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lolita media library: Kawaii Classic compilation albums

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Overview

These are a pair of classical and easy listening albums released by Columbia Records on April 24, 2013. The CUTE album is entirely music from Disney and Studio Ghibli movies, and GOTHIC is a compilation of famous classical songs. Most are instrumental, though there are a few with choral vocals.

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The jacket art features photo shoots with Misako Aoki (for the CUTE album) and Midori Fukasawa (for the GOTHIC album) in clothes from Baby the Stars Shine Bright and Alice and the Pirates. Misako is wearing the Sweet Poodle's Wonder Pocket print and Midori is wearing Alice and the Pirates' Cock Robin ~Mother Goose~ print.

Media coverage

Online media outlets BARKS and Kawaii Girl Japan released a number of videos related to the CD release. All the links below go to Youtube, with English subtitles (all links open in new tab/window).

A moment from one of the above videos that made me laugh.

Playlists for you!

Since these albums were originally released in 2013 and now out of print and might be hard to find, I made YouTube playlists inspired by them (of other people's renditions of these songs) if you feel like listening to something like this CD! Both links open in a new window. I tried to find versions that used the same instruments as the versions on the actual albums when possible. Throw them on for your next tea party!

Thoughts

These are kind of a mixed bag for me, though a nice idea, and an interesting way to learn about what music Japanese people would think fits kawaii/gothic aesthetics. It kind of seems like they were trying to hook an international audience with these and promote kawaii culture. I think there are many different flavors of cute, plus I'm not a Disney fan but I can't deny the fact that a lot of sweet lolitas and kawaii fashion lovers from all over the world are really into Disney. I DO like Studio Ghibli though and was happy the CUTE album wasn't 100% Disney. I had a lot more fun hunting for the songs on the GOTHIC album and realizing I'd heard most of these songs in other contexts before, and it was nice to learn their names. Somehow I had an easier time finding extra, similar things to include in the CUTE playlist above than the GOTHIC playlist.

Kawaii Classic -CUTE- track listing

  1. Princess Stories (Cinderella ~ Bibbity Bobbity Boo ~ Once Upon a Dream ~ Whistle While You Work ~ Under the Sea ~ Colors of the Wind ~ Beauty and the Beast)
    A violin and piano medley of songs from Disney movies (Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, Snow White and the Seven Dwarves, The Little Mermaid, Pocahontas, Beauty and the Beast).
  2. Carrying You
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Castle in the Sky
  3. A Whole New World
    From the Disney movie Aladdin
  4. When You Wish Upon a Star
    From the Disney movie Pinocchio
  5. La La Lu
    From the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp
  6. Path of the Wind
    From the Studio Ghibli movie My Neighbor Totoro
  7. The Days Long Gone
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Nausicaä of the Valley of the Wind
  8. A Town With an Ocean View
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Kiki's Delivery Service
  9. Princess Mononoke
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Princess Mononoke
  10. Lipstick Message
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Kiki's Delivery Service
  11. Always With Me
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Spirited Away
  12. Merry-Go-Round of Life
    From the Studio Ghibli movie Howl's Moving Castle
  13. Bella Notte
    From the Disney movie Lady and the Tramp
  14. Winnie-the-Pooh
    From the movie Winnie the Pooh and the Honey Tree
  15. Electrical Parade (Mickey Mouse March ~ It's a Small World ~ Baroque Hoedown)
    A medley of songs used at performances and parades at Disney theme parks.

Kawaii Classic -GOTHIC- track listing

  1. Pachelbel's Canon (Johann Pachelbel)
  2. Jupiter, the Bringer of Jollity
    From Gustav Holst's The Planets suite
  3. Salut d'Amour (Edward Elgar)
  4. Bolero (Maurice Ravel)
  5. The Girl with the Flaxen Hair (Claude Debussy)
  6. Scene from 'Swan Lake' (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
    From the ballet Swan Lake
  7. Moonlight Sonata (Ludwig van Beethoven)
  8. Waltz of the Flowers (Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky)
    From the ballet The Nutcracker
  9. Prelude / Cello Suite No.1 in G major (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  10. The Swan (Camille Saint-Saëns)
  11. Ave Maria (Johann Sebastian Bach/Charles Gounod)
  12. The Four Seasons: Spring (Antonio Vivaldi)
  13. The Farewell Waltz (Frédéric Chopin)
  14. Jesu, Joy of Man's Desiring (Johann Sebastian Bach)
  15. Air on the G String (Johann Sebastian Bach)

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