ReMix:Sonic the Hedgehog "A Blue-Green Color" 3:54

MIXING!! metaphist (Paul Ford) delivers on the first half of his pseudonym with a meta-mix that juxtaposes quotes about color mixing (hence the title) with a funky, FM+schnazz (17-bit?) jazz/funk take on the venerable "Green Hill Zone" theme:

"This started out as me trying to mix "Green Hill Zone" in the style of a Sonic R song, mostly taking inspiration from "You're My Number One." At one point, I was trying to mix in some of that source so I could include it on the Sonic R album project that was going on at the time. Although that would have been awesome, I couldn't really make it work out, so I just scaled it back to "Green Hill Zone" and didn't worry too much about it resembling Sonic R in any way, though you can still hear the influences. The sample is from a random documentary on color, not sure who the voice is. :p"

Did you know that we STILL don't have a featured Sonic R ReMix on the site? What's THAT about? Paul takes care of intro duties quickly, quenching fevers with a cowbell countdown and then taking off into a very full mix that echoes the sonic palette of the Genesis but clearly employs some fancier components. Excellent job syncopating the main melody into something instantly recognizable but recognizably altered, too. zykO writes:

"i'm down with your chord breakdowns to space out the main A section of the source by rethinking the B section; this is expertly done. definitely can sense that sonic R feel though i think this is better on its own. the sound bites are great; their use is just right. not too much, the pacing is on point, the context relevant, check, check, check.

generally speaking, the track stays fresh, teasing us with modal changes and a rethinking of the source's chord voicings while not only pontificating about mixing through the sound bites but also by giving us some cerebral arrangement skills. very cool stuff.

MIXING. i dig."

Some judges felt that things got a little too cluttered at points, but the consensus was that this wasn't too problematic - it's a busy mix, sure, but I personally feel like I can follow all the bits. Nutritious concurs:

"Gonna keep this vote short. I do agree that there could be some improvement on the mixing levels to get a better balance. Overall, though, while the track is pretty busy, the various parts in general came through clearly enough to be distinctly heard. The swing feel of the arrangement is sweet."

Indeed it is; I almost felt like it was applying some of the attitude/rhythm of "Spring Yard Zone" to GHZ, which is an interesting notion. Fresh, funky, delicious, and spot-on in its crafty usage of sampled quotes; reminds me of "spirit of law" in that last sense... great to see/hear more from metaphist, who's painted a very familiar source tune in a new & fitting hue!