 | Album Title: Nanosweep 24 |
| Record Label: Nanosounds, Supersweep | |
| Catalog No.: NS-024 | |
| Release Date: August 14, 2017 | |
| 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 twenty-fourth original album and features compositions by Hiroshi Okubo, Ryo Watanabe, Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, Fumihisa Tanaka, and Takahiro Eguchi. How does this album fare as a whole?
Body
The album opens up with the two contributions from the NanoSounds side, Hiroshi Okubo and Ryo Watanabe. The former’s “techsaints” is a tech-house tune that offers club vibes and interesting percussion samples, but the end result is a bit lackluster and repetitive. Watanabe’s “Vernon’s Grog” is a gritty EDM tune with jazzy piano, disco strings, and comes off as a blend of the more modern Ryo Watanabe Nanosweep with some older Watanabe influence. However, it suffers from sounding a bit muddy at times. Shinji Hosoe, of SuperSweep, “Ultra Boomerang” combines gabber elements with driving beats to create an engaging tune with a Ridge Racer vibe and 90’s rave elements.
Ayako Saso’s “Don’t send me around” is done in her typical rave fashion and also features a Ridge Racer sound. The tune itself is engaging with darker electronic tones that help add a sinister element to the mix. Also of note is the progression, with a combination of faster, engaging sound and a chill, futuristic vibe that is conveyed during the slow tempo sections. “Loft titan,” by Takahiro Eguchi, is a hard techno tune with gritty, dirty synths that give off a club vibe while incorporating ominous synths and distorted vocal samples. The tune, however, is one of his weaker showings compared to past entries, in part due to its repetitive nature and lack of a strong melodic focus. Lastly is Fumihisa Tanaka’s “Admission,” which, in my opinion, is the star of the release. It features a bright and upbeat melody with a clear retro feel, thanks to its mix of modern and retro synths. It’s an engaging and fun tune with a drum n’ bass accompaniment and some pitched synths and slower tempos to help break up the piece as a whole.
Summary
NanoSweep 24 is a mediocre showing this time around, with a blend of repetitive tracks mixed with more engaging and fleshed out pieces. Fans of the series will certainly find something to enjoy here, but the end result does leave something to be desired.
