Fucking hell.

Everything sure is shit, huh?

What the fuck do you do? I mean, seriously, I’m asking for some options. What the fuck do you do? I’ve found that a slight increase in the amount of evening whiskey helps a bit, but that’s just putting a band-aid on the problem. Donating to worthwhile charities is a more healthy outlet for suffering, provided you can afford it, but that can only go so far as well. Ignoring the problems doesn’t make them go away, but I can understand why some choose to go that route also.

 

I like to post something every Sunday, give or take. It’s when I have the most free time and it serves as a way to unwind after work. But with all the shit going on this weekend, I really didn’t know what to post. I only share out-of-print and hard-to-find music after all. Ain’t that much hard-to-find protest music worth sharing. I thought about reposting “Cop Killer” again, but I dunno, that much negativity just isn’t doing it for me right now. Thought about sharing some Digital Hardcore, Atari Teenage Riot also. I don’t know, not in the mood for that either.

Nothing I have seems to accurately encapsulate how I feel about the massive dumpster fire that is the world right now. So instead I thought I’d post something that serves as a moderate escape from it: jazz-influenced rock covers of classical music.

Look, don’t judge me, okay? I got enough shit going on.

 

Shigeaki Saegusa and the Electric Super Band – 21st Century Vivaldi

A covers album of Vivaldi’s Four Seasons. Let’s not act like this is weird, this isn’t even the weirdest shit I’ve posted this summer. I bought this the same day that I bought Mogi’s Digital Mystery Tour album. I’m just going to come right out and say it; this album is not as good as that one. But that’s like saying Oreos aren’t as good as getting head. Both are great, just in different ways.

For starters, this isn’t an entirely electronic creation. It features a full band. There are definitely electronic elements to be found here, but the album largely has a rock feel. But it still finds its own ways to be out there. The album features a lot of choral arrangements and vocalizing. Don’t ask me if those were present in Vivaldi’s original compositions (spoiler: I don’t know shit about Vivaldi), but even if they were I doubt they were handled like they are here. The vocalizing is ethereal, almost spooky at times. It reminds me of the vocal parts from some Goblin tracks. They sound less like melodies at times and more like demonic incantations.

That’s not to say the album isn’t goofy or fun in spots. A lot of it is lighthearted and playful. The 3rd Movement of Fall uses a synthesizer to create a joyous and buoyant atmosphere. While the finale of Summer goes full manic, again thanks to the abundant synthesizer. The album is also lifted by some killer percussion work by Shiro Ito, a session drummer who has performed on orchestral versions of Dragon Quest and Gradius soundtracks, to name a few.

The album was arranged by Shigeaki Saegusa, who I know even less about than Vivaldi. According to his Discogs page, he worked on a few Gundam soundtracks, and Astro Boy as well. He also put out an album in 1981 called Radiation Missa. If this YouTube clip is any indication of that album’s sound, I need to buy that shit immediately.

This entry was posted on Sunday, August 27th, 2017 at 10:39 pm and is filed under Complete Albums. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.