ReMix: Pac-Man 'Glass Cage'

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Avant-garde, post-modern, contemporary... Pac-Man? Seriously, someone could set Israfel's latest mix, a very slick, atmospheric, highly original arrangement of the Pac-Man theme, to an interpretive dance or performance art piece and it'd totally work. Highly conceptual stuff from Mr. Dover:

"This is a minimalist take on the main Pac-man theme, you know, that short 5 second diddy that plays in the arcade version. The idea of the piece is that the theme would repeat throughout the whole mix in one form or another- and that the theme would gradually become more recognizable as the music progressed. I thought of it like a TV getting a progressively clearer reception (incidently, a TV is one of the things that 'Glass Cage' refers to).

Sure it's a bit creepy and you might think that that doesn't really fit the "feel" of pacman; but c'mon, a guy trapped in a maze while being chased by ghosts, sounds pretty freaky to me."

To me, it's the perfect vision of what Pac-Man would sound like if his brief life story were analyzed, deconstructed, and made into an hour long exploratory performance art piece with choreography by Twyla Tharp. What drives a spherical yellow man to wander around, trapped in the machinations of his own maze-like patterns? What meaning does he derive from his conspicuous consumption, a clear critique on capitalism? And will he ever reconcile with the ghosts of his past lives, which still haunt him as terrible, blue, metaphorical manifestations? Questions Namco doubtless pondered at the time. Honestly, even though I'm an English major and love the arts, I do find post-modernism and deconstruction a bit silly at times. However, even when it is, the music that it gets set to is usually excellent, and this mix is no exception. It really reminds me of some of the Blue Man group tunes, largely because of the strong chromatic percussion presence and layered, metrical reuse of motifs. The ever-flamboyant Wingless, who himself needs to be deconstructed some time by a willing class of post-grads, writes:

"I'm always impressed with artists who can mold something out of nothing. I myself was contemplating doing the Pac Man theme, but in a sort of death-defying maximilist style. But enough about you, let's talk about me.

Isra always has a keen ear for nuance, emotion, and dynamic-landscaping. I especially enjoyed the different "movements" of the piece, from the opening crawl through the insane asylum where Pac Man has been kept all these years, to the deep spiral of his spider-woven thoughts, deep deep down into that twisted heart that bleeds obsidian tears into a well of irredeemable sorrow.

Daring. Deft. Dood."

How triune. This does have to be one of the very best examples of taking an extremely short but immediately identifiable game theme and arranging it into something mature, developing, and atmospheric. I'd use the term "academic" to describe it, but that sounds rather stale and lifeless, and that's not the case here; "intelligent" would be better word choice. Might not be for everyone, but as a would-be composer I respect the heck out of it, and I think almost anyone could both recognize the source material and appreciate the highly imaginative and musically effective way it's been utilized.

― djpretzel