Fishmans - Long Season (Definitive Mix)

HISTORY:
Fishmans is a Japanese band formed in Minato, Tokyo that initially had their run from 1987 to 1999 but later reunited in 2005. The band consisted of Shinji Sato for vocals and guitar, Kin-ichi Motegi on drums, sampler, and backing vocals, Hakase-Sun on keyboard (from 1990 to 1995), Kensuke Ojima for guitar and backing vocals (from 1987 to 1994), and Yuzuru Kashiwabara on bass. Supporting members included Michio "Darts" Sekiguchi on guitar, Honzi on keyboards (after Hakase-Sun left), ZAK (on the production side of things), and Shinya Kogure on guitar. Long Season is Fishmans' 6th studio album and the second in their triple album run with Polydor Records released in October of 1996. It consists of one 35 minute track split into 5 parts. It initially remained relatively obscure (except for being pretty successful in the Japanese alternative scene) in the mid 90s until the mid to late 2010s when it started to gain recognition on the internet. It is now considered by many to be one of the best albums of all time. The album was also performed in its entirety by the band on their last concert which took place at 赤坂BLITZ on December 28th of 1998. This performance along with their others on that concert would later become part of their live album titled 98.12.28 男達の別れ. This 41 minute version of Long Season would become very well-received with a lot of people considering it to be better than the studio version.

MY PERSPECTIVE:
I'd like to say without a doubt that Long Season is my favorite song of all time (it's technically one track lol) with how absolutely beautiful and nostalgic it sounds to the point where it sometimes brings me to tears. I personally like the studio AND live versions the same; they both have their strengths and weaknesses. Then that gave me an idea; how about I remix the ENTIRE song by searching for and combining both of the strengths that studio AND live versions have, and seamlessly put them together to create the best mix of Long Season anyone could possibly make. So with my production skills, I did exactly that.

TLDR: This video is a definitive mix of Long Season by Fishmans that combines both the strengths of the studio and live versions of the song together into one seamless mix.

DIFFERENCES:
- 41 minute runtime
- New cover art by me
- Added more higher frequencies on the studio parts
- Lowered highs a bit on the live parts to match the fidelity of the studio version
- Added better vocal part from live version and isolated instrumental of studio version to fit with it at 5:24
- Added a seamless transition from the studio version to the guitar solo on the live version at 12:07
- Combined live guitar solo outro with Shinji's vocals/Honzi's keyboard on the studio version at 13:34
- Used the live version's rendition of part 3 instead of the studio version's (Segue at 14:16)
- Created loop of part 3 outro to fit into part 4's segue (23:37)
- Transitioned into part 4 of the studio version via its part 3 outro at 24:18
- Created 16 beat loop of Shinji's vocals and looped 4 times to transition into part 5 at 29:16
- Transitioned into part 5 of the live version at 29:58
- Seamlessly transitioned into guitar solo on studio version at 35:20 (this version will be carried out until 39:03)
- Added Shinji's background vocals on part 4 of the studio version for extra effect from 35:56 to 39:06
- Seamlessly transitioned into part 5 pre-outro from live version at 39:03
- Seamlessly transitioned into studio outro at 40:12

ORIGINAL STUDIO RELEASE:    • Long Season  
98.12.28 男達の別れ LIVE VERSION:    • Long Season (Live At Akasaka Blitz / ...  

#fishmans #longseason #dreampop #dub #progressivepop #psychedelicrock #shinjisato #981228 #akasakablitz #remix #rock #pop

May Shinji Sato and Honzi rest in peace.