It seems like forever since I’ve written up anything related to the MALKeionbu (alternatively known as the MyAnimeList Music Piece of the Week Club), but I figured now that we’ve entered our 25th week of voting, there’s something special to be had in this moment. 25 represents a pretty significant psychological barrier, for me at least, because, let’s face it, keeping a weekly event running for 25 consecutive weeks with few hiccups along the way is a pretty huge feat. And for that, I’d like to thank all of those who’ve directly participated whether it’s in track nomination or voting, in making this such an awesome event.

This milestone also offers an excellent opportunity to look back on all the tracks that have come and gone. The weekly process of nominating 7-10 tracks for 25 consecutive weeks yields a whole hell of a lot of anime music of all styles and rhythms. We’ve gone from simple emotions like Love and Despair, scene depictions like Action and Cityscapes, works from a single composer, to examining music covering various styles (Funky/Groovy) and instruments used (Piano, Electric Guitar). The thing that blows my mind the most is the club members’ ability to come up with a pretty good set of tracks week after week and I’ve yet to go through a week where I didn’t learn something new or find some album or composer to check out. Then there are the discussions that result during the voting phase that have been enjoyable to take part in, because through that, you get a better understanding for people’s tastes and opinions which in turn, helps you appreciate the music more. So it’s been a great learning process through and through!

With that in mind, let’s turn to some of the pieces that really struck a chord with me in some way or other. For the purposes of this list, neither tracks that I’ve nominated nor tracks that I’ve heard extensively are eligible since a big part of what makes this club fun is the process of discovering new pieces. So here are my picks:

Week 2 – Love
Anime Title: Giniro no Kami no Agito
Track Title: Ai no Melody
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comments: Man, even after all this time, this piece refuses to get out of my playlist and the funny thing is that I didn’t even give it points when I had the opportunity to vote for it! And yet, this piece continues to grow on me. The more I listen, the more I notice the little things, like the way she sings the line, “Ai no melodyyyyy” (thanks to Omisyth for getting me to pay close attention to that part) that enhance the track and make it as beautiful as it is. It also got me to take a look at the soundtrack (composed by Taku Iwasaki) and that too, was a very nice experience all around.

Week 3 – Lost
Anime Title: Pokemon Heroes
Track Title: Search for the Girl
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comments: “Search for the Girl” grabbed me with a sense of energy and purpose that you can definitely hear through the music. Furthermore, the music makes for a good picker-upper because the the violin and accordion parts play really well together to create that sense of the grand adventure that works well on its own. What this piece manages to show is that Pokemon music need not suck and its quality virtually assures it a place in my playlist for a good long while.

Week 4 – Legendary
Anime Title: Gigantic Formula
Track Title: Main theme v.0
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comments: MAJESTIC! That’s what this track is. The way the track just crescendos in still leaves me in a state of awe every time I hear it, as it instills within me a sense of the story’s epic scope filled with struggles, tragedies, and triumphs. This piece also served as my first introduction to Hiroyuki Sawano and this introduction has been rewarding. The music from Gigantic Formula is gorgeous and I really liked his versatility in moving into rock in his compositions for Sengoku Basara.

Week 5 – Pop Vocals
Anime Title: Top wo Nerae! 2 Diebuster
Track Title: Groovin’ Magic
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comments: It’s really too catchy for its own good. I mean, ROUND TABLE’s music has always had this sweetness to it like the ARIA EDs, but this one just takes the cake. I’ll just blame the melody for having that catchiness that ingrains itself in so well in my head and never quite lets go. I’ve often found myself humming this song and not realizing that I am until about halfway through.

Oddly enough, half of the list comes from the first 5 weeks. I think a part of it has to do with the time span because these tracks have had more plays compared to some of the more recent stuff. Or maybe actually blogging it helps my memory a bit more than just posting my thoughts in the voting thread itself. Anyhow, let’s skip past a few weeks where we hit

Week 11 – Discovery
Anime Title: Someday’s Dreamers
Track Title: Where the Sky and the Earth Meet
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comment: The piece starts off quietly enough before it comes forth with a very beautiful piano melody. In listening to this, I just can’t help but be drawn in by its sweetness and the feeling of childhood innocence that it depicts through a very whimsical atmosphere that’s just somehow perfect in its execution. The fact that the melody carries a Celtic/Irish flavor is an added bonus since that’s not a quality that I see often in anime soundtracks and variety, in my book, is always a good thing. Also, this track opened my eyes to composer Takefumi Haketa whose compositions have been impressive overall.

Week 16 – Yoko Kanno
Anime Title: Brain Powered
Track Title: Spark
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comments: When I decided upon our first featured composer, Yoko Kanno was a natural pick since her works span many different types of shows and in general, they’ve been quite excellent. The tracks picked for that week were pretty good, but this gem proved to be a little different, starting with that discordant bit in the beginning which might very well have been a turn-off if one were to stop there. Listening further though, would yield quite a musical treat that mixes dissonance with the epic to really keep one off-guard in terms of what to expect, at least, until halfway through the track where it starts showing its true colors as a piece depicting some sort of an epic finale. It’s the unconventional Kanno that I really like here and this effort shows why she’s pretty much at the top of most people’s lists when they have to name anime composers.

Week 23 – Electric Guitar
Anime Title: Geneshaft
Track Title: IDENTIFICATION
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Comments: Omonomono had blogged about this particular week with the note that as far as anime soundtracks go, rock music doesn’t actually feature prominently in the BGM. Needless does manage to fill that gap (and I’m working on giving that soundtrack my full attention), but before Needless, there was Geneshaft. In “Identification,” no time is wasted as the piece dives into the melody while delivering on the action that this piece depicts. Through it, you can hear some pretty awesome riffs and distortions that really hold your attention and lend an air of intensity. If this is representative of what the rest of the soundtrack has to offer, I’ll certainly have to look into it!

So as we start the nomination process for Week 26 (dealing in badassery), I’ve also put up a survey to better gauge people’s backgrounds and how well the club is serving its purposes. We also have a slew of year-end activities to look forward to, mostly in putting together a compilation of the best tracks nominated this year, so definitely keep an eye out for that. Either way, here’s to another 6 months of awesome anime music!

Voting Thread

Two back to back Piece of the Week posts due to a fairly busy week. At least that’s my excuse anyhow.

The pieces this week give off a different vibe that isn’t quite in-your-face or emotionally charged, making it really hard to evaluate them properly and dispense with the points. Most of the pieces did a good job of adhering to the theme though because of the theme, most of the tracks are fairly melancholy or downright despondent. While I had been hoping for more of the adventurous kind of lost-ness, the despairing mood largely prevailed, resulting in the following tracks nominated:

Kanon – Shoujo no Ori
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This piece evokes that whole feel of being lost in a winterscape, which, given the source of the song, makes it really appropriate. While it does carry an emotional charge for most of the way through, I thought the motive gets repetitive and the only part where this becomes more interesting is around 0:42 where the mood becomes really somber as it dispenses with the aforementioned emotional charge. Unfortunately, that doesn’t last long enough to receive any major development and transitions back to the repeating motive shortly after. For those who have access to the Kanon/Air Piano Arrange Album “Re-feel”, I’d give that one a listen since it’s a much better rendition. This version gets a pass from me seeing that there are far better tracks this week.

Hidamari Sketch x365 – Shinmiri
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
“Shinmiri” has that lazy, drifting vibe that combines a sort of easygoing aimlessness as the subject is in a wonderful, dreamlike state. The introduction with the intonation brings out the aforementioned vibe, and if this piece were to consist entirely of that motive, it’d be plain boring. However, the solo violin around 0:35 marks a divergence that stands well on its own, and, when combined with the intonation and background instrumentation from the introduction, makes the piece a whole lot more enjoyable. This one deserves 1 point.

Pokemon Heroes – Search for the Girl
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Wow, this piece was certainly an eye-opener (ear-opener?) and though it may come from a somewhat maligned source, it still packs quite a punch through its mix of violin and accordion to create a sound that makes this piece stand apart from all of the other tracks in this week’s selection. There is an upbeatness that encourages the listener to seek out adventure and excitement in the beginning before transitioning into a flowing melody that brings forth more tension as the piece progresses. You can hear the atmosphere become more mournful as the feelings of loneliness and insecurity envelop the subject, but the way it keeps the listener engaged is what makes this piece truly shine, and listening to it felt like a shot of fresh air. Definitely deserving of 2 points.

Wolf’s Rain – Gravity
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
I’m not all too surprised to see this track make an appearance because I do consider it Maaya Sakamoto at her very best. Her ability to convey that sense of longing is superb and the melody itself packs a pretty strong emotional punch as it draws you in and takes you for a melancholy ride. Enjoyable all the way through, this one gets 2 points from me. The only complaint that I have is why we haven’t heard tracks that are as high caliber as this from Sakamoto as of late (“Triangular” was terrible).

Zettai Shounen – Ho
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This piece is probably the most despondent of the lot because of how strongly it emphasizes that feeling of loneliness, as though there’s a hole in your soul. While such moods can be very powerful, this track’s execution doesn’t quite hit the mark because of a lack of development in that despondent theme. It also doesn’t help that this piece is just too short for anything meaningful to come out of it. There’s potential for “Ho” to be much more, but we didn’t get it in this instance.

Soukyuu no Fafner -Dead Aggressor- – Doubt | Mayoi
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
“Doubt” is fairly similar to “Ho,” but it’s slightly better because of how well it uses dissonance to whip up an unsettling atmosphere that is similar to the feeling one gets in a forest after dark with no light sources to guide you through. While this piece isn’t going to be getting any points from me, it’s certainly more enjoyable even if it’s not remarkable.

Serial Experiments Lain – Signal of Loneliness
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
I really like the melancholy vibe that you get from the guitar work in this song which, on the whole, gives this piece a nice, folksy feeling as though you’re listening to someone singing this song while around a campfire as the moon shines brightly. The singer’s tendency to go off-tune helps contribute to this overall mood by sounding genuinely folksy. A few minor gripes that I had was the repetitiveness, especially the “ahh nani wo” which could have had their iterations reduced by one so as to not draw things out for too long. Save for that (and it’s a very minor issue that doesn’t detract from the overall enjoyability), this song is solid and only slightly loses out to the next piece on this list.

Paprika – Shizuku Ippai no Kioku
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
Looking back, it’s hard to believe that I disliked this piece. But that was back in the day when I had failed to appreciate the kind of vibe one gets out of the cacophony as chaos descends to reign supreme throughout this piece (and this movie for that matter). Having knowledge of the context in which this piece is heard helps a great deal because once you realize the nature of the parade, you’d be hard-pressed to come up with a piece that more accurately describes the surreal atmosphere. The deluge of visuals and sound that the parade scene throws at you does an excellent job of conveying the confusion really well, and by succeeding at getting me to feel really lost as I watched that film, this piece definitely deserves 1 point.

Casshern Sins – Memory Past
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This piece depicts the sense one gets from being lost by delivering it in a calm, quiet, and subtle track. The image I get while listening to this is that of a wanderer, a directionless soul who searches both within and without to find some sort of destination, but in spite of that effort, none materializes. It’s a poignant piece, but like a few tracks we’ve heard thus far, it feels too short. Had this been developed just a bit more, I could see it becoming a stellar track.

Bleach – Nothing Can Be Explained
[Audio clip: view full post to listen]
This piece is yet another pleasant surprise and I particularly like the way it manages to make you feel as though you’re in an alien environment through that discordant opening bit followed by the voice work which drifts in and out, as though it were a disembodied spirit trying to drive you insane with its echoing, ephemeral chatter. “Nothing can be Explained” executes the feeling of being lost really well as the vocals leave you feeling uneasy, as though you’re trapped in a landscape that’s so strange you have no clue where to even begin going in search of an escape route. I especially liked the use of the round, which emphasizes the element of lost-ness, making this yet another solid track, even if it loses out on getting point nods from me.

So there you have it! My point distribution can be found below. I think the theme of lost was a bit more difficult to find good pieces for, but the good thing is that there were a lot of tracks that stood out as being interesting and made for a nice listen all in all. I think that Week 4′s legendary theme will be a bit better as far as track quality goes, so I’ll definitely be looking to see what people come up with.

(+2) Pokemon Heroes – Search for the Girl
(+2) Wolf’s Rain – Gravity
(+1) Hidamari Sketch x365 – Shinmiri
(+1) Paprika – Shizuku Ippai no Kioku