OCR01066 - Castlevania 'Belmont Lounge'

[djpretzel]

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

[danny B]

UH oh!

I guess it's my fault for not including the link, but this version is very out of date!!!

This is a very old version, before I did major work on most of the problems that djpretzel mentioned! ahh!!

If you can change it to this one, I'd be very much obliged!

-Daniel

EDIT - Fixed! Thanks djp, you rock.

[Protricity]

A real Baranowsky favorite of mine. This, like many of his pieces, I hear through its entire developement.
At first, the sound quality wasn't all that sharp as his samples were pretty bland, but what hit me the most was that even with crappy samples the song still rocked. He broke right through that barrier with the right application of skill and technique. It was a nice advocate for the promotion of skill over sample quality, which is what I'm all about.

And now... its the same song with much better samples, so a bonus :)

Very nice.

[KagatoIuchi]

I can really say this is awsome. I was stunned. Seriously.

[Dj Orange]

Cool. The drums are hot and cold. Not all the piano chords seem to fit; some seem to create "bad dissonance" to me, although I am musical riff-raff, and have supposedly committed crimes against jazz myself :lol:, so meh. The piano sample itself brings this mix down a bit (I would have preferred a wurly-rhodes or some other kind of electric piano). The part with the sax is my favorite - the defining moment of this remix!

Epic. Yes, it's cheesy, but I can aquire taste for that kind of stuff quickly. :D

[BlackPhantom]

Wow, this is elevator music. This is really something that would be played in an elevator or doctor's office. Quite nice.

[Isk]

around 1:16 the tempo changes with the introduction of a bass and later what sounds like a distorted guitar. it's almost too soft but it lends a nice background as the pianos come back. I really like the bass here, seems like you've spent some time on it. it does its own thing while following the other instruments at the same time (especially around 2:19).

At 2:23 you add some more percussion elements which again keep the song interesting without taking over. Around 3:23 is an organ and 3:32 a sax while the drums switch to hi-hats while...lots of instruments keep entering and exiting and returning. No complaints with the ending.

This whole song is just a school in variation, melodically and instrumentally. Top notch work, especially with the drums.

[White Mage]

Note to the downloader: This song is great while stoned.

[danny B]

Note to the downloader: This song is great while stoned.

That is single-handedly the best review i've ever recieved.

-Daniel

[LibertyCabbage]

Heh this is one of my faves :) not mine tho

http://www.boomspeed.com/indigo_fury/avatrix.gif

as for the song, I didn't like it cuz it was like elevator music... which was intended

[Skyline3092]

Yes...long have I waited for a Castlevania ReMix such as this one. It has a nice blend of minor chords as well as great variations on themes. The transitions between the songs are absolutley flawless and well worked out. The use of the saxophone is just marvelous. Also the use of vibes and organ are wonderful. Great job. Really.

[Blowbo]

Second best Castlevania 1 remix, #1 being the classic Minibosses Castlevania cover.

[Fray]

I will never, ever understand the video game remixing community's collective fixation with lounge music. Correct me if I'm wrong, but said fixation does in fact exist... Well, at least it's better than Mariachi or something...

That being said, this is f**king amazing. There's really nothing I can say that djp didn't already, but this is an instant classic.

One small gripe -- I thought the EQing on the mix as a whole was a little treble-heavy. Still, that's largely a matter of taste, and if you're like me and you're picky about that sort of thing, you can fix it to your heart's content with the Winamp EQ :)

Great, great stuff.

[LibertyCabbage]

"#1 being the classic Minibosses Castlevania cover."

uhhhh... SIMON'S TOWN ANYONE

Simon's Town >>>>>>> MiniMayhem

Mini's still a nice remix but Simon's Town is easily the king of Castlevania

[Lulanie]

It was great then it went on and on and on .....etc. I like it a lot but its just to long. Other then that I have nothing more to say.

[EvilHorde]

Well, this is very "loungy", so it suites the title quite well. I love the sounds. Very good. Ang good piano work also. Great job with the Castlevania 2 song in the beginning. The power the tune has is well transformed into piano version. Great choice, instead of going Digimatics way and making it super bombastic.(God I love that mix though. The best) Well anyway back to this mix.
The idea of using many songs in one is excellent and serves the purpose perfectly. The bouncing from one song to another really brings to it more lounge-feeling, and the feeling that it´s performed and played for real. I can imagine a big-band playing.
All in all a splendid remix. Very well made and everything is used well. You got some tight drumfills here and there! This songs power comes from somewhere else than throbbing bassdrums or hard squeeky synths. The power lies in the balance and good playing.(I don´t know, sounds kinda played, but is it sequenced? If it is, great sequencing!)
No complaints. I like the fresh idea and the great wai it´s put together. And the sounds are good too. This is not maybe my every-day music that I tend to listen, but it will stay on my hard-drive, and I´m sure I´ll get back to it many times. This is the kinda song that needs a certain athmosphere and feeling... Thanks for a great remix!
5/5

[Ryan8bit]

It's cool to hear all the various songs from the game, but as one piece, I don't feel that they work. I did like the additions from SOTN a lot though. It should almost have been listed as multi-game, but I don't know if the database is capable of that.

And it's probably just my opinion, but I don't know if Castlevania was really meant for laid-back jazz music. Obviously though, this is just an interpretation that totally focused on the music rather than the theme of the game. But when I think Castlevania, I think evil or dark music. Like symphonic, rock, metal, industrial, etc. But it's ok to think outside the box, and this surprisingly works with some of the songs, especially the SOTN ones.

[Kamikaze Noodle]

Aggh the cheeese!!! Well, since it's intentional I won't take any points off for it. :wink: This is just superbly arranged. I mean, I wouldn't have thought it possible to pull off a Castlevania lounge music medley at all, but voila! Not only is this one, but it's also very fun to listen to. The drumwork, despite sample quality, is excellent, and the transitions are fantastic. Just all around nice work, Mr. baranowsky. And that's why you get this: :nicework:

[Zeenbor]

A nice, smooth remix of a bunch of great castlevania songs. Drums, Piano, and the mixing is quite impressive. I'd even go far as saying it's insperational.

[osaki]

i liked it, it was quite nice...

[Ellie]

Is it wrong that when I first listened to this I broke into a fit of giggles? This is hilarious! But, it's great! Very interesting interpretation of a classic.

Great piano work. Glad you went with the organ instead of the guitar.

Around 2:20 and 5:10 I found myself almost forgetting that this was a "lounge" arrangement. Almost felt like it was getting ready to take on a different form. (My brain kept wanting to put in critiques for a trance feel.)

Anyways, very clever. Very nice sound. Something you have to be in the mood for though as it's kind of unique. :)

PS. You weren't playing "The Sims" when you got your inspiration for this, were ya? Scary similarities to this and some BGM for that game.

[bonerxsxex]

I like this a lot.

4/5

The cymbals seem off to me during the first minute... but I guess that was intentional? Whatever, it's still good.

[HUNGRYWOLF]

This isn't cheesy at all, it's amazing. In some places it's like a cross between Castlevania and Persona. That's unbeatable.

The way this thing flows, you'd think it was orginally written as one piece. The author (Dan what's-his-face) gives these cool little Castlevania tracks a worthy second coming without resorting to doing a boring heavy metal mix or butchering the original work with a shithead techno mix.

This is basically one of the few ReMixes worth keeping on my hard drive.

[Reynard]

A long song, but it keeps me smiling the whole way through. I don't have much to say here, since I don't think I've ever sat down and beliberately listened to lounge music before. Shades of SimCity and the Sims jumped out at me at first, but that passed pretty quickly. It's something different, that's for certain. 8 out of 10 for being original and keeping it interesting.

[Rapyer2986]

Great for riding up a 20-story building and cleaning the house! No, really it's a pretty good mix that I like to kick back on the couch and read a quick insert of a book. It IS lounge music and a busy one at that. Nice.

[BlueEnvy]

great job...long, but always keeping me interested. Samples are quite nice. Worthy addition to anyone's collection of castlevania remixs. Im definately keeping it.

[The Tragic Prince]

I really like this, but I downloaded an older version of it, and I don't know why but I liked one of the samples in it better. Like I said this is great, but my favorite Castlevania remix will always be CastleMania by AmIEvil.

[STS]

Definately like this one. It's got a smooth, laid back sound to it. When I was browsing the section and saw this, I thought it'd be a simple remix with a jazz kick, but was blown away by the style of this remix. Excellent piano parts and well conducted drums.

[Lizz]

Baranowsky never fails to amaze. Very relaxing. Is it just me or does this have sort of a "flat" sound to it? Otherwise, it's fine.

[DragonFireKai]

This is great, it's leisure suite simon in the land of the lounge lizards. It's Castlevainia in Cheap Polyester instead of Hardcore Leathers. I love it. It's so cheesy that it trancends all cheesiness. the instumentals fit perfectly.

[SixthFlyingMan]

Let me put it this way: The remixers here (Most notably goat, but this peice also has played a huge part) have managed to entirely destroy and replace my blanket opinion of Castlevania music. I saw it as crap, but just a couple times through listening to this and StainedGlassFilth.... Great job, Mr. B.

[OmegaSephiroth]

I love how they snuck in some songs from SotN, seeing how I love the music from the game and that you really dont see to much it anyplace, and there it is blanketed nice and snug in the song, and It sounds darned good to boot. More more more!

[Rychan]

This song rocks

It flows and builds so, so well. One of those songs that I can keep on repeat for a long time. Kudos.

[RimFrost the Tourianist]

I've had this amazing remix for a long time now..I love it to the max. But i never gave it a post before so i'll do that then...

+1 to Mr. Baranowsky

:)

[Trentdaddy]

A wonderful remix. I usually prefer a mix to remind me of the game (I hate it when I can't recognize it), but this song blows that thought away. Does remind me of Sim City/The Sims at times, but that is all gravy with me. I honestly think that this could be put in a lounge (maybe even elevator music) and it would sound like authentic Lounge music.

People here have noted the SOTN samples with positive opinions. I like them in there myself also, but they actually seem less "loungey" to me.

These are one of those songs that the genre works the game music, not the other way around.

A definitely well done remix that is certainly going on my Castlevania mix disc(s).

[Phoenix Down]

My varity in music didn't change much until toward the end of my High School years when I was a Junior and on. I got more into Jazz and well, where am I going with this? I enjoyed the remix. It definately is an interesting remix to say the least. However, even I am having a hard time trying to come up with words to describe this remix. I can tell you I enjoy listening to it when I do homework because it helps me focus, which in a way proves it's good at getting someone to focus on something they are trying to get done rather then trying to pick the thing apart instrument by instrument. It's just a very simple piece that I feel stands on its own due to its rather unusual style, I say unusual because I haven't heard anyone else attempt such a remix in such a way. Definately gets my two thumbs up of approval as far as good listening music goes.

[42]

my intention was to convey the cheesy, homogenous nature of lounge music, as if the Belmont Family had started up a bar band to jam out their zombie fightin' frustrations.

While I don't know if Daniel was stating if his mix is cheesy or if lounge music as a whole is cheesy, this mix is not.

It's not really jazz, but it's close enough. Its still smooth, mellow, and good.

Even still, I can't really find myself liking this one. I want to, but I can't really put my finger on why though. :-|

[SoulinEther]

I kinda agree with 42 on this one. It's good, but it's not something I would (usually) purposefully want to listen to attentively. For me, maybe I just feel that a medley of songs which doesn't vary too much from the original (other than in tempo and instrumentation), even if the songs are really slickly combined together and sound so laid-back and flowing, doesn't hold my interest as well as a remix centered around one to a few themes/melodies.

Still, it is worth a listen (or perhaps multiple listens, or longterm love), because it is interesting.

[Dhsu]

Oh my.

Danny's definitely come a long way since this was posted. :lol:

[OA]

So a pretty good medley, but besides the strength of the original themes, there isn't much about the arrangement that really captivates me. It was pleasant enough while I was listening, but nothing compels me to hit 'repeat'. I agree with Dhsu, Danny B has come a long way.

[ahrgauss]

Something about this kind of feels like Castlevania meets Persona, which I suppose is understandable, since Persona is very pop-lounge feeling at times.

I'm usually not terribly fond of Lounge remixes, but I rather dig this one.