#the japanese version has lyrics that FIT INCREDIBLY WELL I JUST

[yuseirra]

Oh, you're freaking crazy, hate me Love you breaking bottles on the pavement Just to watch them crash

Said you'd keep me safe, now you're tearing me down Am I laid to waste now that you're not around? Come and leave your mark Vandalize my heart

[jeveuxlamort]

Warning, rambling about the death note musical below i am mostly go on about my views on the english lyrics of the 2015 demo, and comparing them to my view of the japanese lyrics, so if anything I say contradicts newer changes, please let me know (also probably should have a general idea of how the musical is structured compared to the original story I realized afterwards I did not mention a ton of context)

(incredibly unstructured thoughts below)

on one hand, I adore the death note musical.

on the other hand, I abhor the english lyrics (yes I know the english version what technically created first) and how Light is characterized in “where is the justice”.

I wish his true motivation, boredom, had stayed the main focus of his motives, if they really wanted to they could have him say flowery things to the class and then have his actual motivations be mentioned, but they make it out like he has issues with the system? which he never really did? he latched the idea of ridding the world of crime (and in his eyes, evil) after he realized the death note worked, but he wasn’t someone who was actively challenging it before he got the death note (and imo he wasn’t really challenging anything after he got it). I personally hate the reasoning of “oh the motivation is different to fit with America” like?? a bored kid who is very gifted academically obtains supernatural powers and uses it to punish people he claims to be evil, can and does still work?? if they didn’t think it would work with America as a setting just have the musical still be set in Japan?? like Phantom of the Opera or Les Mis are performed in other countries that arent France but are obviously french?

ALSO hurricane is just… straight into murder mode without anything else from Light? nothing about the lyrics make me go “yes, this is actually light talking and this is his thought process after discovering the death note works” he goes straight into “I will use this power to rid the world of evil” instead of the moral conflict he had that led him into that thought process? he literally couldn’t handle the idea that he killed two men so he went “well actually they deserved it and I am the only person who could use this the right way” (dumbed down significantly but you get the point) just PLEASE I AM BEGGING FOR A LITTLE NUANCE THAT IS IN THE ORIGINAL STORY (and is in the japanese lyrics btw)

and (imo) L is also?? kinda off??? the english lyrics for “the game begins” just has generic lines that come across like “hey everyone, just so you know, im the detective, and I detect things, with my brain” like nothing about how he views kira, no personality to how things are said, just generic detective speak

(I personally prefer the japanese lyrics, which seem to draw a lot from his musings about kira, where he ultimately decides kira has to be human and cannot be a supernatural force. it just gives so much more insight into his thoughts than just explaining how a detective works)

(edit: also ties into “the unshakable/unwavering truth” and his shock at the existence of shinigami but still believing kira is human and separate from them)

also, why are so many of his lyrics 3rd wall breaks? why is that a thing? the first time it was amusing? but he does it so often??

misa and rem are pretty good overall, my only gripes are that the lyrics don’t feel like lyrics that can only make sense in the context of death note, if that makes sense? like, if you know what going on the lyrics will fit, but if you heard the songs outside of any knowledge of death note they just sound like generic songs that could have been written for anyone? (not just misa and rem’s songs but a few others as well) there are a couple of lines in each song that are more specific to the context, but I just wish they were further intertwined with the story

(again, the japanese lyrics are great with this)

overall, the english demo lyrics feel like a game of telephone where a lot of overall details were kept but other details/ideas were just brushed over and they filled in the blanks with what they thought fit with the story and went “eh, close enough”

(i do have thoughts on the other songs but i mostly just wanted to talk about L and Light atm)

[lgcjunkyu]

headcanon solo team unknown part two

solo performance #1 (wjsn - secret)

for junkyu's chosen song, he's decided to go with wjsn's secret, it's a song that he really liked when it was released and has in his kpop playlist, a wjsn song he really likes. out of the songs provided, he was torn between choosing wjsn's secret or cherry bullet's hands up, though decided to go with secret as he wanted to try something different and a little bit out of his comfort zone.

while junkyu knew it would be a tough song to adjust musically to fit him, he was confident that he has some good ideas in ways to switch it up and give it a more modern, lesser kpop vibe to it, almost with a keshi vibe to it.

in the original song, there's a very clear, bubbly girly kpop sound to it, whereas for junkyu's edition of the song, he decided to bring the tempo down so it was slower, and to bring the pitch lower in order to match his more deeper voice. while it wasn't something he was completely confident about, he wanted to showcase his improvement in his singing skills lately. regarding backing tracks and instrumentals, junkyu decides to remove a lot from the original and include a guitar, though making it a subtle addition that enhances the sound but isn't too distracting from the singing or lyrics. he chooses not to have too much going on in the background, but enough that the instrumental doesn't feel empty or lacking.

taking a deeper look into the lyrics, junkyu thought that a slower edition of the song would be a fun change from the original, so he was able to bring a new feeling to the song as well as the lyrics.

while he wanted to focus more on the singing aspect for secret, he also wanted to incorporate some of his rapping skills, so he included aspects of rapping and decided to stick to the rap section from the original but adjusting it to fit the flow of junkyu's version, he decided to do a slower rap as one thing he knew about rapping, is that it wasn't always about speed.

while the original choreography is very girly, he decides to strip choreography to a subtle almost ballet influence in order to focus on showcasing singing and rap while also emphasising the lyrics. he decides not to make it too intense, rather the moves soft and yearning almost in order to showcase the emotions from the lyrics and tell a story.

all i wanna do (english version, translated from korean) by jay park

while junkyu's english was quite minimal, with the language workshops his knowledge has been improving and his pronunciation, so he decides to choose a fun and upbeat song from his '3am' playlist, featuring songs he finds smooth and enjoyable. he knew it would be incredibly difficult, but his english knowledge was better than his japanese, so he opted for this song. it's also a song he really likes simply because every time he hears it, his head is always bobbing and his legs are bouncing, he finds it a fun listen and sometimes, just enjoying a song without thinking too much about it was just as fun.

this song has a mix of singing as well as some rapping, which junkyu feels confident in mixing together, as it means he's more entirely focusing on singing nor rapping.

for all i wanna do, junkyu changes the lyrics to a more sfw environment from the original, changing the nsfw lyrics to things like 'money'. while the track stays close to the original, he decides to remove some of the original sounds in the track and add some synth sounds into the mix to add to the backing to give it a slightly different feel.

since his first solo performance was less intense with choreography, he wanted his second performance to focus more on showcasing his choreography skills and rapping skills. he decides to stick with most of the original choreography, only changing the more risqué parts to a cleaner version. though with the choreography, he decides not to spend the whole time dancing and wants to engage with what would be the audience in order to make it different and bring people in.

[xmystophalesx]

Best New Heavy Metal Releases Week of March 3rd, 2023

I might be suffering from a bit of a hangover from last week and the plethora of incredible new releases, as this week was a LOT slower. List is half the size of last week and although there were some very good albums this week, I doubt many will have the staying power that some of the highlight albums from last week will have. Not that this week was bad per se but you rarely have a week as incredibly strong as last week was. Compared to that, there was bound to be a little bit of a letdown. That all being said, there are still definitely some highlights.

Carrion-Morbid Nailgun Necropsy (Death)**

This is 100% Death Metal, but it also has this added depth that you normally find in Melodic Death but not to the extreme as that genre can take it. There are some elements of Groove and Thrash at certain points through the length of the album that help break up the album a bit and that let the songs differentiate themselves from each other. I would label this as the thinking man’s Death Metal.

Galneryus-Between Dread and Valor (Power/Neoclassical)**

I’m not exactly sure about the practice of Japanese bands having their track listings in English but then singing in Japanese. I get it is probably just a translation but for some reason it always gets me. I sit there for the first couple of minutes, trying to make sense of the lyrics before I realize what is happening. I could honestly care less about lyrics as I have said before they represent the cherry on top. That being said, the real star of the show here is the musicianship. You want some incredible musicianship with a very epic power metal feel, this is the album for you. It really does not get better than this as far as Epic Symphonic Power Metal goes.

Necropanther- Betrayal (Melodic Death/Thrash)**

I liked Necropanther’s other releases, so I was pretty sure I would like this one as well. What I didn’t expect is just how much I would like it. If you aren’t familiar with the band, just think of a more out there, but also a more melodic version of Skeletonwitch. They have this very interesting mixture Thrash, Melodic Death and a bit Black Metal all rolled into one and on this album I feel they have balanced all these genres perfectly. There is something here for fans of all these different genres to really latch onto. It is also one of those albums that rewards multiple listens as every time I came back to this, I feel like I got more out of it.

Redlight King-In Our Blood (Hard Rock)**

For the hardcore Metal fan, this one may be difficult to get into as it is straight radio friendly hard rock, but damn, is it ever extremely well done. Great hooks and songs that have that anthemic arena rock feel to them. Tons of groove round out the sound of the album and all put together it has this addictive quality to it. I’m a fan of bands like The Parlor Mob, The Revivalists and The Pretty Reckless, and this fits right in when I am in that mood.

That will do it for the first week of March (Hard to believe we are already in the third month of the year). Just remember to listen to music and fill your soul with happiness. Until next week, and as always,

BANG THY HEAD!!!

All worthy of a listen if you like the genre

*= standout in that genre

**=best of the week regardless of genre

Best of the Week

Carrion-Morbid Nailgun Necropsy (Death)**

Thermality-Before I Get to Rest (Melodic Death)**

Necropanther- Betrayal (Melodic Death/Thrash)**

Sortilege-Apocalypso (Heavy)**

Redlight King-In Our Blood (Hard Rock)**

Galneryus-Between Dread and Valor (Power/Neoclassical)**

Standouts in their Genre

Carcariass-Afterworld (Melodic Death/Progressive)*

Blak29-The Waiting (Heavy/Hard Rock/Goth)*

Tuima Tuuli-I (Black)*

Korrupt-Secret Sorrows (Heavy/Hard Rock)*

Elysian Gates-Beyond the Gates (Symphonic/Heavy)*

Witch Ripper-The Flight After the Fall (Stoner/Sludge)*

Behind Bars-All in Due Time (Groove/Thrash/Hardcore)*

Transgressive-Extreme Transgression (Thrash)*

Ocean of Grief-Pale Existence (Death/Doom)*

Disminded-The Vision (Death/Thrash)*

Majesties-Vast Reaches Unclaimed (Melodic Death)*

Kardinal Sin-S.A.L.I.G.I.A (Heavy/Power)*

Ravenstine-Ravenstine (Heavy)*

Moyra-Omen (Melodic Death)*

Time Wolf-Observer Bias (Progressive)*

Stargazer-Life Will Never be the Same (Geavy/Hard Rock)*

Lunar-Illusionist (Progressive)*

Helgast-The Horrors that Lay Ahead (Death)*

Enslaved-Heimdal (Progressive Black/Folk)*

Cold Drop-Cold Drop (Heavy)*

Viscera-Carcinogenesis (Melodic Death/Deathcore)*

Gravekvlt-Gravekvlt (Black n’ Roll)*

Sandrider-Enveletration (Stoner/Desert/Sludge)*

Vanishment-No More Torture (Thrash/Heavy)*

Worth a Listen

Alkymenia-Meeting Before the Death (Thrash/Groove)

Peropero-Massive Tales of Doom (Progressive)

Malignea-Malignea (Symphonic/Goth)

Tragedy-I Am Woman (Heavy)

Eta Lux-High and Low (Stoner/Sludge)

Distortion-Metal Recall

Deathsbroom-Quietus (Black)

Morgenrothe-Hiver Social (Black)

Pick of the week was very close but Necropanther squeezes in to the top spot with 4.25 bulldogs that can’t be more annoyed out of 5.

[cto10121]

Thoughts On Aimer (Multilanguage)

Back into another Aimer hyperfixation, so here’s some meta on the translations of various versions! Note that this comes from the perspective of a non-native speaker of most of these languages (except for Spanish) relying on English translations. I’m mostly basing my analysis on the lyrics, not so much the arrangement or singers. And so, in no particular order:

French: The simplest but purest expression, almost to the fault of triteness. That said...weirdly enough...it’s still the best version. I really can’t say the other versions do it better (except perhaps the Hungarian). I think it’s the juxtaposition between Romeo’s light/heaven/flying imagery vs. Juliette’s the time/life/fire/burning imagery that works so well—it even forms part of the imagery in the Shakespeare as well, even in the equivalent scene in the play. I’m so amazed Presgurvic had picked it up even in translation. The other versions do not quite understand this (even the Hungarian mixes it up) and when they do, it’s not as powerful. Otherwise, I’m stumped. Maybe it’s the power of the infinitive? French being a Romance language? The privilege of being first? The D&C dream team? That splendid Chorus backed with the power and might of the Budapest Symphony Orchestra? All of the above?

Hungarian: The best apart from the French, no question. Faithful in both translation and intensity, while resolving some of the repetition of the French. That new Chorus verse before the Juliette one is super nice, and R&J not singing it really works. That “Nincs szebb, égni e tűzben!” line especially hits so. damn. hard. The only thing that maybe makes it not surpass the French is that it’s a little too smooth and lacks a bit of emphatic punch that the French gives. YYMV. Also, show-wise, after the showstopper of La Haine in-show, it does feel more of an anti-climax. Still my most revisited version, and even the covers are a bop.

Spanish: The most faithful of all the translations—that Hector King had it so easy, I’m crying in envy. Probably too easy, though: A lot of it is grossly simplified and awkwardly kiddish. First of all, I would have translated it as “Amar” instead of “Te Amo,” frankly, since the latter is much more awkward to sing; we don’t do that nifty Italian trick of using contractions so “T’Amo” is out. Also “Amar” is much more impressive in the infinitive. “Y soy como un ave en vuelo” (And I am like a bird in flight) is probably nicer than the French equivalent, (And touching the wings and birds) but Juliet’s “Et brûler au cœur d’un volcan” (And burning in the heart of a volcano) is turned into “Y quema en mí este fuego” (And this fire in me burns), which is just lamer. Their shared verse is inferior to the French. I would have been much more adventurous; at least the Italian had “E brucia nel desiderio”—“y quemar en su/mi deseo” would have worked. King obviously wanted more of an intimate address, but the infinitive works just as well in Spanish as in French, right??? It’s only in English that the direct “you” has more power. And “Aimer,” despite being a love song, is just not an intimate one. It’s emphatic, triumph, occasionally sweet and longing…but not intimate. But at least it’s coherent and they kept the “paying the price” part!!!! They’re the only version that manages this and I am so grateful. I always do like my foreshadowing.

German: The Austrians are always professional, though Michaela Ronzoni’s translation is uneven in the Austrian (her Les Rois is especially lame). I do like her Liebe, though. They use the united/binded motifs to especially good effect at the end especially, which is always strong in Germanic languages. It’s only too bad they had that slowed-down concert-hand-wavy arrangement—no doubt they were inspired by that Production That Must Not Be Named.

Dutch: Always awkward with the zijns, which the German managed to avoid, but there is at least some good lines, namely “Liefde—haar kraft zu leven.” I’ve always liked the sound of Dutch, those nasals are attractive, but overall it’s definitely one of the weakest of the official versions.

Russian: It’s hard to judge this because they went in a way different direction, pretty much writing original lyrics more in the lines of a wedding vow song. In general I prefer this direction over others the Italian one, but it could have been much better done. There is intensity in the “Give us, in the name of all lovers” and “Time, prolong this moment!” lines, (hardcore) but the beauty, passion, fire of their love...it’s all gone. :/ Can’t say I prefer it. Exchange vows as you like, but where is the love??? One amateur Russian production had lyrics closer to the French; no idea if they were better, but the Russians seemed to approve if the comments are anything to go by. It at least sounded less strange.

Japanese: Again, this is part of the Russian-Japanese-Romanian trio that make it more of a wedding vow song. The first half is very weak, a too-simple paraphrase of religious wedding vows, but it does get better and the last two choruses do deliver the intensity needed and they fit with the soaring melody. So it does redeem itself somewhat, but it’s still the weakest sung. But I do have a soft spot for the Toho, and Japanese does have a kind of pure sound that is apropos for the song and lyrics.

Romanian: Pleasant surprise with this one, introducing a pinch of Hungarian into the mix (with the hearts and the flying) but otherwise going its own way. More eternity motifs, and a nice imagery about two dewdrops always united (dos pequeños rocíos...your Latin is showing, Romanian). It’s not as developed as the Hungarian, though; Romanian’s Latin may have impeded it from following the Hungarian too closely, or perhaps they wanted a purer imagery on the song. They may have done better just by going with the French.

Italian: Not the worst, but by far the biggest disappointment. “Love and change the world” is especially lame; it sounds like a self-help slogan. Love and change and the world! Light up the darkness! Shout out your presence! Learn how to be your best you for only $29.99! I feel like ReG are trying to sell me something. They could have been much more faithful to the French imagery, frankly, which is much more impressive. At least “Ama” is a good starting note. “T’Amo” could have been another option. I remember there was an amateur Italian version on YT that began with “Cosa ti fa sognare?” Still remember it after these years, so maybe they were on to something. (Ed: Found it! YMMV, but it doesn’t sound too bad. Much smoother than the Incenzo and less dry, but it does lacks punch). Overall, it feels much more shallow than most versions, which have at least some gravitas.

Korean: Never mind, this may be the most faithful translation yet, as far as I can tell. Incredible for an Asian language. I like how the Chorus obscures the subject until the last line—gives it more punch that way. Def one of the nicer versions.

English: Hi, we interrupt Romeo and Juliet to bring you National Geographic: The Musical! The worst, hands down. Nature metaphors /= love. Don Black actually has a good track record with translating otherwise tricky French songs (re: Legrand’s Les parapluies de Cherbourg as “I Will Wait For You”), but he was obviously too out of it or just too old to do a decent job with Aimer. This is a song that really does not tolerate much deviation from the original meaning or even the original arrangement. I would have assumed he would have at least glanced at the Shakespeare or did an indirect translation with the same theme. Not...whatever the hell this is. The best that can be said for this is the meme-level quotability; once you hear British Romeo shout-sing THESE ARE MY MOUNTAINS!! you can never go back again.

[woodrokiro]

Do It For the Band, Part One (fic)

Fandom: Bleach

Pairing: IchiRuki

Summary: When Tatsuki said she wanted their sophomore album to be the next Rumours, this is NOT what she meant. Band AU. Finally writing this fic idea.

Did Tatsuki once say she wanted one of her band’s albums to be the Japanese version of Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours? Sure. Guilty as charged.

… Did that mean she thought that would include the same chaotic drama of her favorite album? She should’ve… But no. No, she did not.

If she knew what hell was to come, she would very much have preferred they stayed an insignificant, dimly lit coffee shop band to this. She is this close to running away to a wedding cover band, because this is more excruciating than any cheesy rendition of You’re the Inspiration can get.

Chad and Tatsuki are silent as they listen to the track, watching as Ichigo’s jaw tick and his face flush as Rukia’s high notes soar through the studio.

It’s… A really good song, to be sure.

Oh you got stars in your eyes, baby

If you think we could work

I can’t follow your galaxies

Can’t fall for  your smirk

Not this time, not this time…

It’s about broken promises. It’s about not believing someone you love, even if they love you, that it’s gonna work out.

It is very clearly about Ichigo Kurosaki.

Tatsuki shifts her gaze from Ichigo’s reddening face over to the one person he’s glowering at…. Rukia. The petite vocalist lifts her chin at his glare, staring straight back with piercing violet eyes.

Tatsuki just wishes they would make out already.

 --

 The Karakura Soul Society had innocent beginnings… Or: as innocent as an Alt Rock band can be.

Ichigo, Tatsuki, and Chad always kinda knew they wanted to get into music—well, Ichigo and Tatsuki talked about wanting to get into music, while Chad was the one who actually knew how to play a bass guitar—and the two friends finally learned when they were around fourteen. Tatsuki knew she was drums (the choreographed chaos of it was electrifying, and besides… Girls that played drums were hot) and Ichigo figured he’d be lead vocals and guitar.

Ichigo could sing, for damn sure: a low, gravelly tone that could melt girls’ hearts, even if he himself was as obtuse as a rectangle around women.

But what I really like to do, he slurred to her in his garage, Kirin in hand because the idiot was a total lightweight—is write.

And he really did write some incredible songs--at the very least, his lyrics had potential. It started with some weird Shakespearean metaphors and bad rhymes, but everything had a good start that Chad could find a beat for. He only got better, and the coffee shop and dive bar gigs were really receptive, and then the call came from some industry weirdo named Urahara that he was interested in managing their band and well… Things were going good.

That is: until Urahara suggested they get a keyboardist to double as another vocalist.

A female keyboardist, he noted, eyes dark under his green and white striped fedora, would be perfect for your team. I know just the one.

And, yeah, the way he said it was kind of creeptastic… But he did have a point. As great as Ichigo’s voice was, it was missing the harmony a softer, more feminine could contribute.

--

Convincing Ichigo to at least let the girl audition for them was like pulling a damn tooth.

“I don’t see why we need another person,” he grumbled, leaning his chair back with both feet on the café table. The band was waiting on the girl to arrive at this empty coffee shop, with a lone piano waiting for its player on the stage. “We’ve already got a groove going between the three of us. Why do we need another? When we need a keyboardist can’t we just… I don’t know. Ask for one?”

“Number one: for the love of God and our careers, don’t ever say ‘groove’ again. Number two: stop tipping your chair like that—”she slams her hand up on the seat, causing his chair to throw him upright. It may or may not give her a sadistic thrill when he yelps. “Number three: we need a keyboardist. Period. We can’t just conjure one up with a poof that’s gonna work well for us unless they’re regularly with us. Number four: we could use a female vocalist. We’re an alt rock band. Get over it.”

He scowls at her, but she sips her coffee nonplussed. She’s known him since they both were seven years old; she’s not about to let him throw one of his tantrums now.

From the corner of her eye, she sees him turn to their bassist. “Chad, what do you—”

“Don’t even try, Chad agrees with me n’ Urahara.”

Chad shrugs helplessly and Ichigo rolls his eyes. “Dunno why you guys are even so hard pressed to get this chick. For all we know it’s Urahara combining his artists for gimmick. it’s not even like we know whether she’s good—”

“I’ve been doing this a year, and I’ve been signed with Urahara longer, so…. Yeah. I suppose I’d call myself good. Maybe better than you.”

The whole team turns behind them to look where the soft voice is calling from the cafe’s swing door.

She looks like an eighth grader, Tatsuki thinks before she looks a little harder at the form beneath the baby blue dress and realizes—ah, no. Just short. Her raven hair curls prettily into two low pigtails, and lightly shadowed violet eyes look them each up and down with pursed, pink lips.

She’s cute, for sure.

… But “cute” is definitely not their band’s vibe.

“You’re late,” her bandmate beside her scoffs—at whether he’s thinking the same thing she is or he’s embarrassed to be overheard bitching, she’s not sure.

“I’m not—oh, look! Urahara set up the exact piano I asked for. That’s wonderful.” She floats past them to the stage area, beginning to the fiddle with the said instrument’s keys. “He can be an absolute idiotic pain sometimes, a great manager at others… I’m sure you all know what that’s like. And no I’m not late: on the contrary, I was early. I didn’t see you all enter until about five minutes ago, so I figured I’d wait it out at the park across the street so you could all get settled… So technically: you’re the ones who are late.”

Ichigo grits his teeth, raps his knuckles annoyed on the table. Tatsuki grins. She may not know whether the girl’s a good fit for them, but hey—she’s got guts.

“Soo… What do you got for us?” Tatsuki asks.

The girl says she’s got an original—a ballad called For Hisana, if they don’t mind. The bandmates agree that they don’t.

Ichigo clears his throat stubbornly, anyway.

“Sure, but just a heads up: we’re looking more for a keyboardist… Piano is nice ‘n all, but that’s not really our style.”

“I do both. I’ve just been trained in piano first so… It’s a habit, auditioning with it and all. I can show you what I can do with a keyboard anytime after, if you’re impressed enough with this.”

“…All right.” Ichigo shrugs. “Show us what you got then, pianist.”

“My name’s not ‘Pianist.’” She looks straight at Ichigo, before lowering them back to her keys, and Tatsuki strangely feels like she’s just intruded on something. “It’s Rukia. Rukia Kuchiki.”

Her fingers hit the keys and she starts singing.

She’s… Really good, in a way that the drummer can’t quite describe. Her voice is like a mix between Regina Spektor and Joni Mitchell—all folksy, high notes and yeah that sounds super gimmicky and lame and yeah no definitely not their vibe—

But maybe that’s also why she’d be kind of brilliant.

And the way she plays that piano…

Everyone in rock n’ roll will tell you that a good musician makes love to their instrument, and while she’s always thought the metaphor grimy, Tatsuki knows what they mean. They need to know the ins and outs of whatever they’re playing, for the instrument to be a second limb—for their expressions to be in complete bliss, ecstasy as they play.

Rukia’s face… It’s not quite so explicit as all that. But the way her eyes are dreamy and half-closed, how she bobs her head ever so softly to the heartbreaking beat, her mouth closing delicately over warbly vowels… Sure, with a little more vocal work she could be better, but all in all: she’s wonderful.

Tatsuki turns to Ichigo, about to ask if he’s thinking what she’s thinking but stops dead at his expression.

He’s watching her so… Intensely. His jaw—always so sharp, so tight and ready to grimace—has softened, and his eyes are locked onto this petite woman in a way Tatsuki has literally never, ever seen him look at a woman before.

 He is captivated with Rukia Kuchiki, and she can’t decide whether she’s happy for her friend or panicked for what this means for the band because fucking yikes.

--

He hums and haws after Rukia leaves, nitpicks when they meet alone with Urahara about how some of her keys were clunky, she needs more vocal training, blah blah blah.

But when the vote is cast, he agrees she needs to be on the team.

And that, Tatsuki pinpoints, is when the beginning of the end started.

[lesbian-vmin]

Koala’s Music

Today, I felt like getting a little personal and talking about music outside of BTS. And it’s also just dawned on me that my love for BTS and this blog (which is how you guys know me) doesn’t really say a lot about who I am as a person or what I like. I also received an ask some time ago wondering what artists I listen to besides BTS.

I’ll get to some recommendations, but listen to ramble first because I like to.

There are a few “mainstream” artists I really like, but I don’t want to talk about them. I can say that I love Hailey Steinfeld, but I’m sure a lot of you have heard “Most Girls” or “Starving”. So...really what kind of a recommendation is that? If you guys want me to talk about my mainstream picks, I can. But that’s not what I wanna talk about here.

I don’t much like listening to songs that play on the radio all the time, and I don’t like listening to the same songs all the time. Of course, there’s nothing like a song that you can go back to and sing along with, so I do listen to songs that I know. Mostly while I’m driving or cleaning. Otherwise I want to listen things I’ve never heard before.

Also, the majority of artists I listen to are female. Maybe because I’m a lesbian, so I like listening to women sing more than men. Or maybe just because I like the female voice. Or maybe just because a majority of the songs that I listen to on the work radio, on a 12-hour daily basis, are sung by male artists. I also listen to a lot of music made by the lgbt community because songs that don’t fit into the cookie cutter are just the absolute best.

As for styles, I can listen to almost anything. I have yet to find a style of music that I haven’t found at least one song that I like, except 100% screamo. Not a fan of that. But I’m not religious, and I like a few gospel songs. I can jam to a good country song, and I love symphonic metal. Music that’s a mix between classical world music and modern is my absolute favorite.

Language also doesn’t matter to me. On my playlist, there are English, French, Korean, Japanese, German, Arabic, Maltese, Swahili, Mandarin, Cantonese, Thai, Italian, and more songs. When I like the way a song sounds, I’ll listen to it. I know what all the songs I listen to mean. Even if I don’t know the language, I do my research to make sure the lyrics are good and something I approve of, especially when recommending songs to others.

My favorite kinds of songs are the ones that sound like they were made with meaning, or something I can relate to. I really don’t need another song about slashing someone’s tires because they’re a cheater, or another generic love song/breakup song. There are more things in life worth singing about than just relationships and breakups, so a lot of songs that I really like are usually personal to me. And I might start doing occasional song recommendations if that’s something you guys want. Or if it’s just something I wanna do.

Anyway. Let me recommend some songs/artists right now.

Rina Sawayama - Chosen Family

I choose this song because, well. Any LGBT person would look at the title and immediately know what the song is about. Rina Sawayama herself is an LGBT artist, and she makes songs that clearly state that. My favorite lines are probably “We don’t need to be related to relate/We don’t need to share genes or a surname” and “So what if we don’t look the same/we been going through the same thing.” Because your LGBT friends are often people who you relate to more than your own family members. You can grow up in the same house with someone, but your experiences are so incredibly different. And this song kind of hits that feeling for me.

Zolita - Fight Like a Girl

I’m willing to admit that I’m a sucker for girl power songs. Take for example “Run the World” by Beyonce. Everyone knows that song, so it’s not the one I’m recommending. Instead, I’ll recommend this one by another LGBT artist, Zolita. I think Zolita is somewhat well-known, but I still don’t have a single analyst at work who knows of her unless they’re gay.

Also good to note, for anyone who might be interested, she is a witch. So there’s one more thing to love about her.

SHAUN - Way Back Home

And now for something that might be a little more everyone’s cup of Tea. This is a song by a Korean artist, and it’s a beautiful song. There’s a mostly English version of this song, with the English lines being sung by Conor Maynard, and it’s just as beautiful as the Korean version if you’re looking for something that has more lines you can understand but don’t speak Korean.

Yes. It’s a love song. But more than that, it’s a beautiful song with a beautiful melody. This song is on my daily playlist because I’m never not in the mood for the beautiful tune.

[putschki1969]

Hi Sarah! How's everything going? ヽ(・∀・)ﾉ I wanted to ask you if you know of any interviews were Consolation (the song) is discussed. Also, what is your interpretation of the song? I was randomly going around YT and got to hear this amazing piece live by our utahimes and got curious about it. Hope I don't bother you, thank you in advance!~ヾ(・ω・)

Hi there!!

Sorry, my reply is long-overdue. This has been sitting in my drafts for a very long time. “Consolation” is hands down one of Kalafina’s BEST songs, I LOVE IT SO MUCH. Especially the live version from their 9+ONE tour. Everyone needs to check it out in case they haven’t yet.

Back when the album was released I wasn’t as involved in the fandom as I am now and my Japanese was also not that great so I didn’t really know of any interviews where they discussed the song in detail. I had also never really taken a close look at the lyrics before.

Oh well, I thought I would use the opportunity to dig a little deeper. After a quick search I came across two interviews that provide a bit of insight regarding the album and the title song. I also tried to delve into the world of the lyrics and see what I could come up with.

My simple interpretation based on my findings 〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

I believe the song is fundamentally about the dilemma of wanting two things that are mutually exclusive. On the one hand you wish to find peace, relief and consolation but on the other hand you are greedy and you cannot stop wanting more. Since it seems you can’t have both you resign yourself to finding solace in the suffering you are enduring while struggling to fulfil all of your desires.

Below the cut you can check out my interview and lyric translations〈(•ˇ‿ˇ•)-→

Repotama Interview

Re album title and concept: Humans are greedy creatures by nature. There is a constant struggle to fulfil one’s own desires and ultimately there is also a wish to feel a true sense of comfort and consolation. However, one can never reach a point of absolute satisfaction but we might find consolation in the fact that having needs and desires is the only constant in our lives.

Re song: Due to its “coined words chorus” the song becomes quite exciting for the listeners. Our three distinctive voices are heard very clearly, Hikaru expresses a “fierce energy and determination regarding the fulfilment of one’s desires” and Wakana changes the song completely with her soothing and comforting vocals conveying a sense of “finding consolation amidst your struggles”. The duality which is expressed through those two voices enables you to fully enjoy Kalafina’s singing power.

Animate Times Interview

Re album title and concept: Consolation, relief and satisfaction are usually seen as something that stands in glaring contrast to our desires but maybe true comfort and consolation can be found within the suffering we are enduring in our constant pursuit of happiness and our struggles to fulfil our desires.

Re song: ――The title song『consolation』 feels extremely passionate, hard and energetic. One of its charms is the use of rare words such as  「むごたらしい / mugotarashii / incredibly brutal」, something that might not work for other songs.

Hikaru：I sang this word with a sense of unease, like feeling trapped *laughs*

Keiko："This song is hard so you can’t just use ordinary words in it”, that’s what Kajiura-san told us smiling wearily, this was one of her main worries regading the lyrics *laughs*. The melody is dramatic and the overall sound feels hard and unforgiving. When we listened to the music track my first impression was, “oh my God, this is so hard, where am I gonna breathe?” Kajiura-san’s inspiration for the music is also heavily reflected in the lyrics so I guess that’s why she was seeking out words that are rarely used in everday life. She also opted to have lines that are neither Japanese nor English but instead Latin. We have had elements of Latin in our songs before but in this particular song we all thought that Latin would be a particularly perfect fit.

――The part where you sing ＜Quo Vadis Domine？＞ right? The passion of the song and the Latin really go well together.

Keiko：It means＜Lord／Where are you going?＞. Since this is the title song of the album I think that Kajiura-san chose the lyrics very carefully in order to encourage many different interpretations, the words are supposed to stretch one’s imagination. Initially I thought the words were very difficult but as time went by I realised that the words were actually quite simple and raw. People seek comfort and relief, in order to reach that goal we are living our lives filled with greed, always thinking, “I want this or I want to be like that”. Hikaru is the one embodying this determination, this bundle of desires with her fierce vocals. Wakana on the other hand is the one who is asking with her voice, “is there any relief or consolation awaiting me at the end of it all?” I think those two things come across very clearly in the song.  It’s been about a month since we have finished the album production, after talking with Kajiura-san and singing the song together with the other two members as well as singing it by myself I think I can finally say that I understand the meaning of it. Also, I think the song was very difficult for you Wakana, wasn’t it?

Wakana：Yes. I sang this without any boundaries which was quite fun but it was also very hard. There are parts of the song that make total sense and other parts that are completely inconsistent, as such the song feels very raw and human.

―― There is a sense of “self-contradiction”“, like you are stuck having to choose between mutually exclusive alternatives. ＜Yet the greedy heart keeps reaching out / Unable to give up / Until it sleeps, satiated / It’ll take the darkest path＞. These lines very clearly express this sort of self-contradiction, on the one hand you are greedily seeking something while at the same time you are hoping to find peace and solace. I guess that’s a very human thing to do.

Wakana：Kajiura-san told us,"comfort and consolation are the opposite of desire, aren’t they?” People are motivated by their needs and desires "because comfort alone does not provide satisfaction”.

English Lyrics (taken from the Consolation booklet, with a few minor alterations)

Breathing alone won’t make wishes come true Please grant me tears and sorrow So I may go in deeper

Your God, so brutally beautiful Loved only those that were destroyed utterly and furiously

Quo Vadis Domine? A voice that can hardly be called a prayer I know one day your wishes alone will be answered

To the base of the taut sky We carry our burden And walked in haste as if to run away

Slowly, the first stars Shed light on your way Glittering in the pale depth of the valley

Quo Vadis Domine? One day I hope you will find consolation But if the heart remains wanting It will be unattainable

Yet the greedy heart keeps reaching out Unable to give up Until it sleeps, satiated It will take the darkest path

The soul that wants to devour all Spit out the dream it had clung to And shouted, “have mercy on me!”

Quo Vadis Domine? One day I hope you will find consolation When all has been burnt to pieces I believe you will finally reach your goal

[bazz-b]

THE MEGA RP PLOTTING SHEET / MEME.

First and foremost, recall that no one is perfect, we all had witnessed some plotting once which did not went too well, be it because of us or our partner. So here have this, which may help for future plotting. It’s a lot! Yes, but perhaps give your partners some insight? Anyway BOLD what fully applies, italicize if only somewhat.

MUN NAME: Thomas/Tom     AGE: +25       CONTACT: IM, Ask, Discord

CHARACTER(S): Bazz-B, King Baraggan Louisenbairn, Kurosaki Ichigo, Ichibei Hyosube

CURRENT FANDOM(S): Bleach

BLEACH FANDOM(S) YOU HAVE AN AU FOR:  I have an ATLA and LOK AU for Bazz-B, but no Bleach AUs for external muses

MY LANGUAGE(S): Passable Japanese, Survivable Italian, Fluent English

THEMES I’M INTERESTED IN FOR RP: FANTASY / Science fiction / Horror / WESTERN / ROMANCE / Thriller / MYSTERY / DYSTOPIA / ADVENTURE / MODERN / Erotic / Crime / MYTHOLOGY / Classic / HISTORY / RENAISSANCE / MEDIEVAL / Ancient / WAR / FAMILY / POLITICS / RELIGION / SCHOOL / ADULTHOOD / CHILDHOOD / APOCALYPTIC / GODS / Sport / MUSIC / Science / FIGHTS / ANGST / Smut / DRAMA / etc. (what Bazz-B wants is reflected in italics)

PREFERRED THREAD LENGTH: one-liner / 1 para / 2 PARA / 3+ / NOVELLA.

ASKS CAN BE SEND BY: MUTUALS / NON-MUTUALS / PERSONALS / ANONS.

CAN ASKS BE CONTINUED?:   YES / NO    only by Mutuals?:  YES / NO.

PREFERRED THREAD TYPE: CRACK / casual nothing too deep / SERIOUS / DEEP AS HECK.

IS REALISM / RESEARCH IMPORTANT FOR YOU IN CERTAIN THEMES?:   YES / NO.

ARE YOU ATM OPEN FOR NEW PLOTS?:  YES / NO / DEPENDS.

DO YOU HANDLE YOUR DRAFT / ASK - COUNT WELL?:  YES / NO / SOMEWHAT. (usually but I need to catch up at the moment)

HOW LONG DO YOU USUALLY TAKE TO REPLY?: 24H / 1 WEEK / 2 WEEKS / 3+ / months / years. /DEPENDS ON MOOD AND INSPIRATION, AND IF I’M BUSY I

I’M OKAY WITH INTERACTING: ORIGINAL CHARACTERS / a relative of my character (an oc) / duplicates / MY FANDOM / CROSSOVERS / MULTI-MUSES / self-inserts / people with no AU verse for my fandom / CANON-DIVERGENT PORTRAYALS / AU-VERSIONS.

DO YOU POST MORE IC OR OOC?: IC / OOC.

ARE YOU SELECTIVE WITH FOLLOWING OTHERS?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.  

BEST WAYS TO APPROACH YOU FOR RP/PLOTTING:  You can IM me or send an ask, but the tumblr messaging systems SUCK so I encourage y’all to add me on discord and then just go ham. I’ll only turn down a plot if it’s OOC for Bazz-B, but otherwise I’ll usually try anything. If it’s not working out I’ll typically let you know, but I’m game for most things.

WHAT EXPECTATIONS DO YOU HOLD TOWARDS YOUR PLOTTING PARTNER:  Honestly, not a lot. You can be as invested or as chaotic as works for you. You get the urge to suddenly write a specific theme? Hit me with it. The urge goes and you lose interest, that’s fine. Four weeks later and the muse hits you again LETS DO THIS.

WHEN YOU NOTICE THE PLOTTING IS RATHER ONE-SIDED, WHAT DO YOU DO?:  I don’t typically struggle with this issue. If anything, I’m the lackluster end of the plotting side. I typically run things through Bazz-B as their happening, rarely looking forward. Unless there’s an overarching story we’re specifically working towards I’m pretty weak sauce. Sorry people!

HOW DO YOU USUALLY PLOT WITH OTHERS, DO YOU GIVE INPUT OR LEAVE MOST WORK TOWARDS YOUR PARTNER?:  I’ll typically propose an idea and then see where our muses take us. If my partner needs a rough road map, I’m happy to negotiate what we’d each like to see happen. Generally speaking I let Bazz-B take the wheel.

WHEN A PARTNER DROPS THE THREAD, DO YOU WISH TO KNOW?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS. - And why?: If you want to drop a thread, I’m completely fine with it. The only reason I’d want to know is so I don’t start panicking and think that I forgot to reply you your latest response to it.

WHAT COULD POSSIBLY LEAD YOU TO DROP A THREAD?:  If I lose the thread, or if I think it’s reach a natural conclusion. I don’t typically abandon one in the middle on purpose.

- WILL YOU TELL YOUR PARTNER?:   YES / NO / DEPENDS.

IS COMMUNICATION IN THE RPC IMPORTANT TO YOU? YES / NO.

- AND WHY?: I don’t require a constant, nor deep level of communication, but it’s important to voice concerns. People tend to internalize problems until they become these big ordeals. A friendly message every now and again can save everyone a lot of drama later.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH ABSOLUTE HONESTY, EVEN IF IT MAY MEANS HEARING SOMETHING NEGATIVE ABOUT YOU AND/OR PORTRAYAL?: I BEG for negative feedback. Even if you feel like your nitpicking, it’s the number one thing I crave from writing partners. Tell me what you dislike and I can work on it.

DO YOU THINK YOU CAN HANDLE SUCH SITUATION IN A MATURE WAY? YES / NO.

WHY DO YOU RP AGAIN, IS THERE A GOAL?: To tell a story. Bazz-B is my primary muse, and his entire tale is so interesting to me. The foundations of his identity are flawed and I want to explore that as much a I can, throw him into as many situations as possible and watch him evolve.

WISHLIST, BE IT PLOTS OR SCENARIOS:  My left arm for an entire roster of Sternritter, of course. Bazz-B and Liltotto surviving after the war. A reality where Bazz-B finds happiness and acceptance in himself. A healthy bond with a Shinigami. 

THEMES I WON’T EVER RP / EXPLORE:   I’ll not write rape, it’s understandably triggering for a lot of people and writing it glorifies it, I think. Also racism in a real world setting? I’ve come to terms with it in regards to Shinigami and Arrancar, but they’re fictional groups. I wont engage with it outside of that. Finally, trans-phobia. If a guy like Bazz-B doesn’t engage with that sort of vile nonsense, none of you should either.

WHAT TYPE OF STARTERS DO YOU PREFER / DISLIKE, CAN’T WORK WITH?: Starters that provide a setting and a purpose are great. The sort of starter that turns it back at the recipient with something akin to “Why are you here” are confining. Also, if in the starter your muse is already pushing away mine.. Bazz-B might just nope outta there.

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE MOST?:  Despite my main muse being Bazz-B (or perhaps in favour of it) I typically write as old men cemented deeply in their ways. Yamamoto Genryuusai Shigekuni, King Baraggan Louisenbairn and Ichibei Hyosube are just some examples. Bazz-B kinda fits the bill too.. I GUESS.

WHAT TYPE OF CHARACTERS CATCH YOUR INTEREST THE LEAST?:  Cold, distant, dispassionate sorts. I could never write as the likes of Ishida, Ulquiorra, Haschwalth, etc. They’re all very nuanced characters, they just don’t mesh well with me. 

WHAT ARE YOUR STRONG ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: I typically respond lightning fast, my last two weeks or so a poor example of that. I’m passionate, you’ll not find another person so desperately in love with Bazz-B as this fool. I’m easy-going, you can take as long as you want and I’ll still be ready to rumble.

WHAT ARE YOUR WEAK ASPECTS AS RP PARTNER?: Tumblr confuses the hell out of me, I don’t understand a lot of lingo and the big CARDINAL LAWS of writing. I struggle with scene transitioning and limb placement, and my tags are a mess.

DO YOU RP SMUT?:  YES / NO/ DEPENDS.

DO YOU PREFER TO GO INTO DETAIL?: YES / NO / DEPENDS.

ARE YOU OKAY WITH BLACK CURTAIN?: YES / NO.

- WHEN DO YOU RP SMUT? MORE OUT OF FUN OR CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT?:  What I want and what Bazz-B want are wildly different things. This man is planting a flag in the middle of bonezone whether I agree or not. I commonly write smut because it’s what Bazz-B wants, but I prefer to do it for development.

- ANYTHING YOU WOULD NOT WANT TO RP THERE?:  I am personally the most vanilla dude you’ll meet. I can google things but it might not translate very well.

ARE SHIPS IMPORTANT TO YOU?:   YES / NO A characters growth should never be locked to a specific person, but exploring a character in isolation can only get you so far. As people, we grow from one another. Romance is a key factor in formulating a person’s ideals, but that’s no the only form of ship. The eventual friendship between Bazz-B and Liltotto and Giselle is one of the most interesting things to me. A romance surviving Silbern is incredibly powerful in my opinion. The bond of a teacher and a student. There are so many situations that force a character to change how they would typically react.

WOULD YOU SAY YOUR BLOG IS SHIP-FOCUSED?:  YES / NO. More and more I’ve been thinking that I’ve been writing Bazz-B in more ships, but that is not the blog’s focus. Ultimately I’m exploring the character of Bazz-B, and that just happens to be inclusive of ships. Some of my most active writing partners also happen to be muses that Bazz-B has excitedly/begrudgingly/unexpectedly fallen for.

DO YOU USE READ MORE?:  YES / NO / SOMETIMES WHEN I WRITE LONG STUFF.

ARE YOU:  MULTI-SHIP / Single-Ship / Dual-Ship  —  MULTIVERSE / Singleverse.

 - WHAT DO YOU LOVE TO EXPLORE THE MOST IN YOUR SHIPS?: Individuals who challenge Bazz-B, who force him to rise above what he is, what he thinks he should be. Who tear down complacency and demand better of him in all ways. Whether overtly, intentionally, whatever! 

ARE YOU OKAY WITH PRE-ESTABLISHED RELATIONSHIPS?: YES / NO. - If you come to me and sell me a story, I’m in. I’m easily swayed by visual art, written lyrics (my ears don’t work so good with music for some reason) and themes.

► SECTION ABOUT YOUR MUSE.

- WHAT COULD POSSIBLY MAKE YOUR MUSE INTERESTING TOWARDS OTHERS, WHY SHOULD THEY RP WITH THIS PARTICULAR CHARACTER OF YOURS NOW, WHAT POSSIBLE PLOTS DO THEY OFFER?: Bazz-B is a fun guy to taunt, and to cause havoc with. But he’s more than just a hothead, you can read any one of my many rants if you wanna find out about that. With a plot to kill God spanning 1000 years, a burning fury and misguided ideals dragged through the mud of “the lesser of two evils”, he’s a real party trick.

- WITH WHAT TYPE OF MUSES DO YOU USUALLY STRUGGLE TO RP WITH?:  Muses who, from the start, wish to disengage with Bazz-B. I understand it might be in character, but both Bazz-B and I are gonna struggle to engage if there’s not some allowances made.

- WHAT DO THEY DESIRE, IS THEIR GOAL?:  His ultimate goal is the death of Yhwach. In a perfect world that would coexist with a Quincy victory over the Shinigami, vengeance for genocide. But he’ll take the former over the latter.

- WHAT CATCHES THEIR INTEREST FIRST WHEN MEETING SOMEONE NEW?:  Style, first and foremost. If a Quincy had modified their Wandenreich uniform he’s gonna take notice and make some judgement calls. The rest comes after.

- WHAT DO THEY VALUE IN A PERSON?:  Honesty to themselves, and a drive to survive. Not to be buried by what’s expected of them, or what they should do. Free will is one of the fundamental truths of the world.

- WHAT THEMES DO THEY LIKE TALKING ABOUT?:  Motorbikes, Pop-culture, Fashion, Movies, Himself.

- WHICH THEMES BORE THEM?:  History, loyalty beyond all else, the importance of leadership and hierarchy, lectures of all kinds.

- DID THEY EVER WENT THROUGH SOMETHING TRAUMATIC?:  His family was burned alive by the man who claimed to be their God. Entering a war on the losing side, his kind facing extinction. Hiding in the shadows, surrounded by a extremist military cult.

- WHAT COULD LEAD TO AN INSTANT KILL?:  After a certain point in his life, it’s really only Hollows that should fear indiscriminate murder. Unless you threaten his fragile peace, or claim Yhwach was just.

- IS THERE SOMEONE /-THING THEY HATE?:  Bazz-B hates Hollows, and any Quincy loyalists that stand by Yhwach post-Aushwalen. Anyone who saw the true colors of their progenitor and still deluded themselves into thinking him right.. it’s disgusting.

IS YOUR MUSE EASY TO APPROACH?: YES / NO. - Best ways to approach them?:  Stoke his ego and you’re usually set for a good few hours.

SOMETHING YOU MAY STILL WANT TO POINT OUT ABOUT YOUR MUSE?: Nothing you cant already find on one of my many ramblings about that greatest Quincy that every lived, Bazzard ‘Bazz-B’ Black!

CONGRATS!!! You managed it, now tag your mutuals! ♥

Tagged by:  @equipollency (I got a phantom notification so I rolled with it)

Tagging: @diepower + @zombiequincy + @verzinken + @cheonsaaui + @bleachsthetic + @senboago + any other quincy reading this

[grimelords]

My March playlist is finished! This one is slightly more diverse than usual, swinging all the way from vibraphone jazz to Bhad Bhabie to black metal so I’ve taken the liberty of actually sequencing it properly for you. So if you’ve got 3 hours you can listen to this straight through and be taken for a hell of a ride. No matter what you like I’m sure you’ll find something in here that you love.

Tahiti - Milt Jackson: For an unknown reason I had a big jazz vibraphone phase this month and when you're talking jazz vibraphone you're talking the Wizard Of The Vibes himself, Milt Jackson. I feel insane even having an opinion on this but it's a shame that some of the best vibraphone performances were made at a time when the actual recording technology wasn't really there, they all have this very thin quality that I think misses a lot of the great character of the instrument.

Detour - Bill Le Sage: Like compare this from 1971 to Wizard Of The Vibes from 1952, the sounds is miles warmer and gives so much more of the full range and detail of the instrument. I also listened to this song five times in a row when I first heard it, the central refrain is just so fuckin good. Like I said, big vibes vibe and who knows why.

Blowin' The Blues Away - Buddy Rich And His Sextet: Superhuman playing aside, it's unbelievable how good these drums sound. The whole first minute just feels like a tour of each specific drum and I absolutely revel in it. I feel like flute and vibes is a relatively rare combo so it's extremely nice to hear Sam Most and Mike Manieri go ham in tandem.

Yama Yama - Yamasuki Singers: A friend sent me this song that he's had stuck in his head for ten years ever since it was in a beer ad from the days when beer ads were incredible strange for complicated legal reasons about not showing people enjoying the product or something https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ORfkh0OojxY and this incredible song is apparently from a 1971 French concept album where a couple of guys wrote a bunch of psychedelic songs in Japanese for an unknown reason that later became a massive drum and bass breaks album, and one of the guys was Thomas Bangalter from Daft Punk's dad! Music is crazy.

Alfonso Muskedunder - Todd Terje: I'm starting a petition to get Todd Terje to write the soundtrack for the next Mario Kart. I absolutely love this song and this whole album because it's so joyful and strange and it just sounds like nothing else I've ever heard. He seem to truly operate in a world entirely of his own.

Pala - Roland Tings: I love this song. It's like he wrote it with normal sounds and then went back and replaced every instrument with the party version. This song hands you a coconut and says welcome to the island where bad vibes are punishable by firing squad.

Keygen 13 - Haze Edit - Dubmood: There's a fucking album of keygen music on spotify and it's absolutely great and so good that someone's doing the work to recognize the value of the music this extremely weird scene produced and preserve it. If you don't know, back in the day when you pirated photoshop or whatever, you would download a license key generator which was a program made by extreme nerds who had cracked the license key algorithm to give you a fake one, and for unknown reasons they would make the keygen program play original chiptune music that someone in their nerd crew would compose. Who knows why but god bless them.

My Moon My Man (Boys Noize Remix) - Feist: The very concept of a Boys Noize remix of My Moon My Man is hilarious and it turns out it sounds absolutely amazing as well. Two great tastes that taste great together.

Low Blows - Meg Mac: I had a big Meg Mac phase this month too, listened to her album a lot and it's extremely solid. Great timing too cause her new one comes out in a month or so too. I really am excited to hear her next album because she's so good but I've always got this feeling that she hasn't reached her full potential yet, she's only going to get a million times better in an album or two.

Patience - Tame Impala: I love that the cover of this single is a pic of congas because it feels like that's the central thesis here. Kevin Parker bought some congas and is making disco Tame Impala now and I really couldn't be happier about it.

Unconditional (feat. Kitten) - Touch Sensitive: I love a 90s throwback done with love. There's nothing cynical or ironic about this it's just fun as hell!

Last Hurrah - Bebe Rexha: Get a fucking load of this Bebe Rexha song that interpolates Buy U A Drank by T-Pain for the chorus! It's a testament to how good that song is that she's using the verse melody as the chorus. T-Pain will quite literally never get the respect he deserves. Also this song goes for 2.5 minutes. There's something happening where pop songwriting is getting more and more compact, completely trimming the fat and ornamentation and it's very interesting.

Hi Bich - Bad Bhabie: Also I'm fully six months late on Hi Bich but I'm of the opinion that it's extremely fucking good. A perfect little reaction gif of a song and it only goes for 1m45!

Friends - Flume: I'm doubling down on my thesis about emo rap from last month but this song literally sounds like a Flume remix of a Hawthorne Heights song. The whole melody of it, the overlapping yelled/clean vocals. The lyrics obviously. I don't know it's just very odd how close it is. A sort of emo trojan horse to trick people into thinking The Used are cool again. 

How To Build A Relationship (feat. JPEGMAFIA) - Flume: I've been meaning to check out JPEGMAFIA (AKA Buttermilk Jesus AKA DJ Half-Court Violation AKA Lil' World Cup) for a while but this is the song that convinced me. There's just so much to digest in this. Every line is gold and delivered with massive conviction even when he realises it's total nonsense like 'dont call me unless I gave you my number'.

Bells & Circles (feat. Iggy Pop) - Underworld: Underworld alive 2019?? I love this song becuase Iggy Pop has been riding a fine line between punk provocateur and old man yells at cloud for a while now and this song is the perfect mix of both. You can't hijack airplanes and redirect them to cuba anymore and as a result it's over for liberal democracies. Just yelling about air travel for six minutes and it's good.

Guns Blazing (Drums Of Death Pt. 1) - UNKLE: This beat is some of my favourite DJ Shadow work I think. The menacing organ bass throughout, and especially the distorted drum freakout near the end. It's just great all the way through.

Homo Deus IV - Deantoni Parks: Another Deantoni Parks track like I was raving about last month. This whole album is great and flows together as a single piece of work amazingly. I love the purposefully limited sample palette of each track forcing an evolving groove throughout. He absolutely wrings every bit of variation he can get out of every single sound he uses and once you get into the groove of it it's absolutely mind blowing.

Boredom - The Drones: I love that The Drones can write a song about joining ISIS that's also a lot of fun. Spelling out radicalization in a way anyone can understand and sympathise with and then switching it in the second verse to spell out how we got into this situation anyway. 

Loinclothing - Hunters And Collectors: I love how much this song sounds like a voodoo celebration in christian hell.

The Fun Machine Took A Shit And Died - Queens Of The Stone Age: There's a good bit on the live dvd they put out after Lullabies To Paralyze where they play this song and they say it was supposed to be on the album but somebody stole the master recordings from the studio, which is an incredible and brazen crime. Then when they put it out on Era Vulgaris as a bonus track Josh Homme said in an interview "The tapes got lost. Actually, they were just at another studio, but we falsely accused everyone in the world of theft" which is extremely funny. This is really one of their best songs and I sort of really with it had been on Lullabies because it fits perfectly between The Blood Is Love and Someone's In The Wolf type of vibes, I love how it just kind of keeps shifting ideas and riffs throughout. An absolute jam overflowing with ideas.

10AM Automatic - The Black Keys: This song is an all time great in my opinion. It's so straightforward and so effective. I wonder if we'll get a blues rock revival ever or if Jack White still being alive and bad is souring everyone on that idea. This song also has one of my favourite guitar sounds in history I think - the outrageously huge sounding solo that comes out of nowhere and swallows up the rest of the mix like a swirling black hole near the end.

Gamma Knife - King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard: I've never gotten much into King Gizzard and because of their one million albums already it's hard to know where to start but I've been listening to Nonagon Infinity a bit and it's great, it's just good old fashioned 70s prog jams front to back.

Gina Works At Hearts - DZ Deathrays: I absolutely love this song and I absolutely love the second guitar sound in the chorus of this song that sounds like it's made out of thin steel.

Black Brick - Deafheaven: When I saw Deafheaven the other month I was right up the front and it was a life changingly great experience AND they played this new song live for the first time before it went up everywhere like three hours later which was very exciting to be given a sclusie like that. After they finished a guy behind me whispered to his friend "Slayer..." which was very funny to me.

Gemini - Elder: I found this band because one of my Spotify Daily Mixes was all stoner metal for a while, which is a good genre to see all lined up because it'll have Weedeater, Bongripper AND Uncle Acid & The Deadbeats right there in a row for you. Anyway this album is extremely good, the very best kind of stoner metal where it's groovy and fun and has big meaty riffs and ripping big solos and it's extremely easy to listen to three times in a row.

The Paradise Gallows - Inter Arma: My big obsession the past little while has been Inter Arma ever since Stereogum posted The Atavist's Meridian from their new album. It is just so fucking good and I can't believe I've never heard of them before. You know when you find out about an amazing band and then you find out they've been around for nearly ten years and you can't believe everyone in your life has been selfishly hiding them from you?

The Atavist's Meridian - Inter Arma: I think a big part of my enjoyment of this band has also been that I discovered them at the same time as I'm listening to an audiobook of the complete Conan The Barbarian omnibus so I'm very much in the brain space for music that sounds like it would be nice to swing an axe to.

Untoward Evocation - Impetuous Ritual: I love how halfway through this kind of just turns into a big swirling mist of dark sounds. It feels so formless and dark that it could just shake apart and dissipate at any moment and you'd look down to realise your skin is gone.

Eagle On A Pole - Conor Oberst: from Genius: 'In an interview with MTV news, Oberst stated “We were on the bus one day and a friend of ours that travels with us and works for the band kind of came out from the back of the bus and said that first line: ‘Saw an eagle on a pole… I think it was an eagle.’ And then this guy Simon Joyner, who is a great songwriter from Omaha and one of my great friends, he was on tour with us and sitting there and he was like, ‘You know, that’s a great name for a song.’ We kind of had a contest where he wrote a song with that first line, and [then] I did, and a couple of our other friends. We kind of all played them for each other. Simon’s is better than mine, but it is a good line to start a song.” Another version–Mystic Valley Band drummer Jason Boesel’s interpretation–is on the next album, Outer South.' The idea that such a good song has such a braindead origin only makes me love it more.

Lake Marie - John Prine: When I saw John Prine the other month he played this song that I had never heard before and I had to look it up after and now I'm completely obsessed with it. It feels like falling asleep during a movie and missing a critical plot point so the rest doesn't make sense when you wake up but is thrilling nonetheless. Also he absolutely screamed "SHADOWS!!!" when he played it which was a fucking cool thing to see a 72 year old man do.

Little White Dove - Jenny Lewis: The drums on this whole album are absolutely huge for some reason and I love it. My favourite recent sound is in the first chorus where there's a funny little pitch correction noise as she sings 'dove'. It's very strange and very very good.

Locked Up - The Ocean Party: I only found out The Ocean Party existed as they announced their farewell show this month which is a real shame but I'm glad I got to hear of them at all because they're very good. A very good song about that feeling we all know and love: driving for a long long time.

Plain & Sane & Simple Melody - Ted Lucas: I found out about this song from Emma Ruth Rundle's Amoeba Records video and she makes a good point about this whole album sounding like something's gone wrong and it got accidentally pitched down slightly in the recording process. It's unclear if that's what happened or that's just how he sounds but it adds a very softly spooky undercurrent to a very nice song.​ 

listen here

[miannedomusings]

SEVENTEEN’s Happy Ending:

DIRECTING OUR DAYDREAMS [choreography]

Summary: The choreography in this song shows how we play out our fantasies in our minds, inventing the happy endings we don’t always seek out in real life. 

A/N: My first real attempt at analyzing and explaining choreography -- so naturally it’s for Seventeen! 

For lack of a better word (and lack of knowledge on dance), I’ve used the term “centre” to refer to whoever is currently singing/rapping in the song even if they are technically off-centre choreography-wise. 

With the announcement of the tracklist of Seventeen’s 3rd full length album, An Ode, I found myself revisiting the Japanese version of Happy Ending from earlier this year. Here, I found an interesting pattern running through the choreography that adds to the message of the song and makes the ending... less than happy. 

In this song the lyrics talk about the members imagining themselves as the main character in their own movie where they get their happy ending with their love interest. The lyrics make many references to movies, describing scenes like the fights they’ll win and the slow-motion moment they’ll have when seeing their love for the first time. In the video we get complementary shots that show our men in the hero’s role of classic movie genres -- with boxing rings, fast cars, and special forces scenarios all playing out in a very cinematic, wide-angle aspect ratio. 

However, the lyrics and video also make a point of zooming out and placing us behind the scenes of these movies. For example, in the lyrics we get references to the end credits, as well as Wonwoo calling out the commands of the director (stand by, one two, and Action). Similarly, in the music video we see various members outside the idealized scenes -- Joshua as an author, Mingyu inspecting film, S.Coups in a sound booth with a car scene happening behind him, as well as many other shots of the members surrounded by A/V equipment. 

Additionally, across many of the scenes we see digital effects added on top as if we’re watching someone editing the video in real time. All of these elements converge in the chaotic groups scenes that show all the movies coming together, with digital overlays, and lighting equipment in plain view. By doing this, Happy Ending draws our attention to the fact that these ideal endings are being crafted instead of coming true naturally.

On top of this, driving home the sense of fantasy and feelings of fabrication, many of the movie-like scenes either take place inside a warehouse -- looking very much like a set -- or in a dream-like abyss, where nothing exists beyond the victory moment. 

The lyrics and music video create a cohesive vision of the daydreams we orchestrate in our minds and identify with on screen. Something that isn’t so easy to see in the music video is how the choreography for this song plays into the theme of directing our own fantasies. 

Seventeen is well known for the performance component of their music. For many (myself included), it’s hard to find another K-pop group that holds a candle to the dancing that this group does on stage. Along with incredible physical skill, Seventeen has also shown great thoughtfulness in their choreography and how it can connect with the lyrical content of their music. A clear example of this is the Korean sign language that has been woven into the choreography for their song, Thanks. 

In the case of Happy Ending there are the obvious references to the lyrical content, like The8 turning the pages in a book to the get to the ending, Mingyu and Seungkwan following the scrolling credits with their fingers, and Wonwoo making the gesture of a movie slate closing when calling out Action. But Seventeen has also thrown in a more subtle sense of story-telling that runs throughout. 

Commonly in stage performances that involve vocals, whoever it is that is singing is usually centred on the stage, doing actions slightly differently from those around them, and often dancing a little less intensely. All of these things serve to draw attention to whomever is meant to be highlighted, while also making singing easier for that particular member. We certainly get that singling-out in this choreography as well, but Seventeen has managed to incorporate another element into the way that they use their centred member. 

Sprinkled throughout the choreography we get moments where whoever is singing is also directing the members who are dancing around them. This is done in a few different ways in this song. Sometimes, like in the beginning of each pre-chorus, we see our centre perform a movement alone before being matched by everyone else

Other times we have the centre directing the movements of others like a conductor -- using hand and body gestures to draw the other members into the right patterns. 

All over this choreography we have whoever is singing being somehow separated from the others and leading the motions as the rest of the group mirrors or follows them. In general, this technique isn’t especially uncommon in choreography. It serves to both highlight the singer, and add a bit of dynamism to how a group of dancers relates to each other. However, I rarely encounter it being used so many times in a single dance, and given the themes of the song, it seems much more likely that it is being used a tool to communicate the song’s message. By including this element running through the choreography, Seventeen is using their numbers to show how we play out our fantasies in our minds. It’s as if the person centering is the dreamer and the other members are acting out the story that brings them to their happy ending. 

We can see this very literally in the way that the members backing Wonwoo begin to dance with fervor only after he calls Action. 

With this theme in mind it’s fitting that it’s the person who is singing that gets this role of power. By being the one singing, they are the one responsible for telling the story and describing the fantasy they wish would play out. They are effectively narrating their daydream, which then comes to life through the other dancers. As the reins get handed off to the next vocalist or rapper, the one who is telling the story of the song switches over as well, and so our narrator changes identities. 

Happy Ending makes it’s focus (in the lyrics, music video, and choreography) the way in which we fantasize about who we could be and what we could have if we were the ones calling the shots. The members of the group then embody this dream of making your own world through the way they have a single member directing the choreography. On top of that, many of the movements included in the choreography are quite powerful, playing into the fantasy of being a hero, and very energetic, reflecting their inevitable triumph. 

With a title like Happy Ending and so much talk about being the hero and saving the day, it would make sense to expect some grand and glorious finale to this song... 

And yet, this choreography ends on a note that may feel a touch out of place. Despite the upbeat music and the victory dance (the dabs) that we keep getting attached to the chorus’ happy ending / happy ending, the final moment of the song is somewhat reserved and brings the emotional tone of everything down. As the song comes to a close, Jeonghan charges to the front of the stage and the other members file in behind him, obscuring themselves from view. Finally, Jeonghan dips his head, breaking eye contact with the camera, and the music fades. 

Though this feels very different from the rest of the song and choreography, this almost sad moment fits in very cleanly with the idea of him being our (current) daydreamer. This final moment feels like the return to reality. The music ends, bringing the daydream to a close, and our centre is reduced to just himself without his fantasies. To illustrate this, the choreography has the other members, who played the characters in his dream, disappear behind him, leaving us with an almost empty stage and a lonely individual. Along with this return to reality we also see a change in posture that has our strong hero fading into a mere man. 

Throughout this song, the choreography places an emphasis on the behind the scenes aspect of the lyrics. We get references to books and movies that go hand in hand with the visuals chosen for the music video. We also get a repeated pattern of someone orchestrating their daydream through the control of the other members’ movements in the choreography. Despite the song and choreography maintaining a lively energy, and despite the final line of the song being, happy ending, ultimately Seventeen has chosen to end their performance with the return to reality. This final moment feels like a reminder that no matter how vivid the movie you’ve played out in your mind is, the happy ending you’ve envisioned doesn’t hold much weight if you don’t make it real. 

thanks for reading!

MUSINGS MASTERLIST

[kenzietranslates19]

[SONG] Lucky-Unlucky - Hey! Say! JUMP

Here's my translation of Hey! Say! JUMP's latest single, Lucky-Unlucky. This song was incredibly difficult for me, although there was some stuff I struggled with simply because I for some reason forgot basic grammar and vocab and made mistakes I should not have made given how many years I've been learning this language and should be beyond making those basic mistakes by now. Anyway, after going over it again and again, here's my final version. 

These lyrics are rough and may not be entirely correct -- that's the point of this blog, to learn Japanese through sharing my translations and getting feedback. If you'd like to use my translation, PLEASE ASK ME FIRST. I most likely won't say no, and it doesn't take long to show respect to the person that did the work, you know? Just shoot me a message!

If you see any mistakes or have any notes to make, please drop a comment and I'll update the post! Notes by me are in italics and in bold are things I struggled with or am still unsure of. Vocab is located at the bottom. 

---

TRANSLATION:

風に乗って届く世間のニュース　噂も真実も寄り添えば  (NOTE: "ば" = conditional, no? Not sure if this is "If rumors and truth...", or if it doesn't need the conditional to be specifically stated?) Rumours and truth cuddle close in the world news that arrives on the wind 諦めていた事もう一度　見つめる僕の抜け殻 My empty shell gazes once more at the things I gave up on

置いてきぼりってフィーリングは　悲しみとちょっと違って The feeling of leaving something behind is a little different from sadness 涙溢れたりしないEmpty Heart My empty heart isn't overflowing with tears きっかけを待っているだけの　愚かで情けない本音 Just waiting for a chance is pathetic and foolish もう後がないと覚悟決めたのに Even though I prepared myself and I now have no way out (Note: These last two lines are bold because although I get the idea, I'm sure if I worded it properly)

「どうして？」と　(Oh tell me why？ Oh tell me why？) "Why?" (Oh tell my why? Oh tell me why?) 呟いていた　(Don't stop me now, don't stop me now) I muttered  (Don't stop me now, don't stop me now) 何度も繰り返して気付いた　(証明しよう) Repeating it over and over, I realized  (Let's prove it)  (NOTE: Not sure if this should be "Repeating it over and over, I realized"?)

でも待っていて　待っていて　ただ待っていて　そっといて But I waited and waited, I just kept waiting silently 今たった一つ　やっと一つ　見つかったもの　わかったもの Now just one, finally one, thing I discovered and thing I understood  (Note: This line is awkward and I'm not confident it's correct -- any ideas on this one are welcome!) ああ今度こそ　今度こそ　この心満たされる時が来ると誓うよ Ah, I swear that this time for sure, this time for sure, the time this heart is satisfied will come 喜んだ日も　泣いた日も　アンラッキーも　ラッキーも The days we were glad and the days we cried, whether we're unlucky or lucky, きっと僕たちは　トータルで　It's my life　抱きしめて Surely we'll embrace it all, it's my life 筋書きの無いこの現実を刻む　Empty Heart I'll engrave this reality that has no script into my empty heart

負のスパイラル抜け出せなくて　余裕という空間削られた I can't break free from this downward spiral, and the leeway I had has been shaved down そんな日もあるさなんて言えなくて　逃げ込む狭い幻想 Don't tell me everyone has those days  It's a narrow illusion that I take refuge in

冷静に　(Oh calm down Oh calm down) I'll calmly  (Oh calm down, oh calm down) すり抜けて行く　(Don't stop me now, don't stop me now) slip through (Don't stop me now, don't stop me now) タイムロス　焦ってないで真っ直ぐに　(Just keep on going) Time loss / Don't hurry and go straight ahead

でも会いたくて　会いたくて　すぐ会いたくて　会えなくて But I want to see it, I want to see it  I want to see it right away but I can't そう今日の向こう　その向こう　自分の理想　会いに行こう Yes, on the other side of today, beyond that, I'll reach my ideals そのちょっとした　ホッとした　時間があるだけで景色が広がって行くよ I did a little, I felt better  As long as there is time, my world will keep expanding (NOTE: I know the word used is "landscape / scenery / view", but "world" makes more sense in this context) まだもっといける　もっといける　そのファッションも　パッションも I still have more to go, more to go  Our fashion and our passions きっと僕たちは　トータルで　It's my life　抱きしめて We'll surely embrace it all, It's my life 濁る事なく鮮やかに染めて行こう　Empty Heart Let's dye our empty hearts in vivid colours without them getting dull

ひとりで生きてるわけじゃない There's no reason to live alone 人と人は同じじゃない　夢や希望　恋愛のタイプも No two people are the same  Not our dreams, hopes, or our romantic types 思い通りにいかないから楽しい It's fun because things don't go as you expect

だから… So... でも待っていて　待っていて　ただ待っていて　そっといて But I waited and waited, I just kept waiting silently 今たった一つ　やっと一つ　見つかったもの　わかったもの Now just one, finally one, thing I discovered and thing I understood ああ今度こそ　今度こそ　この心満たされる時が来ると誓うよ Ah, I swear that this time for sure, this time for sure, the time this heart is satisfied will come 喜んだ日も　泣いた日も　アンラッキーも　ラッキーも The days we were glad and the days we cried, whether we're unlucky or lucky, きっと僕たちは　トータルで　It's my life　抱きしめて Surely we'll embrace it all, it's my life 筋書きの無いこの現実を刻む　Empty Heart I'll engrave this reality that has no script into my empty heart

VOCAB:

届く (とどく) - to reach, to arrive 世間 (せけん) - world; society; people; the public 噂 (うわさ) - rumour; rumor; report; hearsay; gossip; 寄り添う (よりそう) - to get close; to cuddle close together; to nestle close to; to snuggle up to 抜け殻 (ぬけがら) - cast-off skin (snake, insect, etc.); husk; empty shell; たった一つ - single, just one, only one 満たす (みたす) - to satisfy (conditions, one's appetite, etc.); to meet (e.g. demands); to fulfill; to gratify / to fill 誓う (ちかう) - to swear, to vow 筋書き (すじが) - plot, synopsis, outline 刻む (きざむ) - to mince; to cut fine; to chop up; to hash; to shred 負のスパイラル (ふのスパイラル) - downward spiral 余裕 (よゆう) - surplus; margin; leeway; room; / composure, calm 抜け出す (ぬけだす) - to slip out; to sneak away; to break free; to get through (a difficult situation) 逃げ込む (にげこむ) - to take refuge in; to succeed in running away 幻想 (げんそう) - fantasy; illusion; vision; dream すり抜ける - to slip through; to make one's way through quickly 焦る (あせる) - to be in a hurry, to be impatient   理想 (りそう) - ideal(s) ちょっとした - slight; minor; trifling; trivial; petty ほっと - with sigh of relief, with a feeling of relief いける - to be good at, to go well 濁る (にごる) - to become dull 事無く - without... 染める (そめる) - to dye; to colour; to color 思い通り (おもいどおり) -  as one expects; as one wants; to one's satisfaction; as one sees fit

[leapingtitan]

R∃/MEMBER (Individual Song Thoughts) - SawanoHiroyuki[nZk] 3rd Album

I made a review on the 2nd album, 2V-ALK a while ago so here is the next installment. This is mostly for the Sawano Discord server but I’m posting it here for convenience and safekeeping purposes.

01. Glory -into the RM- (violin: SUGIZO from X Japan; vocal: Yosh)

I really love the instrumental parts of this track. It works well as an introduction piece and is up there with ~prologue~ for me. The vocal parts with Yosh are a bit weak and turn the track from a badass instrumental piece to a stadium football game chant. The track can do without it. However, there is that one section after the chorus where Yosh whispers like he’s singing in a 2000′s alternative rock band and the vocals do this cool panning effect. SUGIZO from X Japan is on the violin and his parts are really good and have a lot of synergy with the sampled bagpipes and piano. The guitar chugs are also pretty cool and remind me of TBFworld a bit. Overall, it’s a good track despite the vocal section being a bit unnecessary. Speaking of, them lyrics. “Honor of dying alone”? Was this made for Thunderbolt Fantasy or something?

02. EVERCHiLD (vocal: Akihito Okano from PornoGraffiti)

I admit the track has grown on me a bit and I definitely like it more than I did when the first preview video of it showed up. Still, as I’ve stated many times, I don’t really like happy and bright songs too much and prefer something with a stronger emotional impact. Still, the track is nice and again I’m glad Sawano did something different with the drums for once rather than layering electronic beats over an acoustic kit. My biggest problem with the track is the last chorus and the outro. “Tiny world is so stuffed all day, but nothing’s gonna change my story” is sung 6 times back to back and gets repetitive after the 2nd one. Should have just kept it as an instrumental. Other than that, I’m not the biggest fan of Akihito Okano’s voice. I like him more in the first Bnha OP for instance.

03. never gonna change (vocal: SukimaSwitch)

One of the tracks I’ve been most hyped for since the preview has dropped and boy does it not disappoint. I love the guitar and the drums and SukimaSwitch’s voice is really nice. It honestly reminds me some of the pop-ish music I used to listen when I was younger. The “2nd chorus” in the original PV was actually the bridge, to my surprise. The 2nd verse, which is new here, is really good. Love the guitar that comes in after the first few measures. Overall, the track is great.

Lastly, that instrumental outro section with the piano and guitar was completely unexpected but it’s amazing. It sounds like it would be a track rearrangement if never gonna change was an OST piece. Really good and honestly adds a whole new dimension at the end of an otherwise great track. My favorite so far.

04. narrative (vocal: LiSA)

Now we get to some of the tracks which have already been heard before in other releases. I’d be repeating myself if I go in detail like with the other tracks so the tl;dr version would be that I don’t think LiSA’s voice fits this type of Sawano music at all. Not that it’s a surprise considering the track wasn’t even composed with her vocals in mind. The instrumental is, for all it’s worth, actually not that bad. I don’t really mind the strings, or “casio pad strings” as dante calls them and it makes the song at least a bit more interesting.

05. i-mage (vocal: Aimer)

It’s been a long time since an Aimer and Sawano collab and unfortunately I don’t think the wait was that worth it. For the record, I really love Aimer’s voice but the song composition itself is what I dislike. Similarly to EVERCHiLD, the song just doesn’t have enough emotional impact, at least for me. I can see the appeal of it otherwise but personally it doesn’t do much on my end. The intro and verse are alright but the chorus is where it gets too playful for me to take it seriously and I found myself spacing out and losing focus on the actual track which hasn’t happened with the other songs so far. The 2nd verse has some cool bass going on but it sounds really noisy in the mix for some reason. Lastly, again, same problem with EVERCHiLD where the standout English portion of the lyrics, in this case “Light and dreams that children hold tight, now you have them in your right hand” repeats way too much in the last chorus and outro portions. Same formula.

Despite all of these complaints I think if I listen to the track enough it might grow on me. Might. But other than that, a bit underwhelming and personally my least favorite Sawano and Aimer collaboration for now.

06. NOISEofRAIN (vocal: swan with nishi Takanori Nishikawa from TM Revolution)

I’m gonna be honest here, it’s really hard for me to talk about this song without any irony and memes to go with it. This song just slaps. That’s it. I listen to it on an almost daily basis and have been doing so since it came out at the end of November. Can’t really say much other than it’s my favorite [nZk] song and Takanori Nishikawa is the OG.

One thing I have to point out though is that the mix in this album’s version is slightly different than the one in the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single, specifically the start of the first verse where there’s two synths that are either made really quiet or missing. Yeah, I’ve listened to this track way too much in order to notice the smallest things like that..

OUTRAGERS DRIVE ME NUTS

07. Binary Star (vocal: Uru)

This is the one older [nZk] song I can’t put my feelings into words for. I really like Uru’s voice and I hope Sawano collaborates with her again in the future, but the song itself is just... strange. Specifically the instrumental. It’s just really weird, having the strings and piano portion at first and then adding drums later on. I just don’t know what to think. I definitely don’t dislike it and I do enjoy it but that’s it. I actually really need to listen to it more often... 

You know what, Binary Star is really nice.

08. ME & CREED <nZkv> (vocal: Sayuri)

Okay... so... uhm. I guess this is it. This is the track. I’ve made fun of this song a lot back when we only had PVs to go on. I called it a lot of things and overall shared the server’s opinion that it’s not that great. But you know what? I listened to it once today, in the full album. Just once, didn’t really need to listen anymore to open my eyes.

By the way, little fun fact: It’s actually spelled Me & Creed in the original Blue Exorcist OST, or I guess if you want the full name.. “Exorcist Concerto First Movement”... something like that, don’t !songtitle me... but yeah I’m just delaying the inevitable here.

So, I have finally been able to have a fresh, reformed opinion on ME & CREED <nZkv> and express my true feelings. Because, well, the truth is...

...

It still fucking sucks.

Honestly... just.. why? First of all, out of all of the “High Pitched Jpop Vocalists That Do Not Match Sawano’s Composition Style” category members, Sayuri is by far the worst. And, you know, that might just be be for not preferring this kind of voice that a lot of Japanese singers, but I’ve listened to some of Sayuri’s own stuff and it’s not bad because the SONG ACTUALLY FITS HER VOICE.

Now, despite all of this the verse is alright. The chorus is where the harmonies really get out of hand and only make the already bad vocals worse. And it wouldn’t have been as jarring if the instrumental was decent but it’s not. Me & Creed is not at all the type of song that would benefit from overly punchy kick drums and toms and it loses its entire flavor just with the drums alone. It sounds like a below-average pre-rec demo of the original track and doesn’t even respect what kind of song the original is.

Also, this is made for a mobile game. I don’t know about you but if this was in a game as its main theme that would not give me a good impression.

Fun fact, this is the only track on the entire album that is under 4 minutes long. I guess you can say it came short in multiple departments. I give it an Aldnoah Zero out of 10.

09. Unti-L (vocal: ASCA)

After the traumatizing experience that is the previous track, I come to something that is actually good. Unti-L and never gonna change are my favorite new tracks from this album. I’ve been looking forward to this one since the first 5 second PV and I’ve been listening to the short version a lot for the past week. The song is incredible. 6/8 time signature, ballad-y sound, strings and good sound design in general makes for a solid and near flawless track. ASCA’s voice is very enjoyable and I find that it works well with the song since it was probably made with her vocals in mind unlike narrative and... the other thing.

I can’t really say much else, really. Great intro, verse, vocals, melody and overall sound. The instrumental break/bridge is also very pleasant with the simple guitar. Probably the most emotionally impacting track on the album and I love it.

10. Cage (vocal: Tielle)

The original Cage is interesting but I have to say I find it inferior to the <NTv> version from the narrative/NOISEofRAIN single. I’m not the biggest fan of the synth in the intro and the electronic drums don’t quite do it for me in terms of the overall sound. The <NTv> version is still superior in every way and has fits more with the melody and Tielle’s voice. Overall though, the composition is great but you can’t really look at the instrumental alone in both cases since Tielle’s voice makes the track what it is.

11. REMEMBER (vocal: mizuki, Gemie, Tielle, naNami, Yosh)

Should have just credited it as [nZchoir]. 

On a serious note, this sounds like something you would hear in a Disney Channel movie, especially the chorus. The track is surprisingly pleasant to listen to and I find it really catchy and easy to jam and sing along to. Also like the parts where there’s just one vocalist singing and the choir effect in the chorus is really nice as well. Again.. Disney movie.

I actually want to say more about this track but I definitely need to listen to it a bit more to make other comments. Other than that, it’s nice.

Conclusion

As a whole, this seems like a much more fresh album than 2V-ALK. It still doesn’t compare to the diversity and variety in o1 or how solid UnChild is, but I still think it’s at least on par with 2V-ALK despite not having all that many songs. Still, the new original tracks here (well, almost all of them) are interesting and despite my comments on some of them I do think they do their thing and make the album.. work, I guess. I definitely have some tracks I want to go back and relisten to a few of them though, which is a good sign.

I don’t have individual ratings for the tracks but in terms of ranking, a few hours after my first impressions and a few listens I would order them in the following fashion. The best is at the top and the worst is at the bottom.

NOISEofRAIN

never gonna change

Unti-L

Glory -into the RM-

Binary Star

REMEMBER

EVERCHiLD

i-mage

Cage

narrative

you know what goes here.

And that would be it. Thanks for reading!

[aviewfromhell]

Metal in 2018

DISCLAIMER- Increasingly, I find these year-end album lists becoming more personal and less critical. This is definitely a list of my personal favorite records from this year, and is not intended to be a critical survey of the artistic merits of various albums falling under the metal banner in 2018. Most of your favorites, and a huge percentage of metal journalism’s consensus “best of” will therefore be absent. There are even things here that probably aren’t “metal,” and definitely something that isn’t (originally) from 2018. So, you caught me. The title is a lie. But then again, it is my list, so I guess I can make the rules.

Immortal – Northern Chaos Gods

Mighty Ravendark returns! When Immortal parted ways with Abbath a few years back, most people assumed the band was essentially done. Shortly thereafter, founder Demonaz picked up his rime-crusted axe of old and announced that not only was the band not done, but that a new album was in the works. Many fans were skeptical, myself among them. How good could a new album without Abbath be?

This year, Demonaz (with the help of longtime drummer Horgh and session bassist/producer extraordinaire Peter Tagtgren) let the deathblow of his mighty axe fall, cleaving the heads of skeptics and doubters alike with the incredible Northern Chaos Gods. How good could this new album be? Better than anyone expected.

Far from sounding out of place, Demonaz's vocals fit the new material perfectly, and his lyrics are spot-on as always.Tagtgren's production is a great fit as well, and I hope the band continues their collaboration with him.While everyone will miss the grandeur of Abbath-led Immortal at their peak, I'm equally excited for this new incarnation of the band. If we keep getting albums of this quality from Demonaz, and Abbath continues releasing killer records utilizing his own trademark Abbath-isms, it may even be better than if the band had stayed together. If I had to pick a single release to be my actual "Album of the Year," this would most likely be it. Northern Chaos Gods has gotten more spins from me than any other 2018 release, and writing about it just makes me want to go listen to it again.

Judas Priest – Firepower

Judas Priest suffer from a rare condition in the metal world. They have so many great records that it's extremely difficult to release something new and relevant that plays to their strengths and isn't doomed to live in the shadows of their monolithic masterpieces. However, with this release, I think they achieved it. Sure, Firepower feels closely related to the untouchable Painkiller in pacing, structure, and overall style. However, Andy Sneap's production really sets this record apart as its own beast, and the combination of classic Priest writing and modern punchy production make Firepower one of the best metal records of 2018.

Aura Noir – Aura Noire

Norway's black thrash masters surface once again with an album that simultaneously feels like both a direct follow-up to their 1996 debut full length Black Thrash Attack, and a fresh new take on their abrasive, in-your-face style. Blasphemer, as usual, provides sickening riffs aplenty, melding different styles and techniques together into his own unmistakable sound. Aggressor and Appolyon deliver their signature, often over-the-top vocals in spades, and Aura Noire presents us with several tracks I'd consider to be new Aura Noir staples in an already impressive roster of black thrashing death anthems. All hail the ugliest band in the world!

High on Fire – Electric Messiah

One of the consistently best bands in American metal unleashed another monster upon us in 2018. Electric Messiah is solid throughout, and I'm as impressed as ever by Matt Pike & co.'s ability to deliver high quality albums like clockwork since their inception nearly two decades ago. Still, vicious album opener "Spewn from the Earth" does make me wish the band would release a record of nothing but high-speed rippers. Maybe one day, but until then I'm perfectly content with the killer mix of doom-drenched thrashy three-piece arcana that High on Fire has honed to perfection.

Sigh – Heir to Despair

Just look at the cover art. It may be the most "Sigh" thing I've ever seen. Mastermind Mirai Kawashima and friends return with the band's 11th full-length album, considered by many to be their best in years.The band's provenance is more evident than ever before; Heir to Despair's lyrics are almost entirely in Japanese, and various flutes, piccolos, and even taishogoto feature prominently. This album also happens to be one of the most "metal" in the band's recent discography, while still being as off-the-wall and unpredictable as fans have come to expect. This avant-garde offering delves deep into themes of madness and insanity, and I dare any listener to sit through the full album and claim they haven't gone a little crazier themselves.

Mayhem – Grand Declaration of War (2018 remix/remaster)

I know, I know. This album is from 2000, not 2018. However, as a Grand Declaration of War connoisseur, I can affirm that this is different enough from the original that it warrants inclusion on any list willing to allow remix/master/makes of any kind.

By most standards, this new version sounds almost objectively better in every way normally employed to determine musical sound quality. The album sounds much more organic and warm, particularly the drums. Everything sits nicely in the mix as well, with each instrument a little easier to pick out and enjoy than on the 2000 original. However, like other Grand Declaration of War enthusiasts have noted, the cold, digital, clinically-dead sound of the original was part of its charm. It added to the overall aural aesthetic and concept of the record. This 2018 version doesn't have that same detached quality, but luckily, we don't have to choose between versions; Mayhem has graced us with both.

I intended to restrict myself to talking only about the new release (since that's the only thing '2018' about the record), but I can't resist a small rant about Grand Declaration of War as a whole. This album was, and remains to be—if slightly less so—very controversial among black metal and Mayhem fans. Lots of fans hate(d) this record. They're wrong. Grand Declaration of War embodies both Mayhem and the spirit of Norwegian black metal perfectly. One of the absolute highlights of my year was being fortunate enough to play a gig with Mayhem, and the highlight of their set, for me, was "Bloodsword and a Colder Sun."

Maggot Heart – Dusk to Dusk

Perhaps my most anticipated album of the year, Dusk to Dusk did not disappoint. Last year's City Girls EP set the stage, and the full-length delivered big time. Maggot Heart is hard to classify, but if you look at the performers and their past bands, the sound won't really surprise you. Linnéa Olsson is writing some of the best riffs in a world where rock and guitar music is increasingly considered dead. Moreover, her vocals really shine on Dusk to Dusk, and I can't wait to see what the future holds for the band. Maggot Heart may be the most irresponsibly overlooked band of 2018.

Deth Crux – Mutant Flesh

This mid-December release is a perfect example of why I try to wait until the last minute to write any kind of year-end list. For me, it took about a listen and a half to know Mutant Flesh belonged here. A ton of vague descriptors could be used, but I'll just go with dark, weird, catchy, and awesome. The band isn't necessarily reinventing the wheel, per se, but they also aren't committing the grave offense of just making a worse version of the records that influenced them. The album is hooky, memorable, and original in the ways that count. The instrumentation and vocals swirl and haunt, coalescing into a driving, addictive blend of gloom and defiance. Sanford Parker's production is a huge plus for the record, and clutch sax contributions from Bruce Lamont seal the deal.

That’s it!

While a few of these records were probably obvious, I hope this list exposes some friends and readers to stuff they otherwise wouldn’t have checked out.

I normally end these with some humorous, often snarky mini-lists, but I'm afraid I'll have to skip that this time around; I'm engaged in listening to mixes of the upcoming unarguably BEST metal album of 2019. But now is not the time nor place for discussing that. . .

[tomoreadsandlistens]

Alone in Our Castle Sung by Olivia Lufkin

“Alone in our castle Alone in everything we have I’ll never see your face the way it is In our castle”

   2006 was a great time for JPop, at least in the anime industry. Four great artists named Anna Tsuchiya, Yuna Ito, Mika Nakashima, and Olivia Lufkin, were at their prime in popularity thanks to a manga series called NANA by Ai Yazawa. Before the anime came out in 2006, the year before had came out with part 1 of the movie version of NANA that hyped up really fast, and featured Yuna Ito and Mika Nakashima providing the theme songs for the movie. The anime was released shortly after the fact and its popularity skyrocketed. Not only was the anime fantastic but the opening/ending theme songs are some of the BEST music to have come out in anime for its time. To this day I still have the theme songs on repeat and memorized.    Thanks to NANA I was able to look into the two artists in particular that sang the theme songs; Olivia Lufkin and Anna Tsuchiya. I took the time to listen to all of their songs and I don’t regret it one bit. But considering the two artists, Olivia hands down has some of the best vocals and sounds that could exist in music. I consider very few artists to have an angelic sound to their vocal range, Olivia Lufkin is absolutely one of them. It is never a dull moment for me whenever I listen to her songs on repeat; it gives me chills every single time. Olivia Lufkin is an artist that I don’t hesitate to recommend to my friends even if they don’t listen to music in Japanese. Whenever I drive with my friends I always make sure Olivia is on my playlist. I never skip a song each time she comes on. The best feeling is when any of my friends really enjoys a song by Olivia and rocks out to her with me.

First Listen:    I’m almost certain “Wish” from NANA was the first song I ever heard by Olivia. Before I even watched the anime I downloaded any song from NANA since I was already a fan of the manga, and man am I so glad I did. The grungy, rock sound this song provides will literally engage you in .1 seconds, there is no contest. I binge-listened to Olivia’s other music out of curiosity after realizing the music from NANA wasn’t all of the music she had. I became OBSESSED very fast.    So much of Olivia’s music is experimental, whether it’s her vocals, the music production; and the lyrics are like poetry. She especially goes back between English and Japanese flawlessly and fluently. Some older songs by Olivia also feature her brother, Jeffery Lufkin, in her music as well. It is all so beautiful to the point of tears and I am not even embarrassed to admit this. I do have to admit though, I’m genuinely surprised her sister Caroline Lufkin, who is also a musician, hasn’t featured with Olivia yet but I certainly hope they will collaborate someday. Please make this happen!!

Best Album:    “The Lost Lolli” is the first album I heard by Olivia, and personally my favorite. As much as her first album “Synchronicity” is gorgeous to listen to, it doesn’t give you the full vocal range of highs and lows that you hear in her songs in later albums. “The Lost Lolli” is in English but her experimentation for the album is addictive and electric. I had this album on repeat throughout college, especially the summer before freshman year of college in 2009, the album defined my life at the time and I didn’t feel so alone. The nostalgic sounds of love, loss, even sounds of being a member of society is incorporated in her music as realistically as it could be, despite it only being sounds rather than a physical feeling. It is just an incredible way of depicting human existence. Olivia also depicts existence of celestial beings in this album, so intertwining the perspective of a human and an alien is beautifully done. In fact, you don’t even need to see it that way, it could simply be the vibe of the songs that make you feel like you’re in outer space.    Olivia’s music literally could translate the hurt you feel and wanting to be heard, regardless what her music sound like. The end result is beautiful and relatable. She is a musical genius. Rumor has it she is coming out with an album, let’s hope it becomes a reality!

Best Song:    As I previously stated above, Olivia Lufkin’s music is beautiful and addictive; Which is why it was very hard for me to determine what my favorite song by her was. But it dawned on me that perhaps her slow-sounding music is some of her best work instead of her most well known songs from NANA. Choosing “A Little Pain” or “Wish” would be too easy and obvious for this review. The one song I had on repeat of almost a decade is her song “Alone in Our Castle” from “The Lost Lolli”. The first image I have in my mind is a sand castle by the ocean, considering the beginning of the song children is heard playing in the background, but I’m thinking at a beach setting which fits this song perfectly. This song entrances you to feel alone and distant from the sounds of the children laughing and playing, somehow feeling like everyone is fading away from you but you are stuck inside a sand castle surrounded by water; that is all you have. The moments you have had with a loved one is now diminished and all you have left is their memory. You may never get the same love in return but you get to choose to move on from it. You keep those memories locked inside your castle.    This song helped me get through so many times of heartbreak. There was an unrequited love throughout high school and college that I couldn’t get over for a long time. Someone who was once my bully from childhood and was separated from me for a few years. When we were brought back together in high school, it was a transformation between the both of us. However, I was not meant to be with him. No matter the times we had of sensuality and physical bonding; holding hands and hugs; it was not enough to be together. I had an opportunity to ask him out when I gave him chocolates on Valentine’s Day in 2007, but I was too scared to. However he was delighted that he got chocolate from me and immediately ate it as he went off to class.    I lost my chances when a beautiful young girl became his lover, and they actually lasted for a long time, but in the end they weren’t meant to be either. I watched from afar for years and yet this young woman inspired me completely. It was a really bittersweet time that I have stored in my castle, but it is a lesson learned on my part.    If you enjoyed the album version of this song, I highly suggest you also listen to this live concert version, it is just as beautiful as the recording.

https://youtu.be/a2RjdDt2lFA

Lyrics can be found here: https://www.google.com/amp/s/genius.com/amp/Olivia-alone-in-our-castle-lyrics

I hope this song can help anyone else deal with heartbreak as much as it helped me. Olivia Lufkin will always be one of my favorite musicians and I sincerely hope this underrated artist gets more attention; she deserves it. 

Here is my portrait of Olivia Lufkin, also can be found on my Instagram azenobio

Until next time~Tomo

[kylydian]

Nier Automata: Using Vocals in New and Innovative Ways

If I said that Breath of the Wild was the best OST of 2017, I would say that Nier: Automata’s held the most weight. The concept of weight is something we’re going to be talking a lot about. There’s no other way to describe the music other than depressing, dystopian, and hopeless. If you’ve played the game, you know that these are all themes you encounter on your multiple runthroughs. Strictly composition wise, I think Nier doesn’t break too much new ground. It knows what it wants to do, and it does it well. It does it fucking well. Something can be said for a soundtrack that knows so well what it needs to do and executes that better than it honestly should. Doing something so well that it’s genre defining is definitely a trait that we’re going to talk about in the future, but today’s topic is what makes this soundtrack shine: The human voice.

Instrument choice. When you’re selecting an instrument, how do you go about it? Picking randomly? Off the sound you want? Genre maybe? Most composers would agree that instrument choice is crucial, and it can set the tone for the entire soundtrack if you feature one instrument over others. The voice is the oldest instrument known to humankind, but how often is it featured in video game music? Pretty often! It’s used at climatic moments of the story, for intros, credits, main themes, backing orchestras, music performed by characters…the list goes on and on! But how often do you hear it in an individual soundtrack? Not too often. Voice is a really powerful instrument, and without a doubt is it the instrument that holds the most weight in the context of media, which is why it’s generally saved for special moments.  

How often do you hear voice in Nier: Automata?

Constantly.

Ocarina of Time has the Ocarina. The Elder Scrolls have strings. Cuphead has the big band. Doom 2016 has the Doom Instrument. Pokemon Ruby and Sapphire has trumpets (Okay..okay…I’m only partially kidding.)

Nier: Automata has voice. The game has a huge soundtrack, and though much of the music is different, one thing is pretty consistent throughout, voice is the featured instrument.  Instead of being saved for epic or emotional scenes, voice is featured just as much as any string, wind or percussion instrument would be in other games. This is huge. The amount of emotional range delivered by the voice is incredible, and absolutely cannot be understated when talking about this soundtrack.  

If you know the plot of Nier, the use of what is arguably the most expressive instrument compliments the plot perfectly.  It’s used to accentuate instruments, in place of instruments, for percussion, for story, for characters, for literally everything.

Why is voice so effective for Nier though? What does it do differently?

Think about what language the lyrics are usually in. English? Japanese? French? You do hear all of these languages in the soundtrack, but none of the languages are featured too prominently.  Doing some quick research shows that the language is a fictional language made for the universe. In addition, the lyrics were sometimes improvised on the spot at the time of recording.  It’s kind of a mashup of English, Japanese and French, but no words of any of the languages are actually used.

This is vital to begin to understand how vocals were used.

Using a fictional language does a few things for this soundtrack.

·        It allows the tone to be easily molded without worrying about word choice

·        It removes the literary implications of language

·        It removes direct attention from voice

·        It allows the voice to be presented as an instrument

When you add vocals to something, you have lyrics. Unless you’re singing only on vowels, there’s not really a way around that. However, while Nier has lyrics, they aren’t associated with meaning. There is no context, meaning that the singer can transition to vowels when wanted, presenting a very natural vocal sound without having to worry about choice of words.

When you assign words to music, you begin to pull attention to the vocals. And in video game music, while you want music to be noticed and loved, you want it to be in the background. Adding lyrics implies a story of some kind, which adds a focal point for the player. In general, this will distract from the most important element of the game: Gameplay. Making the lyrics unattached to literary meaning will probably get people thinking “What language is this?” But that’s the only focal point they’ll have, and it’ll quickly drop to the back of their mind. This removes any direct attention on the voice. Most importantly, removing the language barrier allows the voice to be presented in an instrumental context.

The voice is an instrument. But while the voice is an instrument, vocal music is not equivalent to instrumental music. I’m not saying that instrumental music is better, just that the mindset behind the two forms is different. This separation has existed all throughout music history and continues to exist today. One of the most important lessons on this I’ve encountered was when I was at a master class with the late band composer, Francis McBeth. He has an extensive library of wind band literature for all grade levels. During a Q&A, someone asked him “How many songs have you written?” And he responded very flatly with “Two.” It’s no surprise that the person asking wasn’t expecting this, so he clarified, “If you mean ‘pieces,’ I’ve written several hundred. A song features voice, a piece is instrumental.”

Now this could be taken as a condescending answer, but it does hold a lot of truth. In writing a song, there are many differences when compared to writing for an instrumental ensemble. You can’t approach it the same way.

Removing the meaning behind lyrics allows this association of vocals to song to be altered and approach a more instrumental format. This is where the soundtrack shines, and this is how the voice in the soundtrack is so haunting and appropriate.  

For the overwhelming majority of the soundtrack, you’re going to find primarily instrumental forms and writing techniques, but the voice is presented as the main melody instrument within this context. This would not be nearly as possible if the lyrics were in a set language, even if it wasn’t our native one. We aren’t used to hearing the voice in a musical context away from the song format, even if it’s in a language we don’t understand. This makes the voice in this case very haunting, because we aren’t familiar with it.

If you think about where “songs” are used in game music, they’re usually used for openings, cinematics, climatic scenes, or credits. They’re used sparingly, and this is because the literary association holds a ton of weight in the context of media. Anime is a great example of this. When an opening theme is presented at the very end in the actual episode, that’s always the most uplifting moment, the most climatic moment, or the fuck yeah moment. This is because you take material that everyone already associates with and present it in a new way. Using song format for climaxes is so effective because it’s different from what we’ve come to expect from the rest of the game and OST, which literally accompanies the definition of climax.

So. How many “songs” are there in Nier: Automata? There’s a few, but in the service of gameplay there’s one:  The Weight of the World. What’s the primary difference about this though? Well, there’s three different versions…

English, Japanese and the fictional language.

Weight of the World is also written differently too, it’s written in a very vocal form, with verses, choruses, bridges and literary meaning. There’s a couple of other songs in the soundtrack too, but they don’t hold the …weight that this song does. Sorry………bad pun.

This cements the fact to me that the voice used for the majority of Nier removes the association with being voice, and instead features voice to be a part of the soundtrack, part of the world, part of the lore.

When it clicked for me how simple everything involving voice in Nier seemed, my mind was absolutely blown. Making a language? Removing meaning? Allowing the voice to function as an instrument?  All so that they can get the exact feeling that they want in a soundtrack?

That is literally the coolest thing.

Another quick note, after researching, I found that sometimes the tracks in the game were rewritten or altered to better fit the vocals.  That’s how important the use of voice as the primary instrument was to this team.

There’s more than just this though. God there’s more.

One track I hear talked about all the time is the one that plays when the robot cult is committing mass suicide.  Before the track starts to play, the cult begins a menacing chant, “Become as gods. Become as gods.” This chant has a very rhythmic quality to it but is somewhat displaced to simulate a crowd chant.  Overtime as you regain control of 2B, instruments begin to enter, and music comes full swing. You begin your escape, but the chanting never stops. It’s quickly melded into the piece of music in the background.  If you listen to the OST, the chanting isn’t part of the track, meaning that it was added in as a rhythmic chant. This is a direct musical reference to what’s happening in the game and the story. And the crazy thing is that spoken language is used for the chant! Granted the robots speak English or Japanese, but finally your focus is drawn to “Become as gods. Become as gods.” However, after enough time the vocals fade to the back of your mind because it’s simply so repetitive. But on they chant. The game will not let you forget what’s happening in the scene. Robots are killing themselves, chanting their belief that if they die, they become gods. The vocal lines, the driving rhythmic strings and percussion, it’s all written to add to the insanity of the chant. This is remembered not only for the content, but the way that music and story are put together. It’s a very surreal and impactful scene, but without the chant of the suiciding robots, the piece used would in no way be so haunting.  

This soundtrack does so much good for video game music. These are pretty advanced techniques and conceptual ideas within music and composition, so how might we be able to apply this to our own writing and games? It’s definitely true that we can do something similar in our own music, we can find nonsense syllables, write music off of them, and present the voice in a similar way. Ideas are stolen all the time. I would be willing to bet that this has been done before multiple times. Nier probably stole the idea from someone else! Even I hope to do something like this someday! But I think the biggest take away from today’s topic is something I’m going to coin as “Impactful choice.”  

Our choices in design, plot, art and music hold weight. If we want to make a statement with our music, we need to make sure that our choices have impact and carry weight. Writing an original language for a game? That’s an impactful choice. Presenting voice in an instrumental context? That’s an impactful choice. Without a question in my mind, voice is the most expressive instrument, but it easily overpowers in the context of video game music. Removing the strength that voice holds through language, and writing tracks so that voice is featured, but not overpowering? That’s an impactful choice.

Every time we write music, we make choices. Finding new ways to present music through our choices that people haven’t heard is how we get music like in Nier: Automata. Understanding instrument choice and how to alter instruments to get the exact sound we want is an important first step. But it doesn’t stop there. See how far you can take an idea. The farther you go, the farther you can take people with you.

Making a choice that can influence the entire project can be daunting, and it can kill the project if the intuition is off. It’s a scary path to take.

But most success stories start with a risk.

Here’s some takeaways:

General

·        Nier: Automata removes implied literacy to help present the voice in an         instrumental format.

·        Story and gameplay can be blended with music to create unique tracks.

·        Songs have words, pieces don’t.

Developers

·        Your game carries weight. Capitalizing on the arts to add more meaningful  weight is essential.

·        Find ways to innovate outside and inside the box.

·        Success comes from risk.

Composers

·        Think about ways to use the expressiveness of the voice as a primary instrument without over powering the game.

·        Write songs for specific reasons in the game, not for the overall soundtrack.

·        When possible, find ways to integrate gameplay into music.

There’s a lot that can be taken away from this soundtrack, and it’s very possible that I’m going to revisit it in the future! The dystopian sound, the robot armies, the faction of androids that don’t know what they’re fighting for anymore. It’s definitely one of my top games from 2017.  

Music adds weight. In games, make it your world’s weight.