Anamanaguchi - Endless Fantasy

 I feel like this could be promo art for Kingdom Hearts III....

 

Confession time...I’m a f$*&in sucker for old video game soundtracks. When I was 3, I got a Sega Genesis from my neighbors. With it came games like Sonic The Hedgehog 1-3, Streets of Rage, Golden Axe, Toejam & Earl, and many others. I grew up playing these games, and loving the hell out of all of their soundtracks (so much that I have all of them on my iPod...yes I am that nerd). So with this cultural nostalgia revolution going on, a genre that has been born is chiptune. Chiptune is music that uses 8 or 16 bit video game sounds in their songs. Think music made with Gameboys and Super Nintendos.

The idea is right up my alley, and this is what brings us to todays review from a little band called Anamanaguchi. The band has made a name for themselves when they did the highly praised soundtrack for the game, Scott Pilgrim Vs. The World: The Game. I love that soundtrack to death, and have been eagerly waiting to see what the band would do for their second full length album. Anamanaguchi have done what I hoped this genre would do when it first originated with their second album, Endless Fantasy. That idea is to craft an album that is fun, fast paced, easy to play at a party, and feels like could have been an amazing soundtrack for any game back in the old days of video games.

Endless Fantasy is mostly instrumentals the whole way through, but the 22 tracks pack a creative punch. Each song either works as a song that is fun to dance to, or could have worked perfectly in a soundtrack for a Mario or Sonic game back in the 90’s. Each song has so much life and creativity, that half the fun of the album is creating your own ideas in your head. What do I mean by that? I would be lying if I didn’t say each song painted a story in my head for me. The title track, “Endless Fantasy”, I pictured myself throwing a crazy 90’s party that everyone was dancing to and enjoying themselves. Then you get a song like “Echobo” which I imagined would have been perfect in an underwater type level in a side scrolling beat em up game because it is so fast paced, and epic. Another great one is “U n ME” which you can picture yourself beating the final boss and saving the girl and getting that kiss from her for saving her life. Nerd fantasies aside, the album has so much life, and creativity it’s damn near impossible not to get caught up in it.

I do feel like I have to say this though, this album isn’t for everyone. I know damn well that the album for this audience is a very niche audience. If you don’t like video game music to begin with, chances are you aren’t going to enjoy Endless Fantasy. It might come off as way too weird, which I understand, but you truly are missing out in a very creative experience.

The final verdict:  Endless Fantasy is an album that has managed to have little to no lyrics what so ever, but still take me on an emotional and creative roller coaster that no album has been able to do in a long time. It has the perfect mix of songs that make you want to dance, and songs that can let your mind wander in video game fantasies. To any readers who like or even kind of like video game music, you are doing yourself a disservice to not give this album a look at. To people who don’t like video game music, I still say give this album a quick listen to. Maybe you’ll enjoy it, if not, you really are missing out on the most creative album of the year by far.

FINAL GRADE:  A+


CHOICE CUT:  “Echobo”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CntmohI0bfg

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