Opinions vary widely in the VGM (video game music) community on the place of vocal remixes – that is, arrangements of originally instrumental tracks with fan-written and -performed lyrics. Although they are becoming more common, there are still some who refuse to listen to vocal remixes.
It took me a while to warm to the idea of vocal remixes, especially since I heard a few in the early days that were not to my taste. But eventually, I came to judge them on the same merits as any other arrangement – on the quality and originality of the song, rather than the style or instruments used.
This week, I’m going to feature a handful of the (now many) vocal remixes I have amassed in my collection over the years.
While there are songs with more interesting lyrics or smoother vocals out there, “To Hold You Again” is featured first because it was one of the first vocal remixes I enjoyed enough to save, back in 2004, and helped start me on the road to accepting them. This sweet rock rendition of a track from the Super Nintendo game Lufia and the Fortress of Doom is a classic story about the singer having ruined a relationship he later realizes was a mistake.
DrumUltimA, Jillian Aversa, XPRTNovice, zircon – Generations
Nine years ago, well-known remixer and professional singer/songwriter Jillian Aversa made her first solo VGM rearrangement “Prayer,” a version of the Forest Temple theme from The Legend of Zelda: The Ocarina of Time. I still adore that version of that song with its minimal instrumentation more reminiscent of the original haunting theme, but recently, she released “Generations,” an updated version of the track with new vocals. This updated new age version is more melodic, with rolling vocals along the same theme of discovery as her latest original album, Atlantis Awakening. Jillian has done a number of other lovely vocal remixes worth checking out as well.
Featured on playlist: Fantasy, perfect to listen to while writing.
Modern pop music is not a particular favourite genre of mine, so a song like this, a rendition of “Fragments of Memories” from Final Fantasy VIII done in a modern pop style with an almost hip-hop-esque beat and slightly distorted lyrics, wouldn’t usually strike my fancy. But I find this song catchy with nice variation and the dual vocals complement each other well, and it became a quick favourite.
“Dragon Song” gave “Prophesy” from Secret of Mana a different feel using acoustic guitar instead of flute for the opening riff, but it maintains the dark, haunting mood of the original with a song about escape on the wings of a dragon. This song is a little less vocal than the others, but it is a featured element of the song, and the smooth performance adds to the atmosphere. Despite the changes made from the original, this song still invokes the feeling of flight like the original.
I close out this week’s post with a little bit of levity courtesy of Block Party, a collaboration made up of several long-standing remixers in the VGM community, including Jillian Aversa and her husband, Andrew “zircon” Aversa. Whether it’s something you want to add to a regular music rotation or just want a quick laugh, take a listen to this vocal rendition of a theme from Tetris, featuring lyrics which personify each of the different shapes in the classic game into themed characters such as the nerdy ‘Z’ block and the French diva ‘L’. Maybe I’m just speaking from the perspective of someone who doesn’t really understand the work that goes into making music, but it amuses me to no end that this group put together such a solid and full-depth performance of an entirely comedic song based on a 30-year-old video game.
That’s it for this week! As before, if there is any song, album, or artist you would like me to be aware of, please comment and let me know. See you next time!
Jinxed 