Battle of the beats 2006 - III: reviews by Contayjen

Withdrawal symptoms by Vex AkA Rezidue: 98 - Excellent intro...great

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:33.

98 - Excellent intro...great atmospheres, and there's that phat reece again I recognise...wicked filters on that.  Aggressive and dark, very danceable groove.  Some sections have quite a bit of space.  You could have put a bit more into the arrangment but what's there is all muscle. No problems with the mix I could hear.


Mindgear - Heavenwards(rmx by Kondencuotas Pienas) by Kondencuotas Pienas: 90 - mindgear remix - Nice

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:36.

90 - mindgear remix - Nice atmospheres and ambience.  It sounds lovely compared to the dissonance is some of the other tracks.  Drums are tight and punchy, but seem almost robotic in their preciseness...actually, no, its the bass that is robotic.  Its all makes for a nicely floaty mood though, very pleasing to the ears.  Needs a bit of change in the arrangement though.  Ah, a funky drum solo breakdown, very nice.  Musically, it gets better towards the end.  Overall, a good track, I like this one.  Good for an afterclub chill or driving.


Gimlet by Bladetone: 89 - mixdown liq - A chilled

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:32.

89 - mixdown liq - A chilled but dancey liquid vibe on this one, melodic and pleasant.  A couple of clever change-ups in there..getting harder, a more dancey groove before the break.  The arrangement works well, original.  Levels and mixing sound good on this, good stereo atmospheres.


Obsessions by Decide: 97 - Decide Obsession - I

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:46.

97 - Decide Obsession - I like the intro.  Threatening and dark atmosphere, makes a good build.  Then the drop...The bass is evil, the dark melodies vocal samples and atmospheres work really well, the drums sounds are tight but the pattern is very robotic and jerky, lacking groove.  I couldn't dance to this.  The ghosts are too loud and make it sound tribal but robotic.  Take the drums off this track and do them again man, it could be an excellent track.  The pattern reminds me of slowing down my mc303 with on of the preset dnb patterns.  Maybe thats the problem...drums are 1/2 speed.


butterfly in silver by synrgy: 100 - synrgy - A bit of a

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:42.

100 - synrgy - A bit of a grower this one, starting slow and chilled and later picking up.  For a 320 the mix doesn't sound very clear, especially those drums.  Where is the cymbal crispness?  Intro is slow, chilled but with a funny splashy snare.  Sounds like there is some chorus-type effect which doesn't usually work on drums.  Not really dnb at all this track, more electronica with a dnb ending.  Melodies are pleasant and uplifting.  Good work mashing up the amens, maybe drop that in earlier for a tease?


Missy Says (Cop that shit) by QuiVeR: 102 - Okay, opening with a

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:58.

102 - Okay, opening with a what sounds like a grainy Lil Jon crunk sample.  Overall the track is a bit musically simplistic, but there are some good melodic ideas.  The bassline needs to come up substantially..or give it some mids.  No rhythm in the bassline either, so its almost invisible through most of the track, just coming in at the end with a growling reece.  Good use of vocal samples, but they kind of carry the whole track.  Lots of interesting changeups, like this is a kind of audio montage.  Nothing too unpleasant about it though.


Hack A Hip by DMJ A.K.A Jossi: 96 - Funky intro...sounds

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:57.

96 - Funky intro...sounds cool.  When it drops the lead melody quickly gets samey without anything happening to it.  The last bar where it changes has a nice melody but the repeating part sound mechanical....okay, now the guitar-style riff comes in...I like this part better....and then back to the same repeating melody.  Drums are loud and punchy and give the track some edge.  Open hat/ride might be a tiny bit too loud.  Breakdown and build are good, maybe a filter sweep going up over it would make it build even more.  DMJ/Jossi?


BrockIT by Terra-Rise: 95 - Nice clear mix, sounds

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:58.

95 - Nice clear mix, sounds loud and punchy.  Strings are nice but the riff gets very repetitive.  Amen breaks :-(   Okay, now the drop...big phat bass, the break work well with it, this could work on the dancefloor.  Nice groove.  Again, the bassline is very repetitive.  And then more strings...why are these airy strings coming in over this heavy beat?  I think they ruin the track.  Breakdown is too long maybe, with those strings.  Back in with the drop, the groove is phat, its just the lack of bass melody that lets it down.  And those strings again :-( 


Where Is My Mind by Mike native: 91 - mike native - I was

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:37.

91 - mike native - I was wondering if you would do another cheesy remix, but this one is more original I think.  I like the dark vibe but track doesn't really flow along like I want it to.  There is no groove or melody in the harder bits, just this loud amen and lots of noise.  The bass is much too quiet and Bush gets a bit annoying after a while.


innocence by Dj Obscure: 99 - Obscure, your tracks

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:35.

99 - Obscure, your tracks stand out a mile man.  There's a certain dissonence that you get from having a complete disregard for harmony Eye-wink  That said, there's something about this track that makes it work better.  Its dark and funky and though I'm not keen on the the style of vocals you choose, they work better on this than your previous 2 tracks.  The beats are strong and clear and the arrangement is good.  Sub is phat though the melody seems a little simplistic in the 2nd half of the riff.  There is nice use of filter lfo on it for the end of the phrase.


Step Aside by DJ Shiver: 93 - Very techy, big snare

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:43.

93 - Very techy, big snare type of sound.  DJ-friendly intro...interesting choice of vocal samples, not sure that first reece goes with it.  The synth sound is cool but the melody doesn't make any sense, sounds like its out of key.  Some good sounds in this, its mixed quite well but musically it doesn't quite work.  The arrangement changes round often but the sections are quite disjointed.


Light Crust Doughboys by 822: 101 - A bit too experimental

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Submitted by Contayjen on Mon, 2006-05-29 15:07.

101 - A bit too experimental for my tastes this one.  The beats are too glitchy and random without any sort of pattern to them, which just makes them a bit annoying especially as the backing ambience is very nice.  The track is produced quite well but the random drums spoil it.  The arrangement is very unimaginative, it sounds like a 4 bar loop repeating for most of it.