[SotW] Song of the Week - WEEK 109 Voting/WEEK 110 Nominating

Song of the Week. 100 Weeks and counting.
Week 109 Voting is closed.
Week 110 Nominating is restricted.

Week 109 Voting
The rules for voting can be found here.

Results:
1). [29] Alphabet Planet - 1 plus 1 equal 1
2). [22] Faraway Moon - if it dies rather -short.rm-
3). [16] Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (Red Book Audio) - Stage 2 (AD1163)
4). [14/9] Sword Maniac - Shadow Devourer
5). [14/8.5] Oxyd (Atari ST Game Rip) - Title
6). [11] Cotton 2 ~Magical Night Dreams~ - The Castle in the Sky
7). [9] Ultima Online (Game Rip) - The Journey (Outtake)
8). [5] SILENT SCOPE TRILOGY Original Soundtrack - THE FLY -Valley-

Tracks:
Alphabet Planet - 1 plus 1 equal 1
Cotton 2 ~Magical Night Dreams~ - The Castle in the Sky
Faraway Moon - if it dies rather -short.rm-
Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (Red Book Audio) - Stage 2 (AD1163)
Oxyd (Atari ST Game Rip) - Title
SILENT SCOPE TRILOGY Original Soundtrack - THE FLY -Valley-
Sword Maniac - Shadow Devourer
Ultima Online (Game Rip) - The Journey (Outtake)

Notes:
The Journey (Outtake) was converted to an MP3 from a MIDI source. The original has been included in the extras folder, for people who want to hear their machine's own unique interpretation of the music.

If you are a member at more than one of the forums in which this event is being held, please nominate and vote in only ONE of the forums. You may, however, comment in the threads at any of the other forums.

Week 110 Nominating
The Nominations Queue can be found here.
The rules for nominating can be found here.

Here is the link to the corresponding thread in the other forum:
- Soundtrack Central

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by CHz

• Artist: surasshu (Steven Velema)
• Album/Game Title: Force Majeure (Demo Game Rip)
• Track Title: title
• Year: 2007
• Sources: Monokey » Games, game documentation

Wow, does that mean that surasshu could vote for his own composition? That would be nifty on so many levels

Most amazing jew boots

Alphabet Planet - 1 plus 1 equal 1 A light and airy track with Kikuta's stylistic fingerprints all over it, and a great melody. It has a little more in common with his later h-game efforts than his work for Square, though not so much as to sound repetitive (which is something Alphabet Planet suffers from as a whole, unfortunately).

Cotton 2 ~Magical Night Dreams~ - The Castle in the Sky A nice techno/synth track with a decent melody and rhythm. Maybe not the best of its ilk, but pleasant and satisfying overall.

Faraway Moon - if it dies rather -short.rm- Another track with some techno elements, though the piano really sets it apart from the pack. The two elements don't gel as nicely as they could, and the piano kicks in rather late (and is absent for a fair bit too), but the melody's good enough that it doesn't matter so much.

Ginga Fukei Densetsu Sapphire (Red Book Audio) - Stage 2 (AD1163) The song has its moments, but there's a lot of unpleasant guitar thrashing to counterbalance it.

Oxyd (Atari ST Game Rip) - Title Some interesting moments in this one, with a few almost baroque moments from the melody--impressive given the synth limitations. On balance, though, there's a fair bit of meandering aside from the best parts of the melody.

SILENT SCOPE TRILOGY Original Soundtrack - THE FLY -Valley- I never got very far in Silent Scope, so I doubt I ever heard this in-game. It's too chaotic for my taste, with percussion and synths playing seeingly random, improvised notes. Might work well in the game, but not so much as a stand-alone listening experience.

Sword Maniac - Shadow Devourer After the last Sword Maniac track placed, I downloaded the SPC set, so I'm familiar with the track. It has a very strong 80's cop show vibe, which is a tad odd in context. Still, aside from the inherent drawbacks in the 80's cop show genre, it's not bad.

Ultima Online (Game Rip) - The Journey (Outtake) I was rather excited to hear this, as I enjoyed the Ultima IX soundtrack. Unfortunately, as with many MIDI-based PC tunes from the early to mid 90's, the sound is so incredibly tinny that it spoils whatever musical merits the song has.

Pretty good week. Only one track was really awful; the rest had merits that made them listenable if not enjoyable.

The Point Spread
Alphabet Planet - 3 pts.
Cotton 2 - 1 pt.
Faraway Moon - 1 pt.
Sword Maniac - 1 pt.

Nomination
Album: Children of Mana
Catalog Number: N/A (iTunes exclusive)
Track: Monster of the Forest
Disc: 1 (of 2)
Track: 13
Released On: May 9, 2006
Composed By: Takayuki Aihara
Published By: iTunes
Source(s): #gamemp3's

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

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

Hmm, so you'd object to something from a lesser-heard Megaman soundtrack, but would nominate something from a lesser-heard Mana soundtrack. That's...interesting.

If you'd actually read my earlier post, you'd have seen that I didn't object to any of the more obscure Mega Man gaidens, just main classic/GB/X series entries.

In addition, the track "Longing" from the album was already nominated, so there's precedent.

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

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

What's your point? You were the one that raised the stink that nominating from a familiar series would "open the gates" for more people to follow, so doesn't nominating from the Mana series indicate the same thing?

I said that might be the only possible concern. Judging from people's responses, it's not anything to be worried about. That bit about being a prophet was just a joke.

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

And it's worth pointing out that quite a few of those MM entries you just mentioned that you would oppose haven't gotten soundtrack releases and Children of Mana (along with every Mana game ever released) did and one (Rockman and Forte) wasn't even released in the US until long after the series' flame died out (on the GBA). And when was the last serious Megaman V GB discussion you remember?.

I don't see how the popularity of a game and an official release (or lack thereof) are related. I said that I'd oppose the GB series because I'm very familiar with it; if it turns out I'm the only one, then my opposition doesn't mean much and the thing will work itself out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

No one plays the game because the game either isn't released in US or no one cares about the game because its' low-profile and/or terrible.

There are plenty of counterexamples; Beyond Good and Evil, for instance. But it's a completely incidental issue; people can become familiar with a game's music by playing it, whether there's an OST or even a rip (BG&E is again a good example).

Originally Posted by GoldfishX

I take it you're also familiar with the Mana series (in fact, I KNOW you're familiar with the Mana series). How does MM qualify for "too popular" and the Mana series not?

As I said before, I think that the main series should be off-limits but gaidens are fine. Children of Mana (which I have never played) is a gaiden, not part of the main series, as is MM X Command Mission and the other MM tracks that have been put up for SoTW. Therefore, they're eligible as far as I'm concerned.

You obviously disagree; fine. If the issue ever comes up, our votes will cancel each other out and everyone else will decide what's eligible. Let's leave it at that.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Right, sure, whatever. I'm through arguing in circles with you about it.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by Elorin

Sorry, oion, I couldn't get around to converting the Ultima track into mp3. The tools I have can't convert midi into mp3. That and I don't have one of those nifty Roland or Sound Blaster soundcards.

I feel your pain. There are several files I've been trying to convert properly for years, but they'll only play properly (to my ears) on an ancient machine. And I've got a disk full of John Ottman tracks from IHNMAIMS that are musically brilliant but trapped in oh-so-tinny form

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?