[SotW] Song of the Week - WEEK 194 Voting/WEEK 196 Nominating

.hack//G.U. GAME MUSIC O.S.T. 2 - Blue Sky City Dol Dona sticks to the .hack convention of awesome (town) music. It's lush, memorable and flows exceptionally well. The Asian element is subtle and enhances the atmosphere rather than act as a stereotypical distraction. Chikayo Fukuda needs to get more work.

Contrasta OriginalSoundTrack ~Monochrome Fairytale~ - Monochrome Fairytale has a great warm sparkle that illuminates and shines. I enjoy the sound and structure, but for me the melodic lead is pretty weak. Still a nice listen, though.

Uh I can't say I enjoyed EA Playground - Buggin' NB at all, really. The synth backing is what really turns me off. And the melody is completely disguised by it, and isn't strong enough to burst through. The long length is a detriment too. Sorry.

More Umemoto eh? Well in complete contrast to the Contrasta track, I don't like the sound and structure of EVE burst error "THE PERFECT" - RYU UMEMOTO RARE TRACKS Vol.4 - Ending [Unlimited ver], but I think that melodically, it's a keeper. Between the two songs there's a fantastic track, though individually they're merely good.

Far Cry (Game Rip) - Menu Music has the 'epic menu music' thing down pat, but really feels like it's trying too hard. It's like all the tricks in the book are just stuck together. The epic vibe is definitely there but the track is overall a bit too cataclysmic for me to appreciate a great deal.

From serious epic to cute epic?? pop'n music 13 Carnival AC ♥ CS pop'n music 11 - POP'N CARNIVAL MARCH fits the title perfectly (comes across as a chipmunk march) and helps create some joyous, vivid imagery through its colourful soundscape of whistles and brass. Points could very well go hear, it's a fun tune.

Oh more epic, this time with snare drums! Terrible 'militaristic music' jabs aside, Tunnel B1 Soundtrack - Oceanos is pretty serviceable given the style. This naturally is not my kind of music, though I can appreciate the emotion carried through the instrumentation in this one at least.

WarioWare music is always weird, almost surreal, to hear out of context, without the 'tick tick tick tick' countdown effect to the next minigame. WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Game Rip) - Yellow Murmur doesn't suffer from this lack of 'tick' however because its very rhythmically sound and has a funky vibe which stands well on its own.

?POINT EPIC || EPIC CHIPMUNK!

2 points: .hack//G.U. GAME MUSIC O.S.T. 2 - Blue Sky City Dol Dona
2 points: WarioWare: Smooth Moves (Game Rip) - Yellow Murmur
1 point: pop'n music 13 Carnival AC ? CS pop'n music 11 - POP'N CARNIVAL MARCH
1 point: EVE burst error "THE PERFECT" - RYU UMEMOTO RARE TRACKS Vol.4 - Ending [Unlimited ver]
5th: Contrasta OriginalSoundTrack ~Monochrome Fairytale~ - Monochrome Fairytale
6th: Tunnel B1 Soundtrack - Oceanos
7th: Far Cry (Game Rip) - Menu Music
8th: EA Playground - Buggin' NB

An OK week, not much to comment on. I'm still not satisfied with this point spread I've handed out, but it'll have to do.

Jam it back in, in the dark.