8 absolute tracks for your listening pleasure!
(btw it looks like I am the artist on all the tracks, I can only wish!)
Dig in. Have some listens. Each person gets 7 votes to share around. You choose how to distribute them to the different tracks as you wish - could give all 7 to one track or 1 per track etc.
Lets get our votes in by Wednesday June 10th (unless its all in by this weekend and we can wrap it up!)
I think something is off with processing on the tracks. My track does not react well to it, too much bass and heavy pumping, and I hear it on other tracks as well. @surfacescan I hope you don’t mind me saying so. I sent you a pm about it.
@electricthing you are totally right, just before publishing the tracks to bancamp I tried a plugin with a limiter. The DJ in me took over. Way better to let each song and its maker set all the levels as intended. Good catch and thanks for letting me know.
All tracks are back to their original states! (which all sound amazing btw - didn’t need the limiter)
Here are my votes, based on listening to these things all morning.
Judging is based on vibes, interpretation of the mission, and the number of involuntary head nods, shimmies, and “oh shit” moments I had listening to each.
Bear in mind I don’t listen to “house” music at all nor do I understand its myriad sub-genres, so…
Beat #2: 3 votes. I like the gogo feel the percussion sets up in the intro. A great remix – it’s not easy to get the vocal to sit like this, and the arrangement works well with the acapella. Could have gone with 4 votes for Rappin 4-Tay, but there are some other worthy entries.
Beat #8: 2 votes. This is the farthest out track in the bunch. Absolutely unhinged vocals. The Debbie Harry sample conceptually ties in with the Bowie thing. Also very well put together and mixed. The arpeggios that come in around 2:00 remind me of the mid-1980s a bit. Did I mention the vocals are unhinged?
Beat #4: 1 vote. I like the choppy bits at the beginning. Also the % swing feel is different from the other beats and it works with the samples. Courageous to remix this particular song as the original is such a classic.
Beat #1: 1 vote. The sonic quality of this mix is great; the portamento sounds are really cool. This might be the one that sounds the most like what I think of as “house” (Bear I mind I don’t really listen to house).
3 pts - Beat 2 love the intro - Great bass line, perfect acapella, tight sounds like a real 90’s jam
2 pts - Beat 8 Lovely chunky bass, great fit with the vocal samples, really authentic feel, Captures the era perfectly and some lovely house piano
1 pt - Beat 4 Great chops, almost a French house feel,
1 pt - Beat 6 - Great intro and bassline takes me back to the late 80’s, some nice short chops and an authentic crunchy sampler sound.
beat #2: 3 points. this beat is just drenched in 4-tay’s attitude, a perfect fit.
beat #8: 2 points. felt like i was transported back to some abandoned warehouse in the 90’s.
beat #1: 1 point. great mood, love the introspective vocal track, whole thing is so musical, demonstrates instrumental mastery.
beat #7: 1 point. amazing, how did you splice that “electron” sample all over the Kool Moe Dee rap, like magic. Really had to do a double take and listen to the original for comparison.
First place - Beat 8 - I thought that this one was great. I like the grove of it. I like the way it builds up and evolves. It’s a good time. (3 points)
Second place - Beat 1 - I think this one was also great all around. I particularly liked that little 303 line that comes in. (3 points)
Third place - Beat 7 - This one was kind of nuts. There are a lot of weird choices for vocal samples and a lot of weird chops. I think it mostly works. Flipping the Kool Moe Dee sample like that also feels like a little magic trick. I can do a lot of things with audio, but getting really creative with vocals like that isn’t one of them. So hat’s off. (1 point)
tracks for your listening pleasure!