Tracklist

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Review: Perhaps it is the irreplaceable vocals of the singer, the repetitive structure of J-pop or the limited number of instruments in songs, that there seems to be a rather small collection of J-pop instrumental arrangements. Pure -Aquaplus Legend of Acoustics- is one of the few of its kind, setting the standard by showing that instrumental arrangements of songs may turn out so well that they not only match up to the vocals version, they may even surpass it.

Heart to Heart
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Of the many difficulties in creating an arrangement album, matching the level of expression of the singer through the instruments may be among the toughest. In this case, the problem is overcome with both the instrumentalists’ skill and also the arrangers’ knowledge of what works well with individual instruments. In a track like “Heart to Heart,” whose lyrics celebrate the joy and anticipation of meeting one’s friend, the feeling is brought out by having a somewhat lonely cello solo near the beginning joined by the warm melodies of the violins. The violins get plenty of fast measures which give listeners the image of petals dancing in the wind, bringing across the feeling of excitement expressed in the lyrics.

Each to Their Own Future
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However, there is yet another problem when arranging songs into instrumental tracks: the song’s repetitive melody line. With the vocals and lyrics to entertain listeners, repeating the chorus 3 times or more is not much of a problem, but for an arrangement album, it can spell disaster. The arrangers avoid this by either varying the instruments around or relying on the instrumentalist to express the music appropriately. In tracks like “Each to Their Own Future”, where the melody is only played by one instrument for whole stanzas, the structure is kept intentionally simple so the soloist can express the music the way he wants. In addition, the periodic switch from the flute to other instruments like the piano or guitar also help keep the piece varied.

For Eternity
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Pure also goes beyond just the basic woodwind and strings instruments. Taking “For Eternity” as an example, the composer correctly noticed that the melody line is rather Eastern, and uses the erhu for the main melody. The erhu possesses a much wider range than the voice, and it takes advantage of that to work in octave jumps used to bring out the feeling of resolve in the chorus. While the melody in this piece is solely taken by the erhu, the piece is far from bland as the background instruments helps direct one’s attention to the important bits.

Powder Snow
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And the final bonus for Pure is in getting Suara to provide the vocals for four of the tracks. Suara’s strong yet gentle voice goes together beautifully with the acoustic instruments. And because there is as much emphasis on the vocals as on the instruments, the level of expressiveness is just breathtaking. In “Powder Snow,” Suara brings out the beautiful season of winter, as well as the yearning for one’s love. Coupled with the gentle accompaniment of the piano, acoustic guitar and cello in the background, the whole track comes across as warm and serene.

While those are the reasons which explains why I like this album so much, they are by no means the only ones. Indeed, I doubt I’ll ever stop trying to analyse every bit of this album, because it is just so intriguing and beautiful. And finally, though a really unprofessional act on my side, bonus points for having such a pretty cover.

Rating: Excellent

Review: I’ve already made a comment on lelangir’s music blog regarding Yuki’s song from White Album and now that her character’s CD has been released, we are finally able to focus all of our attention on her performance from episode 13. As lelangir points out, “WHITE ALBUM” is a cheesy song, but it does a decent job of bringing about a calming, soothing effect that leaves the listener feeling pretty mellow by the time it ends. Part of that is due to Aya Hirano’s performance using a non-Haruhi voice (as lelangir points out yet again) to fit in with this piece’s overall comforting mood. There’s no doubt that it is a nice change from her usual fare even if the final product isn’t all too remarkable.

WHITE ALBUM:
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When it comes down to actively reviewing “WHITE ALBUM,” the process of doing so is difficult in the same vein that it’s difficult reviewing Suara’s “Maiochiru Yuki no You ni.” That is, there’s actually very little to describe here that can’t be summed up by saying that this song is very comforting and mellow, and that people who gravitate towards such tracks will enjoy it quite a bit. The song starts up with a feel-good pop backdrop provided by the keyboards and a light rhythm section that makes way for Aya Hirano’s entrance. As she sings, her tone is different in that is a lot mellower, thereby allowing her to subtly convey her feelings of contentment as she remains calm in spite of the travails that she sings about. The parts where the saxophone plays during the brief interludes complement the mood through the instrument’s timbre and together with Hirano, reassures the listeners that in spite of all the difficulties that exist, things will turn out all right in the end.

Although I’m not totally enamored with “WHITE ALBUM,” I will concede that its soothing effect will get me to listen to it once in awhile when I feel the need to be comforted. And if you were to look at this song and compare it to Hirano’s other performances, I’d say that it’s significantly better than some of her works that I’ve listened to most recently (“Unnamed World” and “Namida Namida Namida” if you must know).

Tsuiteru ne Notteru ne:
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Before I go into the second song on this album, let me disclose the fact that I have no personal experience with the 80s’ club scene. But in listening to “Tsuiteru ne Notteru ne,” I’d say that if I were to find myself in such a setting, I would expect to hear music that is in a similar vein to that song. “Tsuiteru ne Notteru ne” is a complete reversal of “WHITE ALBUM” in the way its tone and mood are presented. The opening lines come off as being more aggressive and dominating through its harsh dance beat that fits in with the club setting that I talked about earlier. Again, Aya Hirano’s voice complements the song by keeping pace with the beat and hitting the stresses as she sings the lyrics. The melody itself is also catchy in the way this song sticks in your mind, especially during the chorus section’s opening motive, making it a decent piece to listen to if you want a bit more variety out of listening to Aya Hirano.

Those of you who’ve talked to me know that I’ve dropped White Album for quite some time now, but if there’s anything this album did get me to do, it was to watch the segment in episode 13 in which Yuki (Aya Hirano) sings “WHITE ALBUM.” My thoughts on it remain unchanged in that it’s a pleasant, soothing pop melody with little substance to get in the way. The same can be said for “Tsuiteru ne Notteru ne.” I wasn’t initially particularly impressed with that track, but it did grow on me after awhile though not enough that I’d wholeheartedly recommend it. When it comes down to it, this album isn’t bad by any stretch. Its failing, if anything is that it’s just not particularly memorable through the long haul.

Rating: Decent