ReMix:Kingdom Hearts "Cymbals and Screams" 3:33

Screamo metal meets chiptune meets Kingdom Hearts? Yep, with an intuitive mix title, to boot, from newcomers Got Item! (Steven Dunn) & Jacob Martinez. One thing that makes running OCR continually fun & rewarding is featuring music from so many different genres; it's broadened my personal horizons, I think it reflects the comparable diversity to be found within the world of VGM, and while it can polarize some listeners, it can bring others in & can open some minds in the process. "Simple and Clean" is such an iconic, bubbly track, so the juxtaposition/context here is rather fun, playing the melody & lyrics (wayyyy) against type with a tortured, aggressive aesthetic. The artist writes:

"Hello! This is my first time ever submitting to OC ReMix. My name's Steven, but my project is called Got Item! Got Item! is a Nintendocore/post-hardcore project where almost everything that I release is original. However, I plan on releasing a few remixes of some video game OSTs. For this first one, I had a close friend from another band help me out, Jacob Martinez from The Brotherhood of Ellipsis. For the people who enjoy metal and a bit of scream vocals in their musical library, I'm for them!"

It still makes me happy that "Nintendocore" is a thing, even if it might not be MY thing, at least on most days. If I was feeling particularly aggro but wanted a familiar, upbeat melody at the SAME TIME, this would be a strong candidate. Chimpazilla writes:

"I find this neither simple nor clean, but that's beside the point! The arrangement is conservative enough that I have no issue with source. The synth leads all sound a bit loud compared to the rest of everything, they stick out just a little. The screamo vocals are a bit pushed into the background by comparison to the synths, but I'll be honest, I'm glad. The looooow guitars and drums are performed and mixed well. Damn this track is relentless. How do you still have a voice left over after performing these vocals? This isn't my genre for sure, but I can't find much fault with this, screamo-heads will enjoy this just fine. I love the bit of Dearly Beloved in the outro."

This one's from a while back, so we've also got thoughts from Clem:

"Bold sound choices here. Mixing retro game synths with heavy guitars and screamed vocals is tricky. You've got solid djent riffs and good vox. There is overcompression, guitars overtaking the mix. Sometimes, the dry synth patches clash with recorded elements. Just takes a little EQ. I like the simple approach to synth design. The melodic/harmonic stuff from the sources comes across with the heavy style. Fans will dig it..."

I like this genre FOR this source; there's the obvious paradox between it being a sweet, pop tune/lyric that's been taken through a musical meat grinder, sure, but I think the actual melody also happens to lend itself to the repurposing rather well. I'll certainly never think of "Simple and Clean" the same way again - kudos to Steven & Jacob for an assertive, unorthodox take on a modern VGM classic!