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OCR01449 - EarthBound "Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Scientist Boy (and the Magical Monkey)"


djpretzel
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i'm usually a fan of the more avant garde remixers (shna, wingless, ab), but...I just can't enjoy most of this mix. When the drums aren't going on, yes, i dig the textures of the synths, pads and ep, the panning choices, the ambience...very creepy and ephemeral, almost Silent Hill-ish.

It's just...I mean, Retentions of Conflict, man. I understand that the drums are supposed to be lo-fi, chaotic, overcompressed, yeah, I got that...Doesn't mean I like it. When the drums are banging away, sounding distorted as hell, I squirm a bit. I'm not a fan of the Flaming Lips or whoever else uses overcompressed drums like this (I know it's used a lot in triphop, but I can't say that massive attack or tricky ever made me squirm). I'm siding with the issues brought up by the dissenting panel members. I agree that the arrangement is great, but the drums are so grating and distorted...yup.

I'm reminded of the decision for Figaro Chiptune, a couple of days ago, where sound quality overrode arrangement and resulted in a rejection. So, yeah, Figaro had more of an issue with sound quality, but the argument is along the same lines. In fact, I feel pretty much like Vig did for FC:

The instruments are limited by the format, and I can't listen to this without being painfully aware that I'm listening to an exercise in compositional cockwaving.

So maybe it's not the same. Hell, it's only my opinion. And I know the Earthbound soundtrack lends itself well to unconventional and unorthodox remixes.

Fan of AB's stuff. Not a huge fan of (sections of) this song.

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Experimental. Which means that it doesn't have to sound pleasant. Which it really doesn't.

And that doesn't really matter. Man, your stuff keeps getting weirder and weirder, Adhesive_Boy, but as DJP said about this one, it's always full of intent. It's not "cockwaving" because it has thought behind it.

Good work.

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"This is about a kid who looks towards machines to give him the answers to everything. It's about an awkward and uncomfortable kid who fidgets obsessively over the slightest tweaks in the bits in pieces of whatever the lastest thing is he's working on. But mostly, it's about a kid who's too naive not to know he can help save the world (with the assistance of a magical monkey, of course)."

I could hear this in this mix. Overall, the tone of this is very ambient, very warm and pretty--with a whole lot of chaos going on in the background. The drums actually kind of remind me of machinery, kind of a "make this quick now fix that hold on fix that okay we're good...shit get that etc" feel for me, if that makes any sense. I'm not all that crazy about the tone of the drums, but it's not enough to give this piece a bad vibe in my ears. Very artistic, and professional. Nice work.

...:nicework:

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I really need to make a habit of reviewing mixes...

Anyway, I just had to comment on this one. Talk about vibe 8O:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: fantastic piece of music!

I can't stop listening to it - I think it's the way the drum rhythms mix with the melody and harmony. The only thing I didn't like was the ending - I think a fadeout would have been much more appropriate than the abrupt cut off.

Overall, I really don't know what to say other than... ingenious.

EDIT: I feel my commendation wasn't strong enough. EXTRA-SUPERB or something

EDEDIT:

Experimental. Which means that it doesn't have to sound pleasant. Which it really doesn't.

I don't think it's experimental OR unpleasant, for the record.

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I actually REALLY enjoyed this. The synth/bell/whatever texture playing the lead was gorgeous, the effects were excellent, and most of the time I really liked the contrast with the drums (a few spots in the 1:40-2:00 section notwithstanding). Excellent work.

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I really need to make a habit of reviewing mixes...

Anyway, I just had to comment on this one. Talk about vibe 8O:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: fantastic piece of music!

I can't stop listening to it - I think it's the way the drum rhythms mix with the melody and harmony. The only thing I didn't like was the ending - I think a fadeout would have been much more appropriate than the abrupt cut off.

Overall, I really don't know what to say other than... ingenious.

EDIT: I feel my commendation wasn't strong enough. EXTRA-SUPERB or something

EDEDIT:

Experimental. Which means that it doesn't have to sound pleasant. Which it really doesn't.

I don't think it's experimental OR unpleasant, for the record.

Regardless of whether you think it's good or not, I think this is most certainly 'experimental'. Your average song does not have this sort of extreme contrast, ultra-loud and supercompressed drums, etc.

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I really need to make a habit of reviewing mixes...

Anyway, I just had to comment on this one. Talk about vibe 8O:mrgreen::mrgreen::mrgreen: fantastic piece of music!

I can't stop listening to it - I think it's the way the drum rhythms mix with the melody and harmony. The only thing I didn't like was the ending - I think a fadeout would have been much more appropriate than the abrupt cut off.

Overall, I really don't know what to say other than... ingenious.

EDIT: I feel my commendation wasn't strong enough. EXTRA-SUPERB or something

EDEDIT:

Experimental. Which means that it doesn't have to sound pleasant. Which it really doesn't.

I don't think it's experimental OR unpleasant, for the record.

Regardless of whether you think it's good or not, I think this is most certainly 'experimental'. Your average song does not have this sort of extreme contrast, ultra-loud and supercompressed drums, etc.

"Unusual" doesn't really mean "Experimental", as I see it. I would definitely say that it's not your average OCReMix, and that it features a number of elements that you don't tend to find, and that it possesses an intensity of a level that is not commonly found. So, it's definitely uncommon.

But experimental music implies two things:

1) it's doing things that haven't been done before

2) it's doing things with the intention of simply doing what hasn't been done

I would contend that the mix is more jazz than anything - I'm no genre expert, but that's my opinion. Experimental is rarely as melodic as this, and I wouldn't say that supercompressed drums are such a novel concept. It's original, it's uncommon, but I think the term "experimental" really doesn't fit it.

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Last post I'm going to make on the topic, since I don't want to clog the thread;

This mix IS doing stuff that hasn't been done before. There are a lot of things going on here that are unique and very far out of the ordinary. That is what experimental music is all about; unusual combinations of things, transcending genre limitations, and so forth and so on. I don't see how you could debate this.

However, no, it's not jazz. It's not even remotely close to jazz. I don't know how you could possibly label it as such.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Audacious!

There are some aspects of the song that I enjoy, but as a whole I find it too nerve-racking to have it fit as something to listen to while either working or relaxing. Overall, I enjoyed the drums, but I think it was the loud warbling synth lead that drove me away.

But regardless, I've generally enjoyed Adhesive Boy's previous works, and certainly look forward to getting to hear more pieces in the future!

-Austin Spafford

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