ReMix: Star Control II 'Lightyears Away'
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- Game: Star Control II (Accolade, 1992, WIN)
- ReMixer(s): Mark Vera
- Composer(s): Aaron J. Grier, Dan Nicholson, Erol Otus, Kevin Palivec, Marc Brown, Riku Nuottajärvi, Tommy V. Dunbar
- Song(s): 'Hyperspace'
- Posted: 2006-06-14, evaluated by the judges
Finally saw Nine Inch Nails live, with Bauhaus, at the Nissan Pavilion last night. With the exception of 'Sanctified', they played every last song I was hoping for - show was amazing. As a fan from the early PHM days, before they became huge, it was great to finally catch them live; they're able to recreate their album sound amazingly well. Right then... Mark Vera hits it up yet again with more Star Control 2 mixage. Jouni writes:
"Even though I have lots of hardware synthesizers in my studio today, the only one I used for this remix is my beloved Juno-106, which took the honor of playing the bassline. Most used software synths are Pro-53 and WaspXT. Arrangement done in Orion Platinum. The arragement is partly based on midi patterns I made for the first Hyperspace remix already posted here on OCR."
So, yes, more Star Control 2, and specifically, more Hyperspace. While the arrangement here is actually closer to its source, the production has been bumped up, with a strong Pet Shop Boys/New Order 80's groove. Larry writes:
"I'm sure people can put up a fairly fine argument that there's enough expansion here to make it a pass on the arrangement level, but this was still nagging on me quite a lot. Does a good job of filling out the original though and adding new parts, though the structure being so similar was a big turnoff to enjoying the track. The question is weighing whether it passes the test as an expansive-enough cover that distinguishes itself enough from the original."
It's somewhat befuddling why someone with Jouni's talents would revisit a piece rather than exploring undiscovered county from one of the other Star Control games, or branching out to other series like he did with Laser Squad and Wizardry, but each mix is evaluated on a case by case basis, and clearly this is a theme the ReMixer is enamored of. One of the highlights for me was the tom rolls towards the end; nothing like a high-to-low fill to round out a four-bar pattern. Fans of the Star Control 2 soundtrack and Jouni's work should definitely dig; anyone into 80's music or just a good synth pop/rock groove is invited, too.
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the And speaking of things that are painfully 80s, I get that vibe here. This really channels those 80s synth-based bands like Depeche Mode, which is good and bad on different levels. It can be bad because there are a lot of not-so-flattering connotations that come with the territory, so instead of conjuring images of a retro sci-fi universe, it may result in images of Corey Haim. Never voluntarily, might I add. But on the flipside, connotations or no, the music is still good. There may be a confusion of contexts for me, but I still appreciate the hell out of how this sounds in a standalone way.
Melodically, it's a one trick pony. But I think the magic in this is the fact it doesn't once even teeter on the edge of becoming stale. As my favourite of Vera's Star Control 2 remixes, this seems to incorporate the shining elements of the past mixes to the greatest possible effect. It's catchy, versatile fun and a superb end to Mark Vera's series of SC2 submissions.
- Marmiduke on November 1, 2009
Catchy 80's goodness with creative synths and lots of drum fills, it is super retro, and works really well with the source. The backing synths switch up [retty frequently, keeping it fresh, and the percussion is punchy and varied. No auto-pilot on this one.
In some ways though, the sounds are too married to a specific era, as I can easily imagine this as a soundtrack to a high school movie set in the era, but not really anything else. Still a nice track though.
- OA on February 13, 2008
My favorite track out of that game is the Vux theme. Maybe you can remix that next when you have time if you like it.
Keep up the great work!
- romansro on August 23, 2006
Aside from that, I love this rendition of Hyperspace to death. So good.
- Zarla on July 12, 2006
Surely, the "hyperspace" song is the best of the game. Really Cool!!! 8)
Keep it up! :wink:
- DJ Magotrox Brazil on June 30, 2006
Wonderful, innovative, catchy stuff.
- Martin Penwald on June 27, 2006
sonicbhoc wrote: There is a free clone of this game called The Ur-Quan Masters if anybody cares. It's a pretty fun game actually. And the hyperspace is one of my favorite tracks! well done.
This is no small coincidence. You see, Mark Vera is a member of The Precursors, the group responsible for remixing the Star Control 2 soundtrack in order to be used in The Ur-Quan Masters. :)
- Dhsu on June 21, 2006
- sonicbhoc on June 21, 2006
- Audity on June 15, 2006
Very well done in all aspects, the samples are wonderful, production is top, and most importantly it's alot of fun to listen to (something remixes today are lacking)
- ILLiterate on June 15, 2006
- Mark Vera on June 15, 2006
Also check out www.spacesynth.net for more info on this great music genre..
- Rayza on June 14, 2006
I've never played this game, but the sound of this song is awesome and techno-ey. I like awesome and techno-ey. The percussion is absolutely flawless. This one is going on my iPod right now!
- NuVanDibe on June 14, 2006
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