ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Savage Seduction'

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OCR00999 comes in courtesy of he-who-doth-obsess-over-DKC-music, Ari Asulin aka Protricity. This time it's the second DKC, in a swing-time electro-funk that's very late 80's/early 90's in its dense mixture of funky, processed pop drums, a variety of well-programmed synth leads, an equally impressive variety of uber-groove, meaty synth basslines, and overall slick production quality. In particular, the basslines in this six-minute opus are an improvement over Ari's previous work, and stand out not just as a competent anchor for the track, but as a highlight unto themselves. This is essentially a medley of several tracks from DKC2, though things remain at-tempo and in swing-time throughout, making the transitions smooth and natural. There's some great drum slicing+processing towards the mid-section, with attention paid to balance and effects at all times. I'd normally have some reservations about a piece that basically cycles through several motifs without an overall hook or dominant motif, but this is an unabashed jam track. Actually, it sounds similar to the demos you often hear built in to professional synth workstations, which in serving their designed purpose of showing off the hardware's power also usually skip from bit to bit, cycling through different sounds, with very fine-tuned solos, breaks, effects, and bass action. That's something of a compliment, especially in terms of production quality and glossy, flamboyant arranging. This has more of an all-out jam, "for the hell of it" feel than some of Ari's other pieces, and proves that he's still able to pull very fresh, new musical interpretations out of the Donkey Kong Country universe. As we move to the next thousand ReMixes here on OCR, it'll be interesting to see whether that remains the case, or whether Ari and other series-preferential ReMixers begin to spread out their source material a bit more. I'm all for variety, myself, but in the end it boils down to a question of personal inspiration for each individual artist, and I wouldn't have it any other way. Kudos to Protricity for one of his most impressive works to date, showing some new style+panache in the process. Recommended.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Oh yeah, this is a good one to groove to. Just feel that beat and move yo' feet! The only thing that would make this remix of the Lost World Jungle....is.....(gotta say it).....more cowbell! I really like from 4:19 to 4:50. Good mix of that particular chorus.

- Crulex on February 6, 2010
Funky and creative, with some good variation, this is definitely a quality mix. I dig the difference in sounds for the different sections, and this overall is pretty great. Nice work.

- OA on October 28, 2009
2:13 - 2:53 is kinda annoying. Keeps the basis of the repetition going on the whole time, on top of an annoying melody. Afterwards it repeats the same thing except a lot better sounding, though still repetitious. I like everything before 2:13, though. By the time the cowbell is gone (at a good place to stop, though), the song doesn't seem like it really finishes even when it's doing all that varying percussion work and staticky-wind effects. I put this on a car cd thinking it was going to be awesome the whole way through, but compared to Assembly Line Apparitions being right before this track on the cd, it was rather weak after 2:13. Cool whole-song if you're obsessed over DKC.
edit: seems like I like it more now somehow. The beginning still does sound really good, comparably.

- Audity on April 25, 2006
this was one of the first songs, that i've listen to on this site and it's my favorite funkmix. the drums are really kickin' ass. awesome job just like BramblesInTheBreeze.

- archi on February 4, 2006
linkwolf wrote: :D i can't stop moveing, i just love this song. it remind's me of stuff like janet jackson and other 80's and 90's pop grops. big up's on this one man,i'm saveing it right now. keep up the good work.

I agree to the fullest, the 80´s has made a tremendous comeback using Pro as their tool....or maybe not. WHO KNOWS?
With that put aside, this was a real groovy mix from the man himself. He dug up some cool style from the past to make the music today. Ironic eh? Anyway, loved it. Can´t really say much about what you, used, some very good synths, beats and funky drums. This sounds like Michael Jackson, maybe even better!

- Bummerdude on September 30, 2005
:D i can't stop moveing, i just love this song. it remind's me of stuff like janet jackson and other 80's and 90's pop grops. big up's on this one man,i'm saveing it right now. keep up the good work.

- linkwolf on August 30, 2005
Makes me dance. Pretty song. :)

- Demko on January 11, 2005
DKC2 jungle theme has a similarity to the underwater theme in dkc1, but I certainly remixed the DKC2 jungle theme. Certainly did not borrow from DKC1. If anyone borrowed from that game, it was dave wise (who wrote aquatic ambience as well).

- Protricity on November 14, 2004
Qyzbud wrote: I've noticed that part of the tune in the DKC2 jungle track is borrowed from DKC's underwater stage... This could make it tough for some to classify...

In the truth [b]ORIGINAL[/b] music is thus. It really has a similar part with the underwater music of the Donkey Kong Country.

- Txai on November 14, 2004
This remix is very good! the Jungle version from Protricity is excellent!

- Txai on November 14, 2004
I haven't played Donkey Kong Country 2 in a long time. Even with that fact, I really enjoyed this remix! I partially recognized the melody from the original but even if I hadn't, I would still listen to this song again and again. Nice job Prot, keep giving us more Donkey Kongy remix goodness!

- Lavos, Devourer of Time on November 6, 2004
I got a jungle fever, and the only prescription is...MORE COWBELL :D
I had trouble picking up the melody on the first go, but the end was recognizable. I then listened to it again and it made more sense. Pretzel's right. All the funky sessions in this track are appropriate for one of those synthesizer demo things...or perhaps a Bollywood film :lol:
Keep up the great work, Prot!

- CC Ricers on July 29, 2004
Hardcore Jungle Funk maybe ?
difficult to say ..but i loved this one all the same :D

- RimFrost the Tourianist on July 22, 2004
I had a hard time placing this, until I got to 4:01. That's one of my favorite parts, Only because, what I love most about ReMixes is how you can hear the original part of a song. If something's too ReMixed to recognize the original track, I don't like as much as others. This was hard for me to do, but I still actually like this one alot.
As for this Aquatic Ambience/Jungle connection, I don't hear a resemblence.

- StarKirby on March 16, 2004
Proticity does the job again!
Another nice remix. Has a good beat to it as well. It took me a while to realize that it was the jungle theme from DKC2! Another killer one, but Assembly Lines Apparitions is still my favorite from Proticity.
Come on, make a killer Kannon's Klaim remix. Everybody wants to hear one now! :lol:

- maplejet on September 5, 2003