Sky

Last year, the enrollment fee was 45, and you get a hundred tickets to sell for the event. After you sell your first fifty, you get to keep a pound from each ticket that you sell. Until you sell ninety-five tickets, you're gonna be out of pocket. On top of that, unless you're very crowd-pleasing rock, you won't get very far in the competition, as the crowd won't vote for you. (I merely make this remark because I gather Project: Ven-Hell aren't really in the vein of crowd-pleasing rock.) Also, playing early is the kiss of deathno allowance is made for the fact that the first few bands on have vastly fewer audience members to vote for them than the later acts.

I don't think it's too long, per se, I think it's actually three tracks in one. Of the three, I think the first is the weakest (start until about 1:50)it sounds very early nineties electronica, and not in a particularly fantastic way. Having said that, I never really was a big fan of that style. The second section (1:50 until about 3:30) is much stronger overall. I like the burbling bass in it a lot, and the percussion is more subtle but better for it. Of all the sections, though, I most like the third. It's definitely the most ambient of the three, and the percussion is the most interesting. The other sounds are given more room to breathe in this section. If I was you, I'd take out the third section altogether, and make it a standalone track, and develop it in this context.

Slim to none. A' date=' B and C are all incorrect; however, D is a distinct possibility.

You've obviously never read The Wire.

Stripey is, and has several MP3s up on his website and they're of a high calibre. Also recommended is XY:XX, though not for the faint-hearted.

It should be a good gig, and it's for a good cause, so what more could you want? (Other than a slightly better disguising attempt at a bump than this.)

I'm very impressed. I really like the "grit" of "Hope Diminished". I like "1" even better, especially because of the startling tonal passage that cuts in it just before the two minute mark; it's quite a pretty-sounding passage on it's own, but the juxtaposition of it against the abrasiveness of the track as a whole really makes it stand out. As Buckley said, the thickness of the sound is impressive, and a deeper bass-end may work on some tracks, but I feel the two already up function perfectly without one. Overall, I'm very, very impressed, and look forward to hearing more of XY:XX.

I'm extremely impressed by these, especially the ambient wash that opens the first sample ("b") and wavers from side to side, before giving way to a much busier, more energetic arrangement. Also, I was especially impressed by the simple but effective drum programming that underpins the track. I'd really like to see more experimentation along the ambient, almost drone, line explored at the opening of this trackunless I'm mistaken, isn't Eastern music very interested in the power of drones and repetitions? Track two is also good, in a more conventionally jazzy way. When can we expect to hear more?