No, this title was not a joke, it was hard to come up with something for 15 years, trust me. *giggles*

We have finally reached the end. The end of another milestone in celebrating me listening to Japanese songs for a decade and a half. This time around, I chose to credit the artists behind all the songs I have given because we never really did that all these years, only talking about songs that are good or unique in its own way. I feel like this will be a renaissance, a reminder of what I have been through, and the people who made that happen.

So without further ado, allow me to introduce the Klassic Note 15th Anniversary Compilation series!!

PODIUM OF TEN ~COLLECTION ARTIST HITS~

1. Itsumo Issho / Aqua Timez

2. Somaru yo / Chatmonchy

3. pretty fever / Kotobuki Minako

4. Sparrow / miwa

5. Aojashin / cinema staff

6. Kesenai Yakusoku / fumika

7. Lost in wonderland / Tsuji Shion

8. Un-science / SHE'S

9. Meriru / SIX LOUNGE

10. WHERE? / Yoru no Honki Dance

This compilation is to credit Collection Artists over the years that hold a special place in my heart, apart from being more than recognized by their contributions to Klassic Note and my music library. Among them are classic artists I've missed all these years, and newer ones worth of mention.

TWO TOGETHER ~DANSHI TO JOSHI~

1. Ichirin no Hana / HIGH and MIGHTY COLOR

2. Cupid / LAMA

3. ONE / ALTIMA

4. Thinking Of You / ALTERNATIVE MEDICINE

5. Nana Hitsuji / Scenarioart

6. Synchro Suru / Tokyo Karankoron

7. Brother & Sister / Iwasaki Kei/Iwasaki Ai

8. She knows / VELTPUNCH

9. Wakejanai / MaRuRi to Ryuga

10. NIGHT TOWN / Friends

This compilation is uniquely to represent artist with male and female vocals, as they have been a rising trend even within these 15 years coming. Whether it's a special collaboration, or just bands having duet vocals, they show how singing can be diverse with music in its own way.

ROOM FOR TWO ~FUTARI NO KOE~

1. Koisuru Kankaku -feat. Hanazawa Kana- / Base Ball Bear

2. Sono Koe Kienai yo feat. Sunya / fumika

3. Aitai to Negau feat. KOJIMA / Lil'B

4. Yozora. feat. Hazzie / miwa

5. Saisentan Girl feat. Uchida Maaya / Uesaka Sumire

6. Tomorrow featuring Kusuo / HOME MADE Kazoku

7. Tatoeba Utaenaku Nattara / STEREOPONY x Kariyushi58

8. Cannes no Kyuujitsu feat. Yamada Takayuki / Fujifabric

9. ENEMY feat.Kamui / THE ORAL CIGARETTES

10. Turing Love feat. Sou / Nanawo Akari

Not to be confused with the previous one, this compilation is to represent all the collaboration songs I have given all these years, and is independent of gender. Just two voices can show a lot about what makes a collab special, whether it's in chorus or with its own parts that constitute what works they made or sang together.

ONE HIT WONDER ~ICHIKORO~

1. D-tecnoLife / UVERworld

2. One Night Carnival / Kishidan

3. Ring a Ding Dong / Kimura Kaela

4. Dreamer / AiRI

5. saigo no bansan / mouse on the keys

6. Ame / MINAMI NiNE

7. Public / Bentham

8. Furin Kazan / G-FREAK FACTORY

9. Mononoke In The Fiction / Uso to Chameleon

10. Zettai Zetsumei / Co shu Nie

11. Eien no Fuzai Shoumei / Tokyo Jihen

12. Kimi e / Kayano Ai

13. monoqlo city / ACE COLLECTION

14. Jukebox Driver / Penthouse

15. Scar / Kitani Tatsuya

This compilation is to credit artists which only made a single impression since the beginning up till recent years (with the latter more relevant), and hopefully with this mention, will make me want to find out more about them if they have new songs to showcase. I try to find artists who are still active (as of November 2023) so you can also find them out if you are interested.

THE DETAILS

Yes, it's a little crude, but year me out. Instead of coming up with the theme for the compilations, I chose to think of concepts surrounding the artists I can give credit to, and the songs they have. So contrary to the usual process of picking songs based on themes, I have specific topics to touch on, and these define what I have for the overall concept for this, each with its purpose of creating a tribute to the artists I've listened to and adored.

I've also, thanks to the rise of generative AI this year, "enlisted" the help of AI to create the covers for this compilation series, special credit to Ideogram for all this help, as little as it might be. Still, it did a rather good job despite my not-so-specific prompts, and I think it will convey the message as well as I have imagined, considering I have no artistic talent to begin with.

And of course, the concept for this compilation series. The titles have been split into main and sub titles for two purposes:

And I think that is it for 15 years of Klassic Note! Unlike other years which I did write-ups for each year, but I think we are at the point where this is getting less and less important as I continue my days searching for songs which are similar or even familiar to the stuff I know of, it's hard to quantity anything novel or breakthrough-worthy to show trends or otherwise. Still, this is quite a nostalgia ride, so I'm glad to be doing this once in a while. What is up next from here on until two decades of me listening to Japanese songs? I have no idea, we shall see how this goes.

The journey goes on...

- Aozaki Shouhei, on the Klassic Note