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Sunday, July 05, 2009

CD Review :: Kanon Wakeshima - Shinshoku Dolce

CD Only Cover :

CD + DVD Cover :

Tracklist :

1) sweet ticket
2) Shinku no (Crimson) Fatalism
3) Kagami (Mirror)
4) still doll (album ver.)
5) Maboroshi (Illusion)
6) Ennui Kibun (Mood Insipidity) !
7) Suna no Oshiro (Sand Castle)
8) Monochrome frame
9) L'espoir ~Mahou no Akai Ito~ (~A Magical Red Thread~)
10) Kuroi Torikago (Black Bird Cage)
11) skip turn step♪
12) Shiroi Kokoro (White Spirit)
13) sweet dreams

Shinshoku Dolce is singer/songwriter/cellist Kanon Wakeshima's debut album & it was released this year on 18th Feb .

2 singles & 2 B-sides are included in Kanon's 1st record . All lyrics in Shinshoku Dolce were written by Kanon whereas for composing & arrangement were done by legendary guitarist Mana of Malice Mizer/Moi dix Mois , who is also a renowned gothic lolita fashion creator .

sweet ticket is the opening track of Shinshoku Dolce & it's a very nice haunting instrumental piece which more or less sets the bar on what you should roughly expect for Kanon's debut album ie. classical & French/electropop .

Shinku no (Crimson) Fatalism is the 1st album track & it's a very upbeat classical driven tune . You get a mean mix of violin & cello strings in Shinku no Fatalism which I like .

The cello presence is more felt in Kagami (Mirror) & it's a bit more fast paced than Shinku no Fatalism & frankly I really like the 1st 2 album tracks in Shinshoku Dolce & hats off to Mana who's responsible for composing/arranging the whole of Shinshoku Dolce & the tunes are not as creepy as some of the rest of the material you can find in here .

still doll's Kanon's debut single & it was used in the ending theme of the first season of the anime adaptation of the manga series Vampire Knight .

The album version of still doll differs from the original take in the sense that there's an extended chorus (about 25 secs or so) , opening wise when you listen to it in Shinshoku Dolce .

This's the song which more or less established Kanon's unique music presence in the jpop music scene & yes it's a creepy & dark tune in a good way depending on how you look at it .

I used to be intimidated of still doll & let alone her 2nd single Suna no Oshiro (Sand Castle) but after I got that fear outta the way , I began to appericate still doll as a really good stepping stone & a nice start for Kanon .

Maboroshi (Illusion) is a real charming no. because compared to other album tracks you can find in Shinshoku Dolce , Maboroshi is xylophone driven . I realised that Kanon sounded a bit squeaky than usual in here but I put it down to the fact that it was probably done in purpose & of course you can hear shades of her trademark cello strings going on in here too .

Ennui Kibun (Mood Insipidity) ! is the 4th album track & this's quite an interesting song . It's probably the most poppy tune you can find in Shinshoku Dolce & Kanon sounded like she was having a lot of fun in recording Ennui Kibun ! .

Suna no Oshiro's Kanon's 2nd single & it was used in the anime Vampire Knight Guilty as the outro theme song & interestingly enough , she & the twin brothers ON / OFF provide both the closing & opening theme songs for both animes respectively .

This was the 1st song that I heard of Kanon after MTV China & MTV Asia overplayed the video of Sunao no Oshiro .

I was creeped out by Suna no Oshiro initally as I found it too dark for my liking but in due course , I look at it in a different manner as it's 1 of her more darker tunes in Shinshoku Dolce & the cello is more prominently felt in here if you were to compare it against other tunes .

& speaking of creepy , the same thing will go for track #8 Monochrome frame which more or less lies in the same vein as Sunao no Oshiro & in Monochrome frame , Kanon's vocals are more distorted than usual & I'm quite sure it was done on purpose too .

Nevertheless , Monochrome frame is a real solid moody tune .

L'espoir ~mahou no akai ito~ (~A Magical Red Thread~) is the only album track in Shinshoku Dolce has french lyrics thrown in for good measure which I find it cool .

As for the song , L'espoir ~mahou no akai ito~ is surprisingly a catchy no. which's relatively upbeat & it's 1 of the more somewhat cheerier tunes in Shinshoku Dolce which I feel it's neat & of course , the cello adds a nice touch to L'espoir ~mahou no akai ito~ & I like the big band drums in here too .

The next 2 songs are B-sides found in Kanon's 1st 2 singles .

Kuroi Torikago (Black Bird Cage) is the B-side of Kanon's debut single still doll & I'm still amazed at how good Kuroi Torikago sounds , no matter how many times I listen to it because I just love the whole feeling that the song brings , from the angsty driven mood , lyrics , melody as everything's really executed very well downpat .

skip turn step♪ is the B-side of Kanon's 2nd single Suna no Oshiro . This's an ace song because I like how charming the whole no. & it's a perfect contrast to the otherwise moody A-side that's of Suna no Oshiro & with a title like skip turn step♪ which's piano driven , what's there not to like about ?

Shiroi Kokoro (White Spirit) is the final album track in Shinshoku Dolce . I guess you can say that this's the only ballad you can find in Kanon's debut album & what a gem it's .

Kanon sounded real calm & at ease in Shiroi Kokoro & the melody's very captivating & it helps that it's piano driven just like skip turn step♪ except in this case , Shiroi Kokoro's more emphasised on the violin & cello strings whihc's nice .

sweet dreams is the final track in the album & it's basically an instrumental piece & to me , it sounded like an orgel version of track #1 sweet ticket .

Not that I'm complaining because I adore sweet ticket so I suppose with a title like sweet dreams , it's a fitting title to wrap Shinshoku Dolce nicely .

Wow what can I say ? Shinshoku Dolce is 1 heck of a solid debut album . I was generally impressed on how the whole album sounded on whole & considering that this's the 1st classical driven & French/electropop inspired record I have listened to , jpop wise , it's pretty something .

The album overall on whole was not as creepy as what I thought it might be & there's a good mix of upbeat & dark/sombre no.s which're all classical & cello driven & like what I said before , kudos to Mana for overseeing the arrangement/composing of Shinshoku Dolce .

The only gripe I have of Shinshoku Dolce is that there're certain parts of the album that tend to sound samey/the same as some songs took me even longer than expected to remember but considering that this's Kanon's debut album , it's a commending effort & I should cut her some slack on this aspect .

It's great that now I respect Kanon Wakeshima's unique brand of music & getup that she has brought to the Japan music scene & gone are the days when I would freaked out by her material but not anymore .

If you want to listen to something unique & not to mention if classical/cello meets dark ambient music is your thing , then Kanon Wakeshima's debut album Shinshoku Dolce might be the album for you .