j1m0ne's blog

Oh hey, it’s October already…

Erm OK so I delayed writing this up cos I was busy looping Nene’s Inochi Nandayo. Such an awsm song….. anyway.

This time I’m doing it a little different – only highlighting the things I really liked, in the form of a playlist which I do actually load onto my iPod every month. Isn’t it a relief, you don’t have to read me moan about shitty songs I shouldn’t even bother to listen to!

September09 list [in no particular order]
1. Platonic syndrome. Duca (Rain of Summer single)
This is to me this month what Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari was in August; the one song I’d turn to when everything else screamed shittiness. OK so it’s hardly Supercell and Duca’s not nagi, but Platonic syndrome packs a mean melodic punch and as a plus point, contains some of my favourite cheesy lines from this year: ‘And in my head a simulation plays – what sort of face would you make if I said just two syllables – “suki”?’ Also, how good a title is Platonic syndrome? “I can’t really bear holding her hand – we suffer from platonic syndrome”….ok it’s just me then.
Youtube (Natsu no Ame OP)

2. Tazunebito [尋ねビト]. Veil ∞ Lia (TONE CLUSTER)
Oldie but goodie? Well old in that it’s from last year’s visual novel Hoshiuta… Tazunebito resurfaces on the second Elements Garden compilation TONE CLUSTER, which collects a bunch of tracks the musical group produced for various eroge. Lia is a singer I find puzzling, since her exit from the I’ve Project I’ve not come across anything from her I particularly liked until this (and now she’s pregnant & shotgun married). So similar is Tazunebito to her famed Tori no Uta style-wise I have to pinch myself to hear it’s really Fujima Hitoshi involved and not I’ve. The song is grand, catchy and totally should be used as the theme song if Hoshiuta ever gets an anime.
Youtube (Hoshiuta OP)

3. staple stable. Saito Chiwa (staple stable & Hitagi Crab Atogatari)
Been itching to see this one out for some time, it was just so charming seeing those little staples chomp by. Chiwa has always been a decent singer and a half and her and handles the little melodic twists and turns in its chorus very well but I think 60% of my love for the song comes from 100% Senjougahara fascination.
Youtube (Bakemonogatari OP1)

4. Sweet Madrigal. Nakahara Mai (Sweet Madrigal)
At first all I could do was laugh at Sweet Madrigal – it’s quite unlike anything Mai has ever done before, its sugary melody and bouncy synth backing an unusual change from her normal bubbly galge pop. A few listens later and I’m convinced it was a good move. Mai’s voice is limited but not terrible and she does a good enough job with this; took a while but I’ve totally warmed up to it now.

5. Fragile Girl [フラジール・ガール]. Kobayahi Yu (Zan Sayonara Zetsubo Sensei chara album)
1 minute 37 seconds of absolute madness. Unlike Gogogo Beauty and Buta no Gohan, Fragile Girl is a proper song with a proper tune (in there somewhere) but as usual, Kobayashi applies her ’so-ridiculously-good-it’s-almost-bad’ approach with plenty of primal screaming and impressive vocal gymnastics (ero-voice to screeching in the space of 2 seconds?). No matter whether you hate or love the song one thing’s for sure, you won’t be forgetting it anytime soon.

6. Kitakaze [キタカゼ]. Friends (Friendship)
The only original track on the seiyuu collective Friends’ ‘graduation’ album and the only reason it’s worth checking out. Essentially Kitakaze tries to be what all the other songs on the album are – classic/standard Jpop songs (Speed’s My graduation, Lindberg’s GAMBAranakuchane) and it just about succeeds, packing plenty of girrrrl power and attitude into a catchy package.

7. Tsuuka Chiten no MUSICA [通過地点のMUSICA]. Chihara Minori (Haruhi chara album 2 – Nagato Yuki)
I’m not fond of Minorin’s awfully nasal vocal on MUSICA (I don’t believe singing through your nose requires much skill), but the song itself is the pick of the three simultaneous CD releases. The song retains an overwhelmingly electronic feel – this is Nagato after all, but is possessing of a surprisingly cheerful melody line. I am incredibly amused to see just how much Haruhi’s stock has fallen since the Endless Eight debacle, CD sales for the series are so terrible – Hetalia’s character song disc sold thrice the amount (close to 20k copies) of Nagato’s CD (6k+), which in turn outsold Haruhi’s own disc.

8. Clover Heart’s. Marie (Jump Up!)
This is even older – the Clover Heart’s game was released back in 2003, but Marie’s only just scored her first compilation album release. This is one of the many highlights on Jump Up! and is something I have been listening to for a few years, such is the quality of the song I never really get tired of it.
Youtube

9. Suna no Ue no Dolphin [砂の上のドルフィン]. Ishikawa Chiaki (Dare mo Oshiete Kurenakatta Koto)
Errrr it’s kinda sad that the one song I picked up off Chiaki’s new album is actually a c/w track off 2007’s 1/2 single. It is rather frustrating that despite possessing the ability to write songs as majestic as Prototype, her albums remain substandard affairs. Suna no Ue no Dolphin actually takes a different approach than her usual orchestral onslaughts; its understated, minimalistic acoustic guitar, keyboard and mandolin arrangement allowing Chiaki’s strong vocal to shine through. Actually it’s more reminiscent of songs from her first album Inner Garden – I’m recalling the melancholic feel of Tokyo no Panorama or Yume o Miteite (and wow it was released close to 6 years ago).

10. refrain nostalgia. Rita (refrain nostalgia)
This month’s selection of eroge songs is unusually good for some reason… I was actually expecting this to be shit after hearing the headache-inducing insert song (NON STOP! SIGNAL!!) from the Signal Heart game by Sakakibara Yui, but a quick skim through the song proved otherwise. I seem to be big on the slow songs this month…
Youtube (Signal Heart ED)

11. Shooting Star. Yonekura Chihiro (Departure)
An army of friends and collaborators helped out on Chihi’s new album and the results are at times fantastic. Shooting Star is one of them; written by Kageyama Hironobu (he also features on back-up vocals) the song is very old-school and harks back to her 90s hits – think of songs like Arashi no Naka de Kagayaite and you’re getting there.

12. Seikou Toutei [星光灯庭]. Marie (Koibumi Romantica Kayou Zenshuu -Sora no ne)
I guess it’s pure coincidence to have another Marie song this month, this was the second opening theme for Chuable Soft’s visual novel Koibumi Romantica. I’d definitely advocate sourcing out a (virtual) copy of the vocal album, the songs on it are all frankly, quite awesome.

13. Tasogare no Sora [たそがれ空]. Chata (Hoshiuta~starlight serenade~)
A ballad that is not Dango Daikazoku, wooh~~ erm yes another eroge song. OK this is getting faintly ridiculous, I suppose all anime songs were totally unmemorable in September (it gets much better in October though).

14. Kirameki Harmonics [煌めきHarmonics]. CooRie (Sora no Manimani Chara album)
So why is this tucked away on a character album again? Ballads are normally rino’s strongest suit but here she tries out a bit of Shibuya-kei swing and it works very, very well. One of her best upbeat songs in ages (probably since Sentimental?).

15. nO limiT (album mix). ECLIPSE (Idol Attack)
Oh hey they actually got shot of the vocal filter in this new mix, now I can actually tell who the heck is singing what line in the verses! Still sounds fantastic after a few months, though I can’t really recommend the rest of the album.
Youtube

16. Reflectier [リフレクティア]. eufonius (Ao no Scape)
And here I am returning to Reflectier. After releasing that ridiculous music box garbage (Nejimaki Musica) in July, eufonius get back to business with their third major album for Lantis. Reflectier is still the pick of the tracks, its appeal not having diminished in the 1 1/2 years that have elapsed since the end of true tears.
Youtube (true tears OP)

Honorary mention – Shimizu Ai’s Chimeric Voice isn’t as bad as her normal stuff…the PV didn’t go down so well with me though.

OK yeah, back to IKITERUNDAYOOOOOO.