Music Meme!

[seawasp]

Music Meme -- taken from marydell 

1. If you'd like to play along, reply to this post and I'll assign you a letter.
2. You then list (and upload or link to the video, if you feel like it) 5 songs that start with that letter.
3. Then, as I'm doing here, you'll post the list to your journal with the instructions. Easy peasy!

My letter is "S."

Under the Cut...

1)  Spirit VS Spirit (Unmei no Hi, "Day of Destiny"): From Dragonball Z, originally played in the series at the point where Son Gohan, taunted by Cell while Cell beat the living crap out of his friends, finally snaps and goes second-stage Super Saiyajin (and then proceeds to beat Cell like a drum). This is a link to a very good DBZ music video which showcases Gohan in everything from his very first power-burst as a three year old child, all the way to his battles against Buroli and Majin Buu.

2) Stardust Eyes: First opening theme from Yoroiden Samurai Troopers (AKA "Ronin Warriors" in the USA), this is a strangely haunting piece of music. Some of the original imagery was very good as well. Don't, for the sake of your sanity, try to make sense of the lyrics, though. This AMV has the long version of the song and some good clips from the show.

3) Staff Credit, Final Fantasy Tactics: This tactics-based RPG featured one of the first and still impressive opening videos ever, and included some absolutely stunning music. This is possibly the best cut of all, the finale music after youv'e beaten the game and the credits roll. Here's the music on YouTube -- nothing but the cover image though, no video.

4) Saving Metroville: From The Incredibles, the grand finale battle against Syndrome's final-version Omnidroid. A marvelous bit of work by Giacchino, crossing James Bond with superhero musical approaches and an individual riff for each character. Here's the music, again just one image, no video.

5) Sephiroth (One-Winged Angel): Sephiroth himself is actually a total wanker loser of a character, but he does have a hell of a theme and some cool imagery. This video gives you both.

Bonus tracks!

6) Space Adventurer Cobra OP: Imagine a space opera future in which the 1970s Disco Era had taken over and James Bond wrote the scripts, and you have Cobra. Originally a pirate (apparently of the "noble pirate" subtype), Cobra got tired of notoriety and of being hunted by rivals and others after his secrets, and had his face changed and even his memory erased. But something triggers his memory, and then his enemies catch up. As you can see in this AMV, one unique aspect of Cobra was that when he had his face redone -- he made himself (comparatively) homely; his original appearance was a blue-lavender haired adult bishonen.

7) Schala: The sister of the Magus in Chrono Trigger, Schala is the most tragic figure in the game, and her loss is what drives Magus to his extremity. Here is the music, from the original CT soundtrack; there have been orchestral versions as well.

8) Silent The Universe: The opening theme from Star Ocean 2: The Second Story, this both haunting and triumphant piece of music never fails to send a chill down my spine. The actual opening was stunning for its day and includes one of the most kickass ships ever animated.




I had a hard time choosing which ones I wanted; I could have done another ten easily.

Comments

[nuranar.livejournal.com]

The Incredibles soundtrack is terrific, and I consider myself somewhat a connoisseur of instrumental soundtracks. It gets a lot of air time on my mp3 player. I'll have to come back and listen to the rest of these.

[mhacdebhandia.livejournal.com]

I correctly predicted that the vast majority of your choices would be taken from anime soundtracks.

My impression of you is that you don't listen to Western music much.

[seawasp]

Ehh. I don't listen to radio, and I don't listen to music that has lyrics for the most part (if I can understand the lyrics) because in general I'm using music for mood-setting, and words drag my attention away from what I'm doing -- writing, running an RPG, driving, whatever. So I have a ton of soundtracks and some classical music with a smattering of other stuff. For a list like this, I tend to pick things that interest me but that -- for the most part -- aren't necessarily familiar to the other readers, so they're not just seeing the same stuff as everyone else posts. But there's quite a bit of "Western" music on my iTunes, just not standard pop stuff in general (with some exceptions).

[kayshapero]

Hmm... give me a letter, will you?

Baaaaa!

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

OK - count this little sheep in!

[seawasp]

Survey says... C!

Re: Baaaaa!

[seawasp]

Because I'm feeling evil, your letter is "X".

Re: Baaaaa!

[seawasp]

By the way, I am willing to also do "X" if you feel I have given you an impossible assignment! :)

Re: Baaaaa!

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

(Examines collection)

I can manage two, without having to check transliterations from Japanese. Not being a particular fan of X or XXX cuts out a lot of choices :)

Now to check elsewhere...

Re: Baaaaa!

[rdmasters.livejournal.com]

And I'm done. Now want to see your list :)

http://rdmasters.livejournal.com/23059.html or http://www.lympago.com/cgi-bin/Blah/Blah.pl?b=,m=1280872390 or http://rdm.dreamwidth.org/22998.html

Re: Baaaaa!

[seawasp]

Check my latest LJ entry and you will find my list!

[kayshapero]

Oh, that's easy:

Pause for a sincere thank you to You Tube for most of these links.

Carrot Juice is Murder by The Arrogant Worms. Now that's what I call using video to add value to a song. :)

Cheap Ass Cyborg by Tom Smith. The older I get, the more I understand the feeling...

Cloudy by Simon and Garfunkel. One of the ultimate "kick back" songs (I also like the "49th Street Bridge Song" in this category, but it doesn't begin with "C".)

Cocktails for Two by Arthur Johnston and Sam Coslow, as tweaked by Spike Jones and his City Slickers, bless their memory. What can I say - Spiked!

The Cripple's Shield Wall by Leslie Fish. Alas, nobody seems to have You Tubed this one, and the link to her old mp3 site seems to be dead; here's the lyrics, and the song can be found on her SCA album with Joe Bethancourt, "Serious Steel".

And here's an extra to make up for the lack of music on the last

Concerto de Aranjuez by Joaquin Rodrigo. This is the second movement (Adagio) which is my favorite part anyway. Poke around You Tube and you can find the rest.

[seawasp]

Nitpick: Actually, only three of eight came from anime (#1, 2, and 6); four of them were videogames (though it is true that Sephiroth later on was put into anime form, but I always think of him in the FFVII context).

[seawasp]

Well, yes, it was easy, not like poor RDMasters who my evil self chose to hand "X".

[mhacdebhandia.livejournal.com]

True, I should have said "and from very decidedly Japanese video games". :P

[kayshapero]

Just what I was thinking. :) What's fun is the "set your iPod on random and list the first ten entries" meme - I've got everything from a full length thunderstorm to the complete Fourth Tower of Inverness radio plays (which I really have to get around to finishing listening to one of these days)

Speaking of which, I just did that with Windows Media Player, and got Count Basie "In a Sentimental Mood" followed by Venus from Holst's The Planets, which is currently playing.