Releska (レレスカ)
[Lenen Arrangement] Tricksters Tango [V #3/8]
updated
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Naoi Ikumo (@naoi_ikumo; xfolio.jp/portfolio/naoi_ikumo)
Original theme:
• Room the History / ルームザヒストリー
I've been talking about it for a while, and here it is - my first vocal track featuring Ci flower! This particular Len'en arrangement is one that I worked on a few years back but never got a chance to publish. I was really happy to rework it and use it to test out Ci flower.
#LenenProject
#連縁
#Ciflower
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Shoutoku Legend ~ True Administrator / 聖徳伝説 ~ True Administrator
• Herselves / ハーセルヴス
• Tiny Shangri-La / タイニーシャングリラ
And more…
This is based on 'Heavenly Voyage 2012 ', the mashup that closed my first series of Ten Desires mashups that I released in December 2012. Just like last time, I crammed as many themes as I could into this one.
I workshopped a bunch of titles for the new version, including 'Heavenly Voyage 2024', but I decided on 'To the Cosmos' because I wanted it to feel like a beginning as well as an ending.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Starry Sky of Small Desires / 小さな欲望の星空
• The Bridge People No Longer Cross / 渡る者の途絶えた橋
• Cute Devil ~ Innocence / かわいい悪魔 ~ Innocence
This is based on 'Bridge of Innocent Desires', a mashup that I'd released twice previously in 2012 and 2013. The original themes go so well together I didn't really need to change much for this rendition.
It has an ominous feel to it. You know something big is about to happen.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Futatsuiwa from Sado / 佐渡の二ッ岩
• A Midnight Fairy Dance / 真夜中のフェアリーダンス
• A Soul as Scarlet as a Ground Cherry / ほおずきみたいに紅い魂
• Trojan Asteroid Jungle / トロヤ群の密林
This is based on 'Futatsuiwa At Midnight', another arrangement I uploaded back in 2012. Compared to the rest of the album, this one didn't change that much. I really liked the call and response section at the end so I made sure to keep it in for this version.
This is probably more suited to be an opening track, but I chose to put it as track number 5 because I didn't want the second half of the album to be too heavy.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Omiwa Legend / 大神神話伝
• Green-Eyed Jealousy / 緑眼のジェラシー
• Child of Are / 阿礼の子供
This is inspired by 'Jealousy's Child', an arrangement I uploaded back in 2012. I souped it up and gave it a darker, more chiptune sound. It kind of reminds me of the work I did on Currents of Change.
I had a version of this arrangement with an extra part near the end that switched up the vibe, but I cut the extra stuff to make it a little shorter. I prefer longer tracks, but sometimes they need to be shorter.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• The Hall of Dreams’ Great Mausoleum / 夢殿大祀廟
• Eternal Shrine Maiden / 永遠の巫女
• The Lost Emotion / 亡失のエモーション
This is very vaguely based on 'Mausoleum of Life', a mashup from 2012. I took a similar approach of layering one motif over another (but let's face it, isn't that what I always do?), but I wanted the vibe to be more like Terracotta Garden from Stitches and Stones. I loved it so much I wanted to do something similar one more time.
The Lost Emotion was a late addition. Think of it like a bit of seasoning on top of a meal.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Youkai Shrine’s Back Road / 妖怪裏参道
• The Magic Straw-Hat Jizo / 魔法の笠地蔵
• The Centennial Festival for Magical Girls / 魔法少女達の百年祭
• Beware the Umbrella Left There Forever / 万年置き傘にご注意を
This is based on 'Youkai Festival', the fourth mashup I uploaded to my channel. It was a bit of a mess, so I was glad to have the chance to take what was a pretty creative idea and extend it. It makes no sense to include Kogasa's theme in this mashup, which is why I love it so much.
I wanted to give this a 'call and response' vibe, especially at the start.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/to-the-cosmos
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/5728536
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Old Yuanxian / 古きユアンシェン
• The Tiger-Patterned Bishamonten / 虎柄の毘沙門天
• Smoking Dragon / スモーキングドラゴン
This bears a passing resemblance to 'Old Bishamonten', an arrangement I uploaded back in 2012. I went back and listened to it while I was uploading this track, and I realised that I didn't include as much of 'The Tiger-Patterned Bishamonten' as I could have. Instead, I used a lot of 'Smoking Dragon' - Sannyo and Seiga have similar vibes for me, so I'm glad I could mash their themes together.
I wanted to start the album with something lively. It's like you're racing through foggy streets at night.
#Touhou
#東方
RELE-18
Ten Desires, pt. 2
Official Site: releska.com/2024/04/18/rele-18
特設サイト: releska.com/2024/04/18/rele-18-jp
Release Date [Digital Only]/発売日: 10 May 2024
Purchase on BOOTH: TBC
Download on Bandcamp: TBC
Check out my other albums on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/music
I'm also on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME?si=7I0-0fPxTsCUY6D7RXSGSQ
CREDITS:
Arrangement: Releska
Album artwork: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely), https://ribboncutter.fun/
Touhou and its characters/music are the property of ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice.
Seihou was created by Shunsatsu sare do? (瞬殺サレ道?)
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• 死霊の夜桜 / Night Sakura of Dead Spirits
• 不思議の国のアリス / Alice in Wonderland
• The Grimoire of Alice
After a whole bunch of albums without it, I brought back my clarinet! I thought it would fit the atmosphere of this song, so I recorded myself playing. It was nice to go back to my roots.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• リジッドパラダイス / Rigid Paradise
• ルーズレイン / Loose Rain
• 華の幻想 紅夢の宙 / Illusion of Flowers, Sky of Scarlet Dreams
• 妖怪フックオン / Youkai Hook On
When I first uploaded this back in 2012 I called it 'Paradise or Hell?'. It was a perfectly good title, but I wanted this version to have more of a desert-like vibe so I changed the title. It's kinda weird that I included a desert track in a snow album, isn't it?
Well, I guess some snowy landscapes can be deserts in their own right.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• 門前の妖怪小娘 / Youkai Girl at the Gate
• 上海紅茶館 ~ Chinese Tea / Shanghai Scarlet Teahouse ~ Chinese Tea
• 明治十七年の上海アリス / Shanghai Alice of Meiji 17
• The Positive and Negative / The Positive and Negative
• 霊戦 ~ Perdition crisis / Spirit Battle ~ Perditon Crisis
• 魔法陣 ~ Magic Square / Magic Square
• 永遠の春夢 / Eternal Spring Dream
I wanted to make one last lucid dream track (following on from MILD, WILD and VILD), so we have REM to finish it off. This arrangement was originally called Gatekeepers' Heart when I published it back in 2012, but this is basically a brand new take on it.
I included... a lot of themes in this mashup!
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Ghost Lead / ゴーストリード
• Power of Darkness / やみのちから
• An Exciting and Familiar Gensokyo / ワクワクする見慣れた幻想郷
This ended up sounding completely different to the version from 2012, but I didn't change the name. I actually have a version where I didn't include An Exciting and Familiar Gensokyo, and that one has a different opening.
I always enjoy making tracks like this that have a more fun, dance-like vibe.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Welcome to Youkai Temple / 妖怪寺へようこそ
• Lunate Elf / ルーネイトエルフ
This was called 'Resonance Excursion' 10 years ago, but I had to change the name because I dropped Wind Tour from the list of original themes.
I stripped this arrangement back to its very basics when remaking it. While it makes it much more focused than before, it also has more of a melancholy feel to it.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Let’s Live in a Lovely Cemetery / 素敵な墓場で暮しましょ
• Reach for the Moon, Immortal Smoke / 月まで届け、不死の煙
• Welcome to the Moon Tour / 月面ツアーへようこそ
This was originally going to be an accordion-focused album, but in the end this track is the only track that retained that focus. For some reason I always associate accordions with snow.
I got rid of Innocent Treasures from this version of the arrangement, but I also added in Welcome to the Moon Tour. It's a better fit isn't it? It has 'moon' in the title after all.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Spirit of Avarice / 欲深き霊魂
• A Dream More Scarlet than Red / 赤より紅い夢
• Mysterious Purification Rod / 不思議なお祓い棒
• A Shadow in the Blue Sky / 青空の影
• The Collector’s Melancholy Afternoon / コレクターの憂鬱な午後
I don't think I arranged Spirit of Avarice the first time I went through Ten Desires, so it made me really happy to arrange it this time. Plus, this is exactly how I wanted to arrange this theme.
My thinking behind this one was "what if this was the last time I arranged a title screen theme?" So, I crammed it full of title screen themes, most of which I hadn't arranged before.
'The Collector’s Melancholy Afternoon' was a very late addition, but I think the few parts I added in mesh well. Don't tell anyone but I actually have a version without it on my hard drive...
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/4620805
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely; https://mentha.fun/)
Original themes:
• Desire Drive / デザイアドライブ
• The Doll Maker of Bucuresti / ブクレシュティの人形師
• Extend Ash ~ Person of Hourai / エクステンドアッシュ ~ 蓬莱人
Back in 2012 I released a mashup called Snowflake Desire that was more of a cover of Desire Drive than an arrangement. 11 years later, I think I was finally able to do it justice.
I haven't actually had much experience with snow, but I wanted this arrangement to embody its beauty and its ferocity. It's the difference between powder snow and a fierce blizzard.
#Touhou
#東方
RELE-17
Ten Desires, pt. 1
Official Site: releska.com/2023/02/20/rele-17
特設サイト: releska.com/2023/02/20/rele-17-jp
Release Date [Digital Only]/発売日: 17 March 2023
Purchase on BOOTH: https://booth.pm/en/items/4620805
Download on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/album/snowflake-desire
Check out my other albums on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/music
I'm also on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME?si=7I0-0fPxTsCUY6D7RXSGSQ
CREDITS:
Arrangement, clarinet (track 8): Releska
Album artwork: Mentha Nolana (@menthalovely), https://mentha.fun/
Touhou and its characters/music are the property of ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice.
Seihou was created by Shunsatsu sare do? (瞬殺サレ道?)
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original theme:
• Lunar Rainbow / ルナレインボー
I thought about whether I wanted my arrangement of the stage 6 theme to sit before or after my arrangement of the stage 6 boss theme. I eventually chose to make this close out the album.
It feels a bit like The Reign Falls, but rather than developing a phrase, I juxtapose points of high and low tension. I don't often arrange single themes, but I honestly couldn't think of anything else to add to this one.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• Where Is That Bustling Marketplace Now ~ Immemorial Marketeers / あの賑やかな市場は今どこに ~ Immemorial Marketeers
• Emotional Skyscraper ~ Cosmic Mind / 感情の摩天楼 ~ Cosmic Mind
Two words: harpsichord disco!
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• The Great Fantastic Underground Railway Network / 幻想の地下大線路網
• Pandemonic Planet / パンデモニックプラネット
This arrangement has the same sort of feel as Willowbane. It's almost classical, but not quite. It also offered the perfect opportunity to play around with the new virtual violin I bought. It was kinda tough to program it, but I think it shows promise.
That crescendoing part in Pandemonic Planet has a lot of impact so I really love incorporating it in arrangements.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• The Obsolescent Industrial Remains / 廃れゆく産業遺構
• Unknown Flower, Mesmerizing Journey / 未知の花 魅知の旅
• Humans and Youkai Traversing the Canal / 運河を行き交う人妖
The Obsolescent Industrial Remains has a flowing feel to it, befitting a stage 4 theme. I slowed it down for this arrangement to give you a sunset boardwalk sort of feel. The bridge parts where the piano gets a bit funky add a bit of life and motion.
Incidentally, the 'pavilion' in the title refers to a diamond's pavilion.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• The Long-Awaited Oumagatoki / 待ちわびた逢魔が時
• Wind Circulation ~ Wind Tour / 風の循環 ~ Wind Tour
• Nemesis’ Stronghold / ネメシスの要塞
This track pairs with Gemline. It's... kinda confronting? I used a SNES-style choir to mimic the choir ZUN uses in The Long-Awaited Oumagatoki, but it has a much darker sound. The piano bits are like rays of starlight peeking through on a cloudy night at the mountain.
It was surprisingly difficult to arrange the opening of Nemesis' Stronghold (even though I did it before with Crimson Storm...)
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• Ore from the Age of the Gods / 神代鉱石
• The Positive and Negative
• Magic Mirror / 魔鏡
Of all the tracks in this album, I think this is the one that most clearly conveys what I wanted to achieve. Most of it is pretty intense... rock, I guess? And then you just have a sudden transition to a jazzy rendition of Ore from the Age of the Gods.
This pairs with Ganger, which is track 4 of the album. The two are a bit harder to listen to than other tracks I've made, but I think they're super cool!
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• The Princess Who Slays Dragon Kings / 龍王殺しのプリンセス
• The Wriggling Autumn Moon ~ Mooned Insect / 蠢々秋月 ~ Mooned Insect
• Maniacal Princess
This takes the rock feel from Shadow Figures and dials it up to 11. I also included a bit of a jazz feel that pairs quite nicely with the next track, Gemline. It was utterly coincidental, but a nice coincidence.
The Maniacal Princess bit at the end was originally a bit longer, but I cut it down. I didn't want this track to overstay its welcome. By the way, doesn't the main melody of The Princess Who Slays Dragon Kings sound great when you play around with the time signatures!
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
[Name your price]
■ Purchase link (BOOTH):
https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• Starry Mountain of Tenma / 星降る天魔の山
• Futatsuiwa from Gensokyo / 幻想郷の二ッ岩
• The Traditional Old Man and the Stylish Girl / 時代親父とハイカラ少女
The little riff at the end of the original theme is my favourite part. It's like the track's inherent darkness opens up, and you can almost picture the stars on the mountain. So I didn't change it much in this mashup. This has a bit of rock feel and pairs with the next track, Stinger Princess.
I went back and checked my other albums and... I'm pretty sure this is the first time I've started a 'second half' album with a mashup that doesn't include the stage 4 theme. Some patterns are just meant to be broken.
#Touhou
#東方
RELE-16
Unconnected Marketeers, pt. 2
Official Site: releska.com/2022/02/13/rele-16
特設サイト: releska.com/2022/02/13/rele-16-jp
Release Date [Digital Only]/発売日: 20/02/2022
Purchase on BOOTH: https://releska.booth.pm/items/3669726
Download on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/album/shadow-figures
Check out my other albums on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/music
I'm also on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME?si=7I0-0fPxTsCUY6D7RXSGSQ
CREDITS:
Arrangement: Releska
Album artwork: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Touhou and its characters/music are the property of ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice.
#Touhou
#東方
■ BOOTH shop:
https://releska.booth.pm/
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• The Perpetual Snow of Komakusa Blossoms \ 駒草咲くパーペチュアルスノー
• Spring Lane ~ Colorful Path \ 春色小径 ~ Colorful Path
This was the first Touhou 18 arrangement I posted, but I revisited it for the album release. The instruments are just a little different, and I updated the percussion a bit.
Try listening to the two - I probably won't release the old version for download.
#Touhou
#東方虹龍洞
■ BOOTH shop:
https://releska.booth.pm/
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• The Cliff Hidden in Deep Green / 深緑に隠された断崖
• Border Between Dreams and Reality / 夢と現の境界
• The Far Side of the Moon / 向こう側の月
I intended for this to pair up with 'In Her Wake' from Furnace, creating an absolutely awful set of puns in the process.
It has a similar style but this one feels a bit quirkier, with some piano jumpscares and scratchy sounds to give it character.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• Smoking Dragon / スモーキングドラゴン
• Heian Alien / 平安のエイリアン
• The Reversed Wheel of Fortune / 逆転するホイールオブフォーチュン
• Deep-Mountain Encounter / 山奥のエンカウンター
It's probably a bit too soon, but I arranged this with the intention of pairing it with The Heist. Listen to the two one after the other and you'll see what I mean!
I missed using the honky tonk so I was glad to bring it back for this arrangement.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• A Shower of Strange Occurrences / 妖異達の通り雨
• At the End of Spring / 春の湊に
• Dream Express
• Outsider Cocktail / アウトサイダーカクテル
Unlike 'Amber Rainbow', which went in a different direction to my usual title screen arrangements, this arrangement is basically what I always do for stage 1 themes. It gives off a sense of something starting.
I feel like it's become a habit for me to suddenly drop off all the instruments partway through a track and build up again from a rhythmic motif. I do it because it sounds good to me, but is it getting a bit old, I wonder...?
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• A Rainbow Spanning Gensokyo / 虹の架かる幻想郷
• Sealed Gods / 封印されし神々
• Shinto Shrine / 神社
My last title screen mashup, Wingless Lives, was really intense so I tried to make something a bit more chill this time. And I think Sealed Gods is a really chill title screen theme, so it fits the mood really well.
I also debuted a new virtual flute in this arrangement! I think it sounds much more realistic than the THinst flute I was using before, and I haven't even played around with the settings much yet.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• Banditry Technology / バンデットリィテクノロジー
• Magic Shop of Raspberry
• Akutagawa Ryuunosuke’s “Kappa” ~ Candid Friend / 芥川龍之介の河童 ~ Candid Friend
I had one version of this arrangement going, and then I thought up the opening to this version and scrapped the old one. It has a bit of a different feeling to what I normally go for, doesn't it?
The chiptune sounds give it a bit of a retro feel, yet the melodic instruments are quite modern.
#Touhou
#東方
RELE-15
Unconnected Marketeers, pt. 1
Official Site: releska.com/2021/07/05/rele-15
特設サイト: releska.com/2021/07/05/rele-15-jp
Release Date [Digital Only]/発売日: 11/07/2021
Download link: releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
Check out my other albums on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/music
I'm also on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME?si=7I0-0fPxTsCUY6D7RXSGSQ
CREDITS:
Arrangement: Releska
Album artwork: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Touhou and its characters/music are the property of ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/currents-of-change
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Klaineka (@klaineka)
Original themes:
• Kitten of Great Fortune / 大吉キトゥン
• Diao Ye Zong (withered leaf) / ティアオイエツォン
• Corpse Voyage ~ Be of good cheer! / 死体旅行 ~ Be of good cheer!
• The Tiger-Patterned Bishamonten / 虎柄の毘沙門天
• Strange Bird of the Moon, Illusion of the Mysterious Cat / 月の妖鳥、化猫の幻
• Schrodinger's Bakeneko / シュレディンガーの化猫
Pretty soon after Touhou 18's demo came out I promised I'd make the ultimate cat mashup... and this is the end result! I don't normally mash up so many themes in one track, so it was tough working out where each theme would take the limelight.
Genre-wise, it kind of adopts the cosmic bossa style I really like using? I feel like this album is a bit more electronic than some of my more recent albums, though...
And yes, for the purposes of this mashup tigers are cats.
#Touhou
#東方
An arrangement of Touhou 18: Unconnected Marketeers' stage 3 theme, because I just couldn't help myself.
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
Original themes:
• The Perpetual Snow of Komakusa Blossoms \ 駒草咲くパーペチュアルスノー
• Spring Lane ~ Colorful Path \ 春色小径 ~ Colorful Path
But seriously, the original theme sounds so happy! Does ZUN normally make music that sounds this happy? I'm really looking forward to listening to and arranging the rest of the soundtrack.
As for this arrangement, I wanted it to have a disco, poppy feel. The drum loops are handy but I'd like to play around with them later on...
#Touhou
#東方虹龍洞
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Entrust this World to Idols ~ Idolatrize World \ 偶像に世界を委ねて ~ Idolatrize World
• Nightmare Diary \ ナイトメアダイアリー
• Septette for a Dead Princess \ 亡き王女の為のセプテット
• Strawberry Crisis!!
My final boss arrangements tend to have a similar sort of sound, but I think this is the first one to go for an overwhelmingly electronic feel. The energy just doesn't let up the entire time!
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• The Shining Law of the Strong Eating the Weak \ 輝かしき弱肉強食の掟
• Two Worlds \ 二つの世界
• Demystify Feast
I somehow ended up going for a hard rock feel with this track. Have I... ever gone harder than this on a track? I mean, the drums are heavy and the guitars are loud. What more could one ask for?
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Beast Metropolis \ ビーストメトロポリス
• Voile, the Magic Library \ ヴワル魔法図書館
• The Hall of Dreams’ Great Mausoleum \ 夢殿大祀廟
• Forest of Tono \ 遠野の森
I've never stayed overnight at a library before, but I have this image in my head of staging a light show at night, lighting up all of the books on the shelves. That's the sort of impression I wanted this arrangement to leave you with.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Tortoise Dragon ~ Fortune and Misfortune \ トータスドラゴン ~ 幸運と不運
• Illusion of a Maid ~ Icemilk Magic \ メイド幻想 ~ Icemilk Magic
I like Tortoise Dragon so much I arranged it twice in this album! This is the obligatory 'classical' arrangement. I'm experimenting a bit more with this style, but the percussion sounds I bought a little while ago are really paying off now.
The synthetic horn-like sounds at the start are a bit unsettling, aren't they?
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Seraphic Chicken \ セラフィックチキン
• Tomboyish Girl in Love \ おてんば恋娘
• Himorogi, Burn in Violet \ ひもろぎ、むらさきにもえ
This whole arrangement is built around the repeated riff from Seraphic Chicken, except I split it up. I hope it's still recognisable! Tomboyish Girl was a late addition, but it worked well to add some colour.
There aren't too many arrangements of Himorogi, Burn in Violet out there...
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Unlocated Hell / アンロケイテッドヘル
• Lunatic Dreamer / ルナティックドリーマー
• Retribution for the Eternal Night ~ Imperishable Night / 永夜の報い ~ Imperishable Night
I wanted to make the first track really punchy. I might have gone a bit overboard with the percussion though! Hopefully there's enough chill parts to counterbalance the parts where it goes really wild.
I'm surprised it took me this long to include Imperishable Night's stage 4 theme. I didn't do too much to it because the original is so good already.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Electric Heritage / エレクトリックヘリテージ
• Fires of Hokkai / 法界の火
There's nothing like layering a disco drum loop beneath some electronic sounds. Is this... nu-disco?!
I was actually going to make this track a lot longer, but then I decided not to since the album's final track is already very long. Maybe I should release a disco album one day full of tracks that are 10 minutes long.
#Touhou
#東方
RELE-14
Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, pt. 2
Official Site: releska.com/2020/12/13/rele-14
特設サイト: releska.com/2020/12/13/rele-14-jp
Release Date [Digital Only]/発売日: 29/12/2020
Download link: releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
Check out my other albums on Bandcamp: releska.bandcamp.com/music
I'm also on Spotify:
open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME?si=7I0-0fPxTsCUY6D7RXSGSQ
CREDITS:
Arrangement: Releska
Album artwork: Kia (@rnarchhare)
[pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570]
Touhou and its characters/music are the property of ZUN/Team Shanghai Alice.
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/the-heist
[Name your price]
■ Spotify profile: open.spotify.com/artist/35FfJ8qR8UX26dMo1QGBME
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Prince Shoutoku's Pegasus ~ Dark Pegasus / 聖徳太子のペガサス ~ Dark Pegasus
• Tortoise Dragon ~ Fortune and Misfortune / トータスドラゴン ~ 幸運と不運
• Dullahan Under the Willows / 柳の下のデュラハン
I've returned to the world of moody jazz... but the question is, did I ever leave it? Moody is probably a good word, since I wanted to convey the mood of the original themes rather than directly quote from them.
The chorusy bit starting at 1:20 is my favourite. You expect to hear a full quotation of Saki's theme, but I hold back! I keep you waiting and just repeat the start of it over a bunch of extended jazz chords.
When you think about it, this isn't really much of a heist if it never gets started, is it?
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/stitches-and-stones
[Name your price]
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
原曲:
• 地蔵だけが知る哀嘆
• 信仰は儚き人間の為に
• 凍り付いた永遠の都
Original themes:
• The Lamentations Known Only by Jizo
(Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, Stage 1 theme)
• Faith Is for the Transient People
(Touhou 10: Mountain of Faith, Sanae Kochiya's theme)
• The Frozen Eternal Capital
(Touhou 15: Legacy of Lunatic Kingdom, Stage 4 theme)
You would expect an arrangement of a stage 1 theme to go at the start of an album, but this one fits squarely at the end. It has a sense of something ending, but also of something beginning, too. I feel like a lot of my music has that mood to it.
I think the crafty percussion used here is a jar of buttons. It sounds a lot like sandpaper though, doesn't it?
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/stitches-and-stones
[Name your price]
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
原曲:
• 石の赤子と水中の牛
• 風神少女
• 華のさかづき大江山
Original themes:
• The Stone Baby and the Submerged Bovine
(Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, Urumi Ushizaki's theme)
• Wind God Girl
(Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Aya Shameimaru's theme)
• A Flower-Studded Sake Dish on Mt. Ooe
(Touhou 11: Subterranean Animism, Yuugi Hoshiguma's theme)
I must admit, I don't really like Urumi's theme so it was a challenge picking themes to mash it up with. I also don't like Yuugi's theme and it was the only stage/boss theme from Subterranean Animism I hadn't arranged yet, so... I put them together! The underlying image is a desert. I think this is my second desert-themed track now?
We need more cowbells in arrangements of Urumi's theme. Please, fellow arrangers, make it happen! Come to think of it, this track actually doesn't have any crafty percussion, so it doesn't really fit with this album, does it?
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/stitches-and-stones
[Name your price]
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
原曲:
• ロストリバー
• 彼岸帰航 ~ Riverside View
• 花の映る塚
Original themes:
• Lost River
(Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, Stage 2 theme)
• Higan Retour ~ Riverside View
(Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Komachi Onozuka's theme)
• The Mound Where the Flowers Reflect
(Touhou 9: Phantasmagoria of Flower View, Pre-battle conversation theme 1)
I feel like this is a bit of a spiritual successor to 'Permanence', a track from my second Touhou album. Phantasmagoria of Flower View's conversation themes are so atmospheric...
This time, I designed the underlying percussion using the knitting needle setting from my sewing kit percussion VST. It's only a simple pattern, but it adds a surprising layer of depth to the arrangement!
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/stitches-and-stones
[Name your price]
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
原曲:
• 不朽の曼珠沙華
• ルーシッドドリーマー
• Bad Apple!!
Original themes:
• Everlasting Red Spider Lily
(Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, Stage 1 theme)
• Lucid Dreamer
(Touhou 16.5: Violet Detector, Stage theme 1)
• Bad Apple!!
(Touhou 4: Lotus Land Story, Stage 3 theme)
Weird story, the opening of this arrangement is so fast-paced I actually had to speed up the rest of the arrangement to compensate for it. When I kept it all at the same BPM, the melodic parts sounded slow, which I thought was some sort of odd auditory illusion...
#Touhou
#東方
■ Download link (Bandcamp): releska.bandcamp.com/album/stitches-and-stones
[Name your price]
■ Album art: Kia (@rnarchhare)
www.pixiv.net/member.php?id=15935570
Original themes:
• Jelly Stone
(Touhou 17: Wily Beast and Weakest Creature, Eika Ebisu's theme)
• Reverse Ideology
(Touhou 14: Double Dealing Character, Seija Kijin's theme)
• Apparitions Stalk the Night
(Touhou 6: the Embodiment of Scarlet Devil, Rumia's theme
I knew I was going to arrange Eika's theme in this style pretty soon after I first heard it. It's the sort of ZUN track with a melody that just keeps going and going and going - it's kind of like Youmu's theme in that respect. That's why it made sense to take that melodic line and turn it into a bass line that just keeps going and going and going.
I want to learn more about percussion someday so I don't need to rely solely on MIDI patterns for all of the backing drums...
#Touhou
#東方


