mp3: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts - Mushroom Hunting (Live)
mp3: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts - Blue (Live)
(God Help Me I’m Generous - I’ve even snuck another mp3 below…)
vid: watch the opening sequence of Cowboy Bebop featuring “Tank!”
web: Yoko Kanno Project

If you don’t know about Cowboy Bebop you are an unfortunate soul indeed. Bebop encompasses the holy trinity of perfect anime - perfect anything really: amazing storytelling, amazing animation and amazing music. You walk away not only hot on the characters, but hot on the music too.

Cowboy Bebop was released in 1998, was a single season long, and was made into a feature film (that takes place between the final two episodes). It’s story - the pursuits of a misfit gang of galactic bounty hunters - captivated audiences internationally, and made Bebop one of the most successful anime of all time.

The music was a massive international success, due entirely to the genius of artist Yoko Kanno, who continues to pen for anime, games and films, including the incredibly beautiful soundtrack of Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex. The opening theme “Tank!” was an international hit, even charting in some unexpected places. If nothing else, you’ve probably heard “Tank!” as in the last three years it has been used in television commercials for high end automobiles.

The magic of Kanno’s music lies in her innate ability to compose for pretty much any occasion. In Bebop there is blues, country, jazz, classical, pop and funk. And opera people! HIP OPERA! If you never see any of the films, games or programs her music is in, hunt down her music. It is worth every second.

Here I’ve included two favorites from the vast cornucopia that is the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. There is so much to choose from, I wanted to sample a bit of the fun and a bit of the amazing - not easy when you consider that the music has been released over two separate CD soundtrack releases, a five disc CD boxed set, a film soundtrack CD, and Earth Girls Are Easy: Yoko Kanno and the Seatbelts Live CD. The first “Mushroom Hunting” is 1970’s Shaft-style funk, jazz and world music just loaded with fun. The second is one of my all time favorite songs. We’re talking top ten favorite. It is called ‘Blue’, and its more of a rock ballad. With opera. Both are from Earth Girls Are Easy.

I hope you like it.

Buy.