OSV originally brought news of Wilbert Roget II’s kickstarter campaign to fund the mastering and release of his anime inspired Beyond Libra back in November of last year. The Kickstarter campaign was a success slightly doubling its modest goal of $1500. So what is Beyond Libra? Simply described by the composer Beyond Libra is a massive collaboration album inspired by Japanese anime composers such as Yoko Kanno and Joe Hisaishi. Pop, orchestral, and world influence. The album which was 8 years in the making featuring a stunning amount of talent and songs in over 5 different languages.
So come hear my thoughts on Beyond Libra in my full review of the physical album 13 track album which was released on March 4, 2016.
After being delayed back in May, those Vocaloid vixens from the long running Hatsune Miku series are finally coming to the Nintendo 3DS this September in the U.S. and Europe. Unlike the mainline series — which is console exclusive to Sony platforms — Hatsune Miku: Project Mirai DX renders the cast of characters in a style that Sega likens to the popular Nendoroid figures. The game will also introduce 19 new songs, 28 returning favorites and unique voice tracks that bring the total up to 79 full length songs.
Project Mirai DX may be the most customizable entry in the series allowing players to change which character performs each song and even adjust the size, color and behavior of the rhythm icons. The game also promises to let fans focus on their favorite characters through companion-based events and a theater mode. In theater mode all those distracting icons disappear and you’re free to watch, fast forward, and rewind through any performance and use the “Jam Along” mode to add your own musical flare. You can even pick up other fans’ custom scrolling messages via StreetPass and SpotPass that will show up as you watch.
It sounds like a pretty perfect mix of gameplay and fan service for anyone who’s into the series. Are you excited for this 3DS debut? Did you burn out on the franchise years ago? Or do you simply look on in amazement at the utter cuteness?
Although it has been a few days since Anime Expo has concluded, it is clear what impact a certain virtual idol has had on the West. Hatsune Miku, a Vocaloid software developed by Crypton has risen to the levels of super-stardom with a multitude of artists utilizing her mesmerizing voice, figure lines, and concerts in Japan which thus brings her to Los Angeles for her first international experience.
With concert tickets sold out in 4 days, it was a packed house of leek-shaped glowsticks at the Nokia Theater in Los Angeles as everyone anticipated this groundbreaking concert. I had the opportunity to attend this concert and not being a fan I was certainly curious to know if this concert would change my opinion of Hatsune Miku and her virtual diva friends.
Did the concert deliver? Am I now a convert? Hit the jump and find out! (more…)
While Kikuta’s Shining Hearts score is what everyone is talking about these days, he’s been producing a massive number of singles over the past couple of years. What singles am I talking about? You won’t find them on VGMdb, so who knows, but they’re all the way up to META-0015 on the Metaphasic Child label.
We’re taking a look at a number of recent singles, including those in the META series along with Shackles of Night from Otakon 2010 and “WHITE and SHADOW ~Mugen no Rinbu~,” Kikuta’s image song from Shining Hearts. A number of these singles are rather incestuous, covering the same tracks on different discs, so we’ll sort all of that out while we’re at it.
I’m not a huge fan of those fancy-shmancy Vocaloid sound banks, such as the surprisingly popular Hatsune Miku voice. But that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to make good music with vocaloid. Rare, in my mind, yes. Nico Nico Douga is flooded with Hatsune Miku stuff.
But a lot of it is just crappy covers. I’m willing to give someone writing original music the benefit of the doubt.
That’s why I checked out artist UwakiP’s EP, “Uwanosora,” available digitally at HearJapan. A nice mix of standard synth pop, chip tunes, and *sigh* Hatsune Miku is what I found across this album, which features pretty cutesy cover art. To learn more, read the review in full, which appears after the jump! (more…)
I don’t know about anyone else, but to me, the Japanese vocaloid scene is truly an amazing phenomenon. It shows some of the best sides of Japanese indie spirit, which is marked by a huge supportive community and a sort of pride in being small-time. This is especially interesting when compared to the relatively small music communities you see in other countries–they tend to focus on making it big above all else. While there are certainly downsides to this underground spirit, one thing you can’t deny them is productivity. Hundreds of songs are being made by the various composers of the vocaloid scene. Apparently all the Japanese composers needed was someone who could sing… like a robot.
Anyway, ElektLyze is a group of three people: composition by Treow, lyrics by NaturaLe and art by Ichijou Meguru. Their best-known work (and the one I know them from) is on the superlative collection of vocaloid tracks called Supernova. Their track, “Blindness,” which was also their debut track as a group, is one of the darker and edgier tracks on the album, employing some great jazzy melodies and very creative sound effects to build a sound that strays quite far from most of the piano-rock that you hear in the vocaloid scene from the likes of supercell and iroha. It’s certainly one of my favorite vocaloid songs. I can’t say much about the lyrical content, since I’ve never seen a translation of their songs, but I’m sure it’s solid.
So will Intolerant Space measure up to the standard set by “Blindness?” Find out after the cut! (more…)
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