Hawaii: Part II

Revision as of 03:23, 11 August 2022 by CatOnVenus (talk | contribs) (Added more leitmotifs)
Hawaii: Part II
Hawaiipartii-cover2.jpg
Studio Album
Released 2012
Length 45:27
Label n/a
Producer Ross Federman, Joe Hawley, Bora Karaca

Hawaii: Part II is an album by ミラクルミュージカル and was released independently on 12/12/12, at 12:12:12 A.M. Four members of Tally Hall appear on this album: Joe Hawley, Ross Federman, Rob Cantor, and Zubin Sedghi. Bora Karaca also appears. The album is categorised under "World" music on iTunes,[1] however the whole album shifts between genres, including pop, rap, and ballads.

Guest and supporting artists include Lindsey Alvarez, Ryan Brady, Joel J. Dahl, Madi Diaz, Allison Hanna, Gregory James Jenkins, Charlene Kaye, Stephanie Koenig, Andrew Kurtz, Shane Maux, Adrianne Nigg, Ashlee Renee, Stephan Wunderlich.[2]

On May 19th, 2014, an album of demos, outtakes, and instrumentals of Hawaii: Part II was digitally released through bandcamp, entitled: Hawaii: Part II: Part ii.[3]

On December 31st, 2015, ミラクルミュージカル released Hawaii Partii, an album of instrumental 8-bit style chiptunes based on Hawaii: Part II[4]

On September 18th, 2018 a kickstarter was launched in an attempt to get the album pressed to vinyl. On October 18th, exactly a month later, the campaign reached its goal, as 456 backers pledged $16,544 of it's $7000 goal.[5][6]

Conception

In an interview with local access show 'band.', Joe talks about his love for musicals, and recalls:

"When our family went to Hawaii in the summer of 1997, I heard this music in my mind and I knew I had to make it at some point"[7]

He goes on to talk about how he didn't know what to call this musical project, or for it to be about himself.

Production And Recording

On 12th December 2017, 5 years after Hawaii: Part II was released, Ross Federman made a post on his facebook page talking about the album's conception and recording process:

"Today marks the five year anniversary of an album that I worked very hard on and am frankly quite proud of. Hawaii: Part II was the vision of Joe Hawley and the product of countless other musicians, singers, arrangers, and writers. Joe Hawley, Bora Karaca and I coordinated the recording, production, and mixing of this album which was no small feat. Having more than 30 artists, many recording parts on their own and submitting individual vocal or instrumental tracks, pushed our organizational skills to their limits. It is also noteworthy that I did not see Joe or Bora face-to-face throughout any of this process. My personal goal in this was to help create a record with “a life of its own.” I’ve always felt that some of the best albums never sound quite the same to you, even after countless listens. I feel as if the album is continuing to grow while it rests idly on the shelf (or your hard drive, or somewhere in the cloud) and that every listen through is a little window into its current time. Of course it’s the listener growing and changing, but I think it takes a certain kind of record to track along with its listener in this way. I set out to fill this album with as much emotion and vitality as I could from my humble remote mixing station. In the end, I feel that we did create an album with a life of its own and one that speaks for itself. Week after week, it continues to find new homes in the ears of eager discoverers, despite a total lack of promotion. It’s certainly not normal, and it’s probably like nothing you’ve ever heard, but it is still very much alive to this day. I can’t thank the rest of the Miracle Musical team, and Joe and Bora enough for the work that went into this. Happy fifth Birthday Hawaii: Part II."

- Ross Federman, Facebook [8]

When asked, on the 2018 Reddit AMA, about the process of collaborating with so many people remotely, Bora answered: "It was magical because it was my first time doing something like that. People who would happen to be in town in Los Angeles would just swing by, pop in, and put their little piece in. This is now the way I want to do things, personally!"
- Bora Karaca[9]

Track listing

# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
1. "Introduction To The Snow" Hawley Hawley, Ashley Renee 1:41
2. "Isle Unto Thyself" Hawley Hawley 3:47
3. "Black Rainbows" Federman, Hawley Madi Diaz, Hawley 2:30
4. "White Ball" Hawley, Karaca, Sedghi Sedghi, Stephanie Koenig 3:35
5. "Murders" Hawley Hawley 3:43
6. "Space Station Level 7 (宇宙ステーションのレベル7)" Hawley, Karaca Karaca 3:23
7. "The Mind Electric" Hawley Hawley 6:13
8. "Labyrinth" Hawley, Shane Maux, Charlene Kaye Shane Maux, Charlene Kaye 2:33
9. "Time Machine" Cantor, Hawley Cantor, Hawley 4:12
10. "Stranded Lullaby" Hawley, Allison Hanna Hawley 3:43
11. "Dream Sweet In Sea Major" Hawley, Karaca, Allison Hanna Hawley 7:00

Bonus Track listing

# Title Writers Lead Singers Duration
0. "Variations On A Cloud" Cantor, Hawley Cantor, Hawley 3:10

Leitmotifs

In accordance with the album's presentation as a pseudo-musical, the album contains multiple instances of lyrics and melodies being repeated and reused in different songs.

Leitmotifs
Song Name Samples used
Introduction To The Snow The entire song, save for the instrumental intro, is repeated at the beginning of 'Dream Sweet in Sea Major' though most of the lyrics are changed.
Isle Unto Thyself The melody of the bridges is the same as used in the post-chorus of 'Variations on a Cloud'.
Black Rainbows The line "And lo the hues arrange to show it's perfectly clear" reappears in 'Dream Sweet in Sea Major', though the melody is different.
White Ball None.
Murders The melody of the bridge also appears in the third verse of 'Variations on a Cloud' with altered lyrics.
宇宙ステーションのレベル7 The bridge shares it's melody and most of it's lyrics with the first bridge of 'Dream Sweet in Sea Major', though the final line, "Lance-toi et tu vivras toujours ce soir" translates to "You'll live forever tonight", the final line of 'Introduction to the Snow'.
The Mind Electric There's a sample of the piano line in 'Murders', and part of the melody to 'Labyrinth' during the "See how the serfs work the ground" section.
Labyrinth Parts of the instrumental are largely based off of a somewhat hard to hear melody in The Mind Electric.
Time Machine None.
Stranded Lullaby None.
Dream Sweet In Sea Major The songs opening is near identical to Introduction to the Snow, though the song ditches the piano introduction and instead begins at the start of the vocals; most of the lyrics are also changed. The pizzicato line that plays (with some variation) through the songs second movement is the same melody as the refrain in 'Variations on a Cloud' (though sped up and maybe with a different time signature?). The first bridge shares it's melody and half of it's lyrics with '宇宙ステーションのレベル7'. The line "And lo the hues arrange to show it's perfectly clear" is repeated from 'Black Rainbows'. The humming heard throughout the song is a pitched down version of the humming from "Stranded Lullaby" The first verse of the final movement carries the same melody as the piano that began the album. Finally, the melody from "The Mind Electric Demo 4" is shared with the line "We never meant to part" at the end of the song.
Variations On A Cloud The melody of the third verse is the same as the bridge in 'Murders', The post chorus has the same melody as the bridge from 'Isle Unto Thyself' and the refrain is a slower version of the melody used for the pizzicato line in 'Dream Sweet in Sea Major'. The final section of the song also shares the melody and lyrics (with slight variations) of Ruler Of Everything.

Trivia

  • Part of Joe's inspiration for Hawaii: Part II was a book titled "The Secrets and Mysteries of Hawaii: A Call to the Soul" by one William Chiles, released in 1995. He found it in a bookstore around 2008, when friend Ricky Lax released his first book Lawyer Boy. Joe saw a diagram of a stellated octahedron and felt it had a connection to a Hawaiian-esque melody he had in his head since 1997.[10]

Liner Notes

Produced by Ross Federman, Joe Hawley, and Bora Karaca
Mixed by Ross Federman
Engineered by Bora Karaca at the LABORATORY in Beverly Hills, CA
Mastered by Roman Vail at JLM, Brooklyn, NY
"Candle On The Water" mastered by Bora Karaca
"White Ball", "Stranded Lullaby", & "Dream Sweet in Sea Major" string arrangements composed by Joe Hawley and Joachim Horsley
Conductor: Joachim Horsley
Drum Programming: Ross Federman and Joe Hawley
Piano/Keys: Joe Hawley
Whistling: Bora Karaca
Cover Artwork: Dan Durda, Joe Hawley, Susan Holloway, and Bora Karaca
"Variations on a Cloud" artwork: Ross Federman and Joe Hawley
"Candle On The Water" artwork: Joe Hawley and Bora Karaca
Art Direction and Design: Joe Hawley
Special Thanks To You
[2]

External Links

https://www.hawaiipartii.com

References