Hülsbeck
In this third installment collecting spare works by Chris
Hülsbeck (preceded by 1991′s Shades and 1992′s To Be on Top), pieces composed during his time with the German video game development studio of Rainbow Arts are the focus, including cuts from Z-Out, Jinks, and The Great Giana Sisters. Despite being rerecorded for the CD’s release, hardware from the Atari and Commodore computers for which the games were released is still used, with Hülsbeck drawing some impressively lithe performances out of the machines, and vocals appearing on four of the nineteen songs.
A broad spectrum of moods and song-writing approaches keep things moving and varied, with the expected early techno joined by more freeform and laidback compositions. On the downside, most of the tracks are main themes and medleys, which prevents much momentum or continuity from developing beyond the repetition of beat-patterns and certain synth voices. It’s a nice tour, with plenty of well-made moments (sometimes to a startling degree, considering the limited instrumentation), but it works much better in separate servings (particularly with the sound packs of the last four tracks, “Samplemania” I through IV) than taken in one go.
Scrambled Brains 