ケビョウニンゲン/Kebyou Ningen by Suzumu

Overview

            Hey again readers! It’s time for another of my album reviews! Now that we’re done with the Kagerou Project material, I want to step over to a recent favorite producer of mine: Suzumu/スズム. Suzumu’s been active on the scene for a while, and he operates within the KEMU VOXX circle as a music producer. His stuff is quite good; recently he made a big splash with へたくそユートピア政策/Unskilled Utopia Policy. This song featured Rin and had a stunningly gorgeous PV.

            That being said, Kebyou Ningen/ケビョウニンゲン is Suzumu’s first solo album, and his fans are all quite happy to see him put it out. The album wasn’t a very expensive purchase either – it only ran me about $15 dollars from Amazon.jp, which is rather low for a Vocaloid album. But was it worth the value?

Music

1)  Myth: As many skilled Vocaloid composers are choosing to do these days, Suzumu opens the album with this nifty instrumental piece. It’s a cool way of hyping up the rest of the album. “Myth” treats us to some of Suzumu’s excellent piano playing over grungy guitar riffs in the background. The synthesizer also makes its due appearance, and the combination of these elements leads to a vivid and exciting intro. The drums are certainly quite nice as well, and they tie everything else together.

2) 独りの君と一人の僕に/To the Lonely You and Lone Me: This song’s sung by Miku, and she’s tuned quite well. Her vocals have an interesting touch of sass in them at certain parts of the song, and they compliment the song’s story well. The guitar makes a pretty good show in this song, though the other instruments don’t really stand out that much. It’s an enjoyable song overall, though nothing remarkable. Check out the PV here.

3) ハロウィン遅刻パーテイ/Halloween Chikoku Party: The twins make their spectacular entrance! “Halloween Chikoku Party” is exciting, upbeat, and fun to listen to. Suzumu’s spectacular keyboard work propels the tune forward, and the twins are tuned very well. Halloween-esque sound effects are used to great musical benefit as well, and the piece is super fun to listen to. The drums are also quite lovely, though we see little of the guitar/bass that crop up in some of his other work.

4) レベル100のイケメンにありがちなこと/Level 100 no Ikemen Niarigachi na Koto: It’s rather rare to see Len exclusives these days, but Suzumu gives us one here. It’s very peppy and addictive to listen to; Len’s voice has a sort of staccato quality that sticks out nicely. It’s a rock song, so naturally the drums and guitar are the most powerful instrumental elements of the song. They’re not particularly special, but they compliment Len’s voice well. The most interesting section of the song comes at about 2:30, when Suzumu drops the bass and gets a little dubsteppy. I must say that while I’m no dubstep aficionado, the style’s been growing on me in certain cases recently, and I think it’s used well here. This song proves that dubstep-type sounds can be used as companion effects to other songs and sound pretty good.

5) Eden: “Eden” is an instrumental piece played out primarily through synthesizer effects and the piano. It’s quite nice, and has a very ethereal quality to it that matches its namesake quite well. It does get a tad repetitive, especially given its short length, but it’s still a nice interlude for this section of the album.

6) 世界寿命と最後の一日 (Album ver.)/Sekai Jumyou to Saigo no Ichinichi (Album ver.): This is one of Suzumu’s most famous songs reworked for this album release. It features GUMI’s vocals, which are awesome. Her voice explodes in the chorus in that magical GUMI-esque way that just ropes you in and gets you hooked. The song starts off with a piano riff that tricks you into thinking it’s going to be soft, and then it explodes into an upbeat rock song with vigor and energy. The guitar and drums beat as the heart of the song, filling the lyrics and soundscape with life. The synthesizer and keyboard take it from there, jolting the piece into movement as GUMI’s voice resonates with the listener. It fun, it’s cool, and it’s very well composed. My only complaint might be that the elements are all so strong that it might be hard to notice any particular one without repeated listening. The PV is quite cool too, and you should watch it. (Note that this is the PV of the original version, which is presumably slightly different from the album version, though I can’t really see any differences to be honest).

7) ケビョウニンゲン/Kebyou Ningen: The titular track of the album is another instrumental piece. This time, it’s another rock song with a bit of aggression in there. The guitar riffs bite hard through a thick layer of distortion and bare their fangs against your ears. Almost as if it’s a battle, the synthesizer and keyboard work stand strong and bright against this grunginess, and the two switch back and forth for sonic dominance. Perhaps it’s meant to show an allegory between the battle between illness and wellness. The drums underscore the whole piece like a referee, present but not prominent. The piece is a full-length song too, which is an interesting touch. It makes for a nice halfway point to the album.

8) へたくそユートピア政策 (Refine)/Hetakuso Utopia Seisaku (Refine): Suzumu’s popular his has been remastered for the album. Rin’s voice helms the vocal section of this song, and the keyboard and drums are the primary instrumental accompaniment. The instrumentals are as lovely as Suzumu’s work always is, and they carry the hopeful tone that Suzumu seeks to imbue into the tune. A chiming bell in the background helps out at certain points as well. Unfortunately, however, the reworking of Rin’s vocals is a mixed bag. At certain points it just sounds like Suzumu is trying too hard to make it sound different, and it comes across of overdone and melodramatic to the point of being silly. Rin’s voice fluctuates a little too much; you can hear it in the opening verse as her voice shifts up and down like Yoko Ono having a seizure. There are some nice touches applied to the chorus and the buildup toward the end, but ultimately I like Rin’s original vocals more. It’s far from a bad song, but I wonder if this song really needed such a refining, and my gut is telling me no. The wonderful original PV is here, and I recommend you watch it and compare it to this remastering. Let me know what you think, as I’m very interested in hearing other people’s opinions on this one!

9) 続・へたくそユートピア政策/Zoku – Hetakuso Utopia Seisaku: This is some sort of interesting continuation to the previous song which utilizes both of the twins. It’s a slow and ethereal tune that borrows musical elements from its predecessor. This doesn’t come across as lazy as all; it’s skillfully done and serves to link this with its parent song in the listeners mind even if they don’t know the lyrics. The sound is “conclusive,” and it feels like Suzumu is ending whatever saga the previous song began. I assume it’s the aftermath of the story that unfolded for the girl in Hetakuso Utopia Seisaku’s PV. Interestingly, 150P helped Suzumu arrange this piece, and they did good work together.  The ending outro is a long section of “la la la’s,” which remind me a lot of “Hey Jude.” There’s also a little train sound at the end, and I’m curious as to what that was supposed to mean.

10) Avarice: A jazzy and upbeat piece, this song is written in ¾ time, making it fun to tap your feet to. It’s got a darker piano component that is less ominous and more intriguing, which makes for a nice ride. The song’s a bit short, clocking in at under 90 seconds, but it’s really cool.

11)  過食性:アイドル症候群 (Album ver.)/Kashokusei: Idol Shoukougun (Album ver.): This is another one of Suzumu’s big hits, and it’s a fast-paced romp that warns of the dangers of becoming arrogant as an idol. It’s a rare combo of GUMI and MAYU for the vocals, and the most prominent instruments are the synthesizer and drums. The vocals carry an element of swing to them, especially during the chorus, which get the body grooving. Steady drums help this greatly, and by the end of the song it’s hard not to at least tap your feet. The guitar helps out with some riffs that fill out the soundscape, making the song feel quite rich. Perhaps it might be a little too rich, as it can be a tad overwhelming if you’re not in the mood for it. However, it’s still a great song, and the PV is worth a watch.

12) 桜色タイムカプセル/Sakura Iro Time Capsule: This piece reminds me a lot of good 90’s rock. “Sakura Iro Time Capsule” is a song sung by GUMI that stats off slow and pretty, but becomes and uplifting and pretty rock piece. The guitar and drums are the most prominent, but the keyboard’s got nice little background riffs that should not be forgotten. GUMI’s vocals are up-tempo and proud, and they have a sense of optimism that carries the mood of the song. Suzumu uses those bells in the background again to create this uplifting feeling as well, and the elements come together nicely. The bridge of the song stands out as being the best prechorus on the album.

13) 嘘つきピーターパン/Usotsuki Peter Pan: This is a Vocaloid album by a Japanese producer, so we couldn’t have it be ALL upbeat; we had to get our quota of sadness in there somewhere. And boy is it pretty. Miku performs the lyrics, and accordingly they are very gentle and comforting. Miku’s voice has a certain magic quality that wraps the listeners in a security blanket for them to quietly cry in when used right, and it’s used damn well here. The drums, piano, and guitar all work together to create a calm and mournful atmosphere, but not one devoid of energy. It’s been a long time since I’ve heard a Vocaloid song that does this good of a job at being emotional. The PV is beautiful as well, and you’d be doing yourself a disservice not to watch it.

14) Lost: This is the end of the album, and it carries a certain sadness to it as we say goodbye to Suzumu for now. It’s short – not even a minute – and it’s a piano instrumental. It’s dark and comforting, and it does a good job of signing off.

Final Thoughts

For a first album release, this is great. As expected of Suzumu, the instrumentals and song compositions are great, and the album is an interesting ride from start to finish. Several different styles are showcased from soft ballad to hard rock, and they’re all well executed. My only gripe with the album is that certain “remasterings,” such as Hetakuso Uptopia Seisaku weren’t needed or particularly great. Other than that though, it’s worth it.

8/10

メカクシティレコーズ/Mekaku City Records by じん aka 自然の敵P (Shinzen no Teki-P)

     Overview

 Hey again readers! Sorry for the delay between updates; Thanksgiving did a number on my ability to review. I was away from my good headphones and equipment after all, and I didn’t want to review this album without giving it its due justice. I’m glad that I’m doing this on the heels of some cool Kagepro news, though; at an even yesterday, SHAFT’s President announced that they’re targeting April 2014 as the air date for the anime adaptation of Kagepro, called Mekaku City Actors.

 Anyway, Mekaku City Records is Jin’s follow-up to Mekaku City Days, and features the rest of the Mekakushi Gang’s story. It’s a nifty follow-up to the first, and due to the series’ popularity they beefed up the release a bit. There are two version - a normal version and a limited-edition version. The normal version is simple; it just comes in a case with and outer sleeve that has the album art and tracklist on it. The limited edition comes in a bigger, metallic-looking case and has two CDs: one with the PVs and one with the music. Honestly, it feels like a bit of a rip-off considering that everything you get with the limited edition is analogous to the content that came with the regular release of the first album, but the regular edition of Mekaku City Records is cheaper than both of them, so it’s not too bad.

 Anyway, let’s cut to the chase.

     Music

1) サマーエンドロール/Summer End Roll: Another one of Jin’s little spoken intros, this one is voiced by Asumi Kana again. It introduces the album and the idea of getting through the endless summer. It’s an interesting and stylistic way to open the album, so I’m glad to see Jin sticking with it.

2) チルドレンレーコド(Re Ver.)/Children Record (Re Ver.): One of Jin’s most well-known songs, Children Record is a general introduction to many of the characters and the series; some have essentially classified it as the official theme of the Kagerou Project. It has a catchy beat, and the guitar and drums especially are pretty good. IA’s vocals can be pretty harsh at times - this is Jin, after all - but the composition of the song is really fun, and it makes a great intro song for the album and the project as a whole. There’s a PV of the song, and it’s quite cool. However, be warned that the PV is for the original mix of the song, while this version is slightly different. I’d say the biggest differences are some slight improvement tweaks to IA’s tuning and better instrumental mixing.

3) 夜咄ディセイブ／Yobanashi Deceive: This song’s about Shuuya Kano, a user who has the Eyes of Deception. The guitar work in this song is absolutely awesome; the opening riffs jolt the blood and get you into the groove that the rest of the song follows so well. The bass guitar kicks in once in a while to give us an funky burst of energy, and peppy drums keep the excitement going from start to finish. IA’s tuning is great here as well; it’s not too harsh and does a decent job of conveying some emotion. One of Jin’s finest pieces for sure. The PV is damn cool too; it has a graffiti style to it and features some great artwork.

4) 少年ブレイブ/Shounen Brave: Another song with an amazing opening guitar riff! This one’s a lot more relaxed then Yobanashi Deceive was, and it’s a more bouncy listen. IA’s voice is nice and soft in this one, as it’s a lot closer to a poppy balad than a serious rock piece. The song itself tells the story of Seto, and how he met a dog when he was younger (and was also bullied, because Japan). The chorus is memorable and catchy, and cute button flashes of synthesizer in the background tie the piece together really well. The drums are a little quieter here, but they’re still lovely when they can be heard. Shounen Brave is a cool follow-up to Yobanashi Deceive. Interesting trivia: there was supposed to be a PV for this song, but it was cancelled for being too spoiler-y.

5) 夕景イエスタデイ/Yuukei Yesterday: This song, like Shounen Brave, is cute. It’s cuter, in fact, then most of the songs in the Kagepro verse, on par with Souzou Forest. Yuukei Yesterday is about Takane and Haruka, the two characters who later become Ene and Konoha. Specifically, it’s about the lovey-dovey feelings Takane has for Haruka, and her reluctance to admit them. The percussion section shines brightest here, keeping the rhythm bouncy and fun through the whole song. IA’s also really well suited to this song, as her slightly nasally and cute voice matches the other pieces very well. The guitar is present, but it’s not really a pronounced element of the song other than a cool guitar solo. The synth works itself in there as well, though you might not notice it under the strong percussion. My only complaint with this song is that the mix is a bit jumbled, and the instruments seem to sort of chaotically slam into each other and become slightly indistinguishable. The PV is suitably adorable as well.

6) 群青レイン (Re Ver.)/Gunjou Rain (Re Ver.): This is a very bittersweet song about Mary and her mother Shion. It concerns their life together before Shion’s untimely death, and about how much Shion loved her daughter. Shion looks out the window at the rain and wishes it would never end, so that she could protect Mary forever (this is what the title is referencing). The song fits the theme very well; it’s relaxing and mellow with a slight hint of tension (as Shion no doubt feels in the story). The guitar is haunting, as Jin uses delay effects to great length to create an atmosphere soundscape, and IA’s voice is lamentful and wistful. The guitar solo in this song is particularly kickass as well. The drums are fairly standard and don’t stand out as anything special, but they’re still good. 

7) アウターサイエンス/Outer Science: One of the most celebrated songs in the Kagepro fandom, spawning several great covers by many renowned cover artists (such as cillia), Outer Science is the “bad end” of the Kagepro series, so to speak. In it, Dark Konoha kills everyone dear to Mary in an attempt to goad her into using her eye powers to reinvent the world. It’s primarily synth driven, and the synth is great. It’s gritty and dirty, and conveys a lot of the tense/dark atmosphere Jin’s going for. The guitar is also put through what a fuzz pedal to match the grit of the synth, and it works really well. Unfortunately I can’t give IA’s vocals huge points; they’re too delicate for the rest of the song to really work as well as they should. They’re far from terrible, but they don’t convey the right emotions as well as I’d like. I’ve heard some great UTAU covers come out of this that do the job better (again, check out cillia’s cover). The PV is damn cool also.

8)オツキミリサイタル/Otsukimi Recital: It seems that Jin wanted to lighten the mood a bit after Outer Science, so he put this song next. Otsukimi Recital is an interesting combination of cute, happy, and sad. The song’s about Momo trying to cheer up Hibiya, who just managed to get out of the Kagerou Days loop and is still quite sad over watching Hiyori die (it’s all a part of growing up in Japan, I assure you). The song takes a lot of interesting queues from ska, and the brass section makes a very prominent appearance in the song. It’s bright and cheery, and does a lot for the mood. IA’s vocals play right into this, and her cheery voice lifts us out of any gloom we may have had after Outer Science (I see what you did there, Jin!). Her voice is very well suited to this kind of song; that slightly nasal quality she has just seems to have a penchant for sounding cute if her voice is tuned gently. The other instruments aren’t really all that stand-out here, with the exception of the keyboard, which acts as sort of a melody section. Percussion is largely handled by the sound of claps, which is another fun touch. The PV is a neat little watch. Cheer up, Hibiya! Though, I can’t really expect you to get over your hellish Groundhog Day for a while, can I?

9) ロスタイムメモリー/Lost Time Memory: This is “the song about repeating regret,” and it features Shintaro, who is trying to get over his grief caused by Ayano’s suicide. There are two Shintaros from alternate universes here; one who is able to move forward, and one who is caught in an endless sea of sorrow and can’t get on with his life. The song makes this poor guy look pitiful, but it’s hard to blame him for it; I can’t even begin to fathom to psychological effects of having a close friend (and potential love interest) commit suicide. But anyway, the song itself is all right. The beat is certainly catchy, and the instruments are played well. However, IA’s vocals are too harsh in this song for the most part, and I’d love to hear Jin bring her down an octave. Outside of a couple of sections, especially near the end, the instruments kind of blend together in a sonic mishmash, and I wish the mixing was done better. I will give Jin and Shidu props for a very cool PV though.

10) アヤノの幸福理論/Ayano’s Theory of Happiness: This is a very sad and very beautiful song about Ayano, the friend of Shintaro’s who committed suicide. It deals with her motivations for doing so, what she thought of herself and Shintaro, and her relationship to a few of the other characters to whom she acted as an older sister. Ayano was in fact the founder of the Mekakushi-dan, as she tried to comfort the kids with red eyes who thought of themselves as monsters. The mood of the song is mellow and a bit nostalgic, which makes it all the more heart-wrenching to listen to. IA’s gentle vocals and the shining violins in the background tug at the heartstrings, and the guitar does a good job of accompanying them into a gorgeous soundscape. The drums feel like they’re mirroring the beating of one’s very heart as they listen to this song. The final little crescendo near the end of the song feels like the final goodbye you might say to someone you love. It’s without a doubt my favorite Kagepro song, and I give it my highest recommendation. Go watch the gorgeous PV while you’re at it.

11) マリーの架空世界/Mary’s Fictional World: This song is all about Mary’s feelings as she uses her eye powers to create a fictional world. It’s another sad but beautiful song, and it keeps us in the same mellow mood that Ayano’s Theory of Happiness had us in. The violin croons as Mary sadly sings about her love that she wish would never end. There’s something about IA’s voice in this song that feel particularly “Asian” so to speak, in a way that none of her other songs have, and I can’t place my finger on exactly why that is. Perhaps it’s the nasally quality coupled with a gentle tone and lack of inflection that does it. Soft and slow drums back up the violins, and there’s little else to the instrumentals in this song (that’s far from a bad thing). The sound of rain is also filling the soundscape as background noise, and it helps to ground you in the scene it’s trying to portray. It flows right into the next song, which is a nice little touch.

12) クライングプロローグ/Crying Prologue: Right from the beginning, the ambient background sound pick us up and create a mysterious but uplifting feeling. Then, whose voice kicks in but the lovable Kanahana! Kanahana is voicing Mary in the upcoming anime adaptation (GET HYPE), and here she repeats the prologue that was at the beginning of Mekaku City Days. It feels like a really cool way of ending it, but then…

13) サマータイムレコード/Summertime Record:…we get another song! This is the overall “outro” for the Kagepro series, and tells us what happens to all of the characters after the Good End. It’s energetic, bubbly, and hopeful, and leaves us with a good feeling to finish off the saga. It’s pop-rock, and features strong guitar and drum work. IA’s vocals are nice, but they’re not particularly stand-out or anything. They work fine, but nothing super remarkable. The guitar and drums ultimately carry the song’s mood really well to completion, and we’re ushered out of the Kagepro show with a positive feeling. The guitar solo at the end of this is very cool, and it’s a wonderful way to end the series. The PV even acts as credits.

   Final Thoughts
Mekaku City Records undoubtedly shows a huge improvement over its predecessor. The songs are written just as well, if not better, but Jin seems to really have gained a good understanding of what IA’s strengths and weaknesses are and how to utilize them. As usual, his guitar and instrumental work are spot-on, the the PVs are top-knotch. There are a few bumps in the road along the way, but this album deserves all the recognition it’s getting for sure. There’s a bright future ahead for Kagepro fans with this album behind them.

   8/10

メカクシティデイズ／Mekaku City Days by じん aka 自然の敵P (Shinzen no Teki-P)

         Overview

             

          Well, here we go! This album is the first full album of the star-studded Kagero Project, or Kagepro as some call it. This album's story has spawned just about every type of merch including novels, manga, fanart, fanfic, and more. An anime adaptation has been announced by SHAFT, which should prove to be quite awesome if it's done well.

          I'll try to give a brief summary of what it's all about before I get into the music. Mekaku City Days tells the story of a group of teenagers (life ends after high school in Japan, so there's no other possible setting) who have mysterious eye powers with various abilities. The one uniting characteristic that they share is that their eyes are red, which marks them as eye power users. The songs on the album generally tell the story of each character and how they came to get their powers. It's quite interesting, but you have to really delve into the manga/novels/wiki summaries to get the full picture.

          As for the album itself, it comes in a really nice little box that contains the CD as well as some extra goodies. The CD itself is actually a pair of CDs: one disc contains the music, and the other is a DVD which contains PVs of a few of the songs: Kagerou Days, Headphone Actor, Souzou Forest, Konoha's State of the World, and Toumei Answer (You'll get more info on these songs later, don't worry). It also comes packaged with nice little booklets that give you the band score for Kagerou Days as well as Souzou Forest, in a ddition to a little booklet that has the lyrics to all the songs. It's all quite lovely, and the stellar artwork of Shizu and わにゃんぷー adorns pretty much everything. This album definitely gets an A+ for packaging.

But how does the music fare?

1) ロスタイムプロローグ/Lost Time Prologue: This is a cool little spoken word prologue that introduces us to the album. It uses some nice reverberant noises behind the vocals to create a sense of dread before topping abruptly and having the vocals lead us into the last song. I'm pretty sure the vocals are done by Kana Asumi, who you might know as the actress of Strength from the Black Rock Shooter anime(s). It's a nice way to start things off. I'm not 100% sure what she's saying, but I do know that she's supposed to be Takane Ene, and A.I. character in the Kagepro series. Check out the translation here.

2) カゲロウデイズ/Kagerou Days: Here it is, the big ol' granddaddy of the project. This song's skyrocketed into Vocaloid legend already, having easily surpassed 3,000,000 views on Niconico. Interestingly, わにゃんぷー made the first PV that everyone came to know; it was a fanmade PV with no official support (check it out here). Soon after, as the song started to reach its massive popularity, Jin put out an official PV of the song, and thanked わにゃんぷー for his support. The song features Jin doing what he does best - playing guitar. Jin's stellar guitar work coupled with some great synth work make the song especially memorable. This song is unique on this album due to its use of Miku; the rest of the songs use IA, as this album was commissioned as part of the IA Project to promote her. Jin's tuning of Miku here is a controversial thing: his Miku is very high-pitched and shrill. I remember playing around in the Vocaloid program and transposing Miku's voice and octave lower;  I liked it better that way. This high-pitched tuning is very common in Jin's stuff, and it tends to draw sharp lines over who likes it and who hates it. Honestly, I'm not a huge fan, though I can tolerate it. Jin's songwriting itself is superb, with all the instruments being very interesting and well mixed. Miku's vocals just get shrill.

3) ヘッドフォンアクター/Headphone Actor: Another popular song and the current focus of the manga, Headphone Actor is the story of how Takane Enomoto, a regular human girl, was forced into an A.I. body and reborn as Ene. The PV is quite lovely, and tells a cool tale. As I mentioned before, Jin's tuning is generally quite shrill, especially with IA. This shows through in Headphone Actor, as IA's voice reaches incredibly high pitches that might make your ears crawl if you're not used to Japanese music. The instrumentation is, again, awesome, with ゆーまお's drums and the bass guitar sticking out especially.

4) 想像フォレスト/Souzou Forest: This is another very popular song from the series, with another very popular PV. It's about a 1/4 Medusa girl named Mary who has shut herself away in the woods. It's very cute, and features a much more mildly-tuned IA. The synth and drums are the most prominent parts of the track, with the guitar and bass being present but secondary. Souzou Forest is one of the best songs on the album, as it's got a nice groove with cute-yet-not-harsh vocals. The synth breakdown in the middle gets extra points.

5) エネの電脳紀行/Ene no Dennou Kikou: This song picks up right where Headphone Actor left off; it's about when Takane first awakens  in her new A.I. body as Ene. The synth and guitar dominate this song, and they're really cool. IA's tuning here is a strange middle ground between her overly high and harsh tuning and her soft ballad voice. It's not awful - there are worse in the album - but it comes out a little too robotic for my taste. The song's still fun though, despite some misgivings about IA's tuning. There are some really cool effects with the synth that you can pick up with good headphones.

6) デッドアンドシーク/Dead and Seek: Not much is really known yet about exactly what this song is about. Judging by the lyrics and my knowledge of the series, I would guess it's about people getting their eye powers and being spit back out into the normal world to entertain Dark Konoha (see the sound "Outer Science" for an idea of what that's like. It's on Mekaku City Records, which I'll be reviewing next. Spoiler!) Regardless, it's a synth-based song with a decent backing track. It's not one of my favorites; IA's voice is VERY robotic here, even moreso than the last song. That may be Jin's objective, which is fine and all, but it just doesn't make for all that pleasant of a listen. The instrumental track is acceptable but altogether forgettable, and blends a bit too much with tracks 5 and 7, which make it almost tough to tell when the songs switch if you're not paying attention. It doesn't help that it's short.

7) 人造エネミー/Jinzou Enemy: This is actually the first song in the series; it's about Ene watching over her master, Shintaro, and trying to convince him that being a NEET is not the answer to his troubles. The song is almost at 1,000,000 views, and it'll probably get there soon enough. Like the previous two songs, the synth is very strong here. It's sung by Miku again (I'm surprised they allowed more than one non-IA track on an IA Project CD), and her voice is as high and shrill as we've come to expect from Jin. It's by no means an awful song, but it suffers from Dead and Seek's syndrome of sounding emotionally stale and forgettable, a shame considering its cool message.

8) 透明アンサー/Toumei Answer: Finally, a break from the synth! Toumei Answer is a pretty sad song actually; it's about how Shintaro's friend Ayano commits suicide for an unknown reason by jumping off the school roof, which does such emotional damage to Shintaro that he becomes a NEET (and later, Ene's master). It's a gorgeous little tune, with high-but-gentle tuning of IA, and an absolutely wonderful guitar track that makes great use of the delay pedal. The drums are groovy but not overpowering. It's a pretty little ballad, and definitely one of the high points of the album.

9) 如月アテンション/Kisaragi Attention: One of the most popular songs on the album, Kisaragi Attention is a cute little number about Momo, a girl with the eye ability to make others look at her, aka draw attention to herself. She becomes and idol and rises to stardom, but she quickly comes to dislike the fame and the inability to go outside without drawing in crowds. She meets Kido, whose eye ability can cloak her. Momo joins the Mekakushi-dan in the end. The guitar and drums stand out, but the bass line is pretty nice as well. IA's tuned very well in the songs; her voice has just the right amount of wetness coupled with a high pitch to sound cute but not annoying. The guitar solo is also damn cool in this one. The PV is quite cute too, which contributed to its popularity. A great song to cheer us up after Toumei Answer.

10) メカクシコード/Mekakushi Code: This song is about Kido, the leader of the Mekakushi-dan who has an eye ability which can cloak the user and make others around her practically invisible. It features a very grungy and fuzzy synth at the forefront with the guitar chiming in on occasion. We surprisingly hear Miku again, and her voice is a bit robotic, though not as high as Kagerou Days (thankfully). The background music isn't very strong, though it serves very well as just that; it backs up the vocals very well without calling too much attention to itself. All in all it's a very well-written song, but Miku's vocals are a bit bland and take away from the song's replay value.

11) コノハの世界事情/Konoha's State of the World: One of the darker stories in the project, even for Jin. This song is about Konoha, another strange A.I./android type character (it's unclear what his deal is yet) who is forced to watch the unfortunate events of Kagerou Days unfold over and over again. He wants to do something about it, but he is powerless to stop it, though a glimmer of hope appears to him in the end. The song is sung by Miku and IA together, and is the only duet on the album. The guitar in particular is awesome in this song, and credit for it goes to Nakanishi, an awesome guitarist whose work appears in a lot of Vocaloid stuff. The song draws you in, gets you excited for the climax, and explodes into an awesome finale. It's incredibly well written, and there have been a ton of great covers of it. Ultimately, I like some human singers better than the Vocaloid duet of the original, but it's still very good. Check out the PV here.

12) シニガミレコード/Shinigami Record: A gentler piano piece to wind us down as we approach the end of the album, this is a sweet IA ballad to treat out ears nicely. It tells the story of Azami, a Medusa who is the grandmother of Mary. She lives alone in the woods and detests humans, but one day a man meets her and, over time, they fall in love and start a family. She realizes, however, that he will age and die long before her, which saddens her deeply. She uses her power to create a never ending world where her family can live with her, but fails to do so before her husband dies. She goes into her own world, along. It's quite tragic, but also very beautiful. The gentle piano works very well for this song, and it's quite cathartic to listen to.

13) カイエンパンザマスト/Kaien Panzermast: This is the outro of the album, and is a spoken word section much like Lost Time Prologue. It's about carrying out some sort of plan and meeting someone (check the translations out). I'm not sure who the voice is, but I'm pretty sure it's Ene/Kana Asumi again. It's a cool way to end the album.

  Final Thoughts

   Ultimately, Jin suffers from what I like to call "Bob Dylan Syndrome." He's an excellent songwriter and a stunning instrumentalist, but he just can't seem to consistently nail the vocals down well. A few great hits here and there are equally matched by some unfortunate missteps that occur along the way which drag the album down. Ultimately it's worth having for the sake of the extras, the story, and the good songs that are present, but I wouldn't call the album as a whole a masterpiece. It's of acceptable quality, but it's not great.

     6.5/10

REBOOT by ジミーサムP (JimmyThumb-P) feat. Hatsune Miku, Megurine Luka, Samune Jimi

      Overview

   I figured for my first review, I'd pick apart one of my favorites and give you a solid breakdown. This is "REBOOT" by JimmyThumb-P. You may also know him as OneRoom from some of his earlier work. The album first gained some notoriety when the PV for the titular song, ReBoot, was posted to Niconico. This was before the whole album came out, of course, but it sparked a lot of buzz. The PV depicted a sad story of a friend dying, separation, and ultimately redemption for Miku and Luka. Check it out here: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm19570813

  Anyway, I'll make some general statements about the album, and then I'll do a track-by-track breakdown. Overall, the album is a very relaxed listen. The music is generally pop/light rock, with songs alternating between Miku, Luka, and a few duos. The songs tend are generally excellent; JimmyThumb-P has a very distinct way of tuning the Vocaloids (especially Luka) that makes their voices sound very rich and full. There is also a nice variety of track types, from peppy guitar pieces to jazzy bossa nova numbers.

The first pressing of the album came with some really neat goodies. I got a replica of the star-shaped keychain the Jimi gives Miku and Luka in "Reboot," as well as an 18" x 28" poster of the album art. Both are quite lovely, and the kaychain especially is a great way to show your love for the album while hiding your power level. Other places gave exclusive extras, such as clear folders, those fake credit cards (what's the deal with those, anyway?), and tiny mousepads that don't seem to serve much function.

Now, onto the more in-depth breakdown:

  1) 第一日目の扉 : This is a simple little intro track in which we hear rain, followed by footsteps entering a barn. It would seem that the idea is to give the listener the impression that the album is either being played by a live band in a barn, or perhaps just the first complete song (which it blends directly into.) I'm not 100% sure how to translate that title, but it seems to be something along the lines of "Looking through the door of the first day." Please correct me if I'm wrong.

  2) 新世界セッション: The second track on the album is a peppy little number where we're introduced to the band. The title seems to translate to "First Session of the World." It's sung by Miku, and at one point she introduces us to everyone else: Luka on the bass guitar, Miku on the keyboard, Samune Jimi on the guitar, and Jimi again on the drums. "Samune Jimi" is the fake persona JimmyThumb-P uses to insert himself into the Vocaloid world (Sa-Mu-Ne-Ji-Mi, Ji-Mi-Sa-Mu, as in Jimmy Thumb. Get it? Samune Jimi actually functions as an UTAU which JimmyThumb-P created by recording his own voice, and she's unique to him). Anyway, it's a pleasant tune that really gets your feet tapping, and it builds a lot of anticipation for the rest of the album. The guitar is upbeat and fast, and Miku's singing/keyboard work is excellent. Luka's bass guitar lines a groovy as well.

  3) Reboot: The titular track of the album, Reboot is a back-and-forth duet between Miku and Luka. The song depicts the story of them being friends with a third girl - Samune Jimi- as children. Jimi gives Luka and Miku a pair of star-shaped charms which match her own, and they represent the bond the three of them share. After a childish fight Luka and Miku have, Jimi winds up running into the street to recover a lost charm and, in the lovably typical Japanese way, she gets hit by a truck and dies. Miku and Luka's friendship detriorates after that, and the sorrow of seeing this friendship end forces Jimi into limbo as a ghost. We see them get on with their lives until college. In college, Luka meets up with Miku again by chance, and chases her down as she tries to run in shock. They tearfully reunite, and while watching the stars, Jimi is finally able to move on. It's a beautiful song, and it's shock full of emotion to go with the PV. The singing is stellar, and the piano work particularly sticks out as being excellent. These two elements overshadow the other instrumentals in the song, however, but it's no so bad as they're clearly not the focus of the piece. (PV: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm19570813)

 4) PYX: A rockin' little number sung by Miku. The electric guitar, bass guitar, and drums are the focus of this song very clearly. They all play off each other excellently, and the song flows very well. My only complaint is that the song feel a little static; there's not a lot of dynamicism is volume or tone, and the song feels very similar from beginning to end. You could almost skip around to different parts of the song and not feel like you're missing much of anything. (PV: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm20738973)

 5) サンセット(Sunset): Sunset is a cute bossa nova song sung by Miku. It's very relaxing, and feature excellent classical guitar and flute work. The lyrics carry an optimistic message about casting off the things that trouble you and moving ahead with life. (PV: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm20864067)

 6) Lunarian: This song is a surreal instrumental piece that gives a sense of being gently wrapped in a comfortable space and floating around. It has wonderful synthesizer work, and features recording that seem to be coming from an astronaut as he looks down on Earth from space. They might be Apollo recordings, but I'm not sure. It's an awesome little interlude, and one of my favorite tracks on the album.

  7) 夢幻放射: This is a pop piece sung by Samune Jimi primarily featuring synthesizer work. It's very cutesy and bubbly, and the beat is fun to bob to. However, Miku's voice is interestingly tuned here: JimmyThumb-P turns the GEN factor wayyy down in the Vocaloid editor, causing Jimi's voice to take on a very wet and nasally sort of sound. I can't say I'm a huge fan of it, but I wouldn't go so far as to call it "bad." It's just not really my cup of tea; those of you who are really into higher-pitched cutesy songs might dig this one. My translator widget tells me that the song title means "Fantasy Emission," but I can't guarantee anything with it.

 8) Crossroad: This is a very relaxed piece sung by Miku, with the guitar and drums at the instrumental forefront. The chorus is very strong, and it sounds awesome to listen to. There's a sense of surreal reflection in this song, and it makes for a great introspective piece. One interesting thing at the end of the song is that, if you're listening with good equipment, you can pick up the sound of footsteps coming and going, which suggests the singer change for the next song.

 9) Joker: Finally, a Luka song! Here, Luka, sings a chill but slightly more upbeat song than many of the others that have come before. The crescendos of the song feel like they're meant to imbue a sense of hope, as they're accompanied by an appropriate rise in pitch. The guitar solo near the end is really cool too. Luka's vocal are very rich, and are wonderful for the eardrums. Definitely a great addition to the unfortunately small collection of awesome Luka songs out there (seriously Vocaloid community, use her more!)

10) Infinite Color: This is a poppy and cute tune sung by Miku again. Miku's voice is backed by synthesizers and a flute chiming in quietly on occasion. The song isn't bad, but honestly I find it a bit boring. Nothing really "happens" sonically: no crescendoes, no great solos, nothing too luring. There's a short breakdown to prepare you for the chorus, but it's not that good. The tuning is good, but the composition just isn't that interesting.

11) おやすみのうた (Oyasumi no Uta/Goodnight Song): This is a peaceful song that invokes its sleepy namesake quite well. Jimi's got that GEN factor down again, leading to that wet/nasally sound I mentioned earlier, but it's not quite as bad as before. Since this song is meant to be more soothing, it works better here. I think this track works quite well as a relaxing agent, and while it's not an album highlight, it's certainly nice.

12) Dreamscape: This one's a very mellow, very relaxing song sung by Luka. It fits, of course, that "Dreamscape" follows up "Goodnight Song," and JimmyThumb-P handles this so well it's unreal. Dreamscape invokes exactly what it says it will. It's a dreamy, calming song in which you feel like you're floating through the universe gently while holding hands with a lover. There's some cute Engrish in the song from Luka to tickle the eardrums, and the synthesizer backing her adds to the dreamscape. This is a great tune.

13) 水槽脳: Luka's taken over the album now! Here, we have a folkier sounding piece with the guitar taking over in the beginning. The soundscape expands after the intro into a wider set with drums and the bass guitar backing everything up. It's nice and chill, and it serves as a good "waking up" after the previous two songs. Nothing in particular really stands out about it, though I must praise the guitar solo for being nice. It makes a nice filler song to round out the album. The title means "Aquarium Brain," seemingly implying the image of a brain in a jar.

14) Mantra: "Mantra" is an instrumental like "Lunarian" was, and it's great. It starts out low and quiet, and as the song goes on it takes on life and energy. It wakes us up from the hypnotically calm state the last few songs put us in, and readies us for what comes next. Drums and guitar with delay pedals are featured here.

15) Afterglow: This is the big Luka song on this album, and it has a beautiful PV. The song is quiet and beautiful in the early stages of the song, and has an ethereal quality unique to JimmyThumb-P's tuning. However, around the 2:30 mark, the song explodes into a crescendo and picks up a huge amount of energy that just lifts your heart and soul into the heavens. It's awesome, and then that wonderful guitar of his kicks in and delivers a cool solo. The song finishes into a nice rest. The PV depicts a troubled painter and what happens to him after seeing a certain girl on the school roof. (PV: http://www.nicovideo.jp/watch/sm20244831)

16: Starduster (Orchestral Ver.): This is, as the title says, an orchestral remake of OneRoom's famous "Starduster." Honestly, I'm not that big of a fan of it. The instrumental work is lovely, but ultimately I find the song rather boring. The beauty of the first one is its emotional sadness as we feel Miku's pain. This one makes that feel more "ornamental," in a way where the song is more delicate and pretty than the original, but much of the original emotion is lost. If you're a huge fan of "Starduster" and love orchestral music you might dig it, but I like both of those things and I wasn't even that impressed.

  Final Remarks

       This album is very, very good. JimmyThumb-P has eked out a spot in the Vocaloid community all his own, and his unique tuning of the Vocaloids, excellent songwriting skills, and mastery of multiple instruments and styles make him a force to be contended with. Despite a few hiccups here and there that prevent the album from being perfect, I would say it's a must-own for any Vocaloid album collector.

   9/10