ReMix:Castlevania: Bloodlines "Red Pearl" 4:05

Gothic pirate vampire disco dance?!? It's Guifrog, so why the hell not? Of this flamboyant, superbly-sequenced jam from Vampire Variations II, Guifrog writes:

"Olá, pessoas!!! *hugzevery1!11* 6 months already, yeah? I've been pretty concentrated doing my first solo album, which I want to be da bomb. Music part's almost 100% done, and I'm trying to make sure it'll transport listeners to various natural ambients as the tracks go by. Lots of world music, some electronica, MANY experiments and stories; that's all I can say for now. ^^

And here's my new remix, which is for Chernabogue's new project, Vampire Variations 2. Short story: I made a 30 sec. sketch of something cool and sent to Mr. Bogue. He said it had a Pirates of the Caribbean vibe. Voilà -- I developed the song further in a way so it could clearly resemble that movie somehow in its soundscape. I mean, remember the Black Pearl? Something like that, there you are. The title of this remix/ship is a reference to a vampire's really valued treasure: blood! >:[

Of course, I also seasoned it with some harp and hammered dulcimer, just because. See you soon. o/"

Cool concept; at first this sounded more like a gothic, Transylvanian dance/disco jam, but then the swashbuckling PotC-inspired bits came in and the title clicked for me. Really just a lot of fun, with plenty of quick rise/fall passages and deftly-sequenced runs peppering a four-on-the-floor pound cake foundation with swirls of frosting. Great, now I'm hungry. Chimpazilla waxes maritime & shivers our timbers:

"This is epic as all get-out. Very dramatic and exciting, and groovy at the same time. Great mix of piano, strings/brass, choir, pounding beat, harp/dulcimer, (and church organ!) and electronica. Heavy on the reverb/delay, but it's working well here. Anchors a-weigh, ya scurvy dawg!"

Jivemaster adds:

"This reminds me of those classical orchestra cassettes you used to be able to get which had a disco beat layered over the top, except with a Pirates of the Caribbean vibe (as the title suggests). Straight up, I enjoyed this mix - it felt like I was about to embark on an adventure where I'm gonna whip me some skeletons. You've taken the original and modernised it in a great way. You've made some great choices on instruments (piano, strings, organ, electronic bass), and you added a bunch of licks, fills and breaks to make things your own. The whole track sounds fresh from beginning to end."

I was thinking the same exact thing re: old casette tapes of disco classical. My parents probably used to play us some of the very same cuts that Joel is talking about; small world! Great stuff from GF that's got pirates, vampires, blood, disco, a heapin' helpin' of mixed instrumentation, and a veritable smorgasbord of notes all workin' together to make your roger jolly & your long john silver!