Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 35! Tundra / Tron's / SkyOfTwilight / Omega / Beautiful Song / GiveMe

(+) Yeah! (+)

Important Links:
Bracket: https://www.bracketmaker.com/tlist.cfm?tid=474630
Contest info sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/16XAaBMDuUnQ4c5AxQNL9ZhvD7VG5kQyrXWWZxnkrn-o
Contest discussion thread: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/8-gamefaqs-contests/79443554
Main bracket playlist: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLT3m7iohpL0xt7lOF1eB-H4NpAaF1yAnU
Compatibility sheet (courtesy of Haste!!): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1iGYWo_ifr_p2uYpD_I6TwBQS2tm7zJtPCxYZfRJcG8I
Last years spreadsheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1VNrPnFRI7nJ4PqFiURBW0NWqxvXiuasoq8Sn_O169ss
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 @Toxtricity, or post your absentee vote in the discussion thread!

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Match 1

Mega Man 11 - Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Composer: Marika S

tron
omega
Beautifull

I still can't get over the decision to specify these tracks as "Instrumental". I like this one significantly more than Fuse Man, but still don't find too much to note about it aside from the cool intro lick. Parts feel like Flash music... take that as you will

haha what

kokokokokokokoko hasnt even been in we dont need this three years in a row!

A low-tier PSO2 song, but a PSO2 song nonetheless

Give me an actual opera song

Give me something else

---

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!
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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

give me some junkies to eat
give me some oil to drink
give me some junkies hurray
wacha wacha wa cho cho
even the doctor is not
aware of my true character
i smash everything up
but that a reflection of shyness
boo-yah
give me some junkies to eat
give me some oil to drink
give me some junkies hurray
wa cho cho
i feel very depressed
after being barked by a dog at night
i even forget how to walk
in front of my pretty sweet
when you're in a mood like this (like this)
the resolution might be is to
go on dancin
cause when you join the party (the party)
you feel as though small worries or problems fadin
when you're in a mood like this (like this)
the resolution might be is to
go on eatin
cause when you join the party (the party)
you feel as though small worries or problems fadin

---

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me! (Pistol Dick)

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Mega Man 11 - Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky - Sky of Twilight
NieR: Automata - A Beautiful Song
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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

---

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Listenable Song

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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

- I am in love with the piano on the Instrumental tracks, since the synth-style original track is... just too speedy and doesn't really work with anything except for Fuse Man. The Saturn one just sounds like every platformer in the 90s to me, unfortunately.
- Of course, I immediately go to the heavily synthed Rival theme instead, 'cuz it's so much cooler than, like, every MM11 theme. Even though it's against some really cool part of Atelier (I love when that one cuts out and goes funky, and alternates between it and guitar shredding/drum smashing.) This match is almost a coin-flip. Almost. The constant tempo and mood shifting from Sky did this one for me.
- It's a NieR song, and one of my favorite ones from Automata, at that.

And now for something negative, unfortunately:
You're still not my bottom 5, but you're close, Give Me.

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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

tundra man is nice. nothing too special but i like it
90s. didn't anticipate the main synth being what it was when the rest is what it is. it kinda doesn't really go together. some of its funky parts are kind of lost on me. also what's up with the low loop point that guitar part near the end clearly wasn't the same as the one before

hey guess what i again don't hate sky of twilight as much this year. helps when it's been a while since there were last tons of (better) kanako ito songs in the bracket
omega has nothing on gamma's theme but it's pretty good. not as big on it as i was around noms tho

a beautiful song suffers from being a song like from yuuki yuuna that isn't actually . actually i take that back, it doesn't really suffer as it's still easily identifiable as actually very good. I love keigo hoashi's contributions to yuknieryunagard automata and this is a very good selection as far as they go
i love this so much and i hate i am not voting for it

would probably be my favourite song in the entire bracket if it was video game music in this video game music contest. also i should probably get around to picking up some of the yuuki yuuna ost albums since the first one considering the next season is due this year

Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

I was much hotter on Omega during the buildup to the vgmc. Something just feels off about it right now. It's still good, but I have more respect for Sky of Twilight tonight.

Sky of Twilight [8]
Rival - Omega [8]
Tron's Castle [7.5]
Tundra Man [7.5]
Beautiful Song [7]
Give Me! [5]

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

Damn, after 3 contests I guess I finally have to vote for Sky of Twilight (yes I checked, previous opponents were Intersection Me/You, Demon Truck, WildStar/Cold Science, Flotage). This song frustrates me endlessly because I hear so many good things and cool sounds and I want to cheer for Atelier, but it's all put together in a way that becomes the hottest of messes. Luckily, 5:20 to the end comes in with the clutch save to provide a genuinely good ending to the highway traffic jam that is the other 85% of the song...

https://tenor.com/view/garen-joker-dance-gif-18909841
https://giphy.com/gifs/season-4-the-simpsons-4x16-3o6MbrDHT7ZIUEbGvK
https://giphy.com/gifs/johnny-bravo-do-the-monkey-with-me-BcIrdipO6yRAA
https://giphy.com/gifs/kingfisherworld-xT4uQ9YaYbY0qPBJ6g

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

-(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. wow this song was repetitive i can't believe it was just hte same thing over and over for 5 minutes i do like the style of this song; piano is fun~! i'm a bit less averse to mm11 music than some people are, but do agree with sentiments that it's melodically unmemorable---which in a style as melody-centric as megaman, is a problem. luckily i typically focus more on production/chords/arrangement than melodic line anyways, and both the electronic and ""instrumental"" songs are pretty interesting in that department imo. the rapid piano 16ths are so HAMAUZU or something and i like that.)-

-[I regularly reference how much I get into music with constantly changing tonal center---that's not just like some "music theory thing" i like because i notice it or whatever, it's EXACTLY what makes me have the most strong instinctual emotional response to a song and i blame growing up on electronic music that's really transposition-based like super monkey ball and Orbital. but there's one thing about this song in particular that makes that even more special to me, which is the same thing I mentioned on Calling, except REAL this time. for SOME REASON "the note one chromatically above the tonal center" being highlighted in a song, as a thing it's just the most like GUHHG!!! AAAHHH (sex sounds) it feels GOOD that someone can do in a song to me. it's not even that "complex" of a concept, but it's not a standard thing to deviate from the initial diatonic scale in that particular way. but this song does it!! the chord progression is really just modulating the whole song up and down a whole step back and forth. That'd be pretty simple and not even odd sounding particularly, if it weren't for the way CHAMY always loves to highlight those sorta movements by loudly expressing which notes in the scale are suddenly totally different than before. when the melody layer comes in, moments like :33/:42/:59 wind up standing out so much~! and the song's funky and catchy enough that all this just feels natural. It's just exactly what I want music to be
~~~~~
chamy's tonal sense is bizarre and this song is actually kinda light for him, while still absolutely 1000% sounding like him lol (i mean it's not confirmed as indicated by the composer text listing, but having gone through enough stuff i feel like there's no way this isn't him). the main thing i like is his chord change sense which is some of the closest i've ever felt anyone get to zzzv; but he's also just good at being FUNKY but in a more "Michael Jackson" way than zan. there's some more overtly dissonant parts later in the track that are reminiscent of WACHENRODER (also an ost chamy is on), and i do respect those bits, but more than anything i'm actually much more into the more "conventional" melodic/catchy earlier sections. this might come as a surprise coming from me, but this is THE way to write the kinds of melodies that i enjoy, melodies written around a constantly moving tonal center, even if it's a simple as modulating back and forth up and down a whole step. and tons of stuff highlighting the F# whenever the key switches to Eb minor rather than F, my favorite possible chord/melody movement combo really. It helps that the lead's all fun and fifths harmonized and stuff too~!! such a fun INSIdE A COMPUTER(tron) sound. i could talk about "music theory stuff" with this song far more, but what interests me isn't really that, what interests me is the combination of this particular electronic funky style on THESE plastic-y 90s synth rompler sounds (my favorite type of sound...) and THIS exact melodic/chord style that works so perfectly for emotional response and catchiness to me and (yes this is one of the songs i like because it perfectly merges a combination of a bunch of stuff i look for in music that's difficult to find together simultaneously)
~~~~~
I have to thank Place hugely for inadvertently getting me obsessed with this composer. Place used THIS sonic song in a vgm guessing game (which i immediately fell in love with because of its super specifically odd tonal sense being perfectly to my tastes):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9udb32Dlf4
~~~~~
and although the indiv composer of that sonic rush track isn't confirmed, it's not one of the naganuma ones, and out of everyone on the rest of the list of that sound team, Masayoshi Ishi (CHAMY) seems almost certain based on the style of his other stuff. It shocked me when i realized it was the same CHAMY as Wachenroder, which has been one of my fav soundtracks ever since i first heard it. anyways my reaction to that sonic rush realization got me and HidekuniHorita going through and digging for anything vaguely similar on soundtracks chamy is on that we could find. and man, even though he's mostly not confirmed to be the specific composer of any of this stuff, his style is DISTINCT like, when there's 5 composers on some game chamy's on, you can TELL it's "the same person who composed Tron's Castle or Theme of Sonic's Event" on some of this stuff. his tonal sense is just so unique, and instrumentation he's attracted to stands out to me as well. Absolutely one of my favorite vgm composers at this point. Thanks so much to Place and HidekuniHorita for being a part of this discovery of a gem in this scene with me.
~~~~~
another "probably masayoshi ishi" favorite for no reason, much prettier than tron's castle or or the sonic rush one, but still retaining the absolutely unique tonal sense, reminds me a lot of p-*gets shot and DIES*:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uq2omzp6MhY]-

-{oh no now i am dead}-

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-(i like how sky of twilight sounds like a normal anime song (and a GOOD kind of one at that) but then it EXPLONES O_o)-

-[rival omega is "weird parallel harmony that sounds like it is inside a computer" HELL hole which makes sense because omega is a computer, but before i thought about that i was like "wtf is this doing in sonic (pso2) and not pso2?" i don't have much to say about specifics but it has an oddly uncomfortable but COOL ultra synthetic tonal sense i'm in love with and energetic electronic fun!! :30 is SO COOL. there's always this lingering sense of discomfort; like your opponent exudes dark and destructive absolutely artificial energy (accurate), like all these backing synth pads at 1:32 are like HAUNTING wtf. so much about this song feels 'wrong', in any context other than this exact instrumentation: but within it, it's pretty amazing at being this emotionally ambiguous computer song with just enough aura of unsettlingness to be perfect and still be a song you can run really fast to while listening to it...]-

-{honestly this pso2 song being on the same day as a chamy song is really perfect. two "really tonally weird songs by sega composers that are absolutely not what most people think sega is but are exactly why i love sega music so much"}-

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[continued...]
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[...continued]

-(i can't believe there was ever a time i disliked nier music. i really can't relate to my old self well at all...not in terms of what i liked then (i still like /most/ of what i liked then to a degree) but in terms of what i loudly complained about. becoming open to more things i guess is a useful trait to have...! but like i get super excited about nier music !! it's not just like "oh yeah i am tolerant of it" it's like an active JOY. how did i ever hate stuff like this? that said this song doesn't really stand out to me too much, i have to focus in on it to really appreciate it, but once i do i can find lots to love. this is actually a track i have fun reading lyrics alongside. the break at 1:39 with just the focus on the really really cool vocal articulations there...so good and chilling. what a beautiful song)-

-[this song's a bit too silly without being "quirky" enough for me to get into it, but it does have some disco-like elements i can get behind. the strings in the background are actually great! behind the goofy vocals there's a hidden amount of Cool Disco Drama like Gloria Gaynor i also can't unhear "give me some that pistol dick" after hearing others make that quote and that makes me smile because it is so funny...! I actually respect this song quite a bit, but i would be lying if i said i enjoyed it unfortunately]-

-{pretty interesting day; really a fan of bracket d in general, even the songs i don't rate highly are "interesting" inclusions that i respect}-

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Tron's Castle (10th/208)
Rival - Omega (31st/208)
Sky of Twilight (54th/208)
A Beautiful Song (103rd/208)
Tundra Man Stage (142nd/208)
Give Me! (202nd/208)

like much of bracket d for me, stacked, and songs that fluctuate between various Very High positions (resulting in impending "basically coinflip" matches if things go my way in r1, which is why my favorites bracket results are basically random at the moment)
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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

I was like "okay I know exactly how this Atelier vocal is going to" and then it just started switching to a different song every twenty seconds for the rest of the track. For the record, that's not a complaint; the song is great

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Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Tundra Man isn't bad. Y'know the more I listen to MM11 music, the more I end up liking it. Very pretty sounds here.

Tron's Castle is FUNKy, this hits just the right spot

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SoT is pretty great, wasn't a fan of how the vocals mixed with this when I heard this years back, but actually I like the whole thing now! (also the instrumental version of this isn't that great)

Rival - Omega has a cool "GameCube racing game" vibe about it, I dunno, maybe it's missing something. It has a lot of energy though!

---

Meh, I've heard more "beautiful" songs than this (actually I like this).

hmmm let's listen to Give Me *clicks play*


---

Castle
Sky
Beautiful
---

Mega Man 11 - Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky - Sky of Twilight
NieR: Automata - A Beautiful Song

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental) (104th) vs Tron's Castle (140th)
Sky of Twilight (20th) vs Rival - Omega (28th)
A Beautiful Song (128th) vs Give Me! (165th)

who did i hurt to make match 2 a thing wtf. these two are like basically tied and right now listening i feel omega more but like christ what the fuck.

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

tron's castle kinda amazing... wtf

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
Give Me!

I've heard Give Me! before and found it annoying, but it really clicked with me today! Very goofy and fun.

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
Give Me!

---

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

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Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

First match was simple. Don't feel too strongly about either of these tracks, but Willy Wombat held my interest longer and does some neat things. Nothing I've heard from MM11 so far has really managed to grab or impress me which is a damn shame.

I love Shade and I love Kanako Ito. This song is like my ideal J-rock style theme. It manages to be a well-executed pop song but also brings in diverse elements from other genres and cooks them together into an eclectic and esoteric potpourri of ideas. In short, the kind of thing that draws me to Japanese vocal music in the first place. As for the other track, Kobayashi is Kobayashi, only this Kobayashi feels a little more phoned in than his usual output for Phantasy Star.

Straightforward match. All I can really say is that while I thoroughly enjoy it, I'm not as hot on Hoashi's contributions to Automata as most people are. I'll take Taro's stuff any day of the week. (Possessed by Disease <3)

R-Man posted...

Straightforward match. All I can really say is that while I thoroughly enjoy it, I'm not as hot on Hoashi's contributions to Automata as most people are. I'll take Taro's stuff any day of the week. (Possessed by Disease <3)

Err, Okab(a)e. Not sure why I wrote Taro there but you get my point.

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Tundra Man is fun, though I like some MM11 songs more (Block Man baby). Tron's Castle doesn't do anything for me.

Sky of Twilight coming back so many times is a little strange. I do still like it. Wonder if I'll get around to Escha & Logy someday? Omega is a gooder too.

Wow I like almost all the songs today, nice. ABS isn't a top tier Nier song but it's one of the good ones for sure! Give Me also sounds pretty fun.

A Beautiful Song > Sky of Twilight > Rival - Omega > Give Me! > Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental) > Tron's Castle
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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
Give Me!

Willy Wombat - Tron's Castle
Atelier Escha & Logy: Alchemists of the Dusk Sky - Sky of Twilight
NieR: Automata - A Beautiful Song
---

Tundra
Sky
Beautiful

Pretty easy day for voting (esp. with Beautiful Song being my nom), but Give Me had me laughing in a good way.

---

Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

There are some parts of Give Me that had a nice groove but man that chorus is too out there.

---

Tundra Man
Sky of Twilight?
A Beautiful Song

first match is close
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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
Give Me!

Tron's Castle
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
Give Me!

Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
Give Me!

listening to match 3 last night I felt like the nier song was easily getting my vote but the way it calls itself "A Beautiful Song" bugged the heck out of me so I waited and relistened and the more I listen to the Nier song the less I like it while now I'm also feeling a little better about the Shake song than I did last night so good job

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Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Sky of Twilight
A Beautiful Song

Sky of Twilight good.

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Tron's Castle
Rival - Omega
A Beautiful Song

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Mega Man 11 - Tundra Man Stage (Instrumental)
Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games - Rival - Omega
NieR: Automata - A Beautiful Song

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