Marmiduke

This one is dangerously mellow. That distinct Morse vibe is really accentuated by that superb violin number by posu. That on top of the trademark production values we've all come to expect, this is a mix of great harmony and smooth, smooth smoothness. While Morse's style and production would go on to get even better and more complex, this slice of jazzy-summery musak represents exactly what propelled him to those greater heights. Belongs in anyone's playlist if you've ever liked a Morse song.

Quite an excellent movement of Metroidness. Metroid music is the sort of music that doesn't really belong in the bombastic, full-ranged orchestra style, so mixers really need to go the extra mile in arrangement to pull it off. I feel that's been achieved here. More than just a quaint medley, this mix articulates some pretty iconic themes from the series in a way unique to the genre, and the talent and original content from the composer smooths it into a cohesive whole. It sounds professional and indicative of classical composition. While it breaks no new ground, its still succeeds at representing Metroid from a different perspective. Good job.

Wow, I haven't heard this in ages. I used to listen to this all the time for its full sound, prominent percussion and gratuitous arrangement. Relistening to it now, I can totally see why this was a favourite of mine. Not much I can add in retrospect that others already haven't. That trumpet is dodgy, but it's out of the picture quite quickly and everything else sounds fantastic to me today. All in all, an excellent reminder why Mazedude was and still is one of the best. This was a blast to fall in love with again.

A wonderfully rich take on a prominent Deus Ex theme. Having played the game only recently for the first time, the familiarity of the music really brings out how much work has gone into making this mix pop. It's livelier, more dynamic and more interesting in its construction than the source track, and yet everything new here still inherently feels like it could belong in the Deus Ex universe. Nice attention to detail and selection of sounds. Love that awesome Asian/synth infused bridge around the 2:20 mark. And Jillian's vocals interspersed throughout the track give the mix that humanity that juxtaposes with the dominant synthetic presence, both sonically and thematically. This is a stellar ode to Deus Ex, and more of the professional work we've come to expect from this mixing duo. Love this one to bits.

Loving thiiiiis. Love that full, complete sound. The mix progresses with such a natural confidence that its easy to stop thinking about the music and just absorb it. Intersecting of the two melodies is brilliantly handled; they seem to play nice with eachother rather than bouncing off one another or competing for the spotlight. Always nice to listen to something of this quality level. Dat sheen of polish is beautiful.

Kind of an interesting techno mix. It's frenetic but actually kinda constrained at the same time. Sounds haven't aged as much as some of the heavy electronica mixes of the same era, and I very much appreciate what variation was included to break up the repetition. I've not heard the Einhander OST, but it shows promise. This is a nicely structured track; but it comes up empty on being remarkable. It serves its purpose well, at the very least.

Does exactly what it says on the box: provides dance music version of game track. It's not exactly the most interesting piece of art I've witnessed, and yet judging it based on its ambition, its perfectly adequate. The synths and beats are punchy, the breakdown was nice and it kept a semblance of variation throughout, minor as it was. It's a dance track, basically. I liked it for that, and I think it shows great promise too.

Lots of things going on and lots of directions in sound being explored. It's hard to see the cohesive whole amongst the shifts in sound, but the mix is brilliant on a technical level. The entire phase of the brass and organ was inspired and a clear highlight. Guitar and piano work also served towards the mix's high quality, I just wish the ideas and the interesting pairing of instruments were held together within a tighter overall construct. Not sure I fully 'get' the sum of its parts after two listens, but the parts themselves are really cool.

This is a really sweet one. Definitely fits right into the irregular rhythms and distinct stylings of jazz playing, and on top of that there's such a warmth to the arrangement that made it excessively enjoyable. As is going to be the case with jazz arranging, the source gets swamped with technique and for long patches I struggled to relate the piece with the correct melody, but rest assured, it does shine through at key moments and is a definite backbone to the piece. A feel-good arrangement coupled with some pretty piano playing. No complaints here, really.

Some tops atmosphere and a pretty cool trip-hop rendition of the main melody won me over in the end. There's a lot to enjoy about this mix, even though it does have its fair share of problems. True to being trip-hop inspired, its a lengthy and repetitive exercise, which probably wasn't necessary in order to achieve what the mixer was going for. A lot of the mix seems like space-filling; its a shame that space wasn't filled with some fresher interpretation. The guitar sample is bleedingly obvious in its artificiality, but despite the fact that a better sample/recorded performance would improve the technical sound, the dated sample adds a certain texture its own, so I'm not as flustered about listening to it as I thought I would be. In all, not a bad effort and a refreshing approach to IceCap.

10 years on, this one is starting to show its age. The samples are dated to a degree that it does infringe on the arrangement itself, but thankfully not too much. This is very straightforward stuff, and it's barely worth nitpicking. It represents a genre and a time-period of amateur music production as well as any other trance mix does, and people that like that kind of thing would love this to bits. I like a few of the ideas here, like the transitions and the slower segments, and its never truly grating on the ears, but as far as defying its own generic pedigree, its unsurprising and uninspired. Not at all bad for what it is, though.

Some deeply rewarding electronica right here. I'm a massive Alexander Brandon fan, and this has his vibe oozing out of every orifice. Fantastic percussion and synthwork are the highlights on this one, but it is the intelligent arrangement that doesn't overplay itself that ascends this to the top of the pile as my favourite recent remix. Extremely cool stuff.

I enjoyed this far more than I thought I would. The intro made me reel back, as it comes on quite strong and I got the feeling that the hard lo-fi production had been over-emphasised a tad. But it turns out that it does melt into the fuller spectrum once things get kicking, and I got really into where the mix was going. Personally, I think the mix overreaches and could have definitely used a bit of a tighten, but I wouldn't go as far as calling it repetitive (at least not detrimentally). Most of the mix sounds like it has good purpose, and yet I find myself wanting each section to flow a little brisker. Such an irregular mix in both sound and structure is always going to divide people. I for one think this is a fantastic treatment of the source that recalls the golden age of Gameboy music; the good and the bad.

It nice that people are recognising the quality of juxtaposition in this mix, as my first worry was that some people's ears wouldn't take to the grainy, porous crunching of the percussion. Anyone that grew up with a console before the 16-bit era may get a nostalgia smack from it, but what it provides music is much more interesting. I don't think I'd class lo-fi as my favourite genre, or indeed jazz, but halc's prowess with chiptune experimentation does add new flair to the sound of each. The lo parts sound better because of the jazzy parts and vice-versa; a superb tit-for-tat approach that doesn't forget to capture that Pilotwings vibe either. Lots going on on and below the surface with this one. Quirky and off-kilter, but smarter than your average mix treatment.

Wowzers. Haven't got around to checking out the Human Revolution soundtrack, but I've heard it's a real treat. And if this mix is any indication, I'm going to enjoy it. Ethnic fusion needs a lot of effort, skill, restraint and purpose, and this mix embodies all of these traits. Such a satisfying build and terrific development of textural soundscaping. There's instruments being plucked, accented vocals and bass-heavy synths all over the place, and it all makes musical sense. I'm a big fan of this. One of the more impressive remixes of current-gen videogame music I've heard in a great while. (And I hardly noticed this is technically a medley.)