ReMix:Pokémon Red Version "Farewell, Beloved Ones" 4:19

Danilo Ciaffi follows up a lovely classical debut Twilight Princess mix from last October with this somber, cinematic/post-rock take on "Lavender Town" from Pokémon R/B/Y:

"Here with some melancholic, post-rock "Lavender Town."

With "City of Tears," I realized there is plenty of space in post-rock to integrate with my usual orchestral elements, so I took an attempt to insert more of them this time around. The result is quite a melancholic sound, so I took this path to a less spooky and more of a "death is part of life" alley. Polaris is partly where I got the inspiration from. I liked the texture a lot when I heard it and I thought it would fit nicely in a post-rock mood. I liked to focus more on the part of the story where Cubone is finally free to move on. :)

I hope you'll like it.

This track is done for the Pixel Mixers contest, the month themed "handheld games.""

Really dramatic presentation, here, with distant, jangling guitars, a rich cello part with plenty of vibrato, a scoring/"Thomas Newman" style piano, epic drums that come in after a bit, and a general vibe that channels post-rock, ambient, & cinematic influences all at the same time. Judges were unanimous in digging Danilo's more reflective, even melancholy take on the source - Emunator writes:

"I absolutely adore what you've done here. The Lavender Town melody is recognizable throughout, but the reharmonization presents it in an entirely new light that somehow still manages to work in context of the original game. This remix has so many layers of emotional nuance and keeps me gripped the entire way through. You nailed the post-rock buildup, and although I wanted to hear more of a dramatic climax, this still tells a complete story as-is, and I can't find any serious fault with the execution.

This is an easy pass for me - hope to hear more of this from you in the future!"

Danilo's debut collab with Medllix was excellent, and this follow-up is both a worthy successor & distinct, texturally. Judges were unanimous, with Chimpazilla echoing Wes's comments:

"I love Lavender Town so much, it's creepy on so many levels. You've taken that theme and given it a whole new feel while still keeping it plenty dark. This mix is utterly lovely. The production is fantastic. Love the drums, love the strings. Enjoyable listen and very easy YES."

Really successful example of changing the tone/vibe of a mix while keeping the source easily identifiable and extrapolating new emotions & angles in the process. Another excellent mix from Danilo and one of the better Pokémon arrangements I've heard lately; highly recommended!