[SotW] Song of the Week - WEEK 199 Voting/WEEK 200 Nominating

Song of the Week. 175 Weeks and counting.
Week 199 Voting is dead.
Week 200 Nominating is terminated.

Results:
1). [22] Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
2). [15] Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
3). [14] Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
4). [9] J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
5). [8] 1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle
6). [6] Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly
7). [5/4] Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits
8). [5/3.5] Jumper: Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach

Tracks:
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: 1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Jumper - Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits
Get the Flash Player to play this audio file: Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly

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

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Early bird special!

(3) Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
(1) Jumper - Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach
(1) Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits
(1) Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Back to full encyclopedia-length comments! More yammering from the brand that has been padding the SotW wordcount since 2004.

1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle Slightly old school bouncyfun. Good melody overall, if a little on the derivative side with a few hiccups like the inclusion of random bleeps.

J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest This is exactly the sort of atmosheric jazz you'd expect in an old-timey noir mystery for the requisite scene where the detective meets the femme fatale or the crime boss in the Pimento Grove. It works as sonic wallpaper but not so well as a stand alone listen.

Jumper - Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach Nevermind that the game was a war crime along with the movie; the game music is top notch action. While short, this song has some great, jagged brass action, racing string, and a terrific melodic interlude.

Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough This sounds very familiar; wasn't it in the BCC or BSC or something way back when? The approach is interesting, but a little too fragmented for my taste and there's an awful lot of buildup in relation to the amount of payoff.

Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom Quirky, percussive, and rather ambient--this is a pretty good representation of the Machinarium OST overall. I enjoy the melody that emerges near the beginning of the song, but it doesn't get used enough here, preferring to wander in an ambient morass instead.

Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1 Some nice rhythm but a limp melody...not really "fun" in the sense I was anticipating.

Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits Here I thought this was going to be music from one of the next-gen incarnations of the franchise, only to find that it's pleasantly chippy. Takes a while to get going for only decent chiptune action, but it's hard not to get some nostalgia in your eye if you played the old NES NG games.

Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly It's got the vaguely go-go spirit you'd associate with a name like "yogurting," but seems to be missing a key ingredient, like it's a karaoke track with the instrumental lead (or, shudder, a 12-year-old screeching singer) scooped out.

The Point Spread
Network Breach - 3 pts.
Battle - 2 pts.
The Bottom - 1 pt.

Om Nom
Album: Half Minute Hero (Yuusha 30 Sou)
Artist: Minako Adachi
Track #:14
Track Title: Community
Year: 2009
Additional Info: By "2009" I mean "July 2009" lest anyone get antsy about this being too new.

How ya doing, buddy?

2 points: J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
2 points: Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
2 points: Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
Just missed: Network Breach, Breakthrough

Second epic week in a row, too many good songs, wish I had more points, etc.

Awesome week! =D

(2 points) Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
(2 points) 1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle
(1 point) Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits
(1 point) Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough

I was speaking idiomatically.

Yikes, forgot to vote last week. To make up for it, here's votes for this week.

(2 points) Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom

(2 points) Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly

(1 point) J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest

(1 point) Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
Vaguely remember hearing this before. Was it in the Best Chiptune Contest or some such? Or one of the BSCs?

Special mentions for Ninja Gaiden.

And here's a new nomination:

* Album Title: Futari no FantaVision Original Soundtrack
* Artist: Soichi Terada
* Track Title: expositor [advanced] ~ single replay
* Source: Game Music Revolution
* File Location: Nominations folder
* Disc Number: 1 (of 1)
* Track Number: 16
* Catalogue Number: STF-0005
* Year: 2002

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

(3 points) Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
(2 points) J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
(1 point) Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom

FELIPE NO

Votes:

3 points - Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
1 point - Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
1 point - 1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle
1 point - Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom

Just missed: Iwatsuki.

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

2 Points - Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough: Right, I remember hearing it somewhere before too, but this time it's stronger

1 Points - Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1: This week has me like chippy tunes bettter

2 Points- Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits: ^| , begins slowly but the develops into EPIC

1 Point - Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly: yogurting, this always sounds very perverted, the track is kinda snippy snappy, I think they would have taken this as porn music in the 80s for voyeuristic scenes

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Battle

A remix of the bomberman battle theme? Ace. The reworking of the battle theme is great, in fact I prefer it here than its in-game origin. but I think it's revisited too many times without enough variation. So they mix it up with pipes a bit. That's cool. But the change of instrument feels a bit arbitrary; just thrown on the heap for the sake of change. Over 5 and a half minutes it gets a bit boring. Deserves a point though. [1]

Baldric Fun 1

I love it. As someone with tracker musician pretensions, I lap up a mod done well. Here the drums sound full, the bass is crunching, the pads suitably atmospheric. And the melody: the melody is catchy and varied enough to never sound repetitive. In contrast to Battle, whenever the melody changes instrument here it feels purposeful, and the song shifts to a different layer of Epic. [2]

The Bottom

The Machinarium soundtrack is excellent, and The Bottom is my favourite of its tracks. It's ambient, but not cookie cutter: the Machinarium OST really has its distinct flavour. There's a tune too, and you can feel it going somewhere, building to something. The Bottom really connects with me just after the 3 minute mark, and for about 25 seconds I have this sense of the track opening outwards in front of me into a big empty expanse, and the feeling is like pathos. I'm not always moved to write so pretentiously-sounding about music, believe me: The Bottom is something special. The last 2 minutes feel like sad reflection. [3]

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Nomination!

Album Title: Darius Premium Box -Rebirth-
Artist: Hisayoshi "OGR" Ogura
Track Title: Visionnerz
Source: ZTMD-0001~5 | Darius Premium Box -Rebirth- - VGMdb
Disc Number: 3 (of 4)
Track Number: 1
Catalogue Number: ZTMD-0001~5
Year: 2005

Not sure how well this will go over, but it's one of my favorites.

------------------------------
3 points: Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
2 points: J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
1 point: Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly

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1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle is fantastic old school fun. It kept me entertained from start to finish thanks to the engaging melodies and infectious vibe. Of particular note are those airy flute passages, which add a nice bit of contrast to the effervescent bleeps and excited synth lead.

J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest instantly makes me think of something you'd here in the Sims (specifically the Hot Date expansion pack from the first game). Ultimately this easy-listening muzak is pleasant and makes for great background music, but is perhaps a bit too ordinary and placid for its own good (which doesn't help in a contest where you need to stand out to make a mark).

Sorry orion, but Jumper - Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach doesn't do anything for me at all.

Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough is a bit disjointed and jarring for my liking, and melodically I find it's a tad weak. Admittedly by the 4:55 mark, I was getting really bored with it. Doubt this one will be scoring any points.

Being a fan of ambient music in general, I was naturally delighted with the score to Machinarium. Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom is indeed one of the best tracks from the game and beautifully represents all the characters, the tone and the entire artistic style of the puzzle adventure. Gorgeous ebb and flow with the contemplative finish being a particular highlight.

Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1 is an interesting track, I'm not too sure if I like it or not but I'll keep it for future listens. All the sounds at work coalesce to create one wild and unpredictable whole---and wild and predictable music is always good in my books.

Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits is fairly run-of-the-mill to me. Largely inoffensive, but with that comes the whole 'forgettable' thing. I imagine it's cool in-game, but it doesn't do much for me here in SotW.

Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly is one of my favourite tracks from the second disc of the Yogurting soundtrack. It's got a cute and adequately funky/danceable melody that goes through a few slick twists throughout. Enjoyable, but not a deep enough composition to be considered for more than one point.

:EAGLEPOINT:

2 points: Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
2 points: 1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle
1 point: Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly
1 point: Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
5th: J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
6th: Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits
7th: Klonoa Heroes - Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
8th: Jumper - Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach

Great week! Lots of variety, and with a 'battle' feel to the overall quality.

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

2 points: Breakthrough
1 points: The Bottom
1 point: Investigation Rest
1 point: Baldric Fun 1
1 point: Network Breach
Just missed: Treading Lightly

God damn, this week is goooood. My hero Iwatsuki doesn't stand a chance (understandably).

EDIT: Next nom details coming shortly

How ya doing, buddy?

SUPER BOOOOOOOWWWWWWWWWLLLLLLLLL

3 points: Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
2 points: Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
1 point: J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
p. close imo: Jumper: Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach, Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1

I thought the handheld Klonoa soundtracks were vastly inferior to Phantomile's and Lunatea's (Empire of Dreams and Dream Champ Tournament are pretty solid games though), but Breakthrough is a definite highlight.

Treading Lightly was pretty good until that piano melody came in. The synth at 1:04 saves it, though.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

My next nomination (also the only logical followup to my previous nom)

Game: Sonic Shuffle
Composers: Sacnoth (Yoshitaka Hirota, Ryo Fukuda)
Track: With go V-Train
Track #: 05 on this rip I have
Catalog #: n/a
Year: 2000
Source: (uhhh... Square Enix Music Online :: Yoshitaka Hirota :: Biography ?)

I just copy-pasted the info from my previous Sonic Shuffle nom, only changing the track data. I do have a question, which I forgot to ask during week 197: When the previous nom, Quick Advance, had the composers names changed to "Sacnoth", what was the reasoning behind that? Is the interview at the source not reliable enough?

FELIPE NO

It was "Sacnoth" just in the ID3v1 tags, because there was no way in Hades that the names of all five (!) composers was going to fit into 30 characters or whatever it is. The full info was in the ID3v2 tags (which should generally be preferred by players, but these things are flaky): Hidenobu "KALTA" Otsuki, Ryo "L.D." Fukuda, Takeo "J.JYA" Suzuki, Yoshitaka "SAT" Hirota, Kazumi Mitome

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

3 Points: Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
2 Points: Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
1 Point: Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits

Most amazing jew boots

Voting is closed and nominations are restricted!

1). [22] Machinarium Soundtrack - The Bottom
2). [15] Mystic Towers (Game Rip) - Baldric Fun 1
3). [14] Klonoa Heroes: Densetsu no Star Medal (Game Rip) - Breakthrough
4). [9] J.B. Harold Murder Club (TG-CD Red Book Audio) - Investigation Rest
5). [8] 1995 Hudson Game Music Complete Works - Battle
6). [6] Yogurting Original Soundtrack - Treading Lightly
7). [5/4] Ninja Gaiden Shadow (Game Rip) - Ending and Credits
8). [5/3.5] Jumper: Griffin's Story (Game Rip) - Network Breach

Week 200 next week? Seriously? Wow.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Definite split between the top three and the rest this week, which I honestly find surprising given the relative balance of quality. A fine end result though, chaps!

And 200 weeks, good show!

Most amazing jew boots

Shit, I always arrive late.

Well, I just want to say that this week is that good, that even the "Shotgun Spread" would be unfair for the two remaining tracks.

FANTASTIC WEEK, guys.

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

How odd that until two weeks ago none of my nominations ever placed first and now it happend two times in a row (Lucidity & Machinarium tracks).
Have to say that i actually expected the latter to win and i'm glad that i was right

I was speaking idiomatically.

Aww, over already? I'm so bad with remembering these things. >_>

Anyway, new nom:
Game: Plants vs. Zombies (Game Rip)
Composer: Laura Shigihara
Title: The Roof
Track Number: 8
Year: 2009

Will upload to the FTP.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?