ReMix:Chrono Cross "Timewarp" 4:42

DjjD Part Deux! Our second ReMix from Jacob today (and our tenth to date!) is a genre-bending cinematic/EDM arrangement of Chrono Cross and Chrono Trigger with soloing from several other amazing artists... synths, violin, piano, guitar, and fantastic layered percussion that weaves an intricate web of acoustic & electronic textures; really lush, enveloping, & refined work. Jacob writes:

"Man, where do I even begin with this one. It started like... 8-9 months ago when I showed one of my friends a small 30-sec clip of "Dead Sea." I got inspired by DrumUltimA's WIP from years ago. When I started to get really into it, I showed it to Dustin (Theory of N) and he stated that "Sealed Door" was really similar and that it would work really well. From there, I added rhythm guitar clips from my good friend Giles, talked to Ben and Drew about adding some solos, talked to Jeff to lay down a small violin segment over the rhythm guitar part Luke had already added, and finally spoke to Krank (formerly known as Dj Bjra) to finish off the last of the 3 solo spots.

All in all, it was a mission to get this one finished. I hope you guys enjoy it!"

Some cool milestones with this mix:

• 10th mix for DjjD
• 10th mix for Jeff Ball
• 50th mix for halc

This is one of Jacob's best AND most ambitious ReMixes yet; it highlights his formidable prowess with all things electronic while going in a more cinematic direction and very successfully integrating other artists' performances. We actually ran into another member of the Diaz clan earlier this year; Larry writes:

"We met Jake's older brother Joe at PAX East 2015 after he attended our panel to learn more on what OC ReMix was about and by extension what Jake does in the community. He was super cool, and we were glad to relay how far Jake's skills have come along and how we were proud to have him on the For Everlasting Peace: 25 Years of Mega Man album. Joe also looks a lot like The Legendary Zoltan, which was a cool bonus. :-)"

Emunator's judge comments on this summarized my own feelings pretty precisely:

"Wow, the level of detail on this track is stellar! It is true that the background arp repeats for the majority of the track, but really it feels more like a glue than a crutch, forming some kind of solid base to tie the track back to the source while just about every other element evolves and develops around it. The solos are strong and give a lot of character to the mix, but the rest of the backing track is so compelling that it doesn't feel like you're just throwing star power at your remix to compensate for a weak concept. On the contrary, it's the little string stabs, drum fills, and other organic instruments that I find myself appreciating the most on repeat listens. Really, this one's firing on all cylinders. Super strong, ambitious track, maybe the best thing you've submitted so far Jake! Bravo!"

What he said; each of the artist's mixes has had its strengths (I'm partial to "Crystal Cipher" for the drum work), but this arrangement kinda aggregates all of those strengths into a single mix, brings some very talented assistance in to make things even better, and the result is a fantastic ReMix that breathes new life into a classic source and achieves a very distinct, textured aesthetic while still being easy to enjoy & disappear into. As Wes said: Bravo!!