April 9, 2007
Impressions: 4-EVER - Music of the Eternities, Sakakibara Yui - Far Away.
I finally got around to listening to 4-EVER's CD "Master of Epic Original Soundtrack - Music of the Eternities" that was released last month. I've only seen two episodes of the show, and it's not that special aside from having a few amusing puns, Chuu*Bukotsu scenes, and CLOVER cast as Waragecha V. The soundtrack on the other hand, is pretty standout. I'm not going to go as far as to compare it to masterpieces like Satou Naoki's work for Eureka Seven, but "Music of the Eternities" is probably too good to be wasted on a seemingly cheap generic show like Master of Epic.
4-EVER uses a large mix of instruments creating a lot of nice and sometimes surprisingly complex sounds. There's stuff using the harpsichord and accordion, full-on orchestral tunes, and cheesy synthpop to provide a theme for every possible setting, and none of it is boring. Other nice bonuses, also composed by 4-EVER, are the Waragecha V theme song and Wonderful World sung by CLOVER, both of which will forcefully drill themselves into your head and make it hard for you to resist singing randomly in public at great social detriment. Koike Masaya once again proves himself as a capable BGM musician, and his new unit is off to a good start if this soundtrack is indicative of what is to come in the future.
Another single I have picked up lately is Sakakibara Yui's new release, Far Away. This CD follows the same formula as her previous two singles, coupling one upbeat fast-paced pop tune with one slower acoustic track (Ai no uta) to show off her range. The production is solid, and although the Far Away lacks the insanely addicting qualities of "Beautiful Day" it is nonetheless fine looping material. Plus, if you enjoy looking at your track play through spectrum analyzers, this one is especially frantic. I also think Ai no uta is one of the better slow tracks that she has put out lately, further adding value to this single. Importing is expensive, and although I regularly sing hyperbolic praises of many many seiyuu, I am actually relatively picky on which artists to buy as routine. At the current rate, Yui is very close to moving herself from my "sometimes buy" to "always buy religiously" list.
Other music suggestions for this month:
Edelweiss Vocal Album "Sunset Sunrise": YURIA and yocuza* are present, which already makes this worth getting, but the real treat on here is some great stuff from Satou Hiromi (the singer, not the porn star) and Nakahara Ryou.
Love Planet Five - Tenjou wo Kakeru Mono Tachi: Standard I've stuff, but this is the first time I've seen a single with this many I've singers since "See You". A good kickoff to the special unit that is possibly here to stay, if Rondorobe giving them their own section means anything. Fans of Kawada Mami should also consider grabbing the Mami Kawada First Live Tour 2006 "Seed" Live&Life vol.1. Although, word of warning for obsessive types, "Vol.1" means you will inevitably be lured into buying more volumes to complete your collection. Goodbye paycheck.
Posted by Paranda at April 9, 2007 6:17 PM
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