Evoke '99 - multichannel-compo review
I had thought about visiting the Evoke '99 party in Germany, but after looking at my financial situation I understood quite well that this was more or less impossible. Instead I'll have my chare of the crop a little after the main event. The multichannel-compo was good quality overall, and with names such as a-move and velvet competing I just couldn't help downloading it all.
Starting from the bottom and moving towards the top we find ... (the order is cut right from the official Evoke results):
13. Friction by Kaneda 4 pts
Soft synthish track. Doesn't offer anything new, or totally overwhelming audio-stimulation. But don't be fooled to believe that this song is bad. Because it isn't. However it doesn't have a "lead". It hasn't got anything "playing the lyrics", or as you'd like to put it. But it's a very atmospheric "new age"-synth song. It's of course nothing for the hardcore "I need to move to the song"-people. But if you like calm, relaxing songs this one could be something for you. In short: the placing of this song doesn't reflect its quality...
12. 529 by Raytrayza 7 pts
While listening to this song I can't stop thinking of playing Monkey Island. I think it's something in the bass-line and the general feeling of the song. It kind of feels like "The Voodoo-Lady" theme, but doesn't have any "melodic" resemblance. The style is hard to define. Take a piece of Jamaica and throw in just a little hip-hop and you have a vague idea of this song. The technique behind the track isn't as astonishing. Not many "creative" effects were used, and the patterns look rather stripped down. As I said before this song really kicks it as a background theme in an adventure game such as Monkey Island. It's not that strong as a stand alone song though. But still relaxing and very soft. I like it. The flute-theme is really corny ... I guess you could sum this song up with the word "cheesy". Because it is! But not in a negative way. I mean it in the best sense of the word.
11. Jet Rider by Wayfinder^KFMF^Vacuum 7 pts
Well, Wayfinder is back. I'm not good at naming these alternative styles. And this one is really "alternative". It's a good song, but it sounds a little rushed. Something you make just before the party to have something to release. The tune does have some potential. I like the bass-line, and how it twist and turns. But there's no substantial theme to the song. It's actually quite monotonous and, in a way, boring. Nothing happens that knocks you out of your seat. I guess it could be the end of a low-budget movie, the sort of song that is played while the cats and credits are scrolling. Because this song doesn't divert your attention from what you're doing. The lonely, "wining" saxophone doesn't quite cut it. It'd need more action.
10. Fronted by Mentz (Tdr) 8 pts
"Safe only in a shell. Like this." Very weird tune. The style is the "usual" radical TDR style. However, the song sounds more or less like a melange of unfinished ideas. Ideas that didn't really make into a coherent whole, so they became a weird mix. The tune is interesting, but there are so many changes within such a short time that you never get any feeling for the song. As I said, it feels like a weave of unfinished ideas, and a little thin. I'm not saying changes in a song aren't good. I love songs that change a lot, but one shouldn't overdo it. Relying on vocal/speech samples isn't enough. The melody is too thin, and the general feeling too boring. However a plus for Mentz good way with samples. He knows how to use and combine the samples very well. I especially like it when the guitar-sample and the trumpet (?) play together right by the end.
9. Summerside by Kenny Bettrey 8 pts
Ok. This one is kind of house inspired, but not pure hardcore house. It's softer around the edges. It is however dance. So I'll now test if it's "dancable". Well, yes it is. However I'd like to change the style of this one towards club-inspired rather than house, since it's really too soft and slow to fall into the latter category. At first glance this song sounds quite newbie-like, but after a few patterns you realize that you were mistaken to take the author to be just another newbie house-head. There's actually a nice melody to this one, although it's a standard dance-melody and the chords are nothing radically new at all. Still, it's a well made dance track, which I'm sure freaks of this particular style will cherish a lot. I'm not as that much into this style, but I still enjoy listening to this song once in a while.
8. Dub Shock by Paniq 16 pts
Another Monkey Island song? Well, in the beginning you might belive just that, but it turns out to be a very cool "alternative" dance track à la Prodigy. The tune doesn't carry any complex lead but contains interesting samples and takes interesting turns, particularly in the beginning when the beat is turned up. This style can be easly made to sound "false" and soulless. But Dub Shock doesn't to that. Even though it's not very varied it still doesn't get boring during the 3:54 it takes to plow yourself through the song. I think I'm going to check some more Paniq tracks out in the near future.
7. Radi's gone to eat by Magnetic 20 pts
I'm not really sure of the style of this one, and as I'm getting fairly tired of calling every damn song alternative I'll just call this one "break-beat without the break, synth, piano, flute"-styled. Interesting song with some cute melodies in the beginning, which then increasingly relies on the piano. The sound is pretty good. Actually better than that. It sounds really good. The panning is used wisely and the different frequency ranges" (low/middle/high) are kept well apart. Not much to add really. I haven't heard any other songs from Magnetic so I have nothing to compare this to.
6. Full of emptiness by Eha 22 pts
Rave/Hardcore song which actually sounds rather good, but it's a little heavy on the bass. What I mean is that there's pretty much bass in every sample used. But I guess there's supposed to be a substantial amount of bass in this style. However, there is a thin line between just right and too much. And this song is kind of playing on the edge. Full of Emptiness also seems to be missing something. Which is lyrics. You know, the female voice that sounds like it's pitched, but really isn't. That's what I miss in this song. It really sounds like there should be lyrics. Might be because of the "missing" lead, but I know it's hard to make good leads to this kind of music, and so you'll kind of have to rely on the melody of the whole song. This is hard, since without a good melody the listener will loose interest. Eha has made a really good attempt at this. It's a very good song, but still with some missing bits.
5. RA by Netpoet 24 pts
Some triphop beats for the masses! Pretty nice tune from Netpoet. The themes in the song is fairly varied and well fitting. The talk-samples are however repetitive and do become annoying. The "You can run. But where are you gonna hide from all the power of the sun." is used too frequently, and leaves a taste of lacking imagination. But if you listen to the melodies you'll discover that this is in fact not the case. In general (and this is, of course, my very own taste) speech samples should be used sparsely in a song. Otherwise they will invariably sound repetitive. Which in a song like this is very unfortunate as the rest of the song is very varied.
4. Forsaken by Decibel Overload 32 pts
This one smells of old skool all the way from Germany to Cuba! And that suits me fine... hehe. Here's a taste of genuine "early PC"-sound, and somewhat Amiga stylish too. If you're a fan of all the great old trackers (Jester/Sanity, Echo/LSD, 4-mat/Anarchy and if I may say so Purple Motion's early stuff), this is a song for you. In fact this is a style for everyone. GET THIS SONG! Why? Uhm... well, that's because of my personal feeling towards "modern" demo-music. Demo-music and soundtracks nowadays mainly consist of hardcore tracks which I personally don't like that much. I'd love to see some more synth-related tracks in demos. In my opinion, synth tracks can be much more powerful than a hardcore-song, as the "hardness" of most hardcore songs is mainly in the outrageous bass-drum. Yes, it's an outrageous bass-drum. Have a listen to see what I mean.
3. Lebe meine Welt by Kritix 44 pts
My own personal favourite in the compo. I don't usually feel this strong for Kritix's tracks. But this one is very nice. Could be because I've come to like this style more during this year than ever. The sound of the song is very good, and is like a calmer form of Chemical Brothers. Not as chaotic as this sort of music sometime tend to be. One thing I noticed in this song is a lack of panning. It's mainly in mono, which also is kind of strange or... well... original these days. Anyway, very good song for all of you who like alternative music.
2. The Jovians Dance by Skyrunner 48 pts
Don't know what to call the style of this song (gah! and I call myself a "serious" music-reviewer). But I could say it's a piano and flute oriented track. I can say this much: I like it! The piano and the flute play the themes of the song, as well as a saxophone that sometimes come into the song to squeak a little. While the flute is playing the piano gives an extra boost to the melody, which sounds very nice. Even though it's a pretty fast track (could this be because it's tracked in fast tracker?!? Another hilarious joke from We Suck Inc.), it well accompanies the rain that is falling outside my window. Guess it's because it's a sad and mellow track. I can only recommend you to download this song.
1. Voyager by Amove & Velvet 60 pts
What did one have to expect? Amove and Velvet ended up first. Ever since I heard the soundtrack to the Planet Subotnik-demo (which I strongly recommend you download if you haven't done so already) I've been totally in love with the works of both Amove and Velvet (not to mention Amove & Velvet). This song is not the usual triphop oriented songs they do so well. No, this time they've given a touch of classical music a chance. I can't help to feel this is a "movie-theme" of some kind, or the end credits of a science-fiction program. Not the usual song you blast through your stereo, but for people who like classical music and calmer kinds of tunes this one is perfect. Also if you want to study how a high quality track is made, this is a song for you.
In closing
The quality of this competition was higher than I had expected, even though there were strong names in the starting field. Also nice to see a song like Forsaken ending up so high. I'd also like to place a huge thank you to Amove for the favour he did me [you know what I mean, dude! I owe you one!]. Guess that's all...