Posted 2015-02-26, evaluated by djpretzel


Holy crap... it's been over five years since Nase's last posted ReMix, but he's back with our FIRST arrangement of Space Station Silicon Valley for the N64. The source in question is funky/loungy to begin with, but Joshu's really taken that ball and run with it, and he's gone VERY far; this is a delicious, funky, playful, syncopated, and unbridled jazz jam. He writes:

"Yo yo, long time no see! Made this for a PRC. Simple pleasant source, needed some expansion to be of reasonable length. Ended up getting some sort of sitcom vibe, went with it and added some sax and slappy. :) Cheers!"

The drum work here makes me cry; so many accents, such impeccable timing... this mix inspires me rhythmically and really sets a bar for funk/jazz drum writing - simply superb. On top of that you've got EP, organ, vibes, clav, brass/sax, flute, electric guitar, and later some ensemble staccato and pizzicato strings. Oh and of course, DAT BASS. Nase has always been an artist who's made great use of lower-fi samples through creative sequencing, but this new & improved Nase seems to have upped his realism game while retaining ALL of the shimmer & glimmer of his previous work. Just to be clear & reiterate: I absolutely adore this mix's sense of timing & flow; it reminds me of some of Diggi's best work, it's crunchy & crispy in all the right ways, and I know I'll be coming back for more. Of course, there IS the small matter of the extended fadeout ending... Chimpazilla does not equivocate:

"I have only one critique of this mix, and that's the fadeout ending. I freakin' hate fadeout endings. Other than that, this mix is packed full of fun details and varied instrumentation, so that even repeating the source motif this many times it never becomes old. It's a low-key old-skool funky jam with a Napoleon Dynamite thing going on. So full of win!"

For an arrangement that has so much flow, it does seem a little odd... especially since a new melodic part is introduced DURING the extended fadeout. That feels like a faux pas, to me, but Nase isn't one to concern himself too much with orthodoxy or the expected. I do ultimately feel a little like slapping whoever's hand is on the volume fader, a bit, but since it's the same guy who put together the greatness I'm trying to hear the rest of, I guess I can't. Larry responds:

"On the white sitcom department, I got nothin', so I couldn't tell you how Seinfeld-ian or Perfect Strangers-esque the arrangement is or not. But what I CAN tell you if that this is a great example of a relatively conservative arrangement that personalizes the instrumentation nicely and gradually breaks out into more interpretive territory. "Snow Joke" has already got a lounge-y, muzak-style feel, and Nase did a great job jazzing it up, Nasenmann style.

I always love how Joshu uses his samples; his work always exudes a ton of personality. Sweet slowdown at 1:53, that was unexpected. LOL at the brief Yoshi/SMW-instrumentation during the fadeout at 3:00, which I don't mind at all, yet I mind Chimpa for minding. :-) C'mon, Nase, let's not wait another few years to have more of your great work on the site. Don't hold back!"

Agreed, although I think it's worth mentioning that this ReMix represents a jump forward on production fidelity, without losing the soul of what's made Nase's arrangements so much fun. I enjoy talking with Joshu from time to time on life's big questions as he's got a unique perspective on things, but to whatever extent we don't see eye-to-eye philosophically, music is the universal language, and I feel like he always comes through loud & clear. This game was a bit of a sleeper hit, so I truly hope lack of familiarity doesn't stop people from checking out this mix - it's one of his best, it's criminally funky, and if it represents a new influx of mixes from him in a similar vein, that would make my year... awesome work.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 11 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Chernabogue
on 2015-12-29 14:36:13

Oh yeah, something from Nase! As always, it's super jazzy/groovy. The performance is great on the various instruments -- I'm impressed by how well some of them fit in here ^^ Love the arrangement. Nice mixing, nice production, nice moment of music! Great job! :)

WTF @ the Super Mario World quote at the end XDD

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Nase
on 2015-04-08 10:21:40
While this one is less energetic and more lounge-ish, it still has its own ton of funk. Excellent mix!

thanks man. i think it's a rather tame mix honestly. but i have to say, to me it has the best drum and bass fills i've ever done. it was sort of an educational mix in that way.

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Crulex
on 2015-03-16 14:51:15

Funky and easy going enough to where I would agree with the sitcom mention. I like the chill feeling of this mix and dig it even more when it picks up steam halfway through. Good to hear more from Nase again. It's been too long.

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Black_Doom
on 2015-03-11 09:40:25

I thought I'd commented this piece : Anyway, there're only 4 Josh's songs posted on OCR, but each of them is filled with great ideas and tons of funk. While this one is less energetic and more lounge-ish, it still has its own ton of funk. Excellent mix!

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timaeus222
on 2015-03-06 04:18:27

I really liked your CV: Harmony of Dissonance ReMix. This one just topped it (and that's saying a lot)!

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Nase
on 2015-03-05 08:46:05
OMG it has been too long since a Nase remix! One of my favorite OCReMixers with too few remixes; I hope he submits more!

Loving the sound on this one!

omgthanky

i'm not into remixing that much these days. got a couple ideas tho...also, random compos might work. like for this one.

i don't like setting out to do something specific. too much expectations then, often. maybe that'll change at some point.

i wanna remix zant's battle music from twilight princess, for example. that's really hard though, atleast in my mind.

i need some confidence to just try my luck with tunes i really like. it usually ends up interesting enough if i just keep at it...

anyway, regarding the game, i'm glad there's a few around who can connect with it. and i'm not really one of them. lol

i read about it while mixing however, and it seemed very cool. the fact alone that you can stop the BGM ingame by crushing speakers...

oh and regarding the fadeout ending, that's part of the yoshi cameo. the last melody that's playin is just the SMW theme. played with SMW samples.

it's just a joke, but it makes the fadeout work in my book.

peace! thanks for writeup djp, thanks for listening!

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Schneau
on 2015-03-04 20:54:10

OMG it has been too long since a Nase remix! One of my favorite OCReMixers with too few remixes; I hope he submits more!

Loving the sound on this one!

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Ramify
on 2015-03-02 12:23:32

Never played this game but this is a really fun remix. Great work.

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Fishy
on 2015-02-28 11:30:45

You get 5 billion points for this. This was one of my favourite games growing up, and I remember posting a remix request when I joined ocr for this somewhere. Awesome stuff!

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BladedEdge
on 2015-02-27 20:04:46

I have been lurking on OCRemix listening to the music here since 2003. OC Remixers like Quinn Fox, Analoq, McVaffe and Darkesword have formed my musical taste since high school, and I've heard fantastic work here, but this is the first time I've felt the need to actually register for these boards and comment on something in twelve years.

Space Station Silicon Valley is one of the most original and unique games ever published, but it's been criminally forgotten. This is a tragedy. Imagine my joy to find that not only *someone* else out there remembers it exists, but liked my favorite piece in the game enough to remix it. Snow Joke in the original form is a very chill, relaxed, loungey piece of music which has that indefinable quality which lets it be run on loop for hours without becoming tiresome. A .usf rip of it has been part of my 'it's snowing outside' playlist for many years. This remix has just replaced it.

'Soap Globe' doesn't deviate terribly much from the original melody, but enhances it with an almost Earthbound vibe, kind of a playful exuberant wackiness. It sounds like someone recorded a band that had been messing around on stage more interested in having fun than performing a professional set, then tried out all the effects they had available to see what sounded cool. It's 'dirty' in a good way, every iteration of the melody sounding totally different from the last one. It's never boring for a single second.

Here's my single complaint: please change that awful, awful freaking ending. Introduce a new, more kicked-up, kind of tropical melody variant and then immediately fade to close? Why in the world? Where's my extended version.

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djpretzel
on 2015-02-26 12:14:28

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

Sources Arranged (2 Songs, 2 Games)


Primary Game:
Space Station: Silicon Valley (Take Two Interactive , 1998, N64)
Music by Stuart Ross
Songs:
"Snow Joke"
Additional Game:
Super Mario World (Nintendo , 1990, SNES)
Music by Koji Kondo
Songs:
"Overworld BGM"

Tags (12)


Genre:
Jazz
Mood:
Funky,Jazzy
Instrumentation:
Brass,Clavinet,Electric Guitar,Electric Piano,Flute,Organ,Strings,Vibraphone
Additional:
Time > Tempo: Variable

File Information


Name:
Space_Station_Silicon_Valley_Soap_Globe_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,802,368 bytes
MD5:
18062a1a4e2ef0d3e99c388f954a1f06
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
3:16

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