Rexy

I acknowledged this on a Follow Friday segment via my Twitter page upon the project's release; the original itself was nothing more than a simple repetitive cutscene cue, and to see bLiNd do THIS much with the source was what blew my mind a heck of a lot. So to see it in a more elaborate stance, the programming variety towards the synths, from some subtle sidechaining on the bass and electronic percussion, the occasional master gate work in favor of some subtle ambience throughout various transitions, some envelope work towards the bass that gives the feel of a dubstep wobble without not actually being a dubstep bass, and some downright ridiculous gliding on the wet-to-dry melodic synth at 3:45 among other examples that I probably can't pinpoint right now have again shown bLiNd's strengths in the fields of production. And with most of the attention paid towards that simple progression and building upon it, we can say that he had a clear artistic vision towards handling the source material, and for Back In Blue, it can be seen as a huge surprise entry. I have to admit though, the ending to me felt a bit weak with deciding to just bring down the melodic progression to what appears to be the start of a third riff that apparently never happened. But that can be the only real issue that I have with a track as mind-boggling as this, and if he's able to handle these shorter source tracks with that kind of feel, goodness knows how he'd handle other similar ones. Again, nice going bLiNd, and we're hoping for more of you in 2012!

Having now understood the Rocky-based backstory (which a certain young male family member has an obsession for), and been more intimate with the remix, it'll be considerably easier for me to make a firm evaluation on. So it starts off definitely paying homage to the setting for the Rocky 4 training montage with the sweeping strings and build with the bass and chorused rhodes, before going straight towards the interpretation as it is. True to his words, this and the Training Montage source have a ridiculously similar feel towards each other, but the decision to give it more melodic substance via the use of "Jamaican Cyberturtle" and using it appropriately to give in melodic substance was definitely a solid idea. Even Will's penchance for original writing, from brief solo at around 1:35 and 2:30, to even that key substansive segment at 2:50 complete with the rising chord with the shifts every 3 steps or so, gave it as much of his style as much as it did zircon's, and with such care handled to the expression it shows his attentive style very appropriately. And another thing I can give credit for is that with some of the careful attention being paid towards some of the writing, this is amongst some of Will's strongest percussion sequences that I have seen; yes, I know I keep looking at his drum work but with a style like this you're pretty much expected to keep the excitement rolling, and indeed it did with changing time signatures every now and again, well articulated fills and plenty of variation. Excellent work! I say you paid homage to zircon's material extremely well, while still being able to maintain that hint of light-heartedness that we've come to expect from you. Classy work Will

I can feel for the writing intent here - nothing is more critical than knowing that you've come down weak, possibly with an illness so terminal that you may be left to die in due time if it can't be cured. It can apply really well towards terminal illness patients, and I can understand how your style managed to fit so well with the recent Songs for the Cure album set. And Stevo's warm playing style worked really well with this transformation; the prelude section at the beginning, while a little indistinct and with thoughts that it could've been fleshed out a little bit, managed to set the tone well; and by the time "Dear Friends" came in with practically a straight interpretation give or take some nice variation in the acoustic melody performance within the last minute, it managed to give that feeling of hope towards it at the end. Shaun's mastering managed to give it a strong lease of warmth too, and with that kind of partnership working really well over the years we can see that he's got a keen eye on making these elements work. To be fair though, I was kind of hoping for more - the track set the mood for the vision wonderfully well, but I wasn't really expecting it to end this quickly and abruptly. So it may have more of a meek interpretation, but that aside with such meaningful production values it can still be seen as a pretty piece of work from the SteShaun partnership. Let's not see it die down in 2012

Hehe, Yamato Man - clearly one of the more more ridiculous Robot Masters in terms of design; no one had any idea that it would end up being one of the more quirky and rememberable robot masters in the entire series. Even here it's an appropriate tribute - fusing together Morse's signature beats with traditional instrumentation, the source has been handled in a very tasteful funk while going through strictly pentatonic scales (appropriate given the source selection). The source itself is handled tastefully; appears hidden within the mood build in the intro before making more of a dignified presence around past the 1:30 mark. That similar presence is made within the last minute too, though there's even some original writing merit at 2:30 as the source manages to take a backseat through some solid gate manipulation and a well programmed shakuhachi solo - one of the huge highlights of the track for me. This to me feels like bliss; just like with "Slash Claw", he paid homage to Yamato Man's roots and fused it with his signature funk-driven style with this tasteful, well programmed arrangement. A great way to pay homage to an otherwise overshadowed title in the classic Mega Man series

Personally, I am disagreeing with this "airy vocal" stance. In the original they already had an airy presence albeit within a drum'n'bass style setting, so I feel cool with the type of presence being given in this track as well. As for this track, progression-wise it stays very safe towards the source material, and lyrically so do the vocals for that matter (again, like with "We Can See No.373" it's no deal breaker), but there's been enough done towards the writing in the background and the light vocaloid-like presence starting at 1:45 to really make it stand out from the original. I had no idea that the guitars and bass were recorded live (something that I acknowledged that Mattias had done in the past with his early PRC submissions), but hearing them back I now certainly can't imagine the track without their presence. I even thought when I first heard it the bass - which I thought was a synth one with a ridiculous amount of wah-achieving envelope filters - was one of the key elements that really managed to add some flow, and it makes it all the more sweeter to know that it's a live instrument too. Excellent stuff! Aside from a little source conservation, I felt that this mix is very close to perfection, and at the time was a great way to be introduced to Mattias's Armored Core arrangements. And with Deia's airy presence complimenting the atmosphere really well, this track is definitely something that should be taken pride over. Nice work you two!

The source material, while not quite as complex as the boss theme I was exposed for the other Missile Master track earlier this week, feels very restricted in melody but I can trust Mazedude to work well with this if he can even turn 3-second jingles into full-on songs. Stylistically it shares similarities with Kunal's original with the old vinyl record scratching, the gentle drum'n'bass percussion and the percussive melodic synths being used. Though as the track draws on, more of Mazedude's complexity starts to weave in and give in more chaos to what can be seen as a more peaceful source material. It can be seen as a pretty safe adaptation, though the key change right to the end with the final climax was definitely something to keep intensifying the mood leading towards its closure. It's brief, but it works! I also got to give credit where credit is due for the awesome panning work done towards the instrumentation - they really managed to thicken up the nature of the expense being portrayed here, with a lot of harsh panning details particularly with the subtle explosions also being noted to draw in a potent experience. So it's a solid way to pay homage to Kunal's score, and I'm glad to see that as fellow Bad Dudes they're still sticking together It may not be the most expansive of Mazedude's works, but in regards to the Missile Master score it has is place here as a potently friendly tribute. Nice work!

You and I both. It makes me feel fuzzy and warm to see that the person that receives the gift feels really greatful about what they've received. My emotions may vary from time to time depending on the situation, that's definitely no secret, but ultimately it provides a sense of fulfilment to know that the recepient is content with what they received. I'll need to remember the frequency of late/missing santas though; online ones are completely new ones to me, so the more I know.

Well done cfx! I recall digging this on advance listen during the summer, and you were a cool guy to see in the #ocremix IRC too (where are you these days?!), so I'm glad to see it made its rounds here. With a fresh set of ears - and sadly still not as much familiarity with the Descent score no matter how many times I tried listening to the sources - it to me still sounds just as crisp and suffice as it was when I first heard it. The main source melody managed to face good appearances while still facing a more shifted chord structure in comparison, and there's definitely been some solid melodic writing to make it feel cohesive and well executed. I'm with the panel with the not-quite-too-attentive drums; mainly due to lack of fills and additional layers undereneath the kick/snare/cymbals, but for the atmosphere they work... "descent-ly". (sorry, I HAD to make the pun!) The samples are a bit of a pick and mix for me, though mostly on the positive side; I thought the synths were very well manipulated, and the occasional synth panpipe sounds - though a little basic - managed to add some good amount of life to the compositions. But the synth guitar to me sounds a little thin sounding in comparison to some of the other instruments; thankfully the modulation work on it and the use of power chords at 3:10 sounded neat so it's probably not as weak as it made out, but should be something to look out for should any expansions need looking into. Otherwise, it's a solid package and a well-put-together first submission. Hopefully we'll get to see more of you over time, and to keep seeing you refine your technique... and maybe look into other obscure games in the process? One can dream

To match with today's mixpost - sheet music for "The Feather's Reflection". There had been a few requests on this one closer to the project's release, and now that it's surfaced as a mixpost, it's there for people to follow along

Strangely, I was in it for completely different reasons to you guys - I'm an established remixer, sure, but given the gap between mixposts and anyone even knowing who I am, I considred myself the equivalent of someone re-surfacing from a musical coma. So I don't know which side of the noob/elite fence I am, really. But it was a chance to get involved with some good friends and to refine production techniques outside of the current library. That, and I kind of wanted to redeem myself for not being too satisfied with my Mega Man 9 submissions earlier this year.

Total User Reviews: 416 (-20800 HP) OA Reviews: 30 (+1500 HP) Current Status: 1700/21000 You guys are quick - just down to less than a TENTH of his HP?! Alas... I estimate 34 reviews before we're done... but 57 mixes STILL haven't had over 10 reviews. Who's left behind all those poor sacrifices in exchange for all the more popular ones?!

The map screen for DKC2 had this definite heroic approach to me, and to see it take a more different direction for the writing for this interpretation showed signs of promise. It's a good blend of source and well polished sounds (if not a little un-dynamic at times), and with some very careful filtering applied on mostly the non-organic instruments it can be quite the soundscape that's developed here. However, I'm going to say though that I found it really difficult to see if the bass and rhythmic synths even could blend together at all; without much chord distinction in the non-distinct-theme parts, things apparently start to sound rather chaotic sounding in regards to the writing (not in a pleasant way though), a sensation that I have a tendancy to dub "Joker Syndrome". It doesn't seem to have much of a climax either, though the strange rhythm synth at the end was pretty neat and fit the storytelling-like nature done towards it. So all in all the track's a bit of a mixture for me. It had good promise as an introductory track, but I felt the execution behind it was rather weak. I still see a good amount of promise within the production side though, so I'm hoping you'd be able to take all feedback to heart with future endeavours

Upon hearing this on The Sound of Speed, I really enjoyed it; it was my first proper exposure to Jewbei for a long time (I vaguely recalled his brief presence on VGMix), and to see him pull that out of the bag astounded me within the field of trance. It may not necessarily re-invent the wheel, but I managed to keep a good hold on it. I've also understood that throughout Jewbei's time on VGMix, he had really, really wanted a review from me, but by the time he started I had come to a stop with reviewing. So to make up for everything, just in time for Christmas, here's me going back to my VGMix roots in regards to evaluating this one!! Remix The execution is pretty much on your standard trance affair, but the writing has managed to work well within the scope of the track. The only real cause for concern is around 1:28, with there not being much of a downbeat with the gradual shift towards the main riff. Yet once the theme comes in at 1:42, its presence is made distinctly clear and variation is added with the gradual building of more synth layers underneath to fit with the genre. The source adaptation is kind of mixed - when the source comes up in full force at 1:42, it sticks out like a black cat walking on snow (don't ask where I got that vision from). But in the builds around it it's hard to sense much else, yet its presence is still made well with the backing synths starting from around 0:30. As a trance track it has its place in the genre; might end up being a little lacking for some due to its length, but for what it is it has shown a very solid approach. Creativity The variety of detail being provided to the backing synths manages to provide a distinctly fresh direction towards the track. Key components are shown with some solid original touches within the rhythm synths, and there's even a neat melodic rhythm addition at 2:25 that complements the source material's chord progression, and with all the shaping done on even the non-percussive synths it is one that highlights Jewbei's key strengths as a producer. All the transitions are generally smooth; I would've hoped for more punch on the shift to the gentle string section at 1:13 though but that may be just me. True, there may be some repetition due to the nature of the genre, but what Jewbei did was made sure that there was enough interest going on in the background for people to not pay much notice. If anything I may have suggested a little more modulation shaping on the lead synth, but it could be seen as nothing more than a nitpick. Regardless, fans of the genre will find much to enjoy with this track, and given that he's practically bLiNd's apprentice it can be seen as a good thing with his rising skills throughout his recent past. Production Zebra2 is a very powerful tool when handled right, and having attempted to use it myself I can understand how the most dedicated of producers are able to provide some solid techniques out of it, and Jewbei has managed to do just that with some careful selection and manipulation (the bass pitch shift at 0:13 was particularly awesome) to really push them over the edge. Even the tracks were appropriately panned; nothing really out of the ordinary happens within the stereo field though, but everything has a distinct presence and really thickens up the soundscape. If I'm to be fair, the track feels a little bit quieter than some of the other trance mixes I've heard on the site; but even then it feels very in-your-face with the way the synths were handled. tl,dr; Awesome track off TSoS, you're on the radar for me, and I hope to see you keep going strong over the year(s) to come. Go for it Jewbei

Lol, deviantart. I regularly contributed a lot of traditional art back in the day; I grew out of it long ago, namely due to the kids roaming around, so I guess I can understand how they'd have disappearing santas. And thank you for the clarification Wes! And to my SS, I apologize for being a P.I.T.A. about it; things got really out of hand lately; but here's to hoping for the package's safe arrival.

I quite liked some of the Pancake Chef's stuff as I made my rounds here originally; back in 2002, they were seen as a good early example of taking the sources to completely different levels, even if they felt rather brief. This track serves as a good example even on a production level; taking the bass component of the source material and using it as the driving force for something more lively in nature, it's been reflected well with some strong articulation and synth modulation work done for their time. The melody may be referenced in fragments, and even then it doesn't come through properly until around 2:10, but I'm sure enough was done with the backing to allow for the patience to come through. What does irk me a little bit though was that some of the samples were written in these egyptian musical scales, while others were written entirely in minor keys, which makes it slightly difficult to comprehend on a writing level when the two elements clashed together in various points past the 1 minute mark. For me, clashing scales can be seen as a miss, but given that these irks are fewer than I'd usually expect from such mashups, I can be cool with it. So for a 2002 work, I dig this. I still wouldn't call it my personal favorite of the Pancake Chef's works though, but it's still a tasteful adaptation of Mitsuda's work and can be worth looking into if you're a fan of either him or the Xeno series

When I first heard this, I was all "wut, what's happened to Fishy's guitars?!" and then as I started to get more into it, I started to gel into it more simply for its peaceful nature taken to it. Evaluating it properly though, while it does indeed to be a straightforward adaptation at first glance, there's been enough done with the background writing to definitely give it substance, between the chord substitution at the beginning, some very classy drum writing, and an additional guitar solo thrown in at 2:10 that may still follow closely with the source material, but the tone done to it managed to fit appropriately with the feel at hand. Even the ending I thought was neat with the gentle builddown, before the strange reversed sounds came in to give it more of an eerie atmosphere as the track was closed off. So while it is indeed a safe arrangement, to see the style handled with a great amount of execution was still worth the payoff. The only thing I could've really suggested though in regards to the mixing was to probably bring up the guitar just a little bit more for added clarity, and maybe some slackening on the compression for the ride cymbals, but even then they still sounded fine with the rest of the instrumentation really pulling their weight throughout. Hence, a more experimental Fishy (sorry, Cain) mix in regards to style, but it definitely came together in a remarkable way. Nice work, and we hope to see what you got for 2012

More Highway Hunter. Suzu's track - submitted then under the title "Hunter is My Middle Name" - really provided a great amount of stiff competition, and similarly it received a lot of love from the voters, so I'm glad he managed to get it out here. My sentiment with it still remains - with the amount of tasteful manipulated organ wahs and involved rock instrument writing, I can see how one may point out similarities to Steely Dan's work; almost as if it could be a modern day "Bodhisattva" in regards to style (but half as long). In comparison to Bladiator's, the track is much closer towards the source, and even then with the good melody manipulation within the first half and neat synth solo work later on, one can see clearly that in regards to providing energy, Suzu definitely went all out. Albeit, I wouldn't necessarily consider it a neat mix; I'm listening through the Youtube preview and it feels as if the headroom for the tracks is somewhat cramped, and that's something I noted more with a hint of unintentional distortion in the organ every now and again. Not sure if that was intentional as if it's not a real mix killer, but it may be something to bear in mind (though with the recent stuff with Shael Riley and the Double Ice Backfire I'm pretty sure all is well). But yes, very good memories of a very fun PRC! Hopefully we'd get to see more of Suzu in 2012, whether it's from judging at OLRemix, solo material or more from the DIB

A 2002 mix, and I'll try and be gentle with this one. I can see where the effect work is coming from; it's an early example of sound manipulation to give the track life, which can be noted in the synths and velocity work for the drum fills, so it's a good dynamic touch. However, while people had beefs with the drums, I have a much bigger concern with the writing. Sure, I can understand the track being old, but I honestly swear that's no excuse to put the source melody in a completely different key to the accompaniment; it comes off as clashing dissonance and laziness to me. Even Beatdrop considered himself guilty of that technique himself in the past and had been able to rectify himself since - it's very harsh sounding. Thankfully at 2:56, when the B section of the source came in, it managed to fit in so much more with the source material. But even then it had to regress itself by reverting back to the A theme and fail to fit it in properly. So for me, the track feels really sloppy and difficult to even put a recommendation through. I guess if you're looking for Blaster Master remixes then it may be something, but even then you'd most likely want to proceed with caution, especially in regards to the writing.

You were originally going to have Larry on this?! Well, it may be something since both he and Jillian represented OCR at Tokyo earlier this year, but that to me would take Larry's humorous side to a whole new level. Of course, it's fine enough with Jillian involved given a familiarity with the Japanese audience beyond the TGS2011 booth babes (I'm sorry again Larry!!), and as a result we've managed to get a track that can be seen as a melodic fusion of the two sources while depending on the silly yet repetitive lyrics of "I Can See All" in a neatly programmed vocal stem that can be compared to Daft Punk's vocoder work. I swear that thing is crazy - with all the major pitch shifts, autotuning and the occasional half-speed thrown in, the idea of turning Jill into a vocaloid for this purpose has shown itself to be a clever and well-executed idea. So you can see I dig the idea well. People may not get it due to the restrictive lyrical nature, but that's what the source material implied. I'm just blown away by a lot of the production work especially behind the transformation behind Jill's voice, so I consider it a very neat addition to the Armored Core album - plus a neat way to provide first honors to the PSP! Nice work, Anosou

"Sonic quality of Peeples or Prievert"... eh, I'm not really too sure if they should be seen as the primes even for back then, but they still had their stuff. So it may have a very basic MIDI sound, though being guilty of using MIDI soundbanks in the past I shall let it pass considering its post date. Arrangement-wise, it sticks to the melody a lot, with some forms of buildup being done surrounding it, though I do give credit towards the drum writing; it's shown its involvement given the nature of the track and has shown elements of spice in it to keep things going refreshing. It's a decent track, but I personally think it could've been better if you were able to work with a live guitarist, given the huge abundance of them in the community. Given that guitarists go as far back as February 2000 with live guitar appearances from the Frivolous Funk and the Rabbit Joint, it probably wouldn't have been problematic to see if anyone with live instruments would have kindly offered their services. But as it is it sounds fine enough for its time. Shame you couldn't really stick around to improve the craft D:

Blanka, nice. I had fond memories of overusing Blanka myself in the times I played Street Fighter 2 in the arcades as a kid, if only because of his ability to shock people! So what we have here is a good safe take on the source, with some nice drive on more worldly instrumentation. I'm fine with most of it fitting the roots of Blanka as a character, but I'm not really sure about the choice of having a Shamisen as a lead unless it's towards homaging Capcom itself. Arrangement-wise not a lot goes on, but there's been a good choice of having the second A section before the first B section that came in taking the A section melody into a counterpoint. Even then there's been some lightly more varied accompaniment writing leading towards the end, and it helps give it that kind of lift. Considering the track is nearly 12 years old it managed to fit the scope reasonably well for itself; the soundbank, while also showing its age, actually feels mostly well manipulated for me with a great amount of credit going towards the strings for some good expressive slow attack movements here. I'm not too sure about the repetitive drums though; it can be excused due to age, but it kind of keeps the track feeling more chilled rather than energetic, but considering the artist at hand - McVaffe in a past female alter ego - it's probably not a bad thing. So as a sucker for Blanka, I'm cool with it, though I hope one of these days - outside of the site's SF2 albums - there'd be a remix that would take the source to the next level. And we hope to see more of McVaffe soon too

I heard from Bahamut that my Secret Santa hasn't stated anything in the thread in regards to sending anything. Whoever's my Secret Santa better hurry up if nothing's been sent; I'm already angry enough right now, and a Secret Santa that ISN'T a deadbeat would actually make my Christmas. On the other hand, I've seen that my 'festive cheer' was delivered to someone. I just don't want it to be in vain if the same isn't happening for me in return

Good ol' WillRock. I do however sense that old influence given that it shares similarities with even "Green Chills" over at the source, but even then the arrangement ideas are very strong. What he did was taken the overly-happy Route 26 melody and gave it something that sounds somewhat more ominous and more lethal, literally taking the phrase "the road to being a Pokemon master is not easy" to a completely new height. It may have been manipulated much, but I managed to sense a good amount of the melody for it to work throughout. The synth and guitar solos to me sound crazy, along with some very precise fingering that really show how much of the 'rock' he brings in his name. I even like how it even started shifting to a more happy and victorious setting closer to the original at 3:20 as well, reflecting on my above quote even more and telling us that we may go through a lot of crap, but the goal at the end feels so GOOD! Strange philosophy, but that's how I feel about it. Production wise it hit the spot; it may show age now in comparison to Will's other works, but the synths were well manipulated, the guitars had a clear vision, the plated Pikachu samples were awesome (albeit cheesy hehe), and the drums, while showing a synthetic nature to the writing, were well programmed and fit the purpose of the mix. Course, the guitars may have taken a considerable boost in recording quality since those days (something that I noted with "Friendly Fire" for the Super Dodge Ball project), but for its time it's really something to me. So, quite a lot of things to say about it. Rocking, crazy synths, awesome arrangement, and even considered beautiful. You have done Pokemon a world of service, fellow Englishman

The source material sounds weird to me, with that many crazy synth and percussive effects that could mistake it to be from a Genesis. o_O Even this remix interpretation sounds weird to me - while maintaining the same groove focus on the original, it manages to take the melody in a more ominous way with the strange high-dependant throbbing bass and experimental panned nature to the accompanying sound to it. I also thought the reversed section at 1:50 sounds rather ridiculous coming out of it, but that to me seems to add more towards the quirkiness. Aside from the drum progression and the melody being present for 16 bars, it to me sounds really liberal though. We got this quirky setup, and it may work for more experimental listening, but to see little source being used at all tells me that it's going to be hard to see it as a proper remix, but just as what sounds more like an Acid experiment. People may understand this quirkiness driving the mix, and for a 2000 mix it did its purpose, but attributing to changing standards it has shown a considerable amount of age over the years just for its purpose. So if you are to check this out, bear all this in mind.

So, another old track. I'll try to go easy on this one while watching out for a character count that doesn't go over 9000. So for an early 2001 track we got this foundation that's layered down decently in sound levels for its time. Like a lot of them, the sounds seem to show their age (not to mention barely sounding exciting give or take the B section melody synth) and the arrangement is really conservative, but it's driven by what can be seen at the time as a fitting and appropriate setup. Structurally, it's not all that bad. What irks me is that with the different synths being used as lead melody sounds for the A section and the more prominent B section, there's a ridiculous amount of over-used sustain on the melody sound for the A theme, and to hear that note extend itself during the B theme sections actually feels somewhat uncomfortable and rushed to me. In fact it might be borderline unlistenable, though part of it seemed to be saved by the attention paid to the instrument sound levels. So it's a good 2001 mix but with some easily-avoidable flaws that push this back considerably. Overall I'm not really too crazy over it, but it might satisfy some people craving for more Schala or at least some early remixes of this over-interpreted theme.