ReMix: Super Mario Bros. 'Bowser is Pissed'

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Bowser is apparently pissed, or so sayeth newcomer PriZm, aka Pascal Jette, who gives us a turbo version of the infamous boss's theme from his first major appearance all the way back in SMB. Pascal says:

"This is an IDM / metal mix of Super Mario Bros Castle theme as requested by Evil_Ice. I was surprised that nobody took a shot at ReMixing this one, but I gotta admit it was kinda hard, since the actual song is three measures long and that it's hard to fit in anything original."

Given the brevity of the material, which everyone and their respective grandmothers should be acquainted with, PriZm does a good job getting maximum mileage out of what's available and filling the gaps with some breakbeat magics and creative augmentation. There's some REALLY cool tradeups later on in the mix, including a rock portion where one can envision 80's hair band members storming bowser's flat with massive riffage and questionable fashion taste, but let's begin at the beginning: a deceptively quiet, tense little orchestral intro leads us into the pickup at 0'11" where some gurgling wavestation-style wave sequenced synth bass undulates under d'n'b. Gotta commend Pascal on timbral variety for his drums - there's several kicks, snares, and myriad other hits, claps, and effects utilized, and everything's mutating pretty constantly, with a multitude of chopping and fills. It'd be a fun drum track to listen to isolated in its entirety, which is rarely the case, even on appropriate, hiqh-quality drum tracks. The shift at 2'47" with the "hyah" and screaming electrics turns an already above-average track into something truly inspired and memorable. If you wanna hear how to turn such a basic motif into over four minutes of music, this is where the mix - and Pascal - really shine. Binnie and Larry were a bit concerned with arrangement and production, respectively, but the majority liked what Pascal had done. There's some question as to whether pieces this short can be successfully mixed without arrangements becoming mostly original, but I think Jette does a great job of keeping the original around in one form or another and building around it. I feel like I could recognize the source material if I was played any 20 second excerpt, for example. Nowshky summarized my sentiments almost exactly:

"I think i'm on the analoq side of things here. There is an obvious (And successful) attempt at re-envisioning the original and makes it an interesting ride for a full 4+ minutes. Larry whined about realism, but realism is only really necessary when one is partaking in a "realistic" genre. Orchestral? yes. Rock n Roll? Probably. But off-the-wall dnB-esque electronic offerings? Nope. Very nice work with the processing overall, both with the volume/stutter FX, the panning, and overall synth programming. The same riff is basically repeating through the entirety of the tune, but it's so warped and transmogrified that it doesn't get boring for a second. This would be enough to get through already, but then some of the sickest guitar I've heard in a long time comes by to say hello."

Solid stuff that really grew on me after repeated listens. It doesn't have the strongest of intros and thus doesn't make the best first impression, but picks up after about ten seconds and never lets go. Different style, different approach, but still solid results from Mr. Jette, whose first mix gives Bowser something to be proud, not pissed, about.

― djpretzel