Song of the Week - WEEK 66 Voting/WEEK 67 Nominating

I don't mind you stealing the thread at all, CHz--in fact, I'm grateful! I'm in the midst of a sudden and unexpected internet blackout with only sporadic access. I hope nobody was inconvenienced.

I also hope I get a decent and reliable connection back in time to vote this week and wrap up Round Two in the BSC...

Jam it back in, in the dark.

The votes, before it's too late:

Age of Mythology Original Soundtrack - Chocolate Outline Gotta love the track titles from this series. This tune is a little on the ambient side of things, showcasing exotic percussion instruments like the finger piano rather than the underdeveloped guitar melody. The track's the best at the beginning--the percussion cuts out almost entirely near the end, and they're the best part.

ChaosField Sound Track - spray -boss- I'm not sure if heavily-samples percussive backbeats are what I'd consider "percussion" in the context of the theme week, but oh well. The textures created by the distortion and ringing metal are interesting, but they're not enough to carry an entire track. I tired of this stuff pretty quickly.

Genso Suikoden III Original Soundtrack - Complex Thoughts This is more like it--using bells and chimes to create melody. I would have preferred that the chimes carry the tune, as opposed to the rather poor winds that wind up doing it. A bit uneaven too--the middle part is actually pretty hideous, while the latter it quite lovely.

Konami All-Stars 1993 ~ Music Station of Dreams - Dance With a Crocodile Jungle noise counts as percussion? Color me surprised. This is a flighty little track that's goofy and a little quirky, though it soon wears out its welcome.

Koudelka - Kiss Twice My contribution to Percussion Week. Hiroki Kikuta put some very strange limitations on himself for the Koudelka OST, and only one or two of the tracks wound up gelling as a result. Kiss Twice is one of them, and easily the best tune on its album. It combines the rhythmic, almost tribal, percussive base of all the game's battle themes with concert bells finger pianos, and light woodwinds. The result is a heady concoction that's rhythmic, melodic, and more than a little haunting.

Maple Story - Beachway is similar to one of my rejected nominations from Hako no Niwa in that it's very mallet-heavy, using marimbas to convey a melody while keeping that crisp percussive sound. It's a disarmingly simple tune, and quite charming.

Splinter Cell 3 Chaos Theory Soundtrack - Ruthless I'm tempted to suggest that this is too popular a tune to be here, but oh well. This song is very much in keeping with some of the poorer stereotypical elements of western VGM--it's repetitive, substitutes volume for substance, and sounds like part of a rock song before the final mix.

The Incredible Machine 3 - Techno Rave Again, not something I'd call percussive per se, but I suppose percussion and techno aren't mutually exclusive. Some interesting rhythmic stuff being done here, though it is spoiled somewhat by the annoying voiceover.

I suppose I'm a bit disappointed, though I don't know exactly what I was expecting from a percussion week. The very idea does warm my heart, former percussionist that I am.

The Point Spread
Kiss Twice - 3 pts.
Maple Story - 2 pts.
Incredible Machine - 1 pt.
Would Have Placed, But Not Percussive Enough - Suikoden

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I don't have the authority to close voting, but while I still have steady 'net access, here are the totals as they stand in my count:

(25) Chocolate Outline
(24) Kiss Twice
(23) Ruthless
(22) Complex
(12) Spray TIE (12) Techno
(6) Maple
(3) Dance

Interestingly, Ruthless has most of its support at STC, and Complex has most of its support here at GFF. Also note that a single vote for any of the top four tracks is enough to radically change things.

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