Haru Toki no Koe

I will admit that Spring has a peculiar effect on me. People who know me, have realized (often in dramatic ways, such as freezing their asses on a terrace, while I whistle happily in a t-shirt) that I love the cold. Winter is my favorite season, climate-wise, since at 20 degrees Celcius I start feeling a bit of discomfort and I suffer at anything past 23 (no, you do NOT want to know how I deal with the Summer temperatures). However, for all that, Spring has that Cave/Fluffy Bear effect on me, on many levels. First of all, I have this feeling of waking up from a long slumber: my thoughts race more wildly, my inner self starts beating persistently on the walls of my outer shell and my somewhat cynical demeanor is slapped on the head by this ever-smiling, clueless guy who used to be 20 years old.

Secondly, contrary to what you might think (and seriously, I thank you for thinking it), I am somewhat of a "mental loner"; it's not really easy to describe what I mean: if a person's mind is a collection of their own thoughts, memories and the voices/mental images of the people they meet and interact with, my mind is more like a silent, softly lit room, filled to the high ceiling with perfectly organized files and boxes, gathered over the years, where some things may have been misplaced but nothing is missing (I never forget). Inside that room, I am not happy or sad but rather in a state of neutral consideration, where I can spend hours alone with myself. However, in Spring, I notice that on one of the walls of my mind, there are a number of pictures, some old and yellowed - though still clear - and some rich with color and life. When I look at these pictures in my mind's eye, people will catch me smiling, while seemingly staring at the void. When the focus returns to my eyes, I have been told that my expression is very peculiar: it is the expression of someone who feels thankful for having met certain people and managed to keep them close to him. Then, I look at the things I do with fresh determination.

For some people, Spring is a sad, melancholic season, perhaps because they are single, perhaps because everything is brimming with life-force and sexual drive, while they feel lacking and perhaps, for reasons I can only guess at. The above description, such as it is, is what Spring induces in me and very often, it finds itself expressed specifically or vaguely in the music I like to listen to, music which is people, memories, symbols, hopes and dreams, all mixed in one colorful palette. This "Quickening", if you like, is what "Haru Toki no Koe" is to me; the voice of Spring.

It has been an interesting year (I count years academically, starting in September and ending in August), in many senses: the usual one (loads of interesting and cool stuff happened), as well as the Chinese one ("may you live in interesting times", meant as a curse for living in times of tumult and unrest). However, these last few months, especially, have been interesting in the way of people and that is what has driven me to create the playlist, whose name is the namesake of this post and which I will be playing as a guest of Ordre de Ciel on Sunday, the 11th of May. Now, do not go thinking that all of the above translates into a mushy, tree-hugging hippie anime music set, just that this peculiar drive has been behind the creation of the playlist. I have tried to make it as fun as possible but you will be the final judges of that. If, by the end of it, you disagree, there will be the guaranteed-cool sets of Ordre de Ciel to more than make up for it, so you have no excuse.

On a final, important note, all of the above would not mean much, if some of the songs were not dedicated to the people I have mentioned earlier. I will only reveal the order in which the dedications will be played, so as not to spoil the surprise and of course, to goad you to come listen to them. So then:

The first song goes to Kame-chan, for being the lovable person that she is.

The second song goes to Ergo Proxy and Darkside_Blues, my best friends and the only people to suffer me continuously for 11 years.

The third song goes to the people of Ordre de Ciel, for having a dream, sticking to it with knuckles bared and being the truly beautiful people that they are.

The fourth song goes to all those people who, over the years, I have kept close to my heart, my friends, old and new, each and every one special in their own way.

The fifth song goes to Bunnydragon, dedicated in earnest, for being a sweet, caring person, forged of Dragonfire.

The rest of the songs are for you, who make a point of showing your love for this kind of music. There is no J-scene in Greece, unless there are people who give a damn about it, be they manga/anime otaku, cosplayers or diehard J-rock fans. We are eagerly waiting for you at KABATZA Bar, for the Last Sunday Sessions.

Signing off,

Speedgrapher