according to the actual hour, at least through my work day, and quickly jot down all my thoughts on each version from the different games before settling on one. What is my cohost for if not my longest and most annoying thought dumps?

Updated this post as a draft through the day, stopped after the question that started all of this got itself answered. Read More at your own risk.

This whole thing started with a long-winded question I had about whether the 5PM New Leaf music was intended to be a reference to the 5PM original animal crossing music, but I resolved to just go answer that myself by comprehensively listening to every single song to rule out coincidence. It's great background music either way.

If you're in that sort of mood too and reading this along with listening, I recommend https://tane.us/ac/ which automatically plays the right track off youtube based on the actual time, and lets you swap between styles.

For brevity's sake (and lord do I need it), AC refers to the original animal crossing, and WW means both wild world and city folk. NL and NH are New Leaf and New Horizons, of course.

10 AM

WW

I like how empty and calm the WW music is. Barely ever more than 1 instrument playing over the extremely light percussion like damn I'm tired and just barely existing too nice

AC

Comparitively AC sounds so alive but slightly off kilter because of that one percussion note as if I am at the beginning of a caffeine high, and that's also kind of a mood

NL

I don't really know what's going on with NL's but I appreciate the mild curiosity in those random... what is that, an accordion? notes during otherwise quiet parts like. "The fuck was that." And then the music cuts like you tripped over your own thoughts during a morning walk and had to reset.

NH

NH's is more funky than it has any right to be at 10 AM but I feel like that's going to be a theme for a lot of this entry's music so I won't say that too often. Otherwise, compared to the others this is the most normal.

This is music for someone enjoying their morning and I have to admit that's me today because I'm doing this.

I think I enjoy the WW music the most though. It's so peaceful and I love those plucked string sounding notes, like glinting light off of the surface of an ocean, or filtering through your window. This will keep me sane while I wait for the coffee to kick in.

Edit 10:21-
Actually it's maybe driving me slightly insane because of how short the loop is and how repetitive the little melody is. I don't hate that but it has burrowed its way deep into my skull and I'm actually only 5 minutes in. I switched to AC's since it will be fitting in the next 30 minutes.

Edit 10:31-
I think I have already noticed something interesting about listening to this stuff on loop with intent. The parts that make the most "sense" fade into the back of your mind, leaving the weirdest parts of the song, which older animal crossing games sure had a lot of. In this case that one instrument. The bongo sounding drum. It's so silly but not maddening so it stays.

11 AM

AC

It switched over automatically to the AC version and oh fuck yeah it's the pooty brass. Sorry I cannot properly identify instruments. You will know what I mean if you hear the song. Hilarious that it's still got the really soft cute AC jingles over such a jaunty beat.

WW

But oh, I love the WW one too, it's just that really iconic style of meandering singular accordion notes over a quiet beat. It's like it has finally fully woken up from the last hour bgm to a slow-but-nonetheless-going day.

NL, NH

NL's so reminds me of its shops all lined up. The slight attitude you front to be publicly presentable for morning errands. It's there in NH's too, if in a fuller capacity - they're both soft and charming but this one is more laid back. Maybe it's two sides of the same coin depending on what your day's shaping up to be, who you plan to see. If NL's is seeing others going about their business on a walk through town, NH's is settling in around a familiar space, like your home or workplace.

Going with WW again though. It's the nostalgia for me. And the melody this time isn't as maddening!

12 PM

WW

WW goes in with the really steady beat and irregular pacing of the melody, since your neurons are all on at this point to absorb it. Chika-chaka chika-chaka, beep- beep- beep- beep, bright piano sounds, the comforting constant presence of that one dude with an accordion.

Actually at this point I'm questioning if it's actually an accordion or if I have been making a fool of myself.

Maybe it's like, a harmonica? ...That would make a lot more sense. What was I thinking all this time. Anyway I love the harmonicordion.

AC

What I like about early animal crossing music that you can hear in AC's is that sometimes the melody is barely there over a solid beat. There's like a whole half a measure before each instrument switches off, and then they play about 5 notes to really make you think.

The thought that comes to mind of course is invariably "Yup I sure am playing animal crossing"

NL

Somehow the word that comes to mind when NL's starts up is Discovery, I'm not sure why. Maybe it's because it sounds so chipper but still mysterious in the way the phrase ends, or the start-stop call and response thing it has going.

What curious thing did you see on the way home?

What did you think about while staring at that tree for a little too long?

This is a question for you, not me, I've been sitting indoors. But it's fun to roleplay someone that goes outside. Isn't that what animal crossing is all about, at its core?

NH

When the intro to NH's starts I already remember how much I love it. It still has the animal crossing charm of including one weird warbly sound, but the mood is just such a breath of fresh air. I think the other tunes do benefit uniquely from the amount of pausing and silence they use to effect, but NH's fuller sound excels when it's setting this kind of mood. The end of this one before it loops feels like a pop song, like one of those that's just a guy talking about what a great day he's having, you know the one.

Went with NH, because I aspire to be that genre of guy.

1 PM

NH

Remember how I just said that NH excels at the really full sound? This one returns to form and it's like, sounds you can count on one hand. It's nice and non-distracting, though. The caffeine is wearing off.

(That isn't a metaphor I'm just feeling sleepy listening to this)

NL

Ohhh oh it's that really echoey dreamy sound NL has sometimes, I remember it well. Right after the piano in the intro, where it lets each phrase kind of drift off on the wind. I don't know where it's going, and maybe it doesn't either.

WW

I don't know why but hearing the harmonicordion again made me laugh when I swapped over. Definitely a more involved melody this time, with the short keyboard phrases, and oh! It's the whistles! Right on cue!

This one's just a nice time. Makes me feel like I need to go do human things like get lunch instead of adding to this pointlessly long post. I won't, though.

AC

OH YEAH THE MEOWS. Man, 1 PM just has so much to offer across all the games, doesn't it. The whistles and harmonicordion are here too, this is truly the most animal crossing of all time. I feel like someone who has never heard of animal crossing watching someone play animal crossing. Goofy music while a dude chats with a catgirl, but not like a standard anime catgirl, an actual girl who is a whole cartoon cat, who pays a mortgage and tells you your fashion sense is terrible before selling you a toilet.

Ahem. I'm going with NL. I'm getting too distracted with the others, as much as I like goofy silly.

2 PM

NL

This one started playing while I was in the kitchen having lunch and I had to downplay the (mercifully disparate) harmonicordion sounds coming from my room. I do think this track is cute though. There's a lot of cheeky little pauses in it, sneaky fellas

WW

Oh there it is, a bossa nova rhythm! If you recall I was trying to confirm something about certain tracks, and this is the first evidence of it that I really noticed. If a previous one had it I was too lost in the sauce to notice. The quiet main motif playing over it is very calming, which is quite dangerous at 2 PM for some (me)

NH

Oh the funny squeaky track, the one that sounds like it uses a MIDI guitar from 2002. This song feels like you're up to no good, somehow, or just having a really bizarre afternoon. Maybe you are kicking it with the boys as they say down in the boy zone.

I don't actually know what they say in there, though, I'm just roleplaying someone that goes to the boy zone. Isn't that what animal crossing is all about, at its core? ...No? Nevermind.

Also the bass almost has that bossa nova rhythm but it's not quite there. It's like half of it. Bossa Nova Lite. Diet Bossa Nova. 2% Bossa Nova. I'm a disgrace to music theory.

AC

This one's really good! I remember this one being really good. The arpeggiating harmony is very cute and suits the warbly whatever sound that is over it. Maybe the best part is it never actually stops, or even changes. Sometimes repetition can get a little annoying, but it's nice when it amounts to a light and constant shimmer, leaving room for the track to play around it without shoving it aside.

AC wins this round, I had too many weird thoughts listening to the other ones and I definitely wouldn't stop thinking them if I didn't pick this. But also I do like it a lot.

3 PM

AC

Look no matter how much I love the little piano phrase over the funky little guitar line, I don't think it will be good for me in the long run hearing a bee directly inside of my eardrum every 10 seconds. It does remind me of summer cicadas though and maybe that was the idea here.

NH

Maybe my favorite thing about this track is the bassline, and the trumpet is a nice complement to it by being really present but somehow not overbearing (unlike BZZZZZZZ). It's a soothing track, but it's the kind of peace after a long day has started to wind down, rather than the pure calm in some of the morning tracks.

WW

I actually thought for a second when this started that it was going to be the main theme, the rhythm really reminded me of it. When it got started though I remembered immediately which one it was, and how I liked how the stepping-down melody sounded when the piano kicks in. In such a short track I really like that it has that kind of up and down -ness to it.

NL

NL still keeping up with the cheeky sounding tracks, with lots of pauses like it is actually one or two guys in a room with a bunch of instruments just messing with each one. It gives it kind of a confused feeling, but settled down like you just aren't sure what to do with the rest of your afternoon yet. Like it's too late to really go anywhere else, but too early to call it a day, so you're kind of sitting around with your pal throwing ideas at the wall cuz neither of you wanna go home.

Going with WW for this one, it's just got a lot of what I like in the soundtrack without jumping around ideas a whole lot.

Edit 3:36-
I did actually need a change of pace after a while so I swapped to NH. I will say that a strength the longer NH tracks have is allowing for variety in a single track without being too chaotic.

4 PM

NH

I have a little extra familiarity with this one since playing while WFH marked the last hour of the work day. It's not my favorite track, but it does give off a feeling like the busy part of the day is rolling to a close, and it lined up pretty nice. It's not as sunny as it was earlier - in fact today is pretty foggy and overcast - and the down tone of the track goes right along with that.

AC

Oh this is that one track that sounds like that one song by Yellow Magic Orchestra! The one used as the credits song for Temptation Stairway from the ENA animation series on youtube! Ahem.

I like the track, it's cute and simple and steady. The jingly parts remind me of playing the original animal crossing during the winter, right after school let off.

WW

-You know maybe it's because I just said that, but this one sounds even more like a winter afternoon stroll. It's weird to be thinking about this during the summer, but it helps cool me down a bit at least. Boy though, that harmonicordion guy is really going in this track. It's that cool constancy effect acting like a musical steel thread tying the whole thing together as the highs and lows dance around it however they like, with no particular care for structure. I like that kind of headstrong quality in a harmonicordionist.

NL

There it is again... that really echoey instrumentation, like you're deep in a forest or even a seaside cave. What are you doing there at 4 PM though? Are you lost? Maybe some of us are here mentally by this hour, our daily responsibilities wrapping up, leaving us beached and just a little worn as we change gears for the last hours of daylight.

I went with AC this time despite being out of season for jingle bells in the northern hemisphere. I actually wonder how they feel about the christmas season in the southern hemisphere, where it is decidedly hot as hell in December. Do they feel this same dissonance, where the climate is at odds with our chosen cultural acoutrements, or have they just associated the various globally-recognized northern-hemisphere-winter-solstace-based holiday imageries with going to the beach, walking outside in the sweltering heat? Hm. I have an australian to contact after this.

5 PM

WW

WW has fully given up. The day has completely spent all of its energy, and maybe 5 PM is the perfect time to wind down after a busy day. The beat is almost like hearing your clock tick now that you're in the comfort of your own home again, the melody like a memory of the day past.

I do actually like to pass out right after work but I'm holding on this time.

NH

I think lots of people say this is the best hourly track NH has and for good reason. It's got the solid, full sound its soundtrack is good at, the funky guitar and even funkier synth sounds on top, and a steady rhythm to keep your heart beating. It's nice for what might be a lot of peoples' first time playing during the day at all, if unable to play at school or work, like a little congrats for making it through the day. As they say in the boy zone, お疲れ様でした

AC

Here we go, half of the reason I made this post in the first place. A cool bossa nova beat with the synthy main theme melody, probably one of the foot-tappinest songs in the first animal crossing game, and it even has probably one of the longest loops and a really nice bridge before it does.

NL

And a personal best for last, NL's 5 PM - and finally, the main question I had in mind. Was this song composed as a direct "sequel" to AC's 5 PM? None of the tracks before it had the same kind of beat, and the mood is almost the same between them, down to the sentiment swelling up in a thoughtful piano solo part right before the loop.

I can't really say it definitively, but all signs certainly point to it since they are the most similar hourly tracks. New Leaf's 5 PM is maybe my favorite song in the whole of the series, my actual real-life theme for a work day's end. I just thought it would be nice if someone on the animal crossing music team shared the same fondness for it, for that thought to be conveyed so well.

It's without question I'm about to sit down and listen to this for the full hour. Even though I actually do still have work to do.

Edit 5:23-
I just... I really like the higher pitched guitar or whatever in the melody a lot. And then when the piano kicks in the second time the verse comes around is so pretty that the rest of the instrumentation makes room for it. Man.

Actually stopping here for today, I have stuff to do now that I'm not tied to my chair.

If the hyperfixation hits again, maybe I'll pick it up from 6 PM (and pretend I live in a different time zone), until I am through the entire 24 hours. Or maybe I won't and I have finally spewed enough words on the matter to be self-satisfied. Only time will tell.