This is the last entry in my OG Jazz:Rouge project, Dry Lagoon, completing the quartet of Rouge stages.

...Ironically enough, it's Rouge's *first* stage!

Dry Lagoon...a.k.a Bright Sound. What can I say? It's utter perfection. When I first heard the music, it "awakened" me, for lack of a better term. The vibe was just so different from anything I had ever heard before. So sensual and exotic, yet so sultry and confident at the same time. I thought only pop, rock or hip-hop could get away with being "sexy", and yet, this manages it...with a way classier flavour IMO.

Honestly, there's no way I could ever top the original. However, my remix this time round harmonises to...a somewhat different emotional resonance that hopefully makes things interesting...

I leant harder into the vibe of the "exotic", and diverted a little from the sultry. Less confident, more wistful. While the original is more earthy, this is more spiritual. I paid a lot of attention to sounds - in particular, percussion sounds. Dry Lagoon the stage itself is full of beautiful Ancient Egyptian imagery, and so I tried my hand at reinforcing that imagery with equally evocative sounds.

And hopefully, I've managed to do something along those lines!

With this, the OG project is complete. it's been quite the journey! 

But don't worry - there's still more to come... ;)

Sorry to keep you waiting and hope you enjoy :)!

Bright Sound (Dry Lagoon) - BOMIX

It's finally here. My remix of Club Rouge.

Only true Sonic fans know...that Club Rouge, eponymous theme to the stage "Club Rouge" in area Night Babylon in the Sonic spinoff fighting game Sonic Battle released on the Game Boy Advance in 2003, is a straight banger. Not only does it have an incredible melody, but it's also a remix of Egg Quarters/Lovely Gate 3 from Sonic Adventure 2, which is one of my favourite VGM tracks of all time.

The truth is, I started this track in 2018, but at some point, I kinda gave up on it. Earlier this year though, I gave it a listen and totally wanted to finish it.

And so here it is, for your auditory pleasure. :)

Some notes on the composition, if you're interested: It was quite the track to make. Overall, I wanted to push myself out of my comfort zone and make something really exuberant and larger than life. I had to throw a lot of ideas at the wall until some finally stuck. Rhythmically, I went full latin, featuring a range of exotic, syncopated rhythms. This is the most festive/vibrant Jazz:Rouge track I've done, and I was definitely aiming for this. I tend to make stuff that is more on the mellow/understated side, so it was an interesting challenge to make this one as exuberant as it is.

I hope you'll enjoy my offering towards this awesome, awesome piece of video game music (for a hugely overlooked entry in the Sonic franchise too). If you liked it, please feel free to leave a comment/like, subscribe and share. Also check out my socials and website. 

Many thanks for listening, and stay tuned for more :)

YouTube version:- https://youtu.be/8hYCOP6aQDU

💎 𝒞𝓁𝓊𝒷 𝑅♡𝓊𝑔𝑒 💎 ~Jazz:Rouge~BOMIX.

Kairi. Princess of Heart, Guardian of Light, newly chosen Keyblade wielder and Sora's childhood friend (and perhaps more...).

She has a lovely theme too.

Being an analogue of a Disney Princess, there are some obvious qualities that come with the territory:- purity, kindness, radiance - all of that good stuff. However, Kairi's character itself seems to be quite a polarising one.

...Which isn't something I'm here to discuss. Rather, I'd like to present my own arrangement of the beautiful Kairi's Theme. One that I hope speaks to the deeper, more archtypal characteristics of Kairi's character.

Composed by the legendary and amazing Yoko Shimomura, Kairi's theme always struck me as having a more introspective and melancholy kind of vibe. And while chill and pretty, to be completely honest, it doesn't really 100% fit Kairi's personality. My guess for this, though, is that Yoko-san composed Kairi's theme with the image of an archetypal pure and graceful princess-like character, possibly before Kairi's design and personality were solidified. 

There are times when they do successfully overlay this more graceful vibe on top of her character though (I'm thinking specifically the Destiny Islands cutscenes in KH2, and possibly the one where she and Sora gaze upon the ocean in KH1 and she says "I can't wait, once we set sail. It'll be great...".).

Either way, the feelings I aimed for were: wistful, melancholic - almost sad and bittersweet, but also somewhat haunting. I wanted to paint a more sombre and almost tortured feel (you might even say "edgy"), contrasting with Kairi's normally cheery character, giving her theme more of a vibe of something like Roxas'/Org XIII's theme. Either way, it's definitely a notch sadder than the already sombre original by Yoko-san.

Compositionally, I took the overall chord structure and twisted it a bit/made it more ambiguous (as a bit of music nerd point, the opening and ending sustained chord is an ambiguous sounding minor 11th chord, reminiscent of a Masashi Hamauzu kinda sound). I suppose in that sense there is a little Hamauzu-san influence peppered in here. As such, there's some extended harmony/jazz influence subtly placed in here, while still getting away with a classical piano ballad sound. This also opened the door for more "haunting" chromaticism melodically and counter-melodically. I wanted to make the counter-melodies quite intricate, for sure, so I hope those shine through. I also went with a unique section that kicks in at 01:50, that has a feeling reminiscent of something like the Org XII theme (the quick/battle version), before resolving back to the main theme.

It was fun doing this arrangement, as I wasn't entirely sure how I wanted it to turn out, but it ended up turning out okay.

If you're wondering why Kairi has no face in the thumbnail...I guess I was trying to do something poetic and edgy, but...perhaps I didn't succeed too well. ^^;

I hope you'll enjoy this offering towards Kingdom Hearts, and please subscribe/stay tuned for more. Thanks for listening!

YouTube version:- https://youtu.be/0Rye7NIsNGs

𝐊𝐇 - 🌸𝓚𝓪𝓲𝓻𝓲'𝓼 𝓣𝓱𝓮𝓶𝓮🌸 ~Bomix~

Arrangement : Yoann Turpin. Composition: Kōji Kondō . 2015

Remix / Chiptune: Zelda's Dance Theme

The first in my latest "Jazz:Rouge" collection of arranged remixes paying homage to Rouge the Bat's sexy jazz themes from Sonic Adventure 2.

The Egg Quarters theme is particularly dear to my heart and was the origin point for this entire project (I really wanted to learn the chords). Kenichi Tokoi's original composition, as well as Atsushi "Sushi" Kosugi's expert production, not to mention a stellar group of instrumentalists, all contributed to the sensual, yet uniquely otherworldly feeling that the original track oozes (in spite of the scary beetle robot!).

Sexy, sensual and profoundly spiritual - that's what Lovely Gate 3 and the rest of Rouge's music represent for all those who have played the game. Enjoy :)

Lovely Gate 3 (Egg Quarters) - BOMIX

My (mellower) rendition of Rouge's sassy Security Hall stage theme by the talented and versatile Fumie Kumatani of Sonic Team legacy. A part of my "Jazz:Rouge" project, re-envisioning Rouge the Bat's jazz themes from Sonic Adventure 2.

Going by the name "I'm A Spy", the original track was the kind of fast-paced, edgy spy theme that, in addition to the 5 minute time limit, really made for a exciting and memorable experience that nobody was expecting. While I didn't have access to live brass instruments, I tried to recreate the same punch and catchiness of the original brass arrangement, adding some novel melodies of my own.

I hope you will enjoy this different, but hopefully as groovy, reimagining of yet another stellar piece of video game music. :)

I'm A Spy (Security Hall) - BOMIX

If there was one on the Super Contra arcade.
Extended-https://youtu.be/xErs0WVvpw4

Super Contra Mock Up - Character Select [Snippet]

(Soundcloud hasn't been very friendly to my track :( - check out my YT version instead:- https://youtu.be/zelBW0g5vSw)

After falling off my weekly goal for a month...here I am with my latest remix!

I had an idea to "jazz-rougify" (my new personal term :D) Spring Yard Zone's theme from Sonic 1. It's more that I wanted to superimpose motifs from SYZ's theme directly onto a novel smooth jazz/fusion composition, which is more or less what I did.
(I even managed to get Rouge into the game - check my YT version! :- https://youtu.be/zelBW0g5vSw)

Mirroring Rouge herself, this "Jazz:Rouge" remix is aiming to be soft, sexy, groovy and spiritual. As with my other recent remixes, I've been playing around with mastering, and I'm still pretty new to it. Other than that, I really enjoy doing the vocals for these remixes (probably be better if I was female, but... :D).

Hope you'll enjoy :)

~Jazz:Rouge~ Spring Yard Zone - BOMIX

34ºN, 12ºE... what the heck I'm lost!

The 3rd entry in my "Jazz:Rouge" project of SA2 Rouge the Bat remixes:- this time round it's the crazy space hunt mission Mad Space. Composed once again by the talented Fumie Kumatani, the awkwardly titled "34ºN, 12ºE...for Mad Space" is a cool, brassy 'n' sassy space espionage theme that accompanies an expansive, understandably polarising level (I personally never thought it was that bad).

But even with all the reversed-word, opposite-day-inspired hints, Rouge's final mission (and its accompanying theme) is a lot of fun. While I don't know if "fun" is a good descriptor for my rendition of this track, I definitely aimed for "sassy", as well as "sexy", and not to mention "dreamy". To me, these are the feelings that make Rouge's music stand out as something profound and timeless.

Anyhoo, it's somewhat of a departure from the original, but I hope that you will enjoy this offering towards one of my favourite soundtracks of all time.

(By the way, I do want to apologise about the volume difference across these tracks. This is the first track in the project that I mastered (which is why the earlier two are much quieter). I will probably attempt the master the first two tracks at some point, but probably not before I finish Dry Lagoon - sorry for the inconvenience in the meantime!)

Verse Lyrics:-

Everyday I'll be looking for treasure and nobody's getting in my way
They ask me what I'm hoping to find, all I say is that it's my destiny
It's my time, it's my way, it's my own dream, it's my agency
It's my mission, it's my future, it's my life, it's my passion

34ºN, 12ºE (Mad Space) - BOMIX

So I decided to make a Vaporwave version of my latest Jazz:Rouge remix 8-D.

It's my first time making Vaporwave/Future Funk but it came out pretty nice, if I do say so myself! (if you'll allow me to suck my own *youknowwhat* for a second ;) ).

I'm not sure who drew the image, but I got it from the following Twitter account:- https://twitter.com/FlirtatiousBat

Youtube ver:- https://youtu.be/iHgLM2_ElAY

~Jazz:Rouge~ Spring Yard Zone【Ｖａｐｏｒｗａｖｅ】

Also available for purchase/streaming on all major streaming services.

Mind Over Mayhem

Want It All

Probably too eclectic for my own good. Most songs will be snippets here, go to my youtube link to here full versions...
Deejay Verstyle2 @ https://soundcloud.com/deejayverstyle2/tracks

Super Contra Mock Up - Character Select [Snippet]

Deejay Verstyle

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