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Bad Dog! No Buscuit! The Music of Yoko Kanno

Posted: 2005-07-31 11:39pm
by Tokaji Kyoden
Yoko Kanno, the composer for a slew of anime and pop culture icon in Japan, has done some of the most moving and awesome anime music I've personally ever heard. She does the music for(just to name a few):

Please Save My Earth
Cowboy Bebop
Card Captor Sakura
Escaflowne
Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Macross
Turn A Gundam
Wolfs Rain

She is definitely one of my favorite composers/musicians, what do you think?

Posted: 2005-08-01 12:06am
by DPDarkPrimus
I own the first Wolf's Rain OST, the first two (only?) GitS:SAC OSTs, all of the Escaflowne OSTs, practically all of the Cowboy Bebop OSTs, and the recently released Maaya Sakamoto (her songs are all written by Yoko Kanno) single collection.

So, no, never heard of her. :P

Posted: 2005-08-01 12:19am
by Crossroads Inc.
Own the complete works of both Comboy BeBoy (obviously) as well as Escaflowne... "Cats Delicacy" is by far my favorite Escaflowne song, while "Call Me" from BeBop is so moving, I actually tear up listening to the lyrics.

Posted: 2005-08-01 01:01am
by Tokaji Kyoden
I'm not too familiar with all the pieces from Escaflowne, but I very much like the opening theme. As for Cowboy Bebop, "Blue" or "Tank" are my favorites.

Posted: 2005-08-01 01:25am
by JME2
Her score for Escaflowne: The Movie blew me away the first time I heard it and still does. She is certaintly on my all-time list of favorite composers.

I have the soundtrack to the film as well as mp3's of bits that were not put onto the CD (most notably, the sequence prior to Escaflowne's descent as Dilandu emerges from the pit :twisted:).

Posted: 2005-08-01 01:31am
by Grandmaster Jogurt
Crossroads Inc. wrote:..."Call Me" from BeBop is so moving, I actually tear up listening to the lyrics.
I'm not familiar with the names of the songs; is that the one played near the end of Hard Luck Woman (vague to avoid spoilerage)? I have never been able to watch that part without tearing up, and the music plays a huge part in that.

Posted: 2005-08-01 02:25am
by Spanky The Dolphin
Personally I consider Yoko Kanno to be one of the greatest composers who ever lived, and definately perhaps the best currently living.

Posted: 2005-08-01 03:02am
by DPDarkPrimus
What needs to happen is her to get hired by somebody to do a soundtrack for a movie here in the States. Then we'd get domestic releases of all her stuff, and she'd become even more well-known. :P

Posted: 2005-08-01 04:08am
by Nephtys
Yoko Kanno is indeed amazing. I mean, you can TELL when she's behind a soundtrack and it's phenomenal. I know about the stuff above as her work (esp Macross Plus, some of SAC, Bebop), but was she the one also working on .hack//sign?

Posted: 2005-08-01 04:09am
by Pick
She is what I'd consider one of the most talented modern composers. Period.

Posted: 2005-08-01 04:22am
by Spanky The Dolphin
The accoustic version of "Voices" from Macross Plus is actually my most favourite song ever.

Posted: 2005-08-01 05:11am
by Seggybop
My favorite composer.

Listening to the Turn A Gundam soundtrack right now.

Posted: 2005-08-01 05:22am
by Ford Prefect
Yoko Kanno just fucking rocks. From Call me Call me, to Christmas in the Silent Forest, to The Real Folk Blues, to Run, Wolf Warrior, Run, to Girl With Power, to Elm, to Didn't it Rain, to Tank, to Cloud 9, to Space Lion . . . I have no words.

It seems that Yoko Kanno's name present in the musical credits is an unofficial sign of approval.

Posted: 2005-08-01 07:50am
by Crossroads Inc.
Grandmaster Jogurt wrote:
Crossroads Inc. wrote:..."Call Me" from BeBop is so moving, I actually tear up listening to the lyrics.
I'm not familiar with the names of the songs; is that the one played near the end of Hard Luck Woman (vague to avoid spoilerage)? I have never been able to watch that part without tearing up, and the music plays a huge part in that.
Yea, thats the one... When you listen to the actual lyrics to that song they really get to you.

And I don't want to get TOO Mellow dramatic, but that song actually helped save a relationship between me and my SO about a year ago.

Posted: 2005-08-01 07:55am
by Ford Prefect
That, is just how good Kanno is.

Posted: 2005-08-01 08:21am
by AniThyng
Nephtys wrote:Yoko Kanno is indeed amazing. I mean, you can TELL when she's behind a soundtrack and it's phenomenal. I know about the stuff above as her work (esp Macross Plus, some of SAC, Bebop), but was she the one also working on .hack//sign?
.Hack Sign's composer would be Yuki Kaijura, who's a good composer in her own right, though i wouldn't put her on the same level as Yoko Kanno (OSTs for Noir, Tsubasa Chronicle to name 2 off the top of my head)

Posted: 2005-08-01 11:23am
by General Zod
DPDarkPrimus wrote:I own the first Wolf's Rain OST, the first two (only?) GitS:SAC OSTs, all of the Escaflowne OSTs, practically all of the Cowboy Bebop OSTs, and the recently released Maaya Sakamoto (her songs are all written by Yoko Kanno) single collection.

So, no, never heard of her. :P
There's now three OSTs available for GitS:SAC, just as an fyi. ;)

She's also done a number of other soundtracks, including Brain Powered, Earth Girl Arjuna, Jin-Roh, Legend of Crystania, Macross Dynamite, Record of the Lodoss War, Please Save My Earth, Turn A Gundam, X, The Vision of Escaflowne and Katsuhiro Otomo presents Memories. She's also got a number of her own albums out as well, notably one called Songs to Fly.

Posted: 2005-08-01 01:09pm
by Tokaji Kyoden
DPDarkPrimus wrote:
What needs to happen is her to get hired by somebody to do a soundtrack for a movie here in the States. Then we'd get domestic releases of all her stuff, and she'd become even more well-known.
This is quite true, or even if she did the score for a Japanese movie that was then released in the states, or something of the sort.

AniThyng wrote:
.Hack Sign's composer would be Yuki Kaijura, who's a good composer in her own right, though i wouldn't put her on the same level as Yoko Kanno (OSTs for Noir, Tsubasa Chronicle to name 2 off the top of my head)
Definitely not on the same level as Kanno, but .Hack sign has some very inspired music, such as Mai(game) and the opening and ending themes from the show. Kanno just has a much larger repitoire(sp), and just has such a unique style that, really, no one can really match that. Just like John Williams, who is, in his own right, just as good as Kanno.

Posted: 2005-08-01 03:32pm
by DPDarkPrimus
Tokaji Kyoden wrote:DPDarkPrimus wrote:
What needs to happen is her to get hired by somebody to do a soundtrack for a movie here in the States. Then we'd get domestic releases of all her stuff, and she'd become even more well-known.
This is quite true, or even if she did the score for a Japanese movie that was then released in the states, or something of the sort.
Cowboy Bebop: Knocking on Heaven's Door, and Escaflowne: The Movie? :P

Posted: 2005-08-01 03:44pm
by Tokaji Kyoden
Well, I was actually talking about more of a live action flick. Something like The Ring or Crouching Tiger(yes I know it's not japanese). Both of those movies are quite excellent however.

Posted: 2005-08-01 04:04pm
by SyntaxVorlon
She and Otani Ko are my favorites. Otani Ko did the sound track to Haibane Renmai and Gundam Wing Endless Waltz.

Posted: 2005-08-02 03:45am
by Ford Prefect
SyntaxVorlon wrote:She and Otani Ko are my favorites. Otani Ko did the sound track to Haibane Renmai and Gundam Wing Endless Waltz.
There are some damn fine Renmei tracks, Free Bird, for example.

Posted: 2005-08-02 07:16am
by Mr Bean
I very much enjoy Yoko Kanno music, to the point at which should I see one of said composers CD's in the story, I would acutaly make an impusle buy.

Posted: 2005-08-02 12:18pm
by Tokaji Kyoden
I haven't had the chance to watch or listen to any of Haibane yet. I've been meaning to look into it, because the concept and the music intruiges me. As for Endless Waltz, I very much enjoy the soundtrack, especially the end theme.
I very much enjoy Yoko Kanno music, to the point at which should I see one of said composers CD's in the story, I would acutaly make an impusle buy.
Now this poses an interesting question. We all know that Kanno really isn't capable of creating a bad soundtrack or composing a bad peice, but out of all of her music, what is your personal least favorite?

Mine would probably have to be the opening theme from Wolfs Rain.

Posted: 2005-08-02 12:30pm
by AniThyng
Tokaji Kyoden wrote:I haven't had the chance to watch or listen to any of Haibane yet. I've been meaning to look into it, because the concept and the music intruiges me. As for Endless Waltz, I very much enjoy the soundtrack, especially the end theme.

Now this poses an interesting question. We all know that Kanno really isn't capable of creating a bad soundtrack or composing a bad peice, but out of all of her music, what is your personal least favorite?

Mine would probably have to be the opening theme from Wolfs Rain.
Haibane Renmei is well worth watching, and ranks as one of my favourite stories out there, anime or non-anime..

I actually quite liked wolf's rain 's opening, english language songs in anime are rarely any good ;)