visions of clarity...do as infinity

Friday, June 15, 2007

PLAY!

Hello

We just returned from PLAY! A Video Game Symphony, the Asian premiere for the Singapore Arts Festival, performed by the Singapore Symphony Orchestra, the NUS Choir and conducted by Arnie Roth.

GOSH IT WAS GOOD.xD xD xD I made little notes beside each piece in the form of symbols and I can safely say that 90% of them have at least a heart.xD Haha. Beams! Now people will pay more attention to the artistic value of soundtracks from games.=D =D =D Beams! On to the setlist!

PLAY! A Video Game Symphony
Fanfare
Nobuo Uematsu
- With a little video clip to ease you into the whole performance, this gave a nice start to the programme for the night.^_^

Accompanying most pieces [except for both Final Fantasy ones and Chrono Cross] were clips from the games, little bits like the playing parts or those epic movie sections.^_^ I loved it and wished they could have included more!

Super Mario Bros.
Suite
Koji Kondo
- xD xD xD The audience giggled collectively when everyone saw the little Mario clips! SO CUTE. *squeals* You could see the evolution of Mario from his 8-bit 2D days to the full-on 3D wonders of closeup Mario! I gave this a little star for memorable moment.=D

Shenmue and Shenmue II
Sedge Tree
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
- OH HEARTS!!! I gave this a double heart because I absolutely ADORED the main melody.=D =D =D I am a sucker for nice melodies.=) Plus, it had this GREAT epic-ness to it!! The video was very random though. First you got bizarre Mongolian looking girl on cliff with flying eagle. Then you got random men fighting in period Chinese costumes. Then you got one of the random men with a random girl on a MOTORCYCLE zooming through a city. Like, how is all that connected?! Nevertheless, the music was BRILLIANT and the composer was in the audience! ^_^

Lost Odyssey
Main Theme
Nobuo Uematsu
- Yumminess. Great score once again.=D This included the choir who didn't impress me much but who am I to talk anyway? *thumbs up* Great music! I love Nobuo Uematsu.=D He composed the Final Fantasy music as well! Oh, and once again, EPIC clips.xD

Sonic the Hedgehog
Suite
Masato Nakamura
- Hehe. This got a star for memorability! Hehe. Who doesn't remember Sonic, our favourite blue hedgehog? =P I squealed silently in giggles everytime they showed Sonic speeding merrily through the path of coins.^_^"

Metal Gear Solid
Main Theme
Tappy Iwase, Kazuki Muraoka
- Nice music once again but how many ways can you say COMPLETELY GUY GAME? -_-" Very militaristic type of music to suit the fighting and testosterone in the game. This got another heart from me.^_^

Blue Dragon
Main Theme
Nobuo Uematsu
- Nice music but not particularly memorable but heart-gripping. The animation was super cute though.^_^ Hehe. It was this little boy sitting in a plane that was dying and flying through the air! It's a new game so I'm assuming they don't really want to release details of it yet... [hence the spartan video.]

Kingdom Hearts
Suite
Yoko Shimomura
- Who doesn't like Kingdom Hearts? IT IS SO CUTE!!! With random characters ranging from Mickey Mouse to Stitch and randomly cute Final Fantasy guys, Kingdom Hearts is a game for everyone! And with it comes a easy to listen to and very nice soundtrack.=D I gave this double hearts for sheer likability and a nice tune.^_^

FINAL FANTASY VI
Dancing Mad
Nobuo Uematsu
- A first time debut of this arrangement for an orchestra, Square Enix was all stingy and didn't provide merry video clips! *deep sigh* And to think we could have drooled over cute FF guys while enjoying the music! Rearranged from rock tracks, this piece was very nice indeed.=)

Intermission

Daytona USA
Takenobu Mitsuyoshi
- As a surprise, the composer himself came out to perform by playing the piano and singing. Hmm. The tune wasn't too bad I guess but I can see why he's a COMPOSER and not a PERFORMER.^_^"

The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion
Suite
Jeremy Soule
- Doesn't the title simply sound epic??? I mean it's called "Oblivion"!!! Ahahaha. Sorry but I find that highly amusing. Anyway, I loved the music because I gave this a heart! ^_^ It was nice if very epic and you know. Dramatic. And epic. And.. I need a thesaurus.-_-

Chrono Trigger and Chrono Cross
Suite
Yasunori Mitsuda
- HEARTS HEARTS! I gave this a double heart because it had a brilliant piano part!! =D I loved it. Or maybe it was a pipe whistle. Or something like that. But anyway. It had a wonderful section that I really liked!!! =D =D =D And it had a really nice melody too.=) Plus I like the name. Doesn't Chrono Cross sound REALLY cool to you?

World of Warcraft
Suite
Jason Hayes
- Epic! The many many many closeups of the towering snowy mountain in the video clip was very ... URM.O.o I liked this bit where they had an elf zoom through the forest though. It suited the music very nicely.=) I gave this a heart too!

HALO
Suite
Martin O'Donnell, Michael Salvatori
- One look and you know this game is by Americans and not Japanese. Not that it's a bad thing but since I'm not all about killing people to earn points, I actually care about aesthetics. Even the super guy Japanese games have pretty backgrounds even if the characters are ugly. HALO? Tsk tsk. Nevertheless, this was a nice piece IF very guy-ish. ^_^"

Castlevania
Suite
Michiru Yamane
- Oh very cute soundtrack!!! xD They had this really cute section with a stacatto-ish kind of rhythm that I liked.=D Plus the name "Castlevania" is so vampirish and then when I saw the video, I wanted to laugh. They have little characters running around with CLOAKS. It's hilarious. Hahaha. So I gave this 2 hearts! =D I find the idea of fighting in a cloak rather charming.

The Legend of Zelda
Suite
Koji Kondo
- Another cute soundtrack, the 8bit-ness of the game was too cute to resist.xD Another heart from me!

FINAL FANTASY VII
One-Winged Angel
Nobuo Uematsu
- I was SO looking forward to this piece!!! I love the "SEPHIROTH!" part of the chorus.=D =D =D Haha. It's brilliantly dramatic. Except that the choir wasn't particularly fantastic so that kind of spoilt it for me. Apart from that though, I felt that this piece was a GREAT ending for the programme this evening.=) It's got all the elements! Dramatic finish, epic sounding singing and much action-related melody. Too bad Square Enix didn't provide them with a video. The Sephiroth-Cloud battle would have been a FABULOUS companion since it appeared in Advent Children with this piece.^_^

Encore
The Revenge of Shinobi
- Not too bad, but the video clip sent me into peals of laughter. It was SO old school!!! Ahaha. This was picked out by an online poll on GameAxis.

^_^ Overall, a GREAT concert.

Random bits of updates:
- Gackt's new video cost 30 million yen to shoot!
- Gackt's Arena 37C photoshoot used kimono that cost more than 50 million yen in total!
- Gackt looks REALLY good in kimono and epic samurai scenes.=D
- Gackt's new song, Returner~Yami no Shuuen~, is the theme song for the Japan release of The Prestige. I don't really see how English magicians and Japanese samurais tie up though.O__o
- Shou has dyed his hair a dark brown. [Not that no one knows this..]
- The S.K.I.N. trailer [S.K.I.N. being the new Yoshiki-Gackt-Sugizo-Miyavi band] is up on Gackt's official website! They've also got a logo:

I was honestly expecting a nicer logo but what do I know right? xP
- I bought books today! And I think they are mildly intellectual.=D Murakami Haruki is intellectual right?

I have not yet finished my friends page!! O weeps. And my computer restarted just now so all the pages with the links to my scans are gone! O weeps again. Nevermind. I shall watch Advent Children soon to calm my spirits [and drool over Cloud! xD And my other cute guy whose name I can't remember. Yabu? Yasu? Yazu? O__o]

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Returner~Yami no Shuuen~ Gackt]
[mood : ^_^]
[food : --]

wendaye: You fail lah! Haha. You're in London right? Must go eat the chocolates at La Maison du Chocolat! =D =D =D It's in one of those chichi areas. Urm. I have no idea where they have good macarons in London. O__o I suppose you could try those department store food halls like they have in Japan? =X Oops. And that SO counted as a Japan post!!! There are... 27 photos there!!!

Labels: alice nine, Final Fantasy, Gackt, music, Play A Video Game Symphony, skin, superband, video games

Saturday, May 26, 2007

SUPERBAND + DVD release

OMG I CANNOT BELIEVE IT!!!

The fourth member in Yoshiki's Superband is... none other than.. MIYAVI!!!

(Miyavi [ex-Due le Quartz], Yoshiki [ex-X Japan], Sugizo [ex-LUNA SEA])

PLUS

(Gackt [ex-Malice Mizer])

EQUALS

I see trouble ahead. Seriously. All these people fighting for attention? TSK TSK. Still, I am THRILLED that there will be so many goodlookers! *supports*

Haha. But Miyavi's latest transformation is.. horrifying to say the very least. O.o

I also don't see how Miyavi is a "legend" like the other 3 are. Since X Japan, LUNA SEA and Malice Mizer all had [and still have] a HUGE following and they also went major [thus proving their popularity], Gackt, Yoshiki [who is a legend on his own] and Sugizo do have a certain place in this superband. But Due le Quartz. Hmm. They were famous certainly, but never on the scale of the other 3 right?

Nevertheless, they will be performing at Anime Expo on June 29 and in Japan in November. (T_T) In other words, mortals like me from faraway lands cannot go.

Apparently, the Superband is called "SKIN". I wonder why? O.o

All images from Deviantart. Squee! I love playing with photoshop.=D

More news! =D Gackt will be releasing the TRAINING DAYS DRUG PARTY 2006 DVD!!!!!!!!!!!!! *squeals madly with excitement* xD xD xD YAY!!!!!!!!! I adore the setlist!!! =D =D =D And apparently, it'll be the Zepp Tokyo performance! [For which I have fond memories because I urh. Stood outside the concert venue.=X]

SQUEE!!!!!!!!!! Hooray for Gackt! He's finally returned to the spotlight after hiding almost all of last year!!!

The dears (link) page has also been updated with images relating to his role as Uesugi Kenshin in the NHK drama Fuurin Kazan (link) (風林火山) and his new single, RETURNER～闇の終焉～.

Arena 37C will also be released on 9 June and... Gackt will be on the cover!! SQUEE! In KIMONO!!! xD And if I remember correctly, the kimono dresser who helped with the photoshoot said that Gackt looks so good in kimono, he should wear it everyday. Ahaha. Except that kimono is quite difficult to wear so I think that'd be a problem..

Anyway, since I am resting instead of flitting around the zoo, I shall have to pack for Japan [or rather, start packing/planning what to pack.=X] and organise things. X__x

Ahh! The excitement has practically made my flu go away!

cheers
*[-witchstone-]*

[music : Requiem et Reminiscence tour Gackt]
[mood : xD xD xD]
[food : soup!]

Wendaye: omg! So smart. Yar. I think she's asking when she can eat it. *stares hard at sentence* WAH SO SMART. Haha. xD Ahaha. I couldn't stop laughing at your little Takuya anecdote. ;) He apologised to his fangirls! Like "sorry I'm marrying someone that isn't you". Hahaha. And omg! HIS SOCKS!!! AHAHAHAHA. Thank god Gackt doesn't do that. *can't stop laughing* Ahahaha. I wouldn't be able to stop ridiculing him about it.

Labels: Gackt, miyavi, skin, superband, tour 2006, Yoshiki

Welcome

visions of clarity...do as infinity
by witchstone

My Emotible!
starry-eyed: filled with such youthful hope and optimism that one's eyes twinkle even when it's dark

Wish List

ie: motivation to save money!
- clothes
- shoes [heels! boots!]
- the perfect tote
- coats/outerwear! [Soïa & Kyo, Burberry...]
- Gackt - nine*nine
- Gackt Photobooks:
1 The Gift The Sixth Day & Seventh Night Tour Document (2004)
2 Crescent Photobook (out of print)
- Cookbooks!
1 Thomas Keller The French Laundry Cookbook
2 The Nobu Cookbook
3 Emily Luchetti A Passion for Desserts
4 Alice Medrich Pure Dessert
- Anime/Manga
1 Rurouni Kenshin
2 xxxHOLiC
3 Tsubasa -RESERVoir CHRoNiCLE-
- Proficiency at Japanese!
- Learn French for Food!

Links

My Flickr Page
spoonerisms*inc a food blog (by wendy & I)
my translation blog

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Checklist: EAT!

The Common Grill, Chelsea
The Black Pearl, Ann Arbor
Good Girls Go To Paris Crepes, Detroit
Bella Ciao, Ann Arbor
Craft, NYC
Momofuku, NYC
Alinea, Chicago
The French Laundry, California
Goto, Singapore

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