Some time ago I was contacted by Pete Ellison of Disko Warp Records asking me to promote their new CD Anime Love Hardcore by DJ Initial P. At first I was a bit iffy about doing this because it’s so far out of my musical comfort zone. I have a strong love for music and a fairly extensive genre library, I’ve gone through phases listening to j-pop, k-pop, classical, classic rock and more recently, progressive metal and post rock. I never really got into trance, which is what this album is, trance (I’d say closer to happy hardcore, because of its roots) remixes of anime openings.

In the end I figured it would at least be an interesting experience and maybe branch out my interests, so I dived in. The way I approached the following reviews is that I compared them to their originals, I think it’s a fair way to go about it because as remixes their duty is to use the original songs as a base and layer their own creative style on top of it.

After listening to it a few times, I had the thought that this CD is perfect for aspiring AMV makers, not sure if that’s the exact target audience this was going for, but sure feels like it. Anyone reading this that falls into that category has to check this out.

Some background information on Initial P as well as the track list and audio previews for this CD can be found here: www.diskowarp.com/anime. The CD is for sale in the US and on iTunes (sorry Canadians, no love, I feel you ;_;). All the originals can be found on youtube, if you feel like following in my footsteps doing the whole comparative thing.

So here we go, metal head Shirukii attempts to review an exit trance anime remix CD!

1. Catch You Catch Me

On my first listen through of this song I actually didn’t like it, I felt like the pacing was far too fast when comparing it to the original. However, as I listened to it more and started to pay attention instead of having it as background noise, I noticed that although the song upped the bpm, it somehow managed to retain the feeling of the original song. I attribute it to how the lyrics were handled, although the pitch increase makes them seem truncated, they still have the drawn out feeling to them. It’s tough to remix a laid back song like this in the manner that Initial P did and it took a while to appreciate, but I think he did a great job.

2. Sobakasu

I was concerned about this song before I even listened to it because the vocals are so quirky that I thought any distortion on them would completely ruin the feel of the song. It turns out my fears were unwarranted, the vocal quirkiness was still there in all its glory, I guess in a world of autotuned robotic and emotionless vocals I’ve come to expect the worst. I’m a bit disappointed that the funky guitar backing wasn’t there, but given the nature of the remixes, that’s to be expected.

3. Zankoku Na Tenshi No Thesis (Cruel Angel’s Thesis)

This was one of the make or break tracks for me, Evangelion is one of my favourite anime and the OP is classic, I think I was 9 when I first heard it. I’ve heard countless remixes of this song and this was one of the better ones, the core of the song is left largely untouched and some interesting touches were layered on, notably some neat reverb and distortion added to the vocals. The original of this song has major nostalgia bomb power to me and it’s a wonder for me to not only say this remix didn’t screw it up, but that I actually liked it speaks volumes.

4. Heart of Madness

This track strayed a bit too far, in my opinion, it started out nice with hints of the incredible bass line and the highly distorted backing guitar, but then it exploded into super high energy beats. This was another tough song to adapt to the style of the CD, but unlike Catch You Catch Me, I think the feel was lost on Heart of Madness. The original was this 70s style rock ballad with corny lyrics and it’s not the remix that was bad, but I think it was just the wrong song to try it on.

5. Delicate ni Sukishite

I hadn’t heard this song before so instead of comparing it to the original I listened to it on its own merits and found it really catchy. I loved that weird recurring riff (you’ll know what I’m talking about when you hear it) and the vocals, but I was kinda ehhhh about the breakdown at 2:35ish. Great song overall though, particularly the handling of the vocals.

6. Lupin the 3rd ’78 Theme

Oh thank god this one wasn’t botched, Lupin the 3rd is one of those iconic anime that I haven’t even seen by I know ton about, and the theme is so distinctly recognizable that any remix has to hold onto that semblance pretty hard. Twenty seconds in and there it was, golden. There was a self plugging breakdown part way in which was kinda weird, but I can dig it, and I loved the part after it, perfectly capturing that suave 60s detective feel.

7. Grip!

Listeners, you’ll have to form your own opinions about this one, I dislike Inuyasha and can’t offer up any objective opinions about this song. Sorry Initial P, totally unfair to skip over this track but it’s better than my almost guaranteed bias against it :3

8. Sorairo Days

Another make or break track, Gurren Lagann was my favourite anime of 2007 and one of my favourites in general. The track was very different from what I thought it was going to be, I thought it was one of the prime targets for a high bpm remix, but it ended up pretty subdued. That’s not a bad thing at all though, I like how the vocals were done and the backing stayed very true to the original with some nice lulls and breakdowns. I remember when I first saw this song on the track list I thought for sure I’d be disappointed by the omission of the awesome guitar work from the original, but in fact it didn’t bug me in the slightest.

9. Gekkouka

Instantly recognizable as Janne Da Arc, there was a time I was listening to a lot of j-pop and this brought back fond memories. To me, j-pop has this sort of stereotypical vocal feel to it that you either love or hate, I happen to love it and this remix did a good job of keeping the feel but adding a personal touch. Can’t say I’m crazy about the hip hop interludes, but other than that, it’s a pretty good song.

10. Moonlight Densetsu

Oh man, what an ambitious song to end a CD on, this is another one of those classic songs that’s very dangerous to play around with because you’ll have a bunch of people who are all “SACRED SONG, DO NOT MESS WITH IT”. Verdict? Nailed it. I was actually really surprised at how well this one was done, it walked right on the very thin line of staying true to the original and delivering a fresh remix. Everything that makes this song the iconic Sailor Moon theme song was there, but it didn’t betray the theme of the CD either. Nicely done.

Conclusion

This CD certainly made for an interesting afternoon of listening, it’s a polar opposite of my normal listening repertoire but enjoyable nonetheless. I’m not going to give it a /10 rating or anything because I think music, and perhaps art in general is above numerical quantification, suffice to say that I had a great time listening to some of these tracks. My favourites were Moonlight Densetsu, Cruel Angel’s Thesis and the Lupin theme, which I thought all did a wonderful job of balancing between their classic roots and modern re-imaginings.

So again, if you like trance and anime, or if you’re out to make a crazy AMV that will bring epileptics to the ground in a foaming seizure, go pick this CD up.

Lastly, if there’s enough interest via comments, I will hold a giveaway for the review copy of the CD that Disko Warp sent to me, simply post a comment and I’ll pick a winner at random, simple as that.

~ Shirukii ~