ReMix:Armored Core: Nexus "Hyper Monkey Likes the Dancefloor" 4:45

What's this? A completely awesome Armored Core tribute album from anosou & OC ReMix??

We're not even halfway into the first month of 2011, and it's time for our first album of the year! Our 21st arrangement album hails courtesy Mattias Häggström Gerdt, and focuses on the music from the mecha-centric series. Check out the awesome trailer, help us seed the torrent, and of course the individual MP3s, artist comments, & more info are all available at answer.ocremix.org.

As an additional sidenote, we really, really, really appreciate any help you can provide in spreading the word by sharing on Facebook & Twitter using the upper-right-corner links on the album homepage!

Director, creator, & arranger Mattias writes:

"Armored Core. High speed mecha action. Few games make my adrenaline pump as hard as Armored Core. There is something magical about building your own machine to take on the world. The music in the games was always a big part of that for me.

I was introduced to the series with Armored Core 4 and it was through the music I felt I had to explore the rest of the series. What I discovered was an amazing repertoire ranging from techno to rock and even orchestral. Kota Hoshino's music especially floored me as some of the most unique and appealing music I had heard in a video game. The amazing vocal lines, the no-nonsense rock, the club beats, the bombastic choirs, it all had an incredible personality while still working within the game. This was music I wanted to show my respect for, so I set out to create a tribute album.

After four months of sporadic work and a successful preview release at Comiket78, the album is now complete. 11 pieces of music arranging 15 tracks from the Armored Core series. All made in Propellerhead's Reason and Record with a little help from a guitar, a bass and some great vocalist friends."

The vocals that Jill & Deia contributed really enhance Mattias' arrangements, and the lyrics channel the same vibe as the source, which could be described as "Engrish" but I'll just label "fanciful". At any rate, the entire album is amazing; Joshua Morse set the precedent for a one-man (w/ additional performers) OC ReMix album with Sonata of the Damned, and now that formidable work has some very good company. THE ANSWER was physically released at Comiket, as Mattias mentions, and I know that was a huge deal to him and is indeed a pretty cool accomplishment. Regarding this debut ReMix, MHG writes:

"Nothing comes quite close to Kota Hoshino's music when it incorporates vocals. From his wonderfully unorthodox score to Evergrace to the anthemic one-liners in Armored Core, I can't help but love every second. Super Monkey Likes Daddy, the source track, is a modest tune with some delightful female (?) vocals singing out-of-context lyrics. It was also one of the first Armored Core tracks I fell for when I bought the Nexus soundtrack, so for THE ANSWER it was one of the tracks I was determined to arrange. And what better way to arrange it than make a dancefloor hit?

Some bass-slapping, side-chaining, head-bobbing hours of work later I had a good foundation of pumping dance music. To really make the mix complete, and to pay tribute to Hoshino's love for vocals, I once again stole the voice of the lovely Deia. She recorded some one-liners and sent them over and I spent a good evening or two throwing all kinds of effects on them, finally settling for what's in the track now. The light, airy feel of Deia's vocals (which I, in some cases, really abused with some flanger, tremolo etc.) became the perfect contrast to the pumping bass(es). It was great fun to record some live bass and guitar for a an electronica remix like this too, something I haven't done much before THE ANSWER.

Feel free to bob your head, tap your feet and sing along. Then check out the rest of THE ANSWER!"

Like we needed your permission ;) I personally have a hard time not loving any mix named "Hyper Monkey Likes the Dancefloor," if only on the basis of amusing Simian Night Fever imagery (Time of the Apes FTW), but thankfully the music delivers on the titillating promises of the title, and is a wonderful introduction to the world this album creates - an extended trip inside the mind of an amazing ReMixer/composer, paying homage to a series of games with some truly distinct & diverse music.

2011 is still very, very young, but already Mattias, Deia, and Jill have provided us with an album that will stand the test of time as a fantastic tribute to the Armored Core series and a fantastic addition to OverClocked ReMix!