Touhou-style Album Thread: New album by Burnyuho and more!

[Popcioslav]

https://youtu.be/B0gMFra_F6Q?si=e3dYYxhbU7seMEVc
Sho's releasing new Touhou-style album!
So far, Stages 1-3 have been released

One of the comments has following theme translations:

01 A Rainbow Falling on Gensokyo (Title Screen)
02 The Shining Lunar Jewel, The Entrance at Evening (Stage 1 theme)
03 Rainbow Amuse (Chimata's theme)
04 An Unending Perfectly Circular Waltz (Stage 2 theme)
05 Red Light Legacy (Stage 2 Boss' theme)
06 Rainbow Illusional Ray (Stage 3 theme)
07 Mesmerizing Flapper Girl (Stage 3 Boss' theme)

As for my thoughts...

I have no clue who the other bosses are other than stage 1 obviously being Chimata in similar vain to Yuyuko in TD, stage 2 being another moon rabbit and stage 3 either being a T-Posing woman from Outside World or another satori? Also she has noticable Theme of Eastern Stories appearing like twice and SHO didn't need to draw her this curvy lol

Obviously with rainbow themeing and Chimata present, this seems like mostly a nod to UM and I like how the acronym is GoLD. Stage 1 theme feels like WBaWC stage 1 but in different key. Stage 2 waltz segment reminds me of Wanwan's "Surpass the Gate of the Silver Key" from Riverbed Soul Saver for obvious reasons, but it's still solid

[Popcioslav]

https://youtu.be/B0gMFra_F6Q?si=e3dYYxhbU7seMEVc
Sho's releasing new Touhou-style album!
So far, Stages 1-3 have been released

https://youtu.be/wEsW3_XABo8?si=a79J4D7nTv_BIECh
And it's fully out!

They also did release a paid hifuu album I see

[Impakt]

Making another post just to recommend @Myaga0514 again, since they've finished both Touhou-styled album stylized after WBaWC sequel game: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOSvCoiSVzcQept3EyKT2lQIe7QRaRIZI

Catching up on a lot of these. Haven't posted in the thread but have been lurking a lot. I'm creating a youtube playlist that I'll share with many of the albums in the thread and more. Wanted to follow up with some of my thoughts:

• Beastly World of Drifting Desires was excellent. I though the st4 boss theme was excellent and driving but the whole album captured the WBaWC mood with a unique theme and instrumentation. I particularly enjoyed how the St6 theme crescendo'd into the final boss theme. Very reminiscent of DDC for the shinmyoumaru fight.
  
• Empyreal Garden of Amusements was good. I need to give it another listen to but it sounded like something special. I remember liking the last 3 stage themes a lot. I Lol'd at the ex stage "yooooooo!!" audio clip that finds its way into a bunch of touhou songs (think Watatsumi's Wadaiko Deluge from Sapphire Panlogism)
• After a 3rd listen on the treadmill I think Memory of Dreams Pillow might be a masterpiece. The Ex-stage theme "dense forest" in particular is great. I have not fully sat down and listened to Eternal Childhood Dream which I ripped off youtube
• orange, who also goes by white blugt or orange blugt (and who i think is the mastermind behind memory of dreams pillow) also released a christmas themed mini-album for free on bandcamp which I recommend

All in all I hope my fellow touhou doujin album appreciators are doing well. I don't really know of any western language corners of the internet that are interested of these and I've even tried /jp/.

[Popcioslav]

Another album by FanTBS/FanTouhouMusic with guest tracks from Orange, Summer and others will be released soon-ish:
https://youtu.be/uwEPPuV6j_U?si=WUjs2p_uBbhmeW-x

All in all I hope my fellow touhou doujin album appreciators are doing well. I don't really know of any western language corners of the internet that are interested of these and I've even tried /jp/.

Great to hear from you and yeah, I think people on /jp/ probably care about posting characters rather than focusing on non-ZUN original Touhou-style music, if you do find something interesting and related to the subject there, then feel free to repost it here. I know there are discord servers and aforementioned Touhou-style album spreadsheet which I've seen, but never had access to and based on my opinions and interactions with some of the western fans and composers, I doubt I ever will 

On the note of finds, I do have plenty, however it takes me ages to take a break from my job to specifically post it in a neat and a competent looking format. I've started adding personal ratings on OP, because me forcing my terrible opinions on other people unironically motivates me to update the thread with the download links and info

Alongside that, in the middle of OP there's a list of things I do have on my drives, but I've yet to link, if anything there catches your interest and you'd like to have it ASAP. then let me know! It is a shame a lot of these aren't on Youtube though, so if you want to make a YT playlist, you'd need to upload them yourself as unlisted or something.

Also, another based Touhou music fan listening to it on a treadmill! I also recommend taking walks in the mountains (if you have any available nearby, but exploring old villages or forests is great too) while listening to some of your favorites, you won't realize just how much you've explored and walked while listening to something like that, as long as you can enjoy it.

EDIT: As someone who has recently with Touhou 19's discovered their love for erhu, I am really considering getting this album: https://booth.pm/en/items/5241096
https://youtu.be/FqOMuogi2aM?si=WtekA7Cn_QMjOEAH
If only because it does mimic stage formula, it's steampunk themed and has a lot of erhu in it.
EDIT2: Okay it's gone from the booth.
EDIT3: Okay, I have it and also a whole lot of other stuff. Will update the thread slowly over time.

[Popcioslav]

https://youtu.be/O1oZ2Bj9oV8?si=hHlE0c08ipDL0Pn9
https://orangeblugt.bandcamp.com/album/twilight-zone-above-the-clouds-pre-release-ost
new album by Orange that will be turned into a game

[Popcioslav]

So after a long break, I want to wish everyone very late Happy Christmas, Happy New Year of 2024 and finally post this long message - I’ve updated the thread with over 70 new albums and provided necessary links! Since there already are a bunch of Google docs/sheets, Discord servers and Youtube playlists related to Touhou-style fanmade music. It’s now sorted by the order of things from albums I love the most to least favourite ones I’m still willing to recommend!

Patch notes for the OP:

• Added everything that has been mentioned in the thread that I’m willing to recommend.
• Added “Seven Period Mystical” by hybC
• Added 2 albums by Studio Nenem: “東方天流宮 ～ Heavenly Gathering of Clouds.” and “東方奇界泉　～ Adventures in Inferno."
• Added 3 albums by DreamerBard circle:  “衰盛橘果譚 ～ Citrus Resuscitation.”, “智慧人狂想曲 ～ The Victors' Space Odyssey and “歪曲列島 ～ History of
• Distortion.”
• Added 2/3 albums by Yurihaka: “柊野文庫　～ Crypto-porticus in Memory” and “東方久交承　 ～ Rainbow Ashes, Smoke and ……” (including bonus track from mini album)
• Added 2 albums by MiragEden/Eban: “閑雅祭囃子　～ Historical Mirage of Japan.” and “深月都詩 ～ Abyssal Abandoned Metropolis.”
• Added “Treasure Castle Labyrinth” by Pesot
• Added “Shenhai Festival” by SKJD-X
• Added 2 albums by Jani
• Added 2 albums by Kale Hokkaido
• Added 2 albums by Pouty Keiki
• Added 4 albums by Orange
• Added “Bright Location Unlike Externals” by Ido & Wanwan
• Added 2 albums by Paradise of Boundaries
• Added “Dumpsite of Suicidal Intention” by 悠久ホロウ
• Added 3 albums by Yorin
• Added 2 albums by FanTBS
• Added “Sudden Gold Rush” by むし
• Added 3 albums by Komainu
• Added 2/3 albums by Useless
• Added “Traces of Utopian Civilisation” by Akakyu
• Added "Legend of Oblivion” by 隠居者の倉庫
• Added “Dreamy Galaxy Express” by Lapisp
• And added others I can’t recall now.

Disclaimer in regards to Download Links.
First of all, I don’t host anything that is illegal and I am always in favor of supporting the original creators, all the cheeky download links I’ve linked to are easy to find with just a google search, if they will be taken down without a reupload, I won’t host the files myself. Secondly, I did check all the links in case of viruses or other harmless stuff, so far everything is fine. In case of something that isn’t digitally available elsewhere, has been taken down and/or is exclusive to Japan, I think it’s a fair game to host these albums up until I get notified they are finally available normally. I am also hosting some reuploads and rips if you want to download the individual songs, seeing as a lot of these are only available as one big video upload, I just want to save everyone else’s time in this case. If you can, do support the artists, but I understand not everyone is in the comfortable financial situation, especially lately. And finally, feel free to DM or send any message in regards to those, if they break the rules or if you want to remove them, etc. As long as it’s not for hypocritical reasons, I’ll consider it.

Ratings.
I wanted to try something subjective and more personal to distinguish this thread from all the sheets and servers people made since to share these. Like I’ve explained in the last part of the OP, not everything I’ve encountered will be shown and recommended, since I honestly see no point in sharing albums I’d rate for D or below, outside of archivization purposes. I’m also incredibly biassed, just count how many times I’ve mentioned the use of erhu ( ). And just because I gave something low rating doesn't mean I have anything against the creator, in fact, with lots of these I still have respect for the artists. Lots and lots of these are subject to change and are never final. Sometimes just having bad presentation can take it down a point or two for me and sometimes just know the lore of the album might help me appreciate it more paired with fitting music, speaking of appreciating lore-

Translations.
I’ve tried using as little of external translations as possible, unless they are confirmed/approved by the album's creators themselves or translated by Gilde, because to be quite honest, I’m just used to Gilde’s translation and I’d rather not try messing around with Google Translate for that. On that note, if you're reading this then I hope I didn’t overload you with work (sweat), consider this a challenge, but also both take your time and it’s up to you what you want to translate from the first posts if anything.

Enjoy!

[MizuToru]

Here are some albums that you missed

Fangame albums from 吞了魔炮后就吃不下了吧-hpf:

东方妖云录 ～ Returning Monsters

https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=963879885

东方血霞穹 ～ Another Sky and Lost Things

https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=965927241

东方果丰谷 ～ Land of Fruits

https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=967841662

Fangame albums from 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团:

東方山海傳 ~ the Potential Crisis

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Y34y1N7iy

东方革金机 ~ The Golden Age Will Return Again

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1Qx421f7ie

Hifuu album from 文水海洋俱乐部 (the group that made Shenhai Festival):
基因鏈探究～Explore the magic of genes

https://music.163.com/#/album?id=138964373

[Impakt]

Thanks so much Popcioslav for the write up and updates. A lot to work through! I wanted to share one on youtube that actually just posted today. Composer is Chama who made Blue Moon Rhapsody which is still probably my favorite fan touhou album.


DL Link: Ring World Magical Country

[Popcioslav]

Huge thanks to both of you, working on another update
On that note, Burnyuho's Sweet Smells and Foolish Evils will release soon it seems!
https://youtu.be/IlGTQFoNSMc
I already love this year.

Here are some albums that you missed

Thank you, especially for Golden Age, I never thought I'll get so addicted to Touhou-style mixed with pirate songs.
The fact both of those videos have less views on bilibili than something like CoLB is kinda' sad, but understandable.

Thanks so much Popcioslav for the write up and updates. A lot to work through! I wanted to share one on youtube that actually just posted today. Composer is Chama who made Blue Moon Rhapsody which is still probably my favorite fan touhou album.


DL Link: Ring World Magical Country

Thank you, I also regard BMR really, really high and I'm glad to hear that the composer made another banger album that even though tries new things, it still feels like something that would fit in Touhou universe 

[MizuToru]

Seems like 吞了魔炮后就吃不下了吧-hpf is currently making their fourth fangame album. They've already got everything that would be included in a 3 stage demo done.

东方高空海 ～ Resurgent Creations

Netease music: https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=995165214

The mood seems to be darker this time (at least, compared to Land of Fruits). I'm personally a huge fan of the stage 3 boss theme.

Anyways, might as well also list out the recent albums that don't seem to have been mentioned yet.

東​方​星​記​盤 ~ Artificial Star in Forgotten Orbit

Youtube playlist: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLkj50aZAYspbXpNS1Li09lfxYr9H5G0_2
Bandcamp: https://lunar13.bandcamp.com/album/artificial-star-in-forgotten-orbit

Fangame album by Lunar. Features an accompanying booklet containing the characters and story.

東方幻獣誌 ~ Compendium of Legendary Beast

Youtube: https://youtu.be/Cq2dLw2Gplw
Bandcamp: https://benjitunez.bandcamp.com/album/compendium-of-legendary-beast

Fangame album by Beji Tunez. Released as a video that's a mockup of the game.

東方呪闇郷 ~ Ancient Hidden Prayer

Youtube: https://youtu.be/6Fgd-0xO9VE

Fangame album by 祈仙沙月, only demo so far. Seems to be music-only; does not include story or characters.

Gensokyo Light Festival

Youtube: https://youtu.be/IYcHsFuNJoY

Fangame album by Ivan Lychkov, only demo so far. Seems to be music-only; does not include story or characters.

空之猶予詩 ~ Songs for All Weak Adolescence

XFD: https://youtu.be/zM77dDd5_XY
Booth: https://ikt7s.booth.pm/items/5566108

Hifuu album by 快晴. Has both originals and arranges

ゲーム概念東方風合同

XFD: https://youtu.be/Ygox7ohBqjg
Booth: https://ahohikan.booth.pm/items/5582112

Collab album hosted by アズレシアン. Seems like the theme here is to make Touhou-style compositions based on other games.

[Popcioslav]

Will update the thread with almost everything you've linked, thank you.
However, I will do so with full version of SSaFE which is coming out in less than two hours https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0ALR-JSLOhA
I'll see ya there

[Gilde]

SSaFE latter half summary

Stage 4 - The Bustle of Confectburg ~ Nutcracker (Kingdom of Sweets - City streets)
"A welcoming fanfare echoes wide, with the candied conductor standing out in front. Is their marching song reality, or fantasy?"

Boss: The Wicked Nutcracker, Pirlie (Pirlipat Drosselmeyer). The titular "ugly" Nutcracker of Tchaikovsky's ballet, now a human-hating doll youkai who's working alongside Moe. Upon meeting the Stage 6 boss, the S6 boss provided the doll duo with a means of bringing destruction to humans without physically harming them: the addictive scent of her hallucinogenic flowers.

Stage 5 - The Puppet Queen ~ Claramary (Kingdom of Sweets - Queen's castle)
"The weakest, unluckiest humans are the first ones to be devoured. The world's always spun that way."

Boss: The Puppet Queen, Mariko Kurayoshi Claramary. A young, downtrodden Human Villager who ran afoul of the youkai trio upon running away from home, and who they promptly set up as their figurehead "queen". She's fully aware that the kingdom is fake and that the youkai are mocking her, but she prefers it to her old life and refuses to budge... so Marisa heads out to beat up the "royal advisor".

Stage 6 - Who Determined That Flower to be Evil? ~ Sweet Smells and Foolish Evils. (Crimson Flower Garden)
"WHO'S THE REAL FOOL?"

Boss: Red and Sweet Flower of Evil, Keshika Koukaen. An opium flower youkai (though the word "opium" is never mentioned out loud) who delights in bewitching both humans and youkai alike. 100% malicious, 100% remorseless, and (nearly?) 100% unfitting for the Gensokyo that we're used to.
(She also has no backstory relating to the Opium War whatsoever. :V But it's certainly fitting for an opium youkai to represent the grim underside of Team "Shanghai" Alice's world, right?)

Marisa handily defeats her and banishes the hallucinatory incident... but the ending and Staff Roll leave an awful aftertaste. Mariko goes back to her miserable village life with nothing to show for it but withdrawal symptoms, spending all her time trying to locate Keshika, Moe and Pirlie again in vain. The end.

--> ...

--> "Like hell we'd let a story like this be 'fantasy'!"

Extra Stage - The Second "One-Person Species" ~ Dream Definition (Gensokyo skies, southwestern region)
Midboss: Ex-Soldiers of the Kingdom of Sweets, Moe Suzuki & Pirlipat Drosselmeyer

The music snaps back to regular Touhou style!

Boss: Definition of All Things in Nature, Hanezu Kinarido. One of Gensokyo's youkai sages, and a "one-person species" youkai like Yukari (hence her given name meaning "vermillion flower", and her surname deriving from the late Japanologist Donald Keene / Kiinu Donarudo). Her job is to manage Gensokyo's metaphysical definitions... but she slept on the job long enough for someone as nasty as Keshika to come out of the woodwork.

She actually debuted in Unrecognized Error in Fantasy, a mini-album that Burnyuho released some time after Uncreatable Idea. The album featured a handful of OCs with subtly un-Gensokyo-like traits, which I suppose is now retroactive foreshadowing.
Now that she's gotten a wake-up call, Hanezu promptly revised the youkai trio's definitions. Moe and Pirlipat have renounced their ties to Keshika and resolved to scare humans in the normal Gensokyo way, and Keshika has likewise turned over a new leaf offscreen as "a youkai that's useful to Gensokyo".

Hanezu's penultimate spell is "The Definition of a Youkai in Gensokyo": an impassable wall of bullets with a single, narrow path punched through it. The purpose of a youkai is to be a threat that humans can overcome-- and in a beautiful, elegant fashion, at that. The Outside World's brand of evil has no place here.
Marisa asks Hanezu to relieve Mariko's symptoms while she's at it, which she agrees to do. (If not out of the goodness of her heart, then at least because "a human villager actively seeking out youkai rather than fearing them" goes against Gensokyo's policies...? :V)

Then there's another author message saying “this story is 100% fictional, does not condone criminality or malice IRL… and takes place in a fake Gensokyo dreamed up by an outside-world human, so don’t worry.” ;w; LOL thank u burnyuho

BGM listing
8. Coronet March ~ Avec creme de ganache
9. Langue-de-chat Quartet for the Nutcracker Doll
10. Dragées Dance on a Candy-Crafted Throne
11. Claramary, the Queen of Sweets
12. Fantasy Elimination Half-Life
13. Fantasy Withdrawal Syndrome ~ Sweet Smells and Foolish Evils.
14. Cold Meleagris
15. Bad Flowers Drive Out the Good
16. Apparitions’ Restoration ~ How done it!
17. Dream Definition

*track 8: the subtitle is in regular Japanese, but given the French in track 9 and 10 I figured it was appropriate lol
*track 16: Mouryou Fukko in Japanese, mirroring PCB's Youyou Bakko. I tried to make it sound like what the wiki currently has for Youyou Bakko, though it feels like the translation consensus for that one changes every couple of years. :V

[Popcioslav]

Thank you very much Gilde.

I do remember you've mentioned that at least with demo tracks SSaFE were supposed to be an exercise for Burnyuho trying different things like stage 2 theme being a mix of Konga and Touhou-style, do you perhaps know or have read anywhere about post stage 3 OST inspirations? Also I've figured I recognize Hanezu from somewhere, thanks for confirming!


Anyways, the references/inspirations I've spotted myself (which you probably already did yourself):
- Stage 5 theme "Dragées Dance on a Candy-Crafted Throne" recycles leitimotif from "The Nutcracker Suite, Op. 71a: No. 2a, March of the Toy Soldiers" which is of course appropriate. I also think Marika's/Clara's theme is a reference but I can't pinpoint it.
- Like you've mentioned some time ago the score in first Lap references Opium War, I'm still trying to figure out the rest of the numbers, but I'm starting to think they're related to Cannabis because Hanezu explodes into leaves of such.
- Like you've mentioned, Extra Stage themes references PCB Phantasm Stage themes'. "Dream Definition" being a theme for a fan sage even utilizes the famous piano segment from "Necrofantasia" on more than one occasion, and I imagine "how done it!" is an answer to "who done it?" in a way
- Not as much as a references as just a side note, Keshika had a different sprite with different pose, which you can see on the previous jewel case of the album, I imagine it went unused because it did actually show the opium flowers. Wish it was utilized because I that's actually the most interesting aspect of the project, but I understand why it went a rework

;w; LOL thank u burnyuho

Basically, yeah.

[Gilde]

I do remember you've mentioned that at least with demo tracks SSaFE were supposed to be an exercise for Burnyuho trying different things like stage 2 theme being a mix of Konga and Touhou-style, do you perhaps know or have read anywhere about post stage 3 OST inspirations?

EDIT: Now that the individual music-room videos are up, here's the full list!

S1: Touhou + walking pace ("but still mostly touhou")
B1: Touhou + slap bass
S2: Touhou + conga ("although the acoustic guitar might've overshadowed the conga a little")
B2: Touhou + 8-bit
S3: Touhou + drum march ("although the trombone might've overshadowed the drums a little")
B3: Touhou + big band ("although the trombone might've..." etc.)
S4: Touhou + wind ensemble
B4: Touhou + woodwind ensemble
S5: Touhou + classical music excerpts
B5: Touhou + pop + wind instruments, including a medley of instruments from Stage 1~5. The trombone on the right is Moe, and the sax on the left is Pirlie. (Burnyuho also thought about including vocal samples at one point, but scrapped it.)
S6: Touhou + drum loops
B6: Touhou + dubstep (plus "theme for a S6 boss who's Actually Evil (TM) in the way that canon S6 bosses aren't")

And then the EX songs are intentionally "stereotypical Touhou". Ta-da

- Like you've mentioned some time ago the score in first Lap references Opium War, I'm still trying to figure out the rest of the numbers, but I'm starting to think they're related to Cannabis because Hanezu explodes into leaves of such.

The EX score numbers are the birth and death dates of Donald Keene! The graze number is the year 2011, when he immigrated to Japan following the Tohoku earthquake.

[Popcioslav]

Big thanks for the additional info Gilde.
I've started updating the OP, I'll list all the changes in this post once I'm done.

Just in case I won't make it in time, yeah, presumed final hifuu album releases today alongside other Touhou-Style albums, one even by Burnyuho already featuring Akyuu and Rika

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k-RpLQQuY2A

Which I will buy for sure.

And if that wasn't enough... how about at least four more?
https://booth.pm/en/items/5660012 3rd album organized by Eban
https://booth.pm/en/items/5700639 Yorin's 4th album
https://booth.pm/en/items/5683084 another Alice Magic album
https://booth.pm/en/items/5671257 second Myaga album in this style

[MizuToru]

fyi, some of the images in the OP are broken because they're being hosted on discord.

[Goomba98]

I've recently found this Hifuu-style album known as Pursue the Truth. Could that be covered here?

[Popcioslav]

fyi, some of the images in the OP are broken because they're being hosted on discord.

Yup, that's being fixed right now alongside links, only third part of OP should still have broken images
Please wait patiently, bois are working...

I've recently found this Hifuu-style album known as Pursue the Truth. Could that be covered here?

Already linked to it here:

https://booth.pm/en/items/5671257 second Myaga album in this style

I'll cover it in OP once I'll have the time to listen to it 

EDIT: There's also these
https://booth.pm/en/items/5707328
https://booth.pm/en/items/5702337
https://booth.pm/en/items/5705757
Did I miss anything from recent releases?

[Suspicious person]

Probably old news here, but Treasure Castle Labyrinth has a new version with remastered tracks + a whole game for it

(Can't really put links rn cuz on phone)

[MizuToru]

The chinese circle 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团, responsible for The Potential Crisis and The Golden Age Will Return Again, has released their third fangame album.

东方华讨声章 ~ Stability of Broken heart

https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1eb421i7Br

Three high-quality album releases in the span of less than a year is really impressive. You can see each album getting progressively better than the last.

[Popcioslav]

FYI both full version of Alchemist of Desire by SHO dropped and so did second part of Ring World Magical Country. by Chama. I'm just really slow with updating the OP and writing my thoughts, but I'm almost finished as of right now. 

Probably old news here, but Treasure Castle Labyrinth has a new version with remastered tracks + a whole game for it

(Can't really put links rn cuz on phone)

Said info about it has been on the OP for months, but thanks for reminding me to check it out again once Labyrinth Stage drops. Cheers!

The chinese circle 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团, responsible for The Potential Crisis and The Golden Age Will Return Again, has released their third fangame album.

东方华讨声章 ~ Stability of Broken heart
Three high-quality album releases in the span of less than a year is really impressive. You can see each album getting progressively better than the last.

I definitely agree with you there! Especially since Golden Age is currently in my Top 5 so I do doubt this will beat that, but if it does, holy cow. Delaying update and patch notes till I'll listen through the new album, thanks!
Also youtube upload
https://youtu.be/EURmoyFIe7M?si=EMTePRHQ10WA_9nt
Clover, you are my lucky MVP, fixing my poor quality Golden Age mp3 folder thanks to ya

[Popcioslav]

Hey, it’s me again, I’ve fixed up the links, images, added remaining albums that I know of. I still might change/add few more but as of June:

• -Added ‘Stability of Broken heart’ by 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团 - it got its own tier
• -Added ‘The Golden Age Will Return Again’ by 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团 - S
• -Added ‘Ring World Magical Country Part 1&2’ by Chama - S
• -Added Full version of ‘Sweet Smells and Foolish Evils’ by Burnyuho - It’s S now
• -Added ‘Ancient Hidden Prayer (Demo)’ by 祈仙沙月 - S
• -Added ‘A Closed Eternal Paradise’ by Otobake - A
• -Added ‘Dreams in Parallel Phantasia’ hosted by Eban - A-
• -Added ‘Explore the magic of genes’ by 文水海洋俱乐部 - A-
• -Added ‘ゲーム概念東方風合同 (Demo)’ hosted by アズレシアン - A-
• -Raised ‘Near Death Experience’ to A-
• -Added Full version of ‘Alchemist of Desire’ by SHO - it’s B+ now
• -Raised ‘History of Distortion’ to B+
• -Added ‘Songs for All Weak Adolescence’ by Kaisei - B+
• -Added ‘the Potential Crisis’ by 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团 - B+
• -Added ‘Fractals of Infinite Cosmos’ by kirbio - B
• -Added ‘Patients of Salpetriere’ by Kaisei - B
• -Added ‘Bubbling Imaginary Treasures OST <Hana>’ by NED - B
• -Added ‘Resurgent Creations (Demo)’ by 吞了魔炮后就吃不下了吧-hpf - B-
• -Added ‘Gensokyo Light Festival (Demo)’ by Ivan Lychkov - B-
• -Added ‘Land of Fruits’ by 吞了魔炮后就吃不下了吧-hpf - C+
• -Added ‘Lunatic & Noisy Festival’ and ‘True Fruit of the Galaxy’ by Myaga - C+
• -Added ‘Artificial Star in Forgotten Orbit’ by Lunar - C

As you can tell I really, really enjoyed discovering some of the newest albums, especially the trilogy made by 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团 released in less than half of the year, especially my personal favourite “Stability of Broken heart”, which I’m working on describing professional review of to present just how much this album means to me based of my experience with culture.

In fact with the release of said album I grew confident enough to mention and point out an issue I’ve observed over some of the releases. So if this turns out to be a catastrophic take, then at the very least, I’ll be content with leaving this thread in the state of things it’s in right now. I want to begin with mentioning that not only I don’t want every album to be the same, quite the opposite, nor I want it to pander to my own bias, but I also want to start with two of my personal reasons why all of this is so important to me before I get into something way less subjective.

First and foremost, the music. I always thought Touhou-style was amazing. It’s the main reason why I’m a fan of Touhou, the fangames, etc. Initially when I joined the fandom I was saddened how most people just focused on characters, even forming specific communities around fawning over specifically Marisa for example. But the Touhou-style albums community was always this perfect place for me because it was always predominantly about music. Secondly, I always admired how all these fangames and fan albums paid respect to the original work. I don’t think ZUN is this perfect person like I’ve mentioned few times, even on this very forum, but I’d be lying if I didn’t say the dude was and still is a musical genius at the very least and he created this wonderful setting where characters from different mythologies, cultures etc. can come together and just hang out, while sometimes drunkenly battling to the death.

 I don’t have to be Japanese or to believe in Buddhism to appreciate Byakuren or her theme. And I always thought that’s great. I tend to return to ZUN’s interview where he said UFO was supposed to have Byakuren’s brother be the final boss, but he went against it. See, I don’t think having more male characters in Touhou would be a bad thing, if implemented well, like with Rinnosuke or Unzan, for purpose of reflecting historical romance (although Miko x Tojiko is a thing) or for something else entirely, I’d be alright with it and I’m usually fine with fanworks that add a guy or two, but I still would prefer that if it’s in Touhou setting, the cast should be primarily female. Not because of my own personal preference (I’m dude, but I still see myself as Polish Reimu because I’m so greedy and judgemental of others lol), but because out of respect for the original work, respect for the original author.  Touhou being mainly Japanese import and having almost as popular doujinshi side, it’s unavoidable there will be a lot of works focusing on NSFW elements. Not only is that a different culture I don’t fully understand, I also have to accept not everything will be for me. What is surprising is that with some eastern fanworks that are focused on NSFW, they still can be great. I remember chatting with someone on /jp/ how they’ve read this doujin/love story about Akyuu’s incarnations, that they’ve stayed for the writing instead of the obvious and I think that’s brilliant. However, especially with some of the modern releases, I feel like the line has to be drawn.

 From what I’ve seen, according to my sources and as well as according to my (now former) friends, a lot of beginning or struggling composers and artists alike in this fandom, get introduced to a lot of different groups (some of them you probably already have seen being mentioned here) and they get the opportunity to work on them on collabs. There’s nothing wrong with it. Some of my favourite albums are collabs (Fairyland of Mishmash, Canvas of Music-colored Winds or Book of Star Mythology started as a Touhou-style album that is a banger in more ways than one). However in said collabs, one thing that often gets lost, is individuality, resulting in something I’ve complained about several times already, going for quantity over quality, pumping out tracks and getting as many artists as possible instead of focusing on what makes each of them great. So to grab even more attention, I’ve noticed said artists resort to pandering. Either specific fetishes or claiming “We have our first ever POC in Touhou!”, even if it’s technically untrue, but I digress. Again, fine, in theory. You still post it online, in public. People have the right to criticise it and have opinions about your work, just like you have a right to express yourself through your work.

 The amount of times I’ve seen artists, either new ones, going through an art block, or just becoming pressured to include things like that, is quite saddening to me. Then going out of their way to insult or accuse fans of your previous works just because they don’t like the new direction, that’s even more saddening. Yes, like the saying goes - “sex sells”. If you go to the latest albums that have the ‘thing’ I’ve observed, you might see me and others complaining, but you will see people praising it, sometimes, often or always more, because it panders to their preferences. To reiterate the two personal reasons why I’ve got so invested in this fandom, usually these albums are some of the most bland ones I’ve ever had the displeasure to listen to and if it doesn’t look pleasing to me, I usually won’t bother giving it another go. It’s possible someone will download it specifically because it panders to their taste, yes and we’ll get to that, but debating your fans or fans of your friend, who might, or might not actually know a thing about music, very rarely brings something good.

 If music is amazing and doesn’t try to ruin someone else’s prior work, I don’t care if it includes stuff I personally don’t have good experience with - Eastern composers usually show it well with people like Chama, that just now dropped another banger of an album, although the cover of it is not for me and that’s fine! Because Chama specifically said RWMC isn’t part of the Touhou Project, it’s his own thing. I also don’t have to read through the guy’s discord or twitter (which I’ve checked and… yeah) I can just separate the artist from the craft and have mutual respect that way. But what if it’s an album set in a Touhou setting and I specifically have an issue with the music, not the designs? I still remember when I was really harsh to Burnyuho on her first album, specifically, final boss’ theme. Did she tell me I was wrong and I should GTFO? No, she gave me a like and has proven over time with improved releases, that I was just complaining for no reason and I don’t know a thing, her actions spoke louder than her words. But that’s two examples, of two my favourite artists, on the subject of what I was talking about with my two subjective points. I recently came up with the main reason why I’m writing this message and why I think artists in this community should avoid doing what I’ve mentioned.

 The regret. The same people and artists who seem to be in fact most involved with the ‘Phase’ or ‘Change’ in the coomerish style, focusing on quantity over quality or trying to include everyone and everyone’s fetishes are, even to my surprise, are usually the very same artists that most often delete their own work and projects, people who want to wipe existence of something they made previously. I don’t want to give too many examples and accuse people of something I’m not fully confident about, but Rapture of Khione, Reawakening of Youkai Mountain, early C&D work, even some of the western fangames, the list can go on. Sometimes these projects were deleted "because of internal drama", sometimes they just mysteriously disappeared and became lost media, with talk or trying to archive them becoming forbidden from the artist that made it. And if there’s something that hurts more than an artist that I’ve respected calling me names or ruining their or someone else’s work, it’s definitely trying to delete a piece of history or art and not allowing it to be discussed or shared any more. And I get it, I’ve worked with artists that didn’t like their old stuff before or even have deleted it, but at the very least, they still allowed it to be reuploaded all as long as people didn’t place ads on said videos or didn’t try to make money off their work and they didn’t insult fans of their older work. How are you going to improve as an artist if you will just start over any time you make something and you’re not satisfied with it? And to tie my point fully, would you like to be a part of a project that can just delete your entire input, just because of one person? Keep in mind, if you’re part of the team and a different person decides to do something, either from adding controversial/alienating OC, try to go after ‘the haters’, your name can get dragged down and usually, from what I’ve seen with groups with negative results like that, people try to hide it afterwards.

 Whether the projects that are being deleted are good or not, whether you were the only artist on it (but perhaps you were just influenced to include something questionable in it back then), I still think they shouldn’t be deleted, I still think they should be preserved. And you definitely shouldn’t go after people who won’t respect your wishes for just trying to preserve something. Not on the internet. Yes, you might be successful and something will become lost media forever, but forever on the internet is an oxymoron, it never actually lasts forever and you have to accept that. If you are actually hesitant to include your name under a group project or to release something because of someone else’s interests, don’t do it, no one is forcing you to include things you don’t agree with or you consider you might regret later.

 I do understand that nowadays it can be hard to be an artist, to see someone else’s work get way more interest and fans than your work gained, even though you might’ve worked more and harder on it. Or to be always compared to someone else. Or to have difficulty distancing yourself from your work and take things less personally. We’re all adults here (at least I hope so) and again, if you truly enjoy doing what you’re doing, I can be wrong and I’m just projecting, even despite the evidence and the sources of my observations. I’m leaving with this wall of text and two smaller pieces of advice/suggestions not because I want to change people to a certain way, because firstly, I know I can’t and I definitely shouldn’t be changing minds of anyone and secondly, I do think there’s beauty to all the different kinds of this subculture, not everything has to be for me, you all have a freedom to express yourself just as I do to express my opinions about your expressions, at least until I’ll get banned or something (I mean look at current war between Helldivers 2’s artists/mods and their fans)

So tl;dr if you ain’t reading through all that reasoning

To the artists:
Everyone’s cases are different. As long as you have fun with it, you don’t regret posting it on the internet and you don’t argue with people or take the bait of some other people, you should be fine and have my full respect and support, even if you won’t be my #1, but I’m just apparently a condescending guy who doesn’t even have an inch of your talent and I honestly will always envy you that. Just… be honest with yourself and others and I mean it. If you are in a bad situation where you do need money, you’d like more attention and recognition etc. you can absolutely have your art help you with that, you can make horny commissions or include risky things, just ask yourself if it’s truly worth it before you hit the restart button for the nth time. I bet there are people who will support you if you’re honest with them without resorting to pandering specifically to them. I want to support Chama or Burnyuho financially, even though I didn’t want to at first and now they don't even give me opinion. I bet there are other artists that will teach you how to achieve greater heights without having to make a project together you might regret working on in the future. You can make everything about sex or ethnicity or non-human art, but not everyone is into that, some people just want to consume some good music. Also don't make releases for your albums discord server exclusive, if you want people to follow you, they will do so without forcing them to do so.

To the past and future posters on this thread:
Thanks for still checking in on this place, like holy moly. I want to express my gratitude for doing so and also, don’t worry for not reading/checking through every single thing posted on this/these thread(s)/pages over the past 5+ years or so. No one expects you to, don’t worry if something already has been said, as long as you’ve discovered something cool out of this or helped someone else discover an album, that’s all that matters. I’d be dishonest with myself if I didn’t admit I’ve been triggered at least once here by people praising imho something I have a heavy distaste for or mentioning people with whom I only have bad experiences, but that’s my personal problem for getting to know these people in the first place and I bet they might be really nice to someone else. I also invite you to give me your opinion about said observations. My close friends who don’t know as much about Touhou seem to agree with me about it, but I don’t want to be in an echo chamber, so different thoughts and opinions are just as valuable.

[Impakt]

Hey again. Thanks for the update.

I don't post much other than to share what I've found and you haven't (yet, anyway). What prompted the above post? I guess I wasn't aware of any mass deletion of prior media/ music. As far as the drama is concerned Touhou is an extremely alternative, niche "genre" that attracts extremely alternative niche people and creators who bring with them drama, particularly in this day and age.

[Popcioslav]

EDIT: Crew behind Empyreal Garden of Amusements will be teasing their new album tommorow: https://youtu.be/FGya5xvNdXM?si=UNBVFyOIOL8U_XfO

Really happy seeing SoBH already reach 2k views on YT. Usually views don't mean much to me, but I really hope more people will start following the artists, writers and composers of said crew.

What prompted the above post?

It was long time in making, I just didn't want to deliver it, but couple of latest releases and incidents involved with them made me reconsider, of course, this thread isn't for that, so if you want the specifics, either feel free to ask me in private messages or investigate it yourself.

As far as the drama is concerned Touhou is an extremely alternative, niche "genre" that attracts extremely alternative niche people and creators who bring with them drama, particularly in this day and age.

Yeah, I've been in Len'en fandom for a while, so this isn't new stuff for me 
Toxic obsession with OCs, ships and lewd stuff.
Constant arguing and blaming or the opposite, censorship out of paranoia, not allowing for healthy discussion or criticism.
You're free to do whatever you want as long as it doesn't cause you or others any harm, but I think we're all aware of said rule.

I guess I wasn't aware of any mass deletion of prior media/ music.

I also didn't realize just how much stuff is being wiped/was removed/is canceled/is being gatekept until I dig into it because I wanted to archivize and collect as much as possible. While I do like how a lot of fans of these albums are also creators that get very much self involved, it does lately feel like it's just people congratulating themselves no matter what they do, what was their involvement and if something happens, it's swept under the rug.

[MizuToru]

Prepared but Unrated
Silent of Soul

Link to Youtube video: Teaser

A sequel to Artificial City. Can't share since I don't own it. Stage 4 and its Boss' theme sounds really good from the crossfade and the tweets though.

Have you still not listened to Silent of Soul yet?

Here's a cheeky listening link then

[Popcioslav]

Here's a cheeky listening link then

First of all, I get it Thank, thank you, so very much, I've finally found One Piece of Touhou-style.
Secondly, I was looking for an upload of this 2 years straight everywhere
How did I not think to check out netease ?
Also while I can't make an account there and I can't search for anything specific... I did find a couple of missing albums already. Will upload third part of OP with folders and downloads while I'll prepare ratings.

 - MEANWHILE 3 MONTHS LATER -

[Popcioslav]

Hey, been a while, hasn’t it?
I could’ve updated OP all the way back in June like I’ve said, which I apologize for.
Anyways, onto patch notes!

Worlds Designed with Desires by Burnyuho gets placed in B+
Fantasy recurrence organized by Mace's Secret Base gets placed in A-
Silent of Soul organized by Kiriko Kusanagi gets placed in A
Tipsy Wanderings by Useless gets placed B+
Obsolete Lesedrama by khirio gets placed in A-
The archive of native Japan by Hishimottie gets placed in A+
水底奇談/夢枕紀行 by Hishimottie gets placed in B+
Strange things happen by Hishimottie gets placed in B-
So many men, so many minds by sisyou gets put in A
Pursue the Truth by Myaga gets put in B-
Also will try to include some unfinished ones from said artist, like LSP.
Sound"E"scapes by Useless gets placed in C (mainly due to it being barely Touhou-style/original/just not my taste)
A riot of color in the garden by SHO gets put in B
Sunshiny of Frenzy got updated with 3 extra songs and got lifted to tier A-.
Reawakening of Youkai Mountani got updated with additional remixes and got lifted to tier C+.
妖祭2024 ～狂魔国和風戦闘曲集～by Chama gets placed in B
Daydream of Dozen Rose by 夢想夏月郷 gets placed in C+
Wandering and Transcending Naivete Soul by FanTouhouMusic/FanTBS gets into A tier.

None of them have my comments for ratings due to me obviously rushing to update it ASAP, will do in the future since this list/thread is one of the few things I’m still proud of. Also yes, a new Burnyuho music album came out and soon we’ll get two ones, both from teams I regard pretty highly!


So yeah, look forward to more updates if you like good Touhou-style music
Cheers!
EDIT:
Popcat releases a new album as well on 26th, will be added shortly after

[MizuToru]

Since the thread has been quiet for a while, here are some more recent albums

槐灵闲书 ~ Collision with Pagoda Tree

Bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1g2421Z7QZ
Netease music: https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=1208912513

11 song album. Shares some composers with 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团. Seems to be music-only; does not include story or characters.

东方穹瀚迹 ～ Cosmic Relics throughout Time and Space

Bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1hdWpeTEyK
Netease music: https://music.163.com/#/album?id=246313476

6-Stage Fangame Album by HP9. No characters. Has a space theme.

东方焉平兽传 ~ THE TEDIOUS TALE OF FABULOUS BEASTS

Bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1k14LerEda
Netease music: https://music.163.com/#/djradio?id=1214250954

Crossover album with a series that I'm unfamiliar with. Released as a video that's a mockup of the game. Shares some composers with 旧雨忆梦幻想乐团

東方海牌録～Haika Brand
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV1ZU16YhE41

14 song Hifuu album from the composer of Shenhai Festival.

旧日河谷序 ～ Impious Scientific Beliefs

Bilibili: https://www.bilibili.com/video/BV12oxJedELd
Netease music: https://music.163.com/#/album?id=249044705

11 track Hifuu album from a relative newcomer

浄土小江戸　～ Retrospective Koedo
[ Attachment: You are not allowed to view attachments ]
Youtube: https://youtu.be/zeZskOOrikU

Hifuu album by 五目みつめ