1

cactoos - and god said not yet

bonus

score

slammy

Great start with awesome atmosheric effects to set the scene. This has the best atmosphere of the whole compo, in my opinion. Works really well as an atmoshperic piece.

10

88

analysis

'and god saids not yet' is a song with a typo in the title. I've always wanted to say such a thing. ;) The song is very filmish, and really generates some tension.

Technically:
I couldn't find much that I didn't like. In fact, I think the whole sound is very unique and very cool. I hear lots of reverb and delay, but never something that bothers you. I hear a very wide and full sound, something that pleases me always. Good work :)

Musically:
The song generates a tension, the feeling that something is going to happen soon. If you would put this song in a movie, you'd instandly have a scary 3 minutes. Cactoos did a very good job on this song I have to say that. I like this very much.

Does the song fit the picture?
I believe it does. There some mystery in your song, sometimes very quiet, but also the notion that something is going to happen. Good work

10

85

randor

NADA! :p

9

76

SCORE : 112

2

pluks - not alone

bonus

Average

slammy

Starting with a cute sinister piano riff (bit of theme in this compo!!!), it slowly progresses, hitting some really nice chords, which I always like to hear... Nice expressive playing too!. At just after a minute, in drops some strings and the piano has picked up pace, giving some great dynamics. Awesome sound quality too. Its sinister sounding, yet very sad sounding. Awesome stuff. Very rich sound throughout.

7

91

analysis

So, I guess this one is the favorite to win the title? Lets see if it is really that good.

Technically:
I like the soundscape in general. The strings are very nice to fill up the thing, even though the piano's get a littlt overplayed by them when the strings release their full force. Besides, some of the strings notes are offtune.

Musically:
I find this to the be the strongest part of the song. The song has a fantasy feel too it, and really like that. It creates a nice tension twice, and also those parts work very well. I've been watching harry potter films lately, just for the heck of it, and somehow this reminded me instandly of them. I assume that the music used in the movie is has the same feeling as yours? Congratz on a really great tune anyway, I like it a lot.

Does the song fit the picture?
Yes it does. Both theme's are featured: empty street in the beginning, and the fact that something in that picture does indeed look scary, in the parts with all the strings. Nice work ;)

10

90

randor

Nothing to say!

6

77

SCORE : 109

3

partysan - somethin' creeping up in the sky

bonus

Average

slammy

Somethin' creeping up in the sky: Odd title of the compo goes to PartySan!. This track took me right away to creepy street though, sounds like it wouldn't be out of place in Half Life or soemthing. Slow to start with nice vinyl crackling noises, a very dark track indeed. When the track really kicks in, it does it in style too..Really enjoyed this and it fit really well too.

9

88

analysis

Judging from the title, partysan really paid attention to the sky in the cityscape picture. It does look very creepy, indeed. I'd have to say that this song is really nice, and fits the picture well. 'Something creeping up in the sky' feels though as if something is missing. It interested me while listening, but failed to get a hold my attention on the long run.

Technically:
The song is rather minimal, which always allows the author of the song to really spice up his synths. Every synth can use a shitload of frequencies since there aren't that many synths to begin with after all. The biggest problem with being minimal, is that every sound and every beat needs to be REALLY great, since there isn't much to listen to after all. I'm affraid that this is were the song doesn't reach its full potential. If you listen to the first beat for instance, then I hear a kick that isnt really deep.. I want to feel this one moving my stomach, and its a shame it doesnt. Later in the song you can hear a bassline that does fill up the really low-freqs, but this bassline isnt really doing it for me. When the bassline comes in, the kick gets blurred. It also showed me the reason why the kick isnt that deep: the bassline is insanely deep! Its a pity that the whole basskick disappears in the bassline though, you might want to mix those better. Besides that, the whole bassline is way too loud, flooding the song with bass.

Musically:
I enjoyed the song, which is the biggest issue. I quite liked the guitar-like bleeps in the song that did add something and weren't that incredibly screaming for attention. That last point is the thing I'd want to say about the main lead: it screams for attention and it gets faded into the song within a second. If I wasn't paying attention while listening, then I'd get scared out of the sudden increase in volume, and the sudden change of the sound. This song is ment to be relaxing I assume, so that doesn't really work. My conclusion would be that the song is nice, but fails to really grab the listener in the end.

Does the song fit the picture?
I think it does. It has that creepy feel, and yet the quiet and peacefull mood that the picture also has.

10

60

randor

lalala.

7

81

SCORE : 102.3

4

mrsix - all good things

bonus

Average

slammy

This track went straight to the point, police sirens, weird phonecalls, and then straight to an extremely dark musicscape, which works really well. Awesome whispered vocals, which just blows the feeling of creepy straight right through the roof!. Brilliant sound track.

9

80

analysis

A laid back, somewhat depressing song by mrsix. 'All good things, come to an end'. When the songs starts, you actually hear the city. Kinda cool :)

Technically:
Great. Only thing I could think of that I didnt like, is that it's pretty hard to hear what you are actually saying. Probably because you wanted to say in such a creepy way, but also because you added a lot of reverb. With a little bit of extra attention I can get the meaning of the lyrics though.

Musically:
The song instandly reminded me of the chillout channel on DI.fm. This song would fit in just perfectly, it's got that really slow rythem, deep sounds and a few original touches to make it stand out from the rest. Not too much though, coz that wouldn't be suitable for the radio-channel. Its a great song. At first I didnt really like the vocal, it sounded to me as you were very horny, but after a few listens that feel fell off, and the voice worked remarkable good. I couldn't find much that annoyed or irrated me. However, I cant find much that stayed in my head after listening, or something that suprised me and grabbed my attention too. Your song is perfect background-music, and you have to decide for yourself if that is what you truely wanted to make.

Does the song fit the picture?
It's got the same thing as many other songs. The picture isn't a calm relaxing, background picture. The sky suggests that something is going to happen soon, the colours suggest that the street is much more like an alley were things could happen. I miss that in your song. Sure, in picture its quiet now, but it's not going to be quiet in a few moments..

3

80

randor

Somebody say somthing?

9

82

SCORE : 101.7

5

mate - Forgotten Places, Rusty Dreams

bonus

Average

slammy

Immediately this track took me to the creepy street in the city. Haunting pad and pinao riff get use started right away...Sounds pretty fake in places, especially the percussion, but its an extremely interesting track.

9

76

analysis

Forgotten places, rusty dreams is a laid back, jazzy song. The song feastures great soundscapes, and a dreamy mood. It can be considered as one of the better tunes on the compitition.

Technically:
Mate appears to certainly know how how to produce top notch sounds. The whole soundscape is very good, doesn't lack anything. The organic sounds appeal to me, they sound natural and realistic. The quality of the song doesn't leave me disappointed at all.

Musically:
I very much like the song. The mood is a little dreamy, somewhat melancholic perhaps. What I like most is that the song starts out really slow and then gradually evolves into something far more fuller and deeper. That structure really works out well I think.

Does it fit with the picture?
When I look at the empty street in the picture, I dont see just a normal, peacefull empty street. Look at the sky: Something is going to happen soon! Mayhem is going to break lose! I miss that a lot in your song, even though I consider the sounds itself to be very beautiful. Your song stays peacefull and dreamy, while in fact, I would be scared if I was to walk in that street, probably running to get home before the rain comes.

3

83

randor

Blah!

9

73

SCORE : 93.3

6

louigi verona - cityscape01

bonus

Average

slammy

Some epiano to start us off with, with some spooky sounds, and well thought out percussion. Weird vocal samples, which ramble about 'microsoft'? A nice atmosphere overall with excellent sound quality.. Didn't quite take me to that creepy street, but still a very good tune...

4

80

analysis

Cityscape 01 is a easylistening song, great for listening in the background. It features nice effects, soothing drums and nice melodies.

Technically:
Well, I guess that what you are doing technically is quite fine for the genre. The deep string however at 4:00 pretty much fills something up that the previous parts of the song could also use. Perhaps adding some strings that doesn't get a lot of attention would make the song better?

Musically:
Like I said, its very smooth. The laidback mood allows this song to be played everywhere without much people who'd get annoyed by it. I dont find that the song creates an emotion that is very strong though, its just a background kind of music, it plays, and it's nice, but its not something that would allow you to fall in tears because of it's beauty. Good song though :)

Does the song fit the picture?
Not really. the picture is really dark, but your song isn't that dark actually.

3

70

randor

I'm a dairy farmer.

9

75

SCORE : 91

7

xtr1m + lpchip - forgotten winds

bonus

Average

slammy

Percussion. Its awesome. Intriguing sound throughout the whole tune, glockenspiels, rich percussion, nice pads and nice synth stabs.. xtr1mly textured for sure!. Could have worked harder to creating the feeling of street for me, but the tune is extremely good.

4

94

analysis

xTr1m and LPchip have created their first Co-op together, and i'm excited to hear it. Congratz to frank too who's been without a new song for some time now.

Technically:
First thing that I noticed was that the bassline should have been a louder, to fill the whole thing up. At this moment the song feels kinda without a deeper edge. Besides, the bassline is really nice, so you want persons to listen to it. I like the chorded bleeps. They add some nice harmony to the song.

Musically:
The song is pretty cool. The sounds are variated, the beat is nice, the bleeps work pretty well together. The piece isn't very original though, most of the things that have been done are done before. Besides, the song lacks what seperates the 'nice songs' from the 'ultra-awesome songs'. If you know what it is, tell me.

Does the song fit the picture?
The street in the picture isn't just a random empty street. It's a street that shows lonelyness, darkness.. Look at the sky, something is going to happen! I dont think that this shows in your song, your song is more like a happy sunny sunday empty street.

3

70

randor

5

72

SCORE : 90.7

8

aymes - Truth is told

bonus

Average

slammy

Awesome piano riff, and the only tracked entry in the C category, which is sad... Nice piano piece though, but somewhat very 'victorious' and didn't creepy me out any, like creepy street does ;).

4

80

analysis

Truth is told is a tracked song, there no argueing about that. It sounds a really bad keyboard that's imitating a piano.

Technically:
Well, I always feel a little bit unfairness towards those who make music in a old-school tracker, because this is a part were they just can't compete with the others. After all, an old-school tracker always has quality that isn't worth noting. The piano in this song sounds crap for instance, it doesn't have fullness, it's not wide.. The whole soundscape sounds very, thin. But ok, it's tracked so we'll have to be gentle and forgive the man, it's not that he's able to do anything about it.

Musically:
The piano is pretty much the only thing that happens in this song. I've heard a string playing, but thats pretty much it. I dont consider the piano to be very good however, it sounds like a complicated and variated pianoline, but it forgets to create somekind of ambience. Or maybe it just doesnt appeal to me, I dont know, but I couldn't hear much of a admosphere in the song. ;(

Does the song fit the picture?
The song doesn't remind me of an empty street with big montrous clouds are above the city. That is a no thus.

3

54

randor

I dont touch the cows.

9

84

SCORE : 89

9

cag - metropolitan disillusions

bonus

Average

slammy

Dark and mysterious. Sounds somewhat industrial, and also very disjointed. Sounds intentional, but made it very hard to get into. Great feeling though. The vocals did not fit. The tune picked up toward the end with DnB - but still no real structure.

8

62

analysis

CAG does his sample-thing again and it works quite remarkable good. If one does'nt know the original songs then he could actually think that this was the original.

Technically:
the problem with a song like this, for me, is that it's really hard to say anything about the technical thing. I've never done anything with samples, I've got no idea if this is good or not. What strikes me however, is that the different samples dont CLASH with eachother frequency wise. That's a good thing. Besides, the sound is really well balanced. Bass-mids-highs, they are equally present in the song.

Musically:
I think it's very nice. It certainly is an interesting experience, and the song as a whole works really well. It's nice, harmonious and sometimes even surprising. I like that singing-voice sample. Sounds nice ;)

Does the song fit the picture?
The picture has two emotions in it, in my opinion: Lonelyness, and a tad darkness.. (look at the sky). Your song isn't really lonely or dark. Atleast, not in my opinion.

3

75

randor

I drink moo juice on my farm.

8

71

SCORE : 88.7

10

ivory - distant waypoints

bonus

Average

slammy

A good piece of music, very well written, and took me to a great world... but no where near what the picture represented unfortunately. Great space music for sure! love the synth lead. Awesome pads.

1

83

analysis

Good old ivory returns, and i'm glad he's back. His melodies have always amazed me and this song is no exception.

Technically:
The song is really clear and bright, perhaps even a little too bright. What I like about this song is the amount of reverb on the drums. They are really nice this way. ;)

Musically:
The sounds of the music are pretty cool. I like the smal and short melodies, although they get a little repetitive after a while. The melody that starts at 2:53 is really good too, I like that one. Nice work :)

Does it fit the picture?
It is too bright and happy in my opinion. The picture is really dark I think.

3

70

randor

I plough the fields!! :D

8

75

SCORE : 88

11

gibit - craquelure

bonus

Average

slammy

craquelure: Nice intro, but the rain was horribly fake! ;). Nice piano melodies, and weird deep breathing? noises... Nice atmosphere created overall, but it failed for the most part to help me imagine the desolate street. Piano melodies sure were nice though!

6

73

analysis

Craquelure is nice song with pianos and weird soundeffects. The piano is really the main ingredient though.

Technically:
its always hard to compose a song where you keep yourself minimal, and you stick to very normal sounds, such as a piano a basstring and some violin-like instrument. I think that gib-it does a nice job making it sound like a real song. The whole soundscape doesn't feel very thin, so that's a good thing. Keeping it this minimal makes also impossible to do much wrong mixing-wise. I dislike however, the low-muddy-noize sound that starts at 0:30. It distracts me.

Musically:
Well, for a song that is this minimal you can't just do a piano melody with 3 notes. When there isn't much to listen to, then the author has to make sure that what is present needs to be REALLY good, coz its the only thing that the listener will or won't enjoy. I feel that the indivudual melodies just aren't good enough. I also doubt the structure of the track. Adding a drum suddenly, when the track is almost done seems a bit weird. Besides, that drum is really lonely and therefor isnt impressing.. it follows a simple rythem after all.

Does the song fit the picture:
More or less. The song is besides minimal also pretty dark so I guess that fits.

8

55

randor

FERTILIZER RULES OK!

6

55

SCORE : 81

12

cde musix - a moment suspended in time

bonus

Average

slammy

a moment suspended in time: Nice idea, that ultimately is mixed too loud and it makes a bit of a mish mash of stuff. The music though is nice, great simple melodies, with a good progression. Seemed a bit too 'uplifting' though, especially when that 'whistle' type lead played...

5

79

analysis

The song begins with a few deep churchbells, and then enters strings. So far so good, and after that some drums are played. Pretty cool drums I have to say.

Technically:
However, the drums are somewhat loud. Even when compared together, the main clap just is way louder then the rest of the drums. The synth that plays after that, (1:15) isn't really my cup of tea. It sounds really small, thin.. it could surely use a longer delay.. The sound itself is really computer, while the rest of the song tries to uphold the idea that it might even be real instruments. Somewhere around this time there is also a bassline added, and that bassline is pretty good.

Musically:
I really like the drums musically, the beat they do is really nice. The admophere is nice, but it doesn't really get me on going for some reason. I can't really find what's the problem, but the melodies and sounds just dont really do it for me. The song gets somewhat repetitive for me, when another element is added and another thing is removed. The song just goes on and on, but it pretty much fails to entertain me.

Does the song fit with the picture?
Well, the song would fit on a picture in the park with a sunny breeze on sunday morning. I dont think that fits really well with this picture thus.

3

60

randor

I has no sheep! Baa :(

3

59

SCORE : 77