ReMix:Snatcher "Acoustic Jam at the Lucifer-Alpha" 3:05

Good week for more obscure systems! We posted Eino's Atari ST ReMix on Wednesday, and now we've got newcomer HeavyViper (Hal Binderman) with our FIRST EVAR arrangement of the original Snatcher, for MSX, in an acoustic rock style:

"June 6th, 1996

"...as they steal their victims bodies to take their place, these mysterious invaders become known as... SNATCHERS."

An acoustic guitar cover of "Bio Hazard," the music for the prologue of Snatcher. Mainly inspired by Masahiro Ikariko's MSX rendition. I often find myself figuring out melody lines from games during my guitar practice, and recently I managed to figure out this chilling little number. "Bio Hazard" is a perfect mood-setter for Snatcher's introduction, in my opinion - ominous and mechanical. After recording a few test tracks, I decided to go for an "acoustic jam in a hazy, quiet bar" kind of feel. It only really started coming together when I was about halfway through recording the guitar tracks, with the bass synths and drums laid down as finishing touches. It came off feeling a lot looser and warmer than the original, but I think it retains the characteristic eeriness."

While I've never played the original MSX game, playing & beating the Sega CD localization is one of my fondest gaming memories, and I had a total blast with it. Great story, great style, obvious nods to Blade Runner and other iconic sci-fi works, great music, and just a totally different experience than I was familiar with... along with Lunar and Sonic CD, one of the games that made the Sega CD worthwhile & helped erase the pain of Sewer Shark :) This is a shorter piece and has a slinky, almost film noir sorta feel to it... hi-hat intros the whole thing and remains pivotal throughout, and panning/doubling on the acoustic guitar ends up filling out most of the soundscape. Transition at 1'44" picks up the pace considerably and turns things into more of a jam while retaining the instrumentation... neat! Structurally this mix plays it very close, with almost all of the interpretation coming from the adaptation to acoustic guitar/rock from a more cyberspacey, electronic aesthetic; Liontamer writes:

"No need for source tune timestamping, since it's basically 100% source. Pretty straightforward coverage that could have gone more places but was still well-adapted for acoustic guitar, especially the dual lines going on. I liked hearing Hal attempt to adapt some of the more cyber-style writing of the original for guitar, e.g. 1:21-1:42 & 1:45/1:50, and would have enjoyed even more touches like that. Nonetheless, points for an unexpected non-electronic take on Snatcher, it's a pleasant surprise."

Sir_NutS addS:

"Very interesting soundscape, the dual guitars work very well in tandem with the sparse hats. Even with the simplistic nature of the arrangement at first, there are many details that keep it from falling into monotony. The second section is fuller but also brings in some interesting effects on the strumming, although the compression went a bit on the hard side at some spots, it's nothing too bad. 1:20 was a highlight for me, really interesting soundscape, almost kraftwerk-like. Overall, very creative take on this theme. It's not just a straight guitar cover, as the artist used the instrument both as the main focus as well as an effect-soundscape generator."

Precisely; an interesting approach, a peculiar source to adapt in this fashion, but a result that's unique, not something we hear often, and which presents a fresh spin on the wonderful musical world of Snatcher!