Yeah, I'm seeing the evil dude at a night club waching all the foxy ladies moving to this slinkily as the lights are flashing all around the dance floor.  Sooooo that means you got me!!  It makes me want to get a strobe and dance around my desk.  Ha!!!!  Now, can you imagine that?  LOL  
rfiy:  Welcome to the board!!!

Thanks for all of the comments, everyone!  I appreciate you taking the time to listen.   It's interesting what different ears pick up!   I think I can cure that "flatness" in the mix with a little EQ.    To clarify, I certainly don't mind being categorized as soundtrack music -  I just wish the movie producers would hear it that that way too!  ; )

Hey, it only took me two years and a couple months, but I finally got around to making a new mix of this piece!   It turns out that the good people of this forum were right...  the mix was flat and murky.  I've warmed it up greatly using strategic EQ as well as the console emulator.  I also employed buss compression to tighten up the mix.   Any comments on the new mix are greatly appreciated!

https://soundcloud.com/ascent-music/vertical-bird-2013-bruce

This new mix sounds good to me.  The song is dark and moody and certainly has a soundtrack quality.  I liked the second song (Adaptation) even better.

Thanks, Lynn!   I appreciate you taking  the time to listen.

Hey Bruce,
Just the other day I was going through some old files and stumbled across the original Vertical Bird.
I like where you went with it. This version has a lot more life to it. Nicely done.

Bruce, this is nice - you definitely go it going on.

The new mix is better. While I love what's going on with the song, I have to agree with the first comment. It lacks melody. I know you said it does but it's a string of riffs all put together.

Mix wise, placing things across the field better will make this even better.

Excellent work!!!

Robert, Robert and Mark,  thanks so much for the positive reinforcement.   It's always discouraging to go back to a mix I did a year prior and realize it sounds muddy and dead!  This one was good oppportunity for experimenting with the mix, and will likely influence what I'm doing going forward. 

As for melody, I guess it's in the ear of the beholder!  ; )    I'll agree that it's more of a repeated theme than a melody.