Todays rip: 29/03/2024
Luna, mi Amor
Season 8 No Album Release (Read More) K.K. Moody (Cherry Mix) - Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Ripped by Astor, BrahaMan Visuals by Café con leche, Elsix64
You've probably noticed if you've been reading day-by-day just how comparatively high the frequency of Season 8 rips has been already, at slightly more than one covered per week on average. That's of course because Season 8 has far more catching up to do in terms of coverage here on the blog - perhaps to be expected, given that it has only been running for about a month wheras the blog itself is now pushing past 10 months of activity. But to be clear - I'm not going to have my intentions of covering Season 8 rips at a higher rate cloud my judgement on what rips end up on here. I'll write when there's something to write about, as there was with Satin PantE's, Willievan Afton Polkka, and indeed today's rip - Luna, mi Amor.
Readers who keep up what I do on this blog besides these posts may have already been made aware of this rip's existence by this reblog of its key artwork, with Animal Crossing villager Cherry holding a bouquet of maroon pansies. It's entirely reasonable that the reference is lost on you, as it was for me - yet the presence of such visuals in the rip, paired with the beauty of the rip's audio, invigorated me to dig deeper. What I found was yet one more reminder of one of the things I've hammered home on this blog as one of SiIvaGunner's most defining aspects, not only recently with Poké Village but at pretty regular intervals in posts like As Miku Collides. What I found was one of the most beautiful displays of the SiIvaGunner channel's ability to be a melting pot of all different walks of life, and in this case, even extending to different parts of the world.
Much like the joke of the rip itself, initially the people who created it stood as a big question-mark for me. Its not that any of them are inexperienced rippers and/or artists - far from it - but their activity has largely been on SiIvaGunner fan channels as covered in V-v-v-v-v-a-V-v-v-v-v-v-r. This includes Vvvvvavvvvvvr itself and TimmyTurnersGrandDad, but more notably - channels you may not have heard of, like SiIvaLatin and GiIvaLatinSunner. As you can perhaps tell by their names, these are channels defined not solely by their independent nature, but specifically by the culture and memes prevalent in Latin America. And sure, we've had some funny Brazil-related postings on SiIva, but its predominantly stuff like Os Barões da Pisadinha - a meme that despite its origins has received somewhat mainstream attention outside of the Latin American regions, making rips like Rainbow Baroad understandable and funny even to outsiders like myself. Barões are great, don't get me wrong, but Luna, mi Amor feels like a far more personal, genuine, and heartfelt act of culture exchange. A way to give us SiIvaGunner viewers, who are out of the loop with the beauty of regions like South America, a peek into just what we're missing.
The joke of the rip, and by proxy the reference the artwork is hinting at, is to Mexico/Chilean musician and overall acclaimed artist Mon Laferte, and the single Amor Completo from her 2015 album Mon Laferte, Vol. 1. Luna, mi Amor is a melodyswap to this song - specifically having it be sung with the in-game vocalizations of the character featured in the artwork herself, Cherry - and the rip was so well done, that I felt a need to go listen to the original song. It's enchantingly beautiful and uplifting, yet at once a little bittersweet - the feelings of love, passion and true romance are completely understandable even past the language barrier. In that sense, I suppose Luna, mi Amor takes things yet one step further, beyond even what a rip like Moves Like K.K. did with Animal Crossing music as a source, in replacing those vocals to the explicitly unintelligible vocalizations of the Animal Crossing cast. The emotions in the rip can no longer be conveyed through vocalized words with meaning - no matter where in the world you live, Luna, mi Amor's beauty has to shine through in its music alone.
And, if it wasn't immensely evident by this point, I do believe it succeeds at that effort in spades. The gentle, nostalgic strumming of K.K. Slider's guitar works to excellent effect, but there's something just so endearing about hearing the sounds Animal Crossing vocals - which many of us likely associate with peppier songs like Bubblegum K.K. - attached to a piece with such passionate meaning ascribed to it. It's a fantastic rip on every front, but most importantly, it stands out in such a meaningful way. Amidst all the great stuff we've gotten in Season 8 thus far, be it bangers, reoccurring jokes, fun events or nostalgic reminiscing, I wouldn't necessarily say that Luna, mi Amor is my favorite - but it is perhaps the rip I've spent the longest thinking about, and by proxy the one that'll likely stay with me until the end of the year and beyond. The invitation to listen in to this small little nugget of culture from the other side of the world was one I was not expecting, but one I'm now very grateful to have received.