ReMix:Sonic 3D Blast "PaNic AttaCk" 4:04

1. It's been too long since we posted something from Damon "Blue Magic" Campbell (that sounds like a really peculiar boxing name...)
2. It's been even longer since we posted an arrangement from Richard Jacques' excellent Sonic 3D Blast soundtrack for the Saturn.
3. It's also been awhile since we posted a ReMix from a Saturn game that WASN'T NiGHTS ;)

So, trifecta achievement unlocked!! Great to see Damon back; this submission got held up a bit due to multiple versions, and unfortunately he lost his project files so we're stuck with this particular render of the track @ 48Khz, but I'm glad he revisited the rejection from all the way back in 2004 (!!) and reworked it, since the result is a unique, stylish bit of electronica. It's killer to get a resub/rework eight years later, as it reminds us 1. To never give up! and 2. We're so old! The artist writes:

"It was really difficult to go back and read over those comments, but I kept trying and learning, and over the years I've improved a little bit, imo. So, I think I'm ready to try it again. I was influenced by alot of Deadmau5e's work and I decided to do a little experimenting. At first, I was just making a dance beat, but as time went on, I started to integrate bits and pieces of the Panic Puppet song into it. It wasn't really my intention to even submit this, but I started liking the groove and I got alot of positive feedback on it. So, here goes nothing!"

We mentioned at our MAG make-a-mix panel that arrangements can often start life as originals that just get a source melody gradually injected at some point during gestation, and here's a good example. I really like the clicky, zappy percussion bits that Damon has going over a heavy four-on-the-floor kick, and the piano gives a relatively constant melodic grace & presence. Game FX are incorporated tastefully, and while the bass might wobble & gurgle here and there, it mostly stays away from breaking into a full dubstep cadence, focusing on a continuous, transporting momentum. Shariq says:

"I like it. It's got this really cool kind of menacing vibe to it. Even though it's actually kind of a downtempo four-on-the-floor, it doesn't really plod. I get a really good sense of energy. I like all the little synth and string embellishments throughout the track. Really nice work."

Ditto everything he said; this mix shows off some new tricks, blends dubstep elements with a more downbeat dance style in a way that seems very natural, and resuscitates an arrangement that was initially rejected a long time ago in a galaxy very, very ours. Kudos to Damon for picking it back up & restructuring it, as the result is an excellent jam & homeage to great OST!