June 2016

By Dallas Ross Hicks

A new take on ‘Nine Lives One Love’, off of coloUrs and mayhem Universe A (also written by Dallas Ross Hicks). I try not to directly compare different variants of the same musical theme, but this is such a solid step up, I think it’s worth talking about.

'Nine Lives One Love’ has a really diffuse, layered sound to it, and it feels muddled. Bells, bells, and more bells. It drags on a bit.

MOG^3, on the other hand, flies by. It’s an even longer song, and there’s so much more to it. The song’s anchored by the same musical motif, but new instrumentation choices and new variations on that theme really hooked me in.
Most of all, the song’s flow is much improved. The deep, synth-distorted bridge around 1:45 gives that same starting motif a brand new sound. New wrinkles after that (at 3:10, 3:45, 4:30, etc) keep the track interesting and well-paced, all the way to the end.

I like this song a lot. I think it demonstrates an awful lot of artistic growth.

By Dallas Ross Hicks

I like the sampled saxophone on this one; it’s tough to pull off sax artificially like that. The song’s a pre-rock 50’s croon (think Enchantment Under the Sea dance in Back to the Future).

By Dallas Ross Hicks

I could have sworn I had heard this one before. It’s more of a consistency of style than melody, though; it shares the same vibe as MOG^3. I like the bassline that underpins the whole track.