Battle rapper "Rone":

• a best-of video
• Non-battle raps: Stranger, Raw Life Cypher

Other rappers:

• Curren$y, Sir Michael Rocks, Curren$y and Sir Michael Rocks
• Allday
• Toys For Boys
• Tyler, The Creator

Doujin:

• "それでもグランドマザーは" (ds_8; bacon8tion {2011}) [instrumental]

Touhou:

• "孤独なウェアウルフ" (TAM; 純白の東方子守唄 {R11}) [classical]
• "春色小径　～ Colorful Path" (TAM; 純白の東方子守唄 {R11}) [classical]
• "月時計　～ ルナ.ダイアル -十六夜" (TAM; 純白の東方子守唄 {R11}) [classical]
• "幽雅に咲かせ、墨染の桜 alt. ver." (埼玉最終兵器; Rain Drop {R11}) [instrumental metal]
• "恋心ひとつ" (ハム; TOHO BOSSA NOVA 3 {R11}) [bossa nova]
• "Telepathy, Telepathy" (雨宿 どみ乃; デジウィ LEGEND {R11}) [Jpop]
• "Eternal Verities" (ayame; POP | CULTURE {C84}) [Jpop]

Vocaloid:

• "bpm (club rework)" (Miku; KTG; CueB Legacy Collection {VM21}) [club]
• "クラブ流星群 (Extend mix)" (Miku; 味噌汁P CueB Legacy Collection {VM21}) [club]
• "Just hanging around" (Gumi; ベーコンP; bacon8tion {2011}) [Jpop]
• "Just carry on my way" (Gumi; ベーコンP; bacon8tion {2011}) [Jpop]
• "いつか" (Rin; カラスヤサボウ; goodnight, wonderend {2014}) [Jpop]

The Kraftwerk box set again. (In which Autobahn is renumbered as album number 1, instead of album number 4 as it actually was. Not that the first three are worth almost anyone's time.) A band that is simultaneously prog rock, disco, hiphop and note-by-note composition that really rewards close listening. All the details are important.

I have been particuarly playing Trans Europe Express, which I've given a close listening to in conjunction with "Planet Rock" by Afrika Bambaataa and Arthur Baker, which combined the beat of "Numbers", the melody of "Trans Europe Express" and rapping to form what was pretty much the first popular record where the rapping just went over a beat. I've also been listening to people's old mixtapes from 98.7 KISS FM which they put up on YouTube - there was a phase change, where the rapping went from instrumental backing to just beats, and "Planet Rock" appears to have been it.

So yeah, I've put together a pretty good rough version of "Trans Europe Express" to a "Numbers" beat myself. The loved one (who can actually sing) will be recording vocals for it in English and German next week. Just getting her to also translate "Planet Rock" into German (the less rhyming and scansion the better for this purpose) and that will follow. I will also do "Metal on Metal", of course.

(Those KISS FM mixtapes are just amazingly good stuff, by the way. This is what Shep Pettibone did before making it even bigger as a remixer.)