Post revised on December 24, 2020. This post has been retranslated. I’ve also included all the pictures and the parts of the original post that were not relevant to the album commentary.
Everyone, good evening.
Paprika here. I’m the cat who loves the first shrine visits of New Year.
I’m a cat who likes or rather relies on God.
Today is New Year’s Eve! And the fourth day of Winter Comiket!
Thanks to everyone who came to BUTAOTOME’s space!!
The Touhou Nekokenban series reached its 19th album.
Let me talk about production.
This time the concept is the tones of the calendar.
That sounds kind of lovely, doesn’t it?
~January~
It might be cliched, but it’s the New Year! New Year’s greetings!
And so it’s the koto.
Because in January you hear the sound of koto everywhere.
The shakuhachi is difficult to handle.
If you put in too much vibrato, it gets annoying.
~February~
The image of a silver-white world.
If anything, I intended to express it with sounds
other than the piano.
I think there is a peculiar silence when it’s snowing.
I want you to feel the cold sounds in the intro.
Where it gets brighter in the middle of the song,
I imagined the snow falling in sparkles.
That was the atmosphere in Yamanashi, where I went there to shoot Hanbun Neko.
~March~
Cherry blossoms!
The winter is over and the cherry blossoms are gradually blooming.
I want you to imagine that.
Cherry blossoms also have a Japanese tone to them.
Cherry blossoms in Niigata.
~April~
I’ve tried to imagine the calmness of spring.
I used the flute a lot this time.
Every time I use the sound of an acoustic guitar,
I really wish I could play it.
I like it.
The rapeseed flower fields are so spring-esque.
The cat is searching for something.
~May~
It’s the first time I’ve made a tune like this
with a little orchestra.
I think the use of the piccolo gives it a fairy-like quality.
A song of the fairies in the paddy fields.
The hesitant cat in a terraced paddy field.
~June~
This is my favorite~.
Isn’t the flute stylish?
I think I got the guitar, bass, and piano
to work well together.
I don’t like rain, but I don’t mind the feeling of a rainy day.
~July~
This is a song that I struggled with for a while because it was hard to grasp the image of July.
I wonder if it conveys the feeling of a refreshing early summer…?
I think I did a cool intro to the song.
~August~
It’s a bright summer anyway!
I won’t say who they are, but I referenced the people
who are associated with summer.
I hate summer for its heat, but I really like this song.
However, I think its original theme is suitable for this season.
~September~
This kind of gypsy style is also good.
The violin adds to the atmosphere.
I wanted to make it sound like a jam session of guitar, accordion, piano, and violin.
I once had my hands on a violin.
And I gave up in a second.
~October~
I had a hard time capturing the mood of the season for this song too~.
I had a lot of trouble with it, but I think I’ve created a nice, slightly Japanese four-piece.
Can you smell the autumn…
I couldn’t make it to Kyoto in time for the autumn leaves.
~November~
Isn’t this season kind of lonely?
I think this song turned out beautifully
with a hint of melancholy.
I looked for a melancholic photo, but I couldn’t find one.
~December~
Christmas! It’s Christmas no matter where you listen to it!
I wanted it to sound like that.
Isn’t that quite easy?
Santa will come, won’t he?
Indeed, it truly feels like it when the bells resound.
Thanks to everyone’s warmth, I’ve been doing well this year.
Thank you from the bottom of my heart!
I look forward to your support again next year.
I wish you all a wonderful year!