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I thoroughly enjoyed this compilation, and after two listenings on separate occasions, I now bring you the definitive Chi-tique
Track One - Works very well as an introductory song and has a nice quasi-Celtic twang; I liked the musical refrain, and also the rolling sound of the language used (what is it?)
The language on this track is Swedish. Specifically, it's a really old dialect of northern Swedish that not many people understand. I've also heard that he often makes up words that fit what he's trying to convey. The band has two albums, both of which are really folksy like this.
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Track Two - This has a beautiful instrumental start and sits well with the previous track; a favourite track for me, I enjoyed it very much.
The keyboardist for this band has been quoted as saying he'd love to make video game music. I specifically had a lot of music that he's been involved with in mind for this mix. I didn't use as much as I could have just because it would have been too easy to dominate the CD with stuff from the two bands he's in.
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Track Three - The beginning for me is reminiscent of Final Fantasy VIII style music (which is a good thing, by the way) and has that "impending battle" feel to it, too, which I liked.
You know, when I finished burning the disc, I almost thought this should be track 1... but I was running so far behind that I figured I'd send it out and let it stand as it is. I think it works.
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Track Six - If I summed this up in two words, they would be "ploddingly jolly"; I liked the jingly bits at the start and the singing really does sound troll-like, too! This track began the "boing-boing" motif that continues throughout the CD in certain tracks, and I like it.
Track Seven - The opening horn and chanting is good; the "boing-boing" motif follows on from the previous track well; very "My Lady D'Abonville" with the strings, I felt; rhythmical and quite beautiful, along with some nice chanting, too - this one earnt the status of a favourite track.
This band also features the keyboardist I mentioned earlier. So does the very last track on the CD. You might do well to check out some of their albums given your reaction to these tracks in particular. I'd definitely say to check out the entirity of Finntroll's "Visor Om Slutet." The other two albums are a lot different and you may or may not like them as much. As for Moonsorrow, I will go out on a limb and suggest the album "Kivenkantaja," though I prefer a couple of the others just slightly more.
These two tracks were also in Swedish, but the band is Finnish. Apparently the vocalists are from the Swedish speaking minority.
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Track Eight - A welcome break from the CD's previous styles of music, and this time I did like the singing and vocals - this one works well as a "slightly different from the rest" track
I always like to have a strong theme in a CD that is broken only occasionally by something more or less off the wall compared to the rest. As you guessed, this is it. There were two contenders for the title of this song, but I ultimately chose this one for its differentness.
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Track Nine - This had a very languid, sleepy and dreamlike quality, and the title suited it well; I enjoyed this very much indeed and once again pronounce it a favourite track.
I don't know a lot about this band. I have no idea why I never tried to download or otherwise hear much of their music. I like most of what I've heard by them, but just never took a huge interest in persuing it. This is one of my two most favorite tracks by Lycia precicely because it's so evocative of a dreamlike temple.
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(I'm beginning to feel a bit like umfumdisi now...)
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Track Eleven - The chanting is good - I like that kind of thing; the background music ruins it a little, I think; I like to imagine the singing in abstraction from the other elements (any sound gurus out there know how to do this?)
I was expecting a slightly more positive response to this one as opposed to some of the others. I included this one because to me, especially the second part of the song, it screamed out to be in the FFVI Opera House fight scene. It sounds like final fantasy battle music almost to a tee.
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Track Fourteen - Liked the gutteral devilish voice; this track was a little too short, I think the CD would've benefitted from some more of this
And this is the track I thought would be the most hated. It's reeeeally hard for me to find and successfully download much from this band. This is by far the most unique song I've heard from them. Most of the rest of their stuff sounds a little typical, but the totally incongruous elements of evil singing combined with just the solo piano really make me smile.
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Track Sixteen - Best-named track, the music suits it very well (or the name suits the music very well, whichever way around you think) and it has a sort of sluggish, 'air has turned to fudge' feel to it - my only criticism would be perhaps it goes on for a little longer than it need do
This is actually kind of the average length of that band's songs. Usually they're within a minute or two of this mark. I was slightly apprehensive about adding it because of the length, but it was the best fit for the mood I wanted to convey. Given the commentary, I think it was successful.
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Track Seventeen - Good, ominous start; fast-paced music for the "end boss" moment, good throatily angry singing, well positioned on the compilation - overall, I liked it.
If I were making your typical RPG, I agree that this is good for the end boss, which is naturally the reason it was chosen... however, if I were actually making a game, I'd have an end boss that this wouldn't fit well with, and I'd have some much more disturbing music accompanying it... like a child's music box interspersed with ghostly giggling and chainsaws or sanders scraping against corrugated metal. The boss would of course be appropriate to such a bizzare mix of instruments.
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Track Eighteen - Delicate and beautiful - a nice close to the CD, and with a sense of "tragedy averted", too; contrasts well with the previous track and continues the "boing-boing" theme from earlier; good as a track in its own right, also, and I think I liked this one most of all - a definite favourite.
As I said, I think this man's compositions really sound video gamey and many songs he's involved in are perfect for them. This time, the very sparse vocals are in Finnish, if you even noticed them... I know they're kind of deep in the background and easy to miss.
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I am glad I read them instead of seeing what the "real" tracks were called.
Chi-score: 8/10
Yeah. I think that presentation and packaging are important to a work of art. I can't claim any real artistic credit beyond the mix and the presentation, but I think the whole mix works better if you can visualize the context that I visualized when I chose the tracks. Also, I think that for some people a lot of artist and song names in foreign languages sometimes make their eyes glaze over. I was trying to avoid that with the re-titling of the songs in the visible list.
