ReMix:Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow "Dance Like Popcorn" 4:28

Put some pep in your step with this South-American dance party jam from Guifrog, offering up our first featured arrangement of Maui Mallard in Cold Shadow. This is also our first ReMix from a game scored by Michael Giacchino (along with Patrick J. Collins), who went on to compose for film on The Incredibles, Ratatouille, Rogue One, the Star Trek reboot films, and many more. Pretty cool! GA writes:

"I used to be scared of lava/volcano-themed zones, but then there was "The Sacrifice of Maui" and the background music seemed to desperately try to warm my heart despite all the firey stuff -- no pun/irony intended.

Onto the facts:

1. The title was my first thought. I wanted to pay homage to an old great friend of mine. He used to say "dançando que nem pipoca" as he listened to dancey music, but we hadn't had contact for years;
2. It starts with the muddrakes summoning the remix (actually, those "tchoomba tchoomba umbrlbrl" voices are my own; the "HO, HA, UHA" part was edited from a sample by Freesound user qubodup);
3. The whole track was built in a way that things tend to get more intense as it goes, like gradual popping from kernels;
4. Timbales may be seen as popping kernels too;
5. I showed this to my friend's sister, who's just as special to me. She showed it to him, he got my number and said "Obrigado." According to her, this was a very special gift because this guy's felt wonderful like he hasn't for a pretty long while".

Needless to say, this mix now warms me a lot. Hope it does the same to you."

We get a lot of mixes that have stories behind them, many of which were made in honor of certain people or inspired by events that hold special significance to the artist, and it's always cool to have that backstory when listening. This mix is bursting with energy and unabashed exuberance; the intro chanting vox and ride cymbal could potentially have gone another direction, but once that buoyant bass enters, you know what's in store. Chromatic percussion, piano, brass section (with standout trumpet), & electric guitar all play nice together over drums that mix electronic bits with plenty of hand drums & regional percussion. Certain samples are more believable than others, and at times discrepancies in reverb application threw me, generally the mojo & flare keep your focus. DragonAvenger sums it up nicely:

"Fun stuff, as always. The energy is great, and while the mix is fairly conservative in regards to arrangement, the soundscape is fresh. Samples are smartly used, and I appreciate that you work really hard to finesse them as best you can. It's an art to pull out the humanization you do out of them!

Nitpicking that the kick hitting (almost) every beat does get a little old by the end, but not a dealbreaker in the long run. A break a little more often would have been great. I'm ready to party with a mixed drink and watch the parade with this song :)"

Definitely has that Brazilian Carnival vibe going for it, so Donald can shake his tail feathers and waddle down the sambadrome in style. Festive & oh-so-fun stuff from Guifrog, dedicated to a friend of his but enjoyable by all :)