ReMix:The Secret of Monkey Island "Late in the Caribbean" 4:55

Secret of Monkey Island!! Rozovian (Ad G) hits us up with a fun, tropical jam band take on the iconic main theme, mixing a minimal beat with marimba, steel drum, TWO organs, & an electric bass:

"Along with Commander Keen, Battle Chess, and Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island is one of the first games I can remember playing. My cousins had it, brought their computer to our family's summer place one summer, and I couldn't get enough. Not that I even understood English at that point. But any step forward in any puzzle was a success, no matter what it actually did for the story or the game.

A few of the melodies stuck with me for at least a decade, when I played the game again. At that point, I could appreciate the game's writing, too. Anyway, there's a bit of my gaming history."

The beat here uses an acoustic kit but has the quantization & often the vibe of an EDM or disco track. A basic marimba pattern anchors the whole piece, but the lead melody changes smartly between instruments, with organ, steel drum, and a pan flute/calliope taking turns. Good grit/rotary on the organs, and there's a nice space to the marimba as well. I dig how the intensity of the jam varies over time, and how the overall production pairs the instrumentation of a Caribbean jam band with the (largely) quantized precision of something akin to tropical house... without the house. It's a unique blend and something I haven't heard quite the same way before, and while at times it's a little sparse, I think the overall juxtaposition works well. A more orthodox, contemporary version of this arrangement idea would have gone more explicitly with a tropical house treatment, and I think that could *also* have been a cool approach, but I dig the less expected formula Ad's cooked up, too. Sir_NutS sums it up well:

"One of my favorite VG themes of all time. I think you did a great job on the arrangement side here, feels very different but at the same time I can easily identify the original in all the adapted sections. This is also a very unconventional adaptation, with no clear genre, but feeling cohesive. The only section I felt the cohesiveness was breaking immersion was in the ballad-like breakdown around 3:20. Other than that I really like what you've done with the theme on this remix, tons of creative twists. Production wise I felt it was fine, not an amazing mix that pops out but also no glaring issues. The pan flute performance felt mechanical and something that could've been improved.

There's a constant arpeggio throughout the song but this didn't bother me, as I'm ok with riffs to ground an arrangement as long as there's movement around them, and that's covered pretty well by the rest of the piece."

Ditto all that; absolutely classic LucasArts/DOS magic on the game and soundtrack, and this mix uses regionally appropriate instrumentation, but in an unusual context/structure, to bring something new to the table. Distinct, fun, & vibrant stuff from Rozovian - enjoy!