#Format: CD Compilation
Audio
Alice Cooper –Roses On White Lace
#Alice Cooper#Prince Of Darkness#Roses On White Lace#Format: CD Compilation#Released: 1989#80's#80s#Hard rock#classic rock#USA
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images of my PRIZED POSSESSION btw if you care. shes seen better days but shes vintage i got herlike this.
#anyway did you know i got into k.mfdm because its canonically one of p.icos favorite bands and also tom fulp based ng like the entire websit#-e off the album cover for angst. thats why the mascots are little army guys and thats why its orange and black.#i think the original ng orange was directly lifted from angst. the logo is kind of formatted like one of their album covers too with the te#-xt at the bottom. and godlike doglike remix was used in the original build of p.icos school thats where i first found out about them.#angst is kind of mid though. im going to stop talking no one cares um. aradias newgrounds special interest cringe compilation.#IGORE THE FACT THERES A RANDOM FLUFFBALL ABOVE THE PHOTO OF THE ACTUAL CD BLEHHH.
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Buddy Daddies Drama CD Vol 1 – When one Door Closes, Another Opens (Full Transcript/ Translation)
PLEASE READ:
Due to Tumblr's formatting (and the fact that I haven't slept in 2 days lol), I will be sharing a PDF File of the transcript and translation. It will be colour coded and correctly formatted for sake of ease.
Click HERE for the Buddy Daddies Vol 1 Translation!
Disclaimer: I’m not 100% fluent in Japanese, and so, there will likely be mistakes. If you see any, please let me know and I’ll correct them!
I wanna thank my friends for helping me listen over and over to various segments! None of them are on Tumblr but I appreciated it very much! <3 (I was embarrassed when asking for their help lol)
(Rei’s voice was so deep and tired that it took me literally 30 minutes of looping “Curry Amakuchi” to figure out what he was saying. Mild Curry. I am a fool.) Okay, thanks for reading, enjoy!
- Marcella
(I'm gonna sleep lmfao - I'll answer any questions or concerns when I awaken!)
Want to read the other drama CDs?
I have compiled the dramas into a folder on my Google Drive! When/ if I translate the the rest of the dramas, they'll also be there.
You can find it here.
#buddy daddies#kazuki kurusu#rei suwa#kyutaro kugi#buddy daddies drama#kazurei#anime#drama cd#drama cd translation
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Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.
Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.
Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.
Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”
There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.
Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.
At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.
Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.
In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.
The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.
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Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.
Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.
Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.
Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”
There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.
Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.
The ‘Live’ tracklist is:
‘The Greatest’ (Live From London, 17 November 2023)
‘Face The Music’ (Live From Nashville, 18 July 2023)
‘Bigger Than Me’ (Live From Vancouver, 26 June 2023)
‘Holding On To Heartache’ (Live From Barcelona, 6 October 2023)
‘We Made It’ (Live From Manila, 16 July 2022)
‘Chicago’ (Live From Chicago, 15 June 2023)
‘Fearless’ (Live From Rio, 27 May 2022)
‘Common People’ (Live From Sheffield, 10 November 2023)
‘All This Time / She Is Beauty We Are World Class’ (Live From Munich, 22 October 2023)
‘Walls’ (Live From Buenos Aires, 21 May 2022)
‘Written All Over Your Face’ (Live From Budapest, 15 September 2023)
‘Out Of My System’ (Live From Brisbane, 30 January 2024)
‘Saturdays’ (Live From Paris, 14 October 2023)
‘Silver Tongues’ (Live From Krakow, 10 September 2023)
At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.
Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.
In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.
The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.
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Louis Tomlinson shares surprise ‘Live’ album, recorded across 15 cities over three years
The songs were shared while he embarked on two world tours
By Liberty Dunworth | 26th April 2024
Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.
Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.
Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.
Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”
There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.
Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.
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Faith In The Future is no. 1 in this week's Official UK Record Store Chart 15/12/23
The UK's biggest albums of the week sold through 100 UK independent record shops is compiled by the Official Charts Company, based on sales of CDs, vinyl and other formats - in partnership with Record Store Day.
Faith In The Future also made a re-entry at no. 61 in the official UK album chart this week (Dec 15-21) as well as at no. 16 on the Albums Chart Update and no. 17 on the Official Sales Chart
#louis#faith in the future#uk charts#official charts#m#15.12.23#updated with some more charts#why do they have so many charts tho lol#maybe there are more that i missed...#NUMBER ONE BABY#again!
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Louis Tomlinson has dropped a surprise album ‘Live’ – featuring songs that he recorded at 15 shows across 15 different cities.
Announced and shared yesterday (April 25), the album comes after the singer and former One Direction member embarked on two world tours over the past three years – playing just shy of 200 shows globally.
Now, a variety of performances from both tours – the ‘Louis Tomlinson World Tour’ and the ‘Faith in the Future World Tour’ – have been compiled into a new live album, which is available now.
Fifteen songs are included in the tracklist, and each was recorded in a different city, at a different show from across the three-year run. The album comes in both digital and physical formats, and features his singles including ‘Bigger Than Me’, ‘We Made It, ‘Walls’ and ‘Out Of My System’, alongside fan favourite album tracks, all released live for the very first time.
“I’ve been lucky enough to spend the last 3 years touring the world twice over. The feeling I get sharing those live moments will be with me forever,” Tomlinson said in a statement. “To be able to record these songs from all over the world and put them out as an album like this feels so special, and a real tribute to the fans who make each and every show feel unique and incredible. Thank you! Enjoy!”
There are four exclusive tracks split between the physical editions of ‘Live’, including a special version of the One Direction classic ‘Where Do Broken Hearts Go’ – which is available only on the double CD.
Accompanying video clips of compiled tour footage will be shared on Louis’s social channels to support the release, showcasing a glimpse into his past three years on the road and 170 performances.
At time of writing, Tomlinson has shared two huge solo albums since departing from One Direction. His debut album arrived in the firm of 2020’s ‘Walls’, which has sold over 1.5 million copies, and the follow-up was called ‘Faith In The Future’. The latter went to Number One in the UK, Spain and Belgium, and Top 5 in the USA, Australia, New Zealand and across Europe.
Since May last year, Tomlinson has been on his ‘Faith In The Future World Tour’, which hits South America next month for its final leg. From there, the vocalist has a number of festival appearances lined up for the summer. Find remaining tickets to his shows here.
In other Louis Tomlinson news, earlier this week the singer, alongside Courteeners and English Teacher, were among the acts to be honoured at the first-ever Northern Music Awards.
The inaugural ceremony was hosted by the UK’s largest music therapy charity, Nordoff And Robbins and took place at the Albert Hall in Manchester; celebrating northern artists, festivals, venues and industry figures. The event saw Tomlinson named as Artist Of The Year.
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how to download (and mirror and transcribe) youtube videos
so the news that google is deleting inactive youtube channels was a miscommunication -- "Additionally, we do not have plans to delete accounts with YouTube videos at this time" (source, emphasis mine). but i hope this was a wake up call that archiving videos (and other content) you care about is really important. buy hard drives, save, reshare. videos dont stay up forever. youtube isnt forever.
i know how difficult it is to get into downloading videos, with how all youtube to mp4 websites seem to be broken. this post compiles general guides on how to manually download youtube videos (among other actions) through python programs. it's simple if you just follow the steps and constantly search the errors you encounter. i will also detail how i personally do it with my windows 10 pc, in case you use the same tools.
remember: your search engine, reddit, github, and help commands are your best friends.
* downloading youtube videos
reddit yt-dlp guide
original yt-dlp guide
how to download the best quality mp4
how to download videos from a search result
how to use command prompt
what is command prompt? this is a windows application where you navigate folders and run programs. you just type a command and hit enter. ctrl+c ends a command/program, ctrl+s pauses it (pressing any key unpauses)
how do i navigate folders? the basic commands are so: a) cd "[path]" to change directory (always put path and link names in double quotes so they are processed properly), b) cd .\.. takes you to the previous folder (ex: if you're in C:\folder A\folder B and run cd .\.. you go to C:\folder A), c) you can go to other drives by typing the letter and colon (ex: if you are in C:, typing D: then entering takes you to your D drive). this is important because where your python programs are stored is where you have to run them.
how to run python programs through cmd prompt? a) download the latest version of python. b) use pip to install programs. c) make sure you have also downloaded a program's dependencies (analogous to "pre-requisites"). d) type the program name then the command.
make sure to always update python and pip.
how to use yt-dlp to download youtube videos
how to get download yt-dlp? this guide worked perfectly for me. make sure to download all python programs in the same folder.
navigate to the folder you installed yt-dlp
the following are examples of commands you can use:
yt-dlp -h -- get a list of all commands
yt-dlp "[link]" -- download video as is (often in webm format)
yt-dlp "[link]" -f "bestvideo[ext=mp4]+bestaudio[ext=m4a]/best[ext=mp4]/best" -- download the highest quality mp4 video (highest possible in mp4 is 1080p)
yt-dlp -x --audio-format mp3 "[link]" -- download audio only as mp3
yt-dlp -i "[playlist link]" -- download a full playlist (you may also use the best quality command here)
yt-dlp -i "[playlist link]" --playlist-items [range] -- download range of playlist items
look at the guides at the top of this section for my ideas of what you can do with yt-dlp. you can even use yt-dlp to download from other websites
note: if you want to download instagram reels, you must include: --cookies-from-browser [firefox / chrome / etc] -- choose your browser
** mirroring youtube videos to archive.org
github tubeup guide: "tubeup uses yt-dlp to download a Youtube video (or any other provider supported by yt-dlp), and then uploads it with all metadata to the Internet Archive using the python module internetarchive."
this guide shows you how to install and use the program. this is an easy way to archive videos with the proper metadata -- do not archive videos en masse
the mirrortube archive.org community
*** transcribing videos
transcribing youtube videos w/o downloading: application
transcribing any downloaded video: openai guide
extra1: searching videos
ive seen confusion on how to naviagte youtube search these days. i know!!!! here are some tips:
changing search options to search by upload date shows *ACTUAL* results, rather than suggestions.
the same google tricks work on youtube: google tricks guide
using yt-dlp to search can be helpful to search youtube more precisely
extra2: downloading twitter videos online
i use this regularly, so i thought id also share.
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Fixed corrupted glyphs in Night of Knives .TXT docs
Rehosted them to my Neocities
Compiled a .PDF of all current Drama CD English translations (except NoK Slayer Side Tales Volumes 1 & 2 (Robo-Ky, A.B.A.), which are provided via Dropbox links to Volcanic's translations)
Updated pinned masterpost with a list of missing Dengeki PS issues with GG articles & a link to the GG.ru reupload section on my Neocities Archives page
Added NoK SST Volume 3: Axl Low to the Archives and linked it in the masterpost. Originally translated into English by Anji Mito Chou. Thanks to ChangelingB for sending me the file, which was previously missing from both Volcanic's and my own archives.
Need to update the formatting on the Axl Low .PDF text that's not in the Complete Document. It got a little garbled over time, but it's legible enough for now.
Been slowly working on getting some Arcadia Monthly GG issues together for the masterpost
NC Archives: https://solradguy.neocities.org/archives#ggru
Masterpost directory: https://solradguy.tumblr.com/post/701138089295364096/comprehensive-guide-to-unofficial-guilty-gear
#textpost#How the hell is it almost 2:30am already it was like 11pm a second ago#Anyway wow ok good night
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Red Hot Chili Peppers – Jungle Man
#Red Hot Chili Peppers#What Hits!?#Jungle Man#Format: CD Compilation#Released: 1992#Genre: Alternative Rock Indie Rock Funk#Funk ROck#USA
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REHAB DOLL TURNS 35!
The story of Seattle’s rise to global rock supremacy in the late ’80s and early ’90s begins with Green River. Made up of Jeff Ament (bass), Mark Arm (guitar/vocals), Bruce Fairweather (guitar), Stone Gossard (guitar), and Alex Shumway (drums), the quintet put out three 12”s and a 7” single during its brief existence. Green River’s influence on Seattle’s music scene spread far and wide thanks to the members’ dispersion into bands including Pearl Jam, Mudhoney, and Love Battery, as well as the punk-glam-sludge-rock songs they left behind.
“By ‘83, ‘84, there was definitely a movement that was happening within hardcore, like Black Flag slowing down for My War,” says Arm. “The Replacements and Butthole Surfers were rearing their heads, and they’re very different bands, but they’re not hardcore—the Replacements are pretty much straight-up rock, and Butthole Surfers were God knows what. Sonic Youth’s Bad Moon Rising was around, and a lot of really interesting post-hardcore things were happening.”
Green River, which formed in 1984, was part of that evolution, with a sound that straddled a lot of different genres—blues, punk, bloozy straight-ahead rock. The mini-LP Dry As A Bone, which came out in 1987, and the band’s lone full-length Rehab Doll, which came out in 1988, were released as a single CD with a few bonus cuts, including their sneering cover of David Bowie’s “Queen Bitch” and their marauding version of Dead Boys’ “Ain’t Nothin’ to Do,” in 1990—but they’ve been unavailable on vinyl for years. Now, these slices of Seattle music history are not only back in print, they’re accompanied by items from the vaults that had been forgotten about for decades.
Dry As A Bone was recorded at Jack Endino’s Reciprocal Recording in 1986, and it shows the band in furious form, with Arm’s yowl battling Fairweather and Gossard’s ferocious guitar playing on “This Town” and “Unwind” opening as a slow bluesy grind then jump-starting itself into a hyperactive chase. The deluxe edition includes Green River’s cuts from the crucial Seattle-scene compilation Deep Six, as well as long-lost songs that were recorded to the now-archaic format Betamax.
Rehab Doll, recorded largely at Seattle’s Steve Lawson Studios., bridges the gap between the taut, punky energy of Dry As a Bone and the bigger drums and thicker riffs that were coming to dominate rock in the late ’80s. This new edition of Rehab Doll includes a version of “Swallow My Pride” recorded to 8-track at Endino’s Reciprocal Recording, which features a more accurate depiction of how the band sounded when they played live. “When I listen to these mixes, I think, ‘This is how we actually sounded—this is the kind of energy we had,’” says Shumway.
Green River’s place in American music history is without question, but these recordings paint a more complete picture of the band—and of rock in the mid- to late-’80s, when punk’s faster-and-louder ideals had begun shape-shifting into other ideas.
#stone gossard#jeff ament#mark arm#steve turner#bruce fairweather#subpop#Rehab Doll#green river#mother love bone#pearl jam#mudhoney#seattle#35th anniversary#Alex Shumway#swallow my pride#steve lawson
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Buddy Daddies Drama CD Vol 2 - Far from Jupiter, Far from his Thunderbolt (Full Transcript/ Translation)
PLEASE READ:
Due to Tumblr’s formatting (and the fact that I'm as sleep deprived as Rei lol), I will be sharing a PDF File of the transcript and translation. It will be colour coded and correctly formatted for sake of ease.
Click HERE for the Buddy Daddies Vol 2 Translation!
Disclaimer: I’m not 100% fluent in Japanese, and so, there will likely be mistakes. If you see any, please let me know and I’ll correct them!
I want to thank (and apologise to lol) all the people who I sent random chunks of this script to, asking to make sure that, yes, I heard exactly what I heard, no, it was not a mistake.
I want to thank the Buddy Daddies fandom for all the encouragement and support too!
Alrighty, that's all from me, enjoy!
- Marcella
(This script had a me turning my head and asking why - can we ask for it to be animated pls.)
Want to read the first drama CD?
I have compiled both dramas into a folder on my Google Drive! When/ if I translate the 3rd and 4th dramas, they'll also be there.
You can find it here!
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Is tumblr an ok-ish place to just like, info dump about my world and it’s lore, or is there a better place I could do it?
Tex: You can put anything on tumblr so long as you don’t violate the Terms of Service - I’ve seen moodboards, essays, sketches, stories, bullet point lists, gif sets, audio clip compilations, and pretty much anything that the various posting formats can support.
It’s not necessarily something like a catch-all or one-size-fits-all, but I think it helps to think of various websites as boxes with different utilities, much in the same theme as scrapbooking parts. For example, tumblr supports images well, Archive of Our Own (AO3) supports text well, and have the shared similarity of ability to tag posts or works for organizational purposes.
The internet is one, very useful, format to worldbuild, because it has the ability to utilize tools such as hyperlinking and digital archiving. In a previous post, there is a detail about how to organize a digital file structure for one’s worldbuilding to keep track of things, available here. One practice I have noticed among some worldbuilders is the blend of digital and physical spaces; or rather, online and offline.
Offline digital worldbuilding is such things as word documents, saved images, and programs that perform the function of notebooks that don’t require internet access and/or an internet browser. This is frequently supplemented by personal archiving habits, such as a dedicated peripheral drive like a USB, and regularly copying over digital files onto that device whenever significant changes are made or else on a schedule. This is useful for happenstance events like computer failure, websites going defunct, or related issues.
Offline physical worldbuilding is such things as notebooks, drawings or paintings, boxes of ephemera, scrapbooks, and physical copies of the canon media (if the worldbuilding has its roots in fandom). This can include CDs, DVDs, photos, and craft items such as textiles or sculptures. For people that have had difficulties in maintaining digital records in particular, physical copies are often a good method of maintaining linearity of thought - i.e. printing out a Google Doc and putting that into a folder.
Because there’s so many different medias and platforms you can use for worldbuilding, it’s more a matter of which suits you best and for which purpose. Tumblr is a useful component of a worldbuilding methodology portfolio because of its capability to create dedicated posts that can be mixed media, tagged, and archived if one wishes it. As of this time of posting, users cannot currently download an individual post, but it’s impossible to predict a website’s roadmap as it adapts to the changing needs of digital spaces.
One thing I would note is that tumblr need not be engagement driven, in the same way other online spaces tend to be (e.g. twitter). You can make a blog, add restrictions in the form of locking viewing to only logged-in users or adding a password to view the blog, and with the recent update (as of this posting), users can also toggle preferences on how public a post is and also ability for others to reblog a post.
If you’re looking for engagement, this is fuelled by reblogs, which generally depends on the blogs that you follow and interact with, usually by reblogging their posts and also by talking to them. That is, however, a subject of micro-cultures and subcultures therein, which becomes a little bit off-subject to your question and not really within our domain.
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I have a somewhat lengthy question. I’ve always loved the 2002 comp DAS: 20 Years Of TMBG, from it being 2 CDs to it being compiled by yourself. Would you guys ever consdier doing a followup to it with another 2CD of material from 03-23? Or is that no longer feasible to release a something that elaborate in the not so psychical world of 2023 as it was in 2002?
In addition to that, I also wonder how much different formats play into new releases? For example, does making your content fit on vinyl disc take priority more so now than it did say 10 years ago? Are there some releases, such as comps or live albums that get excluded from the future vinyl releases because of their content or length?
Curiosity is killing this cat
JF: In the past few years we have been focusing hard on getting LPs released on vinyl and pulling our overall catalog together. Wrangling rarities and compilations is kind of inherently messy and confusing, and it is made even more complicated by various formats coming in an out of style. I guess I am specifically thinking about EPs which for many years were a nice "off the record" place to park bonus tracks and oddities. Curiously a lot of those EP songs from the Elektra and Idlewild years --some of which have great qualities--haven't been compiled into rarities but are often not in print or streaming, while more haphazard rarity comps in LP form soldier on. But we are thinking about it all, and working on some things that I think will be of interest.
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Anime Spotlight #1: Sonic the Hedgehog OVA (1996)
Acquired Stardust's spotlights expand into the realm of anime! Join Ash as she takes a look back at 1996's Sonic the Hedgehog OVA, a fitting first entry in our anime spotlight series, bridging the gap between video games and anime.
In many ways the story of Sonic the Hedgehog mirrors that of developer Sega's due to how indelibly linked the Blue Blur's meteoric rise into pop culture relevancy is to the company at large. Sonic the Hedgehog, much like Sega, went from the cool new contender rivaling Nintendo's dominance in the early 90s to an underdog by the turn of the century, to an example of just how harsh the shift from 2D to 3D games could be to video game developers that struggled to make the transition with as much acclaim as Nintendo had, back to a beloved alternative underdog in recent years that represented a very particular style and sound that you couldn't find just anywhere else.
It's easy to see why Sonic the Hedgehog had such an impact in its initial boom period (which lasted roughly 8 years, from 1991 to 1999) with the strength of the creatives involved and inspirations evoked. Brandishing a visual and auditory edge along with its gameplay and level design that many considered on par with Nintendo's Super Mario, Sonic the Hedgehog helped propelled Japanese video game developer Sega into unprecedented heights particularly in America. Hot on the heels of 1993's Sonic CD and 1994's Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (& Knuckles)released on the Sega CD platform, 1996 saw the release of a two-episode Sonic the Hedgehog original video animation in Japan (that's OVA for those unfamiliar with anime terms, meaning a popular release method that's a sort of direct-to-video release rather than airing on television or in movie theaters). It was also compiled into a single 53-minute video and dubbed by ADV Films when it arrived in America in 1999, coinciding with the release of Sonic Adventure.
Immediately apparent is the retention of many of the elements that made Sonic so popular in this era. First you have the art style of Sonic CD, recreated faithfully by Studio Pierrot (also responsible for animating shonen anime classics Naruto, Bleach and Yu Yu Hakusho), with the even higher animation quality than the animated sequences of the then-new video game afforded by the budget of OVA format. There's also the soundtrack composed by Mitsuhiro Tada sporting an incredible blend of synthesizer, drums, keys and horns that's still stunning to this day and tragically never released in any official capacity (though an early production reel of the soundtrack, including its clever and catchy main theme sung by Riyu Konaka, was leaked in 2020 thanks to a Russian Sonic fansite). There's also the story and cast, an unthinkable (in 1996) teamup between Sonic and friends with nemesis Dr. Eggman rounded out by a few original characters such as the charmingly feral brat Sara, notably being the first instance of oddly human (or at least in this case humanimal) love interests for Sonic.
As previously mentioned, Sonic OVA nails a lot of things about the series that made it so popular at the time including the portrayal of its lead characters. Sonic has his cocky coolness, Tails lovable kid genius with plenty of vulnerability and Knuckles has both all the toughness and silliness one would expect. Aspects of all three of these characters would come to be either lost of hyperfocused on in the years to come and it's pretty great to have a piece of media capture the protagonist trio in such robust detail, with each character getting several moments to shine and their own significance in the events of the OVA as opposed to being ultimately completely beholden to Sonic to save the day.
Another retention from the video games of the time is the action and sense of speed with Studio Pierrot having done a wonderful job animating not only several sequences of traversal straight out of the Sega Genesis games complete with cameos of enemies along with several impressive fight sequences, as well as a few small instances of impressively thought out interaction between both characters and environment. In terms of the story and animation it's clear that the people involved in the project really understood the assignment and never phoned it in or lost sight of what they were doing.
While a wonderful snapshot of the series at the time, Sonic OVA also features a few interesting elements that look to the future. Planet Freedom, the world in which the characters inhabit in this particular incarnation of the series, features a distinctly New York City in post-apocalypse locale that would later come up again in 1999's Sonic Adventure on the Dreamcast. Sonic OVA also positions Tails and Dr. Eggman as more direct rivals than previously seen, which would come to be a staple of the series starting again with 1999's Sonic Adventure. Sonic OVA is not entirely without its own quirks that would not be retained however, most notably referring to Knuckles as a mole and seemingly giving him the ability to outright fly as opposed to merely gliding.
Some may find the English cast to be annoying, but personally this is my favorite casting of the characters and the voices I always associate with them - they're teenage (and in the case of Tails, a child) cartoon animals after all. Regardless of which language you choose to watch in, Sonic OVA is a fantastic time and an interesting snapshot in time that effectively communicates why a lot people had so much fascination with Sega's Sonic the Hedgehog in its prime. It's also not everyday that this era of Sonic's music, largely featuring reworked compositions of Masato Nakamura's band Dreams Come True and later various songs by Michael Jackson (itself an interesting footnote of Sonic development lore), manages to feature tracks that stand up to the mainline games' quality, but Sonic OVA definitely includes a few songs that will stay with you and it's a shame that until recently the soundtrack has been almost completely ignored by Sega.
A gem hidden among the stones, Sonic the Hedgehog OVA is undoubtedly stardust.
-- Ash
#anime#retro anime#90s anime#1990s#sonic#sega#sonic the hedgehog#gaming#retro gaming#video games#studio pierrot#ADV Films#OVA#anime spotlights
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