ReMix: Super Mario Bros. 'Mario Likes Thorazine'

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Super Mario Bros.

So, I'm back from Aruba... rested, relaxed, somewhat tan. Had a blast: good food, great weather, beautiful place. At one point on the plane ride back Anna was playing New Super Mario Bros. on my DS and I was rockin' some PSP Ridge Racer. I've had the DS awhile but the PSP is a recent acquisition, and I'm definitely loving it; Nintendo obviously has a much larger market share, software library, and the innovation of the whole two-screen/touchscreen angle, but the PSP has some games that truly make you forget you're playing a handheld at all in terms of production values. Different systems, different appeal - fanboys will be fanboys, but I like them both. Speaking of New Super Mario Bros., Shnabubula's here with a brilliant string arrangement of... Old Super Mario Bros. Apparently Mario is fond of antipsychotic pharmaceuticals; Sam offered little to explain the mix title in his very brief submission email and has been rather scarce lately... I wish him the best, as I know he's been having some personal issues. Obviously, this is one of the most well known themes in video game music, so it's fascinating to see what an unconventional arranger like Sam does with it. The chamber music feel is definitely going strong, with beautiful attention to articulation and also very discrete panning to keep the individual "players" separate. I honestly can't tell 100% if these strings are real or not as of my writing this; if they're real, the recording is amazingly isolated and pristine. If they're fake, which I'm leaning towards, then I'm really interested in how the variety of traditionally tricky articulations has been handled so gracefully. Sam's never had lackluster samples, but this would represent a new echelon for him. Regardless of the timbral etymology, what matters is that they sound great. The arrangement, furthermore, plays to the strength and malleability of the instrument. The piece is generally more accessible than much of Sam's oeuvre, but due to the limited, real-world instrumentation as opposed to any lack of complexity in the base composition. Perhaps the thorazine in the title alludes to the mix segueing between lighthearted and serious tones, which is handled effortlessly and seems not schizophrenic but simply varied. This is a quintessential example of the complexity that can be applied even to relatively simple and well-known source material; it should serve as an excellent and approachable example, due to the maturity and source notoriety, of the limits to which game music arrangement can be taken with a more formal approach in mind. Here's hoping Sam's doing okay; his talent continues to shine even in his online scarcity, and this mix should win him even more admirers.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Definitely my favourite mix of the infamous Mario tune on the site, and is just as great as Motoi Sakaruba's darkened arrangement of the track, of which this mix shares a slight resemblance despite being much quicker and lighter in tone. But I digress...
This is the sort of music that polarises listeners (it is Shnabubula, after all) but as always, I drink it all in. I love music that interchanges and tries to wrestle free from any sort of constraint. There's a fantastic sense of unpredictability in most of Shnab's work, and I think above all else, an extremely high level of quality.
The amount of material he's extracted from a source tune I usually perceive to being ruined in the transition to realistic instruments is astounding. I can't fault this, and even if I could, I'd be too intimidated to. One of the most artistically competent, yet wholly accessible, on the site. More is always needed.

- Marmiduke on September 9, 2009
I love the part where it suddenly swings into quintuple time. This is really detailed music - I'm jealous!

- penguindf12 on August 25, 2009
i don't usually post a reply on mixes that alredy have 4 pages of critique, but just had to say, GREAT MIX. The sound was something that i can see even the classiest and royal listeners of symphonies would buy a ticket to check it out in concert!

- Streets of Rage bum on August 22, 2008
Tensei-San;335405 wrote: Having seen the amazing movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest yesterday once again, I can only come to the conclusion that part of Schnab's inspiration for this mix, or at least the slower/softer parts, (and the name seems to confirm that) comes from the muzak that was played by Nurse Ratched for the patients. Eitherway, everything I could say about this mix has already been said, so I'll just say it's an amazing piece.

hahah actually shnab is just crazy

- DrumUltimA on October 26, 2007
Having seen the amazing movie One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest yesterday once again, I can only come to the conclusion that part of Schnab's inspiration for this mix, or at least the slower/softer parts, (and the name seems to confirm that) comes from the muzak that was played by Nurse Ratched for the patients. Eitherway, everything I could say about this mix has already been said, so I'll just say it's an amazing piece.

- Tensei-San on October 25, 2007
hjalfi;325422 wrote: Suberb, of course. Not that I expect anything else, of course.
...incidentally, I'm slightly creeped out by the way everyone keeps saying 'We miss you!' and the fact that Shnabubula's last forum post was in March. Is he okay?

of course!

- herograw on October 3, 2007
Suberb, of course. Not that I expect anything else, of course.
...incidentally, I'm slightly creeped out by the way everyone keeps saying 'We miss you!' and the fact that Shnabubula's last forum post was in March. Is he okay?

- hjalfi on October 2, 2007
brilliant and inventive! this beyond creative take on the smb theme is truly sublime. its woozy complexity really showcases the talent behind it. give me more!

- vici_ruthless on September 16, 2007
:/
Maybe Thorazine doesn't like Mario

- Monobrow on September 14, 2007
Thorazine is supposed to be a sort of sedative, that slows down the processes. BUT the song is all backwards! Looks like thorazine isn't working for someone. I should write a life novel about that.
I wished it was more like valentine since it goes on hi pitched for too long. Those articulations just jab at my ear. I don't care how real they're supposedly supposed to sound. I guess I just have a bias towards these things.

- LongeBane on September 14, 2007
Johnny Hemberger;303772 wrote: because it may not be Mastered. Check my thread in the community forum. I offer free mastering to any remixers' songs to be submitted. Just for OCRemixers though. Otherwise I charge actually money. Like the kind that they accept at Taco Bell or Del Taco.

I hope by "mastering" you don't mean compressing.

- 454Casull on August 13, 2007
Johnny Hemberger;303772 wrote: because it may not be Mastered. Check my thread in the community forum. I offer free mastering to any remixers' songs to be submitted. Just for OCRemixers though. Otherwise I charge actually money. Like the kind that they accept at Taco Bell or Del Taco.

uhhhhhhhhh

- chthonic on August 6, 2007
There is a rare sense of sophistication and elegancy in this piece. One of Shnab's finest in my opinion.
Sam, wherever you are´hope you are Ok, don't forget to drop a line when possible.
Cheers!

- Mr. Fox on August 6, 2007
because it may not be Mastered. Check my thread in the community forum. I offer free mastering to any remixers' songs to be submitted. Just for OCRemixers though. Otherwise I charge actually money. Like the kind that they accept at Taco Bell or Del Taco.

- Johnny Hemberger on August 6, 2007
The arrangement's spectacular, and these are some of the best string samples I've ever heard. The only thing that really gives it away are some of the portamentos in the middle section

- FM on August 5, 2007

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