ReMix:Axelay "City Lights" 3:14

when driving and walking around at night, usually across the river from the City, on the emptier side-streets, just me, the street lights and the occasional late night bus. It's perfect for that.

I remember this game as one of my favorite shmup for the snes, with R-type III, Area88 and Pop'n Twinbee.

The remix totally contrasts with the fast paced original.

Certainly wasn't expecting that take on the source, but its all for the better this way.

The laid back, jazzy atmosphere perfectly fits a city scenery at night.

I love how the groove is so subtle, with simple drums bassline, but really have a life of its own.

The vibe is an obvious choice when considering the style, but is used so rarely in game remixes that this makes it pure genius.

Very nice mix.

Killer beat on this one. The upright sample is a little bit dated, but that groove will live on forever. The vibe sequencing could have been a little looser IMO, but seriously, this mix is completely awesome. I agree with previous commenters that it has a laid back intensity, and isn't afraid to just sit in the pocket for awhile, adding layers slowly. The beat is very compelling, and keeps interest, even when it's just the bass groove.

Good stuff.

This deserves more than one page of reviews.

It's one of those simple songs where less is more. If you tried to fill the sonic space in this one, you'd be missing the point. It just plain does what it does and is so sweet to groove to. Mustin described the chords as "intense". You wouldn't normally say something like that about such a laid back affair, but it really does have that quality. Awesome.

Po! definitely knows what he's doing, being a veteran in the remixing community and a musical powerhouse. It's tough work trying to establish a groove without getting too repetitive, and that's where this song succeeds. If you label this type of music as elevator music, then that's one groovy elevator you're travelling in. An OCR classic.

Am I in an elevator? This is a very interesting take on the original but, somehow manages to retain a small degree of the feeling. The smooth lounge-style is just a little too... loungy... for me. It's too relaxing and cheesy. I do like the remix and it's got some cool variations. But, not enough, really.

Level 3 was always my own personal favorite level anyway.

This jazzy version rocks my pants once again.

Because I'm a huge fan of Po!s laid back hip hop work, I figure I should probably review this.

The choice of instrumentation in this piece is spot on - Posu knows how to work the vibe without having to pile on the instruments. In the case of Citylights, we've got the stand up Bass, the hip hop drumkit, the EP jamming minimal in the background, and those vibes. Oooh, those vibes. First off, I've never played Axelay - my bad, I'm not much of an old school gamer - so I don't know the context for this piece.

I do know that the name is perfect, brilliant choice. This track reminds me of a cityscape at night, in so many groovy ways; it's also important to mention that the style of this track reminds me of some of the pieces in Final Fantasy VIII, specifically the Deling City music (I think - Can't remember it off hand, at the moment).

At first one of the precussion choices that irked me was the panned snare/hat thingie that came in at :12. It stood out, until I began to associate it with the imagery of the cityscape that po! was creating. It sounded like someone banging away at something, or construction work, not uncommon to hear in the city. After that, it clicked and I appreciated its presence moreso. I couldn't bring myself to like the snare choice, though. It hardly deviated from its pattern and it was a bit too meaty in the lower areas, when I would have liked to hear a bit more snap in the higher zones.

Small nitpicking aside, the two things I love about this mix: DAS BASS. That bass is perfectly funky and well tamed, fits the mix like a glove. But the real stars are the vibes. po! has written the most awesome stuffs for these vibes. There's no way you can't like them. The freeflowing (I assume) soloing around 2:12 sounds brilliant. I love it. The doubling at 2:31 is perfectly timed and not overused. Very jazzish feel to the improv.

The mix was short, but something like this would overstay its welcome if it dragged on for five minutes. Short and sweet is the key phrase here. Very delicious work here. Nice stuff.

I think all the axelay songs rock, especially this one. I think this track was great, but I say we need a faster version too. More similar to the original. And more Axelay lvl music in general! Yeah!

This has just become my all-time favorite remix. It just represents everything I'm trying to do with my own music. Damn. po!, you rock.

Laid-back jazz with some vibes makin' it cool. I agree with Noodler Sensei about the secret agent part: for some reason this reminds me of James Bond. Definitely one to listen to if you like mellow jazz.

On my quest to download every mix on OCR, recently I downloaded this one. Vey nice. The play similar stuff like this kind of jazz on winamps "Groove Salad" station. Anyway I love it. Loops again and again.

CLASSY! That's the one word that comes to mind when I hear this. Another one of the songs I use to convert MTV watchers to OC Remix fans.

Very good stuff goin on here. I loves me the vibes. Everything is so well blended and mellow. Almost secret agenty if you ask me. I mean, you can sorta imagine some guy peakin out from around a wall. He spots his target talking to someone, he ducks low and listens in on their conversation. Well I don't give number ratings, so I'll just say it's damn good.