Pokémon: The Eevee EP / Pokémon: The Eevee EP / Pokémon: The Eevee EP

Pokémon: The Eevee EP
Comments from album director Dustin Lagaly (Theory of N) and ReMixers
Album freely available at http://ocremix.org

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The Eevee EP was conceptualized by DarkeSword and, having no time to take on another project, he said he wanted someone else to tackle it. The concept of an album consisting of a track for each Eevee evolution (including the newly announced Sylveon and Eevee him/herself) caught my attention and I absolutely LOVE Pokémon, so I took on the challenge of putting together this album showcasing some of OC ReMix's talent. The remixes themselves are a musical embodiment of each Pokémon's type (aside from Sylveon, whose type was unknown at the time of creation) and are remixes of source tunes from the game in which the Pokémon first debuted. The artists did a FANTASTIC job of accomplishing this on such a short deadline (the album was 90% complete within a month) and everyone on the project was really easy to work with. Overall, a very fun project to direct and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. Enjoy the music! :D

- Dustin Lagaly (Theory of N)

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1. DarkeSword - "The Destiny Infinite"
Source: "Road to Cerulean - From Mt. Moon" (Pokémon Blue)

Theory of N: Nice opening track from DarkeSword here. Normal type was probably one of the toughest types to translate to music, but he did a phenomenal job.

2. Benjamin Briggs - "BITE"
Source: "Ice Path" (Pokémon Gold)

Theory of N: Everything about this track says "Dark type." From the "Dark Cave" source to the heavy electronic style, Briggs captures Umbreon perfectly.

3. Phonetic Hero - "Wet Dreams"
Sources: "Viridian Forest," "Theme of Cerulean City" (Pokémon Blue)

Theory of N: Pete blew me away with this one. He told me he had a sort of connection with Vaporeon and it shows, for sure. The transformation of the creepy Seafoam Islands theme into this bubbly, feely-good, water-themed track is astounding and the inclusion of Vaporeon's cry is a nice touch.

Phonetic Hero: Dustin hit me up for a track shortly after I got to meet him in person back in March (which was a blast, and we got to hang out again in June with a bunch of other OCR dudes in Indy), and I jumped at the opportunity to remix another nostalgic game for me. Vaporeon was my very first Eeveelution and has always been a favorite of mine. For the remix, I wanted to use Seafoam Islands, because that's just good sense, considering Vappy's element. I hope I didn't ruin too many people's childhoods with the rendition in major. Actually, I do, and I hope to hear all about it in the comments, especially on YouTube. Also, I added in segments of Cerulean City, because that's just good sense, considering Vappy's element.

I guess I should also say something about how atypical this track is for me, stylistically. Something about "spreading my wings," or whatever, I guess.

Dustin also suggested the name, I can take no credit there. Funny thing though, he was thinking more of the soundscape rather than the dirty meaning at the time of suggestion. So enjoy a nice little double entendre, or whatever, I guess.

Source stuff:

0:00-0:18 - NOTHING
0:18-1:04 - Seafoam Islands/Viridian Forest/Diglett's Cave in major
1:04-1:14 - Cerulean quote (0:25 in the source)
1:14-1:32 - carrying on progression from earlier section without the melodic shit
1:32-2:09 - back to Seafoam with more oomph, emphasis on progression and a bit of extra frill on the leads
2:09-2:28 - Cerulean stuff with more expansion this time
2:28-2:46 - Seafoam/Viridian/Diglett's interp again
2:46-end - not really source stuff, just returning to the textures in the intro and whatever to appropriately cap the arrangement

4. halc - "Photosynthesis"
Source: "Eterna Forest" (Pokémon Diamond)

Theory of N: Classic 9-bit from halc. This is another type I expected to be difficult to capture musically but, not surprisingly, the artist comes through again. Augmenting his usual style with nature sounds really gives you the feeling you're in Eterna Forest.

5. Brandon Strader - "Ember"
Source: "Theme of Lavender Town" (Pokémon Blue)

Theory of N: Special thanks to Brandon for whipping this up in 2-3 days after an unexpected change of plans. Taking doom metal to Lavender Town was the last thing I expected for Flareon, but it worked out pretty well and Brandon did a great job making it fiery.

Brandon Strader: This is just the first half of another doom metal remix, "Infernal," this time closer to funeral doom; and again, no vocals. Recording this was an amazing experience. Fresh strings, louder amplifier, and the production all came together so that it sounded heavy as heck. This is the build up, gaining tension and initiating the atmosphere; the part immediately after at 3:03 begins shifting to the second half of "Infernal" with an atmospheric bit that builds tension.

6. Blue Magic - "Snowflakes in Her Hair"
Source: "Snowpoint City (Day)" [Pokémon Diamond]

Theory of N: I was super pumped when Blue Magic agreed to a track for this album and I'm not too surprised he picked Glaceon. "Snowpoint City (Day)" is a sort of odd track, but he took it and made it his own.

Blue Magic: This mix is a chill/uplifting piece, mainly inspired by my daughter. I was actually picturing her and my dog playing in the snow together as I made it (even though she has never seen snow before). I honestly can't think of much to say about this mix. I'm striving to make remixes that outdo the last one I made in terms of creativity and overall quality, and with that in mind, I feel that this one is definitely my best mix yet.

7. Jakesnke17 feat. Source X - "Conundrum"
Source: "Battle (VS Gym Leader)" [Pokémon Blue]

Theory of N: Jake has yet to let me down with any of his tracks and I knew I had to have him on Jolteon. No track from the original Pokémon games is more energetic than the gym battle theme and he somehow managed to pack even MORE energy into his remix.

8. ectogemia - "Half Steps"
Source: "National Park" (Pokémon Gold)

Theory of N: This was probably the hardest of the (known) types to music-ify, but ectogemia managed to make his remix an incredible representation of psychic type. Great example of what the album set out to accomplish.

ectogemia: As per the theme of the EP, I had to create a soundscape which evoked the power of the Eevee evolution I chose -- the psychic-type, Espeon. Once I started writing it, I realized I had no idea what the hell "psychic" sounded like, so I whipped up a bunch of phase-y, space-y, really washed out sounds, and I ended up with a really swirly arrangement of the "National Park" theme from Pokémon Gold/SIlver. That's psychic, right? I had a ton of fun recording in the bouncy piano licks and the improv stuff. I hope this remix really blows your mind (remember, because it's psychic?).

Enjoy the music!

9. Theory of N - "WHAT TYPE ARE YOU"
Source: "Title" (Pokémon X)

Theory of N: At the time I was writing this track, Sylveon's type hadn't been announced yet, so I kind of had to just go off of appearance and seeing as the only music from X and Y released at the time was an arrangement of the main theme, that's the source I had to take. So think of this track as if Sylveon was "cutesy badass" type.