OCRA-0044 - Bionic Commando ReMixed: OK, We'll Groove

[Brandon Strader]

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• Download it: http://bionic.ocremix.org
  
• Torrent: http://bt.ocremix.org/torrents/Bionic_Commando_ReMixed_-_OK,_We'll_Groove.torrent
  

I stepped in to help finish the album on October 31st, 2012, when it was announced that the project may face cancellation. I did NOT want that to happen! I hope you will find, like I did, that the music created by these talented and dedicated individuals was worth fighting hard for. Thank you so much to everyone who worked on this album (even those from years ago who are not on the final) and, of course, John Revoredo (with an assist from WillRock) who founded the original Bionic Commando album. The love for this great game felt by these artists is admirable, and has created a memorable album. We hope you enjoy it!

- Brandon Strader

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01. "Rearming Commandus"

Arranger: Rockos

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Source: "Prologue"

Rockos: Bionic Commando: A game I never played.

But still, who cares if I did play it or not? The fact is that the music from this game is really cool, like many other NES games. This is why this game deserves so much love from the community. Also, I got a personal invite from Brandon and I thank him for doing so. I had a lot of fun and I'm sure others did as well! I also thank those who took time to listen to this remix, and the whole album.

02. "Proceed Without Caution"

Arranger: Sir_NutS

Composer: Harumi Fujita

Source: "Bionic Commando Theme"

Sir_NutS: What does this game means to me? It means my childhood, it means my friends back then, some of them who I'll never be able to see again, but whom I can visit from time to time through this game. When I play it, I'm that 7-year-old kid sitting cross-legged in front of the TV, NES controller in hand, at his friend's house. It's the same as perceiving a particular smell that reminds you of some point in your life, or watching old pictures. I feel like I'm back there again. I wanted to give my best to this project because of that. It has real meaning for me.

Later, gang!

03. "Gridlock"

Arranger: Brandon Strader

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Source: "OK, We'll Move"

Brandon Strader: I know my song sticks out like a sore thumb, but I wanted to select a very particular type of talented individual to make this the best album it could be, and didn't want to make a new remix -- I really like this one. My song was finished in March 2011, but was subsequently updated a lot of times. It was my first attempt at djent with severely downtuned guitars and bass, and I feel it is pretty close to what you'd hear in the real djent scene! I became familiar with Bionic Commando through this project and I hope others have and will too.

04. "Noochy Zone"

Arranger: Phonetic Hero

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Sources: "Among Allies" & "Heat Wave"

Phonetic Hero: Brandon contacted me about this track in like October or something like that, and I farted out the first 45 seconds or so in about an hour. Then this track stagnated hard, and I couldn't come up with anything for a looooong time. Then I wrote up to about the halfway point of the mix around March 2013, and then it stagnated hard, and I couldn't come up with anything for a looooong time. Then I finished out the structure, screwed with the synth solo and was finally done. The minimalism and what-the-lovery of the source tunes' structure and the quality of the remixes on this album should be ample proof that the quality of a remix has little to do with the quality of a source. On Facebook, I probably complained to everyone on OCR about this track because of all the problems I was having with it, but I think that despite quite a bit of liberal flair (though it should still be OCR-acceptable), this remix turned out to be one of my best yet.

05. "The Fairest Time to Fight"

Arranger: WillRock

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Source: "Leap of Faith"

WillRock: Back when I first joined OCR, John Revoredo asked me to help him co-direct the Bionic Commando project and do a remix of one of the tracks. I picked Area 2, and did an upbeat electronic style track. For a time, I helped John co-direct the project, and then as John became more busy with school and work, I ended up being the main director of the project. Eventually, John had to bow out of the project for personal reasons, and I was left with the main directional duties. Sadly, I didn't have the time to do it, so I ended up giving the project to someone else who would see it through to completion. This person was Brandon Strader, who has done an admirable job since I gave him the project. Since then, I've had less to do with the directional duties for the project, but I did end up revising my track in an attempt to bring it up to my current production standards. Yes, the project has been going for that long. So… now the project is nearing completion, finally, and even tho I couldn't see it through myself, I'm glad I was at least able to be part of this. It's been a learning experience, and a fun one too!

06. "Guerrilla Groove"

Arranger: Amphibious

Composer: Harumi Fujita

Source: "Power Plant"

Amphibious: It was a cold, December night at about 2 AM. As I lurked the Facebook, a rogue comment appeared upon one of my statuses from none other than Brandon himself. "You should remix Area 8 for Bionic Commando!" Whether it was in jest, or in pure sincerity, my delirious 2 AM mind did not know. But something compelled me to listen to the source, and, miraculously, an idea popped into my head. I put together a quick sketch and sent it to Brandon, and I was in. Truth be told, I've never actually played the game, but I've certainly enjoyed remixing this track!

07. "Hold Your Weapon"

Arranger: Avaris

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Source: "Meet with Enemy and Descend"

Avaris: I vaguely remember as a child watching my older brother play Bionic Commando. As a young kid, I thought it was one of the coolest games I had ever seen. The retractable arm... enough said. I have worked with Brandon before on other projects and enjoyed the chance to work with him again. His consistency and dedication makes participating in this project a no-brainer. I hope my track captured the 8-bit era and feeling of the original game. I wanted to create a fun track that capture the soul and feeling of the game.

08. "Enemy Underworld"

Arranger: Nutritious

Composers: Junko Tamiya, Harumi Fujita

Sources: "Heat Wave" & "Bionic Commando Theme"

Nutritious: Having grown up playing this game with my brother, it was a no-brainer to join up on the project. The theme I chose ("Heat Wave") isn't one of the more popular tracks from the game, but I could envision it in a really big orchestral/soundtrack genre. To vary it up a bit, I did throw some of the main theme in the middle as well. I really can say I accomplished what I was aiming for on this track, which is really all an artist can ask for.

09. "An Arm Pun"

Arranger: Hylian Lemon

Composers: Junko Tamiya, Harumi Fujita

Sources: "Intruder Alert," "Boss Confrontation," & "Bionic Commando Theme"

Hylian Lemon: I'm not familiar with the game, but I'm always up for a remixing challenge. In this case, it was to arrange incredibly short source tunes with different time signatures into a full, cohesive track. Brandon put up with my sluggishness because I put up with his.

10. "Master 'D' Is for Dance"

Arranger: Gario

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Source: "Rise of the Albatross"

Gario: Oh, I love Bionic Commando. The gameplay, the story, the graphics, the music, it all just... works. I can honestly say that one of my great regrets in life was being unaware of this game throughout my entire childhood -- I'm quite happy that I took a look at this gem later in life.

How much later? About a few months before this project started in June 2009. Kind of odd that I'm one of the earliest members, yet produced my track by far the latest. Oh well, it came out great, the album came out great, and I'm proud to have been a part of it throughout.

A big thanks to John Revoredo for starting this project, a round of applause to WillRock for keeping this afloat. Most of my gratitude, however, goes to Brandon Strader, for seeing this project to the end, and pushing me to end a chapter of my musical career four years in the making. Enjoy the album, everyone!

11. "Albatros Pls"

Arranger: Benjamin Briggs

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Source: "Albatross Battle"

Benjamin Briggs: Basically, I just extracted the main melody line and built the whole song around it. Mixing was a challenge because it was such an old project file, but I think the end result holds up quite nicely! Brandon Strader is a good person.

12. "Swing into the Sunset"

Arranger: Rozovian

Composer: Junko Tamiya

Sources: "Ending" & "Epilogue"

Rozovian: I've always had a thing for gadgets and cyborgs, humans interfacing with technology somehow. Whether this was fully metallic bodies or just chips under the skin, the idea of enhancing humans has always fascinated me. Gaming history has plenty of examples of this, and Bionic Commando is one of them. Who hasn't wanted to be a technologically-enhanced hero and fight something? Maybe it's the idea that we can be something more than we are, and the tech is just a visual metaphor for the things we can do. Maybe it's that robot arms are cool.

Edited October 26, 2013 by Brandon Strader

[avaris]

Woot hooray for the release!

[Gario]

Man, I hope more people give this a listen. It really has some great gems in it.

Personally, I like Phonetic Heroes' track the most - it just has some great flavor that I didn't expect in it. Hylian Lemon's track is fun, too, and Rockos' track sets the tone so damn well.

Love the music on this one, and am very happy to have participated.

[Brandon Strader]

I, too, hope more people give it a listen. I hope I didn't scare people away with my song (which I thought was good but apparently is totally turning people off) for that I apologize. I really like the album and I think it flows great. The songs are fantastic and you all did such a great job. Can't even pick a favorite, it's just all of them. It's SHORT Enough that you can listen to the whole thing, very good. Perfect length I think.

[Jamphibious]

Its not a long album, which is nice! Sometimes a huge release like Wild Arms or Final Fantasy VI can be daunting with the sheer volume of tracks. This album can be easily enjoyed with a short time investment!

Also, just gotta say that its really great to actually be part of an official OCR project! Many thanks to Brandon Strader for having me on board, and an awesome job to everyone involved! There's some killer tracks in here.

[WillRock]

Its not a long album, which is nice! Sometimes a huge release like Wild Arms or Final Fantasy VI can be daunting with the sheer volume of tracks. This album can be easily enjoyed with a short time investment!

^^^^^^^^^ This man speaks truths. More than 2 discs an album is too much for me, this is an ideal length for an album imo. Nice work guys, this album turned out pretty cool

[Chernabogue]

There are really good remixes in this album, you guys should definitively check it out if you haven't. I like it, even if I never played the game or listened to the music.

[SuperiorX]

Yeah, I enjoyed this album a lot. Great work guys! I wasn't familiar with the game or music myself, but that did not hinder my ability to enjoy this good music. I agree that a nice short album is sometimes preferable because it's a lot easier to digest. Plus there have been so many albums coming out on OCR recently that it's been tough to keep up with them all. I thought this album had a good flow and each track was interesting. I liked the various genres that were represented here too: each track brought something fresh to the album. Nice work!