DusK

My primary inspiration behind the remix was Sonic Adventure. The Adventure games had a punk rock sound that I really dig, and I really wanted to set out on a remix that would reflect what I think "Sonic Boom" would sound like if it were in one of those games.

Amphibious

I had Sonic CD on my computer when I was young, so picking a track from the US soundtrack seemed like the right choice for me. For whatever reason I decided on the good future music of Palmtree Panic instead of the present (which had a lot more melodic material to work with by comparison). To me, its one of the more unique tracks on the album, and I wanted to do something really groovy with it. I focused a lot on the lead synths to get them sounding just right, and the rest just kind of happened slowly over the course of a few months. I'm pretty happy with how it has turned out, and I hope people enjoy my track as well as the whole album, there's some great stuff!

HoboKa

Very watery sounding and it's too cool to be lumped in any 1 genre so let's go with video game music ^^ - I did most of the EQ balance and Jordan did the final mix for me, after OVER 9000 attempts at getting it to work. Also, the bass was being a very naughty boy and had to be disciplined appropriately. But it's all good now and me 'n Jordan are damn proud of the final product.

Water ambience, saxamophone, monk vocals and extra beefy drums. With a side of french fries.

Jordan

HoboKa and I have a very, very, very, VERY peculiar sense of humour, and it most likely goes over several people's heads if you're not familiar with our personality and usual standard operating procedures. You can either take this as an incredibly serious, emotional arrangement at face value, or read (listen) in between the lines to notice a lot of the subtle humour we've strewn throughout this arrangement.

Firstly, HoboKa was having a rough time at first with bringing his arrangement idea up to the standard quality of the rest of the album, and there was quite a bit of butthurtianism to go around the whole team for several months (I kept on saying that his musical ideas were great and very captivating, it's just the production execution of those ideas that needed some polishing); plus, I originally intended just to be a cheerleader of sorts for HoboKa by coaching him on just to bring the production up to par.

But after several hilarious back-to-back emails and chatting sessions I realized that I should probably just throw a little bit of Jordanius noodling on there for good measure!

There is a lot of funny behind-the-scenes moments that would probably not make sense to most people who aren't in on the jokes that were being discussed between us, but to explain the gist of it:

- when I was first just giving production advice, I used a bunch of cheesy aquatic figurative language and shonen rousing speeches to try and illustrate best to HoboKa what I was suggesting.

(ex., I said to treat the filter sweeps as though the listener is a mermaid travelling all the way from the depths of the ocean floor up to the surface to splash out of the water in slow motion as her hair glistens in the shimmery sun.... yeah I know. And then later on I mentioned how that bassline is sooo phat but it needs a restraining order because it was coming across as Poseidon lurking in a lake and throwing tidal waves at helpless children who were just trying to skip some stones)

- After loads of bizarre imagery and hilarious shonen speeches to get HoboKa pumped ('Narutoooo!!') I decided to go ahead and record some of the parts that were too difficult for me to explain to him through text (plus, we were approaching the deadline and I just wanted to make his load a little easier)

- After ping-ponging back and forth to see what we agreed on, we decided to go ahead and stick with my new additions (such as running his original track through 'paulstretch' and 'stutter edit,' and adding some Ratatat guitars and 'Dr. DOOOooom' drum parts, etc.)

So, in line with the whole aquatic vibes, we went to town with my cheesy mermaid metaphors. We've got Poseidon throwing it down with the thick bass line while using his elegant filter sweeping trident to penetrate the Auto-tuned Enya merman ritual choir boys. Get your ears ready, open your mind, and prepare yourself to ride the cosmic waves of absolution and divinity... We hope you ladies and gents like Ratatat-ified aquatic Gregorian chant mixed with lush, sexually amazing sax playing (courtesy of Xenon, of course).

Oh lawd, what have we done.

Xenon Odyssey

> HoboKa makes track with soundfont saxophone

> thatsnogood.wav

> SuperiorX says 'hey check this out'

> chat with HoboKa

> record

> ???

> profit

Garpocalypse

For a long time I was determined to never touch the music from any Sonic the Hedgehog game. However once this Sonic CD tribute album was announced I knew that if I didn't at least try to get on it that I was going to regret it for a long time.

I think my love of Sonic and my own fears of butchering Collision Chaos ended up causing me alot more stress than I initially planned to endure but looking back I am thrilled that I was able to be a part of this album. Special thanks goes to SuperiorX who gave the track a ton of attention throughout the year.

SuperiorX

I just provided a small assist along the way here; helping the arrangement along a bit and adding my own synth lead and some backing pads here and there. Props to Brandon Strader too for helping with some drum programming and doing the final mastering. Overall, I'm happy with how this track turned out. Gar did a great job!

Jivemaster

What started as a demo later in the project has turned into what we have here: a Jivemaster track that is as grungy as it is unexpected. I am quite happy with how this finally turned out and hope everyone enjoys this dub-island inspired journey.

PROTODOME

A simple, funky, 80's inspired FM jam session.

My Dad plays a mean guitar solo, mad props to him for that.

KingTiger

I've loved Sonic for a long time, starting out with the original Sonic the Hedgehog game on the Sega Genesis… From there, I've played (to death) all of the Sega Genesis Sonic games, and I started watching the cartoons (both SatAM and AoStH) and collecting the Archie comics (I still have them, I think I have about 300?). I still have my Genesis with quite a few games too!

Sonic CD was/is a bit of a cult classic, and back in the day, it held a similar status in my mind… seeing as I didn't have a Sega CD, and my parents wouldn't let me get one, I had to make do with fantasy for a while, until I got the Sega PC version of the game, which was unfortunately pretty glitchy. Even though I knew nothing of the differing regional soundtracks at the time, I was quite obsessed with the music, and would regularly put the game CD in my CD player to listen to it.

You can imagine my joy when Sonic CD was re-released in 2011. Not only was it not glitchy, but it gave you the option of which soundtrack to use! I have it on both my Android and my PC, and even my two-year-old daughter loves watching me play.

My involvement with the Sonic CD project started in 2012, after taking part in Matt's Sonic Zone Remix Competition. After Rexy gathered some initial interest, Matt took the reins, and the rest is history... I joined up as quickly as I could and allowed most of the tracks to be claimed before taking Stardust Speedway.

Stardust Speedway has always been one of my favorite tracks from the US soundtrack, and so it seemed like a good choice for me. The only problem I encountered was the incredibly repetitive nature of the melody, so I had to take some creative measures. As I built my remix, I learned a lot about production through the help of Flexstyle and Phonetic Hero, and was able to make my track that much better. Thanks guys!

I'm really grateful to be a part of this project, and I hope you enjoy "Road Trip" as much as I enjoyed making it.

Arceace

This track initially started out as a little experiment with a couple of drum patterns. I used the main bass from the original and played it along with the drums. To my surprise, they went together perfectly, and the rest of the song happened naturally.

My very first experience with OCR was when I discovered the album Project Chaos. I was amazed at the quality of each song, and some of my favorite remixes have come from that album. Ever since then, I've always wanted to be a part of an album project for OCR, and I am extremely excited that the day has finally come. When I saw that Matt (SuperiorX) was looking to start the project, I was more than happy to volunteer.

This has been a very rewarding experience for me in many ways. I am very proud that I was able to be a part of this project, and I can't wait to hear the final product.

Tuberz McGee

Through the combined powers of teenage angst, late night coffee powered struggles and the ability to comfort any multitude of cats and/or kittens in the face of danger and/or flying creatures Tuberz fights for the justice of his people with his very loud, very noisy, chaotic music that holds no moral purpose whatsoever.

The track is most definitely an attempt to look cooler than he is...

it's not working.

...

Definitely not working.

Phonetic Hero

I wanted to start by saying this was a really fun project to work on, and though I didn't do as much as I could, it was fun staffing and giving feedback where I could help. Matt did a hell of a job orchestrating everything, and I'm sure it won't be his last album project as the head honcho!

So anyway, this track spawned from the absolutely unnerving mood original, especially when paired with an Easter egg at the sound menu of the game... By putting in a certain code, you're taken to a screen with a really messed up looking version of Sonic, with some Japanese text that translates to "Fun is infinite with Sega Enterprises. Signed, Majin (meaning Demon or Devil)". Obviously, this is also where the name of the remix comes from. This track started off creepy, and only got more and more unsettling and eventually downright scary as I continued to work on it. I usually work at night downstairs by myself, and I ended up freaking myself out pretty good a few times, which to me is a sign that I've done what I set out to do pretty effectively (or that I'm a big pansy :P ). Listen by yourself with the lights off for maximum effect :D

Magellanic

This track was very much inspired by J-pop (specifically the DBZ Budokai 3 soundtrack). Though it probably wouldn't be described as such, I just wanted it to be super cheesey but also bursting with energy. It was great working with Blake on this one as without his Sax parts it just wouldn't have been possible.

Jivemaster

A late addition to the album, "The Boom (Undeleted)" almost didn't happen. Taking inspiration from the all-but-forgotten "Da Boom" remix - a pulled track from OCR, "The Boom (Undeleted)" is the realisation of the remix I wanted to create 10 years ago. The tempo has been relaxed to create more of a traditional pop vibe, while still maintaining the original song's energy. Vocals are performed by OCR newcomer Rabcandy who brings a sweet playfulness to the track. I'd like to give out a special thanks to ladyWildfire for her vocals in the initial proof of concept of this mix.

Andy Tunstall

A lot of inspiration for this song came from Quantic, Daft Punk and Funk Fiction's work.

I originally just wanted to remix Tidal Tempest's Bad Future, but ended up incorporating elements from the Past and Present songs as well. I wanted to go for a track that consistently evolved and didn't get too repetitive.

I had a blast working on this song! I never really get much time to remix songs so I had a lot of fun with overcoming this new challenge.

Funk Fiction

As a lot of Funk Fiction tracks are, Crystal Duration drew influence from numerous sources. In this case, French House, 90s Techno, Funk, Disco, VGM, and even hints of Psychedelic and Ambient.

The sources of the track are Special Zone and Metallic Madness. The objective was to find a way to intertwine them seamlessly into an elaborate, new composition.

The track's title works 2 ways in reference to Sonic CD. In one, Crystal Duration is another way of saying Time Stone. In another, it's simply an abbreviation for "CD".

Portanexus

This track puts an electronic twist on the Japanese version of Stardust Speedway. I use both elements of the Good Future and Bad Future soundtracks. I didn't work with anyone else on this track, but followed criticisms of colleagues.

ladyWildfire

I was unable to start production on this track for many months due to a tough class load, so I started much later than most other remixers on this project and was under a big time constraint. I was struggling with the direction to take on this piece, since Quartz Quadrant US doesn't have many distinct melodies. I chose to focus on the more ambient/electronic Future themes, combining the major-key Good Future's melody with the minor-key Bad Future's atmosphere. About halfway through production I asked my good friend Stevo (Level 99) to provide some samples, and it ended up fitting the track much better than I had expected. Near the end of production I was pressured into adding my own vocals to the track, which ended up being the final touch on what I now believe to be my most ambitious piece to date. I put in many long nights and a ton of effort into this remix, and I hope you all love it like I do!

Phonetic Hero

Another quick fun track, Ethan had commented within the last couple/few weeks of the project's completion, and we decided REALLY late to make a track real quick before the end. I threw down most of the bass work (gotta love those FM Genesis samples), drums (all of which were Genesis samples except for the snare(s)), and some of the leads, and shipped it off to him with just a couple days before Matt shipped the project off for eval, and he added more layers - pads, that sexy funk guitar, more leads in spots, and wrote us an ending. He sent stems back with probably half a day before sending it in, and I did a bit of tweaking on the mix and mastered it before sending the final track to Matt. It was a bit rushed, but overall I'm glad this one's being included, if only for the nods to Genesis-era Sonic <3

therex

I came into this project pretty late actually; about a week before it wrapped up, I posted in the project thread offering help with any remaining tracks. After a few days Project QA Dongle and good buddy Petenetic Hero contacted me about collaborating on Wacky Workbench. Despite some computer file bunkage from the technology gods, Pete sent me a lovely steak of a remix that I had the pleasure of garnishing with delectable funk guitar and pad work, among some other doodads. For the remix itself, we decided to go with a more nostalgic chiptune/genesis aesthetic, and though I've never played Sonic CD, I think we caught the vibe of the source well. Hope you enjoy!

Tuberz McGee

This track came together in an attempt to write metal. This riff has some kind of chemical inability to be anything but funky-licious however and that premise was quickly dethroned. I decided to add the vocals as a joke first off, but then it actually became awesome. The track is a real first for me, but it's a sound I really want to continue doing. Mad props to Mr. Sir Dude Jordanius Damashii!! Bro. He did a tonne of polishing on this and made it better than the wet rag that I presented.

djpretzel

I was trying something a little different, plus this was my first attempt at mixing with Reaper. It's a bit of a concept mix... I wanted to slow down the original & go for a "deep space exploration" sorta vibe, trippy & with a lo-fi bent.

Brandon Strader

For the Sonic CD album, instead of making the symphonic metal that was expected, I chose to follow a road less traveled artistically (at least in my repertoire), which was more ambient and disharmonic. I made a lot of mistakes, and structurally went less avant-garde than I had in mind, but still consider this one of my most creative arrangements. With live drums (including an undampened kick drum for the massive BWOMPS) and some tambourine and other stuff, I think the song has great subtlety but also a massive strength to it for some of the crescendos.

SuperiorX

So the idea for this track actually came off a YouTube comment I read after we released our first album preview in April. Someone said something along the lines of "I sure hope they do a Metallic Madness JP Good Future mix!". After reading that I checked out the source and remembered how different the Good Future mix was from the other Metallic Madness JP sources. I had an idea then to just make this an over-the-top triumphant "We just saved the world" kind of track. From there, this song basically wrote itself in 2 days time. I had loads of fun writing the main synth lead part and then went to town with those background orch hits. I wanted it to be a collab track, so I asked Pete to join in too and he added some truly awesome chip lead parts and made the really cool 8-bit breakdown section towards the end. I'm really happy with how this track ended up!

Phonetic Hero

Matt came to me in the late stages of the project with something he'd slapped together in a few hours, which is the main base of what's there now, and it was damn cool. He'd tossed around the idea of another big mega-collab, but it ended up just being him and me. He did the bulk of the work (all the arranging, percussion, etc.), I just added in some chippy solos, the chip break (and the transition to it), and the duet harmonies at the end. I also did the final master, and I think the track as a whole ended up pretty darn good! It\s a fun one for sure, enjoy!

W!SE the all.E

This song has a very, very special meaning to me, and although I put a lot of time and effort into making all of my remixes fun and enjoyable, I personally feel like this is my first official serious arrangement for OCR. Without trying to paint this as larger than what it really is, I truly believe it is more than just a remix or a song.

Those of you who have worked with me more often or are aware of my 'paperbag fencesitters' project know that I also make music under the moniker of 'W!SE the all.E' and with that alias my subject matter focuses on philosophical and social political deconstructions layered on top of futuristic Nujabes-esque beats. I wanted my first 'official' debut as W!SE on OCR to be very unique and create a distinct clue that my W!SE stuff is still coming from the same individual, I just approach music in a different way. In my honest opinion, I am a rapper and a hip hop lyricist first, a pianist second, and waaaaaaaaaaay down the line a producer/arranger.

So, concerning how I even approached this track, when SupX first contacted me about how he was cooking up a Sonic CD remix album my initial reaction was "duuuude, you've gotta let me hop on Palm-tree Panic." My original plan was to make a very chill bossa nova arrangement (I kind of wanted to deviate from my usual over-the-top funky stuff), but since 2012 through 2013 was such a stressful, trying time for me it took me forever to even churn out a basic WIP that I felt proud enough to show to SupX.

As I mentioned and alluded to in my collab with halc, my job tended to make me feel greatly discouraged, stressed, and depressed, in general; however, strangely, I always seem to be most in the zone for writing my deepest lyrics or composing what I believe to be my most intimate songs when I'm going through trying times. So, while revisiting my bossa WIP, I just randomly kept on singing some of the lyrics from a very old rap song of mine ('Elevator Music,' it mostly likely will not be revealed to the public any time soon), and over time I started beefing up the beat little by little until eventually I realized that I was going to have to just go straight up Nujabes with my approach and finally reveal my rapping side to the interwebs once again (I had taken an indefinite hiatus from rapping after the death of Jun Seba and prior to that I just began to lose interest in rapping altogether).

So fast forward to about early Spring 2013... I'm sitting in the break room at work thinking about what to do with my WIP, and I don't just want to rehash all my lyrics from my original 'Elevator Music' So I just start with my original chorus lyrics up until the first verse ("Cubicles.." through to "... doors slammed shut just like another wall"), and I pick out a random W-4 form I see lying around (turn it over to the blank side since I didn’t have any paper on me), ask a co-worker if I can borrow a pen, and I just start to write....

I'm not trying to brag or make this story incredibly dramatic, but I literally poured out all of my heart, frustration, hopes and desires in those fifteen minutes of intense stream of consciousness focus, and throughout the rest of the work shift I was so excited to get home and record my vocal ideas as soon as possible. I did so and finally sent my idea to SupX (who in turn showed it to Phonetic) and they both gave me the green light which was all the encouragement I needed.

With most of my rap songs (the serious, deep ones) there are three meanings: the literal meaning I know most people will understand at face value, the sub-contextual meaning you will get if you pay attention to my extended metaphors and allusions, and the fridge brilliance secret meaning which you will only get after you check out the original things I'm alluding to and then come back to listen to the song with these allusions and subtle nods in mind.

For starters, one of the allusions and hidden metaphors which may be really hard for most people to pinpoint is that the main bass line groove and my rhythmic delivery of "(ah ha) all that's left is the ghost in me" is a direct nod to T-Bones and KRS-One's "Gospel Alpha Mega Funky Boogie Disco Music" Christian Rap song, and if you pay attention to my first verse I'm basically portraying my struggle with Christianity, Nihilism, and Existentialism as being trapped in a chaotic hotel but the only time I ever seem to move anywhere is when I go into 'The Elevator' (which takes me 'up' or 'down' depending on who I'm travelling with).

The second hidden meaning is when I basically start name dropping titles of some Dave Brubeck songs ("I had to TAKE FIVE to realize why EVERYBODY'S JUMPIN around.." etc.), and those who are familiar with these songs know that it is from the 'Time Out' album, so I'm basically saying here that everything is becoming so hectic that the rhythm that I'm used to is just becoming so much harder and I just want to stop ("and catch my breath"). There are so many more little nods here and there, but I’d much rather let you all experience it for yourself.

Therefore, with all the above said, you can either just enjoy this as an elaborate Sonic remix featuring an exotic twist on the chord progression and melody, or you can read between the lines and pay attention to the fact that I'm basically opening up my heart like a book and having a self-analyzing discussion with my Id, my Ego, my Super-Ego, and God ('Father Time') concerning my mistakes from my past and my plans for making a 'good future.'

I hope that you enjoy my arrangement, and if you were or currently are going through very hard times like I was to the point where you just can't find anything to believe in or be at peace about, just keep your head up and know that the future is always bright. It took me a very long time to realize that I have the power to move forward, I just have to take that first step. Maybe my situations were ordained or part of some deity's master plan to make me into the person that I'm supposed to be, so here's to hoping that I'll be right on time.

And I'm praying that the future turns out bright.

peace

~jordan