ReMix:Stardew Valley "Tomorrow's Starting" 3:54

Our first featured ReMix of Stardew Valley is a dreamy, ambient/post-rock beauty from Michael Hudak that builds like a particularly affecting sunrise:

"The Stardew Valley OST made me want to get into writing music again back in 2017 when a friend gifted me the PS4 version of the game while I was living in Japan. The soundtrack wasn't technically astounding, but each song was so incredibly appropriate to what was on screen in terms of art, story, and general aesthetic. I dug deeper into things and read that Eric Barone (ConcernedApe, the composer and also sole developer) used Reason for composition purposes, which was one of the less CPU-hungry DAWs, and one my darling old dual-core Asus SonicMaster could actually handle before I could afford to replace it (so long as it was fully charged AND plugged in!). So, I bought a copy of Reason 10, and started writing songs again after several years away. I started to revisit OCR too!

My version of "Ghost Synth" started as another synthwave track, but after stumbling upon Mattias Holmgren's fantastic post-rock tutorial video, I decided to keep the same tempo and general structure, but change the instrumentation. I'd been wanting to add more live guitar and bass to my songs anyhow, so I had to use some of his ideas. Addictive Drums has proven to complement the kind of slower playing I like really well. After finding the proper reverb settings for the pads and guitars, this track basically wrote itself! As usual for me, I went gentle on the mastering side of things. The title "Tomorrow's Starting" is a partial nod to Mark Hollis from Talk Talk -- he co-created what is now known as the "post-rock" genre with the Spirit of Eden and Laughing Stock albums -- though an earlier Talk Talk track from the It's My Life album is called "Tomorrow Started."

So, thanks to Mark, Mattias, and especially Eric, of course. And to YOU! :)"

Following on Hudak's three previous glitch/experimental/vaporwave mixes, this is probably a more accessible/crowdpleasing aesthetic, and I think he specifically did a fantastic job taking the time to layer/build intensity & "sunlight," with the first inklings of dawn blossoming into a full-blown sunrise. Distant, heavily-verbed guitars feature more prominently in the intro, but a lovely lo-fi synth takes over for most of the rest of the mix, and the male vocalizing/chorus adds that touch of wordless, wide-eyed wonder. Judges were unanimous, with some minor compression nitpicks that tbh I didn't really notice; prophetik music writes:

"...a great example of post-rock without actually having any rock in it. it's enjoyable to listen to, accessible, recognizable as the source, and features some really fun effecting and uber-sustained synth work."

Rexy adds:

"...a clean mix, lovely attention to space, tight balance, and some fitting synth timbres. I don't mind the dynamic spread - the quieter instruments are there to provide a sense of delicacy in the bookends, and are an excellent contrast to the climax at 2:20."

While certainly no slouch on the arrangement front, Michael has an ear for sound design that serves him well, whether it's something a bit quirkier/challenging or a more serene, inspirational piece like this. I think his passion for the game's OST comes through, but he's universalized it into something that (hopefully?) every human on Earth can identify with - a sunrise, the beginning of a day - and captured that vibe perfectly. This would make superb, gradually-rousing alarm clock music, unless you go more for the abrupt, blood-curdling beeps sorta thing. No judgment. You can also wake up funky-style, with Jake Kaufman. At any rate, on top of being a fantastic standalone mix in its own right, this shows another side to Michael's voice as an artist/arranger, and ALSO gives OCR its first featured arrangement of a popular indie hit; sweet. From concept to execution, loving this mix through & through - highly recommended!