ReMix: Bionic Commando 'Bionic Electronica'

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First things first: I was going to post this mix the last two nights, but I fell asleep early... a sad sign of aging into fogeydom. Pretty soon I'll be bingeing on Mueslix and reading Forbes. Wednesday was Larry Oji's (Liontamer's) birthday, as well as Sephfire's. A belated otanjoobi to both, but a special note regarding Ojasm: I'm not sure how many are aware of this, but in addition to judging, Larry's been extremely important in helping clean up the OC ReMix database, updating ReMixer profile information, linking songs to mixes and ensuring the correct names are being used, and in general improving the site in a bunch of vital but not necessarily immediately visible ways. He's a triumph of the human spirit and a testament to the goodly will of INTARWEB peoples; like the wee hobbits at the end of ROTK, he bows to no one. And so on.

BGC always brings his A-game, but it sounds like he's recently had some additional challenges to contend with:

"Long time no hear from me. Last time I sent a submission was right before my wedding, and until the last couple months, I havent had a computer to mix with. Fortunately, I have aquired one (though not as buff as I'd like it to be, it's better than nothing). Plus not having the internet in my home makes it difficult for me to utilize the WIP forum or frequent the site."

Bummer on counts two and three, but a definite congrats on the mawage (gratuitous Princess Bride pronunciation). Jimmy also provides some amusing tech background on the mix's creation:

"What's new in remix: use of FL's built-in arpeggiator, vocoded granulized vox, and some cool sound FX. Also, no intro *GASP*. I know that's contrary to everything about my style so far, but I think it would have just taken away from what's already here. While I usually notate my own arps, I got a little lazy and left that to FL for the most part. I did, however, make up for it in my opinion by progamming most of the drums myself rather than relying so much on sliced beats. (and though it took longer, I was much more pleased with the outcome.) Lastly, as much as I wanted to avoid it, there is some FL Slayer in this one. FORTUNATELY, I did my best to use it as a suppliment to the other lead(s) rather than the primary instrument. So I hope I didn't piss off too many of the "FL Slayer Sucks" club-members out there :)"

FYI, though this is from the GB version of BC, the OST was quite similar to the NES version, so it's the same stretchy-armed commando you know and love. There's quite a bit of fluid tempo alteration going on for an electronica piece, and from a production perspective the whole thing sits in a sort of cavernous space, heavier on lows and highs than on middles, with mucho phasing. The highlight for me was the breakdown circa 0'57", with a doppler effect on what sounds akin to a passing car siren, leading into a nice armada of percussion enveloping the chiptunish bass, culminating in a cheesy-but-effective "bionic electronica" vocoder vocal snippet. The military snare pattern that fades in at 2'10" is a really nice and appropriately commando-esque element as well. The dramatic tempo shift and ensuing accelerando at 2'47" is initially a little awkward, but as things pick back up and build momentum, it works out rather well. I'm not sure if I've ever heard tempo variation used so extensively in this type of an electronica arrangement, but BGC knows what he's doing, and what could have been a real iffy compositional decision ends up giving the piece more character. A robotic, electronic, and kickin' mix from Mr. Hinson that mashes its mechanized teeth together at a tempo that's comparatively organic and fluid.

― djpretzel