ReMix:Prince of Persia "119 Minutes Left" 5:22

I messaged Dj Orange (Geoff Harding) when this passed the judges panel and told him he should be very proud of this one. I've been a fan of Geoff's over the years, but his, as DarkSim described it, "experimental lounge-rock with a Middle-Eastern flair" arrangement of Prince of Persia's first SNES level is something you'll appreciate more and more with each play.

Nice choice for a quirky and cool source tune, and I love this arrangement, which is easily Geoff's most engaging, enveloping piece yet. The electric guitar, plucked strings, bass, and later dulcimer at :50 combine for a buttery smoove atmosphere, followed by the saw and organ at 2:05 adding depth and dynamics, earning sound design praise from judge DarkSim's vote:

"The slow tempo necessitates that sound design must be good, as there's more time to dwell on the character of the instruments, and thankfully that's the case here. The guitar tone is rich and smooth, particularly the noodling lead. [...] I was hoping there would be a bit more direction to this piece, as it does seem to noodle around somewhat aimlessly for a bit longer than I was comfortable with, but there's nothing inherently wrong with that in a piece of this style. What's here is presented very well, and is a great way to expand on the source while putting your own stamp on it."

Ditto on how well this was presented, and I believe reservations about aimlessness will melt away once you loop this a few times and just bask in Dj Orange's overall sound, especially because the character of the instruments, as noted by DarkSim, does indeed come through.

On the arrangement side, I really appreciated having the original song's bassline rhythm adapted and ever-present to pretty much always keep the arrangement connected to the source tune even while some vamping was going on. As long as longer pieces evolve and develop, I'm all about just sitting back and enjoying the twists and turns.

Dj Orange was a man of few words for this one, offering "i tried. :) Dm - Dbm - Cm9". He certainly did far more than just try, as he's stepped his game up with an amazing and inspired mood here. Dj Orange's structure allows for a mixing of mellowness with just the right amount of tension as the sands of time fall from the hourglass. Skip OC ReMixes of lesser-known soundtracks at your peril, this is a great one! :-)