Hello!

Today we’ll be taking a look at a CD that just arrived through the post!

MAGIC★NIGHT ft. Hatsune Miku

Producer: Jonathan Parecki

Vocalist: Hatsune Miku

Additional Instrumentals: Carlos Eiene, Michaela Nachitgall

Album Art: Nashira

First, we’ll take a quick look at the producer behind this album!

Jonathan Parecki

Jonathan Parecki is an American musician, who primarily works on guitar covers and arrangements of popular anime and game tracks. His videos are often fun to watch too, and he can occasionally be spotted wearing a school girl uniform.

Check out some of my favorite covers below!

As well as that, he’s also uploaded guitar covers of popular Vocaloid songs in the past!

His covers have proven to be popular, however more recently he began a new project – his first original Vocaloid album! From the sounds of it, he hopes to create more if it’s successful enough.

Now we know a little more about Jonathan Parecki, let’s get back to the review!

MAGIC★NIGHT Review



As noted above, MAGIC★NIGHT is the first original Vocaloid album by Parecki. It features a total of 4 original songs plus instrumentals – so 8 tracks in all. The album is available to purchase both physically and digitally, however we’ll look into that later!

One last thing I’d like to quickly point out is that there are also a total of three music videos on Parecki’s YouTube channel to promote the songs. We’ll check those out after the review!

First Impressions!

The Case – 5/5

CD casing might seem like a minor thing to discuss, however it’s not always easy to find in-depth reviews of somewhat obscure Vocaloid indie CDs – therefore I’m wanting to go into detail, and really take a good look at the item.

Often with indie Vocaloid physical albums, the actual quality of the CD casing can be hit or miss. Producers have varied budgets to spend on physical CD production, and as such, it’s hard to know what you’ll actually receive. Whilst it’s not the fault of the producer, sometimes it can feel slightly disappointing to spend a fair amount on a CD to receive a somewhat low quality item.

Luckily, that isn’t the case here! The CD case is really solid, and amazingly, arrived all in one piece. Most CDs or DVDs I buy from abroad end up broken, however it arrived looking brand new with no bumps or scrapes. Whether that’s luck or down to the robust casing, we can’t be certain, but I think it helped at least.

The Artwork – 5/5

The beautiful cover artwork for this album was illustrated by Nashira. The artwork seen on the CD also features in the online music video for MAGIC★NIGHT, so it doubles as both PV artwork and album art. Two other illustrators worked on PVs for this album, however Nashira’s work is the one used.

I don’t think I can fault Nashira’s art anywhere. The lineart is crisp, the colours are vivid and there’s some great attention to detail. Miku’s costume is absolutely adorable too!

The Print Quality – 3.5/5

So far, this is the only minor issue. Whilst not too obvious at first glance, the print itself is slightly pixelated – however it’s only noticeable when you’re actually looking for it. I think the artwork loses some of the crispness, but again, this really isn’t a huge issue, and it still looks really great.

Let’s Take A Look Inside!

The inside of the CD is just as bright and colourful as the outer! On the left we can see an alternate illustration by Nashira, as well as credits and special thanks. The quality of the print is slightly more pixelated inside, but not to the point where I feel it’s an issue.

It was a pleasant surprise to see a full piece of artwork printed directly onto the CD! This really brings the whole thing to life, and makes it feel like a much nicer product compared to if it had been a plain CD.

Along both edges of the CD, we can see the album title and producer name.

The Music – 4/5

Music is all down to personal taste, so it’s hard to give a balanced review without showing bias. But first, let’s start with the tracklist!

1. MAGIC★NIGHT

2. Hatsukoi

3. Keiki Tabetai!!

4. Sekai wo Tsunagatteiru KIZUNA

5. MAGIC★NIGHT (Instrumental)

6. Hatsukoi (Instrumental)

7. Keiki Tabetai!! (Instrumental)

8. Sekai wo Tsunagatteiru KIZUNA (Instrumental)

As expected from Parecki’s background and masses of guitar covers/arrangements, the backing music itself shines throughout the album. It’s upbeat, catchy, and honestly sounds really good! I’d say that the title song ‘MAGIC★NIGHT’ stands out the most personally – it feels like it has the most personality and a bubbly atmosphere that’s irresistible. ‘Sekai wo Tsunagatteiru KIZUNA’ is another of the stronger songs I feel. It’s in this song that I can sense an influence from anime opening songs, and it’s just really good fun to listen to. ‘Hatsukoi’ and ‘Keiki Tabetai!!’ are in my view the weaker of the 4 songs, however they’re by no means bad. And of course, this is all opinion-based – other listeners may feel the complete opposite!

Composition and backing music aside, I think the only part that could use some future improvement is Miku’s tuning. This is Parecki’s first original Vocaloid album, so this really isn’t a negative point or anything – the tuning is fine, and actually fits the cheerful vibe of the album. However at times, I feel the vocals can be slightly weak or flat, though this is something that improves with practice using the software.

The additional instrumental tracks personally don’t add much for me, however it’s always nice to have them, and I’m sure many other fans will be pleased to see them on the tracklist!

Overall – 4.5/5

This is a great first original Vocaloid album from Parecki. There has clearly been a lot of work put into this, and it’s great to see someone take such pride in it! I really hope we see more Vocaloid originals from Parecki – but in the meantime, I fully recommend this album, especially to fans who like bubblier Vocaloid songs.

Music Videos

Earlier I noted that there were a total of three music videos created alongside this album. Whilst they don’t feature on the album itself, they’re up on Parecki’s YouTube to enjoy! Each music video features a different illustrator and animator, so they each stand out in their own way.

The animation and illustration quality across all 3 music videos is fantastic, and it’s through watching these that the effort put into this album really shines. Check them out below!

MAGIC★NIGHT – Art by Nashira, Animation by saint * ル季

Hatsukoi – Art by yui☆, Animation by .nova, Violin by Michaela Nachtigall

Sekai Wo Tsunagatteiru KIZUNA – Art by さる, Animation by シャナ

Purchase The Album

This album is available in both a physical ($15 plus shipping) and digital ($8) format. You can click on your preferred link below!

Bandcamp (Digital)



iTunes US (Digital)

Spotify (Free Streaming)

Kunaki (Credit Card, Physical Album)

Kunaki (PayPal, Physical Album)

Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed this review.

VocaEuro

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