Kawai Kenji- Ghost in the Shell OST (1995)

http://www.mediafire.com/?tc5sbmauak88o1t

Soundtracks are tricky because they often don't stand on their own, without the images and dialog that they are supposed to support. I'm a bit dubious of soundtracks that play like entire albums-- they should be more evocative, leaving you wanting for a little bit more.

I recently re-watched this film and was struck by the music. It feels like the soundtrack to Blade Runner--both minimal and completely essential to the film's noir feeling, tinged with philosophy, sadness, indifference, anxiety, and wonder. 

The soundtrack is always somehow "empty" even in the fullest numbers (the title credits, which repeats periodically). The idea is to convey the ghost, or the spirit, that is somehow present in the materials that it shouldn't be--namely technology.

It's made me want to view the rest of this series. Plus, it's a killer soundtrack to a bike ride home. Wow.

An incredible live performance of the opening credit song ("Reincarnation"): 

Kawai Kenji in the studio, in a knit sweater and mullet.
I don't know if this makes him more awesome or just cringe-y.

jj- No.3 (2010)

http://www.mediafire.com/?1qqbr1dtjghb48n

jj are a Swedish pop group, and if you can mentally squish together your notions of the singer Lykki Li with the stellar vampire movie Let the Right One In, you could come up with something like jj.

I know, right? What the f*** kind of band name is jj, in lowercase letters? Grr. Those swedes (writes the guy named after a viking).

No.3 is their third (!!!) album that sounds shimmery and perfect. It's cheeky and cheesy and classy and catchy. Sometimes high schoolers can really nail that "heartbreak" thing right on the head.

If you're up for something poppy and youthful, but somehow tasteful, give it a try.

Panda Bear- Tomboy (2011)

http://www.mediafire.com/?91eg2vds6mqxx3d

I'd like to suggest that you know you have made it as a one man band when you are able to have an awful screen printed t shirt as your cover art, and hundreds of thousands of wide-eyed hipsters will buy your cd.

Congratulations, Noah.

Miho Hatori- My First Time (mixtape) 2011

http://mihohatori.blogspot.com/2011/04/my-first-time-mix-tape-vol1-on-dossier_15.html

Miho Hatori is one of my first musical crushes, from the glory days of Cibo Matto, through Smokey and Miho, to her solo stuff. It's a weird collision of naivety and badass tendencies, though it's waaaaay closer to the former. She is interested in hip hop but is a total outsider, and her experimental nature always comes through.

This mix tape was created with the theme "My First Time," and is supposed to have a mixture of excitement and confusion. I love when people have themes that sound absolutely NOTHING like the way they probably hear them. It made me think of my latest request for people to send me recommendations for what they thought were the saddest songs ever. It's interesting to hear what people think of as sad... emotions are tricky!

Hear it before it's gone on Miho's blog.

Blue Hawaii- Blue Gowns

http://www.mediafire.com/?wjsbe4fbnmjldww

The downside of having an awful band name (besides having an awful band name) is having would-be fans slew through dead-end internet searches to find information on your band. Let that be a lesson to you, future bands "Total Recall," "Barak Obama," and "Santorum."

For now, it's best to focus on just how nice this cassette is (CASSETTE!!!). You can think of it as a dreamy, blippy, poppy beach record, but it still has that shimmery sound to it that i associate with Scandinavian sonics, or 4AD records from the late 80s. It's Raphaelle Standell-Preston (Braids' vocalist, who is quickly becoming one of my new favorites) plus a boy playing instruments, and it has all the great aspects of a folk guitar duo without any of the painfulness. Does anyone else notice this great and weird keyboards/effects-becoming-the-new-guitar-of-folk phenomenon? I like guitar and all, but it's nice hearing the same aesthetic with a different sonic palette.

The lyrics get confessional/awkward ("when i picture you thrusting into her"), but they always come across as being comfortable and inviting. This whole cassette is start-to-finish very solid. Warm, spacey, bright, faraway, and just nice. 


Maybe it is more like the beach after all.