Latest / OverClocked ReMix Podcast / January 2025

Transcript

January 2025 · OverClocked ReMix Podcast

1:19
SPEAKER_00: Hello and welcome to the Overclocked Podcast, the best source for OC remix news that you can listen to while driving a forklift.
1:26
SPEAKER_00: This is episode number three, which is also the number of Virtual Boy games that are worth playing.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Playing in, you heard, Oh, Seiken Yoshi, from Yoshi's story by Bladiator.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: I've always wondered what the origin story of the name Bladiator is.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: The best my brain can come up with is Bladder Gladiator, and that's unpleasant.
1:48
SPEAKER_00: My name is Zach, and my credentials are that I'm just a huge OC Remix fan.
1:53
SPEAKER_00: The OCR pod used to be a thing, I don't know, a decade ago.
1:57
SPEAKER_00: I missed it, so I brought it back.
1:59
SPEAKER_00: Today we're going to be discussing all the news and new releases from the month of January 2025.
2:05
SPEAKER_00: New Year, new remixes! Anyone have a fun New Year's resolution this year?
2:10
SPEAKER_00: Mine is to become more proficient with the Chapman stick.
2:13
SPEAKER_00: Let me tell you guys, there is some disconnect between my fingers and my brain with the stick, because I have not at all found it an easy instrument to pick up.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: If, like me, you have a fun video game or music-related New Year's resolution to share, share it with us on the OC Remix Forum thread for the podcast, or on the OC Remix Discord.
2:33
SPEAKER_00: You can find them both linked on the main page.
2:35
SPEAKER_00: Now, let's get to the news.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: Fingers crossed that they get a bigger venue next year, though.
3:18
SPEAKER_00: I've heard a good bit of grumbling that it was too crowded.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: Other than that, uh pretty like News Month.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: I've been sick a couple of times already this year, so I admit I haven't been as on top of the news as I usually am.
3:32
SPEAKER_00: If I missed anything big or important, feel free to call me out about it on the forum thread.
3:42
SPEAKER_00: Moving on to new releases, let's start with Dawn of the Chosen from Final Fantasy V by Zach Parish and Pixel Sand.
6:51
SPEAKER_00: This is an arrangement for my favorite kind of string quartet, four acoustic guitars! Thankfully, Zack does not need eight arms for this, as after having completed the arrangement, PixelCeph volunteered to play one of the parts.
7:04
SPEAKER_00: We can infer from this that on average, Zack Parish and PixelCeph have four arms each.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: I feel like the Final Fantasy V soundtrack doesn't get as much love as the other games, probably because the original US release was skipped.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: Which is a shame because it has a wonderful soundtrack, and the versatility of the main theme is something to behold.
7:26
SPEAKER_00: Far from the call to adventure that is the in-game rendition of the main theme in the opening sequence or the world map, this is a very earnest track that brings out the melodic sweetness of the original composition.
7:39
SPEAKER_00: The performances are impeccable, and the style on the second half of the arrangement is evocative of the track Love and Peace, or Because I Love You, from Earthbound.
7:49
SPEAKER_00: Not sure if this is intentional or if the pieces just live in a similar space in a music theory sense.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: Alright, now it's time to get down with some Zelda Tears of the Kingdom with Get Down by Jim Zilla and Emulator.
11:15
SPEAKER_00: It starts with the creepy samples from the game.
11:19
SPEAKER_00: I love how it uses creepy samples from the game.
11:22
SPEAKER_00: And not just this one.
11:23
SPEAKER_00: I hear some N64 pose in there.
11:26
SPEAKER_00: Those are, if the mix post is to be believed, courtesy of Emuator, who is more on the added ambiance side of this track than arrangement proper.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: And the arrangement proper is also great, oppressive and creepy, with little bits of familiar Zelda themes weaving in and out of Tears of the Kingdom primary source tiers.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: And it's got groove.
11:47
SPEAKER_00: Perfectly captures the creepier elements of the game, and Zelda is a series that does creepy really well.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: It's not all swords and sorcery, so sometimes there is some freaky stuff underneath the surface.
11:59
SPEAKER_00: For the mix post, this was largely written during Chipsilla's third playthrough of the game.
12:05
SPEAKER_00: Bang! Time for an OST I Know Really, really well.
12:10
SPEAKER_00: From Final Fantasy Six Frozen Light by Pipko Fanfare.
15:21
SPEAKER_00: Nice sludgy metal take on Another World of Beasts, which you may know better as the song that plays when Tara confronts the Esper at the very beginning of the game when we say bye-bye to Biggs and Wedge.
15:34
SPEAKER_00: Pipco herself calls it out as introspective, sludgy, heavy, and moody.
15:40
SPEAKER_00: And yeah, that's what it is.
15:41
SPEAKER_00: It has sort of the ambiance of Diablo music, but with an Uamatsu tune.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Like, if someone made a Diablo mod that recreated Final Fantasy VI and the Diablo engine, I'd want the music to sound like this.
15:56
SPEAKER_00: Lion Tamer calls this out in the mix post, and I have to agree, I love the textural changes in the guitar work over the course of the mix.
16:04
SPEAKER_00: From a sort of almost western sound at the start to an over-driven screech at the end.
16:11
SPEAKER_00: And did I mention in all of this Pipco is a newcomer?
16:15
SPEAKER_00: You done messed up, Pipco.
16:17
SPEAKER_00: You came out swinging with a killer track, and now we all have sky-high expectations for the follow-up.
16:23
SPEAKER_00: Can't wait to hear more.
16:25
SPEAKER_00: If I may be so bold, this sound would work great with an Echo the Dolphin track.
16:31
SPEAKER_00: Alright, let's pick up the pace.
16:33
SPEAKER_00: Gotta go fast to keep up with Sunshine Coaster from Sonic Heroes by Michael Hudak.
16:39
SPEAKER_00: Hudak.
16:41
SPEAKER_00: Someone help me out with that.
18:30
SPEAKER_00: Honestly, if you told me this was from one of the Kirby games that I never got around to playing, I'd probably believe you.
18:37
SPEAKER_00: Planet Robobot, I promise, I'll get to you soon.
18:41
SPEAKER_00: I have to admit, Sonic Heroes is pretty far from my favorite Sonic game.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I ever even bothered to fully clear it, but it does have a solid soundtrack.
18:52
SPEAKER_00: This particular track from Casino Park is one of the standouts for sure.
18:57
SPEAKER_00: Sound and arrangement wise, my best point of comparison here is another remixer.
19:01
SPEAKER_00: If you told me this was an Argold track, I'd probably believe you.
19:05
SPEAKER_00: Lots of little fun things about this track.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: Very peppy, active bass line, and the little sprinkling of Sonic sound effects is delightful.
19:14
SPEAKER_00: Additionally, Lion Tamer calls out Sonic Symphony in the mix post, and it was indeed an incredible show.
19:20
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I've ever been in a crowd so hyped up and excited.
19:24
SPEAKER_00: Anyway, short and sweet and lovely.
19:26
SPEAKER_00: Great track, Michael.
19:28
SPEAKER_00: Now it's time for how am I even supposed to read this?
19:34
SPEAKER_00: This title intentionally left late.
26:20
SPEAKER_00: Zack Man, you gotta get that H out of your name.
26:23
SPEAKER_00: Come join us on the K-Crew.
26:26
SPEAKER_00: As is, it just reads like Zatch.
26:29
SPEAKER_00: Name notwithstanding, some pretty sick bass work.
26:33
SPEAKER_00: Andromeda contributes the vocals, Nicole the Harp, and the man PF to everything else.
26:38
SPEAKER_00: This is less uh remix, and more like four remixes, one for each different ending of the game.
26:45
SPEAKER_00: One of them is in German! For your vocabulary word of the day, in the mix post, Hemophiliac and Lion Tamer both call out the song as an example of the leader approach.
26:56
SPEAKER_00: L-I-E-D-E-R.
26:59
SPEAKER_00: This was a songwriting approach popular into the early 20th century, where you sent poetry to classical music.
27:06
SPEAKER_00: And the track does have that feel for all that it features modern electric guitar, bass, and sound effects on top of the vocals and heart.
27:14
SPEAKER_00: I don't think I've ever heard anything quite like this on OC Remix.
27:18
SPEAKER_00: Well done, folks.
27:21
SPEAKER_00: In what is becoming a tradition on the podcast, next up we have yet another track from Game Set Mash 2.
27:27
SPEAKER_00: It's Livin' Out Our Last Days from Metroid Prime by Lucas Guimares, Zach Parrish, and Ridley Snipes.
29:09
SPEAKER_02: No screaming on that black.
29:10
SPEAKER_02: Chase this tail the abstract.
29:22
SPEAKER_02: I gotta go in my next mirror for the pinks, crack it if you're gonna finish.
29:26
SPEAKER_02: You're gonna feel my power.
29:28
SPEAKER_02: Coming in at the 13th hour, wouldn't even have to touch you.
29:31
SPEAKER_02: Oh, we're always trying to bring that on.
30:23
SPEAKER_00: Thing the first.
30:25
SPEAKER_00: I say Metroid Prime, but since this is from a mashup combo, you know there's some Castlevania III in there, too.
30:30
SPEAKER_00: Thing the second.
30:32
SPEAKER_00: Ridley Snipes worked on a Metroid track.
30:35
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
30:36
SPEAKER_00: This is just a gorilla's track.
30:38
SPEAKER_00: I am suddenly back in high school.
30:41
SPEAKER_00: Like, you just heard the track, so you already know.
30:44
SPEAKER_00: But if you didn't already, this is basically exactly what I'd imagine if you told me to imagine the gorillas mashed up Feel Good Inc.
30:52
SPEAKER_00: with Metroid and Castlevania.
30:54
SPEAKER_00: The mix post also gives some special thanks to Zalef for vocal retuning, and it's full of ape puns, so I'd really just go ahead and read it.
31:02
SPEAKER_00: I I don't have much else to say here.
31:04
SPEAKER_00: This is just an excellent gorillas track that also happens to be a video game remix.
31:11
SPEAKER_00: Squeezing in at the last minute, we have our last new track of the day from Mock Rider, Road Rage by Seol4 the Jackal and Saren's Toes.
33:47
SPEAKER_00: A lot of you may have heard this one already because it is from the album The Impact of Iwata.
33:52
SPEAKER_00: Iwata was apparently a programmer on Mock Rider, and it also inspired this incredibly shredding hard rock game.
33:59
SPEAKER_00: Well, mostly hard rock, it does dip its toes, pun absolutely intended, into some metal territory.
34:06
SPEAKER_00: I didn't play Mock Rider, but if you had just played this track for me, I'd probably have guessed Castlevania as the source.
34:13
SPEAKER_00: Although, probably where you heard this track and where I also heard this track was Super Smash Bros.
34:19
SPEAKER_00: Great bass and guitar work on this one, funking where it needs to funk, shredding where it needs to shred.
34:24
SPEAKER_00: And shout out to Saren's Toes, friend of Seol 4 the Jackal and Drummer Extraordinaire.
34:30
SPEAKER_00: It was Saren's Toes' first track, but hopefully not the last.
34:34
SPEAKER_00: Alright, class, put away your phones, I'm passing out the segment.
37:26
SPEAKER_00: A new segment, one that I'm calling an album retrospective.
37:30
SPEAKER_00: And today, the Sharpeared Among You, no not elves, will recognize the opening track of Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Hedgehog Heaven: Emerald Knights Looking Up Mix by Nesper and Skull Crusher.
37:44
SPEAKER_00: And some of you may be wondering why the first album I want to cover on the podcast is the third OC Remix album.
37:51
SPEAKER_00: Well, the short answer is that it's my podcast and I do what I want.
37:55
SPEAKER_00: But for the long answer, let's turn the clock back to 2005 and establish some context.
38:01
SPEAKER_00: And if you really want to feel that clock turning back, the original website is still live at Sonic2.ocremix.org.
38:09
SPEAKER_00: In 2005, I was both getting ready to graduate high school and also recovering from a pretty bad knee injury.
38:15
SPEAKER_00: I was spending a lot of time on the computer, even more than usual because of the knee injury, and listening to a lot of OCR while I was posting on forums and tootling about with the fairly pathetic games my setup could run.
38:27
SPEAKER_00: At the time I was rocking a hand-me-down iMac G3.
38:32
SPEAKER_00: Not exactly top of the line, but so far ahead of the 486 with Windows 95 that I had been using that the mind fairly bottled.
38:41
SPEAKER_00: Now while all the city folk were getting DSL and even cable connections to the internet, I was deep in unincorporated rural Alabama.
38:50
SPEAKER_00: What, don't you hear the accent?
38:52
SPEAKER_00: And still on dial up.
38:54
SPEAKER_00: To my recollection, downloading a single 3MB MP3, which I recall being roughly the average for OCR at the time, took 10-12 minutes.
39:05
SPEAKER_00: All this adds up to the fact that while I was dimly aware of Relics of the Chozo and Kong in concert, I was unwilling to spend the bandwidth on them.
39:15
SPEAKER_00: I hadn't played a single Metroid game at this point, and I had only played Donkey Kong Country at a friend's house, and you try enjoying the music of Grant Kirkhope at a sleepover full of screaming nine-year-olds.
39:29
SPEAKER_00: I was a Sega kid.
39:30
SPEAKER_00: I knew Sonic Two like the back of my hand.
39:33
SPEAKER_00: So when Hedgehog Heaven dropped, I was willing to spend a couple hours laboriously downloading each track one at a time.
39:41
SPEAKER_00: Let's play another one of my favorites House of Cards by the Joker.
42:43
SPEAKER_00: I can't say I've heard anything like it outside of early 2000s video game remixes.
42:49
SPEAKER_00: Maybe very vaguely reminiscent of a Dintel track, but only a little.
42:54
SPEAKER_00: It's an excellent early example of a remix for which the source tune, Casino Night Zone, is instantly recognizable, but also sounds absolutely nothing like the original.
43:04
SPEAKER_00: Moving on to another favorite of mine, let's talk about Analog's Next My Generation, which covers Metropolis Zone.
46:36
SPEAKER_00: I've always loved Analog sound.
46:38
SPEAKER_00: In fact, I think they were the first remixer that I downloaded tracks from, even if I hadn't played the game.
46:45
SPEAKER_00: Something about that sort of pop rock synth and guitar sound, with piano doing a funky bassline.
46:51
SPEAKER_00: It wasn't too far removed from the 2000s indie rock that I had just started getting into.
46:56
SPEAKER_00: Must have been something in the air.
46:58
SPEAKER_00: I'm only doing a few in this segment, so I'm skipping them, but analog has two other tracks on this album that I highly recommend listening to.
47:07
SPEAKER_00: Last up, let's listen to Traveling Through the Dream by Haddon.
47:12
SPEAKER_00: Hadn't like the composer Haydn, but with the D and the Y swap.
50:57
SPEAKER_00: What can I say?
50:58
SPEAKER_00: They have a vibe I like.
51:00
SPEAKER_00: What separates this one is the heavier reliance on synth elements, with some synth violin propping up the synth lead, and the synthy bell-like sounds that carry a lot of the melody in the B part.
51:11
SPEAKER_00: Actually, in retrospect, this reminds me a lot of the soundtrack to the Spyro games, which I hadn't played at the time, but enjoyed quite a bit when the remake collection came out.
51:20
SPEAKER_00: So there we have it, some memories and thoughts on the first OC Remix album I ever listened to.
51:26
SPEAKER_00: Plenty of other great tracks and factoids I didn't talk about.
51:30
SPEAKER_00: I saw in the forums some chatter about a poll to select which robotnik track got on the album, which I don't remember at all.
51:38
SPEAKER_00: But that brings us to the end.
51:40
SPEAKER_00: If you enjoyed this podcast, great! Join us on the OC Remix Discord or forums.
51:45
SPEAKER_00: We're always happy to chat video game music.
51:48
SPEAKER_00: If you enjoy this podcast so much that you're pulling out your wallet, I kindly ask that you go subscribe to the Overclock Remix Patreon.
51:56
SPEAKER_00: You can find a link on the main page.
51:58
SPEAKER_00: Now, as always, the Russian Remix Relax.
52:01
SPEAKER_00: I've got the main page of OC Remix pulled up, and I'm going to roll a die and play it with a song selected from the six random pictures on the main page.
52:10
SPEAKER_00: Here we go.
52:12
SPEAKER_00: I rolled a two Castlevania Simon's many dreamer.
52:23
SPEAKER_00: Correct me.
52:24
SPEAKER_00: Have a great month, everyone, and I'll catch you next time.