a couple of my mp3s were reviewed at www.raw42.com by someone called tal on june 21, 1999. it's a pretty accurate review except for the fact that "i wish you were mary" has no synth.

as i sit at my desk and write this very review, i'm listening (for the fifth time) to the four windom earle tracks selected for review: trashyoldnoize, i wish you were mary, suck it (the remix), and degrassie funk. i've been reviewing and making electronic music for about five years. i don't consider myself an expert, and my honest opinion is that everyone should form his or her own opinion on music because sound is something we all perceive individually and the experience of listening is a very subjective, almost introspective experience. we seek to find in music something that moves something inside of us. this is not very emotional music. this is not the kind of music you listen to when you want to do some serious soul searching... it's nice background music though. but wait, i've jumped the gun, let's look at each song individually:

trashyoldnoise is a mellow cute track. what came to mind while listening to it initially was the overall sound of moby's i like to score album. melodic background music... oh you know, the fluffy stuff. and then, out of the cute, fuzzy, happy joy joy cloud it hit me! this sounds a lot like one of those keyboard demos. know what i'm talking about? like when you buy one of those casio keyboards and it has a demo button on it, well, this sounds just like one of those tracks. with the exception of the sarcastic (?) vocals, i don't know, it didn't bother me too much, it just didn't really do anything to me. the synth xylophone gets annoying after a while, in much the same way i'd imagine circus clowns get annoying if they overstay their welcome, which is probably why nobody laughs at "pie in the face" jokes anymore.

i wish you were mary has this really nice rhythm guitar thing going that i actually didn't mind the played out poppy four on the floor beat, but why oh why did they have to kill this track with an annoying synth sound as the lead. i guess if you kind of phase out the annoying synth in this track (like phasing out jar jar in the new star wars movie), it's not half bad for a pop track without vocals.

i actually liked suck it (the remix). all one minute and forty one seconds of it. whoever plays the guitar or got the guitar samples is cool in my book. i dig guitar (or for that matter, any analog instrument) implementation into electronic music. the beat is old, played, and doesn't have as much of an impact as it should, but now i'm just being picky.

degrassie funk made me finally realize what this music would be perfect for: video game music, like one of those overhead nintendo 64 games where you're a little character running around solving silly puzzles. i think windom earle should submit their music to nintendo and playstation game design companies. this track is cute, has a nice, melodic, almost addictive climax, and ends well.

overall, windom earle makes what i like to call "little fluffy music." cheesy synths on top of poppy beats, and it's a formula that works for a lot of people. i can't see myself listening to this or paying good money for it, but i certainly wouldn't mind if someone played it for me, especially if it was during one of those nintendo puzzle games. windom earle is what happens when new age confronts pop in a dark alley and they go at it, bitchslapping each other silly until they make up and decide to be, like, y'know, best friends forever, and go shopping for cute outfits at the nearest mall.