ReMix: Castlevania 'Wild Night'
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- Game: Castlevania (Konami, 1986, NES)
- ReMixer(s): Guifrog
- Composer(s): Kinuyo Yamashita, Satoe Terashima
- Song(s): 'Stalker (Tower BGM)'
- Posted: 2012-12-12, evaluated by the judges
- Album: Featured on Vampire Variations: A Musical Tribute to Castlevania
So you've heard it a thousand times already today, but... 12-12-12 OMG!!! Now that we've gotten THAT out of the way, let's hit up Guifrog for some more Vampire Variations action, this time in the form of self-described Afro-Electronica:
"Chernabogue wanted everyone to give their own styles to the project, so I decided to make an entry and made an afro-electronica track. "Wild Night", because the way this mix turned out, I guess it's pretty much nightclub-friendly, crazy-dance friendly, party-hard frenzy whatever :P. That said, it's a mix of mixes, as I tried to give contraditory emotions to it - eerie, but dancey. Obscure, but fun. Some SFX have a pretty sutile haunted feel to them and things end in a fade-out; but the brass turn things somehow bright and the boom-tiss beat from the chorus will make you dance before thinking of getting scared.
Also, I was mostly influenced by Benin singer Angélique Kidjo when I made this. She's totally awesome!"
While some judges took issue with the source being a little difficult to pick out at times, Mr. Frog provided a helpful breakdown that made things a bit easier. Percussion is a highlight here, as Larry points out:
"Overall, what counts though is I'm really loving the overall direction and creativity of the arrangement. The woodwind sequencing (1:22-1:32) wasn't great, but it was brief, so the sequencing wasn't a huge hit for not sounding organic and human. The hand percussion sounded all sorts of crazy and energetic though.
Interesting dropoff at 2:34 that worked nicely before building things back up for the finish. Some people might have a problem with the fadeout, but forget 'em, it was a perfectly reasonable way to end it. There were no source usage concerns here at all, and I didn't need the breakdown. Great usage of "Stalker," really altering it rhythmically to give it a completely different kind of energy without messing with it too much melodically. Just a really fresh take on things and a solid sub."
Do I take issue with the ending fading out in general? No, I do not. Do I take issue with the CURVE of the fadeout being too abrupt? Yeah, actually... you generally want a curve that takes a bit more time winding down, otherwise you get that "Hey, who's turning the volume down!?!" hand-on-knob effect, which I think happened here a bit - that, and it's also just truncated, and never reaches silence. A note for the future, to be sure, but that percussion is sexy enough to compensate - Guilherme really jammed it out on the drums, which more or less make the mix. Most people take Castlevania in a rock/metal direction, some go electronica, and Joshua Morse infused the entire franchise with a heavy dosage of funk/fusion, but Guifrog has gone all world-beat on us; poor Belmonts must be VERY confused by now ;) Unexpectedly upbeat and positive stuff for vampire-hunting of any sort, Guifrog's delivered another varied, well-sequenced, creative arrangement.
Discussion: Latest 3 comments/reviews; view the I like it, and hope more people get a chance to listen to it. ;-)
- Gario on December 15, 2012
