ReMix: F-Zero 'Voices Broken'
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- Game: F-Zero (Nintendo, 1990, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): JigginJonT
- Composer(s): Naoto Ishida, Yumiko Kametani
- Song(s): 'Mute City'
- Posted: 2006-04-05, evaluated by the judges
So yes, the whole "OverClocked ReMix Subscriber Account" was strictly an April Fools arrangement. One, however, that as some of you noted did potentially help remind people that the site's considerable bandwidth is provided at no charge, and that there's implications to that. Special thanks to Jesse and Jon for putting together a truly anthematic mix that well illustrated the dangers of long-form arranging: as doctors have shown in labs, it can clearly lead to goofy lyrics, sax/piano contusions, and meandering lapses into "Peanuts" and "Hey Jude"... tis potent stuff. Not that there aren't potentially those rarest of rare cases where mixes longer and and larger than 6MB would be completely and utterly justified, but to clarify, we are retaining our six megabyte limit, which has served us well in the past and shall continue to do so. In other news, in the next couple weeks you should be seeing some fairly significant changes to OCR's layout and design. The basic guts are being retained, along with the color scheme and menuing system, but there'll be a bit more definition to the left and right columns, more consistency on ReMix, song, game, composer, and ReMixer detail screens, consistent sorting and paging options, and in my estimation a slightly shnazzier look and feel to tables and other page content elements. It's the first phase of a series of changes to the site, the next being our migration of the forums away from phpBB towards vBulletin, and will lead the way towards other site improvements in '06. Also, I'm personally psyched, because I'm getting a room in my downstairs basement finished, and for the first time ever I'll have a dedicated home studio with concrete walls, so I can blast things at 2AM in the morning without wakin' the neighbors. Groovy.
JJT returns, sans Jesse, with an ACTUAL ReMix, his second from the F-Zero OST. The ReMixer writes:
"In 2003 I was a sophomore in college. My roommate owned a crappy Danelectro guitar, a crappy Squier P-Bass and an extensive collection of indie rock. This combination turned into a pretty effective outlet, and I would spend hours fumbling my clumsy piano fingers over a fretboard and experimenting with VST plugins. Time passed. Two semesters later I woke up and realized that I had lost an academic scholarship, gained a sense of alienation from my peers, and had somehow created a Cakewalk project full of sloppily recorded guitar/bass parts. They were fashioned into a crude likeness of the Mute City theme, and carried traces of the bands that had devoured my soul over the last year, especially Sunny Day Real Estate and The Pixies. It sounded cool in a raw sort of way, and I got some encouraging feedback from guys like Suzuembachi, Vigilante, and Ailsean.
Ultimately, I opted to forgo the project and channel my energy into starting unsuccessful bands and being a mediocre student athlete. Time passed. When I joined the panel in late 05 I decided to sit down and finish mixing this, because OCR doesn't have enough gritty mixes that sound like they were recorded in a Seattle area garage circa 1994. Rawk."
There you go - half biography, half ReMix etymology, the rise and fall of a second-rate Mr. T who never got a chance to pity the fool, yet still triumphed through courage, hard work, and student athlete mediocrity - we salute you. Far different from the solo piano landscape of 'Silent Progression', Jiggin's sojourn into the heart of Mute City (lots of signage there, I've heard) is a rockier ride, with the cackling grunge of electric guitars and drumming that has all of the energy of an epileptic fit, without the messy arhythmic side effects. The mix title sounds like it could be a song about male puberty, and in a way I suppose it is... or not, really. The source material is easily identifiable at 0'18", with the progression being setup beforehand, things mellowing out afterwards, and a cool, quick drum groove setting in at 0'54" as a ride cymbal picks up stage right and cleaner, warmer guitar takes over with the melody. 1'28" kicks it back to electric for a little break/chorus/what-have-you, then we jump back in, this time with rapid hi-hat action stage left. 2'23" cuts loose with an original electric guitar-hero lead, and things flow on from there. zircon writes:
"I like this. Very creative in the arrangement, and also in the timbral choices. The production is a little weird at first - it's not your standard rock song by any means. But the choices made are not necessarily bad and listening to it a few times, I don't think there are any major problems. The lead is a little soft comparatively but that is not a big deal. Lots of creativity, enjoyable."
I'd wholeheartedly agree that it's not mixed with orthodox rock levels, particularly with the decibel-impaired lead, but not all rock music is mixed the same, and bands like The Velvet Underground, The Strokes, and The Pixies all challenge rock/punk production comfort levels, so why can't mediocre student athletes? A compelling question, and one that JJT answers admirably. If you prefer your rock straight-edged, this isn't the droid you're looking for, but if you've a hankerin' for some edgier, alterna-garage-flannel videogame ReMixifyin', then here comes your mix.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the This is phenomenal. The production is raw, the guitars are dirty, and the percussion is in-your-face. That in itself is a recipe for awesomeness. But the energy... the energy is what truly makes this remix. It's passive-aggressive. The drums and guitars floor you right off the bat then leave just as abruptly, leaving you dazed with some almost-soothing bass noodling and contradictorily tense drumming. Then another guitar explosion! Then more subdued tension - with, like before, a six-string playing backup to the bass, and that's just freaking cool. Then the final kick-it-out starts at 2:23 and never lets up. I can't not air guitar this entire section, and 3:02... yesssss. Plus I hear a touch of angst throughout the song, and that makes it all the more moshable. For me, Mute City has literally become Voices Broken. The only reason I can imagine revisiting the source is for a little extra nostalgia, but even then this remix is simply too kickass to go back.
Rawk indeed.
- K.B. on January 28, 2009
Awesome job!
- Latency on February 19, 2007
- watkinzez on August 29, 2006
Edit: Forgot to mention, this is the best mix I've heard on OC so far. I'm not a fan of overproduction, I think the idea of what actually sounds real gets lost on some folks and what they think sounds real is some crystal clear abomination of the truth.
- MojoHamster on July 6, 2006
- Perrsun on May 2, 2006
but even I kinda like this one. so, that's saying a lot, while saying very little. oh the irony
- jorgandar on May 2, 2006
plus, I think someone bowled a worse game then I did next to me...
- MaxFrost on April 20, 2006
dbledit: Incoherent and abrasive and are the words I'd use to describe this piece. The drums really mess this one up, as does the volume of the individual parts.
- Bobwillis on April 17, 2006
MaxFrost wrote: I take back my comment on the lack of low end...I was listening on my headphones before and they don't push low bass quite as well as my speakers do. My only real critique about the bass now is that there's barely any accenting on it. it's there alright, but it feels like the attack is gone...
anyways, on to other things. The drumwork is phenom, not what I expected out of you.
Good work
The bass has barely any accenting on it because I really, really suck at the bass. Not as bad as you suck at bowling, but you get the point.
- JJT on April 11, 2006
anyways, on to other things. The drumwork is phenom, not what I expected out of you.
Good work
- MaxFrost on April 10, 2006
Burger Deluxe wrote:
Drums blah blah...but, still, being a drummer, that groove calls out to me. Especially the first 30 seconds or so, a great example of what I lovingly refer to as a drumgasm. A little showoff-ish overall...
Is it possible for a sequenced drum part to be "showoff-ish?"
Still, that comment made my day.
- JJT on April 10, 2006
Drums blah blah...but, still, being a drummer, that groove calls out to me. Especially the first 30 seconds or so, a great example of what I lovingly refer to as a drumgasm. A little showoff-ish overall...but, still a great explosive start to a very solid, very enjoyable 4 minute ride. And not generic, thank God.
Swell work here, Just swell.
- Burger Deluxe on April 9, 2006
- Gungriffon Geona³ on April 8, 2006
- Souliarc on April 7, 2006
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