ReMix: Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos 'Demnos Inquisitor'

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Solstice: The Quest for the Staff of Demnos

Children of the Children of the Monkey Machine! On Monday, March 3rd, at 10:51am, coming in at 6lbs and 13oz, Lauren Elizabeth Newman was born! Our heartfelt congratulations to CotMM, who's been with OC ReMix a LONG time and resurrects his ReMixing career (last mix in 2003!) with this Steve Pordon collab arrangement from Solstice. Matt writes:

"This collaboration was picked away at by me and Steve after conversing about what to do for a few weeks. Also, I mixed the whole thing on cheap ear buds, so I still really haven't heard what it sounds like on proper speakers, but I think I got it right (:"

I chatted with Matt on #ocremix a week or so ago and at the time he was actually working on using Lauren's sonogram recordings provided by the hospital in an ambient mix, which is just like him - he's got a wonderful ear for texture, and has put together some of OCR's more compelling and unique soundscapes. This mix was actually Steve's idea, and it's part of Dirge for the Follin, Larry's tribute abute to composer Tim Follin. Mr. Follin's had a really interesting and varied career as a game composer, so the project should similarly yield very dynamic and varied results. If this mix is any indication, that's almost a guarantee, as Pordon and Newman take us on a dark descent that mixes Matt's industrial ambient style with orchestral and lead electric guitar elements for a very distinct sound. There's some very Downward Spiral-esque distortion beds that clip in and out, thudding and pulsating percussion, and most interestingly, a definite sense of direction and progression that can sometimes be problematically absent from ambient pieces. Everything up to 1'09", segued into with a piercing shriek, is essentially an ambient intro, but at this point structure and melody emerges, buttressed primarily by lead guit but supported by drums and bass. 2'45" takes things up another notch with intense drumming, intro'd by a big ole orchestra hit. The break at 3'36" gives listeners a chance to appreciate the underlying percussive textures in an exposed context, then things get busy again, culminating in an ending that goes back to the more ambient intro, albeit with aggressive electrical feedback hums.

What I like about this piece is that it's literally bathed in distortion, hum, and other means of sonic cacophony, but there's still noticeable structure and melody. Some of Matt's previous work tended towards more impressionistic interpretations of arrangement, but this one seems to straddle the sweet spot between identifiable compositional arrangement and otherworldly audio malevolence. Steve and Matt work well together, and this ReMix illustrates both of their strengths effectively; to some of our newer listeners who may not have traveled back to the mixes of 2000-2003 yet, this piece should hopefully serve as both example and gateway. Unique, fresh stuff - many congratulations to both artists for their respective comebacks, and especially to the entire Newman family on the birth of Lauren Elizabeth!

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Who would have thought we'd get to hear more Cotmm remixes. I didn't, but I'm very pleasantly surprised that I was wrong about this.
Very dark and gritty piece. I like how the remixers play with the distortions, and the ending is simply brilliant. It feels like the last, most horrible shock of a terrible nightmare, which finally makes you wake up again.
That's not to say that this song is a nightmare, hehe.

- Martin Penwald on April 12, 2008
This one took a lot of listening to really get into, and even then there's a few stylistic choices I don't quite agree with. Some of the distortion is a bit too apparent, or more likely the wrong frequency center. i think some of the distortions should have been a bit darker.
The single kick hit? You lost me there.
HOWEVER!
The balance of experimental noise and structure is great, and the presentation of the melody is superb. I normally wouldn't be drawn to such a sparse melody, but I've been singing it all morning (in my operatic tenor)forcing my coworkers to appreciate it's brilliance. The use of the low strings to keep the track moving along rather than typical percussion was nice, and overall it's probably one of the strongest and most cohesive CotMM tracks i've heard.
Nice work.

- OA on March 18, 2008
I have to say, I nearly shit myself when I saw that CotMM was back on this mix. I'm pretty pumped up now. The mix is exactly what I wanted and expected, which is to say it's awesome.

- Wicked on March 16, 2008
Legion303;386555 wrote: My vision consisted of me putting 8-9 different game tracks in a zip file and asking Matt if he liked any of them for remixing purposes. :P
-steve

That's fucking TEAMWORK! [/Tenacious D] :lol:

- Liontamer on March 15, 2008
Liontamer;386194 wrote: I've got Steve to thank for his vision for the track and getting this one going.

My vision consisted of me putting 8-9 different game tracks in a zip file and asking Matt if he liked any of them for remixing purposes. :P
-steve

- Legion303 on March 15, 2008
Holy fucking shit. I might dare to say that this is the best remix on this whole site. I can honestly say that I never expected to hear such crazy experimenting here - seriously. Drone doom makes my heart get all warm and fuzzy.

- artemisjaeger on March 15, 2008
8O HOLY CRAP. the Mix actually made me physically dizzy and nauseous.. but not in a bad way. it gave me the feeling of getting lost in a very evil dungeon. pretty awesome!. The only issue i have with it is the Intro. it's too melded.. kind of like sonic pudding. Other than that A+

- Manablast on March 15, 2008
this is really cool. Texturally speaking it reminds me a lot of the work of my computer music teacher, McGregor Boyle. I'm really digging the combination of ambient space with driving METUL rhythm. Nice!!!

- DrumUltimA on March 15, 2008
CHILDREN OF THE MONKEY MACHINE!!!1 Didn't think I'd see you back on the remixing saddle!
This is sexy. I have a thing for ambient distortion, so this is a million kinds of awesome.
Yay!

- Jaybell on March 14, 2008
I wanted to like it (having played this game for who knows how long as a child), but it was a bit annoying to have to put up with such a long set-up before the actual song, and when it eventually DID get to the theme, it sounded like it was coming out of a pair of bad speakers (for lack of a better word, 'fuzzy', but it was more than that). I'm not expecting pulse-pounding realism or anything like that, but I do expect a bit more sound quality. I do like the idea, and really, if the 'intro' and fuzziness was cut out, I might really like this, but while these sound like small complaints, I can't enjoy a song when it constantly reminds me of its own flaws, even if it is built on good directions and ideas. In short, no, I don't like this song, but I might like it if its few flaws were fixed.

On a lighter note, though, congratulations for the birth! I hope for many years of good health and happiness in her future! n_n

- SomeCrazyGuy on March 14, 2008
this is definitly awesome!
i might be biased, because i hardcored this game as a child - it's right here on my shelf of fame :D
anyway, great track and congrats to the birth of your child Matt!
the only thing that made me "hmm" was the low volume levels, but as the end noise reached me i got that it was on purpose .. nice approach in the end! :nicework:

- Platonist on March 14, 2008
I'm definitely proud to have this one on Dirge for the Follin. For those that know this excellent theme by Tim Follin, the arrangement almost never loses sight of it, and this was definitely very gritty, purposeful, well-produced stuff that took the theme in a dark direction.
Matt hit me out of nowhere with the mix, and I've got Steve to thank for his vision for the track and getting this one going. Congrats to Matt on the birth of little Lauren, and to both Steve and Matt for working back and forth to get this ReMix going and making their OC ReMix front page returns after some long hiatuses. It's great seeing so many old schoolers back in action! Great job, y'all.

- Liontamer on March 14, 2008
Very nice. I was just a kid when I played this game, and it felt pretty creepy at the time. I guess it must've been the music. This remix takes that to a whole new level. The dark atmosphere the track carries fits perfectly into my memory of the game. Now to go dust my old cartridge off.

- Skummel Maske on March 14, 2008
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on March 14, 2008

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