Song of the Week - WEEK 63 Voting/WEEK 64 Nominating

CRISS†CROSS ~ CROSS†CHANNEL Soundtrack Arrange Version - Airwaves At first I was afraid that this would be another generic rock track that racks up mad points simply because people hate their eardrums. Then I realized that was only the intro The remainder of the song is a bit synthy for an "arranged version," but it's a good synthy. And no random guitar solo to boot!

Dune Spice Opera - Exxos - Revelation Another misleading intro; this one had me thinking that this would be a piece of ambient trash like the previous Dune nomination. Once the piano and melody kick in, the song becomes 1000x better. There's still some rather annyoing voice sampling going on, but the track isn't half bad overall.

Enthusia Professional Racing Original Soundtrack - Running To Horizon [OCEAN BRIDGE] I think that Enthusia might be pushing it in terms of "obscurity" these days...but I digress. The track is light rock/jazz with synth highlights; competently done and presented well, even if it's kind of boring.

MechWarrior 2: 31st Century Combat (Red Book Audio) - Track 08 I've always felt that MW2, more than many games, was let down by the quality of its synths. It clearly wants to be big, bold, and tuneful, but winds up sounding like it was cranked out on a 1987 Casio. So, while the track has a nice melody and female choir, it's got a lot more potential than payoff.

REMASTERED TRACKS ROCKMAN ZERO Physis - Esperanto Rockman? How'd that slip under the obscurity radar? In any case, this track suffers from the malady that affects most Rockman tracks these days--anonymity. While there are some nice synth parts, the whole isn't very cohesive and the melody is rather forgettable.

TimeSplitters (Game Rip) - 1970 Chinese It seems like whenever someone is called to provide an "Asian" feel to a place, they haul out the same old instruments and repetitive triplets. I know that these are actually found in authentic Oriental classical music, but this is still the aural equivalent of scoring all European locations with variations of Beethoven's 9th. A drum kit in the background can't change the fact that we've heard this many times before.

Transformation - Mahou Shoujo Ai 2 Full Arrange Album - title arrange "difference for you" Ironic that the name "difference for you" would be given to something so repetitive. The simple piano melody is almost drowned out by endless techno loops, and even the interlude is nothing but still more techno loops.

Uncharted Waters Online (Game Rip) - South african ocean The clear winner for me this week, combining lush strings, and ethnic choir, and a percussive base featuring dulcimer (!). I could do without the sax, but it doesn't spoil the mood as much as you'd think it would, and doesn't evoke 1985 Miami the way the instrument inevitable does. A real gem.

Maybe I'm just cranky today, but I wasn't too impressed by this week's lot.

The Point Spread
3 pts - Dance on The Ocean Around the Cape of Good Hope.
2 pts - The Dune Song. Dune Dune Dune Dune Dune Dune Dune Dune...
1 pt - "So they swap murders."

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by CHz

Okay, I've got the Strangers on a Train part, but I can't figure out which of the tracks it has to do anything with. Another hint?

For clarification's sake, the entire exchange:

Bruno: It's so simple, too. A couple of fellows meet accidentally, like you and me. No connection between them at all. Never saw each other before. Each of them has somebody he'd like to get rid of, but he can't murder the person he wants to get rid of. He'll get caught. So they swap murders.
Guy: Swap murders?
Bruno: Each fellow does the other fellow's murder. Then there is nothing to connect them. The one who had the motive isn't there. Each fellow murders a total stranger. Like you do my murder and I do yours.
Guy: We're coming into my station.
Bruno: For example, your wife, my father. Criss-cross.

Originally Posted by CHz

[*]Additional Information: As advance warning to orion_mk3, the National PRNRF Council has issued a Level 3 advisory on this song.

Ah, good. It'll save me the trouble--I am on the National PRNRF Council's Board of Directors, after all

How ya doing, buddy?

I suppose I'd better weigh in on the eligibility discussion that's broken out

The more people talk, the more I think that using precedents as an instant win/override is a bad idea. Case in point: using the "Chocobo's Happy Christmas" track to retroactively allow any track composed by anyone, anywhere, ever (I'm exaggerating a bit, but that's what is seems like )

The point of SoTW isn't to interpret the rules in such a way as to allow your favorite track to slide in on a technicality. Just because a nomination made it to voting doesn't mean it should have; lord knows I don't comb through the queue looking for noms to shoot down.

Much as I love them, I simply can't see Earthbound or Soule's "Squaresoft Variations" being in the spirit of obscurity. [/mytwocents]

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

Originally Posted by KyleDunamis

Maybe while you're hiring for SotW, you can hire a couple of "lawyers" to argue for ana dgainst disputed tracks getting in. :biggrin:

Originally Posted by Kaleb.G

SotW Precedent isn't flawless because times change and rules are refined. Also, many things are entirely subjective. This isn't the SCOTUS.

Let's go ahead and take the next logical step and establish a Supreme SoTW Tribunal. Lengthy nonmination and confirmation battles equal more voting and more participation!

All nominations will have to be referred to a barrister in order to compile the neccessary precedents and case law before appearing before the Tribunal itself. Decked out in powdered wigs, regal black robes fluttering in the pure wind of justice, the court will usher in a new era of SoTW.

Nominators may represent themselves before the justices at the risk of being crushed by their laconic wit, or may desginate a counsel.

All tracks from "Phoenix Wright" will be banned as a conflict of interest

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

Hooray for mysterious bodies of water and thinly-veiled "Strangers on a Train" references!

I feel sorry for MechWarrior though. I almost wanted to give it sympathy points.

I was speaking idiomatically.