ReMix: Final Fantasy VII 'Materia Junkie'

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LuIzA is a one-woman army of sound. While that sounds cheesy as all hell, and not unlike the type of empty PR you'd hear from over-hyped mainstream artists, the bottom line is, it's just accurate in her case. With her first mix, she single-handedly illustrated some downright frightening guitar skills along with an ear for arranging to suit an aggressive rock motif without sacrificing substance. With this arrangement of Under the Rotting Pizza and The Oppressed, oops, she's done it again. Voices of the Lifestream features quite a bit of guitar, both electric and acoustic, so the instrument is well-represented (nicely justifying its incorporation into the album logo, so I didn't have to redo it!), but what amazes me is how each musician has a distinct and identifiable sound. When I think of the verb "shred", which is unmistakably what these guys and gal are doing, I don't think of subtle variations, but the guitarists of FF7:VotL definitely show how there's more than one way to skin a fret.

This mix probably has the dirtiest, most aggressive production on the album; elsewhere guits are usually more tightly coupled with synths and more pristine production. There's live ambience that gives everything a tense, suspenseful feel, and between chugs, a rather lovely bass, lead, and very natural acoustic drums, there's even... an organ solo. With piano stage left. Sweet - in addition to a bitchin' wah guitar solo we get some excellent keyboard material as well! And, while I know some people don't care half as much as I do, it's also always nice when mix titles are appropriate and well-chosen, as is the case here. Luiza S. Carvalho is one hell of a talented musician (on multiple levels), and has put together an outstanding addition to FF7:VotL that rocks out with the best of them.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 13 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

I must say, kick ass song.
I must ask... Can i get the Bass tabs/sheet music for this?
My friends love the song, too, but they have no music experience and i'd like to attempt to blow them away.

I think I've become a "Materia Junkie" junkie!

- sefirosu on April 7, 2009

This is like...grunge-funk. Like Soundgarden and James Brown had a baby o_O.
Nonetheless, really tight track. Very grooving piece, complete with a very crisp angry sound. Love it, awesome job LuIzA.

- HeavyHorse on March 27, 2009

One of the most memorable tracks on VotL. I love the "cyberpunk" feel I get from this. What a tasty bass! There's a lot of space in the mix which is really nice. I love the subtle, eerie synths, and the big "wide" distorted guitar chords which are like sheets of metallic sound. The middle ska section with the piano and organ is fun, even if I like the other parts much more, and the sections complement each other well. Can't complain. A fantastic track!
--Eino

- evktalo on July 31, 2008

Wow, those guitars are... [b]chunky[/b].
The great strength of this song is that it is far from a wall of sound. Nice range of tones, and periods of relative quiet that only give the guitar more oomph. As for the atmosphere, I felt like this is the sort of thing that Uematsu Nobou(sp?) was trying to capture both in the game and in Advent Children. (see Advent Children's "Black Water" for instance).

- Nobbynob Littlun on September 29, 2007

Absolutely loved everything about this track. It's gritty, it's dirty, it doesn't suffer from any of the schizofrenia that some of the other tracks in VotL do, and all while remaining true to the source. Can't ask for more.

- Lotd2242 on September 20, 2007

luiza is a one-woman army of dirty awesome axe-wielding skills. her track is as fun to listen to as it is impressive. i listened to her track the other day whilst picking at my own guit-fiddle, and i got shred-envy. :)

- big giant circles on September 15, 2007

Damn.. I love this one.
2 of my favorite tracks in videogame history.
And you do such a good job with it.
Think you raised the standards for OCremix a bit with this one.
Very good job.

- AeroZ on September 15, 2007

Awesome mix from one of my favorite guitar players, here in ocr & outside of the scene! I remeber hearing this as a very early wip, & it sounds even more awesome now, than it did then. (note: it was really awesome back then as well)
So, yeah, I like this mix, & I reccommend it to every one who likes the gritty, let's get into a bar fight with some drunk bokers, then get all cheeky with their chicks (the ska section would be this part), then face off with their leader. Who smells of, what can only be described as whiskey & urine.
Long story short, JTown Seal of just-friggin-download-it Excellence.

- The Joker on September 15, 2007

Great tone throughout and a good arrangement, but some of the chugs 1/3 through weren't terribly tight, and some bass timing slips at the beginning of the ska section should have been caught. Things tightened up once the drums came in.
Solos are very nice, and the ska section with the organ was especially creative.
Nice ambiance, and mixing, and overall pretty sweet.

- OA on September 14, 2007

I must admit I was worried since these are, honestly, my two favourite songs from the soundtrack.
Glad I was wrong :)
LuiZa rocks the house. I feel Alice in Chains and then it gets even more dirty and jumpin'.
Wonderfully performed and some very interesting touches makes a great remix.
Go LuiZa!
(sidenote: I came up with the title for my remix, but zircon stole it and gave it to LuiZa ;P)

- Another Soundscape on September 14, 2007

I was half expecting to hear Steve Wilson come in somewhere in the song. Probably one of the best rock songs on this site.

- Radiowar on September 14, 2007

Hah, I kept an eye on this one since I heard it in the demo medley. The usual ska melange that pretty much became LuIza's trademark makes another appearance. Very bluesy overall, though some of the more rocking parts ticked me off by their (intentional) dissonance, but this is more of a personal opinion.
Bass is very gritty and sounds great, guitars are very good, drums are punchy, but the bass is what does it for me in this mix. Great job altogether =P

- Tensei-San on September 14, 2007

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

- djpretzel on September 14, 2007

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