(disclaimer: AIM judge review here! these are just my opinions and thoughts, you can take from them whatever you like! music is subjective and all that. <3)

i'm definitely picking up the urban night vibe from the jazzy blend of rhodes, electric bass, drumset and synths! i love all the hazy, psychedelic effects on your synth leads, organ and pads too. there's a certain laid-back quality to the whole thing, the solos feel leisurely, there's some nice space inbetween many of the lines. and there's even some good development as the song goes on, with the final section + solo having the most intensity.

interestingly i think it's worth mentioning that, despite how vibrant, detailed and inviting the artwork of this city is, there's not a single person in sight. you did a good job of capturing that specific feeling of "vista of a city night ripe with opportunity, but without the hustle and bustle of a crowded street".

i could see there being some more compression on the drums so that they punch through the mix a little more, especially when things get more full like when the big synth pads hit in the last section. there are times where the reverb effects feel just a little muddy as well, mostly when we get both brass and other leads going at the same time. with just a little more focus on the key elements you want to emphasize, it could come across more coherently and confidently; but i say this because there's a lot to love about what all you've written here : )

AIM 2023 Judge Review

Having just heard a nother jazzy submission just before, I was kinda afraid this would feel underwhelming when listening to the beginning, but thankfully it picked up when all the different elements started being introduced.

This is surprisingly viby and definitely fit the art well.

Good job !

AIM 2023 Judge Review

I feel like this entry manages to capture the nighttime city aesthetic of the art in a liminal space that exists between the familiar and strange. The textures and layering are the piece's strong points, which is further emphasized through the sound design. I can also hear a lot of attention to detail in the production - the way the instruments are panned and set in the mix feel just right.

There is a sense of randomness to the track, but the throughline with the continuum played by the rhodes in the beginning helps to bring cohesiveness while the other layers feel slightly improv. Again, it feels like it's towing the line between the tangible and the abstract. and I feel like that reflects the art's loosely sketched lines paired with the colours and the shapes of familiar real-world things.

One thing I also enjoyed was the way in which sections flow into each other. At the start, the rhodes keep pace, but towards the end, there's a quick cut at 2:12 to this soft, padded section that really worked for me, especially paired against that slap bass and the percussiveness in its sound. The way that section builds up towards the end was easily my favourite part.

Even though I think the length for this track feels just right, I could have easily listened to it go on for 2 more minutes. Overall, I think this is an awesome entry that gets a lot from many replays to really focus on the different layers and the way they interact and flow through one another.