New CD box set announced

Okay, I always kind of figured there’d probably be some sort of “best of K-ON!” album or something released at the end of the franchise’s run, but I never expected they’d release a 12 disc box set containing a whopping 258 tracks, which is what the official site announced today.

“K-ON! MUSIC HISTORY'S BOX” will be released on March 20^th, featuring the OST and opening/ending/insert songs from both TV seasons as well as the movie, plus character songs as well as – for the first time on CD – the versions from the “K-ON! Ho-kago Live!!” PSP/PS3 game.

Not included in the release are tracks from the Band Score CDs, the Radion! shows, or any of the instrumentals. Nevertheless, it seems this box set will cover the basics and then some, and at the relatively tolerable price tag of 19,800 yen it sounds like quite a good deal for any fan who has yet to break their wallet collecting every K-ON! CD in existence like a sucker (unlike me, who will of course happily throw money at this release regardless).

Thanks ultimatemegax for the heads-up.

CD review: “Band Yarou Yo!! PART 2” Band Score CD/DVD

Of course, just one band score release is not enough for a franchise like K-On! – even though that first volume contained every song from the first anime season, and more – so a second book focusing primarily on songs from the character singles saw a release before not too long.

“Ho-kago Tea Time in MOVIE” album track list revealed

The official K-On! website has revealed the content of the upcoming movie insert song album. Note that this list, obviously, gives away which Ho-kago Tea Time songs are heard in the movie – so consider this your SPOILER warning!

News: K-On! movie opens, new Ho-kago Tea Time album announced

"Arigatou"

The day is finally here, and the K-On! movie is now showing in Japanese movie theatres. For all of us K-On! fans not living in Japan, however,  the wait continues for an as-of-yet-unknown amount of time… In all likelihood, the earliest we get to see it for ourselves will be when it is eventually released on DVD and Blu-Ray, whenever that will be.

 

But there’s more! With the release of the movie, a new album with insert songs from the film has been announced. Coming out on January 18^th is “Ho-kago Tea Time in MOVIE”, in the form of both a regular and a Limited Edition with two CDs. Price tag is set at 2,500 yen plus tax.

I’ll say this right now; I’m not going to review this album when it comes out. Eventually, yes, but not for a while yet. In fact, I will not even listen to it. Not until I have seen the movie. For one thing, because hearing any new songs performed in the movie beforehand would be a huge spoiler. But it would also spoil the experience of listening to the album. Thinking back to the release of the insert song album of the second season of the TV anime, it was such a fantastic experience to hear it for the first time, and it would have been significantly less so had I not watched the anime first. Because of the anime and how the album tied into it, it had emotional resonance it wouldn’t have been able to achieve as a stand-alone musical experience. Now – I don’t expect quite the same thing from the movie album, but still… I feel that you’re not really supposed to listen to these things outside of the context (hence why it’s being released a month and a half after the movie and wasn’t announced prior to its release).

So, yeah. That’s why the album (and probably the other movie related CD releases as well) will have to wait, as far as I am concerned.

That’s my rant for today. Now, those who can, enjoy the movie. While for me, and the majority of the people reading this, the wait is still on…

CD review: “K-On!! Live Event – Come with Me!!” Live CD

With the first K-On! live event having been as big a success as it was, it was only a matter of time until the second anime season had a follow-up show arranged in its honor. “Come with Me!!” took place in Saitama Super Arena on February 20^th this year, and was in pretty much every way bigger and better than “Let’s go!”.

The spectacular and long show was released as a 2 disc Blu-Ray (and a 2 disc DVD) set in August, and this month saw a 3 disc CD version released alongside a 2 disc CD version of its predecessor. The live album has been released both in a regular and a Limited Edition, and I’ll be checking out the latter version.

CD review: “K-On! Live Event – Let’s Go!” Live CD

After the first season of the K-On! TV anime had finished airing, and a crapload of music CD tie-ins had been released, the cast featured in a grand live event of music and fun in Yokohama Arena on December 30^th, 2009. Six months later, the show in its entirety was released on DVD and Blu-Ray, and found enough success for the Blu-Ray edition to obtain a rank of #1 in the Japanese Blu-Ray music charts in its week of release.

Flash forward to November 2011, and that show has finally also been released in the form of a 2 CD live album. I’ll be having a look at the Limited Edition, which comes in a slightly more elaborate package than your regular CD album.

CD review: Ho-kago Tea Time (mini album)

Shortly after the first season of K-On! ended, and several Light Music Club / Ho-kago Tea Time CD singles had met considerable success in the music charts, it was finally time for a full album release… well, sort of. A self-titled Ho-kago Tea Time album was released, and a 2 CD album at that – containing all of four songs. Specifically, all four of the “canon” songs – that is, the ones that actually exist within the story as opposed to the opening and ending theme songs, B-sides, character singles, etc. – from the first season.

A limited number of songs didn’t hinder the album’s success, though, and upon release it found its way to the very top of the Japanese album charts – a first ever for a fictional anime band. That was two years ago, but the album is still readily available for purchase for new fans – like, say, anyone who might have become acquainted with K-On! through this year’s US release of the series.

Don't worry, the real thing doesn't look like a photo taken with a crappy iPad camera

The album comes in a clear jewel case, with a largely pink and white cover design. The first pressing – which I don’t have – also came with a white slipcover that fit over the whole thing with a heart-shaped hole cut out in the front, exposing the faces of the characters on the cover.

The album actually comes with a few physical extras. Inside a sort of cardboard envelope – which is not physically attached to the CD case, but rather comes bundled with it – are paper foldouts with the sheet music for all four songs from the album.

Inside the CD case, in addition to the actual CD booklet, is a nice glossy picture of the four senpai (you may recognize the picture from the Fuwa Fuwa Time CD single cover) and a promotion for the (long since over-and-done-with) mail-in contest where they gave away the Fuwa Fuwa Time (Chorus Husky Yui version) CD.

The album itself, as I mentioned before, consists of the four songs HTT actually perform during the first season of the anime. Personally, I like to think of these particular songs as the “classic” K-On! songs, if there is such a thing. The first disc, labeled “StudioMix”, contains not the exact versions heard on the show but cleaner, professional studio recording arrangements.

1. Curry nochi Rice

Out of the four songs on the album, this is the one that got the least exposure in the anime. It’s easy to miss the fact it was even there – it’s only heard very briefly, and only the last few seconds of it, during their stage performance in episode 8 “Freshmen Reception!”. To be completely honest, this is one of my least favorite K-On! tunes, so I don’t particularly mind the fact that it wasn’t given a lot of time.

2. Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss

This, on the other hand, is one of my two favorite songs from the first season. Also known as “My Love is a Stapler”, this sweet tune was first heard during that same performance in “Freshman Reception!”, but was more the main focus as far as songs go. For the Studio Mix, Yui sings the first verse and Mio the second.

3. Fudepen ~Ballpen~

My other favorite song from the first season, due in large part to the very catchy chorus – and, I suppose, the very memorable scene in episode 12 “Light Music!” during which it was first heard. That does beg the question, though – Mio did the vocals in that scene, so why is Yui the one singing on the album? It sounds good, don’t get me wrong – but I do miss Mio’s voice here.

4. Fuwa Fuwa Time

Now, this version of “Fuwa Fuwa Time” is not the same as the one on the previously released single. The most obvious difference is that Yui is doing lead vocals on this version whereas Mio did them on the single, but the song has also been somewhat re-arranged to add a second guitar since the band now has one more member in Azusa.

The second disc, labeled “LiveMix”, contains the same four songs, but mixed to sound like live performances – in fact, these are the versions heard in the actual episodes with the main difference being that they are full length versions rather than the shortened ones actually heard in the anime.

“Curry nochi Rice” and “Watashi no Koi wa Hotchkiss” are from their performance in episode 8 “Freshman Reception!”, meaning the latter track has Yui forgetting the lyrics at the beginning of the first verse and Mio filling in for her. Otherwise, Yui is singing solo throughout both tracks.

“Fudepen ~Ballpen~” and “Fuwa Fuwa Time” are from the performance in episode 12 “Light Music!”, with Mio doing the vocals on “Fudepen” and Yui doing lead vocals on “Fuwa Fuwa Time”.

All in all, the two discs combined have a running time of roughly half an hour. Maybe not a terribly impressive duration, but for a K-On! fan who collects K-On! related music I can’t imagine it not being worth what it would take to get a hold of this album.