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Revisiting Ichiko Aoba's Discography: Part 5
I'm sorry. I'm sorry! I know this record shouldn't teeeechnically count since I'm "revisiting" these albums, but y'know what I wanna hear the live stuff and the EPs and so on and so forth and this is a pretty great excuse to get to do all that so just shhh, ok? Anyways, this is one of the best live albums I've heard I think. Everything about this is impressive, from the amazing sound of the recordings to the songs being played to the surprisingly thematic elements of it all and the excellent sound design which I wouldn't have expected out of a live release! The only (and I do need to emphasis the only) thing holding me back from giving this a 9 is those goddamn first and second to last tracks. I think everything Ichiko is doing here is amazing but because that guy was up there saying god knows what into the mic during the guitar parts (and it lasts for like 10 minutes) I just couldn't justify the rating in my mind :(

With that being said, there's a lot to love here! Like the previously mentioned impressive sound design! Throughout this whole thing there's just this undeniable... atmosphere to it all? I know that's a relatively vague way to describe something, but that's the best way I know how to put it. Ironically enough, I think the best example of this can be heard in the second to last track, where Ichiko's voice just has this sort of echo to everything she sings, making her sound less like an actual person up there singing and more like an angel, as corny as that may sound. So yeah, all in all I loved this album a lot and I thought it was pretty amazing overall. If you're someone who wants to listen to this but finds it to be kind of daunting because of that runtime, I'd say just go for it! This is one of those albums that feels much shorter than it actually is. Also, in the case that anyone unfamiliar with her music is reading this, I would say personally that you can very easily listen to this album without being familiar with 0 or any of Ichiko's work for that matter. You don't need to have any experience with her stuff to find something to love and appreciate here, although as someone who has some experience already, I only appreciated it more. Also, not sure if this is a hot take but I think some of the songs on here from 0 sound better than the studio versions of those songs.

favorite tracks - Imperial Smoke Town (20131125), i am POD (0%) (20131125), Mars 2027 (20131125)
least favorites - Airplane (20131125), いりぐちでぐち (20131125)