Gaijin Blues II by Gaijin Blues
The Mining Town Of Kakariko
A long journey back to your hometown reveals that the place you once called home is completely unrecognizable to you. Large industrial buildings and paved roads now engulf the lush and winding paths you and your friends played on when you were children. Ephemeral memories wash over you as you cascade through the alleys and avenues looking for anything familiar — time and greed have swallowed your once fond past whole. Forcing back the once lush and verdant forests to the outskirts of town, Mako LLC have laid their mechanical roots deep within the town of Kakariko. The great Bahamut is wreaking massive and untold havoc upon the struggling wilderness it has been erected upon. Holding the fate of the world hostage in their corporate hands, what was once seemingly innocuous technology is now rampantly devouring the world from the inside out. It’s up to you to save what’s left of this dying planet and bring order back to The Orient.
Bahamut (The Town Provider)
Pressed on black vinyl by Shapes of Rhythm, the genre-bending RPG infused journey of Gaijin Blues II is here to trap you in its winding and transient grooves. As a follow up to their 2019 self-titled album, this Gaijin Blues sequel pushes the envelope in terms of creativity and musical verticality of this Poland based duo. This week I sat down with Paweł Klimczak and Michał Szczepaniec of Gaijin Blues to uncover the world behind their most recent and dynamic album, but what exactly is Gaijin Blues and what led them into a life surrounded by music?
“We are just two friends, wildly passionate about music and Japanese pop culture. Gaijin Blues is our way to explore a variety of inspirations, both thematically and musically. It's a constant source of joy, in the studio and on the road. It just happened. Music was a huge part of our lives as long as we remembered. Since we were teenagers we were involved in a variety of musical projects. Tracking what pushed us towards that direction is hard, but we both have strong emotions towards Iron Maiden. So maybe this band.”
Puff-Puff
Iron Maiden is an interesting influence considering the nature of this album, but when I said this album is genre-bending I meant it. The wide range of musical stylings present on this album will completely blow you away and feeds directly into the tenacious creativity that these two are bringing to the musical world they inhabit. Ranging from soft ambient synth, pulse-quickening EDM, classical Japanese vibratos, acoustic percussion heaven, and dilapidated prog-rock grooves, Gaijin Blues II has everything a music enthusiast in love with video games is craving. While it may sound like a wild gambit of genres, the genius way that Paweł and Michał are able to meld the musical tapestry present on this album in such a harmonious way is something that deserves to be experienced. With such a strong influence of Japanese culture and video games, namely JRPGs, I just had to know what games, in particular, have influenced their musical arrangements on this album.
“Phoenix Wright Trilogy, Metal Gear Solid, JRPG classics like Secret Of Mana or Chrono Trigger. When it comes to our album, Shoji Meguro's work on Persona 5 was really influential. Tatsuro Yamashita's cheesy brand of pop and disco, UK club music (especially dubstep), more colorful ambient and downtempo music. There is a lot of small inspirations going into our sound: from small nudges to heavy metal or footwork, to specific rhythms, we like to keep our heads open. There are no stylistic boundaries for Gaijin Blues.”
Professor Tatsuro Kensu
“No stylistic boundaries…” is exactly how I felt about this band while listening to this album. The wide range of instruments and styles present here gives for one of the most dynamic albums I have listened to in some time. So what programs, instruments, and sampling sources did they use to craft their unique sound?
“We record and arrange in Ableton Live. The cornerstone of our sound is rhythm so we are using a variety of drums, cymbals, and percussion. We're using synthesizers like Arturia Matrixbrute and Novation Keystation, bass and guitar with a variety of pedals and VSTs. Our goal is to merge digital and analog, blend sampling and programming with the recordings of instruments, blurring the line between familiar and surprising. Our ears are the main guide — we have a really specific vision of what we are looking for in samples. We know where we can find sounds that will fit — a specific mixture of Japanese pop and disco, soundtracks and traditional music. Records that we brought from Japan are our main source of samples, however, we are not limiting ourselves to vinyl.”
Mementos (Prison)
One of the coolest aspects of this record and something that I like to feature here on the site is soundtracks for games that don’t exist. Gaijin Blues II fits that description to a ‘T’. The creative energy that goes into weaving a narrative into a piece of music is something that absolutely fascinates me and adds a whole new facet to a piece of music that, when executed well, helps to elevate an album to an entirely different level in my book. So what exactly is the narrative of Gaijin Blues II and how does it fit within the universe and context of the first album?
“The first release didn't have any story — it was just a collection of tracks with references to Japanese video games. When it comes to 'Gaijin Blues II' — it's a story that is about the hero that comes back to his family town to see that things changed a lot. Bahamut, an amazing machine that's harvesting the planet energy for people to use, brought prosperity to the settlement. However, there are many more sinister things going on and this energy is far from clean — the planet will suffer greatly. The album ends with an ecological catastrophe, but the people can build a new civilization, although in a much harsher environment. The story is an homage to classic JRPG tropes but also an emanation of our deep concern about the impending climate catastrophe.”
Mako Energy
Spanning the back cover of this album is an entire synopsis of the story broken up into “Chapters” that chronicle each song title with a little splash of narrative flavor. Written almost in a guide-like flow, each song gives you a window into what the universe of Gaijin Blues II has become and what happens to the hero character and the world they inhabit as the album unfolds. When they said they wanted to pay homage to classic JRPG tropes, they weren’t kidding. Each track title and description borrows heavily from classic video games that I couldn’t help but feel a little nostalgic reading the whole thing over as my needle tracked through the grooves of this wonderful black disc. Borrowing heavily in this instance did feel a bit “lazy” in the context of what’s out there for game-less soundtracks, but with how incredible this music is I can kind of give it a pass. While narratively creative in several aspects I just hope that they make up their own original set pieces and names with Gaijin Blues III.
Leaving Schwarzwelt
Shapes of Rhythm have done a fairly good job with this vinyl release. As their second vinyl collaboration with Gaijin Blues, it's nice to see that they are continuing to support such unique and creative artists. Pressed on standard black vinyl, the pressing here is absolutely excellent! The vinyl did come fairly dirty with some micro-abrasions that didn’t affect playback in my case... so definitely check and see if yours needs a little cleaning if you decide to pick this one up. Mastered by Paweł Bartnik, the clear and vibrant noise floor here truly allows Gaijin Blues’ sound to shine in a great way. The bass is altogether punchy allowing for every intricate groove here to shine in its own way, superb! The artwork for this release was carried out by Adam Strzelczyk, is absolutely stunning, wholly nostalgic, and completely captures that iconic Japanese flair that Gaijin Blues has so lovingly woven into this album's framework. The sleeve itself is printed on a fairly lightweight sleeve which is kind of disappointing considering how well everything else for this release was executed. Overall I feel like this album is a must-have for fans of creative and unique concept albums for games that don’t exist. There is so much to love here, I will definitely be spinning this one for years to come!
Grief, the aftermath and a faint hope
I’d like to thank Shapes of Rhythm and Gaijin Blues for providing me with a copy of this album for the purposes of this review!
Edit: Update on jacket card stock
Upon further analysis of this album I noticed a little logo on the back of the jacket indicating that the material used for the vinyl jacket itself was sourced from recycled paper. Seeing as that’s a major positive in my book, I felt compelled to clarify that considering my original negative impression of the jackets quality. The fact that Shapes of Rhythm and Gaijin Blues are trying to reduce their carbon footprint is really cool and ties back into their ecological message with the album!
Album Details
Music by:
Remastered for vinyl by :
Paweł Bartnik
Artwork by:
Adam Strzelczyk
Vinyl produced & distributed by:
Where to Buy?
This album is still readily available directly through Gaijin Blues’ Bandcamp page. As a unique soundtrack to an imaginary game, I am completely blown away by the creative musical flair presented here. As this release is limited to 500 copies, I highly recommend you scope a copy of this album before it’s gone forever.