Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 85! Kill Command/Dark Pit, Aquatic Ambience/Wind Calls to Shevat

(+) 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 thre

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - Kill Command
Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

pit ig
shevvet

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

Pit 2
Shevat

Feels very awkward voting against a song I supported, especially when it's up for retirement.

Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

I think today is the most impartial I feel about my votes, haha.

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Three great songs and one bad one, though one of the three is easily above the other two. Unfortunately, that's the one facing the bad one! Seriously, how did Kill Command make it this far?

Kid Icarus: Uprising - Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

-
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

The Silver Case - YUME [Morishima Tokio Remix] (Masafumi Takada arr. Erika Ito)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utmKE0LF31o

Getting a bit more into the weeds here. Takada's capable of big, bold tracks (like the one in today's match) but also of more subdued, mood-setting ones. The original Silver Case was one of Takada's earlier soundtracks, and had more of the latter, though Morishima Tokio is among its more prominently melody-driven tracks. This is a remix from the 2016 remaster by Erika Ito; it's a pretty cool take. Some people might be thrown off by the vocal samples used here, but I think it adds a certain charm. (I was very tempted to use Kid Icarus: Uprising - Into the Labyrinth here-- for obvious reasons but also because I think it's one of the coolest tracks on that soundtrack.)

Kid Icarus: Uprising - Aurum Island (Yuzo Koshiro)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iy_Hi4f63Jg

Kinda 3DS Etrian Odyssey labyrinth vibes. I really dig the different effects and envelopes Koshiro puts the opening sounds through. His production here feels very sharp. The big band comes in and it's slightly spy movie vibes. It's a very catchy track; the bombast feels almost tongue-in-cheek and the whole thing just feels like it's having a blast. Really fun stuff. (Was strongly tempted to use something from Beyond the Labyrinth here, especially if I used Into the Labyrinth as my previous choice, but also because Beyond the Labyrinth is almost certainly my favourite Sakuraba soundtrack; check it out if you're interested in Sakuraba-style minimalism.)

Yooka-Laylee and the Impossible Lair - Factory Fright (David Wise)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PgPRmh1pfew

'Factory Fright?' The gall. This is, of course, very DKC in style, right down to those echo-y percussive sound effects and similarly rhythmic, fairly reverb-heavy pluck synths. It's a pretty straightforward track by those standards, but those standards are something that can still click, even now.

Arc Rise Fantasia - A Grand Existence (Yasunori Mitsuda)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9SSjiDh-7Ok

Tension-driven 6/8 by Mitsuda; You've heard it before in something like Undersea Palace, complete with metallic clangs. I like the intensity of the track; the electronic elements are welcome and some of the chord choices, like in 0:12 and the progression from 0:32 to 0:47, are very nice. Harp ostinatos as 'mysterious locale' mood-setter, also a Mitsuda staple! He knows his tools, and he uses them well.

Kid Icarus: Uprising - Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Kommand
Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Huh, first day I've been able to actually enjoy Dark Pit. Still very much sounds like Sakuraba just swapped guitars and that will never not be funny to me but that's not really a bad thing

I don't love Shevat, but it feels a lot more consistent than Secret of the Forest with its mood, and it's pleasant enough.

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Command
Ambiance

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
8.25 (Rating) | 106/256 (Ranking) | 19/32 (R4 Ranking) | 6/16 (C3 Ranking)
Dark Pit
5.45 (Rating) | 238/256 (Ranking) | 32/32 (R4 Ranking) | 13/16 (C3 Ranking) (sheesh c3 had a lot of stuff i didn't like that much. i feel like i've been overly harsh on dark pit to be fair but it's like... as far as flamenco goes and as far as sakuraba goes it's just kind of there, so it only gets a moderately positive reaction from me hence the barely above average rating (yes 5 is still average to me blame vgmc for being good usually))

Aquatic Ambiance
8.45 (Rating) | 81/256 (Ranking) | 14/32 (R4) | 8/16 (C4)
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky
8.7 (Rating) | 48/256 (Ranking) | 8/32 (R4) | 2/16 (C4) (remarkable thing is that even though the highest song in c4 for me was only 8.85 (lower than average for a division), 11 songs were over 8 (and i still liked all but 1 of the rest). packed corner. still not the strongest div in C since C2 had blorb/cmyk/arceus etc and C1 wasn't far off too but still)

Donkey Kong Country - Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Kid Icarus: Uprising - Chapter 6: Dark Pit

Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

abstain for now
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

27. Kill Command
21. Chapter 6: Dark Pit
12. Aquatic Ambiance
14. The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Votes:
Chapter 6: Dark Pit
abstain

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Year of Nintendo...

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Kill Command is a bunch of cool parts strung together in a nonsensical structure. Dark Pit is a bunch of cool parts strung together in a logical structure. Cohesion makes a big difference in music.

Aquatic Ambiance is cool ambience. Shevat is also cool ambience. Possibly the closest match of the contest for me. I think I'm gonna go with Shevat though.

Very good day other than Kill Command.

Votes:
Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Shevat -The Wind Calls-

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
Aquatic Ambiance

Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair - Kill Command
Xenogears - The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

I'm fine with all four of these songs, I suppose. I'm definitely feeling both entrants of the second match more than the first.

I enjoy both Kill Command and Dark Pit, but Pit is less satisfying to me.

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambience

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

2nd match was tough since both are good but leave me wanting a little more

Kill Command
Aquatic Ambiance

Chapter 6: Dark Pit
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

Kill Command
The Wind Calls to Shevat in the Blue Sky

yes lets keep this dk killing train going shall we