Saitoh-san has been doing game music since the 1990s, and it’s clear that the man has a lot of potential. I first got to know Saitoh through his contributions to RPGs such as Phantom Kingdom, Folklore, and Berwick Saga. Many other VGM enthusiasts know Saitoh’s work from the POWER DoLLS series. But have you ever heard Saitoh out from under the restraints of composing for a commercial product?
Saitoh’s own LILT Records has been an outlet for him to release his own works, traditionally alongside Comiket festivals. For Comiket 69, held at the tail end of 2005 (like, literally, the last few days of December), Saitoh released Retrospective Blue, a 30-minute EP, six tracks, with some instrumental tracks, some non-lyrical vocal tracks, and some lyrical vocal tracks. I’d at least mildly enjoyed Saitoh’s previous work on a variety of RPGs, so I thought I’d give this album a listen.
Without question, this is good stuff. How good? After the jump, you can find out. (more…)
