ReMix: Super Metroid 'Brinstar Bonsai Garden'

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You know it's a good day when the Wizards can go into OT, lose via a heartbreaking last-second shot from King James, and I can still walk away with a positive attitude on life, the universe, and everything; call it fate. At any rate, RTF, perhaps more commonly known as the Rich Text Format, but in these parts singularly Red Tailed Fox, has provided us with a peculiar Super Metroid ReMix that wanders far and yonder in a spacy lounge jazz arrangement. Some panelists criticized the mix for a bit too much meandering and some rather crazy-sexy-cool yet simultaneously unbelievable cello portamento, but the consensus was that the voicings here, i.e. the gist of the arrangement, were slick. I concur wholeheartedly - check the semi-reggae infusion at 2'50" for a perfect example of the variety RTF brings to the game. The production, while not crystal-clear, has an impeccable ambience to it that fits the composition like a glove. Anything cleaner would have been too lounge, which po! and Morse have covered just fine and which the mix doesn't really belong in, and anything wetter would have been trying too hard to achieve pseudo-realism through excessive DSP - I actually think the production is rather spot-on for this type of arrangement, and an improvement upon the mixer's previous work as well. Shariq writes:

"Oh man, this is so slick. I love the flute/string harmonies and that bassline. Comping piano is excellent. Great implementation of electronic elements too. Some of the instrumentation may come off as gratuitous, like the asian instrument around halfway through, but I didn't have a problem."

The flute/string harmonies were a highlight for me too - that's now how I *want* to hear the original. Any time a mix can put forth an arrangement idea, no matter how small, that makes me want to hear the original in the same fashion, I consider it a big plus. It's one of the things I shoot for in my own mixes - that one elusive harmony, countermelody, or rhythmic shift that I always longed for in the source material. I think RTF's accomplished that with some of the introductory harmonies offered up here. That being said, the mix could still have a bit more direction and development. At four minutes, I do think its stronger side is in its first half and not its second, but at the same time, plenty of songs are four minutes long that don't have a memorable first half OR second half. At any rate, I like where Caio's headed with his stuff, I think he could pair this approach up with some more formal structural elements with amazing results, and I'm looking forward to his next mix, and that should be saying enough.

― djpretzel