ReMix:Sonic the Hedgehog 2 "Reich Lake" 4:46

Pretty cool to hear a track with such highly percussive concept. Moreover, it's a highly percussive track from the amazing Mazedude! Nothing can go wrong here. It's also very cool that he tackled a less popular game of this franchise. So, aside from all the bouncing percussion used here, I also want to metion the playful organ and ambient sounds from the backing. They really help this mix to be a lot more varied. Without them this mix would probably just boring and dull. Sick mix, Chris! And remember guys and gals, it's from 2004!

pretty cool concept to do an all-tuned percussion mix. Maybe I should try something like that sometime, I think it'd throw everyone off.

the addition of a choirish pad and some cool drum loops makes it more unique, and the repeating pattern gets pretty hypnotic.

Overall a good mix, and cool that Mazedude tried out a track that he enjoyed without playing the game itself.

Another surprisingly laid back track from the 'Dude.

I found this to be a rather enjoyable piece, very laid back and soothing. The combination of beat and percussion/mallet really helps to create a very lush, rich atmosphere along with the main synth and background choir.

Nice Work, 'Dude.

It's definately a change of pace for a Mazedude mix, and a good one at that. It's gentle but never slow, repetitive but never boring. Even if you don't find the melody and the stylistic direction particularly interesting (which I do), you can always focus on the expert choice of instruments and how truly awesome they sound. The mallet work is distinctive, memorable and most importantly, is used to its fullest potential. There is no constant changing of instruments here. It's all consistent, all the time. And I wouldn't change a thing.

It's refreshing to see Mazedude restrained here; though he is a notorious genre-hopper, this is one of his most accomplished sounding ventures away from the sound he is more synonymous with.

For some reason whenever I tune into Rainwave there's a 50/50 chance this track is playing at that very moment.

Honestly this gives me a bit of a Kikuta vibe in places. Reich is usually not my bag, but I think the catchy percussion (both marimba and synth drums) keeps the repetition from becoming monotonous. And I've always admired Mazedude for paying tribute to games and composers most gamers wouldn't be familiar with, all while making it sound awesome. Great work, Chris!

This is actually one of my favorite Mazedude remixes. I agree this remix is not for everyone, but I totally get it.

Keeping a constant, short-measured melody going for the entirety of the duration of the song without making the listener bored or annoyed is no small feat and borderline genius. I don't think anyone else around here can get away with that and still achieve success.

Beyond that aspect, this song is actually very complex with what it does in terms of texture work and ambience. The constant melody actually works as a tension artifact in place of swirls and artificial build-ups or crashes. The instruments are both familiar and outwordly, but extremely interesting and entrancing. The arrangement is not quite as complex as what we've come to expect from Mazedude but it's the little details, and the constant morphing of the atmosphere that makes this song so unique and great.

One of my favorites from the site. I recommend it to everyone I know, regardless of whether they like videogame music or not.

I've been trying to make a little more of an effort to go back and drop a line at some of my old favorites - and this was DEFINITELY near the top of my list.

I have some memories associated with this mix (and with the source tune) which make it all the more special to me, but DAMN! Even after all this time, you have such a chill, atmospheric groove going in this song, with tons of background depth and awesome chime runs flowing over that main mallet loop.

Definitely gives me that underwater, spacey kind of vibe, but it's got the sweet groove pounding along with it which gives all that depth some context, some structure, and some pure, head-bobbing rhythm. Reich Lake is for sure near the very top of my favorite remixes.

I can't stress enough how happy I am to hear a remix from a Master System Sonic game! In my opinion several of the compositions from the SMS/GG games are way better than anything found in the MegaDrive/Genesis games.

But I digress. This piece certainly does the mood of the level from which the music originates justice. Super swell. Now, if only someone would give the Bridge Theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 1 on the SMS a go...

Never posted in here either for some reason. Great stuff that brings a unique presence to the site. Not familiar with Reich, but anything that inspired this work is bound to be good. Great stuff, Chris, keep it coming!

(maze)Dude! This is awesome. My percussionist friend here at Peabody just pointed out this remix to me. I'm a big fan of Steve Reich's work, and I can definitely hear where you drew your inspiration. Nice work!

The mallets/precussion of this always reminds me of Thomas Newman's (in my opinon) excellent score for American Beauty. Very smooth, chill, very mazedude. Never heard the original, but lovin this.

Well, "Different Trains" isn't that out there. It was a great idea and it sounds great. It is quite awesome to many folks, including myself.

Andrew actually mentioned some of Steve Reich's more experimental works. You might also want to look at his more classical works, such as his more famous Music for 18 Musicians, Tehillim/Desert Music, "Music for Mallet Instruments, Organs, and Voices" (the piece that inspired this), and "Woods,Strings, and Keyboards". I'm sure some of you will find them repeatitive, but given the fact that this site is about videogame music (a medium that is built for constant looping) i don't think it should be too much of a stretch.

Wow. Something different, and very well done at that

This piece is excellent. Top notch, easily on par with his other stuff, if not better. Though, snails was freaking great. I've only just started listening to OCR a few days ago, but I think Mazedude already stands as "favorite" material.