My backlog won't listen to itself...
Full album and track list here.
New albums
- Caprice Minstrel - 東方Irish Pub～Caprice～, released 2019/08/12 (Comiket 96)
- Caprice Minstrel - 東方IRISH PUB2～Caprice～, released 2020/03/01 (M3-2020 Spring)
- Amateras Records - Infinity Asterisk, released 2013/12/30 (Comiket 85)
- Amateras Records - Infinity Asterisk the Instrumental, released 2014/05/11 (Reitaisai 11)
Quick Thoughts
東方Irish Pub and 東方IRISH PUB2
Look, when you put "Touhou but it's all Celtic music" in front of me, you have my instant attention. I live in Celtic land. Of course I'm interested.
Both 東方Irish Pub albums have harmonicas, bagpipes, Irish harps, acoustic guitars, traditional percussion instruments, and fiddles. Synth usage is minimal, none at all in most tracks.
The first album opens on an arrange of Bad Apple and it sounds like the interior of a pub, minus the sounds of people talking, merrying, and drinking. Track 3 remixes Nuclear Fusion, U.N. Owen Was Her, and Bill Sullivan's Polka, perhaps one of the most famous Irish traditional songs. Where else are you going to hear this?!
And then 東方IRISH PUB2 hits me with Track 3, An Dro. From the name alone, I knew.
A traditional Breton music arrange of Little Princess, Shinmyoumaru Sukuna's theme. Where ELSE are you going to hear this??!!
Now, on top of sounding amazing, it sounds... well. Like home. And not in a "gallery of stereotypes and shenanigans" way. Foreboding percussions, forlorn electric bagpipes, fiddles following the main melody... All that's missing is a view of my hometown, silvery skies, and the faint sound of light rain on the windows.
I'm not crying, you're crying. 🥲
This is why I do this stuff. The feelings these tracks give me.
Infinity Asterisk & its Instrumental
Jumping back to Amateras Records after going through the emotional pressure washer was... oddly comforting? I did mention a few times before how the music I listen to is much like food for the ears, and the stuff I gravitate to is basically my audio comfort food.
Amateras Records has become that for me. I KNEW I'd have a good time, so I loaded up Infinity Asterisk and went for a run yesterday - in the rain, for 8 miles - without first listening at home.
I was not disappointed. Standout tracks:
- The album opener, Track 1; Waited For... . We open with Amane (天音) of Rolling Contact on a high-energy arrange of Ultimate Truth, backed by Emii (えみぃ)'s vocals, the perfect kind of track to get moving, or, well, running in my case.
- Track 4, Dream Dream Dream, an arrange of the Last Judgment (Mystic Square, Stage 5) in a bouncy, sassy house flavor. Instrumentation and arrange by 溝口ゆうま of Innocent Key and vocals by Hotaru (ほたる).
- Track 5, Crazy Diamond, a remix of the always welcome Lunatic Princess, Kaguya's theme. We're in the good shit of vocal trance territory, with cYsmix (MA☆SPARK! RECORDS) at the helm and vocals by miko.
An all-star cast for an all-star Amateras Records album. Not that there's any bad Amateras albums.