New Orleans meets Nanaimo, BC - outstanding collab in every sense. I love the rhythm happening throughout this, and I think the choices of strings and winds are absolutely perfect. A fave to be sure.
How weird to find this piece played 47 times, downloaded 3 times and not reviewed once. Apathy should be included as a form of vice.
This is intense - and the creative use of noise both in terms of "music" and the use of lyrics really emphasize the title to me. It truly is always the right time, whether in the moments of discomfort and dissonance or in our moments of contentment. We can't afford to wait until things are convenient.
I really dig the message being disseminated here! Nice one.
Wow. I really dig the bass and rhythm supporting this, and Sarah M's voice (as the vocal instrument) works really well in context with the other sounds.
Beautiful work on all levels. Faved for sure.
08-11-09 update: I'd favorite it again without hesitation. I love this song!
Nice one, Victor - definitely got/kept the trance vibe of the original and put that NYCity flavor in as well. I find my self in agreement with the previous reviews regarding volume/levels, but that's purely on the technical side of things. Well done shifting genres! Cheers.
"...we are hydroplaning our way into the future, and I wouldn't have it any other way." - would be worth the price of admission alone on this one. Vegan cupcakes seems a bit like a double tall decaf skim milk latte with extra whipped cream on top and what it reveals in the bias of an espresso drinker.
As someone who's been looking for the resurgence of surrealism for the last decade (given its history it seems rather inevitable), I'm delighted to see an example of it on this site.
I'd put this up as "fusion" as it fits the definition (and might get a broader audience as well). I like what you're doing with the rhythm section here a lot. I need to listen to more of your stuff to get a better sense of things, but this one shows you've got a good sense of transitions. Your shifts between the sections work really well.
Sweet composition, and really fun to listen to while reading the reviews it's gotten!
What I really like particularly is your designation for this as Ethnic. It isn't really...but it's that brilliant interpretation of East Asian music. For me, this really works as the interpretation of the aesthetic of the other is way more interesting than trying to do their thing.
I'm guessing that's why so many of the reviews here invoke the music for a particular form of video game (not a single shooter or arcade invoked) - and fantasy as a genre is all about imaginative interpretations. And that the reviews are consistent indicates that everyone's having a very similar experience behind it. You've found the "spirit" of the thing! Cheers.
For me, this is one of those where it's hard to conceive that the lyrics and the music didn't happen simultaneously. That's very cool.
Hip hop and me are kind of like the Vatican and Copernicus - we just don't understand each other. It's not exactly an incompatibility problem, it's just different symbol systems are in place. In other words, I'm not qualified to critique or offer suggestions to make this better hip hop.
I do understand what works for me, and so I can discuss it on this level. The question then is what metaphors or symbolic systems work for communication between the two of us?
Let's use food. This one's meaty, and got a thick rich foundation. Been simmered down just enough. The levels between your bass/percussion and vocals are a really good balance and neither overpowers the other. A bit of a salty aftertaste, but it's a good one. I prefer a bit more spice, and that's kind of how I'm tasting the funky higher frequency pseudo-melody here. Might think about pulling that sound a bit more to the forefront when there's room for it? Not keep it there, but use it like little pieces of flash cooked broccoli that leap out to the senses in a bite of something smothered in a thick peanut sauce. Accents.
Nice groove, man. Rich but not too filling. Two servings before the review, and I'm not full yet. Savory and nice.
This is a really interesting mix. Rhythmically it's outstanding, as it is in terms of melody.
It's a bit spooky though, isn't it? This specifically has to do with the layers of vocals you've chosen and how they interface with the percussion and melody. It's like looking at a cutaway of an apartment building and hearing various disparate narratives that the storytellers are unaware of the others speaking.
A sort of urban disconnect - multiplicity and isolation. Strange.
I'm unsure of the second half of this piece, and it could easily end between the 4 and 5 minute mark. I really dig what happens sonically in the second part, but keep feeling like it needs more bridging or something. IMHO.
It's like watching Gary Oldman portraying Sid Vicious and realizing the representation is even more authentic than the reality. Gary Oldman as Sid was more Sid than Sid.
This is seriously "channeled" stuff here, and so jacked into the Spirit that I'm sure James Brown is somewhere right now shrieking his approval.
I think I see why this is one of your personal favorites. The way this one takes its time to build, and the way you play with layering makes it very interesting to listen to closely. But it's "groovy" enough that you don't have to listen, instead you can feel it and let it make you move. Incredibly well produced as well as being an enjoyable piece of music. Cheers.
A really fun track - motivates movement, and I'm a sucker for anything that makes me want to dance. And those synth loops are damned HAPPY sounding that I have to grin as I bop along to it! I actually found myself remembering how much I liked the early Men Without Hats tunes on my first play of this (weren't they a Toronto band?)
This would be brilliant if you polished it a bit more. But you're absolutely right, if you're not having fun, what's the bloody point. Keep having fun and making such fun music!
4th play - added to may faved list. Dude, I so dig your bass work on this! This is great stuff!
Wow, thanks dude, great review. I'm very pleased that you enjoyed it.
Usually when I play bass, I kinda overdo it a bit, but for some reason when I plug in to record, I make a concerted effort to be tasty, and, bring a support concept to the track - sometimes it's difficult when having lived the life on stage and so used to being the center of attention...but I digress ( as usual {sigh} )...
Men without Hats...trying to remember...I may be confusing them with another Kanuckistan group from Quebec... Did they do Saftey Dance ?
Walking away from a project and letting it gestate is often the very best thing you can do. I've found that behind my own resistance (inc. getting pissed off at a project) usually means it's going to be one of my better works if I follow through.
BeyondEvolution's right - the beginning synth is great, and the rhythm really is engaging. This is happening, and hopefully you'll find what to do with it next. Seriously, this is worth going back to, without a doubt.
Because of your words ( and BeyondEvolution's), I will have another look at it....Wait...I just had a thought, I think when I was finishing it up ( after a couple of vodka's ) I was clean out of ideas to add to it - I think that may be what ticked me off and banished it to the ether (Looperman) ... hhmmm.. food for thought - I also wonder if the Vodka had anything to do with it... it never did that before...{gasp}
Thank you for taking the time to post your very helpful review.
Still sounds like Spivkurl even under the dub umbrella. Cool.
Good stuff happening here, and the bass is an instant hook. I love how the bent circuitry responds to it. Such a great groove develops that holds it all together.
I wonder if dubbifying it further might push it closer to the edge. It's a personal aesthetic, and this is lovely as is. I can't help but wonder though what would happen if perhaps her vocals delayed out at the end of each stanza, for instance. Or if there was more reverb and delay on the snare. One of the things I really love about old dub was how much bleedthrough there was with the amps and tracks. I think it gave it this complete or inseparable quality.
Still, this is fantastic, and I hope you play around with this style some more!
3 Nov addition: Yeah man! The further dubifications are fantastic. The echo on the vox is exactly as I imagined! Nice extension of verb, too. Sweet, very sweet.
Thanks for listening man! I'm sorry to say there's no circuit bent stuff going on in this track, But it does have good groove I'd agree.
I might have to do some experimenting with making this track a bit less raw, with some effects or something. There's so much that could be done, but I don't want to ruin a good thing.
Yeah man! Nothing like riding that cresting wave of creativity, aye?
I really dig how this one evolves, and you really give it the time it needs to do so.
My advice would be to pump that bass a bit more, but as it stands this is a great track! Hope you come back to it in terms of mastering, but I'm faving it nevertheless. There are truly amazing things happening here.
Amazing collaboration here! The mix is really delightful - great rhythms, separation between tracks/sounds, and a sonic spectrum that both makes you want to move and close your eyes and zone.
I'm glad this track hits you that way. when Jan first sent me this it blew me away so I gotta give him the credit. As I said before, this track ought to have gone on his page as he did the hard work at producing this master-class sound.
My first musical memory is "Peter and the Wolf" and I've never really recovered from initially hearing the oboe and French horn. Hearing how you've used soundfonts really gives me encouragement to keep experimenting with these, as you've been far more successful than I have. Seeing you've used DSK Akoustik, I'm wondering if you've tried DSK Stringz, and if so what you think. I hope you extend this one.
PS(16 Sept) - Man! I really dig what you've done here, and reading others' comments I can see the Phillip Glass connection. Since you're one that actually wants suggestions (refreshing that) might I suggest you give this one a Title? Faved without hesitation.
Having recently been experimenting with bring "field recording" ambient sounds into my own work, I'm really excited to hear someone else doing it as well. The piano in conjunction with the storm is really compelling. Nice work with this (though I concur about the mic situation). Hope it goes well for you with Erin (one of my daughter's has this for her middle name). Cheers.
I used five different rainstorm and thunderstorm field recordings and panned them around the head to give a nice stereo sort of feel to it. They add a nice background that can really flesh out an otherwise empty piece. I hope you make something interesting if you try messing around with them. I'll check out your track list every now and then.
Ok, feeling a little more articulate again. Strange to find that certain levels of music/sonic interface push me right into non-verbal realms these days. I can feel things, I just can't describe them.
This track is brilliant. It's very physical, and motivates (compels) movement. BigPete's right as it does induce a happy state, but it tickles something a bit deeper, too. There's something very Dadaesque or Surrealistic happening here. It's one of those tracks you're just not quite sure if you should laugh or cry behind. Like you've framed the nature of absurdity and hung it on the wall for examination.
I also love the title in relation to this. "Clarity" - I love that term. In my best writing to date, I have a character who's a pharmacology major who develops a habit to a drug whose street name is Clarity (the backbone is ketamine) which of course leads to several very inspired and absurd lines. In my imaginary development of this drug and its effects, this track is truly the internal soundtrack I've always had in mind. Drugged shuffle Dada absurdity lending itself to cut and paste Shakespeare poetry performance art.
Best and most danceable Art track I've heard this incarnation. Cheers.
EDIT: Version 3 is the one! It's one of those situations where a favorite has gotten even better. Bloody brilliant (or should I say the Clarity is impeccable). All I can really say is, "Stabbed with a white wench’s black eye/The wheel is come full circle/If you want to win anything - a race, your self, your/Life - you have to go a little berserk/Thus conscience does make cowards of us all" (Vivian on Clarity).
Thanks for the listen and the fave! I understand completely feeling non verbal after listening... my relationship with music has been largely non verbal lately as well, hence all the instrumentals.
I find it hard to respond to such an involved review. To compel movement with a song is very intriguing to me, I suppose that's the compulsion behind dance music... it's nice when it happens spontaneously.
Interesting comparison between clarity and a drug itself, especially if this song can speak to this comparison. I'm intrigued to hear of this writing of yours... are you writing a novel or something of the like?
Thank you for the inspiring comments, I really appreciate it!
Experiencing some sort of black hole with this one. How did I overlook it? Weird, but in keeping with the traffic of lurkers who seem to play this one often and steady.
Genre-free zone. What a marvelous mix of so many identifiable genres! Excellent groove, and the vox you've chosen really puts it into that ambient zone that I've been digging so much.
Faving it, if for no other reason that it doesn't blip past me again. Yeah man, this is HAPPENING!
After doing my cameo too many times as a lurker, I thought I should tell you just how much I like this piece. Sure you could map it out and orchestrate it fully, etc., but the Spirit is in this one. I love the bass in this!
on "Alien Groove 2013" with Rolla & Buddrumming by Buddrumming
on Always The Right Time by Lux Divon by bosonHavoc
This is intense - and the creative use of noise both in terms of "music" and the use of lyrics really emphasize the title to me. It truly is always the right time, whether in the moments of discomfort and dissonance or in our moments of contentment. We can't afford to wait until things are convenient.
I really dig the message being disseminated here! Nice one.
on Escaping Ft Sarah M by C69
Beautiful work on all levels. Faved for sure.
08-11-09 update: I'd favorite it again without hesitation. I love this song!
on Oblivion by Mhyst remix 2a by victormusic01x by victormusic01x
on gods and vegans by BigAlDente
As someone who's been looking for the resurgence of surrealism for the last decade (given its history it seems rather inevitable), I'm delighted to see an example of it on this site.
Nice.
on Go to the Future by CalifKen
on White Noise by Monodrone
Nice one and cheers from a fellow Washingtonian.
on Yodas Pagoda by jfw
What I really like particularly is your designation for this as Ethnic. It isn't really...but it's that brilliant interpretation of East Asian music. For me, this really works as the interpretation of the aesthetic of the other is way more interesting than trying to do their thing.
I'm guessing that's why so many of the reviews here invoke the music for a particular form of video game (not a single shooter or arcade invoked) - and fantasy as a genre is all about imaginative interpretations. And that the reviews are consistent indicates that everyone's having a very similar experience behind it. You've found the "spirit" of the thing! Cheers.
on Global Crisis ft. Estae guitar mix ruff 1 by victormusic01x
Hip hop and me are kind of like the Vatican and Copernicus - we just don't understand each other. It's not exactly an incompatibility problem, it's just different symbol systems are in place. In other words, I'm not qualified to critique or offer suggestions to make this better hip hop.
I do understand what works for me, and so I can discuss it on this level. The question then is what metaphors or symbolic systems work for communication between the two of us?
Let's use food. This one's meaty, and got a thick rich foundation. Been simmered down just enough. The levels between your bass/percussion and vocals are a really good balance and neither overpowers the other. A bit of a salty aftertaste, but it's a good one. I prefer a bit more spice, and that's kind of how I'm tasting the funky higher frequency pseudo-melody here. Might think about pulling that sound a bit more to the forefront when there's room for it? Not keep it there, but use it like little pieces of flash cooked broccoli that leap out to the senses in a bite of something smothered in a thick peanut sauce. Accents.
Nice groove, man. Rich but not too filling. Two servings before the review, and I'm not full yet. Savory and nice.
on Murda at Goldeneye MRDOLL hiphopdub 007remix3 by victormusic01x
It's a bit spooky though, isn't it? This specifically has to do with the layers of vocals you've chosen and how they interface with the percussion and melody. It's like looking at a cutaway of an apartment building and hearing various disparate narratives that the storytellers are unaware of the others speaking.
A sort of urban disconnect - multiplicity and isolation. Strange.
I'm unsure of the second half of this piece, and it could easily end between the 4 and 5 minute mark. I really dig what happens sonically in the second part, but keep feeling like it needs more bridging or something. IMHO.
Overall, this is an exciting bit of work Victor!
on Murda at Goldeneye djomega sly n robbie style dub by victormusic01x
That rhythm is really engaging, and the melody really works. Love how you're using big reverb!
on JBBP feat.#1 Soul Brother by BigPete
It's like watching Gary Oldman portraying Sid Vicious and realizing the representation is even more authentic than the reality. Gary Oldman as Sid was more Sid than Sid.
This is seriously "channeled" stuff here, and so jacked into the Spirit that I'm sure James Brown is somewhere right now shrieking his approval.
Mon ami, You Rock in the true sense of the word.
Faved after taking a moment to stop dancing.
on Follow me to Zion by AidansTrance
Cheers
on Fill your hand you S.O.B. by bcway
This would be brilliant if you polished it a bit more. But you're absolutely right, if you're not having fun, what's the bloody point. Keep having fun and making such fun music!
4th play - added to may faved list. Dude, I so dig your bass work on this! This is great stuff!
Usually when I play bass, I kinda overdo it a bit, but for some reason when I plug in to record, I make a concerted effort to be tasty, and, bring a support concept to the track - sometimes it's difficult when having lived the life on stage and so used to being the center of attention...but I digress ( as usual {sigh} )...
Men without Hats...trying to remember...I may be confusing them with another Kanuckistan group from Quebec... Did they do Saftey Dance ?
on RUN OLLY RUN !! THE MACHINE IZ GONNA BLO GAAHHHH by bcway
BeyondEvolution's right - the beginning synth is great, and the rhythm really is engaging. This is happening, and hopefully you'll find what to do with it next. Seriously, this is worth going back to, without a doubt.
Thank you for taking the time to post your very helpful review.
on Untitled Featuring Love Beth Drew Mix 2 by Spivkurl
Good stuff happening here, and the bass is an instant hook. I love how the bent circuitry responds to it. Such a great groove develops that holds it all together.
I wonder if dubbifying it further might push it closer to the edge. It's a personal aesthetic, and this is lovely as is. I can't help but wonder though what would happen if perhaps her vocals delayed out at the end of each stanza, for instance. Or if there was more reverb and delay on the snare. One of the things I really love about old dub was how much bleedthrough there was with the amps and tracks. I think it gave it this complete or inseparable quality.
Still, this is fantastic, and I hope you play around with this style some more!
3 Nov addition: Yeah man! The further dubifications are fantastic. The echo on the vox is exactly as I imagined! Nice extension of verb, too. Sweet, very sweet.
I might have to do some experimenting with making this track a bit less raw, with some effects or something. There's so much that could be done, but I don't want to ruin a good thing.
I'm glad you liked it, and thanks for the review!
on Motown Throwdown ft Buddahmann and posse edit 3 by victormusic01x
I really dig how this one evolves, and you really give it the time it needs to do so.
My advice would be to pump that bass a bit more, but as it stands this is a great track! Hope you come back to it in terms of mastering, but I'm faving it nevertheless. There are truly amazing things happening here.
v!
on Techno-Beckno by DanielGtrman
Truly epic.
on Anywhere (You Want Me) by inspire_nung
on I Love My Mom by JHolmes
PS(16 Sept) - Man! I really dig what you've done here, and reading others' comments I can see the Phillip Glass connection. Since you're one that actually wants suggestions (refreshing that) might I suggest you give this one a Title? Faved without hesitation.
I found/downloaded every DSK VSTi I could find. Stringz is nice; I added in a channel that comes in with the tenor sax and synth oboe.
on Song for Erin by JHolmes
on Clarity Mix 3 by Spivkurl
Ok, feeling a little more articulate again. Strange to find that certain levels of music/sonic interface push me right into non-verbal realms these days. I can feel things, I just can't describe them.
This track is brilliant. It's very physical, and motivates (compels) movement. BigPete's right as it does induce a happy state, but it tickles something a bit deeper, too. There's something very Dadaesque or Surrealistic happening here. It's one of those tracks you're just not quite sure if you should laugh or cry behind. Like you've framed the nature of absurdity and hung it on the wall for examination.
I also love the title in relation to this. "Clarity" - I love that term. In my best writing to date, I have a character who's a pharmacology major who develops a habit to a drug whose street name is Clarity (the backbone is ketamine) which of course leads to several very inspired and absurd lines. In my imaginary development of this drug and its effects, this track is truly the internal soundtrack I've always had in mind. Drugged shuffle Dada absurdity lending itself to cut and paste Shakespeare poetry performance art.
Best and most danceable Art track I've heard this incarnation. Cheers.
EDIT: Version 3 is the one! It's one of those situations where a favorite has gotten even better. Bloody brilliant (or should I say the Clarity is impeccable). All I can really say is, "Stabbed with a white wench’s black eye/The wheel is come full circle/If you want to win anything - a race, your self, your/Life - you have to go a little berserk/Thus conscience does make cowards of us all" (Vivian on Clarity).
I find it hard to respond to such an involved review. To compel movement with a song is very intriguing to me, I suppose that's the compulsion behind dance music... it's nice when it happens spontaneously.
Interesting comparison between clarity and a drug itself, especially if this song can speak to this comparison. I'm intrigued to hear of this writing of yours... are you writing a novel or something of the like?
Thank you for the inspiring comments, I really appreciate it!
on thiS is what it iS - virginia Beach ruff mix 1a by victormusic01x
Genre-free zone. What a marvelous mix of so many identifiable genres! Excellent groove, and the vox you've chosen really puts it into that ambient zone that I've been digging so much.
Faving it, if for no other reason that it doesn't blip past me again. Yeah man, this is HAPPENING!
on Situations in Ya Mind ruff draft unmastered by victormusic01x
on Felixville by Planetjazzbass