ReMix: Mega Man 7 'Slash Claw'
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- Game: Mega Man 7 (Capcom, 1995, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Joshua Morse
- Composer(s): Makoto Tomozawa, Toshihiko Horiyama, Yuko Takehara
- Song(s): 'Slash Man'
- Posted: 2011-03-25, evaluated by djpretzel
- Album: Featured on Mega Man: The Robot Museum
The Museum remains open after hours; free admission for all. Next up we've got a Mega Man 7 joint with a distinctly Latin flavor:
"I've always been inspired by old-school samba and Latin music. You may hear influences from the following artists: Jeff Lorber, David Benoit, and Sergio Mendes."
Nice. Let me take a second to say that, among many genres un- or under-represented on OCR, Latin music and its many forms & sub-genres certainly stand out as needing more love. We've got some amazing exceptions, which Morse now adds to, but there's certainly room for more. Extended percussion cat plays us in, as repeated comping lines follow with bass. Silky smooth melody enters on acoustic piano @ 0'47", and EP doubles that up @ 1'04", followed by a ride cymbal segue into flute taking over the chorus. What I love here is that Morse isn't afraid to let the accompaniment do its thing for extended periods of time, sans melodic line, which strikes me as authentic based on my admittedly thin exposure to Latin music.
Whistles add a nice, celebratory flair, and the flute solo w/ walking bass is sweet. And what's this? Yeah, he even works in a drum solo. Percussion is basically the star, and JM's done an awesome job arranging in a genre I'd love to hear him explore some more. It might require a collab, but it'd be slick to hear this type of mix integrated with some live brass. When I first listened to this track I checked with Josh to ensure the note @ 1'28" was intentional; still rings a little dissonant to me, but not a huge deal, your mileage may vary, etc. Great, sexy, muy bueno mixage makes this track a gem among gems on The Robot Museum!
Discussion: Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the - Amphibious on December 24, 2011
- Crulex on December 16, 2011
I made a latin jazz version of this song once. It sucked. :puppyeyes:
But I digress. Very nice grooves and shakers. I love me some shakers. But the piano seals the deal here, with the percussive chordal playing. The flute that comes in a bit later is a bit exposed, but it's tolerable.
Great latin vibe. I need to learn how to get a more upbeat feel. My latin music is usually pretty relaxed and subdued, but this is up and on its feet.
Love the whistles at 2:35. Really helps the festive hispanic feel you've got going, and so do the solos. Great work, dude. Love it. :D
- Neblix on December 15, 2011
Still Me wrote:
I once replaced Slash Man in a Famicom-styled rendition of Mega Man 7 with my custom Robot Master, Wombat Man. The music remained, of course, as did the jungle stage. Starts off with the lesser-known tropical funk, and at about 0:50 piano comes in with source usage. Slight breakdown at 1:31 that gives way to the source quickly after. This is a great take on the track; solo at 2:50. Back to source around a minute later, and it ends suddenly.
These still count as valid reviews, right? :P
- Mirby on December 15, 2011
- HitoriJaNai on December 6, 2011
I really like everything about this song. All of the rhythmic elements here are sweetly layered and it all just works. The source is taken in a nice new direction. Honestly my only qualm is I would have personally loved if some "live" touches were given to it (eg. crowd ambience, banter from the various people playing the instruments, slightly more realistic room reverb and slapback). Again, a personally-desired touch to be sure, as what's here is solid as adamantium.
Sweetness. Delicious and tasty LATIN.
- Level 99 on December 5, 2011
Even then it manages to fit Morse's trademark style of fitting the melody in a tasteful chord-changed arrangement, while maintaining the funk influences he carried forward. The space is also well utilised and feels a lot like a live performance in a way too; let me say that the flutes in particular here sound very sublime (particularly with the solo at 2:55) and realised and fitted into the soundscape, and even the attention to detail to the instruments have been paid attention to when crafting the stereo space.
There's definitely nothing in here for me to fault this time; it's tasteful, unconventional, fits the stage, took the arrangement on its head, and I really dig how it all came out - a somewhat hidden gem on an already fine album, and I hope Morse's experimentation in different genres doesn't stop any time soon :D
- Rexy on December 3, 2011
- Litsuna on March 28, 2011
Joshua Morse: Undisputed Badass of Funk.
All I can say: DAMN, SON.
- KyleJCrb on March 25, 2011
As I think I've read somewhere, Morse is "on a mission to prove that not all jazz is "elevator music," not all video game music is "bleeps and bloops," (fr the Heroes vs Villains homepage bio blurb) and he succeeds at this wonderfully.
His work will always have a place on my summertime playlist. ALWAYS.
- WesternZypher on March 25, 2011
