Less Ashamed Of Self

I thought the link might've gone to

I think one of the cooler things I'm picking up along the way is researching games that I've never heard of. I keep hitting soundtracks where I have to stop and say: 'huh... what kind of game IS this anyway' Usually the screenshots tell enough.

Yeah. I know what you mean. I might just listen to the nerdy show instead of OCAD. I can't even download OCAD if I WANTED to right now.

Tattoo it to your forehead. Yeah, YT it and try to keep the quality of the upload high. (720p > 360p, but that doesn't really matter for the viewing party...) In the mean time you can feel free to do another one. There's no limits on this.

I tried to narrow it down to 3 tracks each time. Usually showing off the variety of the type of songs in the soundtrack over my personal favourites. Also; Power Rangers is coming up, wait for it.

Some of you may remember, nearly 2 years ago now, I d/led a torrent of all of the snes soundtracks from snesmusic.org and started a thread proclaiming I was going to listen to all of them and bring forward my reviews and remarks. Well, it's still a massive, daunting task and I've been going through them at a very slow and inconsistent rate. I dropped the project for nearly 10 months at one point. Nonetheless, I hit a checkpoint tonight and thought I'd share my first installment in the on-going series of LAOS' SNES Listening Project. As of tonight I've listened through RSNs #-B; approx: 60 hours, 31 minutes, and 10 seconds. 2,614 Tracks out of 24,703. ~10% DISCLAIMER 1: Before I start I want to mention that I'm AWARE that this is going to take forever if I don't pick up the pace, I don't CARE if you can do it faster, and I KNOW that they continually update the site making my list ALREADY 2 years obsolete. DISCLAIMER 2: The following responses are my OPINIONS. I tend to favour music that's unusual or unique (you would too after some mundane soundtracks) as WELL as skillful. If you're pissed I skipped over a favourite game of yours or you think a track I included sucks that's fine. You can listen to all the SNES music too and post YOUR thoughts. All music mentioned below I highlighted because I felt it was: 'worth mentioning'. I like it, I think it shows of the craft of snes composition, and there's currently no rhyme or reason to HOW MANY songs/soundtracks get mentioned. For your convenience, I have d/led and assembled every track mentioned below into the following zip files: RSNS SPCS RSNS ( 14 / 118 ) 7th Saga - Covers a lot of styles, sticks with a pretty plain organ-centered, lo-fi instrument base. Some dissonance issues but overall, a great message. Cute, plucky, heartfelt, rich, poor, and frequently epic. An RPG soundtrack for sure but one that stands apart. Tracks of note: Beginning of a Tale, Lux Tizer, The Farthest Reaches Aero the Acro-Bat 2 - Much better than it's prequel for sound quality, lots of variation, chill vibe throughout, a few slick solos. Tracks of note: Disco Fever (Act 2), Performer's Dungeon (Act 1), Performer's Dungeon (Act 3) Arabian Nights - Not every song is a winner, not award winning... but lots of character and variation. Absolutely worth a listen. Lots of make-shift sounds/instruments here that I suspect were made by accident and left in. Tracks of note: Cave, Ancient Temple, Flying Carpet Axelay - A pretty impressive little opus, lots of tempo, time signature variation. Incredible drumming concepts. Very epic. Many trends of the sci-fi style of that time are sneaking in here (listen for Super Metroid, Star Fox). Study and remix. Tracks of note: Silence, Cosmic Dance, The Moment Of Rest Bugs Bunny: Rabbit Rampage - Incredible instrumental comprehension. It's not one I'd listen to over and over, and it's impossible to tell what's borrowing from Loony Toons, classical music, standard anthems, or a clean slate. Still, a lot of material here shows seamless blending, a ridiculous amount of change-ups, and impresive complexity. Tracks of note: Elmer's Crew, Sheer Genius, Things That Go Bugs In The Night Battle Clash - Very full chords, satisfying progressions, and very fast unique phrasing. Tracks of note: Garam, Small Talk, Schneider Brandish 2 - There are a lot of cool instruments and ideas in here. A broad range of upbeat character-filled pieces. Very realistic banjo and accordian for it's time. Tracks of note: Battle Point Version B, Wood, Laboratory Bobby's World - No I'm not kidding. There's some great sounding poppy material here which you can tell was written by a skilled ear. Nothing incredibly lengthy or intricate, but very catchy melodies (yes sometimes to the point of nausea), and skilled instrumentation & notation. Incredible considering with looping it's just shy of 12 minutes to listen to it in it's entirety. You'll thank me. Tracks of note: Space, Fish Tank, Haunted Closet The Brainies - What to say about the Brainies? This is a really weird soundtrack. That's saying something. An obscure puzzle game literally means anything goes, and they could've gotten away with absolutely NO effort here and left everything in simple syncing 4/4. That would've been easiest, but for some reason that almost never happens here. There seems to be a lot of volume issues and peaking with the kick sample which makes one think this soundtrack is sloppy; hell, maybe that's all it is: sloppy. There's a strange trend here where phrases seem to have notes taken away upon repetition... sometimes note length is cut short awkwardly. Some of this soundtrack is god awful... but some I just can't leave alone. It's just too strange. I can't shake the feeling the composer was really inspired, just misguided. TERRIBLE game too. Tracks of note: Title Screen, Let's Start!, Out in the Arctic Brainlord - A very smart soundtrack with a love of a heavy bassline, present, loud, and groovy beats and a simple moving melodic narrative. No stranger to more foreign instrumentation, instruments are chosen and used very effectively. Pacing changes a lot, mood changes a lot... you know it's an action RPG before even looking the game up. Tracks of note: Romus's Ice Castle, Town of Toronto, Site of Civilization Big Sky Trooper - Interesting. Creepy & (if you look at game graphics) cute. A dichotomy reminiscent of Earthbound. I'm reminded of the soundtracks of the Dig or Super Metroid. If that appeals to you DEFINITELY give this a listen. This is a very neat, mostly atmospheric, space themed soundtrack full of equal parts rich subtle textures and adventurous anthems. Tracks of note: Quantum Machine, Dungeon, Black Hole Burai - There's a lot of genesis-esque synths used but the arrangement skill is pretty high. For better or worse, there's lots of very well constructed songs here. I don't know why, but sentai shows a la kamen rider/ultraman come to mind here. Tracks of note: Burai Theme, Time For A Rest, Peace Battle Zeque Den - Some really interesting material in here. Very traditional Japanese and similar in style throughout but each track has it's own unique groove. If you love grace notes, fusion remixing, or are looking for spcs with traditional Japanese composition; Battle Zeque Den serves as a very helpful template. Tracks of note: Genbu, Dunes, Forest Uchuu Race Astro Go Go - Think F-Zero meets Kirby. Very surprising, couragous, and energetic. Tracks of note: Sweetcat Lake, Satellie Q, Air Station SPCS ( 36 / 2614 ) 3 Ninjas Kick Back - Secret Cave - Lo-fi, killer beat, great gated sound to the chords, plenty of changeups. 4 Nin Shogi - Explanation of the Rules - Really catchy/pretty rock balade. Very enjoyable flute. 7th Saga - Beginning of a Tale - Mentioning this one twice. Very atypical track, filled with intimacy and character. The cutoff at the end is nice too. Acrobat Mission - Hidden Song 2 - Very plain, but delightfully dark. Love the arpeggio halfway through. Wish it looped though. Please tell me someone else hears how much this song is BEGGING for a kick-ass re-interpretation. Aero The Acro-Bat - Funpark 1 - Very skillful progression. No seriously; let it play out. Uchuu Race Astro Go Go - Jet's Course Replay - 5/4 time baby! A quicky but a smooth, catchy little piece for sure. Ardy Lightfoot - Island Of Ruins - Subdued, but an unusual progression and a slick bassline. Ardy Lightfoot - The Tower - Very very very unique & progressive piece; way too emotive for such a cutesy game. I don't know HOW it's possible to listen to something like this and not feel it. Alice's Paint Adventure - Bakery - Charming, nice harmonies + a key change. Ok, don't hurt me. Albert Odyssey - Hometown Tibelis - Great intro; alike a Disney-esque theme, well written. Very pretty. Better than Kakariko IMO. Arabian Nights - Dungeon - Hello 9/8. Very full and tranquil. Love the waving pitch on the synths. Arabian Nights - Mountain - Nice direction. Weird and intricate percussive elements in 6/8. Hard to miss. Apocalypse II - Main Theme - For a 13 minute plus song it manages to maintain interest. Very good use of SNES sounds/effects. There's moments here you'll be surprised were from a SNES. Aretha 2 - Aretha Ring - Engaging loopless song; excellent transitions, harmonies, expressive arpeggios, varied pace... and you gotta love the last 40 seconds. Very pretty. Aretha 2 - Land Ho! - Exciting. Aretha - The Fortress - Avante garde dynamic orchestra punches. Odd. Asterix & Obelix - The Bank - Not quite sure why I like it, but I do. Sounds like a courtroom scene. Bazooka Blitzkrieg - Hunting For Robots - Orch hit heavy, (boss theme has SO many), a nice chords at the halfway point, and it's in 7/8, 4/4, and 6/8. Beavis & Butt-Head - Hehe, Change It! - Despite sounding like midi-metal; a notable arrangement, unique progression, triplets & soloing. Beavis & Butt-Head - Hospital Level - Wow! Didn't see this one coming from this soundtrack. A well-arranged organ lounge piece. Honourable Mention. Bubsy 2 - Title - Obnoxious, but A.D.D. friendly. Not an easy piece to write. Bubsy 2 - Armadillo Mini Game - What the heck is this? Catchy, plucky drums with unapologetic clashing chords? Those poor armadillos. I don't even wanna know. Battle Cars - Fuji - Wow. Nothing too special, but for some reason, the unique key and octave play makes for something that reminds me of Toto's Africa or other 80's pop structures. Neat. Brandish 2 - Laboratory - I'm taking the time to mention this twice. Some things feel synthetic but my god... so good. Everything is good here. Brandish - Alexis - Catchy, disjunct, and effective. Great triplets at the end. Bahamut Lagoon - Friendship - Disguised as a simple ballade, the second half of the melody will surprise you with great harmonies and a HUGE accidental. The whole soundtrack is good but IMO the excellence of this song trumped the rest. Biker Mice From Mars - Staff - Don't get me wrong, I like the soundtrack... but this track came out of nowhere. 1 minute of sexy smooth lounge ballade. Bounty Sword - Campfire - Really nice piece here. Intimate and beautiful. Every instrument expressive in it's own way. Bounty Sword - Staff Roll - Referencing a lot of pieces from itself in one nearly 11 minute long highly detailed piece. Enormous effort in this piece. Respect. Breath Of Fire - Lively Mood - One of the only Breath Of Fire tracks that appeals to me. Very expressive and dynamic for it's length. Super Bonk - Shoot the Smiley! - Full of change ups, bright verse and theme, great name. Super Bonk - Zero Gravity - Gotta give a character track it's due. Cute little waltz with amazing whiny harmony in the melody. Bushi Seiryuden - Battle With Spider - The rest of the soundtrack pretty much sounds like this. Very bland poorly mixed horns and timpani. This is in here for one reason and one reason only. What the HELL is that time signature? I believe it's 3 bars of 5 then one of 6... so... 21/8? Baseball Simulator 1000 - Team Performance - Wow. Out of nowhere on an obnoxious organ lead soundtrack comes an unexpected little pop beauty. The very reason I'm looking for gems. If you find it too grating you're not gonna like the rest of the soundtrack. Battle Tycoon - Map - Listen to this one twice and then switch to silence and I guaranTEE it will be stuck in your head. Amazing switch-ups, soloing & instrument work here. Barbie Vacation Adventure - Scuba Diving - WTF!? This is really really pretty! Barbie? Scu-... Bar... WTF!? Well done. No low end to speak of but very easy to listen to. Current Track - Cacoma Knight - Knight's Fanfare WHEW. So. My eventual goal is to put together the 'must hear list'; the top 1000 spc's you must hear before you die. In hind sight I should have numbered these if I was going to take the time to re-title them all anyway... but I've spent a good 2 hours just reading over this stupid post. I'm going to bed. ENJOY! Let me know what you think.

I was BORN Less. Wait... what?

Thank god. I'm quitting you now OCAD. I'm quitting you for good I swear. I'm leaving and I'm never coming back.

Biznut I just saw the pictures of skating over a flaming matress. Fuck Canada is awesome eh?

I say black, gray, and or white unless you're going in to more detailed imagery. If you had a signature splash image I'd say use colour.

Who had that sig with Streetfighter's Dan and Megaman in it... I think it was from Streetfighter vs. capcom?

So is an OCAD Special sort of like... shortbus special? Cause that's what it felt like. Also... website looks down to me now too. Thank God.

No. Click on mine.

Update: I'm really busy, like, I'm going to be 3 times as busy this time around... but I'm growing increasingly certain about certain shots, actors, settings and pacing. Nothing written out or planned but mentally I suppose you can say I'm making progress. Song and action picked. Also; just found out I owe the government major $$ so there goes my budget. :S

You're not missing much.

I feel the same way. I mean... I know I'm not gonna have time to make it out to my Mom's 60th birthday because I won't be able to take more than 24 hours off of work until September... but making a video is definitely a hobby type of thing, it has a way of fitting in in between the cracks. Unless you actually wanted to film something on a grand scale like Hollywood does how are you so sure you can't just scale back your ideas?

You're right. That is out of left field.

Ripped of your sig biznut.

Yeah, these tracks completely sound like Uematsu. SORT of... Really messed up vid. There's some good music in this thread in general, and anime music is almost like cheating.

I didn't read the thread so I don't know if anyone mentioned that the Nostalgia Chick recently brought this video to our attention. She made some good points on Girl Pop sensations from the mid 90's to present, specifically: Brittney Spears played the cute angle, then got slutty, then got crazy, and was always at the forefront of our attention. Christina Agulera on the other hand went with slutty first and then tried to be soulful and ballad centered. They were on the same level at one point but Brittney's fame and press DOMINATED Christina because Christina was actually putting her musical ability first while Brit is quite plain and much easier to sing along to. Then Lady Gaga does everything right: Easy to sing along to, slutty, crazy, and plays her actual musical ability close to the vest. I have to admit... from a sales standpoint her and her management is fucking CLEVER. You think this video of her singing at the piano is going to HURT her fame!? She can pretty much do anything she wants, on any stage, any where, and people will be applauding.

What did this week ever do to you!?

Yes it is. Work is picking up and I'm busier than normal so I haven't even LOOKED at plotting out how I'm gonna do this video. Looks like that extra month or so of extra time isn't gonna help me much this time around. Regardless, even if, worst case scenario, I can't make anything I want to... I'm still gonna be entering something quick and fun.

Damn it Brushfire, you suck SO hard for not being able to pick a song what needs to be remixed.

Ok, the ultimate in nerdy VGM thread topics: Have you ever heard any pop/mainstream/commercial music and thought: "Oh my god, the arrangement, the instrumentation, if you just took out the vocals that'd be a perfect overworld theme." or Title Screen theme or Boss theme or Dungeon theme This happens to me on a semi-regular basis but of course, now that I bring it up I can only think of some weak examples: Gorrilaz - Melancholy Hill = End Credits Anyone else do this?

Good theme though; bazooie's mix is one of my favo-