Board 8 > [VGMC] d95: Partizans vs IDOLA Strange Fruits, Flotage (3-B) vs Desire Blue Sky

(+) Yeah! (+)

Welcome to today's topic for Video Game Music Contest 14, a tournament of the best tracks from games, as decided upon by you, the voters.

Links:
Contest info - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss/edit#gid=320804650
Bracket - http://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=473292
Discussion and results thread - https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/78714595
Bracket playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1REnVI_W6yELaDP6Zac8b0Wq
ToC playlist - https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLW9O9mntH1RE-TQMj19D0k5nm-0zeH12J
VGMC compability sheet - https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1lpX4faqnn_geI0y4i6MrZ2AXpV6SWXoWrIA6_eyx-yM/edit

Rules:
- Listen to both of the songs. Links have conveniently been provided for both songs. Even if Song A is your favorite of all-time and Song B is from a series you hate... Listen. To. Both. (If I have suspicions your vote is not based on a fair and impartial preference, it will be disqualified.)
- Obvious contest rules apply (no alts, one vote per person, no rallying, etc.).
- Please make your voting options clear, rather than burying them in text.
- Each set of matches lasts 24 hours, even if the new one isnt up by then. (Matches do not begin until at least 10:00 EDT.)
- Always vote on the versions of the song provided, not versions from different sources.
- If you know ahead of time that you're not going to be around and you want to vote in advance, post your choices in the discussion/bracket topic.
- Please do NOT post tallies/score updates in the middle of the match, as this has a tendency to directly influence matches.
- You don't have to vote in all the matches, but it'd be cool if you did!

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Match 1

Opoona - Partizans
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=96h3TkiXdqA

Phantasy Star Online Episode III - IDOLA The Strange Fruits
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CZ6ZW5wv13A

Match 2

DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Label - Flotage (Stage3-B)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YtoQJL7LzLo

Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky
https

Partizans
Desire Blue Sky

IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky
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Partizans (18th) vs "IDOLA" The Strange Fruits (30th)
Flotage (Stage3-B) (6th) vs Desire Blue Sky (33th)

OKAY SO if you recall desire blue sky was 142nd in my initial rankings, and here it's closing in on idola which was 60th so uhhhhhhhhhhhhh yeah desire blue sky finally clicked and it clicked fuckin hard.... but also it's against one of my favorite songs in the contest so I can't vote for it just yet!! if i end up going 0/2 i could see myself voting for it (and make up for it losing by one vote to passion r1 last year oops)

IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky

videogam songs a good

Partizans
Desire Blue Sky
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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage3-B)

First match hurts so badly Why can't I vote for both? X_X Part of me wants to see Partizans win this, though.... I just hope that IDOLA doesn't win by one vote, or else I might end up kicking myself.

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IDOLA
Flotage

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Partizans (14th) / IDOLA The Strange Fruits (NR)
Flotage (Stage3-B) (50th)/ Desire Blue Sky (81st)

Partizans doesn't evoke as much " :D " for me as Rafflesia, but it doesn't need to. The whole song is fantastic with no dropoff or awful parts, but the first 50 seconds, and the bridge immediately afterward, are the main attractions.

Opoona - Partizans
Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky
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Partizans (44/64) < IDOLA The Strange Fruits (32/64)
Flotage (Stage3-B) (18/64) > Desire Blue Sky (40/64)

Yeah I actually tried doing a ranking of the top 64 for once although it was very rough (Flotage is probably too high even if it's my favorite song today regardless) so I might vote against it here and there - not today though!

(Probably worth pointing out that I like 56 of the songs in r3 so none of these placements are bad! Good field.)

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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky
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Phantasy Star Online Episode III - IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky

I think my opinion of Partizans has gone up a bit, but not high enough for it to beat IDOLA in my mind.

Desire Blue Sky > Flotage (Stage3-B) > IDOLA The Strange Fruits > Partizans

Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

i know i'm saying every match is close all the time this round, but both of these matches are among the closest r3 matches there'll be for me. making my 'tiebreaking' decisions kind of around "which track has a higher number of things i like about it" and not taking into consideration any elements of dislike or even slightly low points about them. I may decide to evaluate on different parameters later, but...well...bye for now

[double basiscape (noriyuki kamikura) vote!]
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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky

IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage3-B)

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Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

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Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

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Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

Partizans
Flotage
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Opoona - Partizans
DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Label - Flotage (Stage3-B)

tough match 2

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Phantasy Star Online Episode III - IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky

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Partizans
Desire Blue Sky

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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky

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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky
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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage B-3)

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Opoona - Partizans
DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Label - Flotage (Stage3-B)

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42. Opoona - Partizans
vs.
31. Phantasy Star Online Episode III - IDOLA The Strange Fruits

What I had:
Sky Tower > IDOLA ~ The Strange Fruits

Partizans is, on paper, a song I would normally like. Lots of interesting dynamic sounds, and I really like the opening in particular. I gave the song a 7/10. But the overall package doesn't quite come together for me to give it any higher. A 7 is still good though! I'm happy a song like this is doing so well. Definitely an example of a song I think is high quality even if it doesn't speak to me as much emotionally.

Strange Fruits does a lot of cool stuff too. It's much "busier" than Partizans, but it holds my interest throughout. I like how a lot of the instruments pop in and out depending on the part of the song, which makes it seem more varied. It's got a strong melody, even if the melody isn't the first thing I think of when Strange Fruits comes to mind.

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41. DoDonPachi DaiFukkatsu Black Label - Flotage (Stage3-B)
vs.
5. Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky

What I had:
Desert > Central Park (wildcard)

Hm, all of these songs so far today have a similar presentation to them, even though they're all different. Partizans is much calmer and melodic, IDOLA is intense, and Flotage is like a mixture of the two. It's mostly got a club/EDM feel to it, with a nice guitar solo near the loop. My favorite part is the start of the loop, with that nice "falling into a whirlwind" spiral that opens the song. Flotage has no shortage of musical ideas, and it's nice to listen each time and notice new things.

And hey, it's the most distinct song today, and it's also my Bracket B winner! I was honestly surprised Desire Blue Sky resonated with me so much. The intro goes on too long, for one thing (almost a full minute!). But it's easily one of my favorite Itou Kanako songs. I love its tone of "post-apocalyptic wistfulness" (there's an IIDX genre for you), also present in other songs I like such as 13 Sentinels - In the Doldrums. The musical backing does such an amazing job at complementing the vocals. Definitely an awesome song!

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Votes:
IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky

IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage3-B)

Extremely bland first match but a somewhat painful second match

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Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky

Finally, we made it to the good division!

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Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

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hbthebattle votes:
Partizans
Flotage 3-B

I dunno what I want yet, but I don't want to risk forgetting to post the advance votes.

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abstain
Flotage 3-B

I feel weird voting against either song in the first match today. Maybe I'll decide later.

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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage3-B)

IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage3-B)

Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

azuarc posted...

I feel weird voting against either song in the first match today. Maybe I'll decide later.

Same. Feel free to vote for IDOLA to cancel my vote out.

Phantasy Star Online Episode III - IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky
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Partizans
-
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Partizans > IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Flotage (Stage3-B) < Desire Blue Sky
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Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

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IDOLA The Strange Fruits
Desire Blue Sky

partizans - first encountered: first focused listen was this vgmc; not sure if encountered previously - trend: slightly up
-I think this track benefits from the context of its soundtrack as a whole-- a fair amount of it is a minor-key, more upbeat take on the main theme, its sense of wonder replaced with more of a resolve-filled direction. based on the track's feel and its placement in the soundtrack, it sounds like it would be a late-game area theme. this is a pretty mood-based track for me-- there's some variance in how much I enjoy it on each listen.

idola the strange fruits - first encountered: vgmc2 nominations - trend: steady
-already talked about my initial encounter with this track in round 1! of the tracks remaining, this is one of the tracks I have the longest history with that I also really like. it's unlike partizans in that there's not a lot of variance in how much I enjoy it-- its crackling intensity is generally a good time.

flotage - first encountered: this vgmc - trend: steady
-something I randomly thought while listening to the intro to this today-- 'this reminds me of persona 4 arena music.' the comparison mostly falls apart, but I think the things that prompted that mental cue are the specific heavy first/third beat drum pattern and the low synth, which would take the place of the rhythm guitar (even though it doesn't play full chords-- there's a similarity to the progression). I think both of these things, and the track's general tendency to stick to them as the backbone of the track, is what mitigates some of my enjoyment of it. it's no surprise that my favourite parts of the track are the ones that stray from those things!

desire blue sky - first encountered: vgmc11? I can't shake the feeling that I heard it earlier than that, but I don't know when - trend: slightly up
-sometimes the sadder vibes of this track come through a bit more sharply. this is one of those days-- the melancholy of the opening sets up the sense of yearning in the rest of the track, and I feel more in sync with it than I would normally.

Partizans
Flotage (Stage3-B)

Opoona - Partizans
Chaos;Head - Desire Blue Sky

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