Alterna Citizen Program M-00: Init (System Noise)

Listening: Bandcamp, CD-R (1), CD-R (2)

Info

TECHNOuchi’s original CD-R ChainDive album also included eleven new arrangements of his own compositions. Simultaneously with that extremely limited album, he released the arrangements as a standalone album on Bandcamp that’s actually broadly available for purchase. The digital release also has a secret bonus track, “Clues,” which is an arrangement of Hideyuki Eto’s “Decline of the City.”

The arrangements are all extremely similar to the original tracks, except now in full production instead of PS2 sequenced audio, so you could call them remasters with occasional small changes and additional layers. I’d expect that people would consider these the definitive versions of these tracks, although for a lot of them I actually prefer the original, either because the arrangement deemphasizes or removes my favorite elements (particularly “Sky Painter” and “Ruins of Tranquility”) or just because I like the original synths more (“Sorcery”). It’s pretty good as a standalone thing, though!

Recommended tracks:

• “Movin’ On” replaces the original’s bass with slap bass, which is important

• “Exceed” I think really benefits from the deeper sustain on the cymbal samples