OCR01466 - Super Mario Bros. 2 "Gypsy Jazz"

[Dj_Qbert]

This song is awsome. Love every second of it.

[Mustin]

Fan Fan Fan Fantastic work here. Glad to hear something like this on OCR - it's been a long time.

Great work, Holovaty. I hope we can hear some more great talent from you in the future. If The OneUps ever come to a city near you, we'd love for you to sit in on some tunes.

Great chops, great arrangement, fun tune. One of my favourites for sure.

-m

[Geoffrey Taucer]

Cute. Nothing mind-blowing, but definitely worth a listen.

I still eagerly await Geoffrey Taucer's acoustic CT mix being posted.

Sorry, but I don't think that's gonna happen. An earlier (shitty) recording of it got rejected, and several judges said that even if the recording quality was improved, it still probably wouldn't make it on.

[Decoy Octopus]

Everytime I hear this I think back to XMark's joke/alternate submission to the July 2005 DoD Competition entitled Mario Jam.

Both Mario Jam and Gypsy Jazz strongly, and fantastically, utilize the guitar. I've been listening to both a lot lately.

Gypsy Jazz, to it's credit, is longer, much more developed, and upbeat. I don't usually review OCR songs but I just had to throw my two cents in for this one. Great job!

[Geoffrey Taucer]

You know, this grows on me more every time I hear it.

[IndyCovaHart]

While the source material is certainly catchy and nostalgic, I can't help but think those are the main reasons this piece was accepted. There really wasn't much of a deviation from the original.

Although the rhythm guitar(s) were right on, as far as the lead is concerned, I heard quite a few dead notes (one totally missed at 2:04), and more poorly articulated (hit too soft/hard) notes than I would have liked. Rhythmically, some notes were lagging, too.

As the contributor pointed out, it does have a "two takes and record" feel to it. Some may call that "charming", but it seems awfully strange to me for it to have been accepted. I have heard rejected works that clearly invested far more time and effort than this.

As a guitarist, I can safely vouch for his skills, but the performance could have easily been cleaned up with more takes. I'm surprised the judges did not ask for a resubmission.

[ubernym]

While it may lack the level of production of other pieces, this is actually lends more the the Django Reinhardt comparison. It's a sweet little tune and well played. It certainly deserves the exposure it's getting, but I must confess that it just feels a little too much like a novelty piece.

I mean, the fretwork is great; hell, the overall performance is well done and sounds very natural. In some ways, it embodies the essence of the majority of "cover" songs: they are interesting because they sound different, and we like them because they offer a fresh perspective of the sound, but they do not necessarily offer a fresh interpretation of that sound.

It's like the difference between two covers of Bob Dylan's All Along the Watchtower:

You've got Dylan's source tune, which is very folksy. But the cover that always stands out is Hendrix's kick-ass rockfest guitar-orgy. It's not a novelty cover, it's a complete redux of the entire piece, from sound to silence, Hendrix took Dylan's piece and turned it on its ear, then gently lit it on fire for all the world to see (and hear). It is a piece transformed, so much so that many people don't even realize that it was originally a Bod Dylan song.

Now take the latest cover of the song, recently played in a trailer for Tom Clancy's GRAW. It's a cover, not of the Dylan piece, but of Hendrix's cover. It was performed by several notable rock musicians (Everlast – vocals; Billy Gould (Faith No More) – bass; Raymond Herrera (Fear Factory, Killing Zone) – drums; Doug Carrion (Kottonmouth Kings, Dag Nasty) – guitar; Russell Ali (Kamana/Killing Zone - local LA bands) – guitar.). No one can decry it as poorly done, and it does add a bit of a contemporary edge to the Hendrix version, but it is ultimately a novelty piece, and will not remain fixed in anybody's permanent memory (possibly not even the performers').

That's how I see this ReMix. It's well done, and I enjoyed it, but it is not utterly remarkable.

This is not a bad thing, it is just a thing.

[monkeybutt]

love it! instant classic as far as my music library goes. great job

[SirLouie]

I enjoyed this song - very simple, very "human." It reminded me of some of the David Schwartz songs used in the TV show Arrested Development.

The song might have benefited from a little more layering, and I would have loved to hear a "battle" of sorts between either two lead plucking guitars or perhaps the existing guitar with another instrument (a clarinet, perhaps).

Nonetheless, it is a good, fun song. Me like.

[phantomINTELLECT]

All I can say, is this song is fucking awesome

GG on this mix!

[bilditup1]

This is pretty amazing, got it queued up along with Django and Joao. Very laid back, very cool, not too many things going on, and will get boring if you listen to it too often, but it is what it is. Get it while its hot! This is the first great SMB2 remix since Estradasphere's (this doesn't top that though...I don't think any SMB2 remix could).

[viewtiful]

Although the rhythm guitar(s) were right on, as far as the lead is concerned, I heard quite a few dead notes (one totally missed at 2:04), and more poorly articulated (hit too soft/hard) notes than I would have liked. Rhythmically, some notes were lagging, too.

As the contributor pointed out, it does have a "two takes and record" feel to it. Some may call that "charming", but it seems awfully strange to me for it to have been accepted. I have heard rejected works that clearly invested far more time and effort than this.

As a guitarist, I can safely vouch for his skills, but the performance could have easily been cleaned up with more takes. I'm surprised the judges did not ask for a resubmission.

Sorry for quoting all of that but I felt it was needed.

Ummm ever heard of humanising? Personally I think that the fact that it was clearly preformed live and had a few minor mistakes added to the quality of the song. Gives the impression of a very laid back tune which you could play on a summer’s day outside the front of a house in hillbilly country. Frankly if this was done on computer even with humanising effects it would sound no where near as good and would lose all of its quality and style. I want to get some tabs or sheet music and learn it myself, good job

[Goten X]

I really liked this piece. I can't say I'm a fan of gypsy jazz (I listen to mostly contemporary or classic), but I liked the guitar in this a whole lot. I just wish I could play the guitar as good as that. ;_;

|GX

[Terium]

Simple and groovy. Not too much to say otherwise. It's creative and cheery.

Prooves that simple can still triumph.

[apjo]

As musical layman from the technical point of view, all i can say is this music is fantastic. Laid back and perfect for relaxing, simple yet with personality. Congrats on a job well done ^^

[Radiowar]

As much as I am a fan of lo-fi there is a note at around 0:39, and to a lesser extent one at 1:02, that makes my ears explode. Oww volume disparity. Otherwise this is enjoyable.

[operawonderdude]

About friggin time someone did some Gypsy, I think other than jazz-rap, this is my favorite jazz type.

I actually like the crappy microphone quality...sounds more like it was from a record, haha.

Loved the improv, but wish it was a bit longer cuz I think the source stuff was longer than it, aw well.

Awesome job man!

Oh! If ya ever do another Django style song, you should definitly lookinto having some violin in there too

Thad make it authentic gypsy times 5!

[Malaki-LEGEND.sys]

Gotta love that rag tag feel to it. And yeah, the mic and recording quality really did it. It's these little creative touches that make a remix stand out as cool I believe.

I don't believe I have to comment on the actual instrument work. It speaks for itself.

I feel like playing a game of stick ball now...

[Dafydd]

Nothing short of totally awesome.

[Liontamer]

My lady, "The Lady", enjoyed this piece so much that she wrote about it over at our blog, VG Frequency. She felt a lot of connections to other great non-VGM music and enjoyed the arrangement a lot having played the game.

Take some time out and drop her a comment over at the blog. Even if you stumble on it way after we posted this. We'll still hug you.

[Black Mage]

I've recently discovered musette and manouche music (gypsy swing/jazz), they're perfect for chilling and drinking some wine or a good beer. Gypsy Jazz has become a new favorite in my playlist!

[42]

I was wondering what gypsies and jazz had anything to do with this mix, but after reading what Wikipedia had to say, it all makes sense now.

The beauty of the mix is in its simplicity.

This is a reminder to the world that ~everything~ doesn't have to be boom/bust, life/death, now/never, "the world's gonna end now!!!", etc; it's an incredibly nice "stop and smell the roses" kind of mix.

This is an absolute must download.

[vindkast]

Beautiful and fun, I love the style and the performance, one of my all time favorites. I play this mix for people who think they won't like "remixes," or think "remixes are all techno." I hope to hear more!

(Also, makes a great ringtone.)

[Pachi Risu]

Very, very good. The quality and arrangement is handled

flawlessly. A pleasure listening to this remix. More like this,

please.

[OceansAndrew]

This would be prefect in some sort of indie animated feature; it's tailor made for that kind of thing. Overall very conservative, but exceptionally charming. decent but not pristine playing, and warm but not ideal recording give this a lot of additional character that flawless playing and production would have detracted from.

Very nice stuff.