Check Out This Experimental Remix of “Bamboo Island” from Skyward Sword
Posted on November 27 2019 by Sean Gadus
Skyward Sword is one of the most divisive games in the Zelda franchise. The game’s controls, structure, and design are all points of contention in heated fan debates. In contrast, many people praise the game for its music. While not as famous as that of Ocarina of Time, Skyward Sword‘s soundtrack is consistently great across the board. Despite the generous praise forSkyward Sword‘s music, people often skipped over the game in conversations about the best music in the series. Due to this chronic underappreciation, it feels genuinely exciting when remixes of Skyward Sword songs appear on different Youtube channels and sites like OverClocked Remix.
This remix of “Bamboo Island” by Michael Hudak is one of the strangest and most experimental remixes I have come across in recent years. The arrangement is full of odd, dissonant sounds that somehow come together into a coherent piece of music. The arrangement uses distinct synthetic sounds that feel like they are straight out of the 1980’s. The track also includes a fair amount of sampling and detuning, including vocals from the remixer as well as the laugh from The Great Fairy in Ocarina of Time. Finally, when listening to this song I felt like some of the background sounds/runs were reminiscent of Midge Ure’s rendition of “The Man Who Sold The World” which was used in Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain.
This piece used so many unusual sounds that it subverted my expectations of what genres Zelda music can be remixed for. Despite the radical changes, I feel like the song still retains some of the soothing qualities of the original composition. It may be an unusual remix, but it can be a strangely hypnotic piece of music!
What do you think of this experimental remix of “Bamboo Island” from Skyward Sword? Let us know in the comments below!
Sean Gadus is a Senior Editor at Zelda Dungeon. His first Zelda game was Ocarina of Time, and he loves all of the 3D Zelda games from 1998-2011. The final battle of Tears of the Kingdom is one of his favorite final battles in the entire series. He wants to help build a kinder, more compassionate world. You can check out his other written work at The-Artifice.com.
