Ken Hisuag

After one of the busiest weeks I can recall in recent years, I can finally take some time to check how things are going over here. Looks like a lot. *sigh* Anyway . . . Darren Korb is a unique composer; while arguably one of the most skilled musicians in the VGM industry, his work isn't usually referenced in the same way other soundtracks are. He uses a hybrid between the "cinematic style" and "dynamic style" (my names, hopefully self-explanatory based on previous explanations), simultaneously crafted to the context and free enough to stand on its own, if less than standard. This means his music is best appreciated as part of the game it's composed for, but is still unique in ways independent of those experiences. While I believe this uniqueness is fairly evident in all his work, my personal favorite is the soundtrack for Transistor. The additional gimmick for this project was an optional layer of hummed vocals to the instrumentation for most tracks. There are some details of functionality in game, but for my purposes I will only note the comparison and contrast between the "hummed" songs and their default counterparts. Many of these pieces have rather limited progression despite generally having higher energy (they build up a bit, but don't usual reach a climax), but this is compensated by the complexity of the compositions, especially in their instrumentation. What is more interesting is their lack of distinctive melody; despite being the "default" versions, the hum-less tracks sound more like instrumental versions of songs. This becomes especially apparent when the humming is added in, but not because it adds melody; rather, it carries a seeming familiarity with the intended progression of the "song" by becoming a complimentary accompaniment to the non-existent melody. Without completing the song, the additional layer nonetheless completes the experience of the song by simulating familiarity. At least, that's my attempt at qualifying the unique attributes of this soundtrack. A better explanation may yet be presented.

Life has been unexpectedly busy these first weeks of 2023. I'm still here, but also still failing at desired punctuality. Nonetheless, here is this week's feature. Austin Wintory's Journey is legendary among video game soundtracks, providing the backbone of a game heavily reliant on emotional investment without excessive immersion. Rather than instilling varying emotions according to the context, the album chronicles a unified, continuous journey in phases. By being more vague in the specifics, it achieves a more poignant atmosphere overall. My preferences in music favor stronger, more direct progression, but I can still appreciate the musical mastery of projects such as this.

I try to make the first feature of the year somehow "fitting" (which is arbitrary, so . . .). This year, I decided to do a proper feature for Beyond Skyrim; I briefly alluded to it following the Elder Scrolls V feature, but without going into significant detail. For those who don't know, Beyond Skyrim is a massive mod project that seeks to expand The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim to include other parts of the series' world, complete with quest lines, area-specific items, and (most importantly for my purposes) music. The project is divided up according to the different areas, so that several teams can divide the work and develop each area as its own mod. As such, rather than there being a single soundtrack for the whole project, each area has its own soundtrack composed by different people. This has already resulted in a high quantity of music, most of which is reminiscent of Jeremy Soule's soundtrack, but which also may vary according to the composers and the theme of each mod. I'm not sure it's possible for me to qualify the impact dividing up the composing in this manner has had on the collective project. Whether it was intended or not, I see genius in keeping each area's music unique in artist as well as usage; there exists the possibility of signature style becoming characteristic of its accompanying area in a way that would be difficult to simulate from a single team. Ultimately, most of the music has been (and will likely continue to be) patterned off of the standard set by Soule's work. But since those involved are composing original pieces, there is bound to be some stylistic distinction, and I consider that to be a wonderful consequence.

I want to reiterate (because my roundabout way of explanation is not always easy to interpret) that I greatly admire Stack's vocal abilities, and more often than not I enjoy the arrangements I hear from Akatsuki Records. It was this particular performance that I disliked, not her general sound. RT4, Round 4 ~ Entry 2: Akatsuki Records - The Way Home We Walked On Together

4: Silver Forest - Keep the Faith The threshold. I simultaneously feel I have a lot to say about this track and nothing at all. It's a well-made remix, and has a few clever ideas in it (e.g., the filtered vocals in the background of the intro, and also in the interlude later). The instrumentation is also very good; the opening alone immediately set the standard pretty high. Yet, while I can praise all these little details, it doesn't seem to amount to anything especially extraordinary. There's very little movement in the first half, and while the interlude is good it doesn't feel led up to, and doesn't seem to lead into anything. Overall, I'm failing to perceive significant progression, and as such have limited investment in the piece. I didn't initially find translated lyrics, and I had some hope that they would provide progression through their meaning. In a way, this may be the case; the nature of the song is such that I'm having difficultly rectifying its lyrics with the musical accompaniment. If I were to take more time, I'd try listening through the song while reading along a couple more times, but I'm not convinced enough that it would result in a significant change in my perception. Sounds good, but not memorable (I'm saying that a lot, aren't I?). 7/10 5: IRON ATTACK! - Sturm und Drang Storm and . . . urge? Significantly better experience with this one! I'm a big fan of folk instruments in heavy rock songs, so there's an immediate increase in interest for that. The vocal performance is not only very impressive, it also blends perfectly with the arrangement. The instrumentation is perfect, as expected from a circle of this reputation. So overall, this hits every point for technical quality (though ironically this is the most compressed video in the round). To the more creative aspects: This is a proper arrangement, where the source motifs are integrated into the larger work rather than forming the entire structure; this is especially evident in the little ways the melody deviates from its inspiration, notes you wouldn't notice if you weren't familiar with the original pieces. I imagine it can be tempting in this genre to let the vocals do most of the work, but the best arrangements are always those which make the most of everything involved; while the song does rely on its vocal performance at times, there are plenty of points where countermelodies are shared into the background. This allows the instrumental interludes to flow with the rest of the piece, maintaining the progression. I do not normally expect a higher energy piece to have impressive progression, since there's very little to travel to. Nonetheless, it is possible, and the way this song accomplishes it is (in part) by initially skipping the chorus while retaining the lead-in. I've never heard this technique used before, and I can't get over it. On paper it should feel incomplete, leaving a gap that irreparably damages the progression. But somehow the piece is so arranged to lead out of the lead-in, and does so in such a smooth manner as to make it feel natural in the context of the song. This allows the chorus's later inclusion to becomes a part of the piece's progression beyond its normal function. For all I know this isn't that uncommon a technique, and it may seem like a small thing, but at this time it's completely flabbergasted me in the best ways. I could go into the lyrics, but aside from the unexpectedly high volume of English in the song (mixed surprisingly smoothly with the Japanese and German), there wasn't anything to impactful toward my perception of the piece. It's going to take something very impressive to top this for me. So . . . 10/10 6: Akatsuki Records - Gray Zone Irony. I know many have said they've grown tired of this or that circle/artist from overexposure, and a part of me is somewhat concerned about experiencing this burnout at some point, but thus far I can safely say I'm still as impressed with Stack's vocal talent as always. That being said, I think this particular performance detracts a bit from the arrangement. I enjoyed the bate-and-switch intro, and I'd like to be able to say more about the under-utilization of disco in Touhou arrangements, but the tone chosen for the accompanying vocals was difficult for me to appreciate. There are times it almost works, most notably in the chorus, but overall I don't think it blends well enough. For all that, it is at least a creative arrangement. I've gotten into the habit of listening to each piece before watching the video (a safety precaution adopted to avoid unnecessary bias), so I'd already considered these perceptions before seeing the lyrics to the song. To a certain extent, I can see how the performance matches up with the lyrics, but I doubt it would have suffered much from a different approach. Regardless, I can't say I appreciate the message at all. EDIT: A day later, I've been thinking a lot about this entry in particular, as well as coincidentally listing to some other Stack songs that I have in my personal collection, and I've become less "okay" with this song. I actually really like the arrangement itself, but the direction they chose to go in with Stack's performance ruins it. What bothers me is that I know she's capable of doing different styles that I believe would have worked much better (White Spirit, Ultra Red, for instance). Unique, but not in ways that appeal to me. 7/10 6.5/10

I should have posted here before doing Musical Discoveries. Oh well. Here is the official OGM feature record for 2022. I would like to offer my thanks to those who shared their interest in various soundtracks this year. Lord willing, we will continue to enjoy this activity for some time to come.

Happy New Year, everyone! It is my tradition to utilize an arrangement from my "reserved for tournaments" collection around this time, in celebration of the old year's end. I'm having a harder time with that this year, in that I don't want to give some of them up. It's irrational; I have far more than I'll ever be able to use anyway. It's too late (early?) to spend so much time deliberating; I hope this one fits the occasion sufficiently.

We have come to the end of another year, and it is time for the annual OGM roundup. For this [tentatively] final feature of the year, I rank my favorite VGM releases of the period, plus some extras. First up is honorable mentions: I didn't get around to Infernax this year, and as such cannot technically speak to its quality, but I'm fairly confident that I'll enjoy it greatly when the time comes. As such, I want to ensure others have the heads-up while we're still in its release year. If anyone is interested in checking it out, be warned that (to my knowledge) it's only been posted in three distinct parts, divided according to the three composers; as such, listening to it without first purchasing may be more inconvenient than usual. As uninformed recommendations, I'll list Jason Letourneau's Liquid Town, Oliver Couillard's A Good Day to be Alive, and Jules Conroy's Knowledge is Power. Tunic got a full feature earlier in the year, and part of me is surprised it didn't have more endurance in recognition (then again, I haven't played it, so what would I know?). The music is generally less intensive then other things of its style, but its atmosphere is perfect, with enough form to remain memorable. I've already presented recommendations for this album, but I'll add Memories of Memories and Ocean Glaze. That's all my honorable mentions for this year; there are always soundtracks that I hear about but don't get enough experience with to consider them for this, but that is to be expected. Now on to the official ranking: #5: #2: #3: #2: #1: Funnily enough, this is now the third year in a row where all my favorite soundtrack come from games I haven't played. To finish off, I wanted into include my personal favorite discovery of the year. Often I don't come across a soundtrack until well after its release, thus disqualifying it from receiving recognition during the roundup despite potentially being a major highlight. I earlier mentioned Boneworks; however, its place was later overtaken by another discovery. Bonus Feature (#0): As usual, I'd like to encourage others to provide their own rankings/mention their favorite releases of the year! The annual record will be posted later in the week. Shalom!

For Christmas celebration, some of my favorite Christmas songs. With all the countries we have represented on the forum these days, I got to wondering how much traditional Christmas carols differ (for those that even celebrate Christmas to begin with). I didn't have time to look into it myself, but I thought I'd mention it, and maybe I'll remember to search around next year. Merry Christmas!

I'm not sure why it never occurred to me to post this here in previous years. No matter, it's here now (for better or worse).

Merry Christmas! I'm breaking my own rules today because I feel guilty for being unable to get this out earlier; it is done now. Kishida Kyoudan & The Akeboshi Rockets – Beautiful Diver Somebody I know. To get some of the more obvious things out of the way: This is a quality arrangement, and of a relatively rarer theme to boot. I only discovered this circle fairly recently, but I’ve been consistently impressed with the musical arrangement and instrumentation; it’s a rock style with elements of jazz, but arranged in the style of eastern pop. While not technically unusual, in this case it is done with uncommonly high-quality production, putting it on a level with GET IN THE RING or Liz Triangle. As for the vocals, they compliment (and are complimented) admirably by the arrangement, and are of similar standard. Now getting into the complications: It is important to me to locate the lyric translations for vocal songs when possible, to better understand the piece’s presentation. This can be both a benefit and a determent, depending on the song; in this case it was a bit of both. On my initial listening, I was put off by the abrupt ending, which seemed to mess-up the otherwise serviceable progression. However, this turns out to serve a thematic purpose in conjunction with the song, representing the unendingness of the situation being sung about. In this way, knowing the lyrics improved my perception of the arrangement. On the other hand, the tone of the lyrics seems at odds with that of the music. The song would depict an emotionally despairing situation, regretful acceptance of an equally unnecessary and unrelinquishable resentment. In context of the accompanying music, one might interpret the tone as apathetic, ultimately making light of the circumstances and downplaying their impact. However, I do not have the impression this was the intended inference, primarily both for the implications of the ending and for the style of the vocal performance. I perceive a bitterness in the song, a resentment directed inward against the singer’s own outwardly directed resentment, i.e.grudge against own grudge, aware of the hypocrisy but failing to discern a rectification. Regardless of the intended meaning, the conflict between the music and lyrics results in unnecessary confusion for the attentive listener. In conclusion, it’s a great arrangement, though it does not especially stand out to me yet (give it a couple more listens). 7.6/10 Boga – The Doll Maker of Bucuresti A zunish entry. It never occurred to me for a EoSD style remix to appear in a tournament; as such remixes go, this is a fairly good one. The nature of the soundfont makes it easy to mess up and make oppressively obnoxious, which this piece does not do; the sound substitutions were handled well, resulting in a very clean mix that is faithful both to the source piece and the replicated style. The biggest drawback is that it’s more of a cover than a rearrangement; there’s little to no creativity in its composition. There’s nothing technically problematic with this, and it’s still nice to listen to, but after the previous entry it seems a bit bland. That my initial perceptions of the piece are so influenced by outside factors is unfortunate, but difficult to ignore. Pleasant and professional sound, but not particularly interesting. 6/10 TATAMI STUGIWO – Dance of the Poisoned Candy Christmas crossover! I respect the timing of this, and considering the temptation of gimmicky alternatives this is a surprisingly well-arranged (and well-constructed) option. While the Sugar Plum Fairy sections are clearly defined from the remix proper, there is still clearly a guiding idea for their rectification that is accomplished fairly skillfully. For the imagination alone, this is my favorite piece thus far. The weakness in this arrangement is the unfortunately audio quality, made all the more apparent by the contrast between the remix sections and the much cleaner sounding clips. The virtual instruments simply can’t measure up to the professional orchestra recordings, which is a shame because the piece had otherwise accomplished the harder task of cleanly transitioning between the two in the arrangement itself. This may be a harder thing to overlook for some, but thankfully it’s not quite so bad that I can’t still appreciate it. Creative idea executed decently. 8/10

When Game of the Year soundtrack nominations were announced, I was somewhat disappointed; I could think of several soundtracks that seemed deserving of the recognition that weren't included, and the only represented option that I'd heard something about before (in the context of its music) was Xenoblade Chronicles 3. However, I hadn't actually heard music from any of them, so I determined to make an effort toward familiarizing myself with some of them, as to be able to make a more informed assessment. To start with, I had to prioritize, because time was limited (I wanted to be done by year's end). I hadn't heard anything about Metal: Hellsinger or A Plague's Tale: Requiem (I hadn't even known they existed), but I did remember hearing about Innocence back when it released. In what may be irony, it was my extremely limited knowledge of that game that discouraged me from prioritizing the sequel's soundtrack; I'd considered the original's story to be rather pretentious, and I hadn't heard anything about its music, so I decided to forgo it entirely. Hellsinger, on the other hand, seemed a reasonably sized soundtrack to start with, compared to the much larger soundtracks of the other entries. Unfortunately, it turned out to be almost entirely screamo/death metal, which is basically the only music I don't listen to at all. It wasn't bad quality (I believe it to have been well composed), but I wouldn't have been able to do a proper feature for it. That left me with the three games I'd actually heard of. I planned to listen through them one at a time and do a feature for each, but for some reason I ended up listening to all three simultaneously with differing levels of engagement according to my initial perceptions. I had high hopes for Xenoblade Chronicles 3, both because I'd heard good things about it from other sources, and because of the association with Yasunori Mitsuda. However, I discovered it to be heavily reliant on leitmotifs, to the point that lack of familiarity with the accompanying story and preceding entries made it impossible to appreciate properly. Unfortunately for me, I lack that familiarity. I'd like to maybe return to this series some day, but it would require quite the time investment. Elden Ring was an unfortunate circumstance of faulty expectations. The first few tracks in the OST (I would presume the title theme, menu theme and possibly a prologue cutscene theme) are standard VGM, with limited progression but a discernible melody; this set my expectations for the rest of the soundtrack. Unfortunately, the rest of the album's first half was entirely area themes. I respect that, for a game about a dying world, the music for said world should be depressing in nature; however, I was still expecting something recognizable. The area themes lack melody entirely, and have extremely limited progression, occasionally straying into the realm of true ambience. While the second half of the soundtrack seemed more promising, the first half had exhausted my patience for the dark style of the music, and with time growing shorter I chose to give up on it. I have wanted to look into the Dark Souls soundtracks for a while, so hopefully I'll get to that next year. With all that, we come to the final nomination. I've mentioned before my high regard for the story of God of War (2018), and I was exciting for the release of Ragnarök. I did not, however, expect anything too noteworthy for its soundtrack. Similar with the previous two titles, I had limited familiarity with the foundational entries, in this case the original God of War trilogy, so while I respected and appreciated the soundtrack of (2018), I didn't find it especially memorable. My experience with Ragnarök, on the other hand, has impressed me greatly. While heavily reliant upon ambience (as one would expect), the game employs strong melody and progression in its music. More importantly, its utilization of its leitmotifs is masterful, limited enough to be kept track of, but strong enough to bring cohesiveness to the soundtrack. Of all five nominations, this was the soundtrack that I enjoyed listening to the most; it still wouldn't have been among my first choices, but I'm glad it was brought to my attention.

Sick last week, but I'm back now. Bitawan - It's a Communist World! The audio quality of the source video was a little better than this turned out; my decision to use this piece was determined specifically upon the original sound. Kinukawa T - Treacherous Maiden ~ Judas Kiss The timing of this arrangement (as in its beat) is what attracted my attention. Nama Pan-ko - No Judgement The audio quality of this one might also be a bit less than ideal, but the arrangement itself should justify it.

I'm better now, though still recovering, and with no less urgency in keeping up with things. I determined to feature Sonic Frontiers before the year ended, despite its late soundtrack release, and can now present my findings. This is an unexpectedly massive soundtrack; not content with area and activity themes, the composers arranged unique tracks for every "Cyber Space" challenge, and up to seven different "movements" for each island theme. Each main boss has a unique vocal track to accompany its fight, each miniboss type has a special theme, and then there's the cutscenes and special events! Styles range from reflective orchestral, intensive metal, and a variety of electronic genres, with an occasional one-off jazz piece thrown in. While I certainly enjoyed the wide selection, at some point I began to wonder if they hadn't overdone it a bit. The main area theme variations didn't tend to vary as much as I'd expect, usually peaking at about movement three. Cyber Space tracks were fun, but very few of them stand out as more than concept pieces. Overall, while I appreciate the effort gone to, I think they may have stretched themselves thinner than necessary, sacrificing memorability for quantity. That being said, quality was maintained, and the tracks that do manage to stand out do so powerfully. As usual, I struggled to appreciate the vocal tracks; while I'm Here is undoubtedly the focus track, I was surprised to find the more story-centric Dear Father at the end of the album; I'll include it here as a mark of my differing focus in regards to the comparison.

I am here. Forgive me for my late response. BTW, make sure to make an announcement on Discord for the regulars that aren't on the site proper too often. Also, announcing the tournament through the chatbox seemed to have quite the positive effect last time, so consider that as well.

I am sick, and it is most inconvenient. I was supposed to be here yesterday, and instead I'm here this evening, still struggling to think straight but unwilling to put this off any longer, because this month of all months I'm on a rather strict schedule. So, here is a feature for Pokemon Scarlet & Violet. My previous experience with Pokemon music is limited, and the only two soundtracks I've listened through properly are Red & Blue and Sword & Shield. From my experience with the latter, I was aware that there were likely multiple composers for the project, and who did what isn't always readily available information. I say this because there's a lot of contrasting styles in this soundtrack, and it's difficult to characterize them beyond a few specific points. First of all, elements of Spanish folk are intended to be present, as pure the theme of the game. This is most obvious in area themes, where a variety of Spanish-associated instrumentation in utilized. That being said, the compositions themselves do not seem to me to be that heavily influenced stylistically. Secondly, many leitmotifs are present, and it is highly probably that different songs constructed around the same leitmotifs were composed by different people. Most of the time this is in direct relation to the aforementioned area themes, as each area has multiple variations. Thirdly, all the "Team Star" associated tracks stand out as being especially memorable. In contrast to the Spanish folk theme, these are arranged in rock and rave styles, with exemplary progress structures. While these were the highlight of the soundtrack for me, I believe I've made fair coverage in my selection, despite the absence of some otherwise entirely deserving tracks.

I missed my deadline early this week; my intention had been to feature Elden Ring, but I'm having difficulty enjoying the soundtrack, so I decided to switch over to another game that I had similar feelings about but I knew had much better music. It may be obvious why I'm uncomfortable with Cult of the Lamb, but if it isn't I'll only say that I don't appreciate the "pun." Regardless . . . I was fully expecting this to be a GotY nomination even before giving it a proper listen, and it still surprises me that it didn't get that recognition (more on that in a later feature). Much of the soundtrack is dominated by disconcerting ambient backing, headed by unusual but cohesive instrumentation presenting strong melodies and progression. There seems an artificial folk present, by which I mean it has a folky sound without being familiar enough to me to pinpoint what specific kind of folk it is. Some of the more low-energy tracks remind me of puzzle games. Overall, it's a difficult soundtrack for me to properly analyze. At the very least, it is creatively unique, and memorable in its own right (i.e. apart from its context).

Murasame Umbrella - Plastic Mind The sound could be perceived as a bit messy, but less in an audio-quality way and more in an "intentional" sense. What surprised me most about this discovery was finding out that maritumix was associated with a larger circle. Ink-Black Cherry Blossoms (Ink-dyed Sakura) - Maple Wise It's always a treat to find a creative arrangement of a less popular piece. DJ Abner - Forbidden Magic I've never heard anything from DJ Abner that wasn't zunish, but I'm not surprised to discover his musical skills are more diverse.

Last minute post! Stygian Riverside - Dreamscope The majority of arrangements I found for this piece were zunish remasters; this rock remix stood out. R3 Music Box - Spiritual Heaven ~ Spiritual Heaven There were other options, but the music box seemed to fit this piece especially well. Komeiji Records - Romantic Children This one I feel a bit guilty for; the artist clarifies in the description that this is less of an arrangement and more of a transcription. Nonetheless, there is a unique sound to this piece, and I appreciate it.

I've already shared most of my favorite Thanksgiving songs here, so this year I'll share some classical autumn music instead. Doesn't get more classic than that! All are blessed, in little ways and big ways, and it is good to have time to reflect upon it and give thanks; I pray everyone has a happy Thanksgiving!

Special Thanksgiving feature! I usually struggle to find something for this, but this year I found an entire EP of zunish compositions themed around autumn. I'm only posting one of the five tracks, specifically themed for the holiday itself. ProfPrac stated he composed in the style of Touhou 11; I find it odd he didn't go with 10 given the theme, but it works out alright.

In an unusual case of personal inconvenience, the GotY soundtracks are all very large, and with the bustle of the upcoming holiday I haven't had much time to acquaint myself with them. Time grows short, but I will do what I can. Meanwhile, it's about time I got in my yearly Okami feature, as I proceed through another disc in the soundtrack for the third time. It's been over a year since the last one; the music isn't that much different, but as such it's still just as amazing! This time around there was one track that stood out to me as deviated a bit from the primarily "eastern" style that otherwise characterizes the collection, favoring a more "western" progression. Of course, it may be skewed perception on my part, so I won't point out which one it is; mayhap no one else will notice.

zuikakup - Bizarre Romantic Story ~ Mystic Square I was hoping for something unique for this track, and I believe I found it. Though seemingly a bit slow, this arrangement make up for it with atmospheric progression that fits the melody perfectly. Frost Fragment - Dream Express (Bittersweet Piano ver.) While the original piece is relatively fast, I thought the melody would suit a more remorseful tone. This captured exactly what I was looking for. Paradise of Boundaries - Alternative Magic Formation ~ Magic Square (Arrangement - SA Style) Quality option for this one were scarce. A fair deal of what I found was zunish, so I decided to go with the best option from that.

I've seen the Game Awards nominations for "Best Score and Music," and I guess I've got a lot of ground to cover because I haven't heard any of these soundtracks. In the meantime, another unofficial remix album was arranged for Crypt of the Necrodancer. I still love these projects for the stylistic twist each one presents, and I doubt that will ever change.

After so much time, there is still ambiguity surrounding the identification of "odd" music. This is a one-man acappella performance; while this technique isn't too uncommon (noteworthy artist in the genre: Smooth McGroove), I believe it's slightly less common to be able to see all the parts, and certainly less common for it to be presented in such a performance style as this. Many parts correspond with the replication of a specific instrument, indicated both by the sound and the choreography. That it happens to be a remix from one of my favorite films doesn't hurt. (Also, epilepsy warning perhaps?)