ReMix:Super Smash Bros. for Wii U "Got My Mind on My Money Match" 4:04

NEW FREE ALBUM - Apex 2015: This Is the Moment!!

The Apex 2015 event occurred over this past weekend, and in spite of some serious difficulties, the community prevailed, Twitch came to the rescue, the venue was changed, and the show went on!! OCR is proud to have contributed a third album to the Smash/fighting tourney, making this three years in a row that DarkeSword has put together a great lineup to mix some of the best fighting game music out there! Apex 2015: This Is the Moment is OC ReMix's FIFTIETH community arrangement album release, making it something of a landmark for us as well. Shariq writes:

"Another year, another Apex album! As always, I'm excited to present another entry into our FGC-oriented album series. Players from all over the world train all year and travel from far and wide to find their moment at Apex, so this year's album is called "This Is the Moment" and it's all about everything they do and all the hard work they put in culminating in a battle of epic proportions. This year, we've got lots of great remixes from your favorite artists, covering old games and new games alike, with some killer album artwork to boot (from our Mega Man 25th anniversary album artist, rnn!).

We always have such a great time heading out to Apex and watching all the players absolutely destroy at Smash and all the other games out there, and every year the event only gets bigger and better. We're looking forward to doing more albums in the future, but for now, enjoy "This Is the Moment," and GET HYPE!!"

Now let's celebrate with some mixes! Up first is the head honcho & album director himself, with our FIRST EVAR OMG arrangement of Super Smash Brothers for Wii U:

"One of my favorite memories from Apex was when we were selling some stuff at our table and one of the attendees came up to our booth and was interested in buying something. When Deia told him the price, he looked in his wallet and saw he didn't have enough, so he said, "Alright, Imma go money match for 5 bucks real quick!" and he ran off. The dubiousness of money matches aside, it was a hilarious moment and it was great seeing someone so matter-of-factly confident about his skills.

This track has a lot of fun stuff going on, the foremost being the percussion track that uses a random arpeggiator to provide dynamically-generated variations to the drum patterns. This is a technique I used before in my Eevee EP remix, and at this point it feels like an indispensable part of my repertoire. I wanted to develop a very serious, dark energy at the start, which is why chords don't actually change until the second time through the melody. I used the Brawl theme as a backing track to the solo section because it's always been my favorite Smash theme and it has a simplicity that lets it sit underneath more complicated melodic lines without sounding messy. I really enjoyed how this mix came out, and I hope everyone else does too."

Shariq's LAST mix was from the FIRST Apex album, back in 2013, so it's been awhile since he popped up on the OCR homepage with a new featured mix. Without being overtly edgy or aggressive, this mix still has great energy & variety; I especially liked the interplay between the chippish lead and staccato string lines @ 2'02" & the ensuing syncopation, which really soars. There's a lot of structure & development to the piece, and in true DarkeSword fashion, he gets a lot of mileage out of every instrument/component he employs. A classy ending holds a single note out past the diminishing delays of the accompanying synth lines - nice. What I like most about this mix is that it very much has the FEEL of playing a match with someone - the back-and-forth, the analysis & development, and the individual moments where it seems like time slows down and everything hinges on a single outcome. Shariq's captured that specific topology in musical form with one of his best mixes yet; great stuff from another great Apex album!