1. Patagonia
Flora bouncy balls that spurt bits of
plants, greenery and flowers with each bounce.
The ball turns into a giant, yellow smiley face full of cyber
emotives. It bounces down the pixilated
hills adorned with autumnal fallen leaves and a radiant sun tan glow from the
great above.
The smiley bouncy ball bounced
through all 4 seasons; Spring, Summer, Fall, Winter…and Spring.
It is especially Spring when the
Flute and Strings comes in towards the end.
Intro starts out ambiguous, flute
bops between F and E notes. When the
full instrumentation comes in its SORT of like C major strum for a while, then
to F major strum. I think this chord
progression alludes to a song later in the album where I believe a IV major
happens, then IV minor.
The following section:
||A - | Abmajor7
| C7sus/G Cmaj
| Fmaj13 |
|A - | Abmajor7
| C-7/G | Fmajor7
||
The melody descends as follows, changing with each chord: G, G F,
F E, E D. G, G F, F Eb, E. Yoichiro Yoshikawa is a big fan of 7ths!
Form repeats once, ends on big fat C major.
2. K 2
A curtain call at the end of this
play goes wrong and turns into Japanese Thriller, in all its melancholic
beauty. Slightly Triumphant, Modestly
Victorious, Shyly a Winner. It’s just a
guy in a white suit and hat, MJ style, moon walking against a brick wall.
The progression towards the end,
he is sky walking with a boom box soaring over obstacles of the mind. Strange resolve, Gangster Crusader, a victory
for justice! THAT PROGRESSION IS A
HIDDEN IV, I, the IV major chord has something funny in the bass, might be its
own 7th chord degree. Then it
resolves to the 1 major 7 like normal.
FOR EXAMPLE: ||Fmajor 7/E in the bass | C
major 7 | F major 7/E in the bass | G major 7 ||
IDK I NEED TO ANALYZE THIS PART
The bass at the end is Michael Jackson
dressed bouncy ball smiley face moonwalk sky walking down the street in a
bountiful bumpy way!
Intro:
||C maj | C
maj7 | Fminor major 7 |
F min 6 || This repeats.
Verse:
||C minor |C minor
7 |
Bbmajor 7 | Bbmajor 7
|| This also repeats. Also, when the synthesizer arpeggios come in,
this same chord progression still plays.
Instrumentation changes, music does not.
The synthesizer plays Bb, F, C,
notes descending, then C, F, D, also descending.
3rd part: (So sick)
|| Eb major 7
| Bb major 7 | Eb
major 7 | F major 7
|
|Eb major 7 | Bb major 7
| Eb major 7 | D
major 7 || Then bounces off the D major 7 for a while,
THAT BASS OCTAVE GROOVE yea man (n.n).
The Eb and F major 7s are voiced with that half step crunch right in the
middle, and they are parallel voicings, so that’s pretty cool. Makes for that rocking crunchy I IV V where
everything is a major 7. Super rad. Also, I still think during the Ebmajor 7
chords the bass is playing a high D, it’s got a really weird texture here.
Song ends on the D major 7.
3. Aurora Veil
Snow Dragon keeper of Crystalis rhythmically
roars in the background while sweeping erhu tells the tale of his Legends.
“This dragon, the quiet friend,
has been guardian for over millennia.
He’s watched these parts with a ruling firm safety for the people of
this town. Before that, the safety of
these mountains.”
Etc, etc, regarding the battles,
journeys, loves, and achievements of the dragon.
A beautifully blanketly soft blue
light resonates from the dragon’s face.
He purrs a purr of honor, dignity, loyalty and strength to the
land. The nearby village people hear him
and offer a communal campfire as they’re offering. They burn a specific type of wood.
Song begins on beautiful D major 7, continuing from previous
song! It’s a very slow progression, but
it is:
||D major 7 | G- 7 | F
major | C-7
| D7 |
C-7 | D7
|| Pretty cool (n.n)
2nd tidbit
||Bb major 7 | D major
|| Repeats, then picks up again
from the G-7. Ends on D7 mixolydian
jawn.
4. Tassili N’Ajjer
Laughing digital baboon in the
background. SNES. 16 Bit insects flutter past view, they are
probably crickety locust type things.
Lots of smaller dragons, look
like they’re made out of papier-mâché.
Red crimson scales.
Weird song, has a Bb sort of tonal center. The clearest notes I can make out are Bb and
F. An instrument, not sure how to
describe it, plays C F slide to G. Then
later there are some B naturals in here.
I’m guessing the exact chordal structure is left open ended because each
instrument brings a certain flavor to the table. Curry curry curry MMM.
5. A Dream of Aku-Aku
The tabla vibe carries over. This scene would be reflective of the final
playing of the Aku-Aku song on this album (last track) This version is more in the present time
while the last is more reminiscing of memory.
The tale is as such:
Girl and Boy (Miyazaki style) are
shown traveling to different towns and countries, pointing, laughing, and
leaning in for a kiss at sunset.
Romantic, in a French kind of way, the strings are so HONEST and
emotional. They feel weighted down with
emotion. The pair shares a meal and has
a heart 2 heart. It is an honest
love. It is melancholic. The fragmented cut scenes eventually lead to
the current situation, the two parting at an old style London train station,
outdoors. The final repetition of the
main theme, with higher strings adding this go around, is this scene at the
train station. The two exchange adieus
like, “Thank you so much, I’ll never forget you!” The words are rushed due to time, a
quickening exit train perhaps, but not fallen on deaf ears. The two continue staring at each other
despite the physical distance growing apart.
The girl sees the boy and the train disappear beyond sight. She looks up at the dark mountains, purple
with empathy, her gaze goes off into the night sky as she walks home.
Opening synth has I think A-7 to Cmajor7, again, C major 7
hitting that B note in the melody SO TRAGIC.
The melody begins with the pickup note G A E, which is how I
believe the synth A-7 is voiced in the very very beginning. Basic verse melody is G, A, E, D, E, G, D, G E. Basically, there are variations
obviously. An innocent pentatonic
sweetness, how heartfelt. Basic chord
progression for this part I believe is D-7 to C major 7, at the end a D-7b5
sneaks in there. That chord is really
subtle. It’s along the same lines
as IV- chord, or bII major 7, or even a II diminished. It’s got THAT kind of vibe to it.
The 2nd part chords are F- and C major. So there’s the IV minor chord! Melody outlines F-9 arpeggio, G F C Ab, G F C
Ab, F E. When E hits, it’s the C
major chord. Strings over this part play
D B D B. C major 9 it is. Very jazzy.
Almost sounds like Tifa’s theme from FF7.
What a title track, obviously a highlight of the album. Simplicity at its best.
5. Keirin (Remix)
Hauntingly sweet dreams fill us as we
sleep. The kind of dream it hurts to wake
from. A warm circular inside the stomach. A sweet pain.
Startled awake.
The piano has a vinyl, old
sounding effect on it the entire time.
The piano also pans differently on each hit. IV, I progression just like track 2. I think the IV, I progression happens FOR THE
ENTIRE SONG, but what changes is instrumentation and arrangement. There are different core rhythms between the
two parts.
Listen to the bass and snare drum
interaction. They make a cool delay by
displacing the 16th note I think.
Reverse snare sound hit right before the snare. Cool dragging effect, probably contributes to
the overall dragging feeling of the song.
Song basically alternates between a few progressions:
Intro: ||F maj
| G maj
| F maj
| C maj ||
Part 1 : ||F maj
| E- |
Fmaj | E-
||
Part 2: ||F maj
| Cmaj | F maj
| Cmaj ||
6. Dryad at 4 A.M.
Love the title. Sounds like Meridian at first (water level in
Super Metroid?) Beautiful acoustic piano
takes the lead through the lunar landscape, shadowed and mysterious. Overall!
This is a very ambiguously and exotic piece.
Very odd one. Song is
broken down into a handful of sections.
First section is SOME KIND OF C tonal center, with the use of notes A,
D, and F#. Super loopy, wondering if it’s
a Dmajor/C chord, because the next section is comfortably Dmajor7 based.
3rd section is another F major 7 to C major 7, it
never gets old. Followed by a brief
Ebmajor, D7 thing, ends on D7..then sparkles to C major and G major chord
progressions. After this, form repeats
back to the wonky C mysterious scale.
The dryad is just waking up, after all.
7. Nettai Gunchou Zu
I
Cybertron Digital Zodiac Monks perform on
steel drums, ensemble of at least 7 but no more than 12. It’s at lika happy festival with log cabin
like buildings, like a woods land from Suikoden 2. Taiko drumming ensues.
The high synth on the left is playing a melody with F and D,
so I’m inclined to believe this is Bb major based. Short tune.
Choir synth does something like F, D, G, C. Very up and down.
8. Nettai Gunchou Zu
II
Just
Cybertron LOL.
The sequel! C major
based it would seem. Tonal center distorted
but still pleasant. Probably a prelude
to Sahara.
9. Sahara
Lots of Indian vibes on this album, very
cool! And it’s not overdone, it’s not
bodacious. Tasteful vibes.
What starts as an oasis of
terrific luxuries of an ancient desert civilization mirage shimmers into a
darkened, ruined, and weathered truth of current states. The ruins are viewed at length. Memories of a wondrous civilization pan past
view. The ruins seem cursed.
Easily the most tense song of the
entire album. This sets up the cradling
set down of the final Aku.
Opens with C Lydian sitar jawn. Nice.
Specifically, C D F# G. That is
abandoned for a traumatic distressing heavy string orchestra.
There’s some changes between C major to C minor… One of the melodic themes is C, Db, Eb, C. This theme seems based in F minor. There’s an ascending bass line that goes F#,
G, A, Bb. Hard to say what’s going on
with this song, although it does sound grand like the scorching might of the
Sahara desert.
10. Final dream of Aku
A simple short haired Japanese
woman in rice steppes. She puts down her
gardening tool, wipes the sweat from her brow, and looks back and to the left,
off into the wind. Recollecting her
thoughts of that fateful month, years ago; her lost love, their grand
adventure, the treasure, the zeal, the passion, she heaves a heavy sigh. A sigh that aims to release the tension of
her heart; like thick fields of wheat they ran through that year. A bridge seen in the distance, view travels
the span of the bridge following the headlights in the distance. Purple sky.
Intimate Fade out. This woman is
the same person as the Girl from track 5.
She is remembering her love!!!! :’(
40+ second fade out, nearly half
the song. The final dream is fading
forever. A slipping melancholy, a heart
breaking goodbye.
Or this entire reprise could be
the credits roll.
