Press START to Replay was a DJ Mix / Remix / Mashup album released in October 2026.
© 2026 All the original artists and labels.
Mixed by Alexandre Renevey.
"A four-part musical experiment in which video game soundtracks were chopped up, mixed together, mashed into one another, and occasionally left unsupervised. From 8-bit bleeps and arcade bangers to Sony PlayStation electronica, hip-hop, breakbeats, obscure Japanese soundtracks and questionable vocal combinations, pretty much anything that made a noise inside a video game was considered fair game.
Familiar melodies resurfaced in unexpected places, sound effects got promoted to musical instruments, and several decades of gaming history ended up in the same room without adult supervision. Four worlds. Around two hours of music. Enough nostalgia to make your memory card spontaneously combust."
I grew up in a world where video games came with joysticks, cartridges, cassette tapes, mysterious computer data, and absolutely no guarantee that blowing into a cartridge would fix anything. My journey started with Game & Watch and the Philips Videopac, continued through the NES (Nintendo Entertainment System) and pretty much every generation that followed, and eventually turned into a lifelong obsession with video games and their music. Somewhere along the way, my brain became a poorly organised jukebox filled with arcade jingles, chiptune melodies, funky basslines, Japanese soundtracks and sound effects that had no business being remembered for thirty years.
In July 2026, fresh from completing Sonic Breakfast for Confused People — a DJ mix album assembled from pop hits, underground music and other assorted sonic ingredients — I decided to do something similar with video game music. The basic idea was simple: take music from games spanning several decades, mix it together, and see what happened. The slightly less simple idea was to combine two or three tracks at once and discover whether they could magically transform into something new, or whether I'd just invented a particularly elaborate form of musical vandalism. Naturally, I went with the second option.
The source material ranged from ancient arcade machines and 8-bit classics to the gloriously eclectic worlds of the Sony PlayStation, Sega consoles, Super Nintendo, NEC PC-Engine CD and beyond. Unexpected vocals wandered into soundtracks where they had absolutely no business being. Drums were borrowed, melodies were hijacked, and the occasional sound effect was invited to do a proper day's work. There were dance tracks, hip-hop, obscure gems, familiar favourites, console boot sounds and even warnings that a CD-ROM contained computer data. Because apparently, even a warning message deserved its fifteen minutes of fame.
After four increasingly overpopulated mixes, the project finally reached its end credits in October 2026. The result was Press START to Replay – World 1-4: a nostalgic trip through decades of video game music, filtered through a DJ's brain, a mashup mentality and a complete inability to leave a perfectly good track alone. It wasn't a soundtrack to any particular game. It was the soundtrack to having played far too many of them.
Fun fact: I released Press START to Replay on 25 October 2026 — the very same day my daughter turned 15. Apparently, that day was all about pressing START!
Behind the scenes, Audacity was my go-to tool for collecting, cutting and arranging audio snippets. Ultimate Vocal Remover 5 helped me isolate vocals from existing songs, opening up all sorts of mashup possibilities. Finally, Logic Pro came into play for filters, effects and final mixing — bringing all those disparate pieces together into something that (hopefully) sounds like music.
Below, you'll find descriptions of all four tracks (Worlds), along with notes on how each mix was put together, the mashups and production techniques involved, and a few fun facts and behind-the-scenes stories along the way.
Arcade bangers and chiptune classics collide with vocals from games like Cyberpunk 2077, Persona 5 and DJMAX, while drums, sound effects and melodies are borrowed, shuffled around and stitched together into something that never existed in any original soundtrack. It's less a traditional DJ mix and more a musical Frankenstein, a bootleg ROM hack for your ears: familiar ingredients, completely rewritten rules. Three decades of video game music thrown into the same blender, somehow coming out as one surprisingly coherent beast.
What began as an experiment in blending chiptune melodies with vocals borrowed from completely different games quickly turned into something much bigger. The unlikely combinations worked so well that they gave me the idea for an entire album built around this very concept. I'd love to revisit this idea. To be continued? MAYBE!
00. Hiroshi Kimura - 3, 2, 1, Let's Go [R-Type Leo, Arcade] (Intro)
01. Takushi Hiyamuta - Sarah Sowertty [Undercover Cops, Arcade]
02. Sega Sound Team - Mission 1-1 [Shinobi, Arcade]
03. Rat Boy & IBDY - Likewise [Cyberpunk 2077] (Vocals)
04. Danmass - Gotta Learn [Rollcage, PlayStation] (Drums)
05. Takayuki Nakamura - BMG 1 [ESWAT - City Under Siege, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
06. Hiroshi Kimura - Paradise Planet (Area 1) [R-Type Leo, Arcade]
07. Hisayoshi Ogura - Prologue [Ninja Warriors, Arcade]
08. Robin Beanland - Glacius [Killer Instinct Gold, Nintendo 64]
09. Le Destroy & The Red Glare - Pain [Cyberpunk 2077] (Vocals)
10. Junko Tamiya - Air Battle A (Round 1) [1943 Kai, TurboGrafX-16] (Drums)
11. Keishi Yonao - Character Select [Asuka 120 Burning Fest., Sharp X68000]
12. Shoji Meguro & Lyn Inaizumi - Life Will Change [Persona 5, PlayStation 3] (Vocals)
13. Hiroshi Kawaguchi - Super Stripe [After Burner II, Arcade] (Drums)
14. POW Sound Team - Title [4-Nin Shougi, Super Famicom]
15. Konrad OldMoney, DNE, Chanarah, Cidro Onetoo & G'Natt - Go Blaze [Cyberpunk 2077] (Vocals)
16. Manabu Namiki - Chop Me Again (Credits) [Armed Police Batrider, Arcade] (Drums)
17. Hiroshi Kawaguchi - Flow of Time [Ninja Burai Densetsu, Genesis/Mega Drive]
18. Akiko Sugawara - Dream of the Sky, the Sea, and the Rainbow [Bust a Move, PlayStation] (Vocals)
19. Jun Hasebe - Ningenkai [Valis III, Mega Drive, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
20. Hanauri Musume - SFX [Arrow Flash, Mega Drive, Genesis/Mega Drive] (SFX)
21. Toshio Shimizu & Yasuo Yamate - Jack to the Metro (Stage 1) [Last Resort, Neo Geo]
22. The Cold Stares & Brutus Backlash - Suffer Me [Cyberpunk 2077] (Vocals)
23. Jun Chikuma & Masaki Sugo - Title [Bomberman Panic Bomber, Neo Geo] (Drums)
24. Tsukasa Tawada & Yasuhiko 'Zep' Takashiba - Naval Battle [Earth Defense Force, Super Famicom]
25. Urbatronic Chopsticks - The Last Dance [DJMax Technika, Arcade] (Vocals)
26. Hidenori Maezawa & Kiyohiro Sada - Jungle (Area 1) [Contra, Famicom] (Drums)
27. Kenji Yamamoto & Kumagorou - Theme of Piccolo [Dragon Ball Z Super Butouden, Super Famicom]
28. Boom Boom Satellites - Fogbound [Ridge Racer V, PlayStation 2] (Vocals)
29. Hanauri Musume - Stage 5-1 [Arrow Flash, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
30. Ida - Misuzu Team Stage [Super Dodge Ball, Neo Geo]
31. Sugar Donut - Fury [DJMax Technika, Arcade] (Vocals)
32. Jun Hasebe - Ningenkai [Valis III, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
33. Koji Kondo - Main BGM [Kung Fu, Nintendo NES]
34. Mr.Funky - OUT LAW - Reborn [DJMAX Portable 3, Arcade] (Vocals)
35. Lin-G - I want You [DJMAX TECHNIKA, Arcade] (Vocals)
36. Hanauri Musume - Stage 4-1 [Arrow Flash, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
37. Konami Kukeiha Club - Destroy the Candy [Sexy Parodius, Arcade]
38. CROOVE - Sweet Shining Shooting Star [DJMAX TECHNIKA, Arcade] (Vocals)
39. Manabu Namiki - Easy to Go (Stage 1 - Manhattan City) [Armed Police Batrider, Arcade]
40. Planetboom - SuperSonic [DJMAX TECHNIKA, Arcade] (Vocals)
41. Hiroshi Kimura - Paradise Planet (Area 1) [R-Type Leo, Arcade] (Drums)
42. Masato Nakamura - Super Sonic [Sonic the Hedgehog 2, Genesis/Mega Drive]
43. Hiroshi Kubota - Title Screen [Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, Genesis/Mega Drive]
44. Hanauri Musume - SFX [Arrow Flash, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums) (SFX)
45. Toshiharu Yamanishi - Beyond the Peace (Stage Select) [Thunder Force III, Genesis/Mega Drive]
Fun fact: Some video game tracks aren't quite as innocent as their pixelated origins might suggest! From the explicit lyrics of Pain by Le Destroy & The Red Glare to the Ninja Warriors prologue casually bringing up drugs and sex, this mix occasionally strays into decidedly adult territory. Just a heads-up for anyone who likes to know what they're getting into!
Fun fact: When Lin-G's I Want You (from DJMAX TECHNIKA) comes in, the chiptune synth melody and bass are entirely my own composition. I couldn't find an existing game melody that worked well with the vocals, so I decided to write one myself.
Fun fact: In the final part of this track, I mashed up the Super Sonic theme from Sonic the Hedgehog 2 with the song SuperSonic by Planetboom from DJMAX. Two completely different games, two very similar titles, one mashup that practically made itself! That's right, we're supersonic, ya'll better jump right on it!
Of the four tracks, this one's the most tightly wired: a high-voltage blend of video game electronica, techno, breakbeats and futuristic dance music, assembled with questionable amounts of precision. PlayStation-era club sounds, Dreamcast weirdness and rhythm-game anthems lock into a relentless groove, with tracks flowing into one another like components in a machine that's running slightly above its recommended operating temperature.
But even an overclocked machine can behave strangely. A sudden detour into the gloriously absurd universe of Katamari Damacy? Check. A haunting Silent Hill guitar riff, with drums locked into a repetitive loop for an entire track? Absolutely. Predictability wasn't part of the specifications.
Technically, this might be the most accomplished mix of the four. Whether that makes it the best is for you to decide. Either way, the system was pushed to its limits, and somehow, nothing caught fire.
01. Laugh & Peace feat. Yoko Fujita - Oops! [Vib-Ribbon, PlayStation] (Intro)
02. Motoi Sakuraba - Enemy Arsenal (Stage 2) [Sol-Feace, Sega CD/Mega-CD]
03. Shinobu Ogawa - Space Colony (Mission 4) [Gaiares, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
04. Piston Nishizawa - Biohazard (Beast From the East Mix 1) [Resident Evil 2, PlayStation] (Drums)
05. Yuri Misumi & Nobue Matsubara - Katamari Mambo (Katamari Syndrome Mix) [Katamari Damacy, PlayStation 2]
06. Ken Ishii - Creation The State of Art (Full Option) [Rez, Dreamcast]
07. Takushi Hiyamuta - Solo Sortie (Stage 1) [Super R-Type, Super Nintendo] (Drums)
08. Mist - Protocol Rain [Rez, Dreamcast]
09. Shoji Meguro & L-VOKAL - YO [Catherine, PlayStation 3] (Vocals)
10. Mijk van Dijk - Firecracker [Ghost in the Shell, PlayStation]
11. Akitaka Tohyama & Kenji Ninuma - The Moon and the Prince [Katamari Damacy, PlayStation 2]
12. Tetsukazu Nakanishi & Hiroshi Okubo - Mech Monster [Rage Racer, PlayStation]
13. Akitaka Tohyama - Turn Me On [Ridge Racer 7, PlayStation 3]
14. Yuri Misumi - The Wonderful Star's Walk Is Wonderful [Vib Ribbon, PlayStation]
15. 3rd Coast - Luv Flow [DJMAX Online, Windows] (Vocals)
16. Akira Yamaoka - Silent Hill (Otherside) [Silent Hill, PlayStation]
17. Takkyu Ishino - Ghost in the Shell [Ghost in the Shell, PlayStation]
18. Tetsukazu Nakanishi - Linkage [Ace Combat 3, PlayStation]
19. Tayo Meets Acid Rockers Uptown - Crafty Youth [WipeOut Pure, PlayStation Portable]
20. Tomoko Sasaki & Naofumi Hataya - Main Theme [NiGHTS Into Dreams..., Sega Saturn]
21. Hideki Naganuma - Fly Like a Butterfly [Jet Set Radio Future, Microsoft Xbox] (Vocals)
22. Hanauri Musume - Continue [Arrow Flash, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
23. Tetsuro Sato (Remixed By TECHNOuchi) - Select - Deep Inside Mix [Psyvariar 2, PlayStation 2]
24. Forte Escape - Elastic STAR [DJMAX Online, Windows] (Vocals)
25. Nobuyoshi Sano - Rare Hero (Sanodigy Mix) [Ridge Racer, PlayStation]
26. Hanauri Musume - In the Space Around the Gas Planets (Stage 2-1) [Arrow Flash, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
27. Masaya Matsuura feat. Ryu Watabe - Chop Chop Master Onion's RAP [PaRappa the Rapper, PlayStation] (Vocals)
28. SkyBlew & Navo the Maestro - Light Switch [Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, PlayStation 4] (Vocals)
29. Akira Yamaoka - 250bpm [Beatmania IIDX 4th style, PlayStation 2]
Fun fact: The first track (World 1) might have taken the most work, with its mashup of chiptune instruments and modern vocals, but this track (World 2) is probably my favourite of the four. Sometimes, the most time-consuming project isn't necessarily the one you love the most!
Fun fact: I wanted to add some Japanese speech over the NiGHTS into Dreams... theme, ideally sampled from a Japanese or American TV commercial. I searched for something that would fit, but nothing quite clicked. The idea never made it into the final mix — perhaps a side quest for another day!
Fun fact: The combination of Rare Hero (Ridge Racer) and Chop Chop Master Onion (PaRappa the Rapper) brings some serious motivational energy to the mix. If those two can't get you moving, perhaps it's time to check whether your controller is plugged in.
The broadcast starts with the SEGA AM2 logo and the unmistakable sounds of Daytona USA, before cruising straight into the funky, graffiti-covered streets of Jet Set Radio. With DJ Professor K on the mic, Instructor Mooselini dropping rhymes and a steady supply of unexpected samples, the station is officially on the air.
But this isn't just a trip to Tokyo-to. A hip-hop-flavoured deep cut from the NEC PC-Engine CD version of Double Dragon II leads into one of my favourite mashups on the entire album: A Tribe Called Quest's Common Ground, sourced from Twisted Metal III, combined with the instrumental of Yuzo Koshiro's The Shinobi. Two tracks from completely different worlds that somehow belong together — and a pairing I'd happily revisit on a full mashup album of its own.
From there, the signal gets harder to predict. Grand Theft Auto IV brings in some New York hip-hop, Ghost in the Shell adds a dose of electronic weirdness, and a custom remix of dialogue from Uncharted 1 and 2 gives Elena Fisher a rather questionable change of character. With music spanning arcade machines, the Sega Mega Drive, NEC PC-Engine CD, Sony PlayStation and Sega Dreamcast, this world jumps between genres and generations without asking permission. It's a pirate radio broadcast where anything can happen, familiar sounds find new lives, and the next track is always just around the corner.
00. SEGA AM2 Logo [Daytona USA, Sega Saturn]
01. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - Let's Go Away (Advertise Theme) [Daytona USA, Sega Saturn]
02. Richard Jacques - Everybody Jump Around [Jet Set Radio, Dreamcast]
03. Masaya Matsuura feat. Dred Foxx & Sandra - Instructor Mooselini's Rap [PaRappa the Rapper, PlayStation]
04. B.B.Rights - Funky Radio [Jet Set Radio, Dreamcast]
05. Kanji Saito & Jin Watanabe - Stage 7 [Star Parodier, PC-Engine CD]
06. Hiroyuki Togo - Escape to the Forest (Mission 5) [Double Dragon II, PC-Engine CD]
07. A Tribe Called Quest - Common Ground [Twisted Metal III, PlayStation]
08. Yuzo Koshiro - The Shinobi [The Revenge of Shinobi, Genesis/Mega Drive]
09. Takushi Hiyamuta - Stage 6 [Super R-Type, Super Nintendo]
10. Afro D1 [Jet Set Radio, Dreamcast] (Drums)
11. The Rapture - No Sex for Ben [Grand Theft Auto IV, PlayStation 3]
12. Minamo Takahashi - Dr. Bosconovitch [Tekken 3, PlayStation]
13. Nathan Drake & Elena Fisher [Uncharted 1 & 2, PlayStation 3] (Custom Cutscene)
14. Jesper Kyd - Ash [Borderlands 2, PlayStation 3]
15. Mobb Deep feat. Havoc & Prodigy - Dirty New Yorker [Grand Theft Auto IV, PlayStation 3]
16. Greg Edmonson - Nate's Theme 2.0 [Uncharted 2, PlayStation 3]
17. Hardfloor - Spook & Spell (Slow Version) [Ghost in the Shell, PlayStation]
18. Hanauri Musume - Mission 7 - Boss 1 [Arrow Flash, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
19. Hiroshi Kawaguchi - Town Music 2 [Rent a Hero, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
20. Infinite - Take a Look [Twisted Metal 4, PlayStation]
21. Takenobu Mitsuyoshi - Lunar Ground [After Burner III, Sega CD/Mega-CD]
22. Katsumi Tanaka & Satoshi Shimazaki - Great River (Stage 2) [Robo Aleste, Sega CD/Mega-CD]
23. Daisuke Inoue - Isao's Theme [China Warrior, TurboGrafx/PC-Engine]
24. Takeo Miratsu - Chinatown [Jumping Flash, PlayStation]
25. Hiroshi Kawaguchi - Town Music 2 [Rent a Hero, Genesis/Mega Drive] (Drums)
26. Kazuhiko Uehara & Harumi Ueko - Oedo ~ Goemon's Home [Ganbare Goemon: Yukihime Kyūshutsu Emaki, Super Famicom]
27. kidkanevil feat. OV - Big City Life [Bomb Rush Cyberfunk, PlayStation 4]
28. Katsumi Tanaka & Satoshi Shimazaki - Game Over [Robo Aleste, Sega CD/Mega-CD]
29. Hitoshi Sakimoto - Stage 1 Link [Radiant Silvergun, Sega Saturn] (Cutscene)
Fun fact: The name Tokyo-to Underground is a nod to Jet Set Radio's fictional city of Tokyo-to, where pirate radio, street culture and graffiti rule the streets. Naturally, DJ Professor K was the only man for the job.
Fun fact: Again in Jet Set Radio, DJ Professor K acts as the game's narrator and pirate radio host. For my mix, I took that idea to heart: his voice accompanies the music throughout World 3, turning the whole thing into a little underground radio broadcast of my own.
The first mix I worked on, saved for last. Not because it was planned that way, but because the other tracks (Worlds) eventually overtook it in the mixing department. Think of it as a prequel with a slightly lower skill level — but plenty of surprises.
Things start relatively chill, with dreamy Sony PlayStation atmospheres, quirky cutscenes and laid-back grooves. Then, little by little, the tempo rises, the beats get heavier, and the whole thing begins to accelerate into a gloriously unpredictable collision of arcade classics, breakbeats, techno, chiptune and pure late-'90s gaming energy.
From Jet Set Radio and Jumping Flash! to WipeOut, Rollcage and Sonic R, the journey crosses consoles, genres and several questionable musical boundaries. Along the way, even my own reorchestrations of Pocky & Rocky and Pilotwings (check my dedicated pages here and there) get thrown into the mix; a tiny contribution to a medium that has given me an unreasonable amount of joy.
It's a little rougher around the edges than the other tracks, perhaps, but that's part of its charm: an experiment that kept gathering speed until it became an album of its own.
00. This CD-ROM disc contains computer data [TurboGrafx CD/PC-Engine CD] (Warning)
01. Takeo Miratsu - Checking Out the Ruins [Jumping Flash, PlayStation]
02. Toronto - Electric Tooth Brush [Jet Set Radio, Dreamcast]
03. Marian!! [Double Dragon II: The Revenge, PC-Engine CD] (Cutscene)
04. Nobuyoshi Sano - Anna Williams [Tekken 3, PlayStation]
05. BTK - Peppy Rock [Twisted Metal III, PlayStation]
06. Seiji Toda - Gulliver House [Motor Toon Grand Prix, PlayStation]
07. Joe Chin's simple introduction [Parappa the Rapper, PlayStation] (Cutscene)
08. Yoshie Arakawa - Stage Theme 1 [Cosmo Gang: The Video, Super Nintendo]
09. Robert Armani - Circus Bells (Hardfloor Remix) [WipeOut, PlayStation]
10. Hideki Naganuma - That's Enough [Jet Set Radio, Dreamcast]
11. Go Shiina - Quartz [Ace Combat 3: Electrosphere, PlayStation]
12. Introduction [Earnest Evans, Sega CD] (Cutscene)
13. Hiroyuki Iwatsuki - Enchanted Forest (Reorchestrated by mixture) [Pocky & Rocky, Super Nintendo]
14. Track 4 [Dennin Aleste: Nobunaga and His Ninja Force, Sega CD] (Cutscene)
15. Hirokazu Tanaka - Overworld [Kid Icarus, Nintendo Entertainment System]
16. Orbital - Wipeout (P.E.T.R.O.L) [WipeOut, PlayStation]
17. Danmass - Gotta Learn [Rollcage, PlayStation]
18. Guitar Vader - I Love Love You (JSRF Version) [Jet Set Radio Future, Xbox]
19. Kanji Saito & Jin Watanabe - Stage 2 [Star Parodier, PC-Engine CD]
20. Minuteman - Outlaw [Crime Killer, PlayStation]
21. Seiji Toda - Toon Island [Motor Toon Grand Prix, PlayStation]
22. This CD-ROM disc contains computer data [Puyo Puyo CD Tsuu, PC-Engine CD] (Warning)
23. Console Boot Sound: Sony PlayStation 2 (Boot)
24. Console Boot Sound: Sega Saturn (PAL) (Boot)
25. Track 2 [Dennin Aleste: Nobunaga and His Ninja Force, Sega CD] (Cutscene)
26. Yuzo Koshiro - Run or Die [The Revenge of Shinobi, Genesis/Mega Drive]
27. Keisuke Tsukahara - Bonus Stage [Shadow Dancer, Genesis/Mega Drive]
28. Asuka Sakai & Hiroshi Okubo - Quiet Curves (J99 Remix) [R4: Ridge Racer Type 4, PlayStation]
29. Opening [Sol-Feace, Sega CD] (Cutscene)
30. T's MUSIC - Stage 5 [Fantastic Night Dreams: Cotton, PC-Engine CD]
31. Sunscreem - When (K-Klass／Pharmacy Mix) [WipeOut, PlayStation]
32. Full Tank! [Parappa the Rapper, PlayStation] (Cutscene)
33. Le Rosbifs - BSE Mon Ami [Rollcage, PlayStation]
34. Koji Kondo - Bonus Game [Super Mario World, Super Nintendo]
35. Richard Jacques & TJ Davis - Can You Feel the Sunshine? [Sonic R, Sega Saturn]
36. Rennie Pilgrem & Roxiller - Bug [WipeOut Pure, PlayStation Portable]
37. Soyo Oka & Kōji Kondō - Bonus Game (So Much Fun) (Reorchestrated by mixture) [Pilotwings, Super Nintendo]
38. Track 6 [Radiant Silvergun, Sega Saturn] (Cutscene)
39. Kanji Saito & Jin Watanabe - Stage 8 [Star Parodier, PC-Engine CD]
40. Aphrodite - King of the Beats [Rollcage, PlayStation]
41. Pressure Rise - Bamboo Lounge (Peshay Remix) [Rollcage, PlayStation]
42. Track 71 [Ranma 1/2: Datou, Ganso Musabetsu Kakutou-ryuu!, PC-Engine CD] (Cutscene)
Fun fact: This track was the first mix I started working on, right after finishing my previous DJ mix album, Sonic Breakfast for Confused People. Once it was done, I took a few weeks off before returning to the project and creating Worlds 3, 2 and 1 in one creative burst. The mixes ended up appearing in the reverse order in which they were made!
Fun fact: This mix features quite a lot of music from NEC PC-Engine CD games, one of my all-time favourite consoles. Then again, I've always had a soft spot for pretty much every console I've owned. Choosing favourites is hard when you've grown up with so many great gaming machines!
Fun fact: The tempo gradually increases throughout this mix, but I didn't want the transitions to feel too obvious. At the time, I didn't know about Logic Pro's Flex Time feature, which lets you gradually speed up or slow down audio. So instead, I sprinkled in dialogue clips from various games to help disguise the changes in BPM.
With all four mixes finally finished, it was time to tackle the next challenge: designing the album artwork, front and back covers included. Since I was also releasing the album on Bandcamp, I wanted a distinctive visual identity that would catch the eye, whether viewed full-size or as a tiny thumbnail.
The initial idea was simple: a broken CD case with a vinyl record inside, set against a brick wall covered in graffiti. A little bit of urban decay, a little bit of musical anarchy. Perfect for a video game DJ mix album.
I searched the web for inspiration, but nothing really clicked, so I stuck with my original concept. I then turned to AI image generation, experimenting with different variations until I found one that was almost exactly what I had in mind. A little cleanup, a few surgical edits, and some repairs to the broken plastic in Affinity Photo 2 later, the main visual was finally looking the way I'd imagined it.
Then, while browsing Google Images, I stumbled upon a capybara wearing headphones. And suddenly, the cover needed a mascot. After exploring a few more images, I ended up combining two unlikely sources of inspiration: a capybara listening to music on an iPod, and a penguin on fire playing video games. The result? A custom vector mascot that looks like the lovechild of a chilled-out music enthusiast and a tiny gaming inferno, happily sitting on the (not anymore) broken CD case. Sometimes, all a project needs is a capybara.
And there it is: the final cover art for my DJ Mix / remix / mashup album Press START to Replay. A CD case, a vinyl record where a CD should be, and a capybara that looks like it's having a better time than most of us. It might not be the most conventional album cover, but neither is the music inside. And honestly, I couldn't imagine a better fit. Curious what happens when you press START? The album is waiting for you on Bandcamp.
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