[SotW] Song of the Week - WEEK 129 Voting/WEEK 130 Nominating

AEON - thin clothes -ETHER

More Z** material. There aren't a lot of artists that start with a "Z", but by the end of SotW, this alphabetical letter will sure have had a lot of exposure.

A good Japanese happy-synth composition, but sadly, I'm not really in the mood for this kind of VGM these days. Right now, I have this impression it's cheesy, childish, and a poor emulation of the 80's, but I'm working on making these judgments become less harsh and categorizing in a global manner.

beyond the dead future - oriental mechanist

For dark industrial/drum and bass music, it's extremely amateurish. I felt it was going nowhere and did not feel excited at all; on the contrary, I actually felt disturbed after a while.

Claymore - over take

This is pretty solid synth-rock, which is no surprise coming from Tsukumo. I like "over take", but the only problem I have with it is that it sounds like pretty much all he did before. It's as if he's stuck in 1994, for the better or the worse. So, that's not a huge "revelation" song and I don't think it helped shed light on obscure traits of this composer.

Genso Suikoden V ~ Genso New World Music Collection - Admiral of the Seas

Quite nice! Well-built piece, with some good variety in the structure and instruments. Although the title indicates this is a sea theme, the music rather sounded like a desert/Middle-Eastern theme to me. Maybe it refers to a bunch of Arabic pirates in the game? Ultimately, I like it, but it has a slight overall heaviness that prevents me from liking it as much as I like other music.

Melody Of Legend ~ Chapter Of Dream - COZY featured in Zeus II

Cozy it is, that's for sure, yet maybe a little too cozy by the end. Good sound, nice celtic style, enjoyable melodies, but it's just a tad too slow for me to enjoy it a lot (blame Afro Celt Sound System for this bias).

Waku Waku 7 - Fight! Super Adventure Boy Rai (Rai Stage)

BOOM! An explosive track that is not without any merits, notably with the solid structure, but I felt it lacked variations and it was a little too frantic for a perfect standalone listening experience.

Wario Land 4 (Game Rip) - Sapphire Passage - Crescent Moon Village

Yay for sample usage that reminds me of Yello to a certain extent, but unfortunately, this track is simply too heavy and underdeveloped to be highly enjoyable.

www .frankklepacki .com - Zanthia's Funky Swamp

A very smooth mix of jazz fusion, funk, and new age music! I adore this track, be it for the variations, the sweet flute and sax passages (1:39!!!), the bouncy bass line, or even the conceptual intro and outro with the grunt sample which I believe refers to the swamp monster in the game. The mastering is not perfect in certain parts, and there aren't big breakdowns or total structure changes, yet these are not enough to detract me from the enjoyment I get from "Zanthia's Funky Swamp" and it's definite "feel-good" vibe.

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3 points - www .frankklepacki .com - Zanthia's Funky Swamp
1 point - Claymore - over take
1 point - Genso Suikoden V ~ Genso New World Music Collection - Admiral of the Seas
1 point - Melody Of Legend ~ Chapter Of Dream - COZY featured in Zeus II

How ya doing, buddy?