Preliminary Match #2

Listen to all four songs and select the one you like best.

Rei-Nana - Rondo of the Dust Balls
Waterworld - Mission Theme 1
Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations - Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee
Men at Work! 2 - Maze of Twilight

Rondo of the Dust Balls: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Mission Theme 1: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:
Maze of Twilight: Get the Flash Player to play this audio file:

Wow. I haven't heard any of the songs in this matchup... Let's see.

"Rondo of the Dust Bells" has some nice pleasantries in it. Kinda whimsical with some nice contrasts in the various sections of the piece to keep it from sounding too monotonous. Another surprise!

"Mission Theme 1" has a nice bass line beat, but I found it to be a bit repetitive and not really engaging. It does have its catchy moments though.

"Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee" is ok. Standard jazz fare. This one really didn't stick with me that much.

"Maze of Twilight" had a nice mysterious air to it. The melody was decent. It kinda has an old school feel to it. It's quite pleasant and I enjoy the woodwind work.

Let's see...Rei Nana or Men at Work 2. I'll go with "Maze of Twilight"

Rei-Nana - Rondo of the Dust Balls Not a whole lot of melody here, but some very interesting rhythm and textures. I think that a little nudge more might have put this one over the top from "good" to "great."

Waterworld - Mission Theme 1 I remember a Waterworld theme doing well in SotW some time back. While this track is cut from the same cloth, it has none of the charms in "Diving." A mildly interesting rhythm doesn't really stack up, and the melody is flat save for a few nice key changes. Disappointing.

Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney - Trials and Tribulations - Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee I've ranted and raved before about the inexplicable fondness for dull and repetitive Phoenix Wright tracks. I always hope that I'll find one that'll prove me wrong, but this ain't it. Aiming for sultry jazz is one thing, but it winds up being a Sominex.

Men at Work! 2 - Maze of Twilight The acoustic guitar is interesting, and the song certainly has a morose and, well, mazey sound down, but somehow it manages to be less than the sum of its parts.

A bit flat compared to the stellar first match, but still some quality to be had.

1: Rei-Nana
2: Men at Work 2
3: Waterworld
4: Phoenix Wright

None of these will last long in the contest proper (hopefully). But for now, let's give Dust Balls a good solid kick in the...well, standings.

Let me guess, Rei-nana is another h-game, I mean visual novel. Oh, it is.

So is Men at Work! 2, your point?

I am pretty sure "ha ha, porno music what the fuck" is its own point

oh...................

No particular point against h-games, I was just smug I could tell from the music.

Rondo of Dust Balls - weird name, interesting song. Not catchy/memorable though

Mission Theme 1 is definitely c00l with those funky beats. Saving it.

An old little jazzy tune in Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee did nothing for me. It was just there as a lounger.

Maze of Twilight seemed the most recent work in this pairing. Found it a little short and lacking memorability.

Mission Theme 1

Originally Posted by Qwarky

No particular point against h-games, I am just smug.

Sorry, couldn't resist!

Incidentally, am I the only person who was reminded of Mario Kart when I listened to Rondo of the Dust Balls? That was enough to make me vote for it.

I really enjoy Yack's Rei-Nana soundtrack, and "Rondo of the Dust Ball" is no exception. Like some have noted, there isn't much of a melody here, but its charming and hypnotising nonetheless. Very nice.

6 minutes, huh? Here we go... *6 minutes later* ...well that was kind of disappointing/underwhelming. I don't think this here "Mission Theme 1" will be getting my vote.

The theme to Godot, "Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee", is admittedly pretty cool and loungey. It's got a nice, laid-back jazz melody infused with blues and melancholia. As much as I love it in-game, and even though it fits Godot to a tee, I don't think it really belongs in a contest such as this.

^___^ for Men at Work! "Maze of Twilight" has a great atmosphere and tempo, and the clarinet (?) does wonders at enhancing the mood. But there's just not enough melody/charisma for me to grab on to here. A pretty awesome dungeon theme, though.

"Rondo of the Dust Balls" - 8/10
"Mission Theme 1" - 2.5/10
"Godot ~ The Fragrance of Dark Coffee" - 7/10
"Maze of Twilight" - 7.5/10

I've loved Waterworld's soundtrack ever since I heard Diving, and Mission Theme 1 has enough variation and interesting stuff to keep me going for six minutes. Godot's Theme gets the runner-up vote, though the DS version - which I can provide if the song makes it in - is a tad better. Maze of Twilight is pretty but a tad forgettable, and Rondo of Dust Balls did nothing for me.

This is such a tough match. I really enjoyed all four of these songs. But, I'll end up going with the I-nominated-this bias, and give the Waterworld track my vote. I am in love with that song, and can listen to it for long strings of time. The whole soundtrack is great.

But if Mission Theme 1 doesn't advance, I won't mind if the others do, they are all good stuff. I wish every match was like this, where I was presented with nothing but quality and forced to pick.

Wow, I must say I'm surprised. I thought the Water World track was the obvious choice, but instead it stands in last place!

Not really feeling any of these but I'll give a vote to Rondo, the melody's interesting enough to keep my attention for a bit.

I wasn't terribly fond of any of these songs, but Rondo of Dust balls will do. It at least manages to not be quite as repetitive as the other selections.

Unfortunately, this may be my one chance to make a Land Down Under joke before Maze of Twilight gets bounced from this contest.

Hmm, there´s not much to Mission Theme 1, but I kinda like it best in this matchup. It´s so laid-back an relaxed, I could listen to it quite for a while. Is this really a SNES track? Sure doesn´t sound like it.