Posted 2009-10-30, evaluated by the judges panel


While he (hopefully) doesn't walk around naked in public while emanating a blue glow, Hugo Vinícius da Silva - aka "Dr. Manhattan" - does make some damn fine music. At least, if his debut mix, which won DoD back in February, is any indication. Judges unanimously agreed the brass samples here were hurtin' a bit, but only because everything ELSE was so durn good. Funky rhythm guitar, organ licks, and especially a meaty, dirty bass. And, hey, if that's not enough, there's also: blues/rock lead guitar, sax screams, growls, and noodling, wah guitar a bit later on, a clav solo, leather bucket seats, and a sunroof. Except those last two. And just check out the excellent attention to detail - notice the brief, subtle phasing/flanging on the drum fill at 3'36", one of many such examples. Basically, you can tell Dr. M cared about this mix, and the level of polish easily outweighs the discrepancy with some of the ensemble brass stuff. AnSo writes:

"The arrangement is terrific. Personalized, great part-writing and performance too. I said it before but I'll say it again, the sequencing is really well done here. These are some of the most varied drums I've heard in a while. Yeah, this is an easy pass for me. You could probably make it sound even fuller production-wise but it's not holding the track back when the overall production is good and the arrangement's this rocking. Great stuff!"

OA adds:

"While I agree with the others that the brass samples won't be fooling anyone about their realism, they do have a certain charm, and they blend well into the track. A/Bing it with some somewhat similar style tracks, like old school Chicago or Earth, Wind, and Fire, the scooped bass sound is actually pretty authentic... Arrangement emphasizes all the good things about the source and adds even more. This is nice stuff."

I agree with these guys - love the source, love hearing it fleshed out in what is a fairly straightforward direction, perhaps, but difficult to execute this damn well. Definitely looking forward to seeing what else Dr. Manhattan has in store for us mortals.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Nobbynob Littlun
on 2012-12-03 23:34:55

I think the best thing about this song is that it actually took me a minute to remember that this was a remix and not from an actual soundtrack. It would perfectly fit a Sonic game.

In fact, compare it to this: http://youtu.be/A1SFHvG0CHE

avatar
Crulex
on 2012-04-12 09:42:55

Oh yes! Bring on the funk and the groove, baby! I have a hard time imagining how someone can hate something like this. Amazing sax and the brass doesn't really bug me here. Fantastic arrangement and for the most part, great production.

avatar
OMEGAZHZC
on 2011-05-31 11:01:11

woooooooooo i love this song, its amazing!!, wowowowow lol, hydricity theme its a god vgm :D

avatar
WesternZypher
on 2011-05-29 21:05:55

As a super powered earth worm once said,

"Groovy."

(BTW we need more EWJ luv!)

avatar
Emunator
on 2009-12-21 18:06:39

Personally, the brass samples didn't bother me - they're not the best but the writing for the instruments was so groovin' that I didn't even notice. The drumming, guitar, and organ really brought a lot of life to the song and give it the feel of a live performance, even though the samples aren't quite up to snuff.

Not quite as amazing as the Project Chaos rendition of the song, but it's damn close :-) Dr.Manhattan's work always astounds me on DoD, nice to see that he's coming around OCR finally :-D

avatar
Sir_Downunder
on 2009-12-03 21:37:43

This is an great track, very funky too.

The brass samples aren't exactly up to snuff, but it doesn't take away from the mix at all. Wah-guitar solo? Love it.

Great debut track from the Dr.

avatar
K.B.
on 2009-11-26 00:33:48

I too thought house had the last word on this one. I was wrong. Not to take away from the grateness that is Walk On Water, of course.

I also, stupidly, made that comparison on first listen. For the first half, the melody, while divided between sax and horns (and subdued keyboard - a very cool division of responsibilities), is nearly verbatim the source (akin to house's already somewhat jazzy take), but then I realized that there's a ton on the side. The background guitar and bass are exquisite (especially the guitar use in the intro, which was sexy as all hell), the lead guitar chimes in here and there, and then there's the call-and-response-ish exchange between sax and horns. All this gives the first half its own distinct and funky personality. And then it's the sax, guitar, and ooooh funk keyboard's time to shine. That's what it's about right there... with an incredible arrangement to boot (love that wailing sax!). Add in some classy distortion on the guitars with some nifty lead work and we're taken home.

Congrats on getting posted on ocr, Dr Manhattan, with a most kickass debut. Always good to hear true talent from DoD make its way over here. Now, just upgrade those brass soundfonts!

avatar
Pachi Risu
on 2009-11-22 19:21:11

Quality production to the end. 'nuff said.

avatar
bmhedgehog
on 2009-11-19 12:41:23

This is just awesome. Just out of curiosity did the Wheel Of Fortune theme inspired you to make this remix? cause I'd swear some of the parts of this song sounds make it sound like I'm watching Wheel.

avatar
Sole Signal
on 2009-11-19 00:58:59

I haven't checked many mixes on the front page for a while, but I'm glad I stopped to listen to this one.

Very cool track, and great guitar work especially. Nice job!

avatar
DrManhattan
on 2009-11-13 14:53:45

Geez, guys! :oops:

Thank you all! Really!

I am now remixing some of my old stuff so i can submit them too...

avatar
Martin Penwald
on 2009-11-11 16:16:45

Good arrangement with a nice variety of instruments; especially the wah-riffs are great (e.g. around 2:40). In fact, all of the guitar-work is really good.

avatar
metalsnakejuice
on 2009-11-06 06:54:00

No complaints from me, this is just so brilliant.

avatar
jintoreedwine
on 2009-11-05 20:07:30

Funky... I like it! :)

avatar
OA
on 2009-11-02 21:55:16

This track totally deserved to get the Duels win, and it was pretty good DoD month, so it wasn't a freebie. Great work overall, I really liked the solo section. Highly recommended to all. :-)

Sources Arranged (2 Songs)


Primary Game:
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Sega , 1994, GEN)
Music by Bobby Brooks,Brad Buxer,C. Cirocco Jones,Darryl Ross,Doug Grigsby III,Geoff Grace,Jun Senoue,Michael Jackson,Tatsuyuki Maeda,Tomonori Sawada
Songs:
"Hydrocity Zone: Act 1"
"Hydrocity Zone: Act 2"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Funk,Rock
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Brass,Electric Guitar,Saxophone
Additional:
Origin > Competition > Dwelling of Duels

File Information


Name:
Sonic_the_Hedgehog_3_Down_to_the_Hydrocity's_Nightclub_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,964,605 bytes
MD5:
d02beaaa8082f15902e35a281ad4d9c0
Bitrate:
160Kbps
Duration:
4:04

 

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes