Quarl AIM 2022 Review
Composition/Structure (0-10), Production (0-10), Emotion (0-10), Relevance to Artwork (0-10)
Accel-yo, The Storm: 10,9,10,10: (39)
Smart to include that timeline in the description. I have been hounding people for not writing enough about their work. It's a little embarrassing when I can gush more about a track than the artist can. Writing a timeline directs the attention of a judge. There's always a chance judges will ignore it but I will always take notice when someone writes an essay. Your making a statement that the music is undeniably connected the artwork. I'm giving you a good score on emotion for taking the time to just think about how you could relate the song to the image.
I'm loving that people are choosing to use these animated pixel drawings. I feel like DNB is a genre that should make you want to move somehow. Old-school jungle vibes very nicely with these hi-class pixel animations. I'm a little older than others and remember what 90's jungle sounded like. The retro videogame pixel style is almost romantically attached to that via memories and feelings. Watching cartoons growing up, old school breaks would assault us from time to time. Commodore breaks, James Brown funk, Winston Brother loops... the genre is somber and nostalgic for me. A storm can be beautiful when viewed from inside a quite space while looking out a window. The structure of a shelter keeps you safe from a storm and allows you to ponder less important dangers like what you'll eat for dinner or when you need to accomplish a task.
I'll admit to taking off a point for production in that I'm not very impressed with straight-up old-school jungle breaks. I love to hear EDM artists engineer their own kits and sounds which is a skill that can take a very long time to learn and accomplish. It's probably unfair of me to ask you to produce music to a virtuous degree and I really love what I'm listening to. Drum & Bass is one of my favorite genres and has a deeply personal connection to my childhood. You got so many elements perfect, learning to get a little nuttier with your drum programming is the mark of a Junglist that has pushed their boundaries. The technology we have to write music with these days can do so much. A snare drum with three layered samples has the potential to be wired into fidelity units and effect units to really get the crispest tones out of things. Each drum layer can work together to make a full & powerful sound or individually at times to create dynamic structural changes. It's not necessarily something that comes easily but once you start engineering your own drum kits it becomes a huge badge of pride and style. That's really all I have to be critical about. Great work Accel :']