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DECORATOR EP by livetune.kz

Overview

Does livetune.kz even need an introduction? This man is the King of Vocaloid Dance Music, one of the founding fathers of Vocaloid whose fame and importance are only rivaled by other giants like supercell. Livetune produced one of the most famous Vocaloid hits, Packaged, a mere three weeks after Hatsune Miku was released. He’s even gone on to write various OPs and EDs in anime, but he has never abandoned Vocaloid. His newest EP, Decorator, is his newest foray into the scene. He credits himself as “livetune” without the .kz part, which is interesting, but I’m going to refer to him as “livetune.kz” here for continuity’s sake.

Decorator was used as the opening theme song to Hatsune Miku: Project Diva f2 on the PS3/Vita. The EP is available for purchase on iTunes, so I highly recommend buying it if you wish to have it in your collection. But is it worth owning? Let’s check it out.

Music

1) DECORATOR: As we seem to almost always encounter, the titular track is first. It makes sense though, as the EP is centered on this song. DECORATOR is a pop-dance track featuring Hatsune Miku, as is livetune.kz’s forte. This song is upbeat in tempo and atmosphere, which makes sense as the opening to a dance game. Miku’s vocals are accompanied and supported by an array of synthesizers and special effects, which complement her voice very nicely. The thin, cute, and high-pitched background music matches Miku’s voice without invading her pitch range, allowing us to both keep tempo as well as keep each separate element in the mix distinctly separate without feeling like the sound is muffled. The song lacks a particularly explosive climax of any kind, and is a much more relaxed song than some of livetune.kz’s past work. That’s certainly not a bad thing, of course; DECORATOR will have you tapping your feet and grooving out in no time. The song is as good as a simple dance tune gets. Check out the Project Diva PV here.

2) Packaged (Shipping in 2013 mix): Speak of the devil! Livetune.kz has graced us with a renewal of his original hit that helped launch Miku’s career. The lyrics and tuning of Miku are more or less identical to the original, but the background instrumentals are different. There’s a stronger bass element now, which makes it easier to dance to. There’ honestly not much I can say about the instrumentals; they’re fun, upbeat, and work really well with the rhythm of the song and Miku’s voice. This song is simply a more dance-oriented renewal of Packaged, and it’s great for it. It’s definitely worth a listen.

3) Connection: Oh boy. Miku English. I’m always scared when I hear a song with Miku English, as her failures are much greater than her successes. They didn’t coach Saki Fujita well enough on English, and so she makes many basic pronunciation errors; most notably, she pronounces her “r” sounds with a distended lower jaw (stick your bottom jaw out as far as you can and make an “r” sound, you’ll hear what I mean). Despite being set up for failure, however, livetune.kz works his magic in this song. For one thing, I can actually understand most of what Miku is singing without external help, which is a rare luxury when listening to Miku English. Miku is very well tuned, and her voice is quite cute. There’s a heavy Japanese accent, of course, but that’s inevitable. The background instrumentals are very exciting, with swells coming in and out to build and release tension as the song goes on. It’s a bunch of synthesizers that complement Miku again, which is par for the course. This song would go very well in a club featuring some harder dancing, as it’s much more energetic than the previous two tracks.

4) Pink or Black: Another Miku English song! I guess livetune.kz likes her. This song is a cute, relaxed pop-dance song that floats along like you’re skipping along on a cloud (that’s the best way I can think of to describe it, okay?). I can’t understand Miku’s English as well here, but it doesn’t really distract much from enjoying the tune. Certain phrases that get repeated a lot, such as “pink or black” and “it’s magic” are easy to understand, which anchors you into the lyrics well enough that you never mind. The background synths are cute and bubbly, which lends the song a very happy mood. The pitch range does unfortunately overlap a little bit here, but it’s not a big deal; the song is great for easy listening and is a nice pick-me-up to throw in the middle of the album. There was a really nifty MMD PV made, which you should watch here.

5) Long Way From Here: This song is a little less upbeat in mood than the previous tracks, though it’s not sad or anything. It’s just a mellower dance tune. It’s back to using Japanese Miku now, so no need to worry about deciphering Engrish lyrics. The instrumentals in the background are mixed a bit quieter in this song, lending more focus to livetune.kz’s tuning of Miku, which is stellar always. Interestingly, this song’s Miku doesn’t employ the chorus effect that livetune.kz normally uses to lend Miku’s voice a sort of rich and robotic quality. It’s just one Miku voice singing, and it works well with the song. The synths do a good job of keeping rhythm as well as maintaining a melody line that works well in complementing Miku’s vocals portions. Unfortunately, however, I would say that this song is a little boring. There really aren’t any swells or crescendos except for one small swell near the end, nor are there big rests or pauses. The song ambles forward at a nearly constant pace, and the lack of change makes it more suited to background music than something you’d go out of your way to listen to. It’s not a bad song per say, but I would call it the low point of the EP.

6) Andante: It’s been a long time since we’ve heard livetune.kz compose a song like this. Andante, which is an Italian musical marker meaning “at a walking pace,” is a beautiful and slow piece that harkens back livetune.kz’s hit Last Night, Good Night. Miku’s got that chorus effect going on that I mentioned earlier, and the background instruments are more varied. The song starts out with a delicate piano riff, and is slowly joined by some sort of percussion that seems to be a mix of live drums and synthesizer, as well as a synthesizer that is maintaining some complementary melody lines that work as a counterpoint to the piano (I don’t know enough music theory to tell you if this is an actual example of counterpoint, so don’t kill me if I used the word wrong). Judging by the mighty translating powers of Google Translate, Miku is singing about the beauty of life, despite it being short, and that we should take our time and enjoy everything. It’s a beautiful message that goes along with the heartstring-pulling quality of the tune. It’s by no means a technically complicated song, but that’s part of what makes it so great; it sucks you in and doesn’t let go until it’s done, and you’ll love every minute of the ride. The mood isn’t “sad” like Last Night, Good Night was, but it’s more introspective and may make you start to think about your live. Livetune.kz hits another one out of the park.

7) DECORATOR (TeddyLoid Remix): Ah, TeddyLoid! He’s a really good remixer; I’ve heard him do some tracks for other people, including Jin. He was invited to try his hand at remixing the titular track, and this is the result. This version is much harder and more energetic than the original, and it comes across as much more passionate. There’s a lot of skipping applied to Miku’s vocals, as it often the case with remixes, and she feels like more of an instrument than a singer sometimes (oh, the irony), to cool effect. There’s one part of this remix that is especially cool: there’s a male human singer accompanying Miku during the chorus! I don’t know if that’s TeddyLoid himself or not, but I do know that it sound really awesome. I guess DECO*27 was on to something there. The harder, stronger percussion also gets particular praise from me, as it almost seems to guide the beating of your heart as you listen to the song. The synthesizers in the background sound awesome as well, and all the elements come together to make you feel like you’re flying around above a lit-up city at nighttime (picture it with this song in the background, you’ll get it). There is a bass-drop that occurs in the song that might turn some people off, but I don’t feel like it was done in excess. We didn’t go full dubstep here, but it was an interesting interlude to throw in the song. The dancing back and forth of the male and female vocals during the final chorus is really great, and this brings about a stellar end to the song, and thereby, the entire album. Honestly, I think I like this remix even more than the original.

Final Thoughts

It’s over already?!? What a drag. But, that’s what happens with EPs. As expected of livetune.kz, this EP is a great showcasing of what he can do. The songs are fun to dance to, there’s a real sense of energy going on, and the songs are stylistically different enough to make sure you don’t get bored as you listen along. The album isn’t perfect, of course, but it’s still a great time. Hopefully livetune releases a full album soon instead of another EP (he’s released Tell Your World, Re:Dial, and DECORATOR in succession), and I’ll be waiting eagerly for this to happen.

8/10