ReMix:New Super Mario Bros. Wii "Welcome to Our House" 4:14

Another new game's now represented on OCR, and we have another talented ReMixer returning to the front page after hiatus. Mario Month is the gift that keeps on giving! We just had jmr return with an amazing Mario Paint piece, and now it's Urbanizm Music netlabel founder Duane Thorpe back in a featured spot as well! It's time to enjoy DCT's chimerical rendition of New Super Bros. Wii's "Castle" theme with hip hop, orchestral, rock, and funk elements combining into a force to be reckoned with! DCT kept it short and sweet:

"An arrangement of "Castle" from New Super Mario Bros. Wii. I saw OCR was looking for Mario game remixes in advance of the SMB movie dropping, so here's a track that's got a little age on it, but I still think it's pretty snazzy. After listening to the castle theme from New Super Mario Bros. Wii a few times (not enough times to finish the game, but I digress), I tried putting my spin on the song with beetz and guitar action. Hope it makes the cut!"

Dunno why I chuckled to myself, but I did on hearing the old-timey production for the intro; definitely loads of personality to start. Certainly an interesting take on this theme, as Duane initially replaced the drum-driven tension of the original theme with the bowed strings and electric guitar lead from :46-1:28, but things don't stay stressful as much as they instead set a more laid-back yet dark mood.

I liked the doubling of the melody at 1:06, which was a nice touch. It was a subtle thing too, but I also liked how the strings dropped out at 1:27, which cleared up/opened up the soundscape some and created a nice dynamic change that might otherwise go unnoticed. Judge MindWanderer correctly noted significant coasting with the drums, so when the beats changed up at 1:46, I was happy to be wrong about the beat-writing potentially never varying. And ooooooooh, that glassy, ghostly line running underneath the melody from 2:18-2:29 for that harmonization, wow, THAT was a nice touch; it definitely made me rewind and literally go "Oooooh, yo, wait, what was that? Lemme hear that again!"

We had some tasteful Bowser laugh SFX before the lengthy geetar soloing from 2:29-3:13 brought some flare and fire to the fore, then went more into the ghostly atmosphere with a straighter rendition of the source. I liked the wind down at 3:51 as well, and can always get behind crystalline instrumentation. Despite some judge critiques on the prominent beats coasting and some mixing choices, there were so many distinct instruments in play as we move throughout the piece, so DCT effectively glued the various styles together to the point where nothing about the mood or instrumentation felt as if it didn't belong there.

A "pretty eclectic mix" according to MindWanderer that was both a strong source tune choice, and a great arrangement concept that would fit the bill for Halloween as well. :-) Duane, after 8 long years, welcome back! It's good to have you rep your Sonic Skillz on OCR once again!