NanoSweep 16
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Album Title: Nanosweep 16 |
| Record Label: Nanosounds |
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| Catalog No.: NS-016 |
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| Release Date: August 12, 2013 |
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| Purchase: Buy at Sweep Record |
Overview
NanoSweep is an ongoing series of original music that was initiated in 2004 by various members of NanoSounds and SuperSweep. It usually features members from each of these companies and occasionally a guest composer. This is the sixteenth original album and features compositions by Hiroshi Okubo, Ryo Watanabe, Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, and Takahiro Eguchi, who is collaborating with Japanese electronic artist XIO, and debuts by Atsushi Ohara of Supersweep and Taku Inoue of Namco Bandai.
Body
Hiroshi Okubo’s “Daisy Chain” opens up the album and features a nice drum n’ bass style that focuses on two different tempos. The first half of the composition focuses on a slow tempo with some nice crunchy vocal samples before progressing into a faster tempo that focuses a bit more on melody and substance while still incorporating the vocal samples. Ryo Watanabe’s “MME” opens up with somewhat of a dance beat before moving into more of a groovy funk based track with lots of classic Watanabe sounds. There are some beautiful piano chords and overall, the entire piece flows well and gives a nice classic 70s/80s vibe. While it may not be his most creative work, it does manage to satisfy by being pretty engaging throughout. “Light My Fire,” the Nanosweep debut of Bandai Namco’s Taku Inoue, doesn’t break any new ground in terms of Inoue’s musical stylings, but it does offer something not heard on a Nanosweep album before. The track itself has a very sexual flavor to it. There are lots of sexy synth manipulations, a nice groovy drum n’ bass beat, enticing lyrics, and some really nice xylophone accompaniment that adds some playfulness to this beautiful tune. For those familiar with his Tekken Tag Tournament 2 ending themes, think along those lines.
The Supersweep side of things is featured on the last half of the disc. “Ultra Salmon Spice,” a collaboration between Supersweep’s Takahiro Eguchi and Japanese hardcore electronic artist XIO, kicks the second half of the album into high gear with its beautiful blend of hardcore electronic beats, stunning melody, vocal sampling, Japanese woodwinds, and even some 8bit sections. It really manages to create a high energy and still retain the beauty that many of Eguchi’s Nanosweep tunes typically do. Ayako Saso’s “Now I Just Wait” opens up with a focus on eerie synth tones and clock chimes and ticks before moving into a fairly standard dance beat that incorporates clock sound effects, lots of powerful vocal samples reminiscent of 90s dance music, and some pretty interesting electronic sounds in the melody line. While the actual composition doesn’t re-invent the wheel, it is still a largely satisfying listen for fans of Saso’s rave style music. Shinji Hosoe continues with the energy with “Zombie Chase,” a track featuring a heavy beat, some female vocal samples that really define the composition. They really add a personal element to the intense electronic accompaniment. Of course, there are some other vocal samples that are also employed, but feature a more robotic air. These also mesh quite well with the tune; however, their shining moment is how Hosoe splits the vocal samples and makes it so that it appears to be rotating inside of your head going from left to right (provided you are wearing headphones). The last track, “Hotbreak,” by Atsushi Ohara, debuting on the Nanosweep series, ends the album on a somewhat lackluster note. As one might expect, there are a lot of breaks in the music and the focus on melody towards the end of the tune makes it more difficult to get into, but it does manage to house some great moments from time to time.
Summary
Nanosweep 16 is another solid entry in the series. I think that the composers, for the most part, play to their strengths and give a nice mix of old and new in terms of the Nanosweep approaches. Some of tracks have their slight downfalls, but for the most part, this entry is very solid and definitely worth a purchase.
Do you agree with the review and score? Let us know in the comments below!
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Posted on February 23, 2014 by Don Kotowski. Last modified on January 17, 2016.
About the Author
Don Kotowski Currently residing in Philadelphia. I spend my days working in vaccine characterization and dedicate some of my spare time in the evening to the vast world of video game music, both reviewing soundtracks as well as maintaining relationships with composers overseas in Europe and in Japan.
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