Liontamer

Thanks very much to all of those who tuned in tonight for a great show covering a bunch of material from the last 6 weeks while I was away. The other half of the winter break material will mostly by covered by this coming Saturday's show, so be sure to be check it out. Many people were asking where the original game music for tonight's show came from. My bro, Kaleb Grace, has been running the Song of the Week contest over at the GamingForce Audio forums, spotlighting more obscure but quality original and arranged video game music. Sample 13 weeks worth (39 tracks) of excellent VGM over at SongOfTheWeek.info, and keep an eye out for Week 14's results over at SotW and on VGF itself. Check out the playlist over at Ormgas.com and leave comments. The 3hr/125MB show is available alongside the night's chat transcript of #VGF. More good stuff is headed your way this weekend for the official premiere of VG Frequency: Season 4. Hope to see you there! VG Frequency #44.99: Zombo Everybody, Zombo Everything Larry Oji - WMRE (Emory University Student Radio; Atlanta, GA) Thursday, January 20, 2005 / 10 PM - 1:02 AM EST Liontamer ------------------------------------------------------------------------ 1. Rayza f/Liontamer - VG Frequency "Number One Host" Bumper 2. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Invitation" [Gradius III OST] 3. Beatdrop - SaGa Frontier 1 "V-MAX Engaged" [VGMix2 #2916] 4. Steve Root - "Wall Street" [Die Hard 3 (Die Hard Trilogy) OST] 5. Crazy Crakaz (Disposer & Joecam) - Alien Hominid "The Invasion" [shonen Samurai's OneUp Studios Alien Hominid Remix Contest / VGMix2 #2926] 6. Captain Tortilla - "Aristophanes" [Cold] 7. Captain Tortilla - "Breakfast in Sweden" [Cold] 8. Mythril Nazgul - Doom 1 "The Man Alone" [VGMix2 #3021] 9. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Departure for Space" [Gradius III OST] 10. Gradius Symphonic Orchestra - Gradius 1 "Gradius Fantasia" [Gradius Fantasia AST] 11. bLiNd - "The Last Hymn" [http://www.thebrailroom.com] 12. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Dead End Cell" [Gradius III OST] 13. Ashane - Ninja Gaiden 2 "Ninjascape" [Dwelling of Duels: Free Month (December 2004) / VGMix2 #3081] 14. Sefiros - Final Fantasy 9 "To Be Forgotten is Worse Than Death" [VGMix2 #3064] 15. OverCoat - "The Waitress" [ubo's Restaurant] 16. Michiel van den Bos - "Snowscapes" [Age of Wonders OSV] 17. Ichitootah - "Dancing with Delay" [Original Remix Competition 12] 18. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Aqua Illusion" [Gradius III OST] 19. zyko - "zombo" [zombo] 20. zyko - "Munchies" [zombo] 21. Ubik - "Tsumitsuki" [The Owl in Daylight] 22. Yoko Kanno - "Southern Twilight ~ Dance on a Cape of Good Hope" [uncharted Waters II Special Edition OST] 23. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Sand Storm" [Gradius III OST] 24. Star Salzman - Bionic Commando "Advance with Caution" [VGMix2 #2974 / OC ReMix #1302] 25. Gwilym Wogan - "vox pop a (jeah right mix)" [the meinpenis zeitgeist] 26. Kohei Tanaka - "Wind that Spans the Earth" [Alundra OST] 27. Reuben Kee - Metal Gear Solid 1, Metal Gear Solid 2 & Metal Gear Solid 3 "Legend of the Snake" [VGMix2 #2851] 28. CarboHydroM - Street Fighter 2 "The Nine Tails Fox and the Avenger" [Dwelling of Duels: Free Month (December 2004) / VGMix2 #3061] 29. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "In the Wind" [Gradius III OST] 30. OverCoat - Seiken Densetsu 3 "Path-ology" [VGMix2 #3041] 31. NoWave - "Nevada-tan" [invisible] 32. Christian Pacaud - Chrono Trigger "Alone at the Bottom of Night" [VGMix2 #2696] 33. Paragon - Secret of Mana "Iridescent Memories" [Dwelling of Duels: Free Month (December 2004) / VGMix2 #3053] 34. qaid - "and then there was one" [cork music] 35. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Cosmo Plant" [Gradius III OST] 36. kLuTz - "Warmth" [http://klutz.vgmidi.com] 37. Naoki Kodaka - "Main Theme 2" [Albert Odyssey Gaiden ~ Legend of Eldean OST] 38. OverCoat - "The Talking Rat" [ubo's Restaurant] 39. BrainCells - Axelay "The Path to Hell - Lake of Fire" [VGMix2 #3044] 40. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Final Shot" [Gradius III OST] 41. Quinn Fox - Megaman 2 "Oxygen Flare" [VGMix2 #3135] 42. Gwilym Wogan - "vox pop d" [the meinpenis zeitgeist] 43. Israfel - Lagoon "Some that Have Deeper Digg'd Love's Mine than I" [The People's Remix Competition v2-6 / VGMix2 #3042] 44. Shnabubula - Castlevania Chronicles "Mucho Dollar Care a Junk CIA" [OC ReMix #1289] 45. The C64 Mafia - The Forbidden Forest "Don't Go Walking Slow" [R:K:O #2524] 46. Lie Mf B - Megaman 3 "Got My Dope from the Needle Man" [sex, Drugs n' Nintendo / VGMix2 #3130] 47. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Mechanical Base" [Gradius III OST] 48. Kazuki Muraoka, Kazuhiko Uehara, Harumi Ueko & Yukie Morimoto - "Game Over" [Gradius III OST]

We preview season 4 tonight. All info for listening and chatting is on page 1. Be there.

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/Xenogears_psf.rar - 215 "Omen" http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ct.rsn - "Presentiment" (ct-1-01.spc)??? It's always good to see one of OCR's one-shot contributors return, especially with something as solidly constructed as this. If I didn't know any better, I'd say that this mix was actually from Xenogears itself, which is about the highest compliment I can give it. Omen's use as the backing stays pretty straightforward. For the life of me, I can't fully identify what tune Jerad's using at :50, but recognize it from somewhere. "Frozen Flame" from Radical Dreamers? Beats me. It's vaguely familiar from somewhere in Square universe, but I'd prefer to know what exactly it is. I thought everything else sounded good, like the female vox at 1:58, and I have no problem with the panning. I have reservations on this though. Once we move into 1:24, aside from hearing a cover of "Omen" in the background with light string plucks that never changes for the rest of the track, I have no idea where the rest of the track is inspired from. The vox sounds nice and creates a full sound, but where it's derived from relative to some source material, I couldn't say. I also don't hear CT's "Presentiment" referenced in any overt way. Maybe someone can elaborate on where other aspects of the arrangement come from. I can contact the artist to ask for more information if need be, but ask that we hold off on passing this. EDIT - 1/27: Sorry for not doing it sooner, but I mailed Jerad today asking for more information. Waiting to hear back. 1/30: Have a reply back from Jerad. I'll post it here as well as vote as soon as I can.

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/dkc.rsn - "Northern Hemispheres" (dkc-18.spc) I greatly enjoyed a lot of the tracks from Kong in Concert. While Adhesive Boy's "Cry of the Chasmal Critter Chain" was my favorite as a judge, Prophecy's contribution was my favorite as a listener. The source tune melody kicks in at 1:08 for any impatient people comparing to the SPC, though earlier ideas there are used as well. The rearrangement was hot, though I'm sure some fans out there will say "too liberal", which it isn't. New ending with bells rather than vox, I noticed. Good stuff. The primary complaint I've heard on this one is the track sounding cluttered. Some people are bound to feel that way, but this achieved a full atmosphere while retaining a strong enough separation of sounds here so that my ear could focus on different instruments and sections. Nothing I haven't also heard from tracks like SuperGreenX's "Kick Your A", SGX & MC's "4F73R M3" & bLiNd's "G-Storm"; absolutely nothing wrong with it to me. I doubt it would retain it's epic feel with squeaky clean mixing. Being half-Russian myself, something like Gothic trance wasn't going to be literally evocative of the motherland, but I definitely see the Russian influence here from many of the elements in play like the choir vox, bells, and strings, as well as the cadence of the source tune arrangement from 2:48 to 3:14 in particular. I thought the winter vibe was captured very well. I could envision DK & Diddy having to navigate through the most difficult Gorilla Glacier level imaginable. Very eerie and enveloping work the whole way through, and true DP material all the way. Congratulations to Jason for this superlative work. I'm proud this'll be the mix that introduces him to OCR, and I hope "Chekan Winter" was something that the Rare team enjoyed as well. This was one of the tracks that made Kong in Concert a true success from a creative standpoint, and makes me want to dump my girlfriend so I can have Binnie Katti's children. I think Binnie simply posting the mix writeup he gave this track and writing YES to conclude it would be hilarious.

http://www.tzone.org/~llin/psf/packs2/FF7_psf.rar - 301 "Cosmo Canyon" Had the pleasure of playing this for VGF43. Very stylish piano & string arrangement to handle things for the first minute and a half. The mix stayed straightforward with the source tune melody but proved to be very expansive with the support work nonetheless, like Israfel pointed out. Engaging and excellent stuff. We got a well-handled switch at 1:31 that upped the intensity with some pounding drums, then things came down a little bit to make way for Reu's trademarked Eastern sounds to enter in at 1:59 for another iteration of the Cosmo Canyon melody. Nice sounds that regular listeners of Reu's work will immediately recognize. Things stayed safe yet expansive riffing on the source melody for the first few minutes before they got more involved via rearrangement from 3:11 until the end for a relatively strong finish. Felt the ending could have been a bit more epic given what I heard, but otherwise everything was great. Always an enjoyable listen from Reuben and a great addition to the site. YES

http://www.zophar.net/usf/ge64usf.rar - 111 Archives.miniusf Whoa, that lead synth that opens things up is kind of abrasive; needs some processing/effects so it doesn't sound so bare as well. It doesn't layer well with the orchestral stabs done during the chorus (1:08-1:15) and with other instruments later on. Very overcompressed beatwork and the cymbals are WAY over the top and extremely tacky. All that could afford to be significantly toned down. It really gets ridiculous in the long run. This track's an interesting mishmash of samples as some are fairly good, like the orchestral stabs, strings & piano, while other like the choir vox, percussion, that lousy horn-like thing at 1:51 & the electric bass on lead are weak. Loads of potential here, but if I could take a hatchet to some of the instruments here, I would. 2:44-3:25 just redoes/retreads earlier ideas in the arrangement. Overall, I felt like the sections that contained beatwork were too similar, even though I heard two alternating patterns used from section to section. This would need a little bit more than that to keep things from getting stale. Keep at it, Alex. NO

Joecam & Disposer have a remix of this theme over at VGMix, "The Invasion", done for Shonen Samurai's Alien Hominid Remix Contest over at the OneUp Studios boards, so I'm familiar with the source material. This mix was so dumbed down and basic, it just wasn't happening. Can't help but laugh at how simple and empty this is. Lone electric guitar synth with some generic beats underneath. Then the beats would switch up. Then ANOTHER electric guitar synth and some other whatever come in on accompaniment. Now I feel spoiled. HAHAHAHAHAHAH! I had Winamp in the background as I was writing this, and decided to check the time. As the song hit 1:53, I saw it was a whopping 4:08 track. Wow! Some of y'all will hate me out there, but fuck it. I haven't laughed this hard at an honest-to-God legit submission in a long time. Should have gotten the form letter, but djp sent it here being the kind-hearted, loveable soul he is. Awesomely bad stuff. You have no chance to survive make your time. NO

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ff6.rsn - "Kefka" (ff6-108.spc) & "Wild West" (ff6-117.spc) [1:42-1:52] Good stuff that I played for VGF44. Definitely with Israfel here; pretty academic decision. Digging the constant thematic changes at 1:12, 2:03, 2:23 & 3:06. Nice reference to "Wild West" at 1:42 as well. Good job going for the Elfman vibe once again, though I'm interested in hearing some more electronic stuff in the future, since I like that stuff from you as well. Trite lil' ending there, but otherwise I'm feelin' it. Excellently varied rearrangement with quality imagery that fits the mix title well. I see where Izz is coming from on the structure being disorienting, as this doesn't stay in one place for too long, though I liked it. YES

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/ct.rsn - "Peaceful Day" (ct-1-04.spc) http://www.ocremix.org/detailmix.php?mixid=OCR00873 - "Town Life in Piano" I compared this with kLuTz's version just to make sure the differences in arrangement were there. The mix here is in mono, but it doesn't matter. Just pointing that out as well. The performance style was the same from :46 until the end and the arrangement just meandered around until the end, making it hard to grasp the direction of things. I felt it needed more focus there. The lack of variation in the performance beyond :46 also kept the arrangement too similar for too long, especially for so short of a track. By 1:33, I felt like the piece was just retreading itself thematically. Change the flow with another subtle alteration in your playing style, like you did with the switch in tempo at :46. It's one of the same strategies kLuTz used in his own mix to keep things fresh. I'm hoping something can be done to eliminate some of the hissing as well with a little post-production, as well. Geoffrey's a name I've been hearing more and more about in the past few months. I don't doubt he has the skills to make it here, but I don't feel this is the piece that'll do it. NO

Rise of the Star; good choice, bros. Keep up the progress so I have stuff to play on the air soon.

HAHAHAHAHA! I have to admit, that's one of the most interesting reviews I've ever read for a remix. "This made me physically ill." Yeesh.

I've heard some of Vurez's material before off VGMix and have played it on VGF. I'm sure we'll see him posted one day, but it won't be with this. I think the opening lead synth (:00-:18) was really poorly chosen, despite the fact that Don was trying to emulate the Turbo style as it were. Wasn't a big fan of the synth electric guitar here, but that may be a personal choice, so it didn't affect my judgement. Most of the elements here lacked enough clarity and distinction; the sound was pretty cluttered most of the time. It was mostly reinstrumentation that I heard, though I'd hazard to say if it were a sound "upgrade"; I honestly felt the original was better. Heard some brand new ideas at 2:15 finally, and those basically lasted until the end. This still came off as too conservative of an arrangement. It retained the tempo and feel of the original so much that there was nothing present that particularly distinguished it from the source tune itself. This needs more personal flair and interpretation that what you've got right now, as well as clearer sounds. NO

Season 4 will soon kick off. I plan on taking a bunch of material from the past 5 weeks of my winter break and doing episodes #44.99 & #45. I've been reminded that I need to do the Duck Hunt: RoFL show still, and that's definitely something I still wanted to do. Certainly looking for bumpers to open up season 4 with. I've got a great one from Shael Riley in particular that's pretty hot. Keep an eye out for a show a little bit later in the week, as episode #44.99 will be the Season 4 preview show. Hope to see a bunch of you there.

Don't have the source tune available to me, but I recognize it from Fray's take on the theme, "Fear Not". Once more elements come in at 1:00, this sounded like a cluttered mess. I'd have given it the form letter myself because of the lack of arrangement. Didn't do a damn thing to incorporate much of the source tune, that's for sure. A huge letdown after the first 30 seconds. It was just the same couple of bars repeating over and over again with various generic trance material stapled on. You're young; you'll look back on this one and laugh, that's about all I can say. NO

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd2.rsn - "What the Forest Taught Me" (sd2-15.spc) Vig gave an excellent breakdown of the problems. Definite beginner sounds to it the whole way through. Retreading your steps with new instrumentation won't get you very far. The arrangement wasn't very engaging; I'm probably biased because I hate the original (ugh, so bad), but the fact is that this could have been half as long given the amount of ideas presented. The notes from 2:42-3:19 didn't sound right at all. Keep on learning. NO

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd3.rsn - "Female Turbulence" (sd3-2-05.spc) First impression - too much reverb. It thickened up the sound, but the track was washed out to me. Despite the reverb, the presentation oftentimes felt empty, as the instruments didn't do a great job of filling the space. Just as I said that, an electric guitar synth and a new lead came in at 1:52 and everything got very cluttered and messy. Can't articulate it well enough, but I did NOT like how the guitar is attempted to be used as an integral part of the background. The note movements are very unnatural and it sounds like a different instrument would have functioned better in its place. I liked the synth choice for the breakdown at 2:34. With the strings filling the space in the back, this was a nice way to fill things out yet remain minimalist. The pattern there dragged on too long though. Hearing this track shifting around between ethnic style instrumentation, orchestration, and faux-metal guitar, it seemed like it has an identity crisis. When some of the styles were combined, it definitely wasn't workin'. Too long, too muddy, too unfocused. The arrangement effort was there, but it doesn't come across as structured enough. Keep on improving, Dan. NO

http://www.noderunner.net/~llin/psf/packs/FFX-2_psf2.rar - 101 "Eternity ~Memory of Lightwaves~" Pretty cool stuff for what it's worth. A little too subdued for my tastes, but it offered something different. Not really my thing, as I don't really go for the boom-tss stuff, but that doesn't affect my judgement. Some of the sounds were basic/generic, but the combinations worked fairly well. I could see why DarkeSword wanted a stronger lead than the belltones here, as they sometimes struggle to be heard prominently during fuller parts of the track. Nonetheless, the sound balance was where it needed to be. Very stylish arrangement here; the length of the intro given the overall length of the track was excellent. I wouldn't have let the track come to a complete stop at 3:33 as it exposes your samples. Pretty much my only real nitpick there. Good effort, Andrew, and a good introductory mix if you make it. I could certainly see this one get challenged though. Nonetheless, your persistence in enhancing your skills has been paying off. You've certainly been improving, and I hope you keep it up beyond this mix. YES

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/ffa.zip - Track 1 [:00-:50] http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/sd3.rsn - "Angel's Fear" (sd3-3-12.spc) [:51-2:07] I don't know/recognize the second half of the mix, but it's probably safe to say that this has medley cover-itis. I'd appreciate if another judge that's more familiar could verify that, but I can't say it's necessary in order to judge this. The percussion was too basic for the most part, and wasn't really integrated with the rest of the music. It functioned more as a beatkeeper, but that wasn't a particularly interesting role. You just gotta provide more with the overall package nowadays. Sorry, Steve. NO

http://exotica.fix.no/tunes/archive/C64Music/Hubbard_Rob/Zoids.sid - Subtune 1/3 The SID lasts about 3:45 if you guys wanna listen to it the whole way through before it repeats. Basically a cover at a slightly faster tempo. I'd say submit it to R:K:O instead. This had the same problem I also had with your previous submission from Thrust. The structure was the same for the most part, and the arrangement was too conservative. You changed up the feel a little bit compared to the source and presented some new ideas in places, but this was still basically a cover. That doesn't mean it's a crappy track, but there aren't many creative liberties taken here. NO

http://exotica.fix.no/tunes/archive/C64Music/Follin_Tim/Gauntlet_III.sid - Subtune 2/2 Dammit. I loved this track to death on VGMix and played it on VGF33 when I was doing makeup shows. I figured whatever changes made here would be an improvement, but I'm gonna have to say NO on this. The arrangement of the source tune is excellent. I like most of the additions, and the beats are hot. But the source melody, which was somewhat muted but more apparent in the the VGMix version, is really driven to the back of the track here; even the new synth that handles the mix's melody isn't enough of a presence to me. Rather, the beatwork seems to dominate over the top of everything else. From :19-:37, you can barely even hear it. A new synth joins in at :37 to handle melody as well, but again, it doesn't register much with me. The melody of the breakdown from :57-1:13, which I thought was the coolest part of the mix, got obscured by the additions put in. Not really feeling the new section from 1:33-1:50. 1:50-2:09 was the same style of thick stuff that Binster used in ICO "Icon", which I would have NOed on those grounds and asked for a resubmission if I was on the panel way back when. Maybe others may have the same problem as me, maybe not; this works for its style, sure. I'd certainly contact Martin and ask him to adjust the balance here if desired. I don't wanna seem as if I don't like the track or am NOing simply because it's different from the VGMix version. Martin, though infrequent with releases, is one of the more exciting members of the community to listen to. But I've gotta push for a resubmission here to make the melody, as done in the first version, a more prominent & integral part of the track. I don't use emoticons much, but damn. NO (borderline/please resubmit)

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - 18 Flying Battery Zone 1 Though the ending was very trite, the arrangement was pretty good; good vibe and nice ideas, though conservative in some places. Unfortunately, the performance here was excessively mechanical with a lack of attention to velocities. This MIDI-grade stuff doesn't sound realisitic in the slightest. You seem to have the theory knowledge, but need to learn how to apply realism to a sequenced piece. I'll leave it to the musicians to tell you how to go about improving the presentation here, but you can certainly turn to the ReMixing forum for help on that as well. If it's too daunting at the moment to get more knowledgeable & fix the problems here yourself, you may want to develop sheet music for the piece and contact a pianist to perform it if you don't play yourself or don't have access to actually recording a live performance. NO

The arrangement was too conservative and repetitive, the percussion samples came off as too basic and beginner-ish (nice substitution for "very amateur," yes?), and the multiple cymbal shots and orchestral stabs were really tacky. I liked the sound used for the lead though. Stay dedicated toward improvement and you'll come up with better material in the future. NO

The other NOs covered it, especially DarkeSword who gave an excellent checklist. YESing this mix would have been a mess. This was a great performance by Jilly on the vocals, but we're looking for more interpretive ideas beyond a cover with minor instrumental additions and the verbatim Grand Finale arrangement lyrics. I'm looking forward to hearing Jilly's Zelda 64: Ocarina of Time mix, which offhand I couldn't say would be accepted in the WIP stage I heard it in. But it'll certainly be interesting for us nonetheless. And I wanna remind everyone out there, including M1lesTeg, that when you pick a remixer handle, don't pick some stupid nickname you'll be ashamed of in a few years time. C'mon, you're basically stuck with it if you get posted here. Better luck next crime, young lovers. NO

http://www.zophar.net/gbs/tetris.zip - Track 2 ("Korobushka") Just judging from the sound of it (which is actually pretty good anyway), this may have been recorded off a tape, not unlike Jaroban's classic Super Mario Bros. Medley (LIVE). Perhaps not, but reasonable sound quality all things considered. I'm all for giving these guys the best likelihood to be noticed if they're posted. List them as the "East Haven High School Yellow Jacket Marching Band". Research on 'em checks out, though I'm surprised there isn't more information about them around. The track title should be different from the source tune name, BTW, which it isn't. Pretty short (about 2 mins of actual performance), and the recording could be more balanced regarding the instrument levels. Good arrangement ideas as well as original additions that work well, and the performance is generally good, but could be better. The brass from 1:16-1:39 was tepid (1:26-1:27 in particular sounded flat). I didn't mind the overall intensity there being low so as to provide contrast. Just saying that the performance for that portion could have been a little tighter and more energetic. Overall though, I liked the arrangement ideas and a major majority of the performance came off well. I wish the ending didn't cut off so quickly after the performance was over, as the crowd reaction would have been good to hear. Heh. Never thought I'd YES something from...'Staven. Shit, do I feel dirty. New Haven, baby. Represent. YES

http://www.zophar.net/gym/SK+SONIC3.RAR - 34 "Special Stage" The sounds came off pretty flat and could have been fuller and more expressive. The arrangement effort was there, but was too conservative. The original composition ideas were good, but I would have liked to have heard other additional ideas like that interwoven with the source tune arrangement. As it stands, there's no interplay between source arrangement and your own additions. The ending was incredibly lame & "I-give-up"-ish. Make a real one please. This would be worth a resubmission if more solid time is invested. NO