My head ain't in the game today but you'll get a mini-music post regardless, just a small one though.
If you know ELEKTEL, i'd probably be surprised. You either really like obscure lounge music, or play IIDX and really liked one of his songs. Either way, his stuff is pretty good! I'll want to get more into detail about his other albums some other time, but for today, you get MOON RACE.
Besides the song, i really like the background video, and find it really cute that the double play Hyper chart has the ending section paint a rabbit (pic related).
You probably know about the whole inside joke about the japanese seeing a rabbit pounding mochi when looking at the moon, and both are references to this. The song is really nice too, and am quite fond of the extended version from cyber beatnation -1st conclusion- album, and that's the one you're getting today.
Happy sunday, everyone, even if it's a bit late at this point. Oh well.
If you know ELEKTEL, i'd probably be surprised. You either really like obscure lounge music, or play IIDX and really liked one of his songs. Either way, his stuff is pretty good! I'll want to get more into detail about his other albums some other time, but for today, you get MOON RACE.
Besides the song, i really like the background video, and find it really cute that the double play Hyper chart has the ending section paint a rabbit (pic related).
You probably know about the whole inside joke about the japanese seeing a rabbit pounding mochi when looking at the moon, and both are references to this. The song is really nice too, and am quite fond of the extended version from cyber beatnation -1st conclusion- album, and that's the one you're getting today.
Happy sunday, everyone, even if it's a bit late at this point. Oh well.
ELEKTEL - Space Travel with Teddybear [2002].7z
418.1 MB
Ah, what the hell, who fucking cares, you can have Space Travel with Teddybear as a little bonus. It's a very interesting and pleasant album, it's got a bit of lounge, a bit of bossa, a bit of samba, a bit of house, a bit of funk, wrapped in a lot of je ne sais quois and all of the soul you could ask.
It's a great album, just in time for tea.
It's a great album, just in time for tea.
So, in real autistic asshole fashion, I was lightly geeking out about the Mega Man series with a friend of mine who didn’t know squat about it. It’s one of the most clichéd things you could like as a self-proclaimed nichefag internet autist, I know. We all know Mega Man (or Rockman, if you're that guy). We all like it; we know how the rodeo goes—it’s old news: the original series is great, X is better, Legends comes with the bittersweet feeling of knowing that 3 got scrapped by Capcom (because Capcom), Zero is the best, ZX is a love-it-or-hate-it deal (I hate it), and Battle Network is almost an entirely different game with a nearly separate fanbase.
Whatever. You know this. It’s good; you played it. But that’s not the point today.
What you may NOT know (unless you were really into browsing /v/ back in 2009/10 like I was) is a rock band called The Protomen.
The name is an obvious reference to Mega Man's brother, Protoman. They first released an album called, well, The Protomen, followed by a 2009 sequel, Act II: The Father of Death. Their other albums mostly cover other bands’ songs. These two albums are a rock opera in two acts—a dramatic, dark reimagining of the events in the Mega Man games: Protoman’s creation, his failed attempt to stop Wily, Mega Man’s birth, their conflict after Protoman sides with Wily post-repair, and, in a dark twist deviating from game canon, Mega Man killing his own brother in confusion and anger after a crowd eggs him on. By the end, as Protoman lies dying before his own brother, they both realize humanity should save itself and doesn’t deserve their sacrifice. The album concludes with Mega Man fleeing Wily’s fortress as he grieves Proto's death, and leaving the gathered humans to die at the hands of Wily’s robots as he takes over the whole world.
It might seem odd to create something so ominous and intense out of such campy material, but it works because it’s all done in a very dignified tone. Of note, the album's epilogue is the first piece the band ever composed, and it inspired the entire project. It’s musically rough and stands out from the rest of the album, delivering a raw climax to the whole story. When you consider that the album is structured to shine live, where the band ends shows in the most exciting, bombastic way possible, you immediately see why this decision was made
Act II is a prequel, centered on the relationship between Dr. Light and Wily. Influenced by Streets of Fire and produced by Alan Shacklock (of Meat Loaf fame), it’s undoubtedly the stronger album in terms of music and story, retaining the noir, dark tone of its predecessor. It's the very tragic tale about a man who, in trying to help the world, mistakenly helps to create the machines that enslave it, kill his lover (and being blamed for it), and in attempting to stop the end of the world with the help of a man born in what is now Wily's dystopia, ends up playing right into Wily's hand: he fails, killing his ally and giving Wily the last reason he needed to seize power completely, ultimately sealing humanity's fate, as told in The Protomen.
It’s a very imaginative take on what’s essentially “musical fan fiction”, with a serious tone and execution that makes you take it as seriously as it expects from you. It’s a great listen and has maintained a cult following on 4chan since its release. I’m not sure if it’s still as big today among its users since I browse the site less, but I look back at it as one of the board’s greatest moments, when everyone was just gushing over it, letting our collective imaginations run wild.
Whatever. You know this. It’s good; you played it. But that’s not the point today.
What you may NOT know (unless you were really into browsing /v/ back in 2009/10 like I was) is a rock band called The Protomen.
The name is an obvious reference to Mega Man's brother, Protoman. They first released an album called, well, The Protomen, followed by a 2009 sequel, Act II: The Father of Death. Their other albums mostly cover other bands’ songs. These two albums are a rock opera in two acts—a dramatic, dark reimagining of the events in the Mega Man games: Protoman’s creation, his failed attempt to stop Wily, Mega Man’s birth, their conflict after Protoman sides with Wily post-repair, and, in a dark twist deviating from game canon, Mega Man killing his own brother in confusion and anger after a crowd eggs him on. By the end, as Protoman lies dying before his own brother, they both realize humanity should save itself and doesn’t deserve their sacrifice. The album concludes with Mega Man fleeing Wily’s fortress as he grieves Proto's death, and leaving the gathered humans to die at the hands of Wily’s robots as he takes over the whole world.
It might seem odd to create something so ominous and intense out of such campy material, but it works because it’s all done in a very dignified tone. Of note, the album's epilogue is the first piece the band ever composed, and it inspired the entire project. It’s musically rough and stands out from the rest of the album, delivering a raw climax to the whole story. When you consider that the album is structured to shine live, where the band ends shows in the most exciting, bombastic way possible, you immediately see why this decision was made
Act II is a prequel, centered on the relationship between Dr. Light and Wily. Influenced by Streets of Fire and produced by Alan Shacklock (of Meat Loaf fame), it’s undoubtedly the stronger album in terms of music and story, retaining the noir, dark tone of its predecessor. It's the very tragic tale about a man who, in trying to help the world, mistakenly helps to create the machines that enslave it, kill his lover (and being blamed for it), and in attempting to stop the end of the world with the help of a man born in what is now Wily's dystopia, ends up playing right into Wily's hand: he fails, killing his ally and giving Wily the last reason he needed to seize power completely, ultimately sealing humanity's fate, as told in The Protomen.
It’s a very imaginative take on what’s essentially “musical fan fiction”, with a serious tone and execution that makes you take it as seriously as it expects from you. It’s a great listen and has maintained a cult following on 4chan since its release. I’m not sure if it’s still as big today among its users since I browse the site less, but I look back at it as one of the board’s greatest moments, when everyone was just gushing over it, letting our collective imaginations run wild.
I highly recommend both albums. Musically, Act II is more polished and experiments with a lot more music genres, but both are worth the runtime. You might think it's silly, but operas like these have great following! These specific albums remind me a lot of the much more famous Deltron 3030, a hip-hop concept album/opera (or “hip hopera”—yes, that’s a real term) about a mech soldier and a cyborg-wizard fighting oligarchic corporations in the dark future of 3030 until the protagonist becomes the Galactic Rhyme Federation Champion. Released in 2000, it got a sequel, Event 2, in 2013, but that’s a story for another day.
Oh, and of course, you get both albums, in FLAC (no 24-bit, though, only 16).
Despite the grim conclusion of the whole story, I will say this though: "Perhaps, even now, there are still heroes left in Man"
Enjoy your evening.
Oh, and of course, you get both albums, in FLAC (no 24-bit, though, only 16).
Despite the grim conclusion of the whole story, I will say this though: "Perhaps, even now, there are still heroes left in Man"
Enjoy your evening.