Overview

NanoSweep is an ongoing series of original music that was initiated in 2004 by various members of NanoSounds and Supersweep. It usually features members from each of these companies and occasionally a guest composer. This is the fourth original album and features compositions by Ryo Watanabe, Roykun, Hiroshi Okubo, Yousuke Yasui, Shinji Hosoe, and Ayako Saso.

Body

Ryo Watanabe reprises his role from previous NanoSweep albums with "Blaze Out." This is another jazz infused electronica piece. It's quite the bouncy piece, with a great beat and some exotic melody lines. The piano is easily the best part of the entire composition, as it lends some nice contrast to the rest of the elements in the piece. Ryo Watanabe is a master of combining electronica and piano, something he'll do in future NanoSweep albums!

"RockStars," Hiroshi Okubo's contribution, reminds me a lot of his Ridge Racer works. It's got a fantastic beat, vocal samples that remind me a bit of Steven Tyler from Aerosmith, and a nice fusion of rock and electronica elements. It doesn't really develop too much in terms of beat, but overall, it's a wonderful composition.

Saso returns with "Revival V." If I were to compare this to another one of her compositions, I would describe it as a less intense "Junk plant." It features an industrial beat, some vocal samples interspersed throughout, and some spacey synth sections. It's pretty crazy, but I find it to be one of Saso's weaker NanoSweep contributions.

Shinji Hosoe contributes "Vaolent fluctuation" to the album. Like "Lock'n roll," it features an industrial beat. At times, there are also some serene sections, but for the most part the composition features an industrial beat with some pretty awesome synth melodies. Hosoe is always able to craft some creative pieces, some with more success than others. I consider this one a success.

"eve," composed by Ryokun, is a rather mellow electronica composition, that boasts an ethereal atmosphere. While the development is subtle and does go somewhere, I'm not really a big fan of this composition. It's good for relaxation, but if you are driving, you might fall asleep at the wheel!

Surprisingly, Yousuke Yasui has my favorite piece on the entire album, "Expressive Air 06." As I've said before, Yasui is hit or miss with me on these NanoSweep albums, but he crafted some pure genius here. It's a nice disco infused electronica piece with some jazzy brass accents. It's extremely catchy, extremely bubbly, and extremely fun to listen to, especially the guitar solo in the middle! I swear, this piece could be on Dangun Feveron. In fact, if there is ever a sequel, I really hope Yasui is part of it.

Summary

NanoSweep 4 is definitely an improvement over NanoSweep 3, but at the same time, it's not a huge improvement. There were some compositions on there that meander a bit, but at the same time, there were some that blew me away, namely "Expressive Air 06." This is another one I recommend picking up if you have the chance.