ReMix: Final Fantasy VI 'The Haunted Train Disco'
For those of you who've seen Lars von Trier's Europa, perhaps the opening train track fx here will likewise remind you of its mesmerizing, hypnotizing introduction. TO covers some less tread FF6 territory with this ReMix of "The Phantom Train", perhaps one of the less memorable selections from a stellar OST, which he manages to breath new life into, largely with augmented instrumentation and much-needed ambience. The "disco" factor here isn't particularly high - the sound is less polyester/John Travolta and more leather/John Carpenter, with a creepy, 50's horror-flick vibe playing footsy with some squishy layered loops. There's even a partially obscured voice-of-doom vocal sample of former judge Antonio Pizza, doing his best impression of the same guy that did the boss voice for Altered Beast (i.e. "Welcome to your doooooom"). TO's initial sub had all the drums panned dead center, which I gave him a hard time about, since he'd done such a lovely job panning everything else in a dynamic, broad spectrum, but luckly the source files were available and he took measures to rectify things and quickly resubbed. Most of the mix is evolutionary, a layering and exploration of relatively simple motifs, and if there's one larger criticism to be made it's that the mix isn't particularly linear in a fashion that makes its second and third minutes memorably different than its first. It never feels like it's repeating itself verbatim consecutively, but the bigger picture could have used some hiatus/breakout section and a more emphatic climax. When I think haunted trains, I think increasing speed, or at least increasing intensity, but things here pretty much stay on rails here. However, at least they're good rails, with TO having conjured some very apocryphal, tortured textures as the ambient backdrop for his work. This was a divisive piece for the panel, whose decision warrants review as I can't encapsulate accurately the fairly disparate views professed. In speaking for the slim majority, I think Oji said it well:
"Objectively speaking, this was solid enough arrangement and execution for the YES, though the mix feels kind of "safe", as I can't think of a better word. Nothing against Lee of course, as I'm a big fan of his work and his style, but I've enjoyed his other material moreso than this. Too bad we didn't have this for this past Halloween. Spoooooky!"
This is a piece where I think incorporating/melding one other melody from FF6 could have added the compositional content necessary to really flesh things out, instead of relying on a series of additive/subtractive permutations. It's still a good, atmospheric piece that covers FF6's darker nooks and crannies in style, however, and those looking for more esoteric coverage of the game or just spooky musics in general should dig.
Content Policy
(Submission
Agreement and Terms of Use)
Page generated Thu, 08 Jan 2009 22:50:57 -0500 in 0.0144 seconds
All compositions, arrangements, images, and trademarks are copyright their respective owners. Original content is
copyright OverClocked ReMix, LLC. For information on RSS and JavaScript news feeds, linking to us, etc. please refer to resources for webmasters. Please refer to the Info section of
the site and the FAQ available there for information about the site's
history, features, and policies. Contact David W. Lloyd (djpretzel), webmaster, with
feedback or questions not answered there.
