Sunday, 11 September 2011

Seventh Holic Service album 『二度づけ禁止塾!』 out today


A mere month ago, we were reporting on Birdtune's long-awaited return to form with the release of their new C80 album 『東方ピコピコ祭り』. Well Lord KuKuDoDo hasn't forgotten about his other label Holic Service either, although no one could predict the wait would be so short! Introducing 『二度づけ禁止塾!』, the seventh touhou denpa arrange album in a long line of acclaimed releases. Unlike pre-2011 Holic Service albums which saw guest composers such as 未来派 and t+pazolite, this one is 100% arranged by KuKuDoDo... the man is on fire! Here's the crossfade sampler and tracklist.

TrackTitleVocalsOriginal
01答え)マリアリ ←正解 小宮真央恋色マスタースパーク
02Bad DENPA Apple!!(実在する団体名とは一切関係ありません)実谷ななBad Apple!!
03片翼のアドベントチルノレンGumiおてんば恋娘
04この曲はβ時代の提供でお送りしました。小岩井ゆづきサニーミルクの紅霧変異
05あの日見た巫女の名前を僕たちはまだ知らない。桜ふみ神々が恋した幻想郷
06東方新奇(どうして僕はゆとりになってしまったんだろう でも君が選んだのはTAOの道)Gumiリジットパラダイス
07幽谷ラップ!おはよーごじゃいます!Chia門前の妖怪小娘

Quite a lot of interesting facts on this tracklist, so let's get down to it. You'll notice most of the songs have really long titles, there's definitely a lot of humor involved. The first track features 小宮真央 doing vocals in a range that's slightly surprising for such a light-hearted song, but still very fitting. Then we have 実谷なな doing "Bad DENPA Apple!!" with her trademark range, over a dark yet groovy arrange that stands its own in a sea of remakes. Next is a brutal re-imagining of おてんば恋娘 that features heavily distorted guitar and powerful drums, something which isn't traditionally associated with KuKuDoDo! Definitely an experimental track that ends up sounding pretty good, not to mention Gumi made sure to go with an appropriate singing pitch.

Track 4 goes back to wild denpa style with 小岩井ゆづき going crazy over an equally insane remix. Definitely seems like a highlight of the album based on the short sampler! But then 桜ふみ kicks in with her splendid voice. You can easily tell this girl has lots and lots of experience in the 'biz, it's good to see her and KuKuDoDo seem to be on good terms! Gumi then gets another slower track, although this one feels a lot deeper and upbeat than you'd expect. Finally, Ch-Ch-Ch-Chia brings the album to an end with a wacky rap on what feels like the most turbo-charged denpa anthem of the album. Great way to wrap up this party!


Another point of interest is the superb cover designed by 朱シオ, which features Cirno going commando with a mere ice shard conveniently getting in the way of a full pantyless upskirt... from a distance it definitely looks like... something else. Definitely going to attract lots of attention! This is a good thing!!! Overall this is definitely a worthy Holic Service album and it's good to see that KuKuDoDo manages to try new things while understanding exactly what his fans expect from him. It's not part of the "エネルギー冷麺" series, which sorely needs a revival after 2 years... but we're keeping our fingers crossed for C81!

For now, you can purchase 『二度づけ禁止塾!』 from the following websites (we recommend www.dv8cag.com for international shipping)

  1. Akibaoo
  2. Toranoana
  3. D-STAGE

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