Board 8 > [VGMC] Day 95! Tachi v The Lost City [Bracket D Finals]

(+) 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/80142029
Contest discussion thread, old: 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!

.

Match 1

Neotokyo - Tachi
Composer: Ed Harrison
Loop Point: 5:30
Genre: MAGIC BULLET
https://www.y

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City

stopped listening after the first ba. what the fuck is this shit? whoever supported this should be ashamed

well... this beats tachi, which says very little. actually wait that guitar at 1:41 is great. i've never heard that before. that alone makes it better than anything else that somehow got this far

Tachi

The Lost City

The Lost City

The Lost City

The Lost City

The Lost City

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/user_image/2/3/4/AAUC3iAADn_a.jpg

i vote for the high end massage device or whatever
hi*Tachi*
so i don't get my vote DQd for being too big brain

The Lost City

The Lost City

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City

The Lost City

Tachi

The Lost City

Eep. I was supposed to vote for Tachi today, but The Lost City is clearly more satisfying to me today. There is the possibility of flipping later if I have a clear preference for Tachi tomorrow.

The Lost City

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City

The Lost City

the last bastion of the Alto's Sweep that remains... please....

The Lost City

The Lost City

This is an interesting match for me because it's two songs that aren't really my thing, but they each do things I can appreciate and in completely opposite ways.

Tachi, like most Neotokyo, is a mood. It's dark, grungy, and has just enough odd sounds/vocal samples (ba) to hint at some eerie dystopian future. It has plenty of layers and weird things going on, with well-defined dynamics, and I'm often a sucker for a strong bass line like the intro. I don't think of any one part as being very interesting, which is why I don't rank it very highly, but as a whole it's a decent experience.

The Lost City is by far my favorite of the three Alto songs that were in this contest, and the only one I can kind of get into. It feels more dynamic than the others, and some of the things it does with its 7/8 time signature are pretty neat - the wind melody at 1:07 dividing into 5+2 isn't something I hear much. It's hard to really put into words why it doesn't land with me more, but I think ultimately this kind of "minimalist" (is that still the appropriate word? feels less so than something like An Endless Desert) music is too subdued to really evoke as much in me as it could.

If I were to score these songs, I'd probably rate The Lost City higher (and it was the higher of the two when I ranked the retirees), but when put side by side like this, I think I'll take the one that's easier to get into over the one that's more rhythmically interesting.

Tachi

(ba)

Neotokyo - Tachi

Tachi was honestly a nice surprise overall from the contest, it's def my fav still in, especially now lol
Def takes my vote here, there's more songs like Lost City i feel accomplish what its trying to do (while admirable and not bad) a lot better.

City

The Lost City

Lost City

Incredibly close, and a worthy finals.

The Lost City

Tachi

Tachi is pretty great! It's grown on me a lot over the course of the contest. My feelings about The Lost City haven't changed that much in comparison. Nonetheless:

The Lost City

The Lost City

Neotokyo - Tachi

write-in vote for Murasaki Tsurugi Azure Sword probably

Tachi

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City

Today's axial:

[3.65] The Lost City
[RADI.8] Tachi

The Lost City

Tachi

both good

Tachi

Tachi

Tachi

The best part of Tachi is the percussion. There's such a variety of it, and each sample is used purposefully and adds a lot to the overall soundscape of the piece. This is definitely the closest R6 match for me. But I think I'm feeling Tachi a bit more today.

Vote:
Tachi

Tachi

The Lost City

The Lost City

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City

Alto's Odyssey: The Lost City - The Lost City

Tachi is a song I don't think I could ever get sick of listening to. It is immaculate. It perfectly captures a very specific "-core" I have, which Janus nailed down: it hints at an eerie dystopian future. I love music that can capture a stark, mechanical outcome of the world; Neotokyo has that in spades. (Its a testament to the strength of that soundtrack that Tachi, a 9/10, is at most my fourth highest ranked song from it I prefer Tin Soldiers, Annul, and Imbrium. But all four are amazing.) Tachi is such an experience to listen to, full of dynamic, ever-changing effects and omnipresent bas, a Neotokyo staple. Watching this song do so well this year has been so wild. Its such a specifically me song, and most of those tend not to do well in VGMC. Yet Tachi has persisted, winning at times very convincingly even! Because its so different from the other retirees (and because theres a vocal contingent of voters who insist on smacktalking it) I keep thinking of it as the underdog. But who knows? Maybe Tachi has more surprises left in store...

If its supposed to be the Year of Todd Baker, why does he only have one song left, huh?! Not going to lie, I constantly mix up all three Altos songs and I never quite know what Im getting until I click on the link. Thats not inherently a bad thing, since I like all three! I think The Lost City is my favorite of the bunch, even. The song fully encapsulates the going on a journey feeling other retirees exhibit, but Baker puts his own spin on it by making the journey seem, well, fun! The folky guitar anchors the song around a menagerie of sound that all serves to make a very pleasing soundscape. It reminds me of beginnings, of new adventures, of acknowledging the past but moving onward to the future. Its a song that makes me happy for a time I never knew I lived.

Tachi

City

planned to vote for tachi oops

Tachi

The Lost City

--
Tachi [7.8]
The Lost City [9]

The magic of Todd Baker calls to me here, as neat as Tachi's vibes are.

Tachi