ReMix:Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones "Trouble in Japan" 3:38

So we noticed a lack of Double Dragon ReMixes on the site and did our first callout, which already resulted in Shnabubula's excellent cut off NES Jams being posted. Now we've got an amazing, Asian/Latin-infused Double Dragon 3 jazz quartet arrangement from Nostalvania (Markus) to further affirm the wisdom of this course of action; go us! ;) So yeah, we're thinking there WILL be future callouts for specific games, series, or even composers/genres/systems, allowing submitting artists to bypass queue evaluation wait times (which we ARE working on - new judges soon to be announced!) if they put together compelling renditions of much-needed sources. I like it. Markus writes:

"Hi, here's my ReMix for the Double Dragon Callout!

• Style: Jazz/Latin
• Instrumentation: Guitar, piano, upright bass, drums

Thanks to timaeus222, Txai, and the other guys from the Workshop forum for their feedback!"

Nostalvania began featured life on OCR as more of a keys guy, but I love how he's seamlessly branched out into ensemble arrangements without missing a beat, proving well beyond competent at writing for & playing/sequencing bass, rhythm, drum, & other parts, in the context of arrangements that are natural, engaging, smart, & fun. Can't ask for much more. Maybe a kazoo. There should probably be a kazoo, in the future. Callout mastermind & well-known cool guy Larry Oji writes:

"Wow, right from the get-go I love this. DD3's Japan theme is already a great composition, and adapting it to upbeat jazz was a tremendous idea. The complexity of the attention-grabbing upright bass sounds AWESOME to start, and gives the track so much energy and life, but really, EVERY part is extremely active and vibrant. When things are THIS active, you could take a lot of time just focusing on singular parts -- percussion, bass, piano, and guitar -- for different listens. By the way, respect to the Leisure Suit Larry theme cameo thrown in from 1:48-1:54. :-)

I say this every so often, but when people complain about OC ReMixes not keeping "the spirit of the original song" because "it wouldn't fit in the game," they close themselves off to amazing interpretations like this. C'mon, people, don't make such big mistakes in life. :-D Markus is quickly moving himself up to modern legend status at OCR with this level of precision, energy, and, most importantly, execution.

I'm extremely happy that the Double Dragon callout not only got Shnabubula involved with older material, but also put this DD3 original on Markus's radar. There are some other DD submissions that need to be looked at from the callout submissions, so hopefully this isn't the last of the series you'll see this month!"

He's not wrong. About any of that. I'm psyched about the future wonders that subsequent callouts might unleash upon our halls, as this first foray has proven fruitful & gotten brothers Billy & Jimmy Lee two crazy-good arrangements from two crazy-good arrangers. Even Abobo has to admit: amazing work!