As I've said before, give me technical issues over lack of creativity any day! You've got the Spirit, Lisa and it's a delight to hear it captured in an audio recording.
The lyrics are great, and your voice really brings them to life. I love how you accompany yourself as well.
Your comment, "this track is dark, spacey and mathy" in the description is certainly worth the price of admission here alone.
People in West African night clubs would have no problem dancing to this one! The rhythmic structures make me want to track the cycles with the various "ears" on my body. Head bops to the glitchy punctuation, shoulders moving to the tuned percussion and hips tracking the deep frequencies.
Complex and really groovy.
This is fantastic stuff. You bring a real ambient, deep and deliberate sensibility to everything I've now heard of yours. Added to faves.
Are those kettle gongs from a gamelan orchestra you're using? I love that sound! Especially in the way they they flow into the instrumentation that follows!
I'm so glad you're continuing to evolve and develop your musical style, and it's a great delight to discover tracks of yours I haven't heard yet. I do so enjoy the quality of your voice (made better by your arrangement and mixing skills).
Definitely added to my personal favorites. Thanks!
hey s, i used a loop off here for the gongs (gongs to go... or something along those lines...can't remember) it's always a wonderful honour to get a review (and compliment) from you! thanks so much for listening and following me on here. I appreciate it loads (as I do ALLL my reviews!)
Todd - I just saw one of your tracks of the featured list and said "Yes! He's back!" I'm a bit disappointed that you haven't posted anything new, but am delighted that this track somehow slipped by me.
This is awesome. Several of us have been discussing Ambient music in a thread called "ambient logbook," and I'm going to have to link this song there as an example. http://https://www.looperman.com/forum/thread/94559
Swing in if you get a chance, as after listening to this one, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the genre.
Thanks, nOmad23. Thanks for the warm welcome. Your're a true looper-friend. I've just been so occupied with working that I haven't had time for much of anythingelse. I try to check in on the looper every now and then. Thanks for listening to, and sharing this track with those in the forum.
Yeah, or should I say Yee Haw! Something Mariconne might have made, if he were several decades younger and doing this kind of work now rather than in the 60's and 70's.
I love how it's been boot strapped into a dynamic and very current sound while retaining this retro-feel. Incredibly catchy, and can't be listened to just once.
This one really pulls up the memories of similarities - Genesis (early Peter Gabriel), Tangerine Dream, and even Robert Fripp all come to mind. I love how you've touched earlier traditions with the sound and sensibility here.
thanks, ill certainly look into it as it is deep in my foundations, also thanks , yes the harmonicy thing going on takes me back, very frippy and i didnt even link untill you mentioned it, thanks my friend
ps id love your op on my new pop song scatter! retro yes....
Very trancey music to be sure! In listening to it here streaming today, I'm struck with how much this reminds me of something that might be in a movie. It sounds like there's a story in images happening at the same time. If anyone says it's not really trance, I think you could certainly put it us as Cinematic.
I really love this piece, ShojoBeast. The almost electric winds and sounds of bubbles are really great! Thanks for letting me help get the levels right with your final mix!
Movie? No.....
ZELDA!!! That's where the deku shrubs were born! I could not put this track in a movie, but thanks for the thought.
Thanks for listening!
That you're doing this on Audacity makes it even more impressive, but it is true: inspired creativity is worth 20 times its weight in technicality.
A really lovely first track to announce your presence! Well done! Great choices in instrumentation, and really well mixed. Everything here compliments your voice so well!
I can tell you really like percussion, and use it really well as a foundation for the other things you weave in. Have you found psychotropic_circle's loops here yet? You'll dig the percussion he/they've made available. Lots of ethnic flavors that really lend themselves to percussion driven music.
I wrote such a great review before, and lost it to the aether - lol! I think it's the nature of absurdity, and no surprise really that the cosmos would do this to me!
Have you ever read _L'Afrique Fantôme_ by Michel Leiris? For some reason when I listen to this song I think of ethnographic surrealism. Music for the self-aware.
Before, my curiosity led me off to see what parallel Wilson Cheval's I could find currently on the internet. Most links led me to a commercial site in France selling the Safari addition of Mr. Potato Head. Naturally, I couldn't do this twice.
Somehow I think it speaks directly to the condition of your victim, the MeatPuppet EveryMan, AKA that loser Wilson Cheval. It's an existential problem to be sure.
Nevermind you lost your other review,this one was great!I like your interpretation but the real story about the name is a lot more absurd!I was at my sister's and we saw that name on the intercom:Cheval means Horse in French and the whole name sounds really weird in my language so we thought it might be a cool character name like a French loser version of Clint Eastwood,lol.I tried to exaggerate the sadness and solitude of the character in the music and lyrics.
Glad you like it
Cheers
StÃÂphane
PS:Really happy you've been chosen as a new moderator,think you're the perfect man for it
So what's the deal, you specialize in the Jedi MindTrick, or what? How is it every time I visit your track page, there are one's I haven't seen that have been here a while?
This is righteous. I love, really love the tuned percussion you've got here. And especially how it works with the melodica(?), it's serious and fully whimsical simultaneously. Religious. The paradox makes it so.
Maybe I'm biased, but it seems that there's a proclivity for blurring musical boundaries in the PacNorWest. Fuzzy boundaries r us?
Brilliant! Such a fusion of obvious traditions, but done seamlessly like they're a natural fit. For me it's what Men Without Hats would sound like if they'd kept evolving - kinda 80's dance thing happening. But the sax totally moves it off elsewhere towards those chill out zones.
Under the working definitions of Fusion, this meets all the criteria. I'm I don't know if it'd get more plays classified there, but no one would raise an eyebrow seeing it there.
Excellent mix and arrangement. Will have to look to see what software you're using, as this is really polished. Added to faves.
Fuzzy is good....ahaha Thanks for suggesting fusion. I have been pondering changing the genre to get more exposure.
You know I never thought about the Men Without Hats thing until you mentioned it. I used to love those guys. Maybe the fuzzy lines stem from age. I've lived during a time where music has evolved into so many genre that what really sounds good is a mixture of everything...hmmm Kinda like cooking....a little of this and a dash of that! ahaha
My software of choice is Acid. I used Acid 7 express (the free version) to originally make this track then remixed in Acid 7. I'm really glad you liked it.
I can't believe no one's mentioned the bass! I also thought I'd listened to and reviewed all your tracks by now, so it's a pleasant surprise for me.
Dance music's all about feeling your body, and this one does exactly that. Makes movement necessary, and to not act on it get a bit tense. I really like how even though this is so busy, there's a sense of minimalism happening throughout.
Great movement of sound, and a really fabulous track.
Lucky me! I got to hear both versions on the same day! The first version 3 times, because I had to clear my cache to load up the new version!
Everything I said before still stands. The only thing I'd change is this: your guitar sounds better and better with each play. A good sign when things grow on you as it's a measure of lasting power.
I hated Roxy Music's album "Siren" the first couple times I heard it. Then I began to like it - now 35 years after its release, I really think it's still ahead of its time! Now it's probably in my top 20 list.
I can hear this one standing the test of time in exactly the same way.
Wow - Eshar's voice here is an amazing addition! Her voice is brilliant (my youngest daughter thinks she should record books for tape), and in the context here becomes another voice and texture that somehow makes the whole seem even more complete. I wouldn't have guessed this, but it does seem "done" now, doesn't it?
I'd hit favorite again if I could! Lovely addition Rei!
I agree with you on Eshar's voice ... she has a great timbre in her voice and something like a natural calmness ... and your daughter is right!!
many thx again ...
peace, rei
Good choice in selecting Eshar's voice for the next version! In my mind I can easily invoke her voice over this, and it becomes so brilliant that we'll all need sunglasses to keep from being blinded!
You're a master at adding texture and atmosphere to your music. It's like looking at a Dali painting - the closer you get, the more becomes noticeable. This is a piece I will be as intrigued by in 10 years as I am at this moment. It stands outside of a musical moment and stands entirely on it's own.
But what impresses me most about your work in general, and here in particular is how you "Speak" with the guitar. The expressions you achieve, both emotionally and conceptually are fantastic. Like a painting, each note carries way more information and meaning than words strung together can convey.
This is music in the best of artistic traditions. Faved and plugging it in the "ambient logbook" thread as a Must Hear example from the Chill Out sub-genre.
wow ... I don't know what to say ...
this is the best review I received up to now!!
there's only one principle I follow in my playing: keep it simple ...
sounds easy, but it isn't ... ;-)
many many many thx!!!
Outside my sensibilities, BUT this is tight and stands in its own right for sure. Certainly worthy of mastering fully, and I see you've got several volunteers already which validates what I'm saying.
Outstanding job of using vocals as instrumentation instead of just standing out front. They blend rhythmically with the mix really, really well.
Personally (and my own aesthetic) I wish you'd pull down the autotune a bit further, as I don't think it's necessary as more than a "pinch" (like salt) in this mix. Surprisingly I'm not suggesting to drop it entirely, but maybe find that fine line bordering "not enough" if possible.
Constructive criticism out of the way, I got to say again what a fine job you've done with this one! Cheers.
The vocals on this really set it apart. Gives it immediacy, grounds it in the organic, and creates a great tension with that bass. Maybe tension's not what I'm really looking for...more like gives the whole thing motivation. Why it's compelling to listen to - it's got that compelled creation thing going on.
I'm the 17th to listen, and I'm guessing most people just don't know what to say. As if this is ever a problem for me - lol!
To my ear, this is a marvelous exploration of Dub-Evolution. You're drawing from many traditions here, both old and new. And what's extra cool to me, is you're taking them all from branches that come from the same place.
Thought about selling this one for Elevator Musack? Lol - someday, it's going to happen!
I do so love your rhythmic sensibilities! About 1:15, the break sounds like djembes and West Africa - Love it! Nice repeating that strand at the end, too - a bit like pulling the drawstrings closed.
Keep doing what you do! Cross genre music that makes a compelling listen. Thanks.
Oh man, I dig the winds in this! Had to sit up straight when the melodica stepped in, because I remembered all my favorite tracks featuring this sound. That flute works really well, too for what it does to the tension.
The down tempo percussion and pauses are to die for.
Dark Dub Matter, indeed!
Man I'm glad I found your offerings. Added to faves.
Thanks NOmad for the uplifting words.
a few hours went into this to finally end up with what I belive to be a decent final cut.
Giving due to "ArkeyeTexture" who made the original dub, this was my first looperman collaboration, and very pleased with the final result.
Many thanks again
Bless
Faved by the end of the first play, only because I remembered it was an option.
Quick history lesson - Dub is created by William S. Burroughs in the 1950's - and he'd effing love this by the way! That line alone "come over here you are no more free" is really the thesis of _Naked Lunch_. So take that you pseudoPurists!
This is sooooo jacked in My Man! Technically you've done what you need to to call it Dub (reverb and mucking with pitch, Dub's all about manipulation with certain spirit) and I'd suggest if you come back to it, maybe use some phasing and a bit o'delay to muck with the sense of time a bit. Effective Dub always messes with your head, so I'm not sure where the "too much" line is yet. Certainly this one is well under way.
I want to kiss your forehead for making this download available! I love it that much!
Hey friend! I'm really pleased that you enjoyed this one! I appreciate the history lesson too, that's an interesting tidbit of info. I hear what you mean about dub messing with your head... I just didn't want to use to much time based effects on this one. I felt that the tremolo and reverb were just enough to take it into head messing territory. Thanks very much for faving and downloading! Your words are very much appreciated, especially since you have such an understanding of dub.
You've got some great textures in here! I love how the opening and close are reflected with that howl (a sound you can make with a gong and violin bow in olde skool fashion!). Nice that you pull the strands closed like that.
I really dig the richness and complexity of the sounds you're working with, and how they interact through both panning and waves of effect. Really nice work!
I almost always post drafts here as I find the feedback and suggestions can be really useful. Lucky me, look at your track page to find 2 new ones and I'm the first! (I've got a couple new ones to - Spring creativity?)
I like your idea of weaving more into this. The synth line is so whimsical, danceable and catchy, to let it build into a thicker fabric and complexity would really push this into its full potential.
The levels and arrangement are fantastic, and I can give no suggestions even after my 3rd play. Nice one!
Jehobith - I'm glad you're back, man. Seriously, it feels like one of the crack's been patched up finally.
The older I get, the less I'm attracted to Rock. But sometimes...nothing else will "speak" to and for me and I got to put some on.
Listening to this track really reminds me of why Rock&Roll was my musical location for so long. It carries an energy and emotion that really works for certain periods in our lives. Rock is the evolution of sounds like bagpipes and oboes and resonate with emotions that feel like these sounds. Because you're into it, it works.
Thanks for helping get this day's angst out - sonic extraction achieved!
hey Thank nomad. glad to be back selfish and childish of me to leave in the first place but. I had my reasons. You review is very deep and I get it. Glad I could help you out. Means I have truley achieved something today. thanx for the listen. much appreciated
on i cant hear you by lisavonh
The lyrics are great, and your voice really brings them to life. I love how you accompany yourself as well.
Great to have you here! Keep it up.
on Tech by CheshireCat
People in West African night clubs would have no problem dancing to this one! The rhythmic structures make me want to track the cycles with the various "ears" on my body. Head bops to the glitchy punctuation, shoulders moving to the tuned percussion and hips tracking the deep frequencies.
Complex and really groovy.
This is fantastic stuff. You bring a real ambient, deep and deliberate sensibility to everything I've now heard of yours. Added to faves.
on Before by minette
I'm so glad you're continuing to evolve and develop your musical style, and it's a great delight to discover tracks of yours I haven't heard yet. I do so enjoy the quality of your voice (made better by your arrangement and mixing skills).
Definitely added to my personal favorites. Thanks!
on Just Existing by toddj
This is awesome. Several of us have been discussing Ambient music in a thread called "ambient logbook," and I'm going to have to link this song there as an example. http://https://www.looperman.com/forum/thread/94559
Swing in if you get a chance, as after listening to this one, I'd love to hear your thoughts on the genre.
Added to faves. Welcome back my man!
on SCATTER by theassociation
I love how it's been boot strapped into a dynamic and very current sound while retaining this retro-feel. Incredibly catchy, and can't be listened to just once.
Really fantastic work, and added to faves!
on THE ACIENTS by theassociation
This one really pulls up the memories of similarities - Genesis (early Peter Gabriel), Tangerine Dream, and even Robert Fripp all come to mind. I love how you've touched earlier traditions with the sound and sensibility here.
Lovely job, friend!
ps id love your op on my new pop song scatter! retro yes....
on Deku Shrubs Final Stand by ShojoBeast
I really love this piece, ShojoBeast. The almost electric winds and sounds of bubbles are really great! Thanks for letting me help get the levels right with your final mix!
ZELDA!!! That's where the deku shrubs were born! I could not put this track in a movie, but thanks for the thought.
Thanks for listening!
Shojo
on Spinning by lisavonh
A really lovely first track to announce your presence! Well done! Great choices in instrumentation, and really well mixed. Everything here compliments your voice so well!
Welcome again, and cheers!
on Funkin Up Your Head by Enhouse
I can tell you really like percussion, and use it really well as a foundation for the other things you weave in. Have you found psychotropic_circle's loops here yet? You'll dig the percussion he/they've made available. Lots of ethnic flavors that really lend themselves to percussion driven music.
Nice one Enhouse.
on The meaningless story of Wilson Cheval by FrenchKid18
Have you ever read _L'Afrique Fantôme_ by Michel Leiris? For some reason when I listen to this song I think of ethnographic surrealism. Music for the self-aware.
Before, my curiosity led me off to see what parallel Wilson Cheval's I could find currently on the internet. Most links led me to a commercial site in France selling the Safari addition of Mr. Potato Head. Naturally, I couldn't do this twice.
Somehow I think it speaks directly to the condition of your victim, the MeatPuppet EveryMan, AKA that loser Wilson Cheval. It's an existential problem to be sure.
And makes for a very good track!
Glad you like it
Cheers
StÃÂphane
PS:Really happy you've been chosen as a new moderator,think you're the perfect man for it
on Chasing the Dragon by jahknow
This is righteous. I love, really love the tuned percussion you've got here. And especially how it works with the melodica(?), it's serious and fully whimsical simultaneously. Religious. The paradox makes it so.
Brilliant. Most certainly added to faves.
Thanks again for listening in Madman.
on Waiting by ParkerMusic
Brilliant! Such a fusion of obvious traditions, but done seamlessly like they're a natural fit. For me it's what Men Without Hats would sound like if they'd kept evolving - kinda 80's dance thing happening. But the sax totally moves it off elsewhere towards those chill out zones.
Under the working definitions of Fusion, this meets all the criteria. I'm I don't know if it'd get more plays classified there, but no one would raise an eyebrow seeing it there.
Excellent mix and arrangement. Will have to look to see what software you're using, as this is really polished. Added to faves.
You know I never thought about the Men Without Hats thing until you mentioned it. I used to love those guys. Maybe the fuzzy lines stem from age. I've lived during a time where music has evolved into so many genre that what really sounds good is a mixture of everything...hmmm Kinda like cooking....a little of this and a dash of that! ahaha
My software of choice is Acid. I used Acid 7 express (the free version) to originally make this track then remixed in Acid 7. I'm really glad you liked it.
on shiva manas puja [sector 7even] by Sector7even
So cool recognizing loops featured in other tracks, and hearing a different interpretation and take on the same sounds.
Great use of the `pella here, and it really finishes off creating a very South Asian sonic vibe. Nice one!
on Let me Breathe by profplum
Dance music's all about feeling your body, and this one does exactly that. Makes movement necessary, and to not act on it get a bit tense. I really like how even though this is so busy, there's a sense of minimalism happening throughout.
Great movement of sound, and a really fabulous track.
on I wish I could sit here forever ft Eshar by rei4real
Everything I said before still stands. The only thing I'd change is this: your guitar sounds better and better with each play. A good sign when things grow on you as it's a measure of lasting power.
I hated Roxy Music's album "Siren" the first couple times I heard it. Then I began to like it - now 35 years after its release, I really think it's still ahead of its time! Now it's probably in my top 20 list.
I can hear this one standing the test of time in exactly the same way.
Wow - Eshar's voice here is an amazing addition! Her voice is brilliant (my youngest daughter thinks she should record books for tape), and in the context here becomes another voice and texture that somehow makes the whole seem even more complete. I wouldn't have guessed this, but it does seem "done" now, doesn't it?
I'd hit favorite again if I could! Lovely addition Rei!
many thx again ...
peace, rei
on I wish I could sit here forever ft Eshar by rei4real
You're a master at adding texture and atmosphere to your music. It's like looking at a Dali painting - the closer you get, the more becomes noticeable. This is a piece I will be as intrigued by in 10 years as I am at this moment. It stands outside of a musical moment and stands entirely on it's own.
But what impresses me most about your work in general, and here in particular is how you "Speak" with the guitar. The expressions you achieve, both emotionally and conceptually are fantastic. Like a painting, each note carries way more information and meaning than words strung together can convey.
This is music in the best of artistic traditions. Faved and plugging it in the "ambient logbook" thread as a Must Hear example from the Chill Out sub-genre.
this is the best review I received up to now!!
there's only one principle I follow in my playing: keep it simple ...
sounds easy, but it isn't ... ;-)
many many many thx!!!
peace, rei
on SuperStar by BigReeg
Outstanding job of using vocals as instrumentation instead of just standing out front. They blend rhythmically with the mix really, really well.
Personally (and my own aesthetic) I wish you'd pull down the autotune a bit further, as I don't think it's necessary as more than a "pinch" (like salt) in this mix. Surprisingly I'm not suggesting to drop it entirely, but maybe find that fine line bordering "not enough" if possible.
Constructive criticism out of the way, I got to say again what a fine job you've done with this one! Cheers.
on Jah Love by bosonHavoc
Dig this a lot.
on Zip Line by jahknow
To my ear, this is a marvelous exploration of Dub-Evolution. You're drawing from many traditions here, both old and new. And what's extra cool to me, is you're taking them all from branches that come from the same place.
Thought about selling this one for Elevator Musack? Lol - someday, it's going to happen!
Was kinda wondering if it was just not mentionable, or maybe just too much to listen to.
on newThree by oasisduke
Keep doing what you do! Cross genre music that makes a compelling listen. Thanks.
:)
im so pleased you came by to have a listen. cheers for the review!
on DarkDubMatter by Dubmusiclover
The down tempo percussion and pauses are to die for.
Dark Dub Matter, indeed!
Man I'm glad I found your offerings. Added to faves.
a few hours went into this to finally end up with what I belive to be a decent final cut.
Giving due to "ArkeyeTexture" who made the original dub, this was my first looperman collaboration, and very pleased with the final result.
Many thanks again
Bless
on No More Free Mix 2 by Spivkurl
Quick history lesson - Dub is created by William S. Burroughs in the 1950's - and he'd effing love this by the way! That line alone "come over here you are no more free" is really the thesis of _Naked Lunch_. So take that you pseudoPurists!
This is sooooo jacked in My Man! Technically you've done what you need to to call it Dub (reverb and mucking with pitch, Dub's all about manipulation with certain spirit) and I'd suggest if you come back to it, maybe use some phasing and a bit o'delay to muck with the sense of time a bit. Effective Dub always messes with your head, so I'm not sure where the "too much" line is yet. Certainly this one is well under way.
I want to kiss your forehead for making this download available! I love it that much!
on Douse the Fires by Monodrone
Have you been following this thread? http://https://www.looperman.com/forum/thread/94559 "ambient logbook" is proving to be a good resource to several of us so far.
You've got some great textures in here! I love how the opening and close are reflected with that howl (a sound you can make with a gong and violin bow in olde skool fashion!). Nice that you pull the strands closed like that.
I really dig the richness and complexity of the sounds you're working with, and how they interact through both panning and waves of effect. Really nice work!
on They Do What They Want by Anomelie
I like your idea of weaving more into this. The synth line is so whimsical, danceable and catchy, to let it build into a thicker fabric and complexity would really push this into its full potential.
The levels and arrangement are fantastic, and I can give no suggestions even after my 3rd play. Nice one!
on Shadow Baby by projectjehobith
The older I get, the less I'm attracted to Rock. But sometimes...nothing else will "speak" to and for me and I got to put some on.
Listening to this track really reminds me of why Rock&Roll was my musical location for so long. It carries an energy and emotion that really works for certain periods in our lives. Rock is the evolution of sounds like bagpipes and oboes and resonate with emotions that feel like these sounds. Because you're into it, it works.
Thanks for helping get this day's angst out - sonic extraction achieved!