ReMix:Final Fantasy IV "Mechanical Delights (NeverEnding Love Mix)" 5:33

Time to ring in a 6-track compo spotlight on the first-ever Game Set Mash!! GSM1 focused on Final Fantasy releases of the SNES & PSX eras, so let's dive into several of these creative mashups! :-) First up was originally by a motley crew from the compo's Team SNES championed by The Vodoú Queen, who took an industrial, robotic approach to FF4 & FF7. It's been overhauled since then with just VQ & ZP tightening the screws:

• The Vodoú Queen - arrangement, synths, electronica drums, vocals, lyrics, SFX, mixing, mastering, production
• ZackParrish - live lead (clean & overdriven) guitars, live rhythm guitars, high-octane metal drums (for "Crazy Motorcycle" interlude), snares, additional arrangement material for key change/outro sections, MIDI clean-up & post-production guidance/assistance/corrections, mastering limiter

Besides a big thanks to ZackTheCloserParrish (look at his credits list!), VQ also shouted out her other collaborators' accolades from the original compo version along with a huzzah for GSM's spirit of competition:

• "Aeroprism/Seb - For some of the original arrangement and composition of the pads and bass structure. Both have been heavily modified and I know he doesn't feel like this piece "represents his [part of the] work" anymore, due to the number of changes and iterations to the tracks, but his collaboration with me during GSM round 1 was essential, inspirational, and I appreciate both his efforts and his patience whilst making the beats. :)
• Xaleph/Matt - For his takes of the distorted and rhythmic guitars for the "CM" section in the original incarnation of this remix, during GSM, and also for his advice with mixing and producing. He did those original recordings in such a short amount of time for me, when it was down to the wire before final submission, and his enthusiasm is always infectious. I admire his production skills and versatility with various forms of EDM and heavy metal. :D
• Also, shout-out to the GSM 1 FF SNES crew/gang. Go Team LockeNES! WOO! <3 And to our opponents, as well, Team PSX - for keeping us on our toes and forcing us to step up our game. ... In the end, I learned it wasn't about the polls and statistics, but the friends and journey made along the way. ^_^ Also-also, super-ecstatic and glad that I finally got to do a remix of one of my favorite songs from my favorite Final Fantasy game, IV. <3 Also, the musical references that helped me to mold this arrangement are: general '90s Italo disco/trance, "What Is Love?" by Haddaway [bass & drums influence], and "Theme to the Never Ending Story" by Limahl [synth & ear-candy influence] -- but with an obvious, mystically thrilling "you're riding (literally) along the information/mechanical highway" (cyberpunk future cruising) vibe throughout. Creative approach was a long, long, long, heavily iterative affair, since the beginning of GSM1, Round 1. Too much to be said here about it, but those who were involved, if ya know, ya know. ;)"

Vodoú Queen took plenty of extra time post-compo to spruce this "Within the Giant"/"Crazy Motorcycle" hybrid up, gaining some critiques along with earning judge Flexstyle's seal of approval:

"Ya really love Glitch, eh? [...] Very ambitious arrangement, and definitely on the "we might have bitten off more than we can chew" side of things. I think it actually does work overall -- the stop-start-stop beat stuff doesn't lose the momentum to my ears, I can hear what you're going for throughout. No instrumental performance issues that stand out, either -- seems like some good clean takes on those guitars. [...]

The song tells a story, it's always moving somewhere new and interesting (love that)"

The overall creativity can't be denied alongside v2's level-up, leading to Vodoú Queen's first featured ReMix outside of the FF8: SeeDs of Pandora album. I loved the robotic intro, and it was fun hearing this mechanized spin on VQ's voice after her evil turn as Ultimecia in SeeDs.

On the mixing side, I initially wasn't sure why FF4's "Within the Giant" melody at :43 seemed pushed down, and I was going to complain about it, but then it had an effective contrast with its brighter, more upfront placement at 1:12, so I'm glad the intentional contrast was there. Meanwhile, FF7's "Crazy Motorcycle" rocks out with intense percussion and beefy guitar-driven sections that manage to connect well due to VQ's copious SFX drops gluing the soundscape together.

Vodoú Queen herself would say that she throws a lot of ideas for her works, leaning more on her can-do spirit vs. formal music training, but VQ's brute force has brought her very far, because there's nothing like her brand of arranging. It's led to eyebrow-raising standout tracks aplenty here on OCR, along with the opportunity to not only learn from plenty of collab partners but also illuminate the eyes & ears of those other musicians with her distinctive ideas. After working quickly with her crew to develop this for GSM, Vodoú Queen in concert with ZackParrish diligently improved the final product; the hard-working hustle and mechanical bustle definitely show through! :-)

"We hope you enjoy the я1đ3..."