Encryption Complex - All For You

Hear The Track Here

OK OK, let's try this: take two guys who are into electronica, one classically trained and the other into yer four-to-the-floor school of aural damage. Put 'em together, call them Encryption Complex and what kind of music will they make?? Classical Electronica mate, is wot... Well, what else did you expect?? Fair enough (or furry muff depending on your accent) it SOUNDS good on paper cos even if you don't particularly like electronica (pick me!! pick me!!) music from dead white dudes never fail to get me heart a-pumping. So, now that I've got you up there on that highwire without a net, what do you think the end result is??

As an electronic voice once said, 'mind the gap'.

To be sure I wouldn't put my hand on my heart and swear that this is a marriage of these two quite different genres. To my ears, All For You sounds incredibly modern; a smooth slice of chill out that makes full use of the acclaimed Rhodes piano (or a VSTi of that type). As it 'appens, when I say smooth I mean s-m-o-o-t-h, like ice cream going down your throat on a hot summers day. On that level, this is an enormously engrossing instrumentral - at least from a technical level because the individual sounds and overall mix is clear, multilayered and has enough headroom for everything to breathe in and out properly. Not a bad achievement I say, and when you consider that this made wholly in Fruity Studio it shows what a class peice of kit it is, especially for mastering. 'Yeah bert', Encryption Complex shout rudely, 'we also know what we are doing with it!.

Won't get any argument from me on that score.

Where we will differ is in the arrangement and content of this track. As good as it is technically, it's still lacking a lot in the actual tunage department. Oh yeah, it's a nice listen and all that but it's glaringly obvious after a few plays that it doesn't actually do very much. Moreover, there is not much of a sense of drama or even majesty that would qualify it as anything other than a decent enough instrumental. I'm not real sure but too my ears there is also a timing issue between the bass and drums that became more obvious the more I played it. Now maybe that is intentional, but to me it sounds odd. This exacerbates the already monotone arrangement and makes it - to my ears - plod on a bit. I noticed that the band have some very favourable comments on this track and I have to say I wonder why. No matter which way I twist and turn on this, I cannot deny that the flaws I mentioned trouble me. As I say, there is nothing whatsoever wrong with this track technically, far from it. Where it lacks is in that all important ingredient: detail, an essential part of classical music construction.