Track List

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Review: The Cowboy Bebop movie was something of a mixed bag.  As a companion side-story to the original series, its biggest demerit was that you knew from the beginning that nothing significant could happen to the main characters in any appreciable way, lest the movie prove unfaithful to the timeline of the show. It’s a great work in terms of production value and execution, but the movie’s inconsequentiality meant that it could never really stand on its own as its own product. Appreciation for the movie could only be fully realized if you saw the show.

The soundtracks for the two works follow much the same path. Though it’s a great Yoko Kanno score in many ways, there is the inescapable feeling that the movie’s soundtrack lives in the shadow of its predecessor.  Given the exquisiteness the Bebop OST exhibits, though, it’s like saying that someone is just a little bit slower than Usain Bolt.

24 Hours Open

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I’d like to start with the biggest disappointment on the disc: “24 Hours Open.” I can see what they were going for here, with the irony of machine gun noises, weeping, and screaming set to serene, lighthearted background music, but their decision to open the disc with this is absolutely baffling. Its selling point is its novelty, but it is far too repetitive and quickly overstays its welcome. The screaming loses steam halfway through, as if the singers themselves (actresses?) begin to realize how silly it all is. When looked at on the whole, it’s totally inconsistent in terms of style and quality compared to the rest of the track list. I can imagine how off-putting this song must have been to people first popping in the disc, and it gives a terrible first impression.

Luckily, “24 hours Open” proves to be the black sheep of the album. The disc goes on to feature great jazz numbers, and, unlike the series’ soundtrack, carries a strong (if not always good) pop/rock slant.

Pushing the Sky

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“Pushing the Sky” is one of those rock-oriented tracks, though not one of the better ones. The energetic riffs and frantic drumming feign a drive toward a climactic ending but end up going in circles; Mai Yamane’s vocals sound like they were recorded from behind a door, and the constant presence of too-heavily distorted duo guitars and pop n’ slap bass somehow make the song sound simultaneously too busy and monotonous. I can see where the appeal lies, it just doesn’t lie anywhere near me.

The next two tracks are breaths of fresh air for the discerning jazzman. “Time to Know~Be Waltz” is a fun, light-hearted number with a tinge of Latin flair, carried by the flutes and non-lyrical singing to give an airy, open feel. The alto sax solo about a third of the way through, though, is what really steals the show, and it just doesn’t last long enough. It’s a shame that the song pulled out its big guns so early in the run, because the rest of the tune is made up mostly of some strange, if very interesting, hip-hop. In the end, “Time to Know~Be Waltz” gives me just a taste of the jazz I’ve come to expect from Bebop, and it’s the next tune, “Clutch,” that offers the real, meaty, dirty old jazz that keeps me glued to my headphones.

Clutch

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While “Time to Know” took its time ramping up on the excitement, “Clutch” burns it up right out of the gate. Casting a soprano sax instead of the predictable alto or tenor was a commendable decision, as the extra kick the tone of the soprano gives was the push that grants it a spot in my daily playlists. This song isn’t just a good selection off of a soundtrack. It’s good jazz, good music, with a style highly reminiscent of the club jazz group Soil & “Pimp” Sessions. There are strong performances all around, and it remains one of the high points of the album.

Musawe

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In accordance with the Arabic setting of parts of the movie, you get the feeling that the album is much more ethnic than what is offered in the series. This is exemplified by “Musawe,” where its sudden strangeness sneaks up on you after “Clutch.” You’d expect to grow tired of the chanting, repetitive lyrics after a while, but the novelty surprisingly didn’t fade for me, helped no doubt by the wild saxophone musings going on in the background.

What Planet is This

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The bombastic “What Planet Is This” is also worth mentioning simply due to the fact that it’s as close as this soundtrack ever comes to the original series’ “Tank!” It’s a shame that “What Planet Is This” is so repetitive (a descriptor that can be applied to most of the songs here), as the addition of even a single extra bridge section would have gone a long way.

Dijurido

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In contrast to all the energy and excitement that “What Planet Is This” offers, “Dijurido” is a quiet, sentimental song notable if only for having no real form. I’m a sucker for unusual time signatures, though, so an extensive (if repetitive) 5/8 section in the middle warrants a mention here. Oh, and it’s sung by Gabriela Robin, who may or not be Yoko Kanno.

Arguably the highlight of the album is “Gotta Knock a Little Harder,” a soulful, blues-rock number with vocals by Mai Yamane. Yamane’s dark, throaty tone is better matched by the bright piano and gospel-inspired backing vocals here than in “Pushing the Sky’s” grunge. The gospel inspiration doesn’t stop at the background either; her performance here would give Aretha Franklin a run for her money, with a delivery that exhibits power and soulfulness which eclipses everything else on the album, making it the single greatest performance on the disc.

Gotta Knock a Little Harder

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Kanno outdid herself with Cowboy Bebop’s score.  In Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door, though, it’s almost as if she purposefully thought inside the box a little bit. Granted, nearly anything would have been a bit of a disappointment after Bebop, but it’s pretty commendable that she decided to try something different instead of directly trying to one-up herself with more of the same. Whereas my review of the first Cowboy Bebop soundtrack got a “Very Good” for its questionable distribution of content, Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door gets the same for being just a cut under what I expected.

Rating: Very Good

In case you’re here to only listen to the soundclips and not read any of the text, below is the master list of all the pieces featured in this profile entry in order. It’ll save time if you don’t want to have to click through each and every track.

Master List
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Biography:
Of all the anime composers who’ve crossed our paths, none is more draped with an aura of mystery than Yoko Kanno. Despite having composed so much anime music (last count was somewhere around 32 series and movies, including OP and ED themes), not much is known about her aside from a brief glimpse here and there from what other artists and directors tell us. The way in which she conducts herself is best described as eccentric, with a sprightly personality similar to Ed’s from Cowboy Bebop and a tendency to hide her singing prowess by denying that she indeed Gabriela Robin, but there’s no denying the effects her works have had upon audiences.

Born on March 19, 1964, Yoko Kanno grew up with music. She started piano when she was very young and, growing up, won many awards and competitions on the instrument. Kanno also had an ear for composing from an early age; amongst her earliest compositions are a song she wrote for a boy she liked in middle school. Despite her interest in music and composition in general, she had aspirations to be a novelist and went to college to study Japanese literature. Setting her priorities straight, she dropped out after just one week to pursue a career in music. After taking up the keyboard, she made her professional musical debut as the keyboardist for the band TESTU100%. From there, she gained momentum and recognition for her work with the group, and began to receive offers to compose for commercials and video games.

Kanno’s first foray into the anime music scene was in arranging the ending theme for Studio Ghibli’s Porco Rosso. Her first real task as an anime composer was for Production I.G.’s Please Save My Earth in 1994, where many of her compositions were performed by Akino Arai. Though it still hadn’t established Kanno as a standalone soundtrack composer, it did leave audiences with Kanno’s memorable theme “Memory of Time,” which would get a poignant instrumental treatment in “The Eternal Spiral.” Furthermore, it was through this soundtrack that Kanno would be acquainted with fellow composer and to-be husband Hajime Mizoguchi, with whom she’d collaborate with in future works.

Please Save My Earth – The Eternal Spiral

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It wouldn’t be until the Macross Plus OVA that Kanno would work on a soundtrack by herself and where she would really enter the mainstream fan’s awareness. Macross Plus’s score saw such gems as the patriotically uplifting fanfare in “National Anthem of MACROSS” as well as the serene and introspective “MYUNG Theme,” parts of which seemed like a natural outgrowth of the music she did for Please Save My Earth and would undoubtedly influence her momentous score for Escaflowne.

Macross Plus – MYUNG Theme

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Kanno went on to score the first “episode” titled Magnetic Rose of the 1996 three-part film Memories. To match the serious, intense tone of Magnetic Rose, Kanno drew deeply from the opera canon for inspiration and arrangement, resulting in tracks such as “End” as well as her spin on Italian opera composer Giacomo Puccini’s Madame Butterfly and Tosca. But as far as 1996 goes, Magnetic Rose would be almost insignificant. At least, next to a veritable giant of an anime series which aired during the same year.

Magnetic Rose – End

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Escaflowne, released in 1996, was a landmark work for Kanno in a number of ways. First, it marked Kanno’s first joint effort with Maaya Sakamoto, a budding artist with whom she would find herself working with on many future projects. Secondly, she would team up with Hajime Mizoguchi once more. This time, however, she’d be much more involved than in Please Save My Earth. Escaflowne’s score is noted for its eclectic genres, encompassing classical, contemporary/experimental, and even Gregorian-styled chanting. Kanno would compose the bulk of it, bringing forth such memorable themes as “Dance of Curse” and the enchanting “Angel,” though Mizoguchi arguably stole the show in composing the uplifting “Gloria.” Still, the two composers’ works blended well, and Escaflowne’s score continues to be highly regarded as being among the finest original soundtracks of its time.

Escaflowne – Angel

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While working on Escaflowne, Kanno also contributed small parts for other shows around this time, including bits and pieces of X Clamp Characters File and the ED for Clamp School Detectives. She also collaborated with Production I.G. on the short film Noiseman Sound Insect in 1998. The ED in particular, is noteworthy, featuring vocals by a budding Crystal Kay Williams, who would go on to perform in more prominent anime down the line.

But 1998 offered more than just a long-forgotten I.G. film. It was a big year for Kanno, where heavy hitters like the opening themes for Record of Lodoss War: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight and Cardcaptor Sakura landed on her list of projects. A return to the Macross franchise also followed, with the sweeping “Angel Voice” for Macross Dynamite 7. And, of course, there was Sunrise’s Brain Powerd, which allowed Kanno to flex her orchestral muscles and deliver a score noted for its majesty and scope.

Brain Powerd’s subtle, complex orchestrations and creative flourishes impressed listeners. Though the show itself received mixed reviews and was not a huge success, the OST had lasting value. “Power of the Light” was one of the highlights, shocking us with Kanno’s ability to compose something so complex and intricate without formal training. The song moves at breakneck speed and is reminiscent of certain ultra-modern wind ensemble pieces, driving towards a soft, emotional ending. This is regarded as one of Kanno’s most underrated works; most blame the less-than-stellar show for casting a shadow on her excellent score.

Brain Powerd – Power of the Light

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But nothing – and we mean nothing – could compare to the juggernaut anime of 1998, which was none other than Cowboy Bebop and was arguably the greatest and most far-reaching of Kanno’s work thus far. The soundtrack for this watershed series rocketed Kanno to near super-stardom in the anime community. Never before was a composer so crucially and lovingly associated with an anime series’ success; nary a review of Bebop failed to mention the jazz-inspired soundtrack as a major factor of the show’s quality. From the opener “Tank!” to the insert songs to the ED “The Real Folk Blues,” the sheer audacity and effectiveness in the OST’s execution left many (especially Aftershok) in awe.

What was particularly notable about this soundtrack was its reach. People who had never seen the show or even heard of anime found themselves enamored of the energy and mood of the songs Kanno composed. In terms of worldwide success and universal appeal, few composers matched the feat that Kanno accomplished through Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop – Tank!

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Kanno would return to Bebop once more for its sophomore run in the feature film Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door. Though still strongly rooted in jazz, Heaven’s Door’s soundtrack leaned more toward vocal pieces and had a more rock-inspired feel. It’s generally regarded as an excellent complement to the show’s OST, which centered more around instrumental big-band arrangements.

Cowboy Bebop: Knockin’ on Heaven’s Door – Ask DNA

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Riding that wave of success, she returned to mecha by becoming yet another successful Gundam franchise composer by scoring the ∀ (Turn A) Gundam soundtrack. Of the tracks that shined, none stood out more than the “Memory of Military Boots,” a glorious theme that reminded us of why she’s often compared favorably to John Williams. On the flip side, she also delivered the poignancy and introspective feel through the “Moon” theme which imparted a wonderful sense of lightness unto the listener. As a plus, “Moon” is performed by Gabriela Robin, or Kanno herself, as we’d prefer to call it, demonstrating her range of expression. Although the soundtrack does contain some tribal-like chants (your mileage may vary), it’s the orchestral tracks that once again, show what Kanno’s capable of.

∀ Gundam – Memory of Military Boots

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All of these successes gave her more room to experiment, allowing Kanno to gladly take the plunge with Earth Girl Arjuna, where she delivers her interesting take on Indian music through a more modern lens. This was most evident in the second track, “Awakening” which included some really weird chanting with electric guitars backing it up. The sense of drama still existed, but in terms of it being conventional it most certainly wasn’t. Overall, traditionalists will be drawn in by the whimsical, outworldly tracks like “Clóe,” while some of the more chant-heavy songs fused with those Indian influences will appeal to those looking for something different. It’s more experimental than most of her works and so, the ability to tolerate this eclectic brew of chants, guitar distortions, and whimsy will lie at the core of whether you’ll enjoy the experience or not.

Earth Girl Arjuna – Clóe

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The experimentation continued in Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex where Kanno dabbled in more modern genres, most notably, techno, trance, and harder-edged rock. Kanno’s goal was to bring a human charm to Ghost in the Shell’s cybernetic/robotic world and she largely succeeded. Whatever impressions one may have about the CG opening, there’s no doubt that the ethereal OP song, titled “Inner Universe” and sung by Origa, made for a solid entry that immersed the viewer in this mechanical future while other tracks like the spine-tingling “Torukia” expanded the scope of what it means to be human through its vocals, which moved from a tribal chant to a full-blown chorus.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex – Torukia

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In Wolf’s Rain, Yoko Kanno made a return to the orchestra as her medium of choice for bringing out the moments of tenderness and euphoria while also conveying the awesome scope of the journey the characters undertake through sweeping orchestral classics like “Shiro, Long Tails” and “My Little Flower.” But in keeping with her idiom, she continues to explore other musical genres and her explorations yield plenty, fusing the soundtrack with a Latin flavor while scattering about some New Age guitar music, and tribal flutes and rhythms.

Wolf’s Rain – My Little Flower

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Next up was Kawamori’s Sousei no Aquarion, a show with some of the silliest pilot combining sequences ever. Nevertheless, the soundtrack was anything but silly as it featured some hard-hitting tracks that are among Kanno’s best. Once again, the orchestral pieces formed much of the album’s base, but, while the mixture of piano, strings, and orchestra continue to shine, the choral works, which haven’t been featured as prominently in Kanno’s scores since Escaflowne, made a triumphant return, lending an air of majesty to the mecha fights that took place. Of all the orchestral pieces that appeared in the soundtrack, nothing shone quite like “First Love Final Love,” a piece that incorporated orchestra and chorus into such a glorious combination that it may very well be the best finale piece that Kanno had ever written.

Sousei no Aquarion – First Love, Final Love

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In contrast to the highly-praised orchestral portion, her stylistic exploration in Aquarion is much more mixed, with very prominent electronica and heavily distorted synth tracks. Of those, none have really stood (to us at least) as being particularly memorable and play second fiddle to the soundtrack’s orchestral backbone.

Her Darker than Black score was another instance where Kanno’s experiments in other genres met with mixed reactions. Stylistically, half of the music was improvisational jazz with a Spanish or Latin flavor. “Highheel Runway,” for example, could very well be a lively Brazilian bossa. Unfortunately the atmospheric nature of improv didn’t give the tracks any direction. While the jazzy rhythms DtB utilized are nostalgic of Cowboy Bebop, there is no clincher track with the attention-grabbing ability that “Tank!” had. However, what truly brings the album down (in a few eyes) is the rock music which made up the other half of the album. “Outside,” the most notable of these, contains an electric guitar that screams aimlessly, to the listener’s chagrin, throughout the track. All in all, the grungy sound became such a messy affair that the rock tracks are better avoided.

Darker Than Black – Highheel Runaway

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In spite of her mixed record with DtB, Kanno made a triumphant return in her soundtrack for Macross Frontier, which recaptured the commanding orchestral sound that has endeared her to many. Here she borrowed stylistically from many Western film composers (especially the intensity of Hans Zimmer and the majesty of John Williams). She even pays tribute to the former, quoting Pirates of the Caribbean (or Gladiator if you prefer) in “Tally Ho!” Nevertheless, the pieces are clearly her own as she skillfully drew on the power and versatility of an orchestra. Very few anime can boast a soundtrack with pieces like “Take Off” which recreated the epic nature of, well, a take-off. Nor have I heard another composer beside Hisaishi utilize an entire ensemble to create a playful atmosphere like that in “Test Flight Delight”. Macross Frontier truly delivered an enthralling experience all around, demonstrating Kanno’s remarkable skill and ingenuity.

Macross Frontier – TALLY HO!

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No Kanno discussion would be complete without a mention of all the pop music she’s composed either. The most iconic of her works probably are the ones performed by Maaya Sakamoto and, more recently, May’n. As we said above, Kanno’s collaboration with Sakamoto dated all the way back to 1996, with the single Yakusoku Wa Iranai for Escaflowne. Sakamoto’s gentle voice lent itself excellently to many of Kanno’s works, with the most memorable ones including “Gravity” from Wolf’s Rain and “Hemisphere” from Rahxephon. “Gravity” is especially poignant, with a sense of uncertainty brought about by Sakamoto’s expression and the repetitive piano chord drumming out the despairing monotonicity of it all. One cannot do justice to the song with words; it’s a song that achieves the rare feat of reaching directly into the listeners’ hearts through the composition and performance which convey the emotions that come from the artists’ themselves.

Wolfs Rain – Gravity

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While Sakamoto brings out the more relaxing and introspective feel of Kanno’s works, May’n shines in the pop-rock pieces. With a rather thin and reedy voice, May’n shines in faster tracks like “Nothern Cross” and “Lion,” where one can feel her passion pulsing through (and even more so during her outstanding live performances). While lacking the ability to age as well as works of Sakamoto, it does rank rather high on the enjoyment factor, if one is not bothered by the thin quality of May’n voice.

Macross Frontier – Lion

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And for a quick assessment of how her works have gone, check out page 2 where you get a breakdown by each staff member’s thoughts.

Track List

Review: Bakuman was among the shows that caught my eye this past season, an anime based on the manga of the same name by the creators of Death Note. Perhaps it was unfair of me to hoist my expectations onto the show as Death Note’s spiritual successor, but I wasn’t quite prepared for just how different the two shows would be. This naturally extends to the soundtrack and, in this case, the ED. Though the general consensus seems to be that the ED is superior to the OP, the caveat is that neither ends up being particularly impressive.

The problem lies in how generic the songs sound. Though a competent effort by Ya-Kyim (if just barely), if there were a machine where one could plug generic shounen themes and cliché pop-rock motifs in one end and get music out the other, I would be none too surprised to get songs that sound much like the ones on this disc. The selections here explore “deep” themes such as working hard, following your dreams, and never giving up, all set to innovative guitar strumming and creative piano arpeggios. Flippancy aside, the inspired element is missing here, and that’s perhaps this disc’s single greatest shortcoming.

But you don’t eat cotton candy expecting a hearty meal and robust nutritional value; you eat it because it’s sweet and offers quick satisfaction. As long as it’s fluffy sugar on a stick, there’s not much sense in expecting much more, and that’s exactly how I feel about this single. Though this may sound like feigned praise (because it is), if there has ever been a finer, more definitive statement in musical form for all that it means to be hatefully generic, I’ve yet to hear it.

The first song, “BAKUROCK ~Mirai no Rinkakusen~,” revels in tired old clichés and well-worn tropes. And it almost works; the song overall is energetic, and Alisa’s vocals are clean, on-pitch, and angst-free. They’re also blandly delivered in a stagnant, whispery monotone, without much in the way of emotional inflection. Where there should be a guitar solo is instead an on-the-cheap hip-hop section. The chords and guitar riffs are straight out of 1972, and the song has no climax to speak of, with a denouement of a children’s book. In the end, it’s pretty standard, fluffy pop-rock fare, though this may be like complaining that my cotton candy is low on vitamins.

Similar things can be said for “Tabibito,” except it’s even more lazily produced. Though the delivery is a bit more affecting than “BAKUROCK ~Mirai no Rinkakusen~,” any noticeable emotional efforts are quickly forgotten when there’s not even a bridge or (god forbid) a rap section to break up the repetition. What we get is the verse and chorus a draining three times back-to-back with only minor variations in the instrumentals. At least they saw it fit to include an engaging intro and outro this time, which is a mixed blessing because both are actually pretty good and wasted on a song as repetitive as this one.

Any hopes that the next track will see a bump in quality are immediately dashed when “Fuyu Koi” floods your eardrums. If you’ve ever been in an Asian-owned beauty salon for an extended period of time against your will, this is exactly the kind of song you grow to despise. A slow, repetitive, R&B abomination, the song even manages to betray the name of the single, “Bakurock,” because it’s… not rock. The same, generic R&B beat is played for over five painful minutes punctuated by a hip-hop section near the end to complete the hateful package. The ending, too, is phoned in without much thought. There’s a certain bag of tricks songwriters employ to make writing easier, and one of those tricks is a fade-out ending. I’m not a fan of fade-out endings; they’re lazy and unimaginative. Guess how this song ends?

In the end, though, the crux is that the songs, to most people, will be upbeat, catchy, and uplifting. As much as I don’t enjoy these, I’m willing to liken these complaints to blaming cotton candy for leaving me hungry.

However, I’ve come to expect more out of my music diet and cannot endorse these songs for being generic, by-the-numbers, cookie-cutter drivel.

To be fair, there’s nothing explicitly wrong with this single, just painfully nothing of note. Everything here has been done better, composed with more pizzazz, and performed with more enthusiasm. If you like rock, why don’t you check out The Pillows?

Rating: So-so

Bakuman ED – Bakurock

Disc 1

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Disc 2

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Review: Possibly my favorite show of all time, FLCL is something very close to my heart, so, unsurprisingly, I find it difficult to review its soundtrack with the editorial impartiality that it deserves. That said, no praise is ever unwarranted, nor is any OST without its faults, and that is certainly the case here.

Much of the compositional credit for this soundtrack goes to The Pillows, a Japanese alternative rock band. Formed in 1989, The Pillows have proven time and time again that rock music can be deeply affecting and a lot of fun without turning the distortion to 11 or resorting to unintelligible primal screaming. Their songs are marked by careful layering and thoughtful two-guitar interplay that is almost unheard of in contemporary Western rock, showing surprising levels of sophistication without exhibiting the tiresome repetition and lazy songwriting that plague recent rock songs. Unlike those of many English-speaking bands, Sawao Yamanaka’s vocals sound honest and genuine, never angst-ridden or whiny. Those elements, combined with their good-natured, soul-searching lyrical style and overall persona, match the tone of FLCL perfectly.

Ride on shooting star

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The Pillows’ representation on these two discs consists of full songs and edits/remixes of selections taken off the albums Little Busters, Runners High, and Happy Bivouac, the final three albums of their so-called “golden age.” Notable immediately is the one song The Pillows specially composed for the show: “Ride on shooting star.” Lasting barely over two-minutes, the song is a blunt explosion of brash energy and punchy riffs that nary stops for a breath. Though it lacks a true guitar solo (a rarity for a non-edited Pillows tune), the song is simplistic and effective without overstaying its welcome. Interesting to note is the liberal use of extended interval chord tones in the melody and the harmony, characteristic of Yamanaka’s songwriting style at the time. There are lots of major sevenths and sharp ninths to be had, and, boy, are they fun to pick out.

Carnival

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“Carnival” has since become a Pillows classic and is regarded as one of their standout hits. The version included here is an edited and shortened version with the vocals removed. Despite featuring tight instrumentals and impressive guitar synchronization, “Carnival” in its edited state just doesn’t work without its vocals. Perhaps it’s due to the generic chord progression, but this edit somehow feels like a demotion to being pleasing background music. Regardless, this song is an example of the long-running Pillows tradition of inserting tidbits of pleasantly surprising sophistication into their compositions. Here, the entire guitar intro is written entirely in parallel fifths. For those who subscribe to the outdated 15^th-century “rule” of avoiding parallel fifths, I would respond by quoting composer Samuel R. Hazo: “WELCOME TO THE TWENTY-FIRST CENTURY.” While this sort of harmony can come off as strange or off-putting, The Pillows make the intro sound good, and there’s nothing more to be said in this day and age of music. (See this video for an excellent explanation of why people are taught to avoid parallel fifths.)

Bran-new lovesong

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Bran-new lovesong [FULL] [For comparison; not on the disc]

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Whereas “Carnival” was adversely affected by editing, “Bran-new lovesong” is a case where removing the vocals and tightening up the length worked very well. With the vocals removed, one can really appreciate the thought put into the instrumentals, which are too often overpowered by Sawao’s singing.  The song has a very ethereal, “life goes on” vibe that is signature of the Pillows’ work around this time. Shinichirou Sato’s drumming really shines here, while Yoshiaki Manabe’s lead guitar is artfully restrained and subdued. Much of the mood of the song comes from a very interesting I-III-vi-IV progression that is not often heard in many compositions. This song (edited or not) is among my favorite Pillows tunes, as it explores themes like self-realization, coping with loss, and the ups and downs of everyday life.

While I could explore every intricacy of every Pillows song here, I’ll keep it short and say that every one of their songs on FLCL’s soundtrack holds the standard of excellence they exhibited around this time. From the rockabilly “Crazy Sunshine” to the simply excellent “Funny Bunny” to the iconic “Little Busters” and “Hybrid Rainbow,” there are few misses by them gathered here, especially in an unedited state.

Crazy Sunshine

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Funny Bunny

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Little Busters

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Hybrid Rainbow

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Often overlooked on this soundtrack are Shinkichi Mitsumune’s pieces, which fill in the parts where a guitars n’ drums affair wouldn’t have been appropriate. Ranging from soft acoustic guitar and piano numbers to electronica dance pieces, his efforts here are effective and competent, if a bit generic and derivative.

Rever’s Edge

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Pink

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As much as his contributions worked superbly in context and are in no way incompetent, I can’t shake the feeling that his tracks wallow in genre tropes and aren’t very fun to listen to. “Rever’s Edge” sounds like another Elton John tearjerker that never was, while “Pink” is about 10 notches too far on the mindless techno side of things for my tastes. “Memory of Summer” starts out well but is marred by a baffling similarity to a certain song sung by a tea kettle in Beauty and the Beast. “High Risk” just makes me wonder why they didn’t just use a Pillows song instead, while “Weekend” seems to draw inspiration from the soundtracks of makeup infomercials. Despite all this, the inoffensive, ordinary demeanor of these songs is largely why they were so successful in their implementation in the show. These tracks were meant to unobtrusively set the mood in a way where the licensed band couldn’t, and, for that reason, I can only shrug my shoulders and acknowledge they did what they set out to do, without being anything more.

Memory of Summer

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High Risk

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Weekend

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The biggest demerit to this original soundtrack, though, is that it is not an entirely original soundtrack. As fitting and as fantastic as The Pillows are, the soundtrack’s execution feels like Gainax took the easy way out by not creating a brand-new score for the show; much the same experience can be had by just buying regular Pillows albums, which will obviously contain only full-length tracks. That said, the approach taken to the soundtrack took a lot of guts and remains a unique experience to this day. As a result, the discs achieve a level of re-playability that OSTs rarely do.

Another Morning

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Oh, yeah, and I really like The Pillows.

Rating: Excellent

Tracklist

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Review: Death Note is not an anime known for its cheerful attitude or its positive outlook on the human condition. Following that line of thinking, if you’ve ever wanted to know what it feels like to have your soul crushed by music, look no further than Death Note’s soundtrack.

A curious amalgamation of electronica rock and orchestral pieces, it nonetheless beautifully depicts the slow descent of a brilliant young mind into the abyss of power-obsessed madness. A two-man job between relative unknowns Yoshihisa Hirano and Hideki Taniuchi, the album is predictably divided into two main sections, one for each composer (the opener and closer aside). Overall, the OST is filled with exceptional orchestration and brilliant texturing on Hirano’s part and a surprising level of rhythmic sophistication on Taniuchi’s. Though each section is tonally and thematically a tad homogeneous, the result is a soundtrack that brims with moody energy and dark complexity which ultimately is a resounding success as both an effective OST and a work that can stand on its own.

I’ll begin chronologically with Taniuchi’s contributions, which comprise tracks 1 through 18. On the whole, these songs are moody, expertly scored, and wouldn’t sound out of place on an American rock album from a professional label. With instrumentation ranging from lightly overdriven guitar to piano to synthesizer voices to heavy distortion guitar, the tracks are as well-crafted for setting atmosphere as they are for pleasure listening due to the thoughtful intricacy put into each one. Especially notable in this regard is “L’s Theme,” which is one of the boldest experimentations in time and meter I’ve ever seen in any type of music, ever. Written in the unheard of meter of 25/16 (I dare you to try to tap your foot to it), I was at first baffled when I sat down to really listen to it and then had a musical nerd-gasm at Taniuchi’s bald-faced subversion of all traditional conventions of rhythm when I finally figured it out. It seems a lot of thought went into crafting a song that defined L’s complex character, and I’d say Taniuchi succeeded soundly. Like his song, L is a character that you can’t quite figure out at first glance. He’s not random; you know there is a method to his madness and an arcane logic behind his actions. You just don’t know what those are, or just quite how he ticks.

L’s Theme

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“Light’s Theme” is also a carefully assembled character study. The song is triumphant, but, at the same time, it is a lamentation, an elegy for a promising young man corrupted by power whose idealism and ambition twisted him into committing acts of unspeakable evil. The song is prodigious from a songwriting standpoint as well, featuring an impressive three-guitar climax and an ending that seems to ask “Who knows?,” as Light’s final fate is yet to be decided.

Light’s Theme

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Tracks 19-28 is where Yoshihisa Hirano gets to flex his Julliard-trained musical muscles. This set is made up of the notorious orchestral pieces with the Latin choral chanting that became famously associated with Death Note. Not only does this fit perfectly with the show’s pseudo-religious overtones, it also provides an appropriately “epic” backdrop for the tense intellectual cat-and-mouse game that Light and L play throughout the first half. The orchestration is simply superb, with brass glissandos and percussion flourishes used to great effect. “Kyrie” will bring you goose bumps every time, with the ominous dronings of “ky-ri-eeeee….,” the piercing chimes, and weeping tremolo violin creating an atmosphere that will make your hair stand on end. Especially impressive is “Domine Kira,” translating roughly to “Pastor Kira” or “Clergyman Kira.” The deftness of the orchestration here impresses deeply, with rapidly-sequenced glissandos in the strings and horns punctuated by percussion crashes and fierce choral exclamations of “Kira!” It vividly portrays a character’s worsening condition as events are quickly spiraling out of control. The use of audaciously brassy bellows as in “Theology of Death” and luscious string chorales like “Light Lights up Light” is simply masterful throughout this section. They must be heard to be believed.

Kyrie

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Domine Kira

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Theology of Death

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Light Lights up Light

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The final tracks on this disc are the first opener and closer from the series in their edited form, “the WORLD” and “Alumina,” respectively. Their inclusion feels like an afterthought and doesn’t leave much of an impression, mostly because we got to hear these songs in the exact same edited state in the series multiple times. The vocalist still sounds like he’s singing through clenched teeth while chewing gum, and his constant vibrato is stifling if not simply tiresome. They are both excellent in their own right but feel out of place, especially after being edited down to 90-second bite-sized bits. It’s a shame some petty record label bureaucracy kept them from including the full versions.

the WORLD ~Aftershok’s Edit~

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Overall, the album is great fun and will bring a knowing smile to your face when familiar themes spark a sudden recollection of scenes from the series. Unlike many OSTs, these tracks have surprising depth, waiting for those who are brave enough to dive past the murky surface, and will reward those who stick around long enough to appreciate what’s there.

I can’t help but feel that this album is a sort of music nerd’s feast. If you are an anime fan who enjoys music, consider this OST excellent. If you are an anime fan that is also a music nerd, consider it a masterpiece.

I happen to be the latter.

Rating: Masterpiece

Review: LiSA’s entry into Angel Beats! comes with above average expectations. Having heard her performance of “My Soul, Your Beats!” as Yui-nyan’s singing voice, I knew she’d bring more to the table than marina by sheer virtue of singings with emotion to engage listeners. Even with that positive step, Thousand Enemies still lacks polish; you can find plenty of areas in which LiSA could improve upon. I’ll take it though. Anything that can erase Crow Song’s bland singing from my memory is worthy of some attention.

“Thousand Enemies” has the generic rock sound that has become a staple of the anime high school band scenes, at least, if K-ON’s Houkago Tea Time’s music is of any indication. The introduction is promising enough through its effort at grabbing the audience’s attention with its energy, but once LiSA’s voice makes its entrance, it doesn’t take long to see where the performance falls short.

Not unexpectedly, one problem is that she sings oh so slightly out of tune. This isn’t something too noticeable in the lower registers, but once she aims high, she comes out of it sounding rather flat. Furthermore, those registers aren’t a range that she sounds too comfortable with, especially during the chorus, which feels rushed. It’s as though she’s doing her best to keep up with the music and while doing so she’s barely hanging on. LiSA is straining to nail it perfectly and unfortunately, we can hear her work at expressing the song’s sentiments through her intonation. And we shouldn’t hear her efforts; good singers make it even the most difficult parts of a song sound easy. That she’s unable to smoothly deliver means she’s got a ways to go even if I can commend her for making an attempt at being expressive.

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“Rain Song” seemingly confirms the lower registers as an area in which she’s more comfortable. It also helps that the song isn’t a difficult one to perform because the tempo is a lot slower and its relaxing tones propelled through the acoustic guitars is much easier for her to navigate. But beyond the few sections where her voice undulates, it’s a generic, unremarkable piece that lacks any real “oomph” to compel listeners to stand up and take notice.

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Rounding out the album is “Highest Life,” a song that starts out on a comparatively melancholy note that is thick with regret, though she does express some hope at being able to rise up despite the circumstances. There really isn’t much more to say here that hasn’t already been said before except for maybe the ending section, which repeats the lines,

LaLaLaLaLaLaLa Happy life! Go!
LaLaLaLaLaLaLa Take me with you!
LaLaLaLaLaLaLa Highest life! Go!
LaLaLaLaLaLaLa Go with me!

for over two minutes straight as they add a chorus to the mix. It’s not so bad if you were doing other things while listening to this song since you can easily tune it out since it works well enough as filler music, but it does become just a bit annoying if you’re listening carefully and was expecting some diversity.

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Knowing where LiSA is in her singing career, many of the faults I highlighted above are understandable and I do hope that she manages to iron out the wrinkles. That she is not afraid to convey her emotions already gives her a leg up amongst other singers, and with patience and a bit more practice (or some studio editing), her performances will improve. She might not evolve to the point of hitting the upper echelons of J-pop/rock, but at least her singing will be more polished and enjoyable down the road.

Rating: So-so

Review: The buildup to the band scene in the first episode of Angel Beats! was auspicious. I was in awe of the artwork and animation and began inching forward in my seat so that I wouldn’t miss a single detail. Then the music started playing, marina made her entrance, singing as Iwasawa, the rhythm guitarist and vocalist for Girls Dead Monster, and I began to cringe.

Jun Maeda’s compositions are completely undone by marina’s singing in “Crow Song.” The song starts out strong with the percussion and instrumental parts building a foundation filled with excitement and energy. You get fired up, thinking that whoever will come in will deliver something memorable like Aya Hirano’s performance when she sang “God Knows.” Instead of getting someone eager to fuel the crowd’s energy with their passion, you get someone who clearly doesn’t want to be at work that day, someone who treats singing as a day job filled with drudgery and blah than a channel through which they can convey their innermost thoughts and feelings. Maybe this is how it really is out there in the music industry and if this is true, at least most of the artists I enjoy listening to do a good enough job of faking it.

Initially, I was willing to give marina’s performance some leeway since her intonation felt like that of a folk singer and that in “Crow Song,” she’s aiming for a fusion of folk and rock. But as I listened further in, her delivery becomes messy; her high notes sound flat and the chorus part feels lifeless and bland. The result is that it leaves you feeling lethargic, which is unlikely to be what this song was aiming to be with its lively rock instrumentation.

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“Alchemy” is better, but that’s not really saying all too much. From the way this song starts, you feel some hope for this album’s quality since marina’s singing sounds more comfortable at lower registers and that maybe, just maybe she was singing outside her vocal range in “Crow Song.” As you listen further, you’ll find that marina’s managed to put forth a passable performance and the only thing that nagged at me is the way the song transitions from one section to the next. Perhaps someone well-versed in music theory can tell me why the shifts are so jarring since each switch feels like a mismatch if you compare it to the previous section. If you were to look at each section as a separate entity though, you’ll find it to be perfectly decent. Nothing that would really stand out, but nothing that would make me shake my head in disgust either.

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Last up is “My Song,” a ballad featuring marina backed by an acoustic guitar. Here, her voice seems distant, as though it’s weighed down by regrets. She channels that emotion well enough that you would get a basic idea of what she’s feeling, but it never rises to the point where you’d feel touched by the performance. This extends to the emphatic chorus section where she belts out the lyrics before moving towards the end where her voice grows softer, creating the impression that she’s exhausted. The second time around feels a bit more grating since it doesn’t express the depths of her pains, both physical and emotional too well. One should not mistake loudness for passion since it’s all in the intonation and she doesn’t convey that too well, but if this song represents her death knell, I suppose we can forgive her somewhat for sounding tired as she uses the last remnants of her energy.

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Somehow, I feel that the decision to use marina was a budgetary one; she’s an indie singer who probably didn’t cost a whole lot to hire for this project. You get what you pay for: mediocre singing through her uninspiring barrage of blandness. Let’s just hope the same fate doesn’t befall Angel Beats!, which has been engaging thus far.

Rating: Not Good

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Review: One of my favorite bands is the folk/Celtic metal band Eluveitie. Originating from Switzerland, across three albums, and with a fourth one expected later this year, they have challenged Awesome, slapped it in the face with a hurdy gurdy, and won.

Check them out:

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Now imagine how excited I was when I heard this in the first episode of the brand new Fairy Tail anime:

Fairy Tail Main Theme
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I was then instantly saddened when the next episode featured a lame remix of a tune that had me thinking a can-can line would march across my computer screen at any moment.  And given that this is Fairy Tail we’re talking about, I wouldn’t have been surprised if they had.

As far as music went, I was content with the fact that any time Natsu did something awesome it was accompanied by an equally awesome Celtic rock theme.  Other than that, I didn’t think much of the music.

But then episode twelve came along, and we got this little ditty in “Akuma no Deliora” which absolutely floored me.  From a series that until then seemed to rip all their music (save one) from classical composers, this came across as a shock.  I was amazed at how well the music set the tone for the scene and instantly realized that not only was the quality of the anime going up, the soundtrack was turning out to be worth paying attention to.

Akuma no Deliora
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After listening to the soundtrack, I was in aural ecstasy.  None of the remixes used in earlier episodes were present and I was discovering music besides Natsu’s theme that I hadn’t even noticed.

The OST’s strength lies in its fast-paced, action-oriented themes.  The Celtic rock ballad fits the anime perfectly in the way it single-handedly fleshes out the world.  It adds a new layer to the culture of the world that previously hadn’t been there for me.

On the other hand, I wasn’t entirely impressed by the slower songs.  Though that may have more to do with personal preference.

Yasuharu Takanashi did a great job expanding  Hiro Mashima’s world through the character themes.  The pieces themselves are extensions of the characters’ personalities.  For example, Erza’s theme starts on a graceful note, before shifting into a faster-paced, epic theme, that establishes strength and power, while still retaining an element of her feminine nature.

Erza no Theme
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Gray’s theme is straight up rock, with a hint of punk.  Like Erza’s it starts slightly low key, before revving up into a faster pace.  It stands apart from the rest of the soundtrack to an extent in that it does not have the Celtic theme, but that just helps to express the character further.  It’s not my favorite among the character themes, but it suits him perfectly.

Gray no Theme
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Lucy’s theme is light-hearted and cheerful, exactly like the girl herself.  When I first heard the theme I immediately thought of the French Riviera; the upbeat music does an excellent job in lending a sophisticated air to fit the sometimes-vain Lucy quite well.  As you probe further underneath the surface of the track, you will find the same Celtic theme that comes up in Natsu’s theme.  It’s subtle, but it does hint at a connection between the two characters as the Celtic theme ties them both together, strengthening them so that they can overcome any obstacle in their path.

Lucy No Theme
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So while Lucy’s theme is plucky and upbeat, Natsu’s fast paced and action packed theme paints him as a man of action.  It’s hard to imagine Natsu being greater than he already is, but his theme does exactly this, while still building on his already existing character.  By giving voice to what we already knew and adding many more elements to his character, it effectively renders this track a collage of everything that makes him Natsu.    This was the track that brought
Fairy Tail’s music to my attention, and despite a slight dip in quality at first, it still cemented the soundtrack as something worth looking forward to.

Natsu no Theme
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The only other character theme is Mirajane’s, which is only one of two among the slower songs that I like.  The music is a perfect match for her character.  It’s peaceful and relaxing, with a motherly quality to it.  But, since there is more to Mirajane than is apparent to the eye, I can’t wait to see the variation of her theme in later episodes, especially during the Laxus arc.

Mirajane no Theme
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Finally, we come to the slow version of the Main Theme.  This is the other slow piece that I enjoyed a lot, and is rated five stars in my iTunes folder, along with Natsu and Erza’s themes.  It’s more than just an arrangement of the main theme with the tempo slowed down; it sounds almost nothing like the main theme, while sounding exactly like it all at once.  It is all encompassing, majestically powerful, and melancholy, all at the same time.  Every time I listen to it I get the chills.  As the last track in the OST, it’s nothing if not perfect.  And after all the emotions I went through listening to this soundtrack, this theme ends it on a decidedly powerful note.

Fairy Tail Main Theme (Slow Ver.)
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I don’t know why Takanashi chose to go with Celtic rock, but I thank him for doing so.  The music carries with it a promise of excitement and action, while depicting the anime’s epic characters and delivering a fun experience.  The first Fairy Tail OST makes for an enjoyable start, and I can’t wait to see how the music for this series continues to further the plot and the characters.

Rating: Excellent

Burning Lizard, also known as Derek Bown, will be contributing occasionally to Anime Instrumentality. You can read more of Derek’s work at Burning Lizard Studios, where he writes about manga, movies, and anime.