ReMix:Mega Man Battle Network "Mega Jam Disco Network" 4:43

It's been a year to the day since Mega Man Battle Network Legacy Collection was released, so it's a perfect time to spotlight minusworld's Battle Network disco-dancin', DoD-makin' soliloquy with a full boat of players:

• minusworld: guitars, bass, arrangement, lyrics, production
• Michelle Dreyband: vocals, lyrics
• Biggoron: organ and keys (+ solos at 1:47, solo at 3:20)
• Cyril the Wolf: alto saxophone (+ solos at 1:47, solo at 2:40)
• Jess Destramp: tenor saxophone (+ solo at 3:34)

As the arranger explains, minusworld went outside of his genre and collaboration comfort zones in putting this together, but the stretch of his skills ended with great results:

"This is an arrangement I did for Dwelling of Duels's Spinoffs Month in March 2023. While my previous OCR submission would indicate otherwise, my usual arrangements are rock and metal. :) This arrangement was my attempt to merge a groovier sound into my more typical style.

Biggoron (organ and keys) introduced me to Japanese city pop a few months prior, so that and disco ended up being a starting influence for the track. I ended up getting away from that and moving toward some groovy fusion-style songs, so the end result is this sort of smashed-up version of a city pop/disco tune with crazy instrumental jams. Here's some of the songs I used as reference.

• "Airport Lady" by Toshiki Kadomatsu (city pop)
• "Soul Lady" by YUKIKA (modern city pop)
• "Cruise Control" by Dixie Dregs (fusion)
• "PUNKADEMIC" by Takayuki Murata (fusion)

The submitted version here is an updated production of the submission in March. The mix was redone from the ground up, and I re-recorded some of the lead guitars because I thought they were too busy after being away from the track for a while.

This arrangement was a few firsts for me: first time arranging for real saxophone players, and it's the largest collaboration I've done to date. Executing this arrangement in DoD's month-long timeframe was a challenge. I solidified the arrangement early to give my collaborators a good chunk of time to give feedback and record, and I had to cut back on my initial ambitions to get it out quickly, such as vocal harmonies, and I didn't write any lead guitar parts until everything else was arranged because I thought I could "fill it in later." This ended up being a bit of a mistake because, as mentioned above, I think I made them too busy trying to "fill in" as much space as possible.

I'm extremely grateful to my collaborators for working with me on this, despite me having to learn a thousand things throughout the process. Everyone was absolutely stellar to work with. This is easily the cover I'm most proud of for 2023!

Oh! I forgot the lyrics. Effectively, I wrote all the lyrics. Michelle and I iterated on like one line (4-ish words). ':D The lyrics are about staying up waaay too late working on DoD entries, with a thin "disco" veneer on top. XD"

Emunator knows a thing or two about bold arrangement ideas, so when this landed in front of the judges panel, it was no surprise he wanted to be networked into this disco jam:

"There's an absolutely tremendous amount of ambition on display here, good lord. I appreciate the reference tracks that you provided that show how you brought influence from Japanese city pop and funk-fusion together along with some heavier rock/metal riffage and solos on the guitar into something entirely unique and original."

I've gotta co-sign showing respect to minusworld for a successful level-up with this challenging concept. These stylistic reference tracks are a trip too, so check them out to better appreciate what this quintet pulled off with Mega Man Battle Network music, energy evident from how fellow judge prophetik music reacted:

"big, frenetic opening. saxes took a second to settle but then i got what they were doing. michelle's vocals are just the right style for this kind of goofy shuffle disco pop. [...]

the break at 0:46 is a good idea to give a bit of a break after a big chorus. [...] the chorus at 1:20 is big and exciting. the sax lines between the vocal lines are a bit pitchy but having them mirror the vocals in some places is a great idea.

solo break at 1:45 is fun to hear. alto solo is a little rough and out of time, but i liked the idea of passing ideas between each part. the subsequent chill section at 2:15 is a great counterpoint to the solo and soli section. [...] transition to an octave groove in the bass at 2:54 is an immediate head-bobber - i love it! and kicking it up another notch at 3:05 with the slick groove there is awesome. tenor solo at 3:34 sounds great - the sudden introduction of the heavier guitars is a little much but i get what you're going for. [...] 4:01's return to the chorus is just what i was looking for there. [...]

this is a really fun track! there's a ton of character in the entire arrangement. it's pretty long for this style of track but none of it is filler. nice work."

As soon as this kicks off, it's more than likely you'll immediately realize you've never heard anything like this in the VGM arrangement community. And on the small details side, what a nice breakout section of the main MMBN theme from 2:13-2:46 as well. As the Js said, amazing concept, energy, and performances! You're definitely at risk of either doing the Mega Man cabbage patch or at least just dancin' all night. :-) It's a jam, it's a vibe -- love it!