ReMix: Donkey Kong Country 'West Coast DK Island'

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"DK Island Swing" is probably my favorite track from the DKC OST, and with (yet more) KiC coverage, JJT gives us his mellow, jazzy, muted-trumpet laden reinterpretation. Now, I don't advocate the consumption of illicit pharmaceuticals or inordinate amounts of legal alternatives, but if you find yourself in such a state, this is your groove. With some ambient aspects aside, one can picture guys in berets saying "daddy-o" and "out of sight" every other sentence and in general being beatniks. Kinda in that territory, at least. The vocalising at 1'20" in particular seemed "far out". Any time someone who knows who Miles Davis was hears a muted trumpet in ANY song, EVER, they usually liken said song to him, which is not always the case, but here they'd be okay, especially as the Jiggin one himself professes the influence:

"This drew a lot of stylistic influence from the west coast "cool" jazz movement of the 50's 60's. Chet Baker, Miles Davis and the like. The distorted rhodes sound was entirely too much fun to screw around with."

Gotta confess, I dig the original in large part because it's one of the classic swing-time platformer themes, and while I'm not of the narrow perception that it don't mean a thing if the swing is absent (to paraphrase), I do sorta miss the pomp and brazen energy of the source. Nevertheless, what JJT's come up with is a new creation, with a deeper pallete of tones and intonation. You've got a jazz brush set (heavy cymbal usage), rhodes, upright acoustic bass, a vocal that feels a little weird, some rockin' piano comping, but surely the spotlight-stealer and most vital element here is the muted trumpet. Which is awesome. Fluid, embellishing, quintessentially mellow - to steal a line from Mamet, I'll put it this way: it's so cool that when it goes to sleep, sheep count it. The drum fill following the main melody breakout at 2'30" is well-sequenced, but I could have seen the toms a bit louder and verbed; cymbals are definitely ruling the rhythm section. I'd say this is in Neskvartetten territory in some of its style and execution, which is paying a compliment to both parties. Very creative, and - in keeping with the theme thus far - very indicative of the range of styles this project has brought together under one umbrella. Slick.

― djpretzel