ReMix:Gunstar Heroes "Nice Legs" 3:25

We've got a couple slick album cuts for your weekend enjoyment, starting off with Sir J & this swanky, 70's spy jazz arrangement from Be Aggressive! - Mr. Etienne hits us up with another Tolstoy-style backstory:

"In stark contrast to the Kid Chameleon track I resubbed recently, which shows what happens when I give into perfectionism and literally take years to work on a song, this Smash Daisaku arrangement is an example of what happens when I have very little time but a lot of focus and drive to work on something in one sitting. I'm not very big on shmups, but I was/am a Sega kid, so I'm familiar with some non-Sonic classics like Vectorman, Cool Spot (LMAO, product placement), and, here, Gunstar Heroes. 2012-2013 was a bit slow for me with music to the point where I've had to push aside many original music projects due to work and IRL nonsense, but I often waltz around the forums seeing what's going on with everybody else... and I just kept coming back to Be Aggressive... and in these last few months of wrapping up the album, I kept noticing how there was no Smash Daisaku track (there was at one point, but I guess life happened to the poor chap as well)..... aaaaand it came down to the very last few weeks and I noticed how there STILL was no Smash Daisaku track.

I PM'd Mokram and DusK:

Jordan: Yo, guys, if you give me 3 weeks, I can make a weird prog-ish thing for Daisaku. "Darkmoocher" is the outfit I use for makin' Buckethead/An Endless Sporadic-type arrangements, and I'll throw in some blammin' horns for good measure. Whaddaya say, homies?

DusK: Naaaaw, we only got one week. Guess we won't have Smash Daisaku on the album. Thanks anyways, ciao.

Jordan: O_o

Now, not to give you a pity-party story or anything, but during this time of my life I'm working night shifts, meaning I either have days of extreme insomnia and no creativity or I am very focused but have no time or no energy to record due to being zombified by said day-job... plus, around the last few weeks of wrapping up Gunstar, ISW had a competition for their new super massive reality-warping Juggernaut plugin. I kept thinking to myself "maaaannn...; fuuuuuug that... you can't make a Gunstar album without Smash Daisaku, and I know I prolly don't stand a chance against the other competitors for ISW's Juggernaut comp, but if by the grace of Zaros they extend the comp deadline, then I will skip sleep for as long as I need to record these babies."

.....aaaaand they extended the deadline. Hilarity ensues.

Now, unbeknownst to me, Mikeaudio was also working on a Smash Daisaku track, but that muhfuggaaa didn't post to state that in the project thread, so how the hell was I supposed to know this, hmmm? Regardless, I think two Daisaku tracks are faaaar better than none, and even though I was kicking myself in the balls trying not to fall asleep at work after skipping rest to work on the ISW track and this remix, I feel like it was all worth it in the end... so, yeah, here's what happens when I literally only have about 1-2 days left to work on something but intense focus to make sure that the muddafuggin Smash Daisaku is geting on the muddafuggin album, ya feel me?

**Oh yeah, also, yet another punchline. I didn't talk to Tuberz at all about this or his track, but when I tossed this to the directors, Mokram mentioned how this reminded him a lot of The Seatbelts (Yoko Kanno), and DusK said this genre "wasn't exactly what we were looking for, but I know the perfect place for this on the album." I'm thinkin, "What the fuuuug is going on with these mofos?" I look at the final tracklist in the project thread OP, and my track is the second to last, right before Tuberz' track which is titled "See Ya Space Cowboy."

.......... 0_0 YOU SEE THIS SHIIITTT RIGHT HERE! That's that psychic link shhhiiit we got goin' on in OCR, mannnn! You muhfuggazzz don't even know how we be doin' these things in OCR!! We go HAM with deez remixez, maaaannnnn!!

OK, last thing for real since I see a man with a cane getting ready to pull me off for taking so long. The ridiculous "I Need Scissors! 61!" remix had a slight influence on my vision for this as it is what I was going for with the mesh between quirky Rhodes/EP chords and melodic guitar lines soaring above an aggressive (heh) drum groove; I just added some Electric Mayhem/Katamari type horns for good measure. And if the solo/second "verse" sticks out to any An Endless Sporadic fans out there, I'll have you know it's NOT a shout out... it's a fuggin amplified-up-to-11 megaphone shout out that is purely intentional and not coincidental at all seeing as how AES is one of my top 3 biggest musical inspirations. =)"

I had to quote that in its entirety because DAMN. Speaks to the meandering genius of its creator, and is itself almost endlessly sporadic ;) I love the isolated, clean & pristine EP that intros all by its lonesome as if to say, "Yeah, I'm here, and I'm doing my thing until the rest of the band joins in. Deal with it." Drums roll in along with slightly-crunchy electric guitar and piano chords until things flesh out a bit more @ 0'34". This reminds me of the scoring you used to hear on older 70's cartoons and early-80's anime... Lupin & Urusei Yatsura vaguely come to mind. Larry writes & prophetically anticipates the comparison:

"Jordan's musicianship continues to impress, and I'm a big fan of arrangements that alter the genre of the source material. This is my personal favorite from Be Aggressive!, as this upbeat jazz arrangement takes the tension out of the stage 5 boss theme without sacrificing any of the energy.

I'm looking forward to a potential anime theme style comparison from djp or someone from the community, since that knowledge is outside my wheelhouse. In particular, the drum soloing from 2:21-2:42 brought a smile to my face, but the muted trumpets introduced at 1:21 rocked it at well.

No matter what your frame of reference, the keyboard, trumpets, drums, guitar, and other ear candy will hit you in the right spot. It's not a 3-part, near-25-minute rap supercollab, and yet here we have ANOTHER creative "beast mode" track by Jordan that shows off his unreal artistic range. There's no way not to enjoy an energetic piece like this!"

The declining riff at 1'22" actually sounds like funk Castlevania for a split second, and dig them backing choral bits at 2'08" with brass flutters & sputters @ 2'10" - and then.... DRUM SOLO, circa 2'22". Because why the hell not, at this point? Sir J clearly had a lot of fun on this one, but it's focused enough fun that it paints a picture and really evokes a certain musical aesthetic & time period, at least for me. Great, fun, throwback jazz from Sir Jordanius that added another angle/dimension to the album!