ReMix:Army Men: Air Attack "Electro Termites" 3:49

CJthemusicdude (Christopher J. Cunningham) debuted back in 2012 with a nice Puggsy mix (our first) and then last year really upped the ante with his Gunstar Heroes track off of Be Aggressive! - great stuff. Now he's back with another more obscure source selection, offering a retro electronic jam that's also our first arrangement of Army Men: Air Attack:

"Remix of "Action 1," one of the tunes from the amazing Army Men: Air Attack soundtrack composed by Burke Trieschmann. Army Men: Air Attack has one of these best overall soundtracks in my opinion. I've spoken with Trieschmann before, the man is a musical genius. If you ever have the chance, listen to "Action 2" as well."

Clearly Chris is passionate about this OST; it's not something I've heard many VGM afficionados mention, but as we all know, there's tons of gold out there just waiting to be uncovered, and notoriety isn't a guarantor of brilliance, or vice versa. I was a huge fan of Knight Rider growing up, because that car was AWESOME, and at times this mix reminds me of the classic opening theme for that show. A very heavy intro downbeat & bass establishes an 80's vibe, which continues as synths are layered in, some of which take things further into a chip direction. Love the tom rolls, and a good use of SID arp hits @ 0'44". As things evolve, Chris is surprisingly ALSO able to work in some choral & orchestral percussion components that don't muddle things up and actually fit in quite well - didn't see it coming, but it works. Larry writes:

"REALLY great, creative stuff here. This is the second track from you that I've heard (besides the Puggsy resubmission) where it really sounds like everything came together nicely. Great energy, great variations of the source theme, and a great job constantly shifting the dynamics of the piece. Just a smart effort all around. Congrats! Keep on improving, Chris, you're shaping up nicely! :-)"

This is definitely an arrangement that develops, in some ways more than was even necessary - but I certainly ain't complaining about that. Having the Knight Rider link for me made this semi-nostalgic, even without having played the actual game, and overall it's just a smart track, like Larry says, with wisely-selected and carefully-blended ingredients. Great stuff; don't pass this one up even if you're unfamiliar with the source, or you'll be missing out!