The Klassic Note Review 2016.03 Issue 1
Thursday, 03 March 2016
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This week is Anisong week, where I dig up Anime artists I know of and give them chance.— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) February 24, 2016
For now, Sayuri's good and nano.RIPE is passable.
And this led to this review. It may not be the last one this month though. Mark my words. Aki-chan's 3rd album will be on my shelf. Oh, also Mina-chan's single. Maybe. Provided I get a listen of the full single by this week first. Oh well, might as well clear what's left for last month.
Really, these two singles may be underrated, as I found out after the above Tweet.
音楽 The Klassic Note Review
Sayuri - Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no you na [Single]
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| Limited Edition Type A | Limited Edition Type B |
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| Anime Limited Edition | Regular Edition |
Origin: It didn't take long before the second single of this new Anime singer-songwriter to land on my shelf. Going by the name of "Sanketsu Shoujo" [Suffocating Girl?] (as you see in the covers, if you can), she starts - if I am not wrong - as a niconico famous artist, using the image of a set of two 2D characters (which are shown distinctly ONLY on the Limited Edition Type B cover) to exhibit her character in, and attracting much attention in the past few years before getting recognition by (you guessed it) Sony Music Japan to release Anime theme songs under her name. For your knowledge her debut song "Mikazuki" was 16th in Klassic Note rankings last year. For this second single, she teamed up with famous music composer Kajiura Yuki-sensei (as I mentioned, if you don't know this woman it's about time you do) to do the ending theme song for "ERASED" (here in Klassic Note as "Boku Dake ga Inai Machi", FYI), and it went out better than expected, I must say. Let's get to it then!
[NOTE: The different editions released have different tracklists. As with all Klassic Note reviews I only do one, and it's the Regular Edition. And in this there are only two tracks.]
(1) Sore wa Chiisana Hikari no you na [(This is) Like A Small Light]
As I mentioned above, this song was done in conjunction with an Anime, and also the composer is also coincidentally doing the soundtrack of the show, and as with such combinations it always comes out as a better integration on the show, for the better in most cases. And this song stays true to the show, at least. For the song itself without the Anime, then... I guess it's fine. It's very Kajiura-sensei in style, and I mean if you heard years of Kalafina then this might be a fresh take on her compositions, but not with a certain level of familiarity if you've heard enough of her songs. On Sayuri's case, she did well in singing it, but some lyrics (okay, just one part) sound less true to the song but to her singing style, which may not be a bad thing, I guess. Overall, a pretty good song for an Anime theme song, so I won't complain much.
Rating: 4 stars (Less Than Average)
(2) Raise de Aou [Meeting In The Afterlife]
And yes, this B-side takes this single hands down. It's a good melody to show Sayuri's music style, and it does not disappoint. Following along to her "suffocating" style, it always comes with impact, so more than emotional music becomes less of her thing from the start. In this song, she displays great, strong impact in her music, accompanied by a decent song format which I think is very different from my impression of her songs when I listened to her first single. Nonetheless, I'd like to give her thumbs up for such effort, which did not make me hesitate much in giving her the song because the overall feel is great. It was as good as I first heard it as I mistook this for another music video preview for the A-side. Oh well, such luck brought about this coincidence of a song, so I must say this is good for me, personally.
Rating: 4 stars (Slightly Above Average)
Conclusion: She's great as an Anime singer, she really can write good songs which will no doubt be of use to the Anime industry (just like Kajiura-sensei), and she's sort of cute. And young. So what do you expect? A better single? I doubt so for now, but then if you watch the Anime then I shouldn't have to convince you to like this single. As a casual listener, I sure like to give this a good effort, and unlike many other Anime theme songs, this release stands out pretty well in itself. Go give it a listen if you like some punch in your appreciation of J-Pop.
THERE'S MORE! ANIME THEME SONG GALORE!!
音楽 The Klassic Note Review
nano.RIPE - Lime Tree [Single]
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| Limited Edition | Regular Edition |
Origin: If you have heard of them, they are a rock band. If you have been following Klassic Note, yes they have taken the first place in my rankings before, so I definitely am not unfamiliar with them since 2014. It's been two years since then, and I've been actively listening and giving them their songs from time to time (as much as I can), trying to ignore the fact that they connect with the Anime industry real well, and it sort of depends on what theme they are going for each single. In this one, it seems rather mysterious, and thus the slight chance in style for this release.
[NOTE:
How can it be possible that Sayuri, nano.RIPE and Choucho are releasing singles this week with only two tracks each?— Kaineng (@KlassicNote) February 24, 2016
It's a conspiracy lol
Same notice as above. There's no Choucho in this review though lol]
(1) Lime Tree
This is... interesting? This is... jazz rock? As much as it maybe different or even weird from their usual style of rock, I must say this one is pretty fresh in terms of melody and slight deviation in their rock style. At first listen without any form of previews from the Anime (in which I did not watch) I must say I feel great. As an impression of listening to their usual style of music this sounds rather different. And this itself deserves my attention. Also, the song format is simple and clean, the melody is straightforward, and I guess the jagged mix on the last chorus may be irritating for me, but then this is not much. All in all this is a good song.
Rating: 4 stars (Above Average?)
(2) Kibouteki Kansoku [Wishful Thinking]
And here I thought this song wasn't very aggressive. (The title lol) But then it is, if you listen to the melody it's more hyped than it is for the B-side, and very reminiscent of their music style. Written both by the singer Kimiko and the in-house composer Sasaki Jun, this song represents the usual song style I like, and also stems to the reasons why I listened to them this late in their music career and why I'm still listening to them now. Overall a very good song. If you like this song, this will make you like nano.RIPE, and I mean it.
Rating: 4 stars (More Than Just Average)
Conclusion: It's the second single I've reviewed for this upcoming artist in Klassic Note, and I'm pleased. I missed their previous single, but that doesn't mean I cannot give another. Ignoring the Anime theme songs they contribute, then they themselves constitute a generic rock band with their own emotional and hyped style, and I think everyone should give a listen to it. Especially the B-side, I say. The singles typically do not give the band much credit on exhibition of their own music style.
THE PACKAGE
If the postman didn't call my phone to check whether anyone's at home, I wouldn't have climbed out of my bed to answer the door lol
This is it then. My enthusiasm is running out quick haha. Anyways, these two came rather late already, which was less than expected, but still, it could've been faster. I'm done with this one, and if Mina-chan's single ever surfaces then I'll probably be doing another round with reviews with the-very-anticipated-in-Klassic-Note Aki-chan's album. Until next time... I'm running out of money. To ship these things to my shelf.