ReMix: Chaos Field 'Knowing Heart, Distant Noise'
- Game: Chaos Field (Sega, 2004, DC)
- ReMixer(s): Mattias Häggström Gerdt
- Composer(s): Daisuke Nagata, Kou Hayashi
- Song(s): '25mg -select-'
- Posted: 2011-04-10, evaluated by the judges
Alright! Some lesser-known Dreamcast SHMUP action comes courtesy Mattias - I was buggin' him for a mix, and he definitely delivered:
"Kou Hayashi and Daisuke Nagata (also known as k.h.d.n.) are two game composers I respect deeply. Their modern take on electronic shmup music is nothing short of brilliant. The textures range from organic pulsating to harsh, distorted noise. All these amazing textures always work perfectly with the game too, showing superb craftsmanship. I've always been a fan of modern electronic game music, a part of VGM which sometimes gets overlooked. Obviously I had no choice but to pay tribute to k.h.d.n.!
This remix is my take on the memorable select music from Chaos Field. I tried to capture the dark, atmospheric track but make it a bit more dancefloor-friendly. A lot of effort went into finding the right textures and expanding these, the heavily automated Thor bass being something I'm especially proud of. The original melody is quite brilliant in its simplicity so I've not tampered that much with it, instead the textures and new setting is the main focus. As always it was all made in Propellerhead's Reason/Record. I actually showed this track to Kou Hayashi on twitter and he enjoyed it very much. Here it is now for the rest of you to check out! I hope you enjoy it."
Even if you've never played Chaos Field, which I personally have not, I think you'll find this mix very easy to get into; from the crystalline, pure tones of the intro to the modern, clean electronica style w/ plenty of aforementioned modulation on the one bass patch, it's got an innocence & clarity to it that are both very appealing. Shariq writes:
"I like it, it's got a calm, subdued feel, and yet it still manages to be dancey. I like the subtle wobbling synths contrasting with the bell-like synths. Very nice. Great arrangement; fairly straightforward, but still some nice rhythmic ideas at play."
Vinnie adds:
"Simpler structure than what we're used to from Mattias, but devilish details and a very effective arrangement. It's one of those songs where the pieces slot together perfectly, it's hard to pick at anything. Gets the Palp seal of approval."
Sometimes less is less, sometimes more is more, sometimes more is less, and sometimes... less is more. This would seem to be one of those latter instances, as Mattias gives us a stripped-down track that, while not minimalist per se, focuses on getting a few key elements JUST right. Great, pure stuff that's easy to loop and disappear into.
- Bahamut on July 16, 2012
- Crulex on December 19, 2011
I feel 'hip' and 'now' listening to this! Where's my credit card?
seriously though, it's pretty basic, but it works well and has some cool little details throughout. Not my favorite track from Mattias, but not my least favorite either. :-)
- OA on December 16, 2011
I'm not sure about you but for some reason when playing it through the Youtube preview I sensed this sudden dryness past 2:10 that could be mistaken as elements of clipping; not sure if that may be a distractant or not, but the cut-offs here at that point give that slight uneasy conclusion. If it's not clipping, then I might as well have to say to watch for your gates at times to try and prevent that illusion. But hey, you're Mattias and I can always trust you to refine details like that. :wink:
All in all, definitely a more different piece from Mattias, and I hope you keep representing more undercovered games in future remixing endeavours :)
- Rexy on December 5, 2011
I don't even find the remix at hand to be [i]that[/i] minimalistic; melodically speaking, there is still more than enough stuff going on for me.
Anyway, really diggin' this, and I hope we're going to hear more remixes like this one.
- Martin Penwald on June 21, 2011
- Dark-Eco on April 27, 2011
- ambinate on April 12, 2011
- Master_Yoshi on April 11, 2011
Great ReMix, I'm digging it a lot!
- Flexstyle on April 10, 2011