Back catalogue: Soundtracks

Review: Joe Hisaishi's latest release offers a compelling fusion of classical and cinematic music. The compositions, originally crafted for film soundtracks, are reimagined with orchestral arrangements that breathe new life into the pieces. The album showcases Hisaishi's signature style, blending emotive melodies with intricate orchestration. Listeners are treated to a rich auditory experience that highlights the depth and versatility of Hisaishi's work.

Review: Guy Ritchie's multi-award winning 2015 movie The Man From U.N.C.L.E. was a new take on the hit 1960s television series of the same name. The music is part of what makes it great and it comes from Ivor Novello-winning and multi-BAFTA nominated composer Daniel Pemberton. His music mixes super relaxing lounge instrumentals taking in element sou jazz and swing with some stone cold classics like Roberta Flack's 'Compared To What' and Nina Simone gem 'Take Care Of Business.' This double vinyl package contains a four page booklet and is limited to 1000 copies.

Review: Anime has long been a source of incredibly creative ambient soundtrack music for generations of Japanese artists. 1997's Princess Mononoke is one of esteemed anime company Studio Ghibli most accomplished and notorious work, with a lush and symphonic soundtrack to match. The film has recently been made available on Netflix and now the music gets its own release with beautiful artwork. It was written by Joe Hisaishi and this edition was actually recorded ahead of the soundtrack itself and was solely based on notes by director Hayao Miyazaki on how he wanted the music to sound.

Review: Studio Ghibli's entire series of scores reissues continues with this new one of the OST for The Wind Rises. One of few, if the only biographical Ghibli film out there, the sublime anime tells the story of the life of Jiro Horikoshi, the designer of the first ever low-wing monoplane flighter aircraft to enter service in war. Noted for its emotional heaviness (perhaps even more so than many of Ghibli's more surreal works), this is an effect markedly achieved by in-house composer Joe Hisiashi, whose simple statement of just eight songs hears him make use of tremolo'ing strings, accordions, symphonic structures and sad string plods.

Review: Master composer Joe Hisaish has a vast discography or works that have made him one of the best in the game. The Orchestra Stories Soundtrack was done for the Studio Ghibli animated Japanese classic My Neighbor Totoro and this edition has been fully remastered. The album is narrated by Shigesato Itoi as the father and the music has been newly arranged for those who are exposed to an orchestra for the first time. It comes in two parts - the first with the narration introducing the orchestra and all its parts and the second as a full suite without the narration.

Review: It is at this point a given that every Joe Hisiashi / Studio Ghibli soundtrack should land on our doorsteps. Hayao Miyazaki's latest film, The Boy And The Heron, is the very latest anime fantasy film to be released through the esteemed film franchise; described as a 'big, fantastical film', it follows a boy named Mahito Maki who moves to the countryside after his mother's death, discovers an abandoned tower near his new home, and enters a fantastical world with a talking grey heron. Whereas many of Hisiashi's other soundtracks deal in wide variegations of whimsy and heart-warmth, The Boy And The Heron skews purely to the latter, working in the bare but endlessly affecting mode of solo piano, and evoking the lonely but ultimately revelatory internal process that occurs during grief. Befitting of Miyazaki's controversial decision for the film not to pander to audiences or spell out meanings, so too does Hisiashi's contribution find reams of expression in a spare, single instrument.

Review: Joe Hisiashi's incredible career as the scorer for all of Studio Ghibli's animated films (among other endeavours) has lent him an almost godlike status in the world of film music composition. Now, what better way to celebrate is there than to have him stop by for a unique 'versions' release of all the main themes from his scored films, and release them on a well-known indie label? A Symphonic Celebration hears Hisiashi revisit and recompose all the main themes from the likes of The Wind Rises, Mononoke and Spirited Away, putting fresh ears on his spirited, lifelong collaboration with director Hayao Miyazaki.