BLU-SWING 10th Anniversary Best -
I've been listening to a lot of random stuff recently. Now that I have a lot of free time at work, I can write about some of it.
I just found this album called BLU-SWING 10th Anniversary Best by BLU-SWING. I've listened to the whole thing once, but a few of the songs many times. The whole album is a good mix of jazzy songs with some funkier citypop-esque songs thrown in.
Hitohira #
Let's start with the last song of the album, titled Hitohira. It's definitely one of the jazzier, guitar centric tracks.
I also just want to mention how awesome the album cover is. I actually discovered this while in the car with Nadali and we both instantly agreed that the cover was cool.
Now to get into why I love this song so much, it only takes ten seconds of listening to find out. I LOVE the acoustic guitar in this song. The chords make me the weary emoji. The chords make me want to get down on my knees and pray while facing Mecca. There are moments in the song where the guitar adds a high note to the chord and it pops through in the mixing very well.
There is also a guitar solo that starts around the 1:17 mark. I think it's a very well done solo. It incorporates the main motif while still improvising plenty. Plus you get to focus on that beautiful guitar tone!
I don't think this song is the best example of her vocals, though. Not saying they are bad by any means, but it's not the golden song in the album if you want vocals. I can't comment on the lyrics because I don't know Japanese. I still think she has a very great voice for singing!
Taiyou No Veil #
Another one of the songs I like a lot is Taiyou No Veil. It is the 12th song in the album. I would say this leans more towards bossa nova than jazz, but that just makes it even better!
Oh man. Where should I start? Maybe that bassline that comes in around 0:18? Bro.. When the bassline does that thing.. I can't even really explain what that style of bassline is, but when they do that bro.. It's like jumpy and energetic feeling. I know RRRepeat!!! by Gyari does it right at 0:01:27 in the song.
When you use an upright bass you automatically get like +100 points. You could isolate the bass track from this song and I could listen to that on its own. I love when you can hear the strings buzz on an upright. It's just so authentic sounding.
I'm excited to listen to this song once it's warm and sunny. It's definitely more of a sunny day song for sure. The acoustic guitar once again coming in clutch. I love the short picked chords SO much. I need to buy an acoustic guitar bro.
The drummer is also doing the quintessential bossa nova snare rim rhythm you find in songs like this. I mean can you ever go wrong with that rhythm? Plus then you got the bongos going on in the background. Ahh.. just so many great layers in this one.
Please give this one a listen!
(To be honest, I started writing this in love with *Hitohira, but quickly fell in love with Taiyou No Veil while listening again)
Shinkirou #
For the last song I will directly link here, let's go with track 11, Shinkirou.
I think it's also important to mention: just because I'm only showcasing the jazz songs from the album here DOES NOT mean the other style of songs in the album is bad. I'm just biased towards jazz.
What do I like about this one? Well for starters, the acoustic guitar again. I like it when it plays the little chords on the & of the second beat really quickly.
I also really love the piano in the background. It can be hard to hear, but it's this soft and pretty playing. Inject that into my blood please!! You can really hear it in the first vocal section around 0:16 in.
Some songs, I can't keep pointing out tiny details and little reasons why on just exactly why I like the song. Sometimes, I just like it. Maybe it's the key they are playing in? Maybe it's a combination of everything? I don't know, but this is just one of those songs I really like but can't go on and on about why.
In Closing #
I highly suggest you to give at least the first two songs posted here a listen. If you want to hear the other "genre"(?) of songs in the album, I would suggest track 10, Michiteku Tauon for starters.
I only ended up skipping one song in the entire album. It was the second song, titled Syndrome. I just felt it to be a little too repetitive. It has good moments when it's not doing the guitar riff, but man, the guitar riff just ruins it for me. You got the guitar AND bass playing the exact same riff for most of the song. I'm just not a fan of multiple main instruments playing the same thing. It kinda ruins the layering you can get with bass and guitar. But yeah that was the only song I actually felt like skipping.
Thanks for reading!!