Wednesday, October 27, 2004

A busy day of.. Sleeping.

Comment Commentary

Shin- Um.. Yeah.

People who didn't reply- >:O

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Today was one of those days where I did absolutely nothing. I slept until noon (got out of school because of a fever), got up, dragged myself downstairs, and fell asleep again watching Saturday Night Live on E.

Do they ever show the old 70's episodes? All I've ever seen on there is Chris Farley and Dana Carvey.. Never Chevy Chase John Be..Loochi. :/

Talked with my dad about Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas. Out of nowhere a few days back I became excited about the game.. I think it's just the immensity of it all. If I were to rent it, I would probably spend most of my time just driving around and bouncing down on the east side with my crew.

Tee-hee.

He really does seem to want to play it, "but only if your mother is away. Far away. Like, five hundred miles and there's no chance of her turning around to check on us."

Sure, the game has the violence and the language and all of that good stuff, but they're worried about the prostitution aspect. Do you ever, ever have to do anything like that in a GTA game?

Oh well. I'm still more excited about other games, and it hasn't suddenly become some top priority. I just want to experience the franchise so I can do more than just stare blankly and nod my head when people are talking about it (which they are).

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To fill out this post some, I'm going to rant about The Pillows. I was originally going to pit Happy Bivouac against Little Busters and talk about how I like one more than the other, but instead I'm just going to review (rant?) Bivouc, song by song. If you don't know / listen to / give a shit about The Pillows, you're free to go now.

Track 1- Happy Bivouac. I only remember hearing this song once in FLCL.. Personally, I think it could have definitely been used more. One of the OST's main resources was named after this one, for God's sake. It also sounds very Haruko-ey.

But I'm not supposed to be going on and on about FLCL.. The topic is the song. It's one of The Pillows' more laid back songs (most of them are), and while I'm a bigger fan of their more energetic tracks, this one catches my ear more than most. The bridge is insanely catchy.

A number rating, you say? Haha.. No. I don't feel like it.

Track 2- Rush. I think of this one as a basic Pillows song. It has the familiar bass and the trademark vocals, and it doesn't really stand out to me. It's sort of average.

Track 3- Last Dinosaur. Last Dinosaur used to be one of my favorites, right up there with Blue Drives Monster. It was used as the "next episode" song on FLCL, without vocals (boo), and for good reason. It's one of the more distinct songs by the band, with its energetic, psuedo-thrashy sound. There's also a more mellow part in the middle to break things up a bit, and it fits perfectly. Of course, I'm always a sucker for that sort of contrast (see: Asian Kung-Fu Generation).

Track 4- Carnival. Ah, Carnival. I could go on and on about it for days. Back in the day, when free MP3s were still somewhat easy to find (even outside of file sharing), and I downloaded a bunch of FLCL songs, it had vocal Carnival.. It stuck with me as a favorite for quite some time. When I eventually bought the domestic OST, and found that they used a "karaoke" version of Carnival, I was devestated. It just doesn't sound the same without the familiarly appealing lyrics.

Of course, the song is still great without the singing.. In fact, I think the strong point of it is the guitar in the beginning. Vocals are just the icing on the cake here.

Track 5- Our Love And Peace. ..Meh. This one is too slow, and while the vocals are the highlight, they still can't save the song. This is my personal least favorite song on the album.

Track 6- Crazy Sunshine. Now here we go. It may sound biased when I treat the faster songs with such reverence and put the slower ones down, but how can you not enjoy Crazy Sunshine? Unlike a lot of songs by The Pillows of this type, it sort of sounds sentimental, in a way, instead of just playful and youthful. This is easiest to spot during the break (around the two minute mark), which quickly reverts back to the normal tone. The lyrics were surprisingly easy to find on this one. It's one of those more "omfg this generation sucks" songs, like Runners High's Instant Music, and in a way it's funny.. When I take the tone into consideration, and the half-angst of the lyrics, I can't help but giggle insidiously.

Track 7- Back Seat Dog. The guitar is the motif in this one, though Mr. Sawao's familiar voice is accompanied by.. Little kids, or young Japanese girls, or something. They don't really add to anything.. But it's not like this song has that much to offer anyway. Despite it being a catchy song, it's still mediocre by Pillows standards.

Track 8- Kim Deal. I don't know what the people on Amazon are smoking when they say Kim Deal is the worst song on Happy Bivouac. The bridge is amazingly catchy, and for once there are actual- wait for it- backup vocals (I disregard Back Seat Dog because I'm biased). The rest of it is sort of generic, but it's no big deal.

..*stares at Sarah Michelle Gellar on the cover of Entertainment Weekly from a few weeks back* ...Oh, I'm sorry, where was I?

Track 8- Funny Bunny. I have good memories of Funny Bunny. For once, the drums and bass seem to dominate a song, and it all comes together for a very sweet yet casual sound. Whoever decided to put this on FLCL OST 2 instead of Yori Gallop needs to die.

Track 9- Beautiful Morning With You. To be honest, I'm not sure why I like this one. There's nothing about it that stands out. Throughout most of it it's incredibly simplistic, accompanied by serene echoes of.. Noises in the background. It's all very calm, and fits the title perfectly.

Track 11- Advice. Woot. Best. Pillows Song. Ever. I didn't really care when I downloaded the karaoke version of it all those months ago, because the vocals are absolutely NEVER heard in FLCL. Not even on the OST. I had basis to assume that it was one of those rare voiceless Pillows songs, but when I downloaded the discography I was pleasantly surprised. At first I hardly recognized it, because the vocals take such dominance over the rest of it. But that's not to say that it's a bad thing.. It's sweet. Oh so sweet, and a perfect way to close a near-perfect album.

"Sank yew."
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