Yoko Kanno better be getting paid a lot of money

I'm currently being blown away by the quality of the Uncharted Waters II Special Edition soundtrack. I really should have listened to this after hearing and enjoying Southern Twilight ~ Dance on a Cape of Good Hope from SotW/SotY, but for whatever reason, I didn't. I'm glad I finally got to it, though.

This is the kind of music that you could, say, show to people who have a disdain for vgm/look down on your vgm listening habits. While my brother likes some vgm (usually just stuff from games he's played like Age of Mythology), 95% of the time he listens to "regular" music. He was in the car with me the other day, and I had a vgm mix playing. All quality songs in my opinion, but to him it pretty much all just sounds like video game music (whatever that means). Southern Twilight came on, and he was silent throughout. At the end, he said that was the best video game song he's ever heard and asked what kind of game it was from. He then even requested that I send it to his comp. so he could listen to it (which is an extremely rare occurrence)!

It seems Kanno's done music solely for Koei titles (as far as game music goes). Were the games she worked on popular? For whatever reason, I can't imagine her getting paid a lot for composing for them. That bums me out, because her work features a level of professionalism not often found in video games.

I'm likely going to search for the rest of her vgm work. I don't listen to any anime music, but I might give it a try - what's some of her best stuff in that field?

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The KOEI games that Yoko Kanno worked on were not particular popular in the US and only have a cult following. However, overseas, some of those games did very well.

Sad and unfortunate, but I don't think she made a bundle with Koei but it certainly was a good footing for her career. If you look at the following link, you'll get a general outline of some projects she's been on and you'll see that her professional career seems to have begun around the time she worked for KOEI.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Kanno

If you liked the Uncharted Waters 2 Special Edition, I also strongly urge that you listen to KOEI Game Music Works - Yoko Kanno Collection. It also consists of some of the UW2 SE tracks and some other really good pieces by Yoko Kanno. I just stumbled upon this recently and it's a real gem. The first track is actually from the original Romance of the Three Kingdoms. I could barely recognize it... definitely a masterful remake.

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I certainly can't imagine that she's underpaid... Although she's contibuted greatly to game music with her nice work on some fairly obscure soundtracks, she's also very much respected in the anime music field. She's also been responsible (in the past) for working closely with J-Pop singers like Maaya Sakamoto, composing songs for them and whatnot. I think it goes without saying that she's a really versatile composer, and one that I, personally, respect a lot.

Anyway, I also love her compositions in Napple Tale. It's really easy listening, and pretty enjoyable stuff if you enjoy that sort of thing. You may remember "13 Ice Cream", a sweet little track from Napple Tale that was in the Best Song Contest 2005.

As for anime music, a lot of that is pretty great too. There's many vocal tracks of course, but since she's worked on many soundtracks, there's a lot of instrumental ones to be found too. These instrumental tracks aren't really any different from her awesome compositions in the VGM field, so I suggest that you don't hesitate to check them out.

The Cowboy Bebop soundtracks are apparently awesome, or so I've heard, even though I haven't had much exposure to CB's music. They're very jazzy and bluesy in style, if you're into that sort of thing.

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex's OST is also pretty good, apparently. I highly recommend the opening theme, "Inner Universe", if you haven't listened to it already.

Guess I should also mention the Arjuna Into The Another World Original Soundtrack, which can be downloaded via SendSpace. It's pretty good stuff, really. My thanks go out to Conspera for uploading it in the first place~

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Upon seeing the title of this thread I instantly thought of the Arjuna Into the Another World soundtrack, which I had the same thought after listening to. I just kinda randomly downloaded it not even knowing it was YK, but was totally blown away by the great use of vocals and tribal motifs. If you like her music (especially Macross Plus), then you owe it to yourself to check it out.

Actually, looking at Kanji's sig, it was his/her Sendspace link that led me to it. Thanks!

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Her Cowboy Bebop work is fantastic. It ranges from pure jazz, to electic anime compositions and jazzy pop music. Honestly, all of her anime music that I've heard is wonderful. Her work on Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex is more rock and electronica. The Vision of Escaflowne has a grand, epic, orchestral feel to it. Wolf's Rain is a mix of her epic sounding stuff with generous helpings of pop, rock and "world music".

I was speaking idiomatically.

The curious thing about Kanno, though, is that she's very, very fond of borrowing licks or phrases from other artists. For example, some of her work in Wolf's Rain sounds exactly like some of Craig Armstrong's works. Try comparing "heaven's not enough" from Kanno to "Wake Up in New York" from Armstrong, or the latter half of "face on" to Armstrong's "Finding Beauty" (both tracks from his "As If to Nothing" album).

That was a bit of a digression, I guess. You can't really go wrong with any of her releases if you like her style in general. Since no one has mentioned it so far, try checking out "Brain Powerd" as well.

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Ashura is perhaps the only works I did listen the entire album. I lost interest in any other I try to. Probably because I saw the movie first, so it brought memories and so I can associate music with the scenes. the album was cheap for a soundtrack. 1700 yen ?

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Originally Posted by Sakabadger

The curious thing about Kanno, though, is that she's very, very fond of borrowing licks or phrases from other artists. For example, some of her work in Wolf's Rain sounds exactly like some of Craig Armstrong's works. Try comparing "heaven's not enough" from Kanno to "Wake Up in New York" from Armstrong, or the latter half of "face on" to Armstrong's "Finding Beauty" (both tracks from his "As If to Nothing" album).

http://www.chudahs-corner.com/forums...4115#post14115

Explained.

I'm sort of a casual fan...I enjoy Cowboy Bebop while watching the show and I listen to Uncharted Waters 2: Special Edition off and on, but I never did get the massive following she has. Good music, just not something to get me in "OMFG, must have more" mode.

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Originally Posted by GoldfishX

[url]I'm sort of a casual fan...I enjoy Cowboy Bebop while watching the show and I listen to Uncharted Waters 2: Special Edition off and on, but I never did get the massive following she has. Good music, just not something to get me in "OMFG, must have more" mode.

I do understand the cult following she has, even if I don't stick to it myself. She's quite unique and is indeed very talented, and has all kind of little recurrent gimmicks that makes her stuff valued fan material.

All her "world music" stuff really doesn't appeal much to me, and some of her featured for trendiness euro artists I find to be quite annoying. What I like about her is her talent for composing melodies for an orchestra and her ability to copycat Wagner and Orf.

I don't mean that in a bad way at all, by the way. I'm especially fond of her grandiose soundtracks like Escaflowne and Turn a Gundamn. There are some great things in her Koei works as well, but I'm not too familiar with it and I once read an article where she stated how frustrating it was for her to compose chiptunes. While I totally understand that, I tend to take a bad stance on VGM composers who have that kind of issues. ^_^;

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I only have one Kanno work in my collection: the Memories OST. It's a very creative work that mixes chorus, opera, and fully orchestral bleak sci-fi music into one of the more interesting musical mixtures I've heard. It's a difficult listen, though, and getting the album means you get the other two scores from Memories (which was a package film): both of them are utter crap.

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Originally Posted by GoldfishX

http://www.chudahs-corner.com/forums...4115#post14115

Explained.

No offense, but what exactly is being "explained"?

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Originally Posted by Kanji

Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex's OST is also pretty good, apparently. I highly recommend the opening theme, "Inner Universe", if you haven't listened to it already.

True, very true. Kanno also did a fine job composing 2nd GIG's 'Rise'. I highly recommend this theme.

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I'm a big fan of Yoko Kanno. I'm very impressed by her composing skill, I always compare her to big names such as Sugiyama, Kondo, and Haneda.

I totally agree with your post, Kanno's professionalism and talent is undeniable, but yes, she doesnt get much attention a lot from VGM fans, probably because she does more work on anime.

But not all of her albums are enjoyable for me, especially the movie ones (Ashura no Jo, Jin Roh). I think, her most fantastic album is Shimotsuma Monogatari aka Kamikaze Girl. In this album, she blended rock, techno, light jazz, ragtime, classical, and french musics in one package.

And CMIW, John Williams (composer of Star Wars?) is actually a big fan of Yoko Kanno.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Of course, you can't mention Kanno without mentioning the Turn-A Gundam soundtrack, which is, in my opinion, her best work by far. Truly amazing, I never get tired of listening to it.

And personally, the world music stuff that she composes is what I enjoy the most. Stuff like the track "Barbarian" from the TAG OST 2, or Tsuki no Tamashii, from the same album.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

And You can't also mention her without mentioning Stand Alone Complex OSTs, SO AWESOME!! I highly recommend Inner Universe (Origa/Yoko), oh and Velveteen (Illaria/Yoko)...

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I was very sad to discover that Napple Tale was never released in America. I discovered the music for that game before I knew what the game was and damn do I love those OSTs. It might be because she writes for Koei that a lot of her VG work is unrecognized, but it's really truly, in pure Yoko Kanno fashion, great stuff.

Unlike the rest of you, I can't pick an OST or two to say is her best work. Each one of them is awesome and amazing in their own ways...

Gah - I love that woman and her work...

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Yeah she better be paid a lot of money. Her work is impressive.

I (and this is going to upset most of the vgm community), think she is the best composer out there. She surpasses Uematsu, Mitsuda and any other in the vgm industry. (And I like Uematsu and Mitsuda...)

Her work on Nobunaga's Ambition albums is amazing. It goes from electronic to calssical music passing by new age and jazz.

Cowboy Bebop is simply amazing. Rain, Call me Call me, NY Rush, Tank!, Real Fol Blues, What Planet is this? are simply among the best jazz tracks I heard in my life.

As for her work on KOEI it is indeed sad that a few people in North America know about it cause like you say, Uncharted Waters II music is great. The rendition of Moslim Dance on the Orchestral Game COncert 4 is awesome.

That said, I say she should be paid more.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Macross Plus was my first exposure to Yoko Kanno's music and since then I've been a fan of hers. I think she did brilliant job with Cowboy Bebop and I really enjoyed the stuff she did for GiTS:SAC, Escaflowne, Wolfs Rain and Turn-A Gundam. Since I was so focus on the work she has done for anime's, I neglected to into the music for games. I did obtain the Napple Tail sountracks, but not yet for the Nobunaga's Ambition....but I will.

I do like how Kanno is such a dynamic composer. She touches on various genres of music that really fits into the genre of anime or game she is composing for.

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I would never think she's underpaid in the past 10 years. Maybe it's so in her early years like late 80s or early 90s. But if you can get the chance to work with one of the best orchestras in the world (Israel Phil, Warsaw Phil, etc.), then why you would be underpaid become a mystery for me. In fact she's currently one of the musical gods/goddesses in Japan with a large cult following. You can see that from the fact that most of her works have been on CD.

Yoko Kanno is an extremely talented composer. Take "Triad" from Turn A Gundam OST2 as an example. What a f**kingly beautiful and haunting piece of music. Her melodic and harmonic capabilities are strong, and despite the fact that she's not academically trained, her arranging/orchestration skills are also spetacular, and she knows how to make good, authentic (well, sort of) world music. The only thing that didn't grab my attention is her eletronic sounds.

Yet one of her tendencies is to listen to music all day. Maybe that's the reason some passages did sound like others' work, and there may as well be direct copies. I myself came up with a small list of her work referencing others too. I've been picking up passages that sounding like Elliot Goldenthal (mainly from Titus), Sergei Prokofiev (namely, the Scythian Suite), Maurice Ravel (Bolero, Daphnis et Chloe, etc.). In fact there are other influences in her orchestral work that I may not recognize too. Actually that's the reason why I'm mainly attracted to her orchestral music. I can hear bits of all my favorite symphonic artists, yet the pieces itself are still Kanno's.

As for those 'direct copies', I would think of the reason that these are some of her favorite composers, but as of now, I would say to Yoko... you just don't have to do that.

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Pretty much all of music history is comprised of composers ripping off of one another. It's this perpetual game of one-upping that's been going on since the Renaissance period.

In that light, I can't be bitter towards artists that rip off previous compositions be the ripper Kanno or otherwise. After all, how often do you find yourself listening to ANY piece of music and saying "hey, that sounds like...."?

I say this all because Yoko Kanno's most recent music for Ragnarok Online II sounds pretty standard Kanno and she's not using many techniques that avid Kanno listeners haven't already heard. There are songs in there that sound exactly like ones from Napple Tale, ones identical to Arjuna work, and (to put this in a composer-ripping perspective) there's one that reminds me oh so much of Katamari Damacy music. And the most Napple Tale reminiscent tune (for me) reminded both my sister and I very very much of Saint-Saen's Bacchanale from Samson et Delilah what with the timpani beats and all...

But the end result music, both YK-formulaic and those not, is still as gorgeous and awesome as always. If you have a formula and it works damn well, then might as well keep using it while doing a few new things here and there.

(The client rips are available in both threads on her ROII music in this forum.)

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