Time to knock it up several notches for some high-octane, upbeat and explosive music from Japanese electronica/rock duo, “Boom Boom Satellitesâ€. A mix of big beats and heavy hitting guitars, the music is incredibly loud and punky – ready to help you forget today is Monday. Their seventh and latest album, from which today’s track is taken from, was released in 2007, is called “Exposed†and also features a track “Shut up and Explode†used as the opening theme tune to a new anime series Xam’D: Lost Memories – also, in fitting with an ongoing theme explosive and loud. Today’s track however, is “Upside downâ€, enjoy!
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":
Formed in 1997, Love Pyschadelico is Kumi and Naoki, and a massive band in Hong Kong, Japan and Taiwan. After four successful albums, the band began to expand its fanbase, touring across Asia, and now 11 years on, they’re now trying to break through into America. I won’t attempt and fail to place their music in genres, although they’ve been described as having “big Brit-pop choruses†with “super-catchy guitar and keyboard buzzing-rockâ€. Vocalist Kumi often switches between Japanese and English, often completely without you noticing. All in all, good listenings, so enjoy today’s track, Love Pyschadelico’s “Standing Birdâ€:
I’m quite often glad that, when I am updating, I get the chance to mix a lot of music together. If you are a repeat visitor to Something Chewie, you might come for some of the more eclectic choices in music, or you might be here to find some awesome rock. I like to dish in some Japanese music too, not only just because I like it myself (and you’ve got to do what you love!) but because there is a chance you might enjoy it too if you’ve liked the other stuff I’ve posted. And if you don’t, well at least you’ can say you’ve experienced it. Yes, Something Chewie is back for the summer, and if all goes well, back for good – although I will be setting up a less strict schedule regime (seven days a week was what made me stop in the first place!) Today’s track is, as I’ve covered, from a Japanese rock band known as UVERworld – a fairly young band formed in 2005 that mixes rock electronic, and according to Wikipedia, beat-boxing. Gekidou, or ì¯í•’, is used as the latest opening song to the anime D.Gray-Man, but you don’t need to know anything about that to enjoy the music. And that’s just what I hope you shall do! Enjoy today’s track, “Gekidouâ€:
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”:
Apart from keeping most of his personal life a secret, Hyde is in the public eye in Japan a whole lot of the time – part of the successful J-Rock band, L’Arc~en~Ciel (who will no doubt get a feature here some day) and a successful solo artist, marrying a model, starring in a couple of films and many albums – yet no one knows his actual name, or his birthday or any of the bitty details! Still, the music’s good and that’s all that counts – it’s quite a gentle piece: acoustic and mellow and using the softer sides of his voice. From his first solo album, “Roentgen”, here is “Shallow Sleep”:
Time to knock it up several notches for some high-octane, upbeat and explosive music from Japanese electronica/rock duo, “Boom Boom Satellitesâ€. A mix of big beats and heavy hitting guitars, the music is incredibly loud and punky – ready to help you forget today is Monday. Their seventh and latest album, from which today’s track is taken from, was released in 2007, is called “Exposed†and also features a track “Shut up and Explode†used as the opening theme tune to a new anime series Xam’D: Lost Memories – also, in fitting with an ongoing theme explosive and loud. Today’s track however, is “Upside downâ€, enjoy!
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 
Apart from keeping most of his personal life a secret, Hyde is in the public eye in Japan a whole lot of the time – part of the successful J-Rock band, L’Arc~en~Ciel (who will no doubt get a feature here some day) and a successful solo artist, marrying a model, starring in a couple of films and many albums – yet no one knows his actual name, or his birthday or any of the bitty details! Still, the music’s good and that’s all that counts – it’s quite a gentle piece: acoustic and mellow and using the softer sides of his voice. From his first solo album, “Roentgen”, here is “Shallow Sleep”: