ReMix:Secret of Mana "Hallucinatory Province" 4:18

Lucas Guimaraes debuted back in July of last year with a selection from Resonance of the Pure Land, and now returns with MOAR MANA, as he takes "The Dark Star" for a psychedelic rock spin, with assistance from some talented collaborators:

"This track was on the Pixel Mixers album Whispers from a Verdant Grove. This was my first shot at doing the "psychedelic rock" genre where I got influence from three eras; any psychedelic rock after The Doors, The Doors, and some psychedelic rock before (which explains the tabla and the sitar). I'm super-proud of how it turned out; especially with the fantastic performances of my friends ImAFutureGuitarHero, who provided the bass, and Stemage, who provided the guitars and drums. While I never got to finish Secret of Mana myself, its music always stood out to me, and this part of the game definitely sticks out."

I'm a big fan of The Doors & paid them some overt homage myself back with OCR03000, so it's great to see something in that general ballpark crossing our screens. This might not have Ray Manzarek's iconic Vox Continental organ, but Stemage is on guitar & drums, and the vibe is far out. There was a high-frequency hum/artifact that some judges noticed, and which was subsequently addressed in a revision, but other than that the peace, love, & understanding was unanimous. Rexy writes:

"That choice of instruments makes me think more in the direction of George Harrison rather than The Doors, but I can still identify the chill 60s vibe here. That source is present from start to finish, going beyond being played straight with a smart interpretation typical of the style. It's been played at half-time during the intro, demonstrated a funk-like swagger at 1:07, and appeared on the bass in a modified form (most evident from 2:00). Even the framework is robust, with the fleshed-out section B segments at 0:40 and 2:53 anchoring it with your Asian instrumentation. I have no faults with interpretation - it's there and tastefully done."

Sir_NutS adds:

"Love it. Definitely getting a psychedelic vibe from this, though not quite at Disraeli Gears levels, sorta more like something between Abbey Road and Dark Horse. Also reminds me a little bit of the style of K. Praslowicz's mixes. Still quality stuff, lovely performances, great adaptation and the arrangement is varied, utilizing the different instruments to complement the lead melodies bringing this arrangement to life."

Relative to other tracks I'd been listening to, I did feel the need to bump the volume a tad, especially to make out some of the nicely layered tabla/sitar bits. Judges didn't seem to focus on it much, but for me the highlight was the reversing effect on Grant's lead (e.g. 1'58") - authentic for the period, but also perfect for this specific piece, & well-executed. Great, supremely chill stuff from Lucas - check it out, then check out the whole album!