ReMix: Final Fantasy VII 'Speed Limit'

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Mr. Floyd returns after about a year with his first mix of 2007, some FF7 coverage of the Crazy Motorcycle theme. This was actually resubbed after the panel rejected a previous incarnation. sephfire describes the changes made the second time around:

"- The "popcorn synth" borrowed from the source material has been replaced.
- The intro has been reworked.
- The Advent Children reference in the string stabs has been replaced with a reference to FF7's battle theme.
- Other subtle changes have been made in areas I felt should be improved."

Source material in this case is almost anti-melodic; like good portions of the FF7 score, it's straight cinematic BGM, which jives well with Dan's ability to conjure orchestral-electronic cauldrons of sound. You've got a strong string presence, industrial drums, omnipresent edgy filtered synthitude, shredding guitars, and solid sensibilities when it comes to chopping things up and recombining them. That being said, even though the ReMixer does an admirable job of keeping the pace frenetic and the momentum palpable, this still isn't the type of arrangement you could mistake for being a "melodic journey" - it's groove-oriented, through and through. Nevertheless, that's clearly the intention, and trying to transmogrify the original into something less like BGM and more like a linear, narrative song would potentially have required too much extrapolation - the type of "extrapolation" I used to fill essays with the day before they were due, if you get my drift. Shariq writes:

"Jammin' good time. Nice beats, nice gating, full soundscapes without overwhelming the listener. Top-notch, imo."

This is a good time to mention that Shariq's taking a leave of absence from both forum moderation and judging. It's probably permanent, but there's always a slim chance things could change for the better. As I understand it he's been working some crazy hours, and some of the dramarama surrounding forum changes awhile back added too much unnecessary stress. I wanted to wait until something was more definite, and am secretly (still) hoping his free time and motivation rise from the ashes like a phoenix and allow him to resume the immensely important role(s) he's performed for OCR, but it's been long enough that I needed to say something. Darkesword's one of the most level-headed guys I know, has contributed some of our best and most popular ReMixes, has served for years as a consistent presence on the judges panel, and has provided the backbone of our forum moderation. He was also a catalyst in constantly reminding me to upgrade from phpBB to vBulletin on our forums, which I believe has been a significant improvement. His contributions to the site lack neither depth nor breadth; we would not be where we are without him. He's still active on our forums and chat, however, and indicated he'll still be mixing, so all is not lost. Either way, all should recognize the huge role he's played for OverClocked ReMix over the years.

But this is of course a ReMix writeup, and in conclusion I'd say that while this isn't necessarily Daniel's most memorable work to date, it's very solid and does a lot with a piece that never really resonated much for me in its original incarnation, but which takes on a kinetic ferocity in his capable hands.

― djpretzel