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· · · · · ·· ·⌠ · - the gathering '97 - · ⌠· ·· · · · · ·
··· ·· · · · · ⌡ unofficial music compo review ⌡ · · · · ·· ···
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. . . edited by brian j. meison <bjmason@hotmail.com> . . .
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: t h e g a t h e r i n g 1 9 9 7 m u s i c c o m p o r e v i e w :
[ introductory words section ]
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this is the tg97 unofficial (unbiased, uncensored, and all that crap)
music review. since all 28 finalist entries from tg97 music compo are
available on ftp, i have released this review so people have some idea of
which songs they should take a listen to, and which not to bother with.
this guide is purely the opinion of one scene fan and should not be taken
as law. i have included a brief description of each song, along with
good points and bad points, and finally, a letter-grade. grades are a
loose guideline (A is good to excellent, B is okay to good, C is mediocre
or worse) and not meant to be definitive like a Hornet star-rating.
for starters, here's the list of finalists:
(note, there was only one music compo, sort of a break from tradition of
having a multi and 4ch compo at most parties...)
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song title composer/group format (ch.) "style" [*]
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blue bay bar zauron/index .IT (29ch) jazz/demo
carbondioxide vinnie/spaceballs .MOD (4ch) ambient/jazz
clean air orbiter/dna .XM (12ch) techno
confront reality elling/laban .MOD (4ch) techno/demo
dream access silver .IT (22ch) ambient
frozen dreams(?) (?) .XM (16ch) piano/guitar
gettin' groovy dolby/image dreams .MOD (4ch) funk
heard it before epithal/limited ed. .MOD (4ch) techno
highlander radiance/massive .MOD (4ch) synth orchest.
i'm coming melwyn/acid rain .MOD (4ch) jazz/vocal
i'm not bad phelix/yodel .XM (16ch) techno
it's a dream bullet .MOD (4ch) techno
korean fantasies brainbug&boo/talent .XM (4ch) guitar ballad
norlyn yolk/parallax .MOD (4ch) mellow jazz
optimize clone .S3M (13ch) techno
persian angel taymaz and wstd .S3M (16ch) demo
physical attraction psycho/session .MOD (4ch) techno
plastic nudity jisemdu&caramel/sotu .XM (14ch) guitar/rock
rivendell radix&skize/limted ed. .XM (24ch) medieval
stativ scott/spaceballs .XM (12ch) various
stoned balrog, codec, martyn .XM (4ch) funk
sunset in africa the silencer/sotu .XM (20ch) ethnic
the experience trashcan .XM (16ch) techno
the horse race kezoomer/lost souls .IT (16ch) weird
virtual reality basic energy&yuxon/tec .IT (19ch) techno
westcoastdaria poison/goto10 .MOD (4ch) hard rock
wit down jason/mln-crs-noiseless .XM (32ch) ambient
world of tolkien toal nkor & wain .XM (18ch) orchestral
[*] ("style" for general reference only. as you see, i don't get any more
specific than "techno", "demo", "jazz" or whatever.)
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: t h e g a t h e r i n g 1 9 9 7 m u s i c c o m p o r e v i e w :
[ main section ]
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-- "blue bay bar" (bluebayb.zip) by zauron of index/maak/tpolm -----------
this song is sort of a mellow jazz-piano with a touch of demo music (the
leads are synthetic). rather well tracked and the mixing is nice, decent
melodies. one problem, over half of the samples are ripped from necros'
orchard street.
pros: good piano work; overall nice sound.
cons: rather repetitive and too many ripped necros samples.
overall grade: [ B+ ]
-- "carbondioxide" (carbondi.zip) by vinnie of spaceballs -----------------
vinnie is definitely one of the alltime protracker masters. this song is
no exception. it is a very original piece of a style nearly impossible to
describe, except to say that it is at times both very funky and very
relaxing and atmospheric. the only problem with this piece is that it's
not a new piece, but had been released on the mods anthology and possibly
elsewhere long before this compo.
pros: refreshing style; great bassline and smooth sax leads.
cons: not really a new release.
overall grade: [ A ]
-- "clean air" (cleanair.zip) by orbiter of dna ---------------------------
a rather strange techno/ambient piece. introduction is good, reminds me
a bit of 'closer' (groo). drum track is a plus. the ambient chord pads
are nice samples but they are not used in a very interesting way. decent
use of shouting voices and other such noise. ending is a simple fadeout.
pros: good percussion, nice ambience at times.
cons: not too interesting, disappointing ending.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "confront reality" (confreal.zip) by elling of laban -------------------
the introduction seemed promising, but what you have here is a pretty
standard techno piece. the samples are the best aspect of this tune, as
the music itself is really not much to get excited about. i don't really
care for those chords, they sound a bit dissonant at times.
pros: above average samples and technique.
cons: a derivative techno piece with little to offer.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "dream access" (dreamacc.zip) by silver --------------------------------
another mellow ambient piece. good drumtracks and nice-sounding chord
pads. this song is a bit repetitive, but the progressions are nice and
it has a fairly full sound. the first half is very reminiscent of a
basehead piece.
pros: nice mixing and percussion work, smooth chords.
cons: not terribly interesting.
overall grade: [ B+ ]
-- "frozen dreams(?)" (frozend.zip) by ??? --------------------------------
starts off interestingly with piano/strings and overdriven guitar. seems
like it's going to develop nicely, but it ends up becoming quite a bit of a
mess. the guitar solos are the highlight, they would've been better served
with more of a song behind them.
pros: nice guitar work, good intro.
cons: song at times seems random and just not very good.
overall grade: [ C+ ]
-- "gettin' groovy" (gettingr.zip) by dolby of image dreams ---------------
slightly above average piece of funk. the samples are rather nice and the
riffs and bassline are pretty groovin'. i was hoping for some jazzy leads,
but ended up a bit disappointed. the song just seemed to go on, and by
the time it ended (not very well, at that), i realized that there wasn't
really much to it.
pros: nice funk guitar, basses.
cons: lacks substance, abrupt ending, rather forgettable.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "heard it before" (hearditb.zip) by epithal of limited edition ---------
a drum and bass tune... not badly tracked. ambient chord pads are okay.
the occasional leads brought in are pretty nice. this tune is a bit
lacking in overall excitement.
pros: percussion, leads aren't bad.
cons: somewhat boring.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "highlander" (highland.zip) by radiance of massive and instinct --------
synth/orchestral with a bit of a scottish influence i suppose. it has a
decent sound, not much style. rather boring and undeveloped. intro was
better than the end.
pros: decent samples, music isn't bad.
cons: terribly unexciting, whole song sounds pretty much the same.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "i'm coming (to the gathering)" (imcoming.zip) by melwyn & anne --------
"i'm coming to the ga-ga-ga-gathering. so why won't you just wote for me?"
another one of those propaganda pieces, in the spirit of leinad's hit...
only this is a jazz piece, not tekkno-rap. =) musical value isn't much,
but for what it is, it's not badly done.
pros: hear this silly guy and gal sing (not _too_ badly). =)
cons: music behind the vox is passable at best.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "i'm not bad" (imnotbad.zip) by phelix of yodel ------------------------
this isn't bad, actually it's a pretty good techno piece. suffers from
the usual repetition, but this is probably the best of this style from the
compo.
overall grade: [ B+ ]
pros: a pretty solid techno track.
cons: same as above, but not to such a degree.
-- "it's a dream" (itsadrem.zip) by bullet --------------------------------
a decent acid/techno piece. some good riffs and it's tracked fairly well.
i like the use of the vocal samples in the middle of the song. drumloop
isn't that great.
pros: nice acid samps, not as blah as some of the other techno-ish pieces.
cons: still somewhat forgettable.
overall grade: [ B+ ]
-- "korean fantasies" (koreanfa.zip) by brainbug and boo ------------------
well, brainbug's done some sweet tunes and this one's no exception. a
smooth mellow guitar piece with some feeling. from the 1994 copyright, i
can guess this is a reworking or re-releasing of an old piece. i hadn't
heard this one before, so i won't make any assumptions. still, as with
vinnie's tune, it's a bit irritating. and gee, this doesn't last for long.
pros: very sweet guitar piece all around.
cons: 1m43 playing time + repeated patterns = not a lot of music here.
overall grade: [ A- ]
-- "norlyn" (norlyn.zip) by yolk of parallax ------------------------------
i've always been a fan of yolk's music. this is another piece of deja vu,
however, as this song has been released for quite some time now. with
that aside, it's a mellow piece with some sweet melodies.
pros: so what if it's elevator music...? it's good elevator music.
cons: all that's new for tg97 in this song is a few lines of sampletexts.
overall grade: [ A ]
-- "optimize" (optimize.zip) by clone -------------------------------------
yet another tekkno piece entered into the music compo at the gathering.
is anyone really surprised? i'm not. once again, nothing to make it stand
out, more average techno if you can't get enough of this.
pros: yet another fairly well-tracked/composed techno piece.
cons: yet another fairly well-tracked/composed techno piece.
overall grade: [ B ]
-- "persian angel" (persiana.zip) by taymaz & wstd ------------------------
well, it's not techno. i liked the introduction, but was let down a bit
by the actual song. it's a demo-music piece with nice (but way too quiet)
leads. the sound isn't very full, though, and the piece is pretty under-
developed. these guys are some high-quality sample rippers. pm, lk, shad,
clawz, etc., hmmm... reminiscent of necros' old demomusic style, not as
good though.
pros: good tracking, nice leads; at least it's not another techno piece.
cons: doesn't reach the level of excitement i was expecting/hoping for.
overall grade: [ B ]
-- "physical attraction" (physattr.zip) by psycho of session --------------
another techno-ish piece. this is a pretty decent one. it's an acid tune
with some decent variation and probably some of the better riffs among
these unremarkable tunes.
pros: pretty good riffs, drumloops, not as boring as others.
cons: still not very original.
overall grade: [ B+ ]
-- "plastic nudity" (plasticn.zip) by jisemdu and caramel of sotu ---------
still trying to figure out the name, but i'm enjoying the tune. it's a
fairly rockin' piece... some nice melodies (lead instrument maybe a bit
too synthy though) in this one and the tune has a pretty nice groove.
arpeggio in a guitar tune? whatever works i guess. =)
pros: nice sampled guitar riffs, good leads, overall nice effort.
cons: nothing too serious.
overall grade: [ A ]
-- "rivendell" (rivendel.zip) by radix and skize of limited edition -------
not to be confused with the rew's same-named tune from a year or two ago.
well, the title is certainly appropriate, as it has that medieval
tolkien-esque sound. all-around great samples and tracking here. i can't
say that it's quite as interesting as radix's more typical pieces (which
are superb), but it definitely captures that elven feeling.
pros: very original medieval style, great samples, well-tracked.
cons: nothing really.
overall grade: [ A ]
-- "stativ" (stativ.zip) by scott of spaceballs ---------------------------
well, here's a pleasant surprise... i certainly wasn't expecting a new
multichannel module from scott/spaceballs! starts out interestingly, with
a somewhat classical feel to it. picks up a groove halfway through, and
there's the scott music we know and love. =) great tune...
pros: smooth, original multichannel from an oldschool spaceballs great!
cons: nothing worth mentioning.
overall grade: [ A ]
-- "stoned" (stoned.zip) by balrog, codec and martyn ----------------------
an interesting, strange, but definitely funky piece of music here. if
you're familiar with balrog's style you probably have an idea of what this
is like. good bassline work, and leads are pretty nice.
pros: original and groovy, nice bass and percussion.
cons: it's a bit too strange for my liking.
overall grade: [ B+ ]
-- "sunset in africa" (sunsetin.zip) by the silencer of sotu --------------
woah! heh, this is quite a piece. starts with a bang, some nice piano
chords. quick african-style flute melodies come in, then a drumtrack with
some nice bongo work. =) this song really won me over, though, when those
awesome african vocals came in -- sounds _great_ with the piano. very
original... this song is quite an experience.
pros: great ethnic music with great piano chords, percussion, awesome vox.
cons: timing seems off when played in ft2, but in cubic it sounds fine.
overall grade: [ A ]
-- "the experience" (theexper.zip) by trashcan ----------------------------
welp, after that run of five great original entries, i guess this was
overdue. we're back to another acid/techno piece. this one sounds pretty
good, actually. repeats just as much as the rest though, and the ending
is weak.
pros: some nice samples, tracked pretty well.
cons: repetitive, and that chiplead has to go.
overall grade: [ B ]
-- "the horse race" (thehorse.zip) by kezoomer of lost souls --------------
i'm sorry, but this i can't enjoy this at all. very cheesy and boring
chord progression with a silly style and ridiculous melodies. this is
a rather garbage tune. horse race sfx only add to the stupidity.
pros: it's short.
cons: everything else.
overall grade: [ C- ]
-- "virtual reality" (virtualr.zip) by basic energy and yuxon -------------
one of the more mediocre techno pieces. i can't say much good about this
compared to the others. the samples aren't that great. incredibly cheesy
and uninspired use of sfx ("on some level we understand that what we see
is for real" got old after about the second of fifty-some times it's used).
pros: doesn't totally suck.
cons: mediocre everything, stupid vox
overall grade: [ C+ ]
-- "world of tolkien" (tolkien.zip) by toal nkor and wain -----------------
an orchestral piece. lots of nice sounds, but they're mostly ripped from
noted symphonic-trackers like skaven, jase, markell moss, etc. best part
of this is definitely the slow-part, because the rest is a confusing mess.
the fast part has a bit too much kingdom skies influence, seems almost as
if some of the tracking techniques were lifted straight from it.
pros: nice sounds, slow part w/ harp and strings is very sweet.
cons: the rest of the song is spastic, borrows too much from jase's tune.
overall grade: [ B- ]
-- "westcoastdaria" (westcoas.zip) by poison of goto10 --------------------
interesting piece, a pretty intense rock tune. the main problem with this
piece, is that the sampled guitar riffs are very noisy. lowers the quality
of the song overall.
pros: pretty original piece, this guy plays some decent guitar.
cons: very noisy samples and repetitive music.
overall grade: [ B ]
-- "wit down" (witdown.zip) by jason of melon, crusaders and noiseless ----
ever since i heard the ninja2 soundtrack i'd been hoping that jason would
continue to release multichannel works. although this tune isn't quite
as good as that near-masterpiece, it's quite enjoyable. excellent ambience
with a smooth chord progression and leads.
pros: wonderfully tracked and extremely relaxing.
cons: a bit too relaxing, i was hoping it would develop more.
overall grade: [ A ]
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: t h e g a t h e r i n g 1 9 9 7 m u s i c c o m p o r e v i e w :
[ the breakdown ]
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well, that was fun, wasn't it? time for a summary of sorts... i'll
divide the songs into a few categories:
HIGHLY RECOMMENDED
WORTH A LISTEN
TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT
DON'T BOTHER
i think the categories are self explanatory. =)
[ HIGHLY RECOMMENDED ]
- carbondioxide by vinnie
- korean fantasies by brainbug and boo
- norlyn by yolk
- plastic nudity by jisemdu and caramel
- rivendell by radix and skize
- stativ by scott
- sunset in africa by the silencer
- wit down by jason
[ WORTH A LISTEN ]
- blue bay bar by zauron
- dream access by silver
- i'm not bad by phelix
- it's a dream by bullet
- physical attraction by psycho
- stoned by balrog, codec, and martyn
[ TAKE IT OR LEAVE IT ]
- clean air by orbiter
- confront reality by elling
- gettin' groovy by dolby
- heard it before by epithal
- highlander by radiance
- i'm coming by melwyn
- optimize by clone
- persian angel by taymaz and wstd
- the experience by trashcan
- westcoastdaria by poison
- world of tolkien by toal nkor and wain
[ DON'T BOTHER ]
- frozen dreams(?) by ?
- the horse race by kezoomer
- virtual reality by basic energy and yuxon
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: t h e g a t h e r i n g 1 9 9 7 m u s i c c o m p o r e v i e w :
[ concluding section and final comments ]
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welp, that's all for this little review of the tg97 music compo. hope
that this can help you pick out a few good tunes to add to your collection.
take care and enjoy the music...
- brian j. meison [bjmason@hotmail.com]
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: t h e g a t h e r i n g 1 9 9 7 m u s i c c o m p o r e v i e w :
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