Yoko Kanno

It would be wrong of me to talk about music without including Yoko Kanno.

She is probably my favourite and most listened to composer of recent years. Best known for her soundtrack of the BEST. ANIME. EVER. Cowboy Bebop. (Seriously, if you haven't watched all of it... then stop wasting your time reading blogs and go catch up.) She also contributed soundtracks for, to name a few, Ghost In The Shell, Macross, Wolf's Rain, Escaflowne, Darker than BLACK, and Gundam. Her list of compositions and attributions is pretty damn impressive. See her anime news network page here. Or if you can read Japanese you can visit her um... interestingly coloured official site here.

music and links after the break >>>


Stick this playlist on while you're blogging or browsing today. I guarantee there's something on it you'll love. She has a STUPIDLY huge range of compositions.

Here are some starters from the Bebop soundtrack: (the second video is the opening titles to the show)

 

Also check out this live version of Tank! especially the sax solo starting at 1:48.



I'm CERTAIN that I would be a very different person if it wasn't for Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts.

Anyways, enough of my dreamy eyed nonsense.
Happy listening!