[djpretzel]

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

[Lizz]

Oh man... I remember playing this game very briefly. I need to dig it out again.
This mix is very relaxing and chill. I like it. Nice work.

[The Orichalcon]

I've never heard of the game, and I haven't listened to many Israfel mixes. I just downloaded this out of curiosity.

That woodwind at the beginning sounds awfully familiar to the stuff out of C&C:Generals.

The percussion is good, makes me think of people in the middle east wandering the desert under the hot sun.

Can't think of much more to say. Some parts seem messy, and it wasn't the epiphany of interest, but it was all right, good background music.

[MaxFrost]

geeze...i've played this game...nasty puzzle game, had some really freaky parts...*shudder*...

[big giant circles]

Excellent remix. I've really come to love the mixes that are posted here that cover a less-covered genre. To be honest, I'm really not sure exactly what category this fits in...

But regardless, it's extremely enjoyable. IMO, most people can pull off the electronica bit. This, however, takes something else, and Israfel seems to have what it took. This is fantastic. Excellent work. I love the female "Ahhhhhhhh". The percussion is interesting and does a marvelous job in helping set the tone of the piece.

I could go on for a while, but I'll condense by simply saying I thoroughly enjoyed this, and I'd recommend it to anyone.

p.s. I'll be sure to put this on next time my girl is over here.

[GrayLightning]

Loved every second of it. Superlative work as usual.

[Fray]

Just gonna be a cheapo and paste my vgmix review for this one ^^


Oh! Glad you posted this one -- I'd heard it as a "WIP" sometime ago, and I'd since lost it. When you disappeared into the ether a few months back I thought I'd never hear it again :( Most of my comments will probably be rehashes of a review I wrote in the OCR WIP forum some time ago -- although that thread is probably long gone, I think it's the exact same mp3.

The problems with this one are pretty negligible, so I'll start with that:

- The vocals sound pretty good for the post part, but they can be distractingly synthetic at times. I get images of Celes singing the opera in Final Fantasy 6 :P Not much you can do about that issue though, short from buying some insanely expensive vocal software or hiring a singer.
- It makes good musical sense to have the piece exit the same way it entered; however, some of the later sections (from around 2:50 on) sound a little too rehashed. As I bounce back and forth between the two, I think I'm seeing some subtle differences in the percussion, but I think it's too subtle. Still, it's a "Jam", as the title would indicate, so it makes sense for the structure to be cyclical.

On to the good stuff.

- First and foremost, the emotional impact is excellent. I'm not sure of the exact technical reasons -- I just know that it brings out feeling in me; my chest muscles loosen and my lungs open up when I hear it. And not in some cheezy relaxation tape kind of way -- the closest comparison I'd draw is the way I feel when I listen to Indian classical music, which isn't terribly surprising, considering the tablas in the percussion. It's very meditative.
- Great job on picking out an ensemble. These instruments work very well together.
- You mentioned using some random time drift on the piano parts in an OCR thread, and I said I thought that was a bad idea. Well, at least in this case, I was wrong -- the piano sounds very natural. If you'd told me it was performed instead of sequenced, I'd have been fooled. The heavy player panning works out great too -- I love those first piano notes at 0:06 come in from the far far right.
- I really dig the vague catharsis at 1:51, it's really pretty.
- The echoing stacatto synth sound is used very effectively. The really fast arpeggios have an airy, whimsical sound which contrast nicely with the otherwise earthy groove.

Overall:

This is an old Fray favorite (Frayvorite?) that I'm happy to be reunited with. Highly reccomended.

[Liontamer]

Particularly impressive work here; I genuinely loved it. It's one of my few 5s over at Ormgas.com, which make up only about 40 tracks out of the near-1300 mixes.

And again, if you aren't feeling the structure initially, just give yourself a few listens to acclimate yourself to the cadance of the track. Loop it, familiarize yourself with it and enjoy.

In any case, this was indeed superlative work, and I really enjoyed djp's write-up on the mix, which spelled out all the great things about it. His comments on the hypnotizing percussion, insectile arpeggios, and the opium-like daze of sounds, for example, articulated the strengths of the track and do their part to enhance the experience.

Great job on the balance of authenthic and synthetic sounding textures, absolutely. Though you frequently hear those two sonic styles combined within the electronic/orchestral hybrid tracks at OCR, you're not going to find anything else at OC that works quite like this that isn't in fact Israfel's.

Excellent shit, once again Michael. You guys out there be sure to follow my sage advice in the mix writeup, by the way. My bro, BGC knows what the deal is. Would I really lead y'all wrong? Of course not. Don't make me spell it out for you. ;-)

[big giant circles]

Originally Posted by Larry

You guys out there be sure to follow my sage advice in the mix writeup, by the way. My bro, BGC knows what the deal is.

yes I do. In fact, I need to go out and buy her one of those sheer body chemise thingies, and one of those sexy face-veils that arabic women wear, light up some candles and let her dance. :D

Man. This mix is more and more captivating the further I let it repeat.

[Blake]

This sounds very professional. Everything sounds real, and the synths blend in and don't distract my ears from the message you're trying to send. I guess I shouldn't expect anything less from someone who knows so much in terms of musical theory. Good, chill stuff. :) Production is A grade.