Etou of the Taiko Team really outdid himself this time around by advancing the latest Namco Original song serialization to a month's beginning in contrast to the former entries getting on the latter end instead!
As in the past, an official blog entry was made to introduce the track with its creators, so that we can start talking about it on this very post while saving the rest of the currently-palpable trivia to our next Song of the Week feature later in the day.
We're donning the most expansive artist contributor set for a Taiko de Time Travel song creation yet, as four different artists have been involved from its making to its charting! First in line is the composer Tatsuya 'Tatsh' Shimizu, still surprised at how life served him the illustrious chance of composing boss songs for Taiko no Tatsujin with his real name sharing the same 'Tatsu' (達) kanji as the one used for 'Tatsujin'!
Something that the artist always treasured for his Taiko-tailored original songs is the will of "making songs you could sympathize with", creating something that you could talk about and share opinions on with others for how unique they sound or are played in the series, a spirit that is carried out to this day's newcomer and counting! The Xeami-nicknamed composer revealed to be an eager listener of the past few Taiko no Tatsujin song contests' entries, kindling inside him the will of making new original songs that ultimately sparked in this 90ies Eurobeat love letter, with iconic items from the era (like basketball shoes) as part of its lyrics and set up in a scenario like a woman getting late for a date that could only happen in a simpler time where technology didn't advance to the poing of having many an outcome predictable and filling the void left with excitement, a sentiment the same Etou also shared with the blog entry's incipit.
Tatsuya Shimizu gathered around a couple more artists for his idea, both Taiko newcomers being in charge of the vocals no less! First in line we have the Vsinger musica, another artist who grew up with the series by playing on game corners with friends. The song's rushing feeling is Hold me tight's highlight of the song for her, alongside the guiding indications from the same Tatsh who aided her a great deal into singing with proper intonation despite the speedy tempo. It was also a fun performance to record due to the interactions with the rapping partner who took the vocal mantle with her!
Tatsuya Shimizu gathered around a couple more artists for his idea, both Taiko newcomers being in charge of the vocals no less! First in line we have the Vsinger musica, another artist who grew up with the series by playing on game corners with friends. The song's rushing feeling is Hold me tight's highlight of the song for her, alongside the guiding indications from the same Tatsh who aided her a great deal into singing with proper intonation despite the speedy tempo. It was also a fun performance to record due to the interactions with the rapping partner who took the vocal mantle with her!
Said jolly fellow is Parc Manther (パークマンサー), member of the rapping unit Nanshiki globe (軟式globe) as well as the guy snapped for the title reveal card you're seeing at this blog post's start. No doubt about it, the oiler rap portions are his song highlights, while also recounting the difficulties of performing the last unison chorus as well as pronounciation for something that... strays away from his usual trend of horse-language songs (*neighs*).
We usually don't do this while penning an English breakdown on these Japanese-centric articles, but in order to give you a better picture of Parc Manther's unique character, here's a direct translation of one of the questions that Etou asked him, with the submitted answer:
Q) Can you say something for Taiko no Tatsujin's 20th Anniversary?
A) Something.
Dulcis in fundo here's Yuhei Etou again, sharing his impressions as Hold me tight's Taiko charter. Pondering long and wide how to bring out the best part of the music/vocal/rapper trifecta assembled, he ultimately ended up creating a notechart set with the crown idea being the Taiko percussions as 'the glue that holds everything together', no matter the kind of person performing it with something that just screams of 'Taiko no Tatsujin' while hearing it.
A couple of recommandations from the Taiko Team leader also sprung out: if you were born after the 90ies, try asking an adult what the music of its time was like and see how it fits with Tatsh's latest Taiko hit; if you were born before that time, "let's drink sake together, some day..."
Tune in next month where the 80ies will be represented by a City Pop piece from ac. series composer Oogami Masako! Hopefully it'll come with a tiny little bit of preemptive notice, too...
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