PUBLIC HOUSE

The PD scene is a bit quiet at the moment. Every group in the world seems to be beavering away on their 'forthcoming' megademo to the exclusion of all else. So it's up with the shirt-sleeves and time for a quick dip into the alarmingly depleted YS stock of elderly demos.

Sing in Lines 5 128K
By Busysoft
Reviewer: Jonathan Nash

Remember Psychedelia? Well, Song in Lines 5 is a similar sort of light synthesiser doohickey. The difference this time is that SIL 5 supplies its own tunes - thirty-seven of 'em to be exact. And rather fab they are too, ranging in style from cover versions of film themes to original and spookily good compositions. Eleven of these songs are from a chap called Voodoo, but the main chunk has been written by Franxoft. (Yes, I know that's not his real nickname, but his real nickname's a bit, erm, dodgy, so I'll stick to Franxoft thankyouverymuch.)

But back to Song in Lines 5 itself. By prodding a variety of keys you can select the type of shapes that whang around the screen, their colour, and a bunch of obscurely named but extremely natty effects. Very big, very fast filled circles with trails and reflections? Step this way. Enormously huge but dignified vector triangles that squirm about the place like neurotic worms? What luck - we've just had a fresh consignment. Eighteenth century furniture with provenances stating it was written on, slept in, or burned as a political statement by Jane Austen's Latin tutor? Don't be silly, this is a Speccy light synthesiser doohickey. Tch.

Song in Lines 5 is a great deal of fun to play around with. Yer average demo has maybe three or four effects and so has a fairly limited appeal. SIL 5 has, in a very real and foolishly exaggerated sense, billions and trillions of the blighters and can keep you going for hours just staring at the funky patterns in a vaguely hypnotised sort of way. (Hey! Wooow! Etc etc.) And, yes, the music really is that good. In fact, for sheer entertainment value, I'm going to give it an outrageously high mark.