ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest 'Mechanical Swamp'

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I love Protricity's stuff because he always places a heavy emphasis on melody - that sounds like a no-brainer, how could anyone not, right? Well, to me it's a question of which bits stand out, how the arrangement is mixed, what's been added, interaction between parts. His latest mix displays this beautifully and with some very gritty sonic textures at play as well. From DKC2, this mix adds distortion, both on the drums and the lead guitar (which is processed several times over by different effects, it sounds), over ambient, swirling synth pads and meandering piano patterns. Later on, the drums go synth-beatbox style in a highly funky fashion. The lead guitar here is amazing - tortured, wailing in the upper register with various amounts of reverb, and hitting a beautiful, screaming high at the very end of the track. Fantastic amount of variety - the beginning actually sounded a little like "In the air tonight" by Phil Collins overtop swamp sounds, until the melody came in (largely due to the CR78-ish drums in that particular segment). To me, the best music blends an understanding of melody and harmony with an understanding of audio, mixing, and has enough variety in both arenas to make things interesting. This soulful, bluesy, rock/techno hybrid achieves that duality with style. Probably my favorite Protricity mix yet, a technical knockout, and a must-download. Highly recommended - and then some.

― djpretzel