Showcase: GrooveWatch: CarboHydroM

[Roareye Black]

First Groovewatch up, we’re taking a look at the fresh sound of Christopher Blondel, aka CarboHydroM. If you’ve heard of either Snappleman or PrinceOfDarkness and their heavy style is to your taste, you’re in luck as this Frenchman will likely tickle your fancy too.

Spanning a fairly large range of games, his remixes rely on the simplistic sounds of just a lead, bass and acoustic guitars. Drums are synthesized and unless you’re picky or have experience with drums you wont notice the repetitive nature of each symbol crash.

As of now, Carbo has 2 sonic remixes, which can be downloaded alongside his other remixes here. The first one titled ‘Jackpot Fever’ is a fairly short Casino Night remix, fleshed out with rock.  His second sonic track is no less rock-filled and is titled ‘Let Me Run Again“. This Sweet Dreams remix will be recognised by many as the ending track to Sonic The Hedgehog 2, and is one of only a few quality remixes of the tune made famous outside of the sonic fan base though a band called “Dreams come True”.

Now to critique. The focus of these tracks are obviously the guitar, and here Carbo is right at home. Each track features something a little different with the guitar, but each time it’ll leave you wanting more. Sadly, many of his tracks end around the 1-2 minute mark, so while each track feels epic and fresh, many leave the listener with a lingering feeling of disappointment as each track comes to a close faster than the last. In regards to the arrangements, the music is well written, but suffers from synthetic drum syndrome (or SDS). The repetition of the synthetic drums used can really get to you after a few playbacks and can grow on your nerve if listened on repeat. Drum volume level also need tweaking, with the nice example of Sweet Dreams remix to back me up.

This is not to say that any of Carbo’s remixes are “bad”. Quite the opposite really, as I’m not normally one to suggest a remixer’s other “non-sonic” remixes. For the first time, I consider Carbo an exception. Whether you want a classic Mario tune (The Mushroom Kingdom Skate Park) or something from the Yoshi era (Winter of Whistlers) everyone will find a song that they recognise and will leave with a song they love.

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