Reviews by LaLa |
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TASK III ++ - arranged by Tim ForsythReview by LaLa, 31/03/2021 I am so glad, Tim, that you decided to keep working at your Task III remix! This++version is what I now consider THE ultimateTask III remix! It's an absolutely brilliant piece that follows the original very closely. The arrangement is spot on, the instrument selection is superb. And I am glad my little feedback helped you make the final mix sound even better. I just can't get enough of this remix, I keep listening to it over and over again, because it always puts a huge smile on my face. I have always been a fan of the original SID, but I have become an even bigger fan of this remix of it. Just brilliant! |
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Rubicon Title Music - arranged by Magical Sound Shower 64Review by LaLa, 21/03/2021 Funky groove! Nicely done. I am not entirely sold on the vocoded vocals, though: it's a bit too hard to understand the lyrics. Maybe dial the modulator down a bit to let more of the original vocal through? Definitely plus points for originality, though! And I totally dig the guitar improv towards the end. |
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Commando High-score (bullboy command mix) - arranged by BullboyReview by LaLa, 21/03/2021 The flute in the intro is nice. The vocoded voice is hard to understand. The synth parts are okay-ish. The mix gets washed out due to the hi-freq pads. And the ending is abruptly cut off - at least let the reverb ring out. |
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Delta (Trouble in Tribble Town) - arranged by 0supereg0Review by LaLa, 12/03/2021 Nice and slow laid-back version with prog-rock ambience (guitar and electric organ). I am hearing some dissonant chords starting at around the 1:55 mark - tsk-tsk. Other than that, rather pleasant and relaxing. |
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TASK III - arranged by Tim ForsythReview by LaLa, 08/03/2021 This is a hard SID to crack because it's so intricate and so complex, and it's also high-paced. If you listen carefully, this remix is a really good effort, with lots of the subtleties of the original present in this remix. The somewhat chaotic nature of the original also comes through very well. I find it hard not to compare it to Ocean's excellent version from 2002, which I think absolutely nailed the instrumentation and the arrangement, too. Listening to Tim's version and Ocean's version back-to-back also reveals that Tim's version lacks a lot of punch, which I think can be fixed in the mixing department. All in all, my hats off to Tim for taking a crack at this SID and because he obviously poured a lot of effort into his remix, and the result is a pretty darn good piece. |
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IK+ Club Mix - arranged by PhrygianReview by LaLa, 08/03/2021 I don't think you amped up the clubby beat on this high enough! Great concept, so-so execution. I think I like the 5:34-6:04 section the best. The part starting at 6:04 was supposed to be crescendo of the entire tune, and your lead here sounds really whimpy, plus it misses all the portamentos badly, too (you did not pay attention to that after your SID2MIDI conversion, did you?). |
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Delta (lost in space mix) - arranged by 0supereg0Review by LaLa, 08/03/2021 Really smooth bass kicks ass on this remix. That whiny sound, though - ouch, not to my liking. Love your guitar jamming on top of the beat. This remix falls apart badly at 1:30 - you should've stopped the guitar licks at that point. That section sounds too dissonant to my ears, anyway. At 2:16 we are back to our regularly scheduled Delta, still, that thin hi-freq whiny sound just doesn't seem to fit. 3:05 - silky smooth jamming again, tickles my ears. That provides a strong finish to this remix. Overall, I think you fell too much in love with your own jamming on this remix, you should've paused it, especially after 1:30. |
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Cybernoid 2 (Late Night Drive Mix) - arranged by 0supereg0Review by LaLa, 08/03/2021 This one sounds really excellent until about the 1 min mark when that synth lead comes in. Does not compute! Then you redeem yourself with a much better guitar lead after the 2 min mark, only to switch back to the synth lead again. I mean, the lead sound would be fine by itself, it just does not fit this track at all, IMHO. At around 3:50 it all gets chaotic to my ears, and then it fades into a jam session. This tracks shows a lot more promise than what it actually delivers. |
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Parallax Loader (Dozen Delightful Mix) - arranged by 0supereg0Review by LaLa, 08/03/2021 I love this! It's like a jam session over a Parallax beat. Sounds very impromptu, towards the end ever more improvised. You've done something new, something fresh with Parallax in a prog-rock style. Great job! |
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Glider Rider - arranged by MakkeReview by LaLa, 05/03/2021 Another Makke classic from days of yore, yet, it sounds as good today as it did 15+ years ago. (Funny how these bits and bytes don't fade with age like my cassette tapes do…) And that vocoder voice totally became Makke's signature. 😊 All coupled with lyrics that is spot on. |
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Hades Nebula - arranged by ColmarrReview by LaLa, 21/02/2021 The essence of the original is there, but it's presented somewhat flatly - I wish there was more emotion, more dynamics in it. I also think the male vocal shouts do not fit here, they jolted me out of the otherwise ethereal soundscape. The arrangement is fine, I even like the instrument selection, but the mix could've benefited from some additional tune-up to add some 'unpredictability' to it. |
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Commando Highlife (Christmas Carols in St. Albans) - arranged by The St. Albans Rob Hubbard Fan Club offlineReview by LaLa, 10/02/2021 This sounds much better than your previous choral remix (Human Race). I love the arrangement, and the performance is full of emotion, it's rather moving actually, I quite like it! However, I am going to be nitpicky about the choirs yet again: I really wish they sounded a bit more natural, a bit more convincing. You have mixed the male, female and children choirs masterfully in this remix, all singing their own lines - what a great idea! But they sound just a tad too robotic to me. I think yet again it's down to the lack of legatos between their phrases. But that piano ending with the soft tones - OMG, that is just brilliant! All in all an excellent piece - and to be honest, I think you made your choir sample libraries sound as good as you could, with proper dynamics and everything. I just wish you pushed them a bit more. I can only imagine how this would sound with a real choir… Really impressive job, thanks for sharing! |
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Way of the Exploding Fist (In Game music) - arranged by JB XplodingfistReview by LaLa, 25/01/2021 Starts out with a simple intro - but unfortunately it also continues the same 'simple' theme for the rest of the tune. There's nothing wrong with simple, but you should've injected more dynamics, more 'emotion' into the individual instruments. Shows promise, though, so I'd encourage you to keep trying with more remixes! |
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Knucklebusters (Cinematic 64) - arranged by SlaygonReview by LaLa, 23/01/2021 One of my favorites from the album! Knucklebusters the way only Slaygon could cover it. Add the phenomenal guitar-shredding of Vaggelis to mix and you've got a total mind-bender. Sixteen minutes of frenzy compressed to five minutes. TOP-NOTCH! |
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Human Race (Welcome To Goldrunner) - arranged by The St. Albans Rob Hubbard Fan Club offlineReview by LaLa, 22/01/2021 I like the concept a lot, but unfortunately, the choirs sound a bit too artificial - due to lack of legatos, mostly. The arrangement is phenomenal, it's a good idea, but more time should've been spent to make the choirs sound more natural, especially since they are the focal point of this remix. PS: What a FANTASTIC story about your experience with Mr. Hubbard! Thanks for sharing! |
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Parallax (title screen tune) - arranged by Steve CollinsReview by LaLa, 03/01/2021 While I totally respect that this remix covers the entire ~11 min of the original SID, I find the overall timbre of this remix a bit too harsh for my ears. Whether that's down to the choice of instruments or to the final mix, I do not know, but I think this remix would've benefited from a low-pass filter. |
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Cauldron 2 - arranged by MakkeReview by LaLa, 02/01/2021 A fantastic track from Makke's 2005 album 'It's Binary, Baby! ' As expected from a professional album, a professional track. Innovative mix of Kraftwerk (from 'Radioactivity') and Richard Joseph's classic SID.PS: Now that I've listened to Karl Bartos' I'm The Messageagain, the resemblance is pretty obvious. Well done, Makke! |
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Tomcat - arranged by Falco Paul offlineReview by LaLa, 01/01/2021 A rather lifeless arrangement, I'm afraid. The instrument selection is eclectic at best, mixing is almost non-existent, the samples (fighter pilot comm, plane flyby) are passable. |
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Monty on the Run (high score revisited) - arranged by Johan AnderssonReview by LaLa, 23/12/2020 If this doesn't get you up and dancing, nothing will! Really good idea to match the melody with a classic rock'n'roll groove. |
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Turrican 1 - arranged by Dr FutureReview by LaLa, 23/12/2020 Lovely production with delicate touches all around. The lead guitar sounds a bit too artificial to me, but it's not too distracting from the overall arrangement. I wish this remix was longer - it fades out too early! |
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Artillery (Tyrell orchestral fusion - RKO edit) - arranged by zionaReview by LaLa, 22/12/2020 No wonder this won SLAY Radio's Árok Tribute Remix compo in 2020! An absolutely stunning piece done in aduetformat where the synthy parts are answered by string-heavy sections and vice versa. That melody line is what really catches me out every time - it's full of emotional subtlety, so delicate, yet, so powerful. The instrument selection, the arrangement, the mixing - all as close to perfection as they can get. Top-notch production all around! |
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Last Ninja 2 Central Park Ten Years Later - arranged by JPHReview by LaLa, 20/12/2020 First of all: welcome back to RKO! Second: this is a much improved remix over your last one from 10 years ago. This is more guitar-heavy (that's a positive, because you are really good playing them) and the mix is nicely balanced, too. Two issues: a) that piano break at around 2:15 sounds dissonant, and b) It ends way too abruptly. You should've at least let the reverb ring out to completion. All in all, this is a much more enjoyable version of LN2, and I hope to hear more from you! |
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Duchesse (not so big band mix) - arranged by Eivind SommerstenReview by LaLa, 16/12/2020 First of all, kudos for picking a SID tune nobody has remixed before! The basic concept behind this remix is really good, the choice of instruments is fitting, too, but the arrangement is somewhat thin. It's like you were afraid to layer instruments on top of each other. The bass, the trumpets, the vocals, everything sounds great individually. The few times they all sound together is where this remix really shines, but I wish there was more meat on this groove. The vocals sound very nice, too, but again, they are not backed by a worthy accompaniment. For a good example of what should be done listen to Uncle & The Bacon's body of work (on RKO and on their albums) - I'm sure everything he (they?) uses are all virtual instruments, too, but packaged and arranged in a much more convincing fashion. |
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Comic Bakery (Broken Bakery Remix) - arranged by ZiphoidReview by LaLa, 12/12/2020 Ziphoid published this remix in 2008 on the 'Syntax Era' album - I liked it back then, and I still like it now, 12 years later! The intro is a spot-on recreation ofBroken Wings- after which the appearance of the Comic Bakery melody line feels tacked on. But this remix gets better as it goes on and it gives you that unmistakable slow tempo 80s ballad feel throughout. Especially noteworthy in this tune is the delicate guitar work of Magnus Högdahl, which lends a lot of authenticity to it. |
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Last Ninja 3 - arranged by BeeZerkReview by LaLa, 04/12/2020 As a piece of music it's really good (although I find the lyrics a bit toogeneric). As a piece of remix - I could find a grand total of only 30 seconds of LN3 in this 5 min tune. That LN3 based hook is really good: I like the addition of the syncopated notes, the change in beats 4 & 8 - I was whistling it all day after I heard it. But I wish there was a lot more of LN3 in this tune. |
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Boulder Dash (Jamrock Dash) - arranged by MakkeReview by LaLa, 02/12/2020 The vocals are just - wow. The idea of making this into a reggae is just - wow. But something feels a bit off with this remix. The harmonic interaction between the organ sounds and the stabby chords sounds weird at times. It's not dissonant, but something is off, can't quite put my finger on it. But overall, that's just a minor complaint, completely overtaken by the sheer creativity of this remix. |
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Cauldron (PSS 480) - arranged by BamseReview by LaLa, 24/11/2020 If this was really all done with just a PSS-480, then my hats off to you, sir! The sound is, well, it's a Yamaha Portasound, so not much to expect there, but the arrangement works around the limitations very nicely. I think a fatter drum track could've really helped elevate this, but I understand if you wanted to stick with a pure PSS-480-based composition. |
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The Great Giana Sisters - arranged by FZNReview by LaLa, 24/11/2020 Oh, man, so organic, so finely made! Funky style, has a sort of late 70s, early 80s feel to it. Darn close to a red smilie, really enjoyable. |
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Think Twice III (Think Thrice) - arranged by Eivind SommerstenReview by LaLa, 24/11/2020 Promising intro (that deep bass cuts through the mix really well), the lead sound is fairly evocative, but then the arrangement just lingers on and doesn't really go anywhere. I think this has the potential to grow on me as I listen to it more, but I wish there was more to it. |
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Comic Bakery (West End Brioche) - arranged by MakkeReview by LaLa, 03/11/2020 Instantly recognizable Pet Shop BoysWest End Girlsinstrumentation, phenomenal job! If somehow you had managed to add the vocals, too, it would've knocked me out cold. 😊 As it is, the lead instruments are a bit weak compared to the rest, but A+ for effort! |
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