Langue et la musique!

Bienvenue! Willkommen! Fáilte! ようこそ！And otherwise, welcome! I trust everybody had a nice relaxing spring break this week. Unless of course you didn't have a break, in which case I trust that you had a week. This week is dedicated to awesome music that's not in English. Because you don't have to understand the lyrics to appreciate the song (not that anyone says that you do, but a lot of people don't seem to realize this fact). 

Case and point, who could ever forget this internet gem?

We watched it for the amusing antics of one brave (or...something) individual, but don't tell me the song wasn't fully ingrained in your brain for at least the rest of the day. We called it the Numa Numa song, but it's actually Dragostea din Tei by O-Zone (Moldovan band, Romanian lyrics), if you weren't already aware. 

Also, you already know my obsession with this particular anime theme song. I'm going to embed it here again, just because I love it that much. Don't recall if I said so before, but this is Parallel Hearts by FictionJunction (Japanese band and lyrics), from the anime "Pandora Hearts."

(we'll get back to Japan, I promise)

Then there are songs that are probably more amusing if you can roughly follow or understand the lyrics, but infinitely more so with helpful subtitles. But this song in particular is so bouncy  it'd be nice and catchy whether you could catch the story in the lyrics or not. This is Le Cafe by Oldelaf et Monsieur D (French band and lyrics):

And that, kids, is why coffee is just for grownups and should never be abused.

Moving further westward, we get to the Emerald Isle, home of all that Celtic wonderfulness (Riverdance, anybody?). Despite the domineering Englishness in Britain, some pockets still speak Gaelic (among other things, I'm sure, but I only have Gaelic songs, so deal with it). So this here is Dulaman by Celtic Woman (brought to you by the same people who gave you Riverdance, so go be grateful!). I'm pretty sure it's about a girl trying to decide between suitors, or something along those lines.

Bear in mind that this particular song didn't incorporate Celtic Woman's super-excellent violinist, who is arguably my favorite part of the group. But alas, as classical music isn't technically a language, that will be another post for another day, I suppose. 

Jumping back to Japan for a Tokyo minute, I wanted to make a point that there is great J-pop that isn't tied to an anime. Then I looked through the songs I had, and according to Wikipedia, all were used for an anime. So instead I'll give you one that I never heard attached to a show, because then it will count...kind of. Anyway, this one is Rolling Star by Yui (Japanese band and lyrics). It was used at some point for Bleach, but I never really cared for that one, and so didn't hear it that way, so we'll pretend I didn't look it up....

If nothing else, this is an example of a good Japanese song that the anime incorporated, rather than a good song specially made FOR the anime, like Parallel Hearts was. 

And now we get to songs in other languages PLUS Latin, which is dead and therefore universal. The first is a German gothic/electronica...thing. I don't generally go for the goth-rock genre, but there's something about E Nomine and the way they incorporate the Latin and techno that just works for me. Also, it's great for keeping yourself awake for all those all-nighters/early morning adventures. This is Mitternacht (Midnight), and is probably one of the most well known E Nomine songs out there (and yeah, the whole album is about werewolves and vampires and things that go bump at midnight, if you were wondering. Also, yes, I do realize that whoever made this video doesn't know how to spell "German," but it's hard to find the right video, so shut up!):

Also, is it completely politically incorrect for me to suggest that if one were to listen to something particularly gothic, then German is the perfect language to accompany it? Yes? Too late, it's already been said. Make your complaints at the door. 

Finally, this last song mixes Russian AND Latin AND English AND is awesome. Yes, it's another song created for the sake of an anime (Ghost in the Shell), but try to deny that it's pretty wonderful. No, go ahead, try. Well, listen to it first, then try. It's Inner Universe, was composed by Yoko Kanno, sung by ORIGA, and like I said, is in English, Russian, and Latin. 

Ok, now try. You can't, because it's awesome. I particularly like the fact that Yoko used Latin as a breath of serenity in the midst of the fairly chaotic techno music, in contrast to E Nomine's use of the language to enhance their creepiness factor. Latin's pretty versatile for a dead language, it seems. 

Anyway, that's all I got for now. Come back next week and I'll either blow your mind with something awesome, or cop out again. Or something in between. Gotta keep things mysterious, after all.

The Post That Will Not Be About Something Medieval, I Promise!

Looking back through some of my posts recently, I realize that I've been on a bit of a medieval kick lately, between the dragons and Robin Hood and King Arthur and even more King Arthur. So it's time to branch back out to that little bit of everything that I'm supposed to be about. But first, I have a single complaint. The Golden Globes come on tomorrow night, right? I looked up the nominees to see what's up. For the most part, all stuff I could expect...but then I got to "Best Original Score." Can anyone tell me why in the name of all that is good and right in the world John Powell was not nominated for How to Train Your Dragon, but Danny Elfman for Alice in Wonderland was??? Granted, I understand what Inception is doing there, Hans Zimmer is da man and all, and I haven't yet seen the others, but geeze! Where's the love for John Powell??

See? You even made baby sad :( 

Ok, the pout-fest is over now. Let's move on. Today is all about anime. Woo! But first, I need you to understand something about me, as a disclaimer of sorts. I will read/watch/listen to almost anything in this nerdy world of ours except for romances. Or rather, anything but modern romances. I'm ok with the old fashioned kind of romances that require sword fights or possibly explosions before the romantic part is possible, ala The Princess Bride or any superhero movie with a love interest. But romance for romance's sake, like The Notebook or anything else that Nicholas Sparks vomits up? Can't stand it. Usually. Exceptions: Pride and Prejudice, Jane Eyre (does that even really count as a romance, in the end? It's an awfully pragmatic conclusion...), Moulin Rouge, and this anime, Kimi Ni Todoke. 

This is about a highschool girl, Sawako, who is generally rather shy, socially awkward, and comes across as gloomy. Because of that, people started calling her Sadako, the creepy girl from The Ring, and believed that she could see ghosts and cause unfortunate things to happen if you stare into her eyes for more than three seconds. Meanwhile, all she wants to do is be able to successfully say hello to her classmates without disappointing all their expectations about her supernatural powers. But she meets Kazehaya, the popular boy in her class, who slowly helps her make some friends and be seen as a good luck charm rather than the school curse.  Ultimately, of course, she begins to understand her feelings towards Kazehaya, deals with some nasty rumors, meets her first romantic rival, and is all the while simply adorable in her naive little way. Youtube didn't have any clips of the episodes, just various versions of the theme song, so here is the full first episode. Watch it!

Their whole little puppy-love-tension thing is just so cute in that chivalry-is-not-actually-dead kind of way. Also, I feel like it clicks with people who ever felt like the outsider for whatever reason. Stop making me try to explain it. When I talk about it, it just sounds like every other romance I've avoided watching, yet it hooks you in a way that all those other movies couldn't. Bottom line, it's kind of adorable, and if I like it, anybody with half a romantic bone in their body would probably devour it. 

But enough with the romance, eh? Frequently when you think of anime, there's something supernatural going on. Or at least, there is when I think of it. So then there's Pandora Hearts, which initially hooked me in with the theme song. 

Pretty much I've listened to this on repeat more often than I'd care to admit...

Pandora Hearts focuses on the young Oz Bezarius, heir to one of the noble houses. On the day of his coming of age ceremony, all Hell pretty much literally breaks loose, and Oz is sentenced to the Abyss. What was his crime? Apparently, his very existence. He escapes by making an illegal pact with a powerful Chain named Alice. The whole show has this twisted Alice in Wonderland thing going on, but with classic animeness (and when you think about the original Alice in Wonderland, you know you can expect something rather trippy). I'm not gonna lie, it has a lot of the "what the crap?" factor going on, yet that's part of the hook; you keep watching it just to see if it all  ever gets explained or make sense. But also, you experience everything through Oz and Alice's perspective; Oz is a pampered and inexperienced kid thrown into an adventure bigger than he is, and Alice supposed to be this powerful thing who can't remember anything about herself other than her name. There's espionage, nobility and secret society power plays, apocalyptic explosions, time travel, and general mind trips. Oh, and also this scene where everybody gets drunk

Yep. That's pretty much it.

Well, I'll stop there with two opposite extremes. Tune in next time for some more average nerdiness!