ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! 'Claustrophobia'

downloadDownload MP3
5,819,472 bytes, 4:28, 174kbps
Stream/preview on YouTubePlay Preview
Streaming preview on YouTube
eStarland.com
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble!

Mattias had two mixes in 2007 but a whopping eight last year, edging Sixto out by one and providing our first LSL mix - 'Larry's Funky House of Lowe' - that we presented to composer Al Lowe at Genericon XXI. We're back at Genericon XXII right now, our panel's tomorrow, and we haven't had any AnSo action in '09 yet, so it seems an opportune time to post his latest creation, from DKC3. He writes:

"I have to admit, I'm huge electronica fan. Because of this reason, and this reason alone I decided to do a pure electronica remix. I wanted to make some un-tss with a hint of minimal techno and a dash of whatever the hell I do. What I'm saying is, kickdrum, hi-hats, synths, a strange blend of real instruments and gating. That's what you get. Enjoy! (Also, I can't believe Donkey Kong Country 3 has only one remix! What's wrong with you people?) As always, MUCH LOVE!"

Yes, but *how* much love? Quite a bit, as it turns out. This mix has elements from different styles of electronica, with slicker chopping and gating paired up with trancier builds and filtering, and a whole lot of AnSo style. Things starts off upbeat, with a more major key refrain, but one thing this mix does especially nicely is segue between major and minor feels. The intro gating establishes a contemporary vibe, but then a more traditional major key bell synth motif enters. The beat fills out at 0'53" with a snare and faster hat pattern. There are some bridging sections that are more minimalist, with a hard bass driving on the same note with some subtle filtering, a nice detuned square lead solo/motif starting at 2'56", and I dig the reductionist, bass-only ending. Overall, an excellent blend of major/minor, contemporary/traditional, rhythmic/melodic, and myriad electronica flavors. It's worth noting that, fresh off the previously released Artoon, another XNA community game - The Perfect Match - just came out with a soundtrack that he composed. We'll no doubt be seeing more from Mr. Gerdt this year, but for now enjoy this ReMix from the underappreciated (relative to 1 & 2) DKC3 score.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
OA pretty much unanimously nailed how I feel about this remix.
I only listened to this mix maybe once when it first came out and subsequently put it on hold (I'm not sure why... I might've been detached from OCR in general at the time). In fact, I'm not even sure if I listened to it fully until now.
On my 3rd listen in a row, I feel this mix definitely excels in capturing the upbeat-but-tense vibe of the original cavern levels. It seems like something I'd expect to hear in a well-produced Donkey Kong Country 3 Returns.
Either way, it's pretty nice stuff and I'd rather it be part of OCR than not. Thanks for producing a nifty DKC3 mix, AnSo :)

- Cody Wedel on December 17, 2011
No reviews for over a year! Here we go...
Love the bells and the super-tight metallic drums that come in, they're really interesting and liven up a pretty boring source tune. The pads help with the feeling of claustrophobia by sounding a bit foreboding, giving me a sense of uneasiness whilst listening to this. It does a very good job of that, although it doesn't seem to go anywhere after that and I'd perhaps like some sort of "relief" section at the end. Instead it sounds like it wants to spill over into a trance track. Overall I like it, but it seems to lack direction.

- DarkSim on December 15, 2010
Great mix! I enjoy the quick changes in the first 13 seconds that goes on for quite a bit of the track. Good song made even better. Hmm, come to think of it, we need more DKC3 songs like this.

- Crulex on July 16, 2009
A little too repetitive for me, but what is here is good. The track does progress texturally and there is a lot of arrangement personalization, but i'm not sure the source is melodically strong enough to support this style of mixing. Production is great, and i think the soundscape is great, but there really isn't a huge hook or anything.
Good but not great stuff from the super-prolific AnSo.

- OA on March 19, 2009
about:blank;512020 wrote: This is nice, and I'm not just saying that because I have a soft spot for mixes that are titled after an irrational fear and utilize stuttering/gating effects. A few of the synths sound a tad generic, but the pads, gating effects, and overall arrangement make up for it in my opinion.

Thanks :3 In my defense re: vanilla synths I went for vanilla electronica sound so this vote is a victory for me!

- anosou on February 25, 2009
This is nice, and I'm not just saying that because I have a soft spot for mixes that are titled after an irrational fear and utilize stuttering/gating effects. A few of the synths sound a tad generic, but the pads, gating effects, and overall arrangement make up for it in my opinion.

- about:blank on February 25, 2009
i realy like the sounds u use !

- cyb0rgjeff on February 16, 2009
This remix has a certain space-ish quality to it. If I didn't know it was from DKC3, I'd assume it's from some SciFi game. Especially the first few seconds would fit into a Metroid game perfectly.
Very enjoyable.

- Martin Penwald on February 9, 2009
The break beat is nice. I can't say that I don't like this song because it's so cool. When you can do the breat beat properly, it works. The other instruments, (especially the bells) make it fun to listen to...distorting the sounds is fun and works with this remix. It goes too far, however, making me forget about the game it's for. I want a remix with less distortion, so that I can hear the original song sounds.

- gandalf0987 on February 9, 2009
Lots of cool effects going on here, as your songs tend to have. Gentle but a good solid beat, very easy to lose yourself in and lends itself well to repeating. I kept expecting the chord progression to get modified sometime, especially around 3:24, but it never happened. I guess this is something for me to do if I ever take on this theme!

- Palpable on February 7, 2009
The feeling of the title you gave it really comes out in the bridge. Also, the syncopation/stuttering that you added to the lead around 2:10 was fun. On a whim I slowed down the play back in VLC, and your remix turned into this effing sexy downtempo-ish song. Try it out.

- CopiousX on January 29, 2009
It's got a real... I dunno... Spyro-ish sound to it? It reminds me of the music in the first Spyro game. It's pretty good.

- DarkAura on January 29, 2009
It's a bit to repetitive for me... but it is pretty good... Keep up the good work!

- bamblakopz on January 29, 2009
I love this remix. At first, I thought the song was lagging (because I was listening to it on the site), but then I realized that was intentional!
Very nice work here. Very nice, indeed.
Now if only the love would continue for this game! :D

- drummermg131 on January 28, 2009
About time someone took care of this. I made a wip featuring this source tune about a year ago... it was pretty different from this one. I like this one a lot though, it sounds like a mix of System Shock 2 and... well, DKC3, but on the Mega Drive ;-) A mix of filtered and FM-ish pads and leads make for a very soft electronic sound. Very easy on the ears, and very much appreciated.
Heja AnSo!

- Dafydd on January 26, 2009