ReMix:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest "Dead Raggening" 4:26

Turtles are indeed excellent, but it's time to move on from reptiles to primates, with this downbeat ambient jam from Mazedude off of Serious Monkey Business. Chris writes:

"When I signed up for the DKC2 remix project way back when, there were only a couple tiny tracks left available. I was bummed. But, determined to make something, I listened to the themes that were left, and thought I could have some fun taking the "Bad Bird Rag" theme, slowing it WAY down, and crafting an aggressive ambient tune out of it. Then along the way, it sorta also became a stylistic homage to the film score music of Clint Mansell, in particular "Dead Reckoning" from the Smokin' Aces score. All together, it came out better than expected, and methinks it made a nice addition to the project."

Definitely agreed; I like the concept of "aggressive ambient" - it's like a mellow, atmospheric track that still develops and accrues some intensity as it progresses, handled deftly by The Getman. So-called because when it comes to music... he gets it. Get it? Alright let's forget I ever wrote that and move on... things intro as pulsating tonal synth clusters fade in, swimming in a primordial oscillator ooze. 0'31" establishes a tempo more clearly with synth hits and hi-hats, and then @ 1'02" kick & bass turn things a little more industrial and introduce a darker, more sinister aspect. Larry writes:

"I enjoyed the way Mazedude slowed down the tempo compared to the original and gave the piece a much more serious feel, all the while using a fair amount of what I felt was upbeat-sounding tracker instrumentation. The dynamics here really kept me hooked; the way the mix built quietly and gradually, rising around 2:36 before finally crescendoing at 3:22 was excellent.

Serious Monkey Business is among the albums I'm most proud of by the community due to the diverse range of styles, and adding Chris to a project always ensures you're going to get something polished and creative that's unlike anyone else's interpretation."

As a side-note, Chris recently tore his ACL and meniscus while doing flips, and just had successful (yay!!) surgery for that on the 3rd of this month, so pass on some well-wishes & congrats at mazedudemusic.com / twitter / facebook! Like Larry says, you can always count on Chris for something different, and while the decision to slow this source down was creative and resulted in something divergent, stylistically this is actually a more accessible, traditional entry into his oeuvre of crazy creations. Great stuff and a worthy addition to an album that really clicked!