Grab your jet ski and follow that dolphin with James Landino’s latest single off of StrobeNetwork Records, Wave Racer 1080.

Growing up with the Nintendo 64 as young kid in the 90’s , I only had a handful of games. I would play the beginning levels over and over (unless I had my older cousins beat the harder levels for me) because I wasn’t all that good at video games. But that’s just how it was back then. Your parents bought games for you and that’s all that you had, so you played them as much as you could. Wave Race 64 was one of those few N64 games, along with Super Mario 64, Donkey Kong 64, and Cruis’n USA. When I played Wave Race 64 a lot, I was pretty young. I didn’t really comprehend how to beat it or get better, so I just played the tutorial level again and again, doing flips off of the ramps. (I’m not going to follow your dolphin, you can’t tell me what to do!)

Now that I’ve given you my life story, let’s talk about the charming and nostalgic Wave Racer 1080 by James Landino. Wave Race 64’s soundtrack is very much influenced by Jazz, which goes hand in hand with Landino’s usual compositional style. The jazzy spirit of the original soundtrack is unmarred by this remix’s future bass aesthetic. Future bass, as a genre, is influenced by neo soul and gospel and incorporates extended harmonies with 4, 5, or even 6 notes. This trap based genre is relatively new for Landino, momentarily stepping away from his “Four on the Floor” house roots as heard in Hyrule Dungeon (Courage) or Neo Sakura Zone.

As the “1080” component of the name suggests, the track incorporates two N64 games, Wave Race 64 and 1080° Snowboarding. While the bulk of the material is derived from Wave Race’s Title Theme, “Work Your Body” from 1080° Snowboarding provides the material for the chorus. Wave Race’s Title Theme features the rousing guitar melody that’s heard in multiple pieces of the soundtrack. In this remix the melody is performed by chiptune artist and guitarist, Danimal Cannon. (It sounds much better than the guitar in the original soundtrack). Landino assuredly demonstrates his aptitude for this fledgling future bass sound, and this venture has me anticipating much more marvelous music in the future.

Go take a listen to Wave Racer 1080 if you haven’t already and check out James Landino and Danimal Cannon for more music.

James Landino:
Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud, Bandcamp

Danimal Cannon:
Facebook, Twitter, Soundcloud