Yoko Kanno - Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
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Free Music Notes for Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex
Free Music Review: Eclectic and Engaging
Hit: 5 Stars
This soundtrack is surprisingly broad in its sounds and texture, everything from nu-metal to electronica to acoustic folksy. Though the more metal tracks, such as Run Rabbit Junk and Yakitori don't really do it for me, they are still listenable. Stand out tracks are the Vespertine-orphan "Where Does This Ocean Go?", the introspective "Some Other Time", and the liquid but insistent "Silent Cruise". I bought this for "Inner Universe", easily one of the best tracks I've heard in ages. It's reason enough for the CD, but you'll be ecstatic over the rest of it, as well. Only real problem: Velveteen and Lithium Flower have been scrunched onto one track, throwing the track listing off. No biggie, easily fixed. If you see a copy of this, get it, by all means. I got mine on eBay for six bucks; seems like a lot of dealers bought them up and are doing them in their online stores. Worth tracking down.Free Music Review: Magnificent
Hit: 5 Stars
I hurried up and bought this CD after I saw that Yoko Kanno did the soundtrack. As usual, she doesn't dissapoint. I love this CD so much I take it everywhere I go with me and listen to it when I go to sleep. The soundtrack is a wonderful hybrid of all types of sounds; from the 70's rock jam session of "yaikitori" to the funkadelic "home stay" this album offers your ear an audio entree of delight.
Kanno doesn't stray away from the dark electronic sounds of the ghost in the shell atmosphere, either. Tracks like "Sutamina Roozu" sound like they would fit in perfectly with the origional film.
Whether you are an anime fan, a Yoko Kanno fan, or just a fan of good music in general, don't miss out on this CD. You'll only be thankful that you bought it.
Free Music Review: From the empress of anime music, a near-masterpiece.
Hit: 5 Stars
I was first introduced to the work of Yoko Kanno via the soundtrack to Macross Plus. As with all the Macross series installments, music plays an integral part of the storyline, being a literal connection to the power cosmic, and her compositions for the holographic pop idol Sharon Apple were hauntingly gorgeous. Later, I found out that she also scored the immensely popular Cowboy Bebop series (though I've never actually seen that show).
Thus, when I heard she was on board for the television addition to the Ghost in the Shell mythos -- the Stand Alone Complex -- I was quite pleased. At Otakon 2004, I shelled out 50 bucks for the brand-spanking-new GITS:SAC Volume 1 Deluxe DVD, which came with this disc.
The OST+ is almost a piece unto itself, as most of the time these songs are heard in an incidental capacity during the series; with only the music, one is left to deeply appreciate the detail that goes into even the most sidereal parts of the cartoon series. The swan song of the disc is "Silent Cruise," a five-and-a-quarter minute epic which evokes the sweeping string arrangements of Cliff Martinez's Solaris OST as much as the hypercompressed hip-hop breaks of Meat Beat Manifesto, all with a compositional sensibility that would make Bola weep tears of joy.
Other highlights include the Bjork-inspired "Where Does This Ocean Go?" (which contains the amazingly nonsensical lyric "his head looks like a melon"); the unabashed balladry of "Beauty Is Within Us" that shares vocal kinship with newer Telefon Tel Aviv offerings; the IDM-cum-indiepop "Monochrome," as at home with Proem as it is with Sinaed O'Conner; the impossibly complex metal anthem "Yakitori" which could easily be a b-side by the Hokkaido Concern; and of course, the immensely gratifying extended mix of the series' title theme, "Inner Universe."
Though I give this disc a five, it is not in fact perfect; several minute annoyances detract from the full piece. One, it lacks several key songs which appeared on the DVD it accompanied, which was a slight disappointment. Two, a few of the songs included in place of the aforementioned missing tracks are not really up to par -- particularly, I've never really liked the end titles theme, "Lithium Flower," and some of the nu metal bits sound a bit dated (like "Run Rabbit Junk" -- though it's admittedly well-used in the series); then again, leeway must be given to the fact that this is a Japanese import series, and time and culture moves much more laterally over there; and, admittedly, this is largely a matter of personal taste.
My final complaint is that the CD track listing is mislabelled. Tracks 8 through 12 should be listed thusly:
8 Velveteen / Lithium Flower
9 Home Stay
10 Inner Universe
11 Fish
12 Silent Cruise
As I said, though, these are all minor qualms. As a whole, the disc is a solid piece, with many instances of agonizingly beautiful orchestration and an inherrent empathic understanding of the interplay between sound and emotion. I bow to you, Yoko Kanno, and pray to one day be as good a composer as you.