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Comments
I wasn't really a big KOTOKO fan until ->unfinished-> from Accel World, which is still one of my favorite songs and not just because sat wrote the music for it. A few years later came TOUGH INTENTION and ZONE-iT, which as singles really cemented my love for her music. Then there's her album Kuchuu Puzzle with it's melancholy ditties like Damare yo, Peter.
And you can't have a lesson on modern KOTOKO without mentioning Restart and it's B-side Largo, both very much in the same melancholic ballad range.
But I think the real meat of KOTOKO's career is her music outside her major releases. There are lots of cool mixes of comtemporary and cheesy (and we all know how much I love a played out genre being broken out of the musical box of tricks). Songs like, U and Way to Fly are brilliant and Way to Fly is actually why I watched the AoKana anime, which turned out to be one of my favorite anime this year.
And yes Kimi wo Nosete is from Castle in the Sky. I think that's one of the most covered anime songs of ever.
nice refrain
reminds me of the second phrase in the verse of "Hard for me to say I'm sorry"
My mind is not ready!
As for thoughts on albums, Fantôme is like... perfect. I can't even. At first I felt as if at least one track was sort of off or it was missing a certain piece, but now that I've listened to it about a hundred times I'm properly brainwashed. The queen is back, and Namie can go back to her hip-pop corner.
I've only listened to half of infinite synthesis 3 so far, trying to digest it. The IS3 versions of the Muv Luv songs aren't brilliant, and the white forces one is particularly painful. Otherwise, I like the album and even though I just said sat lacks originality, Answer brings whatever he learned from TRYANGLE (the song, not the album) to fripSide and it really works.
Also who doesn't like a song called magicaricide?
Please take them back, you're depriving us of his actually great voice.
When I discovered fripSide, I was like, I really like their songs.
Then I listened to several of them in a row, and after about three or four I wanted to stop.
That said, I did discover "late in autumn" this way, and I do very much like that song.
The next track to grab my attention (albeit listening at low volume) is Answer. Listening to that now.
specifically applies to her. Miyano Mamoru and Minase Inori don't have
karaoke versions on their singles either, usually. Similarly, SME
artists will usually only have the lead song's instrumental on a single.
There's probably some complex business going on with Karaoke being such
a big thing in Japan and I guess if you just put the instrumentals on a
CD willy nilly then you don't really have any power over which Karaoke
bars have your music.
I was going to take notes on their tonalities in each section and possibly other information in the future but I haven't finished that. All there is so far is just the principal key(s) of each song.
https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1T3ghZ-sAy4GeQxnhvDDZLlkZ8tZsiIiuGXXt1WoKcp8/edit?usp=sharing
You may be interested in this @fourteenwings
Excelspreadsheets.I'm not sure how much my taste has evolved -- I'm pretty sure it's roughly the same as it's ever been to be honest.
But I'll think about making a way to notate roughly the order in which I've run into them. Maybe tag them by "year discovered" or something.
I have them arranged by key right now because that's just a far easier way for me to remember any song. Usually I have the song in my mind first and the easiest thing for me to recognize is the key that the song is in, and then I subsequently have to go and try to remember song name, artist name, and/or context.
Favorite English/Western Songs Part 1
1 - Olivia Holt - History
Context: Found it online whilst specifically looking for Olivia Holt music. From her mini album Olivia.
Lyrics: I really enjoy the lyrics to this song because I think they're fun and cheeky, even though they are sort of selfish.
Music: Easily my favorite part of the whole song, the emptiness in the instrumentation and the pseudo-tribal vocal intro really make it one of those things that can easily cheer me up.
2 - Mikky Echo - Who Are You Really
Context: Heard it in the first episode of ABC Drama Notorious. Mikky Echo doesn't seem to be much of a performer though, he mostly writes songs for others.
Lyrics: The lyrics are quite serious in a sense and portray a real sense of danger (both from the singer and to the subject/s of his ranting). I especially love how they just sort of let loose in an animistic way towards the end.
Music: The music again is very sparse and creates a false sense of emptiness (unlike History, which does have a legitimate emptiness to the instrumentation). It's pretty basic house band instruments being used, but in a fun way.
3 - The Girl and The Dreamcatcher - Gladiator
Context: Found it online whilst looking for new TGATD stuff (from the mini-album negatives), I really like them and I might actually even consider myself a "fan".
Lyrics: The lyrics are basic lovey dovey stuff, I like that since they're a mixed gender duo they use "love" instead of "boy/girl" and that makes it accidentally less heteronormative like a song like this would be.
Music: The entire reason why this song is on the list, that ticker noise that builds the chorus and the really strange post-gentrification-urban-grunge vibe really get to me.
It's all I need, cause we've got History.4 - The Girl and The Dreamcatcher - Glowing In The Dark
Context: Second single by TGATD, really cemented me liking them.
Lyrics: The lyrics aren't very specific to a concept, but they cycle through the fear that a powerful individual would feel and a connection to another person who is similarly afflicted. I enjoy them for their speculative-ness.
Music: The music is great, with a serious desert drumbeat vibe that manages to feel like rock without guitars.
5 - China Anne McClain - Night Is Young
Context: From the Disney Channel Movie Descendants' accompanying vocal album, was later featured in the WIcked World short series.
Lyrics: The lyrics are fun, standard for China Anne McClain fare somehow (she has a lot of songs about dancing). I wish I could've put Dancing By Myself on this list too, but 24 songs is a lot already.
Music: The music is very... smooth, I guess? Soft at times and then when the chorus picks up there's a real lively feeling that's beautifully matched by the backing vocals.
6 - Jack Savoretti - For The Last Time
Context: I first heard Jack Savoretti in some TV show and he's been on my radar (like Olivia Holt and TGATC) ever since.
Lyrics: The lyrics are fun to sing, but there's not much to them.
Music: The real meat to any Jack Savoretti song is his vocals and how they mesh with the music, this song creates a very elegant feeling that makes me feel like it was maybe written with interpretive dance in mind because it has a lot of clean sweeps and a cute piano to back it up.
7 - Kyla la Grange - Cut Your Teeth
Context: Heard it in an episode of the Freeform Drama The Fosters and I've been a fan of la Grange's ever since.
Lyrics: The lyrics are ambiguous but full of chastising to whoever she's speaking to, but there's also an element of trying to defend that person, which is nice.
Music: la Grange's vibe is very calming and tribal, possibly influenced by her time growing up in Africa. There's also a clear Native American influence to it. I'll mention emptiness again, because her instrumentation really brings out that feeling.
8 - Sabrina Carpenter - Stand Out
Context: From the Disney Channel film How to Build a Better Boy, the second time I'd ever heard Sabrina Carpenter sing, and it cemented my respect for her work.
Lyrics: The lyrics are just fun nonsense.
Music: The music has a light reggaeton vibe to it which really supports her vocals, but the major driving force is the drumbeat combined with the backing vocals in the chorus that drives the feeling of having fun time.
9 - Sabrina Carpenter - On Purpose
Context: I say I respect Sabrina Carpenter's work, mostly because I don't really like a lot of her solo, non-Disney related work, but this song really stuck with me. It's from her second album EVOLution.
Lyrics: The lyrics are romantic, but not throwaway. I enjoy them because they have a very simple message that's expounded through the whole run. Her lyrics are what tend to get her in trouble with me, but she really nailed this one on the head.
Music: The music is what really gets me with this song. It thrives on a piano and (yes, broken record) sense of emptiness in the instrumentation and then really breaks out into a mad vocal mashup during the chorus.
10 - Sapphire Ella and Georgina Hagen - Watch This Space
Context: From the British TV Drama, Britannia High.
Lyrics: The lyrics are my favorite part of this song, because they detail a rivalry between two girls who wish to make their way in the world in a very real way.
Music: The music is very 2000s "sophisticated pop", which is exactly what they were going for I guess in the context of a musical, but it's very memorable.
11 - Crywolf, emalyn and Trevor Kaiwa - Whisper (Acapella)
Context: I first heard Crywolf in a Lifetime movie about drug abuse starring Bella Thorne, his music was used for the trippy sequences because he is extremely trippy, and he was basically one of the first voices I heard when I decided I wanted to get into dubstep. Whisper was actually featured in the movie, but this version is without the insanities and therefore much shorter.
Lyrics: The lyrics to Whisper are about the observation of one's lost love, with emalyn providing answers later on. They're quite moving, I think.
Music: Pared down, Crywolf really impressed me with his vocals, and Trevor Kaiwa's ability to really back him up throughout got him on my radar.
12 - Samantha Boscarino - Find My Place
Context: From the film adaptation of The Clique.
Lyrics: Originally I preferred CanDee Land's "That Girl" as my go to song from this movie, but a few years ago I really took the time to listen to Find My Place. Unlike Massie's rant against herself in "That Girl", Find My Place is a more much down-to-earth examination of one's role as part of the elite.
Music: The piano is cute and the guitars are fun <_< >_>
13 - Jena Gogo - Fire
Context: From the third season of the Canadian dance Drama The Next Step. Jena Gogo is a featured vocalist in every season and I quite like her style.
Lyrics: The lyrics are very personal in a way, and are about a love that's destroying itself but neither party wishes for it to end. I like them but the context kind of puts a damper on them for me.
Music: The music is really fun, with orchestral moments and then hard dubstep shifts that give it a sense of (wait for it) borrowed emptiness.
14 - Jordan Rodrigues as Mat Tan and Cierra Ramirez as Mariana Foster - Masquerade
Context: From the Freeform Drama The Fosters, in the episode in which they perform a musical based on Romeo and Juliet.
Lyrics: There aren't many lyrics, but they are really fun to sing (Mariana's part is also quite moving).
Music: This song is almost 70% instrumental, and it's a very fast moving track in that context, without much of a pause or repeat until the lyrics begin. The music is like... water synth, if that's a thing, vibrating through with a sense of hope and romance.
15 - Coldplay - Ink
Context: I first heard this song on TV a year ago, and it stuck with me so much that I ended up buying a few Coldplay CDs to listen to.
Lyrics: Lyrics are not Coldplay's strength, it's about tattoos or something. They're okay to sing along to.
Music: The really stripped down sense of this song really gets to me, it takes the lyrics from something cheesy into a real raw moment of sadness, which is why I love it.
Favorite English/Western Songs Part 2
16 - China Anne McClain & Kelli Berglund - Something Real
Context: From the Disney Channel film How to Build a Better Boy, as you've probably guessed I've seen it more than once.
Lyrics: The lyrics really tie into the movie, but can also be applied to lots of different situations. They're about refusing what's right in front of you to live a "perfect" or "happy" existence and then realizing that's wrong.
Music: Of all the duets on this list, this has the best vocal combination outside of TGATD and Kelli Berglund should really sing more because she's very good. The music is standard pop stuff that mostly backs the vocals.
17 - Stevie Nicks - Planets of the Universe
Context: Heard it in an episode of the fantasy drama series Charmed, promised I'd look up more of her music but never did.
Lyrics: The lyrics are about dragons and the universe and also boyfriends who suck, which is fun.
Music: The music is really impressive and I'd say quite catchy. Very distinctive. The guitars really give it a faraway vibe that make the lyrics seem like they're more real than they would be if supported by more normal fare.
18 - Poli Genova - If Love Was a Crime
Context: EUROVISION
Lyrics: The lyrics are actually really good! Like, they're about romance obviously but they aren't sappy.
Music: The music incorporates some traditional style vocals and Poli Genova's really powerful vocals really make it worth a single listen, at least.
19 - Lighthouse X - Soldiers of Love
Context: Again, Eurovision
Lyrics: The lyrics are like... super sappy and non-committal, but I don't mind that.
Music: I love the vocals in this song, but Lighthouse X's other music is actually kind of dull for me? Anyways, it's very relaxing but it's also quite peppy if you're in a peppy mood. It's versatile I guess.
20 - Wild Cub - Thunder Clatter
Context: I heard it in the ad for a movie with an actor named Chris [something not Hemsworth and I want to say Pratt but probably not] and instantly loved it.
Lyrics: The lyrics are romantic, but are subtle (aside from the final verses), which I appreciate.
Music: Your basic garage/country vibe combined with lots of (well used) repetition and nostalgia and it works really well.
21 - The Clique Girlz - Word for You
Context: I've liked The Clique Girlz since I was really young, but I don't remember where I first heard them (I'd say Bratz The Movie which featured Alter Ego but I can't be sure). This song I hadn't heard till lately (like, two years ago maybe?) though, since it wasn't on the copy of their album I had, or I just never really listened to it back then.
Lyrics: I like how freely I can sing it without being concerned about accidentally swearing, because it's all about that. It's a cheeky song about a guy who really sucks and how in exasperated moments you'd want to swear at them but you probably shouldn't.
Music: It's not my favorite Clique Girlz song in terms of instrumentation (that'd be the hard edge of How Do You Like Me So Far or maybe the strength and pop-rock vibe of The Difference In Me), but the running guitars are nice and the whole SoCal afternoon drive vibe really works.
22 - Demi Lovato - Two Worlds Collide
Context: From the Disney Channel film Princess Protection Program.
Lyrics: I really like the lyrics to this song. They're about a young ruler of some sort who is looking back on their young life and reflecting on how someone important to them changed it for the better but couldn't predict what would happen next.
Music: I love the royal-plus-rock instrumentation to this song, which you don't hear a lot in American music. The orchestral bits mesh perfectly with the guitars.
23 - Zendaya - Something to Dance For
Context: From the Disney Channel TV series Shake it Up!'s second season vocal album Live 2 Dance.
Lyrics: They're fine, they're all about following your dream to dance despite the fear of the unknown.
Music: What I really like about this song is that it is basically instrumented like a Gundam opening from the 2000s. Like... it's so perfectly one of those songs I can hear the bit where the mecha would stand in the moonlight and the name of the show would appear for a moment. I also really like Zendaya and if I had infinite time I would've included other songs by her (Remember Me, from the finale episode of Shake It Up!, and her duet with Bella Thorne from the special episode Made In Japan; The Same Heart).
24 - Leona Lewis - Whatever It Takes
Context: I've liked Leona Lewis ever since she performed the theme song to Final Fantasy XIII and so I went through her back catalogue and found a few songs I liked.
Lyrics: The lyrics are so "Standard Leona Lewis" you'd think she was basically writing the same song over and over; there's someone people don't want her to be in a relationship with but she doesn't care and she's going to live her life by LOVE and stuff.
Music: Why I included this over songs like Yesterday and I Got You (I think I Got You is one of her more popular songs?) is that the final quarter has a brilliant segment that really just plays with an orchestra. I could do without the choir vocals but that bit always gets to me.
Also oh wow this is time consuming.
Also been listening to The Waking Hour by Vienna Teng lately. Enjoying it. Her lyrics are sort of unusual in that they're not generic but rather they frequently feature somewhat odd but distinctive metaphorical/poetic language.
Also embarrassingly I didn't realize that the rapper left MR.MR between their first and second singles for the longest time.
[07:19:43]
[07:19:59]
[07:20:57]
Speaking of, I've been the worst May'n fan lately.
computer and fullscreen it)
2. play this video