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Technictix Remix Vol. 3 :: Review by Don
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Album Title: | Technictix Remix Vol. 3 |
| Record Label: | Sweep Records | |
| Catalog No.: | SRIN-1052 | |
| Release Date: | January 14, 2009 | |
| Purchase: | Buy at VGM World |
Overview
Technictix Remix Vol. 3 is the third of a set of three arranged albums dedicated to the Technictix soundtrack, composed by SuperSweep and pals. This arrange album contains arrangements from SuperSweep members, Shinji Hosoe, Ayako Saso, and Yousuke Yasui, as well as arrangements from guest composers, Hiroto Saito, Takayuki Aihara, Masashi Yano, and Yasuhisa Watanabe.
Body
To start things off, I'll tackle the arranger who has the most contributions on this album, Ayako Saso. Her arrangements offer a lot of diversity and include "Days Wrong Dreamer," an arrangement of "Days Dreamer," "Defect Segment4," an arrangement of "Segment4," "TGM in the Tube," an arrangement of "TGM in a Bottle," and "Blue Shackles," an arrangement of "Broken Shackles". Her first arrangement, "Days Wrong Dreamer," is a bit of a misnomer. When I hear the word "wrong" in a track title, I do not expect something so happy. It's a nice jazzy arrangement that features a cutesy female vocal singing some "da"s with some excellent saxophone and piano work thrown into the mix as well. In addition to the jazz elements, the inclusion of some spacey synth gives it an overall electrojazz vibe. At around the midpoint of the piece, there is funky trumpet and keyboard work that gives another nice dynamic to the arrangement.
Saso's "Defect Segment4" is the longest arrangement on the album, but is also one of the most diverse. Featuring a driving rhythm throughout most of the piece, as it progresses, so to do the various elements. The beginning is almost chaotic in nature with what sounds like sirens in the synth line with some vocal work to add to the intensity. As the piece advances a bit more, there are some piano and synth sections that lead into another club-like sound. Here the vocals "Break it down" lead the way while some excellent guitar riffs gives this section of the piece a nice industrial/club feel. Once that section is over, an evil sounding voice leads the way back into the intro motif, but that shortly departs for some fantastic piano and synth sections, different from before, that give it a slightly jazzy feel, before moving onto a more futuristic and trance-like sound. It finally ends with the guitar riff section heard previously.
Continuing with Saso, "TGM in the Tube" is an arrangement of a melody from Tetris The Grand Master and features Saso in a sort of retro/club mode again. While the intro starts off with some bubbly synth and sound effects from the game, it quickly moves into a more thrilling rhythm with the words "Everybody in the club" echoing over top. As the piece progresses, the sound effects from the game are included once again and eventually lead into a slower section with some ethnic vocal work and some clapping. It's a fantastic arrangement that covers a gamut of styles and I think she pulls it off quite nicely. Her last arrangement, "Blue Shackles," is jazz in its purest form. You won't find any substantial electronica here, folks! What you will find, however, is an extremely relaxing piece that features some excellent piano and organ work and the ultra catchy bass line. There are also some brass accents that accentuate the jazz feel, especially with the saxophone solo towards the end of the piece. Overall, I think Saso did a great job at diversifying her arrangements here, showing that she isn't limited to a single style.
Shinji Hosoe's offerings for this volume are rather interesting. "Hippopo Therapy," an arrangement of "Hypnotherapy," features a driving rhythm with some bubbly synth accents and some vocal work, which is showcased for most of the piece. There are also some industrial beats thrown in at times. Fortunately, there is some variety in the melody line because it does take a while to get into. As the piece nears its end, it definitely transforms into something with a bit more energy, though it remains his weakest contribution on the album. "Y.H.M.E.," an arrangement of "E.M.H.Y.," features some futuristic synth with some semi-industrial beats. This one is also heavy on the vocal usage, but the overall arrangement is much more entertaining. There are some interesting fusions of electronica sounds, from some that sound almost like an electronic beeping to others that sound like Chewbacca dying. Hosoe's favorite Technictix track must clearly be Ayako Saso's "Dizzy Dog," because he chose to arrange it again for this volume. While I was initially upset that he didn't choose one of the unused pieces for an entirely new experience, I did enjoy the end result. "Busy Dog," unlike "Cagey Dog," has a bit more of a rock vibe. It's still as crazy as "Cagey Dog," but the soundscape is a bit different. There is a slightly jazzy sound at times, but for the most part, it seems to take on a more rock-like approach, even if it is a subtle one.
Yosuke Yasui offers two arrangements this time around. "Astro-Rambler," an arrangement of "Rambler," and "Arabesque Etoile," an arrangement of "Arabesque". The first arrangement is definitely spacey in nature. Boasting an extremely catchy melody full of bubbly and futuristic synth, it manages to keep interest throughout the duration of the piece. Another interesting inclusion is the vocoder usage, which is featured in the beginning as well as in a more rhythmic fashion later on in the arrangement. It helps to cement that futuristic and spacey soundscape. The other arrangement, "Arabesque etoile," is an arrangement of a piece originally from Street Fighter EX. While this has been arranged plenty of times by Takayuki Aihara, the original composer, this arrangement is a bubblier version of the original. Surprisingly, even though the Arabian instrumentation is absent, the synth used still manages to harbor that Arabian sound. It's definitely a good arrangement, but I would have been more interested to see what Takayuki Aihara could have done, given his fantastic arrangement on Technictix Remix Vol. 1 and his arrangement on this album, showcased later.
Unfortunately, Hiroto Saito only offers a sole contribution this time around. I blame it on Saso for taking four arrangements! His sole arrangement is "31-0.5," an arrangement of "62-1", though it's quite a diverse one nonetheless. His arrangement is quite diverse as well. Some of Saito's earlier works in his career were jazz based and this one is definitely one that reminiscences about those times. While it's not entirely jazz, it is surely jazz influenced. There is the combination of the bubbly synth, the awesome bass usage, and the strong brass accents. It's quite an excellent arrangement and it makes me sad that he only got to arrange a single piece this time around. The jazzy piano solo in the middle is a beautiful way to bridge together the various sections of the piece and the inclusion of the vocal tribute to the original composer, Shinji Hosoe, was a nice touch.
As with the second volume, Masashi Yano offers a single arrangement, also from a track from Tetris The Grand Master. "Happy Happy Hoppy Happy," despite being a mouthful, is a huge departure from his synth rock driven arrangement, "KA-10". This arrangement is a bubbly synth driven piece with some definite jazz accents. It boasts a fantastic melody and an excellent rhythm and is another relaxing piece of music. This brings me, once again, to Takayuki Aihara. Returning from his absence from Technictix Remix Vol. 2, something that made me upset as well, he comes back in full force when arranging "Fake World -maniax.-". His arrangement, entitled "Fake World -metabolix-" is also an arrangement from a piece on Street Fighter EX and is easily my favorite thing on this album. Notice a pattern here? His arrangement this time combines some driving synth work, which is displayed in a scaling fashion, a catchy rhythm and bubbly synth leads, and some female vocal work that gives it a nice classic feel. As it progresses towards the end, it gets a bit more intense in terms of synth before picking up where it started. It's an extremely catchy piece of work and surely one that I'll be listening to for years to come!
Summary
Technictix Remix Vol. 3 is probably the most diverse out of all three albums. It features some nice jazz fusion, some pure jazz, some nice dance themes, and a few spacey sounds. Everyone here put out a great effort and every arrangement is enjoyable Having just come out in January of 2009, I can't say I've had the pleasure of listening to this for a long time; however, I can say that I do listen to this on a daily basis as it is my favorite of the remix albums. As with the others, these will be in my playlists for a long time. They offer such a nice blend of styles and if you are a fan of electronica, any of these albums will surely tickle your fancy. Besides, all three volumes are fairly cheap and you can order them from VGM World. I suggest you do that right now.
