ReMix:Cobra Triangle "bra reloCaTing" 6:24

Justin Tense debuted back in early 2010 with a really distinct electronica arrangement of Marble Madness - a NES soundtrack by Dave Wise which, incidentally, Stemage is releasing a whole album of mixes for quite soon. Now Mr. Tense is back with a similarly unique take on Cobra Triangle - another NES soundtrack by Mr. Wise, and our first coverage from the game:

"Being a huge fan and producer of all styles of Tech music, I've had the pleasure of hearing some of the world's best Progressive Tech artists this month just passed as they toured my home town. Guy J , Henry Saiz & Chymera graced Sydney with there incredible live sets and these club nights had me aching to get back into my studio after not producing anything for a while.

I was surprised to see that no Cobra Triangle tracks had been remixed on OCR. Cobra Triangle was a gem of a game but one I believe was a bit overlooked during its heyday. It had a great soundtrack and that is easily justified when you see the writing credits for this games soundtrack comes from a man who I honestly believe to be the greatest video game music producer out there; David Wise. During the 8-bit & 16-bit era, David was able to craft some of the most beautiful pieces of music even though he was limited by the system architecture he had to work with.

This game was a b*tch to finish, I remember rage quitting a plethora of times but when I finally did manage to finish the game as a kid I will never forget the rewarding hypnotic ending theme that stuck in my memory till this very day. It's that tune that I decided to remix when I headed back to my studio. At 6 ½ minutes this track might be above the average OCR track length but that is purely due to the extended intro/outro that I have to incorporate into my production style in order to let other DJ’s mix onto and off the track during their live sets. Hope you enjoy it :)"

Intro & outro are definitely both extended, but contribute to the piece's enveloping & developing style; the sidechain/gating on the intro takes the effect beyond a simple technique and makes it more or less the centerpiece for quite a bit, there's some really interesting sound design throughout, and the artist again creates an hypnotic landscape based on a series of interlocking, repeating patterns that change over time. While that's a staple for this type of genre, it's emphasized more relative to other electronica tracks on OCR, & the ReMixer does an excellent job working within that aesthetic. You can tell the passion for NES classics & for Dave Wise specifically is there, even if the groove itself is cold, crisp, and calculated; great stuff.