“Suteki Da Ne” is the vocal theme of Final Fantasy X and is sung by Rikki. The song is a ballad with a swaying beat, an absolutely fantastic violin solo (which actually differs from the OST version of the song, and in my opinion this version is far superior) and a completely unique vocal talent from Rikki. The vocals she provides are very high pitched and have a slight nasal effect, which is either good or bad depending on whether you like that or not, but apart from that, it’s a magnificent song, with a beautiful ending.
Normally, we are only treated to one new song on a single, but here Rikki pushes the boat out and gives us two!
“The Moon” is a song of Rikki’s, which is a piano, and vocal song. It’s very original in its concept, and if you like Rikki’s voice, you’ll adore this song, especially the chorus piece’s, which are very heartbreaking indeed. It’s an extremely timid and sad song, but has elegance to it as well.
“Pure Heart” is the big surprise here. With lyrics penned by Emiko Shiratori, the voice of Final Fantasy IX’s “Melodies Of life”, Rikki fronts a Celtic version of Final Fantasy VII Aeris’ Theme. Rikki’s voice either makes it or ruins it, depending on what you think of it when she goes ever so slightly off key at times. The rendition for me is a lovely adaptation of the theme. Surely other singles should be doing this to! To round of the album is the instrumental version of “Suteki Da Ne” which rounds of the album nicely.
To be fair, this is not going to be to everyone’s taste. Rikki’s voice is so distinct that if you don’t like it, you’ll be driven up the wall, but if it’s for you, then I suggest you snap this single up very quickly indeed as there are three fantastic songs here.
Eight years after its release cult singer songwriter Hannah Fury will be placing her début album “The Thing That Feels” out of print. The print run will end at the end of this month so if you are still wanting a copy of the quite astounding album you need to act fast. Downloads will still be available but still, a CD is always better! A review of her follow up full length album “Through the Gash” will follow next week to mark the event.
The Commodore 64 has such a huge fanbase of people whom grew up loving the tunes made on the little console that tribute bands pop up in all shapes and sizes. The most interesting to date I’ve found are a band called Visa Roster – an vocal ensemble of six extremely talented vocalists. Taking old theme songs from various games they have made a couple of albums of vocal arrangements. Their début on the field is “***Commodore 64*** Vocally”.
Qntal are hosts to this weeks Live Vault with fan favourite and one of the finest examples of how to do Gothic music without going over the top! Qntal’s “Maiden in the Mor” is a fantastic piece that builds and builds into its frenzied finale. New material may well be coming soon but nothings wrong with their old output at all! See the 
Back for their third outing, The Black Mages return with their stadium rock anthemic arrangements of Final Fantasy songs with “Darkness and Starlight”. The main change this time round is that there is a lot more keyboard work at play with the guitars and the interplay between them all makes it a real treat to listen to.
This weeks live vault comes from the live DVD released last year from world music queen Loreena Mckennitt entitled “Nights In the Alhambra”. The song is “Caravanserai” and the wonderful instruments coupled with Loreena’s magical timeless voice make for fantastic viewing. 
Cara Winter is coming back into the spotlight with the release of her new album “Peter and the Whale” so before we can buy that and get our hands on it, we shall take a look back at Cara’s début album “Butterfly”.
Completely missed by me (and news before the site was running) is that Lauren Hoffman will be a mum soon. Lauren is also in the studio again hopefully making a follow up to the fantastic “Choreography”. Congrats Ms Hoffman!
Vienna Teng’s blog posts indicate that her new album is coming together quite nicely. It looks to be perhaps a more heavier album too judging by her comments on how complex her songs are to perform and get right due to lots of chords! Song names mentioned are “Stray Italian Greyhound” and “Augustine”. Can’t wait!
Shiina Ringo celebrates 10 years of music and to mark the event she’s releasing several new items.
Natalie’s second album “White Lillies Album” is generally considered her most non-commercial and for that is to date her least successful of the three albums she’s released. That’s a shame as it contains some of the finest pop rock gems I’ve heard in years.
Tori Amos was meant to be having a year off but obviously not as out of the blue a 480 page comic book entitled “Comic Book Tattoo” which takes around 50 of her songs and puts them in a visual comic styled book! Neil Gaiman will provide an intro and Tori will be giving an afterword. It’s released on 23/07/08 with both hardback and paperback editions and a ltd edition too although what’s in that edition is unknown.
This weeks Live Vault is a powerful angry performance by Fiona Apple with the fantastic “Not About Love” which lets Fiona belly shout it all the way! Sassy, sexy, angry and you wouldn’t want to hit it head on in an alleyway – 
Congrats to Utada Hikaru whom crossed the 1 million mark with her 5th album “Heart Station” which is quite a huge feat given today’s music industry state and the fact downloads are taking a larger part of the market now. She still needs to actually sell another 150,000 plus too pass the million sales but if she does it, it’ll be first album for over two years to do so. Also her blog states she’s in the recording studio again – is it for a Japanese or English audience we wonder?
Aoi Teshima, the vocalist whom rose to fame by taking the lead female role in Studio Ghibli film “Tales From Earthsea” has a new album coming out soon. Entitled “Niji no Kashu” there will be a limited edition with a DVD containing two music videos. The press statement said the album contains bossa nova tracks which could prove very interesting. Watch this space as we’ll review her début album in the near future.
A hearty congratulations from Higher Plain Music to Charlotte Martin who has given birth to a baby boy named Ronen Joseph Andrews. At 8 pounds he’s looking a healthy boy and that’s what matters most. All the best Char Mar!
The Cocteau Twins burst onto the scene with their debut album “Garlands” way back in 1982. The 8 track record is both accurate and misguiding about what was to come. It features Elizabeth Fraser ‘s ethereal voice but the emphasis is just as much on the brooding guitars here than anything else. However what does definitely remain is the feeling of being somewhere not quite on Earth.
The Star Onions are three of our old composers from the Square stable: Kumi Tanioka, Naoshi Mizuta & Tsuyoshi Sekito joined with Hidenori Iwasaki. Together they create a semi bizarre, semi surreal and semi electronic acoustic group: The Star Onions. Taking various tracks from Final Fantasy XI (which Tanioka and Mizuta helped compose) they have released an arranged album called “Music From The Other Side of Vana’diel.
30 Years on and it still feels fresh, relevant and imaginative, Kate Bush’s début “The Kick Inside” is a CD that doesn’t fade with time.
This weeks Live Vault comes from the excellent Bat For Lashes with a non album song I’d not heard until I found this clip. Performed live on the Culture Show on the BBC, “Moon and Moon” is the only non-album track that I have found from this magical lady.
