"Noise from the Hearts of Nerds" C1E55b: "The Best of 2019 pt. 2: St. John's Picks"

Today’s broadcast is C1E55b for Wayback Wednesday, December 9th, 2020. Today’s episode will be "Best of 2019 pt.2 - St. John's Picks" - a 75 ULTRA-MEGA KING-KONG jumbo-sized episode so long that we only do these kinds of shows just once a year (and forego the usual intro /outro). All tracks in this retrospective selected by St. John, and pulled from episodes featured in our calendar 2019 "Season 3".  

 

Track# – Track – Game – System – Composer(s) - Original Episode – Originally Selected in original episode by – Timestamp 

 

01) Intro – 00:00:00 

 

02) Process Control – GT Sport – PS4 – Yasuhisa Inoue – Ep 41 –St. John – 00:01:39 

 

03) Dandy Lady – Super Chase: Criminal Termination – Arcade – Yasuhisa Watanabe – Ep 46 – Electric Boogaloo – 00:05:09 

 

04) Bloodlines – Akumajou Dracula: Chi no Rondo (Castlevania: Rondo of Blood) - PC Engine – Mikia Saitou – Ep 47a – Bryce Dumond – 00:08:43 

 

05) Sky High – Daytona USA – Saturn – Tanobu Mitsuyoshi and David Leytze – Ep 44 – St. John – 00:11:52 

 

06) Intro – Fantavision – PS2 – Soichi Terada – Ep 41 – St. John – 00:16:28 

 

07) Evil Dante – Cratermaze – TG16 – Jun Chikuma, Keita Hoshi, Toshiaki Takimoto, Masaru Takahashi, and/or Takayuki Iwabuchi – Ep 47b – St. John – 00:16:58 

 

08) Mission 5 – Shadow Squadron – 32X – Teruhiko Nakagawa and/ Masaru Setsumaru – Ep 44 – St. John – 00:19:12 

 

09) BGM 2 – Arnold Palmer Tournament Golf – Genesis – Tokuhiko Uwabo – Ep 44 – St. John – 00:21:09 

 

10) Mission 2 – Double Dragon 2 – PC Engine – Hiroyuki Togo – Ep 44 – St. John – 00:23:03 

 

11) Velvet Fog – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – Genesis – Warlord – Ep 48 – St. John – 00:26:05 

 

12) Shinobi Walk – Shinobi 3 – Genesis – Masayuki Nagao, Hirofumi Murasaki, and/or Morihiko Akiyama – Ep 42 – St. John – 00:27:24 

 

13) Moon – Dead Moon – TG16 – Mamoru Ishimoda and/or Yoko Sonada – Ep 47a – St. John – 00:30:45 

 

14) Stage 3 – Jigoku Meguri – PC Engine – Hisayoshi Ogura and/or Yasuhisa Watanabe – Ep 47c – St. John – 00:32:16 

 

15) Well Beefington – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – MSX – Doctor Gentleman – Ep 48 – St. John – 00:33:37 

 

16) Tune 1 – Trap – C64 – Ben Daglish – Ep 43 – Henrik Andersson – 00:41:04 

 

17) Traps – Rocket Knight Adventures – Genesis – Konami Kukeiha Club – Ep 41 – St. John – 00:50:42 

 

18) Ruined Base – Blood Gear – PC Engine – Shinichi Sakamoto and/or Jin W. – Ep 47b – St. John – 00:53:55 

 

19) Mission 5 – Double Dragon 2 – PC Engine – Hiroyuki Togo – Ep 47a – St. John – 00:55:47 

 

20) Spirit Dough – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – TG16 – Beard – Ep 48 – St. John – 00:58:34 

 

21) The Wise Men – Wizards and Warriors 3 – NES – David Wise – Ep 44 – St. John – 01:00:23 

 

22) Stage 3-3 – Ai Chou Aniki – PC Engine – Iwasaki Taku – Ep 47b – St. John – 01:02:04 

 

23) All About the Girl – GT Sport – PS4 – Lenny Ibizarre – Ep 44 – St. John – 01:05:16 

 

24) Theme – Sim City Classic – PC (SC-88) - Steve Hales and/or Will Wright – Ep 41 – St. John – 01:09:16 

 

25) Beyond the Galaxy – Galaxy Force II – Arcade – Koichi Namiki – Ep 46 – Eletric Boogaloo – 01:11:20 

 

26) Beyond the Galaxy – Galaxy Force II – Genesis – c: Koichi Namiki a: Yoshinori Sunahara – Ep 46 – Electric Boogaloo – 01:14:14 

 

27) Music S00 – Cyber City Oedo 808 – PC Engine – Keiichi Yamamoto, Atsuhiro Motoyama, Miyuki Takagi, and/or Atsushi Yamaji – Ep 47a – St. John – 01:16:59 

 

28) A Mega Drive down the Genesis Highway – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – Genesis – KungFuFurby – Ep 48 – St. John – 01:19:54 

 

29) The Entrance to Hell – Snatcher – PC Engine – The Konami Kukeiha Club – Ep 47c – St. John – 01:22:27 

 

30) Chapter 2  - Cross Wiber: Cyber Combat Police – PC Engine – Hiroto Saito – Ep 47b – St. John – 01:24:10 

 

31) Player's Victory – Military Madness – TG16 – Jun Chikuma and/or Toshiaki Takimoto – Ep 47b – St. John – 01:26:00 

 

32) He Runs – Shinobi 3 – Genesis – Masayuki Nagao, Hirofumi Murasaki, and/or Morihiko Akiyama – Ep 42 – St. John – 01:27:46 

 

33) Trance Parlent in Blue – Night Striker – Mega CD – c: Masahiko Takaki a: Shuchiro Nakazawa – Ep 46 – Electric Boogaloo – 01:30:22 

  

34) Duck Dub Dub - Garou Densetsu Special – PC Engine – Shinsekai Gakkyoku – Ep 47a – St. John – 01:33:39 

 

35) King of Speed – Daytona USA – Saturn – Tanobu Mitsuyoshi and David Leytze – Ep 44 – St. John – 01:37:33 

 

36) Stage 1-3 – Ai Chou Aniki – PC Engine – Iwasaki Taku – Ep 47a – St. John – 01:42:21 

 

37) Evil Bug Judgment Squad – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – N/A (Wildchip) - Diagamblic – Ep 48 – St. John – 01:45:53 

 

38) Stage 2 – Batman – PC Engine – Naoki Kodaka – Ep 47a – St. John – 01:48:47 

 

39) Toxic Caves – Sonic Spinball – Genesis – Brian Coburn, Barry Blum, and/or Howard Drossin – Ep 49 – Mario Mendez – 01:50:55 

 

40) My Dear D – Shinobi 3 – Genesis – Masayuki Nagao, Hirofumi Murasaki, and/or Morihiko Akiyama – Ep 42 – St. John – 01:53:29 

 

41) Level 1 – Bloody Wolf – TG16 – Azusa Hara, Hiroaki Yoshida, Tatsuta Kiuchi, Hitomi Komatsu, Shuuji Segawa, Shogo Sakai, Takafumi Miura, Yuji Suzuki, and/or Yusuke Takahama – Ep 47a – Bryce Dumond – 01:55:20 

 

42) Stage 2 –Ernest Evans – Genesis – Motoi Sakuraba – Ep 41 – St. John – 01:57:16 

 

43) Computer System (Stage 6) - Metal Stoker – PC Engine – Hiroto Saitoh – Ep 47a – St. John – 01:59:56 

 

44) 7 Trillion GHz – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – Genesis – Strobe – Ep 48 – St. John – 02:01:58 

 

45) Impending Danger – Magic Sword – SNES – Manami Matsumae – Ep 41 – St. John – 02:05:11 

 

46) Cold Cave – Out of this World – 3DO – Andrew Dmitroff – Ep 41 – St. John – 02:06:49 

 

47) Mission 6 – Double Dragon 2 – PC Engine – Hiroyuki Togo – Ep 44 – St. John – 02:08:18 

 

48) Circuit Angel – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – Amiga – Strobe – Ep 48 – St. John – 02:11:02 

 

49) Metal Elephant (Boss 6) - Metal Stoker – PC Engine – Hiroto Saitoh – Ep 47a – St. John – 02:13:35 

 

50) Stage 2-1 – Ai Chou Aniki – PC Engine – Iwasaki Taku – Ep 47b – St. John – 02:15:44 

 

51) Coco Myalore – n++ – Multiplatform – Station – Ep 41 – St. John – 02:18:01 

 

52) Music for 32 Partials – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – PC (midi) - Sintel – Ep 48 – St. John – 02:21:35 

 

53) Tostarena: Night – Super Mario Odyssey – Switch – Mahito Yokota, Koji Kondo, Shiho Fuji, and/or Naoto Kubo – Ep 41 – St. John – 02:26:37 

 

54) Outside Ref, the Pyramid of Ice – Dungeon Explorer 2 – TG16 – Masaaki Inoue, and/o Akihiro Honma – Ep 47b – St. John – 02:29:45 

 

55) Stage 2-2 – Ai Chou Aniki – PC Engine – Iwasaki Taku – Ep 47b – St. John – 02:31:49 

 

56) I Came I Saw – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – SNES – KungFuFurby – Ep 48 – St. John – 02:34:38 

 

57) Map – Bomberman '93 – TG16 – Jun Chikuma and/or Keita Hoshi – Ep 47b – St. John – 02:40:04 

 

58) Marseille City – Kuusou Kagaku Sekai Gulliver Boy – PC Engine – Kouhei Tanaka, and/or Kazuhio Sawada – Ep 47b – St. John – 02:41:32 

 

59) What Can You Do? - GT Sport – PS4 – Lenny Ibizarre – Ep 44 – St. John – 02:43:47 

 

60) ESPIRIT.wav - DATAWING – iOS / Android - ESPRIT 空想 (ESPIRIT Kuusou) - Ep 44 – St. John – 02:48:50 

 

61) Tip Cat – Wii News Channel – Wii – Kazumi Totaka – Ep 44 – St. John – 02:52:15 

 

62) Noctis' Dream – Final Fantasy XV – Multiplatform – Yoko Shimomura – Ep 44 – St. John – 02:54:10 

 

63) Shower Curtain – n++ – Multiplatform – Planet Boelex – Ep 44 – St. John – 02:57:37 

 

64) Izayoi – Shinobi 3 – Genesis – Masayuki Nagao, Hirofumi Murasaki, and/or Morihiko Akiyama – Ep 42 – St. John – 03:04:07 

 

65) Story Out – Cross Wiber: Cyber Combat Police – Hiroto Saitoh – Ep 47c – St. John – 03:06:56 

 

66) Electric Starbounce – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – C64 – Kulor – Ep 48 – St. John – 03:08:59 

 

67) Nortinka - Link: The Faces of Evil – CD-i – Tony Trippi – Ep 44 – St. John – 03:11:41 

 

68) Boss Battle – Doraemon – PC Engine – Maki Watanabe, Yoko Motoshuku, and/or Eiji Hasegawa – Ep 47c – St. John – 03:13:57 

 

69) Garden – Cyber Dodge – PC Engine – Einosuke Nagao – Ep 47b – St. John – 03:15:39 

 

70) Bubble Marine – Air Zonk – TG16 – Hisashi Matsushita – Ep 47a – St. John – 03:17:23 

 

71) Knight's Guild – Wizards and Wariors 3 – NES – David Wise – Ep 44 – St. John – 03:20:34 

 

72) Main Theme – Youkai Douchuuki – PC Engine – Hiroyuki Kawada – Ep 47c – St. John – 03:22:19 

 

73) Sound Test – Coryoon – PC Engine – Daisuke Morshima and/or Hisashi Matsushita –Ep 47c – St. John – 03:25:00 

 

74) Title Screen – Ryuu Kyuu – PC Engine – Yasushi Kawasaki and/or Hiroto Saitoh – Ep 47c – St. John – 03:26:51 

 

75) Shower Fresh – N/A (Battle of the Bits Community Original Chiptune) – Genesis – Daigamblic – Ep 48 – St. John – 03:27:18 

 

76) Thank You, and See You Again – Lethal Enforcers – Sega CD – c: Kenichiro Fukui a: Tappi Iwase – Ep 46 – Electric Boogaloo – 03:30:46 

 

77) Outro – 03:34:15 

 

Music Block Runtime: 03:32:38 Total Episode Runtime: 03:38:18 

 

SPECIAL NOTE: Listeners get first dibs on all tracks that both they and St. John wanted for their respective episodes. So, any such "overlap" tracks appear in pt 1, rather than in this episode. Before I ever even ask the listeners for tracks, I already have two separate lists of candidate tracks drafted up, a 75 track "Main List", and a 50 track "Backup List", and as listeners select tracks that were on one or the other of these two lists, I would strike them from my list for the listeners to have (or more accurately, just gray them out). Afterwards, I pulled from my remaining eligible backup tracks to fill in the gaps left over from the main list to bring me back to a final track count of 75. As such, even though this is "my episode", it's also at least a little bit "the listeners'" episode as well, as by their selections, they sort of "put up fencing" for me, forcing me to change the sound of the episode a bit from what it would've been had I just rolled with the original 75.  
 
From my main list, the listeners had selected 15 tracks. From my backup list, they had selected 9, necessitating that I pull 15 tracks from the remaining 41 backups to fill in the gaps. The tracks pulled from my backup in this way will be highlighted in BOLD.  The Lone exception to this is as it concerns my picks from C1E43: Commodore 64 Epics. The track on my main list, Tetris, was just too long, and didn't fit in the music block anywhere, whereas the track on my backup list, Subtune 1 from Flash Gordon would've worked, but I didn't want to use it again because I had just used it in the Golden Episode, and had wanted to expand the exposure of Henrik's selections. So I nixed them both, went back to the drawing board, and chose Trap. This one will be indicated in BOLD, ITALICS, AND UNDERLINE. 

 

Lastly, I just wanted to say how much I always enjoy doing these "Best of 20XX" series, both the Listener Picks and the St. John's picks. It's fun to listen to "Best of 2017" and get a nice, distilled view of 2017, and the same for 2018 with "Best of 2018". Even as the show's creator and host, and principle curator, even I only have a hazy, murky picture of what a year looked and felt like til I get to experience its distilled essence in the annual "Best of 20XX".  
 
And to that point, it's remarkable how similar the "Listener Picks" to those first two years sounded, while how very different the two corresponding "St. John's" picks were for them. The listener picks installments focused primarily on the rockin' and energetic sides of those years' outputs (albeit with nice chill moments interspersed), where very little of that rockin' energy made it into either of my own collections. And yet, on my collections, 2017 was much more bright and effervescent and optimistic, where 2018 was much more rich and smooth, and matured. The truth is that whichever one of the two St. John's picks installments that I'm listening to at the moment is generally my favorite of the two at that moment. 
 
So, how was 2019 going to compare and stack up against 2017 and 2018, especially when it only had 10 episodes compared to 20 each for the first two, and such an outsized portion of that music for just one system because of our massive PC Engine / Turbografx16 focus? Well, on the St. John side, it comes out just about precisely as I was hoping that it would – as an almost perfect "meet in the middle" compromise between the effervescence of 2017 and the depth and smoothness of 2018, even with all that "velvet gravel" of the HuC6280 in play. Maybe it's just the newness talking, and I'll change my mind in time, but I really, truly think it just might be my favorite of the three – which is just what I was hoping for.  

 

The real surprise, though, was on the "Listener Side". Whereas the listener picks in both of the first two years were more energetic and rockin', and even though there was a comparable amount of that kind of music in the available track lists for their selection in 2019, and the majority of selecting listeners were returnees from at least one of the previous two outings, the Listener Picks best of 2019, on balance, strikes me as much more mellow and laid back. It actually sounds more like a St. John's picks outing than it sounds like either of the previous two Listener Pick outings despite having a similar amount of overlap between listener picks and St. John picks, and even more interestingly, despite being only about 50% comprised of tracks originally selected by St. John in the original 2019 episodes, the rest being originally selected for those episodes by contributing listeners and collaborators: Bryce Dumond, Henrik Andersson, Electric Boogaloo...and most of all, Mario Mendez. Even though I have a much smaller footprint in the Listener Picks installment this year, and a comparable amount of overlap, this one to me still sounds just much more....I dunno....me. 😊 On balance, it's my favorite of the three years' Listener Picks episodes as well. 

 

Anyway, I hope you will enjoy them as much as I had, and a huge thanks once again to all the listeners who contributed – nearly double the number of people who had contributed in the previous two years.  

 

Cheers! 

 

P.S.: there will be no 2021 "Best of 2020". Instead, there will be a 2022 "Best of 2020 / Best of 2021". It's easier to call these "Best of 20XX" episodes "annuals", especially when this is the only time in show history, or planned future history that it would not play out annually. But truth of the matter is that technically, they have never been "annual", but instead, they are "seasonal", as in one per each season of the show. And since Season 4 is being split evenly between 2020 and 2021, we'll just retrospect the entire 2yr season in 2022. December of 2021, instead, will be a free "Listener Picks" along the line of what we had in Dec 2018 with C1E40. So, it's not too early to start thinking of your tracks for that right now! 😀  

 

P.P.S......yes, I did just "P.P.S."! 😀 In case you would find it interesting, and in case you didn't already see these in the show notes to part 1, during production, I had shared a worksheet .docx with the contributing listeners that included their selections, and notes to them as I worked my way through them, that they were able to watch developing in real time. Here's the link: 

 

https://1drv.ms/w/s!AqhGLz1m7arYiOkZaA7HFC5IZLHV6w?e=s3Y6aY 

 

And then I also shared the link to this Google Sheets file which originated as the list of eligible tracks from 2019 that the listeners and I were able to select from. But I have modified the document to include multiple other sheets, showing unsorted and sorted listener picks, my unsorted worksheet, my sorted final list, and perhaps most interesting of all, a "Master Selections Overview", which is like looking through a multi-faceted diamond....like looking at the total picture "in 3D". If that sounds interesting...here you go: 

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1ZvIIIqKLtHU9AEHZ2FZv1R7zl1goBVme6rQzsSlxEC4/edit?usp=sharing 

 

 

Our Intro and Outro Music is Funky Radio, from Jet Grind Radio on the Sega Dreamcast, composed by BB Rights. 

 

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Thanks for listening! Join us again in 2021, month and subject TBD. Also, don't miss C2E2 on Christmas Eve. Delicious VGM on Noise from the Hearts of Nerds....and wherever you are....Fly the N!!! 

 

 

Cheers!