ReMix: Highway Hunter 'The Final Stretch'

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What's this? MORE Highway Hunter? While few may have heard of this game, it certainly has yielded some fine arrangements, this being our second after Blad's recent French street café thang. Suz takes this car for a different kind of spin, opting instead for a rock/funk approach that's got Steely Dan EPs, synth soloin', and overall a markedly different, more straightforward jammin' tone. Since it's the same game and the same song, and these mixes are coming relatively close together, it's interesting to see just how different two ReMixers can interpret the exact same source material. Karl took us to the streets of Europe, where we basked in the shade with our lattes whilst serenaded by violin and accordion, whereas Ty takes us to... well, it doesn't evoke a specific place and time quite the same way, but it sounds like we're in America, on an open highway somewhere, driving pretty darn fast. This entire arrangement is basically fronted by a synth lead, which there seem to be more of these days, both here on OC ReMix and in mainstream music as well. Don't get me wrong, I love a great guitar solo, and I don't expect or need for synth solos to reach ubiquitous parity, but it's still great to see oscillators holding their own. This was arranged for the same "People's Remix Competition" as Blad's mix, hence the identical source material. Apparently Blad came in first, with Ty right behind him, but when two fantastic mixers produce two fantastic mixes from a game few of us have heard of, I think we ALL win. The source melody is really rather catchy; I can see where it would have worked quite well in a DOS-era racing game. As a related side note, as a general policy I don't participate in competitions and try to avoid OCR itself being drawn into popularity contests, hence the lack of numerical ratings for mixes or any sort of "Top 50" Billboard-style standings for artists or tracks. However, PRC and many other competitions do clearly have merit in attracting serious talent and attention to source material that would otherwise go unloved, so I have to give major props to the benefits of such events, which in this instance at least clearly outweigh the detriments. It sounds like Bladiator and Suzumebachi both had fun with their respective pieces, in their unique ways, which is what counts, and I think listeners will have fun with what they've come up with as well.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
More Highway Hunter. Suzu's track - submitted then under the title "Hunter is My Middle Name" - really provided a great amount of stiff competition, and similarly it received a lot of love from the voters, so I'm glad he managed to get it out here.
My sentiment with it still remains - with the amount of tasteful manipulated organ wahs and involved rock instrument writing, I can see how one may point out similarities to Steely Dan's work; almost as if it could be a modern day "Bodhisattva" in regards to style (but half as long).
In comparison to Bladiator's, the track is much closer towards the source, and even then with the good melody manipulation within the first half and neat synth solo work later on, one can see clearly that in regards to providing energy, Suzu definitely went all out.
Albeit, I wouldn't necessarily consider it a neat mix; I'm listening through the Youtube preview and it feels as if the headroom for the tracks is somewhat cramped, and that's something I noted more with a hint of unintentional distortion in the organ every now and again. Not sure if that was intentional as if it's not a real mix killer, but it may be something to bear in mind (though with the recent stuff with Shael Riley and the Double Ice Backfire I'm pretty sure all is well).
But yes, very good memories of a [i]very[/i] fun PRC! Hopefully we'd get to see more of Suzu in 2012, whether it's from judging at OLRemix, solo material or more from the DIB :)

- Rexy on December 15, 2011
Leave it to Ty to do things differently from Bladiator!
My main complaint is that this seems too short. I feel like it doesn't really go anywhere because of that :-( .

- Bahamut on November 8, 2009
This is one of those mixes that doesn't let go for its entire duration, which are my personal favourite types of mixes. Especially ones that have a lot of interesting aural substance like this does. I am addicted to the synth play that takes place just past the 2:00 mark.
While I appreciate mixers that take a source and put a surprising, against type/genre spin on it, a mix like this one definitely makes more sense on a superficial level. High-octane ball-grabbing retro-rock FTW!

- Marmiduke on December 10, 2008
Dunno why I never commented on this, as I was nagging Ty to sub it, plus I flagged it for direct post. The groove set a good pace, and I really loved the energy here. Great arrangement, and some of Ty's best work in the community. Dunno why I had to nag him to submit this gold.

- Liontamer on October 21, 2008
Not what I was expecting at first, but I'm digging this. Sets up a good groove. Really like the offbeat feel of this. The main synth works well with the set up, even though you probably wouldn't hear it in a live setting. DJP mentions that guitars are good, but seeing some other stuff here and there really makes things stand out, I think this is true. A guitar could have covered this easy, but the synth makes it more memorable.
Good work, definately a keeper.

- DragonAvenger on October 21, 2008
A solid rock piece, could imagine a bar band playing this one.. not quite blues, not quite funk, but fun stuff still. It's a bit stiff in my opinion, wish it would groove a bit more. Also, there's no release at any point, the lead/organ stuff is at the front the whole time. The track would have benefitted from a bit of "breathing room".
--Eino

- evktalo on July 19, 2008
Haha remember this from PRC. Awesome source tune from a completely unknown game. The 70's style guitar is a perfect fit for the source tune. Remember when I initially heard this and thought it was awesome style choice for the source. Enjoyed the synth lead as it allow the rhythm guitar to be more apparent in the soundscape.

- avaris on December 4, 2007
Sylistically it reminds me a lot of one of the songs on Dark Side of the Moon (starting at about 0:20), particularly in the chord progressions at 1:45 - 1:50. Nice to see some quoting, and just a good mix in general.

- TruthfulLiar on October 15, 2007
I liked the old title better. I still listen to that week's PRC entries fairly often. Twas a good batch (minus mine).

- Chickenwarlord on July 4, 2007
Funky combination of epiano goodness, this makes for great driving music. Drums are tasteful and interesting, and the solos are great.
The panning on this really gives it a great live feel somehow, it just sounds like this is being played on stage.
Very nice work, I like it. :-)

- OA on July 3, 2007
Haven't enjoyed a ReMix this much in quite some time.
Thanks man.

- Mr. Fox on July 1, 2007
i think you got the wrong artist there
anyways song's not bad
very steely dan

- Radiowar on July 1, 2007
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on July 1, 2007