Song of the Week - WEEK 96 Voting/WEEK 97 Nominating

It's Nomination Wednesday! YAY!

Album: Landstalker ~ The Emperor's Treasure
Composers: Motoaki Takenouchi, Ken-ichi Koyano
Track Title: Treasure Hunter Lyle
Track Number: 2
Year: 1992
Catalog Number: VICL-5179
Source: Chudah's Corner

Notes: Seeing the Shining Wisdom track lose by the slightest margin, two weeks ago, made me sympathetic for Takenouchi tracks. To be honest, this is a track I probably should've nominated a long time ago because it's really cool.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by CHz

So this is the Takenouchi track you were talking about, eh? First SonicPanda steals a future nomination of mine last week with Cheer Up!, and now you grab the song I had planned to nominate after Rocket punch and my next nom. I'm having some bad luck recently.

It's an arrangement of my favorite track from Landstalker, though, so <3

Aww, man. Are you trying to make me feel guilty here? I unintentionally songjacked ikkei some time ago and felt bad then, too.

But this track's been on my "to be nominated" list FOREVER. I mean, as far back as Week 31, when I first began compiling tracks to offer up.

If it does well, you can share the credit.

Most amazing jew boots

Be filled with feeling - Blind Kiss: Not sure about this track. It feels rather weak at times, but it still has a serviceable melody. The pros and cons negate each other, leaving me feeling rather ambivalent toward this track.

DELIGHT in DAYLIGHT - Cielos de agosto: I liked this track more initially, but as it progressed, it felt like it was merely treading water. The piano elements, however, are delightful and this is the sort of music I prefer while focusing upon my pencil sketchings. It's okay.

I.Q. Final Perfect Music File - The 1st Tide: I've had this soundtrack for a while and this is one of the more notable tracks. It's not my favorite, but it's acceptable. Unfortunately, I've got a limited tolerance for this kind of orchestral, so I doubt I could sit through more than one hearing.

Radiata Stories Original Soundtrack - Devote for Nature: It's upbeat and happy, so you'd think I'd automatically dig this track. But something about it feels...lacking. I can't pinpoint the missing element right now, but there's something preventing me from enjoying this track as much as I feel I had ought.

Raystorm - LUMINESCENCE (AREA5) - full take: The voice sampling is just downright irritating. The rest is a moderately techno-ish piece that feels as though it should be heading toward a climax but never manages to arrive. It has some nice parts, like the intro and outro, but there's a lot of flat territory in between.

SYMPHONY GAGHARV TRILOGY - The Legend of Heroes III, IV, V - Bonds: I wanted to like this more, but as orion pointed out, several sections are troubled by a muddled quality. For instance, at 1:30, a light bongo comes in, but it's difficult to discern because it's woefully overshadowed by the strings. The concertina only further obscures the otherwise enjoyable percussion line. This track is in need of better sound balance. With that, it could be a contender.

The Gods Awaken - Jooli's Song: This is a slightly unusual nomination for me, in that I usually stick with energetic or highly melodic tracks. But I'm hopeful that others can see what I see in this piece. It definitely takes a few hearings to fully appreciate. This makes for a risky nom, but I stand by the quality of Bjorn Lynne's highly underappreciated sound. There's an underlying intensity throughout the piece, punctuated by the ebbs and flows in textural layering and rich cymbal splashes. The Middle Eastern guitars are downright spectacular and the atmospheric effects are almost without peer. I could go on for days about the subtle complexities within "Jooli's Song".

I really encourage everyone to give "Jooli's Song" a full, attentive listen and to try and absorb everything that's going on in this track. It's an investment that I promise is worth every second. I mean this.

Top Gear (SNES Game Rip) - Las Vegas: I'll spare my usual SNES sound card hatred by saying that the sound samples aren't as tinny as usual. But this track is extremely repetitive, especially the bassline. I got tired of the same pulsing rhythm after a couple minutes. Seven minutes of it is a lot to endure. I mean, Leitch couldn't change it up, even once?

What's with the flood of Barry Leitch noms lately, too?


This week was just strange. Oddities abound.

3 Points: The Gods Awaken - Jooli's Song
2 Points: DELIGHT in DAYLIGHT - Cielos de agosto
1 Point: SYMPHONY GAGHARV TRILOGY - The Legend of Heroes III, IV, V - Bonds

How ya doing, buddy?

Originally Posted by goldsac

*** I know it's kind of a bold move to shake up the system on the first post, but what can ya do. Personally, I think having a decent idea of the context of a composition allows for a much more accurate view of the intent (which is kinda what I'd say it's all about). When people listen to and admire Nobuo's music, I believe a major contribution lies in his great talent for musically illustrating a person/place/etc..
So, for example, if the song is meant to be a theme song for a particular character, one might describe the character when submitting the song. Or, if the song is meant to be more of a mood-setter, maybe describing the atmosphere, perhaps with a screenshot to accompany?
It's a far cry from actually playing through the game, but it would definitely help in evaluation if you ask me. What do y'all think?

First, welcome to Song of the Week, goldsac. Thanks for participating. Please stick around and try not to fade away after a few weeks.

As for your comments, I definitely understand from where you're coming. Perhaps you're wondering about several track's context, but since the asterisks were placed in your comments for "Jooli's Song", I'll offer up an explanation.

What you need to know first is that our nomination rules are rather expansive. We're not limited to nominating pieces that came from video games or arrangements.

Many of us have interests in particular composers or composing teams, such as Tim Follin, Motoi Sakuraba, Yoko Kanno, Mintjam or ZUNTATA, to name a handful. But occasionally, some composers will produce their own independent works that are just as interesting. Because we like hearing this material too, we allow nominations from non-VGM albums, with one caveat: the composer must have at least one non-doujin VGM composition credit. This gives some interesting leeway as to what can be nominated and has lead to some excellent discoveries.

"Jooli's Song" is one such piece. It's from an album by Bjorn Lynne, called "The Gods Awaken", that I found while researching Lynne's background. What this means is that there is no in-game context. It's just something that was created to evoke a particular mood.

I'd highly recommend you look over the Song of the Week Nomination Rules. You may find that more tracks than you initially believed are eligible for nomination. And if you're unsure, or there's a grey area, just ask. If nobody swats it down, it's good to go.

Hope that clears some stuff up for you.

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

Originally Posted by goldsac

As for sticking around, that's the plan. My only worry is the obscurity factor. I read through the list of past nominations, and damn a lotta those tracks are just foreign to me.

Obscurity is a relative thing. What's generally intended is that you avoid tracks that come from flagship titles, or games that are particularly celebrated for their music. This is meant to prevent people from deluging SotW with music that we already know is good, stuff that can be found in the VGM collections of most novice listeners because the games are so beloved.

We're usually lenient on what's acceptable. As long as a game doesn't come with its own massive horde of zombie fanboys, it's probably okay. There isn't a set list of series to avoid because we're always finding exceptions to these rules. We've had a Zelda track that came from a little known arranged album, and there was a Game Gear Sonic nomination too. Both placed, by the way, so once it's in, it's judged fairly.

The best rule of thumb is to consider what you, yourself, would define "obscurity" as. If you think it might be too well-known, you're probably correct. But if you've got a solid argument for a track's inclusion, then by all means, say something. Borderline cases almost always favor the person asking. History is also a good precedent; if a track from an album or gamerip has been allowed before, others from the same album/rip/series can usually follow.

Quick heads up: Ace Combat, Guilty Gear, Silent Hill, Katamari Damacy and most Sim City tracks are now considered largely taboo in Song of the Week due to their proven popularity in other contests and among GFF members in general. You couldn't know this as a new member, so I'm filling you in.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Does that mean I'm going to get hated on?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?