State of the Shelanman

• Godiva in the Desert: I hate to start off this review on a low note, but I'm going in order here. This first track was an arrangement of the original Donkey Kong Country theme track. It is very interesting, but I just don't quite get it. There is a weird opera-sounding choir thing going on, and I only feel the original towards the middle for about 10 seconds. This is an interesting piece of music, but I must confess disappointment. The DKC theme, being one of my favorites and one of the most recognizable, just needed to be more... cool... for me. Sorry Israfel, I know you were going for something unusual and creative -- and you found it. It's just not for me.
• Swing, Monkey, Swing: "Swing, Monkey, Swing" is a fun jazzy mix of "Simian Segue." Like all good jazz music, it is layered fairly thick, always at least 2, usually 3 or more things running at once. This is a very nice take on what I felt was a fairly plain original track. I do have one small complaint, and that is that the saxophone has a tendency to chop off the ends of its notes. Other than that, however, I found this to be a thoroughly enjoyable arrangement. Of course, I am a little biased, as arranger Hemophiliac is a friend of mine, but I really do think you'll enjoy it.
• West Coast DK Island: This is perhaps my very favorite arrangement of the collection. I can't point to a particular thing that makes it stand out. I definitely can pick out the themes from the original "DK Island Swing" The muted trumpet is fun as the lead. Overall this just seems a very rich track, its upbeat, I enjoyed listening to it quite a bit. And the bits of birdcall in the background at the beginning were a cool added touch. I can tell that arranger JigginJonT had fun with this track.
• Cry of the Chasmal Critter Chain: Picking one of my favorite tracks from the original, ReMixer Adhesive_Boy has made what I feel to be a fairly conservative mix of the original. While the instrumentation is significantly different, I get a strong feel of the cavey-undergroundish theme that was the original. This is partially due to the fact that the theme is fairly recognizable throughout. That is not to say, by any means, that this is a simple reworking of the original. It is very complex, and it ranks highly among my favorite tracks.
• Funky Monkey Love: Arranger Vigilante has an absurdly amusing song here. The lyrics, though a bit suggestive, are hilarious. I don't know what to say about this track other than I thought it perhaps one of the most amusing and creative tracks in this colleciton. This is a mix of Candy's Love Song. Look, I can't describe it. Just listen. You'll enjoy it. It sounds good, the singing's pretty good, and... I warned you already about the lyrics. Nicely done Vigilante.
• Arboreal Ascent: This is yet another fun jazzy mix, this time of "Treetop Rock." Unlike "Swing, Monkey, Swing," this piece has a quieter, calmer, more loungeish style feel. I no longer have the sound of "Treetop Rock" firmly implanted in my brain, so I couldn't tell you whether the theme is recognizable, but it does have that vague Kong feeling, and it has a very nice sound to it. Smf has put together another tasty track for this collection.
• Aerofunknamics: bLiNd has put together something entertaining for his mix of "Funky's Fugue." Don't know if it is just me, but I am strongly reminded of Propellerhead's "Bang On!" (which incidentally had its place in the videogame world -- as one of the background tracks in the Nintendo 64 game "Wipeout 64." At least, I think that's what it was called). Give this track a listen, let me know if I'm insane or not. Either way, Aerofunknamics is an upbeat electronic deal that... well... belongs in the background of a racing game!
• Dolilop Do Wop: Arranging "Ice Cavern Chant," the theme from, well, the Ice Cavern, Analoq puts together another of my favorite tracks in this collection. It has a cool quiet beat to it that I find very nice. Filled with quiet synthy-sounding instruments, this track is very much up to Analoq's usual standards. As always, his entry is cool, unusual, and very nice. Again a bit of my personal bias undoubtedly comes into play, Analoq is another good friend of mine. Go give Dolilop Do Wop a listen. You'll like it.

There you go, I've picked out a good number of tracks, and given you my take on each of them. Now, why don't you go download this collection and listen to it for yourself. A word of warning however, listen at home; you will have a strong desire to go grab your old cartridge, or your favorite emulator, and spend an evening with the 800 Pound Gorilla!

Very Strongly Recommended
4.5 Out of 5 Stars
Want to Hear It?

Kong in Concert
Kong in Concert BitTorrent