ReMix: Sonic the Hedgehog 3 'Breaking the Ice'

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Maurice Willems and Sanjay Sampatsing (collectively Digital Element, or "DigiE") are back after a three year hiatus since a rather kickass OMF2097 ReMix with... an Ice Cap mix??? They went from "relatively obscure" to "dead horse beating" somewhere in the last thousand days, but the good news is that, while this is definitely a theme that is rather ubiquitous and may even be on some blacklists out there, yet again artists have been able to do something new with it. Maurice and Sanjay resubmitted based on judges' comments, and were prepared to resubmit again if they had to - I admire such resiliency and persistence. Fortunately, they got it going on with this revision. Andy addresses this essentially retooled iteration:

"Thank you for resubmitting! Mainly people don't and it's really unfortunate, because a lot of the time the mixes were close to begin with. Anyway, I'm really liking what was done here - as BGC and Malcos pointed out this is practically a new mix, but the feel and general structure seems to be like your original sub. Mixing/mastering is much better on the whole... Arrangement is great. Good variations and personalization. The breakdown at 2:19 is a nice change, and I really like the synth at 2:31 especially... All things considered, this is an excellent example of refining a borderline mix with judge critique in mind. You significantly beefed up the production, focused the arrangement, extended the ending, and ultimately brought the mix above our bar."

It's definitely one of the rougher pieces to arrange, especially in an electronica genre, due to the abundance of similar efforts out there, but these fellas throw in some exploratory and slick stuff, both from a composition and production angle. See synth solo at 2'30", which soars above cross-panned, crystalline backing arpeggios before being filled in underneath by a huge, warm bass and chunky beats. From a production perspective, I really like the way this piece employs a lot of higher, atmospheric textures while maintaining low-end analogue warmth. From an arrangement perspective, it's clear that most of the fun deviation and deviant fun takes place in the second half... it's good, and there's enough of it, but it was also an effective decision to limit the mix to 4'31", as I think it could have meandered into repetitive territory had things been stretched further. As it stands, however, this is a very solid, well-produced electronica take on the Ice Cap theme... while I personally wish that we'd see more esoteric/obscure game + track selection, and the recent trend seems to be in the opposite direction, nevertheless a good mix is a good mix is a good mix. It's also great to see DigiE back after so long, and successfully working through an iterative feedback process to bring us some kickin' tunage. Good stuff.

― djpretzel