P O
P S T A R S
---------------------------------- ym rockers 2003 --------------------------
popstars is the third release from ym rockers. for those of you still
unfamiliar with this crew: they are not a demo crew, but a 'music' crew. they
specialise in making music on the st's old yamaha soundchip. the group are
musicians from various atari demogroups as well as some not in the demoscene.
the menu of 'popstars'
the previous productions had excellent and original tunes, some cool graphics
by exocet and some nice scrolltext. popstars continues this tradition. not
much more to say, so let's just get on with reviewing the tunes:
505:
again a nice song from the hyperactive 505. a tune in his typical unique style.
i would say a 'happy' style ;)) sidvoices are used to good effect on bass and
lead, but it's not overdone. he makes good use of 'unsidded' sounds as well.
anyway, this is not a binary beat rave-type of thing, but more a typical
oldschool tune. well done.
Crazy Q:
this is a little short, but indeed "phat & phunky" like the title says. it's
not your average kind of ym tune. it has an unusually funky bassline. i'd like
to hear more frim this composer.
Dma sc:
another tune from this wellknown french guy. he has been doing chiptunes quite
passionately for some years and he is definitely very skilled. this tune is i
think an evolution from his older tunes. i think he had alot incommon with
scavenger, but now he has progressed to beyond that. the drums and bass are
still somewhat recognisable, but the lead is very different, like being sung.
also the scheme of chords (i'm no musician, so don't kill me for using wrong
terms ;)) is quite new for me. having a sort of sad and melancholic touch to
them. excellent work.
Dubmood:
this sounds very oldschoolish starting with some toms and using some
instruments i recognize from huelsbeck. also some parts remind alot of sounds
from the old c64 heroes. nevertheless, nice listening. and i don't know, but
this guy might not be from the atariscene originally so cheers for learning
to cope with the limitations of the ym so quickly.
Frazer:
a heavy beat like in the old chiptunes by mad max for instance. the lead
reminds me more of scavenger though. the first minutes it might not seem so
special, but there is more than meets the ear.
Frequent:
totally different tune from this great composers of modfiles. indeed the
structure is very un-chip-like and i applaud that. however, i think he needs
to pull a bit more tricks to soup the sound up a little. it just sounds too
soft.
MC Laser:
what is a 't girl'? i just don't know. what i do know is that this is a very
nice tune. the chords sound very harmonic. for the rest it's a typical mc
laser tune. electro touches are recognisable throughout this song.
Gwen:
this is my favoroute. combining the rawness of music from for instance count
zero or madmax with breakbeat samples! it sounds like a true strong hybrid
between chipsound and brum'n'bass. excellent!!
Nemo:
somewhat reminiscent of scavenger i think, but that's about the only
connection i can make. the fucking up of the bass is pure fun :)) a bit weird,
but yeah very cool. again an original tune showing that soundchip music is far
from dead!
Tao:
a song in his typical soft and atmospheric style. once again squeezing the very
last drops from the poor yammy =) the use of lead instruments is astounding
like some of his previous tunes.
conclusion:
well, that's it: 10 good tunes showing that ym music is alive and well in the
year 2003. rock on!
note:
there is a quite annoying bug in the program. after a while it just crashes. i
hope they get this sorted out next time. otherwise it's a brilliant product
that put a smile on my face.
- earx 2003 -------------------------------------------------------------------
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