Mindtrap

Enter the Demoscene
by: bill aicher

The Demoscene. Chances are you have never heard of it. I know I hadn't until I received this album. You are probably wondering what it is. Well It is an underground scene that contains computer coders, artists and musicians that all work together something they call a demo. A demo is a combination of lighting effects and computer generated music that all work together to put on a show. This CD is by one of those musicians - apparently one of the best in the industry. The music is called Tracker music.

Since I am unfamiliar with this form of music, I will do my best to give it a fair review. All of the music on the album is computer generated, by an artist who calls himself Nitro. The computer generation is easy to spot. Most of it sounds like generic rave music - mixes of techno and industrial. It would be great for the soundtrack to a videogame or a future-oriented movie. However, it is nothing I would recommend the average person to get to toss in the CD player. It is fairly popular in the underground world, and I think it needs to stay there for a while longer. A lot of people who were around in the days of BBSs (mostly pre-Internet) or are into the underground industrial sound may be familiar with the MOD, which is what these are.

Overall this album is nothing too exciting. It definitely takes talent to make the music, as it is all done by computer programming. The problem is that the general populous is not going to enjoy it. If you are a raver or just into the underground sound, I do recommend checking it out. If you are looking for an overall great electronica album - go with the Chemical Brothers.