• Tanita Tikaram,
"Valentine Heart"↱, an acoustic recording featured on the bonus second disc included with some editions of the 2012 album
Can't Go Back. Part of this is simply that while I've long been stunned by Tikaram's composition and production, it turns out I've been underestimating her actual musical skill. Let me state clearly that I never presumed she was a slouch, or simply coasting through. But listen closely and remember that this is one person playing one guitar; the skill leaves me numb with awe.
• the pillows,
"Instant Music"↱, most familiar to Americans as a component of the
FLCL soundtrack, and originally released, I believe, on the album
Runners' High. Um ... right. To the one it seems a straightforward pop song; lyrically it includes something of a critique against certain tendencies in popular music production and marketing. A rough translation:
"A no-damage image, less calories are happy; malnourishing your heart is OK. Instant music, flooding the world. Children are drowning. Diet music! Look, it enthralls them! Well, fuck that!" A later chorus:
"Instant music, flooding the world. Adults are growing fat. Resistant music! Okay, so plug your ears? Well, fuck that!"
• Cocteau Twins,
"Carolyn's Fingers"↱, originally released as a single from the album
Blue Bell Knoll. Um ... right. This is simply the best pop music vocal performance in history.
• Monoral,
"Kiri"↱, from the album
Turbulence. The song is most famous in the United States for being the opening credit track for the animated series
Ergo Proxy. There are a number of reasons the song can penetrate one's skull like this, including the bit in episode fifteen ("Nightmare Quiz Show/Who Wants to Be in Jeopardy?") when the fact that the song runs uncredited in the opening becomes a joke in the requisite comedic chapter. One of the things that grabs some people's attention is that it is coupled with the show's closing track, "Paranoid Android" by Radiohead. Compared to what anime fans are accustomed to, a powerhouse track like "Paranoid Android" gets people's attention. And let us be frank: Despite any one person's misgivings about certain pop genres, no one person is necessarily immune to the pop genres they disdain. And "Kiri" is just one of those songs. What slays me most was looking up the transcription, and the lead arpeggio really
is as simple as it sounds, leading to a strange question of whether two notes can make an arpeggio. The high-quality opening credits that could nearly serve as a music video probably lend to the impressive power of the track. To the one, it is perfect marketing. To the other, it is a lyrically poetic song:
"You complete my fate; the world unwinds inside of me. You complete my fate; the halo crawls away. You repeat my fate, rewinding all we can. You refill my place. You refill my place. Come and save me." As opening themes in anime go, this one is a genuine masterpiece, and perfectly―
perfectly―suited to the story it introduces.
