ReMix:Mega Man 9 "Lights Out" 3:14

One last hurrah for 2014!! As we say goodbye to a year that has seen numerous developments and 250+ posted mixes, SuperiorX is here to turns the lights out with this chill disco/funk arrangement of MM9 & Darkwing Duck, from the WCRG 2013:

"I figured I would follow-up my flood of Sonic CD submissions with some Mega Man compo goodness! This track comes from DarkeSword's Wily Castle Remix Gauntlet 2013 and is a remix of Plug Man's theme (Mega Man 9) and the Moliarty Tower stage (Darkwing Dark NES). This mix was a lot of fun to write and was in a style that, to this point, I hadn't been able to quite pull off. I'm a sucker for juicy funk, complete with EP chords, rhythm guitar, and groovy synths. I think a lot of my previous mixes have jazz and funk influences, but I believe this is my most "complete" entry in the genre for sure. This track placed well in the competition, garnering my team a first place ranking for the round, so I was really proud that I created something that stacked up well against all the other awesome participants in the compo. My teammate Amphibious said this mix sounded like the theme song for an 80's TV crime drama, which wasn't necessarily my intent, but I think it's a spot-on description. ;)

The mix itself utilizes the Plug Man melodies a bit more than the Moliarty stage theme, focusing on the two main Plug Man melody parts on the plucked synth instrument and the legato synth you hear around 1:05. The Moliarty stage theme is woven in throughout too - primarily in the bass, but the melody shows up as accompaniment parts in some of the background synth instruments. As I mentioned earlier, I love me some funk rhythm guitar, which I just HAD to have in this mix. I don't play myself, but I was able to cut up and use some from a sample pack I own to create the accompaniment guitar parts you hear. I then filled out the arrangement with some various original synth lines and some accompaniment stabs and gated pad parts."

Funk guitar parts really seal the deal, and I totally get the 80's crime drama vibe, too. Flexstyle writes:

"Aww yeah, schmoove groovy stuff from Mr. X. The themes are blended well, I dig the flow of the song, love the sound choices...honestly, I haven't really got anything to criticize here. I feel like this could almost have been a DP, and really shouldn't have any trouble on the panel."

He was right - it didn't :) Matt definitely funks out more explicitly here than in previous mixes, and it suits him. If you've got time to work it into some last-minute NYE playlists, I'm thinking it might suit you, too. Since the artist did such a fine job summarizing the mix & the judges signed off with minimal to zero reservations, there's little left for me to do but say this: ENJOY, and we'll catch you on the flip side in 2015!!