ReMix: Super Mario Kart 'Funky Mario Circuit (Radio Edit)'
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- Game: Super Mario Kart (Nintendo, 1992, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Anthony Lofton, Jared Dunn, Mustin, The OneUps, Tim Yarbrough, William Reyes
- Composer(s): Koji Kondo, Soyo Oka
- Song(s): 'Mario Circuit'
- Posted: 2010-05-11, evaluated by djpretzel
The times when I am busiest with OCR are usually the times when, contrastingly, you'll see fewer mixes posted. I've been coding some real, legitimate, actual PHP that parses chiptune data, so we can present some of that on chiptune detail pages, if you must know. I never knew that extended ID666 tags were at the end of SPCs (standard ones are at the beginning) until today, even though it's right there in the specification; go figure.
When not dealing with binary metadata sandwiches, however, I've been checking out The OneUps' new album, which is very intuitively titled Super Mario Kart Album. Because, you see, it's an album of Super Mario Kart mixes. If I haven't lost you in that circuitous bit of naming logic, proceed to either www.theoneups.com or theoneups.bandcamp.com (or BOTH!) and check it out yourself. Also, the guys will be playing a FREE, ALL AGES show at the Microsoft Campus in Mountain View, CA (San Francisco) on Sunday May 16 at 3:00 PM PDT with Quarter Circle Jab, so if you're West Coast and proximate, be there.
As for this mix, it's a vintage vinyl 70s funk jam, OneUps style, so what's not to like? That's a low effort analysis, though, so I'll break it down just a bit - clean funk guitar intros, followed by a wah EP riff then an acoustic drums riff, wah guitar, and funky bass. Definitely NOT a sequenced, quantized feel - things range from tight to loose, funk to more of a jazz vibe. Production also has the hallmarks of recorded performances, which is mostly a good thing; one minor nitpick, pretty much the only one, is that the stereo spectrum is fairly compressed - nothing goes too far left or right, which makes it feel a little cramped at times. Awesome performances, playful + dynamic arrangement, varied instrumentation, and top rate musicianship are all highlights, and that's all you really need to know. Check it out, check out the truly badass music video, and explore the full album for more!
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - WesternZypher on October 27, 2010
An interesting take on the source. First thing I noticed is that it sounds very centered, almost mono. Yes, it says in the writeup that the stereo is very compressed, but I feel the need to say that again. It really takes some of the life out of the song.
Besides that, it was alright except for the guitar, which sounded oddly processed. It was a bit too quiet and almost frail.
Overall, I wasn't quite taken with this one. :(
- Level 99 on June 1, 2010
Bahamut;676765 wrote: This is nice and funky, just what you expect from The OneUps - the electric guitar is mixed kinda strangely to me, but otherwise I dig it.
Seconded, except for the part with the electric guitar. I'm not too hot on it; maybe it is because of how it is mixed, but to me, the sound of the guitar clashes with the rather relaxed, funky vibe of the remix.
Nevertheless, great new stuff from the OneUps.
- Martin Penwald on May 26, 2010
- Mr. Fox on May 19, 2010
I don't know if that was intentional, but if it was, good on you guys 8-)
- SiriusBeatz on May 17, 2010
- zneoson on May 13, 2010
- OA on May 12, 2010
- JH Sounds on May 12, 2010
- halc on May 12, 2010
- Bahamut on May 11, 2010
Great song. I don't necessarily agree about it being "too cramped". There's too much of a trend at OCR with panning everything as far apart as possible for clarity. There's other ways to achieve clarity. The production is clean and on a professional level; no gripes here. :-)
- Brandon Strader on May 11, 2010
