Winter is a fickle mistress here at the Louisville studio. One day it is bitter, cold with freezing winds and very dry then the next day you wake up and it is a warm fall day with heavy rain. What makes this even more confusing is the fact that the day after I post this article up, we are supposed to get our first “big” snowfall of…drumroll…under an inch!
So prepare for the “end of the world” snowfall, I decided to buy all my bread, milk and water ahead of time and gathered a list of music I will be listening to as the killer snow hits us. Unlike most people, who will be cowering in their snow bunkers, I will be enjoying it in my living room, with a nice warm cup of coffee, and the nice Touhou tracks I picked for this week’s Winter in Gensokyo. This week we will be 15 songs on the playlist, which is plenty to just put on in the background and leave it going on a loop. What I found this week were songs that I kind of got big into. I really enjoyed this week’s selection because they were fun and highlights the feeling of the season. So, without further delay, let’s hop into the tracks.
“ネクロファンタジア ～ Necro Fantasia” by XL Project
I have no idea if it is just people within the community or what but I have seen comments on YouTube where people are getting upset about vocals in their Touhou arranges. This was back in the day when I was a lonely dorm dweller in college, but I was seeing it on songs by circles like Shibyanan Records, EastNewSound, heck I even saw it on a couple Orange Jam tracks. It kinda upset the vocalist in me. There is a lot of work that goes into getting that perfect take, that one tough note, pushing through illness to get some work done. This is the reason I kinda tend to really enjoy vocal arrangements. So when I started to listen to this track I was so happy to hear some good, quality vocals. Mintea’s voice melds so well with the instrumentals. Vocal arrangements that involve “Necrofantasia” always tend to “wow” me. One of my favorite things this song does is really bring the power to the refrain. I absolutely can see an epic battle in the snow between Reimu and Yukari set to this song. This is a great rock track for those wanting a nice, wintry rock song.
“Fall of Fall ~ Autumnal Waterfall” by 戦ピー
The snow is falling outside as you rise out of bed in your favorite, Touhou themed pajamas. You walk to the kitchen to make yourself a cup of coffee and make breakfast. You grab you the cup and stand by the window as you watch the snow glide down from the heavens like curtains of bullets from Subterranean Animism. You think to yourself, “Boy, I really hope the little cousins don’t reenact The Second Battle of Fallujah this year with Nerf guns because if I drop a Christmas cookie again, I think there will be one kid missing from the family Christmas picture.”
You need to relax while getting ready to do the runs to and from both sides of the family. You put on this song and for seven minutes, you are in Gensokyo celebrating the Christmas season with everyone. I love how lovely this instrumental arrangement is. It is cheerful and kinda playful. It goes well with the time. It is kinda my favorite to play the day of Christmas rather than those “Touhou X Christmas” songs (which I will be getting to closer to the day of Christmas).
“花音 -十六夜咲夜のカノン-” by Thousand Leaves
Ok, so when I first discovered Thousand Leaves, I was kinda going through a phase where the only music I liked was Death Thrash. If I put the song on and it didn’t get me trying to start a thrash pit with the people next to me, it wasn’t music. So when I stumbled on to Thousand Leaves I was only listening to the stuff produced by Bach, their “I CAN PLAY ANYTHING” guitarist. So fast forward about a year and a half, where I was kinda mellowed out and was getting into Shibyanan, and was still listening to Tears for Fear before Vaporwave was even a thing for me. It was November and I was starting the first Christmas in Gensokyo when I wound up finding a classical Touhou Christmas song. What caught my attention was the fact that it was tagged with Thousand Leaves. I was so curious about how this would sound since all I have heard from them was [link=“https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZtO9dJ8pI4c”] the shrieks and wails of Bach’s guitar[/link]. This song was cozy and warm, like a nice soft blanket. It was a nice to know that there are more circles out there outside of C-Clays that will play with other genres, even if they are on the polar opposite sides of the spectrum. The violin is nice however I am kinda iffy on calling this a “classical arrange” if it has programmed drums and bass guitar. It kinda loses me there.
“ephemeral” by SOUND CYCLONE
Some of the stuff I have been listening to as of late has been kinda all over the board. One day I am listening to Djent artists, and the next day it is Top 40’s Hip Hop, and R&B. So when I get into that stuff I start seeing I lean away from A$AP Mob, Tyler, The Creator, and Killer Mike and more towards the soul and jazz stuff like Kendrick Lamar, The Internet, Childish Gambino, and more importantly Flying Lotus. Now how does all of this name dropping have to do with this track, well the last Flying Lotus album was an experimental jazz album. So when I was going back through this list, I kinda started to listen to that album again to get a feel for why I loved jazz and what I was looking for in jazz. This song has all the good hallmarks of a good jazz track. Wonderful rhythm, great piano section, excellent bass, and it just feels nice to listen to in the background. Like I can feel this one going well low in the background of a winter party. I kinda kept thinking of “A Charlie Brown Christmas” here. So if you are into jazz I really want you to listen to this song.
“こいするメイドのおはなし” by AliCE’s Emotion.
Listen here people, I love this song. The vocals are so darn cute. It gets you dancing, It is a very bouncy track, but it has these moments where it just breaks down hard. This song is defiantly not taking itself seriously at all and I love it. It is self-aware. Again it is one of those songs that barely make the Christmas list. If it wasn’t for the bells I wouldn’t have put it on here. This is good if want something fun and cute to listen to while driving to your family’s place for Christmas.
Well, that is it for this week. Tune in next week to get five more Touhou tracks for this winter season. So from all of us at Gensokyo Radio to you, Happy Holidays and stay warm.