Eheheh… okay, so I got completely snowed under on Wednesday, then Thursday was of course busy (and by busy, I mean, I went to Manchester to see The Dark Knight on an IMAX cinema – and that does count as very important in my books!) and now it’s Friday and I’m completely snowed under again. Joy! Time for another Best Of to keep you satiated whilst I try my best to catch up on work? I think so! Today’s track is one of my favourite ever songs, and from the minute I first heard the shortened 1m30 used as a theme tune, I couldn’t wait for the full song. From the Japanese band Monoral, and on their latest album Turbulence, we have again "Kiri":
Bana had the privilege to sing both the opening and ending to the anime Witch Hunter Robin – and a good choice they made. You’ve already heard the instrumental version of the opening track, Shell – one of the original songs posted on Something Chewie, so now lets hear the ending! Bana’s voice is lovely and pleasant on the ears, and the music is catchy and enjoyable to boot. Put it all together and what have you got? One great tune! Here is Bana’s “Half Pain”:
Last Exile is an anime series from 2003 that was set in a steampunk, Victorian-inspired universe, where pilots fly through the air in “vanships” and two countries are engaged in a long war, who fight in the clouds. Today’s track sets the mood for the two main characters – a pilot and a navigator and their small airship in a morning in their gentle home town of Norkia. Dolce Triade, the composer for the series soundtrack brings a folk-y, gentle and relaxing piece with a variety of instruments – flutes, chimes, lots of percussion and good composing to beat. Enjoy today’s “A Morning in Norkia”: (don’t misread as Nokia as I always do!)
Yoko Kanno, as I’m sure you can now gather from numerous previous featurings – is a firm favourite of mine: coupled with the ability to produce great music in such a variety of different styles, she’s also linked with a lot of great projects. Today’s track comes from the Darker than Black – a science-fiction anime show about paranormal beings with special powers (and its far more complicated than that) – but there is a gentler side to the show to prove its not all scifi, and today’s track, I hope, will exemplify this quality. It is a piano piece played by “Yin” (literally meaning Silver, for her silver hair) who is supposedly an “emotionless doll” – one of the themes explored by the show. The music is touching and of real quality – as both the show and the soundtrack are. Here is “Yin no Piano”:
For today’s post we’re revisiting the previously featured band Monoral – and to the reason why it was featured in the first place – the first song I heard by them, and the song that, with good reason, pushed them to public appraisal and international recognition. A 1 minute 30 second version of “Kiri” was used as the opening theme tune to the sci-fi/psychological anime show “Ergo Proxy” and from its feature starting in the second episode, fans desperately clamored for the song. As one of said fans, I can tell you I listened to it over and over again as soon as it was mine! Their recent album released earlier this summer, “Turbulence”, featured the track and was used as their opening for their live performance for the celebration of the new album. If you’ve liked what you’ve heard on Something Chewie so far, I can guarantee you’ll love this:
So, we’re taking another one of our wild changes from the current mood and swirl right into another classical soundtrack piece. This time, we’re going to my second favourite film of all time, Hayao Miyazaki’s anime production “Mononoke-hime”. It features excellent story and animation, but the soundtrack will completely blow you away. Today’s track is one of the last pieces in the movie, and centres around the two main characters of the film, Ashitaka and San. The entire soundtrack is incredibly moving, and hopefully this will give you a glimpse of what the entire collection sounds like. Enjoy Joe Hisaishi’s excellent “Ashitaka and San”:
Eheheh… okay, so I got completely snowed under on Wednesday, then Thursday was of course busy (and by busy, I mean, I went to Manchester to see The Dark Knight on an IMAX cinema – and that does count as very important in my books!) and now it’s Friday and I’m completely snowed under again. Joy! Time for another Best Of to keep you satiated whilst I try my best to catch up on work? I think so! Today’s track is one of my favourite ever songs, and from the minute I first heard the shortened 1m30 used as a theme tune, I couldn’t wait for the full song. From the Japanese band Monoral, and on their latest album Turbulence, we have again "Kiri":
Bana had the privilege to sing both the opening and ending to the anime Witch Hunter Robin – and a good choice they made. You’ve already heard the instrumental version of the opening track, Shell – one of the original songs posted on Something Chewie, so now lets hear the ending! Bana’s voice is lovely and pleasant on the ears, and the music is catchy and enjoyable to boot. Put it all together and what have you got? One great tune! Here is Bana’s “Half Pain”:
Last Exile is an anime series from 2003 that was set in a 
Yoko Kanno, as I’m sure you can now gather from numerous previous featurings – is a firm favourite of mine: coupled with the ability to produce great music in such a variety of different styles, she’s also linked with a lot of great projects. Today’s track comes from the Darker than Black – a science-fiction anime show about paranormal beings with special powers (and its far more complicated than that) – but there is a gentler side to the show to prove its not all scifi, and today’s track, I hope, will exemplify this quality. It is a piano piece played by “Yin” (literally meaning Silver, for her silver hair) who is supposedly an “emotionless doll” – one of the themes explored by the show. The music is touching and of real quality – as both the show and the soundtrack are. Here is “Yin no Piano”:
For today’s post we’re revisiting the previously featured band 
