so, this absolutely perfect live album by Corina Corrina was one of the last albums that the vault master posted before his blog was obliterated. so, none of the credit for this goes to me, duh. basically, i'm re-uploading this because i fear very few had the chance to download this beautiful album before it was too late.
every song on this album is a beautiful, tragic, and super adorable piece of piano driven pop. the tracks here are perfectly crafted, and each one displays intense levels of depth. and even though the vocalist has a very sweet, girlish voice (moe-like, even) she still manages to evoke great sadness.
to some extent this album/band even reminds me of After Dinner. the atmospheres that are invoked are very similar to the atmospheres that were invoked by haco and the gang on their albums.
might as well do a track-by-track review of this, considering each song really is very distinct and very, very good.
the opening piece, "Oasis", is a song that suggests taking off on some journey. the piano starts off sweet and sugary, but then when she begins to sing they take on more of a funeral march style, and the vocals build and build as they approach the chorus, which breaks and then quickly is cut back down again when the beautiful second verse begins.
track two is called "Story Of Blood". so . . . i have no idea what the lyrics are about, but they don't seem to be about any violence. instead, they seem to be longing for a lost time, or a lost love, or perhaps . . . impossible to say. but it's my favorite track on the album. as this track reaches its chorus it absolutely blows me away with how flawless the composition is. it sends shivers up and down my spine.
third track, "Soft Shoes", brightens my mood every time i listen to it. the moe voice is really put on hard here, and yet it still shakes with emotion. real, raw, believable emotion. this might actually be my favorite, because she also does a really great togawa-esque psuedo-operatic voice here. and it's. fucking. great.
fourth track! "Victory Of The Death" is another song that does not seem to be about a dark subject. certainly not the "victory of death". this almost reminds me of the title tracks from 葛生千夏's The City In The Sea; it's almost aquatic sounding, like waves brushing against a boat in the middle of a lake. it's gorgeous and dreamy and just great.
the final track begins where the fourth track leaves off (i suspect that if this is indeed a live album as the title seems to suggest, this was all recorded from the same night and let me just say i would have KILLED to see this show . . . run on sentence, like i fucking currrr). this track is actually quite a bit darker, but perhaps not bleak sounding. just . . . there's a tone of anger under the moe voice and gorgeous piano banging. so, this track's title ("All Dreams and Many Loves in a Basket") is also completely misleading. is she fucking with us at this point? this is just more of a reason for me to go learn japanese.
as the track begins to build up her voice begins to break and it cracks and she pants and nearly shouts as the piano gets faster and faster, each layer building and building so we have this wondrously furious, yet completely restrained finale that actually is probably my favorite track. actually, you know what? fuck it; all the tracks are my favorite. i can't even choose, it would be like choosing between my children (because i totally have children, right?).
1. Oasis
2. Story Of Blood
3. Soft Shoes
4. Victory Of The Death
5. All Dreams and Many Loves in a Basket
ENJOY
