So what is novel about this track? Well, let me paint a picture for you.

The toy piano intro suggests a young girl playing innocently, but she is soon disrupted by a big monster, who chases her through the undergrowth into a dark and very expensive forest. The child is hungry. The monster even moreso.

Meanwhile, in a nearby clinic, a doctor completes his paperwork, just to add a little more suspense and angst to the pandemonium.

Cut back to the chase, where the trees in the forest transform into craggy beasts and their fur is tangled with disfigured children.

Meanwhile, our innocent young girl grows three arms, and an extra ear. In spite of this, the doctor soon speaks to the child by phone (even without an appointment) and says several confusing things - a probably due to the drum machine causing severe brain anxiety in an earlier life. Or because the phone had snot from an earlier sneezing attack lodged in the earpiece.

Our little girl soon develops an aptitude for landscape brain surgery, reprograms the monsters to attack the doctor, has time to say "mummy I'm hungry" and proceeds to eat all the other children before anyone notices.

Meanwhile, back at the string synthesizer, the crotchets soon lose their appeal and a piano magically appears, on which the little girl plays a repetitive monophonic riff.

Then she eats it AAAAALLLLLLL up.

(1) no critical comments
(2) you just made someone who usually sees the dots when he hears music articulate a visual mood instead.
(3) more people will listen due to a curious review than a vanilla one.

Your work is superb. Evocative. Unusual. Clever.

Muted Silence is a collaborative effort from two of Soundclick's electronica fraternity - CJ Freq X and Nuff X. Seems only natural that they go together innit? After all, they share the same surname right? This is my third time round with this band because I reviewed their X3 (September 2005) track and was a bit more than lukewarm about it ie it didn't impress me overly much. Then I did like Dsylexic Angel (January 2006) a very tasty slice of electronica that signalled the duo's increasing musical tightness and also showed the increasing use of detail in their track, materially and technically.

No surprise then that Mind Plays Games is as far ahead of Dsylexic Angel as that was to X3. The giant steps theory definitely holds true of this pairing when comparing them like-for-like, particularly when most of their material features a dark, brooding edge that has become a bit of a trademark. This darkness really comes to the fore in Mind Plays Games, a fact that will strike you from the very first note. Although they are two extremely different talents, the interplay between their different technical and practical skills is what informs the bulk of their work and Mind Plays Games is a seamless example of what they do best.

Based around a theme of coulrophobia, or at least a clown called Tiffany (I had a date with her once and she frightened me too) who 'makes all her friends dead'. Hmmmmm, yummy. Not exactly the kinda stuff to play on a dark, stormy night then, but a track that I feel Muted Silence can feel justifiably proud of. With its overtones (very slight admittedly) of the darker side of Depeche Mode (wait!, did they have a light side?), Mind Plays Games is - right now anyway - Muted Silence's finest hour. Certainly the peice of electronica I have heard in a while and one that I feel will do just as well outside of its genre as it will within it. It's the clammy feel of it that will eventually reel you in, and it's that atmosphere that makes this track happen for me as indeed it may for you too.

Highly recommended considering it's dark electronica.

Dsylexic Angels is a listen only track because it is a is a pledge for the Electronica forums Charity CD. I was supposed to review it last month but through the usual comedy of errors, I was unable to access it. Soooo, if you are one of those people of cannot use the Soundclick player for whatever reason, this isn't going to do a lot for you. (thinks: Way to shoot yourself in the foot Soundclick). Nuff n Freq finally got a version to me and I have spent a couple of days testing its road-worthiness. For the record, I have reviewed both of these electronica artists in their own right and have regard for both of them, although what they make together may well be as different again.

Funnily enough, the first impression I got and one that stuck with me, was how remarkably they have captured the early '90's MOD sound. The instrumentation and overall mix scream this genre at me in every way, from the little technical touches to individual sounds and the programmed delay that sounds wonderful in the vocals (mmm, are they using Dubstation??). All told, it's the attention to detail that catches me with this track because - to be blunt - it's isn't exactly a peice of music to stir the soul and inflame the blood. There's a intellectual feel to the track that - for me - reminds me also of bands such as Ochestral Manouevers in the Dark and the like and I've never been fond of that kind of electronica. However, that is most definitely a personal thing and in no way should detract from what is right about this track.

What is most assuredly right is the aforementioned production and the sublime choices of instrumentation. On that score alone Dsylexic Angel should do well. Although there are vocals running through it, it couldn't accurately be called a 'song', even though there are lyrics to go along with the music. Nonetheless, what vocal there is is used to great effect, especially in the more stutter-induced sections. It's certainly those segments that stick in your brain after sufficient plays are under your belt. There's no doubt that this does improve over time as well because the more I played, the better it got. Although it has a lot of the qualities I was running down in the second paragraph, there's a solid musical core here that should stand this track in good stead. Maybe Nuff X or CJ FreqX will come up with a bit more on WHY this track was made and what exactly a 'pledged' track is what it's at home.

Class Electronica.

Alright - nice minimalist vibe going on here. I love the bassline - gives the track a nice ambience. Those congas and toms sound a little synthetic but I don't think that's really a problem here.

The one real problem with this track is the beat, which never really seems to get going. I mean, listening to it, I can only make out like one kick drum per bar, which makes the beat sound like it might work for a breakdown, but not to carry the whole track. The really maddening thing is, I can imagine this with a Prodigy-style breakbeat - something with plenty of snap and crunch. To be honest, I'm tempted to make a beat and dub it over the top of this...

I like the use of the vocal samples - would I be right in thinking that one of them says "lick my hand"? Anyway, they add nicely to the atmosphere of the track.

The production seems fine. So really, my only complaint about this track is the beat. Otherwise, this is interesting stuff. I'm looking forward to seeing what else you can both come up with...

8/10

Here's the question everyone should be asking themselves this morning: What would happen if instead of fighting each other, mothra and godjira teamed up to attack cities together? Muted Silence of course, the wonderous combination of two distinctly different musicians here on SC, is just that.

The intro sounds very much like that beginning to snap- I've got the Power, which I fondly remember from the movie Fisher King.

"Who, Who, Who am I?" All the vocal work is very well done. Both your voices are perfectly appropriate and appropriated. The pulsing lower end pads give it a touch of that glorious vintage Front 242 era (Rhythm of Time to be specific), more than just a hint of industrial but without any cliches. Every sound fits perfectly into this soundscape, from the arpeggiation to the percussives. Yep.

It's a hot track guys, without a doubt.

I'm giving it a 10~ I have NO criticisms I'm afraid.