VROOM: Sega Racing
Comments from release director José the Bronx Rican and ReMixers
Album freely available at http://vroom.ocremix.org

Racing games were a huge love of mine, despite my being mostly terrible at them -- generally, the better the powerslides, the more fun I had -- and Sega's most fondly remembered products of the genre offered unique experiences, usually with music best described as "smooth," from rock to jazz and back again. It was probably fate I ended up working to finalize this album release, formerly subtitled "The Best of SEGA Racing."

This was a long time coming: several years and several directors, many ups and downs, regrettable delays and omissions. Be aware that several tracks may have spent years in limbo, but are presented here without freshness dating. I was asked to take what we had, revise album art and help put together a release package, but I quickly uncovered quite a bit of incomplete work that I felt needed attention and further development. I'm pleased with the result: because of staff and artist efforts, we were able to establish a ten-track album (plus an instrumental), as opposed to a six- or seven-track EP.

The original vision was to showcase the variety of soundscapes a person could drive a vehicle to, from slow-cruisin' tunes to more accelerated, upbeat tracks, to high-powered lead-foot bangers. We wanted to basically give you a smooth, steady ride in each song. What our artists and staff have put over the finish line will hopefully provide that sensation for you, even if you're not licensed and out on the road.

Special thanks to Robbie "AkumajoBelmont" Sabo, creator and initial director, and to successors Niyazi "DiGi Valentine" Somnez, Stevo "Level 99" Bortz, and Dustin "Theory of N" Lagaly. Thanks also to all our contributors past and present. Enjoy the ride!

-José E. Felix (José the Bronx Rican)

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1. Ben Briggs, PrototypeRaptor - "Rolling Start!"
Source: Daytona USA (Arcade) - "The King of Speed"
Original Composer: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

José the Bronx Rican: Thumpin' EDM… how else would you open an album if you had some of it? The pole position track is a pure racer, peppered with chopped sampling of Sega's most fun and flamboyant vocalist, Takenobu Mitsuyoshi, provided by experts in the four-on-the-floor game. This was originally added to the final release package as, I suspect, a sort of wishful thinking, because although it sounded great, it seemed unfinished: no title or consent, and with an abrupt stop to the music. I asked Ben about it, and he proceeded to contact his collaborator in order to surprise me with an almost complete overhaul! It's definitely finished now, and the result is fantastic.

2. Dj Mokram - "Green Dust Highway"
Source: Sega Rally Championship (Sega Saturn) - "Forest Replay"
Original Composer: Naofumi Hataya

José the Bronx Rican: As it turned out, Naofumi Hataya got more love than expected in this album. One of Sega's "Wave Masters," he was responsible for arrangements and original music in the porting of several arcade racers to consoles. This cut from Dj Mokram came on very early during album development, and it offers a crisp, percussive groove, fully playing around with one of Hataya-san's "replay" tunes, and seemingly presenting essential elements as a progression of scenery and fellow racers. You're out on a casual drive, and you can't help but feel the breeze.

3. UV Sir J - "Dat Yugo"
Source: Indy 500 (Arcade) - "Expert's Course BGM (Bay Side Street)"
Original Composers: Tomoyuki Kawamura, David Leytze

José the Bronx Rican: A left-field choice of source tune, and what would you expect from Sir J? Indy 500 is a more recent arcader, and rather obscure next to Sega's more famous racing titles. Jordan is gonna take us through the Indianapolis Speedway, skillfully of course, with a warm, tight, and fast funk arrangement, reminiscent of my favorite acid-jazz bands, but now with 40% more wah guitar!

4. Palpable, Diodes - "Plastik Skies"
Source: Daytona USA (Arcade) - "Sky High"
Original Composer & Lyricist: Takenobu Mitsuyoshi

José the Bronx Rican: Amy and Vinnie with one for the road. A fab collab with "bounce," because it's always what they've done best. We start our trip by whistling along, the toe-tapping already underway, and then we are carried, vocoder-style, over Mitsuyoshi-san's famously Engrished lyrics, by tight rhythms and light, airy synths. Are we still in the car? It feels like we're flying!

Palpable: Sometimes songs are written as you work on them, and sometimes songs come to you full-formed. This track was the latter. I wasn't familiar with "Sky High" when Robbie asked me if I was interested in joining the project, but within a day of hearing the track (which I loved), this was 90% finished in my head. My song adapts it to the style of Shibuya-kei, especially Fantastic Plastic Machine (that's where the "plastik" in the title comes from). I was really big into that style back in college and it was fun to revisit that era of my music listening. Amy helped me finish the unwritten 10% with a short piano solo in the bridge.

5. Rexy feat. Xenon Odyssey - "Magical Soul Shower"
Source: OutRun (Arcade) - "Magical Sound Shower"; Cameo: "Splash Wave"
Original Composer: Hiroshi Kawaguchi

José the Bronx Rican: A brighter, jazzier band piece, not your usual take on one of our most legendary racing tunes. Bev's arrangement is rather active, featuring fun brass accompaniments, appropriate drum work, and her usual outstanding keys, topped off with a dominant performance by collaborator Xenon Odyssey on the sax. This is a "hot night out" groove.

6. Tuberz McGee - "YOU'RE TOO SLOWE!"
Source: NASCAR Arcade (Arcade) - "Revvin' Up"
Original Composer & Lyricist: Jun Senoue

José the Bronx Rican: Always a fun time on the guitar, Callum strums, chugs and sings his "afternoon-drive" rendition from another relatively obscure racer, albeit one with an unmistakable musician pedigree. This take on the source tune from Crush 40, neé Sons of Angels (Jun Senoue and Johnny Gioeli of "Live and Learn" fame; we'd damn well get Sonic the Hedgehog represented one way or another!) is, at the same time, a straightforward arrangement and also a personalized paean to the best qualities of "butt rock." This track also preserves the gloriously awkward lyricism of the original: not quite Armored Core tier, but a fun ride nonetheless.

7. Txai - "Autos, Arps & Minimoogs"
Source: Sega Rally Championship (Sega Saturn) - "Desert Replay ~evaluation~"; Cameos: The Hybrid Front (Sega Genesis) - "Your Army Turn (Part 2 - Variation 2)" and "Ending," Marvel vs. Capcom (Arcade) - "Theme of Morrigan," Thunder Blade (Arcade) - "Thunder Blade"
Original Composer: Naofumi Hataya

José the Bronx Rican: An interpretation of another Naofumi Hataya "replay" tune from Sega Rally, similar to Mokram's in its progression of elements of the original, only this time whole soundscapes can pass you by in an instant, yet the track doesn't lose you. Other source tunes make well-situated cameos, mostly in tribute to Hataya-san's other works. It's a complete adventure.

Txai: While listening to the sources available... one of the songs was sorta just screaming "ReeeeMix meeeeeee!" to me. I started working on it in January 2011 and was pretty much done with it by June 2012. The song itself is a funky house treatment with lots of varied synths, brass, acoustic instruments, etc. There is also a healthy dose of percussive elements to go with it. AkumajoBelmont was thrilled with my rendition, marking me down as having submitted my final at the time. Enjoy.

8. UV Sir J, DiGi Valentine, J.ME the Sista' UV - "Tail Chaser"
Sources: Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast) - "You Can Love Me," "Let's Get It On Tonight"
Original Composer & Lyricist: Richard Jacques

José the Bronx Rican: Richard Jacques' absurd volume and variety of authentic-sounding "radio" cuts for Metropolis Street Racer, in an era before bulk licensing of actual radio hits, made for obvious great listening away from the game's setting and context. Two of those tracks became the inspiration for an amalgamation: the creamy soul of TJ Davis (we're repping Sonic again!) from "You Can Love Me," combined with the rock-a-party raps of "Let's Get It On Tonight," which everyone swears is "Fresh Prince of Will Smith" homage, but stylistically recalls many mid-80's artists before the oldest of old-school started to fade. DiGi and J, with vocal assistance from fam, went back to work on a somewhat dormant work-in-progress instrumental -- one I thought was irresistible even in its unfinished form -- dug up their pre-recorded verses and came through with a polished hip-hop/R&B "hookup."

DiGi Valentine: After working with Sir J on "Time Traveller's Delight" for the Sonic CD: Temporal Duality project, to say I was incredibly impressed with his work was an understatement. I immediately approached J on the side to see if he'd be interested in working on some other things, one of which was a Metropolis Street Racer remix for VROOM. In my mind, I wanted to approach the remix by taking inspiration from two different sources. "You Can Love Me" was a personal favourite for having this powerful bassline, as well as some catchy melodies and a sing-a-long type chorus, but the subject matter from "Let's Get It On Tonight" was something I felt I could personally engage with more as rap vocalist, and my intention was to re-write the verses entirely to fit my own style but still keep the same hook-line to wrap up each verse.

As an example of how I wanted J to approach the ReMix, I referenced the harder hitting R&B styles of Adina Howard's 1995 single "Freak Like Me," a song from my childhood that I still adore to this day. I pay homage to her track by also using the "one to the two, to the two, to the three" hook-line during our own breakdown.

J came back with a beat that was beyond anything I could have expected, it literally stunned me and that was only the first WIP. Couple that funky soulful beat with the incredible vocals of J.ME and this remix was ticking all the right boxes.

Throughout production of this song, J has continually raised the bar in what I expected of him, and without a single ounce of doubt I can honestly say this has become one of my favourite collaborations I've had with the guy.

9. José the Bronx Rican - "Five Laps"
Source: Virtua Racing Deluxe (Sega 32X) - "Replay"
Original Composer: Naofumi Hataya

José the Bronx Rican: One big reason I volunteered for final album development is that I had just the right inspiration at the very, very last moment, and managed to finish my own promised arrangement, something that was stuck on first WIP for years and deemed hopeless. Hataya-san here again, a different "replay" track from a different game, inspiring a more steady groove. This started, much like many of my tunes, as an emulation of a favorite artist or influence, in this case some sort of Jamiroquai electro-funk, but ended the same way as well: enough personal touches to take it where I felt it should go, but also in order to finish the damn thing satisfactorily. The result is a choreographed five-lap run, a head-bopping slave to its rhythm from start to finish. That rhythm doesn't deviate much, which one might deem repetitive, but is meant to keep things grounded and comfortable; basically, "staying the course" sonically, which I think works best when depicting a race. It's something I learned from Kraftwerk, their song "Tour de France" being a great example. The intended sensation is of a fast, complete Formula 1 performance around the Virtua race track, each lap clearly denoted. This should've been easier for me: the original composition has so many good riffs packed in, any ReMix should've practically wrote itself. Fun accident: the electric piano patch is from an older version of Absynth, which I kept from the very beginning because I love the way it reminds me of Madonna's classic "Borderline." As it turns out, that chorus mashes up with this part beautifully!

10. Level 99 - "Final Ride"
Source: OutRun (Arcade) - "Last Wave"; Cameos: Daytona USA (Sega Saturn) - "Let's Go Away," OutRun (Arcade) - "Magical Sound Shower," Sonic R - "Can You Feel the Sunshine?," Sega Rally Championship (Sega Saturn) - "Game Over Yeah!"
Original Composer: Hiroshi Kawaguchi

José the Bronx Rican: As with the obvious opening track, the obvious close goes to Stevo and his soothing moonlight swim of an acoustic guitar piece. There's plenty of evidence of that being the sort of thing he can pull off. I have clear memories of the unforgettable original sound wafting through downtown NYC arcades. The mood of that original piece is a natural for a guitar rendition in the same spirit, taking us all home.

Level 99: I damn near broke my hands trying to learn how to play this. I'm also submitting this right now to prevent the title from becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy: I do not intend this to be my last song submitted.

I was one of the few people who enjoyed OutRun but was never particularly enamored by the music in it. Maybe my arcade growing up was just too loud with other machines, because basically all I could hear was the sound of the engines. Later on in life, when I was first discovering the wealth of well-programmed arcade VGM, I re-listened to OutRun and was dumbstruck by how beautiful "Last Wave" was. When Robbie and I first started discussing the VROOM project, I decided to take my acoustic and do what I normally do with it when I arrange video game music. It was intended to be the final track on a four-disc album, an ambitious goal which never came to fruition.

The main song is an acoustic rendition of "Last Wave" from OutRun (surprise, surprise, I break out the acoustic again). This song is quite a few years old now, but I think the quality still holds up. It's initially a note-for-note interpretation in my normal acoustic style, then, during the second run of the theme, I modify the lead to incorporate a few other Sega songs. I tried to spice it up with melodies from numerous other Sega racing franchises. It starts with Daytona USA's "Let's Go Away," then goes into OutRun's "Magical Sound Shower," followed by Sonic R's "Can You Feel the Sunshine?" The final notes of the song are the infamous "Game Over" from Sega Rally Championship. Source usage should be ridiculously high, somewhere in the 90% range.

The song speaks mostly for itself. I'm very pleased with the response. Grab a lounge on the beach as the sun sets, pour yourself a drink, and get taken away as the album cruises to a close. Game over, yeah.

11. UV Sir J - "Tail Chaser (Instrumental)"
Sources: Metropolis Street Racer (Dreamcast) - "You Can Love Me," "Let's Get It On Tonight"
Original Composer: Richard Jacques