Katamari Fortissimo Damacy September 18, 2008

Track Listing

1. Nananan Katamari
2. Katamari on the Rocks ~ Main Theme
3. Overture
4. The Moon and the Prince
5. Fugue ♯7777
6. LONELY ROLLING STAR
7. The Wonderful Star’s Walk is Wonderful
8. Katamari Mambo ~ Katamari Syndrome mix
9. You Are Smart
10. A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic
11. WANDA WANDA
12. Que Sera Sera
13. Angel-Flavored Present
14. Katamaritaino
15. Katamari★Stars
16. Cherry Blossom Color Season
17. Lovely Angel
18. Stardust Fanfare
19. Last Samba
20. Katamari of Love ~ Ending Theme
21. Katamari March Damacy (bonus secret track)

1. Nananan Katamari

Talk about strange.  It’s the startup track and is very repetitive, I mean yea there’s some synth and percussion added, but there’s nothing too spectacular about the track as it is ~Na~ all over.

2. Katamari on the Rocks ~ Main Theme

They took the melody from “Sasasan Katamari” and actually made it more exciting.  There’s so much happening in this song it’s quite surprising.  Not only it’s a full-fledged track with complete vocals it includes brass and crazy percussion.  English could be worked on but I’m overly happy with this song.

3. Overture

A pretty jolly rendition piano solo of the “Sasasan Katamari” melody.  I kind of thought it was too short.  Other than that this was a nice track to listen before we enter the stage’s tracks.

4. The Moon and the Prince

Is the guy speaking through this song?  It’s kind of boring and kinda messes the bouncing factor of the song.  What’s even worse is that the songs melody doesn’t stray off and go in a different direction until almost 2 minutes.  I just was annoyed by this guy’s half-ass singing/speaking. 

5. Fugue ♯7777

Ominous organ and then this whole weird synth sound.  Kind of makes it sound medieval and weird at the same time.  It’s vocoder perhaps.  The tune is quite cute and catchy with its unusual sound.  This was a track I actually was happy to end early.  I probably wouldn’t have enjoyed it if it was as long as the previous few tracks.

6. LONELY ROLLING STAR

What can I not say about this uber poppy track.  It’s covered in so much cute that it’s also overly catchy.  Saki Kabata has a seiyuu voice, but isn’t as scary as like Momoi Haruko and such.  I love how she’s rhyming words that eventually end up to be ~Katamari~ that was pretty nifty.  All of the synths and elements of the video game are well represented here.

7. The Wonderful Star’s Walk is Wonderful

Better knows as the World map track.  It’s a pretty soothing acoustic track.  One of those WTF moments because of the pure randomness of the game.  Then after a little bit, the music gets more festive and fun which I thought was quite a moment to listen before it calms itself down again.  The thing is that the song was just a great combination of the entire game itself. 

8. Katamari Mambo ~ Katamari Syndrome mix

A hectic little tune this is.  There’s so many weird things happening most especially in the guys’ voice at the beginning.  The singer sounds kinda nice, but kind of is ruined by the guys.  The mambo feeling is intact which I’ll give credit where its due.  Other than that, this was a pretty bad sounding track.

9. You Are Smart

8-bit perhaps?  There’s major vocoding happening here and the song very memorable.  The song is one of those lame tracks because it just goes nowhere at all.  Just the repetition of the title over and over.  I mean there’s bits and pieces where things could get interesting, but it ultimately fails.

10. A Crimson Rose and a Gin Tonic

With a drum opening like that, I was addicted to the lounge sound of this track.  It jumpy and quite a cool track as well.  The lead gal singing sounds like she’s a seiyuu as well…which combine with lounge is not a safe thing to do.  Other than that this track was definitly a standout track

11. WANDA WANDA

Back to the freaky stuff.  WANDA WANDA complies with the whole odd voice/keyboard thing.  I would have said (Did Daft Punk do this?)  It’s definitly a beat-driven track and it seems the voices that say ~Wanda Wanda~ gets drowned out from the music, even though they switch from major to minor chords often. 

12. Que Sera Sera

As we switch back to the bossa-nova stage.  This song was another great track.  Just because this track is full English <3   The guys voice sounds really professional and really gave the song so life.  ~I wanna wad you up into my life~ that’s kind of romantic and made sense from the game’s perspective.  I bet they would play this in some high-class bar.  It’s just that good.

13. Angel-Flavored Present

I’m always turned off by this song.  It just sounds messy at the beginning for the main sound comes in.  Where it’s bits and pieces of the terrible start.  So this was just there and another one of the tracks that really doesn’t make sense.  Especially when the ~ahhhh~ starts.  Then it sounds like “Silence and Motion” from FF8…strange as it is, it’s not my favorite track.

14. Katamaritaino

Latin-flavor pops in this tune.  The acoustic plays some notes before the singer comes in.  It’s got such a calm sound for being latin-based.  OMFG There’s sax featured in this track and has a full solo.  I’m totally taken fully by it.  I was definitly taken by surprise by this song on the album.

15.  Katamari★Stars

Taken from a dreamy perspective.  It actually conveys it pretty well.  Another beautifully written track and played so heavenly by woodwinds and such.  The melody is pretty strong here too.  A very soothing track indeed.

16. Cherry Blossom Color Season

 I really didn’t enjoy this song.  Not only the children sounds extravagantly messy and stuff.  The song sounds like a denied Morning Musume track.  I mean it was just filled with so much wrong here.  I mean there’s people who says this is their favorite track, but I’m like are you pitch-deaf??? This was so bad to hear the kids….FAILURE

17. Lovely Angel

Less than 2 minute is the kinda of odd chant-like sounds.  Maybe Enya could have helped here.  It sounds like a good portion of her music, maybe added with the synth sounds too.  Other than that, nothing real important

18. Stardust Fanfare

What?  18 seconds?  Yea it starts very ominous and fearful then there’s this quick “fanfare”.  Maybe it wasn’t such a good idea to have put it on the album if it was that short to begin with.

19. Last Samba

Bring your crazy whistles!  and a flute???  It once again is a more party-like version of the “Sasasan Katamari” track.  Seriously only being a minute long….so much for having uber fun y’know?

20. Katamari of Love ~ Ending Theme

So the final track heard in the game is a ballad of sorts?  All right whatever floats their katamari.  For being an ending theme it kind of was strange and a little unusual for a rock ballad.  The guys voice kind of rubs me the wrong way if you know what I mean.  So much for that right?

21. Katamari March Damacy

Those funky voices/keyboard thing happens.  It’s a lot more bouncy and happy.  Though I don’t really see why this would be a march.  Maybe I’m just not paying so much attention.  I thought I heard this song somewhere in the game but huh….Not a very good ending track if you ask me.

Tracks Recommended

• LONELY ROLLING STAR
• Que Sera Sera
• Katamaritaino
• The Wonderful Star’s Walk is Wonderful
• Katamari★Stars

This series is so well-known by its outlandish music genres and crazy composition.  To be honest I love its quirkyness and fun.  Its definitly a series that takes the cake for different sounds and I totally praise it!

MEG – PRECIOUS September 18, 2008

Track Listing

1. PRECIOUS
2. CANDY
3. PRECIOUS end of summer mix

1. PRECIOUS

So this new era starts with this kind of girly track.  I actually enjoyed it with the PV so much R.I.P. Nagi (director of PV).  It’s got such a magical and yet dance feeling to it.  It’s quite the happy track and being a Nakata track it’s another great A-side released this year.  Though y’know I can’t help but think dancing cats for some reason….x.x

2. CANDY

So, when I first saw this track, I thought it’d be uber cute and girly even moreso than “PRECIOUS”.  Then to find out that it’s like a more softer and slower version of “Macaroni”.  This reminds me of her past works just as much.  She’s borderline whispering/singing the chorus.  Sadly, this isn’t as memorable as her other B-sides have been.

3. PRECIOUS end of summer mix

Hmmm, this remix is so jumpy, though it still retains majority of the main arrangement.  There was not really much of a drastic change to the song.  I guess the addition of acoustic guitar does make it more summery.  I just wished there was more differences to it.

 

 

MEG’s first single of the era was pretty much a letdown.  I was expecting more especially with all that Nakata has been doing for his other artists.  PRECIOUS though is the only awesome track from here.  Very disappointing b-side and remix…

Hitomi Shimatani – PRIMA ROSA September 18, 2008

Track Listing

1. Ramblin’
2. Kimi no Koe
3. Hareta Hi wa…
4. Dragonfly
5. Psychedelic Future
6. Camellia (PRIMA ROSA version)
7. Destiny -Taiyou no Hana-
8. Prague no Onna
9. Koimizu -tears of love-
10. PASIO
11. El Dorado
12. Haru Machibito
13. Brand new Dream (CD+DVD only)
14. Futari de Iijanai feat. Masayuki Suzuki (CD only)

1. Ramblin’

We start PRIMA ROSA with a bang.  Though the start doesn’t really sound like.  We get this very cool pop track.  It has a kind of happiness found in many of her songs, but I found that this track was more different from her other pop tracks.  The use of an actual drummer and guitarist put the song in a better place.  Hitomi sounds pretty good even if some of her vocals sound computerized.  Definitly a good opener.

2. Kimi no Koe

We enter our next track and I felt it was a continuation of “Ramblin’”  Its still got happiness written in it.  There’s some synth here and mostly the band sound is still intact.  Hitomi still sounds very much alive and sounds like she’s enjoying this track.  I actually think with the strings she’s also including the whole “crossover” process as well.  Actually I prefer this over the first track. 

3. Hareta Hi wa…

Even more evident in the “crossover” phase this song has some beautiful strings.  Sadly, I found this to be a little on the boring side.  I mean it’s kind of just there for random reasons.  I still like the strings throughout most of the song.  Hitomi sounds a bit weird here, but it’s not bad…It’s just the music.

4. Dragonfly

Wow, what a change of pace.  Dragonfly is a great combination of synths and garage band sounds.  It’s very in your face and just a strong performance from Hitomi.  Her vocals can be weird with this style, but I thought she gave the song justice and was a great idea to put this as a single of the era. 

5. Psychedelic Future

Uhm, another WTF track and it’s so 70’s.  I mean it’s got your hippie flair of sound.  It’s got fun and some funk also.  There’s just something always about Hitomi that surprises me with each album she’s done and this song clearly showcases originality.  I don’t enjoy how Hitomi says the title in the chorus, it was just cut-and-hacked…And did she say ~Tasty Night?~

6. Camellia (PRIMA ROSA Version)

Camellia is our 1st hybrid/ballad of the album and is very soothing to listen to at the start.  It’s a little bit of a melancholic ballad.  There’s some beautiful strings playing to the song and Hitomi’s voice just fits perfectly.  After the chorus time speeds up and the song goes into a dance tune.  Another one of the “crossover” tracks.  She actually hits a good spot with this track.  I really enjoyed this song, though I haven’t heard the original to comapare it to.

7. Destiny -Taiyou no Hana-

Another “crossover” track again?  Well, this was by far better than “Camellia” for reasons.  The whole song had a pretty exciting sound to it and with it came a steady beat.  Hitomi sounds so strong going from quiet to the loud chorus.  There’s also a full orchestra and to be honest couldnt have been any better than this.  I mean this song was just epic from start to end.  My favorite track from this album.

8. Prague no Onna

She keeps popping out more of these interesting songs.  This one is European influenced and actually its once of her more standout songs of her discography.  She sounds strong here also and the music is definitly a high point.  The strings make the song complete with some very good sounds and rhythms.  Another high quality track.

9. Koimizu -tears of love-

Finally our first full-fledged ballad of the album.  It flows very beautifully throughout and Hitomi once again shows her strength in her voice.  Though I don’t think it ranks up with her other ballads.  Though it did make the single pretty good, I just thought it was more of (it’s there) kind of track.  Nice to know it was.

10. PASIO

Now, I don’t think PASIO is really spanish-influenced for some reason.  I’d find this song somewhere on a “Cirque du Soleil” show.  I don’t know why, but there’s so much excitement to this song and it’s vivid and much everywhere in sound.  I kind of like this track for it.  Ok, the middle of the song has Spanish written all over it.  As it was another single, it was awesome to me!

11. El Dorado

Another Spanish-influenced track.  I found it to be less flashy than “PASIO” and yet it contains as much interest to me as “ANGELUS”.  I don’t know why, but El Dorado was definitly another strong world-influenced track.  Hitomi always gets these kind of tracks down so well.  I’m shocked though that this was put after a song similar in style.

12. Haru Machibito

Going back to pop for a little bit, I thought this was a bit more on odd side.  I mean it’s another track that was on single, but I just wasn’t taken at all by this.  The music was borderline boring and even after Hitomi tries to make the song exciting, there was just nothing to this song.  Next song please?

13. Brand new Dream

Are we trying something new again?  It’s another pop track, but it has acoustic guitar mostly featured.  I kind of thought “Haru Machibito” again which is a terrible way to end the “CD+DVD” version of the album.  Though strings save the song from being it.  I still found it to be odd and just boring I guess.

15. Futari de Iijanai feat. Masayuki Suzuki

Oh man, I love the beginning of this track.  So much livelier than the other track.  Masayuki sounds pretty shexxi singing along with Hitomi so it works, but singing together Hitomi overpowers Masayuki which can be a blessing or not.  I thought this collaboration was pretty good otherwise.

Tracks Recommended

• Destiny -Taiyou no Hana-
• Prague no Onna
• PASIO
• Futari de Iijanai
• Dragonfly

I love this album because Hitomi is dabbling with new areas of sound.  I mean each of her songs have a different influence to them and gives her a more original sound to work with.  If there was an underrated artist Hitomi would fit it perfect.  I actually wished she was as famous as Ayu…