(東方♫) Touhou music: Latest albums discovered (Nov. 2024)
Been a while, again! It was time. Besides, we have an important milestone today.
+6 albums
Total album count in collection is now 702
Gallery of new album covers
Text list
- Amateras Records - NIGHT SKYWALKER
- Amateras Records - NIGHT SKYWALKER the instrumental
- Amateras Records & M.H.S - Harmony of Twice
- Amateras Records & M.H.S - Phase Transition
- Alstroemeria Records - NITE VERSIONS
- Rolling Contact - TRANSFINITE
- Rolling Contact - LOVE COLOUR
Highlights and thoughts
Finally, 700 albums! Still continuing on my Amateras Records discovery, with a couple of side shots on newer Rolling Contact albums and an old Alstro album I was surprised I didn't have. Harmony of Twice and Phase Transition are collab albums by Amateras Records & M.H.S. released in 2015 and 2016, and no Amateras collection would be complete without.
Amateras:
- NIGHT SKYWALKER and its instrumental could be considered compilation albums centered around the work of vocalist miko. Many tracks here have been featured in previous Amateras albums, and all of them feature her as the vocalist.
- Pleasantly surprised to hear 80s synth-pop instrumentation in ミ・ダ・ラ☆フォーリンラブ (Harmony of Twice Track 3). This is the kind of stuff you could fully imagine has its own PV or music video.
- The opening track to Phase Transition, Sing the LOVE, arranges Mokou's theme in a big, good, fast-paced, and very satisfying J-rock track with vocals by 築山さえ (Sae Tsukiyama). Very anime opening vibes, and I'm here for it.
- 大瀬良あい (Ai Ohsera) of Innocent Key delivers some of her best performance in Track 7 of Phase Transition, 徒桜, an arrange of Ghost Lead (Ten Desires). Guitars, organ, swing, and excellent vocals; what else could you ask for?
Alstroemeria:
- NITE VERSIONS opens with an electric piano and a pretty retro sound in its first track, Ghosty Eyes. I'm reminded of a much newer Arami-Tama track, maybe they had the same inspiration...
- Track 4 of NITE VERSIONS, BORDER OF LIFE, is an ethereal arrange of Border of Life. It makes me smile every time I hear it. Maybe there's a good reason for it...
- Track 9 of the same album, Noche de Alacranes, I was already familiar with thanks to its introduction in Cis-Trance's 100％東方カーニバル. Shockingly, both albums came out on the same day, meaning Masayoshi Minoshima effectively released the same track to two different albums at Reitaisai 3. An interesting approach, to say the least.
- The tenth and final track of NITE VERSIONS, Retrospective Kyoto, is an amazing sendoff. The first thing I imagined was a sort of homecoming feeling, then the scene solidified; I imagined the interior of a Japanese train while the sun slowly rises in the background, with Renko and Maribel as the only passengers in the train car. Some tracks are just perfect for stimulating little moments and scenes like this, and it's something Alstroemeria has always been good at.
Rolling Contact:
- All I needed was the first few seconds of TRANSFINITE's first track to pop a huge smile and go "Aww yeahhhh." I am absolutely back on my uplifting trance shit and I have zero shame.
- The whole album is a blend of progressive, uplifting, and vocal trance. Track 6. Deeper Feelings -Refix- is a slightly rearranged version of the same track from B/M Illustrator, but honestly it fits here.
- Track 7, Acid Digger, sounds like it would have been on a Psychedelic Shrine album, leaning closer to the dark trance side of the spectrum, though it is no less uplifting.
- LOVE COLOUR is Amane's first dedicated album to the relatively new-ish genre of Color Bass (or Colour Bass). Paradot introduced me to the genre in some of their Full Flavor arranges and I've heard Amane try their hand at it a few times, so having a whole album of it is quite a treat.
- Emotional Valley, Track 2 of the above-mentioned album, takes The Gensokyo The Gods Loved from Mountain of Faith and gives it the Colour Bass treatment alongside some traditional Japanese strings. It's intense and a perfect introduction to the genre for those unfamiliar with it.
- Legendary Harvester, Track 9, is an arrange of Minoriko's theme, Because Princess Inada is Scolding Me. It's shocking how well Mountain of Faith lends itself to the genre, and if I had to name a stand-out track on the album, it'd be this one. Stellar intro, powerful progression, explosive drops. It has it all.