I received my CD today in the mail. I guess HMV has some purpose for their high shipping charge.
The special edition presentation is possibly the most care and thought I've seen put into a 2000 yen CD. I hope they go all out like this for their next album.
Instead of the usual lyrics folded paper, you have a 20p photobook of scenes around the city in Japan. After flipping through (right to left) they put the the lyrics to Hatsukoi on the last page.
The lyrics for Bokura no frai awei can be found on a postcard with a photo of the lead singer, an embarrassing high school photo of him passed out on the seat of a train.
Kimi wa Non Fiction was my favorite, it's a sticker set made to look like a sheet of a video cassette label, customized with the song title and Base Ball Bear logos. The lyrics are printed on the back.
It also included a folded poster of the band and a card with an anime version of one of the members, I got Shohei. I thought that would happen, because I would have preferred any of the others more.
All of this was packaged in a EP record sized glossy cardboard sleeve. HMV threw in a BBB circle sticker with HMV logo colors, pink & black.
Onto the music...
Hatsukoi: This is a great track, they really put a lot of effort into it. I love the echoing guitars and the slight disco bass. It's interesting how the song gives me this feeling of advancing forward. It sort of creeps slowly, adding more elements, but not using them all at once. I really like the "clapping" percussion moment. The ending is great, they usually don't end with a guitar solo part, it seemed very Chatmonchy of them.
Bokura no frai awei: Hyadain is responsible for this, it's not quite as silly as MomoClo, but it does have that sort of randomness. The [Ya-ya-yamete kure] line in the chorus kind of solidifies it for me. It's a fun Summer song, and yes, it kinda sounds like La Bamba at first. The best part is how they used Shiori's vocals throughout the song. She joins on the last two syllables of each line in the main verses. Then she gets her own verse, which has a sort of beachy sound to it, the 2nd time, they give it more of a reggae inspired twist and a vocal filter. It's cool how they make one of the later lines mirror the Ya-ya-yamete line.
Kimi wa Non Fiction: That goofy synth just makes me so happy. I realized that the synth bass is referencing the rhythm used in Shinkokyuu, but this one uses an arpeggiator over it to prevent it from being obvious. I like how there is a synth chord hit after certain parts of the chorus, and a sort of swirly sound. Once again, the hand clap works so well with the feel of the song. There is a strange whisper voice at one point, I can't even identify who is singing this part, maybe the producer. I like the mention of Hatsukoi toward the end, but even more, I like the "黒い海" line, possibly in reference to the track "BLACK SEA" on their 1st mini album (from 6 years ago). Since this is the next mini album released, I would guess this was intentional. anyway... Wo~oh *clap clap* Ye~EAh *clap clap*
The final track is an hour long clipping of one of their recent concerts, it sounds so good and the last 4 songs are just non-stop <img src='
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http://mm-bbs.org/public/style_emoticon ... #>/wub.png' class='bbc_emoticon' alt=':wub:' /> I was very excited to hear that they added additional lyrics and verses to Yoakemae, it's an extremely fast part, so it seems like he's showing off that he can deliver the lines properly each time. The live version has become so badass, this is definitely not how they performed it before. It's surrounded by all of the tracks that were already my favorites, so I'm glad they really stepped it up.
I joke about this really just being a normal single since it's basically a 3 song release, but there is definitely more value to all of these tracks in comparison to the single+B-side formula.
' /> Now if you could just work on that fucking Vevo lock out.
