ReMix:Star Fox "Crosswind" 5:15

B-laze (a.k.a. Fungist, Kenneth Nordsveen) returns with a fourth featured mix that slows the Star Fox "Corneria" theme down a bit for a throbbing, fx-laden synthwave journey into nervous frogs & barrel rolls:

"Hi, I didn't send a submission in a few years. I, however, had this lying around in my project folder which I was supposed to send long ago. I wanted the Corneria melody from Star Fox mixed up in a retro-style track or synthwave. I normally do not produce synthwave, but I do like to try out everything.

I mixed in some sound effects from Star Fox 64 as the track goes on."

You did indeed; especially for a foray into synthwave as a genre, this is pretty bangin', with a rock-solid downbeat and surprising amount of inertia, given the tempo reduction. Larry Oji sums it up nicely:

"Lots of fun, and adding the SF64 clips adds momentum and textural variation to the picture that allows patterns to go for a few bars without seeming too repetitive, a la Joe November's Breath of the Wild mix on the site. Great energy channeling synthwave here; I'll leave it to someone like Sir NutS to say whether it ticks all the authenticity boxes, but we're not slaves to genre conformity either, so I'm impressed by what's here no matter what.

A lot of mixes lean into the source's high-octane energy, so it's fascinating to hear Kenneth's version where the tempo is slowed down, but the intensity is still high like this; the beats, synths, and voice clips still give you the tension and feeling of an outer space dogfight like the original Star Fox, so there's a lot for any fan to love whether they have a nostalgic connection with the source tune of not. Awesome stuff by B-laze/Fungist! :-)"

I love this theme, and dialing back the tempo was the right move for an expansive, horizon-hurdling synthwave take. The vox/fx from SF64 could have been overkill, but they're woven in & blended with verb and panning to the point where they really feel like part of the soundscape; very nice. Larry basically covered everything, and while the pulsing downbeat can go on a bit, this is definitely more the "driving into the sunset" variety of synthwave as opposed to anything funkier or more festive/syncopated - although the offbeat toms at 1'44" surprise in this regard. Great work from Kenneth, who continues to impress with his EDM & electronic vocabulary while delivering accessible, creative arrangements - enjoy!