ReMix:Super Metroid "Brinstar Bonsai Garden" 4:16

By Red Tailed Fox

Arranging the music of 2 songs from 2 games ( view all )...

"Brinstar - Red Soil Wetland Area", "Yearnings of the Wind"

Primary Game: Super Metroid (Nintendo , 1994, SNES), music by Kenji Yamamoto (I), Minako Hamano

Posted 2006-05-04, evaluated by the judges panel


You know it's a good day when the Wizards can go into OT, lose via a heartbreaking last-second shot from King James, and I can still walk away with a positive attitude on life, the universe, and everything; call it fate. At any rate, RTF, perhaps more commonly known as the Rich Text Format, but in these parts singularly Red Tailed Fox, has provided us with a peculiar Super Metroid ReMix that wanders far and yonder in a spacy lounge jazz arrangement. Some panelists criticized the mix for a bit too much meandering and some rather crazy-sexy-cool yet simultaneously unbelievable cello portamento, but the consensus was that the voicings here, i.e. the gist of the arrangement, were slick. I concur wholeheartedly - check the semi-reggae infusion at 2'50" for a perfect example of the variety RTF brings to the game. The production, while not crystal-clear, has an impeccable ambience to it that fits the composition like a glove. Anything cleaner would have been too lounge, which po! and Morse have covered just fine and which the mix doesn't really belong in, and anything wetter would have been trying too hard to achieve pseudo-realism through excessive DSP - I actually think the production is rather spot-on for this type of arrangement, and an improvement upon the mixer's previous work as well. Shariq writes:

"Oh man, this is so slick. I love the flute/string harmonies and that bassline. Comping piano is excellent. Great implementation of electronic elements too. Some of the instrumentation may come off as gratuitous, like the asian instrument around halfway through, but I didn't have a problem."

The flute/string harmonies were a highlight for me too - that's now how I *want* to hear the original. Any time a mix can put forth an arrangement idea, no matter how small, that makes me want to hear the original in the same fashion, I consider it a big plus. It's one of the things I shoot for in my own mixes - that one elusive harmony, countermelody, or rhythmic shift that I always longed for in the source material. I think RTF's accomplished that with some of the introductory harmonies offered up here. That being said, the mix could still have a bit more direction and development. At four minutes, I do think its stronger side is in its first half and not its second, but at the same time, plenty of songs are four minutes long that don't have a memorable first half OR second half. At any rate, I like where Caio's headed with his stuff, I think he could pair this approach up with some more formal structural elements with amazing results, and I'm looking forward to his next mix, and that should be saying enough.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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OA
on 2010-02-03 15:20:16

pretty interesting stuff that has a lot of surprises; with the intro, I was expecting a more electronic take on the source, but then it turns into a jazz combo with a fiddle or something lead. Nice piano comping and solos, and a cool rotary epiano mix well with the drums and bass.

Not my favorite style, but still some pretty strong work. :-)

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halc
on 2009-12-02 01:22:31

Some really cool trippy bits and processing in this. Flowing, beautiful music with a dirty groove and soundscape. Cool rhythms at 1:42, and an interesting little counterpoint at 1:56; I love the instrumentation in that section. The little keyboard breakdown at 2:35 was beautiful. I love it :nicework:

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Platonist
on 2009-03-07 12:18:24

love this, simply love it..

the tonal arrangements are gold

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Mr. Fox
on 2009-02-21 10:43:02
Horrible and demeaning analogy, I know, but that's the impression I get.

I like the analogy.

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Marmiduke
on 2009-02-20 22:51:51

This is pretty smooth stuff, which is actually strange because it seems to be like one of those drinks where you throw 4 random food items in a blender and that's your energy supplement for the day. Horrible and demeaning analogy, I know, but that's the impression I get.

There's a lot of loungy jazz, some Asian infused 'Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon' style string work and a sort of quazi reggae/dub influence. The shocking thing is the overall sound is bearable. It's actually more than bearable, it's pretty damn nifty. I'm not sure how the mix would have sounded if it were honed down to fit just one of those areas to full capacity; perhaps it would sound better, perhaps it would have turned out boring and lifeless. I don't know why I feel the need to justify decisions that I didn't make, so I'll just sign off simply saying: The mix works for me more than I think it should. Which is very welcome, in my books.

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42
on 2009-01-29 13:57:38

Some of the initial (within the first 30 seconds) background sfx are a little grating, but that doesn't really bog down this mix.

It's still great, smooth, jazzy, relaxing, contemplative, and an all around good listen. A must have for all jazz enthusiasts.

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Patrick Burns
on 2006-11-02 00:26:36
Am I the only one who thought that parts where the swing feel was lost (ie. 1:04) were kind of awkward?

This song came on my playlist and as soon as that section came up I remembered that I wanted to comment on that. I think it's very awkward. Having that melody played on the 16th offbeats or whatever doesn't sound right at all. I think something similar could have been pulled off but without every single note landing on a 16th offbeat (or whatever). Whatever that rhythmic sample is in the background, it's pretty nice---one of the highlights---but I completely looked it over when paying attention to the offbeat weirdness.

That was one of my fav parts of the song - not because I thought it was some kind of creative triumph but becuase I thought it sounded very natural and chill.

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Audity
on 2006-11-01 22:27:22
Am I the only one who thought that parts where the swing feel was lost (ie. 1:04) were kind of awkward?

This song came on my playlist and as soon as that section came up I remembered that I wanted to comment on that. I think it's very awkward. Having that melody played on the 16th offbeats or whatever doesn't sound right at all. I think something similar could have been pulled off but without every single note landing on a 16th offbeat (or whatever). Whatever that rhythmic sample is in the background, it's pretty nice---one of the highlights---but I completely looked it over when paying attention to the offbeat weirdness.

Some things, if not most, don't have many velocity differences (or whatever else contributes to these purposes), or even rhythmic variety. I'm all for not caring about perfect realism, since synthetics are being used anyway, but there's always the problem of becoming too static.

It gets better towards the end. Ah, finally a track that I sort of like where I feel like I can actually review it properly. The whole thing focuses very heavily on arrangement, but I think nuances in various places were overlooked as a result.

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Radiowar
on 2006-08-13 21:10:24

Am I the only one who thought that parts where the swing feel was lost (ie. 1:04) were kind of awkward?

I agreed with Darkesword's comments about the asian instrument sounding gratuitous. I think the aimless feeling could be attributed to all the different instruments used here.

Overall this is a nice track but some of the rhythms and instrumentation put me off a bit.

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Txai
on 2006-07-19 20:16:42

The more I listen to it, the more I love it.

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JorJorMogBoi
on 2006-06-16 23:00:14

Wow, I love this remix. Not a big fan of jazz remixes, but RTF does it well. Totally turned the glum dungeon-y music upside down and made it very relaxing. Oh man, and the piano around the 2:15 mark is soooo good.

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Martin Penwald
on 2006-05-29 10:19:00

RTF delivers again.

I like jazzy remixes (po! is one of my favourite remixers), and I love the Super Metroid soundtrack. But I would have never dreamed of combining those two things! RTF does it in a wonderful manner (the violin playing the theme), and just like some people before me, I like the "aimlessness" of the song. This is what makes it so beautiful.

Instant classic; best mix I've heard in months.

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pogosticksteve
on 2006-05-07 01:03:33

This is the most interesting and different-from-the-original interpretation of a song that I have ever heard. I love that kind of light, jazzy music too. Well done.

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apoc
on 2006-05-06 19:54:33

Zipp, I totally agree - when I first heard this, I couldn't believe that someone could make something so dark and creepy like the Brinstar track into something upbeat and jazzy - I was shocked in a very pleasant way when I first listened to this remix!

I was a little sad to see that the judges didn't seem to like it quite so much. My favorable take might be because I have no remixing skills at all and thus don't know what to look for or appreciate in the technical sense. I actually liked how the piece flowed aimlessly. It's a quality of Jazz that I like - it can chill and go wherever it wants and still be awesome. You get lost in it, but that's what keeps it from ever getting old - even if you play it over and over.

Nice work RTF - I love this remix!

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Keiseth
on 2006-05-06 15:03:29

Zen and Superbombs. Consider the ice cannon. It's like metroid meditation in the brinstar bonsai garden! Anyway, very nice. It's got style, which is like funk but it smells a bit better, and you can't go wrong with a bit 'o Chrono-logic. Compliments to the Red Tailed Fox.

Sources Arranged (2 Songs, 2 Games)


Primary Game:
Super Metroid (Nintendo , 1994, SNES)
Music by Kenji Yamamoto (I),Minako Hamano
Songs:
"Brinstar - Red Soil Wetland Area"
Additional Game:
Chrono Trigger (Square , 1995, SNES)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu,Noriko Matsueda,Yasunori Mitsuda
Songs:
"Yearnings of the Wind"

Tags (4)


Genre:
Jazz
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Piano,Strings,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Super_Metroid_Brinstar_Bonsai_Garden_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,315,445 bytes
MD5:
718096a0c919e48eccf737bb7bef81a9
Bitrate:
194Kbps
Duration:
4:16

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