ReMix: EarthBound 'Red Blue Sanctuary'

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So, let's cover some other news before moving on to Binster's delicious + nutritious Earthbound groove. Both Jill and myself have had anime remixes posted recently over at animeremix.org; speaking for myself, my Wolf's Rain remix is probably the best vocal track I've put together to date, and Jill's Fruits Basket piece is similar to Prayer, but more layered and elaborate, showing strong development at aspects of mixing other than vocals (which she was already amazing at) - check 'em both out if you've got some time. As sort of a "where are they now", I also thought it was interesting to see mutagene releasing a number of free VST effects, and McVaffe doing some pretty impressive photography. Cool.

I was actually going to post this mix directly, but didn't have enough time to compare against the source material before heading out to Vegas last month, so the panel got the gig. JigginJonT has recently come on board to try his hand at the whole judging scene, and had this to say:

"I'm not particularly wild about how this feels like two different remixes put back to back, but I'd say there's enough stylistic similarities between the two sections to provide some continuity. I actually kind of like the click leading up to the start of the track, reminds me of the transition between "Airbag" and "Paranoid Android" off OK Computer. Production is slick, and though as the other judges pointed out, there's less interpretation going on in the sanctuary garden section, the overall presentation of this ReMix puts it over the bar. Groovin'"

Binster certainly has a way of creating distinct, striking electronic textures - there's all sorts of effects and layers at work here, over top a relatively straightforward groove anchored by phat bassline. Phat bassline is important, and Binster has phat bassline, so that's a good thing. The first half is darker, more of a funk/jam, with the second half having a poppier, synth candy, major-key vibe. Most of the third minute is used to layer effect upon effect into a cacophony that builds and then washes away in the transition to mellower remains. Some of the vocoded effects towards the end, while tasteful and pretty slick, are mixed a little loud, and spike a bit too much treble into things at times. Larry writes:

"Cool stuff with the SFX starting at 4:30 that later revealed itself to be saying "Welcome to your sanctuary" when finally exposed at 5:13. Very intelligent stuff. Arrangement (treated as a whole) and production are solid. Nice contrast between the two sections as well."

Binster continues to show off a seemingly endless plethora of sonic variety in his work, and contributes yet another arrangement that smartly showcases this strength and pays an excellent homage to the source songs.

― djpretzel