Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 14! Calling/PracMakesPerf, Interwoven/Umineko OP, SaKuRa/Revenge

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

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Match 1

The World Ends with You - Calling
Composer: Takeharu Ishimoto
Loop Point: 3:24
Genre: WAKE UP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i0569Wt-cZ0

Mario Teaches Typing (CD-ROM) - Practice Makes Perfect
Composer: Gregory R. Allen
Loop Point: 3:52
Genre: QWERTYUIOPHOP
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FOD2lNvE3eU

Match 2
<

Practice Makes Perfect
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Ca
In
Ra

8
i'm sorry place i'm still not over the trauma
8.5
8
7.5
7

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

RIP Boys II Men knock-off.

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

Practice Makes Perfect
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko
Sa Ku Ra

I was not expecting rapping when listening to the Mario song.

Practice [7.5]
Calling [6]
Interwoven Stories [7]
Umineko [8.5]
Sakura [6.5]
Revenge [6.5]

Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

Calling
Interwoven Stories
abstain

Calling
Interwoven Stories
Sa Ku Ra

Match 1 - I'm sorry I already lived through the boy-band craze days of the 80s and 90s, I don't need a reminder callback. Perhaps a poor choice of words, since I'm going for Calling. Fancy that.
Match 2 - Oh, there it is again! Monument Valley II was one of my favorite peripheral-vision finds from last year (alongside Phigros, Saira, and some others) yet I somehow lost from re-adding to a playlist. Against... Umineko. Well, shit. Yeah, I get that Umineko's well loved here, but it never really hits it for me. Maybe I just need to play it one day. It's structurally sound, and the violins do things to me, but the vocals immediately swerve and do the opposite.
Match 3 - Eh, I can applaud Everhood's track for trying to be a percussion-heavy metal track out of a Warriors game, but sometimes, it feels like it's wandering a bit too far from its own ideas, and eventually ends just... so abruptly. Even looping it didn't make much sense. Sa Ku Ra goes against my Match 2 comments, because the vocals enhance rather than detract from the song in my eyes. Makes for a sweet, catchy slow pop tune.

cali-ing
seattle cats
Rio Venge

Calling
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

Calling
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

Some ratings were incorrect the past few days (they have been fixed, not that they were off by a LOT), so that would explain the inconsistencies in ratings vs. rankings lately. The average rating for Bracket B is 7.46, not 7.22. Tough third match today... I had to listen to them several times. I like the Sa Ku Ra's sound production more, but I prefer the melodies of Revenge. Both are "good", but not "great". Actually, the second match is kind of tough, too (both are "great").

Calling (6.6 - 49th place) / Practice Makes Perfect (5.8 - 53rd place)
Interwoven Stories (7.9^ - 29th place) / Umineko no Naku Koro ni (8.1 - 24th place)
SaKuRa (7.4 - 35th place) / Revenge (7.0^ - 41st place)

calling
neko
revenge

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

WAKE UP
UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI
FROG'S WRATH

yeah

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

I'm kinda surprised I'm going full JP this round, but feels they've won me. Nothing rough on the other songs though, they are all cool and all

Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

Wow I absolutely despise both songs in the first match. Why are they in the contest? Why did you guys do this? It's not fair.
I cannot STAND the vocals in Calling. Non vocal bits are okay and non intrusive but holy crap I cannot stand the singer and how they sing. It's ear grating. 1/10
Mario whatever, I can't stand this either, totally not my thing in the slightest... but it has a funky beat? Okay sure. 1/10
Oh for what it's worth, I hate pretty much the whole TWEWY OST. Probably my least favorite OST of all time.

Interwoven Stories... yay... another one of those songs where it adds a new instrument every 20 seconds to make it seem more complicated than it actually is. When music does this kind of thing, I really really REALLY want it to have some sort of melody that I can at least be invested in. This has no such thing so I just end up falling asleep. *Zzz...* 2.5/10

Umineko no Naku Koro ni... ! One of my supports! Not my first choice for Umineko songs but this is a damn good classic. I love this full version as well. Each bit has something new and unique to add. And I am absolutely in LOVE with the bit at 1:35 - 2:00. PARTICULARLLY at 1:53. Like holy shit this part is INCREDIBLE. The effect used here and then the violin sliding back in at the 2 minute mark is just genius and I can't get over it. The reason I don't have this higher than a 9 out of 10 is because the vocals do slide into a bit of the grating side at times. Only a slight detraction from an otherwise fantastic opening song. 9/10

SaKuRa... I don't really see why this is in the contest? This is just kind of there. A basic, simple, generic anime song. What's special about this? I mean, it's not that bad, but it's difficult to imagine people who would be like Oh My God I'm So Glad SaKuRa made it in the contest! 3.5/10

Everhood - Revenge... Alright, this is different... but not exactly my thing... but then the chorus GOES IN! Hell yeah. And then whoa! 3:00 happens! I absolutely love when music does the thing where they go in with the chorus but do something different with it, either taking a bunch of instruments out and letting it just play solo, or cranking it up a key, etc. Also once it gets to 3:00 it just doesn't stop. Lot of cool stuff here after we get to about the minute mark in the track and I'm all for it. This started as like a 5, then moved up to a 6, then 6.5, then 7 and I think ended at like a 7.5/10. Very nifty!

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

Calling
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Match 2 was pretty close and I regret not being able to do the full weeb slate today

Mario Teaches Typing (CD-ROM) - Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Everhood - Revenge

Match 1 songs are both guilty pleasure "stupid but entertaining stupid" songs

Never thought I'd vote for an Everhood song over a Super Monkey Ball song

Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

Perfect
Stories
Sak

Practice Makes Perfect
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

A good day for vocals, though I'm less fond of Practice Makes Perfect's. I like Revenge too though, the last match is close. The other two not so much.

Practice Makes Perfect
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Calling is decent. I like the 'little by little I feel a bit better' parts, but the repeated 'calling's do nothing for me and the spoken word bit is just odd. Don't think there's very much to this one, but it's pleasant enough. I never was super big on the TWEWY OST. Practice is ridiculous and pretty catchy, I'll give it the vote but could go either way here.
Interwoven is chill, totally has the setup to be my kind of song though I wish it went a bit further. Still, good atmosphere. Umineko is well constructed but doesn't stand out for me. The singer's voice feels a bit empty? IDK.
Oh My God I'm So Glad SaKuRa made it in the contest! For real, it's my fav song today and I'm happy to have supported it. Gentle and upbeat, the vocals are alright but everything else is really great. It has much more going on than it appears at first glance! Revenge tries a lot of things but unfortunately they don't work for me.

Calling: 3/5
Practice: 3/5
Interwoven: 3.5/5
Umineko: 2.5/5
Sakura: 4.5/5
Revenge: 2/5

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

Mario Teaches Typing (CD-ROM) - Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Everhood - Revenge

Calling
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

Calling
Interwoven Stories
Sa Ku Ra

The World Ends with You - Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll - SaKuRa

--
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

Match 2 a lot closer than I was expecting a typical vocal/non vocal match to be for me. Umineko song does a lot right for me (though this very much does Not include the vocals!) While Interwoven stories, I dunno, I guess I'm not really feeling as well about compared to other similar songs of that style. Still though, ultimately I'd rather relisten to Interwoven Stories with it's flaws than the Umineko song with it's vocals. I considered abstaining there though.

UMINEKO NO NAKU KORO NI
FAR EAST

refraining from match 1 since i don't really have a decisive view between the two

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenger

Apparently none of the Ar Tonelico/Nosurge retirees are from Akiko Shikata. This makes me feel unhappy.

Calling
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Calling
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

The World Ends with You - Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll - SaKuRa

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

1. PowerOne
2. ???
3. Scroll Stage
4. ???
5. Staff Roll (Super Mario 64)
6. Dreams in a Pie
7. ???
8. ???
9. ???
10. Passing Through the Forest
11. ???
12. ???
13. ???
14. ???
15. ???
16. ???
17. ???
18. Kusanagi Village
19. ???
20. Calling
21. ???
22. Egg Reverie
23. ???
24. ???
25. The Glittering City of Yusnaan
26. ???
27. ???
28. ???
29. ???
30. The Elephant's Foot of Obnoxious Music
31. Time Moves Slow
32. ???
33. ???
34. Interwoven Stories
35. ???
36. ???
37. ???
38. ???
39. ???
40. It's Dangerous to Go Alone
41. ???
42. ???
43. ???
44. Yggdrasil
45. ???
46. ???
47. SaKuRa
48. ???
49. ???
50. Kaze no Ne

Nothing to say about these three songs except that I really love them!

Calling
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

7.5
8.6
7.9
8
5.4
6.3

Please pay no mind to my highest rating today

Calling is a fun song. Leah is a better vocalist than most of the female vocalists in NEO: TWEWY. Nice synths and production (even though the main synth loop sounds a lot like the one in "I'm Sexy and I Know It" lol). Slightly repetitive song, but still not bad.

Practice Makes Perfect is definitely not what I expected from Mario Teaches Typing. Cool old school hip-hop style song. The rap has much better delivery than the Killer Instinct one. Closer match than I was expecting, but I think I still prefer Calling.

Interwoven Stories is another very nice Todd Baker song. This one's slightly on the repetitive side, but it has good instrumentation, and great atmosphere in general.

I don't like the intro of Umineko no Naku Koro ni. Or any of the parts with those vocals. Vocals are very weirdly mixed there, and it doesn't sound good to me. Once it gets going, it does get better though. Main vocalist is nice, and the composition isn't bad. The bridge starting around the 3 minute mark is especially good. Mixed feelings on this one overall. Some good parts, and some really bleh parts. Will probably go with Todd Baker this time.

SaKuRa is another fun vocal song. Erhu is always a big plus. String work is quite good and the overall mix is pretty solid as well.

Revenge sounds like a Castlevania song. There are some cool parts in this, though there are some excessively metal elements (particularly in the drums) that I'm not a fan of. Some nice guitar riffs and melodies in this. Decent song, but SaKuRa gets the vote here.

Votes:
Calling
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Practice Makes Perfect
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

Practice Makes Perfect
Interwoven Stories
Revenge

My genre for Interwoven Stories was GEOMETRIC BIRDSONG - it's all I hear from those woodwinds!

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
Revenge

Mario song misses for me and I was going to be mad about having to vote for Calling in Round 1 again but... I actually kind of like it now? The vocals didn't bother me much today and that was the main thing I hated, so that's neat.
Interwoven Stories isn't the best "ambient" song in the contest and that's not really my kind of genre anyway. Umineko is pretty cool though
Third match is pretty good! Sakura is nice and relaxing and then Revenge sounds like a Very Dramatic Fight and is pretty much exactly my thing

Practice Makes Perfect
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

Almost the full weeb sweep, but Mario is just so fucking fun. Match 2 was fairly tight. Sorry fellow Todd Baker simps, but I did support all three Alto tracks so cut me some slack here - And wow, so glad Sa Ku Ra made the field.

Calling
Interwoven Stories
SaKuRa

re: Interwoven Stories
b1
nominated VGMC13 (failed to make field); supported VGMC16

I took a bit of time warming to Interwoven Stories; I'd included it in my first guessing game list after finding out that Impossible Worlds was solely a trailer track, and was a little disappointed as a result-- I'd always loved the Boards of Canada stylings of the latter, and Interwoven Stories doesn't really have that. But its fairly subtle layers reveal similarly warm analog synths, and I love the way each layer interacts to create this startlingly beautiful, emotive soundscape and texture. The track seems to breathe as the number and volume of layers expands and contracts; it has a young and vibrant side (the woodwinds) and an older, softer side (the analog synths, complete with static crackles) which seem to mirror the two characters on the cover. There's an amazing elegance to the way this is put together, and I marvel at it.

Calling
Umineko no Naku Koro ni
SaKuRa

i love far east and i did not even know until this contest that there was a vocal version

(out of 78)
(7th) The World Ends with You - Calling
(17th) Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll - SaKuRa
(30th) Umineko no Naku Koro ni - Umineko no Naku Koro ni
(40th) Everhood - Revenge
(60th) Monument Valley 2 - Interwoven Stories
(71st) Mario Teaches Typing (CD-ROM) - Practice Makes Perfect

From Toxtricity:

Calling (World Ends with You)
Interwoven Stories (Monument Valley 2)
Sa-Ku-Ra (Super Monkey Ball: Step & Roll)

Calling is among my favorite vgm with vocals; especially for that section where i interpret the chords as being weird parallel motion stuff that deviates from the tonal center and sounds like shmup music (starting at :52) ((i dont think most people would interpret it as this, but it is how i hear it and i think it FEELS so cool because it sounds like all the songs i like that do that)). Overall the sound design and energy is stellar and i still never tire of listening to it. One of the tracks that last year got me most newly into {{{EDIT: UPDATE TO THIS advance vote calling writeup that was originally typed like 25 days ago by now. Apparently im typing this edit on the day of the actual match today by coincidence!? anyway I just have to say that i just heard in the car HERE I stand and face the rain by a-ha. THAT is what this song has been reminding me of this whole time: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jPk9FhbSexs --THOSE FAKE CHOIR PADS once it kicks in; its exactly the same feeling to me as :52 of calling and i love whatever that feeling is so much. Ive been trying to figure out what song calling had reminded me of for at least a year, but THIS is the exact song i was trying to think of this whole time. It is one of my favorites}}}

I am so bad at typing because i do not have human fingers (i am a pokemon)

Steve(i like this)todd baker music for public broadcasting platform on liberal college campus in 1994 that indoctrinates students into the steve cult

This is probably one of my favorite umineko songs because it sounds like ar tonelico instead and i like that thing

pretty nice because i like things that sound like japan old

Everhood OST 60 - Revenge sounds like the kind of music that janus5k and fl81 enjoy. I treasure these human beings, even if they may have different taste from me so much..they always know how to make me smile