ReMix: Sanxion 'Overclocked'

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4,171,502 bytes, 4:21, 128kbps

I've never played Sanxion. Hell, I'd never even heard of it before d0d0 submitted this ReMix. But I have a newfound respect for both the game and its composer, Rob Hubbard, after listening to this techno concoction of power that one of OCR's regular c64 ReMixers has conjured. This is just some boom-diggity, rockin' hard techno, no doubt about it. I feel that John had a bit more fun making this particular ReMix than usual - it's not just the menacing, Pink Floyd DSOTM-esque laughter and "fear of the lord" samples or the relentless stomping beat, but also some of the transitions and synth lines are over-the-top, not pulling any punches. I think the one key bit that gives it a lot of vitality is the Rebirth-style 303 synth bass pattern that comes in 'round 2'56" - up until this point this element had been primarily restricted to offbeats, and giving it the spotlight here was a great move. The other bit I absolutely love is the tricky change to swing time at 2'30" - totally threw me for a loop the first time, as the beat emphasis switches temporarily to more of a roadhouse rock bass thing, kinda like the Zillion ReMix I did a while back. This is one of the best breakaways I've heard in a hard techno track, as it's not your garden-variety ambient "drop all drums" break but goes further into messing with swing. Groovalicious - a slick idea, slickly implemented. There's also good percussion effects to augment the direct, no-frills drums. Intense, interesting, intelligent, innovative, and many other positive adjectives beginning with "i" come to mind - I urge each of you to check it out regardless of your familiarity with the source material (but check out the SID, too) - I don't think you'll be disappointed. Recommended.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 14 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

that repeated laugh at the beginning is creeping the hell out of me. :-(
Production is pretty solid on this one, but i'm having trouble finding the original in here, and the arrangement tends to drag a bit. Not really digging this one, sorry. :-(

- OA on December 12, 2007

I also never played Sanxion.
This is not a very creative name. But the remix is very creative. The introduction is funny: woman laughing.Good arrangement with few repetitions. One amused melody. Amused and crazy.
I want to listen the original song. This will be good.

- Txai on January 5, 2005

Very nice. Sounds like a cross between a rave and Jock Jam if anyone knows what that is. The fear of the lord clips realy blend well. This something I could deffinently rave to.

- Icct Hedrix on November 14, 2004

The remix is alright, but I didn't really care for it. There are several Sanxion remixes in the demoscene and this just didn't match the better ones out there.

- DarkWolf on July 11, 2003

yeah, The style i was aiming for was classic tony de vit era hard house (or whatever it was called when devit was around and hard house wasn`t), but trying to avoid the old house cliches, the missing snare runs were deliberate, as i think i`ve used them in every other OCremix i`ve done. The idea for the structure came fom kadocs nighttrain, all the elements are introduced one after another more or less independantly, then come together for the finale, however i took an editing decision to cut the tune down from 7 to 5mb, then further to 4mb as i felt it better to end on the sanxion element and keep it to the 4mb limit (which i later discovered is now 6mb.. grrr). The ending was discussed at length with a muso mate and as there isn`t much of the original sanxion tune in there it was the best place to end. yeah, i probably over filtered all the elements (howd you spot that? :) so that no component interfered too much with another, this was to avoid it getting too dirty at the end. If i finish the 7mb properly i`ll post a link in here somewhere, as a dance tune it was better (tho a lot of the critcysm still stands), but as a game remix it wasn`t. thanks for noticing the lead it only took half a day of tuning and filtering(!) and if the riff is from vinylgroover he`s psychic :)
Thanks for listening so closely and the great review, constructive criticism is always appreciated, especially if its from someone more experienced in a certain style. If it wasn`t for the spaceharrier criticism this tune probably wouldn`t have been done.

- d0d0 on January 24, 2003

I just got it to work and I'm listening to it right now. I'll type out what I think as I listen.........
Hmm..... .......Interesting intro. A bit long (25) seconds
Is that synth clipping? What's wrong with my speakers? Hmm it's just the synth I guess.
House? Is this a house song? You started with just the basic 4 beat kick and a weak shaker or some weird HH and let it go alone from :51 to 1:03. Even then all that happens is the HH comes in. (so it was a shaker)
still going to 1:13. OMG! IT is house! Mad props. No one bothers to make house anymore. You ever listen to Vinyl Groover? He is probably the best houser of all time; especially when he's collabing with redhead. That riff right there is from one of his songs. I can't quite rememeber the name.
It's 1:50 now and you still haven't done anything with it yet. HMM. 3:31 now. Well it never really built to anything. Conclusion after listening to song: The sounds and riffs were excellent house material. Very nice. You just didn't use them right. You had the right ideas about the buildups they were just a bit weak. You could probably fix that easliy with a clever snare and better timing. I also didn't like the frequencies in the song many of the instruments sounded pale as a result of having a short frequency span. This can be harder to remedy in house songs than most other chandres; believe me I know. The main melody which comes in at the end..... It sort of comes out of nowhere. Most house songs are not this way. They are gradual and progressive. Nothing just appears out of nowhere if you have been doing solid building for whole song. With House you usually have to pick one or the other, straight builds, strong beat (oldschool) or spontaniety, breakbeat (modern true house) Once again Mad props on choosing to make house. There are so few people these days that even remember what real house is. You obviously seem to. Those drums reminded me so much of Vinylgroover. and the lead that came at the beginning of the first minute... classic. My advice to you is listen to some more true house and you'll know what I mean about the transitions etc.

- Prophecy on January 23, 2003

d0d0 wrote: It has both id3v1 and v2 tags embedded, maybe not a good idea? they are just duplicated so try removing the v1 or v2 tag before playing.
Apologies if i`ve knackered anyone elses machine up with this. but you`d think if enabling both could cause problems you wouldn`t be able too :(

All ID3v1 tags are stripped before each mix is posted. OCR uses ID3v2 exclusively. As this was the original ReMixer's comment, I won't delete anything, but do try to keep conversation about a ReMix limited to the ReMix itself, not any technical difficulties you have getting it or playing it. Use the Newbies / Help forum for that. The file validates as a legal MP3 binary with correct ID3v2 tags, so any system problems relating to its playback are most likely with the system, not the file.

- djpretzel on January 21, 2003

It has both id3v1 and v2 tags embedded, maybe not a good idea? they are just duplicated so try removing the v1 or v2 tag before playing.
Apologies if i`ve knackered anyone elses machine up with this. but you`d think if enabling both could cause problems you wouldn`t be able too :(

- d0d0 on January 19, 2003

De' Jha' Vu. I don't think that's how you spell it. I had the same problem as the professor. Hmm. Let this all be lesson to you all. Don't get xp home edition and play certain songs from OC. JK. Get the professional edition. It's so much better. I promise to review this song for real as soon as I can get it to work

- Prophecy on January 19, 2003

Well, I can't say much about this mix. The first time I tried to download it, my computer froze for about a minute and then yielded, for the first time in my experience, a Blue Screen of Death in windows XP. About an hour later, after rebooting several times and reinstalling windows, I tried again. Know what I heard? silence. not a sausage. I don't hate your remix, but it certainly hates me.

- Proffessor_Scissors on January 19, 2003

I've never played Sanxion, but I know this melody from several C64 medleys.
This is great, solid Hardcore. GJ, like usual d0d0 :D

- GeckoYamori on January 19, 2003

This is some tight electronic stuff. In-your-face sounds and absolutely NO subtlety. I like! :wink: The laughing sample was a bit weird...don't know if I like that. But everything else is sweet. Rar.
And no, I've never heard of or played this game. :(

- sgx on January 19, 2003

What a great remix name :D . I tell you, it's about midnight here in Wisconsin, but I'm shakin' my ass all around the room listening to this. Nice, solid beat goin' on, very good mixing. I love the instrument that comes in at about '25. The Fear of the Lord samples are the icing on the cake, they fit in perfectly. Wasn't too keen on the laughing, but maybe that's just me. Overall, this is a great mix, but I don't think it was as good as d0d0's previous mix, which is one of my favorite mixes at the moment. Still, very good stuff, and deserves your download.
Oh, and has anyone here besides d0d0 actually played this game? :D

- Dev on January 19, 2003

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on January 19, 2003

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