Liontamer Posted June 21, 2004 Author Share Posted June 21, 2004 Ormgas.com, OverClocked ReMix's unofficial internet radio station, wants YOU for its jingle contest, now underway and set to end on July 10th. We need artists, remixers and anyone willing to have some fun with a microphone to check out the contest and submit 20-to-40-second station identification style jingles, and if you're one of the top 3 entrants, you can clothe your body with hot OMG FREE Ormgas.com gear. As long as your entry is quality, you can potentially earn radio infamy along with other legends (like Liontamer) as one of Ormgas.com regular jingles, so be sure to check out more information at the OCR forums thread as well as the full set of contest rules over at http://oc.ormgas.com/news.php?extend.36. Antonio Pizza, SgtRama, Neskvartetten & OverCoat are already in the game with their own entries, and I encourage you reading this [Larry points at you] to consider submitting your own jingles in support of Ormgas while you get in the hunt for free, fashionable swag. Please don't delay. July 10th's the final deadline. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sadorf Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 *EDITED* No need for me to be a dickhead Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Orichalcon Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Thanks for the comments LT. Nice to see my stuff being reviewed and recognised. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCT Posted June 21, 2004 Share Posted June 21, 2004 Cool, relaxing flow, and hopefully a sign that Josh will eventually make his mark on the professional release side as a contributor to a future OneUp Studios release. The staff of Urbanizm Music is extremely happy to have Mr. Morse as a member of our corporation. Our staff is hard at work preparing Joshua's debut album under our imprint. Yeah, his soul belongs to me. Terminator f/Big T - Super Mario 64 "The Hazy Maze Effect" [VGMix2 #1221]DCT, zykO & The Bronx Rican better watch out. You've got to be fucking kidding me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 23, 2004 Author Share Posted June 23, 2004 Terminator f/Big T - Super Mario 64 "The Hazy Maze Effect" [VGMix2 #1221]DCT, zykO & The Bronx Rican better watch out. You've got to be fucking kidding me. I am suprised at this...jealousy of the talent displayed here. You don't think I would pimp a song that wasn't good, do you? Of course not! For shame. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted June 23, 2004 Share Posted June 23, 2004 Man, look at all the free time Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted June 30, 2004 Author Share Posted June 30, 2004 Ormgas.com, OverClocked ReMix's unofficial internet radio station, wants YOU for its jingle contest, now underway and set to end on July 10th. We need artists, remixers and anyone willing to have some fun with a microphone to check out the contest and submit 20-to-40-second station identification style jingles, and if you're one of the top 3 entrants, you can clothe your body with hot OMG FREE Ormgas.com gear. As long as your entry is quality, you can potentially earn radio infamy along with other legends (like Liontamer) as one of Ormgas.com regular jingles, so be sure to check out more information at the OCR forums thread as well as the full set of contest rules over at http://oc.ormgas.com/news.php?extend.36. Antonio Pizza, SgtRama, Neskvartetten & OverCoat are already in the game with their own entries, and I encourage you reading this [Larry points at you] to consider submitting your own jingles in support of Ormgas while you get in the hunt for free, fashionable swag. Please don't delay. July 10th's the final deadline. Relatively light week of stuff for the week ending Saturday, June 26th, but I was busy as hell, so this all stayed incomplete on my laptop for a few days. Ah well. Better late than never, brothers and sisters: Arkimedes - Shenmue 1 "Dreaming While I Wake" [VGMix2 #1253 / OC ReMix #1205] I've been waiting for Jaron's latest OC ReMix to hit the site for quite a bit ever since it was pimped the the OC Works forums. This is some downplayed, yet unique light techno that a whole bunch of people have compared to Moby with pretty cool lyrics and occasional vocoding and delay effects that accentuate the vocals, which, as you likely know, flow more like spoken-word verses. This is an important mix, in my opinion, when it comes to expanding the styles of music that are covered by the game remix community, so you owe "Dreaming While I Wake" a listen simply based on that. Great stuff that could pass for a mainstream release. If Moby can do it, Arkimedes certainly can. Keep an eye out for his Soul Calibur VGMix, "A Different Kind of Hero," for more of Jaron's work that's similarly poised to make it to OC in the coming months as well. ArseAssassin - Kabuki Quantum Fighter "Take the Red Pill" [OC ReMix #1204] The name'll leave some scratching their heads, but now Tuomas Kanerva's made his mark on OCR. It's always interesting seeing people develop in different ways, as time leads to change and many have gone different routes to improving their mixing ability, whether that be VGMix1, the old-school IMC contests or the more recent PRC challenges. Double A's been showing his own self-improvement through the People's Remix Competition with mixes like the Kirby's Block Ball mix "Happy Island of Pink Fluffs" for PRC11 and the liberally-arranged FF Tactics mix "The 4th Dimension" for PRC13. Double A now makes the leap to OCR with some harder-edged Kabuki trance. It's not my cup of tea, so I can't BS anyone and give this my ringing endorsement, yet I know from Tuomas's PRC work that he's got talent that I often enjoy hearing. Be on the lookout for more quality stuff from ArseAssassin, as he become a name you'll (easily) remember. The Brothers Wogan - "Argh the Bees" [Mother's Day 2004] - Feedback For Mother's Day a little while ago, Solomon & Gwilym whipped up this insanely stupid and fun beat poetry. If you forgot to buy your mom a card this year, hook her up with this track from the rappin' Wogan bros. And don't mind their accents. Trust me, those are the least of your worries. debeerguy (Kevin "Lorenzo" Sisk) - Sonic & Knuckles "Machine Gun Hedgehog" [VGMix2 #1483] Here's the latest electrorock from Kevin that isn't gonna kick you in the face or anything, but does a great job of melding original composition work alongside the Act 2 Boss theme of Sonic 3 and Sonic & Knuckles. When incorporated, the actual boss theme itself could have used much more on the arrangement side, but the combination of original and source tune lines worked very well. I didn't really pick up on why Kevin dubbed this "Machine Gun Hedgehog," but this is some decent stuff that caught my attention. mv - "Green Ashes" [http://home.no/mistermv] - Feedback Xaiver Dang knows how to create a relaxing, laid back vibe with a lot of his mixes, yet this new original track of his is something that's even softer and something I'd more readily expect to hear over at SoundTempest, as it sounds like a wonderful, suitable piece for running around within an RPG. mv says it's short and repetitive, but also that he enjoys it, which I figure is how most of you would judge this as well. Simple guitar and piano work is essentially what's going on throughout the short but sweet "Green Ashes." You know mv would never steer you wrong, so don't make the mistake of passing up this relaxing original work. Mythril Nazgul - The Critic "The Kritic" [The People's Remix Competition: Animation 2] Aight, so I'll level with ya: the track link doesn't work, because the mix is no longer hosted. And I wanted to hear this stuff so bad. So you're gonna have to settle for aluminum's 2nd place mix of the theme song of The Critic, "Theme from 'The Critic' (aluminum's Irresponsible Mix)." It's still pretty funny stuff though. PRC:A3 is already underway, so hopefully I'll be quicker on the uptake when it comes to covering that. I can't win 'em all. Damn, I wanted to hear that winning Critic mix. Y'all bug the hell out of Mythril until he comes up with the goods. Protricity - Zombies Ate My Neighbors "Neighburgers" [OC ReMix #1202] When Ari finished this mix back in May, he said that this was his best mix. The fact that "Neighburgers" doesn't come from Donkey Kong Country 2 like most of Prot's other mixes will likely lead most fans to disagree with the claim that this is Prot's best stuff. That's the bias of nostalgia for you. Of course, I liked "Forest Birdcussion" the best out of all of his mixes, but I can say that since I've never played either game. So why would Prot consider his newest OC ReMix to be his personal best work? For me, I believe it lies in the level of rearrangement. Listening to the source tune of "Boss Battle" from the ZAMN soundtrack, the mix follows the same structure for quite a while. But even here, the tempo is slowed down so that it would function better as a hard rock track, not to mention the fact that Ari gave this mix the EarthBound treatment in that he fashioned something a bit more melodic out of strangely sequenced source material. Nonetheless, comparing the mix with the original is necessary in order to really appreciate the effort made in dynamically rearranging the source material into what we have before us now. There are a lot of original ideas here beyond paying homage to Joe McDermott's stuff. Of course, I'm not Protricity, so I can't specifically tell you any or all of the reasons this is his favorite remix so far, but if you make the effort to compare Neighburgers with it's inspiriation, you may understand a bit about why he likes it so much. Maybe it's just the gigasamples. True, that's probably it. S.S.H. - Super Robot Taisen MX "The Watchdog of Hell" [http://www.ssh.ne.jp] Since there isn't too much going on with releases on the Remix64 scene, I didn't wanna leave everyone high and dry on some of the international flavor, so we'll pimp out some Japanese material instead. Live House S.S.H. released this mix in late April for the recent Japanese PS2 release Super Robot Taisen MX (a.k.a. Super Robot Wars MX in the States), and this one is some of their trademark upbeat synth rock style as opposed to some of their heavier live instrument work. As opposed to sounding like a heavily retooled arrangement in regards to instrument quality, this sounds a lot more in the style of in-game music. You'll understand the analogy completely once you check this one out. TexasRowan - "Lost Plain of Unforgotten Sorrows" [CompoST 21] There must not be enough Heaths making music, so, believe it or not, Unknown's little sister Rowan is also getting in the game with a quality original composition of her own. In fact, her take on a wasteland theme for CompoST 21 beat everyone else out, because Rowan's got it like dat. She's like a young prodigy, mind you, so I'm looking forward to hearing her release more material whenever that happens. The foundations are solid, so as she hones her craft and eventually goes for riskier, more ambitious projects, you'll really see her start to shine. Just why is the Heath family full of such capable musicians? It must be the genes. Or the Wheaties. You gotta eat your Wheaties. TO - Final Fantasy 8 "Dolletrocution" [The People's Remix Competition 18] Some judging delays have been holding up the momentum of both PRC and IMC, so the compos have been feeling the pinch. While IMC will be on hiatus until things get back on track, PRC19 is underway under the command of Mr. Barber. And why is that? That's because TO conclusively won PRC18 with this interesting hybrid piece that features an ethic-esque (see, I can make up words easily) wind pipe, some nice thick strings, shrill modulating electrosynths and his near-trademarked industrial percussion. I thought sections like the one from 1:18 to 1:41 needed more emphasis on the melody for the foreground, but the mastering presents a semi-lo-fi feel, so that's part of what you get with the complete package. Lee's selection of Chrono Trigger music for PRC19 is bound to be met with a large response, so be ready for some interesting things there. trickwaters - Dragon Warrior 4 "Seven Fantasies for Piano: I Overture" [VGMix2 #1715] I'm wondering why Pat hasn't submitted anything to OCR (that I'm aware of at least). trickwaters has released several of his older tracks at VGMix, including this first part of a 7-part series covering the music of Dragon Warrior IV. This piece is a pretty straightforward piano-driven effort, but one that continues to highlight trick's skills. At times, the piano felt a little dry, but this is simply a nice, flowing piece, as Pat continues to carve out his niche among other skilled pianists on the remixing scene. Nice stuff you should check out, and if you haven't heard of Pat's work before, this is certainly a nice introduction for you. The other tracks in this suite (as well as trickwater's entire body of work) is freely available at http://www.betterthanbach.com. Ubik - Adventure Island 1 "Tribal Warfare" [VGMix2 #277 / OC ReMix #1203] Brian Davis brings another VGMix joint over to OC with this hot breakbeat mix that left me scratching my head at first. When I thought about it though, this was kind of the reaction that I first gave Ubik's 2002 FF3 mix "The Dark World (Crystal Abyss Mix)" when I first heard it. The layout is strange, but there's an unknown factor that kept me from passing it over. You may have to listen to this mix several times to acclimate yourself to the structure here, but I think it's well worth it if you're a fan of them phat b33tz. Hot stuff. And an easy mix to show off to people who might like the d'n'b style, but aren't necessarily video game music fans. Unknown - "Sand in the Eye" [CompoST 7 / SoundTempest] Not forgetting the "other" Heath, Ty adds to his growing collection of tracks at SoundTempest with this quick shot of Middle Eastern flavor done in the style of a desert theme. Excellent ethnic feel that genuinely gives off a traveling throught the desert feel. Do yourself a favor and click the SoundTempest link so you can listen to all of Unknown's original works available at the site. Ty's body of work here is much more diverse than his OC ReMix work would suggest, so check them all out and listen to a skilled hand at work. zircon - Chrono Trigger "Calamitous Judgment" [http://www.zirconstudios.com] Pretty much anyone who's a fan of OCR knows of Spekkosaurus's CT remix "The Trial in Concert," which is a very high benchmark when it comes to touching the "Kingdom Trial" theme. I can't say I can recall anyone else ever touching the theme, but Andy here comes out swinging with his latest release. Spekk's treatment of the source music was much more of a laid back affair while "Calamitous Judgment" involves a strong but simple beat foundation along with orchestral and electronic elements. If you enjoyed Star Salzman's hybrid arrangement style with the Megaman 2 soundtrack with mixes like "Tickle My Wily" and "When You See the Flashman, Duck and Cover," then I have a feeling you'll really enjoy zirc's own approach, which means that you absolutely can't pass this up. zircon - "Face Off" [CompoST 22] zircon's also keeping up with his winning ways on the CompoST side with this dramatic fight theme. Someone's gotta put Unknown in his place right? Who better than SoundTempest's creator and founder. This is a quick, very up-tempo shot that's both serious and action-packed, all parts of a formula that make up a quality original game music composition. Very cool stuff from Mr. SoundTempest, and, at 54 seconds, certainly a piece that leaves you interested in the direction and wanting more. As I noted in my S.S.H. remix pimp, the European scene has been a little slow this monthsince R:K:O and AMIGAremix have been backed up with submissions, so you'll have to be patient while things get back on track. Rayza encourages any interested OC ReMixers to hit up BemaniStyle.com at http://bemanistyle.com/sims and check if one of their remixes has had a DDR-style stepfile created for it. Lots of mixers are already represented at the constantly updated database. The best way to search BemaniStyle's database is by track/remix name rather than artist name, so check it out and see if you're represented. Spyder, of "Electric Gear Solid" fame, has a very interesting original WIP, which from the looks of it is tentatively called "G5." If more progress develops on it, I'll definitely let you know. Inspired by the source tune of the recently OC-rejected "Isla Nublar Jam", Danny B has an SNES Jurassic Park mix in the works. Keep your eyes out. Vigilante's Donkey Kong Country 1 remix of "Aquatic Ambience" for Gorilla con Gusto just needs some final tweaks, but it's great work and finally something the breaks the stereotype of "no one's actually rearranges Aquatic Ambience." You'll really enjoy it when it finally comes out. After a lil' hiatus, Adhesive Boy hosted AB Radio this past Saturday, so I'm proud of my protege. Except that he's not my protege. And we hate each other. Hopefully, I'll be back on schedule for next week. Take it easy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Navi Posted June 30, 2004 Share Posted June 30, 2004 O damn, was I supposed to keep hosting that?!?! Heh, Sorry about that. Needed some space for this: http://mythrilnazgul.com/MythrilNazgul-The6thOmen-PRCEdit.mp3 (Shameless pimpage) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladiator Posted July 1, 2004 Share Posted July 1, 2004 O damn, was I supposed to keep hosting that?!?! Heh, Sorry about that. Needed some space for this: http://mythrilnazgul.com/MythrilNazgul-The6thOmen-PRCEdit.mp3 (Shameless pimpage) Beautifully done, MN. It would have slipped right by me if you hadn't explained what you were doing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 5, 2004 Author Share Posted July 5, 2004 Ormgas.com, OverClocked ReMix's unofficial internet radio station, wants YOU for its jingle contest, now underway and set to end on July 10th. We need artists, remixers and anyone willing to have some fun with a microphone to check out the contest and submit 20-to-40-second station identification style jingles, and if you're one of the top 3 entrants, you can clothe your body with hot OMG FREE Ormgas.com gear. As long as your entry is quality, you can potentially earn radio infamy along with other legends (like Liontamer) as one of Ormgas.com regular jingles, so be sure to check out more information at the OCR forums thread as well as the full set of contest rules over at http://oc.ormgas.com/news.php?extend.36. Antonio Pizza, SgtRama, Neskvartetten & OverCoat are already in the game with their own entries, and I encourage you reading this [Larry points at you] to consider submitting your own jingles in support of Ormgas while you get in the hunt for free, fashionable swag. Please don't delay. July 10th's the final deadline. Hope y'all Amerikaners had a good 4th of July long weekend full of illegal fireworks, lemonade and hot dogs. That's the American way. The jury's still out on what the Scandanavian way is. Oh hey there, folks. Do an Ormgas radio jingle for the contest above and win free stuff. Es bueno. Now let's see what was going on for the week ending July 3rd: Chad Seiter - "Whiskey and Lead" - [7th Serpent OST] Feedback A name non-OCR folks need to know is much more active on VGMix, and he's got a very professional sound. Could be because he has access to professional samples. Then again, it could be because he's, you know, an actual professional. Aside from professional video game and independent film scoring, Chad has one strong work at VGMix, the old but very VERY ambitious 2001 13-minute multiple-Squaresoft-game mix "Final Fantasia." After you impress yourselves with that, go ahead and "take the risk" on some of the original work Chad plugged at the VGmix Minstrel's Guild forum. My personal choice out of the three tracks spotlighted is the action-oriented "Whiskey and Lead" which is actually an original game music track for the upcoming game "7th Serpent," though you can go for the independent film piece "The Power of 4." Not an artist to miss, folks. Destiny - "Eldamar" [http://destiny-hikari.net] - Feedback Helen does double duty this week, first off with some original action courtesy the VGMix forums as well. I had three tracks to pick from, and they're all good, so I decided to pick the most accessible track. "Eldamar," is an original inspired by the Lord of the Rings series featuring unique Quenya/elvish lyrics. What that's all about exactly? Fucked if I know. My geekdom only goes so far. [/jab] You can always rely on Ms. Trevillion for lovely vocal efforts, so put this one on for size, and if you're not satisfied, there's the very relaxed "Dream of the Innocent" as well as your choice if you want something with tangible lyrics, "Will You." Digital Coma - Donkey Kong Country 1 "Gorilla con Gusto" - [http://dkcproject.ocremix.org] - Project Mixes & WIPs / Project Discussion & Feedback With 14 tracks under their belt, Digital Coma and his team of mixers are inching closer and closer to completing "Gorilla con Gusto," the Donkey Kong Country Arrangement Collaboration project. There are already incredible tracks available from established favorites like GrayLightning, Adhesive Boy & Vigilante, along with several tracks from remixing up-and-comers like Red Omen, Icy Guy & Hemophiliac that really pushed their current talents to the limit. For those new to knowledge of the project, GcG is created and organized by legendary tablas player, and all-around good fella Binnie Katti, known to lots of folks as Digital Coma. He's definitely a man's man, but the project contributors'll tell ya: do NOT cross his path, or he turns into an Indian tyrant with a huge anger management problem and the um...moxie...to back it up. Anyway, all of the unofficially completed Gorilla con Gusto tracks available at the link provided are open to tweaks and are thereby subject to change, so remember that before you mistakenly claim that I hooked you up with the inside connection. You know I'd never give you information of any legitimate importance! Double A Ron - "Freestyle Rapaway" - Feedback Aaron Comica threw out some more of his upbeat rhymes out last week to celebrate his 21st birthday. The production on "Freestyle Rapaway" is awful, so you'll either be put off by it or you'll be able to weather and listen to the song beyond the technical flaws. Double A offers a more friendly style of rap, hearkening back to the old school flavor of the genre. Of course, Aaron's a white Canadian, so that's not really...old school. Nah, it's not. The fact that this track sounds unrefined isn't too much of a deterrent, as it's actually from 2001 and Double A has only improved since then. Aaron plans to do a studio album release in Winnipeg in the near future that will obviously have tighter production. So take this primarily as an example of Double A Ron's rhyming skills..."direct from Canada, eh." Freemind - Morrowind "The Final Stage" [OC ReMix #1207] FM finally follows through with his first solo submission via Morrowind, and I'm always impressed by how many different styles Thanasis drops on us listeners, as his body of mixes and original tracks don't fit comfortably into one genre, or, if I wanted to be more accurate, four genres. For an mixer such a Freemind who really enjoys his hybrid pieces, I most enjoyed the Celtic overtones he used that I've heard in one other piece of his, though the various different instrumentations of the lead melody are what really sold me on it. I thought the drumwork could have been sequenced a bit tighter, but the overall package is strong and it's one that highlights already strong, memorable source material from Jeremy Soule. Gecko Yamori - Streets of Rage 2 "Infectious Oldskool" [VGMix2 #1767] Sweden's Dan Bärlin is the most prolific mixer on the American scene that's also a participant within the European scence and the C64 side of remixing. Gecko pleased a lot of people by dropping this C64/SID-chip inspired mix of Yuzo Koshiro's "Under Logic" on VGMix early in the week. What makes this mix even more special is that it the sequel of sorts of his already popular mix of the same theme in "SID of Rage." "Infectious Oldschool" marks Dan's effort to make this remix much more like the artistic vision he originally had when he initially attempted SID of Rage. Both mixes are highly enjoyable in my opinion, but there's a bit more polish on this release that makes it a must to check out, especially to compare the two tracks side by side. It's more than likely that you'll really enjoy it. JAXX - Chrono Trigger "Johnny Suck Pavement" [VGMix2 #1796] When guys like Mustin opine for the old days of the American game mixing scene, they're talking about mixers like McVaffe, Ailsean, Kaijin, and JAXX. Patrick Jacks is pretty elusive for one of the old-school legends. His last 3 mixes have been 7 months apart each, so oftentimes it's hard for fans to get their JAXX fix. Luckily Pat is back with a new CT mix, although those of you expecting a page out of "Lightning Star" or "Time Punk" are gonna be disappointed. That's your loss though, as JAXX instead lays it back with some chill acoustic guitar flows possessing a Spanish-style flavor, along with some vroom-vroom samples. Don't be one of those annoying n00b bastards that typecasts a mixer and their style; be sure to give this one the look it deserves. Kirbymixer - Kirby's Dreamland 3 "Birds of Dreamland" [VGMix2 #1765] Where would we be without Kirbymixer frequently tackling material from the Kirby series. We'd be in Hell or whatever your personal equivalent of Hell is (Catholic school), that's where. Some light woodwinds provide the metaphorical representation of the mix title's aforementioned birds in this very nice orchestral offering. The tone never gets too heavy, and there are some excellent gentle sections from Bas, along with some initially strange transition sections that work surprisingly well. This is a straight up medley piece that has a light air to it, but doesn't get too bubbly for us folks that hate, well, Kirby music. This is the part where DarkeSword kicks the crap out of me... k-wix - The Legend of Zelda 64: The Ocarina of Time "Ocarina of Seasons" [VGMix2 #1774] Dustin's back with a Zelda medley piece, but instead of going the route of Unknown & his "Artifact of Power" series with an orchestral style, k-wix has gone for a straight piano approach touching upon several well known Zelda 64 Koji Kondo cuts. The mastering leaves the high-end frequencies unattended, so the texture might feel a bit dry as a result, but this is solid work combining elements of the Ocarina of Time that so many gamers know and love with their great personal bias! Definitely one to keep and recommend to other Zelda fans. N-Joy f/Simona - Stormlord 1 "Seneca's Marble Pack" [R:K:O #2289] This one is my extra enthusiastic pick of the week! After pimping out DHS in late May regarding his collab with soon-to-be-posted OC ReMixer & R:K:O vet Makke, fellow member of The SoundWavers N-Joy has dropped a HOT new pop collab on R:K:O with the talented vocalist Simona. Though it was both on the C64 & Amiga platforms, I've never heard of Stormlord myself, but I do know that this is some kick-ass work that you aren't allowed to overlook whatsoever. Simona's lyrics are top notch, and (coincidentally) they're also in Italian. Don't let the language barrier dissuade you; they're very well produced regardless of the language. I don't know if "I-Pop" is much of a genre, but you can serve me up some more of this any time. Love it or hate it, The SoundWavers bring something unique to the scene that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. Ryan8bit - Dragon Warrior 4 "The Grief of Aktemto" [VGMix2 #1782] Just like JAXX, Ryan Stern is another guitar guru that hasn't dropped anything on the people in a while. And while the wait for Ryan8bit's newest release (2 months) wasn't nearly as long as the wait for JAXX's latest, Ryan's here to bring it to ya as well, with this DW4 mix that starts off with acoustic and acid guitar elements before adding to the background with some orchestral swells. And while this beginning also isn't the style one would be most familiar with Ryan's work, the halfway point brings out the electric guitar work that those OverRocked ReMix fans worship him for. A nice change of pace to hear two guitar rock mixers like Ryan & JAXX moving a but out of their traditional bounds, both in the same week. Shane Barber - Little Nemo "Nightmare King's Dream" [OC ReMix #1206] OC-newbie Shane Barber has already cut his teeth on the professional side, so this brand new Little Nemo mix has pretty nice mastering as compared to a lot of other tracks on the site. Here, we have a primarily piano-centric mix done in an upbeat, techno-ish dance style. The way in which the synths are used doesn't lend much "meat" behind the sounds per se, so this isn't like one of those thumping trance ReMixes you may know. Yet given how many elements are in play throughout the course of Nightmare King's Dream, especially the distorted synth providing countermelody, the sounds are very well distinguished from one another, and the low-end frequency areas also managed to be filled without drawing attention away from other elements in play. Shane has access to professional equipment, so this a great first-time OCR effort that has a lot of pluses on the production side, and as DJP mentioned in his writeup, this mix brings a more upbeat quality to Little Nemo mix coverage that hasn't been there before. Strike911 - Vectorman 1 "Oceania Robotica" [VGMix2 #1802] Strike911 is one of those guys that I've enjoyed hearing develop, since his work has been either hot or cold with me. New guys typically come in with weak samples and no creativity on the rearrangement side, so it takes a while for them to find their legs so to speak. Jase is gradually finding his way as he does a little bit of rearrangement here within "Oceania Robotica," but this mix of the classic Vectorman track "Tidal Surge" stands out much more to me as a successful genre adaptation. The samples for a techno track like this are very solid if you're familiar with the Sega Genesis classic game, then you probably remember that the source material in play here is minimal. 53 seconds minimal, in fact. Jase manages to carry the theme for nearly 5 minutes and while there aren't many stylistic changes as the song progresses, the strength of the material here makes this one that doesn't get boring. Definitely some quality work that has a chance to see action on the OCR judges' panel down the line once it's submitted, and one you should give a look if you remember how dope Vectorman was. The Wingless & Destiny - The Legend of Zelda 1 "Eutopia Pegasi" [OC ReMix #1208] My main man, "The Wingless" J. A. Burnett hollers back with a brand new Zelda mix thanks to a team-up with OCR's biggest female mixer since Injury, the engaging Helen Trevillion, who herself makes two appearances in the Pimp Section this week. You guys hanging around the VGMix chatterbox may have seen John pestering Destiny with messages like, "O Destiny, thy runnest away once again as I ceaselessly chase thine agreeable vocal chords." Well, anyway, it would be something more Wingless-crazy-sounding and less Larry-made-it-up-sounding. In any case, with all that chasing Wingle was engaging in, I thought to myself "If he ever actually gonna, you know, collab with her like he planned???" Which is why it was all the more surprising to see "Eutopia Pegasi" appear at OCR a few days ago. For me, this liberal, lush-sounding mix really functions a lot better for me as background type music, as it's difficult to grasp what's going in an airy piece such as this via active listening. Very relaxing flow overall, and one you can kick back to when you wanna slow things down. Xerol Oplan - "Loyalties" [Xerol's Quest OST] XO has got some more material out there for the in-progress game, Xerol's Quest, in the form of this newly-finished track, "Loyalties." For the moment, Loyalties will function as an event track, though of course plans can and do change. This composition features some very nice piano work, and I think you'll really enjoy this one when it shifts into a higher gear at 1:35, including a quick Final Fantasy crystal theme reference. For those of you that want a darker-sounding piece, check out the alternate version of "Tracheon" and see if that fits your style more comfortably. Xerol has Red Omen, Mythril Nazgul & Rellik on tap to help him with the music duties of Xerol's Quest, so be sure to keep an eye on the developments, at least on the music side that most of us are here for. For highlights on what's going down on the WIP side this past week (things are REALLY busy), allow me to list off stuff you may wanna check (deep fucking breath, please): Wintermute - Chrono Trigger, Mythril Nazgul - Chrono Trigger, GrayLightning - Chrono Trigger, Freemind - Secret of Mana, Sir Nuts - Ninja Gaiden II, Koelsch1 - Street Fighter Alpha, Strike911 - Vectorman, Mythril Nazgul - Kenshin (Anime Remix), DCT - Megaman VII/Eminem (yes, that's correct), Raven8t8 - original, Fusion2004 - originals, Reuben Kee - original remix, Freemind - original, Cuddly Pyramidhead - audio drama, DistantJ - Sonic the Hedgehog 3, Rexy - Sonic & Knuckles, Kadmium - Super Street Fighter II While zircon is on vacation, he's left a slew of original compositions that need to be judged at SoundTemptest. Register with the SoundTempest forums in order to cast your votes as fans as to whether various submissions by Shael Riley, OverCoat, Rellik & Unknown have what it takes to be legitimate original game music compositions. The People's Remix Competition 19 is in the voting stage. Mixing TO's source tune of choice, Black Omen from Chrono Trigger, this is one where a lot of people may be interested. Read the voting directions, download the contest entries, and send a private message to TO (via OC ReMix's forums), placing the entries in your order from best to worst. Who's gonna win??? That could be up to you. bLiNd finished his share of remix contributions to the upcoming Project Majestic Mix Trance album this past week, so everything is done from his side. Having just finished up his remix of Prophecy's Super Metroid mix "On Top of Jacob's Ladder," rendering the mix's project file took up 90% of his 2.4gHz processor. Now you're playing with power...and so forth. Along with Proph, SuperGreenX & FFmusic Dj, you know this album is gonna be quality for you trance lovers out there. The material could go to press with Stephen Kennedy & KFSS Studios by late August. You better believe that FFmusic Dj knows a lot more than trance. Though I know FF has got some excellent remixes in the works that go along with his most known style, Haroon has got things cooking on the original side via the chillout genre. After coming out of the gate with two chillout remixes of BT's "The Great Escape" this past April, Haroon has got a cool new WIP that's all his own. The initial results are good, and it looks like FF has found another genre to embrace. Hopefully, we'll see some finished product in the near future. SuperGreenX has got a near 9-minute original track in the words, and he assures me that it's gonna be hot, noting that it some of his best, most professional-sounding production work ever. Speaking as a fan of Danny's, this is definitely some powerful-sounding stuff so far, and one of his keepers in the vein of his original album, "Synesthetic." I can't wait to play this once I get back on the air. There's a bright future for SGX, and it could drop as soon as next week. zykO's current band, Absynthe, had a performance for the 4th of July in San Diego, California, along with Innerlimit. Hopefully, we can get some info on that for next week's Pimp Section. Meanwhile, you can check out weed's pimping of the event over at VGMix, OC ReMix & OneUp. Rayza won $12.50 at video blackjack recently. I'm proud of him! I think that was $12.50 Canadian though. Well, he did better than I did at the casino. (Ayako: "That's what you get.") Hope you had a Happy Independence Day! Let's do it again sometime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Xerol Oplan Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 including a quick Final Fantasy crystal theme reference. Not quite, actually. Here's the section of music you're talking about: (That purple note on the left is the mouse cursor, in Finale.) So while it's similar, it's not really the FF Crystal theme. (Actually, it's the XQ Crystal theme. You heard it in Call of the Crystals briefly.) [/shameless advertising] Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GrayLightning Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 N-Joy f/Simona - Stormlord 1 "Seneca's Marble Pack" [R:K:O #2289] This one is my extra enthusiastic pick of the week! After pimping out DHS in late May regarding his collab with soon-to-be-posted OC ReMixer & R:K:O vet Makke, fellow member of The SoundWavers N-Joy has dropped a HOT new pop collab on R:K:O with the talented vocalist Simona. Though it was both on the C64 & Amiga platforms, I've never heard of Stormlord myself, but I do know that this is some kick-ass work that you aren't allowed to overlook whatsoever. Simona's lyrics are top notch, and (coincidentally) they're also in Italian. Don't let the language barrier dissuade you; they're very well produced regardless of the language. I don't know if "I-Pop" is much of a genre, but you can serve me up some more of this any time. Love it or hate it, The SoundWavers bring something unique to the scene that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. I'm not into pop, but this easily the best pop mix I've ever heard. Production values are through the roof and beyond. Cool britney spears type vocal effects. Exceptional. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bladiator Posted July 6, 2004 Share Posted July 6, 2004 N-Joy f/Simona - Stormlord 1 "Seneca's Marble Pack" [R:K:O #2289] This one is my extra enthusiastic pick of the week! After pimping out DHS in late May regarding his collab with soon-to-be-posted OC ReMixer & R:K:O vet Makke, fellow member of The SoundWavers N-Joy has dropped a HOT new pop collab on R:K:O with the talented vocalist Simona. Though it was both on the C64 & Amiga platforms, I've never heard of Stormlord myself, but I do know that this is some kick-ass work that you aren't allowed to overlook whatsoever. Simona's lyrics are top notch, and (coincidentally) they're also in Italian. Don't let the language barrier dissuade you; they're very well produced regardless of the language. I don't know if "I-Pop" is much of a genre, but you can serve me up some more of this any time. Love it or hate it, The SoundWavers bring something unique to the scene that you'd be hard-pressed to find anywhere else. I'm not into pop, but this easily the best pop mix I've ever heard. Production values are through the roof and beyond. Cool britney spears type vocal effects. Exceptional. I concur. EXCELLENT remix. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 14, 2004 Author Share Posted July 14, 2004 I'm glad we got a nice bunch of entries for the Ormgas jingle contest. Myself, the other Ormgas staff, and some others will be judging things up over the next week. Once a winner is decided on, I'll highlight what we collectively chose. Everytime I think I'm gonna be quick with the writeups for the week, I always find more stuff to say. The only way I could say less was if you paid me too. Let's sort through what was going down for the week ending Saturday, July 10th: Ailsean - F-Zero 1 "Flying Hachi-Roku" [Dwelling of Duels: Free Month / VGMix2 #1854] As part of the May/June Dwelling of Duels contest, Ailsean whipped up this homage to the anime Initial D (which I've seen part of and enjoyed in it's cheesiness), hence the title. This 3rd place finisher isn't a straight guitar track (though it actually doesn't sound like the cheesy 80's Eurobeat & J-tronica I've heard from the initial D series), but Sean pulls off some very cool licks in this remix taking on "Big Blue." The percussion's pretty plain, but that about the only thing I felt needed some added attention. This is more of a stylized cover piece, as per the general layout of the DoD compo, but one with the energy you'd come to expect from Ailsean for a source tune like this. alunimum - Dragon View "Apocryphal" [OC ReMix #1210] I dig aluminum's style, as he usually offers unique stuff when he infrequently releases material. This one's a wind and piano-centric piece with orchestral and electronic support as well. This one took me a couple of listens to get into, especially since I'm unfamiliar with the source material, but it's pretty cool, especially upon repeated listens, where you can get more comfortable with the structure and direction within. Ironically enough, this is aluminum's second OC submission, and both of them abruptly cut out at the ending. Someone's gonna tell alum how to create fadeouts. Not everyone likes fadeouts, but in this case, they're only your friend. Arkimedes - Lufia 2 "Tickling Clocks" [VGMix2 #1853] Looks like I've been suckered in yet again with the work of Arkimedes, as this one is my pick of the week! Jaron's back with another VGMix release, this time taking on the Lufia series. The composition is strong and Ark's now-trademark vocals are well-written per his usual. I thought the production could be tightened so that the vocals don't get buried by the music, but, for the casual listener, it probably won't bother you. With remastering, this could be OC ready. I'm a big fan of Jaron's current remix formula, so I'm always glad to see him active in the community. The others of you out there who enjoy Arkimedes' work can check out his brand new homepage over at http://www.jtwidman.com. Bladiator - Chrono Trigger "Woman in a Black Dress" [The People's Remix Competition 19] Karl Harmdierks displays even more improvement with this salsified remix of CT's Black Omen theme that took home yet another first place PRC finish for him. The tempo's a little bit too fast for the comparison I'm making, but I still got a little bit of that Tropico vibe from this, if any of you out there have played the quasi-Cuban equivalent of SimCity. This isn't as refined as say "Needles," since the soundset is fairly basic, but the arrangement is tight, and Blade takes Chrono Trigger in a direction that I've never heard before. The version available here has been retooled since PRC19 and features a stronger ending, and it's been submitted to the tender mercies of OCR, so best of luck as Blade goes through the submission process with it. Stay on top of things with PRC20 as several entrants attempt to mix Bladiator's challenging source tune choice from Max Payne 2! Carbunk1e - Rurouni Kenshin "Undanceable Waltz" (WIP) [The People's Remix Competition: Animation 3] You know, it doesn't take much for Japanese speech to sound ominous. The woman intro-ing this next recommendation could be saying "I'm just so happy to see you" and it sounds like some bad omen. Anyway, Anime Remix head honcho, Bunkie, managed to give a nice intro here via said ominous Japanese anime sample, and this work-in-progress develops into a very nice trance piece. But, alas, it's incomplete. Based off of the nearly two minutes so far, the foundations look in place for Carbunk1e to complete this mix and add to the burgeoning collection of mixes available at Anime Remix. As the only entry, this WIP was enough to give him the win for PRC:A3, but this is solid stuff nonetheless, and one you'll wanna follow if you're feeling the trance. Matt's choice of muzak from Azumanga Daioh is the next track that's being given the treatment, courtesy of PRC:A4. Daniel Baranowsky - Jurassic Park (SNES) "Before Time" [http://members.cox.net/systemaniac] Dan recently finished up the Jurassic Park mix that essentially came to life once he heard the source tune of Yoozer's "Isla Nublar Jam." This one features (OMG) real guitar, so while Dan did a great job faking it in "Agony of Obscuration," this one has some genuine geetar playin' for ya, featuring a harder edge thanks to some layered sections and a nice bass pad. I don't have a link for you, since I'm not sure Danny B wants it given out and he's away in California for a little bit, so just keep an eye out for it later. (And act very surprised when you see it. He'll like that.) debeerguy (Kevin "Lorenzo" Sisk) - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Dark Caverns Mystified" [VGMix2 #1323] Kev has some fairly ominous sounding synths going on in this electronica mix of the Mystic Cave Zone theme. There aren't too many liberties taken on the arrangement side until the mix is about 3/4ths over, which is pretty interesting, although I would have liked to have heard more rearrangement. Still, the sound choices here are pretty nice, creating quite the odd atmosphere, and making this an enjoyable release. I'd really like to see Kevin take more arrangement risks, and building future mixes more like the freestyle conclusion of "Dark Caverns Mystified" would be a welcome change of pace. He's gettin' there. Flik - The Legend of Zelda 3 "Kakariko Prom" [VGMix2 #1845] After contributing to the sick River City Ransom rap mix, "River City Rap," Chris Serani makes his solo debut on VGMix with this prom-music spin on the SNES's A Link from the Past. Featuring a joking story-style intro (and outro) hearkening back to the old-school days of Mustin, "Needles," and "Team Gato," this one definitely intros the right way and gets your attention. If you're a sap for Zelda music that you and a high school sweetheart can dance to, your prayers have been answered. Certainly a good debut from Flik, who's been mostly known for his directorial work for X-Strike Studios and "River City Rumble." Nope, he's not a one-trick pony. goat - Castlevania 3 "Rancid Purgatory" [unchosen Paths / VGMix2 #1848] Keep rockin' 'em, goat! Here's the latest release from his CV3 remix album (which you should be able to figure out the name of). Halfway through, we get some brief call-and-answer moments thanks to some guitar layering. All things considered, it's the heavy rock that you know and/or love. It's all good here, thanks to goat's high standards. This'll tide me over until he releases his remix of "Demon Seed" from the CV3 soundtrack. I prefer some CV3 tracks more than others, but the entire album so far remains strong, and is sure to impress. JigginJonT - Donkey Kong Country 1 "West Coast DK Island" [Gorilla con Gusto] Mr. T recently wrapped up his part for Gorilla con Gusto (which is slowly but surely heading towards completion) in the form of this 50's-era jazz piece rearranging "DK Island Swing." Of course, there are modern elements involved, as easily evidenced in the introduction, but the spirit and style are there in full force, and if anyone would know how to be faithful to the structure involved in this genre homage piece, it would be the Jiggy One. This is a very full-bodied effort, and yet another track that shows off the strength of Digital Coma's brainchild in Gorilla con Gusto, which continues to look good with 15 remixes now completed. LindsayAnne Klemm - The Legend of Zelda 1 "A Fate Preordained" [OC ReMix #1209] Hot off the heels of The Wingless & Destiny collaboration of the same theme, LindsayAnne finally hits OCR with her take on the perpetually remixed Zelda theme. Lindsay's the collaborative partner of fellow OC mixer Edgen Animations, i.e. Justin Durban, which I found out back in April when I first discovered this track here and played it on my show. (It's nice to be ahead of curve sometimes.) If you've enjoyed the lushly orchestrated Zelda mixes of Nixdorux & Unknown, then you've got no reason not to check this one out. The tempo stays slow and engaging throughout, so sit back and relax with this one. Hopefully LindsayAnne will stay involved with OC with future submissions, as she beautifully scores one for the ladies here! Makke - Lost Patrol "In the Air Mix" [AMIGAremix #107 / OC ReMix to-be-posted] This recently OC-approved mix is Marcus Nilsson's second contribution to both AMIGAremix & OC ReMix, though if you frequent the C64 scene, he's already an established name there. This homage to Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" is very well-produced and grew on me a lot with repeated listens. The lyrics seemed odd at first, since one is likely used to the note pattern of Phil Collins lyrics, but the minor-key vocal stylings sounded better and better over time, so that's just my personal disclaimer for anyone who's initially put off by the style here. I'm lucky I've had this for a few weeks, as I'm sure my enthusiasm for this one would be a lot less if I only heard this a couple of times. The top names of the European game mixing community have the best production anywhere, and this is another one of those excellent sounding efforts. Don't you have a thing for the 80's anyway? Aren't you a child of the 80's??? See if this one rekindles some old memories for you. Nixdorux (Nicolas Ferranti) - The Legend of Zelda 3 "Escape from the Mountain" [VGMix2 #1807] Nix's latest Zelda 3 piece is probably the most forceful orchestral piece of his that I've heard so far, and sounds a LOT more at home as some sort of PlayStation Final Fantasy cutscene music. The mix title didn't really fit the imagery I got from this piece, as I'd think something more frantic would be in order. Nonetheless, I'd personally say that (aside from the ending) "Escape from the Mountain" is Nicolas's strongest remix ever. I wouldn't put it as the catchiest of his works, as that's not the point, but then again, I suppose I have different standards than lots of other fans. Check this one out for some well-crafted militaristic Zelda action. Norrin Radd - Double Dragon 3 "Brett's Requiem ~ Flight of a Dragon" [Dwelling of Duels: Free Month / VGMix2 #1825] Norrin Radd recently came back to OCR after a long hiatus thanks to his skills at rearranging Guile's theme, which was the winning entry for the March edition of the live instrument remixing compo, Dwelling of Duels. For the free choice month of Dwelling of Duels, Norrin once again took 1st place with this medley from the high underremixed Double Dragon 3. Some games just don't get enough coverage. I think someone wanted to cover something from the Silver Surfer NES game, but I can't remember who that was. Maybe Norrin should check that out, given his handle. In any case, things start off slow for the first 1:20, and Radd left me wondering (ignorantly, might I add) why and how this mix managed to win out in the Dwelling of Duels. Suffice to say, this one greatly picks up in intensity and is a fine example of powerful guitar work. For me, it's not something that blew my mind, but the guitar aficionados will have nothing but love for the work and proficiency here, as virt and Ailsean can attest to here, so give it that look. Ork Estral (Nigel Simmons) - Super Castlevania 4 "Into the Corridor of Shadows" [VGMix2 #1493 / OC ReMix #1212] As I work hard to earn my weekly pay of $0 for the VGF Pimp Sections, let's check out what I said about this one from the May 22nd edition: Ork is back again with a very nice-sounding mix from the SNES classic. Ditching the Gothic music style found in the game, Nigel offers a well-developed orchestral (what else?) remix featuring little bits from the large range of symphonic instruments. There are some very nice builds and tempo changes throughout and the piece easily could pass as a wholly original orchestral composition rather than a Castlevania medley. Ork Estral always comes out with well-produced music, whether original or remix, and this looks (and sounds) like it doesn't disappoint. Quinn Fox - Ghosts 'N Goblins "Arthur Enhanced" [VGMix2 #1829] Quinn's retired from the scene for a while, but he's still releasing some older material that had previously been available strictly at his homepage. As you can hear, the mastering isn't as crisp as other work you may have heard from Quinn, but chalk that up to age. This take on the familiar Ghosts'n Goblins theme music is pretty straightforward until you hit the 2:20 mark where Fox goes for a nice freestyle section that continues until the fadeout, leaving you wanting something more. Too bad, cuz that's all you get. It's a good trick too, because it worked for "Nial and Nowhere," his Phantasy Star 3 remix. This one's pretty repetitive, and Quinn'll probably tell you that himself, but this is a chance to peep some older, re-released material that you may not have been aware of. Sir Nuts - Ninja Gaiden 2 "Ashtar's Desires [VGMix2 #1837] Mike Molina indeed drops the nuts on this trancified take on the Parasprinter theme that guys like Silent, EgM & Kaijin have taken on in the past. A straightforward trance/piano cover eventually gives way (more than halfway through the track) to some solid freeform work that really plays around with the basic structure of the source tune while creating some new ideas. This one's been doing pretty well in terms of reviews at VGMix and, if you like trance, this'll do you right. I would have preferred a little more variation in the structure, so that rearrangement and remix sections alternated, but I can't complain, bros. Sir Nuts continues to step it up as one of the scene's most proficient trance talents. SnappleMan - Star Ocean: Blue Sphere "Killer Dokko" [OC ReMix #1211] Ever since Debotron requested that I play Killer Dokko on the radio show back in April, I've been keeping an eye on Andy Kotsamanidis, who's been getting more and more ready in the last few months improving his game. The WIP version of "Killer Dokko", available at VGMix, was a piece that had a lot of character, along with some chiptune-ish flavor, but wasn't yet ready for the "big time" so-to-speak. Once Snapple decided to add a little more meat to it, there was nothing holding it back from making it to OCR. Snap's gonna be working on some Castlevania material that's not necessarily going to see the light of day at OC, so if you like how he's rocks "Killer Dokko", you oughta keep your eye out on Gorilla con Gusto for his powered up DKC mix, "Thrash the Plank." Of course, his GrayLightning collab, "Distorted Star," is waiting in the wings of OCR as well, so SnappleMan is a name you'll be hearing a lot more in the coming months. I could go for a Kiwi Strawberry Snapple too. I'd swear he has that effect on purpose. trickwaters - The Illusion of Gaia, Soul Blazer & Terranigma "Geheimnis der Erde: I Der Anfang und ein Gebet" (a.k.a. 'Mystery of the Earth: I The Beginning and a Prayer') [VGMix2 #1785] Pat must make it on the pimp section 2 or 3 times a month, because he's always got something good released on VGMix. To be perfectly honest, I have no damn idea what could have made trick combine the intros from these three games, as I just don't see the connection here that other mixers make when they do muiltgame Final Fantasy medleys and stuff like that, so props to trickwaters for thinking outside of the box. For those of you who are familiar with Pat's traditional piano forays, y'all can enjoy a new angle on things, as this marks his first release of orchestrated remix material rather than straight piano work, and is a newly completed work rather than older material. The levels are a bit low, and the strings came off as noticeably unnatural beyond the 4-minute mark, but otherwise this is some bueno stuff. I'd say "good" in German, but let's stick to a language I know. ZhayTee - Metroid 1 "Kraid Adagio" [VGMix2 #1805] Finally, we're at Joe Toscano, who's got this low-fi Metroid piano offering covering the ever-popular Kraid theme. You probably aren't familiar with ZhayTee if you're not a longtime VG remix fan, since he only has one OC ReMix from just over 2 years ago. Zhay marks his VGMix debut with "Kraid Adagio" which isn't really there to break any new ground, but sounds nice nonetheless. And continuing with this week's apparent motif of not dramatically rearranging tracks until most of the song is over, Joe adds a little interpretive material 2/3rds of the way home. This mix doesn't take many liberties, but hey, you can't go wrong with putting your own cover spin on a classic. Definitely worth checking out. A bunch of remixers are getting together in California, including a handful of OCR judges. Rumor has it that they'll be conducting a summit on both world peace and "LOLz." Stay tuned to the OCR forums for more of the goings on with that. I'm a busy/tired man, so it's time to wrap things up. For this week, I'll stay off of the WIP front and hope some ideas develop into new releases for next week. Until then...um...keep on truckin'. Yeah, I think that's it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neminem Posted July 14, 2004 Share Posted July 14, 2004 A bunch of remixers are getting together in California, including a handful of OCR judges. As they say, link please? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 15, 2004 Author Share Posted July 15, 2004 A bunch of remixers are getting together in California, including a handful of OCR judges. As they say, link please? It's the blockbuster movie event of the summer! Choreographed by martial arts expert and best-selling exercise guru Billy Blanks, watch as Prot and Vigilante take their mutual hatred of one another outside the forums...and TO THE STREETS! (Disclaimer: VG Frequency is not responsible for your disappointment. What'd you expect? The Matrix?) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 If Christopher Lowell was in there blowin' the hell out of Rip Taylor... that video clip COULD NOT HAVE BEEN GAYER. Couple that with the fact that one of the pugilists in the clip looks uncannily like our resident long-hair hippy, Vigilante, and you've got a recipe for wildfire gossip! *sigh* how I wish I had my old OH SNAP! gif right about now... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DCT Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 If Christopher Lowell was in there blowin' the hell out of Rip Taylor... that video clip COULD NOT HAVE BEEN GAYER.Couple that with the fact that one of the pugilists in the clip looks uncannily like our resident long-hair hippy, Vigilante, and you've got a recipe for wildfire gossip! *sigh* how I wish I had my old OH SNAP! gif right about now... you know I got you.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TCK Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 If Christopher Lowell was in there blowin' the hell out of Rip Taylor... that video clip COULD NOT HAVE BEEN GAYER.Couple that with the fact that one of the pugilists in the clip looks uncannily like our resident long-hair hippy, Vigilante, and you've got a recipe for wildfire gossip! *sigh* how I wish I had my old OH SNAP! gif right about now... you know I got you.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The wingless Posted July 16, 2004 Share Posted July 16, 2004 HAHAHA! SUCCESS!! get tha fukk get tha fukk ohh... how I have missed thee! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 19, 2004 Author Share Posted July 19, 2004 "NO" More info next week... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 20, 2004 Author Share Posted July 20, 2004 I'm glad we got a nice bunch of entries for the Ormgas radio jingle contest. Myself, the other Ormgas staff, and some others judged things up this week and the winner was Neskvartetten with a cool Legend of Zelda 2 mix. Check it out below for the info. Now let's see if, for my own sanity, I can do some quick writeups for the week ending Saturday, July 17th: Ashane - Final Fantasy Mystic Quest "Red Cap Assault" [Dwelling of Duels: Free Month / VGMix2 #1828] All of the top four entries in last month's Dwelling of Duels compo have now made their way over to VGMix with Dan Liss's posting of this 2nd place FFMQ mix. There are some people who can't stand guitar mixes or the (allegedly undue) attention they receive, but, hey, I'm not a guitar remix mark, and I think "Red Cap Assault" sounds NICE. Mystic Quest's is one of the bastard children of the FF series and doesn't get much coverage, but there's no need to veer past this one at all. Beatdrop - Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Strip Mine" [bit by Bit / OC ReMix #1214] Dain continues his work on the Bit by Bit remix album with this rough-around-the-edges version of the Mystic Cave Zone theme, a tune we heard covered by Kevin Sisk last week. Short and sweet, this one's raw energy along with some cool synth work on the chorus to give a different feel to the industrialized foundations. BD's made some excellent remixes so far out of the suggestions he's received from fans, so I'm of course really interested in what's going to drop next (i.e. DON'T CANCEL THE ALBUM, BEATDROP! OR I'LL CRY! DON'T MAKE ME CRY). Dennis Mott - "Glass Onion" - Feedback I like the guy, but Dennis sure can't sing. Oops. I mean... [salesman mode] ...check out Dennis with this VERY tongue-in-cheek Beatles cover and let him know how much you loved it. I know I did. [/salesman mode] Yeesh. Sure take balls to sing like that AND let other people hear it. Eminem f/DCT - Mega Man 7 "Stan (Shady Mix)" [http://www.vagstudios.com] Eminem f/DCT & Flik - Mega Man 7 "Stan (Shady Mix)" [http://www.vagstudios.com] - Feedback Duane Thorpe remains busy working on some hip-hop studio material, but a few weeks ago he released this tight blend of mainstream a cappella material with video game music, i.e. Eminem's "Stan" with a hip-hop beat of Mega Man VII's "Shade Man Stage." DCT's version of "Stan" follows in the vein of other blends of his such as his 50 Cent mix "In Da Club (Dark Sword Mix)", yet removed the chorus from Stan in order to make it fit better with the beats. That move though left some people going "Wut?", so along came Flik this past week with his own complete rendition of Stan on top of DCT's beats, which I enjoyed after a couple of listens (hey, it's not the same). Flik really gets going as he gets angrier and angrier throughout. Dope stuff on the hip-hop side by one guy with Jamaican soul and one crazy cracka. Fray - Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind "Fear Not" [OC ReMix #1216] Let's see what I had to say about the older version back for the May 22nd Pimp Section: Fray - Elder Scrolls III: Morrowind "Fear Not" [VGMix2 #1357]Another pending OCR submission just completed, this mix from Jeremy Soule's Morrowind is from mixer-hopeful Nathan Monteleone, aka Fray. Attempting to expand the out of the confines of the source material's genre, Fray starts this mix off in a trance/electronica style incorporating several different instrument/synth combinations, along with various melodic switchups. Fray's actually conducting a poll on whether "Fear Not" can make it past the OC judges' panel. If you're interested, drop your $.02 on on how YOU'D judge Fear Not's fate. Artists registered with SectionZ can check out more of Fray's stuff over at http://fray.sectionz.com. After some retooling, Nate joins the fray (Holy shit, a lame pun!) at OCR with this well-arranged Morrowind piece, one that has weak samples, but more than makes up for it with over-the-top creativity. The freestyle section at 3:07 sounded a little reminiscent of some of Protricity's own energized solos. As Fray develops more, the sample quality and polish will come, but in the meantime, this is well-made work nonetheless. Though this possesses some style along with potential you can hear, this is a really a case of substance over style.Kaijin - Xenogears "Child of the Stars" [OC ReMix #1213] Tim Sheehy offers another softly-made Xenogears mix to follow up on May's "Momentary Emotion." If you know Kai's style, this is another remix in the same vein, dominated by strings and piano with a hip-hop style percussion beat. It didn't tread any new ground for me personally, but you don't care what I think, that's for sure! If Xenogears or relaxing music is your speed, then you've gotta hit it. Over and out. Koelsch1 - Valkyrie Profile "Blind Eternity" [VGMix2 #1396 / OC ReMix to-be-posted?] If I can give you the heads-up on an OCR-bound remix before the n00bs see it, I'll try and hook you up. Here's Koelsch1 makes his way to OCR with a very interpretive take on Motoi Sakuraba's "Eternal Hydrogen Anxieties." I myself was borderline against this passing, but I don't mean for that to take away from the obviously skills displayed by K1. Even if I felt this needed a bit more to be above the bar, this one's a keeper and represents some very lush orchestral work. Don't skip this one if you don't recognize the game. Koelsch1 & Sefiros - Sonic the Hedgehog 3 "Chillin' with Sonic" [VGMix2 #1693 (removed)] Frankly there are many cases where the mere title of a remix will tell you how n00b-ish you can expect it to be, so when I saw a mix that was very uncreatively called "Chillin' with Sonic" I was wary. When you listen to it, you'll clearly realize this isn't great. However, this is at least a decent collab with a minimalist approach on the IceCap Zone done via saxophone. The production here needs improvement, but this remix does at least create a fairly depressing/melancholy mood along with the very nice rainstorm sample that continuously cycles through the background. Even if you don't get that kind of feeling from it, this is a very nice track to loop in the background. This one would have been served better by having a more artistic/pretentious name like "As It Melts Away"; just anything more serviceable than "Chillin' with Sonic." - Wouldn't you know it, this one got removed for being a revision of any already-released track. Now you'll just have to enjoy the K1-less original by Sefiros. You can tell ME how that one is. L. Spiro - Super Mario RPG "Mallow's Opus" [VGMix2 #1873] There's a bit of rearrangement here, but I thought this shined as a beatiful sounding cover of Yoko Shimomura's "Sad Song" featuring a much more realistic piano lead and some haunting ambience alongside of it. This is a cool change of pace from Shawn, with a release that doesn't cover Donkey Kong Country 2 and tries some other source inspiration (good inspiration, too). It's not risky, but in a pinch it gets the job done. Makke - Lost Patrol "In the Air Mix" [AMIGAremix #107 / OC ReMix #1215] I just wrote about this gem last week, so let's see what I said about it then: This recently OC-approved mix is Marcus Nilsson's second contribution to both AMIGAremix & OC ReMix, though if you frequent the C64 scene, he's already an established name there. This homage to Phil Collins' "In the Air Tonight" is very well-produced and grew on me a lot with repeated listens. The lyrics seemed odd at first, since one is likely used to the note pattern of Phil Collins lyrics, but the minor-key vocal stylings sounded better and better over time, so that's just my personal disclaimer for anyone who's initially put off by the style here. I'm lucky I've had this for a few weeks, as I'm sure my enthusiasm for this one would be a lot less if I only heard this a couple of times. The top names of the European game mixing community have the best production anywhere, and this is another one of those excellent sounding efforts. Don't you have a thing for the 80's anyway? Aren't you a child of the 80's??? See if this one rekindles some old memories for you. The one other thing I wanted to say was that I'm surprised that Protricity was the only judge to recognize the Phil Collins homage in this mix. Are you kidding me, yo? [shakes head] C'mon, I'm half-black and even I know it.Neskvartetten - The Legend of Zelda 2 "Ormbossa" [Ormgas Jingle Competition] We got a lot of cool entries over at Ormgas.com for our month-long radio jingle contest, and the NES4 (or in this case, the NES2) managed to take the cake with this bossa nova jazz mix referencing Link's Adventure. We got some excellent entries from others like SgtRama (Donkey Kong Cereal!), Bladiator & 3rd place winner ESHbyESH, but I have to point out that nothing was funnier than Antonio Pizza's Final Fantasy I runner-up entry "It's Alright to Like the Prelude." In it's own way, it's a genuine indictment on how many goddamn people like that track. Props to everyone who entered the contest; thanks a lot for supporting Ormgas, the unofficial OCR radio station! OverCoat - "Jormungand" [http://rks.no-ip.com/~seattleovercoat] - Feedback Here's some more quality ambient synth stuffs from the kid with the long coat, the title of which is derived from Norse mythology. The mood here is a LOT more tense than some of the other forays Scott has made, and I certainly got a Dust Brothers/Fight Club soundtrack vibe from it as the track kept moving and really got going at the 5:20 mark. If you've got something morose and/or sinister goin' on and need background music, give OverCoat 11 minutes of your life. You won't regret it. OverCoat & Destiny - Seiken Densetsu 3 "Angels Dear" [VGMix2 #683 (removed)] - Feedback Too hot for VGMix, it's Scott & Helen, whose SD3 collaboration got the boot from this site this past week (since it was a revision of an already-released mix). Because of these unfortunate circumstances, OC asked me to pimp this mix out. Y'all are the beneficiaries of their misfortune, but have no fear! Destiny plans on re-doing the vocals in the near future, so keep on the lookout for an ever better version of "Angels Dear" to surface in the coming months. Rellik - "Thee Stylish Scalawag" http://www.tjhsst.edu/~alederer - Feedback On the original side, Adam comes at you with some very chill electronic/synth instrument action (with a great title too; when was the last time you heard someone use "scalawag?" Yosemite Sam?). This is very, very interesting material for a hybrid piece, almost something I could hear in a Volkswagen commercial or something similar. Well, shit, I don't know what else to say except that this is pretty sweet. This isn't for everyone, but Rellik's got my pick of the week. You've gotta check this one out for yourself. Star Salzman - "The Message" [http://www.starblast.org] So early in the week, Star goes, "Larry, check out my new song," and in the OCR channel comes up Star Salzman - The Message. I go, "Oh, are you trying to rap in this one at all?", thinking this could be some sort of homage to Grandmaster Flash & the Furious Five. He says, "What are talking about???" Goddammit, bro, don't push me, cuz I'm close to tha edge. (Coincidentally, I'm tryin' not to lose my head.) In any case, what in the HELL is up with this? Star apparently smoked the good stuff as he came up with the most nonsensical WTF I've heard in a long time. Although I have to say, there aren't too many things funnier than hearing two harmonized Stars singing "cookies!" If you're a weirdo, stand right in line for this one. zircon - "Goofy Ghouls" [CompoST 24] Part Zombies Ate My Neighbors, part Ghostbusters, this dope lil' track was the winning entry of CompoST 24, as zirc provided a nice piece in the style of a "boy has to beat up zombies" game. This submission really hit the nail on the head in terms of the style, so ZAMN fans should get a kick out of this one. We've got a few interesting tracks on the work-in-progress side. The fan-favorite or eclectically inaccessible (depending on your tastes) ziwtra has some quality Terranigma WIPs that need your feedback, including a redux of "Blue." Check his WIPs out and let Youngjin serve you up a BIG heaping of breakbeats. Star Salzman is brewing up his best mix yet (and he'll definitely tell you that himself). Check out the new Xenogears work-in-progress, "Pillar of Salt", featuring a hybrid of both Dazil & Omen from the XG soundtrack along with two time signatures, 3/4 & 4/4, AND both Hebrew & Arabic lyrics. (The guy's ambitious, what can I say.) Taxing his computer's resources to the limit, Star aims to push the bounds of remixing and get you to kiss his feet in gratitude! Be sure to listen to the progress so far, as it's very, very close to complete; it's the right thing to do. [/hero worship] Children of the Monkey Machine fans, you have something to anticipate: <GrayLightning> CotMM, when can we expect a new mix?<CotMM> Gray, "when"? No clue. I can tell you what it'll probably be though. <Liontamer> It's all about Pure Lands (Total Darkness) <CotMM> I've got this symphonic/industrial track kicking around in my head and in a few doodle MIDIs on the machines here at the office <dhsu> shyeah, pure lands was tite <CotMM> called "Sanctuary (Unsafe)", from Resident Evil 2. zircon's been requested to send some music to the Weather Channel for potential use on the Local on the 8s weather forecast. If you've ever heard some of the Weather Channel's choices for music, you might understand that there are actually legions of fans who literally wanna collect everything the channel's ever played. (Protricity *cough*) It's almost as far-fetched as a bunch of Star Salzman groupies. Seriously though, many of you would be surprised at how much attention getting your music played on the Weather Channel provides, so good luck to Andy with this very unique opportunity. Thanks to exposure from SoundTempest (!) OverCoat's been propositioned with joining a Swedish music label Waerloga Records, a label focusing on (check this out now) "Dark Ritualistic Fantasy music." That's fucking awesome, I shit you not. I dunno if Scott's gonna take them up on their offer, but it's interesting nonetheless. In the race to get offered a deal by a label, OverCoat is currently beating 95% of the remixing community, 1 to 0. ;-P See ya next week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Protricity Posted July 20, 2004 Share Posted July 20, 2004 stfu judgefgt Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Liontamer Posted July 26, 2004 Author Share Posted July 26, 2004 Last week was a nice week for me personally, but things have been rough for us as at Ormgas.com. Fellow Ormgas member Mattias "Sockan" Ström, whom we knew as SockULF, passed away on July 21st after being viciously assaulted on Saturday the 17th by a drugged up man who, seemingly at random, knocked Sockan down and attacked him by kicking him in the head repeatedly. After suffering severe brain damage and only being able to breathe with the aid of a respirator, he passed away this past Wednesday. He was only 22 years old. For his friends and family, along with others such as myself who didn't know Sockan closely, it's a very difficult situation made more difficult by how senseless it was. If you need more information about the attack on SockULF, it's available at Ormgas.com. Even though most of you do not know him, you can nonetheless view the condolences given at http://sockan.ormgas.com. Ormgas went silent from this past Thursday until late Sunday as a memoriam. The news that I was personally happy about this past week was that I was nominated among a list of candidates and subsequently chosen by the OCR Judges' Panel to be the newest Judge with OverClocked ReMix! Without gushing over the news like a fanboy, I have to admit that it's an honor to be among the people that help in large part on deciding what music is chosen for OCR. After first coming to OC in early 2002 as a guy with a casual interest in video game music, I've come about as far as a fan possibly can in the community. I'd like to personally thank my friends Matt Kertz & Joe Mauri, since it's their "fault" that I found out about OCR, later listened to every OC ReMix ever made, and got serious about playing video game music on the radio. Without them, I wouldn't have ever found a community with such talent and creativity. I'll get into some more thoughts about judging later in the Pimp Section, but for now, let's get into what music caught my attention for the week ending Saturday, July 24th: ArseAssassin - "Shattered Stars" [http://personal.inet.fi/urheilu] - Feedback Tuomas's samples here are pretty generic to me, since I've heard a lot of techno and trance tackled with most of the sounds here. Despite that, everything here comes together for some well-constructed, upbeat techno that you can relax to if you prefer something energetic going on. The reverb's a little too heavy at times, but the atmosphere is good and everything flows through nicely with a pretty comfortable groove. There's still some additional production work and tweaks to be done by AA since this is for a contest at Mikseri.net, but check out "Shattered Stars" for some very solid original work on the dance techno side. binster - X-Out "LiquidX Remix (VGMix Version)" [VGMix2 #62] Along with hanging out with A Scholar & A Physician, Martin Binfield has come out some impressive stuff in the past few months, so if you haven't heard his Ico mix "Icon," you're doing yourself a great disservice. Following up on the ethnic/techno hybrid of Icon, Binster's got some thick-sounding techno on deck with the long-awaited release of this X-Out mix on VGMix. At times, this one sounds a little rough around the edges, but the groove is excellent. Hopefully, Binster follows through with this C64 release by dropping this one on R:K:O as well. Martin's not sure if he wants to submit this as is for OCR yet, so I'll just have to wait patiently, but you fans out there need to get aboard on this one. I could use a few adjustments on the EQing side to not let some of the end feel as cluttered, but this is strong work overall that you won't be disappointed in. Captain Tortilla (Dennis Mott) - "fok the fok" [Melamine EP] - Feedback If OverCoat's waiting on pin and needles for this, you know it's gotta be...decent. Dennis plugged the release of his 2nd EP over at the VGMix forums, which features some short simple tracker work. There are some interesting ideas here, even if a this is a hit-or-miss prospect. Along with the "provocatively-named" track I chose to highlight, the Cap'n has got some other songs you might enjoy, like "another song title" & "shangro-diggalo." Disposer - Lufia 2 "Time to Come Home" [VGMix2 #1900] Just in terms of other material I've heard in the past, this sounds more like a Beej/Mustin collab than Disposer's stuff, and I absolutely love "Time to Come Home" for that. The piano, guitar and string elements here come together very nicely along with cameos by several other instruments. This needs some refining to really go that extra mile (for example, the sax sounds very flat). Pretty damn promising, and lots of potential to be exploited further here. GrayLightning & SnappleMan - Secret of Mana "Distorted Star" [VGMix2 #1353 / OC ReMix #1220] Over a year ago when Gray was relatively new to the OC scene and his new age work didn't carry as much finesse, Gray suffered two controversial rejections at the hand of the OCR judges' panel. The first one of those rejections was for "Distorted Star." Generally willing to give material he's not satisfied with another look, Gray had SnappleMan help him out by laying down some guitar alongside the original work. Thanks to Andy's additions, the track has more energy along with a bit more coherence and flow that the original lacked. (New age...we just don't understand it. The feel is a bit raw, but these two had what it took to get the job done, and this works as a very interesting combination of new age and electric guitar, showing you that nearly anything isn't out of the question when it comes to remixing. Mark Vera - Laser Squad "Mission Recalled" [Laser Squad Nemesis OST / OC ReMix #1217] Jouni Airaksinen's back in short order with another hot-as-hell space mix, this time covering the Amiga side with Laser Squad. It's pretty cool that Mark has these connections with European game music composers, as Laser Squad Nemesis is the second game remake project he's represented on OCR following his massive bunch of submissions from Star Control II: The Ur-Quan Masters. It's not often you have a remixer that regularly impresses judges like Protricity & Dan Baranowsky, but Vera's got a lot of skills under his belt and this one's another highly proficient space game track that you'll need to hit up. For quality work on the European scene brought to North America you needn't look any further. Ork Estral (Nigel Simmons) - "Funny Crinkle Flakes" [http://nigel.has.it] Ork Estral (Nigel Simmons) - "Illusory Fields of Pink and Blue" [http://nigel.has.it] Here's my pick of the week. For those of you familiar with Ork Estral's remix work, and even some of his original material, Nigel is here this week to blow you away with experimental stuff that you'd practically never expect to hear from him. "Funny Crinkle Flakes" certainly has a very cool style of it's own that I can almost guarantee you'll be impressed by, and dammit, I'm gonna be keeping that one for a long time. But the real surprise I had here was "Illusory Fields of Pink and Blue" which had no orchestral foundations at all. This one's done in I guess what you would call an avant garde style (since I have no idea at all what you'd call it. The first time I heard this, I said "WTF?" and didn't really know how to react. The second time I heard this though, and got used to the structure, I loved it. There are lots of guys in the game remix community whom I particularly recommend when it comes to original compositions, including SuperGreenX & Star Salzman. But if you're going to check out Nigel Simmons, you absolutely have to download every single one of the 30+ originals he's got available and try them for yourself. These two pieces of his really present a stylistic range you may not have known he possesses. OverCoat - Azumanga Daioh "Chiyo Runs Away from Home!" [The People's Remix Competition: Animation 4] I have no idea what Azumanga Daioh is, but Scott has a cool folk-style mix from the anime for PRC:A4. As the only entrant, SOC was the undisputed winner, but this is some pretty cool stuff nonetheless. You not only get folk guitar for the base with very moody almost ethereal ambiance, but you get some live harmonica work as well for the latter half of the track to give you a different flavor. Aside from watching some of those harmonica levels, everything came together pretty nicely. In order to get something more accessible for the next compo, OverCoat's chosen a track from Noir as the next source tune for PRC:A5. OverCoat - "Give Me My Dreams!" [CompoST 26] It wouldn't be quite a full week without OverCoat coming out with some distorted ambient material, so you can check out his winning entry for SoundTempest's CompoST 26, where the genre choice of original game music was that of a dream world. Whereas most people would go for a more lighthearted take on the subject matter, Scott's instead gone for more of a piece where the dream's gone wrong, resulting in this sinister-sounding track that was strong enough to take the victory. The odd sounds and rough textures sound much more out of something you could find in the Resident Evil or Parasite Eve series, successfully creating quite the disturbing atmosphere. OverCoat - Super Metroid "Mommy Dearest" [VGMix2 #1915] Here's some industrial-strength horror work from OC to round out his contributions this week (he sure keeps busy). In a tribute to the crazy-as-hell Joan Crawford (awesome!), OverCoat tackles Minako Hamano's "Mother Brain" with nothing but raw power and some phat samples of Faye Dunaway as Joan Crawford in the role that was so damn good that the Blue Oyster Cult paid tribute to it in their 1981 hit "Joan Crawford (Has Risen from the Grave)". That was a damn good song from the BOC, but more importantly, this is just some cool work from the SOC. As you know, OverCoat's work isn't for everybody, but there's a lot of character behind it, especially this offering. "Clean up this mess." So good! OverCoat - "ur2hawt4me" [CompoST 27] BAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Turn the volume DOWN! Shnabubula - Guardian Legend "Red Spiders" [OC ReMix #1218] With a name only a mother could love, Shnabubula makes his debut on OCR with what he self-described as a half-finished submission from the NES classique, Guardian Legend. With something this eclectic and scattered, I'm really glad it's not longer than two minutes. That's NOT to say that this is bad, because this is actually a pretty kickass idea here, but there's only so much that's acceptable when the construction is purposefully disjointed like this. This is pretty hot work that I'm sure the majority of listeners won't understand at all, but give it more than a mere chance. I thought this was odd, but the style grows on you and sounds a lot more logical as you get used to it. Short but sweet. Star Salzman - Xenogears "Pillar of Salt" [VGMix2 #1934] This here is, at this current point in time, what'd I'd consider the magnum opus of Star's mixing career. I've liked other tracks more than this, sure, but there is NOTHING that even touches the effort and creativity of "Pillar of Salt." With all the food, sweat and beers poured into the creation of this one, everyone knew this would be great. Like I said when I pimped the WIP of this last week, this is a hybrid of both Dazil & Omen from Yasunori Mitsuda's Xenogears soundtrack featuring two time signatures, 3/4 & 4/4, AND both Arabic & Hebrew lyrics (which can be found in full at the VGMix page). Seems like everything works in pairs. If you know Arabic fluently (zykO), you'll have to forgive Star for any pronunciation errors in the work (zykO), although it's great work especially for someone who isn't familiar with the language (right, weed? . Meanwhile, the Hebrew sections are immaculate. Dive in and prepare to hear Xenogears on an entirely different level. Truly excellent work that Star's got every right to be proud of. (But stop gloating in my face, bro! I don't care how many groupies it got you!!! tefnek - "Para Bellum" [http://www.tefnek.com] tefnek's latest original release is a dope breakbeat track with some ambient underpinnings that features samples of Dwight Eisenhower's D-Day speech 60 years ago. Fans only familiar with tefnek's big beat style from his Streets of Rage mix "Drop and Roll" get a slight change of pace here, although Jack actually produces breakbeat work just as often as he does big beat work. The tempo's at a nice pace here and the music get a little bit harder around the 2:40 mark when tefnek engages in some quasi-Crystal Method style action. This is certainly one you'd wanna check out to further familiarize yourself with tefnek's work. Keep on the lookout in the near future for his recently OC-accepted Raiden II remix "Airborne" as well. TO - Max Payne 2 "Keep on Distorting Everything" [The People's Remix Competition 20] Lee's winning entry into PRC20 took on the very challenging Max Payne 2 ending theme "Late Goodbye" by Poets of the Fall (a very, very nice track picked out by Bladiator). TO himself said this was crud, so we'll leave it at that! (Oh come on, it's not that bad dammit.) Check out PRC21 and follow the progress as TO's source tune choice from Descent gets the PRC touch. trickwaters - "A Final Fantasy Wedding Processional" [VGMix2 #1925] Pat's back at VGMix with his second orchestral-style release, this time with an ambitious FF medley that's titled in such an abstract manner that I have no conception what it's about. Seriously though, this is quite the lengthy piece that works as well as something like Jayson Litrio's "Dr. Wily's Wedding." Dear God, I don't plan on getting married, but I'm sure that this mix will serve some heartstruck gamers very well as they walk down the aisle and make the worst mistake of their lives...I mean...um...take on the vows of holy alimony...matrimony. Commenting on the actual mix, TW's samples at times have some flaws, but overall, I thought the progression of theme was excellent, with several false finishes that worked quite well. If u in wuv, u git it 4 yo BF/GF n say i luv u! ... I luv u. Unknown - "The Phantom Forge" [CompoST 25] Ty took first place for C25 early in the week with his take on an abandoned factory theme. Spooky st00f featuring eerie ethereal ambiance, bell tolls, some brief drums and a very "hollow" atmosphere if you get what I mean...of course you don't. Just go get it. zircon - Chrono Trigger "Calamitous Judgment" [VGMix2 #1594 / OC ReMix #1219] I've been with this one since it was first released last month, so let's go back to what I had to say about in for the June 26th Pimp Section: Pretty much anyone who's a fan of OCR knows of Spekkosaurus's CT remix "The Trial in Concert," which is a very high benchmark when it comes to touching the "Kingdom Trial" theme. I can't say I can recall anyone else ever touching the theme, but Andy here comes out swinging with his latest release. Spekk's treatment of the source music was much more of a laid back affair while "Calamitous Judgment" involves a strong but simple beat foundation along with orchestral and electronic elements. If you enjoyed Star Salzman's hybrid arrangement style with the Mega Man 2 soundtrack with mixes like "Tickle My Wily" and "When You See the Flash Man, Duck and Cover," then I have a feeling you'll really enjoy zirc's own approach, which means that you absolutely can't pass this up. Luckily, I got to show my appreciation for this mix by helping to approve it for OCR, which you can check out here. This is straight up awesome work that finally makes zircon a breakout name!Zoast - Final Fantasy 6 "To All My Past Loves" [VGMix2 #1908] I took a closer look at this mix from Marshall Thorne once mv gave it props in his review for it on VGMix. With someone as proficient at mixing as Xavier endorsing it, I knew this would be pretty solid. This is primarily an acoustic guitar shot of "Forever Rachel" with some reverbed vox near the end provided by Zoast himself along with a touch of organ. Ironically enough, this is also the second piece this week with wedding written all over it, as Marshall specifically created this as music for a friend's wedding reception. This is some pretty relaxing stuff, and a good effort from Zoast, who I'll be keeping an eye out for from now on. It's FF6, you know you people out there want it. Zoltan Vegvari - Mega Man 3 "Intro Jazz" [OC ReMix #1221] For quite a while, I saw that this mix had been passed by the OC judges' panel, waiting to be posted. Yet it never went up on the site. Why why why? The wait was because they needed confirmation from Zoltan himself that this could be posted. As far as I know, this was only the second mix on OCR that was actually submitted by someone else for a friend (the first being Stephen Kennedy's Batman "Music of Funk" by Mustin). The production is meh, but that's not what's important here; this is some strong work led by Vegvari, a Hungarian jazz pianist turned music professor, featuring some light percussion and wind support. The pace is excellent, and the sounds work together nicely. Though I'd give anything to sharpen this track up with some remastering, Zoltan & crew won't do you wrong here. This is a nice, refreshing take on Bun Bun's MM3 intro that you might wanna plug to fellow (non-VGM) music enthusiasts. zykO - Faxanadu "Sketch of a Potentially Contrived Memory" [VGMix2 #1938] Crazy. This is some odd stuff from my man weed that takes all sorts of interesting turns as he cycles through several tracks from the Faxanadu soundtrack. Much like "Red Spiders" from Shnabubula, you'll appreciate this one if you can get past the perpetual style clash that seems to be going on throughout the track. Unlike Shnabubula's mix though, the style changes are even MORE dramatic and spontaneous. zykO must have been on the GOOD shit! I'm not trying to sound artsy-fartsy, but you can only appreciate this hybrid rock/piano/Spanish/acid smorgasbord after several very involved listens. The question for you is, are you up for the challenge? With the pimps out of the way, I guess I've gotta pimp myself as the newest OCR Judge. I've been regularly reading OCR judging decisions for over a year, I've listened to every OC ReMix, along with countless other VGM mixes & originals, I've given listener-based advice to tons of people in the community, and I feel I know the music standards of OCR better than any other person who actually doesn't create phat b33tz. I've been judging at OCR for less than a week, but it's already a lot of fun. I've managed to get through all of the current voting so far (give me a prize!), and a lot of the rendered decisions I've participated in have already been released to the public. Check 'em out (July 20th and after) over at the OCR Judges Decisions forum. Thanks to djpretzel for the welcome I got within zircon's debut mix, "Calamitous Judgment", along with Protricity & the other members of the panel for considering me for the job. I also don't wanna forget all the people who make the VG Frequency radio show what it is (the mixers & fans; we'll be back on in September), along with a big thanks to ravon and my fellow staffers at Ormgas.com, where VG Frequency has a true home. As far as hobbies go, a lot of people played important parts in getting me to this point. See ya next week, bros and sisters. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neminem Posted July 26, 2004 Share Posted July 26, 2004 *claps loudly for LionTamer's good fortune* Oh yeah, and I just downloaded Nigel's web site by the way . Thanks for the hint. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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