ReMix: Chrono Trigger 'Electric Clouds'

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po!'s last ReMix was in March of 2002, so he makes a dent in 2003 just in the nick of time with this Chrono Trigger arrangement that features the man himself on some RealViolin(tm). To get it out of the way right up front, yes, this is another arrangement of Time Circuits aka Zeal, but it's very much got its own thing going on, and like many of the excellent adaptations of this piece, offers something new in spite of the source material being highly explored. po! does an upbeat smooth jazz take, with a slick drum groove featuring snaps quite a bit, a deep bass, spot-on Rhodes chords, a fluid analogue synth lead that pulls some excellent little ornamentations, jazz guitar panned left for occassional counterpoint, cross-panned xylophone on the ubquitous rising arpeggios, and some nice percussive additions in the form of cymbal rolls and soft, subtle rim shot rhythms. The highlight, however, is clearly the violin solo, which has an oriental flair to it, ala some of the soundtrack from Crouching Tiger or a good cross-section of Zhang Yimou's films (excellent director, check him out) - this solo adds beauty and grace on top of the already palpable vibe and soul. One downside is that, most likely due to the violin requiring a live audio track, there's some recording hiss noticeable right in the intro, but this becomes much less noticeable when more instruments join in after the first cymbal swell at 0'25". po! can definitely play the violin, too - vibrato's very expressive, as are dynamics, and there's a couple runs and faster passages. Perhaps not the next Midori, but good enough to sound quite professional in context, and totally works for the mix. So, concluding this update as I get ready to head up to my mom's place, here's hoping - whatever form of near year-end holiday you celebrate - everything's groovy and copasetic, and that if gift-giving is involved, you get what you want and give what's wanted. This ReMix from po! is fantastic, again puts a fresh spin on a familiar tune, and for me at least already counts as one Christmas present that's quite the shit, and makes up for at least ten pairs of socks :) Highly recommended - happy holidays.

― djpretzel