I finally finished putting together a shortlist of songs I liked for this year's AIM, in order to vote in the fan voting thread, and it was much harder than last time!

I listened to every song at least twice then, just like last year, ranked the songs mostly in-order based on some combination of how much I liked them, how objectively good they are, and how much they fit their art. Cutting the list into songs I liked didn't help thin things out as much as I was hoping this year...

### shortlist

1. AIM - Red Hell sound design & atmosphere are cinematic tier

2. AIM - A Spirit's Thoughts very emotionally powerful

3. AIM - Sprawl perfect connection to art + fun sound design

4. AIM - Charon the progression is the best part

5. AIM - The Storm smooth

6. AIM - Battle of Ships chaotic and hard hitting

7. AIM - Showdown engaging and crisp

8. AIM - Pole Position

9. Amiss tingly (chrono trigger mitai na?)

10. AIM - As Screaming Shadows Consume Us

11. AIM - Skypunks

12. AIM - Lowlands Scrapyard evocative

13. AIM - A Skilled Warrior

14. AIM - 14 very cool atmospheric ideas

15. AIM - Fusion Energy love the rough melodies

16. AIM - Raphonia Traditions fits the art very well

17. Beware - AIM

18. AIM - MEAT strong execution

19. AIM - Panorama Drone atmosphere

20. AIM - The Empty Universe

21. AIM-Tragedy

22. AIM - Dusk [Dry]

23. AIM - Waking Dream

24. AIM - Here They Come!

25. AIM - Sweet Tooth

26. AIM - Dusk (2022) [CryNN]

27. AIM - Neo-Noir Nights

28. AIM - I am but myself

29. AIM - Dusk [ChordsInMotion]

30. AIM - Megablock City

31. AIM - Anamnesis

32. AIM . Requiem for an Astronaut (Ft. Marie Ork)

33. AIM - Lost in the dark

34. The Amalgamate [AIM 2022]

35. AIM - Techacardia

36. AIM - 4fh6gji84

37. AIM - Where Even the Monsters Cry

38. AIM - Ōkami

39. AIM Sitting on the Dock of the Bay

40. AIM 2022 - Rock 'n' Roll 

41. AIM - Journey of a Traveler

42. AIM - Succubus

bonus. AIM - At The End Of the Road 5:23 ;)

### final thoughts

I noticed that a lot of tracks (both in the shortlist & not) shared a few general critiques.

Biggest takeaways:

 1. transitions are important & have the potential to be super cool.

 2. repetitive sections put a focus on the sound design & mixing -> if you don't have confidence in your sound design skills, mix up the arrangement and composition; make things extraordinary!

 3. make sure that the song builds and releases tension! You don't want the dynamics to get stale and for the listener to feel like the piece just isn't changing.

I have a lot of notes on every piece I listened to, so feel free to send me a dm if you'd like any more feedback!

see you next year