Super Cartography Bros. Comments from album director Michael Birch (Flexstyle), visual artist Maya Petersen (rnn), project assistant Corey Oltman (KingTiger), creator Shariq Ansari (DarkeSword), and ReMixers Album freely available at http://cartography.ocremix.org EDM is a genre near and dear to my heart. Video game music is also near and dear to my heart. I've been wanting to direct a high-production-value album for OCR that combines these two things for quite a long time, so when Shariq posted his ideas in the forums, I knew this was going to be the project for me. I'm in the somewhat unique position of being invested in several different communities that all appreciate great video game music, so, for this invite-only project, I reached out to a lot of incredibly talented people. Many of these faces are well-known around OCR, but a few of them make their OCR debuts on this album. Thanks to friends from not only OCR, but also GameChops, RadioSEGA, the Nerdcore VPC group, and more, this is a well-stocked roster of ReMixers! Please make sure you check each one of them out individually, as they're all well worth following. Some notes on the direction process: To ensure continuity, yet make sure each artist's unique sound shone, I made sure songs were submitted as unmastered files, and then I mastered everything myself. I decided to have each artist submit a club-length version of their song as well as a condensed, "radio-length" version. This way, all the OCR listeners who would rather not listen to a minute or so of stripped-down song (as is traditional to have in a club-friendly track) before the meat of the track hits aren't left out in the cold. Of course, the DJ-friendly version had to be included on an album like this as well. There's also a third set of songs included in this download, and that is the DJ-mixed version -- I had my good friend and fellow DJ Global-Trance, real name Aaron Wu, turn in a continuous mix set of all the songs together. That mix is available as a single continuous file, but also cut up to be easily playable as skippable MP3s or FLAC files. By doing this, I wanted to ensure that this free release through a video game music website mirrored the quality of many high profile releases from EDM record labels around the world, which often include both full-length and DJ-mixed versions of the album. Heck, by including the radio edits, I've managed to cover a base that those labels usually miss! Never let it be said that OCR doesn't cater to a wide range of listeners. Overall, this was a real labor of love, but what sort of fan-made arrangement album ISN'T? I've been playing these songs in my car and in my DJ sets for nearly a year, and I can't believe how well it turned out. I hope that you find this release as enjoyable to consume as it was to produce! - Michael Birch (Flexstyle) SuCaBro, as Shariq and I affectionately call it, is my favorite OCR album to date. It's been a long time coming, and I'm so excited that everyone can finally listen to the album I had on endless repeat for a month straight -- possibly two. After you've heard it for yourself, hopefully you will be much less inclined to judge me. The cover art's pretty nice too. - Maya Petersen (rnn) When Michael first asked me to assist with his maiden voyage of album directorship, I was ecstatic. The idea of getting to work with him and other fantastic producers, even to a minor degree, excited me - I knew that not only would I be involved in helping form a great album of great music (and get to hear it before anyone else >:-D), that I would learn a lot from the experience. And I did! Michael mainly needed me to play librarian, in a sense, by gathering the data he needed to help stay organized with source tunes and help him recruit the remixers he wanted. (I actually rather enjoy wrangling data and information, to a large degree; weird, I know.) So my initial role was to make a list of all the map themes from Mario games and pick out the ones I thought would best work for the album's concept. This was honestly rather easy for me, since I love games that have maps (as a kid, I used to make hand-drawn maps of the Super Mario World overworld showing all the secret routes and whatnot), and we wanted to focus more on the older or "classic" Mario games (and I'm a fan of old-school games, for sure). As the project progressed, I was able to provide some feedback to Michael on the various artists' WIPs, as well as some of the mastering process, which was nice, and, like I mentioned before, gave me a great chance to learn new production and arrangement techniques. TL;DR I'm really proud to have partnered with Michael on this bangin' album. 10/10 would project assist again. - Corey Oltman (KingTiger) This album is a long time coming. In the earlier days of OC ReMix, we judges often passed over longer trance and EDM tracks, citing the repetitiveness inherent in the genre as something that didn't really jive with the kind of music OC ReMix wanted to showcase. But we all have always been fans of trance, and over the years, with more and more technological breakthroughs and the evolution of the genre (and EDM at large), I feel like there's a lot more that artists are capable of when it comes to interesting, evolving soundscapes. OC ReMix has also relaxed its view on these kinds of pieces (mostly due to us finally dropping our filesize requirement a few years ago). I came up with the idea for Super Cartography Bros. years ago, and fellow ReMixer and judge Mattias Häggström Gerdt and I had done some preliminary work in getting the ball rolling. Alas, real life got in the way, and the project went on the back burner. But I always wanted to see the album made; I loved the idea of OC ReMix putting out something that was proudly and unapologetically "techno." I really wanted to see artists explore and expand smaller source tunes into big, sprawling electronic epics. So a few years later, I made a thread about it on our forums and got Flexstyle involved. I don't think there's a more qualified guy up to the task. Flex is a talented artist who produces amazing music; he's a professional DJ with a strong understanding of what works on the dance floor; and he knows a ton of people both inside and outside the OC ReMix community. He's brought a lot of talent to the table. This album has turned into something that's so unbelievably fun to listen to. Every single artist brought their A-game to this project, and I couldn't be more excited to see OC ReMix veterans working alongside a ton of fresh faces to produce an amazing set of tracks. Fantastic work, start to finish. Super Cartography Bros. was designed from the ground up to be played at parties and clubs, so make sure you throw this into your playlists and send your local DJ a copy, and then just get out there and DANCE. - Shariq Ansari (DarkeSword) --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1. Funk Fiction - "It's-a-Me" Source: Super Mario World - "Map 7 (Special)" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: At the time of this writing, I've opened more sets with this song than any other song. It's a perfectly-crafted combination of funk and electro, and really captures the playful spirit of the Mario games. How can you not smile while listening to this one? Funk Fiction: I transformed the relatively simple Special World theme into an enticing groove with fresh samples, paired with an artisan chord progression. Mario's irresistibly friendly voice accompanies you through this funky voyage with playful cheers and James Brown-reminiscent grunts. Flavors of disco funk, French touch, and deep house are blended into this infectious tune for your listening pleasure. 2. RobKTA feat. XPRTNovice - "Where the Wild Things Are" Source: New Super Mario Bros. Wii - "World 5 (Forest)" Composers: Kenta Nagata, Shiho Fujii, Ryo Nagamatsu Flexstyle: Rob is my good friend and labelmate from GameChops, and I knew I had to get him on board this album with those amazing funky fresh house vibes. Everything blends so well: the chord modulations, the classic house sound, the pure groove -- not to mention the excellent sax work from XPRTNovice. If you're not smiling while listening to this track, you've got something wrong with you! RobKTA: The idea for "Where the Wild Things Are" was to bring it into a summer vibe, with samba pianos and various other elements that bring back memories to the classic "Mario sound" (first of all, a "Shy Guy-sounding" bass), but at the same time, make it sound more modern, like in the soundtracks from the latest games. Add a nice sax to the package and you're served with a summer jam cool enough to quench your thirst for hot days! 3. DarkSim - "Star Power" Source: New Super Mario Bros. 2 - "World Star" Composer: Kenta Nagata Flexstyle: DarkSim has been a consistent creator of dance music gems for OCR in the past, so I knew I had to have him on board. He delivered for sure, with this clean, retro-flavored dream house track. The sound effects really help take you on a journey, so buckle up! DarkSim: Normally, I don't remix music from games I haven't played, but when Flexstyle asked me to join this project, and I saw the talent he already had lined up, I couldn't refuse. Plus, it's a tribute to 2 things I love: Mario games and maps! I enjoyed remixing this track because it's fun and upbeat, and I feel like I gave the original a little more oomph to help it shine a bit more. Hope you like it! 4. Flexstyle, XPRTNovice - "Caravan Bowser" Source: Super Mario 3D World - "World Bowser" Composers: Mahito Yokota, Toru Minegishi, Yasuaki Iwata Flexstyle: We'd been scheming to do a Caravan Palace-esque track for a long time. When I started this project and found this source, I knew that this was going to be the one to do it with. The original is practically begging to be done with funky gypsy jazz guitars, driving beats, groovy bass, and crazy-fantastic solos, so, of course, that's what we did. Super thanks to Joe for being completely on board with the concept and giving me a ton of great material to work with! XPRTNovice: My favorite part of this track was working with an experienced DJ who ALSO loved Caravan Palace, a group that was the original reason Flex and I started talking. What I liked about working with him from a DJ perspective was that I didn't have to compose any long parts or worry about the structure of the song; I could literally just give him 2-second long ideas -- about 50 of them -- and I knew he'd know what to do with them. Easily one of my favorite tracks I've worked on. How could it not be? I got to yell "Wahoo!" like Mario! 5. RobKTA - "Eet's a Nu World" Source: Super Mario World - "Map 2 (Overworld)" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: There are a few adjectives that come to my mind when hearing this song: jubilant, bouncy, joyous, celebratory… the list goes on, but you get the point. This is pure fun, condensed into music! It's so funky and groovy, and the progression that Rob has managed to put together around the source tune is just so good. If you're wondering why this gentleman has two songs on the album, it's because his first song was submitted to me WAY before anyone else, and then he managed to get this one done as one of the first few tracks submitted as well -- super props to Mr. KTA for being one of the easiest people I've ever worked with. Make sure you check out his other great music, including some GameChops releases and some fantastic original work! RobKTA: "Eet's a Nu World" was quite a challenge -- the aim was to give the classic Super Mario World map theme not only the nu-disco vibe, but also at the same time experiment how it would sound if I also brought it in a sort of SNES universe. For this, I tried to keep the essence of the original intact and, at the same time, I integrated some elements to permeate the tune with that retro-gaming goodness, like the horn section solo treated with the infamous SNES reverb. It's probably the cutest-sounding nu-disco song you'll ever hear. 6. Jewbei - "Herculean" Source: Super Mario Bros. 3 - "World 4 Map (Giant Land)" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: OCR veterans will recognize Jewbei as being a consistent contributor of trance-styled EDM to the site, and that's why I invited him to the project. While this track ended up going through a few iterations, what's ended up here is fantastic and fits nicely into a few different kinds of sets. Oh, and it's pretty easy to listen to as well! Jewbei: I grew up playing the hell out of Super Mario Bros. 3, it's my favorite out of the series. I named this track "Herculean" as a reference to the stage theme I am remixing. The stage has giant blocks and huge enemies, just overall HUGE, so I used this as my inspiration for my track, hence the reason why it sounds so BIG on bass and drums. I had a great time remixing this track. It was definitely a real challenge. 7. DDRKirby(ISQ) - "Underground Pipe Society" Source: Super Mario Bros. 3 - "World 7 Map (Pipe Land)" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: I knew that if anyone could squeeze a club-length song out of a simple melody like this, Timmie would be the one to do it. While he doesn't live as much in the club genres as some of the other artists on this project, the track he's turned in is a head-turning number every time I play it out -- that crazy breakdown section is a true winner. Add in some signature DDRK solos, the great 9-bit aesthetic, and this is a song that truly bridges the best of all worlds! DDRKirby(ISQ): This one was a blast to make! I was a little unsure I'd be able to get an entire track out of the Pipe World melody, but I'm super happy with what I came up with! This is my first time using Image-Line Harmor extensively, and I had a lot of fun experimenting with it to come up with all of the gritty and growly basses. The result is a fusion of my usual 9-bit style with a clubbier, more EDM-style sound, with influences from PrototypeRaptor and some of the trance/progressive music I've been listening to lately. Hope you enjoy! 8. bLiNd - "The Other Side" Source: Super Mario Bros. 3 - "Warp Map" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: With the lush sound design and utterly recognizable melody, this song is a great one for the dancefloor and for listening. I could get lost in those pads for hours. Classic bLiNd trance sound design, and a solid track for sure! bLiNd: I started this one with a new chord progression for the bassline of the Warp World from Mario 3. From there, it was mainly arrangement and sound design to do justice to the original in some way. I believe the end result works and has a unique sound to it. 9. Flexstyle - "Do Yoshi What I See?" Source: Super Mario World 2: Yoshi's Island - "Map BGM" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: This track was designed specifically to embody the spirit of this project as well as possible -- the original song is a SUPER REPETITIVE melody, even in the game, but thankfully it adds new elements as it appears in different spots throughout the game. I took that philosophy and applied it to a big room house track that somehow manages to still work, I think. Fun fact for all you producers: that squelchy beat at the beginning has something ridiculous like 10 separate automation lanes on the different filters and such. Yoshi! 10. Arceace - "2D Beat" Source: Super Mario 3D Land - "Special 8" Composers: Asuka Hayazaki, Takeshi Hama, Mahito Yokota Flexstyle: I invited Arceace to the project based on the strength of his Sonic CD (Temporal Duality) and Sonic Zone Remix Competition entries, and I wasn't at all disappointed. This is a true electro banger, with great structure and energy! Arceace: Since the goal of this album project was to bring attention to some of the lesser-known songs from the Mario series, I figured I would pick a song that I wasn't very familiar with. Until I began working on this project, I had never heard this theme before, and I had never even played Super Mario 3D Land. Both the chord structure and the main melody were elements that really stuck out to me, so I focused heavily on bringing them out in the remix. The song had a very lighthearted charm to it, so I also wanted to make sure to preserve that feeling during the breakdowns. This was a very fun EDM remix to make, and I really enjoyed exploring some of the deeper aspects of sound design for a lot of the sounds. 11. Desert Catz (Flexstyle, KingTiger) - "Greedbuilt" Sources: Wario Land - "Stove Canyon," "Sherbet Land," "Syrup Castle," "Course Select," "Mt. Teapot," "SS Tea Cup," "Lose a Wario," "Kitchen Island," "Parsley Woods," "Rice Beach" Composers: Kozue Ishikawa, Ryoji Yoshitomi Flexstyle: This one was a TON of fun to do. Like Corey mentions, he put together a really neat smorgasbord of source tunes into a fairly cohesive track, but it needed to hit the metaphorical gym and lose weight and get gnarlier. So, I added a Le Castle Vania-esque set of drums, guitars and bass, trimmed the arrangement down, and this is what came out! I'm super proud of it and I know Corey is too. KingTiger: "Stove Canyon" - riff at the beginning, at 3:30 & end "Sherbet Land" - arpeggiated notes during 0:06-0:34 & 4:07-4:36 (the intro & outro) "Syrup Castle" - 1/2 note synth notes during 0:06-0:34 & 4:07-4:35 (the intro & outro), also during 1:48-3:01 with the bass "Course Select" - little 5-note blips that occur periodically during the intro and outro - 0:13, 0:27, 4:13, & 4:27; also after every other set of 4 measures during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:07 (the Mt. Teapot sections) "Mt. Teapot" - main melody during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:06; also, the crazy vibrato insanity is meant to mimic the same effect the music has in almost every Wario game when Wario gets hurt or flattened or turned into a zombie or etc., etc. (basically any of his "transformations") "SS Tea Cup" - arpeggiated notes during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:07 (accompanying the Mt. Teapot melody) "Lose a Wario" - every other set of 4 measures during 0:36-1:05 & 3:38-4:07 (basically alternating with Course Select in the Mt. Teapot sections) "Kitchen Island" (World Map) - main melody during 1:05-1:34 & 2:31-3:01 "Parsley Woods" - background percussive chords during 1:34-2:03 & 4:07-4:35 "Rice Beach" - background EP during 3:01-3:01; also, the agogo bells you hear throughout the song are meant to mimic the percussive bits at the beginning of this source When we started the project, Michael asked me to make a list of map themes from Mario games, and somehow I completely neglected the Game Boy games. The only games on that platform that would really have maps are Super Mario Land 2: 6 Golden Coins, Wario Land, and Wario Land 3. Unfortunately, it was kind of late in the process to add more sources to the list of potential claims. Since I'm a bit of a Wario fan, I had to remedy my regrettable mistake (I even forgot his Wii game, Wario Land: Shake It, which happens to have a pretty cool map theme), and I decided to take a stab at a Wario source. Since I love to bite off more than I can chew, I decided to arrange *every single* Wario Land map theme into one song. So, um, yeah, I'm pretty proud of this arrangement and how I was able to integrate each source so well. (But writing that source breakdown was a *&$%#!) After giving it my best shot, Michael took over, cleaned up some of the production and arrangement to make it more club-friendly, and just basically beefed it the hell up. I am super proud of this song -- it hits hard just like Michael and I wanted it to, and it just freaking rawks. 12. SREYAS - "Vanilla Underground" Source: Super Mario World - "Map 3 (Vanilla Dome)" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: This song, more than any other, embodies the spirit of the Super Cartography Bros. remix album. It takes a very minimal, yet very recognizable source, and does some seriously cool things to it in a very precise way. While the song may seem sparse at first blush, the details keep you coming back over and over again. Only a true master could pull off keeping it interesting and source-ridden, yet pristinely minimal at the same time like this! SREYAS: Since the Vanilla Dome is a cave world and its map theme is rather minimal, it seemed fitting to give the source an "underground" twist. The result is an early-Disclosure-influenced tech-house track: metallic sound design, strategic reverb, jackin' beats, and, of course, lots of minor chords. 13. Kruai - "Goomba Stomp" Source: Super Mario 3D World - "World 5" Composer: Mahito Yokota, Toru Minegishi, Yasuaki Iwata Flexstyle: This is a fantastic juxtaposition of a super cheerful source tune and psychotic basslines. I love it! I also love the decision to keep this one almost in the breaks realm during the drop, as opposed to the pure electro house realm. This one has found its way into a ton of sets, and it seems to go with all sorts of songs. The breather in the middle is just enough for you to catch up, then it's off to the races again with the big second drop. Stomp away! Kruai: I don't have a lot to say about this piece, really! Flex came to me one day and asked if I wanted to do a Mario Overworld remix. "Sure," I said, and took a look at the tracklist. Realizing that all the good tracks were taken (Bowser Land, pls), I picked the cute-sounding 20-second loop that is SM3DW World 5. I set out to make a grimy, bouncy track out of it, and here we are. Also, I decided to call the track "Goomba Stomp," because that's what a friend of mine calls footstools in Smash. The end! 14. bLiNd - "Koopa Reaper" Sources: Super Mario World - "Map 6 (Koopa Castle)," "The Evil King Koopa BGM" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: Dudes. This song, right here, is probably the most-played song in my sets these days. I've had it in my possession for almost a year at the time of this release, and it rocks the crowd HARD. The polish, the bombastic kick drum, the killer usage of SNESque horn section -- so good. If you're a DJ and you don't have this in your playlist, you're missing out. bLiNd: I tried to give this remix some attitude between the harsh bassline and the Mario vocals (from Super Mario 64). I used a part of the Koopa fight song for the buildup (the brass) and I believe it gives the remix an extra edge. I did my best to update Mario music into modern EDM and I believe this remix is a great example of that. 15. DJ RoboRob - "PL41|\|" Source: New Super Mario Bros. - "World 1 (Grass)" Composers: Koji Kondo, Asuka Hayazaki, Hajime Wakai Flexstyle: I'm super-excited to be the one to get DJ RoboRob onto his first OC ReMix album! Rob is a contemporary of mine from the nerdcore and nerd-DJ scene, and a killer EDM producer in his own right. With this track, we get an incredibly solid deep/dub house number -- seriously, if you're listening to this on a system with deep bass, you won't be disappointed! The key stabs, the bass, the groove -- this is as perfect an example of the video game and club scenes colliding as you'll ever get. Listen carefully--the transposition of major to minor might throw some people off, but the short source tune is used to killer effect in some genius ways in here. Hopefully, this isn't the last we hear of this great talent here at OCR! DJ RoboRob: I'd actually never played New Super Mario Bros., so part of the research for me was playing through the game to get a feel for it (research, lol). Felt just like the first time I ran through SMB3 as a kid... and when I think Mario, I think 8-bit, so I kept the undertones of the track chiptune in nature, which is kind of my style anyways. With "PL41|\|," I knew I wanted to keep that mystery and adventure vibe, hence why I transposed the melody from major to minor, and wrote multiple switch-ups in the chord progressions. Hope you enjoy the track as much as I enjoyed remixing it. :) 16. EAR - "Heatrave" Source: New Super Mario Bros. 2 - "World 2 (Desert)" Composer: Kenta Nagata Flexstyle: This song will do absolutely nothing to convince anyone against the notion that "OCR just does cheesy techno songs." I'm okay with that -- sometimes you just need a giant serving of cheesy, bouncy, hardcore-inspired dance goodness, littered with cornball vocal samples. This song is a great reminder to stop taking oneself so seriously and just enjoy a cheerful song -- I think Mario would agree! EAR: I tend to live more on the harder & faster side of EDM and thought: How cool would it be to give this ethnic piece a slowed-down UK bounce/rave vibe? Unlike some of the more iconic themes out there, the source is really simple, which left a lot of room to expand on. So, there's a ton of different samples slammed into this mix, plenty of hoovers, and a fitting donk bass for good measure. I think this is probably the hardest track on the album, but I couldn't be more happy with how it turned out -- it's still got me bouncing. ^_^ 17. Beatdrop - "Invincible" Source: Super Mario World - "Map 4 (Native Star)" Composer: Koji Kondo Flexstyle: Whoosh. This song right here is the one that forced me to learn how to deal with mid-song tempo changes in Traktor, my DJ program, haha. It's brutally, unapologetically in-your-face, and even its breakdown is still super-worthy of fist pumping. This is the perfect song to end the album with, I think, because it really just sums up the entire thing nicely. We are unstoppable! Beatdrop: When I signed on to the project and chose this iconic track, which has appeared in pretty much every Mario game in some form, I was sure of only two things: its simplicity meant there was a lot of room for reinterpretation, and I immediately knew I wanted to include a dub/reggae-inspired breakdown with a big tempo shift to harken back to the source material more concretely. I've been fascinated with such breakdowns in EDM for a while, where the artist included a complete stylistic shift with a significant jump in tempo -- Danny Byrd's "Weird Science" is a notable example -- and I think in a live setting, they make a huge impact on the audience. I've tried it once or twice before, but never with much success. In this case, I started building that section with more traditional dub sounds, like horns and acoustic drums, but ultimately hated how out of place it sounded and scrapped the works, save for the Strat chords on beats two and four, which is truly an iconic, genre-defining reggae motif. I got a lot of exposure to it growing up thanks to Ace of Base, and have used it previously in a few tracks, notably my Vectorman remix from 2009. Otherwise, I spent a LOT of time experimenting with bass synth sounds using Serum, which I had just picked up. I think there were 8 or 9 instances of Serum, along with all the other stuff. Turned the project into a real resource hog. I hope you enjoy listening to this as much as I enjoyed making it! Global-Trance - "Super Cartography Bros. DJ Set" Flexstyle: While I could have done the DJ mix myself, I really wanted to see what happened when someone who wasn't as intimately familiar with the tracks as I am tackled this set of songs. For this reason, I contacted a man who routinely puts out some killer mix sets -- Aaron Wu, alias Global-Trance. He's done a great job showcasing the songs on this album, and there are some really clever edits inside the mix set as well. Press play and don't stop listening until the end! Global-Trance: Hey, all. Long-time, low-key OCR community member here. Flexstyle asked me to create the continuous DJ mix for this project. Making DJ mixes is something that I have been involved with for quite sometime. Although I have not been as active with it as much as I would like, I was excited when I was approached to help with this part of the project. It was the first time someone had challenged me to make a mix where I had no part in the track selection. I hope the fans of this project enjoy what I have put together as much as I did mixing it. Thanks for listening!