ReMix: EarthBound 'Dreaming on Distant Shores'

Download MP3
6,092,087 bytes, 6:21, 128kbps

• Trade-in your Games or Anime DVDs!
• OC ReMix Shirts & Merch
• Games:
  • DS | GBA | GC | PS2 | WII | XBOX | 360
  • Imports & Pre-owned
• Anime:
  • DVDs & Merchandise

We haven't had an Earthbound mix since last year, and so Rellik sends us at an opportune time a techno mix that starts with an extended, floaty intro that features distant, swirling, delayed synth atop broken/static fx with faint solo cello and choir leading to a beatdrop (of the non-Dain variety) at 1'27". Honestly, for the first several repetitions of the initial beat, I was actually reminded of my own Socket ReMix from not so long ago - some similarities in progression, rhythm, structure. Nothing overwhelming or even where you could cite anything definite, just my impression. Good techno trance development proceeds further, up until guitar takes over a more defined melody and the piece becomes a little more linear. I actually almost ended up going to the same high school Rellik goes to, way back in like 1994 or something - the DC/Metro area is home to several familiar faces on and around OCR, and it's cool to see people relatively local submitting stuff. The ReMixer writes:

"New mix here, and look, it's electronica again. It's called "Dreaming on Distant Shores", and it's from a song called "A Flash of Memory" from EarthBound. It's sort of... I guess you could call it contemplative trance? With some ambient elements. The whole mix is sort of centered on sound and immersion. Not my favorite type of style, but very fun to make, and fun to listen to! Thanks for checking it out."

At over six minutes, Rellik does the "responsible trance" gig adeptly, keeping things interesting all the way with breaks, and turning the last minutes into a more introspective, melodic affair. The pianoish timbre that accompanies the lovely acoustic guitar for this ending portion is a bit piercing and perhaps a little loud, but it only sticks out because the guitar is so warm and mellow. There's some rather unique percussion, a nasty (in a good way) escalating analogue patch at 3'07" that's followed by some mangled (ditto) breakbeat work, and subtractive and additive policies are well-implemented and do a lot to keep the piece moving forward. You could basically break it into three pieces - the extended, very immersive ambient intro, the quintessentially danceable trance portion that makes up the meat of the mix, and the more melodic outro that retains elements of techno but goes in a more lyrical direction. All three pieces make sense together though, and this is certainly gonna sit well for near-dehydrated Earthbound fans, especially if they're into electronica. Good stuffs.

― djpretzel