DexiAntoniu's audio Reviews on Newgrounds

[Everyone Hates Squids]

Ok, the drum in the beginning is boss.
As the synth comes in around 00:45 I realize this is the work of a master, someone that knows what he's doing. There is much taste playing around with every idea in this song.

There are slight, inherent variations in the synth loop that, despite the repetitive nature of house, makes the whole thing not seem repetitive at all. That's something I applaud and hope that someday I'll learn to do.

Ambiance is good, I really get the feeling of a somewhat joyful frustration.

Didn't expect 03:05, reeaally liked it.
I really dig this piece! It somehow fits Minecraft quite well.

I actually like it so much, I feel glad I decided to check the "review4review thread" today.
I'd totally buy an album in this style and mood!

Reinteck responds:

Thanks! I'm really glad you checked out my music and I'm happy to see you enjoyed it so much!
Thank you for your kind words!

[|R|Night of the Zombie]

It's great. But the first 40 seconds of it could be shortened. There is a sort of unnecessary long progression until around 0:40 when you hear all the instruments together. I'd personally remove like a full two bars of the progression and replace them with two bars of the thing going on from 0:40 until 0:45, when the break comes.
To explain ( and not sound like a twat): that main loop is quite interesting, and I believe that the instrumental progression until you hear all those instruments, before the 0:45, makes you lose the excitement of the whole thing.

Because you hear it in pieces, as it progresses, and it already bores a bit the ear until you get to what you really mean.

The riff is very interesting, and nice, and evoking. It's good! The instruments chosen really fitted the idea, gave the feeling of a rush, like you're rushed to do something, hurry!

The mastering is crisp, the bass instrument really pounds the rhythm and the drums compliment really well what the piano is doing, rhythmically.

The thing the song could benefit is a little bit of variation, but if this piece of music is meant to be heard while you play a game or something, that variation would subtract from the ambiance, so then there's really nothing more bad to be said here.

All in all, a nice piece of work!

Radiationator responds:

Thank you for the review and helpful tips! I'll probably make another version sometime and shorten the beginning and make it have more variations.

[Uh Huh]

It's an experiment, I guess, so to review it as one: some nice things going on there.

The whole composition is lacking, is way too repetitive and there isn't a lot going on.

BUT! what does go on is cool. The loops are nice: the drums, the bass, the synth in the beginning. The ideas are really nice, it's just that the song in it's whole structure is seriously underdeveloped.

Anyway, great ideas, keep up the work!

[Rat Thief! Rat Thief!]

Ok, I listened to this for a couple of days now and I couldn't wait to get a chance to say something about it.

I really like it. Psychedelic, reggae, progressive.
It also sounds a bit like the Mars Volta. And also a bit TV on the Radio.

The vocalist does a great job at... everything... He has a good range, goes between different registers, it's all cool.

I can't find something bad to say about this piece. I feel quite ashamed, lol. I really like this. It's fresh, it's interesting, it's not derivative, keep up the good work!

One suggestion, I might sound ridiculous, but try to find someone to play a brass instrument. Think about it a bit!

VaudevilleFreud responds:

Well thank you for the honest and nice review, I appreciate what you said about Brass, I actually play trumpet, you can hear it on a number of other tracks that I have posted, we just couldn't find a place for it on this track because the song is busy for me vocally and from a live standpoint I would not have been able to pull off trumpet and vocals.

Thank you for the feedback, Ill keep working at it!

[Antiboringness]

I had no idea I was already 1 minute into the song when I checked the time. Thought I was listening to it for 20 seconds.
That, for me, means it's freaking fresh! Or at least the first 1:20 minutes.

Going more into it, it sounds like a cinematic techno song. Break at 2 minute mark is nice. But the song could use a better build-up, a better climax before that break. 2:40 sounds good.

But I get the feeling that at least from this point on there should be more bass.

Also, the harmonies used are fairly simple, and their usage is kind of pushed. The ear gets sort of bored because there's not a lot going on with the chords. The instruments don't do enough, and the harmonies created by them are not challenging enough to keep my ear interested.
I hope that makes sense.

But if I think more about it, it is labeled as "house", so I doubt it should be anything more than it already is...

So, then, good job!

[Feel So Good]

The layering is nice, the mastering is nice, the main riffs are nice.

I might not be liked for saying this, but I think the male voice really undervalues the whole song. It pulls the whole song into a more kitsch-ier zone, and the song doesn't deserve it, it's good.

Another thing I'd suggest: try adding an instrument with a sort of riff, but with higher notes. Like from 1:50, the song could really use a guitar riff like that from The Prodigy's "Invaders Must Die" ( I apologize if you're not a Prodigy fan and the association with their music offends you, it happens, but I hope you understand what I mean...)

Also, it's a bit too long for my taste, but I think that's not a really bad thing considering the genre of the song and the fact that it's probably supposed to be a little repetitive to get you in the groove.

Also, I really like what you did with the breaking at 5:08. But I think you should move that break earlier in the song, and compact the whole song down to maybe 4:30. Concentrate it a bit, make it a shorter but a blast-experience.

Overall, good work!

[Mr. D Has a Freak Show]

I cannot understand why this lill piece of good work has such a low rating...

I enjoyed it a lot, actually. You managed to express your idea quite well. It's playful, it's chill, the circus is in town!

But I do agree with Mechanical-Animals, you should try to make the lower case more loudly. It would really make the whole track feel a lot bigger.

The arrangement is really nice though, I hope one day I'll develop this sort of keen ear on classical instrumentation...

retrobox2 responds:

Thanks a lot, Actually I kept changing my settings between the one that you hear and another preset I made that sounds way more big but I guess that I should have chosen the other one.

[-YRX- RealLuveStep(WIP)]

It sounds like some sort of gangster movie taking place in Guy Ritchie's universe of Sherlock Holmes ( too bad the concept of gangster didn't exist back then, lol, it would be an awesome movie!)

The strings are aggressive, the drumming is compelling.

Not much else to be said. Waiting for the full version, so good lock on that!

YouriX responds:

Wow! Cool visual for my song. Hahah anyways i dont know where im going with this song but i'll see..

[Delta Wave]

I'll give this 5 stars because I'm impressed.

Nothing more to add. The purpose of the song is fully expressed and achieved. To my ears, it's exactly what it wants to be and the artistic intention behind it is really nice.

It's a cute, playful and chill song.

Canas responds:

I'm very happy with the final product, it turned out exactly how I imagined which i'm learning is quite a difficult thing to accomplish when you're making music. Thanks for the positive vibrations!

[Asteroid run/stariing]

It layers nice.
It's imaginative.
It breaks nice ( first 1:20 real nice).
Mastering is crisp, bass has real presence, thing I always enjoy. The melody from 2:20 is reeeally retro and cool. Everything works quite well.

One or two things, though... first of all it's a bit too long. I know, that might come as a surprise, especially as it's quality material and not that repetitive. But it could really benefit from being concentrated a bit more. Either pace it, combining the ideas from 3:30 on top of each other, building up to a huge tension and explode in a fast solo of sorts, or just explode it somehow on the 4-5 minute mark - this are just suggestions, you would know better what to do with your song.
But it really needs a climax, a buildup, some sort of explosion.

Otherwise, it's real nice, layers, breaks, mastering, the idea, the retro but cool feeling. Just need some climatic buildup, an explosion because the song really has the potential for it.

Anyway, veritable experience listening to this.