ReMix:Shadowrun "Reborn" 3:54

I'm a huge fan of Thunder Thouin's Super Castlevania IV debut ReMix from 2012, and his Batman follow-up in 2013 was pretty hot, too. For this third mix, we've got a fantastic cinematic cyberpunk opus that blends electronic, orchestral, and world palettes into a Deus Ex/Blade Runner jam that's completely appropriate to the universe of the game while still expanding on & deviating from the actual source tune:

"So, here's a remix of the morgue theme from Shadowrun on the SNES. I love that game because it introduced me to the cyberpunk universe back in 1993 when I was a kid. :) The soundtrack by Marshall Parker was super dark and not very conventional compared to other SNES titles, but it fit with the mood perfectly. I always told myself I should cover one just to pay my respect to the game! Following Shadowrun Returns that came out earlier in 2013, I decided to pay my respect to this awesome franchise.

At first, I wanted to do something like "Rites" from Jan Garbarek, but I moved away from it since I couldn't properly emulate the different articulations of the sax on my current setup. You can still hear some similarities in my arrangement (flutes), but it's really thin. I mixed a lot of stuff in there... electronic with orchestral, Middle Eastern voices with distorted percussions... and even a banjo! It was intentional. It's a bit like a melting pot. I wanted to represent the blending of different cultures and styles that occurs in a world like Shadowrun.

I decided never to use synthesized electric guitars again in my mixes, so my friend Marc-André Tremblay did the part at 2:29 (with the echo) for the crescendo that lead to the ending segment. It's subtle, but it really adds up. All my thanks goes out to him for his help. So here it is, I hope you guys will like it! Cheers!"

This mix is simultaneously an homage to the specific source tune, an homage to Shadowrun, and an homage to cyberpunk in general, and that makes it pretty awesome in my book. I personally have no problem whatsoever with synthesized/sampled guitars, obviously, but I can also appreciate the difference & energy the real thing brings to the table - especially in the right hands, as was the case here. Emunator writes:

"Excellent, I loved your last two submissions - you have an excellent way with massive genre fusions, and the source is interesting, so let's see where you take this...

This really lives up to the expectations set by your past few mixes! I think you raised your personal bar for incorporating so many disparate elements into one track without it being a total mess. In fact, this is quite cohesive and well-arranged all-around. Electronic drums, traditional orchestral instrumentation, funk bass, ethnic flutes/vocals, metal guitar... I don't know how you pulled it off but it all fits quite nicely! Source is plenty present but expanded and elaborated upon in many ways."

OA adds his $0.02:

"Cool and creative take of the source, it really expands on the aesthetic of the original and ties in a lot of the mashup of themes in the game mythos as well. This definitely feels like technology slamming into magic in a gritty setting. Some of the production gets a touch overstuffed on your master channel, and i wish there was a bit more bass response, but it's within acceptable limits for the OCR bar, and the creativity and arrangement more than make up for it."

Judges had some different minor criticisms surrounding EQ, but the consensus was unanimously positive nonetheless. I personally think Yan did a fantastic job channeling the stew of cultures, magic, & technology that the franchise explores while still dealing directly with the specific work from the SNES OST. Things really build upward & outward, but the central melodic motif remains identifiable. Very modern, very cyberpunk, very slick... a different sound for Thunder, with everything that made his previous mixes great and more!