Saturday, January 15, 2011

Song of the Week 27.5: 'Lost in Jungle' by Johan Krafft (redo)

Guess what? I actually succeeded in getting this post done before the day of. After getting numerous complaints from both Reogan and Met, I've started to become a little more committed into getting these posts done on time. So anyway, this is a .5 edition (which is obviously displayed in my post title), which usually means that I'm redoing one of Met's early reviews. This one just so happens to be SotW 8. The song is 'Lost in Jungle' and is by Johan Krafft. If you just clicked on the previous link, you would find hardly anything about him other than the fact that this is his only remix. Sorry for all of my babbling; now let's get to the song already...

The beginning really has no introduction at all, but it starts out strong with some refreshing solo piano. The treble notes will lightly play a three note rhythm (in the form of eighth notes), and the bass notes will basically play one stretched note once in a while for both bass and harmony. At 0:23 the bass notes will start to become a little more active though, supporting the treble melody flawlessly. At 0:27 a new solo piano section will begin. With a very short introduction to said section from the bass notes, the treble will now play the familiar tune of 'Aquatic Ambience' (this relaxing tune is what the remix is based off of). The bass here is much more involved, creating the perfect harmonies for this melody. There seems to be a perfect balance between the treble and bass notes. As the section continues to play everything being played on the piano sounds very complex, but what's great about it is that it's not as complex as you would think. I hardly can hear any chords, and it only sounds really complex because the notes are blended together so perfectly. This cool section continues until 1:04. At this point the song goes back into what it was at the beginning. Despite the fact that it's repeating the exact same thing, I find it necessary, for something new will rise from the ashes of the song soon enough. That, which does indeed rise, is a synth. This will appear at 1:19, showing off that piano shouldn't be the only sound to satisfy my tastes in music. This medium-low synth will play stretched notes, each acting as the synth's very own melody. Blotting out the piano, the synth will create it into a harmony. The entire thing, even with the synth, sounds very soothing. At 1:46 the same synth will now prove to me that it has what it takes to be the melody, for it now plays the end sequence of Aquatic Ambience (giving the piano the boot). The piano does make a good harmony now, and I enjoy it, but the synth mainly has my attention. At about 1:54 there's a long build-up, and a transition is born. The synth leaves, the piano takes over, and the mood has changed all at 2:00. Not only that, but there's now percussion as well as some bass to create more of a groove. This "groove" from the percussion and bass work well with the piano; it's almost like it's now a remix inside of the remix (it that makes any sense). There's even more added at 2:14; additional synths are placed into the background for a more relaxing feel to the song (it also acts as an outstanding harmony!). There's another transition at 2:24-the exact same transition as the one at 1:54-and at 2:27 the synth returns. Playing the main melody of the entire track (Aquatic Ambience), that, along with the other elements playing in the song, really bring the whole track together into something awesome. At 2:55 I can also hear the piano acting like the background singer for the synth also. At 3:03 there's that same transition again, which brings back that same section from 2:00. However, this time around there's a much higher synth to back up the piano (and sounding quite eerie at the same time) that appears at roughly 3:16. This continues to play and does what it does best until 3:30. There's another transition, and the song continues to play. Okay, now we get to the most interesting part of the song at 3:36. With odd animal noises (I can detect monkeys though), and the beat/bass going into a much more upbeat mood, it really adds a little more uniqueness into the song. I start to get a little confused at 3:49 though; an unusual sequence of chords play short, staccato notes in a simple pattern. It hardly had anything that had to do with the relaxing mood of the song, so it makes me think, "Wait...what just happened?" Fortunately I start to get a slightly clearer picture when I hear that familiar synth play the same tune from all the way back at 1:19. By the way, the synth begins to play again at 4:04. With that synth playing, I can see what sort of a role that funky chord sequence plays (although I think it's unnecessary). The piano comes in for the last time at 3:31, which does make make me finally get what's going on here. At 4:44 that funky little sequence does drop (as well as the bass and percussion), leaving the piano to finish off the song.

Pros: I loved the piano, and also loved the type of atmosphere that the synth had created. When the beat and bass came in at 2:00, and also when the section at 2:27 came in, I felt like the entire song worked perfectly. I haven't heard such a great blend of sounds in a while, so this really is a great song.

Cons: Okay, I have to say that the last section, starting at 3:36 with the animal noises, was a bit strange. That section did seem unnecessary, and the artist could have at least introduced the funky chord section in a less...funky way.

Overall: I like this song. A lot. Even after listening to it for a while now after downloading it, I find it to be very enjoyable and cool to listen to despite that interesting section at the end.

Rating: 9.6/10

2 comments:

J Krafft said...

Thanks for taking the time to analyze my remix. It is one of few works I am really proud of. Best regards Johan K.

Met said...

Thank you very much for dropping by. It's always cool for us to see responses from the artist. I'll pass it along. This is certainly one of my favorite tracks on OCR.