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Saturday, April 28, 2012

Song of the Week! 28 April 2012


Last year we dedicated one spot here for everyone's favorite autobot, Mekadon, and two of the songs that feature him (well, Future Lab is kind of a vague connection but whatever). He has another two theme songs, both of them being obscure and present in only one game each.

MEKADON ~Uchuu ni Kieta Meka Taiko~ (MEKADON ~宇宙に消えたメカ太鼓~)
Version
All
x4 (152) x3 (209)x5 (255)
Taiko PS2 3, CD 2008
116
none
 cna2


Also on Taiko PS2 Sandaime, MEKADON debuted together with Mekadesu, though we all know which song turned out to be more popular. While Mekadesu went on to become a phenomenon in the game's history, this song sat behind on the PS2 just waiting to be discovered by avid Taiko fans. The long subtitle means 'The Mecha Taiko which Disappeared into Space'

Like Taiyou mo Yappappa, MEKADON's theme is a fusion of old Japanese traditional music and contemporary style music, which is also reflected in the song's lyrics. When the song was released for the 2008 Taiko soundtrack, Namco released an impressively long list of people behind each instrument in the song.

Vocals: Yuri Misumi (みすみゆり)
Lyrics: Yumidate Kimio (弓達公雄)
Composer, Arranger: Go Shiina (椎名豪)
Chorus: NATHAN INGRAM III,Kayo Shima (伊集加代),Masako Hamaoka (浜岡眞砂子),Wada Kayoko (和田夏代子)
Guitar: Takenaka Shunji (竹中俊二)
Bass: Yasuda Sakaehito (安田栄人)
Drums: Takenaka Masako (竹中勝)
Violin: Abe Okamura (阿部美緒), Mio Okamura (岡村美央)
Viola: Kaoru Ogiwara (荻原薫)
Cello: Hashimoto Wataru (橋本渉)
Flute: Takae Mizuno (水野孝枝)
Trumpet: Shiro Sasaki (佐々木史郎)
Trombone: Utsonumiya Teppei (宇都宮哲平)
Sax: Okajima Daigenta (岡島大源太)
Horn: Hashida Kazumasa (芦田和正)

Not bad at all for an obscure song, eh? Alongside all the other names are la few familiar ones like Yuri Misumi and Go Shiina (MEKADON's songID - cna2 - refers to the composer).

The song's Oni mode has a low speed and a good amount of clusters for novice training. It is also one of the few remaining Namco Original songs without a full set of difficulties.

Ike, Mekadon! (行け, メカドン!)
Version
Allx3 (91)x4 (129) x5 (226)x8 (303)
Taiko Anime 2
112~146
none
 mdon


A Mekadon song, in the Anime genre? Yep, not Namco Original, you'll see why in a little bit. Because of this it also makes the song the only unlockable non-Ura Anime song in all of Taiko. Ike, Mekadon! (Go, Mekadon! in English) is the robot drum's own theme song in the Taiko no Tatsujin Clay Anime (クレイアニメ 太鼓の達人), from the 10th episode of season 1 onwards. On Namco's child-friendly anime series, Mekadon is a villain who tries to hamper Don and Katsu with several devices bought from the Lantern Eel. Check the Others section for more info about the anime!

Like most Anime songs, Ike, Mekadon's Oni is intermediate in difficulty filled with tons of clusters and note successions, with some slow-down sections halfway through the song. Like many other songs of the 2nd Anime compilation, the Go-Go Time bug also affects this song.