ReMix:Stardew Valley "Raven's Dream" 4:52

The Good Ice's debut Sonic Unleashed mix from January of this year certainly got my attention, in the best of ways, and I've been looking forward to the follow-up, which arrives today in the form of a lo-fi hip-hop take on Stardew Valley - Ridley Snipes (Trevor Burch) of The Good Ice writes:

"I've really been digging the Stardew OST lately, as I finally got around to playing it last year (several years late, I know). So this may be the first of several submissions. But as I continue to expand my production techniques and explore new genres, I really wanted to try a solo electronic piece, getting away from the live band shtick I've found a home in for the last few years.

"VGM lofi boom bap huehue" is far from an original concept, but I think I managed to put my own spin on it. I tried to channel a mood that says, "The air is cool, but the sun is warm and the leaves are crunchy," and I think I succeeded in that overall vibe in the production. This isn't a particularly complex arrangement either; my additions really just boil down to small harmonic changes and bitcrushed melodies, with a light injection of vaporwavey wash.

One thing I found particularly fun in making this was toying with new rhythmic concepts in a lofi context. The pulse is set to 4/4, but there are almost infinite ways to to push and pull that feel within each measure. You can make the drums sit behind the beat of course, but what about two instruments playing the same part in straight 8ths and quintuplets at the same time? Sounds weird on paper, but here it's a beautiful imbalance for those sweet lofi vibes. Playing on the beat is overrated.

The air is cool but the synths are warm, and the drums are crunchy.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy listening and that maybe it makes your day a little bit more relaxing."

Quite often the words artists send along with their music describe it more quintessentially & eloquently than I could hope to, and this is one of those times :) Relatively subtle nature FX (forest birdcussion?!?) contribute to the open-air, freshly relaxing & relaxingly fresh vibe, and I love the off-beat rhythms and signature juxtaposition - those are relatively common in the lo-fi stuff I've heard, sure, but the loose timing has to have that Zen "just-so" specificity for it to work right, and otherwise it just sounds misaligned. This has just the right flow, and the style also affords Trevor a great stage for layering of textures and mixed spaces; of recent artists, at least on OCR, I'm reminded of Tune in with Chewie (Nestor Estrada), and that's high praise in my book. prophetik music writes:

"interesting writeup. also just a great ost - really remarkable what concernedape was able to do solo.

lots of space to start the arrangement, which does a great job setting the feel. the opening synths are clearly derived from the original's opening idiophone, and they're deliciously late on the beat. my jazz background has me always really loving when people really play with the beat and the pocket, so i really like just how far back these drums sit and your playing with attack and delay settings on those synths. i really appreciated the not-quite-organic feel of all of the instruments in the opening - the zippy arp to open it, the flute-like lead at 0:44, the wide, slightly chorused bass at 1:08, and the high-pitched bells in the right ear. they all help convey the mood you were going for so well."

Brad hits a lot of the play-by-play individual elements there, and is spot-on as usual. DarkSim adds:

"Now, I have to say, I really loved the rhythmic playfulness you showed in this track. I listened before I read your writeup and was intrigued by the timing on the auxiliary percussion (heavily-reverbed rim shot?) from 3:21 onwards. Thankfully you mentioned this in the writeup, as I would have struggled to nail down the quintuplets, but this was an inspired choice. I felt like the unusually-timed percussion could have been more pronounced in the mix, if only to be able to hear it (and figure out what’s going on) better, but I think by keeping it subtle, you’ve actually added a teasing sense of mystery. By playing with the timing in this way, it kept me engaged throughout the final minute, which otherwise would have been largely repetitive."

Last but not least, Internet sensation & well-known cool person XPRTNovice adds:

"You could easily, EASILY have told me that I was listening to Tenno, here, and I would have believed you. Your mixing is on point, the instrumentation is on point, your arrangement has good peaks and troughs that keep me interested but also don't force me to pay attention too much. That's lo-fi, baby. Music to chill/relax/farm stuff to."

And there you have it; really cool to see how Trevor is branching out and how The Good Ice is a platform for that kind of experimentation, especially when the "experiments" are this successful. Super-chill, wide & deep, and uber-atmospheric, The Good Ice's sophomore OC ReMix is another you absolutely don't wanna miss - enjoy!