Review Album Shikata Akiko : Wokashi

Assalamu’alaikum...

Hello! This is my first time to review a music album. In this post I try to review Shikata Akiko’s new album (if I’m not mistaken), Wokashi. I’ve ever post about my impression of Shikata Akiko, and now I want to review her album. In this album there are seven tracks, and I will give my opinion for the songs one by one, and because I don’t undesrstand Japanese well, so I will give my opinion based on the English translation, music composition and what I feel about the songs. I give rate for every song with 1-10 point.

I get this album by downloading.. hehehehehe.. maklum.. saya bukan orang kaya dan susah juga kan kalo mau dapetin yang original. Kudu pre-order dan ribet pula prosesnya, tapi alesan utama ya itu tadi, gak ada duitnyaaaaa... XD. Pertama gue lihat scan booklet dan cover albumnya, it’s full of ilustration. Ilustrasinya gambar orang pake topeng kitsune gitu. Cakep deh, gue suka ilustrasinya. Oia, selain Wokashi, Shikata-san juga merilis album versi orgel dengan judul Ato no Matsuri (After Festival). Jadinya seolah album Wokashi itu menggambarkan sebuah festival gitu, trus yang versi orgelnya menggambarkan setelah berakhirnya festival itu.

Okay, now let’s chek this out.

Wokashi

This is the first track of the album. This song is mixed between electric and traditional instruments. Can you imagine it? Even though it’s combination between electric and traditional instruments, the music itself sounds more traditional than modern. When I listen to this song, first thing in my thought is it’s cool and beautiful. Feels like I’m in the classic modern oriental festival. I love the flute’s sound in this songs, it makes the this song feels alive. I also like the electric guitar in the intro in this song. Such a cool and beautiful music composition and harmony. I think the first minute of this song is little bit weird but I really like this song, so energic. Hahahahahaha...

Gue gak terlalu paham ni lagu tentang apa, tapi kalo dari interpretasi gue berdasarkan terjemahan Bahasa Inggrisnya sih, ni lagu tentang dunia yang penuh dengan kesedihan tapi juga menyimpan keindahan yang luar biasa gitu.

Rate 9/10

Otoshimono

The second track of this album. This song is kinda weird for me. When I listened to this song, first I think it feels horror, feels like listen to Tembang Durmo, the horror song of miss K, twin of Sadako from Indonesia *if you know what I mean*. The lyrics tell about the dead sibling, about a girl who is left by her brother and her brother never come back. I don’t know why Shikata-san used the Katakana for the title, but I think she wants to give the stressness of depression feeling of losing someone.

The composition of this music is dominated by traditional instruments and strings. There is a raven sound in the beginning making this song feels so horror. The composition of this song is beautiful but so horror, feels like this song is the funeral song. Shikata’s voice also makes this song become more depressed. This is song I can’t enjoy from this album, so horror for me.. -_-

Rate 5/10

Hyakkiyakou

The third track. This song sounds so childish and cheerful with her childish voice. The first second the music sounds like background music of game combinated with Japanese traditional guitar (I don’t know its name). Like the first track, this song also combination between modern and traditional instruments with stronger traditional feeling. I like this song, it’s so unique and I love her childish voice in this songs, feels like the real child is singing.

This song tells about ghost or demons parade, because the title meaning is Night Parade of One Hundred Demons. Maybe looks similar to Halloween. In this song there are many references about Japanese ghosts or demons, looks like checking the attendance of the demons. wkwkwkwkwkwkwkwkwk.... XD. Even though this song sounds so cheerful, but the lyrics is not as cheerful and cute as the melody. *namanya juga parade jurig*

Rate 9/10

Kaguya

The fourth track. Like Otoshimono, this song is also dominated by traditional instrument. This song has the same feeling with Otoshimono. This song is based about the Japanese folklore, Princess Kaguya. So, if you wanna understand about this song, you better read the story of Princess Kaguya first. I am lazy to explain about Princess Kaguya.. :3 *gebuked*. This song has the strongest traditional feeling in this album, maybe because of this song is based on the Japanese folklore.

Rate 6/10

Kachoufuugetsu

The fifth track. This song has the same feeling with Hyakkiyakou, childish and cheerful. The first second is also combination between game music and traditional instruments, but this song is dominated by the modern instruments. This song is so lovely and cute. Menurut gue, lagu ini lumayan ngepop, dan emang paling ngepop di album ini. Walaupun lagu ini ngepop banget, tapi tetep ciri khas Shikata-san gak ilang, tetep ada unsur etnis yang kuat. Gue suka banget suara dia yang kekanakan di sini, serasa kaya bener-bener dengerin lagu dari ABG yang lagi gedebug lope.. hehehehehe...

 This is a love song, and it tells about a dream of a girl to be with someone she loves. For me, this is the cutest song in this album. And Shikata Akiko always uses the Hiragana for the cute songs, including this song.

Rate 8/10

Kaze Kaoru

The sixth track. This is just instrument, there is no lyric here. This instrument is so calming. When I listen to this track, feels like I’m in a beautiful and calming place. This track is combination between orchestra and traditional instruments with strong traditional feeling. Such a beautiful music composition.

Rate 8/10

Kago no Tori

The last track. Another depression song in this album. This songs is combination between rock and orchestra, but there is still strong ethnical feeling in this song. This song also has depression feeling like Otoshimono. The electric guitar, drum, and violin dominate the song instruments. I like this combination, rock music that has strong ethnical feeling. The music composition of this song is so cool for me.

Berdasarkan dari terjemahan Bahasa Inggrisnya, lagu ini bercerita tentang seseorang yang terkurung di suatu tempat dan selalu disiksa yang diibaratkan burung yang terkurung dalam sangkar. Dia selalu menghitung hari-hari penuh siksaan tanpa bisa kabur. Dia selalu berusaha cari cara untuk bisa lepas dari kurungan dan siksaan tapi selalu gagal.

Rate 7/10

Yeah, that’s all my review about Wokashi album by Shikata Akiko. Overall I like this album, very recommended for you who likes song combined of modern and ethnical music composition. My favorite song in this album is Wokashi. This is my first music review. Maaf  kalo reviewnya kurang bagus karena emang pengetahuan gue soal musik juga masih kurang banget. Review ini cuma berdasarkan pendapat pribadi gue tentang lagu yang gue dengerin. Maaf juga kalo bahasanya juga jelek, gue cuma berusaha nulis apa yang gue pikirkan pake bahasa Inggris walaupun kemampuan bahasa Inggris gue juga belum maksimal sekalian melatih kemampuan Bahasa Inggris gue. Semoga review ini bisa membantu buat kalian yang mau dengerin lagunya Shikata Akiko. :3

See you on next post. ^_^