ReMix:Aleste 2 "Flying High" 4:44

Jorito brings the pew-pew action of MSX schmup Aleste 2 into the present day with some Italo-style dance music! This is actually a spruced up version, putting a fresh coat of paint on a prior effort that those evil judges (not me!) punted into space way back when. As Jorito explains, he got better and -- a decade later -- he's finally requested permission to land:

"This is essentially a resubmit of a track I created 10 years ago and subbed back in 2015, a remix of the Area 1 song from the MSX shooter made by Compile in 1989, Aleste 2, that I created as a bonus entry for MnP21. It started out as an experiment with Realivox Blue, the instrument that did the vocals. I was playing around with it, it sounded quite nice, and the rest of the song more or less took off all by itself. After the main part of the song was done, I added the intro and the break, giving it a bit of an ethereal, otherworldly touch. Not sure about the style name, but I'd like to dub it "Ethereal Italo". Not sure if it's the slowest resubmit in the history of OCR, but it's probably in the top 10 somewhere. :)

Anyway, back then, I used a primitive sample library for some vocals, which was the main thing that the judges commented on. Fast-forward 10 years, and technology (and hopefully my skills as a remixer) have progressed a lot, and I was able to replace the so-so vocals from back then with Synthesizer V vocals. The lyrics are still cheesy and limited/affected by what I could make work in the previous version, but I like it that way.

Apart from new vocals, I also recorded a bit of guitar, polished up the lead parts, sprinkled some effects and subtle extra parts in there, cleaned up the mix, and overall brought the track into 2024. When comparing, the old version sounds a bit boring and limited and also rather woolly in the midrange. So, hopefully this one fares better in the panel. At least now I'm finally able to cross this off my to-do list and can continue with properly finishing and submitting another 10-year-old track idea. ;)"

We always love hearing older attempts with potential rehabbed into strong, shining examples of music, so I do hope Jorito's sincere about breaking out some other prior material and glossing it up with space-age tech. :-) Judge prophetik music has his own spacey Mass Effect mix awaiting the front page, so his starbound insights for this piece seemed apropos:

"opens with airy pads and some nice vocal elements. there's the slightest bit of overlap to indicate that they're layered else i wouldn't have been able to tell initially that it's done with a synth. technology has apparently progressed amazingly, because this sounds fantastic. the beat and backing elements at 0:31 are great, tons of space in the bass and the drums are nice and tight. the main riff at 1:04 is a little heavy in the left ear, but i like how it's being played and i like the escalation at 1:22 in the backing elements.

there's a recap in the vocal elements starting at 1:42 - essentially a verse 2 - with some extra ear candy behind it to keep interest. the chorus/synth led section right after it has a lot of fun new content as well, including the vocal elements. [...] i liked the subsequent guitar/synth stuff at 4:00 or so a lot. it trucks through some more chorus content, hits the flying high phrase once more, and it's done

this is great! it's got superb mastering throughout, it drives forward throughout and doesn't get stale despite some repetition in content, and the vocal elements really work well. definitely an obvious demonstration of your progress as a musician. excellent work."

I was basically out on parental leave when the previous version was subbed, so I'd actually never heard that first rejection until voting on this one. The initial try had noticeably more stilted sequencing and thinner textures compared to this, and the old vocals were brutal (terrible articulations, very stiff timing). Critiques aside, I could readily hear why then-judge Sir_NutS said the first attempt had lots of potential back then, but it had obvious drawbacks that we're glad could still be worked through. No worries about that now for Jorrith, however -- this one's now flying high! Comparatively, the lovely, spacious fauxcals found here sound absolutely impeccable. The groove bias is in full effect here too, bolstered by all the catchiest traits of Italo, so dance in the club, in your chair, or in your car, it doesn't matter! Great treatment from Jorito of a cool, overlooked theme. :-)