TaintedLogic's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Glow]

I like the dark, moody tone of the (E-piano?) at the beginning. The airy guitar-like instrument at :56 is awesome, and you contrast the smooth legato of the guitar nicely with the plunky piano riff at 1:26. At times, the mix sounds a bit over-compressed here, but that may just be the bitcrush. It's hard to tell. The piano solo at 2:10 helps hit the piece home nicely. Despite the somewhat bizarre sound design and rhythmic content of the piece, the fairly "tame" structure of the piece helps me stay grounded and follow the flow of it. Strong work yet again, LLAAPPSSEE! ^^

LLAAPPSSEE responds:

It is a rhodes throughout for the general ambience. There is no guitar in this. I think what you're hearing at :56 is a kalimba sample? I can't remember, heh. It may just be modified and resampled e-piano plucks. A lot of the sounds in this track have some kinda distortion on them. The mix is hopefully a bit stuffy...cottony; warm...like a thick blanket or something. I could be making fluffy excuses, too. Maybe the mix ideas just don't pan out in retrospect. Bizarre can be good or bad, no? Hopefully intriguing. I'll leave tradition/expectation/normality to someone else. This is mine -- warts and all. Someone's oddity can be another persons normality? Wait till you hear some of my other stuff? :P

[TheSheepman'sKnots]

Yeah, I'm beginning to regret the fact that I didn't discover your music earlier. Rhythmically, this is an extremely creative piece. The crisp drums, pulsating synth riffs, and pensive piano lines all blend in really well, and the texture overall feels really grating, harsh, and distorted, despite being pretty minimal and even furtive-sounding for most of the piece. Really evocative work, my friend. You've earned yourself a new follower. Cheers!

LLAAPPSSEE responds:

It's ok. You're here now, and that's all that matters. There's too much everything out there and it's wonderful you've found me here, in this little corner of the digital world.

The pensive/furtive feeling you mention is pretty spot on. Was also trying to capture a sorta frightened/mysterious/beckoning vibe.

In the book, the MC finds himself impossibly transported to a dark hotel hallway once he exits an elevator. Far down the corridor he can see a very dim light coming from the Sheep Man's room and navigates towards it.

Thank you for your follow. I'm brewing the spiked kool-aid now.

[Tired of This Place]

I like the catchy piano riff at the beginning. The rhythmic content is super nice between the piano and drums, and once the piano solo takes off I'm really captivated by the piece despite the minimal texture. The fade-out and subsequent fade-in during the last minute or so was a bit odd, and really disrupted the organic vibe the first part of the piece had imo. That said, this has to be one of the more unique pieces I've heard on NG recently, and I'm impressed by the production quality and melodic content here. Keep at it, LLAAPPSSEE! ^^

LLAAPPSSEE responds:

There is more to this song -- 2 other pieces. I might release the unfinished follow up/companion piece (I've been currently messing around with). It was intended to be a lead in to another song that uses that modified backwards section as a base for an entirely different track. Unfortunately, the follow up track's file got a bit corrupted. I might get around to fixing it or something if I can, or releasing as is. Just the way these things go some times. I could easily cut that out, but I dunno, I just kinda like it, haha. In general, I have a thing for weird outros. These particular songs you've reviewed so far are a bit tamer than my usual stuff -- more focused on that organic feeling you mentioned. A bit stripped down. Thank you so much for listening. : )

[Welcome to Ram Ranch - Cloppin' Clyde]

Ah, yes. Love the bluesy vibe and fun vocals. You tread the line between April Fools' joke and actually good piece really well - I love the mic distortion at 1:09 and "yee-hoo"s in the background. You really sell the organic country feel and old-timey ranchers' gathering theme really well throughout. The little excited kid speech at 1:40 is another highlight, and the production work with this many vocals in the mix is seriously impressive. Really well-executed feel-good piece with comedic upside here, "y'all." Also, special SO to @Dryest for not being able to talk to women. I feel you, man. :P

Also, let me know when you're doing another one of these. I'll bring my boots and stirrups!

Dry responds:

fr.

[Null Chillah // Chaffeur]

Again, I'm loving your eerie atmosphere and sound design. The frantic, crisp drums here are especially nice. The prominent bass at 2:30 is a great touch - I can't tell if it's actually louder there or just more conspicuous because the rest of the texture drops off. I would've liked to see you sell the transition between the "two songs" here a little better. With the similar sound design and tone to the vocals, it's totally doable. The very ending could also use a bit more creativity imo - the end of the verse feels pretty abrupt, but following it is a straight fade-out that provides a jarring sense of continuity. The lyrics during the second song are especially cool, though. "I've got bills to pay, but they were never mine" is probably my favorite mine. Solid work again, Kalviter. Keep it up! ^^

Kalviter responds:

It's just a texture thing, but glad it's coming across! Thanks again for the tips and glad you like the lyrics

[AIM - Navigatah]

Fun vocal effects at the beginning. The atmosphere is really eerie, which is nice, although the drums at :18 sound a bit soft in the mix. The rap vocals are great. They might need a bit of a boost in the mix, or maybe even some harmonizing/layering to push some of the softer consonants through more. The lyrics themselves are really neat, though, and overall I like the low-pitched and conspiratorial tone of the verses. We really need more quality hip-hop on NG. Kudos on a strong track, man! ^^

Kalviter responds:

Appreciate the mixing tips, glad you like it!

[Sailing Okeanos]

I like the ominous and cinematic tone at the beginning and the sense of build into :32 or so. The electric guitar at :36 was a pleasant surprise, and it blends in really well with the dramatic flair during the rest of the piece. This is something I'd really like to see you finish, Ale. The entire piece feels like the background music to the trailer for an epic robots-take-over-the-world-themed action movie. Maybe I can write the movie script, and you can finish the song? What do you say? :D Either way, stellar work!

LucidShadowDreamer responds:

Haha, thanks! I'm glad you like it :D
It's also nice to hear from you, I hope you're doing alright. I've been very busy recently, but in a good way. A lot of it involves music, actually! But I've kind of left this piece behind, even though it was interesting. I hope to be able to share some even cooler stuff eventually, and perhaps then we can collaborate in one manner or another ^___^

[Colors of Life]

Welp, took me way too long to review this! I really enjoy the whimsy and elegance of your orchestral compositions, Everratic. The melodies here are really lovely, and you do a great job of adding dynamic contrast and phrasing while maintaining a cohesive narrative arc. The production quality is excellent as usual, and the atmosphere and sound design of this one are particularly good. Keep it up, man! ^_^

Everratic responds:

Thank you for the nice review!

[-Jungle Driver-]

I like the percussion and the groovy bass at the beginning. The arpeggiated synths (like at :32) are a really nice touch, and the variety in the sound design helps keep things interesting despite the minimalism. The vocal samples are especially nice in this - evocative and adding to the rhythmic density without being overused. I'm liking the more eastern-sounding instruments at around 2:35 too. The rhythmic content is an absolute knockout here, btw - it's going to take me a couple more listens to get a full sense of the syncopations and phrase structure of it all. The echo-y vocals at around 6:00 are also super neat, and somehow flow really well into the slightly eerie melodies at 6:23. The thick textures here just further highlight how good the production quality is here. Overall, really cool track, WF! Probably my favorite of yours since you released Vast. :D Keep it up!

Waterflame responds:

Ahh hi man! First I just want to thank you for always leaving such in depth reviews. I don't have time always to answer it all but I do catch them. And I really appreciate all the kind words :D I personally feel like I could have done a little bit more with this vibe, but it felt natural to end it there. Glad you noticed all the little things going on! Those are kind of the main draw yeah. I WILL keep it up!