LogFAQs > #936508178

Ink Long Dry
LastPandemic
End of All (Land)

-bracket opens with 'halo' and ends with 'bye bye' nice (credit Mac for the latter observation)
-I like the Halo main theme in general; in this specific version the piano flourishes are pretty but lack a bit of force compared to halo 1 and 2's takes on it? (revisited the previous versions of the theme-- this statement is probably bunk) the differences in arrangement for this version are nice and an improvement overall I think
-Ink Long Dry has this filtered lo-fi piano which I think is really cool and adds a neat texture and atmosphere to the track. this has a sort of improvised jam session feel that's been chopped up and scrambled a bit; my favourite segment probably starts at 0:39 and its contrast with the more relaxed vibe at 1:02. constantly uneasy but strangely relaxing

-LastPandemic is entirely uneasy and the choral parts have almost a robotic quality that's cool. I think 1:00 is actually a weakness of this track-- Shikata's vocal performance in the other segments adds enough of a human element to cut through the feel of the rest of the track, but 1:00 seems to break the aesthetic entirely and the track doesn't really build up to it in a way that welcomes it
-Title serves as an interesting experiment for me-- years of a 'what's new' vgm diet means I don't really revisit and evaluate tracks that are this immediately recognizable and established. very deliberately paced march feel, straightforward-- very much like the character it's associated with. solid theme for a stoic hero.

-this ToC match is pretty interesting to me in one way-- I like both tracks here but if this match were held around VGMC5 I'd have probably voted for ricordando pretty quickly; around VGMC10 I'd have said it was very close; and right now I'm voting pretty comfortably for End of All. I dunno what this says about my tastes (lefty, from the audience: 'it says they're getting worse!') but that's something I thought about while listening to this match
-anyway this is a really cool take on a motif I already really like. in some ways it sounds a very classic 'epic RPG' note of finality but expressed in a way I think is composed really cleverly. Morishita consistently creates progressions that I love listening to, and that's on full display here. the mood is immediately set with a slightly dissonant chorus and ostinato and moves straight into this tense, energetic take on the lost in thoughts melody. the fast hits starting at 0:56 to the transition section starting at 1:17 that really expresses some of the progression of the original motif in a neat way to the part starting at 1:43 (a sort of piano-focused heroic section that actually kind of brings me back to one final effort!) is likely my favourite section of music in this match day, period. it returns to the lost in thoughts chorus afterward and that's great too. this is probably one of my favourite retirees right now, and that surprises me because I didn't think about this track in those terms at all when it first retired.
-phew didn't leave enough breath for ricordando il passato. I mean, it's nice! an akiko shikata slow hymmnos-style track. there's a nice lead-in to the first really grand section (1:11) where an oboe comes in and a cool chord change occurs. it's little things like that that make me enjoy this more when I examine it closely. shikata writes these melodies and progressions that grow and explore instead of sticking to a really standard verse-chorus structure, and I like that a lot too.