ReMix: EarthBound 'Unleashed! The Large-Hearted Scientist Boy'
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- Game: EarthBound (Nintendo, 1994, SNES)
- ReMixer(s): Adhesive_Boy
- Composer(s): Hirokazu Tanaka, Keiichi Suzuki, Toshiyuki Ueno
- Song(s): Snowman (Snow Wood Boarding House)
- Posted: 2006-01-29, evaluated by the judges
Jack and I don't often agree on too many things, but we do share a mutual appreciation for Guided by Voices, which this mix draws title inspiration as well as perhaps some lo-fi sensibilities from. The ReMixer writes:
"...this one does go more extreme with dynamics and does a lot of different things in a short period of time, so I can maybe understand why it would be too intense for some people. Still, I really see this as a logical extension of the kirby mix - lots of effects and the "wall of sound"-type stuff. It obviously is more succinct and takes some ideas to the extreme (I really think I improved my percussion a lot from much of the cheap loop-based stuff I've used before, for example), but it's not too much of a stretch to me."
It *was* a bit more of a stretch to some of the judges, as this one eked by with some very strong objections from TO and zircon and lesser qualms from Larry. You can see, or rather hear, why - it's not easy listening, both in the generic sense of the phrase or from a perspective of difficulty. I think one does have to at least consider the zany, musically-whimsical-to-the-nth-degree source material that Suzuki-san wrote; Jack's treatment seems fairly congruous with the playfulness and unorthodox stylings of the overall EB soundtrack. Jack provides the backstory for the piece:
"This is about a kid who looks towards machines to give him the answers to everything. It's about an awkward and uncomfortable kid who fidgets obsessively over the slightest tweaks in the bits in pieces of whatever the lastest thing is he's working on. But mostly, it's about a kid who's too naive not to know he can help save the world (with the assistance of a magical monkey, of course)."
It seems like much of the divisiveness on the panel centered around the very in-your-face, overcompressed drums, which will likely be the deciding factor for many listeners as well; if you don't have a taste for lo-fi or garage rock and like your drum tracks with both hands where you can see them, this might chafe you the wrong way. JJT, for whom it did not, describes rather eloquently:
"Impressive. The Snowwood theme is instantly recognizable amid the ambiance of the intro. When the compressed drums make their entrance, the listener is pretty much AB's bitch for the next two minutes or so. This remix takes many of the ideas presented by the original composer and just runs with them: the mild dynamic contrasts are exagerated, the psuedo-polka section is put on steroids (and crack), and the ambient atmosphere of the original is captured, at least when the drums aren't melting your face."
Reminds me of that scene at the end of the first Indiana Jones ("Shut your ears, Marion!") a bit; Nazis beware. I think the trick to evaluating more sonically chaotic/challenging mixes like this is to still look for signs of intelligent design - no, not the makeshift creationism they're trying to teach in American in schools instead of acknowledging his noodly appendage, but rather signs of structure, motifs of intent, some semblance of composition-by-design as opposed to arbitrary flotsam. You definitely get that here, as I'd expect from Jack, but you do need to first acclimate yourself to the surroundings, which can be disorienting. Even the mix's advocates found the ending a bit abrupt, but sans that, what you're essentially getting here is lo-fi impressionism: an artistic, mutated vision of a character study, in musical form. Not for everyone, but then, what is?
Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the - Palpable on May 27, 2009
I loved the warm opening textures though.
- OA on March 23, 2009
- herograw on February 24, 2009
not sure about the rest of this song though...synths sound too similar to the original which i was never really a fan of
one other thing, like rellik said this isn't "experimental"
man people really like abusing genre definitions here
- Radiowar on April 22, 2007
I'm going to be up all night playing earthbound.
- Red Shadow on June 5, 2006
chokst~1.bat wrote:Mythril Nazgul wrote: It's just...I mean, Retentions of Conflict, man.
You make it sound like that's a bad thing. I could listen to that FF remix forever!
That was actually a big inspiration for this mix.
- Adhesive_Boy on February 17, 2006
Mythril Nazgul wrote: It's just...I mean, Retentions of Conflict, man.
You make it sound like that's a bad thing. I could listen to that FF remix forever!
- chokst~1.bat on February 17, 2006
- chthonic on February 16, 2006
There are some aspects of the song that I enjoy, but as a whole I find it too nerve-racking to have it fit as something to listen to while either working or relaxing. Overall, I enjoyed the drums, but I think it was the loud warbling synth lead that drove me away.
But regardless, I've generally enjoyed Adhesive Boy's previous works, and certainly look forward to getting to hear more pieces in the future!
-Austin Spafford
- DarkFrog on February 16, 2006
And since I love triphop, I don't have any problem with the drums.
- Martin Penwald on February 6, 2006
- Monobrow on February 1, 2006
This mix IS doing stuff that hasn't been done before. There are a lot of things going on here that are unique and very far out of the ordinary. That is what experimental music is all about; unusual combinations of things, transcending genre limitations, and so forth and so on. I don't see how you could debate this.
However, no, it's not jazz. It's not even remotely close to jazz. I don't know how you could possibly label it as such.
- zircon on January 31, 2006
zircon wrote:Rellik wrote: I really need to make a habit of reviewing mixes...
Anyway, I just had to comment on this one. Talk about vibe 8O :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: fantastic piece of music!
I can't stop listening to it - I think it's the way the drum rhythms mix with the melody and harmony. The only thing I didn't like was the ending - I think a fadeout would have been much more appropriate than the abrupt cut off.
Overall, I really don't know what to say other than... ingenious.
EDIT: I feel my commendation wasn't strong enough. [b]EXTRA-SUPERB[/b] or something
EDEDIT:
Linearity wrote: Experimental. Which means that it doesn't have to sound pleasant. Which it really doesn't.
I don't think it's experimental OR unpleasant, for the record.
Regardless of whether you think it's good or not, I think this is most certainly 'experimental'. Your average song does not have this sort of extreme contrast, ultra-loud and supercompressed drums, etc.
"Unusual" doesn't really mean "Experimental", as I see it. I would definitely say that it's not your average OCReMix, and that it features a number of elements that you don't tend to find, and that it possesses an intensity of a level that is not commonly found. So, it's definitely uncommon.
But experimental music implies two things:
1) it's doing things that haven't been done before
2) it's doing things with the intention of simply doing what hasn't been done
I would contend that the mix is more jazz than anything - I'm no genre expert, but that's my opinion. Experimental is rarely as melodic as this, and I wouldn't say that supercompressed drums are such a novel concept. It's original, it's uncommon, but I think the term "experimental" really doesn't fit it.
- Rellik on January 31, 2006
Rellik wrote: I really need to make a habit of reviewing mixes...
Anyway, I just had to comment on this one. Talk about vibe 8O :mrgreen: :mrgreen: :mrgreen: fantastic piece of music!
I can't stop listening to it - I think it's the way the drum rhythms mix with the melody and harmony. The only thing I didn't like was the ending - I think a fadeout would have been much more appropriate than the abrupt cut off.
Overall, I really don't know what to say other than... ingenious.
EDIT: I feel my commendation wasn't strong enough. [b]EXTRA-SUPERB[/b] or something
EDEDIT:
Linearity wrote: Experimental. Which means that it doesn't have to sound pleasant. Which it really doesn't.
I don't think it's experimental OR unpleasant, for the record.
Regardless of whether you think it's good or not, I think this is most certainly 'experimental'. Your average song does not have this sort of extreme contrast, ultra-loud and supercompressed drums, etc.
- zircon on January 31, 2006
- Fridge on January 30, 2006
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