B0ii wrote:
new album dropped 4 hours ago
here's the link
album drop!! track #5,
AGen, was the most compelling for me. behind that was track #7,
THE END OF THE END. i felt ambivalent about most of the other tracks, but i kept coming back to those two and i believe they were taken in promising directions :O
notably, so much went right during
AGen:
those bit-crushed ambient pad chords with their initial upward glide and soft attack. they truly carried the harmonic movement of the song and their presence outlined a lot of important sections within the song (especially their absence during 0:23 + 0:35 + 1:19, which tended to serve the purpose of emphasizing the progressions of sampled breaks and other instruments as they led into new territory)... i really appreciated the entire section of 2:11 and how it followed through to 2:38, very appropriate for this progression. the sections/progressions where the entire arrangement gets pitched down/up (1:19 through 1:31, 2:13 through 2:20, 3:07 through 3:21) were emphasized very nicely thanks to these pads
other notable features... those subtle mid-range triangle-ish leads peeking through very briefly, most easily heard at 0:36 and 0:39 when most of the instruments retreat and leave the sampled breaks alone. the thin quiet plucks were also very well-appreciated and were finally melodically consistent with the key signature and scale and harmony, in contrast to a lot of the other songs where there wasn't very much relation between any of the melodies. the crunchy garbage-noise bits were also used tastefully for the most part too
and how could i forget, the breaks themselves!! they were genuinely really good, and appear to be the most intricately designed element of these songs, especially here during the progressions through each new section. they evolve a lot with all the cutting-and-splicing and pitch-gliding while being low-passed at different times, and each little change feels relevant and functional even despite it very clearly being the same drumloop being recycled
overall, a very enjoyable song :>
for the second-favorite,
THE END OF THE END:
not as enjoyable melodically, but really this song is saved almost exclusively by its maj7(?) rave pad chords and by its intro and outro. i love the texture of that pad so so much, and it once again carried whatever square-wave melodies were used over them without complaining, mostly complementing each other without many problems with harmony
oh!! the sparkly chimes! those were also really sweet additions in my opinion, they fit so well with the pads <3
otherwise, most compliments i would give are similar to my comments on drumbreak samples and progressions found in track #5
...
and that's pretty much all i have to say, i wish i could've had more to say but i treasured my time listening to what you made anyway <3 good luck, emoticon friend