Rexy

Well I'm listening with proper headphones right now, and I'll see if I can let loose my anger on something quite brutal. I admit he's come a long way since some of his more overdrawn submissions to the Dwelling of Duels years back. It starts first of all with this very brutal adaptation of Epilogue 3 before seiguing quite well into Battle with the Four Fiends, then into Castle Damcyan and back to Epilogue 3; the way of handling the sources and the transitions was absolutely no problem, as is the sheer amount of skill brought in, most notably with the heavy 16th note strumming from the 2 minute mark onwards - a heavily insane transition into the Castle Damcyan section for sure. It may be a very straightforward way of adapting the sources, but it's got this brutal way of fitting into the scope of the story's progression in order to capture its relevance. Here's one criticism I have here; while the writing does indeed manage to face this angry and "traitor-ish" approach given towards it, some clarity could've been done towards the drum pieces to get them to stand out significantly more, as for me it seemed as if the rhythm guitars ended up clashing a bit too much with the cymbals in terms of equalisation for some reason, making it not as sharp as I would've wanted it to be. That said, this is some really TIGHT guitar playing here, and to see the sources intertwined in such a way that might make Children of Bodom more like the White Stripes (!!), it's a clear sign showing that Kidd Cabbage has really been pushing himself to become a well identifiable face in regards to the remix community. Here's to hoping he'd surface again in another site project after his recent BadAss contribution too

You and your barebones sources. >_> This is 8 measures long, but it's really just this etheral soundscape setting up the game's backdrop. But yeah, with the use of acoustic guitar and more atmospheric percussion it tends to add this more 'apocalyptic' feel to the source. It starts out safe to it, but it manages to play around a little bit when the electric guitars ended up coming in (though whether it would fit with the source's rhythms is another thing altogether). Yet, eventually it would crawl all the way back to the gentle acoustic nature and back again to that kind of riff; for me it seems to on the line of something more chilled and uninvolving. It may be a flossy production but when considering that most of it could've held up just fine back then, I must state that I'm not really too keen on the texture for the guitars at all though; don't know if they're live or just weakly filtered synth ones, but this constant use of high-end can be seen as a draw against on it for me. The other instruments were humanised quite well and fit the soundscape, just that due to this flossy mixing it seems to have suffered considerably in regards to age. It's a creepy take on such a minimalist source though, but in regards to the mix as a whole I couldn't really get into it. It's got some cool things that it tried to do, definitely, but all that taken into consideration I couldn't really see it as much of a keeper at all; I'm sorry

Congratulations Jake! And true to your name, it had to relate to the "snake" in your name So it starts out well with some pretty echoed square synths, probably a little overdone (might've preferred the echo feedback to be a little more reduced), but by the time the rest of the accompaniment comes in it starts providing a more mysterious atmosphere to it. It follows the source well for most of it, and manages to take some good liberties at 2:10 with some good original writing on top of the melody. I see it as a good chippy homage to Snake Man - a little simple, but it does indeed capture this peaceful "vertical" approach to the title quite well. I have to say something; I am absolutely no fan of the almost constant padded drone at all (which I'm assuming was a heavily reverbed/softened e-piano). All it seemed to do was add writing-based mud towards it, which makes it really awkward to comprehend otherwise. If you were even hoping to keep it I would've recommended changing it to a different synth-like sound (some sort of chime?), reducing the volume and equalising when appropriate to make it more identifiable within the instrument roster. But as it is I could live with it, though whether I'd be comfortable with it remains to be seen. I may have been quite critical with this one, but having witnessed some of your works since, I am sure that you're able to up your game in future submissions, especially since you also guided Snake Man through the Grand Robot Master Remix Battle 2011 and had a submission from there passed; and I have every confidence that you'd get in there and take everything you learnt into new exciting ventures. For now, welcome to the clan

More Pokemon! And I admit to have waited some time to see it get posted, especially given the long history behind this one. I'm liking the eerie start, with the organ parts that kind of resemble a darker "Strawberry Fields" for me, and when the melody managed to come in I can certainly envision this darker approach to it; it could almost be as if West Kanto was facing a 1984-esuqe siege, which seems to be the vision falling into my mind when hearing it. It may be a whole different set of chords for the track, but the melody's adaptation towards it manages to adapt to that feeling to a T, so arrangement-wise we have an expansive adaptation that fits this dark work that could carry elements of Rozo's moody synth driven style and Will's 80s-influenced approach. I'm not sure if the rhythms at 3:30 were real or not but it would've helped to have been the same texture as the lead guitar (which I'm assuming is Will ) for further clarity. In addition to that, I know I keep picking on Will's drum parts in particular, but to me they seemed to come off as rather flat sounding in the mix. There could've been something done to try and equalise further punch out of it, to really give more edge to the track, but given the track's age and history it might be better off shunted aside. Otherwise, it's a pretty arrangement to compliment Blake's happier and sophisticated take on it, and to see them both co-exist on The MissingNo Tracks was pretty neat on seeing how people could adapt this simple childish melody. Good going you two!

Seeing the words "vintage drums" in a writeup like this is making me think that this might end up being rather experimental in nature, though whether it could work or not may be a different thing altogether. Hearing the familiar intro chiptune riff in the background was a firm touch, though it seemed to be bridged by this awkward detuned original section within the first minute and that kind of style was awkwardly maintained for most of it. But I felt the hip-hop segment at 2:30 managed to save it for me with some stronger writing based around the source; the piano may be awkwardly mechanical, but the amount of light echo on it at least managed to give it a fuller texture. I can at least understand what he was trying to do in interpreting the theme in as many different styles of electronica as possible, but in the end it comes off as rather minimalist and rough and almost infringing the site's vision even back then within the opening moments, which is to be understood considering this was within the site's first 100 contributions. But as a more experimental take on the source it's alright, but I have to be honest; of all the takes on this theme I heard over the holiday, I'm not really as keen on this as Israfel's and Grodan Grobi's entries, sorry to say

On the contrary, when exploring the field of CT coverage this was one that I was drawn into simply because of the raw energy provided to it. I also remember that ABG later covered it in the style of a Grand Theft Auto car radio broadcast back in the VGMix days (no idea if it exists anymore), so it seems as if he has a passion for the source for some time. It may be an ugly mono recording, but taking that concern aside it starts off taking the dangerous riffs of the source material and using it to build what seems to be a more worldly DnB take, or rather, "literal Jungle" for what seems to be made out. The xyolophone to me sounds very firm and fitting, though I would've thought some additional envelope processing to the pan flute might've done some good. The main theme cameo at 1:15 made a good builddown/bridge into section B of the source, so I'm cool with what happened there. Yet, like a lot of mixes these days it's handled almost too much like actual BGM in that we have a riff leading back to where you started and a fadeout. I know it's OverClocked "Remix", but it's not the best way to stand the test of time if it has that kind of an abrupt nature to it, even when in comparison to its bretheren. For the time, I'd say it's a cool electronica entry. It's shown a considerable amount of age now in comparison to other entries most notably in regards to production and execution, but if you can tolerate the genre then it should be worth checking out. Though these days, I know that ABG's skills as an electronica musician have improved tenfold, so the quality gap between this and even "Third Eye" is quite substantial; you're going to have to be mindful of that if you're to check out this old quickie which can still be considered a 'goodie' to the CT mix collection.

The first ever submission from Gecko Yamori. And yes, for the record I DO remember Gex; might provide a remix from one of its games down the line Onto this one though, it's basically a straightforward adaptation of the source complete with extended non-melodic sections and additional drums/pads. A lot of Gecko's works back in the day managed to play safe, so that frame of mind could be excused; though when the only real involvement given towards the synths were the same repetitive filtering patterns given towards the synth bass and some minor effects work applied to the lead synths, you can tell it's already somewhat uninspired in regards to processing. But what seems to be the biggest problem to me is that most of the song was based around buildup and hard to establish a full blown groove or anything. So for me, it felt kind of minimal in nature in comparison to even some of Gecko's later contributions for the site. So, for a first submission he did fine. However, I have known that he has really upped his game as a musician since, and especially in the field of coverage for this source, it came out through the years feeling significantly uninspired even in comparison to the site's other early adaptations for the track. But it's alright if you've come here for something that's practically considered a no-brainer entry.

A strange source to cover, I sense, which I guess makes it appropriate for what seems to be a more aqueous setting. The mix to me feels rather straightforward like a lot of tracks from 2001; on top of the 15 bar source duration, it's all one build of texture over the top, starting with adding in more advanced drums, then additional melody layers over the top to fill in the space, only for it to hapen all over again at around 2:20. So arrangement-wise, nothing really too creative here. The production seems to have paled a bit over the years; the drums comes off as awkwardly distorted and there's no enveloping (other than in the ending) done towards the synths to keep themselves interesting, though the amount of sustain/decay placed amongst them was good enough to fill in the space, not to mention the bass was of a very appropriate texture for the track. I can guess it fits the rather frog-like nature of the track significantly But yes, an old mix that seems to have had its better days on many fronts, though if you're looking for a good no-brainer Blaster Master arrangement it's worth the pickup. (And I guess it reminded me that one of these days I MUST arrange the beautiful Area 6, but that's another story )

Ah, the Phantom Forest. I got to say it's one of my personal favorite songs from the score simply because of the beauty for it The recording quality may not be the cleanest all the way around, but the instruments were for the most part very well emphasized and managed to stand out well. The double bass performance comes off as ridiculously sloppy though, which makes it hard to try and keep focus here. With those qualms out of the way early, this can be seen as a somewhat classy arrangement, with some nice layering work taken throughout and some interesting panning work with various additional layers of double bass and cello being panned in various places in the stereo field, capturing what may be seen as a more mysterious approach to the forest setting. The improv skills within the second half showed a lot of great colors as well; if anyone else on that site tried to do that kind of performance on a double bass they'd probably blister in half the duration; takes some endurance and creativity to really put that together. So, not the best production setups seen, but with that kind of performance ability we can definitely see you going places. Hopefully you'll be back sooner than we think

*notices that her track wasn't in orlounge's top 3 and is currently struggling in the votes overall* Thank you so much

Sometimes, Tetris mixes are hard to really trust in regards to source tune. I believe that there needs to be a proper separation between the Nintendo and Tengen sources here, as the tune here is actually the B music from the Nintendo version and isn't present in the Tengen section. Just saying. That fickleness aside, it does start out strongly with the strings and a swift and gradual interpreatation of the source. The samples may show their age now, especially some of those MIDI sounding synths (the squares and drum kit in particular), but for what's been handled for the purpose it feels quite chill to me and fits the source quite well. The middle part was cool with the ambience as well, so credit where credit is due for some strong bridge work. Other than that, it's an old arrangement that may have been hampered a bit by the trials of time, but the weak processing and humanisation in general has also made this one age significantly more than going by arrangement. You could look it up if you're a fan of the source, but again due to the rising standards over the years your enjoyment out of it may vary.

After reading the story, I'm getting the significance on the kindness of being given food by djp, and that should make good sentiment The track manages to maintain its original atmospheric style, while at the same time it managed to emphasize the atmosphere a lot with the very appropriate room spacing and use of percussive effects. The minor chord substitutions at 2:45 and onwards were a good use to keep building up the approach you've got going, and this gradual building of tension complete with some well utilised and separated EQs have shown a very keen ear even after having taken a break from the community for so long. There are a couple of criticisms I have with it though. Firstly, that key change at 3:40 comes off as rather sudden to me; with the same type as fill as applied in most of the others in the track, I may have expected something a bit more dynamic to clash into it, like with some added concert bass drum writing as well to compliment it perhaps? In addition, the groove you have going is fine enough as it is, though I can't help but think that the main drum riff doesn't have much change done to it at all. The additional ethnic percussion was good, but maybe some more in range of the drum loop's position on the panning grid could've done some good. Otherwise, it's a nice track; not a revolutionary track by any means, but a very calm and sweet addition to the Myst coverage on OCR. Hopefully it wouldn't be another 8 years before you send something over again

Say what you like about Teen Agent, but even the more obscure games out there has their fair catch of catchy melody lines, and of course the Village theme is a huge standout and compliments Dan's majestic style of orchestration well. And indeed, djp may have mentioned something about Christmas in the writeup but I can indeed imagine NiGHTS on top of Twin Peaks during a gentle snowfall with that trilled intro. Going into the arrangement though, it manages to keep with the fundamentals of the source, namely going with the bass line and melody, and using it to capture something that might reflect a very lively and bustling Soviet village in mind. Even the dynamics are great, going from the dynamic louder parts that comprise of most of melody section A and the gentler contrasts of section B with the softer oboe and brass parts contrasting each other, with one of the highlights being the trilled section at 3:11 really bringing the tension for the arrangement remarkably well. The only suggestion I had would've been to either extend the trills or fade it out suddenly so that it didn't end up being so sudden, but otherwise it made for a powerful transition to that steadier-progressing ending with the key change and everything. All in all, a very sweet and well-realised work from Vampire Hunter Dan! I am sure Brandon was very proud of his contribution towards the Teen Agent project, and for me with his rising contributions in the field of orchestration it can be seen as a project highlight. Nice going!

Hearing the source tune, it reminded me that SelectaNovel covered this source during the VGMix days - good times, and I'm glad to see an arrangement of this source surface on OCR So I got to say I'm loving the funk-driven take on this one, given that the original was already kind of bass/groove heavy. Velvet's recorded guitars were extremely tasteful and have shown a great amount of precision and expression towards them, not to mention those are some sick wahs I could've even mistaken the bass for the real thing, given that there's no mention of any bass recording in the description; that's a very strong tone being given out towards it. The additional electric parts accompanying it were definitely well spaced and added to the atmosphere. To be fair, I don't really understand why it kept getting conditional/NO votes from the panel. Going by the assumption that the organ part originally had brass I could understand, but as it stands I felt it's an extremely well polished contribution towards a more underlooked game. Really digging the approach a lot, and I hope you guys come back soon

The great Radical Dreamers flood of '01. Purely a great precursor to the due attention it received leading up to Thieves of Fate. I've grown used to some of Zeratul's past electric-esque works, though admittedly a lot of these have managed to show their age by now. This, sadly, is amongst them with the out-of-date samples (particularly in the fields of percussion) and flossy equalisation, not to mention that it took about a whole minute before the source would even come in through the piano - not the most human piano in the world, but the echo and hammered chords were pretty. The variation taken on the piano leading into the ending was definitely a nice climax and managed to play around with the source melody quite well too. In regards of production it's aged quite a bit, though as an arrangement of a brief source I didn't think it was too bad for something so ambient in nature. Should be worth checking out if you're a Chrono series fan, or even if your interest is piqued in regards to this more obscure Chrono-related gem

This would probably make more sense if you heard the Alpha track before this one, especially since they were both submitted at the same time and follow the exact way of interpreting the relationship between Marathon and Halo. And indeed it follows the atmosphere quite like the Alpha one, with the acoustic bass providing the Marathon source melody and the sweeping strings providing the motifs from the Halo source doing really well to fit Nick's 'enhanced vision' soundscape ridiculously well. It may be seen as ridiculously brief, but for two games from the same developer to come into such an artistic vision in this way complete with very well panned sweeping strings and great atmospheric separation, I feel very understanding about the artistic integrity brought into it. This might split some people due to the ambient nature and/or the sheer length, but if you've got the time, then one should look up the sources beforehand and then hear the mix to purely understand its complex. It may require some thought to understand it, but once you do it makes for a very pretty listen

Sound of Speed. But bias aside, favorites thread are not tolerated here. It's not a wise idea to ask for peoples' favorite albums since that would just make certain people mad.

The ever energetic Devil's Lab. One of the more memorable source tunes from FF6. Though, I could've sworn with this one being a later discovery that it might've been up on the site much later. Looking at it again though, it does tend to get really dirty sounding with the levelling, with the pads piercing too far through the mix to really give in any sense of subtlety. The drum buildup was cool, though for a very short mix and seeing it take up nearly half the song was a little awkward for me. Outside from that, it's a straightforward interpretation complete with a weak fadeout at the end on top of the melody for some reason. I'm going to have to be fair in saying that this one didn't age as gracefully as some of the other interpretations of this same theme, most notably due to length, mixing and arrangement. I guess it could be cool to see if you like the source tune, but that's really as far as I can go for a recommendation.

Old school Palpable. I believe I heard some of his more conservative works before he ended up being a part of the panel, though never really made the name match until a few years later for some reason. So it starts out fairly cookie cutter with the drums and bass, though nicely layered and equalised drums and bass, and manages to keep its conservative nature with the melody addition just later on in the track. There may be a stale progression going on with the writing as it keeps itself very close to the source material, though I still have to say it's a very clean and well emphasized production that manages to stand strong even by today's standards. The drill/SFX breakdown at 2:29 managed to really add some variety at that point; now for me I'm usually scared of drills in mixes because they'd have THAT MUCH high end on them that it would imagine me in the dentist's chair (don't ask), but thankfully the production feels tasteful here and offers a more pleasant sensation. Arrangement-wise it may be straightforward, but I felt in regards to the execution it managed to stand the test of time fairly well. I'm going to have to admit that I didn't hear as much of Palpable's newer material within the past two years or so, but when comparing this to his Yoshi's Island entry when he became a judge, it's compelling me to righten things for the year ahead. For now, I feel good with this one

I keep the albums in folders, but all regular mixposts in a giant cluttered pile within another. Thankfully I can organise it at any time, so just looking up something by game/artist isn't really a big problem.

Very appropriate title. I'm sure between DigiE, Sir Nuts, myself, Stephen Kennedy, k-wix and probably more not on the edge of my mind having gone several years without mixposts re-surfacing this year, 2011 appears to be the "year of the comebacks", apparently. Having understand the duo's pair of fun via their contribution to Anime Remix a few years back, I'm glad to see that sense of fun managed to maintain itself well with the submission. It managed to reference the source material subtlely in the modified intro, before going into a more straightforward adaptation of the melody with enough variation and additional rhythmic elements to keep with the nostalgic feel of the source. A lot of the additions like with the subtle buildups and the vocoder voices managed to add a lot to the feel given here, and saw itself as a fitting homage towards the game. Seeing the reference towards the Power Plant from 3:15 onwards, one couldn't help but think of another person's notable homages and can be seen as a strong message of thanks towards those that have supported the duo in the past. People engrossed in the song may just see it as a fun beat driven section leading up to a last minute that seems to fuse both sources together, but as for me, paying homage to your roots with that similar attention to the texture can be seen as a very inspirational touch. The low bit rate may bother some, and to be fair I felt a little uneasy with that production addition, but with an arrangement that good I would probably let it pass. But yes, a very inspirational mix fitting the nature of nostalgia and more modern ideas, paying homage to a rather under-appreciated game score and being really gracious towards the listeners that approach it. I hope you guys keep sending more stuff down the line and top it up to some degree, because I found it to be extremely enjoyable!

Wow, the first ever submission from SnappleMan. I'd be feeling quite nostalgic just hearing how far he's been developing from here It starts out with adapting the A section for the source twice with the lead synth carrying the melody, with some tasteful harmonies being thrown in. After that it soon managed to dive into the rest of the source; even back then I am noticing that his keyboard inputting skills are extremely tight, and the added synth solo at 1:55 managed to keep adding a good sign of excitement for the setting. I'd say the arrangement, while not really ground breaking, really managed to adapt well with the site's mission at the time. The guitar performance, which is what we know SnappleMan for a lot these days, seems to be riddled with faults though; I can understand the lack of virtuosity and the sloppy timing sometimes, but there have been a clear set of times when the tuning comes off as off-key and makes it difficult to try and get a clear grasp of it. That and the rather muddy sounding recording of them these days seems to make it feel less than stellar, and may come off as more aged than quite a handful of his earlier works. But for an addition for the Star Ocean series, fans have their thrill - a nice, straightforward fast rock take. Having been accustomed to Andreas's progression as a musician over the years I probably won't see myself keeping this, but it's a great insight to see exactly how much he has developed in the years since this track's posting

Very little information about the source on this one, so I'm going to have to go by what I hear. Though, having heard the main theme at least, I do hear traces of its melody on the piano, so I think we have an idea on where we're going on this one. I admit the PS2 bootup sound does make good wind ambience, so it seemed to add a lot to this stealthy approach you got going in the intro. The simple pizz strings and piano combination ended up being affective, and seeing it built up with the strings as well (and much later on a flute part) managed to provide that suspenseful feeling towed in. It's a simple setting now in comparison to some of Jared's later works, but the instruments were well emphasized and neatly stood strong amidst the setting. Though like a lot of his works at the time, they tended to have a very stagnant set of dynamics, and the instruments themselves carry very little humanisation other than some subtle velocity alterations, most notably on the piano. I have known that he has improved on his works since, and even his arranging ability, but I still have to say that for something that's nearly 10 years old it has a pretty decent soundscape to it. I'm not sure if everyone would probably get this due to the source game or even whether they'd even pinpoint a source material to the mix, or even understand the feel, but it's definitely one of Jared's more overlooked arrangements and should be worth at least trying, even though it doesn't seem to break any revolutionary ground.

I'm kind of shaky about this as well. Aside from the drum progression (which I admit has some good writing once it gets going) and the panned strings at the end, this is practically a note for note adaptation for the original with very little else going on. I could think it barely survived the lockdowns for the very few changes slipped in, so on that note I'm not really too thrilled about this one

Yaay, The Coop. Between this and his Thunder Force works, I can easily see shooters working remarkably well for his style. Considering that he used MIDI/keyboard soundbanks - and still does now given his recent Concrete Man work - this is actually a well programmed and dynamic track for the most part; it does suffer a bit from a low volume that's often associated with these soundbanks but it's made up for with some interesting controller manipulation (most often with panning and pitch shifting) and thickening textures that work well for their time. Arrangement-wise, it manages to show its ties to the source but also takes directions of interest with many of the little florishes thrown in. That flute solo at 2:15 was seen to be a good highlight, with some very well controlled pitch shifting work and subtle attention paid towards it. And the writing surrounding it manages to fit very well with The Coop's playful direction. It's a shame now that he doesn't submit much music anywhere these days, though his presence has still been held tight with his colorful "Jon Talbain and the Smiley" animated gif signatures which have been a real pleasure to gawk at over the years. Hopefully one of these days he may make a resurgance as a musician, but for what it is, it's fine for its time (EDIT: And yes Bahamut, parts of the tailend of the source DOES kind of resemble "Ryu's Determination" from Ninja Gaiden, so if you felt a similarity to its writing somewhere, you now know how )