ReMix:EarthBound "Bonhomme de Neige" 3:08

Welcome to OCR's 79th community album, The Impact of Iwata! This is a special release indeed, a musical compliment to Nintendo Force editor-in-chief Lucas M. Thomas's book of the same name (which you should purchase!) and also its audiobook background music. Lucas is also related to the album's director, OCR stalwart and trumpet specialist TSori, so it helps to have musical friends (& family) in high places when you have a grand concept you need executed. The Impact of Iwata is Lucas's labor-of-love biography of the late Satoru Iwata, who not only took Nintendo to soaring levels of success & cultural influence as its fourth president but also forged lifelong relationships and touched off far-reaching butterfly effects through his formative years as a programmer.

We'll have more to share on the album-at-large as we publish future mixposts, but we're extremely honored to have partnered with TSori and Lucas, and there are 16 wonderful tracks in store for you! First up, for today's 30th anniversary of EarthBound -- a game which Iwata rescued from cancellation due to his programming skills -- there's no better way to celebrate this classic game and The Impact of Iwata's rollout than with Ridley Snipes, joined by Earth Kid's lovely vocals, as they put an impressionistic touch on "Snowman"! Ridley shared the thinking behind their thoughtful & touching tribute, coincidentally both artists' 20th OC ReMix:

"What a beautiful piece of music "Snowman" is. It's also quite short and only uses 4 chords. And then there's me only using half of that. It's a simple tune -- one that I simplified even further by only using two chords and half of the melodic content -- but that was my goal.

I don't know what possessed me to put this song in 4/4, but it just felt right. A lot of my musical ideas lately have been less about melodic development and much much more about capturing a vibe -- just living in a moment of time. All I wanted was a simple canvas to create an uplifting collage of sound to just live in for 3 or 4 minutes.

Why French? I'm not really sure either, but it works just as well under the "impressionist" umbrella, haha. There's a little more source DNA if you put the supporting parts under a microscope, but I really just wanted to walk the core melody out into the cold sunset.

Full disclosure, I've never actually played EarthBound... but as soon as I saw the tracklist for the album I knew that this was the move (this is a lie -- my initial claim was for Tears of the Kingdom, but I agreed to yield my spot to Michael Hudak). And that was the move, really, because in retrospect, this track actually marks a significant turning point in my production style and overall mixing philosophy -- a path I plan to follow for the foreseeable future. That combined with Earth Kid lending me her wonderful voice resulted in something I'm very proud of, and I'm glad that this particular project ended up being its vessel.

The vocals make this track, in my opinion. All the sound design and engineering choices were based around the would-be vocalist and I'm so happy that I could have Earth Kid lend me her talent to really bring this home. I had her voice in mind from the beginning and she absolutely nailed it -- exactly the vibe I wanted and a fitting mood for an emotional tribute.

Nothing else to say except "Thank you, Mr. Iwata." Cheers!"

I love the fact that Ridley never played this game, because the way this track's produced feels reverential regardless, and that doesn't require nostalgia, only a vision. Cool Xmas vibes to start with the sleigh bells, though that of course fits with EarthBound not just Christmas. Interesting choice to switch "Snowman" to 4/4 and simplify the melodies, yet it all clicks like no other. If you want lovely vocals, by the way. give Earth Kid a call, for sure. Great work from Trevor and EK, I hope they collab again! Among the panelists, judge Emunator reacted the most poignantly to the piece:

""I really just wanted to walk the core melody out into the cold sunset." What a beautiful turn of phrase that perfectly captures the intangible feeling I get from listening.

This arrangement evokes such a pure sense of nostalgia and timelessness while simultaneously feeling incredibly modern in its production choices. The washed-out dream pop guitars and keys and Tame Impala-style filtered drums could genuinely go toe-to-toe with professional indie pop productions from the modern age. It's a testament to Trevor's meticulous attention to technical details and an incredible ear for building a satisfying sound palette. The arrangement itself is fairly no-frills and doesn't delineate far from the initial concept, but does exactly what it needs to, stripping back the iconic Snowman melody back to its core and reshaping that into one of my favorite OC ReMix submissions that I've heard in years."

I appreciated Ridley's ambition to just capture a vibe; knowing that this effort is in remembrance of a life gone too soon, Ridley's instrumentation feels that much more introspective, EK's ethereal vocals feel that much more fleeting.

I can't wait to partake in the Impact of Iwata audiobook to hear how the joy, the energy, and the spirit of creativity are reflected in celebrating the life, career, and outsized impact of someone who left an indelible mark on the industry we love. Whether in physical book form, audiobook form, or musical form, we acknowledge The Impact of Iwata!