OCR01293 - Donkey Kong Country 'Clouded Mind and Ringing Ears'

[djpretzel]

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

[jordex]

Whoa, before I knew it, the song was over

A nice short atmospheric, ambient type remix

Wasn't a DKC song like this laughed at a while ago in the judges forum?

ps: love the new name

[benevolensaurus]

This is an interesting mix... reminds me of a mine... or a forest... or a mine in the middle of a forest. Abandoned, mostly. Maybe on another planet. Or Half-Life (the first one, single-player), walking around the more factory-like areas.

It's not very intense or in-your-face, just sort of ambient and mellow and BGM-like, which is why it draws up images so well.

I like it, for its different-ness. It's pretty cool.

[Piejacked!]

Well, here it is. The one song from KiC that didn't make me want to stab things. I wish more remixers would let the composer's original material shine through rather than obscure it by perpetuating their own particular pet genre, ie. TRANCE. But that's just my opinion. Thankyou, Aetherius, for restoring my hope in OCR for at least another year. Awesome, awesome stuff.

[Icy Guy]

Well, here it is. The one song from KiC that didn't make me want to stab things.
Hey, if you didn't burn out on us, you could've made that two songs from KiC that didn't want to make you stab things.

With that said, this is a rather interesting mix, and certainly not something you'd expect to hear, considering that the source material is from a DKC game. It takes a while to get moving, but when it does (around 1:06), it sounds good. Sometimes the buzzing and effects can be a little unsettling, but other than that, we have a mix that's fairly well done and wouldn't sound out of place in an actual game.

[Txai]

Hey this is not expected of a DKC Mix. I totally agree with Dave; it also reminds me of CotMM's music.

I particularly loved when the beats decides to come in. These strings are expressing very interesting ideas; it sounds like a sad thing. I somehow enjoyed this stage and its music during my childhood. And this mix is no exception.

I will play this track eventually when it comes to mind. Awesome.

[EdgeCrusher]

YOU DID NOT WIN ME OVER ON THIS ONE STARKY!

[watkinzez]

TEH LINKK/E IS BROUKAN!!!111!!! GNO NOES!!!!!!!!!!1!1!!1

Sorry, I'm not very good at leet-ish. OCR seems a bit buggy at the moment, and as such I can't download the song. However, since I have the KiC release, it's reviewing time!

This song does an excellent job of seperating more "in your face" tracks on the album, but I can also listen to this by itself and it still does an admirable job. It would have been a challenge to arrange the rather empty original, so good job Atherius/DJ Starchild/Starky!

[Zenth Relin]

Hmm... I'm giving it a second try. Quite frankly, I'm finding it slow and repetitive. Now, I can't say that I don't enjoy slow or some repetative things, but this remix is pushing my limits for what I like, even when all I need is a nice remix playing in the background.

[A-RoN]

I wasn't very happy with this one. There was a melodic hook in the original track that wasn't in there (for those of you who don't know the original version it's a bell like instrument that plays 16 times right before the strings fade in). The repetition of the beat and the cling-clang thing was getting on my nerves after 2 minutes of it going straight. Other than that, the sound effects were excellent, and the strings really fit the whole Kong experience. It needs touch-ups but what's good is really good.

[Carboman]

Umm... boring and tuneless? sounds like background noise.

Maybe you can put a song on top of this? two thumbs up as background noise!

[Koelsch1]

Um... I was under the impression that music had notes.

[Aetherius]

in response to koelsch.
same to you, my experimental jazz loving enema.

[neminem]

Ok. I just need to ask. There's a sound right near the end (within the last 30 seconds) that sounds exactly like a printer. Is it one, or is it just a coincidence?

But yeah. Generally, I'm a pretty big fan, for all that I don't usually like ambient music much. It's nothing insanely special, but it's definitely pretty and non-annoying to listen to.

[jordex]

in response to koelsch.
same to you, my experimental jazz loving enema.pwnt

this song isnt bad, its just different, i don't think it would have been posted though if it weren't on the kong in concert album

the ambience is great

its a good song to just have playing while you're doing other stuff

[Aetherius]

the 'printer' sound is actually the sound of me banging on my desk rythmically, but processed and distorted...
IF you listen you can hear the rythm, but it's out of sync with the rest of the song.

[akachrismorgan]

great atmosphere, I lost track of this song when listening to Kong in Concert but its still great on its own.

Reminded me alot of the Phazon Mines in Metroid Prime for some reason. very eerie place either way. excellent mix if you like mellow ambience and great atmospheric songs.

[TheDro]

uhm... not that i'm experienced or that i've listened to that many remixes(slow internet is a long wait for 4 megs...) but i didnt hear a melodey, really. And it does sound like a printer at the end :p

[Klay]

You know, this is pretty bad. You could actually have done something with the track. Instead you...did nothing and just put some sound effects in and called it a remix.

[Liontamer]

You know, this is pretty bad. You could actually have done something with the track. Instead you...did nothing and just put some sound effects in and called it a remix.
Oh please. [/ambient bias]

[Aetherius]

given that I made the remix in the space of about 3 and a half hours (the half comes from remastering, and at least one of those hours was spent surfing for porn)

I can't defend the ReMix status so much, however, It's not my fault that it got posted, so, if you don't like it <insert judge hate here.>

yet, I feel it's a shame that my remixes suck, and my originals suck less, and I'll forever be known better for shitty remixes, than cool originals. Stupid SgtRama.

[Monobrow]

I liked this though...But I do agree that your originals are better.

[Shwenky]

I love the minimalistic approach... the bell sound fits in perfectly.

[Bummerdude]

Those strings in the beginning makes this sound like movie material. As many others already has stated, this mix does not have a melody, but sometimes it don not have to. All these beats and that echoing minebell made it onto my playlist, as I said in the beginning (one line up), this sounds like a touching scenario when the heroes/badguys/squirrels observes the situation and it doesn´t look good, or when Indiana Jones must release the children working in...THE MINES.

So, this is good material. Relaxing, background, I don´t care, Aetherius did a great job advancing it to the next level, and we all should thank him.
Thank you, dude.

[MechaFone]

Awesome. This is probably one of the most listened to songs for me when it comes to the DKC album.

[OA]

I am not finding a whole lot to grab onto here, so I grabbed the source just to hear what is being done.
The soundscape is well put together, but a lot of it doesn't really expand on the original at all. Progression is so subtle to almost be nonexistent.

Can't recommend this one at all; sorry. :-(

[Crulex]

Okay, so it's not ZOMG! awesome, but for a track whose source did basically nothing, this seems to be at least a bit better than that. I don't know what melody people are looking for, cause I heard a nice beat (bomp-bomp-bing, bomp-bomp-bing) in there. Minimal, but good enough for me.

[Emunator]

I was always pretty captivated by this song when I heard it on KiC. I know the DKC 1 soundtrack inside and out and I felt that the connection to the original was sufficiently present and well-expanded upon, which is my favorite part about the ReMix. Above all, this feels exactly like something you would expect to hear in a modernized remake of the original DKC.

Sure, it's not going to smash heads or win any awards for innovative arrangement but Aetherius did the best he could with the source tune, and that's to keep it simple and recognizable while giving the sounds a major upgrade.