Two songs again this week, both of different genres. Which songs will be in this week's feature?
Taiko March (太鼓のマーチ)| Version |  |  |  |  |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 5, Taiko PS2 2 | x6 (390) | x6 (553) | x7 (553) | |
| TDM, Taiko PSP 1 | x3 (261) | x5 (390) | x5 (553) | x5 (553) |
| Taiko 0 R, Taiko Wii 1, Taiko Wii U 2 | x5 (238) | x6 (342) | x6 (467) | x7 (553) |
| TDM, Taiko PSP 1 (2P) | x3 (261) | x5 (390) | x5 (553) | x5 (453/453) (video) |
Taiko 5, Taiko 0 R, Taiko PS2 2, Taiko Drum Master, Taiko PSP 1, Taiko Wii 1, Taiko Wii U 2, CD Red 
146
March -> Namco Original -> Game Music
marchTaiko March, despite its name, is yet another song in a long line of Namco game music medleys. This is one of the first, introduced way back in the old Taiko days, and preceded many other Namco medleys to come. This medley uses marching band instruments, i.e. lots of drums and trumpets, and a clear swing rhythm.
Three games are present in this mashup. The song starts with Sky Kid's stage opening music, then its theme song. After a short interval, it swaps to Tower of Druaga's round start song and theme song, probably the single most used game music ever in Taiko no Tatsujin. The final song used is Valkyrie no Densetsu's theme song, which was an uplifting tune liked by many players.
The English Taiko game is also the only one to feature a duet notechart for the Oni difficulty, like nearly all the songs in Taiko Drum Master. One of the features of this medley is that despite involving three games' worth of music, the BPM remains constant throughout the song. Notes change from 1/16 beats to compound beats halfway in, and the patterns are simple and easy to understand, a perfect entry point for 7* Oni.
'saitama', one of our loyal followers, made a request last week. This is the song he wanted us to cover:
NECOLOGY| Version | | | | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taiko 14, Taiko Wii 3 | x3 (129) | x5 (166) | x7 (409) | x9 (656) |
| Taiko 0 | x3 (129) | x5 (166) | x7 (409) | x8 (656) |
Taiko 14, 0, Taiko Wii 3, CD Donderful 150 none
necoloNECOLOGY is an odd one. It comes out right out of the blue without any relation to the various Namco Original song series, and without a 10* Oni difficulty, it doesn't appear to be getting one either (no rumored Ura Oni). But then again, there's nothing wrong with having a stand alone song as long as it doesn't slide into obscurity. Thankfully NECOLOGY seemed interesting enough to stay for a while longer, being included in Taiko 0 when so many classics were deleted from the arcade library.
The song's title is a portmanteau of 'neko' (Japanese for cat) and 'ecology' or if put into kanji, spells out 猫路地, or 'cat alley'. The song is thematically identical to Agent Yoru o Yuku, sounding like secret agent/spy music, but has various references to cats in its lyrics. NECOLOGY was composed by Misumi Yuri (みすみゆり) and sung by Kekero Fusajiki (渕崎けけろ).
A great 9* with a crazy penchant for two and four note clusters which are more confusing than even several 10* Oni songs, and there are no drumrolls in the song at all. This was made by Etou.
