ReMix:The Legend of Zelda "Another Dream Will Start from Here" 7:44

2021 was a quiet year for us; I think some of that was COVID, some of it was regrouping/reorganization on certain albums, and some of it was just plain old life, but I'm confident we'll turn things around in 2022. The important thing is that we're still here, we're still releasing amazing music, and we still have big plans in motion that we're slowly-but-surely chipping away at - more to come! In the meantime, to close out the year, we've got zykO (Waleed Hawatky)'s 7+ minute folk/acoustic tribute to the original Zelda, off of Esther's Dreams:

"Possibly one of my favorite things I've done in years! Hehe.

I haven't the slightest clue how to play the accordion, so it's been fun exploring it!

It felt really good shakin' off the rust and getting back to what I enjoy doin' most."

Larry evaluated:

"Since I'm the person that lovingly prepares queued tracks for djp to post, our December lull has been caused by my extreme lack of availability, something I hope will lessen in the coming months. I'm being very self-centered about it, I'll readily admit, but what a tough year it's been. Hopefully you've been able to go through this past year with the health of yourself, your family, and your friends intact, because it's highly likely you know someone affected by or lost to the COVID-19 pandemic. Please stay safe, get vaccinated & boosted (and wear masks) to protect yourself and others, and keep dreaming of the day when we get to a better place. :-)

As the co-director of Esther's Dreams, I've always wanted to have this posted as an individual OC ReMix and kept it in the hopper to eventually submit in my capacity as a project director. zykO's brand of music always sounds organic, raw, stylish, and handcrafted with charm, care, and creativity. He gets so much mileage out of his beautiful variations of Kondo's classic Zelda ending theme here that I could easily envision waleed creating more permutations and extending his arrangement for another 7 3/4 minutes; props to zykO for actually making the track perfectly loopable if you never want the journey to end. I'm extremely proud of and grateful for his unique contribution to this special project, and in posting it to close out 2021, it's my little slice of hope for a brighter 2022."

What he said :) We throw the word "organic" around a lot for mixes like these, and it's meant to convey some combination of characterful imperfections, relaxed timing, acoustic elements, and general fluidity... all of which are present & working wonders on this & many of Waleed's other mixes. At over seven minutes, this is a longform, lullabye-esque piece that still changes things up enough to warrant foreground attention, and I love the interplay between acoustic guitar & accordion, which the artist clearly learned well enough to throw down some functional, atmospheric accompanying lines. You've also got a chromatic percussion / celeste element, some hand percussion & shakers, and a steady, exploratory pacing that lets things unfurl gradually. Great, relaxing stuff - while some may prefer to celebrate NYE with a BANG, I think I'm personally more in the comfortable, warm, & relaxed headspace after a challenging year, and this is just the ticket - enjoy!