Archive for December, 2008

Higher Plain Music’s Top 10 Music Releases of 2008

{ December 19, 2008 @ 4:22 pm } · { acoustic, alternative, ambient, ballad, band, charts, dance, electro pop, folk, indie, j-pop, j-rock, music, music awards, news, opinions, orchestral, piano, piano rock, pop, singer songwriter, VGM, world music }
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Well in the previous post we told you what we’d bought, now its time for our top 10 countdown. There were some excellent releases this year although we’ve bought less compared to 2007, however there wasn’t one release we did not like so everyone’s a winner (except the bank account). So without further ado:

10) Ayumi Hamasaki – GUILTY

Ayu went all rock for this years album and we head banged with her. With guitar riffs popping out your years and cute verses inbetween, who couldn’t love GUILTY. Standouts are Talkin 2 Myself, GUILTY, Marionette, Together When & Mirror.

09) Son Lux – At War with Walls and Mazes

Our first of two new artists we found this year in the top 10, we were hooked by the unique nature and cold music that made us emotional inside. We look foward to more and more from Son Lux. Highlights are Break, Weapon, Wither, Tell & War.

08) Yasunori Mitsuda – Soma Bringer OST

We must confess that the reason this is 8th and maybe not higher is due to the fact we’ve not spent enough time with it but Mitsuda always produces stunning etheral and mystical albums and we love them and the soundtrack is that good we couldn’t decide our top 5. A review will be coming early next year.

07) Sarah Slean – The Baroness

Possibly the highest charting disappointment for 2008, we felt the production and song’s were a little bland but bland for Sarah is still fantastic and in time we grew to love the album. Definitely a grower. Stand outs are Euphoria, Notes From the Underground, So Many Miles, Sound of Water/Change Your Mind & Get Home.

06) Wataru Hokoyama – Afrika OST

We only reviewed it last week but it’s that good it rockets in at No.6. The lush soundscapes and beautiful melodies earn it a place as one of best orchestral VGM soundtracks in recent memory. Stand outs are Savanna, Afrika, Safari, Big Five & Base Camp

05) Akira Yamaoka – Silent Hill Zero OST

While the games may get a bit of bashing for sticking with the same formula, Akira Yamaoka delivers another serving of empty, sorrowful, eerie ambience that makes you shiver, squirm and tap your feet all at the same time. Not as immediate as some of the other soundtracks he’s done, the songs gradually fester. Stand outs are Hole in the Sky, Theme of Sabre Dance, Drowning, This Wicked End & Wrong is Right

04) Julia Marcell – It Might Like You

A complete new artist for us to discover, we loved her debut album in all its demo-esque glory and look forward to enjoying her work in the years to come. Stand outs are Carousel, Outer Space, Fear of Flying, Dancer & The Story.

03) Emiliana Torrini – Me & Armini

Completely genre hopping – being barking mad in places while utterly devastingly beautiful in others, no one can master everything all at once quite like Emiliana. Good to have you back! Stand Outs are Jungle Drum, Dead Duck, Beggar’s Prayer, Gun & Birds.

02) Alanis Morissette – Flavors of Entanglement

We had been just passers by for Alanis until this album came out. Infectious, technically excellent, emotionally charged and completely compelling, this has quickly become our English album for 2008. Stand outs: Straitjacket, Tapes, Not as We, Limbo No More and Orchid

01) Utada Hikaru – Heart Station

Utada has yet to make a duff record and this, her fifth Japanese album (sixth overall) continues to show her as a natural talent. Stand out tracks are Stay Gold, Heart Station, Beautiful World, Take 5 & the bitter sweet finale Niji-iro Bus.

Congrats to Utada Hikaru!

Higher Plain Music’s Bought Albums That Were Released in 2008

{ December 19, 2008 @ 3:28 pm } · { music }
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I thought it’d be of interest to list all the albums released this year that this website has bought… and so here it is:

Afrika OST
Alanis Morissette – Flavours of Entanglement (Deluxe)
Aoi Teshima – Songs of the Rainbow
Aoi Teshima – The Rose ~ I Love Cinema’s~
Ar Tonelico – The Girl Who Sings at the End of the World OST
Ayumi Hamasaki – Guilty
Black Mages – Darkness and Starlight
Cara Winter – Peter and the Whale
Chitose Hajime – Cassini
Chocobo’s Mysterious Dungeon: Labyrinth of Forgotten Time OST
Cistercian Monks of Stift Heiligenkruez – Chant
Devil May Cry 4 OST
Disgaea 3 Arrange Trax
Echochrome OST
Emiliana Torrini – Me and Armini
Eurovision Song Contest 2008
Faun – Faun and the Pagan Folk Festival Live 2007
Final Fantasy Remix
Final Fantasy XI Piano Collections
Final FAntasy XI Wings of a Goddess
Goldfrapp – Seventh Tree
Hyper Games Music Event 2007 The Live Album Vol 1
Ladytron – Velocifero
Lo Cowell – I Um…
Jo Gabriel – Fools & Orphans
Julia Marcell – It Might Like You
Lost Season 3 OST
Lumines II remixes
Mana Khemia 2 OST
Metal Gear Solid 4 OST
Mia Doi Todd – Gea
Motoi Sakuraba – Forest of Glass
Nights journey into dreams ost
Persona 4 OST
Project Soul Boxset
Reitou Kizakura & Rekka Katakiri – Inori No Shizuku
Rockman 9 The Ambitions Revivial OST
Sarah Slean – The Baroness
Shiina Ringo – Watashi to Houden
Sigur Ros – With a Buzz in Our Ears We Play Endlessly
Silent Hill Zero OST
Soma Bringer OST
Son Lux – At War With Walls and Mazes
Tenchu 4 OST
Tori Amos – Live at Montreaux
Utada Hikaru – Heart Station
Utada Hikaru – Heart Station/Stay Gold

I think its time for a VGM binge buy for early 2009!

Takayuki Nakamura – “Lumines II Remixes” Review

{ December 18, 2008 @ 12:29 am } · { composer, dance, electro pop, music, remix, techno, trance, VGM }
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Lumines, the excellent and addictive puzzler for PSP and PS2 has had some excellent music as a core part of its game play. Series sound leader Takayumi Nakamura has released a few albums of the music and now its time for Lumines II Remixes.

Opening with the serene “Cuckoo Clock”, telephone dials, electric piano and clock chimes are integrated into break beats that roll off your tongue. It’s a very well choreographed piece and one that sets you nicely into the world of Lumines.
“T.S.L.” is more electronic in its sound but with a slower beat. Using weird percussive drips and some grizzly keyboard samples, everything is always smoothed over with some spacious keypads that calm down the harshness of the rest of the song. The production is great and the sense of endless troubles are always in the background in this track.

“You are not here.” takes a more rockier route with a dance beat used as a base for the song. Guitar samples are used to create effect and the song feels like its constantly growing and evolving while staying very simple at its heart. Despite being simple in its chords it never becomes repetitive. “HIKARU Frame Work” is the longest track on the album and is one of the more abstract too. With a garage beat and computerised voice samples layered over a minimal keyboard piece, this isn’t a favourite of mine as it has no real hook to pull you in but it’s certainly not unpleasant. “The Mission to the Moon.” in contrast has a great bass line. Add to that brite piano, ethereal keyboards and some fast tabla’s and you have a killer track.

“Mental Gymnastics” kicks off the second half of the album to a tick tocking beat which is fun but the use of some awful computer generated voices hampers the track a little while the the actual melody isn’t too bad. “So that someone may visit you.” takes industrial noises and turns them into percussive and raucous noises. That then fades off to give you a slow moving high tension, slightly darkened piece that’s very enjoyable. It’s all in the chords that just work very well.

“Hometown” however is the album’s most straightforward and fun track. Taking an almost celtic feel, it synthesises an Irish jig and really goes for it. The main hook is excellent and the whole thing just feel fun to listen to. A classic. “Manager Class” is back to the darker tones with plenty of changes of sounds throughout keeping the track nice and fresh.

“Machine Interface” starts off the final trio with some heavy drum loops forcing through the twinkling keyboard riffs. Here though its more like a freelance piece which needed to be reigned in a little. “xop” is more up-tempo and furious but actually is ten times more cohesive. It’s a much better track and gives the album a much needed killer stomper song. Finally “Inheritance” closes with a funky jazzy bass line over some nice drum fills over a relatively forgettable melody.

Lumines II Remixes is a very hard album to write on. It’s probably too subtle for its own good. The melodies are designed to seamlessly flow and be unobtrusive but the problem with that is that there’s no hook to listen and enjoy. It’s more like dance ambience. If you think that will suit you, you’ll be right at home, but I found I enjoyed the Winter Remix album more as it has more melody.

Video Vault – Sarah Slean

{ December 17, 2008 @ 2:48 pm } · { alternative, indie, music, music video, piano, piano rock, singer songwriter, video vault }
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This weeks video vault comes from Sarah Slean and the song Day One which I didn’t even know there was a video for until about 5 minutes ago! It’s done in the same style as the artwork and the Mary video but its colourful and fun to watch. Have a peek here.

Live Vault – Julia Marcell

{ December 17, 2008 @ 2:42 pm } · { alternative, indie, live music, live vault, piano, piano rock, singer songwriter }
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Continuing Julia Marcell’s intro this week is an original band performance of the excellent “Outer Space”. The sound qualities not great but its a fab performance. You can play along here.

Julia Marcell – It Might Like You Review

{ December 15, 2008 @ 9:48 pm } · { alternative, indie, piano, review, singer songwriter }
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I was fortunate to recieve Julia Marcell’s debut album “It Might Like You” from my sources since I’d never heard of the singer/songwriter from Poland before. My goodness was I in for a treat! As the first artist to have a release care of sellaband.com she had a big set of shoes to fill and fill them she does with this piano laden trinket.

Starting with “Put Your Headphones On” you are treated to a short introductory ambience piece before “Outer Space” crawls upon you with infectious piano riffs and dramatic strings sections in the choruses. Julia’s voice has a certain twang to it that is both wise and intimate. This song pounds towards you and introduces you to the little quirks in Marcell’s songwriting that sets her apart from many others.

“The Story” is all about its tension in its plucking and harpooning string arrangements that juxtaposes the whispery performance of Julia’s vocals that gradually builds to its grand climax – a fantastic song. “Married to Life” is a more poppier song after its long introduction. It’s like a happy Disney number that’s having a mid life crisis. The production here (which is the same throughout) stands out on this track as it sounds almost like everything’s been recorded live in one take – one song after the other. It could annoy you as you can hear creaks and pops from the floor and piano but it also can sound like a concert performed just for you.

“Billy Elliot” is probably the most single-esque track with its percussion and uplifting tune. Its beauty is in its simplicity. “Dancer” however eclipses it completely with a perfect waltz song that really showcases all of Julia’s bucketloads of talent. If you’re looking to sample her music, this is a perfect starting place as it represents all her album in one track.

“Side Effects of Growing Up” is a strange track with some fun lyrics but it may have been better given say a Vanessa Carlton feel – it would have really been a big hit. It’s not that its not a great track, its just that its the most straightforward track in terms of chords and song structure yet its got the most non-commerical arrangement.
“Words Won’t Save You” is another tense track using piano and string intertwined to create a beautiful soundscape for Julia to cement in however “Carousel” is the most gorgeous track on the album. Julia’s piano playing is exceptional with an endless melody of swirling keys and some memorable sections that are world class. A definate favourite.

The album then closes with the excellent “Fear of Flying” which has the best freakout of the album along with the best pizzacato string riff I’ve heard for a long while and “Night of the Living Dead” which is euphoric and triumphant and marks a definate shift in the overall feel of the album.

Julia Marcell really bursts onto the music scene with this debut major release. She has a lovely voice, interesting artistic flair and some killer hooks in her songs. What’s not to love?

Vienna Teng – Inland Territory – New Album

{ December 15, 2008 @ 3:21 pm } · { alternative, indie, music, news, piano, piano rock, release dates, singer songwriter }
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Vienna Teng’s 4th album is entitled “Inland Territory” and will be released on the 7th of April 2009. Let the excitement begin!

This looks set to be a darker album than Dreaming Through the Noise covering themes such as suicide bombers and illegal immigrants. Also a full orchestra, horn sections, whirlitzers and sandpaper are featured. The full tracklist is below:

1. The Last Snowfall
2. White Light
3. Antebellum
4. Kansas
5. In Another Life
6. Grandmother Song
7. Stray Italian Greyhound
8. Augustine
9. No Gringo
10. Watershed
11. Radio
12. St. Stephen’s Cross

Wataru Hokoyama – Afrika OST Review

{ December 12, 2008 @ 12:12 pm } · { classical, composer, orchestral, review, VGM }
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Afrika, the Safari game for PlayStation 3 (which desperately needs releasing over in the Western World please), finally has its soundtrack released on a two disc set. Disc 1 is the soundtrack while a bonus DVD has a few trailers and behind the scenes bits on it. The soundtrack is composed by Wataru Hokoyama.

The soundtrack is completely orchestrated and jumps straight in with “Savanna”, a regal and spirited piece.  Sweeping strings and  monarch brass and wind instruments flood the speakers as it carefully layers upon itself. It’s a beautiful piece and it sound very lush like some kind of epic Disney theme tune.

“Base Camp” is one of the most percussive tracks with marimba’s, bass drums and bells a plenty. Its also very uplifting and probably the only track to sound like a game music piece as opposed to a feature movie. What I like about it too is that it has a beginning, middle and end – not just a loop.

“Safari” is a grand spectacle. The fast and furious brass really shine through with the undercurrent of strings sweeping you off your feet for a magical journey. It has tune, style, pace and its the kind of tune you’d get your conductor arms out for a dance too. Superb.

“Mission” is more about pure tension with stabbing brass, rolling drums and discordant instruments – a bit like boss battle music but in a grander scale. In contrast “Jambo Jambo” is euphoric and uplifting with its cute, bouncy string arrangement and great use of percussion. These tracks are never stuffy.

“Heaven” is the token gentle track on the soundtrack playing the main theme in a more laid back fashion but even then because of the excellent production it sounds full, fresh and alive. Nothing beats an orchestra when you can fully hear everything as you can in Afrika.

“Masai” is a percussive track like an African samba track. and because its short but evolving it doesn’t get stale. “Hunting” meanwhile has a sinister feel all over it with big brass salutes and quivering strings building up into a furious frenzy. Excellent. Some of the brass in this sounds like elephant noises.

“Okapi” is quite individual on this soundtrack but sounding quite comical. Pizzicato strings are used with lazy brass to create that clumsy feel and its a great addition to have – almost like a broken tea cup ride song. “Night Safari” uses the same lazy brass to create tension however in this sneaking piece with some lovely harp work in the distant background. “Hatari” is the third and final percussive track.

“Big Five” starts off the final set of tracks with another beautiful piece that reminded me like a cut down section of final few minutes of Final Fantasy VII’s “World Crisis”.  “Sunset” serenely flows through your speakers  end like an end song should with beauty and emotion. An excellent piece. Finally “Afrika” rounds off the soundtrack is a rousing track throwing absolutely everything at you that an orchestra can give.

Afrika leaves you completely elated. It’s not often you get fully orchestrated albums like this any more and that’s a huge shame. Afrika is one of the freshest and genuinely exciting soundtracks I’ve bought not just for 2008 but in the last few years. I absolutely recommend it to anyone and its a no brainer for VGM and film score lovers.

10,000 Reads – Thank You

{ December 12, 2008 @ 11:24 am } · { most viewed, Site News }
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A big thank you to everyone whom has read the website. Tuesday we hit the 10,000 views mark and HPM as the site continues to attract more visitors every day. From the humble beginnings back in March this year where we’d get 5 or 6 views a day, we now have an average of about 45-50 hits a day. Coupled with the fact that in just a month we’ve had almost 7,000 views on our Higher Plain Games YouTube channel – it caps off a great year for us.

For next year the site plans to be even more of a resource with some new features, more interviews and perhaps maybe even a few exclusives.

Thank you!

Live Vault – Sitorimon

{ December 11, 2008 @ 1:23 pm } · { folk, indie, live music, live vault, singer songwriter }
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Sitorimon is this weeks Live Vault with a chilling performance of “Ice Maiden” that appears to have been done at home. You can hear the haunting rendition of the song taken from upcoming album Runeology here.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra – New Album!

{ December 10, 2008 @ 11:43 pm } · { band, j-pop, release dates, ska }
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The boys are back with a new album. No one knows what its called yet but it has appeared on the release list for 4th of February 2009.

Gackt – New Single

{ December 4, 2008 @ 1:46 pm } · { alternative, j-pop, j-rock, release dates, singer songwriter }
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Gackt is back with new single entitled “Ghost” which you can preorder here. Although nothing is available about the song yet sadly, we shall be guessing which direction this new album will head in. It’ll be released on the 28th of January next year.

Chris Hulsbeck Symphonic Shades Samples Online

{ December 4, 2008 @ 1:42 pm } · { composer, concert, live music, orchestral, preview, VGM }
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Clips from the Symphonic Shades CD are online for those us thinking that £18.51 is a lot of money to part for one CD! You can listen to a clip of each song here and order on the same site.

Tanya Donelly – Making of Bright Light Video

{ December 4, 2008 @ 10:44 am } · { alternative, behind the music, behind the scenes, directing, film making, indie, music video, rock, singer songwriter }
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In something you don’t normally get in the English speaking world, director Phil Harder walks back through the set they used for Tanya Donelly’s music video for the excellent “The Bright Light”. It’s interesting to see the difference when its just normal daytime. Take a look here.

Ayumi Hamasaki – Asia Tour DVD Release Date

{ December 3, 2008 @ 11:49 pm } · { concert, electro pop, j-pop, live music, music dvd, news, release dates, singer songwriter, world music }
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Not like Ayu to take five minutes rest, now that her second tour of Asia is over, we have a gleeful DVD to commemorate it! Taken from the final show of the Tour at the Teipei Arena, I’m sure it will be just as much of a spectacle as her usual arena tours are. She’ll be singing, jumping, running, flying and dancing around with the band and troupe I’m sure! The 2-disc set will have a bonus disc of the mc’s, full screen versions of the background screen recordings and behind the scenes footage. It will be released on the 28th of January 2009.

Lisa Miskovsky – Still Alive Music Video (Mirrors Edge Theme)

{ December 1, 2008 @ 7:26 pm } · { electro pop, music, music video, pop, singer songwriter, VGM, video vault }
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One of the first things I noticed about Mirrors Edge and the trailers of it was that the theme song was mind blowing! Its hook caught me and hung me out to dry every time. Now we have the full song called “Still Alive” and its performed by Sweed Lisa Miskovsky. You can hear the whole song and watch the whole video here.

We’ll be looking into this lady more in depth in the near future… and the petition for a Mirror’s Edge OST begins now!

Aoi Teshima – The Rose ~I Love Cinemas~ Review

{ December 1, 2008 @ 4:20 pm } · { acoustic, ballad, folk, j-folk, jazz, piano, review, singer songwriter }
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Aoi Teshima has had a busy 2008 releasing two albums. The first is this one, entitled “The Rose ~I Love Cinemas~” which takes eight well known movie famous songs and then gives them the Teshima treatment.

Opening with title track “The Rose” we’re treated to the soft elegance of Aoi’s voice. In harmony with a gentle piano, you can imagine this being what heaven’s waiting music would be. Also it must be noted that the album is completely in English and the elocution is near perfect.

Next up is a beautifully relaxed version of “Moon River” with just vocal and acoustic guitar which is just dreamy and is followed by the serene “Calling You” which hushes you to sleep with a lullaby even with its downbeat nature.

“Raindrops Keep Fallin’ on My Head” is possibly the only song that doesn’t work perfectly. While trying to turn it into a swing song, the lack of drums or upbeat bass really hampers the overall mood. It’s still a nice version but with percussion it’d have lifted it up. Then we have the song that I’d been waiting for Aoi to sing since I first heard her voice. “Somewhere Over the Rainbow” is typically stripped down and bare and also beautiful however I surprised that the tempo was faster than say the Eva Cassidy version. I’ve often thought of Aoi’s vocal being the Japanese Eva and so I’m surprised they didn’t milk this song for every second it plays.

“Beauty and the Beast” follows from the Disney film and this is definitely softer and just as effective as hearing Mrs. Potts sing it! VGM fans will notice Fabian Reza Paine from FFX-2 Piano Collections as the pianist. An excellent choice of song with a nice instrumental section which is completely unrushed unlike the previous track.

“What is a Youth?” is the song with the most backbone to it. Its great to hear something a bit more upfront and powerful. This has a downbeat feel to it with a rousing middle that you want to shout out and is a welcome departure from the rest of the album. “Alfie” returns to the piano/vocal ballads that work so well before you end on an acoustic guitar version of “The Rose”.

Fans of her first album will not be disappointed however if like many, you were looking for a bit more variety and versatility you will find that this album is even more streamlined to one sound than Earthsea was. “The Rose” plays to all of Aoi’s ballad strengths to make a completely weepie / relaxing experience but there’s more in the box if she’d only be allowed to let herself go. Japan’s Eva Cassidy? You bet!

Live Vault – Utada Hikaru

{ December 1, 2008 @ 3:45 pm } · { acoustic, classical, j-pop, live music, live vault, singer songwriter, world music }
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We here at HPM can’t hide our love for Utada Hikaru and here’s a one off live gem of hers – an orchestral performance of “Be My Last”. This is a simply beautiful version and shows that any version of this song is a hit. Enjoy it here.

Video Vault – Shiina Ringo

{ December 1, 2008 @ 3:33 pm } · { grunge, j-rock, music video, rock, singer songwriter, video vault, world music }
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Shiina Ringo. We loved her rocking out before she went off jazzing around. Here’s one of my favourite videos of all time. The song is “Identity” and I’ve never seen such an evil horsey in all my days.

Most Viewed Artists For November

{ December 1, 2008 @ 3:24 pm } · { charts, most viewed, music }
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Although it was a relatively quiet month for releases, it was the third biggest month in page views for HPM and with a review blow out of all the 2008 albums we’ve (well just I’ve) bought, December looks like being the biggest month for the website to date. Here’s the top 10 most read artists for December and congrats to Charlotte Martin who topped out with her excellent Orphans EP for being the most viewed post. In the brackets is their position relative to last month and the amount of months they’ve been on the chart.

01) Charlotte Martin (- / 1)

02) Sarah Slean (8 / 2)

03) Utada Hikaru (5 / 2)

04) Lou Cowell (- / 1)

05) Brendan Perry (- / 1)

06) Hiroki Kikuta (7 / 2)

07) Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (- / 1)

08) Sarah McLachlan (- / 1)

09) Lisa Gerrard (9 / 2)

10) Akira Yamaoka (2 / 2)

Other stats:

~Last months most viewed artist Emiliana Torrini was just outside the top 10.

~More artists were viewed this month than last despite overall traffic being 120 page views lower.

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