That's makes a lot of sense. When you sing out at full power with full emotion, unless the mic is specifically set to capture it, you get some clipping or distortion to the sound, so he likely had a small issue with that, but decided ultimately that since that take was the best, to use it anyway. Either that, or he's just talking about how his voice isn't smooth tonally, which he might have been originally aiming for, but he came to like the raw feel of the first take because it captured the emotion better.

Yup, you guys are right. I know Sawao isn't the best singer out there, but he's a good vocalist and when he sings with such emotion as in Century Creepers, it ranks right up there with his best performances. I'll have to listen to Energia more closely once the single is actually released to get a better feel for what you guys are talking about with the auto tune. Anyways, here's the direct quote from the article for clarification on what was exactly said:

[quote]I created the song while keeping in mind how it would be to play it live, with such emotion it's okay if the voice is affected by your innermost feelings. On the first take of the recording, I put my spirit in my voice and it was beyond the level of the engineer's expectations, it was much louder. At first I was told that the song wasn't able to be used because of the cracked sound. Though, it got better and better after I sang it many times. But then I couldn't keep the tension and emotion I first had, so we decided to use the first take anyway, even though the sound wasn't clear enough.[/quote]

He needs a new engineer then, because century creepers is one of his best vocal performances. He may be a shitty singer, but he does vocals with emotion very well.

Did you read my post as well as the quote above, specifically where he said "it was beyond the level of the engineer's expectations?" It has nothing to do with his engineer wanting him to sing it better, it has to do with the audio not being captured without errors and the engineer wanting to get a clean vocal take. If the mic is set wrong, too loud of vocals have some clipping/distortion, and this seems to be what Sawao was describing.

Wooh my copy has been ordered.

[quote="chgu"]Since I haven't seen one yet, here's an audio rip of the Nico video: http://www.megaupload.com/?d=1AN5UC0P[/quote]

Thanks. Put up a preview on Youtube for convenience:

http://youtu.be/hHF9JwgqCG4

Also it's not a leak, per se, it's a recording from the radio.

I am liking it.

So in love...the intro is something different, reminds me of like Shiroi natsu...
Can't wait.

[quote]As soon as the door closed, we loved one another (this is SUPER suggestive)
Made a wad of bills into a toy and played[/quote]Uh, what.

So I just got around to hearing this now, and I gotta say that it sounds like a step in the right direction at least. Sort of like the old stuff, sort of not, which is alright with me.

I just like seeing positivity about a song on IM for a change. I hope this style will carry into the B-Sides and then the album.

[quote="discovolante"]So I just got around to hearing this now, and I gotta say that it sounds like a step in the right direction at least. Sort of like the old stuff, sort of not, which is alright with me.[/quote]
Same. It's definitely a new direction, and it doesn't feel like the "boilerplate" pillows music we've come to expect over the past few years. Good stuff.

So I only really noticed the use of the word "boilerplate" as an adjective after we had that thread way back when, and it was used by someone to describe the latest releases. Anyone else on IM?

So the Buster shop DOESN'T do international shipping? Because if that's the case then I ain't gettin' me an energia shirt.

Use celga.

[quote="A.Fish"]I just like seeing positivity about a song on IM for a change. I hope this style will carry into the B-Sides and then the album.[/quote]

It's not like we [i]want[/i] to dislike new releases. If they put out something good, we'll listen to and praise it.

But yeah, this song's pretty good. I like the guitar.