I don't think I've ever done this in the blog before. This isn't an official cover of one of my favourite Yellow Magic Orchestra songs and the excerpt lasts just a bit over a minute but when I saw this scene on "Sound! Euphonium" which is one of the current anime that I've been watching, I was caught completely off-guard (I think in today's vernacular, it would be called "squeeing", but frankly I don't think you young folk would want to imagine a middle-aged man squeeing, would you?).
Now, I'm pretty sure "Rydeen", in its 35 years of existence, has managed to find itself in the playlist of Japanese high school marching bands, but it is the first time for me to hear an example of it done this way. And just as the spectators along the street took notice of the Kitauji High School Band playing an old technopop classic, I certainly popped up in my seat. And it seems from the YouTube comments that the folks there did so as well. After checking the official music video for "Rydeen", I found a number of new comments stating that they came over because of "Sound! Euphonium".
"Sound! Euphonium" (known as Hibike! Euphonium「響け! ユーフォニアム」 in the original Japanese) is the story of a down-on-its-luck high school band that re-discovers its own mojo thanks to a pluckier group of students and a young music teacher who initially looks like an adorkable pushover but is anything but. I've been enjoying the first half of it but it was the above scene that sealed the deal for me.
This was a video that I saw on the side of the "Sound! Euphonium" excerpt. It's the performance of "Rydeen" by a high school band from Iwaki City, Fukushima Prefecture, and after listening to it, I wonder if this was also the group who took care of the performance on the anime. I also muse if it or some other orchestra has done other tributes to YMO.
And finally, here's the long version.
Hi J-Canuck,
ReplyDeleteThat's a cool rendition of a YMO classic! The triumphant synths in YMO's version really lend themselves well to this type of arrangement, I think. That school band from Iwaki City went all out in their performance and I like how they included some of the techno bleeps from the original. I would definitely be interested in hearing more YMO songs being reinterpreted this way.
It's also nice to see anime-watching folk checking out YMO's "Rydeen". It looks like the band's music easily attracts people from different generations and backgrounds, so I hope it'll stay that way.
Hi, nikala.
ReplyDeleteYeah, as I mentioned, I just went WHOA! Hadn't been aware that "Rydeen" could be done that way. My anime buddy told me that the "Sound! Euphonium" part of 2-Channel went a bit nuts on the cover as well.
I think "Firecracker" by YMO would also be ideal for marching bands, along with "Tong Poo".
Concerning your 2nd paragraph, that was exactly what I was thinking when I saw all those gleeful comments under the original "Rydeen" video when they mentioned that they came over from the anime. It'll be nice to see some more YMO fans come into the mix!
great anime and a great tribute.
ReplyDeleteHi, Ryan.
DeleteYeah, it's been quite the hit for this season, and as I mentioned to nikala, I'm hoping that there might be a bump in YMO fans because of it. Would like to see if the orchestra does another cover of a classic kayo in its remaining episodes.
i wouldn't be surprised, considering the musical tastes of the staff at Kyoto Animation. they always pick and produce excellent music for their shows.
DeleteHere's crossing my fingers, then!
DeleteThank you, I wanted that song in long version.
ReplyDeleteHello, carlos.
DeleteYes, it was nice to find that long version. My thanks to the uploader!