Anime BGMs :: Non-Mio headphone test drive
I'm still learning to get the best out of my recently acquired ATH-ANC7. For starters, turning on noise cancelling for a fuller sound, regardless of background noise, bears out a common theme in the reviews. Also an excuse to post about the medley of favourite anime BGM tracks which I used for the headphone test drive as well as an aural pick-me-up. I have even less musical knowledge compared to dear sweet slothy Yui so corrections and level-ups will be much appreciated.
Ginme no Majo (Masanori Takumi | Claymore)
This background music track always reminds me Galatea's deliciously wicked musing as she walked off into the darkness of the forest towards the end of Ep 11. And also when Riful intervened against Jean's attempt coup de grace against Duff.
The dramatic drum beats right at the start are a great hook, thereafter the strings carried me to the embarking on a new adventure, announced by a triumphant brass section. The stirrings of mystery and conspiracy are heralded by piano keys against a background of bass notes and eerie synthetic animal-like calls. The various sounds come together, moving in and out, building into a crescendo that made such a great background to the above-mentioned scenes.
Yamiyo no Prologue (Kajiura Yuki | Mai HiME)
And BGM that features the pounding of drums. Great big ones. The scene in my mind's eye when I hear this is from Mai HiME 15 when Mai on Kagutsuchi charging up into the heavens as Artemis' ray surges downwards.
Salva Nos (Kujiura Yuki | Noir)
"Someone is going to die," says this BGM. The prelude and background for yet another of Kirika's casually brutally, coarse yet strangely elegant killing sprees. The incongruous combination of doramaz singing in some language that I don't understand and techno-beats somehow works. Despite all the repetition over the course of the series, this was streets ahead of the watch tune because it heralded action rather than repeated flashbacks.
Foxy Doll (EDISON | Black Lagoon: The Second Barrage)
Fresh from her meeting with Chan of the HK Triads, Balalaika issues orders to the Sergeant. Hotel Moscow goes on the warpath. The rhythm/bass guitar (?) starts off and provides the structure for the whole piece, like Balalaika's steady, unyielding stride while the drum beats evoke foot falls and the beating of raging hearts. The lead guitar conveys the swagger, an attitude that prevades all that motion. Some serious ass kicking.
M19+20 (Yuki Kujiura | Kara no Kyoukai 3: Remaining Sense of Pain)
I've already raved about this previously. Still my favourite piece from the superlative Kara no Kyoukai OSTs that are oh so evilly packaged with the R2 LEs.
Suspense 5 (Tatsuya Nishiwaki | Maria+Holic)
Kiss the yuri girl and make her hive. Bells and choral singing to electric guitars and back but working together as one reflecting Mariya's Janus-faced nature.
Overall, I'm a bit surprised to find that I do like tunes where there's a lot going on in the same track. Some might describe this as messy or noisy but I prefer to think of them as moving layers moving in and out of emphasis. Lots of electric guitars and drums help too.
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June 8th, 2009 - 15:26
Yeah, “Salva Nos” does have that feel as though you’re watching Heaven dispense with its brand of justice through that choral part. The tempo definitely makes the scenes in which it’s played more intense and together with “Canta Per Me,” makes for great music from Noir’s stellar soundtrack.
June 9th, 2009 - 05:34
Yuki Kajiura soundtracks seem to have a couple common faults. One is that any given song in English will have this one moment that makes a native English speaker flinch at the awkwardness (“through the door of mystery (and dignity)”). The other is that they’re full of awesome tracks that the director clearly has no idea how to use right. Probably the worst example is from .hack//sign, when they played “Where the sky is high,” a soaring, uplifting number, while the characters are sitting around going “so what are we going to do next?” And the watch music from Noir wouldn’t have been bad if they had played it once or twice, instead of once or twice per episode.
At least the situation seems to have improved for Cazador and Kara no Kyoukai.
June 9th, 2009 - 08:41
@ zzeroparticle
Salva Nos left an immediate impression on me in the first episode when one of the hapless goons experienced death by necktie. And I thought that was only supposed to happened via shredding machines.
@ Ransom
It’s a good thing, then, that I don’t pay much attention to lyrics. It’s a Yui thing – takes too much concentration to listen to both the instruments and the words at the same time. orz
IMHO the Noir OST was a more consistent package from Kajiura compared to El Cazador where she overdid the Mexican theme. But, as you pointed out, the use of the music by the director/producers was much better in the latter. Kara no Kyoukai is simply brilliant – a lot of the music is based on the same stuff but there’s just enough variation to effectively convey/support the different moods of each movie.
June 11th, 2009 - 14:12
I’m more of a foobar person now
June 11th, 2009 - 15:21
Sounds interesting! Giving it a try now.
June 13th, 2009 - 09:34
it isnt a skin focused program though, so if you like skins then i guess its still better sticking to winamp