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Inge:   Bad

It turns out that Madtracker 2 is a nearby-perfect environment for laidback drum 'n bass production. If you look through the various drum 'n bass songs in this music section, you will hear that most of them will be in the atmospheric environment. Formal progressive junkie Mikx is slowly growing into this area too, and after his minimalistic but adventurous 'jungle moods' his new track arrived.

'Under the glacier' might be called Mikx's first adult and full-grown atmospheric drum 'n bass production, and he shows quite some potential in this field of music. This brings you again that specific LTJ Bukem sound, with repetitive drum programming and a lack of 'leading' instruments. Two outcomes are possible with these two given factors: or the song becomes incredibly dull and boring, or the song is getting all exciting because of the slow growing song structures. Mikx, fortunately, showed the latter.

What makes this song special is the incredible subtle arrangement of volumes, effects, appearing and disappearing instruments and the overall structure. Just as Sunbuster did with 'Mystic Peaks', this song also shows great care by the author to get every component into its right place. Subtle but appearant, the different components of Mikx's latest song are weaved into eachother, and the total structure is a massive construction of pure atmospheric drum 'n bass enjoyment.

There is a downside to this all. Whereas Sunbuster's 'Mystic Peaks' made attempts to integrate 'new' elements (such as the digitally programmed saxophone and piano-shuffling), this song lacks the guts to give it that extra instrument, melody or other component to make it really standing out in crowd. As for that reason, I can't judge it 'very good', although the song is perfect in its own production. But then again, since this is only the start of Mikx's path into this style, I expect a 'very good' from him in no time.

There's a big chance that you will find this song boring. That is if you are attached to firmly produced hardhouse, trance or pop with a catchy leading melody and a short and transparent structure. Let me call that a pity, because you will never know what you would be missing. Such as a track like this one.

Inge

Walter Vos:   Bad

Alright... My first review here:

First of all: Nice song! I can't really find anything bad about it. It's not very exiting, but there's nothing wrong with that I guess (it probably won't become a hit though ;).

Now, the song: nice build up, like the way it drops out at 1:03. Nice 'random use of sounds' too. Bit's and pieces. Strings kick in very nice too. It's all very subtle.

2:30 Nice... But perhaps drums sould vary more here? It's still good, but perhaps...

3:12 A break... Also nice, doesn't take too long.

4:22 Song start to move away now... Nice way of ending it too.

I'll rate this one 'good', because 'very good' is thé highest possible here. I'm like the teacher who just won't give you a ten (in holland, in germany it's a 1 and usa an A, I don't know about the rest)! So I'll give you a '9' (or actually a 8,5 or something). Sorry... :)

Sunbuster:   Bad

Yep, a DnB tune to keep! I like the minimalistic/chilled atmoshpere of it. The vocal snippet used in the tune fits the theme well also, something that's not always the case when the samples have been collected from various sources.

I wonder if the tune wouldn't have benefitted of having a bit more fx layered on top. Maybe some cold winds blowing, ice cracking or similar, to further underline the sence of being out somewhere under a glacier, like the name suggests.
Also, I think the snare could have used some more variation. Sure, it works in the sence that it's minimalistic, and the song overall is a bit minimalistic also. But it get's a bit boring, since it's such a penetrating sound that it dominates the soundfield to some extent. I'm not saying it needs much, but some extra hits on strategic places could do wonders I think.

On positive notes again, I like the way the various chords and organs have been used. Even though it's maybe not the most original way to use them, they still work very well in the tune.

overall, a very cool tune, which doesn't quite grab the listener, perhaps because some of the little details are missing, perhaps because I'm too critical :p.
Anyway, run it through some mastering, and don't forget to send me the link when you're done ;)

em22:   Bad

Ooh yes, as soon as the I clicked onto the play button I had flashbacks of nights/weeks/years spent in dark rooms with D&B rumbling along with lots of head nodding and journey taking substances.

I like this track, its got all the refined elements that go into making a track without trying to force that annyoing melodic synth line in there, strictly for the underground, and those who choose to dabble in music for the mind.

The breakbeat is near constant keeping you almost on a mental jog from start to finish with perfectly chosen synth elements bouncing around the deep, ever rolling bass line snippets of vocals to that at another little twist.

Good work mikx, plenty of smokey head nodding straight at you, now bring me some more!!!

Dave Saphier
em22

Willman:   Bad

This lacks overall variety in several areas, but mebbe that is because it is a liad back drum n' bass,(not the style I perfer). Maybe if it had more drum styles/samples and beats, it would be easier to sit and listen to. It is, though, a nicely tracked tune and has some cool samples in it.