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Displaying Reviews 2821 - 2850 out of 2865 |
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Chilly Willy (Dallas theme cover) - arranged by DjLizard offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 A Seinfeld bass kicks off this (apparently funky) remix of… Dallas! There isn't much feel for the actual melody of the piece here, though some of the synths and the general sound carpet is quite attractive. It won't chill your Willy, it sounds silly, but it is worth a lily. I mean, listen. |
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Ultima V Greyson's Tale (c128) - arranged by Eric Pochesci offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 This is played on a Vangelis instrument, but it sounds cloudy and messy. The choir seems to be uncontrolled and has occasional discords with the tune. Underwhelming. Thankfully short. |
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Noisy Pillars - arranged by FashReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Uninteresting version of the SID replicated almost entirely without additions or subtlety, and without the life and bounce of the source material. Life has been sucked out. Not offensive, just boring. |
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Temple of Apshai (drum and bass) - arranged by DjLizard offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Some things in life aren't meant to be together… yes, I know I've said that before, but it's true! Ask my parents! These two things are almost irreconcilable, though in this case the FX on the SID are nice, with some filter burbling almost managing to pull off the impossible. Strangely engaging at times, despite my reservations. Worth a listen: surprisingly he almost pulls it off. |
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Hypa-ball - arranged by DjLizard offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 You can't remix a bouncy 12/8 song in 4/4 without having a damn good reason. This cover doesn't have one, though it does convey the wideness of the piece better than the Low Kick remix, possibly because the SID appears to be better recorded. There's some nice synth noodling when the SID triangle wave plays, but when the backing stops, the rhythm changes completely back to the 12/8, and the ear gets confused. Drivel, but maybe your toe might tap if the wind is blowing the right way. Hey, look at those marks. Looks like this tune is more than the sum of its parts. Pretty good apart from the major flaw. Some good ideas. |
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International Karate - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Very Vince Clark filtered synth noodling start to this. No obvious IK influences at all, but it sounds nicely dancy. I'd be happy with this if I was creating a dance track. However, the percentage of IK is… about 0% from listening to it. Which makes this a wolf in sheep's clothing. Or a sheep in wolf's clothing, or something. But it's nothing to do with C64 music, and there's no melody to speak of. |
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Krakout (Fucough mix) - arranged by DjLizard offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Fucough? HAHAHAHAHAHAHA! My sides have just come apart with the hilarity. Krakout is a crazy tune, but this is Krakout on E. If you ever saw anyone dancing to this, you'd wonder about their sanity: the bits of the tune are incredibly twee, and the whole thing is like a bad nightmare. Annoying. The word 'petty' also springs to mind, puzzlingly. |
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Ultima V - Moonglow memories - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Oooh, this is a Vangelis feel. Nice echoey piano playing the SID part, and a scintillating synth riff. Pads join in to give a lush feel, and… At 1:23 a drill kicks in, to lead to a Robert Miles-style backbeat, bass and feel. It's quite harsh in sound, but it's got a lot of presence. There's an outside chance this would work in a club. From 2:09 the tune is joined by some rhythmic beeps which don't work because they clash with the tune. From this point the remix seems to undergo entropy and collapse, until a sudden recovery at 2:40, where is finds its feet again. DJLizard leaps into the hall of fame. |
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M.U.L.E. (Aerobics in the jungle mix) - arranged by MahoneyReview by LMan, 23/01/2003 The jungle fever is on the loose! Go and get yourself infected! 😃Extraordinary well produced (like all of Mahoney's tunes), and really innovative (like all of Mahoney's tunes). What's left to say? Grab this mix and sing along: Laaa behdum dum baah dum bah dut… Great work! 😊 |
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Ode to my C64 (Hammerfist) - arranged by MakkeReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 In this tune, the point is not what is covered (Hammerfist), it's a complete song devoted to the C64 in Depeche Mode stylee. And it's brilliant executed. Just download it! |
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Big Benn - arranged by Bart KlepkaReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 A megamix of many Benn pieces, from Ark Pandora through Last Ninja. A suitably frenetic intro is joined by a strange piano lead to complement a straight dance rhythm. The main piece is taken forward by Ben's SID burbles, but in this case, the cover would have been better suited by having a sharper and more stabby replacement for these: the burbles aren't segregated enough to suggest the necessary madness, and just don't feel punchy enough. At 1:48 the tune seems to go a bit Pete Tong melodically, but since it's 720, I'll give it the benefit of the doubt, since that's got some odd chords in it. When Bombo kicks in, the whole thing begins to sound like Robert Miles (as if it didn't already!). Some pads float about to add width to this section, which work well enough. The main problem with the megamix is that the necessity for a constant beat and sound means the individual parts have to be bent and shaped to fit: a process which mangles some more than others. Ben's Last Ninja Wilderness tune loses its Swing-type beat, for instance. Much the same happened on Chris Huelsbeck's 'Giana Sisters Megamix", which was disappointing for me as a fan of the individual pieces, because none of the parts had the atmosphere of the original. So, this cover, while technically very well done (I'd argue with the lead in the Last Ninja section though) falls victim to its own structure and ends up less satisfying to Ben fans as a result. Efficient but strangely unsatisfying. |
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Wizball Song 2 (Orchestral Bouncy Remix) - arranged by MistaDistahReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 The words 'flatter to deceive' apply to this remix, which is an interesting take on the SID. Elements from the SID, orchestral hits, a hip-hop style brush breakbeat all combine. Sounds interesting, and is for about a minute. Then you realise that nothing else is going to happen that's more interesting: OK, the drums develop into a more standard house pattern, but that's about it. This is most definitely a case of 'I've just bought a sample CD and I'm going to use it'. Some nice ascending orchestral chords at 1:30 onwards make me think I've been a bit harsh, since some of them are quite epic. The SID is almost optional here though, and the piece doesn't quite know where it's going. On balance, the world is better for this piece existing, so I recommend a download. don't expect anything more from Wizball than the paint mixing noises though. Download it if you're in an experimental mood. |
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Starforce Fighter - arranged by MakkeReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 A little reminiscent of Parallax, this MP3 has a very wide sound until the drums kick in, when it becomes boxy and too reverbed. There are some nice ideas here, but the overall sound quality lets it down. Better production would have added two marks overall. A good cover let down by its sound. |
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Warhawk main theme (sadmix) - arranged by FerraraReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 A slow, sad treatment of Warhawk: almost a requiem. Shades of this mood for Warhawk also showed up in O2s seminal Warhawk mix. It works very well. Warhawk by its nature relies on minor chords, and has a strong melody line which can well survive away from the original SID. This, this cover works. A Jarre Revolutions feel and floaty pads (albeit with an irritatingly piercing echo-lead) performs the rest of the piece. It's an intelligent and persuasive cover, and even when the melody has its chords changed, it works, the sign of the thought that's gone into it. If the production and sound quality were better, and a couple of the irritations in EQ removed, this would be CD-worthy. Perhaps a rework on better technology? Pretty damn good. |
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Jyde Funk - arranged by Fredrik SegerfalkReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 It's funky. It's MoN funky. It's got an asthmatic organ lead though. Toe-tapping: the bass and drums work well, and there's the compulsory rhythm guitar whacking. Inexplicable speech samples and bell sweeps are odd but atmospheric. In conclusion: this is whacked out funk, but actually listenable with an open mind. Not vital, but a nice download for the open-minded. |
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Afterburner (Before I burned the afterburner mix) - arranged by FTCReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 An almost ethnic sound characterises the start of this cover, before the main tune kicks in at 1:00. Good use of FX and sounds gives a quite luxurious atmosphere. Thanks to Jeroen's original, this cover is slightly disjointed, and there are parts of it which just stop the tune, but there's some good moments. Jeroen's solo is captured well, and the mix of synths and SID works very well. Well worth the download. |
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Lightforce (Existenz Mix) - arranged by MistaDistahReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 'You didn't get here in time! My game is dead. You murdered my game! ' What does this have to do with Lightforce? -bing- who answered 'nothing'? You're correct!! But what of the rest of the cover. Odd chord stabs on what sounds like a murdered banjo don't inspire confidence. At 0:30 the Lightforce riff strikes up, accompanied by an ascending (and quite painful) siren type sound. When a drum fill strikes up, you expect a breakbeat to kick in, but all you get is a wooden kick/snare combination. All in all, a painful cover to listen to. The nice pads are generally overlaid by an overuse of filter resonance which overshadows any pleasant feelings you get from this, the lead is pretty boring, the bass isn't a patch on the SID, and there's an irritating typing noise throughout. Lightforce is difficult to make unpalatable if you get the tune right, but this one manages to make it audibly annoying. Plus the whole thing seems to have been lifted from my MIDI file, as witnessed by the single note riff at 6:30 and elsewhere throughout the tune, which in my MIDI file were orchestral stabs. Way to make my MIDI file crap, Mista. Extremely irritating. Plus marks off for cribbing my MIDI file without credit. |
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Space Harrier II (Subtune 2) - arranged by FTCReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 An utterly forgettable SIDtune, but this cover starts with some nice minor-to-major pads which sound quite like Howard Jones, and some nice bell sounds which give this whole thing a Glyn R Brown 80s soundtrack feel. Nice, and the usual delay makes this lucious to listen to. A throwaway cover of a throwaway tune, but well worth the download, 'cos it's nice. Plus I like minor to major chord sequences 😊 Turns a so-so tune into a worthwhile download. |
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Boulderdash - arranged by DjLizard offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Boulderdash deserves a better fate than this non-square wave Rockford-bashing it gets here. The sound keeps cutting out too, which is most disconcerting. It should go off and stay off. A mutilation of a great abstract tune. |
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Lazy Jones - arranged by DJ Tobi offlineReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Back to subtune 21, and Zombie Nation territory we go for another DJ Tobi clinical obsession tune. The start riff is very irritating: it certainly winds you up with stress, being a sequence of adjacent semitone notes. The C64 part of this has actually been FXd up quite a bit better in this remix than the other remixes from DJ Tobi, and there's some clever interplay between the various phrases. Or it may be just a delay. Once you get past the Zombie Nation Part, the cover gets weak and dry again. This tune is never going to be played in a club while it lacks this atmosphere. Compare and contrast with Instant Remedy's Lazy Jones. And what's the speech sample saying? It sounds so superfluous… and irritating. Zombie Nation's speech samples fitted into the piece a lot better. Better than the deluxe, but not enough for a mark increase. |
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Ocean Loader v4 mongoloid mix - arranged by dj waffelmeisterReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 After years of being ignored, Ocean Loader V4 gets a few covers at last. A smooth, expressionless but relatively well played lead conveys the melody accurately, and the choice of instruments is reminiscent of OMD. Some nice arp burbling adds some much needed variety. A bit of modulation on the lead and/or pitch bend would have worked wonders though. It's the musical equivalent of reading from a telephone directory. It's accurate, sure, but there's not a lot of individual expression there. Having said that, this is a cover that's had work and time put into it, and it conveys the tune accurately: there's some nice string work, the occasional sid sample (the boing at the beginning, which the arranger realised wasn't reproducible on any other synth). It's very pleasant, and sounds nice. Not earth-shattering, but if you like the tune you might as well download it, though the deadness of the lead may kill it for you, since the natural emotion in the SID lead's modulation is gone. Good, but unexciting. |
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Hypa-ball (Low kick remix) - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Hypaball has always been a wiiiide tune to me. The sid sound has a lot of detuning between different voices, and an expansion of the sound during the breaks. This cover tries to capture that expansion with filter sweeps and the SID, but somehow the raw SID has more power. The breakbeat on this one is a 'Doctoring the Tardis' beat, with the same 12/8 shuffle as the original SID. At 1:28 there's a nice break which sounds even vaguely Michael Jacksonesque. Oddly enough, the drums disappear too gradually to be replace by a conga filled break through the triangle wave quiet bit of the original. Well, you can't fault DJ Lizard for variety on this piece. This is a professional sounding cover, and interesting to listen to. Mentally it's very strange that the SID is more powerful to me: kind of overwhelming in a way. This cover fails to capture this, but takes the tune into a left-field arrangement that's interesting, though I'm not sure it would bear repeat listening. There's a more satisying cover for fans of this piece out there in the future, but until then, download this!). |
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Ultima V - Stones 2001 - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Note to other remixers: if you're going to do SID with piano, this is how to do it: lots of echo, some feel on the piano, and a spaciousness. Some real playing wouldn't go amiss either. DJ has here cleverly managed to turn the tune itself into a riff, and this tune has a definite Enigma feel to it, which is most pleasant to listen to. Some beautiful string accompaniments, a good purposeful bass, great breakbeat to keep the thing humming along. It's understated but beautiful. Amazingly mature cover. |
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Ultima V - Theme (Trance) - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Ugly intro, with a dry gated synth doesn't make my ass boogie, and the lead that carries the melody is far too high in the mix, and stands out like a sore thumb. After the melody has gone, there's a lot going on which is supposed to be trancey. I'm not sure you'd get a serene trance with this, however: it's hectic and confusing. Maybe after becoming external to a few narcotics and some sleep deprivation you would be able to trance to this: but then, I'm sure it's the same with a lot of 'trance' tracks. Professional sounding, except for odd moments which hurt the ear. Too confusing to be satisfying, but if trance is your thing, this is it, baby. |
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Ultima VI - Heroes Long Gone (Z8F remix) - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 The beginning synth sound doesn't work for me quite as well as the previous Ultima covers since they sound hollow, irritating and don't work well at low frequencies. The consequence of this is that the piece fails to engage until some swelling strings briefly come into the equation. They then promptly disappear, to be replaced by a large filtersweep that is hard on the ears (too much resonance when the filter's passing through the mid section). There's a Robert Miles vibe develops here, but the filter sweep kills it, primarily through too much resonance. However, when that sweep disappears, it leaves very little behind. Too irritating for a 7. |
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Zak McKracken (IK (mix^2)) - arranged by DjLizardReview by Chris Abbott, 23/01/2003 Sample, Hold, Cup of Tea, Lie down… 😊 Everything about this cover is powerful except for the lead, which is far too twee and dry. The filtered synth is great, the production is good, the sample/hold synth maintains the interest, the drums are punchy, and the whole sound is generally interesting. That lead needs work though. Luckily (or unluckily, depending on how you feel), it only occurs once, the rest of the time being taken up by 12' mix segments. It works well, though a bit of melody wouldn't go amiss… Abupt ending though: did they kill Zak or something? Worthwhile download for meatiness. |
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Cauldron II (Besen Mix) - arranged by The 909SadistReview by LMan, 21/01/2003 909 Sadist has done a great job here, joining filtered sid, synth sounds and a punchy electronic beat. The result is something that would rock the house and techno dancefloors for sure. The mixdown sounds very professional.Describe this mix in one word? Techno! |
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Last Ninja III (qso-mix) - arranged by CirdanReview by LMan, 21/01/2003 Cirdan took the beautiful Last Ninja III subtune 10, and turned it into something even better. It starts off with a nice ambience, slowly and calm, just until the beat kicks in. An extraordinary 80's sounding background supports the ethnic lead instruments perfectly.The track is mixed and equalised very well, but unfortunately there's also some distortion at several spots. A little less maximising propably would do. But that doesn't really lower the fun of listening to this masterpiece, it actually helps it sounding 80s. For me, it's one of the greatest tracks in 2002. |
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Delta (Minimal) - arranged by Philip BakReview by rauli, 21/01/2003 Truly minimal. Starts with a piano intro. Then it's mainly the bass line and the lead for the rest of the tune, slooowly gaining in intesity until it all shatters and fades away in the end. Bautyful and melancholy. |
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Delta (Beret Supreme) - arranged by RauliReview by Tas, 20/01/2003 I'm not really sure what to makes of this remix really. it's very experimental to say the least. it's a kind somber/ambient remix and one that suits Delta very well.not really sure if he's managed to pull it off really, but credit to Rauli for having a bash at something a little different. The tune itself tends to drag a little and doesn't really quite grab you in the way that is could have. A nice vision really, but one I unfortunately couldn't respect in the way I should have. |
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