Akiko Yano: ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん [SOUNDTRACK] & reverb

Its been awhile, but here are few more albums from the always wonderful Akiko Yano! reverb is her studio album from 2002 and ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん [SOUNDTRACK], a.k.a. "My Neighbor the Yamadas", features the music from Isao Takahata's 1999 anime film composed by Akiko. Enjoy!

ホーホケキョとなりの山田くん [SOUNDTRACK] (1999) [NEW LINK]

Composed by Akiko Yano except tracks:

(Disc 1) 4. Masako Ezaki, 5-7. Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, 11. Hiroko Ikuta, 16. Yamada Family, 21. Wakaya Rakudan, 25. Hungary National Symphony Orchestra

(Disc 2) 3. Ghilbi Women's Chorus, 4. Czech Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra, 5. Ghibli Men's Chours, 10. Masako Ezaki, 14. Yoshiko Kondou & The King Little Dove Group, 17. Yamada Family, Fujihara-sensei & classmates, The Ghibli Combined Chorus

Disc 1

1. テーマ1~お話がはじまるよ

2. 愉快な音楽1~猪突猛進

3. カッコウ1~らしくないメインタイトル

4. ノクターン第1番変ロ短調op.9-1(ショパン)

5. 交響曲第5番第1楽章「葬送行進曲」より(マーラー)

6. 劇音楽「真夏の夜の夢」~結婚行進曲(メンデルスゾーン)

7. となりの山田くんのテーマ(オーケストラ・ヴァージョン)

8. 楽しいブリッジ1

9. テーマによるワルツ(オーケストラ・ヴァージョン)

10. 生き生きBGM

11. 犬のおまわりさん

12. 心配事のBGM1

13. 心配事のBGM2

14. 夕日の疾走

15. テーマ2~よかったね

16. だまって俺についてこい

17. 愉快な音楽2~とりあえず,押さないで下さい

18. カッコウ2~あ,おかえり

19. 楽しいブリッジ2

20. たかしとまつ子のタンゴ

21. ぽんぽこ狸囃子

22. 愉快な音楽3~辛口だね

23. 父親の悲哀

24. 自由の楽園

25. 交響曲第1番「巨人」第4楽章より(マーラー)

26. テーマ3~春の雨

27. カッコウ3~ストロガフガフ

28. カッコウ4~ご名答

29. カッコウ5~はよからボケんといて

Disc 2

1. 忘れ物のロンド1~ミョウガの朝

2. 忘れ物のロンド2~ミョウガの朝

3. さくらさくら

4. アダージョより(アルビノーニ)

5. 若者たち

6. カッコウ6~夏の夢

7. 愉快な音楽5~学園は楽し

8. ドキドキBGM

9. 電話線

10. プレリュードとフーガ(J.S.バッハ)

11. 陽気な音楽3~我が道を行く

12. 忘れ物のロンド~ブリッジ

13. 忘れ物のロンド3~善行のすすめ

14. 月光仮面はだれでしょう

15. 夢破れて

16. 玩具の交響曲第2楽章「メヌエット」(モーツァルト)

17. ケ・セラ・セラ

18. ひとりぼっちはやめた

reverb (2002)

1. Dreaming Girl

2. You Are What You Eat

3. いないと [It's Us]

4. Walk, Don't Run

5. トランスワールド

6. Let's Hawaii

7. Money Song

8. ウナ・セラ・ディ東京

9. ねこがかくしているもの [What Cats Feel]

10. Good Guy

11. Happiest Drummer

Akina Nakamori: フォーク・ソング~歌姫抒情歌~, ムード歌謡 〜歌姫昭和名曲集, フォーク・ソング2~歌姫抒情歌~ & DIVA

And so it ends. This is the final Akina posts, for now at least. I have been getting a great response from these and its been fun posting these over the last few months. This final post contains 4 albums, 3 of them covers and the last an original. Unfortunately, I was a little pressured for time and I was unable to compile together the originals of the cover albums. I will post that next when I get the chance, so I guess this wont be the last Akina post lol. Similar to the Enka album, the two フォーク・ソング albums maintain a "folk" theme featuring the works of famous singer songwriters in Japan. ムード歌謡 on the other hand, features Jazz/Big band renditions of popular Showa performance songs of the 60's & 70's. Finally, DIVA, Akina's last studio effort to date, is a heavily modern electronica/pop album that is comparable in sound to the like of J-Pop singers like Ayumi Hamasaki & Utada (but I think Akina is a much better singer!). Thanks again to the visitors of the page, I haven't decided what I will be posting next but hopefully it will be as popular as these have been. Enjoy!

フォーク・ソング~歌姫抒情歌~ (2008)

1. わたしは泣いています

2. 『いちご白書』をもう一度

3. 雨の物語

4. さよならをするために

5. 想い出まくら

6. 22才の別れ

7. 冬が來る前に

8. 無縁坂

9. 時には母のない子のように

10. 戀

DOWNLOAD

ムード歌謡 〜歌姫昭和名曲集 (2009)

1. 氣氛歌謡 Opening (Instrumental)

2. 経験

3. 恋の季節

4. 夢は夜ひらく

5. 他人の関係

6. 面影

7. 雨の御堂筋

8. ラブユー東京

9 .絹の靴下

10. コモエスタ赤坂

11. 非情のライセンス

12. 伊勢佐木町ブルース

13. 氣氛歌謡 Ending (Instrumental)

DOWNLOAD

フォーク・ソング2~歌姫抒情歌~ (2009)

1. I LOVE YOU

2. 旅の宿

3. なごり雪

4. 心もよう

5. ベルベット・イースター

6. 精霊流し

7. 悪女

8. シクラメンのかほり

9. 神田川

10. 学生街の喫茶店

DOWNLOAD

DIVA (2009)

Disc 1

1. Going home

2. GIVE TAKE

3. DIVA

4. thinking of you

5. REVERSE

6. 逢えなくて

7. X lady

8. HEARTBREAK

9. with

10. 茜色の風

Disc 2

1. DIVA (Michitomo Remix)

2. HEARTACHE (Michitomo Remix)

DOWNLOAD

Akina Nakamori: Destination, バラード・ベスト~25th ANNIVERSARY SELECTION~, 艶華~Enka~

I promised myself that I would finish the Akina posts by the end of this month and this is the second to last! First up is Destination, a solid pop album that sounds like a mix between her previous two albums. While most of the songs are upbeat, some have the down tempo feel of "I hope so". However, all are prominently defined by drum tracks with a strong modern pop/hip hop feel, so I would group this with resonancia. The second album is a Ballad Best of with a collection of mainly re-recordings and one new track. I also included the new tracks from the Utahime Best of released in '07 as well and a few tracks from the Akina Pachinko Game CD. I choose to post the full Ballad Best album out of the three, only because it contained the most new tracks. Finally, and its my favorite of the bunch, is another cover album but this time it is strictly of Enka artists. It maintains the orchestral grandiose of the Uta Hime series but I feel the song selections on this album fit the mood more so then some of the Uta Hime tracks. Don't get me wrong, I love all of the cover albums, but the productions compliment the Enka genre perfectly and complete transform the songs into sweeping epics! Just like the last 3, I included all of the originals in the post. I hope everybody has been enjoying these, I know I have!

Destination (2006)

1. 紅夜-beniyo-

2. 嘘つき

3. Seashore

4. 眠れる森の蝶

5. 鼓動

6. GAME (Album Version)

7. 夜の華

8. 花よ踊れ (Album Version)

9. LOVE GATE

10. 落花流水 (Album Version)

11. Only you

12. Grace Rain

BONUS from 花よ踊れ (single)

1. 花よ踊れ

2. GAME

3. 花よ踊れ (Instrumental)

4. GAME (Instrumental)

DOWNLOAD

バラード・ベスト~25th ANNIVERSARY SELECTION~ (2007)

1. 難破船 (2007 Ver.)

2. セカンド・ラブ (from Akina Nakamori ~歌姫 ダブル・ディケイド~)

3. あの夏の日

4. LIAR (from True Album Akina 95 best)

5. 水に挿した花 (from Akina Nakamori ~歌姫 ダブル・ディケイド~)

6. 陽炎 (Single Ver.)

7. 赤い花

8. SAND BEIGE~砂漠へ~ (from Akina Nakamori ~歌姫 ダブル・ディケイド~)

9. SOLITUDE (2007 Ver.)

10. 二人静 (from True Album Akina 95 best)

11. 月華

12. 予感 (from True Album Akina 95 best)

13. 初めて出逢った日のように

14. 駅 (from Akina Nakamori ~歌姫 ダブル・ディケイド~)

15. 帰省~Never Forget~ (2007 Ver.)

BONUS

from 歌姫ベスト~25th Anniversary Selection~

リバーサイドホテル (LIVE ver.)

チャイナタウン (New Recording)

いい日旅立ち (New Recording)

from AKINA X DAIICHI~中森明菜歌姫伝説

Shojo A~DAIICHI Mix

歌姫伝説~mode medley

DOWNLOAD

艶華~Enka~ (2007)

艶華I(Instrumental)

天城越え Sayuri Ishikawa (1986)

無言坂 Kaori Kouzai (1993)

氷雨 Mika Hino (1982)

みちづれ Mieko Makimura (1978)

空港 Teresa Teng (1974)

越冬つばめ Masako Mori (1983)

艶華II(Instrumental)

悲しい酒 Hibari Misora (1966)

舟唄 Aki Yashiro (1979)

石狩挽歌 Mirei Kitahara (1975)

矢切の渡し Takashi Hosokawa (1983)

夜桜お七 Fuyumi Sakamoto (1994)

艶華III(Instrumental)

BONUS

氷雨 Akio Kayama (1983)

空港 Sayuri Ishikawa (1975)

DOWNLOAD

Indie Game Music Bundle

I stumbled upon this awesome deal while checking for any updates from an indie game music duo called yogurtbox. I fell in love with their album "Tree of Knowledge" (a throwback to PC-98 music and the works of Ryu Umemoto) when it was released a few months ago and it is one of 10 albums from 10 artists offered on this bundle for only $1!!! If you are a fan of video game music and you'd like to hear some original independent artists work, I highly recommend checking this out! If you like what you hear, you can choose to pay $10 or more and get an additional 7 albums! You'll find a direct link to everything on http://www.gamemusicbundle.com/, but don't wait too long because the deal ends on the 28th! The "Tree of Knowledge" alone is worth the money but there is plenty for everyone and it comes highly recommended!

Here is a stream of the "Tree of Knowledge" album but you can also listen to the entire albums on the artists bandcamp.com pages also on the site.

Scoobie Do: Beautiful Days

Merry Turkey Day! Hope everyone has been well. My day has been odd this year but ultimately I did have something to be thankful for! I thought I would post something today that a lot of visitors will enjoy. Scoobie Do is a Japanese Funk/Soul Rock group and no they aren't meddling kids that travel around in the Mystery Machine solving "ghostly" mysteries. Sorry I had to make the joke. Anyway, I discovered this group a few years ago through myspace (when it was useful) and songs from "Beautiful Days" is what I happened to hear. The group has a great vibe and definitely try it out if you are into upbeat "funky" rock. Enjoy!

Beautiful Days (2004)

1. 愛がゆく

2. ラストナンバー (Beautiful Dawn)

3. パレード

4. 名もない朝

5. Urban Souls

6. Beautiful Days

7. 美しい日

8. 無敵のバカ

9. 恋は魔法

10. 風の恋人~Sunset Saudade~

11. 夕陽の進むほう

12. 茜色が燃えるとき

13. また逢う日まで

DOWNLOAD