空の帰り道 ～ Sky Dream

And we come to an end, with the final arrange being a ZUN original. "空の帰り道　～ Sky Dream" is the credits theme for Touhou 12, and itself is also a remix of "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind". To my knowledge, Touhou 12 was the first time he used a remix of another theme as the credits (Granted I haven't listened to the soundtrack of Touhou 1-5 excessively).

You could probably find 30 remixes of "空の帰り道　～ Sky Dream", but my argument is that since it is merely a remix of the original "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind", then any remix of that would also be a remix of "空の帰り道　～ Sky Dream". Even so, circles will remix this song, since while "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind" is more upbeat, "空の帰り道　～ Sky Dream" is a slower, calmer arrangement.

時の階段

A male vocal arrange of "感情の摩天楼　〜 Cosmic Mind" is quite the rare thing; ななふれっと (A circle I have never heard of) does this arrange very nicely. The vocal is probably the main attraction, there isn't anything outstanding about the instrumental parts.

Eden

I don't follow ALiCE'S EMOTiON, but I do approve of any vocal cover by REDALiCE, another favorite vocalist of mine (along with Nana Takahashi of course).

If I recall correctly, REDALiCE does other arranges besides Touhou; I remember hearing some other song by her that was unrelated to Touhou.

FOUR SEASONS OF LONELINESS

Just when you think you've heard it all, you find something new you like.

And like I said before, I'm not that much of a fan of vocal arranges.

This one by TatshMusicCircle I found to be very catchy, especially the lyrics.

FOUR SEASONS OF LONELINESS - TatshMusicCircle

Seven Lights

I'll be frank; I don't like rap.

At least English rap, was never a fan of that.

Japanese rap, on the other hand, is a different story. Even though I don't like rap in general, there are some exceptions. Then again, that could be said about anything: "Even though I don't like _ in general, there are some exceptions".

I don't follow C-CLAYS, but they seem to be a popular circle.

Seven Colors - C-CLAYS

Life is Over

Touhou arranges in English, or more often referred to as "Engrish", isn't very common. Or should I say it isn't very common for any good ones. Nana Takahashi is a good example of a good Engrish vocalist; basically anyone from SOUND HOLIC is good.

This is the first time I heard A1/A-One. They share the Eurobeat style that SOUND HOLIC likes to do with their Engrish songs. Overall, not a bad arrange.

Life is Over - A-One

Lotus Petal

An arrange by Sound Online in their "Hydrangea" album, with PV done by Mesopota. Mesopota PV's are always top quality, and the songs for those PV's are perfect fits.

感情の摩天楼～PandoraBox

A techno remix with a nice PV, although I have never heard of 44teru-k before. Either they are a new group, or they work independently.

感情の摩天楼～PandoraBox - 44teru-k

感情の摩天楼 ～ Cosmic Mind - UI-70

UI-70 is another well known metal arrange group. Since I prefer Demetori, I don't follow UI-70 as much, but they still produce some very good arranges.

感情の摩天楼 - Dark PHOENiX

Never listened to Dark PHOENiX before; I hear they do good orchestrated arranges. Ironic, since this arrange is synth rock. It's very catchy, to say the least.

感情の摩天楼 ～ Cosmic Mind - MPC

Mario Paint Composer arrangements are always fun to listen to. To be able to take a simple program like MPC, and synthesize music is truly a talent. Many would argue it isn't, but anything music related involves creativity, and creativity alone is a talent, no?

I found two arranges using MPC; personally I prefer the second one, but that's just me. They're both very good however.

東方ピアノExtraモード 感情の摩天楼 ～ Cosmic Mind

If you can play this I will love you forever; although it's practically impossible to do it alone unless for some reason you have more than 2 hands.

感情の摩天楼 ～ Liberated White Lotus

dBu Music (Dobu Usagi) was one of the first circles I started listening to. Although I now favor many other circles over dBu Music, that doesn't mean his arranges aren't good. I think they are great, 9/10, but in order to get 10/10, you have to do something amazing; so really, it's rare for me to give any circle a 10/10. dBu is something you listen to for an alternative approach to ZUN's music; in that way it would still work as in-game music.

感情の摩天楼 ～ Liberated White Lotus - dBu Music

感情の摩天楼 ～ Cosmic Mind - 彩音 ～xi-on～

A simple instrumental arrange by 彩音 ～xi-on～, from their 4th album, 東方志奏 4th Spell -Gust of Wind-. Nothing to special about it, although I do like how they begin the song: 0:00 - 0:40 is nice.

感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind - 彩音 ～xi-on～

Forever More

Something that IOSYS likes to do is parody anime openings/endings in their arranges. I was surprised to find another circle, TAMAONSEN, do the same thing. Although not as obvious as the ones that IOSYS create, this arrange, "Forever More", sounds a lot like Air's opening Tori no Uta.

Forever More - TAMAONSEN

Tori no Uta for comparison

RayRain

RayRain is the 7th track of こなぐすりこなぐすり 's album "東方虹華薬"; the album is also a collaboration with EastNewSound, hence the familiar art style and approach to the song.

I like this song for the violin parts. It's not often to hear Touhou + Violin; Touhou + Piano is more common.

RayRain PV - こなぐすり

 RayRain Full - こなぐすり

Cosmic Magic Shooter

Speaking of SOUND HOLIC and Nana Takahashi, here's an arrange by them.

Touhou + Eurobeat = Epic.

At least for most songs it is. If Byakuren was a character in Initial D, this would be her theme song.

Cosmic Magic Shooter - SOUND HOLIC

Lyrics: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_Cosmic_Magic_Shooter

【東方電気笛23】感情の摩天楼【聖白蓮】

東方電気笛 is a series of PV's with electric flute remixes of Touhou themes.

#23, the arrange of Cosmic Mind, is probably my favorite, if not for the song, the PV, which also happens to be the longest one he has made thus far.

Shattered Emotion

Nana Takahashi of SOUND HOLIC (Or at least where she's most familiar from) does a song in CYTOKINE's album "The Tower".

What can I say, I'm a sucker for Nana Takahash. I've enjoyed all of the songs by her that I've listened to, and this one is no exception.

 Shattered Emotion - CYTOKINE

If you've been paying attention, you'll notice a trend of more vocal arranges than non-vocal ones. Cosmic Mind is truly a song that suits the vocal approach. Even so, I still prefer the non-vocal ones, if even by just a little.

the otherside of Destiny -White Lotus

Until today, I have never listened to CYTOKINE arranges; unfortunately I don't have 30 arranges in iTunes, so I will have to do some searcher on some days.

This song doesn't start to sound like a remix of Cosmic Mind until around 1:18, but how arranges alter from the original, yet still can be considered arranges, is what is amazing about doujin works.

the otherside of Destiny -White Lotus - CYTOKINE

Emotional Rule -dark white-

Okay, this time this is really an arrange of an arrange, since last time "White Lotus..." and "White Lotus...~Piano" had different lyrics. "Emotional Rule" and "Emotional Rule -dark white- share the same lyrics. Remixing popular arranges isn't that uncommon (AKA Gossun albums by IOSYS, with over 30 remixes of "魔理沙は大変なものを盗んでいきました", more commonly known as "Marisa Stole the Precious Thing"), but I digress.

Emotional Rule -dark white- - SYNC.ART'S 

Lyrics: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_Emotional_Rule

Emotional Rule

A more upbeat one than the previous arranges. A different flavor, but the same result in the end; a good remix.

Emotional Rule - SYNC.ART'S

Lyrics: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_Emotional_Rule

White Lotus...~Piano

Another arrange by Liz Triangle from the same album "White Lotus". Or you could argue that this is an arrange of the arrange by Liz Triangle. Either way, this song is slower than the previous arrange; both have their appeals, and are great overall.

Lyrics: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_White_Lotus...~Piano

White Lotus...

Byakuren translates into "White Lotus", so song titles will often have the word Lotus in it to reflect that.

"White Lotus..." by Liz Triangle, to my knowledge, was the first remix of "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind" coupled with a PV.

White Lotus... - Liz Triangle

Lyrics: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_White_Lotus...

Fractal Cage

EastNewSound, prior to the release of their 6th album, Sacred Factor, was probably not a well known arrange group. But with this album, they released two very popular PV's. Obviously the secret to becoming a popular group is to make PV's with your music. That, or just make your music so mind-blowing like Demetori does.

Lyrics are rather long, so I'll just link them.

Fractal Cage - 片霧烈火

Fractal Cage (Off-vocal) - 片霧烈火

Lyrics: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_Fractal_Cage

Lotus

Sound.AVE had two arranges of "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind" in the same album, "Lotus～ロータス～".

However, this one is a vocal arrange. No lyrics to this one, since I can't find them on the Wikia, and I don't have the time to translate it myself; granted it isn't a hard task due to the overall slow singing.

I've always imagined Hijiri Byakuren to have a Senpai-like voice; this voice fits her very well.

Lotus - fang

the Day of collapse / 環状七号線 ～Cosmic Line

Since this is 30 remixes of "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind", the remix for today is "環状七号線 ～Cosmic Line". However, "the Day of collapse", which is a remix of Touhou 12 Stage 6 theme, "法界の火" just fits so well with it, so I'll be linking the video that plays both one after another.

I never listened to Sound.AVE prior to the album with these songs in it. Definitely a group worth listening to.

the Day of collapse / 環状七号線 ～Cosmic Line - パポス

環状七号線 ～Cosmic Line starts at 4:47.

感情の魔天楼 ～ World's End

Demetori; probably the God of Touhou metal remix. This one is also probably my favorite arrange by him:

感情の魔天楼　～ World's End - Demetori

star river

Personally, I prefer my Touhou remixes without vocals. But I do have a handful of songs that I love. This one is one of them, and if you have ever heard some old IOSYS, this is definitely not their style. But change is good, and I like many of the songs in this album.

It's a calming piece, and the piano portion is simple, yet soothing.

star river PV - IOSYS

star river Full - IOSYS

銀のつぶてと

Gin no tsubute to

添えた手紙を

Soeta tegami wo

いくつ流しかけたら

Ikutsu nagashikaketara

海に射掛けた

Umi ni ikaketa

この謎かけに

Kono nazokake ni

応えを得るのでしょう

Kotae wo eru no deshou


星の子が寄り添う

Hoshi no ko ga yorisou

儚い理想に

Hakanai risou ni

私は

Watashi wa

手繰る舵を迷わす

Taguru kaji wo mayowasu


船は空を流れる

Fune wa sora wo nagareru

輝く川を下って

Kagayaku kawa wo kudatte

導きは

Michibiki wa

ただ静かに水面を

Tada shizuka ni mina mo wo

飾る青い波と

kazaru aoi nami to

まだ薫らぬ潮の音

mada kaoranu shio no ne



細波がまた

Saza-nami ga mata

私を写し

Watashi wo utsushi

晴れぬ問い確かめた

Harenu toi tashikameta


星の子の笑顔を

hoshi no ko no egao wo

この肩に背負っても

Kono kata ni shotte mo

夢見た

Yume mita

母の胸はまだ遠く

Haha no mune wa mada tooku


船は空を流れる

Fune wa sora wo nagareru

荒ぶ早瀬を迷って

Susabu hayase wo mayotte

戸惑いは

Tomadoi wa

まだこの身を縛って

Mada kono mi wo shibatte

青い風に晒す

Aoi kaze ni sarasu


今はまだ彼方へと

Ima wa mada kanata e to

向かう流れと渦の中

Mukau nagare to uzu no naka

抱かれ

Dakare

探し

Sagashi

もがき

Mogaki

泳ぐ

Oyogu

深く

Fukaku

海はただ静かに

Umi wa tada shizuka ni

大きく大きく両腕を

Ookiku ookiku ryou-ude wo

広げて待つ

Hirogete matsu


船は空を流れる

Fune wa sora wo nagareru

銀色の問いをかざし

Gin'iro no toi wo kazashi

その先に

Sono saki ni

まだ見つけぬ答えを信じ

Mada mitsukenu kotae wo

果てを目指す

Shinji hate wo mezasu

こんなにも遠い海へ

Konna ni mo tooi umi e


星の子らの手をとって

Hoshi no ko-ra no te wo totte

Source: http://en.touhouwiki.net/wiki/Lyrics:_star_river

感情の摩天楼 ～ Cosmic Mind

In order to keep up with blog posts during exam period, this month I will post a remix of "感情の摩天楼　～ Cosmic Mind", Touhou 12 Stage 6 boss theme of Hijiri Byakuren, everyday.

This is not an April Fool's joke.

The Touhou fandom is one of the biggest, if not the biggest, producer of doujinshi work (Where second would probably be Vocaloid). Finding 30 remixes of the same song is quite an easy task for Touhou, whereas for any other fandom, finding that many would be quite the challenge.

Day 1 is just the original song, in all it's glory. It is probably my favorite song of all of ZUN's works, but a new song may take its place when Touhou 13 is released.