ReMix:EarthBound "Battle Against a Malignant & Repugnant Opponent" 2:44

Newcomer nelward (Nick Elward) gives us our first EarthBound ReMix of the year (not a minute too soon!), embracing the full quirk & irreverence of the OST with an odd, kinda-sorta-almost d'n'b-ISH arrangement that makes good use of a funky formant/vowel bass:

"Made this specifically to submit to you guys. "Battle Against a Weird Opponent" is my absolute favorite video game track, and transcribing the crazy chords was a very educational experience! Hope I did it justice."

This is certainly no less weird/unorthodox than the source. which means a lot when we're talking about EarthBound; almost impossible to "normalize" some of these sources, but why bother? Nick goes all-in, with jerky chords, a stutteringly guttural glitched bassline, and an ending that eschews all which came before in favor of an ambient chord progression. Because again, why the hell not? This.... is.... EarthBound. Chimpazilla is freaking weird:

"This is freaking weird. The sources are freaking weird. The remix is freaking weird. I LOVE freaking weird. I hear plenty of freaking weird source here. The mixing is good, definitely not freaking weird. This vote is freaking weird."

Gario addresses the issue of repetition that concerned Larry:

"I'm all for the rather empty sound design, on this one - it works well, all things considered. The little talking bass adds a really cool twist to the track, and it fits the theme perfectly. The portion at 0:58 - 1:20 are nearly copy-pasted from the earlier section (save for the SFX at 1:15) - it would've benefited from at least a little change, there. At 1:20, though, I like the different drum pattern - that gives it a very different feel than the first section, and it segues into the next section very well."

NutS concurs:

"Repetitiveness didn't bother me, as there are subtle touches here and there in the arrangement, the articulations on the lead and the bass and simple flairs in the beat to keep the arrangement away from falling into autopilot. LOVED the yaya bass, man. So many times I hear yaya bass synths used in such cliche ways they just make me roll my eyes, but the quirky way it's being used here is perfect for the source material."

Agreed; COULD have had more variety, COULD have been longer, and COULD have ended with a bit more vigor, but it's more-or-less a concept mix, with the bass anchoring the arrangement & tying the room together, like Lebowski's rug. It's fun to hear a ReMix that is every bit as unique as one of the most iconically unique game soundtracks out there - good stuff, brought a smile to my face & captured the atmosphere well. Looking forward to hearing more from nelward in the future!