Now that I've finally settled into my work routine and figured out how to handle my personal time better, I've finally gotten the chance to finish this post up. It's long overdue and I apologize to the faithful readers who have been waiting for this! Reitaisai 13 is long done but maybe there will be an album or two on this recap that you may have missed! I always strive to listen to albums from circles that I've never heard of before, as they are usually the ones that surprise me. That has certainly been the case with this Reitaisai. Before the album impressions though, I want to say thanks to @medoart for the art commission. I wanted a drawing of Satori because I've been really enjoying her theme lately and there was a pretty sweet arrangement of Third Eye in one of the R13 albums. If you've been reading my reviews, you'd know which one! [Alstroemeria Records] - ULTRA DANCEHALL [EastNewSound] - Blind Emotion Halozy] - Lucky 7 I've already done a review on these three albums, so there's not much more to say about them here. For the review, see here. In the order listed above, 2/5 - Bad 4/5 - Good 5/5 - As good as it gets [Foxfactory] - マジカルティーカップ Another pretty good lounge styled album from Yuki Mizuhashi. As is the case with most of his albums, I still prefer his orchestral arrangements. However, the arrangement of Greenwich in the sky is really fun to listen to. 4/5 - Good [ALADDIN] - C.Experiment I only found out recently (and by recently, I mean during C90) that ALADDIN wasn't just Syrufit. It's Syrufit along with a few other members who do the instrumental and arrangement work. There's a semblance of Syrufit's old style in tracks 2 and 4 but the rest of the tracks are some sort of pop, rock, or mediocre edm. The sound quality REALLY sucks on this album. It's quite disappointing considering how much I praised Syrufit's mastering in the past. I can't just blame Syrufit because the recording quality of the instruments is terrible too. Just wtf is up with those crunchy guitars? At the very least, track 10 was pretty decent with its jazzy and calm feel. 2.5/5 - Mediocre [ShibayanRecords] - TOHO BOSSA NOVA 5 Yet another bossa nova album from Shibayan! I don't think the album was anything special but it's not bad in any way. I liked that there were two arrangements of Desire Drive on this album. Shibayan's favorite new theme confirmed? Normally I'd wish for Shibayan to make a new electronic album next event, but C90 has already come and gone. 3.5/5 - Decent [kimino-museum] - innocence -白水に映した透明の記憶- Kimino-museum's return is much welcome to the doujin world. Although this wasn't the full album that I was hoping for, at least there were a few new arrangements. They seem to have kept their old style, which was a relief. There just isn't enough good touhou rock out there nowadays. And no, ALADDIN doesn't count!!! 4/5 - Good [Frozen Starfall] - PROMISED DANCEFLOOR There's not much more to be said about PROMISED DANCEFLOOR aside from what I've already said in my full review here. It's easily my favorite album of Reitaisai 13 and one of the contenders for favorite album of the year. I never would have imagined that I would have enjoyed German vocals so much with Touhou music. I'll be counting on Babbe to keep on creating good electronic arrangements in the future! After listening to all of Babbe's older music as Babbe Music, Babbe as Frozen Starfall has shown a lot of improvements. He and his vocalists have come such a long way and I just want to keep supporting them however I can. Almost all of his older works as Babbe Music is available for free on bandcamp. If you want to show them your support, you can buy their albums on their current Frozen Starfall bandcamp here or buy the physical cds from BuyDoujin.com. 5/5 - As good as it gets [CROW'SCLAW] - Seven Wonders Of The Lotus Land Good ol' Taka and his instrumental-only touhou albums. If you like that stuff, then you'll probably enjoy this album. As for myself, I didn't find it particularly special. However, the only albums that I've only been interested in from Taka are those with vocals in it. 3.5/ - Decent [Foxtail-Grass Studio] - かぜがたり。 Tokikake Aeolia pt. 2, 'nuff said. Yup, this is the great stuff that I've always expected out of FGS. Instrumental/Folk Touhou at its best. 5/5 - As good as it gets [xi-on] - Piano Forte -ピアノフォルテ- Interestingly enough, xi-on attempts to make piano arrangements this Reitaisai and they've turned out pretty good. If you're tired of listening to Marasy (who isn't at this point?), then xi-on's Piano Forte will satisfy your solo piano needs. 4.5 - Excellent [tomato gummy] - CREVICE CREVICE is tomato gummy's first touhou arrangement album I believe. While the album overall is pretty good, it was easily overshadowed by the next album coming up. 4/5 - Good [Baguettes Ensemble] - Toho Jazz Sessions type SPB2 Wow! This album really took me by surprise. The sound quality isn't what you'd expect out of a doujin album at all. It sounds like it was professionally recorded and mastered! As the name and cover art implies, it is a jazz album consisting of a saxophone, piano, and bass trio. As with the sound quality, the arrangements and performance are really top notch here. I enjoyed both the laid back and faster pieces on the album. Track #4, The smiles of fortune, took the spotlight for me on this album. If you're a bossa nova fan, you'll recognize the melody around 1:50-1:58. I knew that I've heard the melody before but I didn't know the name of the song. It took me a while to figure it out, but it's actually Samba De Vaoro (Summer Samba)! I think there are probably more easter eggs like this in the other tracks or perhaps on other bossa nova touhou albums. I wouldn't be surprised. Albums with both great arrangements and sound quality are hard to come by in the doujin world, but Baguettes Ensemble really pulled it off. This has been the first album that I've heard from them, but I'll be sure to check out their older albums. 5/5 - As good as it gets The two newly discovered circles, Frozen Starfall and Baguettes Ensemble, are definitely two circles to look out for in the future and in the past. They both have works from older events that are certainly worth checking out. For now, PROMISED DANCEFLOOR and Toho Jazz Sessions type SPB2 take the spots for my favorite two albums of the event. The next two favorites are from FGS and Halozy, both very old and returning circles.
So its been a good Reitaisai, wouldn't you agree? Even though the next Reitaisai won't be coming for a while, Winter Comiket will be coming in about 2 months. Of course, I didn't forget about Comiket 90. I've been listening to a ton of albums from C90 while commuting on the train and sometimes during work. I think I've pretty much gone through almost everything that I've wanted to listen to so I'll be able to work on that post soon. Until then, enjoy the great R13 releases and see you guys around on FB/Twitter!
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Welcome to The Emotional Skyscraper, a blog for touhou/doujin music recommendations, games, visual novels, and other otaku related oddities.
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Games: Atelier Escha & Logy Anime: None Emoskyis a full time otaku & audiophile who enjoys listening to Touhou music, playing doujin games, and reading visual novels. For more information, visit the About page. Categories
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