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I listened to all of the mixes in full except for Mitztronic's, which I always start and then get interrupted halfway through (I promise I will get to it! Hopefully I'll have a workday without any meetings)...
Anyways, onto the reviews!
Psyshell - Dancing Is Active Meditation
This may be the hardest mix for me to review, as I'm not really a psytrance connoisseur. The genre as a whole seems tailor-made for this competition, with its liberal use of samples from classic sci-fi movies, its kickdrums sounding like a phaser zapping constantly at 140bpm, and its heavily synthesized and inorganic sound.
Since my musical tastes lean to the more housey, mid-tempo side of things, I felt the tracks on here eventually blended into one another and sounded almost... formulaic? Acid lines in middle-eastern musical scales, photon zaps and other alien SFX, a constant BPM rate... That's not saying this was a bad mix, since it fit thematically and you managed to do a decent job with the rapid mixing the genre requires (I tried mixing psytrance for a genre competition and found it pretty tough). I just wish you would've stepped out of your comfort zone a bit more for this challenge, since this is seemingly your primary genre and the genre's innate sci-fi hooks make it almost like a given.
Favorite track was the last song, it takes those middle-eastern musical scales of to their logical conclusion, overlaying them on a slower, more drugged out beat that calls to mind a sleazy futurstic hookah lounge for an inter-species clientele.
I will say, after finishing "Dancing Is Active Meditation", Soundcloud played 4am In Healesville and that one was a bit more suited to my taste.
Lews - Journey Through the Wormhole
I really enjoyed this mix. It's got a great late 90's progressive vibe to it that I'm such a sucker for. The mixing is some of the best I've heard from you, and the track selection is great. There are many tracks which capture the futurist, spacey sci-fi vibe that late 90's progressive was known for and really felt like speeding through an interdimensional portal as the synth melodies and tracks shift and bend at the speed of light. Love the intro tracks which are very reminiscent of Digweed at his best, though they didn't really scream "sci-fi" to me. Ditto for the track at 40 min, the Indian melodies and scrappy tribal beats are much more earthy and grounded in reality, echoing a bustling desert marketplace rather than an odyssey at lightspeed. It's only when the acid starts coming in at 18 min followed by Space Manoeuvers - Stage One where the theme becomes fully apparent.
Favorite tracks are from 47 min to 56 min, it's where the mix really hits its peak both thematically and melodically. Would love a tracklist!
Jack Moss - Human Revolution
Knowing Jack's musical tastes and inspirations, I came into this mix with really high expectations, and although it was a bit different from what I expected, it met those expectations. Truthfully, I was expecting something similar to what Dave provided with his mix.
The liquid funk that kicks off the first half of the mix conjures up images of scientists sequencing DNA, proteins, and amino acids for genetic manipulation, with these molecules spinning around and morphing in time to the music.
Orbital - Know Where To Run is the turning point of the mix, with the mix moving out of the labs of the mega-corporations that rule the dystopian cyberpunk future from their monolithic skyscrapers down to the gritty and dingy streets below. The production quality on the song and its breakbeat structure instantly conjure up the 90's, and it's cyberpunk future by way of The Matrix, Hackers, Deus Ex, Ghost in the Shell and other pop culture icons of the time (My entry into this competition showcased the more uplifting neon-lit Tron, Knight Rider, Wipeout, influenced future). Toward the end of the track, we get our first hands-in-the-air moment... showing that even in such a bleak dystopia, there still exists hope. This track in particular is my personal favorite on the mix.
After Know Where To Run the mix returns to its drum and bass routes, but this time in a more minimal, broken, and almost melancholy way, and then ending with a bit of hard-hitting, grimy drum and bass, and ending with a solemn ambient track. Those drum and bass tunes were in my opinion the most forgettable part of the mix, they were decent songs and fit the mix, but really not too compelling.
Jack mentioned his aim was to echo a movie with his progression and I can kind of see that - the ambient tracks at the beginning establishing the setting, the liquid funk showing the hustle and bustle of the scientists and engineers that manipulate the city, Know Where To Run being the the point where the movie's storyline starts to come together, the grimy drum and bass providing the soundtrack to the clash between hero and villain, and the melancholic ending theme shows that the battle was won, but it was a pyrrhic victory, with a ton of hardship and loss along the way. You nailed the storytelling with this one.
Ziptnf - Encrypted Universe
Seems like drum & bass was quite popular this genre competition! While Jack's mix takes a more subtle, melodic view of the genre, Nick's mix is much more forward and in-your-face. The sci-fi influence is immediately discernable, stomping, robotic and industrial percussion, vast and spacious fills, pulsating phaser beams and crystalline interplanetary melodies dominating the mix. The sinister, growling basslines resemble the sounds of grotesque alien lifeforms digesting their prey...
Taken on their own, a lot of the tunes are really great (favorites are the mind-melding appergios of the track 10 minutes in, the track at 26 minutes which sounds like a neurofunk take on classic Prodigy, and the quirky, euphoric final track), but I grew a bit weary of the relentless aural and SFX assault the by the end. That is no knock against the mix, since the technical aspects are excellent, thematically it fits like a glove, and the track selection is strong. It's more due to my personal taste. Jack was on point when he mentioned your mix can be likened to a SFX-heavy blockbuster movie... and while those movies are technically incredible, they tend to tire me out after a while as well.
Dave King - Hypersleep Dreams
Probably my favorite mix of the competition, so far. The subtle, minimalist ambient that starts the mix (especially #5 and 9:39) makes me draw immediate paralells with those lonely, desolate sci-fi movies like Moon and 2001. As someone who played The Orb's Adventures Beyond The Ultraworld to death, hearing Back Side of the Moon at a pitched down tempo threw me off a bit. The dubby bongo drums give this point in the mix an air of playfulness... our lone intergalactic traveler getting his first taste of human contact. The FSOL tracks, dripping in operatic sorrow, then continue with the lonesome minimalist theme, and are a personal highlight.
Halfway through the mix, and it gets its first taste of percussion. It starts subtle at first, but subsequent songs increase the prominence of the percussion while keeping the desolate ambiance of the beginning few tracks. While we thought we've been alone in the desolate reaches of outer space for the first 50 minutes, the Aliens theme slowly fades in, showing that there may be something else out there. The inclusion of this song is my biggest complaint with the mix... my mind cannot undo the strong association with the Alien movies, and I would've preferred another song so you could have continued with making this story "your own". Now that the villain has been introduced, the industrial drum and bass beats at the end provide the soundtrack as the prey attempts to outwit and outrun the predator...
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9-9-99 Never Forget
Quarantine Music Festival 2020
All My Mixes!
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It's definitely wearisome for many people so I don't blame you for feeling kinda tired of the blasting full-speed DNB by the end.
