good album. varied genre - you'd be surprised that the lead song Shirley!! was written by the meltdown guy, it's very idol pop.

iroha(sasaki)'s songwriting is unconstrained by the expectation in vocaloid music for songs to be short and punchy. these tracks have repeated verses, moderate BPMs, and extended instrumental breaks so that they feel smooth and relaxed even when the beat is energetic. less catchy than your average vocaloid song, but the vibe is very nice and i enjoy listening to them.

the second track グリート reminds me of mystery dungeon for some reason. i really enjoy the instrumental. my #2 favorite track.

#1 is, of course, sigh. i've loved that song ever since i saw the gorgeous PV. lovely strings complimented by rin's soft, warm voice, all tied together by iroha(sasaki)'s signature techno beats. naturally i bought the album just to own it.

would loop for several hours.

(back to top)

i got the version with maretu's bonus tracks. at 18 songs and almost an hour runtime, this album is a beast.

it's also loud - i turn down the volume when it comes on. that's not bad for a rock album, but it is striking. wouldn't recommend putting this in shuffle mixes.

in terms of musical content, this has the "kairiki bear writes 1 song" thing going on where a lot of the tracks melt together. it could have benefited from some cuts i think. that said, kairiki bear's signature style is pretty good. it hits right when you're in the mood for something heavy.

アイソワライ is my #1 track - it's instrumentally simpler, just guitar and some acoustic-sounding drums, in a way that's refreshing and stands out. really strong melody. i think the verse melody is reused in one of kairiki bear's later songs actually.

other standouts - there is a swing-beat track in the back half and i can't remember the name right now but it rocks.

maretu's additions are pretty good, and the transition into them is very smooth and satisfying. イナイイナイ依存症 is my favorite of the maretu tracks. good remix and i dig the miku+miku duet.

i don't loop this album crazy often, but it's a nice pick for a moody day.

(back to top)

what a nice minialbum from an up-and-coming artist! i was really pleased with it.

ro2noki's midi instrumentals are complemented by their songwriting style, and both are well-suited for UTAU engine noise. the sounds are hard-edged in a way that brings out the melody. these are highly catchy songs.

退廃的人生讃歌 is the song i bought the album for and man, what a great track. the minor key is filled with emotion here. the lyrics encapsulate the feeling of being a struggling young adult perfectly... very relatable.

one album-exclusive hidden gem is コントロール・オルト・デリート, a dreamy-feeling retro pop song featuring two soft, sweet UTAUs i'd never heard of. i guess it never became a single since it's a relatively simple song, just one main beat and a repetitive hook, but i love it - super cute and the vibes are impeccable.

this is an album with no bad songs, and every track contributes something new. the pacing is good and it's well suited for looping. that includes the ending soft ballad 僕を忘れてください which is impressive.

i listen to this all the time.

(back to top)

this album has so many iconic songs. dateken is the kind of producer who writes 12 great songs you love, but you don't know they're all written by the same person. seriously! think about the viewcount on honeymoon MMDs... dateken is underrated.

when you play this - immediately - ワンルーム・オール・ザット・ジャズ into 蜜月アン・ドゥ・トロワ into 彼方此方. when i heard that sequence for the first time, i felt like i had received a 16-hit combo. floored. i have loved all those songs for a long time.

also, i sing along to 54273 every time it comes on. (ten-five-four-two-eleeeven-three..~)

the path from smooth jazz to cute chiptune to traditional japanese to 80s retro-pop throughout the album is incredible. dateken has a wide range and writes great songs in all these genres. that said, since they are so different, the transition between each section is choppy. this isn't an album driven by one general idea.

the pace does drop in the back half of the album when the slow songs come on. i love the slow songs but it's a tangible change from the upbeat intro. sometimes i tune out. i think it's a skill issue.

for an album-exclusive closer, Drawing Palette -soul edit.- does not disappoint. it's incredibly warm and happy-sounding in a way that makes me want to smile and clap along always. a standout track that is just as good as dateken's most popular ones.

good album that i really dig. it's in my regular rotation as a mixup option.

(back to top)

this ia a "best of" album so, as you might expect, the songs are all solid. a fair blend of pop and rock.

the songwriting is about what you would expect from early-era vocaloid - it's less compressed than the 2min-style song that picked up popularity in newer eras. the energy is still upbeat throughout each song, and there are plenty of instrumental mixups and changes in pace so that you don't feel bored. some modern-era short songs don't have time to introduce that kind of variety.

this album has great production quality. noboru has given these tracks a remaster including re-rendered vocals in some cases. the only song i feel suffered for this is 鎖の少女 which has slightly worse tuning than the original (still an incredible song and one of my favorites).

songs i loved already going in were サヨナラ・グッバイ, 恋はきっと急上昇, and 鎖の少女, emotional and sweet pop songs that leave you feeling happy. ポジティブシンキング scratches the same itch. i heard it for the first time on this album and loved it immediately.

i was suprised by how much i liked the rock, too. somehow i had never heard ショットガン・ラヴァーズ and it goes hard. グッナイ･トゥナイ is a standout track that i've looped by itself a lot - i think it's one of those songs that got swallowed up in the 2012 era when so much other stuff was coming out, but well worth your time still.

a great all-arounder classics album with lots of good stuff.

(back to top)

these are two short EPs (5 songs combined) but i listen to them combined as one album. r+b-inspired kaito english tracks, all super charming.

not often that you hear this genre in vocaloid and sat does it well. the beats are good. the tuning is great - this is one of my favorite uses of kaito, and his V3 bank's softness complements every song.

the lyrics are quotable and hilarious and precious to me. "gimme a chance to talk drivel" i'm saying this all the time. "planets start a football game". "lots of bullets kiss me and i fall down to the bed". there are many mildly goofy lines that are so funny when juxtaposed with serious-feeling music and i love it so much.

you may have heard Reload Words at the '21 miku online concert. love that song, catchy and great. loops and loops, a light rap song with sampled drum beats and acoustic guitar melodies, is probably my favorite kaito song ever. s w i n g - b y is slow, moving, and beautifully romantic. it also has great mixing.

5 songs with a unique style that live in my head permanently. you should give them a shot, especially if you're a kaito fan.

(back to top)

a really solid showing from inabakumori. i'm a little surprised this is only their 2nd album since they have been around for a while. that said, worth the wait - these songs are fleshed out rhythmically, and inabakumori's work has had a slow grind towards polished production quality over the years.

the songwriting style here almost reminds me of wowaka/hitorie with the strong beats and quick instrumental riffs forming the core of the song. it's repetitive in a way i don't mind at all - the arrangement is dense and rich, and there are thoughtful mixups in the rhythm that keep me interested. that said i do sometimes wish the individual instruments stood out more. as it is, they blend together into a sort of overall heavy feeling.

inabakumori also has a talent for bringing out the best of the voicebanks they use. kaai yuki's huskiness perfectly suits his usual heavy rock style. where he switches it up to miku or maki, the new voice color really adds something to the song. i find myself with a greater appreciation for all the banks he uses. even when he pulls out an AI bank for ハルノ寂寞 - which i was stunned by - the percussive, snappy feeling of his tuning makes the song feel unmistakably and beautifully "vocal synthesis".

in terms of standout songs - the singles really shine here, ひみつの小学生 and ラグトレイン, massively famous for good reason. the bread and butter of this album. i hadn't heard either maki song before, and i really like them - mentioned one earlier but ポストシェルター as well. the only song i think is a little weaker is 天泣 since the parts in a major key didn't hit quite right to me.

overall, a very nice rock album that i've been looping for a couple weeks and will loop for a couple weeks more.

(back to top)