OCR01307 - *YES* Donkey Kong Country 'Chekan Winter' *FT*

[GrayLightning]

Prophecy Fallthrough - Not the same song as on Kong in Concert

Remixer Name: Prophecy

Real Name: Jason Miller

Game: Donkey Kong Country

Source Song Title: "Northern Hemispheres"

This is an adapted (shortened) version of "Chekan Winter" from the Kong in Concert album. Binnie told me that because it is on the album it would receive a direct post so long as it met your specs.

Also, there's been some questions as to the origin of the remix title. The "Cheka" were Soviet secret police. I think the name is appropriate for the mood of the song.

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[Liontamer]

http://www.snesmusic.org/spcsets/dkc.rsn - "Northern Hemispheres" (dkc-18.spc)

I greatly enjoyed a lot of the tracks from Kong in Concert. While Adhesive Boy's "Cry of the Chasmal Critter Chain" was my favorite as a judge, Prophecy's contribution was my favorite as a listener. The source tune melody kicks in at 1:08 for any impatient people comparing to the SPC, though earlier ideas there are used as well. The rearrangement was hot, though I'm sure some fans out there will say "too liberal", which it isn't. New ending with bells rather than vox, I noticed. Good stuff.

The primary complaint I've heard on this one is the track sounding cluttered. Some people are bound to feel that way, but this achieved a full atmosphere while retaining a strong enough separation of sounds here so that my ear could focus on different instruments and sections. Nothing I haven't also heard from tracks like SuperGreenX's "Kick Your A", SGX & MC's "4F73R M3" & bLiNd's "G-Storm"; absolutely nothing wrong with it to me. I doubt it would retain it's epic feel with squeaky clean mixing.

Being half-Russian myself, something like Gothic trance wasn't going to be literally evocative of the motherland, but I definitely see the Russian influence here from many of the elements in play like the choir vox, bells, and strings, as well as the cadence of the source tune arrangement from 2:48 to 3:14 in particular. I thought the winter vibe was captured very well. I could envision DK & Diddy having to navigate through the most difficult Gorilla Glacier level imaginable. Very eerie and enveloping work the whole way through, and true DP material all the way.

Congratulations to Jason for this superlative work. I'm proud this'll be the mix that introduces him to OCR, and I hope "Chekan Winter" was something that the Rare team enjoyed as well.

This was one of the tracks that made Kong in Concert a true success from a creative standpoint, and makes me want to dump my girlfriend so I can have Binnie Katti's children. I think Binnie simply posting the mix writeup he gave this track and writing YES to conclude it would be hilarious.

[zykO]

that intro is prophetic. thats about all i can describe it as

once things kick in, its just driving and meaty. lots of momentum in this track and it builds into a snowball that crashes and leaves you with a somber synth cello and a some creepy orchestration

before throwing you back into the abyss of a very very cold winter; one i can envision only in mother russia.

i am not going to waste anybody else's time reading this. i say YES

[analoq]

it defines and expresses a mood that is true to the original, and effective as a ReMix.

decent work all around. nice work, jason.

yes

[GrayLightning]

Good arrangement, good complexity, good stuff all around like analoq mentioned. My minor complaint is I felt the mix as a whole was just a touch muddy, would have liked a little more shimmer personally. The pan shifting tubular bells got a bit monotonous by the end though. Minor gripes, overall definitely one of the better mixes of the project. Solid.

YES.