Song of the Week - WEEK 81 Voting/WEEK 82 Nominating

This was a pretty damned good week. Great way to start off another batch of eight.

All Sounds of SaGa - Spiritual Battle: This was pleasant, but a bit uneventful. For a chiptune to be viable in SotW, it really needs to be something innovative, and this seems to be very typical of the console. It's not a bad melody but that alone won't be enough to elevate this track above other nominations.

Ar tonelico Hymmnos concert Side Crimson ~Tsukikanade~ - EXEC_RIG=VEDA-.: This one walks a delicate line between being interesting and being annoying. I'll admit, the instrumentation is sweet. The singing, that leaves something to be desired. Worst Japanese singing? Definitely not. But the same melody could've been delivered by some prominent strings and flutes over the accompanying layers. Other than the shrill singing, this track is very cool.

Digimon Rumble Arena (Game Rip) - Wilderness: It's sort of a shanty, isn't it? I love shanties. A nifty discovery, finding this in a Digimon game, yes. It's very good. Not much else to say here.

Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - Main Table: Another chiptune. I'm not sure what platform this was on, but it's got some nice depth to the channel usage. The melody is above average, though not something that made me stop and devote full attention. But it pulls off some nice effects, nonetheless. Why wasn't this nominated to the Best Chiptune Contest instead? Yes, I definitely approve of this nomination.

Front Mission 5 ~Scars of the War~ Original Soundtrack - Quicksilver: Well, color me shocked. This was good! I am so not a big fan of oppressive military themes, but this one had some strong elements of both tempo and uplifting melody. This isn't an angry march; it's a march of triumph. Super bonus kudos for nominating a militaristic track that rocks my socks. AWESOME!

Guitar Freaks 4th Mix & drummania 3rd Mix Soundtracks - Captain's Voyage (long version): The title lead me to believe this would be another nifty sea shanty, but I was mistaken. Nevertheless, it's a very snazzy jazz-rock fusion that ventures so far as to become a power ballad by its end. Unlike some regular voters, guitar noodling doesn't irk me at all and I think it fit in well with the particular choice in guitar. This song makes me happy because it's so energetic and fun.

PinkSweets Ibara Original Sound Track - Sweets Nerd: Now, as a moment of contrast, some peculiar ambience. Compared to other submissions from this week, Sweets Nerd is lackluster. As others have mentioned, there's some disappointment over the fact that it feels as though its building toward a conclusion that never truly arrives. The journey it does provide is nice, but it feels like riding an exercise bike: a lot of work and you haven't really gone anywhere.

Ridge Racer 7 (Game Rip) - Supercruiser: Some eclectic dance beats, bizarre sound hits and ambient samples does not always a worthwhile track make. This one works out to be less than the sum of its parts for becoming somewhat repetitive. It tries to escape that curse with some additional samplings 60% of the way through, but it's just not enough to elevate Supercruiser above "adequate".


Painful Point Spread

3 Points: Front Mission 5 ~Scars of the War~ Original Soundtrack - Quicksilver
1 Point: Guitar Freaks 4th Mix & drummania 3rd Mix Soundtracks - Captain's Voyage (long version)
1 Point: Digimon Rumble Arena (Game Rip) - Wilderness
1 Point: Ar tonelico Hymmnos concert Side Crimson ~Tsukikanade~ - EXEC_RIG=VEDA-.

So, so close...: Dragon's Fury (Game Rip) - Main Table

Quicksilver earned the full three points from me this week for thoroughly impressing me in a genre that I usually loathe. It's a great track and deserves a place in the top three, for sure.

Everything else got a point for being awesome too. This is one of those occasions where I sincerely wish I had about three more points to disperse, as I don't like leaving some of these tracks with only one point apiece.

Great week. Nice picks, people.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Quicksilver was a good choice because it's militaristic music done well. Instead of meandering in a sort of dark monotone, it went somewhere and carried several moods.

When all other things are considered equal in the voting, I'll usually give the edge to whatever surprised me most.

But don't expect that we'll agree on everything. My preferences still seem to contrast yours often.

There's nowhere I can't reach.