EPTIt's that time again, ladies, gentlemen and creepy stalker dude. As veterans may know I'm an Overclocked Remix fanboy and it's been a while since I last purveyed some samples of that group's output for your pleasure. I recently powered through the 134 mixes OCR has released this year to pick out ten of the best for y'all. As always, I'm trying to keep a balance in styles, mixers and sources so there's hopefully something in here for everyone or, if you're like me, ten things just for you.
The tracks aren't listed in order of goodness, mostly in order of release. OCR has a policy against ranking tracks and I respect the spirit of that- all of these are amazing, and really the other 120 odd tracks that didn't make it here are intensely cool as well, so check them out.
#1 Innocent Deception / Metal Gear Solid 3/- Dj Mystix, feat. Claire Yaxley
Let's start the year off with... well, the first release of the year, a smoky, rippling re-treatment of MGS3's introduction. The original had some minor James Bond influences, which have been turned up to 11 with a sultry British vocalist and diversified with a brilliant interplay between Spanish guitar and a clean, classic electronic one. Combine with a subtle but powerful driver under the vocals and you have a raw, rich treatment of the source.
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#2 The Myth of Darkmoon: Introduction / Eye of the Beholder /- Archangel
OCR is not famed for its PC game remixes, but when they do happen they're often among the best. Case in point. From ye' olde D&D dungeon crawler Eye of the Beholder, this neo-gothic arrangement sets a darkly compelling tone with a hint of longing or sadness at times. Perfect for slogging through the ruins of a once great people, skittering horrors lurking in the shadows. The quiet organ+choir intro around 2.30 in particular is masterfully creepy as a lead into the final build. Oh yeah, the original for this was by Frank Klepaki, of Red Alert fame.
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#3 Saren's Prayer / Mass Effect /- Mazedude
From sad and soft we go to face-compacting, brainmelting oomph- so crank up the speakers. Not the typical kind either- this is a re-arrangement of Saren's theme, well known for being the one you hear repeatedly after he has used your sorry corpse as a tapdancing mat. Originally from a project to re-score and remix boss themes, you can really feel the fight in this one. Every moment is hard, laden with tension and ready to bite.
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#4 Shoto Spirits / Street Fighter /- Trenthian & Brothersynthe feat. The Duke
This one made it in not so much by virtue of originality but simply raw... OCRness. Street Fighter has been a common treatment, but rarely so in-depth and complex as this. It mixes the themes of all the shotokan characters, adding some new texture but staying largely in classic SF style. Also the guy in the middle there? Actually Duke Nukem. Nuff said.
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#5 Balad of the Wind Fish / Zelda, Link's Awakening /- 8Amaterasu8 & Waltzforluna
Ok so that was intense, let's take a break and D'awwww for a little. Amaterasu, a long time OCR dude voyaged to the US and hooked up for some live action jamming. Piano + Violin is one of the most haunting and clean pairings for duets and this one doesn't disappoint. Sweet, clean and almost tear-jerking if you've been exposed to much of this style before.
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http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mm7DHztmPF8
#6 Akidpella / Bastion /- Square Law, feat. Dorothy Hayden, Andrew McLaren, David Lane and Ryan Billington
This track shows just how much OCR has grown in the last few years. From almost exclusively synthetic electronics, at the most some live electric guitar, we have a fully a capella rendition of the credits track from Bastion, probably the most impressively creative game soundtrack of recent years. OCR has had an influx of talented vocalists, live musicians and Djs that have really allowed the mixers to flex their creative muscle and create touching homages like this one. Excellent vocal quality and beautiful harmony bring together a shaky start with a bang.
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#7 Thrill of the Chase / Donkey Kong Country 3 /- Flexstyle
Now we return to classic OCR style. Pumping electronica, this one kicks off strong and just gets better. You're bouncing to the beat seconds into the track and you'll have that fuzzy little catch line your head all day afterwards. This is where things started to get really hard, by the way, because OCR just puts out so much excellence in this area. I'll drop some honourable mentions here- Sax-god Darkesword returns in style with a A ripping Persona 4 mix and we also get an unstoppable hedgewars mix that takes the cake, plus half a jar of cookies and some of those little squidgy glucose things too. Seriously if you like driven electronic music, OCR is like some kind of cyberpantheon where one can dote upon binaric gods.
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#8 The God Machine / Deus Ex /- Vig
Speaking of hard choices, this one was insane. OCR recently released a full album of Deus Ex mixes, not only that but more than half were composed by the most renowned mixers on OCR, including a return collaboration between ME3 audio lead Jimmy Henson and Deus Ex composer. Now OCR regular Brandon Strader. That one didn't even make the cut. Instead you get a rolling, sliding medley. It's got atmosphere as heavy as cyberpunk Shanghai and just gets better and better and better. I seriously, seriously recommend digging into the whole album. It's just stupidly good.
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#9 Acid Flashbacks / Mega Man II /- Elrinth & PsyNES
Ah, this is what OCR does best. Megaman gets all the love and perhaps rightfully so if this is any indication. A good old fast paced classical treatment of the material, Chippy and Chirpy, mastered just right to bring nostalgia and headbanging in equal parts. This stands shoulder to shoulder with all the hi-fi tracks on this list and doesn't look compromised at all.
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#10 Terra's Resolve / Final Fantasy VI /- Chad Seiter feat. Slovak National Orchestra
And we save the best till last. OCR's latest mega project has been a Final Fantasy VI tribute album which has, if the first selections of a 70-something track album are any indication, uppercutted the bar a fair number of notches.
This is what happens when you let one of the OCR kids have themselves an actual symphony orchestra. I get all hot and bothered over romantic scores and this hollers romantic to the sky with everything from Holstish percussion to John Williams flourishes. Once again, the hardest thing here was what to pick. Arguably another track is even more of an accomplishment for what it achieved WITHOUT an orchestra. You wouldn't know if I hadn't told you, but I suppose any orchestra that had to play that would be a little freaked out by the end.
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