Pairing I (D) (Round 4)

Listen to the tracks and make your selection.

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082 Legend of Mana — Earth Painting (E)
011 OutRun2 — Magical Sound Shower (H)

Well, Yoko's met her match here. Painting is no slouch by any stretch, with its gusto and power, but Sound Shower is Manna from the 80's, and much more (re-)listenable.

"Earth Painting", as I said when it faced "The Laboratory" (I think), is my favourite track from the Legend of Mana soundtrack. I can listen to it whenever and be satisfied when it's done. A very creative piece from Shimomura. However I'm not sure it has a chance when placed up against the awesomeness that is "Magical Sound Shower". Regardless, the Legend of Mana track will get my vote here.

The rythm in Earth painting is to say the least very creative.

0:05-0:10: She uses some melodies that repeat through 2 measures which gives a feeling of reverse rythm. And at the end of those two measures she even adds a new melody or makes a variation of the melody to return to the principal melody. She did a great job with that. You can also see her doing this "adding of new melodies at the end of the measure" in other parts of the song. =>2:50

0:00-0:05: Also right in the beginning she uses two repeated melodies but that little variation at the end makes the melody sound entirely different because the last note comes later in the measure. You can feel the difference.

Of course this song is not in 6/8 but rather 4/8 2/8 which gives all those funny rythms.

The other song is just... weird. I can't get into it. Sure isn't creative uses only minor keys like all other VGM f, g, a and circulating round a, g, f, g, a, g, f, g, a.... sometimes dominant but what's creative about that...

082 Legend of Mana — Earth Painting (E)
011 OutRun2 — Magical Sound Shower (H)

Earth Painting, a.k.a. the best Shimomura song in the entire contest (hands to heart, the others pretty much sucked ass) will get my vote since Magical Sound Shower might be a little bit exciting, but pretty much monotone overall.

"Magical Sound Shower" drones on with downright boring rhythms for too long. It has highlights, but I agree with Musharraf that it's pretty much monotone overall.

I'm a Yoko Shimomura fanboy and "Earth Painting" affirms my love for her music. It's great people are marvelling at its creativity and all-round awesomeness.

Originally Posted by Musharraf

Earth Painting, a.k.a. the best Shimomura song in the entire contest (hands to heart, the others pretty much sucked ass) will get my vote since Magical Sound Shower might be a little bit exciting, but pretty much monotone overall.

Now hold on a cotton-pickin' minute. I'm all for creativity that actually sounds good, and Earth Painting is nothing but a fine piece, but it's not even the fifth-best track on its soundtrack, let alone a top five track in this contest.

Anyway, I like the jazz stylings of Magical Sound Shower better.

Hey a depressing pairing. I'm not fond of either of these, but I didn't even rememver how Earth Painting sounded, so the vote was easy.

4.5/10 MAGICAL SOUND SHOWER
Ah well, too bad for Damlasca Eastersand. This song isn't my favorite. It ultimately repeats way too long. Seriously, 5 minutes is just too much for this obvious melody.

3/10 Earth Painting
Meh. I mean, it's an ok theme and has energy, but it's still just as boring.

Two songs I love. I'll go with Earth Painting more though since this really gets me in an adventuring mood and is awesome whenever I think of it in context. MSS is enjoyable, but I respect Earth Painting more for all the effort of creating an atmosphere.

At first listen to Earth Painting (1 or 2 rounds ago), I was like, "eh." But, now I've grown to really like it. It's a very enjoyable track.

Magical Sound Shower is cool. I wish there was more to it, though.

I'm gonna hold off on voting just for a bit; I want to give Magical Sound Shower some more time. I will likely pick Earth Painting, though.

Evil pairing redux. But it's a somewhat good sign because having good songs fight it out makes these contests all that more interesting.

I'd be rather sad to see either one go. "Magical Sound Shower" was a big surprise for me (as was "Nightless City Guara Bobelo"). It has some really neat instrumentation and percussion lines. The melody is pretty good as well and very easy going. But I do think the song could be even better. It's missing something...

"Earth Painting". I decided to nominate it based on someone's suggestion last year. That and I really like the song as well for the strong sense of adventure I get everytime I listen to it. What I find particularly appealing is the texturing and layering in the track. Very nice. Add a rousing melody, some very neat variations, great percussion work and "Earth Painting" is easily a winner in my books.

Originally Posted by Musharraf

Earth Painting, a.k.a. the best Shimomura song in the entire contest (hands to heart, the others pretty much sucked ass) will get my vote since Magical Sound Shower might be a little bit exciting, but pretty much monotone overall.

If you like monotonous songs, you'll love Earth Painting.

OK, yeah. Earth Painting is a great song, but the instant that the MAGICAL SOUND SHOWER OF DRIVING IN A CONVERTABLE starts, I am in love.


Aural sex, indeed.

Drat.

Oh well, at least now I won't ever be banned from #nwifi for voting Magical Sound Shower over Zero like I said I would.

i'll just be banned for not voting for The Unsung War again

The song that beat the song that beat Silver Surfer - Track 6 lost to Earth Painting? Ugh. Sometimes you people are just crazy.