Posted 2009-06-26, evaluated by the judges panel

The Vagrance debuted with some LoZ:TP action back in December '08 and now returns with a visit to the ever-fertile lands of Chrono Trigger and 'Corridor of Time'. Samuel writes:

"I've always wanted to do a DnB remix of this song, and this is not my first attempt as there has been at least 4 other start-ups that totally sucked. I really felt going a liquid/atmospheric route would be best simply because that means I don't have to devote half my time to the bassline. Plus it gives me an excuse to use the hotpants loop which is about as close to pixie dust a drum loop can get. I could explain some of my choices made in the song, but I've always been told that if I have to explain a part of the song for others to like it, then I didn't do my job."

Interesting; I for one feel like artists can and should be able to describe their works without it feeling like compensation for something missing, but I do also see the "show don't tell"-ish point Mr. Day is making - like so many things, it's really contextual. Either way, explanation or no explanation, this here's a damn fine bit of dnb; while OCR sees a good deal of electronica, this feels like pretty "pure" dnb to me, which we actually don't see too much off. Gotta love the swirling stew of aliased intro arpeggios, filtered hat lead-in, and ridiculously deep sub-bass. There's also some pretty crazy spectral effects going on circa 1'20" - really slick, distant textures. One thing you'll notice is that the intro arpeggios actually get more emphasis throughout than the melody, which is a nice twist - the synths carrying the main theme are softer than most of the other elements, and sort of trace around the outlines of the theme without putting it in your face. This allows the drums, bass, and pads to do their thing, evolving and mutating in style.

Also interesting and even thought-provoking is the two-part quote that rounds the piece out, regarding languages dying out and being lost with each generation. I've actually thought about this topic before, and while I think the placement here suggests it's being articulated primarily to convey the loss, there's also a gain: more people speaking the same languages. Variety of language - while academically interesting and culturally rich - necessarily carries with it the implication that, at any given point in time on the planet, fewer people will be able to understand one another. I think it's important that all human knowledge be preserved, so from a pure archiving perspective, you do have to appreciate what's being lost, but I also feel like the process of language consolidation/mutation itself is quite natural. Of course, I say all that as an English-speaker, so take it with a grain of salt. Still, in terms of dropping pseudo-academic lecture-style quote samples into electronica tracks, you could do a lot worse, so I'm gonna have to give a thumbs-up on that front.

A lot of judges weighed in on this one, so I recommend reading the decision. When it comes to electronica, I tend to lean towards Vinnie's decisions as being closest to my own thoughts, and this was no exception, so here you go:

"Cool concept. I'm a fan of DnB remixes that take the original melody and mess with the underlying chords. In this mix, one gets the sense of hearing the original song through a haze. I agree with Larry that it's a little repetitive, but it didn't bother me that much. I hear enough changes in the drums - missing beats, extra snare hits, filtering, added shakers - to keep me interested. I wouldn't have minded a little more "foreground" to command attention, but I appreciate the haze effect you're going for, and there's a lot of movement in the background."

Pretty much; awesome to see The Vagrance follow-up the promise of his initial cut with some more excellent music. He's tread into some very familiar, oft-mixed territory and come up with something fresh that I think even the most jaded CT listeners should appreciate.