A thread about Joe Hisaishi

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His name appears a few times in the archives, but we've never had a real discussion about his music.

My roommate and I were sharing CD's and he lent me the Kikujiro soundtrack, saying that it is one of his favourite albums ever. Now I am completely enamoured with it too.

When he lent it to me, I didn't even know the name of the movie it soundtracked, or that it was a Kitano movie, or anything about the music (since the liner notes are all in Japanese). Regardless, I felt like I knew exactly what the movie was about. This entire album belongs on the "songs that rather unexplicably make you sad" thread, even though it's one of those "I've relocated the joy in my life" movies/scores. It's like the feeling you would get at the end of a Cameron Crowe movie, if Crowe's movies were soundtracked by proper composers instead of Peter Gabriel songs and if his characters weren't always trying so hard to be witty hipster types.

So anyway, this soundtrack is brilliant. What should I look for next? Put your Hisaishi-related stuff into print here.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Thursday, 10 March 2005 07:42 (twenty years ago)

a scene at the sea!! sonatine!!

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Thursday, 10 March 2005 08:14 (twenty years ago)

I really liked the music for Kids Return (another Kitano film) when I saw it, although I doubt I'd listen to the soundtrack independent of watching the movie.

He also has done the soundtracks for most Hayao Miyazaki films, and Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away are well worth checking out (once again, as films).

― Dr Benway (dr benway), Thursday, 10 March 2005 08:31 (twenty years ago)

three months pass...

his soundtracks make use of schlocky elements and i don't think i'd want to listen to them outside of their intended contexts but... they are utterly brilliant as film soundtracks.

― Amateur(ist) (Amateur(ist)), Monday, 13 June 2005 04:12 (twenty years ago)

I see what you're saying, although I haven't seen any the films that he's soundtracked. Parts of "Kikujiro" are undoubtedly shlocky, but it's his recurring use of variations on the same three or four melodies that makes that music so compelling even outside of its intended context (and compared to some of his other work, and not to mention in comparison to 99% of all scored soundtracks). The scores for "Trouble Every Day" and "Requiem For a Dream" are structured similarly, and since none of them have much in common musically, I guess I'm a sucker for those sorts of soundtracks.

― MindInRewind (Barry Bruner), Monday, 13 June 2005 04:46 (twenty years ago)

I really liked the Spirited Away & Princess Mononoke soundtracks. Excellent New Age/Oriental easy listening.

― Ludo (Ludo), Monday, 13 June 2005 07:32 (twenty years ago)

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