ReMix: Final Fantasy V 'Wicked n' Floating'

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Final Fantasy... V? What's that?? With all the VII love (or, for the anti-fanboys, lack thereof), it's nice to see someone throwing some TLC to one of the lesser known FF soundtracks. Of course, this isn't the first time Mr. Freij has done so, with his memorably-named Dark Butz recently arranging Ahead on Our Way and Dark World. Here he moves on to different territory:

"Well, I have not much to say more than Final Fantasy V is a real goldmine. Nobuo has made really good melodies for this game, and I will fight to get them as popular they deserve to be. "Cursed Earths" is a fantastic example I think. Simple but genius."

I wonder how the FFV OST is percieved relative to the other FF OSTs in Japan, where it was domestically released in sequence; I've not often heard it referred to as a "goldmine", but AeroZ is certainly doing his part to convince me. Like its forebear, this is again a fairly liberal arrangement that tosses in a good deal of original material amidst multiple connections to the source that vary in strength. Also like Dark Butz, it employs what I'll call an "advanced chiptune" approach to most of its sounds, utilizing basic synth textures but then manipulating them in funky ways with processing, etc. In the middle of numerous chromatic tapestries, I especially liked the triplet call-and-answer section at 3'25", which had more of a "hook" than other passages. Shariq writes:

"Wow, this is really solid. I agree that it's liberal, but I don't think it's overly so. I can definitely hear the melody in here, albeit heavily riffed on; it does manage to retain its core though. This is a great example of how to really explore a simple melody. I love all the rolls in the square lead, and everything integrates rather nicely. Nice percussion + bassline interaction too."

I agree; Sebastian's doing a great job of expanding FFV tracks and shedding a little light on them. With the recent (and some might say, ridiculous) announcement of Jurassic Park 4, Sebastian's FFV mixes remind me of the scientists in the first film, filling in the dino DNA gaps with frog DNA; he's essentially extrapolating new material that would have worked in the original context. Whether this means his two mixes are female and will still somehow find a way to reproduce remains to be seen, but I think the analogy is entertaining, if not completely effective. Great stuff; I hope to see the ReMixer continue evangelizing the merits of the FFV OST, though it'd be interesting to switch genres or incorporate more acoustic elements. At any rate, this is a slick piece that fits snugly alongside your Butz.

― djpretzel