Hitoshi Sakimoto

Sakimoto is actually one of my favorite composers, personally. This opinion is completely derived from the music itself, too. I don't think I've ever played one of the games that he composed the music for, though I plan to some day. So, I can't exactly comment on your complaint about FFXII's music being unfitting or out of place within the individual scenes. I can, however, try to expand on why he's one of my favorites.

For one, he seems to be a master at evoking certain moods with his work. Unfortunately, this will sometimes produce a wall-of-sound effect that a lot of people tend to dislike. Sometimes the music will end up taking the shaft melodically, but this does not interfere with its purpose to create a certain atmosphere or mood for a particular scene. In fact, this is usually not the case... The music usually does have a melody, but it most likely is being presented in an unconventional way. His atmospheric work is definitely different in style from the compositions of other RPG composers, so I can see how it would take some getting used to. Personally, I find it brilliant and a nice change of pace from a lot of other VGM.

Secondly, the man has versatility. Surely he has a lot of tracks that sound similar, but what composer doesn't? As far as I'm concerned, he's done plenty outside of his atmospheric style as well. It seems that his work on games outside of Squaresoft goes unnoticed more often, but that certainly doesn't mean that it's nonexistant. He's perfectly capable of composing electronic stuff. A recent Song of the Week winner, Mad Buffoon, is a great example. If you give it a listen I think you'll find that it's pretty different from anything in Final Fantasy XII.

I can't really pinpoint why you dislike the guy so much, but I suppose it all comes down to personal taste. Maybe this gives you a little dose of why he's a respected composer, though I'm sure there are bigger fans here who'll have some more worthwhile stuff to add.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by BurningRanger

Kanji, please listen to this.

It is an untagged, unnamed track I selected from Final Fantasy XII. It is the background music for one of the locations in the game. Now, without looking it up, try to describe for me what location this song is from. I will paypal you a dollar if you can guess it correctly without cheating.

It seems I don't deserve the dollar. You definitely have a point here. There's no way that I would have been able to pick out the track you uploaded as being The Dalamasca Eastersand (heck, I probably wouldn't know right now if PiccoloNamek didn't make a mention). Guess I'm not very familiarized with FFXII's music yet. My idea of a desert theme is actually very similar to yours, so there's no way I would've associated the track with a desert. I tend to get more of an epic vibe from it, myself. Perhaps I would've guessed that the track plays in a bustling castle town. It has a few passages that seem to suit a battle theme quite well, too.

However... I'd be lying if I said that the music wasn't enjoyable to me. The Dalamasca Eastersand is a really strong track that effectively gives off a feeling of adventure and the power of exploration. Maybe it wasn't concocted with the general formula of a desert theme in mind, but its unique approach is welcomed by me. Just from listening to the track (as I said, I haven't played the game), I'd say that this is music that doesn't mirror the environment per se, but it tends to focus more on the interaction of the characters with the environment.

Oh, and thanks for that SendSpace link, Muzza! I really enjoyed the track. Looks like I'll have to get my hands on Ten Plants sometime soon.

There's nowhere I can't reach.