INCOMING TRANSMISSION

HOWDY Y’ALL!



Boy oh boy, it’s only February, and 2017 has already been an amazing year for music! For this share, I have a very special release that comes from Planet Zaxxon! Back at this most recent 8Static Fest, Chrome Cobra made his live debut showing off some really impressive LSDj jams, and now he’s released his very own EP on Bandcamp. Let’s take a listen to see how it fairs!





Mobile Swarming by Chrome Cobra

First up we have the track titled ‘First Strike,’ which starts out with some impressive use of sampling by recording external synths and exporting them into kits. Chrome Cobra uses this to his advantage in a lot of the tracks in this song, and it really pays off. It’s something I’ve rarely heard be done in LSDj. For someone just starting out in LSDj, the instrumentation is really well done, especially with arpeggios and deep bass kicks. While I don’t personally like some of the lead patches, they are programmed really well. Overall, this song is the perfect way to get you in the mood for this album.

Mobile Swarming by Chrome Cobra

After that, we have ‘Stolen Protocol,’ which starts off with some hard-hitting snares and a punchy bass. The groove in the beat is one of the most interesting (and one of my favorite) parts of Cobra’s style, as it parallels a lot of what other aliases on Planet Zaxxon sound like (i.e. Doomcloud, Radlib, etc…). The drop is very simple, with a 2 note pulse lead, and a really hard manual bass that pairs very well with the back beat. This one is probably one of my favorites on the entire EP, just because of how greatly executed yet simple it is.

Mobile Swarming by Chrome Cobra

Next up is ‘Mocktail,’ a very upbeat 4 on the floor track, with another case of that distinctive groove. Instrumentation is very well done, even if it’s simple, and the melody is probably the catchiest out of every track in the EP (in my opinion). The main drive of the melody is arpeggios and very prevalent high vibrato lead. The drops mirror a lot of what goes on in the intro, but with more attention placed on the arps and intense bassline, and with the latter one being more solo focused. All around, it’s a fun track.

Mobile Swarming by Chrome Cobra

Track 4, however, is something I never expected, and it’s a remix of Trey Frey’s classic hit ‘Refresh.’ Harkening back to the style of sampling with ‘First Strike’ it uses external synth sampling to its advantage and leads into probably one of my favorite drops to come out of LSDj in recent memory. Saying it hits hard is an understatement, and the instrumentation in the wav channel paired with the intense pulse blips really pulls no punches. Definitely a must listen.

Mobile Swarming by Chrome Cobra

To close out the release, we have the title track, ‘Mobile Swarming.’ This track starts off with some interesting pulse dissonance, and really drives hard with the manual wav channel bass. Sampling is done exceptionally well and drops to a melodic based 4 on the floor beat that I really dig.

Overall, this is a must own for any chiptune enthusiast, and especially for anyone who’s been following Planet Zaxxon or looking for some new interesting LSDj beats. I give it a 9/10.

– Nanode OUT!!

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Chrome Cobra:

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Planet Zaxxon:

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Mobile Swarming by Chrome Cobra

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