Posted 2011-10-17, evaluated by the judges panel

This is a gorgeous, intimate solo piano arrangement from DrumUltima; I'm gonna let him do most of the talking:

"People Seized with Life was always one of my favorite pieces of video game music. The first time I played Chrono Cross, this music hit me like a brick--even though it's extremely unmanly for me to admit, I'm pretty sure it brought some tears to my eyes. I had started a more involved remix of it years ago, but never finished it. Perhaps I will someday. I was supposed to hang out with a bunch of friends last night but they all bombed on me because I don't actually have any friends. But I was in a music-making mood anyway, and with this chunk of free time I had, decided to work with my relatively new set-up in my Lawrence, Kansas-based apartment. I had been listening to a track from the demo CD of our own Will "bustatunez" Roget that had some serious Mitsuda influence in it, and it inspired me to revisit this track again. This source has always reminded me of the frustrating reality that any moment we experience in our lives can only live on as a memory, and no matter how hard we try to live in these memories, it's impossible to escape the reality that they're no longer real and that we can never go back. Or maybe I just have a nostalgia complex. Regardless, that's where the name comes from."

I've missed seeing Doug at East Coast meetups since he moved away, but at least we can still know him through his works. Mitsuda's music is full of emotion to begin with, but when an arranger/performer really makes a connection with his melodies, the results are often breathtaking; this is no exception. As a side note, I think it's far manlier to be okay & secure with expressing emotion, especially with music like this, than to feel repressed or obliged to conform to some bullshit machismo idea of what's manly or not. Larry writes:

"halc summed it up well: you're thinking it's just going to be a straightforward piano cover to start, but the additional elements of interpretation flow in as time goes by and it all develops nicely. Not that I actually expected an uninterpretive cover from Doug, but it was nice to get taken on that ride. Solid work, and nice to hear you on the keys again, Doug! Come back out east when you can!"

Very personal, stirring stuff; Doug's good people, and he has a musical soul, and it always comes out no matter what he does, but this one's a little closer & a little heavier, and connects on a deeper level.