Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey Business ReMix Flood Comments from album directors Jeremy Waters (Geoffrey Taucer) & Wesley Cho (Bahamut) Album freely available at http://dkc2.ocremix.org --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- After two and a half years, Donkey Kong Country 2: Serious Monkey Business is finally released! Serious Monkey Business has been in the works since around November 1, 2007, when initial invitations were extended. Since that fateful beginning, artists have poured hundreds, if not thousands, of hours into the music until shaped into its final form of this album. It's with much gladness that finally Geoffrey Taucer and I are able to bring this album to fruition and to all the listeners out there. Whether it be new age, trance, rock ballad, or orchestral, I hope this album offers something for the listener & perhaps in a genre the listener may not normally enthused to listen to. If so, then the album has accomplished its purpose, however small. As a co-director, I would like to see people explore the possibilities offered by music of various genres, and I think we have succeeded in putting together a melting pot album with a lot of accessibility. So without further ado, bon appetit! I'd like to extend a special thanks to the Serious Monkey Business contributors & their significant others, especially djpretzel for his 10 years of hard work on OCR & Geoffrey Taucer for enlisting my help with this endeavor, Sera Chung, Andrew & Jillian Aversa, & Ryan Thompson for helping me through tough times that arose during the creation of this album, Jordan & Jade Aguirre for their supportive friendship in the past year, and all who enjoy this 2 1/2 year effort! - Wesley Cho (Bahamut) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- OCR02000: David Wise, Grant Kirkhope, Robin Beanland - "Re-Skewed" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02000/ Geoffrey Taucer: After reading David's OC ReMix interview awhile back, I thought "he seems pretty cool with the arrangement scene -- I wonder if I could talk him into doing a mix for this..." I e-mailed him asking if he was interested. His initial response was that he might be able to if he could find time. I sent him a follow up awhile later, to which he replied that he had a substantial chunk of work done, and that it would feature Grant on guitar and Robin on trumpet. To say I was psyched would be an understatement. This project is, first and foremost, a tribute to Mr. Wise -- to have him contribute a track was a real honor. Bahamut: It was quite an honor to have the composer for Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest, David Wise, show support for Serious Monkey Business, much less submit his own track to the album! This rendition of Wise's own "Donkey Kong Rescued" is accompanied with the trumpet from Rare's Robin Beanland, a co-composer for the original Donkey Kong Country, as well as the guitar from Rare's Grant Kirkhope, known best for his work on titles like GoldenEye 007, Banjo-Kazooie, Perfect Dark, Viva Piñata and Donkey Kong Land. The trio bring a relatively conservative arrangement to the table, opting to preserve the flavor of the original with the laid back yet upbeat pacing that made the original fit well after accomplishing the defeat of Kaptain K. Rool, which should jive well with many fans of the original's music. OCR02001: djpretzel - "Sturm und Kong" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02001/ Geoffrey Taucer: TOOK DAVE LONG ENOUGH TO FINISH THIS DAMN MIX! However, it was certainly worth the wait. I think Dave's really outdone himself with this mix. Possibly one of my favorite pretzel mixes to date, and that's no small feat! Excellent synths, and the orchestral elements are quite convincing. Bahamut: This intro track by djpretzel, the founder of OverClocked ReMix, kicks off the album the right way: an electronic/orchestral hybrid, this captures a sense of the variety found on the album. It also embodies what is generally expected of the music from OCR: the reinvention of video game music through personal rearrangements. djpretzel's trademark style is on display here, with lots of action from the synthesizer, beats and strings combined with a variety of other instrumentation. There was quite a wait for djpretzel to finish this track, but the final result was definitely well worth it. OCR02002: Fishy - "Beneath the Canopy" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02002/ Geoffrey Taucer: Gotta love Fishy. This man knows not just how to play an electric guitar, but how to use one in a mix. While it's not the shredfest I suspect many people will be hoping for when they see Fishy's name, this mix certainly does justice to the original track. Bahamut: As its namesake might suggest, one can imagine walking beneath a forest for a stroll in the fall while listening to this song. "Beneath the Canopy" is a great example of a rock ballad that evokes imagery that one can recognize even without knowing the song name, a testament to the well done atmosphere that Fishy delicately pieced together. Here we have an introduction that is reminiscent of Cirque du Soleil with the ethereal soundscape, that gives way to the sweet tone of Fishy's lead guitar, complete with slow drumming & background synth to help accentuate the gentle but tense mood. OCR02003: injury, M.J. Ault, Nicole Adams, Tepid - "A New Place" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02003/ Geoffrey Taucer: "Hot-Head Bop" always seemed to me like one of those tracks that was hard to remix just because the original is so awesome, and just doesn't seem like there's much to be done with the track that Wise didn't do in the original. However, Nicole proved me wrong, and took the track in a direction which is both beautiful and original. I've found that, perhaps as a result of remixing for so many years, I tend to listen to music thinking "how would I have done this differently if it were my track?" Both Wise's original and Nicole's arrangement left me unable to think of a single thing I'd want changed. Bahamut: Stripped to just the instrumentals, one might think this song is an atmospheric piece. However, this is not what Nicole Adams had in mind when she crafted this duet with the voices of M.J. Ault and starla. The vocals provide an integral role in adding the drive of mutual perseverance, similar to Diddy & Dixie's effort in rescuing Donkey Kong within the game. The arrangement is crafted well around these vocals, complimenting them with the steady but gentle progress of the beats & the background synth. The guitar, played by Tepid, also adds to the song's ambient atmosphere whether it be by the electric lead in the middle of the song or the acoustic playing along in the background. Personally, I have to say that I love how this song turned out, as one brings up the imagery of a couple moving forward together through tough times, and becoming closer as a consequence. OCR02004: Joshua Morse - "It's a Jungle Out There!" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02004/ Geoffrey Taucer: It's Joshua Morse. Really, do I need to say anything more? Bahamut: Joshua Morse provides us with a lush song evocative of a jungle, the setting of where the original song "Primal Rave" was played in DKC 2. The ethnic instrumentation combinations found throughout immerse the listener pretty well, and the transition to JM's more trademark jazz style flows seamlessly like butter. The only thing the listener might wish for in this piece is for it to just continue, which is a testament to how listenable JM's style is, and how strong of a handle he has on it. OCR02005: virt - "Dance of the Zinger" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02005/ Geoffrey Taucer: HAHA! VIRT RETURNS TO OC REMIX! And he does it in style. I don't know what I was expecting when Jake claimed this track, but it wasn't this -- however, I love what he did with the track, and I love even more that he finds himself once again welcome at OCR. Bahamut: It has been quite a while since we've seen virt with any relation to OCR, but after MAGFest 5, it was only natural to invite him for involvement with the DKC 2 album project. He was excited to hop on board and swiftly took one of the most attractive sources available. The original expectation was that virt was going to do metal, but he had other plans in turning this into "cheesy trance," to borrow from virt's own description of his track. It's cheesy trance that works though, which is the important part: virt makes it work and work well in building up the song to a climax, only to bring it down quickly and leave us thirsting for more. OCR02006: Geoffrey Taucer, Hale-Bopp, José the Bronx Rican - "Trapped in the Minds" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02006/ Geoffrey Taucer: I've wanted to remix this track since before I knew what remixing was. The original is utterly captivating. It was minimalistic but still absolutely beautiful. I've thrown around a number of ideas for this track over the years, but the main thing that remained constant was I wanted the chorus to rock the hell out on guitars. At some point I had the idea of doing a Linkin Park-style mix of it, and that's what I ultimately ended up going with. José was an obvious choice for the rapping; I've always been a fan both of his smooth flowing style and of his brilliantly witty lyrics; I was thrilled when he agreed to pitch in on this. We submitted a rough, mega-rushed version to DoD at MAGFest 7 with me singing (which was finished literally seconds before I left for MAG), and while it was generally well recieved, I wasn't completely happy with it, and wanted to improve on it. Just about everything in the track has been redone since the DoD submission. A side note about the wah pedal used in this track: it's a custom prototype designed and built by my cousin, Josh Rebick. The original plan was for Kroze to do the singing, but due to a lapse in communication, that ended up not happenning. While I would have loved to hear a "Krozed-up" version of the mix, I can't say I'm at all dissappointed with Hale's singing; he absolutely NAILED the sound I was going for. Bahamut: Project co-director Geoffrey Taucer teamed up with José the Bronx Rican and Hale-Bopp bring us some rap mixed with rock, inspired somewhat by Linkin Park. People got an early preview from the Dwelling of Duels entry 1 year ago (http://dod.vgmix.com/past/2009-01-magfest7/19tie-GeoffreyTaucer,JoseTheBronxRican-DKC2-Mines-DoD.mp3), but this version features a further reworking of the arrangement of the DoD submission, re-recorded guitars, rapping, and the addition of Hale-Bopp's backing vocals really make this track much stronger and far more accessible. The title is aptly chosen, as there is talk about Diddy & Dixie going apeshit, with the song winding down into a spiral of craziness. In all, I feel the song does a great job with the source and takes it in an unexpected direction. OCR02007: Patrick Burns - "Rare Respite" http://ocremix.org/remix/OCR02007/ Geoffrey Taucer: Whoda thunk it? A project run by me has but one Celtic piece -- and it's not mine?!? This was one of my favorite tracks on the DKC2 OST, but also the one I thought was most in need of a good remix, just because I thought the melody had the potential to go places that Wise's original didn't take it. In this mix, Patrick did everything I always wanted to hear done with this track, and more. Bahamut: The last track of the flood, it is quite fitting that such a flurry of tracks ends with Patrick Burn's calm take on Jib Jig. One of the first few people to complete their track on the project, Patrick did a great job capturing the feel of being on a quiet ship sailing in calm waters, making seldom but good use of sounds of a ship and gentle ocean waves. Of course, the flute and other instrumentation also add to the jolly & gentle mood to great effect. This is easily one of my favorites from the album, as it really carries its vision about as far as it can reasonably go.