An infectious jam session

I only recently got on to the LP bandwagon. Well, only really Your Song, again via U.Blog, which from my limited Love Psychedelico sample size, remains my favourite track. Still, there are any number of solid, laid back jam session tracks. It has all the common traits: catchy guitar riff, plenty of texture in the riff, snug backing vocals in the chorus, strong rhythm everywhere. So why Your Song in particular?

The vocalist is bilingual and really sounds like she has an english inflection in her japanese singing. While intriguing, it's only a point for novelty. The real answer, is this:



There's just something deal sealing about an awesome live performance. I've been sold on Hikki's Distance/Automatic work when she went Unplugged. Ditto FictionJunction YUUKA when they performed in a studio session. Basically the artists that have received the most play on Winamp are solid live performers.

This Budokan 2005 performance of Your Song features a sharper guitar, an extended solo section to close off the song, and the obvious enthusiasm of the audience. The vocalist sounds strained and nasal, especially after the first verse, but the song isn't really about her. It's a jam session, after all. Nor does her singing take anything away from the fact that the band is having a blast.

This isn't a song about perfection. It's about performance. And what a monstrous performance at that.

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FictionJunction YUUKA - circus album redux

I never mentioned which tracks I prefer. I had completely forgotten, actually, but the truth is I will prefer different styles at different times, much like most people. What I can say is, there are definitely some tracks I will only listen to on occasion, if at all.

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Kouya Ruten has really nothing to gain by the extension of the song. I would stick to the single version if I need an epic cowboy Japan dose. yorokobi is worth the occasional listen if only because it's eclectic, but the contrast is so strong it can be jarring. I think I made it somewhat clear that I'd be avoiding the likes of romanesque and angel gate, and rokugatsu ha kun no eien requires a very specific mindset, and specifics generally don't occur all the time.

At the moment, I like aikoi the more I listen to it. Yuuka's voice has a really nice punch in her accented attacks, in particular to bridge into the chorus. It's emphasized by the elimination of everything but the beat leading up to the accent, the synth interjection in sync with the accent, and then only the beat in the accent's aftermath. What results is a vocal and instrumental rimshot effect that's a staple of genres like big band jazz.

This is not earth-shattering in its originality, but it's been a while since I've heard this technique pulled off with such clarity. You may chalk that up to me not listening to much new music from any genre, so I have a limited sample size.

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FictionJunction YUUKA - circus album

Notes on the latest album from Yuki Kajiura and Yuuka Nanri follow. Some of the tracks I've commented on before, and have added the appropriate reference links.

I wrote these entries out of order, and it probably shows. As per Yuki Kajiura's style, there is a lot of overlap in the elements that get used. I've saved the most description for particularly stand-out tracks.

The executive summary: where Destination did not have many stand-out tracks in the new material, circus contains well-written songs that can and do stand out from each other. Another great vocal performance from Yuuka Nanri.

All romaji conversions performed by — what else? — Romaji Translator. Great little service.

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circus has a 3/4 bar division, a bit of trivia given the dominant 4/4 time that the vast majority of pop songs are written in. Given the moderate waltz tempo, appreciating all the vocal and instrumental layering is a breeze. The rich texture is not to be taken for granted. Yuuka doesn't get much solo time in this one, as choral lines seem to stalk her everywhere she goes. Fun and flighty.

Question: do those held cadences end on tonic and dominant only? I get the impression that there is a hollowing out of the chord due to a dropping of the third/mediant.

aikoi is oriental pop/electronic distortion fusion. The melody is instantly interesting because it uses a non-western scale, and it's in these moments I hang my head for recalling pushing only black keys on a piano to get a pentatonic scale and then saying that I'm playing Chinese music.

Violins and choral are present to add distortion and dissonance, enhancing the club atmosphere put forth by the heavy bass drum back beat. This is pretty good in its original form as club music, but definite re-mix material.

Silly-Go-Round [PV] is a strong classical rock track. When I say classical, I mean the introduction of classicist elements. There is Yuki Kajiura's trademark inclusion of floating choir in otherwise instrumental-only passages, for instance, and the use of old instruments such as acoustic piano and an oriental stringed instrument that I tend to lump into a generic er-hu category out of ignorance. While the er-hu is not a western classical instrument, it is nonetheless a nod to history.

One gets the sense that running, movement, is a strong theme in Silly-Go-Round. Tempo is a big factor, but movement is also generated by typical rock elements like strong back beat in the snare, as well as the flowing minor key melody in the verse section, with piano emphasizing the harmonic progression. Yuki, no doubt due to her operatic influences, writes a really tight recitative-like line as demonstrated in nowhere and other songs. Yuuka Nanri, meanwhile, delivers the necessary performance with precision and poise.

This is not an over the top performance. Composition, and the symbolism of history, keep this track grounded. There is rocking out, but something is held back for the sake of ornamentation. This is one of those tracks that I can loop for quite a while, enjoying the little details over and over again.

blessing is another 3/4 time track, and served as the Kouya Ruten single's b-side track. There is zero modern instrumentation, unless you want to count the accordion as relatively modern. This song has strong Nutcracker vibes and waltz vibes in general: very light texture, strong general emphasis on all beats of the measure in the chorus, almost march-like with the inclusion of snare and bass percussion.

Damn, why am I trying to conduct this in front of my computer monitor? I should stop.

Kouya Ruten [PV] I have commented on before, and don't really have anything to add. It's a solid, period inspired work, that sounds just a bit like from out of an old western (i.e. cowboy) movie. The album version is extended by an intro section before getting into the song proper, as well as an outro section.

yorokobi was disconcerting as I got lost trying to find the beat, having just come off 4/4 time. Yep, it's another 3/4 track. Incidentally, verse material is pulled from blessing to construct the chorus. Sleigh bells, electric guitar, drum kit, are used to brighten the previously delicate melody.

The verse melody itself is modal, and so contrast is generated in part by a transition from modal to tonal harmony. There is more movement and layering in this verse section compared to blessing's, the acoustic guitar making the most impact. There's nothing wrong with atmospheric east/west fusion, but I don't think it's for me.

hikaru sabaku is almost like the obligatory ever-sunny pop song embellished with Yuki's choral touch. I retract that, actually. Maybe it's more accurate to say that it's a healing song, like Christian rock, which I had the pleasure of listening to a couple weeks ago. Walking pace, lyrics written in quarter notes, up-lifting, strong harmonic progression and equally strong backing vocals. One would have to be pretty jaded not to feel something.

That said, is this just an easy play on the heartstrings? It's not the most original or compelling work, and this is not the first foray into this kind of music, Seiya being more to my liking. But hikaru sabaku sounds quite dignified, without understanding the lyrics.

romanesque [PV] suffers from sounding too long, even though something like Silly-Go-Round is longer in absolute terms. I was initially tricked into thinking that the opening section was the verse since, as previously noted, the arrangement is sparse enough that, without another section to reference against, it could pass for a verse section. Another reason was because it was quite long. This slight inversion of the typical song structure weirded me out at first, as the conclusion of the chorus naturally transitions into the contrasting verse section. Except, when you're expecting the chorus to be up next, the reality is rather jarring.

I suspect it's this tension that makes romanesqueappear to be longer than it is, which is good if you can latch on to a hook. I couldn't, as the melody and style aren't the kind of things that resonate with me.

I might sound inconsistent, and I am. I can't articulate why I kept thinking that the opening was the verse whereas for other songs, like blessing I could quickly recognize that it was opening with the chorus.

piano, trio for vocalist, piano, and cello. Chamber music on a Yuki Kajiura album? Not unexpected. Not unexpected at all. Being chamber music, it's kind of (just a tad?) to difficult to appreciate without having that kind of background. What is easier to appreciate, and therefore probably a more likely metric to be used by most people, is Yuuka's vocal performance.

On that front, her sudden transitions into the upper ends of her range are effortless. One of my friends has complained that her voice tends to have a nasal quality, especially in the upper register, but nasal timbre is greatly softened throughout the album. This song, whose arrangement leaves her much more exposed, is direct testament to that fact.

rokugatsu ha kun no eien is by far the slowest song of the album. Indeed, it's the only lounge ballad. Ballads are hard, the contemporary judge of vocal ability. Yuuka has no cover at all, with only the piano to keep her company. To get a ballad right takes a lot of power and dynamic range at both ends of a vocalist's register.

She's airy trying to get her dynamic range down, and her nasal timber is most noticeable in the chorus, when she tries to inject more power into her upper range. The moment she backs off towards the end, the nasal quality fades. Despite timbre troubles, she continues to be expressive.

The track is short, second only to piano, and Yuuka's singing time is even shorter. It's worth your while to listen at least a few times, if only to soak in the atmosphere. On that tack, here's an alternate look at the song that might account for some of my initial misgivings. I did say it was styled for the lounge, not for the concert hall. Is intimacy bordering on the edge of airiness in keeping with the style? Perhaps. It stills conflicts with what I usually hold to be good singing qualities. This is one of those songs that I have to be in the mood for before playing.

honoo no tobira [PV], meanwhile always puts me in a 1-3 mood.

angel gate is movie credit music: slow anthemic rock, doesn't really make much of an impression nor is it original, but hey— most people get up and leave when the credits roll. Is this listener's fatigue setting in? I don't think so, but angel gate's placement as the last track is kind of convenient, and does reinforce that image, desired or not.

circus is a much more consistent (in strength) and varied (in style) album than Destination. I like the majority of the new tracks, something that can't be said for Destination.

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FictionJunction YUUKA - Romanesque single

Yakusoku is dominantly rock styled with choral splashed in. In the middle break the same harmonic progression found in Honou no Tobira is present. Kind of cute. The chorus has a nice hook, but it doesn't make the song. Overall, Yakusoku is average for a FictionJunction YUUKA track, and I have to wonder if this and others suffer from the deliberate distortion at the mixing stage, eliminating any contrast by making everything loud.

The title track (yes, I'm too lazy to write about the tracks in the order that they appear) is also average. Latin influenced, accompaniment is moderate in terms of the number of instruments used, but it doesn't sound that way because of the texture provided by the guitar and percussion. Yuuka demonstrates good control (but this is a studio recording, after all) in dissonant and disjunct figures, but I don't find any hook in the melody to latch on to.

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In a 1-3 Mood

(Originally 16 December 2006)

Honoo no Tobira is old, but I've always been late to picking up anime-related music, although perhaps that is set to change with some more dedication. As usual, this has been a result of me bumbling around YouTube looking for FictionJunction YUUKA stuff. I had come across Honoo no Tobira about the same time as Nowhere and Seiya, but it's taken a while to grow on me, and it's not because of the video (although the C/M is pretty). Whatever complements what's in my head at the moment, I'll latch on to. Instead of describing what's currently in my head, let me describe the song's appeal.

Kajiura likes those Baroque rustic harmonies and scales (modes), and they've made appearances here, and in Akatsuki no Kuruma, probably Key of the Twilight, among others. They might not even be Baroque, but something older and from folk music as opposed to the church music that dominated the era. After a while the novelty wears off, but Honoo no Tobira keeps things interesting by putting a hard emphasis on beats and one and three. The immediate effect is that it's different - the lack of any back beat drive was enough for me to feel a bit off balance. Back beat is almost taken for granted most times, because it's got quite a bit of energy. Taking it away, you can't play as fast and loose, and the music moves towards a more structured outline.

It could be akin to an Allemande: 4/4 time, heavy accent on 1 and 3, moderate tempo and very dignified. It matches well with an atmosphere that has a healthy dollop of Baroque amid the more contemporary instruments and arrangement.

The 1-3 is the biggest draw for me. There isn't the drive that is typical of most contemporary pop music, but a drive that still exists. There are no breathers like in Kouya Routen. Coupled with the little flourishes and entries, like the bit of electric guitar that leads into the chorus and the flute line in the second verse, the song just steamrolls along like clockwork. Even when everyone drops out save for the piano and Yuuka, the intensity is sharpened instead of blunted.

The piece's final bridge brings back memories of Key of the Twilight. A chorus takes over the line as caller. Even though they are softer in volume, they compensate because they are, well, a chorus. And it's hard not to notice something that speaks softly and carries a big stick. Yuuka takes the response position. Solid balancing in this section.

Debussy being fed up with traditional concepts and structures of harmonic development, quipped to a friend at a concert, "Let's go — he's beginning to develop!" I, for one, welcome our new modulating overlords. The call and response develops into hints of counterpoint. The harmony only switches to two keys quickly (I have zero perfect pitching ability, so don't actually quote me on this) before going back for a codetta, but with the form, chorus, and arrangement, it packs some power.

I don't loop it all the time as it's not something I can just sort of shove into the background. I appreciate the sophistication and dignified stance so much I just zone out and bask in it all.

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FictionJunction YUUKA

(Originally 25 November 2006)

The thought of too much good music making me jaded briefly crossed my mind, but I chalk it up to having a short attention span. The past couple of weeks has been KOTOKO and various I've related music. My latest addiction, even though the bulk of it comes almost a year late, is the rediscovery of Yuki Kajiura.

I ought to point out for those who don't know, FictionJunction is Yuki Kajiura's solo project, almost like a corporate entity unto itself. When she collaborates with other singers, their given name appears after. The vocalist in this case is Yuuka Nanri (both names in Western order btw).

Interest really got into gear a couple days ago with Garten making a post about Kouya Routen. The full version of the PV is on YouTube. After the opening flourish with traditional stringed instruments, the percussion line that kicks in reminds me of traditional western cowboy music. Everything about it has good flow, although the breather of a mid-section is not to my liking. I like the intensity kept up throughout and the contrasting section is accomplished by dropping the tempo.

Since Yuki has an evident classical composition background, it's unsurprising that Yuuka is a talented singer. She's backed up by rich choral-like voicing (another Kajiura trait), prominent rhythmic lines and strings.

I seem to have a bad habit of forming addictions via YouTube, and I wound up developing another one by following the related video links. If you're just coming off Kouya Ruten, the breakneck tempo of nowhere hits you with that much more force, and Kouya Ruten isn't even that slow. Yuki's choral style never gets old, the short vocal motifs just push the piece along, ever insistent. Around the 43 second mark, when there is a bit of call and answer, Yuuka's answer is semi-detached in sync with the fast bass drum. The call, "any time, any place" is also semi-detached. The inflections in the words are what make the most of that effect in the whole song, and serve to drive the intensity.

I've heard Akatsuki no Kuruma (Wheel of Dawn) before, although I'm not sure why I have it kicking around since I don't watch Gundam Seed or GS Destiny. I'm quite fond of the heavier latin atmosphere in the acoustic version, though. I was very impressed with the studio performance, even if it wasn't the acoustic version. One studio performance led to another, of which there are three total. I'm most impressed with Seiya (Holy Night). Yuuka had trouble with pitching of the higher notes in Akatsuki, as well as voice timbre control, and Seiya has a better feel than Futari (not on YouTube). It is getting close to Christmas and all, and Seiya has a warm, intimate feel to it.

All of these studio performances took place last year, around the time the album Destination was released, so I've clearly missed the boat. Destination is itself a decent album, but of the previously unreleased material on there, Seiya is my favourite.

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