ReMix:Contra "Snow Field" 4:21

By tefnek

Arranging the music of one song...

"Ice Fortress (Tsundora)"

Primary Game: Contra (Konami , 1988, NES), music by Hidenori Maezawa, Kazuki Muraoka

Posted 2005-05-22, evaluated by the judges panel


YEAH! I think a lot of people have been waiting for some Contra badassness ReMixin', and I know my own quite dated attempt ain't exactly cuttin' that mustard, but tefnek is more than up to the challenge with knockout big beat coverage of the theme from the snow field stage that introduces brothers-in-arms Bill Rizer and Lance Bean to the Chemical Brothers by way of extensive breaks, filtering effects, mangled + tangled synths aplenty, well-assimilated acoustic guitar, and copious, infectious groove. Brandon begins by quoting the illustrious Buster Poindexter with his comments:

"hot, hot, hot. It’s pretty difficult to do something interesting with :34 seconds of source material but what’s here is amazingly engaging and packed full of 4:20 of groove. I’ll echo Gray by saying that the synth processing is top frickin’ notch. Would have liked to go out on a more upbeat note but the intro makes up for it with its no non-nonsense thrust into action. The solo synth guitar section from :44 and it’s integration with the rest of the elements is very slick. Great stuff all around."

Contra's a little tricky to remix because of the relative brevity and speed of its motif-laden score, but this approach turns that into an advantage by similarly jumping from pattern to pattern and introducing some wild effects and variations at the same time. I haven't played any of the newer, next-gen incarnations of Contra, but I have to think tefnek's cut would shine on any of their soundtracks. Big beat's too fun to die out, and it fits Konami's classic like a Mattel Powerglove, intimidating a young Fred Savage and cutting a lethally sharp image in the same breath. It's also a style tefnek excels at, so you've arguably got the right genre for the game AND the right man for the genre, and that's a twofer that conjures up some fun material, indeed.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
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Nostalvania
on 2015-12-03 14:19:14

Another ReMix from my early OCR days. Love the gritty drums and the beat, i can clearly hear the Chemical Brothers influence here.

My favorite part is at 1:10 when the drums kick in along with the main guitar riff, yes!

Ten years old but still gold (or something like that :D )

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Black_Doom
on 2015-01-28 11:18:44

So... You see the title and think "Hmm, this is probably a relaxing winter tune". But when you start litening to this, it turns out this doesn't have that atmposphere, because it starts off with some kickin' drums. You think "Ok... It's quite hot and groovy, let's give this a listen". But then you hear that Spanish/Gypsy acoustic guitar at 0:44. "Holy crap! What a change-up!". Ok, at least I had these thoughs when I was listening to this tune at first. If you still don't understand, it's a rock/techno mix with Spainsih/Gypsy guitars that has nothing about snow, instead being freakin' hot. Awesome!

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Bejack
on 2013-08-20 13:17:52

I absolutely love this song! I never get bored of listening to it. I would never have expected such a big beat, adrenaline pumping bad ass mix coming from such a short source but you managed to make a 4.5 minutes long mix that doesn't get boring at all.

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GameOver
on 2012-10-28 13:37:27

I have used this song as my cell phone ring tune for a long time and it's just perfect. It starts out with that noise and it makes you go, "whoa my phone's ringing!"

One of the best remixes on OCR, too bad Tefnek hasn't been that active.

And now for the obligatory question: "Tefnek, will you go to MAGFest?"

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MechaFone
on 2010-12-12 12:41:50

Very awesome remix!

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Broken
on 2010-01-11 22:26:04

This mix is so good that despite the fact that I haven't heard it in at least two years, I still found it in under ten seconds. I immediately recalled the intro to this mix and that helped me to remember tefnek.

I always love a cliff-hanger of an intro, and this song delivers on that front. The back-beat of this song is so infectious that it sticks with you for ages ( the proof is in the fact that it compelled me to randomly post about it today.) The synths are sick as well. I just love the syncopated feel of this track. The only thing that I'm not wild about is the tetris-esque bridge in the middle of the song. It just seems like an abrupt change of pace.

Ahhh, it feels good to get that off my chest.

Now, Tefnek, post moar muzak.

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CovaH_Havoc
on 2009-10-27 19:41:31

nice mix man.... it gave me some major nostalgia feel like playing the game now

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OA
on 2009-10-27 18:32:03

excellent work here, awesome synths, great beats, and everything is tight. Good transitions, and a decent original theme. Completely bad-ass stuff, I love it. That crazy glitched part right after the subdued breakdown is where it is at. :-)

The cool ending was icing on the cake.

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Dhsu
on 2008-11-10 19:01:28

So good. Someone needs to kidnap tefnek and make him submit another ReMix.

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Al Capwn
on 2006-07-05 03:43:26

I absolutely love this mix! It's a very catchy tune and constantly keeps you entertained. Thanks!

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Less Ashamed Of Self
on 2005-11-09 11:17:07

I freaking adore this mix. I keep coming back to it; it's just so catchy. It gets 100 dance-floor-mosh-toe-banging-head-tapping points.

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Bobwillis
on 2005-09-22 22:56:53

Best Contra remix I've ever heard.

Contra music is hard to remix too, so that's saying a lot.

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cyclone
on 2005-09-14 17:05:10

I enjoyed this mix very much, keep up the good work!

9/10

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Fusilliban
on 2005-07-12 18:56:53

Dirty.

Awesome.

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Dectilon
on 2005-06-28 12:25:00

I'm thinking Unreal Tournament here. They should hire you to make 2005 :D

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Contra (Konami , 1988, NES)
Music by Hidenori Maezawa,Kazuki Muraoka
Songs:
"Ice Fortress (Tsundora)"

Tags (3)


Genre:
Hip Hop
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Electronic,Synth
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Contra_Snow_Field_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
6,348,765 bytes
MD5:
07b44faea7c0d0950bcaa287fc361f65
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
4:21

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