ReMix:The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess "Echoes of Dusk" 4:39

The second half of our sophomore Zelda duo is ALSO a very original, unexpected arrangement; Deedubs (Mike DeWeese) debuted back in 2015 with an excellent Harry Potterish Mega Man 2 ReMix, and I've been looking forward to a follow-up. Now it's here, it's Twilight Princess, and it defies easy categorization, blending jazz, orchestral, ambient, and rock into a strange-but-captivating musical stew:

"A homesick Midna dreams of home. Suddenly, she is jolted awake. It's quiet, her eyes wide open. Slowly, she comes back to reality. Perhaps her dreams may be the only way she'll ever experience home again. She becomes sad, unwilling to accept this new reality. That is until help arrives. She gains a newfound hope, now more determined than ever to find her way home. She and her help fight through the toughest of challenges, their perseverance unbreakable. Suddenly, there it is. A familiar gateway. It opens. She makes her way through. It's home. She is finally home.

This is more or less the story that came into my imagination during the production of this remix. Very similar to the story of Twilight Princess itself, but rather told from the perspective of Midna. Midna's theme has a very somber, yet sinister tone, appropriate for the time it is first heard. My goal was to take that theme (including the English horn sound) and combine it with the more peaceful sounding "Boss Defeated" track to create something somber, yet hopeful.

This is one of the more complex tracks I've done, if only for how many different elements from different genres I threw together. As such, this was a huge challenge to mix. A big thank you to the kind folks in the WIP forum who provided feedback in that regard."

In 4'39" this covers a vast textural palette; if you seek to random positions, you'd be forgiven for thinking you were listening to different songs. It's amazing, then, how well it blends together, transitions between "scenes," and tells a coherent, expressive, & engaging tale. Panel was unanimously digging the vibe; Chimpazilla writes:

"The organic instruments are sequenced well, and the synths are well blended in. Creativity wins the day here, and the varied harmonic soundscapes and chord structures are wonderfully emotional. I feel like I just watched a movie about Midna's life! Source is woven all through the track. Well done."

NutS agrees:

"I can always appreciate a song built up from a story idea, I've done that before and it changes the creative process but oftentimes for the best. The use of organic and synthezised elements mesh very well here, the ambiance is very immersive and the arrangement flows very well. The timing when it reached the solo climax was perfect, as well as the resolution of the ending."

Moving into the fourth minute, as things pick up, love the distortion & snarl on the gliding synth lead... the arrangement's ability to come back down from such heights and then conclude with the decaying reverb tail of a lush chord strikes me as impressionistic; very vivid strokes. I really admire Mike's willingness to mix genres & instrumentation like this; it's something I aspire to, and I think he does a superb job coloring outside the lines in this fashion, while also telling an accessible, enjoyable story.

Subtly brilliant and not-to-be-missed; bravo!