Music I Like – Japanese Soundtrack Composers

I know “Japanese soundtrack composers” sounds like a pretty niche interest, but hear me out. J-pop is even more manufactured and sterile than American Top 40. So instead of pursuing stardom, many of the most talented and interesting musicians in Japan end up getting a lot of soundtrack work. The music they make is far more intriguing and varied than what you might expect if you think of orchestral scores when you hear the word “soundtrack.” Not all of the music in this post is soundtrack music – but I found all of these artists on the soundtrack to an anime or movie.

Yoko Kanno

Yoko Kanno is a musical genius whose work almost exclusively appears in anime and video games. She first came to my attention as the composer for Cowboy Bebop.

Cowboy Bebop

Although the show is technically about bounty hunters, music is woven through the fiber of Bebop as much as if it were the actual plot. Every episode (Session) of Cowboy Bebop has a different musical theme, from blues to soul to hard rock, all laid over a spine of jazz. Regardless of genre, the music is always good and Kanno wrote all of it.

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Kids on the Slope

I only watched this anime because it was associated with Kanno. This one is all about jazz, which I usually don’t like all by itself. But in Kanno’s hands, the music – which this time actually is the plot – is irresistible.

This short documentary on Kanno’s career is well worth the time.

Masayoshi Ōishi

Monthly Girls’ Nozaki-kun is one of the funniest anime I have ever watched. Ask my kids – I rarely LOL, but every episode of this tongue-in-cheek, gender-flipping, story-mechanic-twisting anime makes me laugh out loud every time I watch it. And Kimi Janyakya Damemitai, the bluesy opening theme song rocks.

The guitarist Masayoshi Oishi has a few solo albums and is one half of the duo OxT. Both of those projects sound a little too polished and J-pop commercial for my taste. But thanks to Nozaki-kun, I’m always on the lookout for new releases when he might let go and shred again.

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Tomoyasu Hotei

You probably don’t know the name Tomoyasu Hotei. But you do know “Battle Without Honor or Humanity,” which served as the title song for the 2000 film New Battles Without Honor and Humanity (also known as Another Battle) before it got way more famous for its inclusion in Kill Bill.

The odds are also good that it’s the only song of his that you know. Unless you’re Japanese. Then you would have grown up listening to his rock band Boøwy or owning one of the 40 million records he’s sold. In Japan he’s an iconic guitarist, famous for his collaborations and soundtracks (which also include Lupin III).

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Joe Hisaishi

The trouble with musicians who write for movies is that it’s hard to find regular albums of their music. But Joe Hisaishi has written so many soundtracks that you’ve probably heard his music, even if you didn’t realize it. He has done most of the Studio Ghibli movies, including Princess Mononoke and Spirited Away. But he’s also worked on several Beat Takeshi movies and a ton of anime as varied as Maison Ikkoku and the Mospeada (better known in the U.S. as the third segment of Carl Macek’s Robotech). His most recent soundtrack was In This Corner of the World. You could say he’s the Japanese John Williams.

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Dolce Triade

Dolce Triade was formed specifically to create the soundtrack for the anime Last Exile. My Anime List calls the group a trio (which fits the name) but I have seen the names Hitomi Kurioshi, Shuntaro Okino, Maki Fujiwara, and Yuki Yamamoto associated with the project. The internet seems to identify Kurioshi as the main figure in the group. Okino is associated with the group Venus Peter, which I haven’t found anywhere yet. Whoever Dolce Triade is, their Last Exile soundrack is sublime. An interesting mix of old Chemical Brothers, folky woodwinds, and whatever else the series needed, it’s one of the rare soundtracks that I can listen to all by itself.

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Rokugen Alice

I did not actually discover this artist through soundtracks. It was actually a Bandcamp blog post on gothic metal that alerted me to Rokugen Alice. The duo of composer Rokugen Asuke (who, I think, also composes soundtracks) and vocalist Alice Sakurai started out covering video game music before generating their own albums that could soundtrack darkly dramatic anime. And they’ve got gorgeous album covers. Just look at this one:

I’d love to see things go full circle and have their cover artist create a manga or anime for their original albums. Until then, there is Virtue and monochrome.

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Sithu Aye

Sithu Aye is a bit of a stretch because he is not Japanese, and he’s not on any Japanese soundtracks. At the same time, there’s no way I could leave him off this list. If you listen to any of the Scottish-Burmese guitarist’s half dozen albums, the first thing you’ll say is, “What anime is this from?” It’s not an accident that his proggy instrumentals sound that way. With albums titled Senpai III and songs like “Hanako’s Shoujo Manga Spinoff!” it’s obvious where he finds his inspiration. And I would absolutely watch any of the anime playing in his head alongside these songs.

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