MEGA REMIX MAN (2).exe Vinyl Review By Lo Fi Lee 💿📀 @RoboRobMusic #Vinyl #VideoGameVinyl

Firaga Records and Materia Music combine once more to bring us the second instalment of producer RoboRob’s take on music from Mega Man. As with all Firaga releases, the presentation is the first thing you notice. 

The single clear vinyl record comes in a very nice gatefold jacket and illustrated inner sleeve, both by Leon Tukker. Ten tracks are presented here from across Capcom’s series, mainly the numbered instalments but with one from outlier Mega Man & Bass. 

SIDE A 

And it’s this one that kicks us off: Cold Man is a dubsteppy number with chilly synth washes building up to a reasonably restrained drop with a lovely melody in the bridge. Good start. Mega Flare features on Shade Man, from Mega Man 7, which gives us slowed-down d’n’b with sampled strings and handclaps with vocal samples from the game. Top Man, with co-producer Flexstyle, brings breakbeats and a dubstep flavour, while Wood Man (ft. Crayondroids) uses an electric guitar to drive us into a nasty bass drop and some amen breaks that nonetheless keeps the flavour of the original track. We finish side A with Metal Man, written in conjunction with Firaga regular arthur x medic, a 16-bitty drum n’ bass workout with pounding kicks and acidy synth. So far so good.

SIDE B
Flip the record and Mega Man 9’s Tornado Man keeps the genre piece going with a liquidy number that samples the original melody in a really nice, danceable way, and it would probably be the album highlight if it wasn’t for Air Man (ft. Bolide), all the way from Mega Man 2. This is an absolutely filthy junglish anthem, all mid-90s synth stabs and distorted bass that deserves to kick the hell out of dancefloors everywhere. Mega Man X is the source of the next two. Sting Chameleon is up first and keeps us in 180bpm territory, with a nice build-up that drops in a dark-as-death bassline out of nowhere, while Storm Eagle brings wailing metal guitar over the amens. The album finishes up with Ending, pt. 2 from Mega Man 4, closing us down in a more muted fashion with sampled strings and piano.

SUMMARY

RoboRob and friends have come up with a real winner here. As he himself says: "When planning out my 2nd Mega Man remix album I decided to skip house music altogether and focus on heavy bass and a sped-up tempo, to produce something unique that represents the fast-paced action, fun weapons, and crazy fights from the Mega Man universe."

Well, I am absolutely here for all of that and more, and so should you be. 

The album is available in the usual places – Bandcamp, the Materia Store website and streaming services, so get it while it’s hot.