Cody “Mr. Trent” Chavez created an excellent Big Band rendition of the Casino Night Zone in Sonic the Hedgehog 2. This Big Band song was performed by the Nick Coates Orchestra. The song has a tremendous amount of style and gusto. The Big Band rendition of the music feels even more fitting than the original music. That is a big deal because remakes of old game songs usually don’t stack up to the originals. Even the vocal parts are great and they sizzle with character and pizazz.
The original song was composed by Masato Nakamura.
The trumpets seriously have good vibes. Mr. Trent does a lot of game remixes and arrangements and he has orchestras do the performances. So if you have a request, I recommend that you visit his channel on YouTube by clicking HERE and sending him a message.
I’ve already discussed in a previous article how supreme the film, “Total Recall” is. But to my surprise and delight, the incredible duo known as, “jonandal” have created a musical based on the film Total Recall. They call it, “Total Recall: The Musical.” The musical is short, only about 3 minutes long. But it packs a serious punch. I’ve watched the video and listened to the song about 10 times in the past 3 days. The reason why it is so good is because the singing is excellent, and the play on the melodic themes of the original film were done stylistically and with ultimate precision. There is a juxtaposition of the motivations of the “Quaid” character, with the realities of domestic life. But when we see Quaid on Mars, most notably climbing the mountains of Mars, we feel like that is the reality. But then it shifts back with the music to a normal life on Earth. It’s an eerie feeling…and the synth-horn sounds truly keep our minds on the whole process of adventure mixed with deja-vu.
At the end of the musical, there is a background chorus of, “Recall, Recall, Recall!” and it is truly splendid. It pulls the mind into a place that can only be analyzed through experience. I’m hoping that this song can be added to the special features of a new Blue-Ray for the film. That would be incentive enough for me to buy a Blue-Ray player.
The level of sincerity and beauty in the, “Mirror Song” captured my heart. The harmonies between Luke Conrad and Kristina Horner take no prisoners in the battle for evoking one’s emotions. Regardless of how macho or technical the listener may be, Luke Conrad and Alan Lastufka created a song that anyone who has a beating heart will enjoy. The song is mostly a vocal duet with piano. But even with its sparse instrumentation, it has a complete and satisfying sound that perfectly balances with the personality and skill of the vocalists. After listening to the song with a distinguishing ear, the bass and also some either some pads or violins kick in during the chorus. The music is beyond touching and it is a real pleasure to even be discussing this work of art right now. One doesn’t need to have recently lost a love, or be in a long distance relationship to appreciate the Mirror Song. For if you have never felt such ache before, you will by the end of video. And that ache will elevate you.
The music video has some great imagery. The characters portrayed don’t feel forced over ’emo’ at all. In fact the video’s use of fades seem to articulate the feelings of distance combined with the most intimate closeness quite well. There is an intriguing dichotomy of setting choices in the video. Even though both Conrad and Horner both appear to be in a Seattle-eque environment, the masculine character is singing often among a backdrop of industry. And the female character expresses her melodies with the water and a grey city in the background.
When Conrad and Horner are together walking through a huge concrete sculpture at 3 minutes and 11 seconds, I was reminded of ancient Sumerian gates. So that was a real plus. Also it creates an intimate and sensual frame for their walk into the vanishing point.
The harmony choices in the Mirror Song are bogglingly drenched with the sorrow of sentiment. When Luke and Kristina sings the words, “fairytale picture book” at 1 minute and 27 seconds, the rhythm and harmony melts into one another flawlessly. And that flawlessness is exemplified by the articulation and purely serene tone of both artists.
I’m not 100% certain about this, but there may be a connection to the film, “The Shining” at 2 minutes and zero seconds. You decide.
The singers Conrad and Horner look great in the video and definitely match with the feel and theme of the song. Kristina Horner wears a headband and those always look great on girls with long hair. Her facial expressions definitely reward the listener for enjoying the song in a music video format.
In a sea of uncertainty, it is excellent to take a break and listen to some positive rock music. Rick Denzien has a song called, “Radiate” that has been consistently been a YouTube music video that I’ve been playing at least twice a day. The song has solid lyrics, and the singing is high quality. But what I like most about it, is that the choices of harmonies are quite aggressive and invert more often than one would expect from a song from this style of music. Overall, I’m impressed and emotionally stirred, without being exhausted or pushed to the point of tension. It is a great song to start a listening session. Some of the harmonies are driven by the lead guitar and others are initiated by the vocals. It is an interesting and compelling flow of sonic movement that keeps the track fresh even after consecutive listens.
I’m not going to comment too much on the music video, but some kid takes a nasty spill on his two-wheeled metal scooter around 2 minutes and zero seconds. And the lyrics are, “Falling Down.” It is an appropriate and thought provoking mental and emotional imagery juxtaposition that evokes both urgency of the spirit, as well as the trepidatious reality of extreme sports.
The guitar solo makes a lot of sense. It isn’t very long, but it captures a blues feel that is tormented by an organ, that wants to be heard, yet waits in the rafters.
There is a positive rock message of non violence in the piece. And yet there is a ton of pain and violence in the video. I’m guessing that the contrasting imagery with the dialogue of love is supposed to make the listener, think. All I know is that when my dog just came into my room, I put down a towel for her so she didn’t have to sleep on the cold tile floor. If that’s not love, I don’t know what is. The vibe of the song is both energizing and wistful at the same time.
Do I get ‘pumped’ to Radiate by Rick Denzien: yes.
