Spirit's Intro Song

Games Spirit Island
1

If you had to choose a song to act as an introduction to each spirit (like how sports teams play a song as they take the field/court), what would it be? Here's mine:

Lightning's Swift Strike: All Nightmare Long - Metallica: At first I was going to save this one for one of the shadowy spirits, but I think a giant bird made of lightning destroying entire cities qualifies as a nightmare.

River Surges in Sunlight: Rolling in the Deep - Adele: River seems to be the most benevolent Spirit revealed so far, so I imagined it would have rather worked with the explorers, but the blighting of the island has forced River's hand, and the invaders are going to regret it.

Vital Strength of the Earth: Low Rider - War: EDIT: Changed it to Low Rider.

Shadows Flicker Like Flames: Thriller - Michael Jackson: Those shadows are scary man.

Ocean’s Hungry Grasp: Wipeout - The Surfaris: I almost want to photoshop a surfer into Ocean's spirit panel art.

2

Let's see...

[b]Lightning's Swift Strike[/b]: [url=https://youtu.be/_4IRMYuE1hI]Beethoven's Fifth Symphony (At least the intro)[/url]
(Alternatively, [url=https://youtu.be/-SUvnM3nqfU]the presto part of Vivaldi's Summer[/url]

[b]Shadows Flicker Like Flames[/b]: [url=https://youtu.be/SLCuL-K39eQ]Night on Bald Mountain by Rimsky-Korsakov.[/url]

[b]River Surges in Sunlight[/b]: [url=https://youtu.be/7U8YVsW9I8U]Handel's Water Music - Air[/url]

[b]Vital Strength of the Earth[/b]: [url=https://youtu.be/7EBy1lBXgtE]The Pines of Rome by Ottorino Respighi[/url]

[b]Ocean's Hungry Grasp[/b]: [url=https://youtu.be/mdS2xj0br34]Hoist the Colors, from Pirates of the Carribean 3[/url]

[b]Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island[/b]: [url=https://youtu.be/3eG_O1wEJ40]The Firebird Suite by Igor Stravinsky[/url]

 

I seem to have gone on a bit of a Fantasia trip, but that's okay.

3

Nah, Firebird is more appropriate for Lightning's Swift Strike. I'd use the Bydlo movement from Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition for Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island.

4

Ooh, that's pretty good.

 

I think I prefer Beethoven's fifth or Vivaldi's Summer for Lightning, but what about using FIrebird for A Spread of Rampant Green?  I don't know enough about the spirit to say.

 

EDIT:  Does anyone know enough about Thunderspeaker or Heart of the Wildfire to know if The Stampede from the Lion King is a good fit for either one?

5

I do not have words for how awesome this thread is.

6

Thunderspeaker strikes me as a Baba Yetu kind of spirit, at least from what little I know as a non-playtester.

7

My picks based on how the spirits feel to me. Now what we need is an algorithm that will take your number of spirits, adversary, and level, estimate setup time, and choose your spirits so that the combined intro songs will be complete when you are ready to start playing.

River Surges in Sunlight: Denmark by Gideon Freudmann (performed by Portland Cello Project) [ebb and flow; fluid]

Vital Strength of the Earth: Earthquake Weather by Beck [steady, steady, steady; mellow, but powerful]

Shadows Flicker Like Flame: Getatchew by The Ex [menacing; alien; chased by unseen assailants]

Lightning's Swift Strike: Vidalia by Andrew Bird's Bowl of Fire [energetic and forceful; percussive]

Thunderspeaker: Burundi by Critters Buggin [driving; vocal; territorial and defensive]

Ocean's Hungry Grasp: Lilah by Morphine (runner up: The Ocean Doesn't Want Me by Tom Waits) [alien; alluring; powerful]

A Spread of Rampant Green: Escape Artist by Zoe Keating [alternately calming and menacing; isolating; patterned chaos]

Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island: Mountain Shifts by O'Death [lazy, quiet menace; abrupt, explosive action]

Heart of the Wildfire: Spy vs Spy by Combustible Ediston (runner up: Foreign Object by The Mountain Goats) [giddy; playful; carefree; violent; dual-natured]

Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares: March of the Smallest Feet by Tin Hat Trio (runner up: T-Ski by Critters Buggin) [alien; dual-natured; quiet isolation; menace; being chased or watched]

 

Edit: I added some descriptions that I associate with each spirit that helped me to choose these songs.

8

I like the Fantasia ones, never would have thought of that.

9

I really like the choice of classical music to represent the spirits, though it feels a bit strange using Old World music to represent New World spirits.  I don't know a good way around that.

10

From me, some of it represents lack of familiarity with the comparable traditions from Africa/North America/Asia. The few things I can think of from those regions aren't especially suitable - they're upbeat and peppy.

11

I think some of the spirits may be upbeat and peppy. Green and at least one of the unannounced spirits for sure. I've always pictured Heart of the Wildfire as pretty manic and carefree. They are all very powerful, but I don't know that all of the spirits need to have the same imposing air about them.

12

Nolan Nasser posted his art for Heart of the Wildfire, and "manic and carefree" sums it up pretty well.

13

Yeah, I would love to give the spirits all themes from native musical styles, but I don't know near enough about those genres to find the right music.  And music is far too hard to search for.  The closest I can come up with is the music from The Lion King, especially the Stampede.

 

 

Anyhow, the general feel for the spirits that I was aiming for when I chose my selections:

Lightning's Swift Strike : Fast, violent, and stormy

Shadows Flicker Like Flames : Etherial and haunting

River Surges in Sunlight : Gentle, and calming

Vital Strength of the Earth : Slow and Majestic

Ocean's Hungry Grasp : Deep, foreboding and hungry

Serpent Slumbering Beneath the Island : Ancient, slumbering, and powerful.  I wasn't entirely happy with the Firebird Suite for this one either, but I couldn't think of anything else that really came close to what I was looking for.  Perhaps [url=https://youtu.be/-N6r1jvTxzk]Mist on the Mountain[/url], or [url=https://youtu.be/BEm0AjTbsac]Over Misty Mountains Cold[/url]?

14

I'm not sure gentle and calming befits River Surges in Sunlight, the art for Flash Floods and Wash Away depicts it as quite violent and destructive.

15

Well, one of the peppy, and very Latin-influenced, pieces that crossed my mind was Michel Camilo's "Why Not!", at least prior to where the band breaks into the jazz tradition of solos.

Else, Bach's "Toccata & Fugue in d minor" for organ might be appropriate for one of the more mysterious ones.

Edit to add: Pick something by Ladysmith Black Mambazo for Thunderspeaker.

16

How about Downstream from Braid?  Don't forget to listen all the way to the end (or at least a bit past half-way).

17

Ride the lightning by Metallica for Lightnings Swift Strike

Fear of the dark by Iron Maiden for Shadows Flicker Like Flames

18

Hm, I think you're right.  I'll have to rethink my choice then.

 

This is not serious, but how about Iolanthe's [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qA93YkOq7sk]Nightmare Song[/url] for the Bringer of Dreams and Nightmares? 

19

That's pretty good, certainly has the watery feel.

20

I'm sad I didn't think of this earlier, but this should be River's song.