Linda: Kanchou, I’m out of Rocky Road!
That’s .. not physically possible.
Linda: It’s true.
Uh huh.. Did you check the closet, the clock, the middle of outer space, your desk, inside an unusually large top hat, the Earth’s core, Greenland, all the usual places?
Linda: Yes, it’s all gone…
Ok. This is a bit of long shot, but did you check the freezer?
Linda: Pfft. Don’t be silly, Kanchou. Who puts their ice cream in the freezer?
NORMAL PEOPLE PUT THEIR ICE CREAM IN THE FREEZER!!
*Linda now casually eating Rocky Road*
It was in the freezer, wasn’t it?
Linda: *gets flushed from embarrassment, looks away, and mutters* normal people are weird..
Ok, I’m glad we got that solved.. well, as solved as that situation can be.
Anyway, I hope you all enjoyed the Domikuno’s 4-year Anniversary Special. It was a bit too ambitious, but I finally got things figured out and down to a reasonable goal.
Now I hope you’re not Miku’d out just yet. And if you are, you’ll probably want to skip this one.. BUT it’s a Mitchie M Miku song this time.
Now, for a reason I shall not disclose I chose this specific song for this post. I’m not giving you any more than that.
Editor: It’s actually pretty obvious
Alright, here we go!
News 39 by Mitchie M feat. Hatsune Miku.
Now you’re probably wondering why I’ve gathered you all here today?
Oh, wait..
*flips through the pages of the script*
Linda, this is the wrong script!
Linda: Oh no, Kanchou. It’s just upside down.
Oh, ok.
*flips the script over and continues reading*
Now you’re probably not sold on the idea of more Miku yet due to your over exposure last week, so I’ll just let the first line of this summary from the Vocaloid wiki explain:
“Miku presents a fictional news show called "News 39" where she sings the news and raps the weather.”
That sounds just vague enough to be amazing. XD
*finally realizes that flipping the script upside-down should not have been legible*
How am I.. What? I’m so confused.. Anyway, continuing on
You guys already know that I like some Mitchie M songs. I think I found this one around the same time as the others.
It’s so upbeat and happy, (although that’s because they don’t report things that aren’t XD) but it’s a fun song and video regardless of its content of news. And you know, it’s kind of refreshing to see news that is more upbeat. It’s quite a short news show, though. 3:00pm, one story. 9:00pm, one story and weather, I think. It does make it easier to make sure you have enough content if your show requires less content. XD
I hardly watch the news anymore. My mom has been saying for a while there’s no news in news. It’s pretty bad. The news used to be much less biased, and it doesn’t help that a company called Sinclair Broadcast Group is affiliated with ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, and more stations across the U.S.
It was a bit shocking when I watched a video where a whole bunch of different news channels said the exact same things. Anyway, I don’t want to get too deep into the politics of news. I just wanted to paint a picture of why I find this “news show” refreshing. It really does have a nice news aesthetic.
The song starts out with a “news jingle”, which expands into the main background of the song. It’s got a nice synth feel to it. And I like the extra tv program stuff they throw in there, especially the cow with “shibaraku omachi kudasai” XD (which is like, please wait patiently). I used to listen to this song a lot. I really like the fast part during the chorus. I’m also a big fan of the credits at the end.
The video is really cool. I really like how you see different landmarks and famous locations from around the world. And the Van Gogh Starry Night style sky in Paris is appreciated. The video is also a bit over the top at points, like with Mount Rushmore and rocket Miku XD.
Now, in my adventures I found a video where multiple Vocaloid and UTAUloid versions of the song were mixed together. It was interesting (not super well-balanced in my opinion), and there were links to the original covers, so here you go!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xxd3ZYcDGZA
GUMI (your fave, Ev)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Culk-x520DM
Gahata Meiji (this is probably my favorite cover of these, and I’d never heard of her before)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lYfrWrrmjkw
Kasane Teto (I like Teto, but not as much her covers)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8yyuaAyg5k
Macne Nana (I’d also never heard of her before)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rvsMf1AYjGc
Album: 39D (the same album as ‘Burenai ai de’)
Track: 03
Lyricist: Mitchie M
Vocalo-P: Mitchie M
Arranger: N/A
Video: TOHRU MiTSUHASHi
MMD: cort
Illustrations: hachipuyo
MMD motion: inu kaze
MMD costume modeling: KanekoRanou
Pictures: nana (sevencolors)
Artist: Hatsune Miku
And one last thing. In my research I went to VocaDB, looked through the tags, and saw this:
https://vocadb.net/S/87021
I just realized that might be referring to the “president of a certain country”, but that’s still pretty random. XD
Anyway, that’ll be it for this post. We’ve got less than 10% data left for 7 more days, so I’ve been using my phone as a mobile hotspot instead of using wi-fi. It’s kind of slow, but I can still get things done. Seriously, how much Netflix did Mom binge? XD
If you have any questions or requests, please let me know. I’m still working on the server, but my other socials are good to use.
I’ve got like the next 4 or 5 posts figured out already.
"channeru wa sono mama"
Linda: You chose this song because it’s Week 139
Linda!!
I was so focused on the 4-year post that Easter just kind of snuck up on me. I didn’t even realize that I had Friday off of work. But it was Good Friday, so I did. It was a nice short week.
And most of the snow is gone. We don’t have anything special planned for Easter. The previous years our Dad has hid Easter eggs with riddles in them, sometimes in different languages. We’re all kind of busy this year, though.
Anyway my next planned post was the 4-month, but I wanted to do something special for Easter.
Happy Easter, Linda
Linda: Happy Easter, Kanchou *she says as she eats a bowl of Rocky Road ice cream mixed with Cadbury eggs*
Ok, Linda is likely to go into a sugar coma
Time for the post!
Okaeri by Rie Murakawa, Ayane Sakura, Kana Asumi and Kotori Koiwai is the ending to the second season of Non Non Biyori, Non Non Biyori Repeat.
I haven’t seen Non Non Biyori yet, but my friend Micah told me I should watch it. I’m planning to, mainly because I love this song.
I actually found this song randomly when I was listening to songs on SoundCloud. I didn’t know where it was from for the longest time. I’m planning to do a cover of this song at some point.
It’s a really nice and relaxed song. I love the instrumentation and the harmonies of the vocals. It’s got a really nice groove to it. The bridge is also really nice. It’s just a good song.
Sorry if this feels a bit rushed. I’ve got some other stuff I have to do today that’s not Easter-related.
I wanted to do a song that gave the good Spring feelings of Easter. Enjoy!
Full version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQw4w9WgXcQ
Album: Okaeri | Non Non Biyori Repeat ED Theme
Track: 01
Lyricist: ZAQ
Composer: ZAQ
Arranger: Akito Matsuda
Artist: listed below
- Miyauchi Renge (CV: Kotori Koiwai)
- Hotaru Ichijou (CV: Rie Murakawa)
- Natsumi Koshigaya (CV: Ayane Sakura)
- Komari Koshigaya (CV: Kana Asumi)
If you have any questions or requests please let me know.
And yes Micah, I will watch it at some point.
Have a good day, guys.
Happy Easter!
Linda: blehhhh~~~~~~ *slumped over couch*
Thought so XD
I hope you’re all having a good holiday season with your friends and family.
We had our official Christmas on Christmas Eve has been rather calm. I’ve mainly been watching Youtube videos.
A lot of stuff has happened, and I feel like I need to split up my update thematically.
I’ve been quite busy. I graduated, and I start my new job January 3rd. There’s just been a lot of stuff going on.
So, before I get to the post, here’s an idea of things to come. Fortunately, Christmas post will be done (I was actually just going to do an update but then realized I was.. sharing.. J-pop. Go figure. XD) once I post this.
- Christmas post
- 4-year special (which should’ve been in September. XD)
- Graduation post
So, yeah. I have plans for all three posts. So, look forward to that.
I wasn’t really sure what to do for this Christmas post, and I’ve been making a fanart for my girlfriend of us for Christmas (it’ll be done a bit later, but that’s ok. I don’t want to rush it)
When I was decorating the tree, which is always an endeavor, I wanted to listen to Christmas J-pop. So, I made a playlist.. And then I made another playlist. And when that playlist arrives.. I’ll smash it with a HAMMER!
Linda: Kanchou! Shikari! *slap* This isn’t The Emperor’s New Groove.
Oh, thanks Linda. I got lost in my own randomness.
Merry Christmas, Linda.
Linda: *eating an ENTIRE tub of Rocky Road ice cream in one sitting* Merry Christmas, Kanchou.
Anyway, so I started compiling a list of songs in one of the following categories:
- is about Christmas
- makes me think about Christmas
- makes me think about happy snowy things
Pretty much that. XD
Keep in mind that this list is subjective. You may or may not agree with me, which is fine. You’re wrong, but it’s fine… Did I just make a joke about a subjective list being objective. That’s low. Linda, take that bit out.
*Linda has a massive ice cream headache*
Ok, well..
There were songs that I couldn’t find on Youtube, so I made a complement on SoundCloud. They are exclusive, so the full playlist is between those two.
Enjoy!!
This is going to be a shorter post… I think. Y’know what, we’ll find out.
I’ve got almost everything for Fall semester, except that I accidentally ordered just the book, so no MyMathLab access. I just finished looking up prices for just the book, and I can get it much cheaper, so I order that book now. Now I just have to return the other book. My internship is going really well. I’ve already done five specials. It’s fun. Anything else? I don’t know. I’m having a pretty good day.
Let’s get right to it, then.
Groovy! by Kohmi Hirose is the first ending to Cardcaptor Sakura.
I already did a post on the first opening. That was Week 94, so 39 weeks ago. I haven’t watched Cardcaptor Sakura for a while now. I’m on Episode 37. Groovy! is the ending for episodes 1 to 37, so I’m on the new one.
I hadn’t thought about this song for a while, because I was on the new ending and hadn’t watched in a while. I was streaming music on my Discord server, which still technically doesn’t exist (it’s almost ready), and Promise by Kohmi Hirose was playing. And I don’t think Minazuki-san was in the music channel at the time, but I posted a link to that 007 video where the meme started, and Minazuki-san responded “OH NO NOT GEDDAN”. And then later she mentioned that it sounded like a CCS (Cardcaptor Sakura) song. Well, as you now see, she also sings Groovy! I didn’t realize at first, because the singing style is kind of different from Promise (I’ll get to that in a bit).
Promise came out on November 27, 1997 and Groovy! came out a year later on September 23, 1998.
Minazuki-san linked a video of the ending, and I sang to it in the music channel (it’s hard not to). And then it got stuck in my head, and I found the full version. (what’s new XD)
In the process of finding the full version, I found a mash up of Groovy! with Earth, Wind & Fire’s September (you never know what you’ll find XD). I love Earth, Wind & Fire, so I listened to it. It’s pitch-adjusted with Groovy! instrumental and Earth, Wind & Fire vocals. It’s… different, but I like it. Is it too much soul? Maybe. XD
The instrumentation is similar to an Earth, Wind & Fire song.
Here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-0VmePtxOiI (I want Evan’s opinion on this. XD)
Now, let’s talk about the song.
As I mentioned before, Kohmi Hirose’s singing style isn’t the same here as in Promise. I’ll be done making comparisons after this, but this is a more light-hearted song. She’s using a softer timbre, and you can hear a happier tone in her voice. Also, she’s not using her ridiculous vibrato (which is tamer than Nana Mizuki and T.M.Revolution having a vibrato-off while singing Kakumei Dualism XD). It’s tamer, but you can you still hear it on some of the long notes.
*I don’t think that much vibrato is a bad thing. It’s one of the things I like the most about Promise. And makes it a pain in the ass to cover. XD
The song has good funky bass line with a slightly minor chord progression, which you don’t really notice. It has a good use of drums and guitar, and really good trumpets. It’s a soul song that makes good use of organs and choral vocals. I like the Hallelujah part in the chorus.
And instead of focusing on the funk, it leans more toward the soul. Especially, at the end when all of the instrumentation dies off. I didn’t initially like that part because I thought it detracted from the funk groove, but Josh told me that the song wasn’t what I thought it was. And he was right. It wasn’t an ending I expected from this song, but it’s not Groovy! without that ending.
I hope you like it!
Album: Groovy!
Track: 01
Lyricist: Kohmi Hirose
Composer: Kohmi Hirose
Arranger: n/a
Artist: Kohmi Hirose
That’ll do it for this week.
I’m tentatively planning to stream this Saturday if you’re interested.
If you have any questions or requests, please let me know.
Man, has it been a while. The summer has been busier than I originally anticipated. Hopefully, you saw the last update I posted. That explains fairly well what all I want to do this summer, and NEED to do this summer.
Anyway.. How is everybody?
…
Linda: They can’t answer you.
Shh, Linda. *whisper* I know, but I’m trying to be polite. *whisper*
So, the last post was good ol’ St. Paddy’s Day, March 17. It is now May 17.. I’m sorry I left you with that for two months. XD
So, what’s happened since then?
Well, finals. That was a week before my birthday. Oh yeah, I had a birthday!.. We’ll get to that.
Let’s start with grades. A couple of my professors waited until the latest allowable time to turn in grades, but I had my grades by Friday, May 5.
Here they are. I’m pretty happy with them.
EE 353 (Communication Systems) - B+
EE 358 (Control Systems) - A (pretty happy with this one)
EE 368 (Control Systems Lab) - C
CS 460 (Operating Systems) - A
EE 363 (Communication Systems Lab) - A
EE 477W (Senior Design II) - A
PSYC 460W (Psychology of Women) - A
Term GPA was 3.73, so I made Dean’s List! (=> 3.5)
I was trying to catch up in Control Systems after realizing I was taking the class too lightly. You don’t really learn things when you’ve already convinced yourself you don’t understand. Anyway, there were some tougher parts of the semester. I was freaking about this one report for Control Systems Lab, and I had convinced myself that it was due later than it was. The first section of that lab had two more days to do the simulations and write their report.. but I digress. I felt bad about doing that to Uncle Paco, being at the lab to ask questions when the assignment was due, and worked to get it done that night (I thought it was due by midnight). I apologized to Uncle Paco, and emailed my report before midnight. We worked things out, but I still got docked for the assignment. So did Evan, and we weren’t the only ones who thought it wasn’t due at that point. The last exam for Controls was the week before finals, and I thought it went pretty well. I actually figured out how Lag Compensation works during the exam (no one knew). XD
And the Communication Systems exams were brutal. I did pretty badly on the first one. It’s not that the questions were confusing, but there were so many! I told myself that if I had worked out more problems while studying, I could’ve finished the exam. There were 9 problems. I only had one actual final, and that was basically comprehensive. Also, Dr. Wu says that the exam problems are the same as the homework. They’re not entirely. He basically copied the exam from last year, and I didn’t have that exam to study for the first exam. Anyway, we get to the final (there were only two exams in total) which I’d been studying for for a couple days. But the final was.. OH MY GOSH, HOW?? How do you answer 11 problems in 2 hours. It seems easy, but the first problem is finding the coefficients for Trigonometric Fourier Series. I didn’t even finish that problem, and it took like 10 minutes!! That final was by far the worst exam I’ve ever had. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I know, because I had Evan record it. The Communications Lab was fun. It was basically a bunch of MatLab programming. I got behind on three reports, but the T.A. was fine with me turning them in late, and immediately graded them. He’s a nice guy, and he’s graduating with his masters. We’re friends now. Good luck, Zhewei!
Psychology of Women went really well. That was a fun class. I got perfects on all my papers. The last exam was also the week before finals, and it wasn’t comprehensive. I felt really good about that one. Dr. Krawczyk said we could email her to find out our scores on the final. I got a 38! Operating Systems was also really fun. Now I understand why Windows is not great for task management. We only had a project and a final take home exam/ homework/ project thing. That also went really well. I got it finished before the Computer Science party. That was a strange week. And we hit a bunch of snags in Senior Design, but my dad helped me a lot in getting ANYTHING running on the display. The display driver controller was being a little shit. Here’s video of the display demo we showed Dr. Allen: https://www.facebook.com/christian.dickinson.33/videos/566937140183929/
(it’s supposed to update the whole display at the same speed, but we ended up with a loading bar. And then we just repeatedly inverted and un-inverted the color on the display. It looks nice) Thaddeus had the Audio subsystem producing a tone, and Talen had click response of the Schmitt Trigger piano keyboard controller. In case I forgot to tell you, our project was the Super Pretendo, a handheld gaming console. There’s a good amount of documentation on Github this year!
This is what happens when I don’t post for two months!! Sorry, guys. I’ll try to wrap up.
My birthday was good. I had bacon and brats, and we saw Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 that weekend. It was good. It made me laugh and cry. I’ve been a little sick since before my birthday. I’m thinking it was a flu thing, maybe allergies. I’m pretty much over it.
How old do you guys think I am now?
Linda: You’re 23. Keep going.
Gee, way to ruin the fun, Linda. Fine. Other than that, I made my last lecture for the trimester and presented it at the high school on Monday. It was about counting age, and telling time. It was confusing. Ore wa ni-juu-san-sai!
And since Monday, I’ve just been trying to find an internship. I applied for one at my dad’s company, and he’d already decided who he was going to hire, but wanted to talk to me. It was good, and I might be able to get a job there later down the road. I applied for one at Itron, which is in town (I didn’t really want to commute again the whole summer). But I applied at a couple places in Mankato, and I got an interview set up at Software For Hire for tomorrow morning at 9am.
Ok, I’m done. *deep breathing*
Let’s get to the post!
Watashi*dori by Reina Ueda is a song off her album RefRain.
Yeah, something not tied to an anime… I think. You can never be too sure. I’m pretty sure it’s not, though.
So, I found this song on SoundCloud. I was looking online for a song from Uma Musume Pretty Derby, and I found it uploaded by Anime Song#5. The name intrigued me, so I looked at the other uploads. And I liked almost every track there. And at the bottom of this list of uploads, as in the first upload for this account, was ワタシ*ドリ. I decided to follow Anime Song#5, and really liked the uploads. It was good, and there was so much good stuff being uploaded on a daily. Then, everything changed when the Fire Nation attacked. Only the Ava.. LINDA! Did you switch my script again?
.. That’s what I thought. Why do we even have that lever? .. SCRIPT! You did it again, Linda. It was funny the first time. Ok, it’s still funny…but stop.
Anyway, I wanted to listen to Last Proof (was tied with this song. I wasn’t sure which to post), but I couldn’t find it. I could play it on my mobile app, because I queued it up when I had wifi and hadn’t changed the playlist. But it only existed on my SoundCloud app, and it was the same for Watashi*dori. Well, I realized that Anime Song#5 was no more. All that exists is one message thanking them for the great uploads (like I started with Minazuki-san!!), and all of the songs that I downloaded using the SCDL extension (thanks Rae), which changes the metadata so that the composer is the account that uploaded the song. So, I have a bunch of songs currently by Anime Song#5, and those were a bunch of the songs that Anime Song#5 uploaded. Thank you for the music, Anime Song#5. R.I.P.
Word of advice. Download new songs you find on a regular basis, so they’re not completely lost to copyright antics. I SoundCloud is bad, because when an account is taken down, nothing remains. Nothing. It even says the message I sent is to Deleted user. I guess this message is my epitaph, then. This was three months ago:
This has happened before with SoundCloud. I lost a song one time, I think Sophomore year. It was before Signals and Systems and I wanted to hear this song. I hadn’t heard it in a while, but I still remembered what it sounded like and what it was called. I was able to find it again!! … and then I lost it before I downloaded, and I neither remember what it sounded like nor what it was called.
The second time was similar with a song called Signal Graph. I talked about this on my Facebook page. This was in August last year!
Here’s the link: https://www.facebook.com/WeeklyJpop/posts/226243397773833
And then most recently with Watashi*dori. Due to Anime Song#5’s deletion, I didn’t have the song anymore. But I remember what it was called, and who it was by. It took a little while, and checking multiple sites (a lot of which were in Russian), but I found it. I found an mp3 site that I could give a link to an individual mp3 instead of the whole search result. I wouldn’t do that to you guys.
Anyway, lesson learned. I actually downloaded this song before that unfortunate incident.
Now, let’s talk about the song, because it’s super funky.
First off, Reina Ueda’s voice is soft but also fun. It works very well with the playful nature of this song. The song is just super funky, and fun to listen to. It does a great job of switching between feels. And the instrumentation and back-up vocals really fit. It’s a well-crafted song that blends the parts together so well. I really like it. Unfortunately, I can’t listen to it with headphones at the moment. But when I can, it will be glorious!
Here’s a link to the album sampler. It’s really cool! https://www.google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&cad=rja&uact=8&ved=0ahUKEwjSpbmZxvjTAhWIeSYKHY_XDbUQyCkIKjAA&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fv%3D9yY9IVfngPk&usg=AFQjCNFXd5Uy3qwp5WLpOMNOzHtroOtkBA&sig2=VxyLjWx1sM2pfjVaSzPTsA
Alright, that’ll do it for this post.
I need to get to bed. Interview tomorrow. Wish me luck!!
If you have any questions or requests, please let me know. Sankyuu!!
Linda: Hey, Kanchou..
(That’s the first time you’ve called me anything. Why “director”, though?)
Yes, Linda.
Linda: Happy Birthday.
Thanks Linda!
Ok. Good night, everybody!
Issho ni ittemiru?
- Chris
——————————————————————————-
Minna, gokitai kudasai!!
[Editor’s notes: Originally written on: 9/18/16. The following post was delayed by a week, because a freak storm took out my internet for a week.]
Hey guys, how’s it going?
So, I did another thing. I’ve got to stop doing that.
Anyway,
A while back, Evan messaged me saying that Yung Bae had another Japanese edits for me to check out. There was one song in particular that I liked, but I really wanted to hear the original versio~ … *oof*
Evan: WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB GUYS! Chris and I back on the web giving you that J-POP SNAZZ! Giving you an original track by Anri called Shyness Boy!!!!!!! As Chris just mentioned about Yung Bae(a.k.a. Dallas Cotton), I sent him an edit of the track by Yung Bae and we didn’t know who originally made it at the time. So Chris wanted to researc-*oof* HEY!
Oh, yeah. By the way, Evan’s here. I was going to say that before he RUDELY interrupted me. >P
I already talked about Yung Bae before in Week 94, Catch You Catch Me by Gumi, the first opening to CardCaptor Sakura. As I mentioned then, I’m not a particular fan of Yung Bae’s edits. I don’t like how the vocals pulse with the bass, mainly. So, when I heard his edit called Boogie!, which I really liked, I really wanted to find the original version, because I was sure it would be better, in my opinion. I think I hit the max streams for that song on BandCamp.
Let’s get to the post, and more shenanigans.
Shyness Boy by Anri
Boogie! By YUNG BAE
Oh, now what!?? *WHAM*
Evan: *CRASH FROM CEILING* THAT’S CAUSE YOU SUCK :3 But people have their opinions. Plus a lot of future funk peeps do that. And usually the original is always better. I’ve told Chris about Future Funk cause a lot of musicians take some old japanese vocals from classic tracks from like the 70s or something. I’d name some other Future Funk guys, but THAT’S NOT WHAT WE’RE TALKING ABOUT!!!! Anyway I~ *PUNCHED* OW!!!!
HA, How do you like that!!? I can go all day, Evan!
And yeah guys, if you want more Future Funk artists, you should ask Evan directly, probably on StereoNerds. He has a much more expansive collection of music than I do, but he doesn’t know Japanese XP.
Evan: I find a lot of music shit 24/7 and even met a few people who do music around where I live. And I know a little bit of Japanese...from Filthy Frank...you don’t wanna know...and I’ll find any music for anyone...except country and other foreign stuff.
.. and Beach Boys, except for Pet Sounds.
That is quite a “refined” Japanese vocabulary XD
Evan: SHUT UP!
Anyway, I’m glad that Evan agrees with me that remixes and edits are not usually better than the original. There are some remixes and edits that I would say are equal, but not better, than the originals. The worst thing about Yung Bae’s edit, Boogie!, is that it cuts off right as the verse starts and then repeats the verse again. So, that meant that I had to infer the main lyrics in the verse, which I mistook as Shining Star, instead of Shyness Boy. I was also fairly sure that the vocals were by Anri, even though the vocals were “warped”. So, I went onto mojim.com, and looked at all Anri’s songs that had “shining” in the title. And then, I stopped looking. There were a lot of songs by Anri, and I really didn’t feel like looking through all of them. How long ago was that, Evan?
Evan: I think it was like...3 months ago? I don’t know I hate math.
Yeah, sounds about right. That might have been around the time that I had started my internship, and was kind of overwhelmed. So, I just checked when I texted Evan about finding the original version of Boogie!, It was back on June 14 when I was in Fargo with my dad. I had been listening to that song a lot while I was in Fargo. Here is the text I sent Evan then:
“Evan, I need you to find the original song for Boogie! From Japanese Disco Edits 2. Or I may eviscerate Yung Bae.”
I was not happy. One thing I don’t like that I’ve seen from Yung Bae is that he gives his edits different titles than the original songs, and doesn’t give proper credits. However, he did that initially for Japanese Disco Edits 1, but after a while he changed the titles to the title of the original song and then put that it was his edit. So, I was waiting for him to do that with Japanese Disco Edits 2, but he hadn’t done that yet. And I really wanted the original song. I’m not sure if he’s planning to do change his titles again, but I think it’s kind of pretentious if you don’t give the original artists credit. That’s the main reason that I’m not a big Yung Bae fan, the pulsing vocals, second.
I don’t know. What do you think, Evan?
Evan: *smacks lips while eating all of Chris’s munchies* …What? OH um, I do think he should also give the original artist the credit they deserve...Actually, now that you mention it, when he first uploaded them, he DID give them credit by putting the original artist name in the description for the EP. But I checked again and he deleted the names...hmmmm...well anyway yes I do believe they should be credited. That goes for every other Future Funk guy as well. The pulsing vocals with the bassline don’t bother me at all though. Cause I’m a sucker for chopped vocals. Also I like the munchies that Chris provided while making this *NOM*
Which is fine. I personally find chopped vocals jarring. As long as the song is good, I’ll listen to them, but I prefer the originals without them.
And I did not provide munchies.. tte iuuka, where did you get Fritos? We are in two separate states. Are… are you eating my cyber munchies??
Evan: ...ummm…*throws em out the window* What munchies? Haha I don’t know...SO ANYWAY! The tracks?
But right before we get to that, I’ve got to tell them the story of how I found Shyness Boy. It’s short, but really cool.
So, there I was in the middle of the Atlantic mountains, when I giant fire-breathing stingray stole my i-pod
Evan: BUT YOU DON’T OWN AN IPOD YOU BAKA!!!!
SHUT UP, Evan. It’s my story. Don’t make me call in Linda…
Linda: You rang?
Oh, shit. It’s Linda.
Evan: Linda I have a gun, if you don’t leave now I’m shoving this up your butt. DO THE MATH!
It won’t have any effect, Evan. Just….
RUN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*Huff huff* I think we lost her. *huff huff*
Evan: Seriously, who the heck is she???
Some say she’s my secretary… I don’t know who she is tbh.
Evan: Why the heck do you need a secretary???
I don’t. I can work things out just fine myself, but the power of Linda is strong.
Evan: *SLAP* We’re getting off topic here.
Keep your voice down... She’ll hear you.
But anyway,
I was at my internship on Thursday, and I wanted to listen to Good Bye Boogie Dance by Anri, which I had on my phone. Unfortunately, I hadn’t copied the song over onto my work pc, so I went online to find it. I did find it, but in the process, I found a different version of the song, that’s more lively and instrumental, on SoundCloud. And after it finished playing, it went to the next related song, which was Shyness Boy. I was listening, and I said, “I know this song. It’s the original song for Boogie!” The artist’s name was written in Kanji, so I threw it into Denshi Jisho, and found out that IT WAS ANRI. I was so right, but the song had nothing to do with “Shining Star”. So, I just randomly find the song doing what I do best, listening to J-pop.
I was really excited, and IMMEDIATELY texted Evan!
Evan: *snores*
EVAN, okite!!!!
Evan: *wakes up* Yeah I know you crapped yourself about finding the original track, yadda-yadda-yadda. YUNG BAE and Anri blah blah blah. STUFF
You did say that you were sure I could find it, and I did!
Evan: So what do you want a medal? …Haha I’m kidding, I just knew you would cause you always end up finding japanese stuff.
That’s because I’m really passionate about music, and Japanese has become a second language to me. Also, I’d like a hug since you asked.
Evan: No I didn’t, but fine.
Yay ~ :3
Evan: ANYWAY MOVING ON!
I know, Ev. I just get side-tracked. gomen~ teehee~
Evan: DON’T WE ALL!
Alright, so we’re going to start with Shyness Boy by Anri. What are your thoughts, Evan?
Evan: Original is better...and longer. Cause the edit from Yung Bae is SHORT.
It is quite short. I really like the bass line and the use of horns, plus Anri’s voice blends very well with the harmonies. It’s just a nice upbeat dance tune. I’ve heard four songs by Anri now, and they’re all good.
Also, here’s an interesting fact that I just found out while looking up the song info. Anri’s actual name is Eiko Kawashima, interesting. And she sang the closing theme for the 1998 Olympics at Nagano. Didn’t Daft Punk perform Get Lucky at the Olympics, Ev?
Evan: I never looked into that. I haven’t really been following Daft Punk lately.
No, there was a choir that performed Get Lucky, that’s right.
Evan: Ah right. Forgot about that.
I don’t know. Just an interesting connection I made.
[Editor’s notes: Could not find the song info, but I’m guessing it might be the same as other songs on the album. I have a splitting headache, and searched a lot. So, here’s a list of potential candidates:
[Editor’s notes: I just found the info on this website: http://www.kget.jp/lyric/147038/SHYNESS+BOY_%E6%9D%8F%E9%87%8C
They seem to have that info more on lyrics sites.
~small yay. Still have a headache]
And I think I’ve given my opinions on Boogie! So what do you like about Boogie!, Ev? Is there anything that you think is better than Shyness Boy that Yung Bae did?
Evan: I guess it’s the stronger beat and what he does with the bassline is pretty stronger. The vocals don’t appear as much though. PLUS IT’S SHORT. It is one of my favorites from his EP though.
Alright, so that’ll do it for this post. This was way more fun the last time. It helps when I don’t trap Evan in my room, and feed him cyber Fritos. But it just works a lot better to use Google Docs for this kind of thing. He can write at the same time in a completely different location.
Evan: Also guys, hit me up on my facebook group StereoNerds if you want to find more music that isn’t just J-Pop. Cause it’s something I love to do for people. I’m mainly good at finding electronic stuff but I can help with some other things as well. The only rule is NO POPULAR STUFF THAT EVERYBODY KNOWS. I’m also known as Ghastrophonic on mixcloud.com if you want to hear my radio mixes.
Yep. For those of you that don’t know, my blog just started out as a “Weekly” post on StereoNerds. And I started posting around the time that Evan created StereoNerds. He told me that he added me to StereoNerds, and I had no idea what I was going to post. And now we’re here!! It’s been more than two years now since my first post on StereoNerds. When did you start StereoNerds, Ev?
Evan: September 9th. So a few days from now. 3 years ago.
Really? Ok, gimme a sec.
Nope! I was dead wrong. I started archiving my old posts as word documents on September 30 of 2013 (I actually put the date on my old archived posts). Oh my gosh! That means that my blog is almost three years old. I’m gonna cry~
[Editor’s Note: Instead of posting next week, I’m posting today, because guess what day it is?
September 30, 2016. So, this post marks the third anniversary of my blog!! ~small yay]
Shit, Evan! Look at what we’ve done. The grandeur of our great musical adventure.
Evan: If you wanna call it that.
I honestly don’t know what to call it, but it’s insane XD
Evan: Right…*snores*
I suppose as long as it’s something you love, it’s not surprising that you can put so much time and effort into it.
Alright, well that’ll do it for this week.
If you guys have any questions or requests, please let me know.
Also, feel free to hit up Evan. He’s my senpai~ :3
Evan: *wakes up* NO!
~nyan :3 ?
Evan: Ugh...
I’m just kidding, Ev. I like being a shit. Do you want to leave some links for these guys to check out StereoNerds and MixCloud?
Evan: ...Yes, do it. I’m gonna chill to Dan Caine now...
Evan: If we were sellouts, I don’t think we’d be doing this.
If I don’t advertise Chris’ stuff, I don’t get cake. But you’re right, I don’t think I’d want to do this as a job, or have anyone else tell me how to post.
Evan: ………...Cake is awesome
It is. Good talk!
Chris no mono
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FB Blog Updates ‘n stuff: https://www.facebook.com/WeeklyJpop/
I have a lot of liked tracks on SoundCloud, and Watch Later songs on Youtube if you want to check them out. I’ve also got song ideas and one rough cover on SoundCloud.
Mite mite mite ne!
I’m really glad Evan and I could do another collab. It was really fun.
Thanks Ev!
See you guys next week!
Evan: WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB!!!
Ja, kore de.
Bye Bye!!!
Evan: Peace guys. Stay chill.
- Chris and Evan
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Minna, gokitai kudasai!!
It’s really unfortunate that the end of our data period is tonight. We’ve pretty much had to disable wi-fi all day, and I’m currently researching for this post on my dad’s work phone. So, this post is “unknowingly” sponsored by my dad’s company… BUY THEIR STUFF (I don’t think I did that right)
And in order to upload to Facebook and Tumblr after I finish writing this, I’ll probably have to go to my dad’s work and mooch off their guest wi-fi.
Things at work (my internship) are going well. I’ve finished three PluralSight video lessons, and have plenty of notes to prove it.
Well, my dad just turned his phone into a wi-fi hot spot, so yeah. Today’s a weird day. I also figured out the difference in formatting a URL to open Youtube on a computer and on a phone.
Anyway, let’s get to the song. I’m going to do it even though I don’t have the ideal short ending.
仕様が無いだろう!
Let’s get to it!
Flowing Blood Melt In Dark Sky
Falling Fate, Suffering Soul
signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~ by Minami Kuribayashi is the first ending to Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse.
I really like this song. It captures the feel of Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse in a serious way that none of the opening or ending themes do. But each of the themes also capture unique feel of the show, so it was difficult making a decision on which one to post. The first opening is my least favorite, because it just doesn’t fit with the feel of the show. It’s a good song, but not for the opening of a mech anime. I might do a post on Go to the top eventually.
Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is an anime about the human race fighting a never-ending war against a race of aliens that eat humans called “BETA”. In order to defend themselves from complete destruction, the military all over the world developed mechs called Tactical Surface Fighters (TSF). Muv-Luv Alternative: Total Eclipse is specifically about a group of pilots in a TSF development group with members from Nepal, Sweden, Italy, America, and Japan. It’s a really unique anime. I’ve never seen anything quite like it. It’s also surprisingly graphic, and fairly ecchi, but it doesn’t really detract from the show. It’s all used in a way that helps you feel with the anime… If that makes sense.
The time signature of this song is what really makes the feel, in my opinion. I’m fairly certain it’s in a slow 6/8 time. When I watched the anime, I conducted in 6/8 time while the ending played. signs ~Sakutsuki Hitoyo~ has a very solemn feel, and has great use of strings. I really like the rhythm of the drums, the piano, and the rhythm during the chorus.
Minami Kuribayashi’s voice adds a good lighter contrast to the song, that really helps bring out the looming dark themes of the show. Also, the first part of piano melody reminds me of the accompaniment for House of the Rising Sun by The Animals (it’s one of the programmed songs on my brother’s synthesizer).
Here’s the full version:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bDGcH1gwh5c
Minami Kuribayashi has sung a lot of opening themes and a few ending themes, like this one. Feel free to check those out. She’s also been a Seiyuu for some anime and games.
In fact, here are three of those games:
Muv-Luv (Kasumi Yashiro)
Muv-Luv Alternative (Kasumi Yashiro, Haruka Suzumiya)
