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OCR01759 - Donkey Kong Country "Lost in Jungle"


djpretzel
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To hell with the criticism being leveled against this remix. It's creative, interesting, and just damn good. Those animal noises and stuff? Very nice touch. "Funky chords" is a very appropriate description, though not because they're weird. Those chords drive the piece forward and lock it into a nice groove. I actually regret that he didn't develop everything a bit more. The whole thing reminds me of Shpongle for some reason, and if it had continued in the direction it was going, I imagine that it would have been pretty obvious. I wish it had. That's the flaw with this song - it cuts off right as it gets into a really nice groove. Everything felt like an intro once you get to that point, but then you only get a moment with it.

OCR needs more stuff like this.

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Lovely. The simplicity of the mix is excellent, it's not easy to carry a song with so few elements. The piano performance was def the highlight. Excellent performance. My gripes would prob be with the psytrance pizzicato sounds just bc they feel so vastly different from the emotive piano playing. I think the contrast in sounds is a lil too much in that respect.

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Thanks to everyone for their feedback on this piece. I feel compelled to give a brief description of it as well, as it is the tune I am most proud of up to date, remix wise. The title "Lost in Jungle" refers to the transition into the 4/4 part near the end of the track. With the adding of the 4/4 kick, the breakbeats all of a sudden felt a little bit like elements from a jungle tune (as in the style of music - jungle). "Lost in" felt good as I was faced with a problem - the track took a complete new direction and I didn't want to loose the feeling of the previous parts, but I still wanted it to progress into the double tempo. So I got kind of lost in the arrangement!

The 1.04 piano thing that is mentioned, was very much intentional. When I first started working on this project, I played around with improvisation with the same basic chord structure of the original track but with a different melody. To give it an extra spark I play the first part one octave up, and at 1.04 it drops to one octave down. To enhance the difference, I just released the sustain pedal on my piano. I do the same thing now when I play this piece acoustically.

Looking back at the project now I feel the mix would have benefited from compression on certain elements, and the bass has too much sub frequencies. Never the less it is one of my favourites. I'm happy it got published and want to thank everyone for taking their time to listen to it, and posting comments on it.

Cheers,

Johan Krafft

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Very mellow in a unique way. It's been a long time since I've gotten a new DKC mix on my playlist, so I'm extra-happy to see this on OCR :)

This is the kind of mix that will only grow on me as time passes. The only thing that bugs me is the animal noises at 3:36, but that's just a personal preference issue. Overall, this was a great first submission on your part and I think I'm going to be listening to this one a lot in the future!

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I can say, honestly, that the two minute intro of this track is among the most beautiful two minute spans of any track I've heard in a long, long time. For starters, the piano solo is absolutely amazing. Dynamically, musically...everything. Then, when that warm solo lead comes in and amazingly, makes the piano part sound even better! God, what an awesome intro.

The rest of the song after the two minute mark is sick too; it reminds me a lot of the track 'In Front of Me' by Infected Mushroom, especially the bassline. But those first two minutes alone make this track one of my instant favorites. Great work!

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Hell's yeah. This has always been one of my favorite tracks of any video game, as far as mellow vibes go. Glad to see it getting the respect it deserves with remixes, and finally getting some fresh ideas. Very interesting choice to mix the synth with the piano in that fashion; had I been told about that before listening I would have been doubtful, but the result is top notch. A little curious as to the choices in the last minute or so, but the prior minutes are just too damn good to make me care. Keep it up, can't wait to hear more.

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Possibly one of my favorite tunes of all gaming time. I wasn't sure what to think of the title when I heard it at the start... It made sense later. Excellent improv. The arrangement swallowed me up and I can't get enough of this jam.

Keep it up, Krafft!

(that name would make a good DK baddy, though I can't imagine what it would be)

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a funky piece, the ending had a completely different feel to the rest of the song which i dont know how to feel about...

but with the beginning piano solo, and the drum synth that comes in.. was so beautiful, i was doubtful at first (was reading the evaluation while listening) but the drums gave it such a jungle feel it was jizztastic

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  • 4 weeks later...

Interesting issues in the judge's decision thread there. First and foremost, I'm a total sucker for solo piano, so the beginning of the mix was an instant sell, with the exception of that one jarring silenced note right before you repeated the intro for the second time. I found it quite noticeable. But it's beautiful, emotive work on the piano. I liked the synth lead you brought in later, it carried the mix quietly and solidly for quite awhile. I'm not a huge fan of the zoo animals busting in at 3:37 or the introduction of the attempted 4 on the floor though. I feel like it was the mix was a beautiful statement, and a gorgeous piece as a whole without going there at all. Still, I don't think it's near enough to ruin the mix in any fashion. Good work, and I hope we hear from you again soon.

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