Livestreams: Genesect Movie Music, Go Community Day

Over the weekend, I conducted a pair of livestreams. The first is a discussion with Anne of Pikapi Podcast about the music of "Genesect and The Legend Awakened":

The second is a recap of last Saturday's Pokemon Go Community Day:

Why it Works: Makin' My Way

"Makin' My Way (Any Way That I Can)" had an interesting journey to become a Pokémon song. This Dianne Warren-penned song actually appeared in several places before winding up on the Pokémon: The First Movie soundtrack in 1999. While I don't know exactly how it got there, it does have some interesting parallels to the games:

Transcript:

"Makin' My Way (Any Way That I Can)" has a longer history than you might be aware of. It doesn't go super-far back, but the earliest version I've found is by Wynonna Judd, on the soundtrack to the 1996 Whoopi Goldberg business comedy "The Associate". The song would then show up on a Marcia Hines album in 1999, which was soon followed by the Billie Piper version you're probably familiar with. Each of these features a different arrangement, but the more electronic instrumentation in Piper's rendition is probably what made it the choice for the Pokémon soundtrack. As for the lyrical content of the song, the theme of strength overcoming adversity results in an experience that I think would have fit in very well on 2.B.A. Master. What’s most interesting, however, is the way phrases that were originally intended as metaphors become literal when applied to Pokémon. The source material is a game, in which you cross rivers and climb mountains. If you really want to stretch it, there’s also a reference to "strength"-not bad for a song that was probably written before the games were even out in Japan. In any event, feel free to check out those other versions (there's at least one more that I didn't mention), and let us know what you think. Thanks.

Poke Press Digest Podcast: Episode 24-Keldeo Movie Music/Anime Milwaukee 2019

For the first segment (1:03-4:04), I interview the winner of a Super Smash Bros. Ultimate tournament from this year’s Anime Milwaukee. We talk about the game itself, and why he chose Ganondorf for the event. If you'd like to know more about what I did at the convention, look for a link to a recap video in the episode description.

The second segment (4:13-48:40) is a discussion of the music of the 15th Pokemon movie, "Kyurem Vs. The Sword of Justice". Anne from Pikapi Podcast helps me compare "Memories" by Rola to "It's All Inside Of You" by Jess Turner. Both performers have some interesting career trajectories, so it's a fun conversation. As usual, we also talk about the opening themes and score, and read a comment or two.


Links:

Segment 1:

Anime Milwaukee 2019 Recap

*A press pass was provided for this event.

Segment 2:

Pikapi Podcast
Jess Turner Interview

Analyzing the music of the Pokemon trailers

This was a big week for Pokemon trailers, with ones for upcoming movies and upcoming games. We'll be talking about the music used in these and see what we can learn: