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

I still have a soft spot for the style of my old logo, however I've begun to dislike the mostly grey makeup of the backdrop. It's time for a change! I expect I'll be messing with the style of my logo a bit over the coming few months.

Also, stay tuned for more music; I feel like everyday I'm figuring out something I was doing wrong before, and that I'm improving at a pretty rapid rate! Might be time for a tiny EP?

While going through the fan voting thread I listened to every song at least once, going through most a few times. This shortlist represents all the entries which I consider contenders for the top 5 spots. The items are mostly in order of a metric which is some combination of my preference, the song's connection to the art, and how good the piece actually is.

The Shortlist:

1. Aim 2021 - Spring Petals ahhh,,,, shit.

2. AIM - Tranquility such a hard decision if this should take the top spot or not

3. AIM 2021 - Citadella by AlbeGian Song - Ambient 

4. AIM - Sea Monster by PandaThePanda Song fits image so perfectly

5. AIM - THE ILLUMINATED PATH woah, second listen blew me away

6. AIM - Artificial

7. AIM - My Summer Sweetheart by JohnMontoya Song damn

8. Hopea by LucidShadowDreamer Song is slick the right word?

9. [AIM2021] ADA & L.Mity - 𝑅𝑒:𝑃𝑢𝑟𝑖𝑓𝑖𝑐𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛 by L-Mity Song

10. AIM - Jaguar Peak by nyxl Song

11. AIM . Glimpse of God by LexRodent what an experience

12. AIM - The Hero's End

13. AIM 2021 - Bridge

14. AIM - Space Chaos by Dieswyx Song 3382 Views

15. AIM - Journey To The Lighthouse

16. AIM 2021 - Following The Valley Light

17. AIM 2021 - Sick

18. AIM -Angelopolis- by PredatorMusic Song

19. AIM - Our Life. by L-Mity

20. [AIM] Diossel - Sunset by DiosselMusic Song

21. AIM - Arctic Aurora by tincant

22. AIM 2021 - Sun Wukong

23. AIM - Skyward

24. AIM - RoBits' Music by ConnorGrail Song

25. AIM 2021 - Space Salsa by MintyFreshThoughts Song

26. AIM - The Unmatched Power of The Sun

27. AIM 2021 - Atmospheric research city

28. AIM - Escape by Ukatz Song

It can't hurt to ask.

¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I haven't been publishing very much music lately, therefore I'm making it my goal to at least make more music than waterflame.  =P

More songs soon!  :3 

I swiched to Ableton Live 9, better that Garageband.  =P

Remember everyone even though my songs say,

"You may not use this work for commercial purposes without making specific arrangements with the artist."

As long as you PM me whatever game you are making and what song you are using, you can use all songs commercialy free of charge.

Zechnition saying hello