Okay! Time for Mallard's rather late review, sorry about the wait!
Now, the only pretext I have to this one is that it comprises quite largely of people who didn't make it on Balloon Party, and that there was again - some disputes over the voting procedure, infact, even more so than the original Balloon Party, which is ironic considering that fallout over that is partly what spurned this album!
Now, the fact that this is at least partly what didn't make it on Balloon Party could be a good or bad thing from my perspective, seeing as I wasn't particularly keen on the contents of said album, and was rather suspicious myself of the judging procedures, which resulted in what I felt to be an exceedingly lukewarm and uneven product. But hey, at least it had some minimal mixing standards! So this could go either way, really. Anyway, enough speculation!
LET'S
HIT
PLAY
1) Omnipony - Desert Walker This here track is one of the ones that the most fallout occured over its non-inclusion.. and ah, I can immediately see why. I feel like I'm a 12 year old who's just fastforwarded to the drop of the latest HUGE SKRLX DOCTOR P TUNE as soon as I hit play. There's no tension, buildup or nuffin. We're just straight into heavy bass drop. Funily enough the build up seems to occur after this initial segment, but it's like the main gimmick has been given away already. Now I will give credit to the fact that Omnipony is very young, and damn man, you're producing better stuff than I was when I was 14 for sure, but there's such a lack of regard to the structuring that makes this kinda music good, I just gotta hang my head a little.
There's a competent array of sounds here, and not much to complain about in the mixing, but everything happens at complete random and it's just a compositional disaster in which every modern fidgety synth and cliche has been crammed into just under 4 minutes. Ah, tits.
Complextro in paticular needs some tension, build up, and release. the big, heavy sounds shouldnt be introduced without making the listener wait for it. That's the entire pleasure of this kinda thing. It builds, builds, and blows you in the face. This feels like the parts have been shuffled about at random. Plz no!
2) PhillyPu - The Secrets of Terius hm! some interesting atmospheric industrial sounds! I feel some makkon influence! Ah, dubstep beat! And ooo, classic string stabs, harking back to the likes of skream in my ears! Then we have it becoming... jungle. But at this point it feels like a total mess. The amen slices and the dubstepish beat don't go well together. But when that drops out, it gets rather better! Still rather crowded in the midrange, but there's at least plenty of rhythmic interest in this tune! Ah, a breakdown! I feel that the piano is perhaps a bit dry and plasticy for this kind of thing. I gotta say, this reminds me of old N64 soundtracks in the best possible way. But the piano volume is way too loud... ah! When it drops into the string stabs and trumpets though... it gets rather better!
But the breakbeats are now far too quiet underneath everything else... the volume does then rise agian, but I don't think that's the best way to bring such a thing in! OH. TAPESTOP. That tapestop felt rather outta place, but I gotta admit, the amen rhythms after it really make up for that.
All in all I'm not sure how to feel about this one, the amen slices are awesome and it is nice to see something jungle-esque, but a certain something is lacking here. It's too crowded, too wall of sound, and the various segments feel oddly tacked together. I think what's needed here is more cohesion. A very ambitious track with a lot of cool parts, but needs a sprinkling of emulsifier.
3)WoodenToaster - Rainbow Factory (Blaze Remix)Endtroducing the most remixed song of all time! It is now believed that there are over a million remixes of rainbow factory in existence, with half the world's recorded media expected to be rainbow factory remixes by 2020. yet I don't think I've even ever listened to all of the original all the way through. I am such a pleb.
With trepidation, I hit play. Now! I like the simple supersaw synth used here... a tasteful smattering of talkbox... and then some rather heavy broken beats... that are just too much, c'mon. This track is entirely dominated by its snare drum that drowns out everything out in its booming. And then it gets even worse when the bumbling midrange bass/midrangeline comes in and destroys any dynamics the track could have had. And it started out so promising with that unpretentious saw synth!
I'll forgive it though with that rather nice breakdown. But this track seems to be suffering from the all too common break-and-build syndrome, where it feels the need to keep the listener's attention by breaking down and building up again ad infintium... you really don't need to do that. it's tedious, and leave you never knowing how to dance to it! It's just amateurish and feels like you're trying too hard to impress.
All the parts of this tune are stepping on each others toes, but I gotta admit, the producer's done a good job of keeping the vocals still comprehensible above all the static.
But remember, less is more.
4) FakePony & BassBrony - 1000 Wingpower FakePony and BassBrony, eh? I hope that doesn't mean fake bass, as I've become so accustomed to listening to modern brostep! Let's see, let's see and hit play!
ooo! Big drum roll. Now where do I recognize this guitar riff from? OH wait, I'm a pleb who knows nothing about anything rock or metal, so I don't. which is obviously what this track is, so again, I am quite unable to pass any kind of constructive comments. It's pretty fun though!
5) Varia - BackfireHitting play, we launch into a bouncy half-time beat! Which could take us anywhere, really. AND THAT QUOTE FROM DUKE NUKEM WHICH IS ORIGINALLY FROM SOMEWHERE ELSE. When it drops though, I gotta say, I don't like where things go. But for once, I'll admit that's probably more down to personal taste, as this tune has followed the primary law of less is more. Just some drums and some agressive midrange synths. I'd advocate a heavier kick drum, that really bites into the bass, since right now you can barely hear it above everything else! But I'm loving all these vocal samples. STOP EATING MY SEASAME KEK oh my god what a classic I'd totally forgotten about that.
This is a very silly tune and I like that. There's a lot to be desired in terms of musical interest, but I'll forgive it for its fairly competent mixing and light touch.
and that final WEEOOWWW. fun.
6) DJ Pon-3 - Be Assertive (Ft. And The Rainfall)Pon-3, the man that can do no wrong! And the man I expect great things from, so let's hope you don't disappoint me, bro! Let's hit play!
Okay, this is obviously is a bit less of an electronic track from the get go, following in the footsteps of that remix of October Sky y'did a while back... that really was a while back, wasn't it? I need to catch up with your newer tunes, damn. Back on topic!
Now, those who know me will know that me and distorted guitar are mortal enemies, so I'm kind of loathe to say anything about this since this is what this tune rides on. I think I'm going to have to duck out here and say that this is out of my reviewable remit. Good job bringing something quite clearly different to the table as always, pon-3
7) Aviators - One Last Letter (VIP Remix)Once again, I must question what Aviators is doing here - but then I remember that this isn't your standard aviators elevator pop, since this was a collab with bronyfied - and the original tune has the distinction of being one of the few metal-ish tunes I not only could tolerate, but actually enjoyed. So let's see what this VIP mix is like!
... omg. It opens with the M1 lore patch with lots of reverb. I love you already, man. KORG M1 4 LYFE. This is building up to be very dramatic with hard hitting drums... but oh gosh. The vocals really do not fit anymore, they feel very tacked on and not in time at all. They just make no sense in this context whatsoever. AND YOU BUILT UP MY EXPECTATIONS SO MUCH BY USING THE LORE PATCH. Oh gosh though. The drop is so amazingly over the top and powerful that it's awesome though. I'll add back the million points I just subtracted from your score. This is like, the logical conclusion of the metal-influenced subset of dubstep by actually including guitars in the drop. And it's stupid, but brilliantly stupid and I love it. The vocals have also got a bit more in time and fitting, but I feel like they should have a bit more processing, some delay, some bitspeek maybe? I dont know, but they feel very dry.
M1 PIANOS AND LORE AGAIN I LOVE YOU. THE KORG M1 IS THE BEST KEYBOARD EVER AMEN
Ahem, excuse me, I think I got a little over excited there. Very unprofessional! In conclusion, this is fucking awesome, and I don't even really like brostep very much. Just like the original, you've got me thorughly enjoying a genre that I usually can't stand. Hats off, but seriously, do something about the vocals in the first verse. They just don't work at all.
Finally, I must ask the pony responsible for this remix to stand up and offer a hoof so I may bump it.
8) DeeKayPony - What You Really AreFrom the first chug, I can here this is going to be competely outside of my remit. Metal aaaa! There seems to be a lot more of that on this album, which is cool I guess. Nice to have a bit of variety, but it's just not for me at all!
9) Flutter Rex - Ultimate Swagbot Now, as much as I think the word swag has come way overused in bronydom, this kicks ass from the get go with its mechanical clicks and whirs, and doesn't disappoint in the slightest when the heavy industrial beat drops! my head nods. It nods hard. This is wicked. I do love tracks that build everything out of percussive sounds... even the melodies! This is clearly the product of someone who really knows what he's doing, not being afraid to repeat itself, lock on to one groove and keep the listener's head nodding. The choice of sounds is perfect and lean. The feeling is mechanical, industrial, and everything a track called Ultimate Swagbot should be. This is what I think when I think industrial.
This is rad, menacing, and everything wicked. I have no criticisms whatsoever to levy, I love tracks like this which don't try and build up to anything massive, they just keep the same opressive, mechanical vibe the whole way through. It's very techno in that respect. That kind of atmospehre seems to have been lost from a lot of electronic music these days with the whole brostep craze of OMG MASSIVE DROPS.
Hats off to you flutterrex for not getting caught up in the hype and making something awesome and menacing.
10) CaptainFluffatun - Triumph of Friendshipawww yeah bro. Starting off with some sexy jazzy saxaphone. And then a bassline with some real bass! But it's one that's entirely too heavy... it bleeps right over the rest of everything.... but that can be forgiven when this track drops into oblivion, with those cool screechy synths! NEEOOOWW!
But after that buildup, it's a total mess. The distorted midrangey bass sound just bleeds all over the mix and destroys anything interesting that could have been in this. That being said, I don't hear much else interesting beyond all that.
It started off sounding like it was going to be really fun. I am disappoint.
I understand bass heavy content can be very difficult to mix, and I commend you for at least trying to get some bass in here, but you're doing it all wrong. You've got to roll it off in the midrange, you've got to use a bit of sidechain compression to stop it stepping over everything else if its a long, drawn out bass sound, and you've got to be really careful with it. This is a good example of what happens when you're not.
11) Piranhaplant - Pulse Leak Whooosh! SCREAM! Wasting no time into dropping into what is quite frankly a wall of sound here, and not in the good sense! But following that... it's not bad, with a swung melody and a bit of fun. And then there's another one! This would be much better without the randomly distored parts, it's be a fun little playful melody, maybe a good keygen track, or something out of a 16 bit platformer.
I'd love to hear a chiptune remix of this, because it's a lovely little fun melody, but the instrument choice leads something to be desired. Well, it's just the song's occasional attempts to be HARD that are putting me off I think. But it's nice to hear something with a bit of real melody, and that is quite clearly where this composer's strength lies! Do something with less distortion and a more minimal soundset and I think I'd love it <3
12) Neu KatalYst - Determination (Ft. DJ Shamrock & Starbrush) Tweet... tweet! I do like birdies, so you've got me on that much. We have some nice atmospheric pads coming up to join 'em! I do like this chord progression. And drums comming through a filter can only mean one thing... liquid funk! I think? I'll probably wrong as usual. Seeing as this song now seems to be going into space! Oh, the delayed piano is very pretty. Oh, I was right! The drop kinda sneaks up on you, and I wouldn't have minded a bit more atmospheric noodling, but yes, it's very nice. Especially when the bass drops in! A fun, fidgety line, very neurofunk! And oh wow, there are vocals too! Nice midrange, unpretentious male vocals. But slightly offkey and warbly ones, especially, when they go into the higher range. I feel like this track could probably have done without them, but everything else is so lovely and carefully chosen and well structured that I can't really complain.
Oh wait. I'm Mallard, of cousre I can!
The bass could do with a bit more power, I mean, that's a lovely little bass part but it feels lost underneath evrything else. ANd the vocals really die when they go all falsetto and harmonized, they've just not enough body and power and sound very nasaly. Now, I understand not everypony is bestowed with great vocal talent, but there are ways of hiding that, are there not?
Oh, rap part! Hm, I'm not sure about this either. Again, it's a nice idea, but I'm not sure about the execution, it feels very tacked on and the flow disjointed and awkward. And again, the rather weak chorus vocals followed by the AWESOME bass part that's not loud enough! You try and you try, determination! Is definitely shown in spades here.
The final breakdown section is as lush as the introduction, the pad sounds in this part being paticularly INTENSE. I like it!
All and all a very good track marred by rather weak vocals. I'd certainly listen again, points for length too <3
13) Blaze - Indecisive Alright Mr. Blaze sir, let's see if you can redeem yourself~! Hitting play, hearing this very dry and buzzy supersaw pad is certainly a rather jarring letdown after I was spoiled by the lush soundscape of the previous tune. Much like your previous tune on the album, this suffers from being quite the wall of sound. Perhaps personal distaste for that kind of thing is clouding my review here, but I really think you've tried to crowd too many distorted sounds into one small frequency range and ended up with a structureless mess. The breakdown at 1:50 with the nice chippy sounds and strings makes me wonder though... good things could be happening here! But once again, it's so loud it's quite plainly clipping, and the sheer volume of it prevents any real enjoyment of any attempted dynamics, I do believe this is a bad case of brickwall mastering, that modern trend of compressing in every single peak into the song and maximizing the volume until there is no dynamics left!
And such a sand trend that is. Let your mixes breathe, people. Not every peak has to touch the celing.
14) ElectroKaplosion - Lunar RegretHm, hm! Straight out the gate we have some rather preset sounds, but they're phased and remind me oddly of PC Engine chiptunes. I digress! I'm not sure really what to make of this. It seems to be doing that new-to-FL studio thing of abusing the arpeggiator to make arps that don't really go anywhere or do anything than fill space in the mix. I'm not sure what to make of this really. There's not much of a tune to it, there's not much care to create interesting sounds, and just seems to hack around at random. But the vocal processing... is awesome. Very awesome. Take those vocals, do something better with 'em, perhaps slot 'em into a liquid funk tune, and you've got something magic.
The tempo doubling is kinda cool at the end, but it feels very random at this stage of the track. It's like a super bloopy pop punk tune.
This track has an odd, low-fi charm to it, despite all its flaws and compositional randomness. It's... interesting, and appears to be the well intentioned plans of someone very new to music. I'm gonna say, ElectroKaplosion, keep doing tunes. Once you get a better hang of structure and synth design, I think you could do great things!
15) Neon Jalapeño - I Hear Hoofsteps Hurr hurr, hi Neon-desu-kun. I was actually the mastering engineer for this tune, so most of the flaws I would normally be pointing out have already been fixed by yours truly.
THE KICK DRUMS REALLY HIT AND NOTHING CLIPS. ARN'T I A SONIC GENIUS? Structure wise, this is pretty cool! Ralm killed the bass drop a little bit in the mixing stage, which is a shame, since it's IMO, an actually really cool use of voweled bass, which is not something you'll hear me say every day!
I just wish I'd sorted out the bass drop a bit more, needs to be heavier. :< But hey, let this be an example to you musicians that aren't so great at mixing or mastering. Neon here had his friends do it for him, which has turned a demo-sounding thing into a professional sounding tune. Don't be afraid to ask around for this service! Myself and Hmage are usually quite willing to help on that front.
16) Gremlin - SHED.MP3 Ahaha, the other track I happened to have a hand in on this album would come straight after the other, wouldn't it? I listened to a lot of WIPs of this, and I believe the final version too, so I've already given my feedback! But let's refresh my memory and listen again.
I still feel the bass could have more actual depth to it, but hey, it doesn't clip, and the little snatches of breakbeat are pretty rad. The atmosphere of this reminds me a lot of KOAN sound's akira... one of the heaviest dubstep tunes ever made. Which is rad. I am still kind of sick of hot diggidy daemon though.
A good drumptep track as always, Gremlin, although perhaps not my favourite of yours! Additionally, Floatzel float~
17) Serial - New World AAAA volume difference. Whoever compiled this album, you really should normalize between tracks! But this hits in straight away some nice piano and atmosphere. but I am very disappointed by the lack of power in the drop! the drums sound like they've been bandpassed, and the piano soon gets incredibly repetitive. Yet another track that's conned me into thinking it's going to be much cooler than it actually is. I am sad pony. WHen you're doing drum and bass, you've got to make sure the drums really punch, and not just in the midrange. They've got to have a bit of bassweight to them. I'm guessing you simply took a premade loop too, otherwise you'd know not to do this!
Normally, I'm one to praise repetition, but this really does just have the same 5 piano notes rolling throughout the track, which is of course, very monotonous. I'll give you credit for at least structuring acceptably.
18) Metalcorepony - Inspiration is Magic Ahaha, metalcore. I'll leave this one for somepony else <3
19) Silva Hound & ArtAttack - How Far We've Come (Vocal Mix) (Ft. Miu) Hm, hm, hm. This team again that I didn't like the first time round as a duo, let's see how they're doing now! Some dry but not unpleasnt kicks to start things off, rather like daft punk's rolling and scratching, and a warbling female vocal, that'd be Miu I presume?
The beat in this has an unusual, swung feel to it which is cool I guess! Needless to say, with these two expereinced producers, the structuring or DJ friendlyness leaves nothing left to be desired. And Oh gosh, this house riff is great. The way the crash drum seems to fade off suddenly is kind of jarring though, I'd look into that. I've dug into the abuse of ye-olde house organ before, but this is great. It's more like a supersaw, but damnit I'm going to call this sound the HOUSE ORGAN. because that's what it is. *slams hammer* Wait? Didn't I hear this on the original balloon party? Goddamnit my auditory memory is laughably terrible. Please mock me openly.
Okay... yes I have definatley heard this before, and probably complained about how the drop seems to come out of nowhere and the glitching is just... too crowded! For my tastes at least, I'm just not sure about this. I was loving this tune before this happened. And am loving it afterwards, when it goes into the vocals and simple ol' house riff again.... and I remember, yes, I enjoyed the second drop more than the first one because it was so rediculously glitched and over the top. I still do!
I was rather harsh on this track the first time round, but I guess I've mellowed out a bunch in the month or so since, and I've not got a headache this time. That probably helps <3 Sorry about that guys.
So yes, what's been added here are vocals... and was that a good thing? I'm not sure. They're very heavily processed, very atmospheric, and well, pretty nice I guess! I'm not entirely sure! I think if I had a more impassioned opinion on this track either way, I'd have more to say on that matter,and I've always been rather indifferent to vocals in electronic music, unless their usage is paticuarlly praiseworthy or irritating, it's just another instrument to me, and I am paticuarlly nonplussed in this incident. God, I'm such a useless critic. Please rape my face.
20) Nameless Warning - Rage Quit Sawtooth. did-dat-dat. Wubbing bass, hm! And I mean actually wubbing as in it sounds like WUB. I like that. oh man. These kick drums are the first so far in this album apart from Neon's that really hit. Wow, I'm very impressed so far. This track has a dark, techy vibe that I just adore, and it's bassweight is delicious. I'm going to take a wild stab in the dark and assume Nameless Warning is British or highly influenced by the British style of production, this kind of dark, precocious, tense atmosphere and above all A REAL SENSE OF RESTRAINT is certainly something I associate with British producers, and something I just adore. I can only imagine how awesome this would sound in a dark, smokey club on a massive system. And how scared it'd make me. It's got some of those fidgety complextro elements to it, but it applies them tastefully and carefully and the hoover sweeps in this build genuine tension... reminds me rather of TC1991 in that it will build and build, only to drop into the same thing again. Taking away a tasty groove and giving it back is always an awesome way to build some excitement, a track doesn't always have to change after a drop, especially if it's a groove as heavy as this.
I'm going to go out on a limb and say that for my tastes, this is my favorite track on the album so far, and one of the most thoughtfully, carefully produced. Wonderful, dark tech house. I'd listen to a whole album of this stuff. Nameless Warning, feel free to add me on skype or drop me a PM, I'd love to have you on my label. <3 I'll be looking up more of your stuff once I'm done with this!
21) Melodosis - Pony Party! Before I start on this track, I will say simply that I feel sorry for it coming after Rage Quit. In my ears, there is just no way it could live up to it. But I'll give a fair listen to this... 2:28 tune.
2:28
2:282:28Yeeaaahh. Alarm bells are ringing!
Starting with some supersaw pads, and that now very familiar moombah beat... this tune wastes none of its limited time fitting in the next of it's required gimmicks to be an AWESOME HARD TUNE LOL with an unesacery build and some out of place wubs.
Okay, I may be being a little sarky, because there are some nice things in here. the vocal slices sit nicely, and the drums, despite that pattern being so very well trod at this point are at least nicely put together, and everything sits well in the mix.
This feels like it could be a good interlude or something, perhaps that was it's intention? I mean, it wouldn't be fair to put another full length track after rage quit.
So okay, not bad! It's like a cute, mini baby moombahcore tune.
22) Vafrous Coyote - One Last Chancechoirs. RUSHING ARPS. Okay! We have some distinctly lofi sounding rock/electronic fusion here! Well, I'll say one thing and that's the recording quality is very low, and depending on who you are, this might be a good or bad thing! I know folk who dig that kinda thing. But apart from that, metal is kinda lost on me. The mixing sounds so dodgy. ;w;
23) DJPoniver - Wingboner Wingboner, eh? I love sexy tunes. This better be sexy dammit. Well, Sine waves are sexy I guess. as is sinewave bass. This song is a lot of sinewaves. Dropping into a... oh so entirely undynamic hi-hat pattern that I presume is an attempt at the good ol' drum and bass 2-step pattern. And then they come back in at random! ANd some piano! Oh dear, this looks like a man who was trying to check a load of boxes.
but then! A stroke of genius in the rather awesome bass drop, that's simplistic but really rather catching. It's like the drum and bass of old, when your bassline didn't need to fidget over 8 octaves. I like it! There's a lot of dodgy things in this track, and it's certainly not wingboner inducing, but that bass drop.
The hats need more dynamism, the rhyhtms need to not come out of nowhere. But it needs to have that bassline. It rules.
24) Counterwise - Celestial Fireworks oh! This beat. This beat indeed, it's spastic as fuck. And that's pretty awesome. And oh~! Kick drums that actually bite into my cans, which is certainly appreciated. Heavy, heavy, heavy. I don't like the distorted, midrangey bass, but damn I like the drums. This has been mixed to have some actual power, and that's rad. And now it's building, building!
Ahh. This is the good kind of electro house, intensely minimal shit, just drums and a dirty synthline, this is what electro house should sound like and I love it. I'd ask for more synths in the high range, but not much else. and oh! 909 hats! That's lovely. I'd say there's almost no need for the change up at 2:28 or so, it could just keep going.
my only faulting would be... I'd actually move the synth line up an octave, it conflicts to much with the heavily compressed drums as it'd be fidgety awesome if it wern't trying to be a bassline. But as it is, it's still pretty rad.
I do have a real fault though, which is that there's too many white noise sweeps here, and as I've reiterated many times, many breaks and builds a good track does not need. Yoda.
By the end of this all, despite my prior enthusiasm, I am slightly concerned by the seeming lack of structure, it's another tune that doesn't really seem to go anywhere and lacks a driving melody. But it's certainly lovely and DJ friendly, and meticulosuly engineered. JUst move those synths up a bit, and perhaps put a few verse parts between 'em, and we're on to a winner.
Nice one.
25) Morgrayne - Fluttertastic Is this... psytrance? MY EARS ARE PERKED. Pumping bassline and a good ol' bit of goa-thump, I'm certainly listening. Hard. Oh yes, classic trance supersaw synths follow our generous mixing section... as does fluttershy! Sooo sorryyy to drop this kick ass bit of psytrance on you! I gotta thankyou, Morgrayne for dropping a different genre on us here, and a good attempt at it, too. :> It may be a bit supersaw arp heavy, but the bass and drums really pound like a good trance should, and it's got all the right spacey, otherworldly feels goa/psy should have. but oh gosh, at 2:06 it feels like the record just... skipped? What happened there man, it's kind of random.
One thing I'll also say is that this, being trance, should be about twice as long as it is currently. Trance relies on build up, break down and tension, and to have enough space to really do that successfully without feeling like you're jumping around everywhere, you need a lot more time. Try spacing out the supersaw arps so they only appear in Chorus sections, and give a bit of build up for 'em. Everything's currently happening to fast, but what is happening is very good. Needs a longer mix, and I'll love it!
26) zahqo - Imminent Supersaws buzzing and resonating. To an almost unpleasant extent, that resonance is gonna bring my headache back at this rate... a deep yummy kick is just what the doctors ordered though, holy shit. That thing is DEEP. Deeper than yo momma's cavernous vagina. But a kick drum alone does not a track make, and the very weedy snare that sounds like it's being played through an am radio and the muddy bass and supersaws ruin the whole deep feel. This tune feels like it's been run through a lowpass filter with a resonance peak at around 1khz, and it's rather unsettling, and not the best way to end the album-proper with. there are a lot of nice soundscapes here, but there are so many mixing issues and muddiness that it's all hidden away. A shame!
27) Aviators - Bittersweet [Cooldown Bonus Track]Hello Aviators, here you are in the section of the album in which you belong! The chilled, let's calm down bit. Now, I'd like this organ if it didn't seem to be clipping all over the shop. Organs dont distort well, if y'ask me. It seems like you invited TLT round too, since my kicks are being followed rather reliably with snares. Some bitspeeked vocals that are pleasantly incomprehensible flow into a surprisingly emotive refrain, that's full of supersaw buzz and synth noodling, that I gotta say I rather enjoy.
This kind of thing is too drawling and drawn out for my tastes, but this is a good, emotive track... if you like that kinda thing. Which is what I always find myself saying about Aviators.
28) ExplodingHeartTechnique - Stance [Cooldown Bonus Track] 2 seconds in, and I am immediately reminded of Photek, and his dark, atmospheric jungle style. This can only be a good thing. Oh yes. Tape fuzz, waterfall sounds and a gentle xylo synth, have I been teleported to the basement of a late 90s Photek or Jonny L? I think I have! Perhaps LTJ Bukem came to tea, too.
But then they all buggered off as we went into the decidedly modern sounding refrain, which I wouldn't exactly class as a cool down track, but it's good nontheless. Not as good as I thought it'd be, with that promising breakbeat and feel the track opened with being replaced by a rather predictable 2-step rhythm and buzzing supersaws, but this is by no means bad. Well structured, well thought out, and sweeping, but just not quite what I was hoping for! I'm so picky, picky, picky. Half way through, things get all orchestral! Heh, I know people who'd love this, but I'm just not really one of them. Still, one of the most polished tracks on the album. Nice.
29) Kryptage & Trippy Myst - Bliss [Cooldown Bonus Track] Oo. This sounds all fun and lofi, and it sounds like I'm litsening on the beach! ^o^ Nice to get a bit of chiptune to finish the cooldown off, and put me in a good mood. I just love, slower, more atmospheric chippy tracks, since it's such a change from the usual application of chiptune as a medium. OOoh, vocals! they're very quiet, but they're pretty and provide a nice comforting background to this all.
Aha, this vocal snipet is wonderful. And old timey! Things that I like very much.
I'm not sure how much I like everything about this, but it certainly makes me very happy. Blissful, even! Certainly smiley. Which is a good mood to put me in before I write my conclusions.
~CONCLUSIONS~
So what did I think? More or less the same things I felt about Balloon Party, but my lowered expectations meant there wasn't the same overwhelming disappointment I felt with balloon party. I feel that once again, the wrong tracks were put out in front, but at least there was a bit more variety this time. Would I actually download it? I don't think so. There are one or two tracks I'd definitely grab, but as a compilation, it lacks any real cohesion, or even an even volume level. It was nice to see some more rock tracks in this for that crowd, but again, I am conflicted as to whether that is really a good thing or not. It would be if perhaps, this album had truly covered the spectrum of all things hard, but its track selection seems pooled to a small section of genres, and the metal chuggings just felt rather out of place as such.
Capital Effort, but I am pretty sure Pinkamena Party will be the true embodiment of MLR's hard dance output.
