OCR01405 - Solstice 'Pegasus Boots'

[djpretzel]

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

[Navi]

Crunk as a mofo.

I've always found myself liking Shna's "hard to appreciate/stomach" works, like this one, Hunter's Community Chest, Rare Mineral Addict, etc. I really can't explain why. Unlike Israfel, I'm not a wealth of music technical know (not trying to be sarcastic, btw), rather, I'm a listener, sometimes maker (I won't deny that Chauffage Au Gaz was influenced by Shna's work), who loves deviations from the norm.

Shna's "abstractions" never come off as messy or to me. Lo fi, almost always. Experimental, for sure. Confusing, sometimes. Requiring of many, many listens? Always. Each time I listen to a Shnamix, I find new things that I like about it, new sections that sound very cool, experiments with sound that stimulate.

Meh, maybe I'm a fanboy for this sort of stuff.

[richter]

Wow, what a mess. Way too many random ideas and conflicting instruments. The tossed-in beats were entirely too filtered for the rest of the atmosphere. And good lord too much high-end. I had a really hard time even finishing this one. The whole thing just really really didn't work for me.

Yikes... well... I wouldn't want to follow 'Dragon Song' either...

[ella guro]

I like this one a lot. All the stuff going on between the saxes starting around 1:30 is really interesting. There's definitely much going on here that a lot of people just plain won't hear or at least not hear on the first few listens. Even at the weakest points in between there's a certain kind of lo-fi cheesy appeal (starting around 2:18, for example) that makes it work. Of course it's occasionally frustrating as usual, but this one seems to have at least a bit of a different approach that is refreshing.

[Israfel]

This is a compositional tour de force, no doubt about it. Like many of his other works, Sam masterfully borrows from contemporary jazz and classical musics while at the same time demonstrating an ear for accessibility.

It's hearing the music of up-and-coming composers like Sam that persuaded me away from pursuing a career in music- there's just no way I can compete. :)

You rock, Sam, keep it up.

[ubernym]

This is a compositional tour de force, no doubt about it. Like many of his other works, Sam masterfully borrows from contemporary jazz and classical musics while at the same time demonstrating an ear for accessibility.

It's hearing the music of up-and-coming composers like Sam that persuaded me away from pursuing a career in music- there's just no way I can compete. :)

You rock, Sam, keep it up.

Well said. This is incredible. I don't even know the source tune, but I don't have to to realize that this is an amazing composition. Good job, Sam.

[Aetherius]

interesting stuff in here...

And, in order to seem like a total ass, I'm going to waiv my right to say anything intelligent about this mix and just say this:

I prefer the original. It's flippin' Sexy-ass Good God Y'all, Edwyn Starr Style, Shiznackety awesome....and therefore, better than this... But I still love you Shnubby.

[RimFrost the Tourianist]

What a dissonant remix it is :lol:

But i like it all the same..it's Shnabubula !

[Dave Harris]

I think this is one of the less-accessible tracks he's done personally. While there's not so much of the randomness and energy in this track as perhaps some of the other mixes on the site (some of the chaoticness in Hunter's Community Chest, for instance), I think it's the smooth and unnoticable transitions between the sections and general staticness of ideas (not so much musical progression as other mixes) throughout the whole track that might push peoples attention spans, especially when - as David has touched on - the ideas themselves are quite an acquired taste and tend to have a musical/theoretical leaning, rather than something that is written with the general audience in mind. Probably a hard one for people to grasp, here.

I first heard this all the way back in early June, and I wouldn't say it was my favourite mix of his, probably because LESS happens than I am accustomed to, rather than more :D, though I appreciate this mix a lot, and I certainly can listen to it and enjoy it. I'm feeling that it's Sam's most unique OCR to date, at least.

Much respect for keeping that enterprising creative voice at full throttle. Now to silently wait for the next one, whenever it comes around 8).

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Lots of notes.

Typical delicious Shna.

Make more like it please.

(In regards to Solstice being beaten in 7 minutes; a video is available here (http://bisqwit.iki.fi/nesvideos/489S.html) if that satiates anyone's curiosity.)

[Meiguoren]

This is exactly why I love Shnabalabulanabana's work. It's always amazing and always, in the words of burn out dirty hippies, "out there".

Shnabubula always manages to take interesting pieces and then translate then into something that I am never quite ready to listen to but am always ready to have. I must admit that I rarely string up all of his mixes and let them run. In fact I rarely ever pull just one of them up. But, like the copy of Incubus (starring William Shatner and filmed entirely in Esperanto) on my DVD shelf, I am always glad that I COULD listen to it.

With this piece in particular Shna manages to take an unwilling piece from my childhood and blow it up and turn it inside out.

Solstice ate my head when I was a child. It wasn't until Nintendo Power published the code for many, many little purple hats (back when the Classified Information section still looked like a manilla envelope (not to be confused with Manila, the city in the Phillipines)) that I was able to conquer the game.

You want to know how anyone can beat the game in under seven minutes? I want to know how to get more than seventy seven percent of the map. Find me a video of THAT and I WILL birth your children (even though China is keeping me from even birthing a healthy stool).

Bottom Line: I Heart This Mix. The theme returns to me from across the void of time and bites me in the ass. Reminding me both of my failure to conquer this game and of the dissonance that Shnabubula makes me adore to my core.

I'm a poet and I know it, my feet show it and they're Longfellows.

Nice work, as usual.

[Harmony]

LOL, The intro bells have me thinking "I want my babyback, babayback, babyback, Chiliiiiii's, babyback ribs" :D . Maybe it's just me.

I'm all over this lo-fi vibe. The distorted synths that sound as though they are struggling to hold themselves together, just so they can finish this last song, the mono drums that live in the background, and the delightfully dry feel of everything work so well in Sam's hands. Ahh, and the orchestra of saxes, fun fun fun.

Sam, your percussion sequencing really is amazing but somehow your mixes always show so much restraint there, not allowing the percussion to overtake the all-important melody unless absolutely necessary. Here, I'm not even able to beg for more drumwork simply because of the beautiful control that the saxes and synths exercise over both the rhythm and the melody.

Yada, yada, praise, praise. No surprise that this mix is more of your usual great stuff. Congrats on the DP man.

[Monobrow]

Ya know, I don't know. There are parts of this song where I am reminded of this one Bjork song with saxaphones playing the same notes over and over. (I love the song, but I can't remember the name) Although, this goes way past that. I do like the drums and the low low geetar. Even if the saxaphones are all over the place, the beat is still pretty easy to follow, as well as the progression. I think my favorite part is 2:15-3:15 though. I don't know if I could listen to something like this on a regular basis, but if I'm ever feeling mellow yet chaotic/confused...yup.

[DrkSummoner]

This is one of those like it or hate it type songs.

I find myself some place in the middle. I enjoy the original but the remix gives it a new spin. It is hard to choose which one I enjoy better.

[CHz]

You want to know how anyone can beat the game in under seven minutes? I want to know how to get more than seventy seven percent of the map. Find me a video of THAT and I WILL birth your children (even though China is keeping me from even birthing a healthy stool).
Check http://speeddemosarchive.com/Solstice.html; it has a 100% room run in fifteen minutes.

Also, this remix kicks my face in. In a good way. The only complaint I have is that of the sax sound, but that's minor because the interplay is awesome enough to make me forget about it. And the synths are rad. If it weren't for the crippling nostalgia I have for The Guardian Legend, this might be my favorite Shna mix.

[Dj Orange]

This is definitely one of Schnabubula's more "difficult" pieces, not the least because of the saxophone soundfont lead. You could substitute almost any instrument patch for the sax and this mix would sound the same or better. This piece's complex arrangment is what carries it from start to finish.

Schna's stuff is extremely encouraging for mixers who still rely on public domain samples. Great stereo effects, stylish, musically captivating: just plain awesome.

[Dhsu]

I've always thought sax is an all-or-nothing thing...either get a live player, or forget about it. This mix, unfortunately, is no exception. A synth or even some sort of EP would been much less hard on the ears.

But after :57, all is forgiven. Love it. :D

[Red Shadow]

OH MY FU-

YES!!

This is amazing. New favorite remix, right the fuck here.

[The13thAce]

Very unique song, reminds me alot of the "Saturn Valley" song from earthbound. very bizzare but i did enjoy it, i can definately see it going great as background music for a somewhat hectic area of a game.

[Wicked]

I said it in Rare Mineral Addict and I'll say it here, Shna, I heart this mix.

It's actually kind of funny because I owned Solstice for the longest time. EVERY time I decided to play it, I'd pop it in and twenty minutes later I'd slam the controller down, yank the game out and scream "FUCK THIS GAME!"

However, as much as I hated the game, the music would stick in my head for hours. I love it. It sounds so different from all the other NES music out there. In fact, now that I have it, I wonder why it took so long for a remix from Solstice to come out. I'm glad there finally is one and ten times gladder that it's from Shna. Ace.

[Lucid Faia]

I did a double-take when I saw this. Someone did a remix for the Solstice theme? Kick ass.

Actually, I was even more pleasantly surprised when I heard the remix, because it is outstanding. I am definitely liking this. I know some friends will get a kick out of it. Nice work.


Check http://speeddemosarchive.com/Solstice.html; it has a 100% room run in fifteen minutes.

Heh. That's my run. I also did a pure speed one in 6:42, but there's no video for that one.

[Meiguoren]

Your run is innapropriate. That is the best word for it.

Hours of my life dedicated to that game and all I managed to find was seventy some percent. Secret rooms under spikes? Insane-O leaps and credit collections? No death? FIFTEEN MINUTES?

Very nice, sir. I have finally seen every room in the game.

[playingtokrush]

You want to know how anyone can beat the game in under seven minutes? I want to know how to get more than seventy seven percent of the map. Find me a video of THAT and I WILL birth your children (even though China is keeping me from even birthing a healthy stool).
Check http://speeddemosarchive.com/Solstice.html; it has a 100% room run in fifteen minutes.
Jesus Fucking Christ.

[MrBogus]

I've tried listening to this many times, and it just doesn't jive in my head. I'm sure there are boatloads of structural nuances I'm missing, but this is one of Shna's mixes that is too inaccessible for me.

[Liontamer]

You want to know how anyone can beat the game in under seven minutes? I want to know how to get more than seventy seven percent of the map. Find me a video of THAT and I WILL birth your children (even though China is keeping me from even birthing a healthy stool).
Check http://speeddemosarchive.com/Solstice.html; it has a 100% room run in fifteen minutes.
Yeah, I just watched Lucid's speed run independant of this, and all I could think was "What the hell is going on with this game?" The gameplay never made any sense the whole way through.

But yeah, the mix is still good, but be sure to check out the source material. Personally, I was already open-minded to this without it. But for a lot of n00bs like MrBogus above it's just like EarthBound where, if you've never heard the source material, some of the wierder mixes apparently sound like dogshit.

[MrBogus]

n00bs like MrBogus
Ouch.

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

Have I mentioned how much I want to choreograph something to this? Cause I TOTALLY do.

[watkinzez]

Shna's "abstractions" never come off as messy or to me. Lo fi, almost always. Experimental, for sure. Confusing, sometimes. Requiring of many, many listens? Always. Each time I listen to a Shnamix, I find new things that I like about it, new sections that sound very cool, experiments with sound that stimulate.

Meh, maybe I'm a fanboy for this sort of stuff.

My opinion to a tee. You hear a Shna mix and time and again a section crops up where you think "Whoa, never heard that bit before. Cool". There's just so many layers that songs like Pegasus Boots work on that makes them the ultimate in replayability. And that's even if you don't know the source.

Now imagine if Sam did anything along the lines of hip hop.. possibilities?

[A Gang of Field Mice]

Current favorite remix.

[evktalo]

I've never played Solstice, but this track was an instant hit for me. Some of it reminds me of the band Battles, which I've enjoyed recently.

The contrast between lo-fi drums and the brighter foreground instruments creates a lot of space in the mix, I think. Either way, the arrangement is/sounds deliciously sparse, even with all the many many notes played. I agree with other posters that the sax sounds a bit artificial, but after a few listens it has started to sound more like a "feature" than a flaw. (The most bothering thing about the sax to me is that sometimes there's a jarringly louder note in the middle of a run, it's a subtle effect but makes it sound like it was cut-and-pasted together from two takes or something.. well, to me at least.) But any way, that's a minor criticism on an otherwise fabulous track.

Yay, first post.

--Eino

[Less Ashamed Of Self]

I've been listening to this track on loop a lot lately. It's just such a neat piece. I don't know anything that sounds even remotely like it.

[OA]

This track is just fun to listen to. I love interwoven lines, and Sam's stuff is always packed with them. Structurally, the sections don't always tie strongly to each other, but there is always so much going on, you can just jam. Excellent stuff.

[Marmiduke]

This is just a thicket of ideas sporadically twisted into the shape of music, and I love every second of it. Seriously, Shnabubula has the perfect ear for possibility; what something could sound like and not necessarily what it should sound like by normal musical standards. And that is a precious thing for a listener to have access to.
I certianly don't take this for granted. It supercedes any misgivings about sample quality and superficial rubbish like that. That is deviating from the entire point. This is more than entertainment. It's expression. Some people might find this mix to be like a foreign film without subtitles, and I don't claim to 100% 'get' this mix, but it's one of those things that just the fact it got made fascinates me. That's common among Shnab's work, but a total rarity in life.

[Polo]

I think this could totally fit the bill as the soundtrack to a film noir involving spies. The co-op saxophones take the source lead for a sexy slitherfest, i.e. they work sneakily while at the same time emitting a laid-back aura. Many of the other players, with their raw, distant, and gritty quality to them, help develop the darkly intelligent character of this mix. There's dust-scattering thumps, throaty synths that don't need cough medicine to sufficiently carry the source's primary/secondary melodies, and some DEEP bass lurkers (at 2:28, one of my favorite parts), to name a few examples. Also, the saxes seem like able contenders to guide the listener through the 7/4 time signature section (1:44 - 2:16), the "I wanna try something different" foray at 3:29, and the unexplored Solstice rooms at 3:38+ (which, amusingly, has a few moments of feeling like it needs to find its way back [3:56 and 4:05] before it does so successfully).

It's a musical maze that, for me, is easier to navigate than the game itself. Maybe if I donned a fedora and a trench coat and had a dim street lamp above my head...

[Legion303]

So I didn't even know about this until I went looking for "Dirge for the Follin" (where is that?). This remix is fucking awesome, and you can quote me on that. And I don't even like sax in the normal course of life, but damn if it doesn't sound great here. I'm far too lazy to host niceworkguy.jpg, so imagine it in this space: