ReMix: Final Fantasy VI 'Magicite Made My Mind Melt'

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Final Fantasy VI

I mean this in the best possible way, but Mattias really is a crazy Swede. Crazy talented, crazy prolific, crazy bilingual... at least a dozen more ways beyond that. A musical force of nature and a natural force of music, he writes:

"I tried some unorthodox processing in this one, for example the very distorted ARP2600 analogue drums and the plethora of detuned bells and music boxes playing counter-melodies until they all get lost in a mess of static. I personally enjoy the subtle changes during the last part with the constantly evolving cluster of bell melodies. This is also the first (but hopefully not the last) remix where I ventured outside of Reason 4. The bell effects I mentioned and some additional processing are courtesy of Ableton Live Lite 6 and the oh-so-lovely ReWire protocol. Nowadays I've actually bought Live 7 so don't be surprised if things get even more trippy from here! I've thrown in some wannabe-skrypnyk-drums for great justice! That's about it really... It's trippy, it's slightly repetetive but it's oh-so-charming for anyone into quirky left-field electronica. Like me."

Along with a very alliterative mix title, this Kefka arrangement features a percussive arsenal replete with dirty piston kicks, hydraulic snares, tics, blips, and myriad fx that wind away like clockwork under clean, soaring synth leads and delicate bells. While all the intro stuff is lovely, the mix is essentially bifurcated into two parts we'll call "extended intro" and "schizophrenic bell motif of doom". Or something like that; at 2'26" the bump starts thumpin' and the clock starts winding up into a frenetic machine of clangorous, joyous mayhem. Towards the end, there's so much harmonic interaction in the self-described "cluster of bell melodies" that you've basically got a vortex of sweet, ringing tine. It's crazy, which fits both Kefka and (full circle here, folks) Mattias as well. Crazy indulgent, crazy percussive, and crazy... belltastic. If it's not a word, it is now.

It's late and I've got no judges to quote since this one's direct, but at this point AnSo is an institution, a veritable Midas of VGM arrangement (without the unfortunate and impractical implications), so you shouldn't need much selling. It also doesn't hurt that it's FF6/Kefka, of which an all-kazoo mix played by tone-deaf squirrels would probably still get some attention, if not love. This one isn't high concept or master craft, it's just a fun, creative, well-constructed electronica piece that embraces its inner Kefka, realizes its Ken, and melts minds (and ears) with a massive miasma of musical magicite. Magnificent.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
That distorted beat is so good. With that beat and all the quirky synth effects, the intro reminds me of "We Share Our Mother's Health" by The Knife, another talented artist from Anso's neck of the woods. But it deviates quickly, building an atmospheric and creepy mood and getting sparse at points. Another winner, says I.

- Palpable on August 22, 2009
I like this one best after the first minute where the synths n various FX start to open up. .

And b4 the bell counterpoint stuff comes in, that part's really cool too bc the distorted drums are there,

I mean the trance beat is great but still. .

Wow I'm nit picky anyway 10/10!!!

- Mtlbro on August 10, 2009
Definitely hearing the skrypnyk influence here, though I have to say that some parts of the remix remind me of Mazedude's work. The part beginning at 2:25 is amazing and sounds like it would be at home in a Castlevania game/remix.
Furthermore, I have to say that AnotherSoundscape is slowly but steadily turning into an artist whose remixes I enjoy immensely, no matter what the source or style. His first few mixes were good, but they always had some instrument/synth/whatever in them that really put me off. However, that is something of the past now, seeing as how all his recent mixes have not had anything in them I could really complain about.
Keep on rockin'

- Martin Penwald on July 28, 2009
The tempo and style remind me of zircon's work with "Dirt Devil" and "Monstrous Turtles", which is obviously a good thing in my book. Although those robotic/mechanized sounds would work a lot better with an FFVI track like "Devil's Lab", I'm digging it with Kafka's vibe. The bells definitely remind you that this is a Kafka remix with all the awesome sounds surrounding the track.
Nice work as usual, man.

- SwordBreaker on July 22, 2009
A welcome change, this is utterly awesome. The tone really sets it apart from the other Kefka mixes, and the second section (i.e. 2:26 onwards) is a masterpiece that sounds quite literally like it runs on clockwork. That is a novel twist, and I love it.
The only thing I will say against this track is that I would have liked it to go on longer. That musical box would have sounded awesome if it had grown into a sort of overarcing swell (phear my fancy-sounding BS!). I'm not saying I wanted it to be loud or cacophanous, but that it could have grown, had a few more bells added, etc. On the other hand, it may be a good thing that it didn't do this, because then it might have lost its beautifully innocent-yet-sinister feel that is so perfectly Kekfa.

- Sorceror Nobody on July 21, 2009
Another great Kefka mix that tries and succeeds very well at tapping into the craziness of one of our favorite FF villians.
I really like the part in the middle around 2:26 when the bass rejoins the bells, overall I'd have to agree with the writeup, the bells are a little chaotic, but it couldn't be any more appropriate under the circumstances, this is Kefka we're talking about here.
I do get a bit of a christmas vibe from it, just a little, very messed up one, but it's there, and that's kinda fun too!

- ZealPath on July 17, 2009
I absolutely loved this!
Though I've never played FF6..
I liked the sound of this a lot!
I felt like I was in a trance most of the time while listening to it..it was so captivating!

Great work!

- LadyReemz86 on July 16, 2009
Nice textures; I really liked the skittering filtered hihats near the end.

- OA on July 14, 2009
I'll admit, the intro threw me off a bit with the driving beat and snares, but once the bells came in and I realised this indeed was Kefka, I leaned back and let my mind melt from magnificent magicite madness (Try saying that fast a couple of times)
All in all: AnSo, you are a bloody beast, mate.

- Sir_Downunder on July 13, 2009
I definitely enjoy a trippy piece of music, and this fits that bill. Thing is though, the intro threw me off. The bells are great. I love the beat in the background, but it took awhile to get there. The distortion from the beginning wasn't used later either. I think it would've sounded really cool to take one of the distorted sounds from the intro and mesh it in with the bells. I can imagine it working really well about midway through the last half. It just feels too separate now, but that's just my opinion. No doubt, you have great talent. Great alliteration in the title. It made me laugh. :lol:

- Jae on July 11, 2009
sounds like a bizarre christmas theme
not digging the ridiculously liberal intro too much. doesn't sound like the source material at all till the bells come in
yknowwwwww

- nrich on July 10, 2009
needs some drugs

- halc on July 10, 2009
I love this song. I'm using the bells part as the ring for my phone

- Fenix on July 9, 2009
I have to admit, the first half wasn't really doing much for me (don't hit me), but as soon as those schizophrenic bells kicked in...yeah, I pretty much did melt all over the place and it was extremely messy and I had to replace the carpet. (Do you know how difficult it is to clean up melted self?)
Strange tangents aside...who knew I had a thing for schizo bells? Kefka does marvelous things to a mind.

- Lucentas on July 9, 2009
Another Kefka mix - and one of the best on the site, to boot (and that's saying something - most of them on here are amazing). We can't expect any less from AnSo, though - he always comes through with some amazing music. Oh, and music box effects are just downright awesome, especially when used with Kefka.
Listening to this was a perfect way to start my morning - that you, AnSo. Everyone should start their morning with this (a.k.a. go listen to it now, it's great!).

- Gario on July 9, 2009

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