ReMix: Secret of Mana 'Pure Lands (Total Darkness)'

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Game: Secret of Mana (Square, 1993, SNES)
ReMixer(s): Children of the Monkey Machine
Composer(s): Hiroki Kikuta
Song(s): 'Still of the Night'
Posted: 2003-12-08, evaluated by djpretzel

I've sometimes found myself saying with pieces from CotMM that "if you liked his previous stuff, you'll probably like this, and vice versa"; however, this newage/downbeat ReMix from Secret of Mana might be more accessible than some of his more distorted, ambient soundscape works due to a cleaner overall sound, more attention given to drums (with a nice stuttering effect) and more obvious melodic presence. If you listen to the original purelands track from the SPC, you'll see what's been done here, which is quite a bit given the spartan source material. I actually listened to this a long while back when Matt was working on it, and commented that the very first few seconds remind me of the specific progression and chords from Peter Gabriel's song "Mercy Street", and still think so on hearing the final. It's a different key, and after the initial seconds either song departs in a completely different direction, but I can't get over the initial, coincidental likeness. Check the Peter Gabriel song out for yourself; it's well worth your time (so is most of his stuff) and maybe you'll hear the immediate, ephemeral similarity as well...or maybe not. Actually, this strikes me as something that could easily have been a collaboration between CotMM and GrayLightning, as there's some crossover in terms of style and execution. Kikuta seems to have a lot of pieces that are BGM and evolve in a pattern-based fashion, with crystalline timbres appearing often as well, and the treatment that's been given this minimalist work - full ambient pads, slick drum work, layered bell synths, etc. - brings out those elements very effectively. Good stuff.

― djpretzel

Discussion: Latest 15 comments/reviews; view the complete thread or post your own.

This track is drenched in butter and mystery and is topped with crunchy sprinkles.

- Unununium on October 27, 2012

Definitely love this CotMM song - easily my favorite of his because it really embeds a dark but exotic feel to this beautiful source while going in an ambient direction.

- Bahamut on December 4, 2009

One of my most listened to tracks off of OCR. The sound design and textures are fairly simple but are incredibly effective in getting across their message. This is a def a case where the sum is greater than the parts.

- avaris on November 11, 2009

really ambient and definitely not something i'd expect from CotMM. This one sort of just floats along; it's not super remarkable, but it's a pleasant journey.

- OA on November 11, 2009

Thanks to Meteo Xavier mentioning this one in another thread. I'm enjoying it! The ambient/drone and the drums combo works great. They're somewhat disparate, but that works in the pieces favour - for me at least, I can understand the comments here to the contrary. Good work and worth checking out.
--Eino

- evktalo on March 19, 2009

This one is amazing, and has made it into my top ten on this site.
I'm also sad that this the only remix on this site of this song. It's a fabulous song in the original game. It's simplicity, beauty, and mystery are excellently woven together. The percussion in the remix of this -- well, let's just say I never would have imagined making this song into any kind of rhythmic tune, but shockingly (for me), it works, and it works well.

- Catharsis on January 29, 2009

Very chilled remix that I've had on my HD for a long time. I, for one, dont mind the drums and like the contrast they bring to the slow bells/marimba thing and the pads. Always brings a smile to my face when it comes on. Definitely, not what you'd expect from COTMM.

- Nutritious on November 4, 2008

CotMM caught me off guard here, this remix differs from their other remixes. Ruined World might be something like this, but this arrangement really is relaxing. The strings and the bells is soft and beautiful, an ice ave comes to my mind while listening. The drums however stood out pretty much compared to the more calmer insruments, but they helped this arrangement to gain some rhytm.
Soothing as a comfy couch filled with soft pillows. Nice work.

- Bummerdude on April 15, 2006

OMFG I think I just wet my pants.

- Bobwillis on March 27, 2006

Ah wow, really cool ambience and the percussion is just sweet! Nada lot else to say about this, just that CotMM has done some pretty obscure, trippy songs, this is probally his most calm one and it's pretty good. Very sweet ambience and percussion which is about the whole song

- jordex on April 26, 2005

I love this... this was my favorite song from Secret of Mana, and this version does justice to the original. I wish more people would remix this piece.
Very ethereal.

- KelVarnsen on March 17, 2005

This is my favorite song on this site! COTMM is definately one of the more mature ReMixers at this site, and this is one shows it.

- Slimtoad on February 25, 2005

I didn't like the intro too much, but the song most definitely gets better as it goes along. The drums might have been a little too much at times, but still overall it's a pretty good remix for the genre I'd say.

- ghaleon on December 15, 2004

I love the ominus ambient intro. So warm. The drum programming is cool, he put some work into it. I just love the whole song, so airy and fresh. I keep listening to it loop over and over. This work stands on its own. I love it because there is no "cheese" in the song. It is serious, and the artist is mature.

- MrNemo on August 23, 2004

I love the ambient feel of the beginning. It generates this feeling that is both warm and chilling all at once. I'll disagree with the opinion that the song would have been better without the drums though. They add a nice double-time feel that contrasts the atmosphere of the rest of the music. Around 2:50 is very strong, where the lead chime bit comes in. The dropoff around 3:15 is a much needed break, and a nice touch. A tad too long, but that's just me. Overall, I'm very impressed with CotMM's change of direction, and I feel this is a standout piece for him.

- Straziante on January 15, 2004