MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno - Kissing The Christmas Killer
February 8th, 2007, 10 responses
For what seems like forever, I’ve been a hopeless follower of Yoko Kanno’s music. I adore almost every single one her soundtracks, from the jazzy Cowboy Bebop to the sweeping, epic sound of Vision of Escaflowne.
With a lot of anime composers, I tend to blow hot and cold - meaning I can love a soundtrack for a few weeks, but once the show has finished, my interest in the music gradually fades too; clearly an emotional attachment to the music, connecting it with certain dramatics, can cloud one’s objective judgment on the ultimate quality of sound. You could say I’ve picked up more glass shattering JPOP than I’d like to admit.
It’s different with Yoko Kanno though - I have songs from Macross Plus (”VOICES”, “MYUNG Theme”) stored on my portable MP3 player, I listen to these songs every day, and the last time I watched Macross Plus was three years ago. That’s the best tribute to her work I can offer - that it stands alone, divorced from anime, as simply great music, period.
Now I’m going to spotlight two of her songs. Since you’re reading this blog, I think it’s safe to assume you’ve already heard Yoko Kanno’s music in either Cowboy Bebop, Stand Alone Complex or Wolf’s Rain (if not, you are a broken person, go and get fixed). First up is “Kissing The Christmas Killer” from the “The Other Side of Midnight” soundtrack (a.k.a 23-ji no Ongaku: NHK Rensoku Dorama “Mayonaka wa Betsu no Kao”).
Kissing The Christmas Killer (4m 27secs) is an elegant, fragile ballad beautifully sung by one of Kanno’s long time vocalists Maaya Sakamoto (RahXephon OP, Vision of Escaflowne OP, Wolf’s Rain ED). Beginning with little but a sparsely played piano, Sakamoto’s angelic voice gradually ascends from the cold seasonal background; the song becomes a yearning, lyrical fairy tale perfectly at ease along side Kanno’s shimmering, magical sound.
Lyrics from “Kissing The Christmas Killer” (Anime Lyrics dot Com)
- I was heaven sent
Traded for the words I swore that
Every piece of me would still belong
Forever and a day
To someone who cared
Whatever there may be
Ever there may beYou came along
Now I’m going all against the
Promises that I made, and here I am
Falling for your love
Or am I lost in heaven
I don’t know any more
Don’t know any moreJudgement will be made
On a Christmas day
Hiding in the snow, he’s prying me”Toys if you’ve been good
Knives if you have not”
Better steal a kiss ‘fore I’ll be gone
I’ll be gone
The intense “The man in the desert” (4m 15secs) is from her (1st and only) solo album “Song to fly” (1998). For this song Kanno worked with the world famous Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra, fleshing out rising, grandiose themes with a sweeping, operatic sound. The result being a song that feels important and profound; at first rural, layered and confused by single instruments, yet driving ever onwards with a vital sense of hope, climaxing with the intense dueling of a choir and orchestra.
Rest assured, these two songs are but a small taste of Yoko Kanno’s rich back catalogue of diverse music. To sample it all is one of my missions in life!
MP3 & shop links
- My MP3 highlights (”Kissing The Christmas Killer”, “The man in the desert”) - 19.3MB
- JPOP Music dot com MP3 links
- Yoko Kanno at: Amazon, CDJapan
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10 Responses to “MP3 Spotlight: Yoko Kanno - Kissing The Christmas Killer”
omo Says:
February 8th, 2007 at 11:31 pm
Thanks for the highlight. Gives me a reason to pull those two discs out of the depths of my collection again.
Jesus Says:
February 9th, 2007 at 2:32 am
hmm, strange you didn’t say anything about her masterpiece "Inner Universe" and the second opening in Ghost in the shell: GIG2. The music she used in that show was simply amazing.
Martin Says:
February 10th, 2007 at 7:16 am
I must admit that Kanno is possibly my all-time favourite songwriter, bar none. The thing that amazes me most is how she can maintain a high standard of writing across so many different styles and genres - thanks to hearing her work I’ve started to appreciate a wider variety that I wouldn’t have done otherwise. Her music has managed to get a jaded rock fan such as myself listening to soothing electronica and delicate classical melodies - no mean feat, that!
@Jesus: you’re right about the SAC op themes. I’ll have to track down the full-length version of Rise now…
saturnova Says:
February 11th, 2007 at 2:53 pm
i just happened to stop by this page but i’m very glad i did. yoko kanno’s "man in the desert" is the most beautiful musical piece i’ve heard. thank you so much! i’ll be checking this blog more frequently.
bateszi Says:
February 12th, 2007 at 4:01 am
@Jesus: I figured I’d spotlight two of her lesser known songs. I love all of her work, but most already know about the likes of "Inner Universe" and "Tank!" etc.
@saturnova: You’re welcome. The first time I heard "man in the desert" I repeated it four or five times. It’s a great song, very epic and profound.
Leena Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
I’m too poor to buy the CD with Kissing the Christmas Killer on it and I’ve been using search engines to get it, but no one on kazaa, shareaza, or limewire seem to have it.
Thanks a bunch for linking it. : )
Leena Says:
June 27th, 2007 at 3:36 pm
PS
It happens to be my favourite Maaya/Yoko song, I’d downloaded it years ago on my old computer before it crashed and since I’d gotten my new one it seemed to have vanished.
Marie Says:
August 9th, 2007 at 3:35 am
im trying to download the songs u reccomended but i dont know how RAR files work (it wont open on my comp). wat program should i download to open them?
and about yoko kanno, she has made some of the most beatiful pieces i have ever heard, if not the best. i especially love “inner universe”, “cyberbird” and “i do” all from ghost in the shell S.A.C.
“Inner universe” and “cyberbird” r both very upbeat and epic-sounding, and the vocals in “i do” are so beautiful it almost made me cry (cheesy, i know). Yoko kanno is so talented and i love her music!
bateszi Says:
August 9th, 2007 at 8:53 am
@Marie: You can unpack the files with WinRAR (http://www.rarlab.com/). It’s a free program that works a lot like WinZip. Just install it then right click the Yoko Kanno RAR file you downloaded and choose to extract.
Alphonse Says:
August 18th, 2007 at 11:53 pm
thanx