Battle of the beatz 2007 - IV: reviews by dj scape

future drifting by thin king: #245 this one i think is the

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 18:41.

#245

this one i think is the best produced one of this comp.  everything sounds very clear in the mix.  love the vibe as well, it sort of reminds me of the covert operations label but less scifi and more earthy.

very good


Life by Bluntman: #242 love the pads from the

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 14:57.

#242

love the pads from the intro and that vocal snippet is pure soul.  nice.

good little steppin beats as well, basslines deep.   coupla good beat edits.

good use of the scratch samples and other vocal bits, keeps it rolling.

wicked switchup, maybe too soon switching out of it tho would of liked to hear more of that.

i might be being a little picky, but maybe some bongo type percs would be nice in some sections just to roll it even more.

very good tune, well done


Half Life 2 by DZ4: #237yeah i liked this one

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 18:32.

#237
yeah i liked this one straight off, wicked strings.
nice lead melody, sounding a bit old school in a good way.
bassline is good, really compliments everything else, and i like how the tune rolls out
i think you could bring the vocals level up more tho.  good  breakdown and more strings, nice!

i really enjoyed the vibe of this tune, however the only thing i don't like is the beats.   this is just my personal taste. could possibly layer another break to get some ghost hits rolling?


Evac by Harikiri: #243 good eerie intro, with

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 17:48.

#243

good eerie intro, with the droning pads and buildup of the beats.

beats sound very crisp and heavy....  like the drop into the breakdown with the vox, good sample by the way.

man thats a wicked gnarly bass sound, very good! 

i like the edits on the beats.

in places the tune doesn't seem to flow right, not nessessarily a bad thing i just mean if you was mixing it it may be hard.

the mixdown sounds good to me.

solid tune


mixed beauty by hydrophonic: #241 i thought this was a

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 14:44.

#241

i thought this was a slightly strange track to listen to arrangement wise. 
the buildup to the first drop i didn't like much, but the 2nd drop buildup is wicked! 
nice little tease with that vocal.  gotta say i wasn't feeling those trance type kicks that come in at the end of some sections.  and then after the 2nd drop the tune stops very soon, thought that was strange.  instead i think it would have been nice to hear a section with not so much going on in it, ie just sub no reese and maybe the pads over the top
i like the percussion in the intro, and the beats in general sound crisp.


hindsight by obscure: #244 nice jazzy kinda vibes

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 14:23.

#244

nice jazzy kinda vibes in this, little bit similar to old metalheadz.  

i'm not sure of the section between 0.43 and 1.26, it sounds very cloudy and all the elements seem to be fighting each other in the mix.

the beats sound good, and bassline punches well.  i would maybe look at doing some different edits on the beats tho, as they haven't got lots going on i found the tune got a bit too repetative.

cool vocal sample.


PSYCHOTRONIC WARFARE by DARK GENIUS: #239 nice dark intro,

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 18:12.

#239

nice dark intro, although it doesn't evolve much.

like the breakdown.. and the vocal samples.  sounding proper dark.  not totally sure when it drops tho.

dunno if its my speakers but i'm struggling to hear any sub?  the bassline that comes in after 4 mins doesn't quite sound right in the context of the tune. i  think it needs to be darker. or maybe just sub.

the beats are nice, i like the percussion you used.  the hi hats that kinda shuffle are possibly too loud.
 


diabetic by lmc: #240 you got some good ideas

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Submitted by dj scape on Mon, 2007-12-03 17:59.

#240

you got some good ideas in this, but i think unfortunately a lot of the instruments you've used do not do them justice.  they sound a bit cheap.  i think you could try and work on the mixdown to make things gel more, and also the levels of some tracks is too high.
in particular the bass.
i quite like the breakdown with the fast skippy kinda beats that come in like the intro.
not a fan of the vocal samples tho sorry.