ReMix:Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest "Dead Raggening" 4:26

By Mazedude

Arranging the music of one song...

"Bad Bird Rag (Screech's Sprint)"

Primary Game: Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES), music by David Wise

Posted 2014-04-14, evaluated by djpretzel


Turtles are indeed excellent, but it's time to move on from reptiles to primates, with this downbeat ambient jam from Mazedude off of Serious Monkey Business. Chris writes:

"When I signed up for the DKC2 remix project way back when, there were only a couple tiny tracks left available. I was bummed. But, determined to make something, I listened to the themes that were left, and thought I could have some fun taking the "Bad Bird Rag" theme, slowing it WAY down, and crafting an aggressive ambient tune out of it. Then along the way, it sorta also became a stylistic homage to the film score music of Clint Mansell, in particular "Dead Reckoning" from the Smokin' Aces score. All together, it came out better than expected, and methinks it made a nice addition to the project."

Definitely agreed; I like the concept of "aggressive ambient" - it's like a mellow, atmospheric track that still develops and accrues some intensity as it progresses, handled deftly by The Getman. So-called because when it comes to music... he gets it. Get it? Alright let's forget I ever wrote that and move on... things intro as pulsating tonal synth clusters fade in, swimming in a primordial oscillator ooze. 0'31" establishes a tempo more clearly with synth hits and hi-hats, and then @ 1'02" kick & bass turn things a little more industrial and introduce a darker, more sinister aspect. Larry writes:

"I enjoyed the way Mazedude slowed down the tempo compared to the original and gave the piece a much more serious feel, all the while using a fair amount of what I felt was upbeat-sounding tracker instrumentation. The dynamics here really kept me hooked; the way the mix built quietly and gradually, rising around 2:36 before finally crescendoing at 3:22 was excellent.

Serious Monkey Business is among the albums I'm most proud of by the community due to the diverse range of styles, and adding Chris to a project always ensures you're going to get something polished and creative that's unlike anyone else's interpretation."

As a side-note, Chris recently tore his ACL and meniscus while doing flips, and just had successful (yay!!) surgery for that on the 3rd of this month, so pass on some well-wishes & congrats at mazedudemusic.com / twitter / facebook! Like Larry says, you can always count on Chris for something different, and while the decision to slow this source down was creative and resulted in something divergent, stylistically this is actually a more accessible, traditional entry into his oeuvre of crazy creations. Great stuff and a worthy addition to an album that really clicked!

djpretzel

Discussion

Latest 5 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.
avatar
nitrozsz
on 2015-12-28 11:47:17

Oh God, Screech! I will never forgive you for how many lives you made me lose to your stupid race!

Anyway….

This is a very creative remix. I actually liked the slow three and a half minute build-up more than the crescendo at the end, which in comparison to the rest of the track, wasn’t as interesting. The kick bass during the first minute was really good, and in an odd way, soothing. It’s definitely aggressive ambient.

avatar
Crulex
on 2014-04-16 09:52:25

I've had this on my MP3 every since Serious Monkey Business, but I never really had the perfect words to describe the ReMix itself. I'm really taking a liking to the term "aggressive ambiance" though. It just keeps building and building and building and then by the time it hits the 3rd minute, it's all out, powerful as all hell and dark. So creative. Another wonderful mix from Mazedude.

avatar
Rapidkirby3k
on 2014-04-16 07:18:53

Definitely one of my favorites from Mazedude. =)

avatar
Gario
on 2014-04-16 00:25:09

A Mazedude remix that has no comments? What is OCR coming to? :

This arrangement certainly comes from left field, which is great considering that the source is a bit on the boring side. I never knew about the composer homage, so that was an interesting bit of trivia. Very slow, very haunting and actually really cool (but then again what else do we expect from Mazedude).

Not much else that I can say, another showcase of Mazedude's versatility and ability: it's always worth a listen.

avatar
Liontamer
on 2014-04-14 13:47:53

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

Sources Arranged (1 Song)


Primary Game:
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest (Nintendo , 1995, SNES)
Music by David Wise
Songs:
"Bad Bird Rag (Screech's Sprint)"

Tags (0)


Genre:
Mood:
Instrumentation:
Additional:

File Information


Name:
Donkey_Kong_Country_2_Dead_Raggening_OC_ReMix.mp3
Size:
7,401,832 bytes
MD5:
40d0d81de7d7775f091b2f21c1de24cc
Bitrate:
220Kbps
Duration:
4:26

Promotion

8-bit Jazz Heroes - Press Start
View All

Latest Albums

View All

Latest ReMixes