ReMix:Sonic the Hedgehog "Supersonic" 3:15

Our first featured ReMix from 3P0P (Paul John Frankhouser) was an EDM Sonic GHZ ReMix in April of 2014, and now he's BACK... with MORE GREEN HILL ZONE. The man loves him some GHZ - can you blame him? I can't recall whether this is the first time an artist's sophomore mix was of the same exact source - probably not - but while it's still EDM, this is a very different take:

"Hi! "Green Hill Zone" is still one of my favorite melodies to mess around with on piano, and I cranked this out the other night.

Been a few years, but always a joy to run and arrange this tune as it's a reminder to stay fast and, personally, to never give up. Tried to keep it flowing throughout using air, drill, and bitcrushed game sounds to "pump" more energy into the 4/8 segments, also with a break that represents loss of coins, a continue break, drowning, time running out, or (insert_here). I listened to "April Rain" many years ago as previously featured, although only relistened after finishing this mix. May I have changed a few things otherwise? I'm not sure. Cheers!"

This is actually our first GHZ of 2018, and I needed my fix, so the shakes are gone and it's blue skies and, well, green hills now... Heavy sidechaining lends a prominent pumping that permeates the mix; nice alterations on the lead synth melody, and good energy on builds & drops. Nutritious writes:

"I admit, the style took me by surprise. I think it's just been a long time since I judged a electronic dance track for some reason.

Really liking how you adapted the melody here. Very creative, but still clearly green hill 1. Nice, full sound here, though at times a bit cluttered in the more dense sections, as mentioned. The hit at 2:54 stuck out as an example of when ithe sound's getting distorted by pushing the limiter too hard. Overly abrupt ending could be fleshed out more as well, but not a deal-breaker there. Room for improvement, but lots of great energy, I like."

Plenty of modern EDM pushes limiters to the max & employs generous helpings of sidechain, so while the judges were a little critical on production, I tend to chalk it up more to what's become a common practice, at least in certain genres. Overall, this is a fun, intuitive, high-energy take on a 16-bit VGM classic, with enough creative decision-making on the melody and overall flow to cast it in a new light. Good stuff!