ReMix:SimCity 2000 "SimFunkadelic" 2:50

By Dr. Velvet, HALO_ZERO

Arranging the music of one song...

"Tax & Money"

Primary Game: SimCity 2000 (Maxis Software , 1993, DOS), music by Sue Kasper

Posted 2010-06-13, evaluated by the judges panel


Yes! We've been posting some excellent mixes of console games, older and newer, lately, but there's a veritable ocean of awesome music out there from the old DOS and earlier Windows era - not to mention Amiga, Atari ST, and Mac - just waiting to be explored. Far from obscure, SimCity 2000 was a huge hit at the time, had some funky OPL3 (and S-YXG50) tunage, and is well deserving of a modern update. Newcomers HALO_ZERO and Dr. Velvet (Cody & Adam Walton) are just the brothers for the job. Cody writes:

"This is my first submission. I've been a fan of OC ReMix since nearly the beginning, but never really thought I could participate until recently. My foray into remixing came after Trent Reznor started releasing his tracks in Apple GarageBand format. A little over a year ago I created a NIN+FFVII mashup/remix album called F1N4LF4NT4S7Z3R0 (http://codywalton.com/ff7z/). I received generally positive feedback from people on both the OCR forums and the NIN forums, and that just encouraged me to keep trying new remixes (though I still work in GarageBand... for now).

The inspiration for this particular track came from my realization that music from one of my favorite games ever, SimCity 2000, was not represented on OCR. A tragedy! This had to be rectified. After a few unsuccessful attempts at doing something in a Grunge theme I settled on Funk (an easy transition from the Jazz influenced original soundtrack). This particular arrangement is a combination of original performance, midi, and loops. Arranged and mastered by me (amateur musician and remixer) with some additional guitar tracks from my brother Adam (Dr. Velvet, professional musician and guitar maestro)."

For a first submission, after years of visiting, I'd say Cody hit the nail on the head. Also, just as an aside, I love the nick "Dr. Velvet", because it sounds like a form of generic Dr. Pepper that's trying to get as close to the brand name without trademark infringement. I've actually seen Dr. Fizz, Mr. Flavor, and (my personal favorite), Dr. Smooth out there in the real world, and I think some grocery store out there is now obligated to release Dr. Velvet, if they haven't already. I remember when Cody posted about F1N4LF4NT4S7Z3R0, and it's cool that he's been able to follow that up with an individual submission that's more in line w/ OCR's focus. Judges initially took issue w/ some brass that was faky enough to negatively affect the track, but Cody swapped that out for organ that maintained the funk and sounded much better. Vinnie writes:

"I remember this ditty from when I was a kid playing this game on my Mac, using the cheat code to put up arcologies within my first month as mayor (good times). This kicks life into that simple little track, instantly recognizable as a remix of it but much more colorful. Man, that brass is wrecking what is otherwise a delicious track. I've half a mind to pass this anyway... but alas, I can't.

Edit (3/20): Brass replaced with an organ that sounds much better than the brass. I can't help but wish we could get some live brass there instead, but the organ definitely does the job keeping the funkiness. It's a little longer now too, with some synth-y stuff going on towards the end."

I don't know about you, but I for one am shocked and chagrinned that Vinnie used CHEAT CODE (!) as a kid - for shame. The brass-organ swapout was a plus, and overall the mix of slap bass, clavinet, and wah guitar is hard not to get into; there's a bit of repetition, but it's broken up by breaks & pauses that fit the funk mold nicely. I respect and admire the restraint in NOT throwing a James Brown shout sample in here, but I think when I listen to this mix I'm gonna do so myself. In my mind. Great stuff from the Walton brothers, mixing a source that should have some nostalgic resonance with the "older" crowd and be funky enough for everyone.

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
Crulex
on 2012-08-29 13:51:12

Funky and catchy as hell! This is a real head-nodder and toe-tapper. Seriously, when you get a song like this going, you can't help but move in some way. So good.

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Rexy
on 2011-12-28 16:10:41

Hearing the source tune, it reminded me that SelectaNovel covered this source during the VGMix days - good times, and I'm glad to see an arrangement of this source surface on OCR :o

So I got to say I'm loving the funk-driven take on this one, given that the original was already kind of bass/groove heavy. Velvet's recorded guitars were extremely tasteful and have shown a great amount of precision and expression towards them, not to mention those are some sick wahs :D

I could've even mistaken the bass for the real thing, given that there's no mention of any bass recording in the description; that's a very strong tone being given out towards it. The additional electric parts accompanying it were definitely well spaced and added to the atmosphere.

To be fair, I don't really understand why it kept getting conditional/NO votes from the panel. Going by the assumption that the organ part originally had brass I could understand, but as it stands I felt it's an extremely well polished contribution towards a more underlooked game. Really digging the approach a lot, and I hope you guys come back soon :)

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Martin Penwald
on 2010-07-01 14:35:43
I can never get enough of funk remixes, so this was particularly delicious to me.

Seconded. As someone who loves songs like El Lagarto and the music from the very first GTA, the remix at hand is a treat. The choice of instruments is perfect, particularly the guitars and the organ. The sound of the guitar coming in at 0:37 is awesome; same goes for 1:05.

Not much to criticise; the ending is a bit abrupt, and the volume is rather low.

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bjnartowt
on 2010-06-28 10:53:30

....I liked it enough to start expecting samples from the actual game: like when you erect a police or fire station, etc.

Or perhaps you thought that would be tacky? I must know: was "to add samples or not add samples" a question you grappled with?

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Level 99
on 2010-06-16 08:37:25

I played SimCity 2000 a few times. Only for the disasters, though. MAN was it awesome to unleash an alien on a really big city. And just like Vinnie, I cheated like a mofo at it just to get satisfaction (mostly because I didn't understand how to actually play the game). Regardless, this took me back and I decided to go listen to the source tunes again. Wonderful trip down memory lane there.

I have to echo the TOO SHORT criticism. You really could have gone on for at least another minute or two with what you had without overstaying your welcome, because the groove you mustered up with this makes me salivate for more. The guitar and bass riffs are so tasty, shaft-style. Love the stereo you used on the guitar hard-panning. You processed them very very well, just like the rest of the mix. Nice use of percussion too. This is one of those mixes that keeps my attention just because of how it is layered.

Kickass song, dudes. Keep it up, I can't wait to hear more.

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LuigiFan
on 2010-06-16 03:42:11

TOO SHORT

That's my only criticism - this brings the funk big time! Keep it up!

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luhny
on 2010-06-15 14:17:53

Woah! My mind just instantly rewinded back to the glory days of Sim City 2000. It has been quite a while, indeed.

Thank you for sharing this, it's awesome.

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Giolon
on 2010-06-14 17:39:32

I can't believe this is the first time this song has been remixed, or any music from SimCity 2000. It has such an iconic sound to anybody who played computer games in the early 90s. Fantastic Remix!

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Thrull
on 2010-06-14 13:46:41

Very catchy! This song was made for funk, I now feel.

If I *had* to be critically constructive about anything (only because you asked!), I'd say the very short intro made me stumble a bit. Maybe it's the pause. But then it picked right up and never stopped. Great!

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OA
on 2010-06-14 12:25:49

I'm really glad that the brass was replaced with the organ, because this track is sick. I love the clavinet specifically, but all the pieces fit together very well, and the track is exceptionally funky.

Mad props, I can't wait to hear more! :-)

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halozero
on 2010-06-13 17:14:37
^_^ my first remix is finally posted! Thanks to everyone who likes it. Please let me know what you think. Creative criticism is appreciated.
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Ramaniscence
on 2010-06-13 17:04:55

This song is longgggg overdue. GG.

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Dafydd
on 2010-06-13 16:13:11

I'm not familiar with the source, but this reminds me a lot of the music in Transport Tycoon. I think you would be able to make a pretty decent remix of any track from that game too (though I'm not sure its soundtrack would qualify for OCReMixing). I'm not big on the drums, I think they could definitely have been more interesting, both in terms of samples and of arrangement, but I love the bass. I'm guessing those are samples that just happened to fit here, but they totally work.

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Arrow
on 2010-06-13 16:09:09

I can never get enough of funk remixes, so this was particularly delicious to me. The guitar was excellent, the organ work was smooth, and everything just came together perfectly. I was also surprised by how imminently loopable the track is... I didn't even realize it had ended until I was 30 seconds into the next playing. Clearly I could listen to this all day.

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djpretzel
on 2010-06-13 14:56:54

What did you think? Post your opinion of this ReMix.

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
SimCity 2000 (Maxis Software , 1993, DOS)
Music by Sue Kasper
Songs:
"Tax & Money"

Tags (6)


Genre:
Funk,Jazz
Mood:
Funky
Instrumentation:
Clavinet,Electric Guitar,Organ
Additional:

File Information


Name:
SimCity_2000_SimFunkadelic_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
4,167,280 bytes
MD5:
26b208f3159ece35674585ab4d4446cc
Bitrate:
192Kbps
Duration:
2:50

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