Progression, not Regression?

The C64 remix scene has developed greatly since its inception. From the days of the early MIDI renditions provided by C64Audio.com to Linus Walleij’s Triad MP3z site, the scene has developed and progressed, culminating in several CDs worth of material (some better than others) and along the way, many remixes that have appeared on remix.kwed.org. But is it now enough that the same old games are having their tunes endlessly remixed to death, and that we are happy to stand still?

There is a real world example in this I can give in the form of Pro Gen by The Shamen. The original single was released, re-released two years later as Move Any Mountain and there were that many remixes of it that the record company released a full CD of them. And as a result, I got very bored of the original because I was sick of hearing its various reincarnations, as were many of their fans at the time. While you can argue that the record company were partly to blame, so were the public for wanting to hear it remixed again and again, and even the band itself should have artistically said No! Enough is enough.

A quick look at remix.kwed.org reveals a very similar story. At the time of writing, if we include any subtune from a game, there were:

While you can accept that some of the original SIDs had a few subtunes, and it’s the different subtunes that are being mixed, nevertheless it’s still the same game, and herein is where the problem lies. Do the remixers wish just to concentrate on just a few bona fide classic game themes all the time and end up with a scene remaining stagnant, or do we wish to progress and have a varied and eclectic scene that is vibrant and progressive thinking? Think about it – with the 10+ remixes of tunes above I mentioned, that’s a total of 289 mixes just of that lot, around a quarter of RKO’s total.

Another more shocking (and also depressing) statistic is seeing how many tunes by demo composers there are. If we take for example the composers within VARIOUS in HVSC, they’re only represented by a sum total twenty six remixes, which is clearly not enough, and that’s an understatement. There are a score of many excellent tunes in there, which are absolutely crying out for a challenge of having them intelligently remixed with fresh ideology.

However, we cannot solely lay everything on the remixers for not doing enough. We, as the public, also need to get away from the instant nostalgia that many old game tunes provide and realise that there is still a very active and vibrant C64 scene out there, with many tunes still being composed. Some of which have gone on to be modern day classics, of course, and it’s those we need to listen to and realise that like in many real world music forms, C64 music itself has also progressed nicely. For a start, you may wish to check out any of the tunes by Søren Lund (Jeff) that accompanied Crest’s superb Deus Ex Machina demo, those were instantly regarded by fans as modern classics because technically and musically they were very good indeed. Not to mention that many scene parties still have C64 music competitions also, where composers push the machine to the limit if possible. So where does that fit in for the listener? Simple. We listen to those, realise there’s a bigger picture on the C64 than just the old games and we request if the remixers can be challenged by trying something new.

A quick look at the remix suggestions section of the Remix 64 message board tells you its own story: a quick glance at the list of requests shows you that we, the public, need to wise up – and fast. I mean, who wants to hear another reworking of one of the tunes from Last Ninja, even if it’s one of the few subtunes not done? Not me, to be perfectly honest. And it’s almost always all about game tunes. Are we that shallow just to request those that have given us maybe five minutes of halcyon pleasure upon replaying it recently? The fact I now only will play about 5 or 10 C64 games at a maximum should tell you its own story. We should be much more interested into what’s happening now, rather than constantly look back with rose tinted glasses at what those memories were. Do we want to fall into a trap of always looking backwards?

Back in the days of Triad MP3z (if you remember them) I always enjoyed Linus Walleij’s remixes. Why? Not because they were always the best technically or musically (although the use of speech samples in some did give it quite an Industrial feel in parts) but because he was being brave and trying out different tunes that no one else would dare to remix even back then. His remix of Snake Fighter by Linus Neilsen (Boogaloo) is still an old favourite of mine for that reason – it’s a different tune that no one tried to do. Similarly, one reason that out of all the C64 remix CDs that I enjoyed Nexus 6581 probably the most was that Reyn Ouwehand took the brave approach of featuring demo tunes on the CD – not just from games. Indeed, tunes like Blue Meanies and Flip the Flop showed another side to the C64 that not everyone, it seems, seemed to appreciate judging by sales of the CD. An absolute crying shame in my view, because for the attempts to again be innovative. Some of the other CDs to an extent have tried the same; Remix 64 Volume 2 at least having some more obscure game tunes to seduce the viewer, although even in my eyes that still doesn’t go far enough.

As Paul Weller of the Jam once sang in Going Underground, The public wants what the public gets and no lyric could be truer of my problem with the C64 remix scene at the moment. It has to work both ways between the remixers and the public in order that things move on. After all, if you look at most highly regarded bands in the music industry these days, the reason for their critical acclaim is that they try something different and new with each album, thus maybe even gaining new fans but keeping their integrity, on the whole, intact. Even though I don’t personally like them, I appreciate what, say, Radiohead are trying to do with each album and they’re trying to invoke and challenge the listener into a different and varied sound each time, even dabbling with electronica in the past. It’s this sort of challenge the scene faces. After all, I’m sure we’re all sick of reality pop star type shows like Fame Academy and Pop Idol by now, right? Well, this is what I mean. Same old songs again and again, just produced and sung by different people.

Public: Rather than wish for the same games to have endless remixes, we too owe it to the remixers to give them something of a challenge. Download the same play list, and listen to the tunes therein. Not just that either. If you can, download some modern C64 demos, transfer them to your real C64 for best effect (if you still have one), switch on, turn the lights off, and enjoy. Then appreciate how many good tunes there are in there and think, now this would sound good remixed wouldn’t it? Don’t rely on the remixers all the time being able to just generate a remix of a demo tune all the time either – challenge them, give them some support, some ideas, some modern thinking. Embrace the C64 as a whole sum, rather than just parts. Go out there and seek new innovation like you would do when listening to real music. If the C64 remix scene is to be taken more seriously, we as a public have a part to play in ensuring that there is variety and scope.