ReMix:Lunar Pool "Looser Tool" 5:54

Newcomer Harmsing (Vasily Blokhin) makes a crazy jazz/funk/fusion OCR debut with our first featured ReMix of Lunar Pool for the NES, arranging basically the whole soundtrack as a fast-paced medley with echoes of Steely Dan & Weather Report:

"In this mix is interspersed other musical themes from the game Lunar Pool. But the key theme is "Game" theme, the main line of the whole composition. I performed this work as a fun request from one person who solved all my riddles (about NES games music). :-)"

Very cool; I wasn't familiar with this game's music, and I'm guessing most listeners won't be, but composer Masatomo Miyamoto also worked on The Guardian Legend and Zanac, and those might ring a bell. This arrangement is one-stop-shopping for an introduction to Lunar Pool's OST, featuring nifty reversed clean guitar textures, a deep & funky electric bass that gets a lot of action, frenetic EP lines that dance across the stage, some chill and subtle synth/chip FX sprinkled throughout, and an ever-evolving structure. It's got elements of jazz, funk, fusion, and prog, and while it clocks in at just under six minutes, it never feels long or meandering & maintains a good sense of excitement, momentum, and spontaneity. Sir_NutS does a great job hitting the highlights:

"I really loved the filtered layers overlapping the real instruments, and the addition of chiptune effects throughout the song to set up the mood. There's a lot of modulation throughout the song that keeps a collection of short sources like the ones here very interesting, but also there's the absolutely gorgeous arrangement below all the filtered goodies that's just amazing to listen to. The different expressions used for the bass are awesome, as well as the guitar which goes from clean to filtered to downright weird.

The jazzy undertones mixed with the electronica elements work amazingly well here, with the tempo changes, and complete mood swings that, were not handled with the care they were handled here would've made the track sound aimless, but thankfully, that was not the case and instead we get a plethora of ideas that flow very well from one to the next.

This is one of my favorite remixes I've evaluated this year."

The year is young, but NutS' endorsement still resonates: if you skip this mix because you don't know the game, you are MISSING OUT. The level of creativity overall but especially the level of fluidity & agility really allow this arrangement to happen in the first place, and make it something special. A fantastic tribute to a relatively obscure game; absolutely looking forward to hearing more from Harmsing!