Hot Picks!
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album photo to hear sample!
Note: This page has been updated from RA
2.0 to MP3 format sound recordings.
The Bass Pig's listening favorites are
featured here.
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An avid collector of Japanese anime film soundtracks
finds an unforgettable experience in these fine Japanese recordings. To the uninitiated,
the term "Japanese music" might present an image of traditional Buddhist chants,
Koto and Shakuhachi flutes and Noh Theater-style performances. Nothing could be further
from the truth. The CDs shown here contain music that has many of the good traits of
western music, with none of the undesirable traits.
The music transcends the weaknesses found in typical
western music, ie., the one-dimensional quality of most western melodies, the frequent
repetition of measures without variation, and so on. Some of this Japanese music is like a
great symphony in the sense that it can take you on a journey of the mind -- a journey
where you never pass the same symbolic place twice. Each new measure, each now melody
variation, each chord progression underlying the theme combines to make the sweetest
synergy, arranged brilliantly and played by a series of instruments, sometimes acoustic,
sometimes electronic -- which sends the discriminating listener into sonic nirvana.
There is music for all kinds of tastes. There is Rock,
Classical, Symphonic, New Age, Fusion Jazz, Metal, Disco, Pop -- you name it, there's a
soundtrack which features every style.
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| Album Cover (click to play) |
Album Description |
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Once in a lifetime, a story comes along that
redefines your entire set of standards for what is considered fine art. Fumetsu
no Anata e [ 不滅のあなたへ
] (To Your Eternity) is that one story. The first season blu-ray discs
contain the two soundtrack CDs. They are not sold separately. This was a nearly
$600 investment for me, but well worth it. I can watch this series over and over
again and notice things I didn't notice in earlier screenings. I never get tired
of it. The characters are so comforting and the music is on a new level of
divinity. Composed by Ryo Kawasaki (not the Jazz musician, but the younger film
soundtrack composer), the music for this series is majestic, complex and
multi-faceted with the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard. Ever. |
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Once in a lifetime, a story comes along that
redefines your entire set of standards for what is considered fine art. Fumetsu
no Anata e [ 不滅のあなたへ
] (To Your Eternity) is that one story. The first season blu-ray discs
contain the two soundtrack CDs. They are not sold separately. This was a nearly
$600 investment for me, but well worth it. I can watch this series over and over
again and notice things I didn't notice in earlier screenings. I never get tired
of it. The characters are so comforting and the music is on a new level of
divinity. Composed by Ryo Kawasaki (not the Jazz musician, but the younger film
soundtrack composer), the music for this series is majestic, complex and
multi-faceted with the most beautiful melodies I have ever heard. Ever. |
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These are the very serious, beautiful soundtracks. Heroic
Legend of Arslan features a majestic soundtrack, featuring violinist Norihiro Tsuru. |
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The Weathering Continent features a truly high-definition recording. Especially
noticeable about this one is the total lack of hiss or background noise. The first 2
tracks are a totally immersive experience with Sonic Holography. I always demo the
Holographic sound with the first track on this CD. |
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Record of Lodoss War volume 3 is
a strange and eerie, yet beautiful soundtrack. Mostly dark and mysterious, it features a
unique combination of orchesta with synthesizers. A couple of tracks feature some of the
smoothest, sweetest vocals this listener has ever heard. |
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Kaze no Tani no Nausicaä
is a double CD featuring music by Jo Hisaishi. Mr. Hisaishi's music is the opium of
music, intoxicating, mind-bending, totally hypnotic. |
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Three of my newest acquisitions are from a new series
entitled Please Save My Earth, Saki Hiwatari's touching story of love and
reincarnation. The music is by Hajime Mizoguchi and Yohko Kanno and is among
the most divine music now in my library. Spacey, ethereal melodies, intertwined with
contemporary and other times bewitching songs featuring the mesmerizing and delicate voice
of Arai Akino (who
sings in lovely English during "The Moonlit Song"), make this series of
soundtracks truly a unique experience among anime BGMs. As beautiful as it is, this set is
not without its delights for "Bass Pigs." |
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A stunning
experience awaits one with the 13th track on volume 1, "Depart Toward Zero," with
some of the deepest bass I have heard to date on a Japanese recording. I
logged the lower notes at 19 hertz, in prodigious quantities. For
those who desire to put their woofers through a destruct test, the 5th track on volume 3, "The Song You Don't Sing,"
with its earthquake like rumbling and sub-20 hertz percussion at maximum
levels, will deliver a rapid verdict on subwoofer integrity. Have your
system insured before you play this one! |
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My
aquisition of the Arslan soundtracks lead me on a wild chase to find
more music by the featured artists, Norihiro Tsuru and Shoko Suzuki. Mr.
Tsuru's music is poetry without the inconvenience of words. His music "speaks"
very clearly, the emotions which cannot be put into words, a sort of direct communication
from his spirit to the listener's. The Ancient Sun has a broad palette of
styles, some of which are strong and almost visceral in the percussion,
others which are gentle and introspective. |
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Miss
Suzuki's music could loosely be described as country rock, but it's much
more than that. The Bass Pig hates C&W music as it appears in the USA. But
Miss Suzuki has managed to show the Porcine One that a style can transcend
a stereotype, as indeed, her melodies are intoxicating, and the volume
tends to find itself getting turned up to very high levels (Bass Pig is
enjoying the music). |
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The master of the world of ethereal, mind-warping music
is Joe Hisaishi, one of Japan's most talented and imaginative composers in the
world of synth and orchestral music. Spanning a gamut of styles, his music often makes
grand leaps across genres. But his new age style material is my favorite. A potent
"sonic narcotic," his album "The Universe Within," creates
powerful altered states of mind when one's values resonant with this music. Mr. Hisaishi
is well known for his music soundtrack work on several Hayao Miyazaki anime during the
1980s. |
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Omohide Poro Poro is a soundtrack with a big range of musical styles. It
begins symphonically, gradually seems to follow a timeline toward 50s then 60s rock 'n
roll and then gradually recedes back to classical. |
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Umi ga Kikoeru Is another lovely
soundtrack to a very enjoyable film. It's a light style of music, but has one terrific
song near the end which features some great jazz. |
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Orange Road - Loving Heart is an
upbeat, active soundtrack featuring several popular Japanese artists/bands. It ranges from
dance music to jazzy sort of stuff. |
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Mimi o Sumaseba, or "Whisper of the
Heart" is a delightful soundtrack to a heartwarming film about a young girl
discovering her dreams and direction in life. This soundtrack is a lilting, adventurous
orchestral score with a few rather… interesting ballads, namely "Concrete
Road," the leading character's own rewrite of an old standard karaoke tune,
originally by John Denver. The pace is often exhuberating, with energy and excitement in
the performace and string basses reaching down into their lowest ranges nicely. A
"must have" if you yearn for the symphonic music reminiscent of the late 1950s. |
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1992
Anime Theme Songs is a great value -- it features two CDs with all the best anime
vocals and theme songs. Somehow this set wound up with not a single less-than-awesome
track on it. Some truly fascinating music with exotic rhythms is to be found here. |
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Tenchi
Muyo volume 2 is for Bass Pigs only. This CD blasts the listener from the
very start with a fat bass and a bold rhythm. There are a few Techno music
tracks on here, but much of the show's soundtrack is in here. Great
thumpers! |
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This
next one is not a soundtrack to a film, rather, it is a popular Japanese
all-girl band that started out as a garage band and manages to capture
some of the great feelings we associate with good old rock 'n roll from
the sixties. This is Shonen Knife's most recent album, Rock Animals
This album cranks! For screaming guitars that make the blood spurt from your
eardrums, to percussion that cracks your ribcage, this is THE definitive experience in
high-volume listening. The recording has tremendous energy, excellent sonic balance and
squeezes out every decibel possible from each watt of amplifier your have. A real blast! |
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Vampire Princess Miyu has a couple of very nice
tracks, but can be a little bit noisy in the middle, with several chase scene tracks one
after another. There is a Noh-style traditional musical performance on one track, which
has a tremendous presence and makes a great high fidelity experience. |
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City Hunter 2
volume 1 contains high energy rock and fusion jazz tracks mixed together. If you like to
crank, this one's a lot of fun.
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