dj waffelmeister - Ocean Loader v4 mongoloid mix

After years of being ignored, Ocean Loader V4 gets a few covers at last. A smooth, expressionless but relatively well played lead conveys the melody accurately, and the choice of instruments is reminiscent of OMD. Some nice arp burbling adds some much needed variety. A bit of modulation on the lead and/or pitch bend would have worked wonders though. It's the musical equivalent of reading from a telephone directory. It's accurate, sure, but there's not a lot of individual expression there. Having said that, this is a cover that's had work and time put into it, and it conveys the tune accurately: there's some nice string work, the occasional sid sample (the boing at the beginning, which the arranger realised wasn't reproducible on any other synth). It's very pleasant, and sounds nice. Not earth-shattering, but if you like the tune you might as well download it, though the deadness of the lead may kill it for you, since the natural emotion in the SID lead's modulation is gone. Good, but unexciting.

The biggest drawback of this remix is, the chosen lead instrument is a pain to listen to, although the tune is only two and a half minutes long. I find the rest of the chosen instrumentation questionable, too. In addition to the lead, the dominant and monotonous drum'n'bass is a headache-guarantee. And I would prefer if I could enjoy more of the things in the background. The arranger should have put more emphasis on the background.