Posted 2005-12-03, evaluated by djpretzel


In a bit of a rush right now, so this is gonna be super, super brief. Newcomers Geoffrey Taucer and The Prophet of Mephisto submitted an excellent piece awhile back that nevertheless was rejected because it relied too heavily on The Eagles' Desperado, the melody of which they'd woven into Mitsuda's Xenogears soundtrack quite artfully. It was a tough call and resulted in a clarification being added to the standards, and it was made all the tougher by a sweet ballad arrangement and some soulful, well-executed sax. Well, they're back, and this time they left Don Henley behind and covered Relm's theme from FF6 and the ending theme from Radical Dreamers. There's acoustic strumming, appropriate and natural acoustic percussion, electric lead, cello, acoustic piano, and seemingly intermittent fretless bass. The spotlight is definitely on the sax, which is simply beautiful. Kenny G catches a lot of shit for being weaksauce elevator music, which is often true, but you still gotta recognize his skill at the instrument and the purity of his tone, and I'd liken the better parts of this performance to that sort of ability. Check the run at 3'10" for a good bit of fast fingering, too. The whole arrangement capitalizes well on the organic nature of each element; my only critique would be that I'd have preferred the bass been a more consistent presence, as it seems to drop out or fade widely in prominence. Nevertheless, as with their previous, ill-fated submission, there's a lot of warmth and soul here, and the unquantized and intimate setting serves the coupled source material amazingly well. I'm glad that GT and Mephisto persisted and sent this one our way, as I think it'll have broad appeal and speak musically to the numerous fans of both games.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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OA
on 2010-02-25 15:24:43

nice playing and arrangement concept, I dig it. A little too loose in some sections, but overall it was a very relaxing sound. Nice run, and a good transition to the second theme at the end. Really nice tone on the sax, and good intonation, and the deceptive cadence right before the end was beautiful.

Very good stuff guys.

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stkyle
on 2010-02-17 04:01:34

Darn it, this reminds me of something and I can't really think of what. .

Heh, I thought the same thing. For the first couple seconds I was sure it was Wild Horses :) (kinda lost it when the piano came in though)

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42
on 2009-01-19 00:15:59

:banghead:

Darn it, this reminds me of something and I can't really think of what. .

It sort of sounds like .... no, nevermind.

All I can say is that everything feels appropriate and just the way it should be.

They really did an amazing job here, but its just not quite my style.

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Lucentas
on 2008-12-06 17:30:55

When I first listened to this, I was afraid it was going to be Relm's theme ruined by some cheesy elevator music take that would once again only serve to remind me of fake potted plants, pastel walls, and oddly abstract watercolor landscapes such as what one finds in doctor's office waiting rooms.

Thankfully, I was proved wrong. I'm not the biggest fan of sax, but it actually sounds good in this piece.

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evktalo
on 2007-12-11 02:02:34

Am I the only one here that finds this track annoyingly feeble? Maybe it's just too "easy listening" for me. I do have a real issue with the acoustic guitar - the playing is not very tight. And what's that mega-loud chord at 03:15? (Ok, that's nit picking.) I do have to compliment the sax playing. Very pleasant, and a great tone. The guitar lead ain't bad either. Overall however the track is quite limp and frankly it's a bit scary how much love it's getting. Well, I guess it just doesn't do it for me.

--Eino

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Durinthal
on 2006-04-27 02:23:17

For some reason this song makes me envision sitting on a blanket at night on some remote hilltop, stargazing with a loved one...

A canvas of dreams indeed. Top notch work, you two.

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Terium
on 2006-01-01 21:06:14
The sax is great here. Sounds real. No complaints.

The sax is real.

Well there ya go!

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prophetik music
on 2006-01-01 17:38:13
The sax is great here. Sounds real. No complaints.

The sax is real.

grrr....

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Geoffrey Taucer
on 2006-01-01 12:05:07
The sax is great here. Sounds real. No complaints.

The sax is real.

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Durinthal
on 2005-12-30 20:29:21

Quite nice. Ballad-like, as others have mentioned.

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Terium
on 2005-12-30 01:30:50

Very smooth. This is pretty good chill music. Nothing over the top, but it's not meant to be.

The sax is great here. Sounds real. No complaints.

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jorgandar
on 2005-12-16 17:45:11

awwww.. tear* ;_;

really pretty. ok i need to stop listening. lol

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badhabit
on 2005-12-07 17:28:01

This song is just amazing, instantly brought me back to Arab Painting, and for some reason, holiday sitting-around-the-fire-with-presents music. It's bliss, I just wish there was more Relm sax.

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SirRus
on 2005-12-07 17:19:38

Hey! Congratulations to both of you for getting this on OCR. Very memorable and a wonderful first for both of ya.

GT you my boi.

Bring us some more of this soulful sweetness you two.

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prophetik music
on 2005-12-07 11:02:32

seven. i've been rejected seven times =)

Sources Arranged (2 Songs, 2 Games)


Primary Game:
Final Fantasy VI (Square , 1994, SNES)
Music by Nobuo Uematsu
Songs:
"Relm"
Additional Game:
Radical Dreamers: Nusumenai Houseki (Square , 1996, SNES)
Music by Yasunori Mitsuda
Songs:
"Ending ~ Le Tresor Interdit"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Acoustic Guitar,Electric Guitar,Piano,Saxophone,Strings
Additional:
Origin > Collaboration

File Information


Name:
Final_Fantasy_6_Canvas_of_Dreams_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,997,830 bytes
MD5:
585b7e4aafc5fda1e2212a1153f5c8e0
Bitrate:
224Kbps
Duration:
4:42

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