Rexy

Gonna chime in with a status update really quickly. Total User Reviews: 283 (-14150 HP) OA Reviews: 18 (+900 HP) CURRENT PROGRESS: 7750/21000 Don't slack off here now! With there also being 62 mixes that have less than 10 reviews, they also require some similar love here, so please make us happy and get towards them

If it helps, of all the Wily sources I studied prior to the competition, I didn't study Cossack because technically, Cossack isn't Wily. >_> So I guess I might've stumbled a bit too, but I still tried my best regardless of not quite doing my homework.

I've been hearing awesome stories about Sixto on Back In Blue and the fact that he surprised k-wix with two songs instead of one. And even then, the surprised entry was worth the wait! So what we have here is some very tightly-played guitar work, complete with what I think is the same synth violin sound that was used in "I'll Go" for the Tales project. If you've heard so much of his work by this point (and I'm sure after his other rockin' project involvements I'm sure I have) then it could techincally be seen as Sixto-by-numbers going by the structure, but even then along with his faiths with the source he manages to really work so hard with the production and the face-melting solos that really push him far as one of OC Remix's prime guitarists. Even then the dynamics were shaped up fine, its most notable component going by the rhythmic rain synths at 2:15 leading into what I honestly felt was one of his most expressive guitar solos to date. Couple that with all the attention to detail paid towards the background elements, and you can see it as one of the shining gems involved on Back In Blue. So all in all, a lot of us are GLAD that you took up the first Wily Stage theme and gave it the dynamic treatment that Mega Man fans everywhere had hoped for. And be sure to keep rocking for us in 2012

Done and subbed! And the Bad Guy Robots are one happy family again.

S.S. Anne! If the version in FireRed was of any indication, it's a wonderful source to lend one's style to for a remix. So the track starts out fairly faithful, but in true Ben Briggs fashion it uses the progression as a foundation to manipulate over a more original structure, complete with some very interesting synth work being placed throughout. Even the little downtempo/syncopated part at 1:25 moving to the source's B theme helped to break the monotomy somewhat here and the gradual build back up to regular tempo also helped really give in a strong sense of color. That ending with the increasing echo/reverb space and the hi-passing does sound somewhat of a strange note to end with though, but it still shows another hint of testament towards Ben's skills as a producer. I may understand that you might've leaned a lot towards halc's style in this particular track, though the one thing I might advise you to work with is with your manipulation of your polysynth pads; they do kind of start to feel stale after a while. But after sensing your guys' work as Insert Rupee I can understand that you've learnt a lot in regards to texture to really focus on these little details, so I have a lot of trust in you. Hence, another neat Poke-mix! I'm all up for seeing future developments from you even though you've been focusing on more original material lately

So when I first heard this track, I managed to hear a huge step up when comparing it to Flexstyle's initial PRC works; even here it does well when taking the source apart (again, 8 measures long... I have a history with these small ones ) and adapting it well to this much darker DnB setting. Arrangement-wise it does tend to rely on the first four measures a lot, but there's a lot of variety placed in with the percussion/sfx building and all the strong synth pad manipulations to further amplify this mood - signs that Flexstyle's production skills are really shaping him up to be a prominent face amongst OCR. One can almost envision the calamity for the Great Moblin Hideout coming excessively early by this setting. I may say that people may not get this safe structure though, but for me as long as the substance carries the mix through, then it's a very appropriate contribution towards Ben's Oracle of Ages album. Nice going, and I hope to see you keep advancing with your work on Lime of the Season too

Given the high speed and wtf nature of the source material, I can't see it being remixed any other way other than the same goofy nature of the original. But the approach taken here managed to change up the chords and fit it over something more surprisingly chilled. I can almost envision some kind of weekly sports recap being played over this, so I feel very down with the direction taken. Props also taken with the piano solo at 1:28, that really helped with the mood establishment and the progression since. Albeit, in spite of this nice soundscape going, the sounds to me barely have much dynamics other than during the piano solo. The piano seems to be a dead ringer with the near constant velocities and perfect timings, but the writing on it is still good enough for it to be not quite as much of a big deal. But with what's been obtained it managed to fit the soundscape fittingly well. All in all this mix surprised me simply by how serious you turned a silly sounding source tune into. I've been pleased to see your progress during the PRC and in later exhibitions, and so I'm hoping that you'll continue to keep taking your writing to higher levels; nice going, ToN

It's a strange source to go for due to its minimalism and lack of tempo, but to take it in a direction akin to the Metal Gear Solid score is definitely one to go for and still ultimately take the darkness of the source. It even worked well for the most part with the firm varied percussion and the transition of the minimalist pad/string work of the original to full bodied pads here. Affectively, what was taken of the source managed to work out into something significantly more contemporary while still being atmospheric, so major props on handling that. Even the minor synth elements had some strong controller work done to it to really give some life and associate ourselves with Tweek as a musician, and all the little details elsewhere with the rhythm synths have done much to keep adding some substance. For me, it's nice and chill; not much to fault concerning the stylistic direction, and you've managed to do well with handling one difficult source to arrange. Hopefully we'd get to see more of you come 2012

PRC 76 used the Inventory theme as the source. It had a notorious amount of disqualified MIDI rips in there, but Sir Nuts's winning track was pretty neat

Well, this one definitely takes me back. Like I keep saying, it's hugely difficult to do ANYTHING with sources less than 8 measures long (in this case 6). But what Dark Purple did with the track was used the rhythm foundations of the source material to gradually build it in over time, its full colors finally being shown at 2:45. Sure, it may have come with the cost of repeating the riff almost vertabrim, not to mention going for a lazy fade-out ending without any form of building down, but it's still a good way to handle the source even if it's quite a dated idea. It may not be the most well mixed track on the site, especially with the shrill loudness of the string pads throughout most of the song, but I still got to give credit to the synth guitar expression sounds really good for its time IMO. I'm still not a fan of them due to the weakness that they often provide when not done right, but as it is it's fine. It's going to split people with its repetitive nature, ageing direction and somewhat painful production quality, but I still found it decent. I also remember his remastered cut at VGMix and liking it considerably more (does anyone still have it? It's not on the OCR Mirror ), so either way I felt firm with it.

This to me sounds stylistically similar to d0d0's work that I reviewed earlier this week, though this time the opening soundclip is SO MUCH MORE APPROPRIATE and to some extent probably more nostalgic. While I felt more of a chippy Katamari-esque vibe in d0d0's in regards to feel, what I felt here was more of a sweet early dream trance vibe to it, carrying a very positive image throughout. It's a shame you couldn't fit in the B-theme somewhere, or even thought of a proper ending for what sounded like a firm track, but it's decent enough for what it is. The major concerns that I have with this though namely come down towards your placement of fills; sometimes they ended up coming off a little off-time, like the random pair placed in the two go-throughs of the theme. We have this nice setting, but to see it kind of break apart by mistiming does make things a little awkward. But for a 2001 work it's not too bad, albeit really showing its age by now. Fans of the game/source should get a good kick out of it at least

It's hard to deal with one of the more beautiful tracks in the Secret of Mana score in this kind of fashion, but I guess it does kind of fit for something slightly more uptempo. Though, in spite of it being in the short-and-sweet category, it to me feels somewhat rough. It's almost entirely a straight cover, give or take the sound effect intro, the translation of the second-to-last phrase to a standard 4/4 as opposed to the original's 7/4 and the booming piano. And even then the production feels a little weak, with grainy sound effects placed in (which I give credit for sounding somewhat appropriate) and levels being somewhat unattended to, notably with the strange loudness of the SFX and string parts. So I have to say this is somewhat pale for a 2002 mix. But if you're looking for something that maintains its faithfulness to the source, you've got it, but don't expect to be completely wowed over

Now I know you're French, but that's no excuse for not reading.

Well I'm supposed to have a finished song by now but I feel somewhat stressed with waiting to hear Brandon's contributions to it. I swear, if he doesn't chip in and we as a result have no entry this week, then I might as well resign from the whole thing, which I honestly swear is what I don't want >_>

Another tricky source to remix, but if one likes handling them to create something expansive out of them, I'm all game to see what they have. So this simple 8-measure source was used sharply with this DnB/guitar-lead hybrid, with the riff being used as the background beat towards it. One may say it's too repetitive, but for me there's a lot of meat with the drum work, initial synth processing both during the intro and closer towards the end, and some strong guitar expression work. The manipulation of the chords at 1:45 was also very strong to break things up and add in a more of a sense of character as well. In regards to nitpicks, you probably should've watched out for some dissonance during that 1:45 section I discussed though; that kind of ended up breaking the detail somewhat when seeing the bass and chord work somewhat clashing together in a couple of spots. Dissonance can work if it's intentional, but for something really happy like this it's probably not a wise thing to go for. But I enjoy it anyway simply for A) the general happy tone, a good example to expand on such a simplistic original song, and C) it's the goddamn Goonies; what's not to like? I'm hoping you take the experience into a new entry soon Nekko - from what I heard, it's a very promising debut!

Hey, it's not just you. A lot of mixes in the past 2 years haven't been commeted on as much as those in previous years, so don't feel dejected about it. It's a changing web environment; just keep doing what you like doing regardless of it. Nevertheless, I remember this from the FBRC 2 years ago; to see a more melancholy theme being given a DnB makeover to me is like the equivalent of making a trance song out of Chrono Trigger's "At the Bottom of the Night" (i.e. not the best way to pay homage to the original), but if that's where your skills lie then that's something that I can't really fault. For something so short, your learning within buildup has managed to work really well given the amount of substance in there, and the melody has been really manipulated with some crazy controller change work being given towards the lead synth throughout. Overall you've managed to do well with the source expansions and adapting it to this kind of genre. One pointer I do have though is to watch your drum production; I don't know if it's me or not, but the kicks ended up being a little too sharp for me, as if it's close to being unintentionally distorted. Maybe watching your mid-frequencies on the kicks would be a good help to slightly dull them a little bit - they can be sharp, but not necessarily sharp enough to feel discomfort when hearing back. All in all, a good track; might upscuttle some people due to the direction taken with the source, but it's free music so no complaining. I hope to hear more from you in the future, BP!

Well, this is one strange mix for me; I appreciate the nature of industrial arrangements every now and again, but to see it taken into this kind of minimalist structure without much of a melodic structure does kind of feel slighhtly awkward even when measured up to other mixes for its time. However, credit where credit is due for the neat percussion work; between the reverse-loop sample work being placed in past 0:30 and some strong interesting subtleties going on as the mix continues, it helps to offer a broader expansion towards the track. And similarly in comparison to other mixes of 2001 it had shown some good equalisation especially with lower and mid frequencies; so in terms of production it managed to stand up firmly. But good (for 2001) production coupled with a rough and distuned arrangement does make this a struggle to appreciate in the long run, so I can't really see it doing it for me. Albeit, there's some good ideas in there (surprising for a one-hit wonder I admit), and it's a shame you couldn't really follow up on it

I kinda feel sad about the PRC in a way since retiring it; I thought the purpose of the aniversaries were to simply gather more people together with more popular-to-remix games, not to just open the scope with the anniversaries under Bundeslang's direction. But it must've been a good thing to bring in Vinnie's significant other into participation with one of them, so no complaining The original DDR source had been taken into something considerably more downtempo; the live violin placed throughout was sublime, the setting feels really fitting towards the artist's expression, and even though the quality isn't necessarily the best in terms of recording, the vocals are similarly well performed and have shown some strong expression with the higher parts of Amy's range. I really dig this a lot. The only things I can suggest to be looked into are thus: a) your rhythm guitar timing; they to me feel a little bit behind the beat sometimes and can be slightly distracting, but the playing still managed to fit very appropriately into the mix, and the drums feel rather auto-pilot for me. Drum writing is actually tricky for many artists around here, but it can be really satisfying for poppy mixes if there's enough done to give them more interest, like any fills or hand percussion that could potentially give it a lift. Otherwise, if Fujimori-san loves it then that's pretty much all you needed to know I'm glad to see you contributed to the PRC somewhat, and let's hope you submit stuff again in the future - keep representing us females!

Yeah, I was puzzled over how the review thread for this one was completely purged. What happened? It's a good and creepy intro that managed to fit itself as a good opener for this medley, if not a little bit unconventional. The way of working with the first stage theme was a good expansion; hearing the original NES synth in the background originally made me think it missed the lockdowns, but hearing it morph into the full-blown arrangement managed to help overlook it. The section at 2:40, I may admit sounded rather weird with the reversed drums in place, though the lone synth starting that section at the start was pretty neat and allowed for a good build into it. So in terms of arrangement ideas, it's somehow more unconventional for a medley but it worked for its time. What I felt should've been given some work on prior to subbing was the drum work; it came off as feeling rather stale and uninspired, and maybe some additional layers during the reverse-loop section in particular could've helped given this a lease of life. But again, considering the track was released in 2001, it's pretty decent for its time and can be seen as a more unconventional medley release in comparison to others in the early pre-white era of OCR.

Haha, Ghosts n' Goblins. Having heard how notoriously difficult it is - and even seeing an episode of GameCenter CX based ENTIRELY around that game - I can see how it could be a perfect fit for a jingle remix. So this tiny 3-second jingle ended up being manipulated in terms of progression mostly within the pads, though it ended up showing added clarity at 0:40 for those needing more familiarity. Clearly a lot had been done with it; little samples in more obscured sections, brought down to half-speed in calmer sections, and even part of a classy synth solo at 1:25. In terms of feel it kind of feels similar to Shael Riley's "Wanka Factory" covering the exact same game; you got the make-out-like nature of it, the occasional orgasm (lol) and some strong chord work that amplify some what of a charismatic feeling to it - feels wrong, but in the end feels so right! I've grown to be a good fan of Mazedude's work over the years and I often expect him to really work with the sources he has. Though, I can't help but think that some of the sounds feel somewhat dulled in texture for some reason; not saying that they put me off or anything, but it's just a strange observation after the amount of material I've heard from him already; I'd probably put it down more to adapting to the feel of the mix. In any case, it's classy, well-arranged, sounds sexy (eh, what else can be described?) and is a very worthy arrangement for the Bad Dudes' EP. Keep up these remixes Mazedude

Course, if you wrote a song about Mudkips, you're half-expected to get the lulz-type comments back. I'll keep civil though. Typical of halc to go for a chip-tune-like track for something like that (though to me it sounds like the NES and Genesis are seen playing together here), but it fits so colorfully well within the world of Pokemon, and seeing the Dewford theme adapting towards this setting managed to set the stage for the ideas being presented towards the rest of the track in terms of its writing. I give more credit to what you did with the surfing track in the second half though; that seemed to be more snapped apart and built as the foundation as something to build on for that period of time. It also took me a little while to adapt to you going for a hi-pass fadeout as opposed to a regular volume one, but again it's all down to creative decisions. For an elder halc track, I found it rather enjoyable, blending together 2 aquatic sources in chiptune bliss. I'm set to see what you have for 2012!

I was almost being fooled with the half-tempo stuff in the intro, but then when the four-on-the-floor hard bass ended up coming in it ended up setting the scene for some rare happy hardcore around here - good approach! The source material is already complex as it is, but most of the remix only seems to be based on one small section near the end of it; not saying that was a bad thing, but for what was taken it was expanded enough to fit within the genre. But here's one beef that I have towards it though - where's the bass?! All I'm hearing is bell pads, synth pads, polysynths and the drums. You've got this good foundation for the beat/genre adaptation but by taking away one of the core elements of the groove it just came out feeling rather unpolished. Taking aside that irk it's a good attempt to genre-adapt to a more obscure/taboo side of electronic music, though without the bass foundation it's going to struggle to upkeep itself even in comparision to other mixes of its time. That aside, it's definitely not bad.

Jazz Jackrabbit! Glad to see someone else is representing the underloved platformers out here So hearing the track, it plays really safe towards the source material, with two straight interpretations and the second one having some slight differntiation by towing in a varied-up piano lead. I'm usually one to say that you shouldn't make things like that and the strings so mechanical and quantised, but I'm under the impression that you weren't looking for realism. It's generally pretty solid, if not almost too safe. What makes up for is some very interesting production ideas; the sliding lead synth really has shown a great amount of expression, even through modulation and later decay placed onto it. That acid bass also reminds me of some of LeeBro's early works in a way, and it also feels very well balanced into the mix. And even though the piano may sound very snapped, there's definitely been enough done to the overall timbre to make it feel like the real thing is being played alongside with the rest of the sounds. There's definitely a lot going on here that would clearly interest fans of the score. Either way, this track isn't bad I'm hoping that you'll learn from everything in your previous two subs and contribute again in the future, because I'm seeing some solid mixing potential from you.

Well, this feels kind of unusual for a 2002 mix to me - it's strangely dry for most of the way, maybe give or take the harpsichord part. Not saying that's a bad thing - after handing a lot of really damp and unclear tracks from this same era, this actually feels so much more refreshing to me. True, the samples may indeed feel a little weak and unexpressed even for their time though, but with what's there it fits appropriately with the genre. See, it's not just trance musicians that uses the term DJ: can apply for the field of hip hop too. The arrangement is pretty solid too, if not a little straightforward with gradually building up the components of the source material, repeating that same buildup and going all out with some original writing with the ending. But considering other mixes of its time it handled the arrangement component decently well IMO, which is pretty tricky in itself considering the source. To be fair, if there's something that baffled me more it's the sudden transition to rock drums at the 3 minute mark. You had this urban flavor going on for most of the track, but to suddenly change drum kits near the end kind of started to feel a little unnecessary. I do however give mad props for the original writing in this part though, which can manage to make this oddity a little more hidden away. Either way, I'm glad to see you managed to stick to your guns with some Wizards & Warriors coverage during your time. I don't find it bad at all for a 2002 mixpost

Of all Robot Masters, Wood Man can DEFINITELY do with more love Having already sensed from "Green Hill Avenue" that AeroZ is capable of so many crazy controller changes, it's definitely neat to see it continue to happen here with some nice side-chained synth pads, expressive synth modulation, volume work and chipped arpeggios. And even though it wasn't meant to be an original work, the Wood Man and Wily Sources managed to fit in really well to the written work at hand and showed a very obvious presence. And I'm usually not one for inappropriate cameos, but the Zelda 3 opening demo at 2:35 managed to make a good soft transition to the final presence of Wood Man in the track. All in all, it's a good structure. As much as I really appreciate the work gone into this, I may have to say that there's not a right lot to diffrentiate the Wood Man appearances from each other, maybe given the chipped synths in the first riff. But that may be seen as more of a nitpick for what can already be seen as a well-established, well-programmed arrangement. Let's see what you've got for 2012; be sure to keep up your progress, and I'll be looking out for you