Month: December 2017

Top 50 Instrumental Songs (Part 5/5)

This is the fifth in a five-part series to be released daily, in which I unpack my favorite instrumental songs in the history of, well, ever. Narrowing this list down was obviously difficult. There were four “waves” needed to thin out the contestants from my library of thousands, and once we got below one-hundred it was like pulling teeth.

Yet, I stayed true to my original goal of fifty, for my own sake, and not compromise that number. I wanted to know for myself what I believed were my favorites among the gallery of songs I so dearly love.  This following list is the conclusion of those struggles.  They are not in order.  Simply getting a pool of them was hard enough.  I do wish to leave with my sanity.

Many are favored because of their execution and style, while others, because of a particular attachment or association they have with my personal life.  With each entry will be a short blurb, explaining why it belongs. And for a disclaimer: if I couldn’t understand what language they were singing in, I considered the vocals as their own independent instruments, and thus things like Gregorian chants do not disqualify songs from being “instrumentals.”

Enjoy.

#41 – “Atonement” by Masashi Hamauzu

My all-time favorite song, in-and-outside of instrumental music, accounting for all genres and all phases over the course of my nearly twenty-seven years of life. In the beginning, I didn’t think much more of it than “mmm, what a bittersweet sound,” but with time and repetition, it wiggled its way into the soft, squishy parts of my heart, and nested there.  I am not going to boast of its technical or emotional merits.  Just please do me the favor of listening to it a couple of times, and if you find it not capturing you right away, return later.  It is not for all moments of life, but imperative to a specific few which matter.  I hope you are fortunate enough to find this song in one of those times.

#42 – “Soul Battles” by Ryan Taubert

Similar to “Time” from Inception, “Soul Battles” darkly shines with a heavy, swaying sadness. It is the sound of somebody who is being overcome. I’m going to waylay my usual blurb for these entries.  Just let the music carry you away to the trenches.

#43 – “Kakariko Village” by Koji Kondo (performed by the Legend of Zelda 25th Anniversary Symphony)

This famous track from The Legend of Zelda practically oozes good feelings.  I feel safe when I hear this song.  I feel home.  This song precludes the adventure, showcasing the mystified daydreams of a hero-to-be, before he picks up the blade.  “Kakariko Village” is quaint, just like the village itself in every incarnation of Zelda.  I’m not the world’s biggest Zelda fan, but Link to the Past was one of the first games I ever played, and I would sometimes just leave my character sitting in the middle of the village to hear the soothing overture.  They brought perspective and optimism whenever I was feeling lost or uncertain in my direction.  It still makes me feel that way.  And for a song to be able to do that is nothing short of phenomenal.

#44 – “Kindred Spirits” by REEN

I think the image in the above video does a pretty good job of capturing my feelings towards this song.  “Kindred Spirits” is gingerly, romantically tragic.  An honest love, cracked down the middle by external powers.  Romeo and Juliet, except believable, and actually sad.  If I walked in on the scene depicted in that video, in that lighting…yeah, I can see how this song would fit.

#45 – “Friends” by Yoko Kanno

I have no idea what this show is about.  I’ve never seen Wolf’s Rain, but I discovered its soundtrack around the time I was reading a series called Bakuman.  A major theme in Bakuman is that of friendship and camaraderie, to which this song appropriately fits.  Yet, despite the earnestness of the track, it’s very clearly a song of bittersweet quality.  I suspect it originally plays in Wolf’s Rain to the scene of a friend dying, or having already passed and being reflected upon.  At any rate, that piano lacerates my strength.  I am made somber beneath its gentle might, just in time to be done in by the violins which follow after.  We approach the conclusion with a dirge of aching woodwinds, playing notes so low, they’re practically whispers.  Whispers between friends.  A promise to never forget one another.

#46 – “Ascending into Naught” by Demetori

(Despite the picture above, this is not from an anime…just a video game with anime aesthetics.)

It was difficult to narrow down one favorite from the Japanese metal band Demetori, but, gun to my head, I’d have to go with “Ascending Into Naught.”  This song has been on my workout playlists since my friend introduced me to it in college. The colliding harmony of layered guitars—some riding power chords, the others flying through high notes— synchronize perfectly with the piano to create what sounds to me like a grade-A, final boss video game track.  You can even tell when the final boss would go on its last leg.  Near the 5:48 mark, a slaughtering drum-line breaks through a tasteful lull in the energy of the song, ushering it to new heights, in which the guitars and piano/synth run a gauntlet of increased stress and speed and rioting awesomeness.

This song is crazy, it’s epic, and it’s so much fun.  Just like everything Demetori does.

#47 – “Beyond” by Lorne Balfe and Hans Zimmer

When people describe something which is “epic,” they are referring to scope and magnitude.  If something is epic, it is of great consequence, usually world-altering in nature, involving hundreds, if not thousands, millions, or billions of moving pieces.

If I were to describe “Beyond” in any two words, it would be as the spiritual incarnation of “epic sorrow.”  This is the dirge which follows a long, hard-fought battle, and things did not turn out well.  As the siren-like strings slowly crescendo, they build into a drop which plunges your heart into your feet.  This song is the sound of hope dying, as all the world weeps.  It, and the game it comes from (Beyond: Two Souls) were the original seed from which my own story, “Doubting Puppet,” was founded.

#48 – “Between Worlds” by Roger Subirana Mata

I’m sorry the world is not what it should be—that the crack in your chest has held on despite all these years of trying to make it go away. I’m sorry people are not always patient, not always kind. I’m sorry that sometimes neither am I. I’m sorry you’ve lost friends, in however way that might have happened. Tragedy is not always necessary in losing someone important. I’m sorry your heart doesn’t always feel big enough or strong enough.  I’m sorry your mind doesn’t always feel as though it can persist through the gales of stress which blow your way.

I’m sorry people don’t understand, can’t understand, or won’t understand.  Please forgive them.  Please forgive yourself, because you know sometimes it’s hard for you to understand, too.  That’s not your fault, it’s just the way of things.  We do the best with what we have, and as long as you are doing all you can, no fault can be justly held against you.

#49 – “Farewell, Life” by Arn Andersson & Nights Amore

One of the saddest songs I know.  Dangerously sad.  It should not be consumed without caution, and definitely not over an extended period of time.  Beneath the heartbreaking rhythm, a seduction is taking place, a parasitic spirit of hurt which will slowly drain you of vitality if you’re not careful, and lead you into thoughts of obliteration, however hypothetical.  That said, it is beautiful.  The ocean in a grey morning, not a stir to be seen, despite the cool gust tossing your hair.  Froth on the rocks.  A quiet harbor town.

“Farewell, Life,” is a deathbed anthem.  It’s what plays in the miasma of the spiritual plane when one of our own passes over, eyes clicking shut for the last time.  Songs like this are important.  They help us remember death isn’t necessarily bad or scary.  But it is significant, and should never be forgotten.

#50 – “Super Saiyan 3” by Bruce Faulconer

80’s Hair-metal ain’t got nothin’ on this. ^^^

There is a special place in my nerdy heart for many of the Super Saiyan themes.  This one is arguably my favorite (there was much internal debating).  Where the theme from Goku’s original ascension carried with it the sound of a legend being born—mystical and slow—and Gohan’s theme from reaching Super Saiyan 2 showed him surpass his father—chilling and violent—the Super Saiyan 3 Theme is something else entirely.  In Goku’s own meme-ified words, it is “to go even further beyond.”

This is the song of the ultimate hero, one who has found the final ceiling of their own potential, and somehow managed to push through it.  When the heroes of Dragon Ball Z first reached Super Saiyan, they were quick to realize there was something beyond it, a perfected form.  Super Saiyan 2 was achieved: the natural end to their evolution.  But Goku, he invented a level beyond that, something he and only he had ever done.

Super Saiyan 3 was an impossibility, creating one’s own reality from just being that awesome.  While the transformation in-series had the least emotional build-up and impact, it was no doubt memorable for its sheer confidence.  This song helped craft that feeling, make it whole, and cemented Goku, for better or worse, as one of the coolest shonen protagonists of all time.  So it would be fitting to make his ascension to SS3 the bookend to this immense list.

Thank you for reading.  I hope you found at least one song you enjoyed.

Top 50 Instrumental Songs (Part 4/5)

This is the fourth in a five-part series to be released daily, in which I unpack my favorite instrumental songs in the history of, well, ever. Narrowing this list down was obviously difficult. There were four “waves” needed to thin out the contestants from my library of thousands, and once we got below one-hundred it was like pulling teeth.

Yet, I stayed true to my original goal of fifty, for my own sake, and not compromise that number. I wanted to know for myself what I believed were my favorites among the gallery of songs I so dearly love.  This following list is the conclusion of those struggles.  They are not in order.  Simply getting a pool of them was hard enough.  I do wish to leave with my sanity.

Many are favored because of their execution and style, while others, because of a particular attachment or association they have with my personal life.  With each entry will be a short blurb, explaining why it belongs. And for a disclaimer: if I couldn’t understand what language they were singing in, I considered the vocals as their own independent instruments, and thus things like Gregorian chants do not disqualify songs from being “instrumentals.”

Enjoy.

#31 – “The Huge Tree in the Tsukamori Forest” by Joe Hisaishi

This song could straight-up break me out of a coma.  This is the song which holds the most history of any on this list.  My Neighbor Totoro was my first exposure to anime, played by my babysitter Patty when I was four years old.  She said I asked for it constantly.  Thus my love of anime was born.

When I hear The Huge Tree, I am brought to imagine the beautiful antiquity of rural Japan, in which My Neighbor Totoro is set.  Specifically, I feel the essence of late afternoon, bottled up and hung next to wind chimes.  Sunlight calms down as the late afternoon sets in.  The world, in spite all its troubles, is for a moment at peace.

And when those chimes or whatever they are start up…there is nothing more nostalgic.  That sound has the compounded interest of twenty-two years of memories behind it.  Nothing can compare.

#32 – “Otherworld” by Nobuo Uematsu and the Black Mages

Almost objectively the worst song on this list, my appreciation for “Otherworld,” the heavy-metal anthem of Final Fantasy X, relies on a story, and the evidence that it invokes one of the strongest biological reactions of any song I know.  Nearly all of my love for this track comes from the first twenty seconds, and that requires some context.  I’d first heard it long before it became one of my favorites, when the game first released in my elementary school years and I watched my friend Joey play it.  From that young moment, I’d come to associate that song with “Sin,” the immense and unstoppable monster which plagues the world of FFX.  When this song is first introduced, it is to the visage of Sin as it obliterates an entire city.  Your city.

For years I believed this song only played at the beginning of the game, as I’d never owned the game myself or completed it.  But in college I had the opportunity to play FFX to conclusion.  Once I reached the end, to the climax against the heart of Sin—my in-game father—I prepared for the worst.  I knew from word of mouth by multiple friends who’d gone before me that Sin’s core was an incredibly intimidating boss.  I got ready for the typical fare we see in Final Fantasy last boss soundtracks…

But when Sin (aka “Braska’s Final Aeon,” technically) reached its hand over the lip of the arena which was to be the place of the final battle, and slammed it down, that guitar from “Otherworld” kicked in, and I found myself instinctively leaning away from the screen as a massive, flaming demonoid creature heaved itself slowly into the frame, almost too large to be contained by the arena itself.  As it glared down at my party, now seeming woefully unprepared, I remembered the words of my friends who warned me of its might.  I did not know this song played again for the final boss.  I thought it only played at the beginning.  Years and years of listening to this song rushed at me all at once as I looked upon the true face of whom it belonged, the core of Sin, a creature of terrible menace.

I’ve never had such an animal response to a video game before.  To physically put space between myself and an enemy which could not technically hurt me.  I felt intimidation rolling off this moment as if I’d suddenly been caught out by a bear.  It was amazing.

If anybody were to tell me that, of the songs in my top 50, this was their least favorite, I would not blame them.  It’s special for me independent of its own quality.

#33 – “Drowning in this Fog of Yours” by Cicada

If you haven’t noticed, I am a never-ending sucker for the contrite piano.  When it’s part of an ensemble cast, alongside a guitar and strings which share its vision, then we have a classic case of a sum being greater than its parts.  “Drowning in this Fog of Yours” has a little something for both sides of the emotional soul.  Some melancholy, some tranquility, some encouragement, some love.  Such a perfect morning song.  A perfect reading song.  A perfect living song.  There’s nothing special about it musically, nor personally.  I just can’t seem to shake its hold on me.  It makes my heart smile.  I want more of it, as soon as it ends.

Songs like these are my favorite because they are so good at doing what traditional, vocal-driven songs cannot: they speak to you.  I am not ignorant to the irony of that statement, nor do I believe lyrics can’t convey amazing things. But there’s an undeniable transparency and individuality with these sorts of tracks.  There’s no words to misinterpret, no specific story behind the narrative.  It’s just feelings, made semi-material, a gateway into another person.  The music is much more honest than we could ever be with our faulted tongues.

#34 – “Death Image” by Yoshihisa Hirano

This song is morbidly simple.  It is the swaying footsteps of the man on his last dredges of vitality, ready to surrender to his own weight. The way the strings make drawn, flat notes provide a perfect foundation for the eventual raindrop sound of the piano, as well as the organ and slight percussion which give a sort of ticking clock sound.  If I must capture this word in a scene, it is that of somebody taking their final steps as the world melts away around them.  It’s a good deathbed song, extracted from the anime “Death Note,” something which says “yes, it’s over.”

I once listened to this song on repeat for an entire 8-hour overnight shift.

#35 – “Creator of Worlds” by Epic Score (I think?)

Three things: drums, ominous choir, and the angriest violins on this side of existence.  That’s 90% of this song, and it’s one of the most intense things ever.  Objectively.   I’m allowed to say that, I’m the writer.

It really does give an impression while you inhale the music of a divine act of terraforming taking place somewhere in the universe.  Can’t you feel it?  Tectonic plates, freshly birthed from the magma of a fledgling planet, sliding together, mashing into mountains and earthquakes and underwater ravines.  The oceans stir into place, a devastation contained only by gravity, drowning tens of thousands of miles in unstoppable nature.  Storms of lightning war with themselves as layers of atmosphere begin to form around the soft meat of the globe, tender from its chaos.  And then, somewhere in this miasma of ancient power, life rapidly expands beyond its natural elements.  I can imagine a body coming together just as easily.  Muscle sinews stretching and reaching for each other, forming elastic bridges between the still solidifying frame of bone and cartilage which will eventually have the power to raise itself up.  Eyes, for a moment mush, round out into something which is firm, and then complex, swallowing the world in the birth of perception.

This is the song, as the name implies, of a great god-hand sewing together the many fabrics of the universe.

#36 – “Fantasia alla Marcia” by Yoko Shimomura

There is something intrinsically important about this song.  It’s hard to quite land a finger on.  I mean, it’s obviously beautiful and dramatic, but that’s typical fare for Kingdom Hearts.  What I think sets this song apart, aside from it having like seven different melodies, is the nebulous sense of inheritance it provides.  As if I’m being entrusted with the responsibility to refine and pass along virtues of worth, in the hopes of breeding new caretakers of this strange truth: that humanity, in spite of ourselves, can imagine, and wonder, and create.  We make art, and music, and those things are worth maintaining.  You inherit a sense of protection towards that, such an insane and honest and worthwhile campaign.

#37 – “Goodbye” by Jared Emerson-Johnson

This is the saddest song from the saddest game I’ve ever played, and if I’m not careful, it can ruin my entire day.  I make this one of my favorite songs almost ironically, as it encapsulates an experience which plunged me into a thick, four day depression after exposure.  What I said is dramatic, yes, but not without cause.  To unpack all the reasoning behind that now would take too long, but in short, I associate this song intrinsically with a sense of unforgivable failure.  And as crudely categorized as that is, I love this song because, despite its simplicity and sorrowful grade, anything which makes me feel so deeply deserves to be considered a favorite.

That game broke me a little.

Sorry, Clementine.

#38 – “Into the Wild Chapter II” by Axl Rosenberg

A slow, but glorious burn. You need to stick with this one for a bit, because the first couple minutes are preemptive—steadily building in strength and tone.  The true character of ItWC2 resurrects around the 1:45 second mark.  Then opens the anthem to the long journey, an adventure to find an unknown something, a place not yet seen.  Being lost, and finding.  When I hear this track, I imagine a grand voyage or pilgrimage, either alone or with companions.  It is the quintessential self-discovery arc every person and character must endure to find themselves.

#39 – “Little Fugue in G Minor” by Johann Sebastian Bach

For full-disclosure, I care less about the more traditional renditions of Bach’s famous “Little Fugue in G Minor,” and prefer it in several recent incarnations.  For example, this excellent metal take on the classic.  Or this one from a game called Catherine which I’ve never played but has a great soundtrack.

But I obviously have one which stands out, as it’s the one posted above.  The version which plays to the final adversary of Mega Man Legends, one of my favorite games.

Bach’s masterpiece has such a delicious, aristocratic horror, as if dancing at a masquerade on a night filled with secrets, lies, and betrayal.  There’s a scope of history about the song, nestled deep into the public psyche.  The almost universal familiarity of it somehow emphasizes the dread it creates.  A shadow hiding in our minds, wearing a mask, polite until your guard has fallen.

#40 – “Unfinished Battle” by Yoko Shimomura

Shimomura has now shown up just as many times as Sawano.

For some reason this song was only played once through the entire 80-hour game of Xenoblade Chronicles, which is practically a sin., because it’s one of the most raw soundtracks in recent memory.  It’s hard to point at any one part of the song and tell you “that, that is what makes it amazing.”  It is simply a perfectly rounded battle fanfare, with chasing strings running the course of its length, and a mounting synth-piano which explodes into prominence at the end.  As the name implies, it encourages a tremendous sense of pushing through adversity towards a final resolution.  An excellent workout song, “Unfinished Battle” has a home in many, many of my playlists.

Top 50 Instrumental Songs (Part 3/5)

This is the third in a five-part series to be released daily, in which I unpack my favorite instrumental songs in the history of, well, ever. Narrowing this list down was obviously difficult. There were four “waves” needed to thin out the contestants from my library of thousands, and once we got below one-hundred it was like pulling teeth.

Yet, I stayed true to my original goal of fifty, for my own sake, and not compromise that number. I wanted to know for myself what I believed were my favorites among the gallery of songs I so dearly love.  This following list is the conclusion of those struggles.  They are not in order.  Simply getting a pool of them was hard enough.  I do wish to leave with my sanity.

Many are favored because of their execution and style, while others, because of a particular attachment or association they have with my personal life.  With each entry will be a short blurb, explaining why it belongs. And for a disclaimer: if I couldn’t understand what language they were singing in, I considered the vocals as their own independent instruments, and thus things like Gregorian chants do not disqualify songs from being “instrumentals.”

Enjoy.

 

#21 – “Space Lion” by Yoko Kanno

I have never in all my life heard a song quite like “Space Lion” from Cowboy Bebop, and won’t even pretend like I can do justice to it with one or two meager paragraphs.  While this song makes its debut in a stand-out moment within the series, it holds its place in my top 50 just because it’s so…beautiful.  The dreamlike ambiance, the soul-soothing saxophone—and the way they slowly fade together with an African children’s choir and bongos? Outstanding to the nth degree.

#22 – “Carry the Sun” by Glitch Mob

I think of two things when I hear “Carry the Sun.” I imagine a Captain Falcon montage from Super Smash Bros, as that’s where I found the song.  But more importantly, I am thrown into a deep desire to go skiing.  I discovered this track right before going on my first real skiing trip and so it kind of became the theme song of that week.  Now I can’t hear the hook kick in without it being followed by a blast of endorphins, restless fingers, and a need to move around.  This is the only electronic song in my top 50, and has one of the most visceral knee-jerk reactions tied to it.  Simply thinking about it is urging images of snow-capped mountains into my head space, powder exploding in my wake.

#23 “Beth’s Theme” by Ólafur Arnalds

That first violin note is drowning. This entire song is drowning. This is the song of a drowning girl.

I never had a sister, and always kind of wish I did.  It’s a difficult thing to capture in words.  I’m not sure what to say about this song, as it often casts all thought from my mind.  All I know is it makes me feel.  Not sadness, necessarily, though I suspect that’s what the composer was aiming towards.  It’s just a sort of…stillness.  A bastard of depression and apathy, unwanted.  Every time I hear this song, I recognize sad things, but from a sort of observable distance.  That piano—as with many minor-key pianos—acts as a sober lens by which to see the fractures—hairline or glaring—in our world.

#24 – “Dragon Rider” by Two Steps From Hell

 

I’ve never seen a song so perfectly capture the essence of its title.  As evidence, I once played it for my college roommate and asked him to imagine what the composer wanted him to feel, without telling him the name of the song. He’d never heard it before.

He answered: “I feel like I’m riding a dragon into battle.”

Short and to the point, the way the song builds to its apex, you can already piece together the film montage of putting on your chain-mail, saddling over your lizard’s scaly back, and diving from the mouth of a cliff-side cave into the ravines of warring soldiers below.  The velocity of the song gives credence to the intense, romantic power of the dragon, this most legendary of creatures.  Any scene, real or imagined, is made better by having this in the background.

#25 – “Passion” by Yoko Shimomura (performed by the Kingdom Orchestra)

Before we continue, please understand everything from Kingdom Hearts is spectacular and only picking one song was impossible.  The Kingdom Hearts soundtrack at large is in my top 3 of all time.   I eventually landed on two (second to come later), though getting to that point was like peeling off my own skin.  Seriously, I could make a top 50 list of only the Kingdom Hearts gallery and there’d still be some quality material left over.

This brain-child franchise of Disney and Square Enix has created an unconventional game series, beloved far and wide.  The music is a heavy influence on the outcome of its popularity, wielding the power of a live orchestra and the triumphant genius of Yoko Shimomura as its helm.  “Passion” expands quickly to fill the horizon of your attention, just long enough to know it’s got its hooks in you.  Then it slows down into a fragile, criminally delicate progression of notes, which isolates a new instrument every couple of measures.  It’s almost vain, as if to say “look how beautiful my music can be.”  Cue the transition into a slow march, like brave toy soldiers off to the front lines.

There is perhaps no phrase greater, or which could more accurately depict the core principle of “Passion,” than the one which is most apparent, should you take some time to consider it.  That being, this is true ‘Disney Magic.’

#26 – “Shelter” by Porter Robinson and Madeon

(To see the original song in its debut video, rather than the above piano cover, click here.  The video is…quite special.)

If my writing can somehow create the feeling this song gives me, in someone else, then I’ll have made it.  The unadulterated innocence combines with the up-and-up of the melody, and they materialize into a thing of beauty. Yet, underneath the major key is a subtle, curious sadness, like somebody waiting, but they aren’t sure what they’re waiting on.  As mentioned above, this song was originally an electronic track, composed for an animated short video.  I hope I can say without hyperbole that the animation is one of the most heart-stirring and contemplative things ever found in the medium, and this song always brings me back to how I felt when I first saw it.

This is the song I hope one day might be characteristic of my daughter’s soul, should I be so fortunate as to have one.

#27 – “Attack on Titan Theme” by Hiroyuki Sawano

Oh hey.  Sawano again. That’s three times, now.

Created by recurring favorite composer, Hiroyuki Sawano, there are many things going on with this song in a technical sense, so I will focus less on that and more on the overall feeling, as I don’t want this entry to be an essay.

Basically this is the song of inevitable and unquestionable destruction.  It is armored in a sort of demented marching vibe, punctuated by distant church bells and a Gregorian chant.  This is appropriate, because it plays when a bunch of gigantic freakazoid monsters who resemble people in only the most horrifying way begin to descend on humanity and eat them like cattle, without discrimination.  It is the march anthem of death, trampling innocence and the semblance of safety we build around ourselves.

Plus those discordant noises spread throughout the song.  They’re so creepy.

(Btw the entire AoT soundtrack is worth a listen. There were many other contenders for this list.)

#28 – “Mortal Kombat” by The Immortals

Specifically, the metal version by Youtube creator Erock.  And no, I don’t count the occasional use of soundboard recordings as “lyrics,” so this still qualifies for the list.  Song begins at 0:22 in the video.

I need to be careful not to listen to this song while I’m driving. The adrenaline in my blood gives me a bad case of tunnel vision, which is great for kickboxing and not much else.  Most audiences have some level of exposure to the Mortal Kombat theme song, but this cover takes it to a different plane of intensity.  This is one of my go-to running tracks.  It makes you want to sprint, to fight, to dodge, to ascend.  There’s not much to talk about for this one.  I just like it a ton and it’s virtually unskippable when it crops up on my playlists.  As the name suggests, I consider it one of the ultimate fight songs, and Spotify has a version without most of the gaudy soundbites, but this was the best video I could find for our purposes.

#29 – “To Zanarkand” by Nobuo Uematsu

Regarded as one of the most recognizable songs in the vast Final Fantasy archives, this lone piano captures so much of what made FFX special.  You can sense the fiction of the world behind the notes, its fantastical qualities, yet even further down is the story of a heart.  “To Zanarkand” captures the importance of its subject matter on multiple levels beyond its role as a simple song: it provides world-building, character development, and tonal improvement, all of which amplify the narrative at large.  It is almost ceremonial in its identity, carrying with it a sense of history which does not actually exist.  And to create that illusion, to seem like a tradition at first hearing, is a rare and magnificent boast for any song.

#30 – “Reverse Situation” by Toshio Masuda

This is Naruto music at its prime. Naruto has some next-level music, but in terms of raw enthusiasm, this is the peak.  I don’t attribute this song to any one moment from the series, mostly because I prefer to read it, but regardless it satisfies many scenes.  My imagination sets the track while I turn the pages, allowing me to control the direction and pacing.  There are many Naruto songs which almost made the list, but ultimately this was one of the only two which made the cut.  It’s just so invigorating.  The tables have turned, the situation has flipped.  Things are in your favor now.

Top 50 Instrumental Songs (Part 2/5)

This is the second in a five-part series to be released daily, in which I unpack my favorite instrumental songs in the history of, well, ever. Narrowing this list down was obviously difficult. There were four “waves” needed to thin out the contestants from my library of thousands, and once we got below one-hundred it was like pulling teeth.

Yet, I stayed true to my original goal of fifty, for my own sake, and not compromise that number. I wanted to know for myself what I believed were my favorites among the gallery of songs I so dearly love.  This following list is the conclusion of those struggles.  They are not in order.  Simply getting a pool of them was hard enough.  I do wish to leave with my sanity.

Many are favored because of their execution and style, while others, because of a particular attachment or association they have with my personal life.  With each entry will be a short blurb, explaining why it belongs. And for a disclaimer: if I couldn’t understand what language they were singing in, I considered the vocals as their own independent instruments, and thus things like Gregorian chants do not disqualify songs from being “instrumentals.”

Enjoy.

#11 – “Tsuisou” by Ooshima Michiru

While I hold the standing opinion that Fullmetal Alchemist: Brotherhood has the better overall soundtrack, the original series has this single trump card over it.  “Tsuisou” is one of the most romantically bucolic songs I can think of. This is a “we are on a long road” sort of adventure, which understands life without the need for questions.  The slow progression from one landmark to the next, enjoying the fundamental nature of the journey along the way.  It also makes me feel nostalgic for a childhood unfulfilled, in a fantastically alternate version of our own world. Listen, and depart.

#12 – “Dragon Rises” by Hiroyuki Sawano

(I told you to get used to that name. This won’t be the last time Sawano shows up on the list.)

Listen to this song. Now listen again, except imagine it as the theme of some really intense medical drama.  Kinda fits, doesn’t it?  It is from a medical drama.  Thanks, Japan.  The violins sound like an alarm, or an ambulance siren.  The shouting which fades-in half way through the song represents the tense degrees of emergency we so often see in those kinds of settings, with medical professionals relaying information in strict, punctual accuracy.  I can’t help but see an epic montage a la Death Note (unrelated series, but if you’re familiar, you know what I mean) in which a team is prepping and executing surgery.  The pace is made breakneck by its quick-cutting back and forth between images: filling a syringe, creating an incision, asking for varied medical tools, wiping sweat off the brow.  It’s just so, so awesome.  And just to clarify, this isn’t from an anime.  Japan makes their own television series too, you know.

#13 – “The Burning Bush” by Hans Zimmer

As you might have gathered from the title, this song is a direct reference to the God of the Bible, who spoke to Moses through a bush which had been set aflame, yet did not burn.  More specifically, this is from the epic and wonderfully-crafted animated film, The Prince of Egypt.  Let this song empty your mind, and top you off with wonder.  In my mind, this is what God is supposed to sound like, if humanity could do our best of capturing such an unfathomable essence.  This is God without the inevitable bullcrap we inject into our perceptions of him.  This is God, unhindered by us.  It moves, it captures, it rises.  And then it explodes into overpowering, all-consuming might after about two minutes, very briefly, just enough for you to know this is God, an entity of insurmountable power, before it pulls back into something tender and welcoming: a father, resting a reassuring hand on your head when you feel you’ve gone too far.  A father in armor, inviting your enemies who feel they’ve bested you, to take a crack at him instead.

#14 – “Opening Stage: Vile” by Undetermined (from Megaman: Maverick Hunter X)

Perhaps the first video game character to ever inspire fear and a personal grudge in my heart, Vile of the Mega Man X franchise has a theme befitting his lethality.  Never before had I encountered an enemy in a video game which was literally unbeatable—who was supposed to defeat you.  I remember the first time I faced him, and the frustration I felt.  He’s the very first boss, and he’s ruthless in how he toys with you, bludgeoning you while you sit there struggling, because this is so unfair, what am I supposed to do?  It was David and Goliath, but as it would be without divine intervention.

Eventually salvation comes in the form of your comrade and savior, Zero.  Zero is awesome, and way stronger than you are, but even he only manages to force Vile into casual retreat.  Later, once Mega Man (you) has overcome many new obstacles and augmented yourself in a dozen different ways, you hunt down Vile, who has by this point battled and enslaved Zero.  You fly in, ready to set the record straight.

And he’s still too powerful.  You can’t even dent his impenetrable armor.  Nothing has changed, you haven’t gotten stronger at all, and your best isn’t good enough.  In a final, desperate gambit, Zero sacrifices himself in an attempt to obliterate Vile once and for all.  This, too, fails.  Zero’s sacrifice does shed Vile’s second layer of shielding and armor, but this is mostly just an inconvenience.  It will have to be enough.  Vile is no longer invincible.  He’s still stronger, better, faster, and more confident in his ability than you are, but Zero has given you a chance.  It is one of the hardest battles in the game, and insanely rewarding when, after an inevitable try-fail cycle where you suffer defeat at his hands over and over, you finally put him in the ground.

A demon clad in metal, Vile’s personality and corruption are captured in the beast-like guitar riffs which scream and slaughter their way through his song.  They carry the same distortion found in most Mega Man X music, but still manage to be uniquely recognizable as belonging to his character.  It is a simple track, and does not last long before looping, but my god if it doesn’t do a good job of punctuating just how traitorous and superior Vile is seen to be.

#15 – “Osiris” by Valentin Wiest

In my head canon, I call this the “wedding song,” which might not be immediately apparent upon listening.  Let’s put it this way, in an ideal and highly unlikely world, this is the song which would play when my eventual bride walks down the aisle.  More specifically, it would play out like this:

We’d have to use an edited cut, otherwise it’d be too long, but the wedding party would start to approach the stage, slowly (so we can hear the song of course, as that’s clearly the most important part), around 2:40.  As they fill in the altar and all appropriate individuals take their seats, we allow the song to bleed into the violins and chants for a little bit.  Anticipation builds.  The walls begin to whisper their excitement.  Hushed conversation floats beneath the orchestra.

Then it happens.  Four minutes in, everybody stands to welcome the bride, and boom, 4:05, she makes her way down the aisle.  The world bends around her and time surrenders.  

I cannot tell you how many times I’ve played this out in my mind.  I get chills just thinking about it.

#16 – “Lit” by Kensuki Ushio

“I’m deaf.” 

While I enjoyed the original version of this song and its function within the film A Silent Voice, I am particularly enthralled by this piano rendition of the song by Youtube creator PianoPrinceofAnime.  PianoPrince takes the inherent beauty and simplicity of the original track and transfuses it with an extra layer of emotion and majesty. The added cello gave the final product some much needed synergy which was missing from the original track.  While this cover stands on its own, I admit part of my admiration is rooted in the source material, which inspired me to start learning some American Sign Language, as well as piano, as a result of its influence. 

#17 – “Gourmet Race” by Jun Ishikawa & Dan Miyakawa

No matter its incarnation (of which I love many), “Gourmet Race” never fails to get the heart pumping.  In its original context, Kirby is in a mighty dash against King Dedede through a treacherous obstacle course.  The original song maintains a lot of the retro charm of the 90’s, and the sound often associated with Kirby games in general.  In its inevitable hundreds of covers and remixes which have since spawned from its popularity, I have several favorites, especially the rendition found in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, an a capella, a dubstep, and an epic metal version.  I love this song for its duality of adrenaline and pop-fantastical qualities (the latter being aforementioned characteristic of Kirby soundtracks).  “Gourmet Race” could be appropriately labelled a “light-hearted battle to the death,” being both incredibly fierce, yet undeniably upbeat in style.

#18 – “Kiss the Rain” by Yiruma

If somebody asked me to present a song which captured the essence of ‘healing,’ I’d be hard-pressed to choose anything other than Yiruma’s masterful “Kiss the Rain.”  It generates its own imagery and has its own beating heart.  The human soul is rarely captured so purely, least of all by a single piano.  That piano strips away your walls, your infection, leaving you vulnerable and clean, ready to start again.

#19 – “Sadness & Sorrow” by Toshiro Masuda

Oh my god, the feels this song has made me feel. I distinctly remember the first time I heard “Sadness & Sorrow.” I was watching the first arc of Naruto, which I’d recorded on VHS in 7th grade.  When the deepest narrative I’d seen in my young life to that point took the form of Teen Titans, this song, and the scene of Sasuke ostensibly dying in Naruto’s arms…well, it took my standards to a new level.  This song forged that scene into something excellent, and gave birth to my love for that entire series, which now stands atop my pantheon of pop-culture familiarities as the reigning king.

This is that addicting kind of sadness.  It is works like this which made me crave to learn piano.

#20 – “You Say Run/Jet Set Run” by Yuki Hayashi

*Deep breath*

BOOOOOIIIIIIII THIS SONG.

The national motto of Spain is “Plus Ultra” or “further beyond.”  We can give more, do more, be more—our limitations are what we make of them.  “You Say Run” is a song I’ve probably heard no less than 500 times in the last year and a half since first discovery, and my god does it go plus ultra.  It is the most memorable track from the sensational new anime My Hero Academia, and has played no small hand in its meteoric growth in the industry.  Championed by one of my favorite new composers (the same brilliant mind as behind the Haikyuu! soundtrack, which isn’t on this top 50 list, killing my soul a little), this song is a whirlwind of heroic energy.  Seriously, do you feel like a single thing in the entire universe could stand in your way?

Didn’t think so.  You could probably flip a tractor-trailer.  Go try it.  I’ll wait.

Not only is this song noteworthy in its own stature, but the musical director of My Hero Academia uses it marvelously to punctuate scenes and moments with the precision and lethality of a sniper rifle.  As soon as that echoing note fades in, you know something insane is about to go down, and with each successive hearing of the song, it builds momentum from the last, until you inevitably have it on repeat.  You want it as the background of your life.

You want to be a hero, too.

Top 50 Instrumental Songs (Part 1/5)

Nearly eight months of godless agony later, I’ve finally completed a project I’ve been gearing up to do for years. This is the first in a five-part series to be released daily, in which I unpack my favorite instrumental songs in the history of, well, ever. Narrowing this list down was obviously difficult. There were four “waves” needed to thin out the contestants from my library of thousands, and once we got below one-hundred it was like pulling teeth.

Yet, I stayed true to my original goal of fifty, for my own sake, and not compromise that number. I wanted to know for myself what I believed were my favorites among the gallery of songs I so dearly love.  This following list is the conclusion of those struggles.  They are not in order.  Simply getting a pool of them was hard enough.  I do wish to leave with my sanity.

Many are favored because of their execution and style, while others, because of a particular attachment or association they have with my personal life.  With each entry will be a short blurb, explaining why it belongs. Click the name of the song to open a link for listening. And for a disclaimer: if I couldn’t understand what language they were singing in, I considered the vocals as their own independent instruments, and thus things like Gregorian chants do not disqualify songs from being “instrumentals.”

Enjoy.
——————–

#1 – “The Beginning” by Factor Eight

As much as I’d like to not start with an eight-minute song, let’s open with a splash of happiness and victory.  It’s nearly impossible to listen to “The Beginning” and not feel hope pervade every atom of your body.  Nothing about this song is complicated, and for the best.  We are introduced by way of orchestral strings, dancing on melting snow.  Sunlight comes in as an angelic piano comes baring its gifts.  The drums dive in with a stomping cadence, bringing with it the claps of soldiers who have come home.  That’s a good way of thinking about “The Beginning.”  It is a rebuilding song, a restarting song.  Post-destruction and pain.  This is the spiritual anthem for recovery and renewal, having survived the long night and sown the way for good things to come in the morning.  It’s men and women seeing their families again.  It’s a child leaving a hospital from whence hope was momentarily fleeting.  It’s not only survival, it’s ascension in spite of whatever wreckage or tragedy lay behind.

#2 – “Unravel” by TK from Ling Toshite Sigure

While I can and have listened to the instrumental versions for hours (there’s plenty to choose from, such as the sexy piano cover I linked above), the soul of this track’s appeal comes from the original version.  Unravel is the opening to season 1 of a popular anime called Tokyo Ghoul.  It is famous for having some of the most immediately recognizable opening notes in anime, so much so that my brother, who has not watched the series and only heard the song once, was able to tell me it was the Tokyo Ghoul theme after only a couple seconds, long after hearing it his one time.

I am trying to make a point of not discussing lyrics in any of these posts, but for Unravel, I’m making an exception.  I believe one of the largest parts of the song’s appeal is that it was specifically written and composed to capture the mentality of the series protagonist, Ken Kaneki, and it does so perfectly.  In any of the song’s iterations, both sentimental and intense, the music synergizes with the feeling you get while watching Kaneki develop as a character.  Matched by deeply introspective and existential lyrics, Unravel succeeds in being a catch-all of cerebral, contemplative, violent, haunting, and heartbreaking all at once.

#3 – “Requiem For a Dream” by Lux Aeterna

This song was the catalyst by which my campaign for instrumental music was founded, when I was a fledgling high-schooler just discovering the wonder of high-speed internet. It wasn’t until I heard “Requiem for a Dream” that I ever sought out more music of its kind, and the deviations which naturally followed. My imagination shifted under the weight of these new strains of music, epic battles waging, worlds taking shape. My music library has never been the same.

#4 – “Rylynn” by Andy McKee

I think this may be the only song on my entire list which is exclusively composed of acoustic guitar.  Rylynn earns its place among my top 50 not only for its stature as a song itself, but for the ties it holds to my personal life.  Specifically, this was the theme I associated to my longest-standing crush and unrequited romantic interest, spanning almost three years during my college career.  In my mind, this was her song, and while I don’t much listen to the song anymore, I can’t deny it is a sonic masterpiece, and she is still uniquely tied to the dream-like strums contained within.

#5 – “Dream Big” by Mark Petrie

If the phrase “crushing amounts of joy” makes any sense, I’d like to employ it now. This song is immediately and intrinsically filled with hope and overcoming, and for me, is inevitably associated with my favorite series, Naruto. Now, this song isn’t from Naruto, but it reminds me of one pivotal moment in the story: when our scrappy little hero is finally accepted by the people of the village after his harrowing battle against Pain. This song is how that series makes me feel, which is why, despite any arguments against Naruto’s quality which might arise (and being the fan I am, I’m more aware than most regarding its shortcomings) the series means so much to me. No amount of argumentation could divorce that narrative from the feeling “Dream Big” provides. This song is like walking into a pole, but a pole made of buoyancy and tranquility and victory. It makes you stop and be thankful to simply exist.

#6 – “I Could Have Done More” by John Williams

John Williams is so masterful in so many ways. There’s an almost trans-existential ache behind this one.  One heart speaking directly to another, confiding about little demons hidden for years on end.  It’s somebody telling a best friend they want to die.  You can feel it, behind the strings. How that harping violin files down your ribs into chains? Your sternum into a lock?

I mean, it IS a song about the Holocaust.

#7 – “Blumenkranz” by Hiroyuki Sawano

(Get used to seeing the name Hiroyuki Sawano. He shows up a lot on this list.)

Beautiful evil. This is a theme which both perfectly captures the villainess of its series, and transcends her. When I hear “Blumenkranz,” I can only imagine a fallen angel, glorious and lithe and bathed in colors.  But even while shining for all to see, that angel maintains an essence of absolute cruelty.  “Blumenkranz” is the modest seductress, the scheming man with the world’s best smile.  It is power, proud and terrible.  Honestly, most of this is credited to the choir, which really sells the song on merit of its divine, alien sound.

#8 – “One-Winged Angel” by Nobuo Uematsu (The Black Mages Version)

If the spirit of menace could have its own soundtrack…

This song is one of the most well-known video game tracks ever made, and inspires both terror and awe in many a veteran player. It is the theme to Final Fantasy VII’s nightmare pretty-boy villain, Sephiroth. When those staccato strings and slamming drums break in, you need to prepare for the worst. And after about a minute, this childish foreshadowing settles into the ashes, throwing wide the gates for a sound pulled from the belly of hell itself, full of darkness insurmountable and infinite.

#9 – “Spring’s Melody” by Masaru Yokoyama

“She is the journey with no destination.”

There’s a wonderful anime of world-class caliber called Your Lie In April, which plays your heartstrings like a violin (ha).  Whenever this song begins, you want to soar.  It rounds out the narrative beats perfectly, breathing life into the tone of the story and the animation.  This track might be simple, but from the first note it jars me back into that same zeitgeist of joy and sadness I experienced through every poetic second of YLiA.

#10 – “Seigi Shikkou” by Makoto Miyazaki and various others

From the anime “One Punch Man,” this song is, for lack of a more appropriate phrase, heroic as hell.  Now, unlike many entries on this list, my love of Seigi Shikkou exists independently of the source material (which I am infamously known to dislike among my social circles).  I am enamored by this kickass, pulse-pounding song for two particular reasons (outside the obvious one of it being a mega-dope song in its own right).  First, it works wonders at breaking through mental barriers, and as such it is commonly played every time I go to the gym.  Few things cast my inhibitions to the curb as violently as when those strings break into the song hook, like a superhero taking flight.  Second, I keep the track on hand during the writing of my current and most ambitious story ever.  It is the end game—how I want the conclusion of this story to feel when people read it.  All of my work and creative labors are aiming to inevitably land upon the feeling Seigi Shikkou generates.  It is impressively, almost impossibly cool.