Review the music of the person above you

[wahrk]

Let's review each other's music!

 

Guidelines:

• Review the music of the person directly above you.
  
• Keep it positive.
  
• Make any criticisms constructive (ie "I'd like to hear...")
  
• Actually listen to their music all the way through and give it your attention.
  
• Say more than just, "This is rad. I love the beats." Talk about why.
  
• At the end of your post, include links to your music (FREE OR STREAMING ONLY) so the next person can review you with minimal hassle.
  
• Please include more than just one or two tunes. Give them something they can dig into.
  

 

The majority of my tunes are here.

[Cryptowen]

Yo Wahrk

I've reviewed some of your stuff in the past, so right no Imma listen to your new thing & give impressions...

 

What I like about your music is it doesn't feel like it's adhering to a genre. Like, it's mostly all clean synths but it doesn't feel like the kind of WHOA DOESN'T THIS SOUND ANALOGUE BLIP BLOOP BEEP BOP music tossed around a lot (probably in large part because it eschews the popular loop/modulation format in favour of actual melodic development). Similarly, the fast drums & snare snarls don't feel like attempts to be Squarepusher or Venetian Snares. It feels like "hey yeah I've got a good reason for making the drums go fast here".

 

Expanding on the song development comment - it feels like a fair bit of time has been invested into trying to give each element a logical progression to keep the track interesting for the duration, rather than layering on loops or using a bunch of lfo effects to create the illusion of change (nothing wrong with those 2 techniques but they tend to get used lazily a lot by people). In the third track you've got a fast bit which breaks down to a quiet ultra-minimalist bit which builds back up to a new watery-sounding bit (probably some other bits I'm forgetting). There's a lot of material packed into 3 minutes or so & it manages to avoid feeling like a huge shitpile of stuff because it's really just a few things moving around a bunch.

 

Uhhhh...other comments...I notice you've got some bass wobble sounds in here, so it will be fun to see if some CASUALS hear this & say "hey man nice Skrillex", & you can look at them all serious cookie monster. Also I'd be kind of curious to hear a full ambient/no-beats sort of album from you because a lot of the melodies have an almost classical music sort of vibe to them.

 

edit - oh yeah here's my last couple albums & junk if you dudes wanna pick one http://cryptowen.ban...m/land-maps-4x2 http://cryptowen.ban...album/trax-2011

[sergeantk]

edit - oh yeah here's my last couple albums & junk if you dudes wanna pick one http://cryptowen.ban...m/land-maps-4x2 http://cryptowen.ban...album/trax-2011

Just gave a listen to Land Maps 4x2. This whole album had a very interesting feel to it, I felt that all of the tracks and melodies were really distant. You seem to have a really good sense of melodic progression, cause the sounds you use on your tracks are relatively simple, which means most of the development is done with slowly adding/removing parts as well as different variations in the melodies. I also like how most of the synths have some sort of tremolo/detune. Overall, very nice album you made.

 

I want to also note that it really seems like the music you write would fit well in a big open ended video game. It's all very atmospheric and seems like what I would want to hear in an exploratory game (RPG or whatever)

[Guest Hermann]

Hey Seargentk I guess I´m reviewing you today then!

 

I really love your relaxing and at the same time melancholy ambient-sounding sounds (as I´ve probably said before), Suncloud being a perfect representation of this "happy-sad" theme you mentioned that I can kind of feel recurring in most of your music. I like the pads and things you use for most of your songs, although at times it feels a bit like the tracks are all pad-based haha. Not a bad thing necessarilly.

 

I think you have very nice sense for harmonies, chords and melodies, it all rings to my ears as "good stuff!". The beats in general are very simple (which I like) and they compliment the rest of the music nicely, you choose the sounds well to go together with each other.

 

Sometimes I get the feeling your music is a bit too regularly structured, as if all the parts kind of come in when you expect them to and the time signatures are all very regular too. I mean that´s not such a bad thing, lots of really good artists don´t change from the usual 4/4 time signature, but you know I think it would be really interesting to hear you try and make a track in an irregular time signature like 7/8 or 5/4 or whatever takes your fancy! Basically I think it would be generally very nice if you tried to "surprise the listener" more ;) . Also it would be nice to hear some "unclean" sounds in there somewhere, since it´s all sounding very clean, without much diversity.

 

Obviously that all comes mostly with experience and the more you make music the more you experiment, and I´m not even there yet, I would definitely like to experiment more with weird stuff like that.

I hope I´ve made some constructive criticism and I really hope to hear some more cool stuff from you soon :D

 

Oh yeah... A link to my soundcloud page, if anyone´s interested:

http://soundcloud.com/hermann-3

[Guest spectral9]

Hello musicmakers, i'm a newbie here, but this particular topic caught my glimpse as a great way to get some feedback :)

But of course, i'm supposed to review Hermann first..

 

<..having a blast of a listen..>

 

At first i thought "this is some kind of chillwave influenced lo-fi electronica", that's the impression left by Audio Sauna Porno Tune, and it's not a bad thing at all since i really like some of chillwave stuff. Little did i know.. The further down the playlist, the more experimental your music becomes.

One dominant trend i observed in your music, are the somewhat offbeat rhythms, dissolving and subtly fading in-out of the mix, also your sampling technique blends very organically into the whole mix. Also i think you possess a very contemporary and somewaht twisted sense of harmony, but nonetheless manage to express emotion, for this i bow to you.

 

The only track i didn't like was GusGus remix, and that's because i don't like GusGus, and generally dislike remixes. However, the Death Note remix is absolutely superb, quality track with impressive sampling techniques throughout. My other favorite tracks of yours are Paranoia Kicks In, Gæró, the superb atmospheric Time-travelling Seraphim, and absolute killer glitchy E-mail. One particular glitched sound on E-mail reminded me of wine glasses (i have an array of these myself), i wonder if i'm correct about this :)

 

I noticed you employ kind of lo-fi aesthetic in most of your tracks, maybe it's intentional, maybe not, but it doesn't always work very well. It works well on Audio Sauna Porno Tune for example, but on some other tracks, like Kingdom Come, i would have enjoyed more clarity. Also, i would like to hear more detail in the high-frequency ranges (5000 -10000 khz), to make your mix sharper, but that may be a matter of personal taste. However, my biggest complaint by far would be - More Tracks! Keep them coming! I want to hear more of your music :) Especially the more experimental stuff, like E-mail or Time-travelling Seraphim, i think you excel in experimentation and it's the way forward for you. Also, i would recommend putting together an album or EP, not just for the sake of having a "release", but to further flesh out your musical ideas and develop your unique sound and production techniques.

 

Overall, pleasant stuff, i'm following you on soundcloud from now on :)

 

 

As for my music, most of it (the stuff i managed to compile into finished "release" format) can be found here: http://spectral.bandcamp.com/ .I'm very inconsistent stylistically, so please don't judge me from one release, they are all different :) Just don't bother with Back Catalogue Vol.1, it's very old shit which i only keep for nostalgic value..

[Friendly Foil]

Right, listening to the some of the tracks from the 'spectral' album. I was a bit skeptical after reading the description, since the concept reminded me of something that would come out on a label such as Raster-Noton (and I'm not too fond of a lot of the stuff on that label.) I'm glad I was wrong.

SIN000:

Great start to the album. pretty good sense of space. great melodies. Sounds like the intro to a sci-fi film from the 60's. lovely.

 

SIN001:

Fits well with the track before it. The arp at the 00:37 mark is incredible. I was a bit afraid you were going to go overboard with it and add a bunch of unneeded variations to it, but you didn't, which is quite refreshing. A lot of electronic musicians these days have a tendency to make tracks go in a thousand different directions, but this track is nice and focused. Again, some lovely melodies in there. especially the ending. Also, great progression in the track. I like when a track starts in one place and ends in another.

 

SIN005:

Crazy Oversteps vibes on this one. I'm not too fond of the rising/falling tones during the middle of the track. they're a bit too loud, for my taste. would have been better as background ambiance in my opinion. But then, you bring in that crazy good melody. I sure say this a lot, but your melodies really are quite beautiful.

 

SIN008:

This is a standout track for me. it has that special 90's electronic music vibe (which is a good thing, in case you were wondering.) I had to get used to the drums, but they compliment the rest of the sounds quite nicely. If I had to point out a very minor detail, I think the reverb on the snare is a bit... weird. A little too loud and 'hollow', but then again that might have been intentional, so don't take my comment too seriously. And once again, I have to compliment you on the way you end your tracks. always nice to get a last listen to the main melody, before a track ends.

 

SIN009:

Bass(!), and another lovely arp melody. Sounds really warm and cozy this one. not much more to say, really. Probably my favorite!

 

SIN011:

Always a good idea to end an album with a calm melodic track. One thing I noticed is the part at the end, where there's close to no sound. Only some very subtle buzzing. Autechre (sorry I keep mentioning them, hope you don't mind) does this too, on a lot of their ending tracks. It works really well when you're playing an album on repeat, since it gives the listener some time to breathe before starting all over again. Great last track.

 

Pretty impressive that you managed to create all these tracks with a single sine wave. Also, none of the tracks feels too long. A lot of experimental music seems to go on for way too long, because the artist gets a tad too excited about his own awesome ideas. Nice job!

 

edit: oh shit, forgot to mention there's a link to my stuff in my sig. In case anyone wants to listen.

[SR4]

Would love to continue this thread; I think its a fantastic idea!

 

 

Mr. Foil let's have a listen:

 

Ententim Entity

 

-Oh wow, Im already floored by the intro. Beautiful ambient pads with early 90s techno bass drums.....this is very Ken Ishii to me...which is ALWAYS a good thing.....the switch into breakbeat was unexpected but still very nice. I like how the strings sound very "fragile" or wobbly, like a slight LFO on them as if they were about to fall apart.

 

That "Wispy synth" is beautiful....do you use Floops?

 

oh sheeeeiiiiiit...1:20, yes. YES! Continue on this line. To be honest Im have tempted to make a 4/4 oldskool techno remix of just that little breakdown there. These vocal parts really fill out these progressions.

 

I wanted to think this track was scattered, but I found myself listening to it again and enjoying it even more. Excellent sense of production!

 

Club (edit2): Smooth sexy electro/techno vibe, reminds me a lot of Drexciya in some parts. The high and tight snare cut is perfect for this beat...this sounds like it wouldn't be too out of place on the Drive soundtrack. Some vocoder vocals would make this far too bdass for me to handle. I also like how the string pads don't overpower the rest of the mix...this is something I am often guilty of.

 

How Come You Always (Part 1):

 

Man Ill say it again, I love the fact that you really throwback to early AFX/hardcore IDM beats...I really ,really miss that from techno/electronica these days, and you seem to have seriously mastered the art.

 

Completely serious here, I enjoy this track far more than a lot of the cuts in the Analord series. This is really sick. The bass is perfect and varied just enough without seeming excessive (like you are "trying too hard, etc.). String pads beautiful as always...I like the drum machine work out starting on 1:45 or so, its very reminiscent of early System 7 to me! Haunting finish. The pads drowning out everything,...nice! I like the one layer that has a ringing sound to it (sorry Im a complete idiot when it comes to musical terms)

 

ATD..Y:

 

Oh I like this one a lot.....especially when the rimshots start coming in...I almost want to listen to the first part of the track plus hihats for 5 minutes before it changes up. Solid, tight groove. The next sequence makes me think of Mega Man 4 Ring Man Stage for some reason...I have no idea why, but its a good solid nostalgic vibe. Too short man, I love this one..especially the beginning.

 

Ever'n Kut:

 

Very nice dnb cuts here, clean, Im jelly! I like how it breaks down into a much tighter quantized beat as it progresses, including the muted beats that make it sound like a beatbox now and then. 1:34 to 1:55 or so...fantastic! Ooh I also like that saw-y bass that dresses up the ending.

 

Orca 2:

 

Absolutely perfect name for this track. The inclusion of the synth/heavy dance beat weirded me out at first, but I adapted very quickly, and its actually a very cool transition....once the 303ish bass hits in, yes, I understand now. This song quickly became a very different beast and in a pleasantly surprising way. Love those "washes" of pads from 2:10 onwards, goes back and expands upon the original premise...a nice intro, hard floor beat, and a bit of a chill retraction for the mind to bliss out softly.

 

Im definitely going to favorite you man, this stuff is really top notch...very close to your influences but incredibly original and diverse stylistically....You absolutely cram tons of ideas and concepts into each track making them a rewarding listen...requires and demands your full attention...and I think thats a very hard musical quality to hit on consistantly.

 

 

Excellent job on all of this, seriously.

 

 

PS. Locked-On Target is fucking amazing. This belongs in an 80s sci-fi movie.

 

heres a link to my stuff, be gentle

 

 

http://soundcloud.com/user6105815