ReMix:Earthworm Jim "Acrophobia" 3:46

By about:blank

Arranging the music of one song...

"Buttville"

Primary Game: Earthworm Jim (Playmates , 1994, SNES), music by Mark Steven Miller, Tommy Tallarico

Posted 2007-04-14, evaluated by the judges panel


Very cool resubmission from newcomer about:blank, and our first ReMix from the first Oligochaeta James (aka Earthworm Jim) game. Madonna popularized chopped/processed acoustic guitar licks to some extent with "Don’t Tell Me", and Chris Bouchard takes that ball and runs with it for this ReMix of Buttville: The Descent, which could easily have been the alternate title for the first Fantastic Four film. The panel was a little split on whether said stuttering effect was too gimmicky, or worked just fine, but it's certainly neat the first few times, I can tell you that much, and it's not applied haphazardly, either. The ReMixer writes:

"This is my first submission to OCR. Initially, I tried to go for an acoustic take on the source material, and ended up recording a small portion of the song live with an acoustic guitar and an electric bass. However, the pickup in my acoustic suddenly ceased to function, causing me to stop working on this for a couple weeks. Fortunately, I soon started working on this again, and ended up with something a bit different than my original intention. I put about two or three months into the making of this, and, at one point, had to completely start over from scratch. I've learned a lot in the process of making this, and also had a lot of fun."

I love happy accidents, and I also love seeing the iterative/feedback aspects of ReMix development turn out positive, so this is cool on multiple levels. Melodically, some of the material reminds me of the famous Requeim for a Dream soundtrack; repetitive, dramatic progressions that evoke a descent into madness. Or, in this case, "Buttville"... but can't they be the same?? Malcos specifically compared this newer version of a:b's track to the previous, rejected submission:

"Hmm didn't I yes this last time. Oh yeah, I did. Well this has improved even more over the last version. One gripe with this is the section in the middle, where the strings are kinda pushed to the side by the phat drums. This version is a lot fatter overall, and the transition into the piano section was excellently done imo. The one thing I would say for future subs is to try and get some more dynamics going in relation to volume, as I think the sections ie.piano section, should have been somewhat quiter to better contrast the 'soft' and 'hard' sections. More melodic elements have been added here, and this relies on the stutter much less than the previous version. Good resub!"

We've had some pretty innovative, different mixes lately, with varying styles that haven't particularly resembled anything prior, and I think that's a great development. This track certainly fits that description; it's got cinematic textures mixed with stuttering, chopped bits, and comes off as simultaneously atmospheric and playful - adjectives that accurately describe the source material as well.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Rest1
on 2019-05-24 17:49:23

just remembering that it's been 12 years and this is still my favorite remix of the site
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Black_Doom
on 2015-12-02 23:42:51

It's an awesome mix. Seriously, I like the downbeat atmosphere here a lot. The glitchded guitar is probably what this makes this song so unique. It's a great idea, actually, and I've never heard something like this before. The crunchy percussion is very cool as well. Love the fast-paced section near the end. Sick stuff.

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urdailywater
on 2013-04-19 18:57:53

Very dark vibe in this song, I'm digging it.

The glitchy guitar effects are very funny to listen to. The building of this song from start to finish is good, my only complaints in this song are the cutoffs on the recording. In a few cases it would have sounded good to let the note finish out, but overall this is a great song and a very memorable one by my book. Will be on my playlist for a long time.

Oh yeah, and those buildups, especially at parts like 3:15, are epic.

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WesternZypher
on 2011-04-08 17:24:45

Had to comment again; - why has there been nothing new from about:blank? : I It's a crying shame this is the only work of his I'm aware of!

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Emunator
on 2009-12-22 03:29:48

I absolutely love how mellow this starts out, but the quick shift to something much more intense and dramatic is really the hook for me. I'm a sucker for glitch beats but I'm not used to hearing it applied to guitars and other elements of music like this, so thanks for introducing me to something new! :-)

While the arrangement isn't perfect and neither is the glitch technique, as Vig pointed out, I'm still very glad this got to the front page and I've had a ton of fun listening to it since it was put up! This feels very creative and has a great sound to it!

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Less Ashamed Of Self
on 2009-12-13 17:34:38

I heard this track once when it was new and then forgot about it for a while, but I've been really getting in to this mix lately. I've looped it a couple of times. Really neat things going on here, like that building string crescendo thing from 1:26-1:28 and the introduction of beat, then 8 bars later the cut up violin followed 8 bars later by the strings.

And a killer speed up at the end. Very nice choices in production here. :nicework:

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OA
on 2009-11-27 10:39:01

Pretty cool stuff, though some sections worked better than others. It went from sections that were really interesting and cool to some sections that just sort of felt like they were killing time. The stutters were rocking- that main section was sweet. Some of the piano seemed overly mechanical, but they weren't used a ton.

Overall some cool ideas, but i'm not sure the execution was all the way there.

Still worth a listen I think. :-)

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WesternZypher
on 2008-12-17 15:07:04

Amazing depth and mood to this song. Will be on playlsit FOH EVA.

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ChaosPlayer
on 2008-11-27 03:03:10

:puppyeyes:

Finest OC remix ever heard. Calm, yet energetic guitar playing best ever loved in my entire life.

Orz (hands down to you). I love it.

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Fusilliban
on 2008-10-08 15:14:03

Parts of this remind me very strongly of Everlast's "What It's Like." When I first heard this song (via a large playlist shuffle of new stuff) I assumed it was a mashup, or something.

That said, this is *really* good work.

ETA: Right, ok, I see the artist has already said the Everlast thing. I are to be the smrt guy.

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Chronus Valtiel
on 2008-01-23 16:19:54

Damn this is a great track.

I remember the Buttville music in EWJ kicking ass, but you've just blown it out of the water.

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Flare4War
on 2007-11-15 06:31:44

I've been enjoying this remix on my playlist for sometime now so I felt obligated to get in here and comment on it.

Basically I think it kicks alot of ass. All of it. I had it cranked up loud in my bed room and my older brother heard it. He popped his head in my room and asked what it was. I told him and he told me to copy it onto the network drive so he could access it. He's not into the remixes like I am but something about it nicked him right, he really liked it. Afterwards he asked me if OCR has any other cool songs like that. "Of course!", I replied.

So job well done. Not only did you make an excellent remix of Earthworm Jim, but you converted someone.

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Radiowar
on 2007-11-08 10:10:13

This is pretty cool. Reminds me of Prefuse 73's remixes of The Books actually. It is a little repetitive but in a sort of Electric Counterpoint kind of way. Not so sure I like the ending though.

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about:blank
on 2007-10-29 12:11:17

Thanks for all the comments, everybody! I'll try to give a response to most of them.

In response to everyone who said that this sounds similar to Akira Yamaoka: I was listening to a him quite a bit during the time [espically "Theme of Laura"] when I was recording this, but I had no idea that it'd actually rub off onto the song. I was moreso expecting people to say that it sounded like "What it's Like" by Everlast, considering it has almost the same chord progression.

@Tepid: I'm a big fan of Linkin Park, so that certainly doesn't offend me. I'm also a huge fan of your work, especially "Quilt" on AnimeRemix, so it's awesome to get positive feedback from you.

@Geoffrey Taucer/Mustin: I'm also huge fans of yours, so again, it's great hearing positive feedback from you guys as well.

@Avaris/Liontamer: This mix wouldn't be up if it wasn't for your (as well as Skrypnyk's) help. Thanks for being patient with me throughout the making (and posting) of the song.

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Jaybell
on 2007-05-22 20:09:15

Man I love this song way too much. It's just seems so...haunting.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Earthworm Jim (Playmates , 1994, SNES)
Music by Mark Steven Miller,Tommy Tallarico
Songs:
"Buttville"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Acoustic Guitar,Electronic,Piano,Synth
Additional:
Effects > Glitching
Origin > Resubmission

File Information


Name:
Earthworm_Jim_Acrophobia_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
5,519,997 bytes
MD5:
80a307c6572a04992463b4b615e38531
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
3:46

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