ReMix:Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 "Greedbuilt" 4:44

Sorry we've been quiet lately - I've been on a (much-needed) working vacation, and of course work decides to get chaotic RIGHT the very same week :) Got some W/Mario for you this evening, though, with two tracks, the first of which is this slammin' Wario Land EDM from Desert Catz (Flexstyle & KingTiger), who paired up for a hard-hittin' dance/electro cut on Super Cartography Bros. - Flexstyle (Michael Birch) writes:

"This one was a TON of fun to do. Like Corey mentions, he put together a really neat smorgasbord of source tunes into a fairly cohesive track, but it needed to hit the metaphorical gym and lose weight and get gnarlier. So, I added a Le Castle Vania-esque set of drums, guitars and bass, trimmed the arrangement down, and this is what came out! I'm super proud of it and I know Corey is too."

DAT SIDECHAIN, tho. KingTiger (R. Corey Oltman) breaks it down:

• "Stove Canyon" - riff at the beginning, at 3:30 & end
• "Sherbet Land" - arpeggiated notes during 0:06-0:34 & 4:07-4:36 (the intro & outro)
• "Syrup Castle" - 1/2 note synth notes during 0:06-0:34 & 4:07-4:35 (the intro & outro), also during 1:48-3:01 with the bass
• "Course Select" - little 5-note blips that occur periodically during the intro and outro - 0:13, 0:27, 4:13, & 4:27; also after every other set of 4 measures during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:07 (the "Mt. Teapot" sections)
• "Mt. Teapot" - main melody during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:06; also, the crazy vibrato insanity is meant to mimic the same effect the music has in almost every Wario game when Wario gets hurt or flattened or turned into a zombie or etc., etc. (basically any of his "transformations")
• "SS Tea Cup" - arpeggiated notes during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:07 (accompanying the "Mt. Teapot" melody)
• "Lose a Wario" - every other set of 4 measures during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:07 (basically alternating with "Course Select" in the "Mt. Teapot" sections)
• "Kitchen Island" (World Map) - main melody during 1:05-1:34 & 2:31-3:01
• "Parsley Woods" - background percussive chords during 1:34-2:03 & 4:07-4:35
• "Rice Beach" - background EP during 3:01-3:01; also, the agogô bells you hear throughout the song are meant to mimic the percussive bits at the beginning of this source

"When we started the project, Michael asked me to make a list of map themes from Mario games, and somehow I completely neglected the Game Boy games. The only games on that platform that would really have maps are Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Wario Land, and Wario Land 3. Unfortunately, it was kind of late in the process to add more sources to the list of potential claims. Since I'm a bit of a Wario fan, I had to remedy my regrettable mistake (I even forgot his Wii game, Wario Land: Shake It, which happens to have a pretty cool map theme), and I decided to take a stab at a Wario source. Since I love to bite off more than I can chew, I decided to arrange *every single* Wario Land map theme into one song. So, um, yeah, I'm pretty proud of this arrangement and how I was able to integrate each source so well. (But writing that source breakdown was a *&$%#!) After giving it my best shot, Michael took over, cleaned up some of the production and arrangement to make it more club-friendly, and just basically beefed it the hell up. I am super proud of this song - it hits hard just like Michael and I wanted it to, and it just freaking rawks."

Holy source tune overload, Batman! Fortunately it all holds together and ends up sounding very cohesive & focused - impressive arranging, coupled with polished production! Of course, to make all that happen, certain liberties were taken, as Palpable noted in his pass:

"I had no problem with the sidechain usage. The melody changed, the drums changed, at times even the sidechain changed (though rarely). I was in its spell from beginning to end with no thoughts of it being too repetitive. Despite ten quoted sources, I didn't hear an overwhelming amount of source, because a lot of liberties were taken. The primary sources seem to be Kitchen Island and Mt, Teapot (melody), and Syrup Castle (chords). A lot of the arpeggios I wouldn't count because too much was changed but there was enough source usage between the three I listed."

It's kind of an "à la carte" approach to arranging, taking what you want from each source and building something bigger, so some of the sources are serving as inspiration "jumping off" points or utilitarian "glue" more than others, but the ambition pays off with a mix that is still identifiably & comprehensibly Wario, aided by the intro quote circa 0'34" where we are informed as such. Play it loud, play it proud... for this one track, in this one context, I can ephemerally agree with Gordon Gecko that greed, for lack of a better word, is not only good, but downright infectious!