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OCR01906 - Donkey Kong Country "Dolphin Ride"


djpretzel
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Well, I absolutely LOVED the last Aquatic Ambiance remix that came out of Sweden (<3 Johann Krafft!) so this has a high bar set for it already...

Wonderful introduction, the soundscape was beautiful and it really set up for what you guys did with the rest of the song. There's definite "moments of brilliance" throughout the song that, unfortunately, aren't always accented by the mixing. The lead guitar in the latter half, in particular, was drowned out and it felt like that wonderful soloing was buried as just another rhythm track :-( I definitely think that deserves more attention in the song.

Still, you captured the atmosphere of the original while still giving it your own feel, and it's one of the best sources out there, so kudos on both ends! The actual arrangement is a bit bipolar (if you'll forgive the poor analogy) - with two exceptions, every Aquatic Ambiance mix I've ever heard uses the source almost verbatim, and I think the parts of this mix that rely on the original melody experience the same shortfall. That's not to say it's not enjoyable, but it's a recurring issue that I've noticed with Aquatic Ambiance mixes in general and I wanted to bring it up anyway. The soloing and the piano, while they're mostly "inspired" by the source than actually derived from it, give the melody a lot of much-needed flair.

This mix doesn't topple Vigilante's epic rendition from Kong in Concert, but it's definitely up there with the best. Great job on the first submission, I look forward to hearing more in the future!

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Wow...that blew me away.

This is one of my favorite tracks from the game, but somehow none of the other mixes of it on this site seemed to do anything for me (no offense to any of their splendid ReMixers, I'm just incredibly picky when it comes to music). And then this little gem came along.

Epic, truly epic. Beautiful job. The second part is a little loud for my tastes (but my tastes run notoriously soft), but I don't mind because the entire track as a whole is gold.

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I was just listening, kind of chilling out to this song. I was thinking this was just another nice remix of the song, but then 3:23 hits and I was blown away. It was such a cool switch. The whole mix is amazing and such a cool take on a classic Donkey Kong song. I want to hear more of these guys!

Thanks for the mix!

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Vigilante's "Beneath the Surface" set an extremely high bar for this classic tune in my opinion. It's one of my favorite remixes and certainty one of OCR's finest works. Nonetheless, you guys manage to reach that bar with this remix of yours. Some truly excellent work here. Love the mixture of styles despite being a rock-centric band. Electronic background noises sound extremely haunting and manages to capture the spirit of the original track quite well. The rhythm and lead guitars are played well and compliment each other nicely. Nice keyboard playing as well.

The overall progression of the track is also pretty cool. Very grunge rock in a sense that it starts off very moody and calm...the hits that climax mark at the third minute, which is epic!! Guitars around there are a bit drowned out, but I really appreciate the keyboards in that section. Love how the keyboards started out as classic piano, went all "organ" in the climax, then went back to classical toward the end.

Keep it up, Monkey Kong. Keeping an eye on your work. :)

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Okay, I've been a OCRemix fan for a long time, I just never registered to get in with the community. I decided to change that after hearing this track.

I agree with everyone that this is an AMAZING track. The guitar work is definitely blows me away. I only have one complaint with the whole song: I believe the bass drum line on the back end is overpowering. The constant beat tends to draw attention more than the guitars, which should have complete focus in my opinion.

Otherwise, this is an excellent revision to one of my favorite games' best tunes. Keep up the great work, Monkey!

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  • 2 weeks later...

The intro is very interesting to listen to if you're using headphones, but if the song is just playing in the background, it seems to be a tad too long.

The guitar in the climax is quite nice, but what really made that part of the song for me is the organ. It sounds absolutely awesome and adds a certain prog-rock flavour to the mix.

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3:18ish, there's this.. really weird sound... followed by a segment with long-running notes on some kind of organ. Something about these two almost incidental sounds really completes the ensemble.

I often feel it's the small things like that which turn a song from good to great (examples that come to mind is the "dong" at 1:41 in McVaffe's Tempest Mix, or the guitar at 0:59 in Diggi Dis's Who Stole My Stars, or the rapidly rising strings at 1:25 in about:blank's Acrophobia)

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  • 2 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

Another 'Aquatic Ambiance' mix that I love.

Good to see the still has that laid back quality that made the original so great. The lead guitar at the start was a little dry and sharp (hurt my ears slightly) but I eventually got used to it. The mix kicks up another gear at around 3:22 when guitars come crashing in with all their glory, and the following solo just make want to shred it out in a thunderstorm (Sounds a little wierd, I know, but it really does). The piano at the end is the icing on the cake.

This is just as good as Vigilante's version, if not better.

Rock on Monkey Kong. Rock on. \m/ :nicework:

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