I've been meaning to post this for a long time, but I kinda forgotten all about it until just now.
So, lately I've been listening to pretty much Touhou arrangement, listening to practically nothing else (well, nothing new anyway - besides the arrangements, I've been going through some older stuff that I've kept in my hard disc as well).
And when it comes to Touhou arrangement - as with the other music that I listen to - I have a rather unsophisticated taste, which you would see in a short while:
My favourite type of Touhou arrangements would, without a doubt, be the metal/rock arrangements. The circles that do these arrangement that I listen to extensively would be CROW'SCLAW, ~xi-on~, Iron Attack!, and Unlucky Morpheus.
I've only started to listen to demetori and UI-70, and I'm pretty impressed with what I hear so far. There are other circles that I listen to a few of their albums (C-CLAYS, MyonMyon, Magnum Opus) although I haven't checked beyond their first few albums (they're still sitting in my backlog at the moment).
But, here's a thing: I do have a bit of complaint about some of the arrangements.
One of the thing that I'd nitpick on the circles that do these kind of covers - despite me having an affinity for the genre - is... a few type of arrangement done by circles of this genre. I don't really mind the long guitar solo or anything - what do you expect from these kind of arrangements in the first place? - but some of the electronic-like sound that is placed by some of the circles doesn't sit too well with me.
I don't really know how to further elaborate on that, so let me give you some examples instead:
So what is it about these two arrangements that I don't quite like? Maybe it's the synthesizer, but I can't really say for sure. I mean, if you wanted to say that it's the guitar, they're not too different from the other circles that I listen to. It's not to say that I don't like the other arrangements by these two circles (I have listened to a few of their albums), but it's only these kind of arrangement that I don't find too interesting.
Anyway, the rambling aside, metal/rock arrangements are the best, YEAHHHHHHHHH!
I have a shitty taste in music, I know
When I'm not into metal/rock, and feeling a bit sophisticated (but not much), Touhou vocal arrangement is the next best kind of arrangements to me. Yellow Zebra, SYNC.ART'S and TaNaBaTa are up there in my list when it comes to this type of arrangement. I just started listening to Buta Otome and forestpireo at the moment; the second circle is just all right - I'd still check their later albums - but I'm expecting more good stuff from Buta Otome.
And of course, you can't forget the famous names such as IOSYS, Silver Forest and Sound Holic, although I don't actually check too much of their works (especially Silver Forest - I have only 2 albums off them).
Vocal arrangements are kinda tricky - since my knowledge of Nippon-go is very small, I'd rely on the voices, rather than the lyrics themselves.
I'm not usually too fussy about the music, but for some reason, I don't quite like vocals that go along techno or electronic music (especially the dance music; see the above example) - I prefer it when the vocals are not overwhelmed by the music, I guess. Also, I don't really mind if the vocal is cute or anything, although I actually prefer the more mature vocals (I'm talking about the the female singers by the way - not that I've heard too much male Touhou vocals in the first place...)
I think it's quite funny to see me listening to a metal arrangement at one moment, and switching to some cute girl's singing on the next. Yeah I'm a faggot hahaha
So, with all that is being said: to those who have extensively listened to Touhou arrangements, any similar circles to the one being mentioned up there in my list which you would recommend?
Or, come to that, does anyone have any other good circles that do Touhou arrangements which I should check out? They don't necessarily have to fit the rock/metal and vocal arrangement - as long as they're good, I'm all ears.
Right now, I'm itching to fill up my hard disc with more Touhou music - drop some suggestions in the comment section if you have some~
can pretty much say i only listen to touhou music, even my alarm is Maiden's Illusionary Funeral-Necrofantasy, high pitch and sharp, absolutely annoying as alarm XD
ReplyDeletemostly, i didnt really focus on circles, but i do enjoy Alstromeria Records vocals.and aside from that, Koumajou's vocals, (I WANT FULL VERSION OF AFRAID!!!)
in a way, i sticks with Zun's games original, especially from hisoutensoku
I have OCD when it comes to tagging music, so I don't listen to as much of this music that I would like. I don't know if I should tag the music after the band/circle or the person(s). And almost always when I download something the tags are a clusterfuck of various signs instead of Japanese characters. Anyway, I listen mostly to Demetori, IRON ATTACK!, CROW'SCLAW and UI-70. I also like orchestrations and classical arrangements.
ReplyDeleteAnother thing I don't like is when some circles have several arrangements of the same song and always uses its original name.
>listening to a metal arrangement at one moment, and switching to some cute girl's singing on the next.
I can go from listening to raw black metal to overly cute j-pop several times a day. ;_;
I'm not that much into vocals myself too because, when I listen to music even in english I pick up the music first and forget the lyrics.
ReplyDeleteDon't worry, I have shit taste in music as well.
ReplyDelete>Anyway, I listen mostly to Demetori, IRON ATTACK!, CROW'SCLAW and UI-70. I also like orchestrations and classical arrangements.
I'm more or less in the same boat as Link.
I'm not that fond of vocals in general, but I usually like them when it's in slow or sad music.
>MyonMyon
Awesome. Have you listened to "The Grimoire Of Alice" album by Pizuya's Cell x MyonMyon yet? I loved that album, particularly the Meteralice and Romantic Children tracks.
Everyone has a shit taste in music.
ReplyDeleteI've been listening to a lot of trance and electronic arrangements lately, I'd say they're probably my favorite. The kind of stuff you like is fine too, though.
I don't mind vocals at all. I disagree with you when it comes to hating vocals in dance songs. In those songs, I just think of them as another "instrument."
Though Touhou music does not comprise everything I listen to, either.
@ZoiDiecT: I have only listened to one Alstromedia Records song (I think you know which one, heh).
ReplyDeleteAnd of course, the originals are good in itself too.
@Link: Hmm, maybe demetori and UI-70 will eventually make it to my most-frequently listened list, since I'm impressed with their first album. I'm expecting more good stuff from them.
Haha, guess we're just awesome like that, eh?
@MixedNuts: I'm more of an instrumental person myself, tho sometimes I like a bit of vocals instead of wholesome instrumental.
@Cpt: I haven't listened to that album, tho I plan to go through the rest of MyonMyon's works after I'm done browsing through demetori and UI-70.
@HHH: I don't actually totally hate those kind of arrangements: sometimes I don't like them, and sometimes I think they're awesome. Well, to each his own I guess.
>I have a shitty taste in music, I know
ReplyDeleteNo you don't, I listen to everything you posted. Then again, I'd also tell others that my tastes are bad. I pretty much just like stuff from a huge range of genre, and have a huge music backlog I'll never finish of Touhou arranges and such.
@Kirari: Haha I think the ones who claim that they have good music taste are probably the ones with bad music taste.
ReplyDeleteYeah, I know too well about having a huge backlog of music...