Posted 2010-12-13, evaluated by djpretzel


Thanks for the feedback & sharing, everyone; the response to Threshold of a Dream has been great! Last but not least, we've got a collab between director prophetik himself and Fishy, a mellow electric guitar & sax "duet" (technically, layered) that's smooth, warm, and gets progressively bluesier as Cain changes amps/fx for some grittier timbres. Kinda reminds me of the Law & Order theme if it mated with Kenny G and produced completely awesome offspring. Brad writes:

"Another old track, I picked this up in 2005 as a second track after "finishing" my Face Shrine remix. I actually wrote this remix in theory class, without listening to it before sending the chords and structure off to PriZm. Oops. He was the original guitarist on this one (see the bonus track Villa), but thanks to a changing job description, Pascal was unable to re-record the guitars to fix a few mistakes that were in the original recording. Fishy graciously stepped in, learned PriZm's parts, and recorded his own version to help me out. This is another track recorded ages ago, as I believe that the date on the original recording for me was mid-November 2005."

I do wanna commend Brad specifically for not only seeing this project through to completion, but for having some great tracks of his own on it. He delivered a solid, complete package to me and Larry, and was easy to coordinate with and flexible/patient in waiting for us to get all our ducks in a row so we could release smoothly. As smooth as this arrangement, I dare say... It's a pretty liberal interpretation, but it's amazing to hear very straightforward GBS tones come to life in the hands of two talented musicians, and the interplay between Brad & Cain sounds dynamic & intimate. Not in a manlove way, just you know... with the emotionality and what not.

Right, I'll stop there: This is a great cut that finishes out the album proper and also finishes out our flood of debut mixes. Thanks to Brad and the talented mixers on Threshold, we've all got something under our non-denominational, metaphorical Christmas trees this holiday season. Congratulations to all involved, and respect to the original composers of one of the first classic handheld video game soundtracks!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Black_Doom
on 2015-12-16 00:57:30

Oh... This is as smooth cool as ice and yet it has some warmth to it. The sax plaing is imply wonderful, and the blues/rock guitars are darn awesome as well. Love the "rainy" feeling of this piece. Certainly one of the highlights of ToaD! Sweet track :)

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Crulex
on 2012-10-04 09:41:25

That sax is freaking sweet. Sax with rough, hard guitar around it is an incredible idea that I never would have thought of. It's like badass and sexy put together and I liked those parts the most. Great mellow ReMix and while I wasn't crazy about the ending, that's one small nitpick on an amazing song. Damn good work.

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Marmiduke
on 2011-09-12 12:25:59

So far removed from Zelda music as you can get; all the shrill highs that made Link's Awakening's score so iconic and memorable for me have been melted way down by EXTREEEEEEEME mellowness. And by extreme mellowness, I mean... just copious quantities of mellow.

The result does border on saccharine at certain times, but I personally think it sidesteps that whole vibe by being so technically profound and committed to its approach. It's smooth, rich, warm and sounds like it belongs at the tail-end of a 80s cop movie.

A great, collaborative take on a difficult and unremarkable source.

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Red88Rex
on 2011-02-12 19:58:44

I absolutely love this song. When I was first sampling the album, this song came on as I was sitting down to a meal by myself, it was very quiet and calm, and somehow the moment was perfect! :)

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nugzta
on 2010-12-20 01:16:18

I love this piece but I like the other version better B4 Villa, anyone else thinks the same?

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DarkSim
on 2010-12-17 15:15:04

Mmmm, smooth. The distorted guitar at 1:48 is a highlight, it just sounds great, as does the sax throughout. Interesting choice of solo as well - it throws in some unexpected notes that keep it from sounding too cheesy. Good decision on leaving out any percussion, I don't think it would have been necessary (could have had a sort of Massive Attack vibe going on if you'd added it though). Not much else to say really, perfect end to a fantastic album.

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Calebyte
on 2010-12-14 11:54:14

This is my personal favorite track on the album, I think. Pretty much sums up everything the album is about in one piece. Good work.

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Bahamut
on 2010-12-14 10:32:09

This is an interesting song to end the album with, but perhaps one of the more concrete songs on the album that defies what one might expect.

As for the track itself, it's bluesy, and well executed. Fishy's recording sounds a bit strange to me, but otherwise a nice relaxing track.

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evktalo
on 2010-12-14 05:40:48

Great ballad. Not too syrupy, which is a great achievement considering the instrumentation. There's some feeling in this one that I can't quite put my finger on. Sometimes a ballad can be saved from being too sugary by being a touch bittersweet.. same thing there, except it's not really bittersweet either. Either way, I think it works very well and does it's own thing.

I don't think the spots at 02:40 and 03:04 resolve nicely (or something), they sound pretty off-key to me. I got used to them on the second listen though, which doesn't mean I think they're good, I just got used to them. :)

Needs them drums yo!

Adding drums would have been awful, that would have been needless inflation. I'm glad it never GOT REALLY HUGE, it's quite the right size as it is.

--Eino

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zykO
on 2010-12-14 03:47:27

so very good

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Emunator
on 2010-12-14 02:19:50

Needs them drums yo! I feel like that would have really taken this to new heights, but perhaps that's not the direction you were going for. I digress, this is still a great chillout jam and I'm particularly impressed by the sax performance (but what else is new with Brad? At this point I've pretty much come to expect his sax playing to be drop-dead amazing.) Very good album closer!

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Fishy
on 2010-12-13 22:46:25

Hahahah, fail. Never ever show me the original solo, it will probably make me cry.

Also; Sexamaphone was not a typo. As usual with Brad, the sax is hawt. There was even a three way towards the end.

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prophetik music
on 2010-12-13 21:43:12
I'm really not. I remember asking to re-do that before this came out, must have forgotten about it.

this was the redo. you sent me three or four versions of it since Q4 2007, actually. all were labeled sexamaphone.mp3, which is also funny.

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halc
on 2010-12-13 21:29:14

some percussion could have really carried this mix along a little better imo, but regardless, this is a beautiful arrangement, and def. another highlight of the album. nice work, guys. :nicework:

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WesternZypher
on 2010-12-13 21:27:58

Christmas music to my ears. :-)

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Nintendo , 1993, GB)
Music by Kozue Ishikawa,Minako Hamano
Songs:
"Richard's Villa"

Tags (5)


Genre:
Mood:
Mellow
Instrumentation:
Electric Guitar,Saxophone
Additional:
Arrangement > Duet
Origin > Collaboration

File Information


Name:
Legend_of_Zelda_Link's_Awakening_House_of_Frogs_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,305,472 bytes
MD5:
4e1b6526d82a54d6c9d21e9821e3897b
Bitrate:
217Kbps
Duration:
3:48

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