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
