gregfrost

This song is super chilled. Jill mentioned Dido as an inspiration, and I think the feel of the piece compares very well to some of that singer's work on No Angel. I plan to listen to this one a lot.

The samples have been thoroughly discussed, so I won't add anything about them. I found this theme to be one of the most intriguing in the game (maybe I'm a sap), so it's good to finally hear it get some attention. The arrangement is fairly good, though I felt like the slow sections were too static. It seems like Will Buck's talents are better suited to arranging for a live orchestra than for a computer.

It's funny. I know this theme, it's practically engraved on my bones. But something about the clean guitar, it makes this mix sound different from the countless other Zeal tunes. The playing is nuanced and emotive. Thank you, JAXX, for bringing us such a pleasing, succinct composition.

Oh yeah. It's good.

I recently listened to this one with headphones again, and I came out of it amazed at the expressiveness of the playing. The dynamic contrasts are handled with a very sensitive touch. It's the sort of thing I would have loved to do when I was taking piano lessons, if I'd had the skill for it. Also, whoever called it on Satie earlier, nailed it. I can't believe I hadn't realized that before now, but it's unmistakable.

This thoroughly entertaining piano interpretation brings back some good memories. Hooray for dual-booting Macs! I can still play it!

One of the things I really enjoy about this mix is that retains the martial tone of the original, while at the same time infusing it with a new (and difficult to pin down) feeling. I can imagine Master Chief, half his face painted blue, raising a Claymore high to bring up his division of Sikh space marines. It's surreal and nonsensical, yet intriguing. What an interesting piece.

This defines mellow. Three years later and it hasn't gotten stale or lost its five-star rating in my iTunes collection. While I've never been totally sold on the harmon mute intro, I can focus my attention on the meditative bass line and super-chill melody that take over at 1:14. Ah... bliss. Disco Dan, Nobuo Uematsu, thank you both. This is one for the ages.

With this one, I really appreciate the attention given to the transitions--each section seems to grow out of the one before it, while at the same time changing the rules of the game. It's the kind of music that doesn't fit in a box, which makes it very powerful and interesting. The same could be said of Magus, I think. Except for the part about him being music. I'm not that kind of fangirl. Now that we have traveled the landscape of broad platitudes, I'd like to throw in one specific comment. I appreciate the scrupulously detailed samples for the orchestra instruments. They're not as convincing as the ones in Jared Hudson's insane experiment ("The Frontier") from a while back, but they're better than average. I think they will be sufficient until that day when I get off my lazy ass and make a billion dollars in the stock market, for the sole purpose of hiring my own orchestra and lending it to hopeful ReMixers.

It's news so good, it pulled me back from the very grave (or the engineering department, which is near enough) to offer my congratulations. To Pixietricks, aka Jill: I enjoy your music, and I agree with the judges who selected you that you will be a valuable member of the panel. To Big Giant Circles: I look forward to learning more about you and seeing your contributions to the judges panel and the OCR community in general.

Got a friend who, even after being shown the link, still believes it to be System of a Down... t3h deB4t3 nevar ends.

I've always felt partial to the temple themes, and was sad none of them showed up on the official CD. This mix has excellent production and the singing is on. Using vocals for the intervals is especially clever. As for the actual singing, Pixietricks has a pleasant voice which is well applied to this material. The Japanese pronunciation is good, and to me sounds comparable to that of several native Japanese singers. Bonus points for that. I've had a desire for some time to make something dark and smoky out of the Spirit Temple theme, but I haven't made any progress.