Disco Dan

too many wrong notes in the kraid piano piece for me to like it. I mean, don't record it unless you're gonna do it right. That's my motto, but maybe I'm in the minority. Actually, the other piano arrangement is ... dammit. Just get the notes right! But the guy doesn't even give us a top 3 or any sort of recommendation. Just "Here's 20 songs I wrote. Let me know if you like any of them." Well, I'm sorry, Mr. "I'm too lazy to just pick one" but we've already got 20 other songs from 20 OTHER people to judge, so fuck you AND your indecision. NO D

man. this one is on the line for me. It's REALLY cluttered and dissonant (the bad kind) at times, but it's overall a really good representation of the theme.... I'll get back to this one later... D

I'm all about reinterpretation, but after listening to the original of this song, I don't know if I can listen to this mix again. That's the problem with trying to arrange stuff from newer consoles, is that you've got to up the bar to match the technology. This is extremely dry and I don't believe it does a good job of stacking up against the original. While it's got some good compositional aspects, but the samples are very dry, and the chord progression from the original has been all but eliminated. NO D

wrong notes. at :15, :23-25, 1:33-34, 1:39-41. Fix 'em. Until then: NO D

This mix bored me. The mastering wasn't so bad as the fact that it seemed to drone on forever. Bah, maybe I'm in a bad mood. This mix gets a no for poor mastering. There. NO D

I don't know if it's fair to compare this to other arrangements of the same tune, but I'm going to anyway. Because this pales in comparison. First of all, the bass pretty much stays the same despite the implied chord progression and melody. Now, I'll admit the drum work sounds good at times, but I don't think that's enough to redeem it. But it's what I hear radio DJs do all the time. They get a beat going and get a melody that fits with the beat, but then they throw in another part that's totally off key from the rest of it, but since it's rhythmic, they keep it going. It's painful. This isn't quite THAT bad, but it's still lacking in the music department. NO D

Ok, the original had a lot more to offer, seeing as it finished and resolved on a major chord. it was really cool sounding. This is very empty, short, and ... very empty, did I mention that? It sounds like an interesting experiment with a few wrong notes and no clear ending. NO D

yup. Orkybash hit it right on the head. Melody + drums = empty and lacking. Also a bit of clipping, but that's nothing a bit of EQ couldn't help. the synths are pretty cool and the drumwork is unique, and kind of funky. But yeah it's pretty empty as is. But that's an understatement. NO D

this does work, but I would recommend using an ftp client, like ws_ftp ('cause it's free). IP EDIT: Delete by protricity cause Discodan is a DUMBASS and then go to the public_html directory Anyway, it's a really slow server, so I'll judge this when it finishes tomorrow. D

Remember Bad Tuna? The rhythm on this is pretty bad. The constant changing of tempos between sections. While the idea of putting the bass drum on every other beat in a 5/4 time signature is an interesting idea, it doesn't really play out well here. Anyway, go find "Bad Tuna" and you'll hear what I'm talking about. NO D

dirgesque is that a word? I don't know. But that's how I'd describe this. Slow, boring, and something I'd want played at my death. Oh, something! There! At two minutes into the song! Here's the problem. This is a really popular tune, and everyone wants to remix it. And this is very simplistic. Ok, some variation around 3:30. But that's too late. I've already been bored to tears by it. And the ending should probably be more sure of itself. It sounds kind of cut off... Anyway, NO D

madonna sample overused hmm it's got a good beat. It needs MAJOR cleaning up. If all of the cleaning could be done, I'd give it a yes, but the EQ needs fixing, the quality of the recording needs to be upped, and the blatant sampling of the game should probably be brought down a bit, since it's basically Koji Kondo vs. William Orbit here. Surprised BD didn't catch that... NO D

reverb could be killed a bit... but really, toning down those pads would help a great deal. Either that, or turning up the other melodic parts. Damn, seems you have the same problem I've had with that lead synth. The detuning gets extreme, and the instrument becomes out of tune. Hmmmmmmmmmmmm. The repetition is really only worst in the fact that the drums don't vary much if at all. Dunno. Try cleaning up the reverb or the repetition (or both, if you're feeling generous!) and this would sound a lot better. But for now: NO for j00. D

squidfont! The guitar is bad. If you'll notice, I don't use guitar in many (if any) of my songs, and the reason I don't is because I don't have guitar samples that are good enough, or real enough to use in such an obvious fashion. That alone kills it for me. And the generalmidi-kit-sounding drums bug the hell out of me. NO D

I liked this guy's first work on "Wizardry" and though I liked the quality of the synths used and the overall sound of the song, it didn't really go anywhere. But anyway, about THIS song. The quality IS great. Possibly not enough bass on the kick drum, as I hear no driving beat. Actually, the repetition isn't so bad in this, as it doesn't last all THAT long (4 minutes? Long? Do you work for pop radio?) and he at least varies the music with layers. This one's got my vote. Sorry. YES D EDIT: Apologizing for a vote? That doesn't sound like Heartless Dan to me. -Pro

strange... did stationmp3.com always tell you that entering your info was optional? It did this time. That's weird. Anyway, this song bores me. NO No, I kid. Well, not about the verdict, but about the reasoning. It's got no momentum. Granted it's supposed to be ambient, but it sounds more like it's an interlude in the middle of a techno piece, like the beat should kick in at some point and deliver us from this beatless island. It's got too much form for ambient, but not enough for dance music. Just doesn't sit right with me. That and there are some bad notes starting at 1:02. D

ok this had potential. Right style for the right song. I used to love this game... probably still do, and this music is fresh in my memory. But the execution ain't swell here. Definitely need to work on fleshing out the harmonies (I feel like an echo here) and if I were you, I'd take a listen to more banjo music to see how the banjo is used in those songs and then emulate that style for that authentic hick feel. Anyway, it's a nice try, but: NO D

you ever licked a 2x4? That's what this is like: dry. And it really is the samples that kill this one. The piano part between 1:42 and 2:28 is pretty ... illplaced, I think. Well, I just think the piano for the choice of lead there is pretty crappy sounding. Anyway, compositionally this isn't bad. Kind of a wall-of-sound feel to it. Like Phil Specter! NO D

you know those tapes that people play on halloween, with the annoying distorted audio effects and you usually just stay away from the house because of the annoying sound and don't bother with the candy? Yeah, that's this song up until 1:30. And the voice samples along with the music are NOT a nice juxtaposition. I honestly don't think the instrument used for the bass was well chosen. dammit, this song is so annoying. WAY too many samples from the game that make this annoying. Even without them... I don't know. NO D

You know what I would love to see? I need to get someone who's really good at doing video, but, I would love to see a grocery store video made to the sounds of "The Hustle" by Van McCoy. That would be sweet. D

Three words: Grocery Store Techno. Just not my thing, but it's good that some enjoyed it. D

pops and clicks? sounds like a bad download, but I'll listen and see if it's the same kind... hmm, these don't sound like download clicks. They sound more like "ripped from CD to mp3 at too fast a speed for my computer to keep up with" clicks, but assuming the clicks could be removed, I'd still say NO, because: Too much unison until the high strings come in. DC13's right; the samples have really bad cut-offs. The piano one sounds like a SNES sample. The ending of the song sort of imposes itself upon the listener like "whoops, time to tie up this song!" All in all, I am not very impressed with the quality of this mix, clicks or no clicks. D

Man, that intro was SO anticlimactic. I'm sorry, but I kept listening to this repeated pattern thinking "ok, something's supposed to happen... NOW!" and nothing did. Ok, now strings. Nice. Do something. Ok, now repeat. Ok, then just end. 'Cause heaven forbid we develop or anything. Nah, this is WAY too boring for my tastes. It sounds like the start of a 10 minute epic song, but it seems very unfinished in its current form. Too many unfinished projects on this site as it is. NO D

yeah, it reminds me of this "pizzaman" mix that got submitted a while back... what was that guy THINKING?!? D

On a side note, I would like to note that this is not really afro-cuban in style. It's definitely jazzy, and as I said before, it uses very technically accurate and rich jazz chords, and the theory is sound. BUT, it is DEFINITELY not like any Afro-Cuban music I'VE ever heard. It's got swing, but it doesn't really have the kind of syncopation that you'd find in Afro-Cuban music. Check out ¡Cubanismo! for an example of what this genre sounds like. D Also, folks, take note that this song is a VERY good example of high-quality encoding at 128 kbps... so I don't want to hear about it being impossible.