ReMix: Final Fantasy Adventure 'Begin the End of the Beginning'

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Yes, there WILL be more Kong in Concert posted in the future, regardless of whether most visitors have alreaedy become intimately acquainted with it in its entirety, as many mixers involved submitted their pieces. I'll endeavour to mix things up with some non-Kong stuffs, though, so we don't all go bananas. That was my one intentionally awful pun for 2004, so I'll see you all again in 2005 for more of the same. Newcomer "Big Giant Circles," whose pseudonym conjures images of Audi, the Olympics, and (haven't had dinner yet) the twin semi-beef patties on a Big Mac, sends in this very solid Final Fantasy Adventure techno construction. The only FFA mix to date before BGC's was Ziwtra's Willed Assault mix, quite worth checking out if you haven't, and BGC's mix actually reminds me of it, and Ziwtra's style in general - relatively intricate, layered, sequenced techno that stays interesting and has more structure than a typical groove-oriented track. Jim actually revised this track after submitting it once and receiving some constructive criticism from the judges panel. While he did work on the arrangement, he explains some of the rationale involved for NOT changing the piano solo at 2'20" too dramatically in his resubmission:

"The final villian you fight in this game used to be an ally of the main character. I keep envisioning in my mind a fiery duel between the two, going back and forth between the two sides as to who will be victorious. As the fight transitions, I picture the cinematography slowing down, and cutting out all sound, as a brief flashback runs through the hero's mind (hence the muffled, far-away effect i gave to the piano) and then fades as he is yanked back into full awareness of the raging battle. Kind of "the lull before the storm". (So dramatic, I know, lol) "

It works for me - I'd rather see people take risks and have them turn out average than put together average tracks that are totally predictable, and I think this risk adds some style to the arrangement and makes its segmentation more conspicuous. Larry Oji writes:

"The intro got condensed so it didn't meander around so much, some nice ambience and subtle support additions were apparent throughout the track, and the beatwork was thickened up yet scaled back noticeably. A very nice revision that takes care of many of the issues. I would have preferred the segue into the piano at 2:19 to start crisp and gradually move into the more muffled/far-away sound, which I thought would have fit more comfortably with the imagery Circles elaborated on in his note to DS, but I didn't mind the sound of the piano since Jim had a good reason to make it that way."

I can see some legitimacy to certain comments from the judges that repetition is a bit of an issue, and that portions of the mix become overly cluttered, but there's really a good deal of arrangement going on, afforementioned risks are taken, and, considering the limited instrumentation afforded the Gameboy, BGC's done a good job in that arena, building out the percussion and intro/outro quite adeptly. Good to see some GB coverage happenin' with so much love thrown the consoles' way, and to see an initial sub that's the (measured and refined) result of a resubmission. Good, enjoyable, catchy stuff - look forward to seeing what else the mixer has in store in the future.

― djpretzel