ReMix:Final Fantasy VI "13th Floor Demonstration" 5:13

One of the things I will never apologize for is encouraging musical diversity - from individual artists, from album directors, and from listeners themselves. At times this might make OCR albums less popular with a certain demographic of critics who prefer homogeneity and would sacrifice creativity for consistency, who simply do not appreciate multiple genres, or who do not believe that they should cohabitate with one another within any given compendium or body of work. I have limited sympathy for such beliefs; while it is up to an album director to ensure a certain flow to an album's track order, and perhaps maintain a governing aesthetic at times, I prefer to acknowledge that we live in a musical era that is in many ways post-genre. This has been realized at the song level by mashups, hybrids, and more musical cross-pollination than ever. It hasn't yet permeated our notions of "artist" and "album" to the same extent, as pigeonholing still occurs, commercial pressures still demand trying to emulate past success, and listeners still enjoy being able to mentally categorize things with ease, but I personally hope that changes. I think it can, I think it should, and I'd MUCH rather play a small part in making that expansion happen than bang my fists on the table when someone colors outside what I think the lines should be, or attempt to diminish something that fails to meet my expectations of uniformity. I want OverClocked ReMix to change opinions & broaden horizons not just when it comes to VGM, but when it comes to music itself, and the many forms it can take. Lofty ambitions, I know, but is there dignity in having easily achievable dreams?

Relevance? Well, we're shifting gears and posting our first electronic arrangement from the album, and it seemed like a good opportunity to get up on my preemptive soapbox and reiterate how awesome I think our multi-genre focus is. Know what else is awesome? This jam from Flexstyle, who takes on 'The Magic House' with mean beats, spiraling cross-panned synth arpeggios, some detailed glitch work, and a sheen to the production that actually makes me think of zircon; Mike's been growing a lot since he first appeared on OCR, and this is a high watermark that shows off a lot of that growth. McVaffe writes:

"There's something magical that happens when a song with distinctly classical elements is conveyed with electronic instruments, and this piece has that magic in spades. In the overall structure of this track, Mike wisely stayed close enough to the fantastic source material while changing, well... everything else. The rather downtempo thud of the drums is a great choice as it gives all of the awesome synth work enough room to truly breathe and be taken in. There's some subtle glitch work and the overall production has the perfect amount of punch and smoothness."

Great stuff from Flexstyle that breathes new life into the source & takes it for a spin with a heavy downbeat and crisp lines, setting the stage for a ton of superlative electronic mixes that make up an integral part of Balance and Ruin!!