ReMix:Super Mario Bros. 2 "Trapped in a Cave" 3:13

bLiNd (Jordan Aguirre) gives us an infectious, Arabian trap take on SMB2's underground BGM:

"Been a while since I submitted something. Wanted to share this one because I feel the marriage of Middle Eastern instruments and the original source do magic together. This is an Arabian trap remix of the cave theme from Super Mario Bros. 2 and was originally intended for NESterYears 2. I ended up scrapping that project and am pursuing Super NESterYears instead. So in light of that, I wanted to submit this gem to OC ReMix to celebrate that I am still remixing after 20 years."

Decades, man, decades... Jordan just got done passing a kidney stone, so here's to the relief of intense pain! We don't have a ton of trap on OCR, and the Middle Eastern influence here really works nicely with the source tune. Judges did note the repetitive nature of the arrangement, but were feeling it overall - DarkSim writes:

"This feels like a spiritual successor to Dirty Coins, and it's amazing to hear how bLiNd's production has improved from what was an already excellent level. The overall feel of the track is much more laid-back than Dirty Coins, going for a trap aesthetic rather than dubstep, and following the evolution of the EDM landscape since 2013.

Arrangement wise, it doesn't have one of those climactic moments that are present in Jordan's trance mixes, but the track does build in intensity slowly as elements are added. I guess the 'drop' is at 2:24, but as we've already heard the elements individually beforehand, some of the impact is lessened.

I always enjoy hearing ethnic instruments used in electronic music - and learning their names - so I'm glad the kamancheh gets a run out for this one! As with the presentation of the main theme though, a bit more variation and experimentation with the instrument wouldn't have gone amiss.

Minor criticisms aside though, this definitely does enough to pass. Congratulations on 20 years remixing!"

More of a vibe type of a mix than a narrative progression, so there's no peak time / climax per se, but rather an evolving groove. At the end, we're still in the cave, but maybe we don't mind so much since we've got such good tunes ;) Chimpazilla did make note, and my EQ confirms, that this mix has some beast low-end, so it'll give your subwoofer a nice workout. Fun, unique stuff among OCR and the artist's own oeuvre, too - congrats to Jordan for two decades of VGM arrangement greatness; enjoy!