ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Swamp Gases'

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

This is actually technically the second time we're posting this mix, as someone thought it would be LOL way back when to take AnSo's WIP and submit it unfinished, without his permission. In a vacuum I can perhaps see that being amusing - to someone with little creativity and abundant spare time - but ultimately it wastes our cycles and delays us from posting great music from amazingly talented artists, so it falls squarely on the "douchey" side of the equation. It's a testament to the arrangement (a dub take on a great source) that it was postable even in its larval state, but Mattias has since developed it further. He writes:

"When Wes and Jeremy approached me about a Donkey Kong Country 2 project it was hard to decline. Both because it was during what I will in the future refer to as "my good year" but also because the soundtrack is pretty much crafted from a piece of pure awesome. Since I was early I also managed to grab arguably the best track on the soundtrack. This was also around the time I discovered Ott, Shpongle and the wonderful genres psybient and psychedelic dub. Looking back this might have had some impact on what my arrangement eventually became... *cough*

So, yeah, this is a trippy, all-Reason 4 dub arrangement of one of the most memorable themes from the treasure trove of hummable tunes that is Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest. It does go a little overboard towards the end but honest to god that is how I like music to sound. Mainly because I honestly wish I was Simon Posford."

AnSo sure does make me bust out the contextual Wiki links like there's no tomorrow. However: Psybient? Really?? I'd like to spend a whole day just coming up with new electronica sub-genres and seeing how many of them I could convince people to take seriously. Ambivitrancestep! Psypolka! Nu Gaze Acid House Fusion! Italo-Zydeco Dubstep! Decrying the extreme promiscuity of electronica sub-genres might be my generation's version of the "Rock n' Roll is the DEVIL'S MUSIC!," get-off-my-lawn geezer archetype, but I find the actual word "psybient" pretty hard not to chuckle at - it sounds like a gentle-but-soothing laxative, a male performance-enhancing pharmaceutical, or possibly both. The never-ending need to sub-categorize and erect paper-thin fences at times risks coming off more like insecurity than the actual evolution of a necessary musical taxonomy. Yes, that sentence was pretentious as all hell - I still think it merits being said!

But I digress; we are men of action, genre labels do not become us, and ultimately there's one label to rule them all: great music. This is that, as AnSo shows us a different side of his Reason-powered coin and gives us a cool, mellow retreat into the cavernous depths of DKC2's OST. You can talk to your doctor to see if Psybient is right for you, but either way, download this mix.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
Addicting drums, synths, strings, chords, the whole works. It's perfect for a good workout too (IMO).
It's safe to say this is my favorite from AnSo, and possibly one of my favorites posted on this site.
Been listening to it consistently ever since the album was put up.

- urdailywater on January 23, 2011
Smooth silky goodness. I've always enjoyed psy-(insert subtype here) sounding music, so psybient and/or psydub works for me. AnSo did real well in taking this theme and putting that chilling and relaxing dub twist to it. I like the "wobbling" sounds at the end. Very nice.

- Crulex on December 30, 2010
Anosou brings out his usual talents for this mix, and I like the style he's got going on. As with the trance style, there isn't a buildup, and I would have liked a little more change-up to keep my ears really focused a bit more, but regardless this has some funky sounds and nice beats to bring it all together. Nice work.

- DragonAvenger on December 19, 2010
I got only got around to hearing the album well after this was posted (:X), but it ended up being my favorite song off the album. I guess it's no surprise - in his remixes, Mattias often ends up hitting a style that is dear to my heart. I love how wild this gets as the song progresses. Great attention to detail, and just a very enjoyable listen overall.

- Palpable on September 21, 2010
What's the difference between this mix and the one on the DKC2 CD? i thought i noticed one but no it was in both songs. I'm just not sure about it so anyone who can clarify would be thanked a bunch by me.
About the song, it was one of my favorites from the album tying up with Castle Crescendo, Roller Disco and How K. Rool Went Insane. The Melody constantly sweeping up and down is excellent. The Background harmony fading in and out on the off beat is always welcome. The fast background arpeggio in the background around 1:25 is layered so well, it's quite perfect.
Also, i'm very glad he decided to go in for the melody a 3rd time. Some people probably hate the redundancy but what I personally love most about synth techno is that it tends to take things that much farther. So great job guys, A+ mix.

- Vakyoom on September 21, 2010
Only familiar with the source because I really liked Siamey's version. Glad I checked this remix out - arrangement is not very dense for the most part, but I really like the feel of this remix. The bass is awesome, love it.
Awesome work!

- ambient on August 17, 2010
Gah! How am I supposed to be critical of someone that consistently puts out fun, entertaining, interesting, and above all -good- stuff?
This actually sounds like it takes some cues from zircon. This is a good thing, I love that dude's musics. And I don't care enough to distinguish between genres of electronic music, so I'll just say that I hear some influence maybe. Or maybe they have a common influence. Who knows?
Oh, right, the track. It's good. Listen to it. Not my favourite from the project, but it was a solid contender and more than anything else helped to keep a fairly stellar project up as far as the bar went. Really though, nothing to complain about here.

- Master_Yoshi on August 13, 2010
i also wish i was Simon Posford :shock:
no but seriously - Hallucinogen & Shpongle has influenced A LOT of us electronic musicians. And paying homage to the man behind the projects is just mandatory. Let us all!

- Platonist on August 11, 2010
I love Simon Posford's work (since early Hallucinogen tracks back in the 90s) so much, that when I read AnSo's sentence "I honestly wish I was [URL="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hallucinogen_%28musician%29"]Simon Posford[/URL]" it meant something very strong to me. Because I thought it in these exact terms so many times...
Simon truly is a fuckin' genius when it comes to creating complex, psychedelic, organic, hypnotizing tunes, with infinite overlapping layers of sound forming the most stunning soundscapes... I think a perfect example of that is the whole Shpongle discography, which is simply the musical form of the word 'awesomeness'.
I already commented on this ReMix, which I absolutely LOVE, a while ago, on the SMB album's official thread, but now that I know a little bit more about its backstory, it all makes sense.
Being a huge dub fan, as well as a psytrance/psybient/psywhatnot enthusiast, and also a big fan of virtually every single one of Another Soundscape's remixes, this particular one is a masterpiece in my opinion, and one of my all-time favorites here on OCR.
AnSo + PsyDub is teh shit. Period.

- Ring Them Bells on August 10, 2010
I totally recognized a note from the Hybrid Electric Drums/Electronic Love drumkit
<3 reason

- delbuster on August 10, 2010
Dude, this is *SO* not psybient! The psybient genre is defined by it's textures and very subtle beat; I hear a pretty damn prominent snare, instantly disqualifying this from being true psybient, and don't get me started on the organ and string sounds. :roll:
This sounds to me more like psy-halfdub with some ambient elements. It totally pisses me off when people mis-categorize this stuff! You are doing your listeners a disservice with this blatantly incorrect labeling.
Of course I'm joking, nice mix, dude. :-)

- OA on August 10, 2010
my favorite song off the album, seriously. this is some epic shit. can't stop listening!

- Platonist on August 10, 2010
I love leaving this song queued up on my iPod when I'm in the car so I can blast that opening bass drop and feel uber-crunk in front of all of my friends when they first get in the car.
I'm so cool! (and so is this remix :3)

- Emunator on August 9, 2010
What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on August 9, 2010