Great, elaborate post there describing that track, hah! Yeah, man, I can't stop listening to this track. I mean, the whole OST is remarkable, but this one I can listen on repeat for hours.
Yeah, I think Matsuno needs a nice, reliable cushion to fall on. If Nintendo could offer him a deal or contract for X amount of games it could be a sight to behold. That's a total pipe dream though. The rest of the crew that makes his games shine would have to be involved and I'm not too knowledgeable where a lot of these other members reside, like, what are there current commitments? Are the rest of the people that usually work with him still at Square or are a lot of people freelance? For me, I kind of hate and love the fact that Matsuno doesn't churn out game after game. When we DO get a game from him it's usually pretty fucking special/exceptional. At the same time, I ALWAYS want more from him after I play one of his games. A game like Crimson Shroud had that exact effect on me too. I want to see more of this world/universe he created! =/