Day 15 - Noanowa - Magical Circus

When GK reviewed "Magical Circus", I listened to it, but to be honest I only remembered "lalala-uh-uh-yeah!" because it has such a memorable quality. Because I'd been able to ignore the rest of the album, I assumed that I didn't like it and until now had not listened to it again.

I owe Noanowa an apology for not giving them a second change until now. "Magical Circus" is absolutely delightful, and I understand why both Zer0 and Loki put it on their Top 5 lists for 2010. The album features gorgeous music with a cute twist here and unique flair there. They use several different kinds of instruments, including handbells and cellos, and different backup vocal styles including choir and a capella. The main vocals are sung by Yukko, whose childlike voice imbues each song with a delightful sense of wonder. It's hard to pin Noanowa to a genre, so I won't try; instead, I found the inventiveness of the music similar to that of Shiina Ringo, like Noanowa was going for "Ringo lite" (and fully succeeded).

The opening tracks are cute and upbeat, like the opening songs for shojo anime, combining simple cuteness with musical playfulness in terms of both composition and instrumentation that keeps the tracks fresh. Then atmosphere of the album changes with "Tsunaide," which is considerably quieter and calmer than the tracks before it, and the transformation completes with "Squonk no Namida," which is upbeat but more mature than the tracks before it, as though it was written for "Cowboy Bebop" rather than a shojo. From here the album continues with it's more mature feeling, each song musically intense in a way that will make your heart beat faster.

The album is magical all the way through, and no matter what Jaylee says, is something that I could easily listen to any track from without hesitation. Did I like every little bit of this album? No - there were some parts that hit a bit of a pet-peevy nerve (especially those damn synth strings that tried to ruin "Tsunaide" and "Neverland!"), but no song is worth skipping or removing from a playlist. And although it may not be everyone's cup of tea, no one could claim that it's bad music. This one is worthy of the #1 album status that GK gave it, and well worth your time and money.