ReMix:Super Street Fighter IV "Time to Oil Up" 3:47

It doesn't get much fresher than this! SSF4 dropped today in the US and by now probably Japan as well, and hits our European friends later this week, and we've ALREADY got a ReMix of it, courtesy zircon! Yeah, we're dropping out of chronological mixpost cycle, but for special events like this it seems worth it. As you may be aware, SSF4 reintroduces some older characters from Street Fighter lore (I'm particularly psyched about Adon) while also adding some completely new ones. Hakan specializes in Turkish Oil Wrestling, a martial art that takes everything that's good and true and pure about women's bikini Jell-O wrestling and makes it disturbing, hairy, and male. But it's all in good fun - you can tell Capcom had a blast with this game, and I certainly plan to as well.

Having ventured into harder electronica with his TF2 mix, Mr. Aversa now sets his sights on "psy-trance" - for the record, I find the seemingly infinite number of electronica subgenres fairly goofy, and it's hard for me to take them seriously as meaningfully discrete categories, but what I *do* know is that this mix is damn catchy, and sounds good, which is MY favorite genre. This mix is hyper - even MEGA - addictive. Plus, it's zircon, so given the circumstances I don't feel compelled to go on at length about the ins and outs of the arrangement & production. Let's just see what Andy sez:

"I've been an avid fan of Street Fighter since my involvement with HD Remix, so you can imagine my delight at the announcement of Super Street Fighter IV. Among the new characters, one just really stood out for me - Hakan! When I first saw his reveal trailer, I was hooked. Everything about him is hilarious and awesome, from his special moves, to his backstory, voice acting, physical appearance, and, of course, his music.

I got the inspiration for this remix after hearing the OST version of his theme on YouTube. I listened to it a few times over the course of a few days, during which I was coincidentally listening to a lot of Infected Mushroom, perhaps the most famous psytrance group. Inspiration struck at breakfast one morning when I imagined how Hakan's theme would sound with a psytrance beat.

So, I got to work on the mix and finished it in about three days. I can honestly say working on this was the most fun I've ever had making music. I interspersed my long mix sessions with watching SSFIV videos to keep myself in the zone, and one night was so excited about both my track and the game itself that I could barely sleep, waking up at 6am to continue working.

As for the musical content of "Time to Oil Up", it's completely over-the-top psytrance. I used a huge ensemble of Middle Eastern and European stringed and wind instruments, world percussion, and custom synth sounds I made from scratch just for this track. I also had a lot of visual imagery in mind while working on it; for example, I imagined the massive drum breakdown at 2:25 to be Hakan or his fans actually playing his giant wooden barrel of oil. The icing on the cake though is the vocal part, provided by Jill (pixietricks.) I wrote it out on a synth, pitch bends and all, and was blown away that she completely nailed the Arabic style I had in mind.

Anyway, I hope this remix puts a smile on your face. I had an absolute blast making it, and can't think of a better way to pay tribute to an amazing game, series and soundtrack, fit for the king of Turkish oil wrestling himself!"

I find it biologically impossible not to toetap, headbob (aka "djp") or in some fashion move to this mix; it's infectious as all get-out and you can tell Andy did indeed have fun making it. The blend of ethnic instrumentation, Jill's voice (which is PERFECT), and the pumping, hypnotic synth beat is pretty easy to love. The vocal pitch bend into the stratosphere at 0'51" is badass, the filter flare at 2'40" is monstrous, and the Hakan quote adds nice context & energy as a break. I have a feeling we're all gonna be playing SSF4 - and this ReMix - for a long time to come. Epic stuff from zircon!