PixlBit

Last week we looked at the first disc of OCRemix's tribute album to Final Fantasy VI, Balance and Ruin. This week we'll look at the second disc. There's some great stuff on here, so strap your ears on and let's go!

Note: No one has posted videos of most of these songs on youtube yet, which I find kind of shocking, but someone posted ALL of them in one long video, so I've posted that here and I'll give you times to jump to if you don't want to listen to them all now (it's over an hour all together). Don't forget to download the whole album if you haven't yet...it's free!

Wild Child Ballad (Source: Gau's Theme; remixed by: bustatunez; 0:00) -- This acoustic piece has a folksy, countryside kind of feel to it, and live instruments like strings, piano, recorder, and more only add to the effect. A very enjoyable song to listen to.

river of sine waves (Serpent Trench; posu yan; 3:15) -- Opening with some 8-bit instrumentation, this song makes me think of having a beach vacation with all my favorite NES characters. It's not completely chiptuned as there are actual instruments like piano and guitar (hmm, might be a mandolin) that ground it in reality. Very relaxing.

Idle City Street (Kids Run Through the City; Pot Hocket; 5:50) -- Speaking of relaxing, this solo acoustic guitar remix is fantastic. Very calm and with plenty of little arrangement bits to make it guitarist's own, this one will convince you that all right in the world. You don't have anything to worry about.

Courage, Failure, Rosebud (Under Martial Law; DragonAvenger, OA; 9:18) -- Changing gears from the last song, this one offers some dark orchestral/electronica sounds with fitting background vocals that evoke the feelings of being under the rule of FFVI's militant and tyranical Empire.

Bad Octopus (Save Them!, Grand Finale; Fishy feat. XPRTNovice; 12:24) -- XPRTNovice is quickly becoming my favorite contributer to this album. Here his instrumental additions (clarinet, saxophone, and trumpet) turn what would have been a solid prog rock take on a couple action themes and really makes it somethng special. It's silly but think of what's going on in the game while Grand Finale is playing and then it doesn't seem out of place at all. (For those who don't know, you accidentally crash an opera performance and then have to fight a huge octopus on stage. Yup.)

Train Suplex (The Decisive Battle; Danny Baranowsky; 16:53) -- Now for a serious battle remix! FFVI's main boss theme lends itself easily to a rock interpretation, and the electronic influence in the instrumentation helps keep things interesting. Solid work here.

There Will Be Blood (Metamorphosis; Anti-Syne; 19:51) -- This remix keeps the same feeling as the original, that of extreme danger spiraling out of your control, but changes out the orchestral stylings for something electronic and far more chaotic. Talk about taking a song's theme and running with it!

Terra's Resolve (Terra's Theme; Chad Seiter; 23:12) -- Terra's Theme seems to have an almost mystical power to resonate with all who hear it, and any chance to further explore it is always welcome. This remix scores extra points for using a real orchestra (it's the Slovak National Symphony Orchestra, by the way), and the arrangement makes good use of all those tools put at its disposal. So while personally I like Jeremy Soule's orchestral remix better, I really can't fault this one for anything. It's good stuff.

A Simple Coin Flip Can Change Fate (Coin Song; Level 99; 27:48) -- This multi-guitar acoustic arrangement brings the melancholy of the original to the front but tenaciously clings to a feeling of hope even if it ends with uncertainty.

Electro de Chocobo (Techno de Chocobo; Tepid; 31:53) -- This electronica remix is just plain fun. Makes me happy just listening to it. What's fascinating is that the remixer changes many of the underlying chords, giving this version of the ubiquitous chocobo theme more of a Jpop feel, and that's fine by me. Listening to this is a pleasure.

Reverie of the Broken Phoenix (Forever Rachel; McVaffe; 36:32) -- Forever Rachel is a very sad song but this ethereal remix does it justice. The mix of acoustic and electrconic instruments create a delicate patchwork of sound that briefly grows in strength with some rising percussion but soon collapses again to just its instruments. Very reflective.

Slam Davis (Slam Shuffle; Mazedude; 40:50) -- In FFVI, Slam Shuffle played in a town called ZoZo, which was a seedy den of thieves and criminals. The remixer here has taken that concept to the next level with this dark, bleak jazz remix. Imagine all the worst things you've ever heard about mobsters and thugs. This is their song. It's fascinating.

Fiddlesticks Rag (Spinach Rag; diotrans; 45:37) -- If you stayed in the same historical period as the previous remix but went to the other end of the social spectrum, you'd get a song like this. A pair of violins ("fiddles," get it?) play over top a piano and together create something that Scott Joplin would have been proud of.

The Nightmare Oath (Overture; OA, Moonlapse, BardicKnowledge, Laura Intravia feat. DragonAvenger; 49:04) -- The main purpose of this song, in my mind, is to set up the one that follows. It's arranged in the style of a rock opera, so perhaps "rock aria" would be the best description since it's a single song. It's very good, both the instrumental performances and the singing.

The Impresario (Overture, Aria de Mezzo Carattere, The Wedding, Grand Finale; Jake Kaufman, Tommy Pedrini; 53:35) -- This is, I think, my favorite song of the entire album. It is so mindblowingly awesome! Jake Kaufman has turned the entire opera sequence into an epic rock opera. If you haven't listened to any of these songs yet, you've got to listen to this one, right now. Do you like Queen and their Bohemian Rhapsody? You're going to love this. It's perfect. This one does have a youtube video and I've embedded it below to make it easier for you to listen to, so no excuses!

Till We Meet Again (Aria de Mezzo Carattere; zircon, Jillian Aversa, AeroZ; 1:02:23) -- Radiating an incredible sense of peace and calm, this is the perfect remix to follow the bombast of The Impresario. Jillian does a superb job with the vocals, giving body to that sense of loss, of willing sacrifice inherent in the music of the Aria. It's a powerful song in its original 16-bit form and if anything has greater potential here. My only gripe is I wish it lasted a little longer.

Full Speed Ahead (Setzer's Theme; zircon; 1:05:56) -- Disc 2 comes to a close with an uplifting electronica take on Setzer's Theme. It's a great change of pace from the more heavy music that's come before and really portrays a wonderful sense of motion, as if you really are on the gambler's airship, zipping across the skies.