ReMix:Mega Man 2 "The Locker Room" 3:57

CRAZYSAUCE. YamaYama debuted on OCR in April of last year with an insane-in-the-membrane sax-fueled exploration of Kirby's Dream Land, and now they're BACK with an equally compelling & similarly whimsical Mega Man 2 jam that again puts sax front-and-center & takes 'Bubble Man' for a jazz-chip ride. In its emphasis on the synergy between jazz & chiptune components, this kinda reminds me of what Sam did on his NES Jams album - there's a similar combination of instrumental mastery, hyper-creative arranging, and disregard for convention, all of which are big pluses in my book. Chimpazilla writes:

"This is a super fun little track. Plenty of source, tons of interesting details. I'm LOVING the 7/8 sections and the interplay with the regular 4/4 time signature parts. The sax playing is clean and competent. The synthy bits fit in very well with the organic instrumentation. It is clear how much fun went into creating this track. What's happening at 2:33, has a monster entered the room? Haha, cool!"

Some judges did note that this was mastered a little quiet, so you may want to crank the volume a bit. DarkeSword enthuses:

"WOOOOOOOOW what a wild blend of sounds. The interplay between live and synth elements is really amazing. That part at 1:25 where the sound just opens up is fantastic. I love how this piece keeps evolving and never tries to coast. Definitely digging the performances here too. Tight and clean. Fantastic."

I love how the intro to this mix sorta has you raising your eyebrows a bit like "hmm...not quite sure if this is gonna go where I want it to..." At 0'09" when a syncopated funk drum riff drops in & sax enters, things pick up a bit, the cut at 0'27" signals some playfulness, but it's at 0'33" with the driving melodic motif where I think it becomes apparent that you're in for a hell of a ride. The spontaneity, immediacy, and complexity here all combine for a potent aggregate that succeeds in large part due to musicianship. Love that ending, too; just flat out berserk. It feels lazy to make the same artistic comparison, but if Shnabubula had chosen sax instead of piano as his weapon of choice, I can see the result sounding something like this. We've heard 'Bubble Man' plenty of ways, but it's becoming apparent than whenever YamaYama arrange a source, the result is going to be singular. Not to be missed!