Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 26! feat. lots of cool songs that are good :) send topic

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to Video Game Music Contest 19, 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=479594
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HqEzmlfEUsm6BWJbBxDm6ZUnQQ_2d1ezDlVBN2sYepY
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/80981071
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0zm7Svx4DXDy1XjUejSBazd
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1HBxgL9woiCMFKNOPuN_qdxmzjStJXSpC3Ocalfsavdk
VGMC total stats sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1K1XdLWiUKB2kX99qYBgnRbLU_sCz4dvZSByKKJHCT6o
VGMC info site (thank you p0!!): https://p0p0p0p.github.io/
Discord: https://discord.gg/7FVXqWj

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, please send an absentee vote to @banshiryuu, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

.

Match 1

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island - Mount Jingara Descending
Composer: Keisuke Ito
Loop Point: 2:18
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yyz0pjDlkqo

Friday Night Funkin': Hit Single - Silly Billy
Composer: Churgney Gurgney, Ironik, duccly, SPACENAUTICA, honkish., HassenX Animations
Loop Point: 6:14
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jwhSUmN5zTk

.

Match 2

Senko no Ronde - assemble
Composer: Yasuhisa Watanabe
Loop Point: 3:55
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFuQR-84lyw

Limbus Company - Hero
Composer: Cassie Wei & Yamato Kasai (Mili)
Loop Point: 3:28
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZuifkacZ0TA

.

Match 3

Balatro - Main Theme
Composer: Luis Fernndez Clemente (LouisF)
Loop Point: 4:07
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2WA5tZWbqxU

Choro Q3 - The Summer is Night "7/8"
Composer: Luna Umegaki
Loop Point: 3:46
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aL-Rbh61gyc

.

Easy vote form:
Mount Jingara Descending / Silly Billy
assemble / Hero
Main Theme / The Summer is Night "7/8"

Poisoned Well and You

As some of you may know, the song Poisoned Well that shows up late in Bracket D is a 21 minute 36 second song that does not loop. As is customary with longer songs in the VGMC nowadays (longer meaning "roughly more than a Dancing Mad") we thought to give a little heads up in advance so that if you would like to do your listening of the song at a time convenient to you, you may. Here's a link to the song:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fe4GIkEulSM

This post will also be posted in the bracket discussion thread and be added to the topic headers for the rest of Round 1!

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island - Mount Jingara Descending
Senko no Ronde - assemble
Choro Q3 - The Summer is Night "7/8"

silly billy
assemble
summer is night

Shiren the Wanderer: The Mystery Dungeon of Serpentcoil Island - Mount Jingara Descending
Senko no Ronde - assemble
Choro Q3 - The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending (Shiren: Serpentcoil)
assemble (Senko no Ronde)
Main Theme (Balatro)

while what I'm seeking tends to be more timbral/environmental/specific-emotion-vibe these days and this represents very little of that. What gets me about this track is it's EXACTLY the style of quartalquintalz-based & modulation confusion overdose & weird over-the-barline kinda hard to follow rhythms i love. When it comes to compositional preferences these days---i think it's less that I'm NOT centered around it anymore like I sorta implied in previous writeups. and more that what makes me feel things is extremely tonality-based but in a way where I only really feel anything from a particular, fairly rare style. I feel A LOT from unexpected modulations and the motion of clusters transposing around, or even just very steady single diatonic scale stuff that just has lots of quartals or quintals. This all while, unless it evokes exactly the right thing: most other composition styles will sorta read as noise to how I intake musical information, or even wind up actively alienating to me. This basically means that I've been pushing for stuff that's so timbre centric or heightened specific emotion/setting centric that none of the actual composition matters. but this track is actually very representative of this exact tonal sense that makes me feel things. PMD still survived the culling of getting so psychologically fucked up that i came out with completely different, much harder-to-accomodate music taste. but if this was in PMD, it'd be like. maybe even my fav track besides tyrian maze inner chamber at this point. The nature of traditional japanese instrumentation actually lends itself to a lot of what i just described. The drone of a Sho enforces tonal stacks and scales are built around fourths. but the special way Ito composes isemphasizing those things way more than traditional japan music is even supposed to. I guess that's why Muramasa is still a top tier fav for me too. I know I'm getting really jargony here---In less specific terms while most of my current taste centers around what environment it evokes, stuff being dark/dismal/edgy, or just using weird sounds, the actual notes the music has in it has had little influence over my affinity these days. The One Exception where I can like pretty much any evoked emotion or setting, is if it sounds like Natural Life A from Muramasa in terms of the notes in the songor this song..or Skyward Sword Earth Temple..and i will like that A Lot.

Bing bing himg Friday nighnewgrounds fisher price lens of new grounds lena raine on top of cubes

I got into Yack first through Puchi Carat, and probably heard/loved Border Down before this even still. but this song is so defining to him, i always feel like it's the first one i heard. weirdly timed delay echoes on that favorite patch of his never get old More than back in 09, my affinity for chopped up Deep Forest type vocals has gotten very big, and that's the standout to me now. The breakbeat in this is so punchy and fills the space amazingly.

honestly this is so nightmare before christmas type thing that I can't not appreciate it at this point in my life. i would have hated this years ago, but now it'snot a hard match but I feel like I'm gonna be into this more than most people who are voting Assemble. Definitely gonna be one of the Biggest Fans of this one and i did not expect that going in even though i like mili

this feels like a song i would have liked in 2001 that I don't listen to again until 2016 and then go wait wtf that was in 7?, despite how overtly it's layed out and that even being something i payed attention to that young (this has happened). i like dismal feeling synth stuff. this isn't super like that, but enough for me to get the same vibes out of it i do sadder jean michel jarre tracks

i love the crazy parts of dimension songs beginning. Luna Umegaki is one of my long time favorite vgm composers, this match is closer than i thought it would be

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Holy hell at today's music.

Mount Jingara Descending (9.35) / Silly Billy (4.5)
assemble (9.37) / Hero (7.8)
Main Theme (6.2) / The Summer is Night "7/8" (9.4)

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Silly Billy
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy
assemble
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly
assemble
Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

that Silly Billy chart sucks. no flow or consistency at all.
Hero is not one of my preferred Mili songs
funny 7/8 match. sad that I cannot vote for Balatro but Summer is Night kind of rules

Jingara
Assemble
7/8

Silly Billy
assemble
Main Theme

shiren
senko
summer is night

could flip on 3, might relisten later

Silly Billy
Hero
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

assemble > Mount Jingara Descending >> Silly Billy > Hero > Main Theme > The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Silly Billy
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara
-
-

Silly Billy
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy >= The Summer is Night "7/8" > Hero > Main Theme >= assemble (Mika phase 1) >= Mount Jingara Descending

Mount Jingara Descending - 7.5
neat song ig, feels very stereotypically Japanese with nothing to really set it apart tho

Silly Billy - 8.25
it's really fascinating to see FNF go from smth that's everywhere to smth that isn't really talked about much but very clearly still has a massive community because what the fuck do you mean 26 million views. anyways FNF music is smth I'm absolutely able to respect without really wanting to listen to it in my free time and this is no exception, damn impressive song even if no part of it particularly sticks with me (Madness from the Tricky mod will always be my personal favorite tbh)

assemble (Mika phase 1) - 7.5
I'm kinda only glancing at the footage bc I'm working on smth else while listening to songs but what the fuck is this game. anyways neat song but it doesn't do a *ton* for me- wait is that the fucking Second Dark Matter Battle vocal clip near the 3:30 mark I had no idea that was a sample wtf

Hero - 8
okay I was under the impression the Mili songs in this game were boss themes, is this like the credits or smth? wait okay this is taking a darker turn what the fuck is going on. oh god this character is not okay are they. not really my kind of song but I can't help but respect the hell out of it, absolutely nails what it's going for

Main Theme - 7.5
yeah iunno it's neat

The Summer is Night "7/8" - 8.25
wait this is pretty sick wtf

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending was one of my favorite discoveries during noms - it's even a 9/10! I didn't support it because I just had so much stuff but I really love it. Happy to see it here. Still, I won't mind if Silly Billy wins. I'm happy a FNF rep got in, particularly one this cool, and it's a shame I can't vote for it here. I'll be happy with whatever wins this match.

Mount Jingara Descending
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy
Hero
The Summer Is NOT IN 7/8 WTF

Shiren is a solid Japanese "outdoor adventure" piece, but doesn't really stand out. Though the girl on the cover is so freaking cool my goodness. Meanwhile Silly Billy is one of my favorite discoveries of the last year. Once upon a time my one complaint was the epilogue after the vocal section feeling extraneous, but then my head started to parse it more as a musical and yeah, there you need that epilogue to move us towards the next scene. I have no idea if Hit Single functions like that.

i don't like senkou no ronde sorry. Hero may not have the lasting impact of Compass or In Hell We Live, Lament or Through Patches of Violet, but I still enjoy it.

I genuinely do not understand Balatro MT's popularity. But I also don't get Balatro's popularity, so perhaps I will just have to come to terms with being wrong (again). Perhaps it's the warbles. Meanwhile, The Summer is Night is guilty of misrepresentation in the 7/8th degree and it must pay for its sins... next round. Though I do love how rushed the 8th beat feels, it's pretty cool. Does it really not loop? Huh.

Silly Billy
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy
assemble
Main Theme / The Summer is Night "7/8"

Silly Billy [C] > The Summer is Night [C] > Main Theme [C] > assemble [C] > Mount Jingara [D] > Hero [D]

Mount Jingara is mega boring. Silly Billy would be significantly better without the Banjo-Kazooie-ass "vocals". I have no clue how it managed to score bracket placement that got me to retire it, but it makes me very sad that it did (its actually a good song, but it should be way better).

Assemble is regular boring, but I still think it's alright. Mili is pretty hit or miss for me, and the vocals are just way too annoying here (I like this vocalist in other Mili songs though, idk)

No string feelings on either song in match 3. I prefer Summer today.

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

Shiren the Wanderer is spiritually PMD I guess so it's no big surprise that I think Mount Jingara is an absolutely gorgeous piece, completely riveting to listen to and my only regret is that I couldn't retire it because it runs face first into Brinstar Depths lol 9/10

I really don't "get" FNF and I find this Silly Billy thing just kind of annoying and, well, silly, but I'm sure it'd be cool if I liked the game I guess 4/10

Assemble is good, it's got good vibes 7/10

Hero is uh... nope! That's a miss 2/10

I really hate the Balatro theme for some reason? I had to turn it off after like 15 minutes of playing the game and I never turned it back on. I really don't know why it irritates me to the degree it does but there's just something about it that sours my mood 2.5/10

The Choro Q3 thing is decent 6/10

Mount Jingara Descending
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

I'm starting to think B8 loves PMD maps-esque songs, which most of the time I have nothing to write about. Silly Billy is massively held back by the duet vocals, idk why but they distract me from the actual song which is good. Honestly a lot to say for a match I'm ultimately picking by default.

Hero is an amazing track from part of Mili with a lot of sections to enjoy :) and Summer is Night is a banger I'm happy to have supported. Sad to have to vote Balatro out and I don't have much to say about Assemble either.

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

i will admit i actually did like silly billy's themes, even if the song's synths were still a bit too annoying to reasonably get a shot at my vote here (definitely got a sense of the stakes of this rap battle (or sing-off), it somehow didn't feel like it'd be out of place in ut/dr). jingara isn't my favourite shiren 6 song now but it's definitely one of the many i've finally warmed to after my initial disappointment at how decidedly not like older shiren the soundtrack is
okay this match is just rude
a lot of people in my life have expressed shock lately that i haven't gotten into balatro in the same way they have (which is to say defaulting to playing it at basically any time of the day they're free). i can't say i'm surprised but it's just a bit sad to me since in multiple cases i know they got into it around the same time i ended up gifting them games myself that i know they haven't started on. anyway none of this is terribly relevant, i know. balatro's music is cool, and i'm pretty sure i went on the record as saying i was even honestly fine with it potentially landing in last year's BOST, since i honestly thought it was not only an obviously major release but solid enough to warrant a place in there, even without a ton of variety to it (heck, arguably because of that). it's a good theme. of course, it's a shame then that it just had to run into one of my favourite returning vgmc songs

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

fnf is weird. hypothetically i adore chopped vocals. in fnf's case, god no. hate it. i rlly dont get it. sorry to be the "i dont get why people like this" person because i know thats annoying but thats how i feel. mixing is so god awful that i cant hear anything other than these stupid fuckers' vocals. there's no discernible repeated melody - whenever a good idea appears it just doesnt come back at all. fnf music is made for the chart in such a way that makes me hate the music. its annoying - i think the base game songs are fairly good, not super my thing but not an issue. but god. the modded music. there's some sort of instruments in the middle of this piece, drenched beneath the vocals. can't hear them though! there's a bass that you can basically only hear the lowest possible frequencies of, there are drums that i can only hear the snares of. nothing for me to focus on that i could possibly like bcos its all these annoying beepbeepboos. oh hey there is now an actual melodic idea that repeats and has a vocal rather than the beeps!!!!!!! look at that!! and its not bad!!! oh and its gone. great. lovely.

ok mili is awesome but i feel like u people have gotta find some new people to obsess over we dont need to put every single mili song in. this isnt bad its got fun goofiness to it that i like but the mixing is a bit overwhelming (in a different way to mr beepboop, its at least listenable mixing but it just feels like the wrong elements are a bit too loud).

the balatro track feels very ytpmv-able

Silly Billy
Hero
The Summer is Night "7/8"

I supported Silly Billy. The appeal of this song to me is much the same as what I get from a great midi or FM song, which is that it embraces the artificiality of its format. Friday Night Funkin' is often maligned as the rhythm game that puts annoying vocal samples over every song. In Silly Billy, the samples ARE the song - they are as much an instrument as any other, and the fun comes from hearing everything that can be done with them. The climax is what drives the point home: at that point, the samples have been so fully integrated into the melody that real vocals feel shocking and unnatural.

Match 2 is the Yackest song to ever Yack vs. the Miliest song to ever Mili. Wait, it shouldve been Mili vs. Silly Billy. Anyway, with 0 disrespect toward Yack, Im showing where my true loyalty lies here.

procrastinate nightly

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

The Summer is Night "7/8" > assemble > Main Theme > Mount Jingara Descending > Hero > Silly Billy

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"

The Summer is Night "7/8"

Just noticed I didn't vote in match 3

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
Main Theme

Mount Jingara Descending
assemble
The Summer is Night "7/8"