I’m gonna try and start a weekly column of sort’s where I talk about the current anime related music I’m listening to and review what’s coming out. Here’s my take on this week’s releases that interest me:
First up is the Welcome to the NHK! soundtrack, dubbed Dark Side ni Youkoso! (Welcome to the Dark Side). Now this is no normal OST. Instead the composer, Pearl Kyoudai expands many of the background tracks and adds lyrics to them, making this more of an actual album I’d buy from a band than a bunch of bgm tracks. The music itself is eclectic, ranging from punk tinged jazz to straight blues and actual punk, upbeat pop singles, to one track that sounds like it came from the japanese Animal House and another with sounds straight from the jungle. The whole album ends up sounding like something that can only be defined as “hip”. Highly recommended to any anime fans or just music fans in general for this excellent album that breaks the mold of other OST’s.
Favorite Tracks:
Kyou wa Yuuhi Yarou - Harmonica focused blues track that hits ya right in the heart.
Ashita wa Tabun Daijabou - straightforward rockin jazz/pop track.
Shurabi no Youkoso (Welcome to Hell) - Hardcore piano blues track where the english title is repeated to really give a forboding feel.
Youkoso! Hitori Bocchi - melancholic acoustic guitar track, like something from Spitz.
Another out of the ordinary soundtrack is this second OST for Ouran High School Host Club. The soundtrack for Ouran is completely made up of classical music tracks created by Hirano Yoshihisa. A mixture of violins, piano’s, cello’s, clarinets and other various wind instruments among others are all included in here. While interesting at first, one can’t help but get the feeling that every song sounds like the last one you heard, with very little variation in between. While fitting for the show, the whole thing can be summed up as ” heh that’s nice but boring and forgettable “. Included are also a couple of Jpop songs by the cast but they are also ultimately forgettable with the rest of the OST.
Favorite Tracks:
Misterio for Harpischord and Chamber Orchestra - an interesting piece that pulls off the creepy feeling perfectly, like a track from Castlevania.
Elegia for Piano - Solemn solo piano piece
Next up is the “Tsuyokiss~Cool x Sweet~Complete Selection”. When I first got this I thought it was going to be the background music OST. Instead it’s a compilation of individual Jpop songs done by the VA’s and Little Non. If you want this show’s OP and ED you can get it here. Included with the Jpop are indivual character themes for the main heroines. Like most Jpop I find a lot of the selection boring and similiar to eachother, only a couple of songs and the OP standing out to me. The character themes are a lot better, each one having it’s own merit and standing out amongst the otherwise dull jpop. Probably enjoyed most by those who like and are already familiar to Tsuyokiss. Also LOVE the cover image.
Favorite Tracks:
GAME OVER by Inou Nana(Otome) - Throwing some infectious techno rock into your Jpop. Nana sings very nicely also as far as I can tell.
Season of Love by Nakahara Mai(Erika) - Pretty generic really, but the fast beat keeps me interested.
Kiriya Erika no Theme - very haunting and vaguely aristocratic theme with bells thrown in.
Yashi Nagomi no Theme - beautifully melancholic piano theme
Suneohair has releases their ending single for Honey and Clover II “Split”. Included are the single Split, it’s instrumental track, and an originial song called Terminal. As usual the whole thing has a kind of alternative rock feel I alway’s associate with Suneohair. If you already are familiar and like the group you’ll like this stuff also. However while nice their not exactly the most grabbing of pieces, especially when you can’t understand the lyrics. Overall I liked Terminal better than Split, even if it was a little long, as it felt more like a song than a repetitive ending theme. Still definately a listen to if you like Honey and Clover and it’s music.
I had also plan on reviewing on the One Piece BGM Best Collection but that’s not online yet so I’ll just wait till next week. All music was gotten from Nipponsei, best place for anime music on the web.
