Kanon Wakeshima [Suna No Oshiro (砂のお城; Sand Castle)] (2nd Single)

Suna No Oshiro (砂のお城; Sand Castle)
skip turn step♪
Suna No Oshiro (Orgel Version)

Kanon Wakeshima’s 2nd single starts off with the a-side Suna No Oshiro (砂のお城; Sand Castle). This song is pretty short and well in all truth it doesn’t hold a candle to Still Doll, that fact doesn’t surprise me though. The cello of the arrangement, amazing, she can really play and honestly after listening to her kill it, the cello is fast becoming one of my favorite instruments. Wakeshima has a nice voice, but the breathless-ness of how she sung the verses was pretty exasperating and I actually found myself getting irritated with it, luckily she goes to her regular vocals during the chorus and they dominate the song, because I wouldn’t have been able to tolerate it otherwise. This is an all right track, but pretty weak for an a-side.

The next track on the single is its b-side skip turn step♪. This is a pretty odd song, but its a lot better than the b-side off of ’still doll’. When the song first started with the violin, I believe a rather sparkly piano piece was playing as well, I immediately thought of The Nightmare Before Christmas and the Halloween Town theme, it was a bit unsettling and I love that song. Wakeshima’s vocals are very light in this and well its all very creepy, because you’d think this was a nice tune, what with the mild sparkly arrangement and how easy-going it seems, but its rather misleading, because I kept thinking of those creepy lullabies, like ‘rock-a bye baby’ I don’t know I got such a feeling of foreboding listening to this. It plays rather cute, but I know there is something lurking under the surface…

The last track on the album is Suna No Oshiro (Orgel Version). The orgel makes such a nice sound, but it gets a bit boring after a while, despite its short length. I wonder if Wakeshima is going to make a habit of this?

-GRADE: B
Rating: ** stars

Kanon Wakeshima’s 2nd single Suna No Oshiro was all right, but Still Doll was still better, ah, must I compare? Suna No Oshiro was a fine a-side, but a bit weak and not all that memorable. skip turn step♪ played a bit better and offered more variety and a change of pace, though still managing to come across as creepy, despite the light nature of it. The orgel version was once again, forgettable. I’m ready for the album.

Kanon Wakeshima [still doll] (1st Single)

still doll
Kuroi Torikago (黒い鳥篭, Black Birdcage
still doll (Orgel Version)

Kanon Wakeshima’s 1st single starts off with the haunting a-side still doll. I first came across this song–like a lot of people–through the anime Vampire Knight, which I stopped watching after episode four due to lack of interest. I thought it was just the perfect ending, I mean they couldn’t have wished up a better ending than this one right here. The arrangement is like I said before, very haunting and dark, which makes it very atmospheric. It gives you this feeling of being trapped in darkness with only the silence to comfort you, still and afraid of what lurks in that silent nothing-ness. Also, this girl plays the cello, a cello! WTH!? Its so kick-ass; she plays it wonderfully. Her voice is really quite fragile, but I think that’s what makes it so beautiful and charming. It seems so light and high that its going to break, and that is the perfect type of tone for such a dark genre of music. I thought this was the perfect sound for her to debut with, it really is quite the impressive tune, and really sticks with you, I mean its really hard to forget such a creepy melody: ’still you do not answer…’

The next track on the album is the just under three minutes Kuroi Torikago (黒い鳥篭, Black Birdcage). This song is pretty brief, but I guess it gets its point across. The arrangement is pretty cool, I know cool, but that’s the only word I can think of to describe it. Her cello skills are really impressive and brought a lot of personality to this song. I mean the arrangement is still dark in a sense, but a lot lighter than the a-side. I heard a few sound effects as well, I mean at one point it sounded like a door opening all creaky like. It also sounded very sci-fi or horror anime or game like. Kanon’s vocals had a bit of base this time around, her voice didn’t sound so light and fragile. She really has a nice voice. This song isn’t really all that good, its actually a bit sub par compared to the a-side. I enjoyed it in a sense, but not enough to actually say I’d listen to it again.

The last track is the orgel version of still doll. Despite it being rather twinkly and pretty-sounding, its really nothing impressive and seemed like a waste. I would have rather listened to the instrumental.

-GRADE: B+
Rating: ** stars

Kanon Wakeshima’s debut single still doll was pretty darn impressive and by that I mean still doll. Kuroi Torikago was a nice track in its own right, but it is completely overshadowed by the a-side. It should have been able to stand on its own. The orgel track was forgettable. I hope Suna No Oshiro is just as good, or better.