Otto Matta

Vector Lovers - S/T

Anyone know of a decent text-to-speech synthesizer out there with interesting voices, maybe similar to or better than the FL5 one, and one you can save to WAV? I've looked pretty extensively and most of them tend to have serious applications rather than fun ones.

Enlightened Ape for me, although that's probably because it was my first Shakta experience. I like Silicon Trip a lot, too, though. Out of Sight had amazing production but the tracks were boring. I haven't heard the latest one. And the Somaton album is definitely in third place for me after Silicon Trip.

Exactly.

I don't think Simon Posford sucks. I just find his music mostly superficial. He clearly has talent, but not enough to make his music worth my while. I'm convinced that one's joy of certain music comes down to one's initial experiences with it, and what it was in his/her environment at the time that contributed synergetically to that joy. I must have been in the wrong moods during my first Hallucinogen experiences. I think at the time I was craving very different stuff (Colorbox was blowing me away at the time) and was disappointed that Hallucinogen didn't have what I wanted. Then Shpongle came along and I liked it initially but it had no staying power. Then when the albums continued to get worse I decided Posford was a slacker. Younger Brother brought me back slightly, but not much.

When are some of you going to learn that your god is a false prophet? The other day I ordered a CD straight from an artist I admire (Nyles Lannon) and asked him to sign it for me. Now that's one seriously talented mofo. So I felt it would be nice to have his extra personal touch on my copy of the CD.

Music doesn't have to be chaotic and deconstructed to be IDM. I hate to bring attention to what those letters mean again, but...

Whoa. Cool video. Gunnera's a great track. Just put it on a compilation for a good friend last night, actually. Thanks for the link, Ace.

I've never like Mouse on Mars for some reason. I saw them live not too long ago and they were horrible. One of the worst shows I've ever seen. Ever. Up there with Beans' solo act. Soup, however, is a great album. I could make a long list of great IDM artists according to me, but I won't. I'll say one artist who has been impressing me for a little while now is Infinite Scale, who just released a new EP on Boltfish (his first is on Toytronic). Also recommended is n.ln's Astronomy for Children. (I don't like messy, noisy IDM either.)

The Delta - Def by Delta, Part 2 Very Strauss-like and triumphant.

Very cool, very cool. Rock on, Colin.

Yeah, I admit I need to pay more attention to the rhythm and learn how to use Reason's reverb more wisely (I've gotten a tip from a friend to hook up an equalizer to the reverb, and I have the feeling this could be very useful). I used to pay too much attention to the rhythmic aspects. Now I need to find moderation. Thanks for your comments, shpongolioed. The album release party? I'll let you know when I've finished another ten tracks. God help me!

Oh, I definitely appreciate your criticism. I'm sure many would find it repetetive. I, however, call it "stylized." I was just correcting your interpretation of my original statement. That's all. Thanks for the comments.

Hehe. It's not my first track, oopi. I've been writing on and off for close to 20 years. Yes, that's "two-oh" years. It's my first track with Reason. I'm just starting to take music-making seriously again after taking several years off.

Thanks, man. Very much appreciated. Check my review of your track.

Um...wow, dude. That's some totally ambitious stuff there. Lots going on. I really like the long, delicate, early Boards of Canada-ish build-up, and I especially like the melody that repeats a few times starting at around 3:00, which is EXTREMELY catchy. I can't say I'm too much of a fan of the orchestral elements, although yeah, they are very Vangelis-like (the later stuff), I agree. For some reason I don't hear IDM mixing with classical in that sense, at least not that blatantly, but maybe that's just me. But I also really like the intricacy of your rhythms and other textural components. I like my music zen-like, so it was a little "busy" for my own very private taste, but I can totally appreciate the work you put into it and the high quality and musicality of what you've done. Very triumphant, indeed. Would make a great soundtrack to a large-scale IMAX nature documentary of some sort. If your friend doesn't appreciate it, she's crazy. Will very much enjoy hearing what you bring to the table in the future. You're clearly very talented.

I'm confident that it will be good, whatever it is. The strange thing about Pleiadians and Etnica stuff is that it takes a lot of time to grow on you. Seriously, Nitrox is just starting to get good to my ears, and I'm sure Chrome is not far behind. Get the album now, put it on a shelf for three or four years to let it age, then listen to it.

Thanks for the nice comments, McKoy. Listening to it again on my car stereo I've noticed the production is actually a little sketchy in certain areas. Lots of mud in the mids and too much gain here and there in the highs. Something I'll definitely have to work on. And yeah, it's interesting how a track blossoms after getting totally sick of it but then finishing it (sharing it with others makes it bloom that much more). But sometimes no matter how much you do a track will just not allow itself to be finished, and that's frustrating as hell, like having sex and feeling the climax coming but never getting there. And this feeling tends to carry into one's daily life, which is downright awful. But it's the occasional reward of a satisfyingly completed track that keeps some going - it's the carrot leading us forward, as it were.

I spent the majority of the nineties being embarrassed by my love for New Wave. But I hung in there, didn't sell my CDs, and now I'm almost cool again.

I'm also a big fan of Murcof. Really fascinating and original stuff. I thought Martes was better than Remembranza, but there are also some really good tracks on Utopia. His Terrestre project is in my opinion not as interesting.

That's exactly right. I was smoking like two packs a day there for two weeks, was mega-tired every day at work, and managed even with my skinny frame to lose weight. It's funny, though, how one's attitude can change towards a track one's heard a billion times. When it's done all the love comes back.

I'm going to take a rest for a few days before I start the next one, Charlie. Need to let the juices rebuild, and meanwhile I need to clean an apartment that has suffered due to the negligence caused by complete musical obsession. Two, three weeks, I suspect. Thanks for asking.

I really like Speed of Sound. By far the best Coldplay song, in my opinion. I think it's hard not to like some Coldplay tracks. They're so goddamn likeable sometimes, when they don't sound straight out of a Disney feel-good movie. I like Roxette, too, although I haven't heard anything for a while now. I also really like Abba and some Ace of Base. Something about the Swedes... I admit to liking all sorts of New Wave stuff, like Duran Duran, The Fixx, Icehouse, Stranglers, Level 42 and Talk Talk. It's been harder and harder to be guilty about it, though, since the sound seems to be coming back in style.

Not quite sure why this album is being reviewed here, being Morr-ish IDM and all, but I feel it is one of the greatest electronic albums ever made.

Meh. The music is decent, but the samples kill it for me. The same could be said for much of this genre. Pre-CV Infected Mushroom is a prime example. Would love to hear some good music that doesn't resort to cheesy Hollywood samples in a futile attempt to achieve interest and depth. It makes so much of this genre sound so goddamn chintzy.