ReMix:Super Mario Kart "A Road That You Go" 15:04

If you haven't heard DiscoCactus's insanely epic 15-minute Mario Kart jazz fusion medley... now you must...

First, some warm-up quotes from OCR staff, just to get you in the mood:

djpretzel: "In a word? Epic."

Gario: "Wow. I mean, I have more words that I can use to summarize this, but I think that's more than enough. Wow."

"Epic" and "wow" are BOTH right (!!), as this monumental tribute to the musics of Mario Karts old and new will stand forever as a triumph of human ingenuity & ambition. Long after our species is extinct, when the planet is visited by space aliens or inherited by a new evolution of hyper-intelligent bee-people, a recording of this mix will be unearthed and cited as irrefutable evidence of homo sapiens' mastery of... arranging the music of Mario Kart.

If nothing else, let us have that. Together.

In addition to a lyrical homage to Mark Kump's own "Rainbow Road" masterwork, this ReMix is jam-packed with hot takes on numerous MK themes, performed by a fleet of uber-talented musicians, so let's get the facts straight, first:

Game tracks remixed:

• Super Mario Kart: Mario Circuit and Rainbow Road tracks (Composer: Soyo Oka)
• Mario Kart 64: Winning Results Screen music (Composer: Kenta Nagata)
• Mario Kart: Double Dash: Rainbow Road track (Composers: Shinobu Tanaka and Kenta Nagata)
• Mario Kart 8: Sunshine Airport and Dolphin Shoals tracks, Win Results music, Item Roulette jingle, and 2nd Place Finishing music (Composers: Shiho Fuji, Astuko Asahi, Ryo Nagamatsu, and Yasuaki Iwata)
• Diddy Kong Racing: Main theme (Composer: David Wise)

The super-awesome players are...

The instrumentalists:

• Flute - Wilbert "bustatunez" Roget, II
• Violin - Matheus Sardinha Garcia Souza
• Trumpet - Miki Sasaki
• Vibraphone, Steel Pans - Doug "DrumUltimA" Perry
• Piano, Keyboards, Synths - Ben "DrThrex" Wallace
• Guitar - Brendon Randall-Myers
• Acoustic Bass - Sam Suggs
• Drums - Jonny Allen

The vocal quintet:

• Soprano - Molly Netter
• Alto - Kelly Hill
• Tenor - Jonny Allen
• Baritone - Doug "DrumUltimA" Perry
• Bass - John Taylor Ward

Edited by: Ben "DrThrex" Wallace (recording/editing) and Doug "DrumUltimA" Perry (mixing/editing)
Mixed/Mastered by: Wilbert "bustatunez" Roget, II

It's worth noting that Will cleaned up the mixing/mastering a bit for this version, which should in theory make it the definitive Road. DrThrex (Ben Wallace) writes:

"Hello! It's finally here! This is the DiscoCactus recording of "A Road That You Go," a massive remix of tunes from Nintendo's Mario Kart franchise. What started as a humble attempt to remix the Mario Circuit track from the first game blew up into a large-scale saga hitting points from almost every game in the series complete (even the item roulette sound) with complex rhythmic modulations, groovy steel pans, gritty Reich-ian hockets, and a full brass band and a cappella choir at the cataclysmic end.

"A Road That You Go" was written over the past 6 months using various themes and sounds from the canon of the Mario Kart franchise. My roommate DrumUltimA and I acquired Mario Kart 8 over the summer and the themes started to stick in my head during our mutual frustrations over how difficult this game was. And over time, I started arranging both the iconic Mario Circuit and Rainbow Road themes from the first game while integrating elements of the latest entry. I ended up using the item roulette jingle as a compositional device for transitions and textures, following it with music associated with other items in the game (invincibility star, coins, shells, and the lightning bolt). We were also fortunate enough to have so many friends willing to record the music for us when editing the track for entry into Dwelling of Duels.

Thank you so much for your consideration, and apologies for the length. (It clocks in at around 15 minutes long!)"

Always neat to hear how juggernauts like this were birthed into existence, by the collective willpower of the men & women who identified a need and rose to meet the challenge head-on. As a Labor Day mixpost it works rather well, since it's quite clear that a lot of work went into it... along with passion, and a dash of the sillies. Liontamer breaks it down:

"Here's my rough breakdown of the source usage. The constant theme interplays and tradeoffs were tremendous throughout. Props to 11 musicians with 15 minutes of greatness. Epic, seamless stuff, and a big deal to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Mario Kart franchise this year!!"

• Super Mario Kart: Mario Circuit - :00-:03, :18.5-:21.5, :32-1:00, 1:15.5-1:24.25, 1:53.75-2:01.5, 2:31.5-3:20, 4:43.5-4:53, 5:45.5-5:50, 6:20.5-6:45, 7:02-7:10.5, 9:50-9:55.75, 10:11-10:44
• Mario Kart 8: Win Results - :08.5-:16, :21.5-:32, 1:02.5-1:04, 2:01.75-2:07, 2:10-2:15, 3:32.5-3:31.5, 3:34.5-3:45
• Super Mario Kart: Rainbow Road - :21.5-:32, 3:34-3:45, 3:46.5-3:57, 4:03-4:17.5, 5:20-5:34.5, 5:40-5:55, 6:12-6:15, 6:30.5-6:43, 6:46-6:59, 7:13.5-7:33, 12:39.5-13:10, 13:59-14:24
• Mario Kart 8: Item Roulette - 1:07-1:48.5, 3:20-3:29, 4:15.5-4:37.5, 8:02.5-8:11.5, 8:40-9:03, 10:44-11:19, 12:31.5-13:19.5, 13:21-14:13, 14:14.75-14:50
• Mario Kart 64: Winning Results Screen - 4:48.75-5:04
• Mario Kart 8: Sunshine Airport - 7:40.75-8:05.5, 8:17.5-8:28.75, 8:31.5-8:40, 8:48.5-8:59
• Super Mario 64: Invincibility Star - 8:12-8:31.5
• Mario Kart 8: Dolphin Shoals - 9:04.5-9:50
• Diddy Kong Racing: Main theme - 10:01.75-10:11
• Mario Kart: Double Dash: Rainbow Road - 10:51.75-12:05
• Mario Kart 8: 2nd Place Finish - 14:53.25-15:00

I think I speak for us all when I say "Jeebus!" - or perhaps just for myself, since very few people say "Jeebus!" - but either way the point is that you've got a badass lineup of musicians with legit killer studio chops who've assembled to provide a thorough & heartfelt outpouring of intense aural pleasure that, Kart or no Kart, Mario & co. would enjoy. Iconic, everlasting, & gorgeous stuff - highly recommended!