Autumn Reitaisai 2 Roundup

I’m back with another one of these posts! In case you don’t know already, Autumn Reitaisai (or ARTS for short) is like the Reitaisai that’s held in May, only it’s held later in the year. In 2014 it was held at the end of November, but it was moved back over a month for 2015 – it’s now going to be held on the 18th of October. Unfortunately, there aren’t many albums being released this time (and there’s no Shinra-Bansho release like last year…).

Anyway, I’m going to list the few albums I’m looking forward to, along with links to the official sites and crossfades. Also, if you’re a Sally fan, you’ll be pleased to know that according to their official site, if they pass the ‘ballot’ and make it in to C89, they’re definitely going to release their new album.

1. BUTAOTOME’s “I LOVE CHERRY”

XFD || Official Site

DJ Comp and MC Paprika make their triumphant return, casting their… magic (I suppose?) on the tracks from Perfect Cherry Blossom. Basically, it’s a PCB rap album that somehow manages to put even the likes of TAMAONSEN to shame. Comp has an amazing command of language, and even if the songs sound like they’re jokes, you can tell that a lot of thought went into the lyrics. So far, I like the first track [‘Dance Dance Dance’] and the 4th track [‘one life’] the most. Overall, I think it’s more balanced than I LOVE RED, and Comp seems to take over more of the rapping. He sounds so cool >_> Either way, the crossfade has left me looking forward to this album and the next one… which will probably be I LOVE NIGHT, or something like that.

You can download track 8 here.

2. Floating Cloud’s “Touhou Irish 7: Phantasm Festa” [東方アイリッシュ7　Phantasm Festa]

XFD || Official Site

And Floating Cloud returns after last year’s wonderful Touhou Irish 6. This album drops the DDC focus the last one had in favour of a more eclectic collection of original tracks. I’d say my favourites so far are #6 ‘Intermission ~ Pilgrim’s Way’ (幕間～巡礼道程, ‘makuai ~ junrei michinori) simply because I need more arrangements of Gathering the Mysterious from All Around Japan, and #7 ‘Riddle-solving Step’ (謎解きステップ, ‘nazotoki suteppu’) because of its transition from a slow tempo to a fast tempo. I don’t think it’s quite as good as the last one, mainly because I’m fond of DDC’s OST, but it’s still seems like a really great album.

3. AbsoЯute Zero ‘s “Piece of clown”

XFD || Official Site

Get it? ‘Piece of clown’ because her name’s… Clownpiece. >_>

Anyway, Rute’s following up the impressive ‘Absolute One’ with a shorter mini-album (which is a bit disappointing, but I guess there’s still hope for C89). The title track is the star here, mashing up Clownpiece’s theme with Faraway 380,000-Kilometer Voyage. It’s full of energy. There’s also a PV available on NicoNico, if you’re interested (Youtube mirror). The second track is a mashup of Last Remote and Koishi’s theme, and the third track is an original. How random. Anyway, it’s solid – hopefully C89’s release will be an album with the rest of the LoLK tracks!

Update: According to the PV description, C89’s album is actually going to be an original album, and the third track is a sample track from it.

4. SOUND HOLIC’s “TOHO PIANISM II”

XFD || Official Site

The sequel to TOHO PIANISM I, which was released in… 2009. And I though there was a big gap between Sound CYCLONE’s Touhou releases!

Anyway, the crossfade is very convincing. It’s basically a piano album, with some extras as well. So… it’s kind of like Godwood’s piano albums with Pizuya, in that respect. For me, the standout tracks are the Pure Furies arrangement, the Fantastic Tales from Tono arrangement, and the Unknown Flower, Mesmerising Journey arrangement. But the whole album seems pretty good!

5. IOSYS’ “PUNK IT!TOUHOU!3“

XFD || Official Site

This is the 3rd album in the series? I didn’t even know there was a 1 and 2… Anyway, this album is exactly what it says on the tin – punk arrangements of past IOSYS hits. It seems like they already covered their most notable ones, but this album includes well-known tracks like ‘Make Us Your Brides!’ and ‘star river.’ Aki does a good job with ‘star river,’ but I don’t think anyone can beat asana. I must admit, the Hatate track is a bit of a guilty pleasure of mine (partially because Hatate’s such an overlooked character), so I guess the punk version makes it… a bit less of a guilty pleasure, I suppose?

6. A-GEAR‘s “Rubbish Recycle” [我楽多再生 – ガラクタリサイクル, ‘garakuta risaukuru’]

XFD || Official Site

A Sealing Club piano (+ extras) album. I’ve never heard of this circle before, but this album looks pretty good. It has a very… jazzy feel, and we don’t see that enough with Sealing Club tracks. Tracks 1-6 appear to be recycled from a previous album: 我楽多灯籠 (‘Junk-O’-Lantern’). I’m very fond of the new Last Occultism arrangement, though the other tracks have a great easy-listening vibe to them – perfect for listening to whilst stressing over essay-writing >_>

By the way, Rolling Contact [Melonbooks link – click サンプル1, etc. for samples], KRASTERII, and IRON ATTACK [Melonbooks link] are releasing albums as well. I just didn’t make a write-up for them because I’m not really interested in them >_<

Anyway, that’s pretty much it for this event. There’s not much coming out, though there are a couple of good albums hidden away there.