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Her name along and country of origin would immediately bring to mind aural landscapes of the typical J-Pop style, that of happy go lucky music that is catchy, and yet can get highly grating, if not irritating at times. Yuki however embellishes none of things in the least, a trait that will come as a joy to many. If one were to find a definitive artist that Yuki in fact resembles, you would have to look no further than Enya or perhaps even Loreena McKennitt. Unlike those performers, Yuki has a style that is very much her own, and while her music does have those same relaxing qualities; it is also very dark, very emotional, and very moody, blending a gentleness with an occasional techno style.What’s even more unique is that the CD is actually sung in English for the most part, with French being another language that’s present in the music. This CD honestly does not have a song on it that can be considered to be bad, and in fact all of them are wonderful in their own right. The opening track, “Key of the Twilight” has some great semi-classical guitar work combined with a next techno rhythm and bass line that, while not quite danceable, is still amazing to listen to. Other tracks are very mellow like “Fake Wings” or even “Vanity.” Even the song “Open Your Heart” almost has a slight Bjork vibe to it as far as the vocals go, although I’d never imagine that the Icelandic princess would use the same sort of musical style. To some though, there will be some instrumentation that seems vaguely familiar. It has an almost European sound that seems almost like something that you might here in France, and seems almost like something that if, if you were a fairly avid anime viewer, you may have heard somewhere. The answer is fairly obvious as Yuki has done work on the darkly beautiful Noir, and two songs from the series, “Canta Per Me” and “Salva Nos” both make appearances, however they are redone and remixed, but not in a way that hurts them in the least. For those that are more import savvy though, “Zodical Sign” comes straight from the Aquarian Age series, and is another example of Ms. Kajiura’s diversity when it comes to song writing. Although Geneon has been attempting to get almost exact duplicates of the original Japanese versions of CD’s released in the United States, Fiction is one CD that does have differences. The cover of the Japanese version is very different, as is the track listing. While the US version does have the same songs, the Japanese release actually has a few bonus tracks that were not included on the domestic release. So, those wanting to have all of Yuki’s material will have to fork out the money for the import. For anyone with more of a sense of world music, Fiction is definitely a CD to pick up. It goes far beyond what we’ve all heard in the Noir series, and is probably one of those discs that worth more than just a listen. The arrangements are just as lush and breathtaking as what Yuki’s vocals are. Hopefully, Fiction will be the first of many solo CD’s to hear from Yuki Kajiura, and with any luck, her fan base can grow just as feverishly here as it has in Japan. - mike -
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