ReMix:Pokémon Mystery Dungeon: Red Rescue Team "99 Floors Underground" 3:48

SEVEN mixes from Jamison in 2012 - NOT TOO SHABBY!! We get our first TGH fix of the year with this electronica PMD:RRT arrangement, his second posted mix from the game:

"YEAH MAN ANOTHER PMD REMIX. This song is badass, so I felt the need to remix it. It's one of my favorites from the Mystery Dungeon Series. I actually remixed this a long time ago but it was shot down on the WIP forum (and for good reason, lol :P). Also hooray for mid-song genre switches!"

Both genres are electronica, and the instrumentation remains similar, so it's actually not as jarring as, say, segueing into polka in the middle of a metal track. The intro actually has more of a rock construction, but with synthetic elements, as a meaty kick + snare anchor a synth-led groove and string pads swell from bar to bar. The shift happens at 1'43" with what SOUNDS like a pitched cowbell. Do you think, in a decade or so, the whole cowbell thing will have died down, and it will resume its place as an unassuming percussive element with no particular notoriety? Time will tell... perhaps some quality guiro humor would expedite the transition in the meantime. Judges mostly dug this one, although the transition was a LITTLE iffy and some felt the energy dropped off just a bit towards the end. Deia writes:

"Definitely some good stuff going on in this track. I like a lot of the harmonic expansion you added to the theme, and overall there are a lot of change-ups to keep things interesting. The build-up transition didn't work as well as I think it could have, but it's not pulling the track down much either."

Palpable adds:

"Yeah I was feeling this. I agree with what OA is saying and maybe the leads could have sounded more prominent, but I liked what was here and it captured my attention sufficiently."

This is less of a lead-driven track than most of what we've heard from Jamison, and I personally tend to prefer a stronger emphasis on melody & melodic development, but there are some creative ideas, the energy is good, the source deserved some love, and the genre boomerang is a bold move that, if not 100% successful, still pays some dividends in terms of variety & interest level. Good stuff from TGH that kicks him off for a great 2013!