Pairing XVI (B)

Listen to the tracks and make your selection.

Download Links:

105 Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo
152 Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil

Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo
Duty calls me, this is my 1 pick. I'm aware of the limitations and scope of this track, but I hope that you could see beyond of its modest appearance. It has an minimalist focus so that there is nothing breathtaking/spectacular here, instead of that, Ocllo chooses the austerity path. The track starts setting up a sorrowful atmosphere with an imperceptible chorus and seconds later a sad nylon guitar melody enters, then it develops a little more until a new instrument appears to complement the new melodic line of the guitar. Then the operation repeats itself and the song finishes with a sweet melancholy. The vote is obligatory.

Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil
Wow, that beginning sounds are like saxophones out of tune. Well, in reality of the song is the same, a sax plays notes at radom with a piano and drums of accompaniment. Wildly improvisational till the point of being abstract noise or hardly music.

Sorry, "Ocllo" is pretty, but I promised myself I'd support its competition before the contest began. I know I'll be the only one, though

There's always room for understatement, at least for me, and Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo does an admirable job of it. It's not the sort of thing for people who demand an assault on the senses at all times, but it's got good atmosphere, good melody, and instrument choices that intelligently complement its minimalistic focus.

I see improvisation as a spectrum. At one end is the brilliance of Sims Build Mode 3, where improvisation gives melody a spontaneous, fresh quality. Lurking in the dark, wailing madness at the other end of the improvisation spectrum is Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil. No melody, no structure, nothing but random, random notes. It's not a song, it's howling chaos that rends the flesh from the living.

I'll take minimalism over nihilism any day of the week.

Yeesh. Ocllo is pretty but kinda dull, but A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil is.. uh.

I'm actually pretty fucking pissed now. Neither of my Tenchu Kurenai nominations made it in, but shit "haha I'm being different" nominations like this do? God damnit.

A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil: best song title in this bracket. Probably the most interesting song as well, and it's sax, so I kind-of have to vote for it.

Originally Posted by Qwarky

"haha I'm being different"

I'm sure that's exactly what SS was thinking.

Ocllo ain't bad either; it reminds me a bit of the PC RPG Siege of Avalon, which no one else on this forum has probably played. I like such medievalish music.

Originally Posted by Aardork

I'm sure that's exactly what SS was thinking.

Aw MAN Secret, WHAT HAVE YOU DONE

Global Network is so good too ;_;

Aw man, Secret. I know you appreciate oddball tracks, but to me, this Deus Machina piece sounds like dolphins being run through a meat grinder while they're on fire.

Ocllo isn't much either, but I didn't get those "chalkboard" chills from it.

Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo
Boring but listenable

Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil
Boring, and I can't listen to it long before wanting to kill a kitten

Originally Posted by orion_mk3

There's always room for understatement, at least for me, and Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo does an admirable job of it. It's not the sort of thing for people who demand an assault on the senses at all times, but it's got good atmosphere, good melody, and instrument choices that intelligently complement its minimalistic focus.

I see improvisation as a spectrum. At one end is the brilliance of Sims Build Mode 3, where improvisation gives melody a spontaneous, fresh quality. Lurking in the dark, wailing madness at the other end of the improvisation spectrum is Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil. No melody, no structure, nothing but random, random notes. It's not a song, it's howling chaos that rends the flesh from the living.

I'll take minimalism over nihilism any day of the week.

QFT.

A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil is the kind of Jazz that I dislike.

Ocllo is another nice understated track, and I'm of the mind there's nothing wrong with more of these.

I'm kinda feeling the Skyscraper track too...only like physical pain.

I'm not familiar at all with the technical aspects of this sort of "free jazz," I don't know if there's something deeper in the performance to really be appreciated, but I don't enjoy it. A vote by default for Ocllo with the admission that I might not know any better.

Ocllo = OMG, what a sad song I love it ;__;
Night in the skyscraper = Allright, I guess this is the first example of what the automatic composer by Sony can do XD

Originally Posted by Crash Landon

Aw man, Secret. I know you appreciate oddball tracks, but to me, this Deus Machina piece sounds like dolphins being run through a meat grinder while they're on fire.

I read that description before I heard the song, and thought that you were just being your usual exaggerated self. Then I turned on the track, waited a second for that first piece of sound... Holy crap, you nailed that one. Dolphins being put through a meat grinder, indeed.

Auto-vote for Occlo.

I don't have a problem with obscure tracks and I'm always opened to new types of music. However, nothing but the first five seconds of Deus Machina Demonbane - A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil were enough to kill my ears. SS, I seriously can't understand how a human being is able to listen to this music for a long period of time. Did you just wanted to be different from the mass? There might be one lonely track right now, crying, since it wasn't able to advance to this contest, just because of that? Well, at least the track's title is rather amusing. Ultima Online Shattered Legacy - Ocllo wins on the basis of being music.


1st: Ultima Online Shattered Legacy - Ocllo
2nd: Deus Machina Demonbane - A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil

105 Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo
152 Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil

Ocllo is too boring, it doesn't have a chance; that Skyscraper track is just plain awesome. It's jazz and it's total weird. It seriously can't get any better than that.

Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo
A simple, and very understated track that features a sad guitar melody accompanied by light chorus. It is a bit short but manages to make up for it by having quality composition.

Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil
This is first really avant-garde piece I have heard so far in this contest, and it really caught my attention for the first few minutes. Manages to evoke a deep sense of uneasiness and fear while not resorting to the usual instrumentation choices. This definitely scores points for originality. Although it is not easy to listen to, the composer was thinking outside of the box with this one, in a good way.

Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo - A beautiful, yet somber tune here. Great use of the synth guitar and I believe that was a synth harp. Good stuff.

Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil - I can't say much about this one since I'm not much of a free jazz fan.

Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo by default.

: 105 Ultima Online Shattered Legacy — Ocllo
: 152 Deus Machina Demonbane — A Night in the Skyscraper Possessed by Evil

Okay, I take it back. Lady Tears II is no longer the most awesome track of all time.