Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 37! Flow/DanceWShadow, RaMelody/BEatNest, TreeLifeRoots/Int EptyBrass

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 16, an annual celebration of the best of the best video game music according to the voters!

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=475935
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1_IU5iCFTM_4WEx8ZWKwznMz5v2tarCKh1Ag0mxIgAes
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80027411
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0xxfgkmGKvEyWfHvNZ53Kbn
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16XAaBMDuUnQ4c5AxQNL9ZhvD7VG5kQyrXWWZxnkrn-o
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
Discord: https://discord.gg/WDvMS4a

Rules:
- Listen to both songs in a given match, at least through the loop time provided (to make sure you don't skip before you've heard the whole thing!)
- Please consider the loop point listed when judging the song; if a video loops one minute 5 times, don't treat it as if it's a repetitive 5 minute song
- If it's a match between your favorite song ever and a song you despise, still LISTEN TO BOTH! Votes can and will be disqualified if there is suspicion songs are not being listened to, and you may be discounted for the rest of the contest for repeat offenses.
- No alt accounts, no rallying or begging, etc., etc.... You only get one vote! Swapping votes is alright, just make clear that you've already made a vote and are swapping.
- Make clear what your voting options are! Please keep votes separate from any comments, and use the titles given in the topic post.
- Voting in all matches is not mandatory, feel free to skip matches you do not wish to vote in.
- Vote based on the links provided, and not other sources of audio. Links are specifically chosen for best quality and the like.
- Don't discuss vote tallies in this thread, or in other threads, as they may influence votes. Likewise, please refrain from looking at the running tally before voting.

Voting Period:
- Today's matches will last 24 hours from the time of posting, or 24 hours from 10pm Eastern, whichever is the later time.
- Please note this may mean that two topics will be active at the same time!
- If you anticipate being unable to vote in a given day, p

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance with the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow [6]
Shadow [7]
Ra Melody [8]
Beat Eat Nest [7]
Roots [8.5]
empty bass [7.5]

Dance With the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

2 DIMENSIONS
BYAKUYA
DOUBLE PANDITAH

i hadn't really thought about it until now, how pmd flow is
when i did ratings i think i didn't rate dance highly mostly because it doesn't really stand out as far as anime vocal music goes for me, but otherwise i think it's very solid. definitely caught my attention this time, especially when it started. still kinda just wish it wasn't just a standard anime song ultimately
ra (very good stuff that has only grown on me since last time it was in)
ito (unfortunately for ra, this is an earworm that has grown on me since the last time i listened to it)
roots. a kind of unusual psmd pick in the sense that it's... kinda normal. still pmd enough though
i get why this song is in and i do like it... but i don't feel like i like it as much as i should. shrug

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
abstain

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late - Beat Eat Nest
Pokmon Super Mystery Dungeon - Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

Dance With the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Wow, Dance with the Shadow is fantastic, castanets and accordion mix great. Another song going to my favorite discoveries of this bracket. Pretty great day overall, I liked about everything!

Dance with the Shadow
Dance with Ra and dance with Hel
But never dance with Life

(Intuition is really cool for its style, but its style isn't really my jam, while Fake Gust is Fake Gust.)

Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late - Beat Eat Nest
Crackle Cradle - Intuition & empty brass

I&EB finally in VGMC yes

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance
Variations
Empty

Dance With the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Composer: Disasterpeace
Magical Chase - Variations on a Ra Melody
Pokmon Super Mystery Dungeon - Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Match 3 is an extreme toss-up for me.

Flow

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

1. PowerOne
2. You Were There
3. Scroll Stage
4. Variations on a Ra Melody
5. Staff Roll (Super Mario 64)
6. Dreams in a Pie
7. Battle With Magus
8. Abstract Map
9. CHAMPION RITUAL
10. Passing Through the Forest
11. Battle With the Devil
12. The Final Smile
13. Frantic Aspic
14. Field (Late Night)
15. A CYBER'S WORLD?
16. ???
17. ???
18. Kusanagi Village
19. Tenement of the Blue Spirit
20. Calling
21. LIN NE KRO NE
22. Egg Reverie
23. Battle! (Arceus) ~ Phase 4
24. Angel's Rain
25. The Glittering City of Yusnaan
26. ???
27. Tachi
28. Sky Tower
29. Indignant Divinity
30. The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
31. Time Moves Slow
32. The Apex of the World (Rain)
33. Radical Dreamers ~Unstolen Jewel~
34. Interwoven Stories
35. ???
36. liberatedliberater
37. Blue Orb
38. Home Sweet Home
39. The Wretched Automatons
40. It's Dangerous to Go Alone
41. Move Me
42. Battle 2
43. xxxx/xx/xx (Remix)
44. Yggdrasil
45. stg_travel_2_3
46. ???
47. SaKuRa
48. The Rain Formerly Known as Purple
49. ???
50. Kaze no Ne

The last of the top 10 falls. I was pushing for Waltz of Meditation Part2 this year, but I'll never say no to Ra Melody.

Dance With the Shadow is really cool; shame it hit Flow early.

Votes:
Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

< P0's Top 16 >
9.1 (0 left): Labyrinth V - Forgotten Capital / Im Back (to Rise!) / Apex of the World (Rain)
8.9 (0 left): The Best Is Yet To Come / Crocus
8.8 (1 left): liberatedliberator
8.7 (0 left): The Wind's Blooming Mountain
8.5 (0 left): Move Me
8.4 (0 left): To a New Journey
8.3 (0 left): Don't speak her name! / Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke / Another Winter
8.2 (0 left): Sanctuary-RI / Hoist the Sword with Pride in the Heart / Variations on a Ra Melody

Ra Melody is one of those songs where I'm sold purely off the sound textures offered in the intro - the rest of the song doesn't matter much after that! Sometimes I just encounter a certain unfamiliar sound or instrument and find it scratches an itch I didn't know I had (also happens with the intros to Sanctuary-RI, Wavetapper, Vengeful God in the Dark Ocean Abyss).

Ra Melody's intro doesn't beat Waltz of Meditation's legendary opening notes, but I'm really happy that it got in again as the Magical Chase rep. It creates a great sense of momentum, feeling "progressive" in the sense that it's always progressing forward and refusing to resolve its harmonies. An especially fitting composition for a side-scrolling shoot 'em up game!

The static synth used in Fez is pretty interesting. I wouldn't say it's my favorite, but it makes Fez rather unique. Flow is a pretty neat piece, although I do wish there were more to it than there is. I like the short flute section in the middle. Good piece overall.

Dance with the Shadow was a highlight during noms for me. Rio Okada has a great voice, and the castanets, guitars, accordion, and the instrumentation in general is just great. Pretty memorable melody too. I could still remember the melody of this one despite not having heard it in over a month. Close-ish match, but this one is the clear winner.

Yeah, Variations on a Ra Melody is not for me. There's not really anything about it that I find appealing. A synth ostinato that feels like it doesn't fit the rest of the song half the time, uninteresting melody, chiptune style, etc. Don't have much else to say about it.

Beat Eat Nest isn't really my favorite either, but it's marginally better than Variations. I like the piano parts, but not so much the rhythms and e-guitar. Ok song overall.

Tree of Life: Roots is one of the handful of Pokmon pieces that I genuinely enjoy. Really nice melody and pretty good instrumentation, despite the fake instruments (it would be even better with real instruments). I particularly like the section starting at 0:33. Really good sense of wonder and finality with that motif.

Intuition & empty brass has some pretty neat synths. The inclusion of sax is pretty interesting in this type of EDM piece. Some nice melodies here as well. It does get a bit repetitive at times, but it's still a really fun song.

4 good songs, then there's match 2.

Votes:
Dance with the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

[hotdogturtle]

Dance With the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Everything is annoying today. Even the good ones argh

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow's nice and chill in a good way. Dance is good at first, but is way repetitive. Does not need to be 5 minutes.

Ra Melody's never done much for me. Beat Eat is excellent. Named like a Mad Rat song, heh.

Wow Tree of Life sounds kinda like a Xenoblade X song. I like this style more than most Poke songs. Intuition feels like it should be my type of song but it's not really hitting for me.

Flow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Beat Eat Nest > Flow > Tree of Life: Roots > Intuition & empty brass > Dance With the Shadow > Variations on a Ra Melody

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

I don't remember liking Flow on first listen but it's doing it for me today! I'd take it over a generic anime song, but Shadow transcends that with great instrumentation and funky beats. The chorus is super catchy, too. Sorry Fez!

Ra gets very good after the first minute, I love the part at 1:17. The whole thing reminds me of Metroid Prime if that game were beepy boopy (but not other Metroids for whatever reason). But Nest is really good from the very beginning and doesn't let up. There's no bad layer here, it's all fresh!

Man, what a stacked day! I would not have expected Roots to be from a pokemon game, it nails everything you need in an 'epic' sounding song. I don't care for the first 22 seconds or so, that's about my only criticism here. Beautiful tune. Intuition is a solid track too! There's nothing bad about it, but unfortunately today's competition is very stiff.

Flow: 3.5/5
Dance: 4/5
Ra: 3.5/5
Beat: 4.5/5
Roots: 4.5/5
brass: 3.5/5

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Intuition & empty brass

Dance With the Shadow > Intuition & empty brass > Beat Eat Nest > Flow > Variations on a Ra Melody > Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Intuition & empty brass

Easy day, though Ra Melody is neat too.

Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

didn't expect intuition to be this good

Dance with the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Intuition & empty brass

So I opened this topic up fairly late last night and was like "eh, none of this seems interesting; maybe I'll just save myself the time and just skip today." Very glad I didn't do that. Two of these are very easy decisions.

Intuition & empty brass > Dance with the Shadow > Beat Eat Nest > Variations on a Ra Melody >>>>>>> Tree of Life: Roots >>>>> Flow

Two amazing songs, two very good songs, and two not-so-good.

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Intuition & empty brass

2 DIMENSIONS
BYAKUYA
DOUBLE PANDITAH

good day

Dance with the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Match 1 is actually fucked. Man I sometimes wish F/GO didn't have good music and I can't say I enjoy voting against Flow. That one's pretty neat!

Dance With the Shadow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Intuition & empty brass

Flow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Fate/Grand Order Waltz in the Moonlight/Lostroom - Dance With the Shadow
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late - Beat Eat Nest
Crackle Cradle - Intuition & empty brass

Flow
Beat Eat Nest
Tree of Life: Roots

Dance With the Shadow
Beat Eat Nest
Intuition & empty brass

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

Flow
Variations on a Ra Melody
Tree of Life: Roots

just votes!

Flow
Beat Eat Nest
Intuition & empty brass