OCR01674 - *YES* Top Gear 'Rockabilly ~ Dark Gears ~ Surfing Gear'

[Liontamer]

Potentially just a placeholder trackname that I made up given the info in the sub letter,as there was no title; if this passes, we can ask the artists for a new name - LT

Contact Info

* 8 Bit Instrumental
* 8bitvgm@gmail.com
* www.8bitvgm.net (http://www.8bitvgm.net) - www.myspace.com/8bitvgm (http://www.myspace.com/8bitvgm)

Remix Info

* Top Gear
* Track 1 Rockabilly , Track 2 Dark Gears, Track 3 Surfing Gear
* The first theme we wanted to do something different from the already existing versions of the game, on the second theme we change almost anything and for the third theme feel like a surf music mood on the riff´s so we kind of let if flow

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=x= 8 Bit Instrumental =x=
Myspace: www.myspace.com/8bitvgm (http://www.myspace.com/8bitvgm)

Fotologs:
www.fotolog.com/8bitvgm (http://www.fotolog.com/8bitvgm)
www.fotolog.com/banda8bit (http://www.fotolog.com/banda8bit)

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http://snesmusic.org/v2/download.php?spcNow=tg - "Las Vegas" (tg-2.spc), "Hiroshima" (tg-3.spc) & "Bordeaux" (tg-4.spc)

The guitar performance felt on the loose side for the first verse, and the tempo strangely felt like it went a bit faster at :50. Not sure if my ears were playing tricks on me, or if my download broke.. Nice stereo effects on the guitar from 1:13-1:33. Transition starting at 1:33 sounded particularly lo-fi due to the effects on the guitar. Some interesting effects at 1:51, though it sounded a bit ugly from 1:59-2:07 before the "Hiroshima" theme took over. What happened at 2:15? The instrumentation seemed to clash briefly. Could have been a byproduct of retaining the source's melodic progression. The drums at 2:39 were too loud, in my opinion, and just cluttered up the good funk performance going on.

Transition at 2:57 to "Bordeaux" was pretty abrupt, but whatever. Textures certainly got a lot dirtier and grittier from 2:57-3:23. Nice bass work from 3:23-3:30. Drums at 3:30 were fairly plain, but you had some interesting fills for some parts. Some different drum work at 4:12 messed up the soundscape and made things sound even lossier. Briefly boring drumwork from 4:38-4:47. Transition at 4:55 was also pretty sudden, but not a meaningful negative. Not sure what source it was, as it didn't sound like "Bordeaux", but that's neither here nor there. Good surf vibe, even though the drums didn't fit well for this section and were frequently plodding after 5:10 in my opinion.

The overall opinion would be a lot stronger if this was produced better. The recording quality is definitely on the low side, ultimately hurting the finished product. As is, the arrangement actually sounds cleaner if you turn the volume way down. Regardless, the lack of polish was a definite downside. The drum patterns sounded iffy, as some areas felt really plain and dragged this down, while others areas were a lot stronger and more creative. Rethinkng the sound balance and pulling back the drums probably would have been a good idea, but that could be just my opinion.

The arrangement is good, but when it's over I'm left I'm doing the so-so hand motion and seeing lots of potential for improvement. I'd argue the arrangement started off stronger, with the last section arranging "Bordeaux" sounding the weakest in execution, resulting in a bland finish. The likelihood of resubmission coule be low, but at the end of the day I just can't quite give this the nod. While I picked the track apart with criticisms, a lot of aspects were good. Really hope this isn't the last we hear of you guys around here. Keep submitting stuff!

NO (refine/resubmit)

[zircon]

You know, though I could see where Larry is coming from on the production value of this one, I really like this sort of tape/vinyl sound on the drums and recording. It's not ultra-clean and polished, no, but it doesn't sound poorly produced to me, and I don't think that aspect hurts the remix as a whole. I did notice the guitar performances not being tight at all times, but that's not a big deal to me. I would compare this to MM3 "Blue Balls" in terms of how the arrangement plays out and how things are approached.

The main thing I didn't like were the (often) weak transitions. However, when I weigh the pros and the cons, I think that this just about passes our bar. A borderline

YES

[Palpable]

Listening to the originals for comparison takes me back. Those arpeggios. Yeahhhh.

I like this a lot. Very loose and fun. Raunchy, even. :wink: As such, the slightly lo-fi production doesn't bother me - in fact, I think a lot of popular rock groups have this kind of garagey sound. It's consistently lo-fi, and I think one or two lo-fi elements sticking out do more to hurt a mix. The levels are good, and the instruments are distinct. At times, the drums sound like they get ahead of the other instruments, and in other places, the guitars are a little off, but never to the point of distraction. Overall, the playing is solid.

One does get the scent of medley-itis with those awkward transitions between sections, but that was my only real complaint about the arrangement. The sheer number of styles the song goes through is impressive - you get a lot of mileage out of the material. The surf take on "Hiroshima" was a little bit of a jolt from the much harder "Bordeaux", and I think it might have been stronger to just cut the song at 4:55, but I can give you some slack for getting 5 minutes of it totally right.

This song exceeds the bar, and I think fans will really get a kick out of it.

YES

[DarkeSword]

Tricky decision here for me. I think that I'm in agreement with Larry here though. I don't really have qualms about the production--Vinnie nails it with his comment about it being "consistently lo-fi,"--it gives the piece a more intimate sound. But I'm not really feeling the medlyitis; the transitions were more or less "stop-and-start." This could have been broken down into three or four standalone songs. There were also a lot of tempo issues; sounded like the drummer was speeding up and slowing down at times, and the guitars didn't lock-in right away.

Overall though, good performances, and not a bad interpretation. I just feel like this piece needs to be more cohesive, with some more attention paid to locking in on the tempo and not trying to cram too many ideas in.

NO resub

[zyko]

i'm with shariq; tricky decision

on one hand, it sounds organic, real and human. you know that means i love it.

on the other hand, even i can play the guitar tighter than that and my playing is as tight pamela anderson. the surf guitar playing is too amateur even by my standards. unless you've been playing for a couple of monthes (doesn't sound like it), a few extra practice runs could have eliminated some of these timing issues. and this is coming from the biggest proponent of sloppy guitar playing that you'll get on this panel.

still the lo-fi (god, i hate that term) element is a total win and this is an A+ in any fan's book. the arrangement isn't really too impressive as it lumps different themes behind each other without much cohesion. however, i could rock this thing all day because the energy in it is alive as fuck and that ultimately trumps all the timing issues; if must be, we'll request a re-sub, but i'm willing to accept it as is.


YES

[JJT]

sloppy and sweet. some more rehearsal could've helped tighten the screws a bit. i agree that the performance is borderline at times, especially at the beginning. also, the medley arrangement with abrupt transitions pushes this closer to NO, but nothing feels horribly shoe-horned.

i am head-over-heels in love with how the drums sound. actually, i'm love with how everything sounds.

i love live recordings and i love garagerock (if its done with musicality). i'd be stoked to have this up on the site.

YES

[big giant circles]

This makes for a good topic of discussion, because I just NO, RESUBMIT'd the "Roar Mighty Vampire" track for barely missing the bar on production, and it was cleaner than this, with live guitars.

I dig the track a lot, for the reasons already stated, and I have the exact gripes as everyone else stated--which aside from the production are the transitions and the performance, which got a little sloppy at times.

I'd definitely love to throw a YES candle on the cake, but again, the CV mix was cleaner, and I gave it a PLZ RESUB. In all fairness, I'm going to do the same thing here. Don't get me wrong, it's a pretty hot arrangement, and it's a fun tune and I like it. But heck, a knob or two could be tweaked fairly easily to get the drums out of the tin can they sound like they were recorded in, and maybe bring down the midrange just a bit to balance it with the highs and lows.

Tough call for BGC as well.

RESUBMIT!

[Vig]

The first segment didn't thrill me..not because of the recording, which I think is fine, but the performance was a bit sloppy. The second section makes up for it. The track keeps getting better. I'm surprised it manages not to succumb to the medleytits, but it comes across more like a rock epic, something like Paranoid Android, than a bunch of parts slapped together. Which is I guess what Paranoid Android is. I'll go with a

YES

[CHz]

Transitions are pretty lame, but I'm not feeling much medleyitis as I think I should be. There's a nice progression in the first three sections as the mix gets darker. Surf rock section is the exception and sticks out like a sore thumb; I think this would be better served if the piece just ended at 4:55. The mix just feels logically finished there.

Guitar and drum performances could definitely use some tightening up, but at no point are they bad enough to make me go "ew." There are some pretty close calls, especially in the first section, but nothing too terrible. Production has a few odd spots, like the way-too-loud cymbals in the second section, but overall it's fine. Lo-fi isn't a problem, because even though the song isn't clean, it doesn't suffer for it.

Pretty close, but the good just barely outweighs the bad. I really like the direction taken in the first five minutes, and that makes up for the rough spots and last section.

YES (borderline)