The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask offers incredible source material for musicians to play with, and gosh, have they over the years. Koji Kondo’s work on this poignant entry in the series continues to evoke feelings of joy, pain, mystery, triumph, and more to this day. So it’s no shock that MILK BAR: An EDM Tribute to Majora’s Mask is a solid listen, especially coming from the pedigree of GameGrooves. With the electronic dance music (EDM) acronym right there in the title, it should also come as no surprise that it’s fun. But what you’re going to find out is that, like many of the wild horses of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, that fun is unbridled.
From the get-go, your ears get a dose of joy and pure energy from this album. SaiyaSounds appropriately kicks off the tracklist with their version of “Termina Field.” It’s an incredible romp easing you into the party, foretelling the wild trip you’re about to embark on. But it’s Vector U‘s “Clock Town, First Day” that hooked me into the concept of this album right from that first tempo and bass drop at 15 seconds in. It’s raw, dirty, and juices up the electronica. It’s the kind of track that you turn up too loud and get complaints about from the neighbors. It has some stellar sampling of the base track that makes you feel right at home, but they overlay some gritty synth instrumentation at points, like whatever that brass sound is. It hits a special place in the eardrums that makes the brain go, “Aw yeah, let’s bop.” The vocal samples injected at points also have an interesting effect of grounding you back into the track before you fly off too high. Around 2 minutes, the piece returns to its beginnings and does a shake-up on that initial bass drop to take the track home, and by now you’re starting to work up a sweat. But oh, my friends, you have 13 more tracks to go! Pace yourselves!
The titular “Milk Bar” is, naturally, appropriately dope. NPC entrances with this almost mystical track that tosses in electric organ for a retro feel, and softens the pacing in places to provide a bit of a breather. Despite that, it keeps the party alive, passing the baton to Ryu Matrix, who ignites it with “Deku Palace.” If your head isn’t spinning by the end of this track, you weren’t listening right. The Deku Scrubs are only selling glowsticks when this blasts through the speakers.
It makes you all the more grateful for gentler moments in tracks like boshii‘s take on “House,” which eases in with some chill vibes. But when that bassline throws down, it suddenly has no chill for a good minute. Don’t worry, though, as they toss in more of those sweet home invasion, pot-smashin’ vibes we all know and love from The Legend of Zelda on the N64 to break up the intensity. Plus, hey, “Astral Observatory” is up next, and that’s bound to be a relaxing number, right? Theology could’ve said “No,” but they embrace a more modest beat and let you vibe out for a track (at least for two minutes). Even at its peak, though, this track doesn’t run you ragged and maybe gets a bit grittier than necessary, but it’s still a chill listen and easy to groove to.
Probably one of the most standout tracks on MILK BAR: An EDM Tribute to Majora’s Mask comes from The Icarus Kid, who just knows how to work the drum and bass. They set a tone with “Great Bay Temple” that is equal parts menacing and undeniably moving. It gets twisted and maintains the mystery of traversing a dungeon while still being so damn fun to dance to, primarily because they are incredibly adept at weaving in ornamentation and exciting sound samples that amplify and texturize the piece like no other. The water droplets really tug at the ear, reminding you that this party is in the dungeon (which has dope acoustics). At around 2:10, there’s this beautiful ornamentation that almost feels like the light at the end of the tunnel before you’re pulled back into the darkness. And oh, how it’s such sweet, sweet darkness cause that means we get to dance. LET’S. GO. It gets wild before returning to the steady bassline that keeps us pressing on through the dance party. Where’s Wart at? Those bubbles better be bumping to the bass.
And so the adventure continues. While not every track is a banger, it’s clear every artist poured passion for the source material and EDM into their respective entries. They go beyond cranking the BPM and tossing in crunchy synths, creating unique takes with deliberate choices with pace, ornamentation, and sampling. The result is 15 tracks laying down some awesome beats that dramatically twist a beloved soundtrack into something so fun to listen to and, more importantly, dance to nonstop. From zero to the near 49-minute mark, I defy anyone not to be moving the entire time they enjoy MILK BAR: An EDM Tribute to Majora’s Mask. Remnants of the dark story are still there, to be sure, as these mixers are experts of the craft and respect the source, but they have found unique ways to shed light and technicolor joy on the kaleidoscopic romp that is this polished album. Just remember: it’s dangerous to dance alone! Take some water!
