ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Beneath the Canopy'

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Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey BusinessDonkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest

The Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey Business flood continues! We're doing four tonight and four more tomorrow, so stay sharp! Fishy always delivers, and just keeps getting better; this mix of 'Forest Interlude' (which Protricity covered in his excellent 'Forest Birdcussion' mix) is a great arrangement that really captures a feeling of serenity and wonderment... it's more than a little Pink Floyd, channeling DSOTM, and that can only ever be a good thing. Wes writes:

"As its namesake might suggest, one can imagine walking beneath a forest for a stroll in the fall while listening to this song. "Beneath the Canopy" is a great example of a rock ballad that evokes imagery that one can recognize even without knowing the song name, a testament to the well done atmosphere that Fishy delicately pieced together. Here we have an introduction that is reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil with the ethereal soundscape, that gives way to the sweet tone of Fishy's lead guitar, complete with slow drumming & background synth to help accentuate the gentle but tense mood."

Taucer adds:

"Gotta love Fishy. This man knows not just how to play an electric guitar, but how to use one in a mix. While it's not the shredfest I suspect many people will be hoping for when they see Fishy's name, this mix certainly does justice to the original track."

Back on XMark's Sonic 2 ReMix I mentioned that I'd love to see more guitar-centric pieces that aren't metal, specifically because there's a lot of genres that often employ the instrument that don't get enough love. I specifically mentioned classic rock as an umbrella genre that needs further exploration, and a mix like this was EXACTLY what I had in mind. To me, Floyd are just as relevant now as they were back then, and I think Fishy's really explored how their approach could lend itself well to ReMixing, and chosen an excellent, appropriate source track to work with. The melow, warmly humming synths and mellow, soaring guitar leads take me back to the first time I heard tracks like 'Us & Them' or 'Breathe' - I don't know if it was intentional on Cain's part, but he's certainly made me happy with what I consider to be a superb melding of Wise's excellent source tune with the style of one of the greatest classic/progressive rock bands ever. And guess what? Wise, Cain, and Pink Floyd are all British. So mad props to the Union Jack, God Save the Queen, and enjoy this very most excellent mix!

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Don't know why I haven't posted a comment before. Been listening to this ever since the project was released awhile back, and I guess it's official; this is my favorite track in the pack according to my iTunes count. So much so that I'm anxious to listen to the source material it's been compared to. Yeah, I'm a loser who hasn't grown up with Pink Floyd's music.
Truly excellent work, Fishy. Love how all the sounds and instruments flow with each other. No instrument, including the electric guitar, overpowers the other. I can really feel the emotion off the guitar work in particular. Been a fan of your playing since your FF7 work.
Make more. Looking forward to your next mix. :)

- SwordBreaker on October 31, 2010
Sweet, sweet music to my ears. The source is one of my favorite off of DKC2, and Fishy really brings it in.

- MechaFone on May 28, 2010
I was listening to the full album, and even before reading djpretzel's comment on its Pink Floydishness, I was thinking the exact same thing. Very Dark Side of the Moon, so much so that I had to see if it was posted here so I could say as much. Need I say more? Download immediately!

- Nobbynob Littlun on April 1, 2010
What a rich and warm sound here! great arrangement and playing! Nnnnice

- ilp0 on March 22, 2010
I played this on the last episode of my show on Arecibo. Apparently my mother liked it. :nicework:

- jmr on March 21, 2010
If I did it wasn't intentional, but Anxious Hearts [i]is[/i] my all time favourite vgmusic. Not as an individual piece of music, but for how it fits into the game.

- Fishy on March 19, 2010
Djinn;656911 wrote: Am I the only one who hears shades of Final Fantasy here?

Nope.
Similar tones to pixietricks' and zircon's 'Delivery of the heart'. In fact, you're probably hearing the FF7 'Anxious Heart' track http://ocremix.org/song/114. Incidentally, Fishy also appears amongst that list for 'Aire Tam Break' although the Anxious Heart interpretation is short and IMO somewhat unfitting to the chosen genre.
I'm willing to bet Fishy slipped a little Anxious Heart into this one to pay it proper justice. That, or I may be over-analysing.
Either way, a great arrangment.

- DMZ on March 19, 2010
Am I the only one who hears shades of Final Fantasy here? This is a great track, with a unique vibe that I'd like to hear more of in the future.

- Djinn on March 19, 2010
Just cause I didn't even know this would be posted here's my "write-up" notes:
I purposefully chose this track to get away from rock for a bit, spread my wings. The intro was, as Dave rightly guessed, inspired by Breathe by the one and only Pink Floyd. The guitar really was the afterthought of the mix, I was focusing on the synths and the interactions between the piano, harp, strings and pads, especially the extremely reverberant drums which I enjoy.
The strings and piano parts were mostly inspired by Muse <3.
Emunator;655628 wrote: The way he wrote in so many other instruments to the song is what really pushes this over the edge for me - the guitar is nice and surprisingly appropriate, but it's the emotive piano and strings that really give it the needed creative boost.

[i]This[/i] was my aim, and I'm really glad people enjoy this as I don't know what to think of it really - it's a departure for sure. Expect more unexpected genres and of course more unapologetic DT ripoffs.

- Fishy on March 18, 2010
Great addition to the album. One of my favorite sources, too.

- SubNormal J3 on March 16, 2010
I hear some Floyd vibe here, but maybe more strongly is a Steve Vai ballad. Either way i'm sold. Cain takes his sweet time doing any track, but the end results are almost always worth it in the end.
Nice tasteful stuff, and a very good track. :-)

- OA on March 16, 2010
This is the win. This is by far my favorite track of the project, with Patrick ones. It's extremly well executed, it's full of life and emotion, the emotion that you feel when you listen to the original tracks. It just sounds like DKC2, and that's almost the only remix where you feel this. You respected really well the source, and embellished it a lot.
Awesome work Fishy, thanks for this. :wink:

- Scaredsim on March 16, 2010
I never thought I'd say it, but Fishy beat Prot's verison! If this is a trend of what the album is like, the Prot. tracks I downloaded will have some company. Fishy made this beautiful theme rock with a smooth as hell guitar. This really is a gift and with that, on to the next amazing song!

- Crulex on March 16, 2010
one of my favorite tracks from the album. visionary stuff; absolutely stellar work! :nicework:

- halc on March 16, 2010
This wonderful song vies for the spot of "favorite track on Serious Monkey Business." I think it might only be topped by one or two others. Forest Interlude is my favorite source tune ever, so I'm always interested in hearing new takes on it, but the way Fishy reimagines the original while sticking extremely close to the mood is fantastic. The way he wrote in so many other instruments to the song is what really pushes this over the edge for me - the guitar is nice and surprisingly appropriate, but it's the emotive piano and strings that really give it the needed creative boost.
Beautiful work Fishy, this is definitely one of my top 5 favorite [b]songs[/b] of all time!

- Emunator on March 16, 2010