+ 94 97 96 95 WolfSong 90+ 90 81 80 71 Klaus Flouride 83= -- -- -- -- S3MTrap 82+ 82 85 80 80 Mansooj 82+ -- -- 85 -- Peraphon 81+ -- -- -- 80 Klaws 80+ 75 75 85 75 Rebriffer 80+ 70 70 65 80 Araneus 73+ 71 -- 75 75 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Okay, I'm aware that there are some people out there that are dead set against smiling, happiness--that kind of stuff. Excluding those people, you know that particular kind of song that when you play, it just makes you want to smile and think of things like watching the sunset with your significant other or various other things that cause dreamy, mushy feelings? Bingo! We got one! The composition is just wonderful and actually seems to be put together in a different way than usual. Most modules seem to be put together on a pattern like basis. The composer gets three or so short musical ideas and thinks, "Okay, I'll play this one four times, then the next one two times, then back to the first one..." and thus a song is constructed. This song doesn't seem to have been made that way. You're thinking, "Okay, is this good or bad?" It's very good! Mostly because it makes the song one piece in and of itself. One statement instead of a disjointed few pieces repeated over and over. The composition had almost everything I think a really good song should have, and it all fits together in a smooth, seemingly effortless presentation. A wise man said that you have to work harder to make it seem like it wasn't hard. Good example here. The song is actually a new age piano/flute song. And I waited till now to say that because I was afraid that if I put it at the very beginning people would be put off by "just another piano/flute tune" and leave it alone. Believe me, this song is NOT typical of this kind of music. The piano is smooth, imaginative and nonrepetitive, and the flute melodies are absolutely enchanting. And the bass! Rarely has a bass line had so much attention and creativity put to it. The composer has actually treated it like an honest to goodness part of the song, but at the same time doesn't show anything off by making it too loud or repetitive. The composer has made one whole song, rather than multiple tracks merely playing at the same time in the same key (there IS a difference). My only complaint here is the samples. Wonderful choices of sounds, only the quality wasn't so good. Blast it! Why do these injustices in life always have to end up this way? Well, it's a small price to pay for this song. I'm keeping it, without a doubt. You should definitely snag this song...unless, of course, cracking a smile might cause your head to crumble into dust. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ S3MTrap ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ As the title suggests, this song has a fairy tale type style to the tempo, and is generally very nicely fashioned, compositionally, with a nice, changing flow throughout. Some of the main instruments are a piano background, flute lead, and a few vocal harp sections. The choice of Impulse Tracker song format enables the skillful use of panning throughout--in my opinion, one of the best facets of the module. On the technical side, Shudder uses mostly 128 line patterns, rather than the usual 64. This module also makes use of a wide channel-range, often with samples jumping to another unused channel rather than getting cut off. Due to this large number of channels, some processors may have a hard time keeping up with it. I run my tracker in a Windows 95 environment with a P-83, and the graphic equalizer started to have problems, this most likely won't happen in DOS. On a related technical note, there's also a nice range of somewhat less often used commands, such as Gs, Ks and Ns. Yeah an N!!! I don't have any clue what it does either! }:^) All in all, this is a very nice attempt at the type of style and mixing. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Aaah, you think, how cute! Birds, kids and a flute sound make for a fine intro, then a beautifully clear piano starts up what to most folks may be a 'tame' tune, but there's no doubting the musical quality here. If you like your MODs beautifully produced and on the light side, then Giggle is definitely aimed at you. Personally I found it all a bit too twee for it's own good but that's the beauty of this MOD, MOD, MOD world of ours [Arggh!! -Boris]. As far as the technical aspects of the track went, the samples are about the cleanest I've heard in a long time. There's some neat touches in the coding department, especially towards the end when the birds, kids and flutes make a welcome reappearance. All told, the intro is about the most interesting part of the track for this reviewer, because I do like good beginnings. It shows a degree of thought on the part of the composer. After all we all know that the first 20 seconds of a track are vital don't we? Mmmmmm, that's what I thought... /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This very nice little tune hides nothing from the potential listener as its name is about as perfectly descriptive as one could get. The song is light and as it should be, using a mixture of soft flute and piano for the most part. There is something of a melancholy tone just below the upbeat, freewheeling surface, but it does little to undercut the playful attitude that was obviously intended. Close your eyes and I think you could place yourself in some nameless, tranquil forest, just will your cares away and relax to catch some zzzzzs. Though I recall hearing somewhere that fairies have the obnoxious tendency to stuff moss up a sleeper's nose, so beware. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This module sounds very nice indeed. The combination of a flute, and a very light, frolicky piano in the background is quite good. The instruments and implementation all do very well to give the song its intended atmosphere: nature sounds and giggles are a good, appropriate touch; the previously mentioned piano backing definitely conveys a mental image of fairies in the forest; and orchestral strings add quite well to the overall peaceful feeling of the music. For those interested users of CubicPlayer, this module plays ok under v1.7 with the IT loader. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a very light, easy-listening module replete with flutes, nature sounds, and laughing fairies. As far as mellow modules go, it's very well done. Of course, don't expect the drumbeats in this mod to compel you to dance, as the beat is very light. My only complaint is that ImpulseTracker tunes really don't sound as crisp as XM's on the Amiga, but having 256 channels available will do that, I suppose. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A cute little song. Although you hear giggles of little kids (metaphorical fairies) in this module, it doesn't sound very "fairy-like." I half expected to hear a tune like Catch That Goblin!! with a cute twist to it (the fantasy element), but what I heard instead was an interesting piano tune, with unique chord transitions. It's a happy ditty, and doesn't have any serious flaws--just a couple of piano notes that were high enough to offset the flow. --- References --- Catch That Goblin!! by Skaven ([download]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ Klaws ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song is really nice (even in the CPbeta loader). The bassline that pops in at about pattern 3 reminds me a tiny bit of a happyhardcore lead, but other than that there is no similarity to that style. The song relies heavily on a piano background and string accompaniment, with a very "pleasant" drumtrack (that is, it's hihat, snare, and bass drum thoroughly covered by the harmonics and lead). It's a happy song. :} /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Good. No, great! Besides being a superb showcase of the capabilities of the IT format, this song is intelligently composed and really original. Did anybody else notice that the panning on the piano corresponded with the position of the keys on the piano keyboard? THAT is what I mean when I talk about "intelligent composition." THANK YOU SHUDDER. Use this song to convince your friends to write in the IT format. -----================================================================----- "Cleared For Take-Off" by Messiah of Trash (16ch S3M, 03:55) (cleared.zip [310K/411K]) [Ballad] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Klaus Flouride 85+ -- -- -- -- Peraphon 80+ -- -- -- -- Mansooj 77+ -- -- 70 60 S3MTrap 75- 73 65 76 78 CCerberus 65+ 67 55 61 52 WolfSong 55+ 58 57 52 50 Shih Tzu 38+ 25 52 37 59 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Shih Tzu ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song suffers from terminal boredom. By the end of the second pattern, you've heard all it's going to say, and yet it insists on repeating itself for the next three and a half minutes. Absolutely nothing changes. Okay, fine, at least it doesn't repeat any patterns, but it manages to make every pattern different while giving each the same boredom coefficient. A minor, G major, F major, G major again. There. I have just described every pattern in this module. Read it 19 times very slowly to experience the full effect of the song. Repetitiveness can be pulled off well, but you need something more interesting than this. The monotony of the piece is only aggravated by the slow tempo; bumping the speed up to 150% or 175% helped, but only a little. The drums play the same thing four times a pattern for patterns at a time. The melodies are repetitive and forgettable when they're not downright annoying, such as in orders 04h through 06h: a short motif twelve times in a row is NOT a melody. The sound is generally fairly well balanced but at times it seems slightly muddy in the mid-to-lower ranges. Finally, the lead guitar used several times in the piece has a terrible loop. It can almost be overlooked when the rest of the instruments are behind it, but the choice to end the piece with a solo note using this awful sample is highly questionable. In fact, the ending, while welcome, is rather abrupt, as though the composer said after a night of tracking, "Oops, it's one in the morning. I'm done now." So what DO I like about this piece? The melody in orders 10h and 11h is actually not all that bad. The guitar, if that's what it is, provides some nice dissonance as it drones, with the occasional half-note ornament. The samples, with the exception of the rotten guitar, are competent. The voice sample at the end is neat, although the delay in getting to the sample suggests that it's not part of the main piece. I notice that the way Cubic loops, it goes right from the last echo of the sample to the beginning of the piece. Considering the title, I think this sample would have been a great way to begin the song. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Okay, here we go.... Robbie the Robot from Lost in Space and his mechanical friends, Andy the Android, Mitch the Mech and Carl the Computer have formed a band and you are at their show. After several emotionless pieces, it's now time for their "slow and sensitive" piano number. Can you imagine what it would sound like? Probably almost computer generated, with all the notes falling in an exactly spaced rhythm and little to no variation between the notes played which would add character. This is actually what I pictured while listening to this piece, and I don't think that's the image the composer meant to give. Now, of course, this song isn't *that* dry. It was written by a human being and therefore can't be completely lifeless, but it's perhaps only a nudge away. The part of the description about the notes all falling in a perfectly spaced rhythm and having little change from each one to the next wasn't very exaggerated, though. The song hardly ever deviates from throwing notes down exclusively on the downbeat and there were not enough effects used in the piano and especially the drums to give it a very "human" feel. I believe this is the main downfall of the piece. There was nothing wrong with the chords used and, in fact, they do yield a bit of a sad sound. The bass line and backing strings also had their cool moments, but try as they might, they just couldn't seem to overtake and hide the lack of warmth and depth that this song sorely suffers from. If I were to make a suggestion, I would say that if the song were redone with a little variation added to the pianos and a few fills and little humanisms added to the drums, this song could be much more capable of delivering a good bit of feeling and emotion. Taken as it is, though, I don't think much more than Robbie playing that piano is going to get across. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ S3MTrap ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This song has a nice, slow, easy listening flow to it...one that, while you continue to listen to it, begins to somewhat remind you of an airplane commercial, or something similar. Given the title, it appears the composer managed to get his atmosphere across to the listener (that is, assuming your ears are convinced as mine were). The main instrument used is a piano, with most of the beat being produced using long chords. The other background instruments blend in nicely, but tend to become too loud at certain points. The sample quality is very good--I didn't hear one sample crack or hiss anywhere during the entire playing of the song. With all 16 channels being used most of the time, there was enough room for Messiah to mix everything properly, and I think he did just that. However, although the technical aspects were, perhaps, above the average, they weren't really special in any way. One example is that most of the notes were played very normally with no use of effects. Even though I'm not a major fan of this type of music, I can see that the author did a very good job with this one. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Nice piano work comprises the majority of this rather relaxing and melodic piece of music. Although there is really very little variety throughout, the song holds together mainly due to the fact that the sample set used fits together quite harmoniously. I'm not sure the raw quality of the samples is perfect, but they do complement one another. Aside from the piano, Messiah uses a distorted guitar and a couple of synth samples as main accompaniment; but what I liked the most about this tune was the simple yet very moody percussion and deep-tone synth used as a constant underlayment. It's actually a bit hard to hear that synth at times, but it helps round out the song tonally, and it does get some focus near the end. All this seems to show that there's quite a bit of deep emotion invested in this tune...almost a feeling of loss, but not sadness...more like tired resignation. A quite worthy effort. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This mod is slow (as compared to most mods--but about the right tempo for what you'd expect from "real" songs), deliberate, and...serious. This is definitely *not* a happy tune, as the feeling is almost mournful. I almost missed the "cleared for take-off" voice part at the end, because it's separated from the main part of the song by a good couple of seconds--I thought the song was over, then was disappointed that there wasn't a follow-up part much like there is about a minute and a half before the end in the intro mod to the classic Amiga demo Desert Dream. Then again, it may be unfair to compare Messiah to Laxity--the latter has been around making music since the C64 days. Still, on the other hand, one has to take into account the results Laxity can achieve in only *four* channels.... --- References --- Desert Dream-Part 1 by Laxity ([download]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Overall, I would call this a good song, but it had several problems. At times, it seemed too "busy" in some way, like there was so much going on that you couldn't really tell what the music was doing. Also, the volumes on the samples seemed to have been rather carelessly set, resulting in an imbalanced sound. The song also lacked variety in the overall tone. I also noticed a couple of samples in this song that I think may have been ripped from a song I wrote, so I thought that was pretty neat. :) Other than these things, it was fine. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Not too shabby at all. The title's intention is obvious, and with this song I can easily picture myself in a plane, flying over the clouds. There's a really nice percussion accompanied piano melody that blends in very well; along with really good bass, which added greatly to the song's atmosphere. Samples were mostly ok, with an excellently played lead guitar that, unfortunately, had a little bit of 8-bit ring to it. Also, some of the low-end frequencies in the background seemed to be at odds with the song at times; but it really wasn't that noticeable anyway. Overall, a very nice song. -----================================================================----- "Off Topic" by Obuk (16ch S3M, xx:xx) (offtopic.zip [305K/456K]) [HipHop] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Ka'PQat 70- 75 60 80 85 Rebriffer 45+ 60 60 70 55 ESP 40+ 55 55 40 60 MING 37+ 30 55 88 40 Skullsaw 25- 10 35 30 25 Araneus 21- 23 -- -- 21 Fanta C 11= 23 25 50 5 /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Before I start, in a terrible attempt to be funny, I'd say that, off topic, (that's the pun--c'mon, laugh!) I just listened to some absolutely marvelous new mods, and that in contrast, this was absolutely horrible. It might not have seemed THAT bad if I hadn't such high-quality references in my head at the time I listened to this; but I think this same thing will let me raise the warning flags it really deserves. I imagine this is supposed to be some deep trip-hop score in the spirit of Tricky and the likes. I imagine it would sound better with a laidback rap and some of the usual singing chick in the chorus. On the composer's behalf, I even imagine there's a lot of ambition thrown in, but however hard I try, i can't even begin to imagine I would ever grow to like it. It's not the originality. Clinically, I like the attempt to mix scratchy down-pitched beatloops with that futuristic extra drum pieces. I like the overall mood it conveys, and I love this style. But the composition and production in a piece like this has to be tip top to justify the seriousness of the song, and Off Topic is, in composition (both musical and rythmical) and technical production, downright bad. Ok, time to justify this harsh judgment. It's like Obuk thought, "Well, all this trip-hop is just a lot of ill-fitting drums and soft bass anyway; any idiot can do that." The only problem is that this particular dude clearly couldn't, and it isn't, by far, as easy as he might think. The result of this is that where this kind of music normally is shuffled in a controlled way, this tune is shuffled beyond recognition. Add to this a very uninspired melodic riff, an non-addictive, mainly boring bass, and you get a tune that does'nt even qualify to be squeezed in as filler in my player. Even so, I do favour the style, and hope to see more of it in the modscene in the future. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Ka'PQat ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The backbone of this piece is an endlessly looping, slow, discordant/hypnotic bass riff, with other minimal touches over it. It reminds me of one of the desultory drum and bass lines on my Cardigans CD (most of their songs don't sound anywhere near as sugary as Love Me, but have twice as much irony in their sound), especially their cover of Iron Man by Ozzy Osbourne. A couple of rhythm samples from Marilyn Manson and Nine Inch Nails are looped at intervals. One of them is a slowed-down New Jack beat sampled purposely with such extreme low quality that it at first sounds like random, muted static with a dragging, slow-mo mud-splattering-from-a-wheel feel. It deliriously trudges on through a wasteland, trashheap landscape brought out by a single echoing gull-like cry. Toward the end, the other looped sample, with touches of extreme sawtooth acid synth, seems to convey the feeling of short adrenaline bursts associated with lurchingly catching oneself to stay on one's feet as vision begins to white out and the head fills with dream sounds. This song is mainly endless repetition of only a few patterns, but they are arranged to be non-taxing on the ears enough and trancelike enough, with varied touches of very odd sounds, that it is quite easy to listen to the whole thing; even loop back through the beginning, and just space out. The very large sample rips here seem to have a lot to do with creating the atmosphere, but are of very good quality and blended together well for the effect. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The first thing which struck me about this track was its extremely distorted percussion track. It doesn't sound nice at all, and is the real flaw in it. The backing track is immediately impressive, though, and this does compensate somewhat, besides, I figured, I might forget about the sound of the drums after a while. But how wrong I was, they only got more and more annoying, to the point of near-unbearability: sounding ever so like somebody scraping a feather against an unprotected, bare ear drum--incessant, irritating and deeply unpleasant. That sound alone guarantees an overall poor review for this one. Nasty. Unfortunately, the backing track which I was so impressed with is part of the same sample loop as the drums, so the two are, sadly, inseparable. Luckily, in light of the sample horror immediately encountered, a partially acceptable atmosphere and tone is left if the loop can be ignored. This part of the track is actually rather good, the bassline is a very good one, which complements the backing sample loop nicely, though at times when the backing isn't there, it sounds rather out of place, sampled, and/or awkward. It sounds professional enough for much of the time and seems to be fairly competantly constructed; the small amount of articulated percussion which exists is also good, if rather limited. In short, good, but limited. And with a hideous, awful, hateful percussion sample. I'm not keen on that bit at all.... /----------------------------------------------------\ )---------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Billed as a 'hip-hop instrumental', a claim that can either mean something diabolically clever or something equally dire. Well, to be fair, Off Topic isn't exactly dire, but it's not exactly a right rivetting rave either. In fact, in all kindness, it's just kinda tedious. The composer cites such artists as Marilyn Manson and NIN as influences, so I go back and relisten to it with slightly changed perspective, but once again, I still find it fairly ponderous -- and that's where I think the trouble lies. The samples, and the way the composer uses them, aren't too bad, ya see, it's just the musical *range* the track is set in. I found the bass pitched far too low which tended to give the track a leaden atmosphere, which doesn't help when making 'hip hop', which, by definition, tends to be fairly light and quick on its feet. Let me be clear about this, I liked the elements of the track, just not the way they were used together. It slowed down the track when it should have been lifting it up...and as for that irritating distorting scratch sound, the less said the better.... /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Hope I'm not being too harsh here; I've never judged a song that sounded so...weird. I've heard weird stuff before, but this one, I didn't like. Although I have no idea how a hiphop mod should sound, I don't think this classifies as one. Rather, it sounds more like a death-and-self-destruction kind of song. Scratches make up the greater portion of rhythm for this song, bells and creaking doors make up the rest. In effect, it's a pain to listen to. I thought that maybe I had corrupted the file somehow, it sounded so bad. Perhaps, if one wrote lyrics for this one, it might be classified as a hiphop tune. Naaah. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Oh dear. I almost chose to skip this one and maybe I should have? It's dreadful and some of the samples (two I think) are somewhat corrupt. A slow, grungy, repetitive dirge is about the best I can do to describe it. I've listened to it twice and found both occasions quite painful. I can think of nothing good to say about this track, not even remotely. I can find plenty of bad things to say about it though, but is there any point? I don't think so because by the time one had replaced the samples and melody, you'd have a whole new and different track anyway. Not recommended. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ An acoustic bass, a laidback drum track and assorted sounds and noises. That's it, nothing more. This is truly a waste of bytes. It's a shame because the basic sparse instrumentation leaves so much room for experimentation, but the composer never really stretches out. I guess this could be used for aural wallpaper but even that's a stretch as the samples sound pretty crappy, bordering on annoying. Nope, I don't like. -----================================================================----- "Mind Machine" by Elfstone (28ch XM, 04:42) (elf-mind.zip [519K/906K]) [Fantasy/Demo] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Klaus Flouride 91+ -- -- -- -- CCerberus 90+ 90 92 92 94 Mansooj 90+ -- -- 75 90 Peraphon 89+ 88 -- -- 90 WolfSong 88+ 88 78 73 70 Rebriffer 65+ 80 85 65 70 Shrift 65+ 65 65 65 65 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Considering this is a tune where there is so much going on, it feels incredibly lightweight. It all works together, and there are a couple of spots where I found myself nodding enthusiastically, but all in all, I found the track a bit tame. The composer obviously knows his chops, because the material is couched in some very decent coding, and the sound is as clear and audible as possible, but it still doesn't elevate it above the overall banality of the tune itself. To me, if the track doesn't capture you within the first few bars, it probably won't capture you no matter what its length. So, although I would give high marks indeed to the individual components of this track, the overall execution (once again) lets the whole side down. I have to say that I went back to this track more than a few times trying to be as fair as possible, because I could see the effort that had gone into it, and the best that I could come up with was that it was a pretty tune (but only in spots). And maybe that just ain't enough for me.... /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Get ready for a ride with this one. It is a fast paced trip through a world of sound, and it doesn't let up until the very end. Often, modules of this size are disappointing when you look at where the bytes went, not so here. The samples were clear and varied, the song patterns/orders were numerous, (79 or so) and the resulting playtime was nearly 5 minutes, which is quite the right length for a "real," as opposed to a "production" (i.e. demo/compo), song. Opening quickly with a sort of Arabic techno flavor, it is soon handed over to a more traditional demo-ish style. There is a definite feeling of density throughout the song, which I tend to favor. This is due, in part, to the many channels and varied samples used, but the real thanks goes to the composition which juggles lots of separate bits in fine fashion. I hereby dub this as a must hear. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This story could be told much more simply than it is, but the fact that this piece has so much more instrumentation than it needs adds quite a bit. Lots of background effects and subtlety, most of which fits the piece better than I'd expect. The chord progressions are, for the most part, canny and simple, as are many of the melodies, but the overall effect is quite different. I really appreciate the arrangement of this piece, until it gets past the initial theme. The following change is incredibly experimental, and loses much of the flavor from the main theme. It is still very nicely arranged, but it falls short, and the ending is a copout. This is a piece that tried to go somewhere, but didn't know where it was going. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This tune is going straight into "WolfSong's Directory o' Coolness." I'm keeping it. And for anyone who knows me, I'm *very* particular about what I keep. Ok, bad things first. I think the mix in this song could use some work. Overall, it's too quiet, except for a couple of melodies which are a bit too loud. Now the good stuff! This song has a "coolness" level of about...much. We're talking about a wonderful beat, driving synths in true demo/rock style and some very memorable melodies and overtones, all put together with a distinctive style. The song never ceases to progress, going from phrase to phrase and never getting dull. This tune will make you want to dance! I think demo/rock style fans will really appreciate this piece. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Wow! I was really thoroughly impressed with this song, and enjoyed listening to it. It sounds like a cross between cool Commodore 64 gaming music and the theme song for an 80's sci-fi movie--and those are compliments, believe me! :) The sample choice was perfect, and something that really caught my attention was the melody: it was intelligently composed--very appropriate and "listenable --but based on progressions that I never would have thought of (if I were writing the song). That is something that honestly impresses me. This song is great, and well worth your download time. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------========[ Klaus Flouride ]========--------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Initially, this song seems chaotic and cluttered until a 1-2-3-4 beat establishes itself as a frame of reference, but even with the foundational beat, it really does seem like Elfstone is trying to do way too much--and 28 channels gives ample opportunity to make a cluttered mod. On a positive note, the crying strings are a nice touch and mesh amazingly well with the spacey background rhythm. There's also some parts of this song that seem to have an Arabic influence, but there are so many shifts during the course of the tune, it makes it difficult to typecast into any one category. In the end, despite various moderate or minor faults it may have, it remains an excellent tune. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a marvelous module indeed. Elfstone seems to have done a fantastic job in putting all 28 channels to good use. There is a great deal of change and variation in this piece, and excellent samples to boot. The intro was very nice; had a bit of a "spacey" feel to it, and was a good lead-in to the rest of the song. The song has a lot of energy, and the overall sound is, quite frankly, stunning. I hope Elfstone is consistent in producing modules of such a high quality. -----================================================================----- "When the Penguin Slides" by DustBin of Fatal Rage (16ch XM, 03:02) (use-pen.zip [552K/1013K]) [Light Rock] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Peraphon 88+ -- -- -- -- Mansooj 85+ -- -- 70 85 Shih Tzu 84+ 78 90 80 88 WolfSong 78+ 78 77 76 73 CCerberus 64+ 71 64 66 58 Rebriffer 60- 60 55 55 50 Shrift 55- 60 55 50 55 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Shih Tzu ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ You must do N64 music. Well, okay, maybe not, but this was my first thought upon hearing this piece. Probably it was the penguin thing that did it; I was just reminded of the sliding contest with the penguin in Super Mario 64, and the music certainly seems to fit. This piece is very minimalist. There are about four chords used in the main body, always in the same order. Fortunately, the chords are rather interesting ones, and interest is maintained throughout by small variations. There is also a short B section in the middle with some very interesting chord changes (and perhaps a modulation?) that, unfortunately, only repeats once. I would've preferred it if the chords had bounced around through the entire section and not reached the tonic until the section ended. I was disappointed by the ending, or lack thereof. You can build up, as shown in the beginning, so why can't you wind down and actually end the piece instead of simply fading it out? I don't care how many times pop musicians have used this trick, it's still a cop-out. On the technical side of things, I am impressed by the tracking. The pads seem somewhat overpowering, but due to the minimalist nature of the piece, this works well. The melodies become less melodies and more subtle background changes. The panning is excellent. The drums wisely stay out of the way, but when they do something, such as a drum roll, it's well tracked. During one section, there's a hihat that does nothing but eighth notes for a couple of patterns, growing slightly monotonous. Still, there is very little to complain about trackingwise. The samples are wonderful. I think I recognize a few from the composer's Tienimi Vicino. It's nice to see familiar samples being used in a different fashion. It can be dangerously easy for a piece like this with little internal variation to quickly grow boring; the only thing holding it up is the main chordal progression, so it better be a damn interesting one. Necros' Point of Departure is one of the few I've heard that has a chordal structure intriguing enough to not grow boring. When the Penguin Slides is another of this select few. What this type of music eventually boils down to is a gut reaction: did you like it? Yeah, I liked it. It was soothing and pleasant. It made me feel happy. There's nothing much else to say. --- References --- Tienimi Vicino by DustBin ([download]) Point of Departure by Necros ([download]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Well, I didn't hear any penguins sliding. What I did hear was nice, broken acoustic guitar chords accented with smooth strings, and one of the deepest basses I've ever heard in a module, along with expressive guitar solos, a piano thrown in later and just an overall nice sound and style. This song has a very wide sound, partially due to some nicely placed stereo effects. Actually, it looks like DustBin is an effects hound. Not to say that he overdid it, mind you, but he did use quite a few of them--and nicely too. Whether you pay attention to the numbers or not, this is almost immediately apparent. The whole piece sounds very well produced. It was, however, a bit short. I would've liked seeing it continue on in new directions, but no such luck. Note to Dustbin: put a little more length on the next one...and raise that solo volume a little! They were very nice, just a little hard to hear. This is one of those tunes that I don't see how anyone could actually dislike. Go and see for yourself. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Now where have I heard this intro before? Answers on any large denomination bill in any currency me c/o Boris if you please.... This is a slow, moody, guitar-led track that would have been a fine example of how to rock with a tracker program except for a couple of glaring mistakes. The mix leaves a lot to be desired; it's all a little too muddy for the power (that's so obviously there) of the track to show. The main guitar theme is almost buried at the back and sides of the mix, and the poor ol' sax is only just hanging in there by a thread. It's a real shame really because I can hear what's there and it sounds real good (as far as rock ballads go, that is). A little lightness on the strings would help enormously to lighten the load and allow the track to show through in its true colours. Nice try though...and I can't say I am much of a fan of the genre to begin with. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A very nicely done mellow rock song that smacks a bit of Under the Sea, a module by FBY which I rated quite highly. This, in my opinion, doesn't quite match that one for overall excellence, but it can stand proudly amongst the better offerings of its type. As guitar modules are becoming more and more popular, the diversity, as is usual, is becoming less apparent. This piece is not bloated with originality, but it does sport some rather nice orchestration, as it mixes some tasty piano and synth in with the main guitar line. The percussion, overall, seemed a bit loud and perhaps a bit busy, but the structure itself lent strong support to the song as a whole. If you like emotional guitar ballads with some life to them, then this is a very worthy example. --- References --- Under the Sea by FBY ([download]/[reviews]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This seems very mellow, and indeed the melody is, but the drums throughout are so much more lively than the rest. That contrast was so apparent to me that the relationship between rhythm and melody in this song seemed hypocritical. The pre-recorded guitar-track samples only surprise at first, and get boring after two minutes. The first transition (between 06 and 15) is only mildly jarring in timing, but the shift in mood and direction is blunt. The transition back into the main theme is better, but it loses itself for lack of anywhere to go. The "second theme" seems to me a different song with different places to go, and it's too bad it doesn't get there. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a fantastic guitar piece. Utterly fantastic. The guitar is done in such a way that it sounds so realistic, so non-artificial...I am very impressed. The background is well done also, and does not distract from the song in the slightest. The percussion is great too, with some nice cymbal work and a tambourine going for it in the background. The laidback guitar style reminds me of The Zapper in some respects (whom I also think is a legend). Pity the samples are so huge, though. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Ahh, this was a pretty nice song. It had a good, smooth sound to it, and a pleasant soft rock feel. Good composition, though it seemed at times that it could have been BETTER. Hard to explain. Also, I have to complain that the song seemed to end rather abruptly. Perhaps the author got tired of writing it? I don't know for sure, but it seemed that it could have been extended, and more variety added to make this song really shine. -----================================================================----- "Landwards" by Musaya of Newlook (14ch S3M, 05:06) (landward.zip [100K/193K]) [New Age/Light Trance] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== CCerberus 90+ 92 88 88 92 Mansooj 86+ -- -- 80 60 WolfSong 76+ 78 60 62 53 Araneus 71+ 75 -- 70 60 Clones 70+ 80 70 70 60 TheKid 70+ 60 70 75 50 Skullsaw 20= 20 50 20 55 /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This could be perceived as a mutant crossbreed of an older Amiga style module merged with a newer, more dynamic partner. First of all, it sounds pretty damn good, especially considering it weighs in at less than 200K, a rarity in and of itself, these days. Secondly, although the song maintains overall cohesion, it still manages to exhibit several different phases, which I find appealing. I get the impression some of the samples could have sounded more lush, but I suppose that's the price one pays to keep the size down. Still, it all came together extremely well, and those less appealing samples weren't a burden against the rest. In fact, I was almost going to skip mentioning them because there is a collection of others here that sound very nice despite the fact that almost all of them are less than 12K long. The way I rate modules, this very aspect garners a few extra points because it reminds us that a good composer can hack out a quality module without massive samples. Since this is the end of my review, I'll mention here that the strong bass drum dominated finale was very nifty. *click* /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The strong point of this piece is in the composition. It's a very likable song with interesting solos and a lot of depth in the chord structure. It's an emotional piece using dancy synths, and echoing bells with a solid beat and bass track to hold all the pieces together. The song takes you from point A to point B to point C and shows you something along the way. It goes somewhere. It has direction. I like that in a song. Our dear Musaya obviously knows a good bit about music and making a song. The weak point here however...the tracking. The sound throughout the song seemed forced, and didn't flow very well. Many notes cut each other off, and the solos weren't very expressive or natural sounding. The overall mix of the song seemed to be a bit out of balance, as well. Some elements were just too loud to fit well into the song. And though the instruments were nicely chosen for this piece, they did lack some in quality. Good song...not-so-good presentation. Though, if Musaya keeps his hands on that tracker, with a little more practice I think we'll be seeing some very good work coming from him soon. Keep it up, dude! /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Clones ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Though the composer apologizes for using other's samples, he has chosen some nice ones. This composition has nice development with smooth transitions between ideas. The module, as a whole, has a nice "flying" feel to it, an airy movement with some nice melodic invention over this background. There are some nice dramatic applications of timpani sounds at the start and finish, while the solo shows some nice application of portmento. And there is also nice application of volume changes to highlight the melodic development. This is good, easy listening electronic fare and I recommend it for someone trying to induce an attentive yet mellow mood. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Golly, I never heard these chord progressions before. Yeah, right. Why must "composers" use the same progressions that have been used a thousand times over? Blech. Landwards is a technolite piece of music that takes no chances. This is the aural equivalent of techno white bread, no personality and virtually no flavor, but packed with ingredients. It's a midtempo affair with an amazingly trite chord progression, colorless samples that I've heard way too many times before, and not much rhythmic interest. The best I can say about this mod is the that the samples are clean. Open wide and say....yawn. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Araneus ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Landwards has a nice, soft techno type of feel to it. It would be perfect as a theme song for some kind of TV series centered around technology (a modern Mission Impossible theme, perhaps?). Bell sounds dominate a part of the melody, and combined with a bunch of synthy stuff, manages to give a feeling of intrigue, curiousity, and a yearning to know whatever is hidden. A demo-like midsection is what makes this tune one that you'd probably not hear on TV, though. Although more of a comment than a complaint, I would've liked to hear some other samples thrown in, to see what would be the result. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ TheKid ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Here is a great example of how to make boring/generic samples sound good. Although I usually detest overreliance on synthy sounds, I do like the way they were used here. This is a cool newage/backgroud/technoish module. I only wish that the author would put a little more beef into the percussion and bass lines. I.e. the mixing of this tune was a little too high on the treble. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A song should not be an unpleasant thing to listen to, and this song is certainly NOT unpleasant to listen to! No, in fact, this is a genuinely wonderful song. I really, really liked the melody, and the composition overall showed the talent of an intelligent musician. Lots of variety, great kick sample. I don't have ANYTHING bad to say about this song. -----================================================================----- "Messenger of Light" by Zovirax of R.A.F. (18ch XM, 03:48) (raf-mess.zip [349K/564K]) [Dance/House] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Peraphon 85+ -- -- -- -- Rebriffer 80+ 75 70 80 70 Mansooj 72= -- -- 70 70 CCerberus 64= 68 58 61 52 Shrift 50- 35 60 40 60 WolfSong 49+ 70 57 58 73 MING 40+ 50 40 35 60 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is a song that you might hear in a dance club. The composer uses a range of instruments from pianos for the backing chords to bells and flutes for the solos, with an 80's sounding computerized rhythm track. Honestly, you've probably heard too many songs like this for it to be anything exciting. The kind that were running rampant in the mid to late 80's. The flute solos were kind of interesting, but I believe the reason that I found this song to be somewhat dull was that though there are various solos going on throughout the song, the foundation of the song is the same four chords over and over, and the drums were set in motion and never touched. Not even for a fill now and then. There was really nothing wrong with the sound of the piece, and it actually seemed to sound better than the average module. But to be perfectly blunt, the song itself was pretty boring. Nothing that would compel me to want to hear it more than once. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ While my good sense argues against me, I can´t force myself into liking this tune. It´s light, it´s upbeat, it´s speedy piano based dance pop in a style I´ve always liked. It´s just not a tune that appeals to me. It´s a little bit too bluntly produced, the samples are a little bit too hollow sounding, the rhythms are a little bit too...unrythmical (and the drum composing doesn't really fit in with the rest of the tune, and probably wouldn't even if the tune had been better overall), the themes are all a little bit too repetitive and a little bit too uninteresting to gather my approval. I dunno, it just seems unpolished in some slightly ambiguous way. If you´re a gambler, I think you should download this, though. There IS an actual chance you´ll like it better than I did. But I can´t write reviews from anyone's point of view but mine, and mine says this is better left on the cutting room floor. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Housey piano opens into a rather odd mix of dance beat and...something. It struck me as a bit empty despite the overactive percussion. As I've said in other reviews, I like what I call musical density, something this tune seemed to try to accomplish, but just fell short. At any rate, although this had a fairly nice sound to it, I personally feel it wasn't properly balanced. Again, the percussion seemed obnoxious, as if it were trying to be the centerpiece of the song, with the remaining samples attempting, but not managing to beat it back. The quality of the samples was fairly high, though. In the final overview, I can't say I disliked this tune, but in this case there were more downs than ups. I'm sure others will like it much more, as it has some fine points, but just not enough of the kind that guide my fingers towards the more glowing of terms. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A MOD from the Czech Republic that steams along in a fairly familiar musical landscape. It's bright, it's breezy and, ultimately, it's pretty throwaway. That never stopped a good track from showing what it's capable of, so I decided to delve a little deeper and give this a lot more time to register. I'm glad I did because first impressions with MODs can often be deceiving. This track has a lovely loping rhythm that draws you completely into it's mad dash for the outro. On its way there, it covers several different variations of the main theme, all couched in a way that is surprisingly accessible--even to the most jaded of ears. I'll be watching out for more Zovirax tracks and so should you if you just like good, fun MODs that don't take themselves too seriously. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Shrift ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This doesn't sound like it wants to be either minimalist or ambient, and yet the same chord progression (which is anti-climactic) follows throughout the song. Very little need for breaks, tie-ins, or changes because it never breaks, ties-in, or changes. There is some decent tom and kettle drum rhythm, and a finely echoed flute sample, but both are overused. This one fizzles because it doesn't go anywhere. Fine mechanical tracking, though. /----------------------------------------------------\ )---------------------========[ Peraphon ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Oh, yeah! I love this! This light, orchestral piano piece generated immediate interest. I have to admit, I played this piece several times because it is just so good. The same piano riff seems to get a rigorous workout throughout the whole song, but other instruments joining in add diversity and keep it from becoming boring. There is what seems to be a pan flute in there as well, and it sounds wonderful. This one belongs in your collection...it's going into mine. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ CCerberus ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I'm not completely sure why, but for some reason, this song just didn't appeal to me. Part of the problem might have been the unrelenting, and very audible, closed hihat sample. Another thing that I didn't like too much was the melody itself. It just didn't seem to progress in a way that I found very enjoyable. Must just be a taste thing, but that's what reviews are for, right? :) -----================================================================----- "Gravitational Pull" by Salvorite (8ch FTK, 01:47) (gravitat.zip [117K/179K]) [Light Techno/Light Rock/Dance] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== Rebriffer 68+ 85 60 70 60 Peraphon 67+ -- -- -- -- WolfSong 55+ 58 43 59 61 Mansooj 51= 40 -- 50 30 TheKid 30+ 40 40 30 30 Skullsaw 30+ 20 60 10 60 Shih Tzu 23- 25 21 -- 32 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Shih Tzu ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I'm trying to think of a reason I would want to listen to this. Thinking...thinking...hmmmmmmm...nope. My Redeeming Value Detector is drawing a complete blank. If it were random noise, it MIGHT score lower. Gravitational Pull starts out somewhat promisingly with a set of four stuttered chords. Then a repetitive drum loop kicks in and the listener realizes that neither the drums nor the chords are going to do anything different for the rest of the piece. Some synth samples enter and begin to either drone whole notes out of tune or make pathetic attempts at a melody using only eighth notes. A slight bit of rhythmic variation later on does nothing to improve the melodies. Though the song ends in less than two minutes, shorter than WMR entries are supposed to be [this one came in before that stipulation -Boris], that is one (perhaps THE one) aspect of this song I am unprepared to complain about. One easy way to kill your song is to have samples out of tune. The synth brass (one of the droners) and solo guitar (a melody--heavens!) used here are both guilty of this tracking sin. Had the piece been perfectly in tune, the overall impression might have jumped up by a good percentage. As it is, it hurts your ears. I finally had to turn the speakers off as I wrote this. The panning is a complete mystery. It seems carefully and craftily designed to annoy me. I usually have no problems with a piece whose panning is set to all M's in Cubic, as I rarely track in stereo either. I don't even mind when it does that 3 C 3 C thing; that means it's supposed to be in mono, and I adjust Cubic accordingly. But I have never seen a song that, with almost no exceptions, sets its panning to either 3, 4, or 5 out of 0 through F. Perhaps it's an incompatibility with that module format, and it's supposed to be out of 0-8. However, as I have never encountered this problem before, I don't know what to say except that this song is only a tiny bit better in mono. Is there anything RIGHT with Gravitational Pull? It's not random noise. It's got a slight ritard close to the end that's handled fairly decently. It's definitely not too long. That said, I worry that I may be overscoring this module, but there has to be some dark corner of the rating system left over for absolute trash like GTE (a Music Contest 4 rookie entry). Hmmm, now I suppose they'll put a reference to that song at the end of this review! [Ever hear of morbid curiosity? -Boris] I find that a tad ironic. Actually, if you're considering downloading Gravitational Pull anyway, I recommend getting GTE instead. It's also bad, most likely worse, but it's just so terribly laughably bad that it's almost worth getting. Gravitational Pull, on the other hand, is very simply unworthy of any notice. --- References --- GTE by DreamThief ([download]) /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I might have been able to respect this in 1992, but I'm afraid after having heard thousands of oldies from the Amiga music heydey, this doesn't even rank up with the better half of those. Even worse, it actually sounds more like an even older mod--this is not good today. The hoary old classics are still classics, but not due to sound quality. They had a certain spark, a character and life all their own, and one that was distinct and recognizable. This, on the other hand, shows neither great compositional skill nor judicious choice of the many billions of high-quality samples around. Perhaps the culprit that killed it completely, for me, was an absolutely horrid old electric guitar sample. Agggh, I've had the displeasure of hating that miserable thing, found in countless hard-rock/metal mods, for years. And when there are so many relatively nice sounding guitar samples available for the ripping nowadays, it not only isn't acceptable, it's not tolerable. To be fair, this tune has one or two short bits that sound rather nice, but I have to say that even with top-notch samples, it still wouldn't be worthy of much more praise than is (isn't?) already given. I don't think it has any pull, gravitational or otherwise. Next. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ TheKid ]========------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Arpeggio City! Almost a chip-like tune! Maybe that's a little too extreme; what I mean is that this mod is a very typical, almost stereotypical, example of computer generated music. This module dates itself as a module that you may have heard in the 1980s. The samples are very 'generic' and have been heard too many times, lacking in both depth and fullness. The sense of originality was on the low side, too. Do I dare use the derogatory term a 'Three Chord Song'? If not for the fact that Salvorite did include a fade, a tempo change, and ONE non-major scale solo, this would have come across as nothing but a sub-mediocre offering across the board. These things at least increased the compositional and technical aspects some, though presentation in its entirety still ends up poor. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ The year is 2450 AD, cyborgs are ruling the known Earth Systems with their cold steely will. Your mission.... Yeah, it sounds like a game intro to me. A typical four bar progression played by a stuttering synth, accents played by orchestral stabs, big slushy drums plod along and an annoying synth plays a so-called melody. How fresh. How original. How innovative. Not. At least it's short. I suppose this is good for what it is but that's not saying much. Yeah, it's tracked just fine, there's a bit of fancy schmancy coding and the samples are clean enough but musically it's about as interesting as a mayonnaise sandwich. Don't bother unless you like game music from the early 1990's or you like wimpy predictable techno. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Salvorite's been around for a while and I've heard most of his MODS and liked them. This track is no exception at all...buuuurrrrttttttt...it's bloody short!! Salvo writes in a techno fashion and does it well considering there isn't much in the way of coding happening on the tracks. This is a decent enough track, although I found the lead guitar solo a little unconvincing. But, in its favour, I found that a nice added touch is the arpeggiated synth chattering away throughout the track. So, should you download it then? Well, as always it's a matter of taste but if you like your tracks short and simple, this will at least fit the bill. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ There was nothing that stood out about this dance/demo piece, except, perhaps, for its running time. At only 1:48 it's by far the shortest module I've ever seen. Barely enough time to get into it. It's comprised of a dance beat, four repeated chords, a solo and another solo via a slightly out of tune instrument. The tracking was just slightly more than fair as there were few effects used, and the solos and highlights were deprived of vibrato or volume slides or anything that might have made them a little smoother. I wasn't very impressed with this one, but there was nothing in it that was annoying or decidedly putrid, so with me it gets a big *shrug*. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Just another pop dance tune; one that's not too shabby, but nothing to crow about. If you're getting sick of pop-techno dance tracks, then this is one to stay away from. For me, it's a nice piece with too much repetition and rehashing of the same old stuff. Of the little really nice stuff to be found here, there are some nice effects achieved through the use of a "scary violin" sample. Some of the other samples got quite annoying after repeated playings. -----================================================================----- "Polar Bjorn Attack" by Azazel of The Black Lotus/MONO (4ch MOD, 03:24) (m_polar.lha [423K/590K]) [Goa] Zooooom. Time for Mono to get funky, we feel, and who better to do it for us than Azze of The Black Lotus? It may make your head nod unashamedly, and it may sound just a little bit like Lizardking, but it sure as hell rawks. Yeah, rawks. Definitely a contender for catchiest Mono tune so far. [h0l] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== WolfSong 90+ 90 89 84 82 ChroMix 90= 87 -- 90 86 MING 88= 85 65 95 80 Mansooj 81+ -- -- 60 70 Skullsaw 70+ 70 70 50 90 Rebriffer 66= 66 75 61 66 /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ I'm keeping this song and the only way anyone is going to get it from me is if they pry it from my cold, dead hand! Who says you can't make a MOD rock? Well, whoever it is should tell Azazel that. Apparently he doesn't know. This has to be among the best MODs ever written. At least among the best *I've* ever heard. Azazel has taken flanging samples from what sounds to be an old analog keyboard and used them to deliver an awesome, driving bass line. The tune has all the things a good dance song should have. Breaks and softer phrases thrown in throughout the song help build great intensity and keeps the listener from even the first fleeting consideration of turning it off early. I want to know the tracker that Azazel used to write this, because it must have a "mean" button somewhere on it and Azazel slammed it down and rode it hard all the way through this one! It is a synth song but it has all the grinding-teeth heaviness of a slamming rock song mixed with a dance beat and overtones. A heavy dance tune! (Don't they have a word for that already?) This song would have fit right into the Virtuosity soundtrack. Probably around the part where the stars were racing through traffic and slamming into cars. I'm going to go look for more pieces written by this guy, but until then a note to Azazel: write more of this stuff! /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A Swedish 4 channel MOD which sets out to do what most Swedish 4 channel MODs do, and does it successfully enough, buuuurrrtt...is that enough? Plainly not, as you may be able to tell from my tone. I like most of the 'Scandinavian' MOD scene, particularly the more innovative members of the breed, but I must admit that I do get a little tired of the same kind of approach every time. We composers have the ability to make *whatever* we need to, in how ever many channels and sounds we choose...and yet.... So what is this track, that I should rant and rail over with such ill humour? PBA starts, like most of this genre, with a fast pulsing wavesound before relaxing into a standard techno-ish beat. The track bounces on in relentless style until it's broken up slightly by the introduction of yer typical synth sound, while all the time a toy sounding piano batters your right ear. The panning is most unfortunate, placing the synths on either side of the mix may have been a good idea, but eventually it leaves the more irritating synth sound joining forces with the piano I mentioned earlier to commit aural abuse to my right ear. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ ChroMix ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Holy Grail, what a piece of work! This song kicks some serious tushi, and I mean it! Hahaha, what a track. I'll have to say this is one of the finest MOD tunes that I have ever heard, and this is why: First of all, the track starts off with some really twisted acid synths that are just dripping with adrenaline. If the song had continued in this direction, adding the drums and then a bit of melody, that would have been more than enough, but Azazel doesn't stop there! He then kicks in with one awesome lead melody that would have had Purple Motion dropping to his knees...nothing gets boring here! It just keeps getting more and more powerful. Azazel has right here a perfect mix of uplifting smoothness combined with such slamming, kick-arse techno that you just can't help but set your MODplayer for 'permanent loop' and listen to this piece time and time again until your ears bleed or your speaker explodes (whichever comes first). I totally recommend this song to anyone who ever dared to breath the words "MOD is dead" because this song proves, once and for all, that 4 track doesn't mean shallow dullness. Rather, it can actually mean...this! Excellent job Azazel! /-----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \-----------------------------------------------------/ For those not familiar with the Swedish language, "bjorn" (or rather, "björn") means bear. So either Azazel suffered from lingual confusion when translating the title, or he just thought it was cool to confuse the audience. Whatever it is, I do like the title. Almost as much as I like the song. We're talking techno here, something between trance, hardcore and sheer madness. A fast, aggressive tune with a steady beat and incredibly twisted (and distorted) acid snarls in a furious attack at the listener. After a while, some more dance-ish theme comes in for a few patterns, and then back it goes into plain weirdness again. It is maybe a bit too harsh in production, and a few more channels (for pads and effects) wouldn't have hurt this tune, but on the whole, it is also well done, and fully enjoyable, especially with the volume turned up ridiculously high. It's a tiny bit short, though, and all of a sudden I find myself being thrown out into silence, just as I had gotten to know the song. And getting to know it was damn pleasant. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Damn, I really liked the first minute or so of this module. Polar Bjorn Attack opens with a slowly modulated pulsing bass that quickly turns into a nice, squelchy 303 bass lead acid tune. Things really kick until, yech, the tune turns into a kind of Robert Miles synth stab and bassline groove thing. Pretty digital synths and a deep bouncing bass, a simple disco drum track and predictable chord changes make up the rest. If Yanni did techno it might sound like this. Everything is well crafted, that's for sure. The sample set is clean, as is the mix. Overall, quite a decent mod, though I would've preferred that it went in another direction. If you think this is going to be a Goa tune look elsehwere, as PBA doesn't have the exotic flavor of Goa, IMHO. If you like techno-lite then by all means give it a listen. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Nifty acid opening breaking into a more technoish main part. The acid continuous warping and twisting as organ punches and some soft bell-like synth join in. I'm a bit of a sucker for those warping/twisting techno/ acid samples, and since these are in abundance, this moddie has my favor. This is not, however, much when it comes to sheer originality, but it is right up there with the better lot of this type. In general this is best described as a techno/trance mix, with a good, quick, but not spastic tempo, and a sharp abrupt ending. Unfortunately, Mr. Pop'n'click is present in a few places which, of course, sends me to the sample editor in order to mop them up myself. Grrrr. But the track remains very good despite the few less than stellar factors. -----================================================================----- "Oh! Soo Hip" by Racoon (4ch MOD, 02:00) (oh.lha [254K/362K]) [Funk/Dance] Samples -----------------. Originality -------------. | Technical ---------. | | Composition -----. | | | Overall -. | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ==================== ESP 94+ 90 90 88 65 MING 77+ 85 65 70 80 Rebriffer 70= 80 75 70 60 Peraphon 69= -- -- -- 80 WolfSong 65= 66 76 78 77 Mansooj 63= -- -- 62 64 Skullsaw 60- 60 80 60 65 Fanta C 50= -- -- -- -- /----------------------------------------------------\ )-------------------------========[ ESP ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ When I first played this track, I thought something was wrong with the player, because it sounded so out of time and strange. After a few stops and restarts, I realised it was supposed to be like that, and it resolved itself after only a few seconds. Once I'd listened through (it looped 3 times before I realised it was looping), nothing could stop me from proclaiming this track one of the oddest pieces of music I've ever laid ears on. It's just too bizarre, almost for words, the mind boggles. Not in a bad way, fortunately. Sometimes strangeness for strangeness' sake is tired; no, this is a normal song which sounds musically normal at its highest layer, the weird thing is what it's made of, and how it's made. The bassline is the first part to show itself, and it was this that I misinterpreted as corrupted data in the first place, it really is indescribable. It all clicks into place when a beat (not your average beat, though, oh no) emerges from the mix, and you wonder how you couldn't see the groove right there in the first place. When the beat disappears again, the bassline again causes confusion, because it instantly becomes incomprehensible again. What kind of fevered mind created this? What kind of man would set this creature of insanity loose on an unsuspecting public? I don't know, but I'd like to shake his hand and give him a cigar. Hell, give him a boxfull. That's about all I can say, really, because it's actually a very, very, deeply odd sounding track. I think the trick is in the timing and pattern size, but what I can say for sure is that this track fairly fizzes with excitement, and is emitting musicrons at an astounding rate. It might not be many things (subtle, for one), but that doesn't matter because it is at least one thing, and that is interesting and new. As your attorney, I advise immediate download and installation on disk. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ WolfSong ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ It's nice to see a composer take a style of music to the next level in evolution. That's what's been done here. This piece is reminiscent of the jazz/pop of a couple of decades ago, but replacing the expected complement of instruments are some very 90's sounds--mostly synths. However, the piece doesn't stray too far from recognition as it does preserve some traditional sounds like electric pianos and horns. The song's central focus is a rather clever synth jazz lead that bounces up and down the scales quite effortlessly. It reminded me of something that you might hear some of the old keyboardist pop artists like Stevie Wonder or Herbie Hancock playing. The song also has a definite element of late 80's dance/pop showing up in its percussion and other places as well. This may sound like a good idea at first, but I think it was the composer's biggest mistake in this song. My main dislike about this song was that because of the beat, the whole song seemed awkward. It didn't even come close to flowing smoothly. I do admire the detail and dynamics in the rhythm, but the style just seems to clash with the more dominant style characteristics. If a song's style is going to be a rock or blues derivative then I want to be able to move to it. Or at least be able to bounce a little bit. It's very hard to pick out the beat in this song. My words on Oh! Soo Hip: Oh! Almost. /----------------------------------------------------\ )------------------------========[ MING ]========-------------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Okay, okay, okay. I normally get repulsive in my manners when confronted with a title as pompous as this, and because it normally never lives up to it's bold premises, I approach it with the greatest of caution. No need for that here. This tune was hip. Very hip. A frantic, light jazzy piece with all kinds of funky ingredients, such as an overtuned bass, chaotic yet ordered drumming, saxes and horns, and a whole orchestra backing it all up with hits and strings. And as the mod it is, Racoon couldn't help throwing in the traditional demo-tune synths, and overload with vibrato and stuff. Maybe we could have done better without that, but it's there, and as I have to live with it, I must say that not even that ruins the hipness of the song. As a four channel mod composer, Racoon may not be the most fantastic technician, and thus, the full stereo effect and the shortage of channels sometimes causes dynamic problems, but on the other hand, neither is this too bad to destroy the overall impression. And I don't think it could have been done better as a multichannel tune, where it would just have gotten cluttered. So, hats off for a very, very hip tune. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Fanta C ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ "Arggh!" Hmmm, try another player. "Arrghh!" Maybe I got a corrupt copy. Download and try again..."Arghh!" "Timing," "Synchronization," "Karma." All words that can be used to describe the relationship music has with rhythm. I do not think there is a single bar in this mod that manages to complete before the next begins. I must have a bad copy or two surely? Each bar, or pattern, starts fine and then rushes towards the end of the pattern trying to complete. Really weird! What I can't work out is whether it was done on purpose. Ignoring the timing, there is some good work here. For example, there's a synth run that sounds rather 'real,' and the bass work, whilst having odd timing, isn't amateurish at all. Hmm, maybe it's 'pushing the envelope'? Well, maybe, but personally I found it very distracting. Note that I am unable to give any technical scores for this one, because I can't make up my mind whether the track was intentionally coded the way it is or not. I am baffled. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Rebriffer ]========----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A 4 track MOD from Sweden, and it has that classic 'Scandinavian' sound to it. Stylish and classy, but ultimately let down by its being so limited by the 4 track format. Once again this would have made a GREAT XM or IT. I don't mean Racoon doesn't know what he's up to, as he obviously does, judging by the high quality on evidence here. My gripe is about having to squeeze all this good stuff into the straitjacket of 4 channel MODs when programs like FT or IT make it possible to get much nearer to studio quality. Musically, it's a jazzy little number, all synths and pulsating basses. All this activity is punctuated every once in a while by some very well placed string stabs. Nicely done. I'm not always a fan of this particular branch of music (i.e. from the more northern European countries), but this is definitely a classy piece and well worth a download. You'd have to like the style, otherwise it could lead to a weepin' an'a wailin'. This is JAZZZZZZ. /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Skullsaw ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ This is hip? Well, maybe for 1976. This sounds like dozens of other funky fusion mods that emulate that period. Yeah, the instrumentation is a bit updated with synths that could be used in an acid tune, but overall, the style, composition and arrangement are all quite average. There are some notable standouts including an excellently coded lead synth that doesn't sound tracked but played by real fingers on a real keyboard complete with some tasty pitch bends. Some very nice comping provides rhythmic and harmonic interest. It's strange, if taken individually, the instrument's parts are pretty good, but as an ensemble, it's quite cluttered and busy. This isn't exactly music I'm a big fan of, I prefer my jazz, fusion and funk on the harder side, guitar driven like Mahavishnu Orchestra, vintage Jan Hammer and Jeff Beck, but this isn't all that objectionable to me. I think the average mod collector would like this. /----------------------------------------------------\ )-----------------------========[ Mansooj ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ A very strange one, overall. The intro is comprised of a bass with such an odd progression I thought my copy was corrupted in transit (turned out it wasn't, though). Parts of this song were kind of interesting, such as some "monkey" hoots which were amusing, but pretty much gratuitous--they certainly didn't seem to provide much, but the overall impression is that of haphazardness. I'm sure it took effort to fashion such an unusual sound, but the end product doesn't seem to have been worthwhile. I was taking my time writing this review, and somehow didn't notice the song had looped twice...I was just waiting and waiting, apparently in a repetition induced daze, for some sign of variety--somewhere. Obviously, this didn't occur. I will say, however, that the song's loop-point was quite smooth. :) /----------------------------------------------------\ )----------------------========[ Peraphon ]========-----------------------( \----------------------------------------------------/ Plenty of variation, plenty of energy, plenty of "oomph," and by way of justifying the title, yeah, it's fairly hip too. This, coupled with a very cool, great-sounding set of samples, and some vague shades of Chorus & Sid of Majic 12, definitely makes it one to check out--especially if this sort of funky jazz mix appeals to your sensibilities already. -----================================================================----- "