Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master "We Built an Edifice Towards a Dark Sky" 4:42

This one's truth in advertising, as it took a village a ways to build up this musical edifice towards the dark sky! Behold The Vodoú Queen's big vision focused on Shinobi III, scaffolded by Rise of the Robots, and bolstered by several performances:

• The Vodoú Queen - arrangement
• ZackParrish - live steel tongue drum
• SableProvidence - live dizi
• Gamer of the Winds - live alto flute
• Chimpazilla - arrangement & mixing consultation/mastering

Originally conceptualized in the Meat 'n Potatoes compo, The Vodoú Queen explains her gaming love for the mysterious Joe Musashi and the many influences guiding her glitch-hop direction:

"Most people thought (especially back in the '90s) that girls weren't into video games -- and if they were, they'd be playing something related to Barbie, or, as later in the 2000s, the Bratz doll games, or something along those lines. But for me, as a girl, I was playing stuff like Shinobi 3. Not only was it one of my first games for the Genesis (besides Sonic 1 & 2), it was one of my favorite of the action-platformer genre to play (the next being Gunstar Heroes for the same system). It was also the first game with a ninja protagonist and theme I got to play, even before Ninja Gaiden or Strider. I used to play the ever-loving shit out of this, and the soundtrack is not only awesome and high-octane, but shows off a lot of what the Genesis had to offer for its 16-bit soundscape. Sad to see, again, it be one of those games on OCR grossly under-represented, with only -- as far as I can see -- the song "Whirlwind" being remixed. [...]

Originally done for the Double Dose round of Meat n' Potatoes compo 123, "We Built an Edifice" has since grown and expanded into something I feel is much more than what was its original intent and drive. Based on a heavy influence by one of my favorite experimental electronica groups, The Glitch Mob, this version of the song leans more heavily towards its spooky main source roots ("Inner Darkside"), partially because the plan was to have this submitted for Halloween 2023 (but that fell through, sadly). It's as if The Glitch Mob meets "Tubular Bells" (most famously known as the theme to the Exorcist franchise) meets the X-Files/"Signals from Space" & Stephen King's The Tommyknockers... with a sprinkle of Asian aesthetics and a bit of orchestra. Rise of the Robot's "Builder/Prime-8" plays a hefty role in this remix as half of its bass arrangement, and also as some of the bell/arps structure and harmonic, pulsing trance chords towards the end, at the key change.

My hope is that people appreciate the vibe, and the emotions and metaphors present within, of a driving, unseen, demanding (evil?) entity or force turning one -- or several people -- into slaves of passion... building that epicenter, one's own Tower of Babel, to greater and greater heights, without rest (hence the vox line that originates from the movie Field of Dreams ;) ). In a strange way, it's very reflective of my own vices and artistic processes... and whether or not that's healthy or good is another story entirely.

Creative approach-wise, this came half-spontaneously and half-experimentally, something that's grown and evolved over months of tweaking it here and there since MnP 123. I just knew I wanted to kind of mimic Glitch Mob's unique style and approach when it came to their synths and bass/drumlines, and see what I could spark of my own flavors and spice to those techniques and facets of composition. Arrangement/part-writing-wise, it doesn't stray *too* far outside of the original source material, however, I did do quite a bit of shaking up the MIDI, changing some note structure for "Inner Darkside" at the midpoint of the remix, and incorporating more of "Builder/Prime-8's" chords to match it. Hopefully the flow feels good in those spots, inclusive of the slow-down/chill-out after the high-strings riser/drop that drags us kicking and screaming towards that finale... still obsessively, and unrelentingly building on the "dark tower" that's within every human soul. Every bit in this remix had a purpose, every brick being lovingly laid. This track was a joyful ride, albeit I'd be remiss to mention or say I was reluctant/scared to submit this... purely out of fear it might not gel with everyone's jam. But... nothing ventured, nothing gained -- so, we'll see, like with all my other submissions thus far. :)

Huge hugs and thanks to my collaborators, and their immeasurable advice on how to write for woodwinds and ideas on how to bring out this piece to its fullest potential. I'm always glad and proud of every collab I do, with such a wide variety of talented and gifted musicians. This one is no different. <3 Thanks for listening. :D"

The intial submitted version had a ton going on, arguably too much, but VQ took it to the Sages on our Discord server to get further feedback and started paring it back, tagging in a judge to give her some final advice on focus and a dash o' mastering sheen, none other than Chimpazilla:

"VQ had already received some excellent guidance from the Sages to help her unclutter this arrangement, and then she reached out to me for further advice. It already sounded much better to me, but I was able to help her get it mixed even a little bit better, and then she had me master it. I think it sounds significantly better and I can now appreciate the vision that she originally had for the piece. The positive aspects of the sound design and writing all shine through now without anything being overshadowed, and I really like it! And others will as well.

The result is a dreamy, groovy, Eastern-themed soundscape that sounds really full and open yet loaded with fun details and ear candy, telling a story as it moves along. I love the vocal clips! Just a great track.

Thank you for your trust, VQ, and this was fun to work on with you! Good job! Definitely "Chimp-approved," let's go!"

With Vodoú Queen's refinements well in hand, she built it and the YES votes came, with fellow judge Emunator declaring the dark spire open for veneration:

"What I'm hearing is a well-balanced, punchy mix with some really cool delay-based atmospheric effects that give this a totally unique feel, despite using a pretty traditional set of complementary instruments. There's a tremendous amount of personality and swagger here, and enough going on that, even though the beat is fairly low-tempo and unassuming, it still propels the arrangement forward and makes for a track you can really bob your head to. The arrangement breezes by, running through a lot of ideas but still managing to remain cohesive [...]. It's a really great piece that came together well. [...] Great work on the resubmission!!"

The glitch-hop vibes were very successful here with an intricate web of attention-grabbing instrumentation, dynamic textures, and character for days! Beyond Zack, Sable, and GotW's live parts, VQ's overall sound choices & sampling are extremely unique, a towering testament to a challenging & cerebral source tune! :-)