While Joe Hisaishi may be a
prolific composer in Japan, this is only the second score of his that I
have come across so far. The first,
Princess Mononoke, was quite a nice score for a quite interesting
Anime flick. The most interesting feature of that score was the fact that,
as far as I can tell, it was pretty much all synth. While this in and of
itself is not very excitable, the synth was so good in that score that it
was almost indistinguishable at times from the real deal.
I didn't know what to expect
with this score. Even though I has no misconceptions, I was still taken completely by surprise.
There are many similarities with this score and
Princess Mononoke, especially in
Hisaishi's string work, but this score has more in common with John
Barry's Playing by Heart. This is
pretty much a jazz score with a strong orchestral backing. Yes, this time
we get an actual orchestra, but Hisaishi never completely abandons
the electronics. But what is really cool is just how well Hisaishi duplicates
that style through all of the different sound elements. It sounds
absolutely perfect, and all the favorite jazz essentials (lone, wailing
brass and such) are present here.
What sets this apart from
most other scores of this nature is Hisaishi's incredible themes that make
up the corner stone of the music. In addition to the jazz-styled themes,
there are also more standard orchestral themes that sound close to those
in Princess Mononoke. I didn't
find this to annoying as it is really interesting to hear how Hisaishi
mixes the two styles together into a pleasing result.
While the cover may make
this film seem to be some kind of modern gangster film, don't let that
fool you. The music is far more introspective and romantic than would
appear from the cover art. Hisaishi rarely forays into any sort of tension
or action cues, even though these elements are spread around in certain
cues. Overall, this makes the CD a pleasant listen.
If you loved
Princess Mononoke, you may just
like this score. Those with a general aversion to most jazz scores should
at least sample this one since it does have a lot to offer, and Hisaishi
expertly crafts the style around his main style. Of course, if you're
already a big Hisaishi fan, this is just more movie-music-goodness that
you should waste no time in obtaining. ****
