ReMix: Xenosaga: Episode I: Der Wille zur Macht 'Ein Anderer Abschied'

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DETROIT. Yes. And that's all I'll say about that. Before I move out of non-sequitir mode, however, let me take a second to recommend to anime and non-anime fans alike Paranoia Agent. I recently finished it and have to say that rarely has any show, animated or otherwise, impressed me as much with masterful direction, perfect music, and above all an incredible string of consecutive, brilliant narrative decisions. I was waiting to be disappointed for the entire 13 episodes, because I didn't think the creativity and execution would be sustainable, but that never happened, and I'd be remiss in not pimping it here, however briefly. Truly something. Moving on, our first ReMix from Namco's space opera RPG Xenosaga, which spawned an anime of its own, comes from Pascal Jette, alias PriZm, who quite recently impressed with his bowser mix. Disturbing crying intros with an ensuing drone/throb and then vocal sample and building string/snare orchestral pattern, initially giving the impression of a symphonic, more aggressive tone. Things take a step back with some haunting female vocals at 0'56", however, with delayed guitar entering and the beat becoming less driving and more explorative and spartan. Really interesting panning of jangling xylo bits as bluesy "Law & Order Intro" guitar trades time with oboe, then the guitar gets meatier, beefier, and other carnivorous adjectives, and solos for a bit atop a strong downbeat. At 3'00" even, following a wicked little chug-a-run, things change tone to outright metal, evoking shades of Evanescence as the now doubled, harmonizing vocals soar over relentless shredding rhythms. I don't think anyone on the panel was too keen on the spontaneous oboe solo ending; although I like the idea of fading into the piano, there's a logical stopping point where the piano bit resolves, after which it sounds as if a well-meaning but ill-advised first chair oboe decided to offer his assistance by punctuating the entire thing with his own brief impromptu solo passage, unbeknownst to the (hypothetical) composer and conductor. It's an odd and off decision amidst so many other planned and cohesive ones, but does leave a tentative last impression. All in all, though, an interesting meld of metal and mellow, with the crunch of guitars offset against melancholy, minor-key vocalizing, and also unique juxtaposition of very driving, consistent rhythms in the beginning and ending with a more free-form, meandering middle. Hopefully Pascal can shed some light on where the vocals came from, as he only mentioned that they were "real" in his submission email. While I think they could have used a smidgin' more reverb, they're texturally very compelling, and well-performed too. A wide variety of instrumentation - vocals, different guitars, piano, orchestral, acoustic, and electronic percussion, strings, and oboe - all contribute their respective strengths to the arrangement, and thus things never get sonically bland. Pascal's got a distinct, musical style that's willing to transition and merge in ways that some might dismiss as unapproachable, but which he makes work the majority of the time. This is a pretty conceptually challenging arrangement to have implemented, and with a few little rough edges, he's done so successfully. The result is a peculiar but communicative and enjoyable piece of music from a game that's so epic I'll probably never have the time to play it. Luckly, at just over five minutes, PriZm gives us his succinct take on some of the highlights from the soundtrack - good stuffs.

― djpretzel