[Fun] The Douglass Gardens Sessions

[Bob Schroeck]

I was updating my notes for What Did You Do, Yui? with info from this thread, and I realized I had a couple song suggestions for the original The Douglass Gardens Session in it. One was "Caramelldansen", which Mio's English voice actress (Cristina Vee) has recorded but which I thought Yui would absolutely love to sing, and "Mindbender" by Stillwater (not the one from the movie Almost Famous, although they provided the name for band in the film) with Giita, of course, playing the role of Mindbender.

EDIT: Oh, and I had a link to the playlist for the concert played by the UF version of HTT with The Art of Noise. Because it's formatted and color-coded to and all, I'll just link to it rather than copy it over here.

[robkelk]

The wiki page is still a work in progress, and while an EP doesn't usually have more than four songs, there's no law saying it can't. Add them in!

[Bob Schroeck]

I will, when I get a minute. I just ducked in to mention another name in my notes, someone who shows up at the Roadhouse on that fateful open mike night and joins in on the fun: Eddie Wilson. I wonder if the girls could convince him to release an EP, too, since everyone and his dog is doing it. <grin>

[robkelk]

For Jun, there's an embarrassment of riches. So, asking once again:
Option 1
Option 2
Option 3
Option 4 - which at first I didn't like, but the watercolour effect is growing on me, and it would make the image unique
Option 5 - showing her non-musical defining traits
Option 6 - because somebody should have a sense of humour
Option 7

I think an hour is enough hunting. Opinions for Ritsu's album cover, please:
Option A
Option B
Option C
Option D
Option E
Option F

Bump.

If I don't hear otherwise, I'm going with Option 2 and Option... C? D?

Now to look for something for Yui's EP while I'm waiting for opinions...

I can see option 2, but I kinda like 1 and 4. And 6 is so much like the cover of Weird Al's "Off The Deep End" album that it needs to be used somewhere.

As for Ritsu, D or E.

Option E for Ritsu.


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Option 4 for Jun. In-universe, watercolour by Kazuki Sendo (which he started as soon as people decided to turn this into a all-bands project).


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And the Hirasawa sisters, which finishes off the Hokago Tea Time and Wakaba Girls series. Yes, they're special - they're identified by their own names instead of their bands' names.

Out here in real life, I'm getting some "Springsteen live" vibes from this one. It's a shame I had to crop it square; that lost the "tight spot" effect. (See it here or here.) In-universe, if anybody's going to use Japanese characters for her name on the album, it's going to be the person who insisted the group be called "Hokago Tea Time" instead of "Afterschool Teatime".


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In-universe, since Ui plays both guitar and keyboards, Nao got her to lay down all of the tracks on her EP, forsaking percussion in order to make this a truly solo album. And at least her jacket says "Wakaba Girls", even if the album cover doesn't.)


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(EDIT: As for Option 6, maybe for an outtakes album at the end of the Sessions? An extremely limited release, for just the band members, Nao, and anybody who purchased all of the Sessions.)

[robkelk]

Next album cover?

(ducks, covers)

EDIT: Fine, fine... how about this one instead?

RE-EDIT: Official art for the cover of HTT's outtakes album. Just a few things they cleaned up from the earlier releases.

[robkelk]

Tomoyo also sings some old pop standards.

Just for fun, I put together a possible track list, assuming it's an EP:

1. "It's Only a Paper Moon" (composed by Harold Arlen, written by Yip Harburg and Billy Rose, © 1933)
   
2. "How Deep Is the Ocean?" (by Irving Berlin, © 1932)
   
3. "I Had the Craziest Dream" (composed by Harry Warren, written by Mack Gordon, © 1942)
   
4. "All or Nothing at All" (composed by Arthur Altman, written by Jack Lawrence, © 1939)
   
5. "Ev'ry Time We Say Goodbye" (by Cole Porter, © 1944)
   

Of course, Sakura misses the message in the song selections.

Source of all of these is Danbooru; I have higher resolution versions I'll upload to the wiki.

I didn't see these on the wiki yet. Should I upload the copies posted here, and let you overwrite them with the higher-resolution copies later?

[robkelk]

We don't have a "Yui and Ui" album yet... but we might get in trouble if we just used this cover for one.

[robkelk]

So, does Nao produce live shows?

pixiv image

[Dartz]

Just a thought. An evil, horrible thought. A name for a band, maybe?

"L.A. Blues Girls"

(King of the Land of Going to Far)

[Bob Schroeck]

So, does Nao produce live shows?

pixiv image

Why not?

EDIT: Of course she does. She ends up taking an impromptu open mike performance at the Roadhouse and turning it into an album, after all -- the HTT^2 - Live at the Roadhouse mentioned elsewhere in this thread.

[Bob Schroeck]

So... would having Ritsu do a cover of Shiny Toy Guns' version of "Puttin' On the Ritz" be too much of a cheap gag?

[Labster]

It would only be cheap if she performed in the Kremlin.

That has lots of synth so you’d need Komugi too. Doesn’t even have an octave of range in that song, does it? Find the right key and even a backup like Ritsu will be fine. L

[robkelk]

Just listened to the ending-theme CD for Princess Principal. The B-side track, "Shoot Your Heart Out!" is so '50s-bubblegum-pop J-pop that I can't help but imagine Yui singing it.

(On the off-chance somebody decides to use that song somewhere: "Shoot Your Heart Out!", performed by Ayaka Imamura, Akira Sekine, Yo Taichi, Akari Kageyama, and Nozomi Furuki; lyrics by Konnie Aoki; copyright © 2017 Princess Principal Project)

[Labster]

If HKK ever feels like branching out to other genres, here are some potential album covers:

gothic lolita dresses
metal Lordi parody

[robkelk]

If HKK ever feels like branching out to other genres, here are some potential album covers:

gothic lolita dresses

They wore a mix of Lolita styles for their performance of 'Don't say "lazy"' (ending credits of the first season), so going Gothic Lolita isn't much of a stretch for them. It would have to be one of Mio's songs, though, not one of Yui's.

* robkelk looks at image

Too much skin showing to be authentic Lolita -- they're cosplaying. Which is okay for an album cover.

metal Lordi parody

Sawa-chan-sensei needed a backup band.

[Black Aeronaut]

I just had one of my batshit-crazy ideas.

Life at Douglas Gardens sounds pretty tame.  Mayhaps they could do with a bit of good-natured mayhem? 





The nice part is that they're fictional characters, complete with fictional stories behind the music.

Just a little something to consider.  If you do pull them in, though, we could have it that they're somehow summoned when, during the St. Valentine's Eve Massacre, Benjamin starts rapping their song, Clint Eastwood...

And really, it would fit pretty well, given that situation.  I mean, look at these lyrics and tell me that ain't Ben to a 'T' at that moment...

I ain't happy
I'm feelin' glad
I got sunshine
In a bag
I'm useless
But not for long
My future
Is coming on...

Verse 1
Finally someone let me out of my cage
Now, time for me is nothing cause I'm counting no age
No, I couldn't be there
Now you shouldn't be scared
I'm good at repairs
And I'm under each snare
Intangible
Bet you didn't think so I command you to
Panoramic view, look, I'll make it all manageable
Pick and choose, sit and lose, all you different crews
Chicks and dudes, who you think is really kickin' tunes?
Picture you gettin' down in a picture tube
Like you lit the fuse
You think it's fictional? Mystical? Maybe
Spiritual. Hero who appears in you to clear your view when you're too crazy
Lifeless, to know the definition for what life is
Priceless to you because I put you on the hype shit
You like it?
Gun smokin', righteous with one toke
Psychic among those
Possess you with one go

Verse 2
The essence, the basics
Without it, you make it
Allow me to make this child-like in nature
Rhythm, you have it or you don't, that's a fallacy
I'm in them
Every sprouting tree, every child a piece
Every cloud and sea
You see with your eyes
I see destruction and demise, corruption in disguise
From this fuckin' enterprise
Now I'm sucked into your lies
Through Russel, not his muscles but percussion he provides
With me as a guide
Y'all can see me now 'cause you don't see with your eye
You perceive with your mind
That's the inner
So I'm gonna stick around with Russ and be a mentor
Bust a few rhymes so motherfuckers remember where the thought is
I brought all this so you can survive when law is lawless
Feelings, sensations that you thought was dead
No squealing, remember that it's all in your head


Whatcha think?

[Bob Schroeck]

... I am stunned with the audacity of this idea and want to subscribe to your newsletter.

Yes, definitely. The musical cross-pollination it'll produce... oh my.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well then!  Allow me to leave you with something to help things along.

The audiobook that tells the fictional tale of how the Gorillaz came to be: Rise of the Ogre.




Oh, and something to keep in mind.

Noodle be a growin' girl.

This promotional video from Jaguar featuring Noodle lets you see how she is in 2016.
https://youtu.be/bSqPj3gdBBw?t=75

Uhm yeah.  She's gonna be turning heads, and for more reasons than one or even two.  At least with that kind of vivacity and ability to kick ass and take names (she was originally the product of a super-soldier project), she'll fit in just fine if placed among the Hong Kong Cavaliers.

[Bob Schroeck]

And no one in the Cavaliers is going to blink at a name like "Noodle". I like it.

Meanwhile, what happens when the guys behind Gorillaz decide to investigate strange rumors coming out of NJ? A story idea, tht's what. <grin>

[robkelk]

And once they do show up, somebody will make the obvious joke about this having been a movie - "Gorillaz in the Mix(tape)".

[Bob Schroeck]

<rimshot>

And there we have the title of their EP from the Sessions.

[robkelk]

While looking for something else, I found this piece of official art. My immediate reaction was "Okay, what's Rei doing that's so awesome?"

Then I remembered that, at least in Sailor Moon R, Rei sings as well as Sumire Kanzaki does.

So... Rei has to do a live show (in order for the others to be her audience) for a Douglass Garden Session, with Hokago Tea Time acting as session musicians for her.

[Black Aeronaut]

Well, that really comes as no surprise because the anime version of Rei wanted to be a singer and an actress.

[robkelk]

One OnNaGumi EP cover down, three to go... if only there was suitable art of them anywhere.


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As I said on the wiki, "It took more work to convince Sachi to record an EP than it did even to convince Nodoka to record a disc... and she still ended up going last."

EDIT: And I did some tinkering with the wiki page for the Douglass Gardens Sessions, including slipping the HTT^2 album onto the list. All dates are tentative depending on when certain events happen in Bob's story - what I have on that page are guesses.

[robkelk]

I wouldn't dream of suggesting this crop from official artwork as a Bonus Session disc cover... because I was awake when I thought of it.


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Larger, uncropped version here