ReMix:Sega Rally Championship "Autos, Arps & Minimoogs" 5:04

HAPPY BIRTHDAY to Txai (Junqueira Viegas), who debuts with this upbeat funky house arrangement of Sega Rally Championship (with some nice cameos!), our FIRST EVAR featured mix of the game & a preview track from our upcoming album, VROOM: Sega Racing:

"This is my contribution to OCR's VROOM: Sega Racing ReMix project. While listening to the sources available... one of the songs was sorta just screaming "ReeeeMix meeeeeee!" to me. I started working on it in January 2011 and was pretty much done with it by June 2012. The song itself is a funky house treatment with lots of varied synths, brass, acoustic instruments, etc. There is also a healthy dose of percussive elements to go with it. AkumajoBelmont was thrilled with my rendition, marking me down as having submitted my final at the time. Enjoy."

VROOM has changed hands a couple times and been on hiatus for many years, so it's great to finally be on the cusp of its release, and this preview track gives you a taste of what's to come. Sega racing games have always had some great tunes, from the iconic OutRun to more modern-day jams, and I'm psyched for the mixposts to follow. José the Bronx Rican has taken over as director and is seeing the album through to release:

"An interpretation of another Naofumi Hataya "replay" tune from Sega Rally, similar to Mokram's in its progression of elements of the original, only this time whole soundscapes can pass you by in an instant, yet the track doesn't lose you. Other source tunes make well-situated cameos, mostly in tribute to Hataya-san's other works. It's a complete adventure."

Chimpazilla writes:

"Very nice minimal funky house treatment of this source. The mix is fairly conservative in terms of following the source's structure and chord progressions, but with some VERY sweet soloing and interpretation. Mixing is generally good, the bass could stand to be louder, and the bell-ish e-piano that appears on the right is a bit too loud (and I'm not a fan of extreme panning). The energy stays mostly in one gear throughout the track (making the track feel almost a bit too long), but it's a nice comfortable gear. Works for me."

Judges were iffy on some of the opening chords & production elements, and the connectivity between all the sources needed some sorting out, but overall there was agreement that Txai has cooked up a groove you can cruise to, bringing some classic source cameos along for the ride. There's a certain style/aesthetic to many Sega racing soundtracks, and I think this embraces those senses & sensibilities with authenticity and energy. Fun, funky, & well-titled - happy bday to Txai & be on the lookout for the full VROOM experience, coming soon!