Song of the Week - WEEK 90 Voting/WEEK 91 Nominating

Wow, this was up quick.

Anyhow, I like to get my nominations in nice and early, just to prevent someone else from somehow snagging them first.

Album: Mahou Shoujo Ai 2 Full Arrange Album -Transformation
Track Title: pathetic battle arrange "distortion of the space"
Composer: Hitoshi Sakimoto
Track Number: 9
Year: 2003
Catalog Number: CHCD-1001
Source: Chudah's Corner

I mentioned in the Hitoshi Sakimoto grudgefest thread that the whole argument had inspired me to nominate one of his lesser recognized works. Here it is.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

It's been a while since we had a theme week, yes, but I just blew my big Sakimoto load on that nomination and I really, really dislike changing nominations once I've commited myself to them. I had to really talk myself out of another choice to put that one up; I ain't backing down now.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I suppose someone should vote, just to break the ice. Nobody's cast a single point so far, downtime notwithstanding.

Battle Bakraid - Battle Logic (Stage 7 [VALLEY]): This sounds like your standard shmup music. It's still decent, although it didn't really surprise me in any way. The sound quality felt a little flattened, but the melody was workable anyhow. The song's best part is the bass grind that's heard at the beginning and throughout. If there were more done with this sound effect, I think it would've enhanced the track greatly.

Dragon Ball Z ~ Super Gokuuden Kakusei Hen (Assault Chapter) - Encounter: I'm slowly growing an appreciation for Kenji Yamamoto. His work in the DBZ games has been consistent and surprisingly good for a series that I'd presume to have nothing but generic OMG ACTION music. "Encounter" is quite rockin', but doesn't overpower the listener with speed or guitar riffs. Yamamoto took his time and let the piece have fun. This track impressed me considerably.

Fur Fighters Viggo's Revenge (Game Rip) - New Quack City: The ubiquitous funky-fresh track! This one is absolutely brimming with circa-1990 goodness. The fusion elements are quite interesting and it's got a slick sense about itself. No complaints here. New Quack City is a quality track.

Immortal - Utopia: This one is just neat. Throughout the entire piece, I was reminded of different tracks from several old school video games, from Mega Man 2, to Castlevania and others. For a moment I thought it was just going to endlessly repeat the melody, but then it totally changed gears and got better. Not crazy about the slow section with nothing but drums, but that didn't last too long, thankfully. "Utopia" is like the Whitman's Sampler box, in convenient VGM form: so much packed into one small piece.

Perfect Dark Dual CD Soundtrack - Attack Ship Covert assault: Still don't care for this type of music. Sorry.

Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (Game Rip) - Girls Like Spice: Okay, all "Grrrrl Power" jokes aside, this track is the reason subwoofers were invented. Ridiculously fun and infectiously danceable, "Girls Like Spice" is all about shameless self-indulgence. Get up. Wave your arms. Live a little! And when the mega-bass kicks in at 2:41, just give up. You know your feet are tapping. It's fast, frenetic and just a little cheesy, but Allister Brimble knows what's fun. That's why this track is fucking awesome.

Song to Fly - The Man in the Desert: I expect most work by Yoko Kanno to adhere to a certain level of quality. It's not that I'm so demanding, it's that I know she's always up to the task. Unfortunately, I listened to "The Man In the Desert" and felt as though the usual spark that brings Kanno's work to life was somehow lacking in this track. It's got all the right pieces but they didn't come together in a completely satisfactory way for me. When held against favorites such as "Dance On a Cape of Good Hope" and "Blue Whitecaps" (one of my all-time favorite SotW winners), this one falls short. The chorals felt rather uninspired and the whole progression was too flat; Kanno's capable of so much better.

Ys III Wanderers from Ys Super Arrange Version - Trading Village of Redmont (Town): It's a nomination from DH, so you know it's gonna be solid. Sure enough, "Trading Village" is highly listenable. All the elements come together like a stew, ready for comsumption. Being the fan of jazzy tracks that I am, I can only approve of this piece. Good stuff.


Oy. So much goodness this week. Gotta dispense points somehow.

3 Points: Roller Coaster Tycoon 3 (Game Rip) - Girls Like Spice
1 Point: Fur Fighters Viggo's Revenge (Game Rip) - New Quack City
1 Point: Dragon Ball Z ~ Super Gokuuden Kakusei Hen (Assault Chapter) - Encounter
1 Point: Ys III Wanderers from Ys Super Arrange Version - Trading Village of Redmont (Town)

So, so close - can I just give one more point, please?: Immortal - Utopia


For me, this was a great week. The tracks that I liked, I really liked. The middle-of-the-road tracks were still far above averages from other weeks. There was only one I disliked, but this was only due to the genre; it was still decent within that genre.

Why can't every week have this many gems?

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

Originally Posted by Chuckster

I assume we're still taking votes for this, right?

Sorry, Chuckster. Many of us found our way to the SoundtrackCentral forums and cast our votes there. Week 90 went an extra seven days, but eventually collected enough votes to determine winners without it feeling like a premature decision.

The results were posted to the SotW main page last night. I suppose in the event of future downtimes, all SotW participants should consider it a knee-jerk reflex to simply post over at STC.

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