ReMix:Dynamite Headdy "Mushy Metal Aura Headd" 5:03

New Zealand animator, filmmaker, and mad lad Dane Jacobs debuts with an insane happy hardcore & breakbeat upgrade of an already insane theme from Dynamite Headdy! What could have possessed someone to tackle THIS theme? Love and the holiday spirit, as Dane explains:

"I have been a long-time fan of ocremix.org and would be honoured to have this VGM remix of mine considered. I made this as a Christmas present for my fiancée last year (but ended up spending the last 9 months trying to get the mix to sound better, haha).

My goal with this song was to arrange it in my own style but still be very recognisable. The style I have been working with in the last few years mixes chiptune and VGM influences with IDM, breakcore, prog rock, and power metal. I hope you enjoy it. :)"

Seriously, is there anything a VGM fan could do with this track OTHER than enjoy it? I've loved the source tune since I first heard it decades ago, and the first thing I'd recommend doing before firing this up is listening to the original; it's undoubtably "mission accomplished" on a melodically conservative yet sonically personalized arrangement with panache, much like Flexstyle's take more than a decade ago. Judge MindWanderer was introduced to the source tune by way of voting on Dane's submission. Was he ready for the music of Nazo² Unit? You tell us:

"I wasn't familiar with this soundtrack. And after listening to it, I'm still not sure I'm familiar with it. "Frenetic" would be an understatement.

The remix goes after that same manic energy, and achieves it. The approach is somewhat conservative in that sense, though it does a lot of other interesting things with the arrangement and instrumentation."

Super duper interesting things are done here, and it's easy enough to assume this is merely a simple sound upgrade until you focus in how much work is put into the beat-writing and sound design. After a few listens myself, I was no longer thrown off by the awkward drum timing during the 1:52-2:39 section; in order to stay centered, just don't focus on the drums, because they're not the anchor. :-) If you focus on the lead and/or backing pad, you won't get disoriented or lose tracks of the measures. (Happy to help enhance your listening experience!) I also appreciated the voice sampling from "Maruyama Appears" from 2:48-3:07, both from a VGM fan perspective and as a pro wrestling fan from having heard that theme used in Botchamania. :-D Speaking of the wrasslin', apparently Dane metaphorically bashed judge Chimpazilla right in the ear with a steel chair, because she mentioned something falling out:

"Wait just a second, let me grab my brain from off the floor, it fell out just for a sec.....

Alrighty.

WOW. Insane sources, yes. Stupid amounts of detail in this remix. Awesome arrangement. I agree with the dudes that the drums are louder than the rest of the soundscape so they obliterate it now and again, and sometimes the mix is so crowded that, well, my brain falls on the floor."

When it comes to something this odd, there are no bugs, only features! This was a hell of a way to expand the palette of this theme. It's mania in musical form, literally amplifying every bit of energy from the source and making it even more berserk, complex, and unorthodox. Even a hemisphere away, I somehow feel like Dane boomed me. I've got no idea what he may have up his sleeve in the future, but Dane's certainly on my radar now! As judge prophetik music concluded in his decision, and I couldn't summarize it better: "nice job creating a convert." :-D