ReMix: Xenogears 'Zeno Paradox'

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Xenogears

It brings me great honor to announce the release of OC ReMix's 15th album, Humans + Gears: Xenogears ReMixed!

You want some quick links? Sure thing - already gave you the homepage, but you can grab the whole album (MP3 + FLAC) using the bittorrent distribution, comment on the overall album on the comments thread, check out José's super-amazing trailer, and please do help us spread the word via the Digg article and anywhere else you can think of. And now some words from director Avaris, aka Shaun Wallace:

"Humans and Gears was a lengthy undertaking. The project began in the summer of 2006. Many Xenogears arrangement albums have been released in the past. The albums tries to re-envision the soundtrack in a new yet familiar way. We set out to create two unique albums in one. The first album features songs with a focus on natural elements and a "Human" touch. The second album is dark in tone and electronic in texture, symbolising the fear and destruction of "Gears." Artists were given complete creative freedom to express and reimagine the game in a new sonic format. We hope the listeners relive part of the amazing story and music that is Xenogears through this album. Thank you to all of the artists for your hard work and relentless dedication towards completion of this wonderful project."

Love the concept, definitely good to encourage stylistic variety, and after listening to the finished product, I believe the original vision behind the album was fully realized. This was another album that was in gestation for awhile - I remember Taucer telling me about Ziwtra's badass tracks for the project WAY back when, and now that I've heard them, I certainly agree with his appraisal. To start the project off with a bang, however, we've got E-Bison, who hasn't had a mix posted since 2006 himself. His two existing mixes on the site are both absolute classics, though, so I was looking forward to hearing what he cooked up for H&G. The artist writes:

"By the time I was asked to do this project most of the straightforward themes had been snapped up, which was a good thing because I ended up working with something I wouldn't have chosen on my own. A Light from the Netherworld was created for the games intro sequence and acts as an overture, touching on many of the game's prominent themes and textures.

I picked some of my favorite themes, added some others and did a fairly liberal interpretation of the materials. Despite the changes and additions, the spirit of the track draws heavily from the Xenogears palette."

The initial intro hit, with what sounds like Mongolian throat singing, grabbed my attention RIGHT away, and the choral work that follows reminded me of Kenji Kawai's score to the original Ghost in the Shell film. Things get more electronic later on, with some sick gated processing of the chorus circa 2'16" - very cool. It's the perfect introduction to the overall album, because it actually has a nice mix of "Humans" elements incorporated into a "Gears" framework. Shaun writes:

"I was really stoked when Eliot started working on this track. I remember people on the project, and myself included, being blown away by the track's level of creativity and execution. This track signifies what we were trying to achieve with this project. Mixes that focused on creativity and catchy sounds while paying homage to the amazing soundtrack that is Xenogears. I cannot thank Eliot enough for his patience and professional attitude in this mix that truly 'stands tall' in comparison to other Xenogears mixes."

Love that tribal percussion breakdown ending, too; everything about this mix is rich, dynamic, and dramatic. It serves as a wonderful overture to the album, which has a diverse and creative collection of songs arranged by an equally diverse and creative group of artists. 2009 has been one of the very best years for this site, with Summoning of SpiritsEchoes, and now Humans + Gears; I am continually blown away by what our community is able to accomplish.

Check out the Square Enix Music Online interview with Shaun to learn more about the background & creation of this fantastic album. Major props to Avaris and the entire team of artists behind Humans + Gears - it took awhile, but it was worth the wait!

djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Awesome mix. The start grabbed me right away with the throat singers and choir that just demanded your attention with their ominous, yet eerie presence. Once the percussion kicked in and it transitions to the more synth parts, I was hooked.
Good work E-Bison. :-)

- Sir_Downunder on November 16, 2009
Great info! Really informative. It is helpful for me. Yaaa... I am here to share with you. Great info!!!

- reconnix on November 13, 2009
Impressive.

- Pachi Risu on November 12, 2009
Just realized I never actually said how much I like this track. I've been listening to this album a LOT, and this is still my favorite on it.

- Catharsis on November 12, 2009
attains coveted 5 stars rating, change at 2.11 - neurons fired like crazy :]

- blckmgvivi on November 12, 2009
I remember hearing the first version EB posted on the forums and being totally floored. You could already tell it was going to be a standout track.
Great emotive instrumentation, excellent usage of ethnic voices, & overall good progression between parts to keep the listener in it. (I immediately pick up on the CT reference thrown in there ;). The change-up at 2:14 was especially effective given it's unexpected, but is a great contrast to the previous sections.
Overall a track I'm still looping on my mp3 player and a great way to lead out the Gears disc.

- Nutritious on November 1, 2009
Wow, this was a pretty awesome piece. In particular, the vocal stuff kinda reminds me of that Bulgarian Choir that does the song "The Beginning and the End" from the original OST. Nice little touch if I do say so myself.

I definitely thought of Kenji Kawai's scores when listening to this though. Beautiful stuff.

- Dr.Flintlock on October 27, 2009
This gets my two thumbs up. The song was fantastic from beginning to end.

- metalsnakejuice on October 23, 2009
I just had to post a comment here (although I'm going through and reviewing every song on the site) - this song is amazing. It manages to meld a vibe of what you'd expect from African music with electronic to create such a sweeping track. It is quite a unique piece of music period, and I'd wholeheartedly recommend anyone to listen to this, even if they have no particular love for vgm.

- Bahamut on October 22, 2009
Geoffrey Taucer showed me this remix. Man, I loved the whole thing, front to back, but the most amazing part was the vocal vox/transition. Made me orgasm, man, true art, dude.

- Salluz on October 22, 2009
"Tribal Drums: Re-sequenced taiko ensemble loop. Kontakt again."
Yup. All the elements had to be sliced up individually and put back together at a different tempo and sequence.
Kind of like the amen break in drum and bass. The drums are just... more Japanese.
-E

- E-Bison on October 21, 2009
I got a recording of a taiko drum.
[URL="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8sId7rrQCM"]From Kodo?[/URL] Because it sounds just like a part in "Lion".

- Catharsis on October 21, 2009
Absolutely beautiful track, marvelous job.

- Lucentas on October 21, 2009
There is so much I enjoy about this track that I don't know where to start. The amount of variety in it is simply fantastic, but it still feels like a unified piece which is quite impressive!
This mix gets an A for amazing ^_^

- jintoreedwine on October 20, 2009
This is a great track to be introduced to the Gears disc. Great job E- bison.

- yosefu on October 20, 2009

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