ReMix:RollerCoaster Tycoon "Whimsyland" 3:45

We're thrilled to be posting not one, not two, but THREE new featured mixes today - one from each of our THREE newest judges!

DarkSim, Jordi Storm, & XPRTNovice have all recently made the cut and are already chipping away at the queue, so please send them a hearty welcome!

New British judge DarkSim (Jack Humphreys) starts us off with an insane, twisted, & altogether wonderful nightmare circus take on "Flight of Fantasy" from Allister Brimble's score to the original RollerCoaster Tycoon, collaborating with the singular General Grunt on vocals & vocal drama and, well, you REALLY have to hear it for yourself:

"Hi, judges! As ever with my submissions, I try to dig deep into the vast quantity of unremixed games out there, and attempt to bring something new to the table. This particular track is a totally new approach for me, in that it's my first submission with vocals (or singing, at least). It's also a bit of a camp, tongue-in-cheek journey through the decades of memes associated with this franchise.

Pretty much everyone who has been gaming since the late 90s will have come across RCT in some form at one point or another. Personally I've put in more hours than I care to mention, even participating in the closed beta of the RCT3 expansions and getting my name immortalised as a handyman in-game, which I'm hugely chuffed about! However, RCT3 divided the crowd in many respects, and this particular ReMix seeks to honour music from the original iteration, the Fantasy theme, composed by industry veteran Allister Brimble.

I had been toying with the idea of an RCT ReMix for years, and during lockdown one day I was browsing the OCR Discord and came across the works of talented voice artist and puppeteer Chris Addolorato, aka General Grunt. His pantomime-style delivery and the unhinged character to his voice immediately set off ideas in my head about how to get my coaster rolling, and the lyrics came easily once I had a voice to put them to. Fans of the series will appreciate the many references to in-game decisions and internet memes, as well as the slightly errant/morally questionable/psychopathic behaviour explored whilst playing the game, all brilliantly brought to life by Chris's vocal talents. Massive thanks to him for collaborating with me on this one despite never having played the game himself!

Like its sequels, I'm sure this RCT ReMix will divide the crowd, but I've tried to put together a fun, whimsical track that celebrates over 2 decades of love for this game and franchise, and the legacy it has left on gaming culture."

2022 is young, but this is an instant classic & highlight for me; the lyrics strike just the right blend of funny & disturbing, and General Grunt sells them with aplomb, a word I don't use lightly. The arrangement is built around the lyric, really, but has pleasing strings & context-appropriate chromatic percussion setting the stage, along with some nice natural theme park ambiance. The recreational-made-sinister vibe conjures Something Wicked This Way Comes & HBO's Carnivale, for me, which was a brilliant angle to explore & perhaps something that only could have come from such a dedicated/involved fan of the series. Veteran British judge Rexy writes:

"You know that I want to relate to this mix as personal as Jack did. But my experience with the amusement park sim genre had been more with Theme Park than RCT, and I could do not much about that. However, I love how this submission is vastly different from anything that Jack had done before – not only a vocal mix but also way less four-on-the-floor.

The backing track, while cleanly balanced, does use a similar set of non-articulated string and bell instrumentation to the original. Yet, it needed to be for most of the effects and emphasis to get carried on Chris’s voice. The megaphone-like EQ and distortion at the beginning quirkily stood out; the main vocal line has powerful clarity for even the sharpest of consonants; plus subtle reverb on the acted ad-libs distinguished them from the central performance. My only concern with the production was the loudness of the mixdown, as show tunes typically don’t aim for EDM levels of peaks. But it is some food for thought if Jack continues to diversify in the future.

And then we have the writing – and while it also stuck close to the original, there had been enough section breaks and re-structure to make it work on its own. The pizzicato string intro deviated from the minor key of the original to go for a more Neapolitan feel – a likely unintentional choice, setting the tone for how less innocent this theme park attraction would be. The verses also had some subtractive writing locked in the chord structure, and of course, it’s not a fairground mix without fairground audio making an appearance. With the accompaniment being more subtle, it’s natural that Chris’s vocals had to carry the real meat and potatoes – and it did, with a theatrical and enthusiastic delivery (complete with R rolling), plus no two choruses sounding alike.

It’s so bizarre to hear Jack approach a BGM in a different kind of way than he usually does – melodically conservative but also relying on vocal performance and textural changes to make it shine. He may say “honoring the series’ original style,” but I would say “more than one way to skin a cat” – and that’s one of the reasons as to why he’s now on the Panel with us. His development as an artist, understanding different interpretation methods, and (most importantly) consistent interaction in the reviews and workshop showed that he knows OCR’s depths even from above the surface. From one Brit to another, I officially say welcome to the team!"

Having more Brits on the panel also means we can get extra-saucy when July 4th rolls around & the American contingent celebrates our independence, etc. :) This is one of those mixes where you're just happy you live in a universe where unlikely forces collided & atoms arranged themselves in such a fashion so as to facilitate its very existence. I don't know if anyone was secretly clamoring for an evil old-timey theme park vocal drama take on RollerCoaster Tycoon, but it's apparent that we all SHOULD have been, even if we weren't, and now the dreams we didn't even know we had have come true. The "People run / 'round like ants" lyric feels like a reference to the ferris wheel scene in The Third Man, and the "Food is expensive / there's filth on the floor" line viscerally reminds me of numerous amusement ride experiences from my youth. Protip: Eat your funnel cakes AFTER you ride the teacups, not before. My warm & appreciative welcome to all three of our new judges, and my heartfelt thanks to Jack & Chris for putting together a super-creative, impeccably-articulated mix I'll never forget - highly recommended!