Category: Music
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Band Spotlight: White Ash
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Read More →: Band Spotlight: White AshI was first introduced to this wonderful band through “Crowds”, the OP of Gatchaman Crowds (which I still haven’t finished) and instantly fell in love with the edgy, deep voice of the female vocalist. But after looking for the song on YouTube, I discovered that the vocalist is actually a male, a very geeky looking…
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Japanese punk
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Read More →: Japanese punkLately, I’ve felt a little empty. Waiting for something to spark a little inspiration in me. So, as I often do, I ended-up on YouTube, listening to music, when The Blue Hearts appeared with their song, Linda Linda. It’s a Japanese punk-rock song that you’ll have heard before if you’ve seen the film Linda Linda…
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Hot Topic Meets Anime in Ergo Proxy
Read More →: Hot Topic Meets Anime in Ergo ProxyRemember when goth, and by extension Hot Topic, reigned supreme? Ergo Proxy is basically an anime peopled by fans of Hot Topic. The setting is gritty, and the main character wears black outfits, steal tipped boots and heavy mascara. The color palette skews towards grey and black, and even when the show uses other colors,…
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Still a Sigure Virgin?
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/ MusicRead More →: Still a Sigure Virgin?Ling Tosite Sigure (凛として時雨) just seemed to creep up on me in January. Now one of my favourite bands, they are, I’m convinced, Japan’s best rock group since Supercar. Their music is fast-paced and aggressive; songs that may sound like a wall of noise at first, but that make sense (melodically) on subsequent loops through.…
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I was made to hit in America
Read More →: I was made to hit in AmericaBeck: Mongolian Chop Squad. Talk about a mouthful. The name may be a tribute to the author’s favorite band, Red Hot Chili Peppers, which also has four words in its name. In any case don’t be scared away by the name, this series about a rising rock band is a treat even for non-music fans.
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Walking Away
Read More →: Walking AwaySomething has always bothered me about the ending of Samurai Champloo. It was an ending that haunted me for nearly a year after finishing the series, its memory resurfacing every time I thought about it. Midicronica’s “San Francisco” was in many ways a fitting ending for an anime which drew so heavily from hip-hop and…
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Gren's eternal smile
Read More →: Gren's eternal smileIf I had to condense my love for anime into one single moment, I’d choose the scene when `Space Lion` begins playing in the 13th episode of Cowboy Bebop (Jupiter Jazz.) It is one of the first times I can remember feeling a pang of bitter-sweetness whilst watching anime: the sadness of Gren’s passing tempered…
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Musical memories of Gurren Lagann, recalling a whimsical dystopia
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Read More →: Musical memories of Gurren Lagann, recalling a whimsical dystopiaNot sure how I missed this, but the full soundtrack for Tengen Toppa Gurren Lagann was released recently; that’s 51 tracks of epic, exciting, heavenly music, and even better, it contains the one song I’ve be longing to hear since late-July. I’m talking about track 13 on Disc no.2; the translated title is “The Days…
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Attention Yoko Kanno & Steve Conte enthusiasts!
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Read More →: Attention Yoko Kanno & Steve Conte enthusiasts!A Gabriela Robin Site have posted an awesome acoustic live set by regular Yoko Kanno vocalist/collaborator Steve Conte. Performed songs include “Heaven’s Not Enough” (my favorite), “Living Inside the Shell”, “Words We Couldn’t Say”, “Rain” and “Call Me Call Me” – so that’s some of the best music from Wolf’s Rain, Stand Alone Complex and…
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Polling Yoko Kanno's best soundtrack?
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Read More →: Polling Yoko Kanno's best soundtrack?I’m a big fan of Yoko Kanno’s music; be it the atmospheric electronica of Macross Plus (1994) or the acoustic style contributed to Wolf’s Rain (2003), it’s hard to ignore the core emotional beauty of her work; a quality that, not matter which musical style she borrows, ensures that she captures our attention (and often,…
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Standing on the brink of a new era, looking back at Naruto
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Read More →: Standing on the brink of a new era, looking back at NarutoStanding on the brink of a new era for Naruto, I’ve turned back the clock to look at my favourite moments from the series; fair warning – hyperbolic fanboyisms ahead. I started watching the show in 2003 with a cheap 15″ CRT monitor and two tinny sound blasters, at the time I wasn’t interested in…
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MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno – Kissing The Christmas Killer
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno – Kissing The Christmas KillerFor what seems like forever, I’ve been a hopeless follower of Yoko Kanno’s music. I adore almost every single one her soundtracks, from the jazzy Cowboy Bebop to the sweeping, epic sound of Vision of Escaflowne. With a lot of anime composers, I tend to blow hot and cold – meaning I can love a…
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MP3 Spotlight: Conquer the world with Death Note
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Conquer the world with Death NoteI’m sitting here feeling like I can take on the world, I’m listening to the Death Note soundtrack. This is the music that makes Light scribbling in his notebook"¦, hell, eating a packet of crisps, rock us like it’s an earth shattering moment. Understand then that this music is overblown and melodramatic, and love it…
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MP3 Spotlight: Highlights of Welcome to the NHK!
Read More →: MP3 Spotlight: Highlights of Welcome to the NHK!Looking back on 2006 we have seen a handful great series come and go, but even fewer great soundtracks have enlightened our senses. And when I say great, I mean music you can listen to at home, at work and on the bus. Toshio Masuda’s beautifully sparse work on Mushishi was a relaxing and naturally…
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Can an opening theme resurrect a series?
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Read More →: Can an opening theme resurrect a series?Is an opening theme enough to reignite interest in a series? I guess it is for me because I’ve just seen the third opening sequence for mediocre vampire slasher Blood+ and suddenly I’ve been persuaded to give this show another chance. First time around I discovered Blood+ was terribly predictable, but if Production I.G devote…