Song of the Week - WEEK 74 Voting/WEEK 75 Nominating

Week 74 Voting is closed.
Week 75 Nominating is restricted.

Week 74 Voting
The rules for voting can be found here.

Final Result:
1st: an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil
2nd: The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
3rd: Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood

Notes:
If you are a member at more than one of the forums which this event is being held at, please nominate and vote in only ONE of the forums. You may, however, comment in the threads at any of the other forums.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood was originally in PSF2 format and is different from the OST version of the track. The original file has been uploaded to the extras directory.

Week 75 Nominating
The Nominations Queue can be found here.
The rules for nominating can be found here.

Here are the links to the corresponding threads at the other forums:
- Chudah's Corner
- Soundtrack Central

~~~~

Co-opting orion_mk3 here, but it's late and I wanted to get the threads up tonight.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I'm going to try my hand at a nomination... I'll put my votes in later.

Never too late to join =)

Artist: ESTi
Album/Game Title: Talesweaver Original Soundtrack
Track Title: Till the End of Infinity
Disc Number: 1
Track Number: 1
Catalog Number: MJCD-20071
Year: 2006
Source: http://www.cdjapan.co.jp/detailview.html?KEY=MJCD-20071, gamemp3s release

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Okay, someone must have left me out of the loop. I didn't get a PM saying that the tracks were up, and they weren't in the directory when I went to bed.

What gives?

Most amazing jew boots

When'd you go to bed? I sent you a pm notifying you they were ready at 11:24 PM (Eastern).

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Drakken

When'd you go to bed? I sent you a pm notifying you they were ready at 11:24 PM (Eastern).

I went to bed around quarter after--I must have just missed it.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Compared to last week, this week is super. All the tracks were good and OMG I'm first to vote.

AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet - Track 5
Love the melody here, plus the orchestration with the different strings & brass. Sounds quite epic, like John Williams-epic.

an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil
It's Mitsuda, and with a good deal of instrumentation and celtic elements. A pity it doesn't go a whole lot of places.

Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood
Great. Another beautiful, haunting melody about wooded areas. Just my thing. Though short and doesn't have much of a variety, it's still a fine mood piece.

SEGA Touring Car Championship - Sonic Drive
Shifting gears into a faster-paced, techno track. Decent but pretty run-of-the-mill techno. I liked Floodlight heaps more, btw.

Serious Sam II (PC Game Rip) - Continuous
Slowly builds up some tension and kicks in halfway through. I guess it works well within the game, but still an ok listen.

Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish
For a bit there, I thought Tarja Turunen were at the vocals. It does sound like her. Anyways, this a beautiful vocal piece, even it hardly does anything that hasn't been done before.

The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
Oh yeah, I remember this tune! From years ago, spending long hours at arcades. And this sax arrange makes it even groovier. Awesome sax+guitar noodle combo as well.

Wild Arms Music the Best -rocking heart- - Battle Force
This has a very chiptune quality to it. I felt it deserved a point at least, but it went and started looping.


Points Spread

(2 points) AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet - Track 5
(2 points) The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
(1 point) an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil
(1 point) Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood

AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5 Interesting melding of electronics and orchestra here, with an omnipresent pulse over synth instruments. At times, the pulse and the rest of the song seem out of synch--they're not, though poor musical choices in the orchestral section still make it seem like they are. The instruments sound a little tinny at times, too. Still, the piece is interesting and rather unique, and definitely more good than bad.

an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil This OST was about as Celtic as Mitsuda has ever gotten, as the Irish pipes forefronted here demonstrate. As a Celt myself, I tend to like 'em, and the wordless vocals and slight electronic acoutrements accentuate this. Then again, I'd expect nothing less from the master.

Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood This is a terrific ethereal piece, the kind of thing that melts me like butter whenever I hear it. The instruments are a little tinny/synthy at times, true, but the melody is divine, and the leading woodwind part...damn. Bonus points for frequent and excellent harp usage.

SEGA Touring Car Championship - Sonic Drive A definite change from the tracks before it, this is pretty much your standard hyper-repetitive techno trance piece. It's not as bad as it could be, and there's a modicum of variation, but I found myself bored before it was half over.

Serious Sam II (PC Game Rip) - Continuous Sounds vaguely piratey, with a bit of a lit to it, but it's far too long before the brass come in, and when it arrives, it doesn't do too much. It's not until the strings come in that the track livens up into a decent shanty. It's quite a nice bit of swashbucklery when it's at full steam though.

Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish English singing! How I've missed you. Infinitely better than the yowlery that a Japanese version would have delivered, but more than a little blasé until more instruments and singers get added at the end.

The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme) Another sea change, this time in the form of guitar and sax funk. A bit 1985 for my taste, but good enough for what it is.

Wild Arms Music the Best -rocking heart- - Battle Force Synthy, synthy, synthy. Not bad, if more than a little cheesy at times. This sounds kind of familiar--is it an arrangement?

Excellent week all around. More than makes up for the horror that was Week 73 (*that* should have been our Halloween lineup).

The Point Spread
Dark Chronicle - 3 pts.
An Cinnamon Bun - 2 pts.
Serious Sailor Sam - 1 pt.
AEGIS - Just missed

FELIPE NO

AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5 Bah, terrible. The weak point in an otherwise fantastic week. Does anyone else feel like the composer just decided to grab a bunch of random instruments, compose four different songs, and then overlay them on top of each other?

an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil - The clear winner of this week, imho. Interesting from start to end. The Celtic vibes are reminiscent of Xenogears: Creid... not that this track needs that as a crutch. Far from it - its a gem of a unique color. I'm having a hard time finding something to criticize...

Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood - Decent, but not something I'd notice in game, or listen to out of game. The... viola? violin? whatever the non-harp string instrument is does an excellent job, but the flute and clarinet could use more variation.

SEGA Touring Car Championship - Sonic Drive - Got bored 2 minutes in on the first listen, and repeated attempts have only worsened the effect. Just not my type of song, I guess.

Serious Sam II (PC Game Rip) - Continuous - Pretty enjoyable, overall, though the sound of the trumpets almost ruined it for me. However, I decided not to count that against the song because I tend to be oversensitive where trumpets are concerned. A bit of a late bloomer (it doesn't reach its climax until 2:35, more than 3/4 of the way in), but its not bad while it lasts.

Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish - A very good song; held my interest the whole way through, and I was a bit disappointed when it ended, despite the four-and-a-half minute length. The background complements the vocalist extremely well. The only complaint I have (and it's pretty minor) is that I wish the background vocalists were easier to hear.

The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme) - The sax is really carrying this song... well, the bass guitar isn't bad, either, but everything else is sub par. This doesn't stop the melody from shining through, though, and all in all, it was a fun listen.

Wild Arms Music the Best -rocking heart- - Battle Force - Not the song I would have chosen from rocking heart, but good, nonetheless. My favorite part was the little piano solo near the halfway mark; I wish it was longer. Also, the percussion/bass line are pretty repetitive, but since everything else changes so rapidly, I didn't notice that until a few listens.

*~Point Distribution~*
3 points - Battle with the Devil
2 points - Wish
1 point - Saxophone Storm 2

-Nomination-
Artist: Michiru Oshima, pentagon
Album: ICO ~Melody in the Mist~
Track Title: ICO -You Were There-
Disc Number: 1
Track Number: 16
Catalog Number: SVWC-7117
Year: 2002
Source: chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=SVWC-7117

Seems like there have been plenty of Shadow of the Collossus nominations, but almost nothing on ICO. If this song was featured before the forums wipe, I apologize.

Also, my username is mispelled in the nominations queue... nothing urgent, but I dislike the connection with the detestable Kingdom Hearts character.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by Vexxon

Seems like there have been plenty of Shadow of the Collossus nominations, but almost nothing on ICO. If this song was featured before the forums wipe, I apologize.

Just one from SotC, but nothing from ICO to my knowledge.

Originally Posted by Vexxon

Also, my username is mispelled in the nominations queue... nothing urgent, but I dislike the connection with the detestable Kingdom Hearts character.

Sorry. That's not the first time I've done that, and I haven't even played Kingdom Hearts.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Wild Arms Music the Best -rocking heart- - Battle Force: Full of fun melodies, the piano (or synth piano >.>) was fun to listen to. I thought the "synth" style fit with the song great.

The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme): The Sax was done pretty good, but the guitar/drums got old, maybe if they had a bass instead (they had one, but it was too hard to hear). I would have liked a more simple collection of instruments, I.E. Sax, bass, and some mild drums. But what do I know?

Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish: Wow, great song. Although, I didn't like how the vocalist bounced her notes at the end of a phrase (for lack of a better way to put it, I hope it makes sense). The overall instrumental touch was good, the percussion was well done, but it was hard to hear (for better I think).

Serious Sam II (PC Game Rip) - Continuous: This song seemed kind of scripted, kinda like the songs made from some computer programs (the programs are programed to generate music themselves). Luckily this kind of song usually sounds good. I'm not saying the composer was lazy or bad, it was a great song (especially towards the end).

SEGA Touring Car Championship - Sonic Drivef: My least favorite song so far, very boring. Although, it could be a lot worse. Not much to say about this one.

Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood: lol, this is the place where I stopped playing Dark Cloud 2, anyways. The song is pretty good, I like the relaxing feel to it too.

an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil: My favorite so far, it's also my own submission. I've always liked Mitsuda, and this song certainly lives up to his title.

AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5: Reminds me of some type of Christmas song. I don't like it very much. It's not HORRIBLE but it isn't one that I would keep for listening to later.

Battle with the Devil: 3pts.
Wish: 2pts.
Rainbow Butterfly Wood: 1pts.

Great week, I'll keep most of the songs, and I might finish DC2 sometime, heh.

Most amazing jew boots

A much, much better week, compared to last. The Addam's Family track was fun, but it really doesn't hold up to most of the past winners.

Track 5: This is what I'd call a "bread and butter" track. It's not particularly inventive; in fact, you could find music like this in many games. But it's done well enough and there's no part that makes me cringe. High point: the subtle, yet effective drone-pad swells along the bassline. Low point: slightly muddled orchestration. Still, pretty nice though.

Battle With the Devil: It's Mitsuda; we know the man can compose. 'Battle With the Devil' is a serviceable piece. I wouldn't say that it particularly stands out amongst his body of work, but on its own, there's nothing wrong with it. A bit dark for my tastes, but it's not a dirge and there's certainly enough variation to keep my interest.

[minor rant mode]

Although, to be rather blunt, I find it difficult to award Mitsuda tracks more than a single point. With other composers, you could hear this level of quality and be impressed, even surprised. But for Mitsuda, it's almost expected. It's another day at the office. And that's a left-handed compliment to the man, I suppose. Yet, it's pretty much become a knee-jerk reaction to hear a Mitsuda track and say "Yeah, it's good." I feel this diminishes other tracks and places them at an unfair disadvantage in the context of a contest, like SotW.

While "Battle With the Devil" may be worthy of more points, I feel it's my duty to maintain some equality in the matchups. If everyone gives BWtD a point, then it will place and will have done so very fairly. I can live with that.

[ /minor rant mode]

Rainbow Butterfly Wood: I have this album and have listened to this particular piece several times, evaluating its merits for future SotW nominations. It's one I always keep in the back of my mind, just in case, but has never really felt like anything that I had to bring to public attention. RBW is lighthearted and soothing, but it also runs a little on the dull side. It makes very good studying music, yet it also leaves me, and many listeners I'd imagine, with a bit of a "been there, heard that" feeling. =/

Sonic Drive: This is only okay. I like the faster pace, but I do find it to be terribly predictable. Not that repetition is bad - I've a track in mind for future nomination that's extremely repetitive, yet fascinatingly mesmerizing - but here, it's just coming off as being your standard, run-of-the-mill, in-game techno. I've heard worse. I've heard better.

Continuous: 80% of this track is simply not for me. I'm not insulting the piece, as I can tell that it's otherwise fine. My tastes in music just aren't very compatible with "Continuous". Sorry.

Wish: This is one of the better vocal tracks I've heard here in SotW. The first half of the piece seems to drag a little, but at least it comes around in the latter parts. I had to listen to it several times, but by the end of the last hearing, it had grown on me tremendously. I do find there to be some interesting, almost Mediterranean, influences going on. The spanish guitars are lovely. Although this isn't something I'd listen to every day, it's still rather impressive, overall. I wouldn't mind seeing this track place, as it's got a lot of character and is rather different from past winners.

Saxophone Storm: A fairly nice groove, with some added guitar bonus. Sure, it's got a retro cheesiness to it, but as an 80s child, I've got a high tolerance for this kind of pointless, musical posturing. The beginning section's definitely the strongest point, as the latter half tends to meander a little more than I feel is truly needed. Still pretty cool, though.

Battle Force: Ah, the synth entrant in this week's mix. (Seriously, there's been virtually no "genre overlap" this week.) The music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice, but oh yeah...looping. I don't hate looping, really. But when there's strong competition, it becomes a factor in the voting. It's a solid track but Battle Force doesn't thrill me enough to earn points in this, a very strong week.

Pointalicious!

2 Points: AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5
2 Points: Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish
1 Point: The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
1 Point: an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil

Thank god there was a strong rebound from last week. The variety was excellent.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5
For me, this is actually a pretty good song. The melody has a certain tiny unsynchronized rhythm to it, done on purpose (and a few people probably don't like it). I feel that this track therefore is a bit more unique, even though each "phrase" by itself probably isn't special.

an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil
I'm agreeing with Crash Landon here. I feel that Mitsuda probably dominates a lot of composition (he still is my favorite composer), and I think that I'd like to hear other people, so I'll stay at the one point mark.

Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood
I feel that this piece has potential, but never reached it. It's peaceful in a different way from other composers, but the melody continues to loop over and over. It needs to reach some sort of bridge or conclusion.

SEGA Touring Car Championship - Sonic Drive
Extremely repetitive. Unfortunately, repetitive techno is often bad (even though it's not ALWAYS bad... like Wangan Midnight 2). This track just isn't compelling.

Serious Sam II (PC Game Rip) - Continuous
The first 15 seconds are a bit boring (I think a single phrase or two before the addition of instruments would be cooler). But when it does build up, this song becomes quite nice. Personally, I'm in for the two phrase reptition instead of the four phrase through this entire song, though.

Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish
Shes a pretty sweet singer. The melody and instrumentals combine to make for a song that is vote-worthy. I think the spanish/mediterranean influences and the spanish guitar in the background separate this song from others.

The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
It's an interesting groove. I kind of like it, even though I'm an extremely melody-based person. This song actually had to grow on me first =) (I joined game music collecting after the initial KoH craze).

Wild Arms Music the Best -rocking heart- - Battle Force
This is one of the songs from this album that I don't like as much as others. I mean, it's synthy of course, but I feel that there needs to be something a bit more in the melody... especially for a Wild Arms melody.

2pt: AEGIS: Guardian of the Fleet (Red Book Audio) - Track 5
2pt: The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
1pt: an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil
1pt: Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by AWACS Eagle Eye

Sorry. That's not the first time I've done that, and I haven't even played Kingdom Hearts.

Oh, yeah, no problem. I've just had a few people make the mistake before... probably wouldn't even have brought it up if you hadn't misspelled it in that particular way.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by Vexxon

-Nomination-
Artist: Michiru Oshima, pentagon
Album: ICO ~Melody in the Mist~
Track Title: ICO -You Were There-
Disc Number: 1
Track Number: 16
Catalog Number: SVWC-7117
Year: 2002
Source: chudahs-corner.com/soundtracks/index.php?catalog=SVWC-7117

Although this track's never been heard in SotW, I'm positive that it's been in previous BSCs and that it did moderately well. I don't know what everyone's feelings on this are, but I'm under the impression that we try to avoid repeating BSC noms.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

Although this track's never been heard in SotW, I'm positive that it's been in previous BSCs and that it did moderately well. I don't know what everyone's feelings on this are, but I'm under the impression that we try to avoid repeating BSC noms.

That was my impression as well. It's a great song, and would probably clean up here at SoTW, but ICO has very strong community support here at GFF (remember the "ICO Appriciation Club?"), and the same holds for its soundtrack.

FELIPE NO

Yeah, "ICO -You Were There-" is pretty well known and hardly counts as obscure. The ICO soundtrack might not be as popular as Shadow of the Colossus (now I know for certain after BSC 2006) but it still has a following here (which includes myself).

Not sure when I can get down to voting this week. *sigh*

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Quote:

but it went and started looping.

Quote:

The music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice but there's something about how the music is nice, but oh yeah

Are you both mad? Christ people, the beauty behind the selection is the many variations it makes on a battle theme the was 48 seconds long in game. There is NO LOOP in the song. The bombastic introduction makes return appearances that lead into more variation. Pay attention.

Oh, and Battle Force was the only good track off of Rocking Heart, the rest was pretty mediocre.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The only good track? I'd personally rank Leave it to Me, and This Burden is the Weight of Life, This Meaning is the Reason to Live, above Battle Force. Then again, I'm not a very good judge of rock...

As for my nomination, I wondered if it might have been on the BSC before, but I thought I might as well try it. I didn't find anything after a search of the site for ICO, but that's not surprising with the forums wipe less than a year ago.

I'll change my nomination as soon as I find a suitable replacement... the only other song I'd consider from ICO is Castle in the Mist, but I'm not sure I want to attempt it.

Most amazing jew boots

A nomination approaches!

Artist: Takayuki Aihara
Album: Carnaval
Track Title: cool voice
Disc Number: only one
Track Number: 03
Catalog Number: TTRC-0030
Year: 1997
Additional Information: Takayuki Aihara's solo album. Special thanks go out to shylph for sharing the album a few months ago in the Takayuki Aihara thread here at GFF.
Source: VGM World

Castle in the Mist was in last year's Best Song Contest. I don't remember how well it did, but I think it was one of the highly seeded tracks (that is, there were quite a few that nominated it). It's definitely a track that I have a lot of exposure to, and it's probably fair to say that the same is true for other SOTW participants here at Gamingforce.
Not sure how well known ICO's soundtrack would be at places like Soundtrack Central or Chudah's Corner, though.

Also, I enjoyed everything on rocking heart. It's easily one of my favorite arrange albums~

Anyway, I'll hopefully find the time and incentive to pop back in the thread later to vote and comment on the tracks. Sounds like this will be a fairly nice week, judging on the comments so far.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yeah, Castle in the Mist was in last year's BSC and it advanced a few rounds.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Quote:

Christ people, the beauty behind the selection is the many variations it makes on a battle theme the was 48 seconds long in game. There is NO LOOP in the song. The bombastic introduction makes return appearances that lead into more variation. Pay attention.

My bad. Well, maybe "looping" was a poor choice for words. I did note the variations before, even though they were quite minor. The track was wholly repetitive for me, as the same intro and other passages were being repeated over the course of it. Still, it's a good track that I went back to listen to more than once. Unfortunately, as Crash Landon said, this is a good week with some strong competition.


Regarding my next nomination (and with all the discussion going on about what is considered nom-worthy), I went and took a closer look at the rules and it said something about doujins and such not being qualified. Well, the game my nom's from is an amateur/fan game. Does it still qualify? Just wanted to make sure.

Originally Posted by Draconis

Regarding my next nomination (and with all the discussion going on about what is considered nom-worthy), I went and took a closer look at the rules and it said something about doujins and such not being qualified. Well, the game my nom's from is an amateur/fan game. Does it still qualify? Just wanted to make sure.

The doujin distinction is only for artists; if it's a song that was composed for a game, then it's eligible, whether the game was professionally released, fan made, etc.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

CHz (AWACS) nominated "Airwaves", a track that was used in a Flash game.

So there's plenty of room to maneuver.

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by Vexxon

The only good track? I'd personally rank Leave it to Me, and This Burden is the Weight of Life, This Meaning is the Reason to Live, above Battle Force.

Seconded.

I actually have to say Battle Force is one of my lesser favorites from the album. While variation is great, I feel that the variation this arrangement has is nothing exceptional (that is, if the variation is not simply superfluous).

How ya doing, buddy?

I'm gonna award points now, but I don't feel like writing out comments now. I'll just say that there wasn't anything really spectacular this week that stood out. Most stuff felt on a pretty even level, though it was all varied stuff. A decent week, I guess.

1 point - an cinniùint - Battle with the Devil
1 point - Dark Chronicle (Game Rip) - Rainbow Butterfly Wood
1 point - Serious Sam II (PC Game Rip) - Continuous
1 point - Symphonic Poem Argos no Senshi Original Soundtrack - Wish
1 point - The King of Fighters '96 Arrange Sound Trax - Saxophone Storm 2 (Yagami Team Theme)
1 point - Wild Arms Music the Best -rocking heart- - Battle Force

Yay 1 point for everyone!

Jam it back in, in the dark.