Singles

Game Music

Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka Finds 10 Guys With His Name, Releases New Single on HearJapan

December 8, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 5 Comments Share this

Yes, Nintendo legend Hirokazu “Hip” Tanaka is back, and this time with a project that has nothing to do with videogames. “Tanaka Hirokazu No Uta,” or “Hirokazu Tanka Song,” is a short and unsurprisingly quirky single featuring the voice of Hip Tanaka himself along with 10 other dudes named Hip Tanaka. See the above video for maximum weirdness! It’s apparently all the rage in Japan right now. It’s a fun concept, and this announcement is made even more exciting by the fact that it’s being made available online a whole week ahead of the official Japanese release date of December 16, 2009. We haven’t heard from him since Super Smash Bros. Brawl where he arranged a few tracks for the game, so this is big news!

As it turns out, he’s teamed up with HearJapan, an online music store based in Japan that caters to an English-speaking audience. They’ve been around for two years and already have a massive catalog of videogame, anime, J-pop, chip, and even vocaloid music to supplement the standard rock, jazz, and classical releases. I can’t believe we haven’t heard of this site before, but we recommend heading over and checking out the Hip Tanaka single along with the rest of their catalog.

Do you have a favorite Hip Tanaka soundtrack from his early days at Nintendo? Will you be picking up his single, and what do you think of the rest of the music that HearJapan has to offer?

Check out the official press release regarding “Tanaka Hirokazu No Uta” from HearJapan after the jump. (more…)
Anime, Japanese, Reviews

A Little Bit Of Ducktales Mixed With Some J-Pop: no3b’s Tane Single (Review)

November 28, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | Comments Off on A Little Bit Of Ducktales Mixed With Some J-Pop: no3b’s Tane Single (Review) Share this

Alright, it’s not really Ducktales, but the B-side on no3b’s latest Tane single sure reminds me of the moon stage (my favorite stage in the game) with its chippy sounds and 80s synth pop sounds. But the star of this single is meant to be “タネ” (“Tane”), which is also quite good.

But wait, don’t know who no3b is? That’s probably because they just got their start at the end of 2008 with their debut single, “Relax!” Tane is their second single to date, and the track is featured on the new Birdy the Mighty anime. I have no idea what that is, but Chris Ling seemed to know something about it! Oh, and they pretty hot… especially the one on the right!

Read our review of Tane single and the “Girl’s Talk” B-side after the jump. (more…)
Anime, Reviews

DUSTZ Single “Break & Peace” For Sengoku Basara Anime (Review)

November 8, 2009 | Patrick Gann | 2 Comments Share this

“Break” and “Peace” are two words that don’t go together well in my mind. But there they are, forming the title (and opening line of the oft-repeated chorus) of the song that serves as the ending theme for Production I.G’s new Sengoku Basara TV anime, based on the videogame series by Capcom.

Read our brief review of the single from Sony Music Entertainment Japan after the jump. (more…)
Japanese, Reviews

Sweet Candy: Ken Hirai’s New Candy Single (Review)

November 7, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 4 Comments Share this

Dale was actually the one who turned me on to Ken Hirai, one of Japan’s top make J-pop stars. We talked about him in one of our OSVchannel episodes, and we also learned that he was under consideration to record a song for the Final Fantasy series, but the general consensus at the time was that most of you were more interested in female J-pop artists, but hey, he’s my favorite, so you’re going to have to live with it!

His last album was the amazing Fakin’ Pop in 2008, and while Hirai has been pretty quiet since then (he generally takes his time with his music), he’s released two singles in the last month alone. One of those singles was Candy, which features three new songs from Hirai, and offers a few surprises in the process.

Find out what Ken Hirai is up to this time in our review of Candy after the jump. (more…)
Anime, Japanese, Reviews

Supercell: Computing Maximum Awesomeness From Nico Nico Douga to Sony Music Entertainment Japan (Review)

October 17, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 3 Comments Share this

Supercell has a pretty amazing story. The group of 11 apparently got their start on Nico Nico Douga creating music and videos back in 2007. They’re headed up by sole composer and lyricist ryo, and the remaining 10 members are mainly illustrators and support staff. They received so much attention on various fan sites that Sony Music Entertainment Japan eventually picked them up and distributed their first major public debut in March of this year.

This single, Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari, is the follow-up to that self-titled debut album, and is actually their first single to date. It was released last month, and it features a track that was used as the ending theme for the Bakemonogatari anime series as well as two tracks from the CENCOROLL animated film, and I’ll tell you right out that it’s awesome. With Nagi on vocals and ryo’s amazing musical backing, you definitely need to look into this group.

Read our review of the Kimi no Shiranai Monogatari single after the jump! (more…)
Japanese, Reviews

K’s Traveling Song: Korean J-Pop That’s Not K-Pop! (Review)

October 10, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 1 Comment Share this

Okay, get ready for this. There’s a J-pop artist who I was recently turned on to who goes by the name “K.” I really enjoyed his latest album, Traveling Song, and when I was talking to a Japanese friend about him, I discovered that this man is in fact a Korean-born singer who has made a career out of recording J-pop albums in Japan. I guess the “K” makes a lot more sense now.

Japanese or Korean, it doesn’t matter, as Traveling Song is pretty awesome. Even more, this guy personally handles the keyboards and piano performances throughout the album, which is amazing in itself. The album title is pretty fitting given the variety of music featured on the album, but it’s all upbeat and a whole lot of fun. From pop rock, to ballads, to even hip-hop, there’s something here for everyone, and if you’re into the musical Rent, there is a cover here that you’ve got to hear.

Find out what K has up his sleeves after the jump. (more…)
Game Music, Reviews

Hiroki Kikuta’s Soft Side: Kaijinki (Review)

October 4, 2009 | Jayson Napolitano | 2 Comments Share this

It was back in 2006 that Hiroki Kikuta emerged once again with his first official album release in ages, Lost Files. Since then, he has released a number of albums on his Notrillia record label, many of which we’ve covered on OSV. There were, however, a number of Nostrillia releases that most game music fans never had the pleasure of hearing due to their limited printings that resulted in rapid stockouts.

Kaijinki is one of those releases. Kaijinki was unleashed in December of 2006, and I don’t think I’ve really heard people talking about it. I guess I can understand that, given that the disc contains only a single track, but I do find it to be an impressive piece of music from the Kikuta we knew at the time.

What exactly do I mean by that? Well, you’ll just have to read our brief review of the single after the jump. (more…)