Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 9!

(+) Yeah! (+)

Arcaea - memoryfactory.lzh
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing Through The Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

I fucking love frums. I don't really understand what the hell goes on in their mind, but their music is always a blast. I remember liking its competition less than I actually did, but while the song is good, it isn't frums good.

I also remember liking Obnoxious Music less than I did! The song lied to me, it isn't as obnoxious as I thought. I demand a refund. But, it still can't hold a candle to Passing Through the Forest to me. Its definitely one of those songs that grow on each listen, while Forest is one I immediately latched onto.

Match 3 fucking sucks I hate this seeding. Fuckity fuck. I want both these songs to go on. Today I have a slight preference to Southern Twilight and how dreamy it is, adrift (wink) on the open seas ... No matter what wins I'm glad to listen to both.

The Blue Reverberation
The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
Yggdrasil

really good day today; southern twilight may seem like its one of my least favorite songs so far but that's pretty much entirely to blame on the Southern Twilight part; dance on the cape of good hope is amazing and the version in this song is amazing (still prefer FM versions tho i think eep) but god the multi-minute slog to get to it is not worth it

(out of 42)
(6th) At Least There is eda edovi - The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
(9th) Library of Ruina - The Blue Reverberation
(11th) Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil
(15th) Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
(25th) Arcaea - memoryfactory.lzh
(39th) Uncharted Waters - Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

From Toxtricity:

memoryfactory.lzh (Arcaea)
Passing through the Forest (Threads of Fate)
Yggdrasil (Phantasy Star Online 2)

Library of m,emories

Memoryfactory always makes me think of razerek, at..multiple levels of what that means

I will always remember threads of fate as the game i discovered from b8 stickam stream in 2009 and i had an uncharacteristically negative reaction to the music until i heard rasdan toward the end of the game (one of my favorite video game songs of all time) and then i went back and listened to the whole ost and was very confused how i ever had anything other than a 100% positive opinion of the entire ost every single track is so cool even the short looping tension ones(maybe especially those). Beautiful chords..long over-the-barline rhythmic containers. I love that 5+5+2 in the bass, but all the stuff floating on top is even cooler. I love the year 1997 (1999---i was close!!!)

I cant believe that elephants foot of obnoxious music samples RnL&Jordan Rudess w. iPads - Another One of all things

I have talked about yggdrasil quite passionately recently; i dont think i need to say anything more that you cant read from the place that i did that. Currently i call it my 3rd favorite vgm song whichd make it my favorite track in the contest, but Gahreesen Corridors is actually rising and pushing it...it might be overtaking it soon if im not careful!

Im so sorry but i couldnt resist doing it once this was an option that made sense. At least i didnt force a total metheny pastiche-off with the chase~chase as the uncharted waters song in this slot instead

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Nice low-stress day where I'm not that invested. Let them fight!

Uncharted Waters - Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

(Switching votes)

memory / Passing through / Yggdrasil

The Blue Reverberation: In a confrontation with their greatest foe, the heroes renew their promise to save the world, regrouping as danger lurks.

memoryfactory.lzh: Digital aisles packed with information stretch on infinitely, each buzzing faintly with the hum of electronic activity.

Passing through the Forest: As you push past the underbrush, you see the sunlight filtering through the leaves, shining beautifully on the foliage.

The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music: Frantically rushing from drawer to drawer, the thief picks up their pace as revealing sirens blare.

Yggdrasil: Looking upwards, you begin to grasp just how large the world tree is, towering above the ground for what seems like hundreds of stories.

Southern Twilight: At dusk, the stars twinkle in the sky above, dimly lighting the sea while festivities of the night continue aboard our vessel.

Yggdrasil = Passing = Southern >= memory > Elephant >> Blue

what the fuck match 3...i secretly actually really want southern twilight to win this

Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

"The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music" surprised me with how much I liked it. "Passing through the Forest" is one of my favorite VGM of all time, though. Could listen to it on loop for hours (and I may have . Some fond memories of it getting me through late nights in undergrad)

I could go either way on "Dance on the Cape of Goo" and "Yggdrasil", which is really fun-to-listen-to piece of VGM. Feeling in the mood for something more relaxing right now, I suppose.

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

The Blue Reverberation
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Southern Twilight > The Blue Reverberation = Passing through the Forest > Yggdrasil > Dance on the Cape of Good Hope >>>>> memoryfactory.lzh > The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music

-
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Slightly late today, since I just got home and got time to listen through all of today's songs. The thing that jumps out to me in The Blue Reverberation the most is the subpar mixing. Very action-oriented, and it feels like something you'd hear in a Marvel movie (except for the violin part towards the end). Lack of a strong melody brings it down as well. It's an ok piece, but certainly nothing special.

memoryfactory.lzh is interesting. Interesting synths and samples used in this one. Can't say I can see myself going back to it though. There's not enough here to really keep me interested. It'll still likely get my vote.

Passing through the Forest is so cool. Incredible synths, instrument choices, chords, bass, melody, everything about it is just divine. My only complaint is that the loop feels too short. But that's a minor gripe. Definitely getting my vote for the foreseeable future.

The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music sure fits the song title. There are some interesting elements to it though, like the sax, the percussion, and some of the synths. Very disjointed, but it's clearly supposed to be like that. Very interesting song, but it doesn't stand a chance against the forest unfortunately.

This match has already caused a lot of stress for me lol. Yggdrasil is a pretty fine song, and if it weren't going against what it is, I'd quite possibly vote for it. I like it more than most PSO2 music. Solid instrumentation, solid melody lines. The mix could be cleaner though, it is pretty messy as it stands.

Ok, I have a lot to say about Southern Twilight. What a song. Not my favorite from Uncharted Waters as a whole (though I feel my favorite wouldn't do so well in a VGMC setting), but definitely one of the best. The first half is pretty smooth and slow. But the sax and bass really carry it so it doesn't get stale. I especially love the bass slide at 2:44. Then the gradual transition to the second half starting at 3:45 is just fantastic. Then when second half drops at 4:49, it's a fantastic payoff. The flute, percussion, acoustic guitar, and brass are all fantastic in the second half. Such a fun song. One of my favorites in the contest.

Very strong day except for match 1.

Votes:
memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Library of Ruina - The Blue Reverberation
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest

The Blue Reverberation
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Library of Ruina - The Blue Reverberation
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil

MATCH 1

The Blue Reverberation is fine, but I definitely find myself wanting more from it. I guess it just doesn't really go anywhere that I actively enjoy.

I really enjoy vocal sampling in songs when done right, but I've never really enjoyed how they sound in Frums songs, and memoryfactory.lzh is unfortunately no exception. Compositionally, this song's not my thing either. Janus summed up my thoughts on these songs pretty well.

MATCH 2

I'm starting to realize that maybe I enjoy hearing ascending/descending notes in a scale haha. Because that's one thing that I really like about Passing Through the Forest right off the bat. It gives off a really peaceful mood that keeps the song grounded in that atmosphere as it repeats throughout. Also, as the rest of the instruments come in, the song does a great job at working the lead instruments and bass and everything else to create a great, full sound. I definitely underrated this song the first time it showed up in VGMC13, so I'm really happy it's back in again.

Despite the name, The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music isn't actually that obnoxious to me. It's definitely not my kind of song, but I don't exactly hate it. In fact, it's not even my least favorite song up today (though in all honesty, it probably would have been on previous days). That said, this is a very easy match to decide.

MATCH 3

I have a strong preference for the vocal PSO2 songs that got nominated this year, both by me and by others, over Yggdrasil, but this song's a good showcase of some of the compositional things I've enjoyed in some of these vocal songs. One of these things is the modulation happening throughout the song. The way it moves through different keys always end up being satisfying and never jarring or out of place. The harmonic depth of this song is also great with all the different instruments layered on top of one another working together in unison. Overall, it just hits the right notes for me, with particular standouts at parts like 0:13-0:17 and 0:29-0:31.

The first half of Southern Twilight is fine, but I like the energy of the second half of it more. Still, Yggdrasil is the clear winner over any part of Southern Twilight for me.

Passing Through the Forest > Yggdrasil >> The Blue Reverberation > Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope > The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music > memoryfactory.lzh

Blue Reverb is more good stuff from Library of Ruina. Nothing but hits from LoR! memoryfactory is a lot less annoying than previous frums songs and is okay at some points.

Passing through the Forest is kinda like a mid-tier Chrono Cross song, so pretty good stuff. obnoxious indeed

The main instrument in Yggrdrasil sounds awful. When it's not playing the song's okay. Southern Twilight is so long and not that interesting...

The Blue Reverberation
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

The Blue Reverberation > Passing through the Forest > memoryfactory.lzh > Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope > Yggdrasil > The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Yggdrasil

I don't actually have anything interesting to say right now (offstage voice: "has he ever?!") so just some quick notes on a few of the tracks today:
-I got the idea to nominate memoryfactory when cako mentioned they hadn't done a day 1 frums nom this time around and I'd been playing Arcaea on the Switch recently and really dug that track when I played it. it's a lot more melodic than a number of other frums tracks, which can play to my mood or not, but I always loved its relaxed first-half vibe; it has sort of a warmth to it and I find the voice clips strangely calming, much like credits
-junya nakano, please continue to make great music that occasionally makes its way onto video games
-back in vgmc12 I debated between nominating HITSUGI and yggdrasil from pso2 vol. 6. you can see how things turned out! I'm glad yggdrasil made its way onto the contest stage eventually
-southern twilight always reminds me of that old video game music topic back in 2008 that Nee started; I remember I was listening to a lot of new VGM at that time trying to find things to post in that topic and this was one of the tracks I posted while showcasing and discussing yoko kanno. I'm always a little torn by this one; I enjoy it but it's also not what I'm most interested in from kanno's body of work! but most of kanno's work isn't VGMC-eligible so here we are I guess

The Blue Reverberation
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Epic string-heavy boss theme(?) vs Frums. It doesn't get much easier than that.

Passing Through the Forest is great throughout. Really pretty intro and I also like the...mandolin? part that comes in a bit later on. I can definitely appreciate what this second song is going for. The individual sounds can be a bit unpleasant but as a whole it's pretty catchy. Surprisingly good but probably not enough to vote here.

Yggdrasil is generally pleasant but doesn't leave much of an impression. I think it's one of those songs where it's trying to be high-energy but the climaxes still feel restrained, and the song just comes across as a bit lukewarm as a result. Southern Twilight is elevator music but it is quite successful at being elevator music so I think it gets the vote here.

Blue Reverberation > Passing through the Forest > Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music > Southern Twilight > Yggdrasil >>> memoryfactory.lzh

Actually a decent day overall. My writeups were overly negative for some reason but ultimately I like everything except memoryfactory.lzh

6.4 - Library of Ruina - The Blue Reverberation
6.5 - Arcaea - memoryfactory.lzh
6.0 - Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
6.4 - At Least There is eda edovi - The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
6.1 - Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil
7.0 - Uncharted Waters - Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Well, this was certainly a day, wasn't it. I usually found myself to go along with what B8 likes a lot, but I expect to go 0-3 today, that's for sure lol.

Library of Ruina - The Blue Reverberation
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil

memoryfactory.lzh
The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Didn't expect to vote for Southern Twilight based on how it started, but it picked up in the second half.

memoryfactory.lzh
Passing through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

--
The Blue Reverberation [6]
memoryfactory.lzh [7.7]

Simply put, I just don't care for this Ruina song at all. I can certainly hear the dramatic tone happening, but I can't feel any of it. I can't say I'm really immersed in any of this, it just feels mostly generic to me. It doesn't sound bad or anything, just...generic.

I haven't heard much of Frums outside of VGMC, but I can definitely appreciate the super quirky sound that they're creating here. There's some neat synths here, as well as some breakbeats that I like even if they feel like a little too much right at the end. Cool song overall, definitely going for this for this round.

Passing through the Forest [8.9]
The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music [8.5]

Easily one of the songs I've been replaying constantly ever since noms began for this contest. I love the instruments here, and the atmosphere the sound creates screams "adventure into the unknown" in a way I really love. This song just evokes a childhood feeling of exploring a bigger world that I remember feeling when I began getting into fiction overall, and I have to give the song props for making me feel this way.

I never thought a song with this sort of style would grow on me this quickly, but here we are I guess. The abrasiveness overall is something I've been appreciating more, and I'm mostly satisfied with the melody and variety of random sounds this gives me. Just like the Frums track, the quirky nature of this song is what really draws me in. I don't think it'll get my vote for this round sadly, but I'm pretty happy this still made it in.

Yggdrasil [8.7]
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope [9]

Yet another cool piece from the PSO2 library I end up really liking instantly. Synths are pretty great here, and the overall melody feels like it's taking me on a trip around Earth through space. Solid song, I can't help but love the atmosphere this is painting for me.

Ah Kanno, we meet again so soon. This might not be my top favorite from the Uncharted Water songs that Kanno did in her style - this might be 3rd or 4th in placing, maybe? - but needless to say this grew on me pretty quickly. The sheer relaxed tone this song takes in its first half is nothing short of filling for the jazz-hungry part of my soul, and the way it transitions into the lively samba march in the second half is something I adore and respect so much. I wholly respect Kanno for making so many songs that just happen to appeal strongly to my taste, and this is by far no exception.

The Blue Reverberation
Passing Through the Forest
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

Arcaea - memoryfactory.lzh
Threads of Fate - Passing through the Forest
Phantasy Star Online 2 - Yggdrasil

Congratulations are in order, here. First, to Blue Reverberation for being the most 5/10 song in the whole bracket. Nothing even comes close! You did it! Second, Obnoxious Music really caught me off-guard and turned around into something I really enjoy. It reminds me of The Most Unwanted Song applied to musical trends from all across time. I'd really love to flip for it, but it's against Passing Through which is especially cruel. Today's haul:

[9.5] Yggdrasil
[9.5] memoryfactory.lzh
[9.0] Passing Through the Forest
[8.5] Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope
[8.5] The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
[5.0] The Blue Reverberation

memoryfactory.lzh
The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope

The Blue Reverberation 6.5 Like a battle raging on, or a storm of whipping water and rain, this track pelts you with intense percussion and epic strings. I thought it was a pretty cool song to listen to, but there wasn't really anything unique about it,, it sounded like generic orchestra to me.

memoryfactory.lzh 8 I love the retro phone out of order sound thrown in. Overall this song is really funky and special. The stuttering isn't my favorite but it really gives it personality. I also thought the song had good flow, sorta like a electronically mixed rap battle or something. Some of it was too overwhelming mixing wise but it was pretty banger nonetheless

Passing through the Forest 4 This sounds like a cross between a bustling marketplace and a lively forest. The mechanical sounds thrown in were pretty cool but this song didn't spark anything in me.

The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music 6 Another crazy unique song. The mid break in the song with those funny lyrics is what i live for, it's spectacular. I like please perform an 8 from this ost more, but this definitely had movement and weirdcore energy. Whatever that means.... .The oohs and ahhs samples were displeasing for me tbh.

Yggdrasil 3 I'll be honest PSO music never appealed to me. sorry NFUN. I tend to like songs that have a consistent beat and rock guitars or upbeat melodies with strong tension and release.. and this, while full of life, didn't have anything sound wise that appealed to me. Maybe another of the comments will explain why this song is so good.

Southern Twilight ~ Dance on the Cape of Good Hope 6 I can imagine myself sitting in a dimly lit club listening to a band play this while some cabaret dancers strut around a stage. The second part of the song (4:30) makes me think of a mexican locomotive train, huffing and puffing, it's pistons beating up and down, slowly at first but gaining speed until it all bursts out at an explosive pace. the last part (6:40) makes me think of an acrobat leaping from vine to vine in a dense lush jungle as a wave of lave or something crashes forth giving chase. I loved how this song transformed over time. The low sax followed by the same segment an octave up in the beginning was so good too.