[SotW] Song of the Week - BATTLE 25 Voting/WEEK 201 Nominating

Song of the Week. 200 Weeks and counting.
Battle 25 Voting is off like Donkey...Koff?.
Week 201 Nominating is suspended indefinitely pending investigation.

Results:
1). [17] Neotokyo - Annul
2). [16] Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
3). [15] Darius Premium Box -Rebirth- - VISIONNERZ
4). [12] PHANTASY STAR ONLINE Blue Burst EPISODE IV SOUND TRACK - Nostalgia in Solitude -PART1-
5). [9] .hack//G.U. GAME MUSIC O.S.T. 2 - Blue Sky City Dol Dona
6-t). [6/4] Lucidity (Game Rip) - Twilight Farm
6-t). [6/4] Sam & Max Season Two Soundtrack - Unholy Workshop
8). [3] Grim Fandango Original Game Soundtrack - Hector Steps Out

Tracks:
Week 193: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Neotokyo - Annul
Week 194: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: .hack//G.U. GAME MUSIC O.S.T. 2 - Blue Sky City Dol Dona
Week 195: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Sam & Max Season Two Soundtrack - Unholy Workshop
Week 196: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: PHANTASY STAR ONLINE Blue Burst EPISODE IV SOUND TRACK - Nostalgia in Solitude -PART1-
Week 197: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Grim Fandango Original Game Soundtrack - Hector Steps Out
Week 198: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Lucidity (Game Rip) - Twilight Farm
Week 199: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
Week 200: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Darius Premium Box -Rebirth- - VISIONNERZ

Voting Rules:
Voters must distribute 6 points among the 8 nominees, giving points to at least 3 songs, giving no song more than 3 points, and giving no more than one of their choices 3 points. Possible ways of voting include:

Spoiler:

"Traditional"
Song1 - 3 pts.
Song2 - 2 pts.
Song3 - 1 pt.

"Even Stevens"
Song1 - 2 pts.
Song2 - 2 pts.
Song3 - 2 pts.

"Tough Decision"
Song1 - 2 pts.
Song2 - 2 pts.
Song3 - 1 pt.
Song4 - 1 pt.

"Nomination Bias"
Song1 - 3 pts.
Song2 - 1 pt.
Song3 - 1 pt.
Song4 - 1 pt.

"Indecisive"
Song1 - 2 pts.
Song2 - 1 pt.
Song3 - 1 pt.
Song4 - 1 pt.
Song5 - 1 pt.

"Shotgun Spread"
Song1 - 1 pt.
Song2 - 1 pt.
Song3 - 1 pt.
Song4 - 1 pt.
Song5 - 1 pt.
Song6 - 1 pt.

Notes:
Please remember to upload your nominations to the SotW server! Uploaded noms mean a faster, smoother SotW experience for everyone. Server information:

Spoiler:

* Host: ftp.sotw.info
* Username: nominations@sotw.info (that is the actual username; not an e-mail address)
* Password: gff
* Port: 21

Week 201 Nominating:
The Nominations Queue can be found here.
The rules for nominating can be found here.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Added in the mp3 tags that should have been there in the first place. Guess nobody noticed! Also: full Battle comments for the first time since 2007!

Neotokyo - Annul A name like "Neotokyo" activates certain ingrained anti-weeaboo instincts; I'd forgotten how creepy and neo-noirish this song was. It's like detective music beefed way up for a futuristic dystopia, and the childrens' voices that pop up sometimes are the only drawback (and, incidentally, the only thing about the music that seems remotely related to the name).

.hack//G.U. GAME MUSIC O.S.T. 2 - Blue Sky City Dol Dona I think I've said before that I don't like stuff that has too much of that sterotypical, classical "Asian" sound (hence my relative dislike of the Okami and Jade Empire OST's). When done right, though, it's posible to package those elements like ehru into a pleasing package. I won't say that Blue Sky City is perfect in that regard, but listening to it again makes me appriciate the balance that it's struck.

Sam & Max Season Two Soundtrack - Unholy Workshop Our erstwhile Yuletide Week winner. A lot of those songs don't hold up too well outside that context--and, frankly, neither does a lot of Sam and Max music. I feel like this succeeds on both counts: it's something I wouldn't mind listening to when it's not Christmas (a time span that conveniently includes right now), and something that works without canine wisecracks and lagomorphic violence to prop it up.

PHANTASY STAR ONLINE Blue Burst EPISODE IV SOUND TRACK - Nostalgia in Solitude -PART1- I was AWOL for this week, so this is the first time I've heard this amusingly long-named song. Phantasy Star, for me, is best when it goes for Vangelis-style beauty or hard edged techno mayhem ("After the Story" and "IDOLA the Strange Fruits" being excellent examples of each). I wouldn't put this in the top tier of either category; while there are moments of synthy beauty, they're not particularly coherent and there's a lot of rambling passages where not a whole lot happens. To its credit, it holds up better than the bland "Grimoire of Alice" and is more or less on the same level as "Homesickness - Reunion," the only other songs from that week I've heard. So we can chalk this up to a mediocre selection and move on.

Grim Fandango Original Game Soundtrack - Hector Steps Out Grim Fandango is excellent in every area, but like Sam & Max a lot of its music (particularly the more abstract jazz pieces) don't work so well out of context. At less than 30 seconds, this lasts just long enough to be pleasant without jazz fatigue setting in.

Lucidity (Game Rip) - Twilight Farm I recently downloaded this game rip, and I have to say I'm disappointed at the selection that was put up. It's decently atmospheric, but lacks the dreamy power of some of the other songs from the game, especially the ones featuring the main theme. ANNOUNCEMENT: Fake analog LP grain has been officially added to the "effects I hate" list. Beware.

Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom This one seems to be getting a lot of love, and I think it's pretty clear it has a shot at being the eventual winner. And the structured parts of the music--especially the beginning--are great. It's when the music loses its way and gets plodding and ambient that I lose interest, and there's too much of that as compared to the better parts for me to really tout it (a weakness it shares with the rest of the OST in general).

Darius Premium Box -Rebirth- - VISIONNERZ This was intriguing last week, but a lot of the novelty has worn off. I still like parts of it, but the sections that didn't work for me last Wednesday have become downright insufferable.

A decent pack of winners without any overt stinkers...what more could one ask for? Well, maybe a better SotW record than two 8th-place finishes in a row, but that's another discussion for another time.

The Point Spread
Annul - 3 pts.
Unholy Workshop - 2 pts.
Hector Steps Out - 1 pt.

How ya doing, buddy?