Kanyenda
01-28-2018, 08:50 PM
I like to introduce the context and the history of the Anime shows' soundtracks that I share here with you all for a better understanding of the show's real intentions and what to expect from the music. In cases like this, a proper introduction is necessary because Heart Cocktail is virtually unknown out of Japan, as far as I know this series has never been subbed in English or any other language.
Seizo Watase first work as professional illustrator was Heart Cocktail (starting to be serialized in 1983), and a few years later this series began to be animated in TV. The style of Watase's illustrations is very recognizable and westernized; he usually depitcs beach scenes, restaurant and bar stories, baseball-related drawings, romantic/love stories, and most of them with ultra-stylized protagonists (nobody wears anything less than a suit or a cocktail dress). It's important to remark this, because the atmosphere of the show is crucial to understand what's the music trying to convey.
Now, it's time for the music. Although there are up to 7 soundtrack albums released for this series, there are common elements amongst them all. The predominant music style of Heart Cocktail series is JAZZ, but each volume of this series favors different subgenres of jazz music and in every album the music is always masterly executed.
Heart Cocktail Vol.1 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55818)
ハートカクテル Vol.1
MP3 320 KBPS (https://mega.nz/#!0MwXXDSK!EiLnmkm_pyjc84dWtCpqqgvr0jHRQWmcboh7I8XUVFw)
Heart Cocktail Vol.2 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55860)
ハートカクテル Vol.2
MP3 320 KBPS (https://mega.nz/#!xIp2XDxI!B_5Pb9jU1ewkBvaFl8ZSkh7U2JQr4HKiez6EDGuiMUc)
Naoya Matsuoka was the first composer of Heart Cocktail, a famous jazz and latin fusion musician in Japan. He established the sound that would define Heart Cocktail in future volumes, and damn if his music doesn't sound straight from the 80s, for the good and for the bad. I consider that the second volume is the weakest of the whole series, but the first one is plenty enjoyable in its own terms. Above all, don't forget the time when this music was created. Btw, these are the only albums with mp3 quality, not my rips.
Heart Cocktail Vol.3 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55927)
ハートカクテル Vol.3
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!VUZRRSCY!NppF2Cxa_4edI9WmYJ2dpoSdoOGvr5CRk1__9grz0bQ)
Takumi Yamamoto under the alias of TONY'S SHOW was the next composer to score this series. T.Y. didn't deviate too much from the musical roots of the two first volumes of Heart Cocktail, that is Latin-inspired pieces and lounge-ish tracks. He keeps putting more emphasis on production and mood than in musical substance, which means that most of the tracks excel in the mood department but usuallly don't develop much their ideas. All in all, a very refined album and not easy to get/buy for a reasonable price.
Heart Cocktail Vol.4 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55978)
ハートカクテル Vol.4
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!EYoDSDiA!dBrxlX0T1S8mTi77l2JutG-PtGuqbfAv_Ia4fDP_FDU)
Ken Shima is an outstanding pianist, arranger and musician. In his extensive career, his role as a composer is usually overlooked and that's a crime in my opinion, because he's incredibly talented. This guy knows all the tricks from the japan club scene (also, he was active in the US jazz scene during his first years as professional pianist) and for that reason is such a great fit for scoring a show like Heart Cocktail. In the fourth volume, Ken Shima manages to combine style with substance like no other and brings the blues and the heartfelt jazz to the Heart Cocktail world. If you'd want to give a try just one of these albums, this should be my recommendation.
Heart Cocktail Vol.5 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55992)
ハートカクテル Vol.5
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!gYY1hZwC!jqS4nNaLp2rc9IRqpdiIcn6vzDPIelpSoVHXgpuXFcg)
Heart Cocktail Vol.6 (https://vgmdb.net/album/56016)
ハートカクテル Vol.6
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!ZMoQ1LYL!3yqk1bi_PeDa7rs6s2aPsRyWI1ttpLJHL9COrxKBuIc)
Shigeaki Saegusa is a rounded composer, with orchestral inclinations. He was the last one to score the classic series and he brought something new to the table. True to the HC legacy, most of his tracks in volumes 5 & 6 are of jazzy nature, of the soft variety, but with more instrumental backing. His use of sax is remarkable too and very relaxing. Btw, these two albums were first uploaded by amish, so kudos to him.
Heart Cocktail again (https://vgmdb.net/album/58582)
ハートカクテル・アゲイン サウンドトラック
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!0NwQVB5Z!DVFGV15A3mrvtPNuyIdlzIvwckOcyu1JbShGuA7HAy8)
Naoya Matsuoka, Hiroko Kokubu, Toshiaki Otsubo, Rie Akagi, were the musicians who gave closure to this series. In 2003, a short ova was produced for the 20th anniversary of Heart Cocktail, with a few new episodes released on DVD. As for the music, they spared no expense, it's by far the best produced soundtrack of the series. All the tracks respect the series' identity, but with a more sophisticated tone and more room for development of the music ideas. Yeah, you will find a little of Bossa Nova, Blues, Synth Stylings, Piano & Strings, Latin, in this album. Music played with emotion, where the musicians can express their talents, that's what really shines here.
A splendid album to finish the journey, maybe one of my most expensive purchases ever. And I regret nothing: If good music is not to be shared with others, then for what it is.
Seizo Watase first work as professional illustrator was Heart Cocktail (starting to be serialized in 1983), and a few years later this series began to be animated in TV. The style of Watase's illustrations is very recognizable and westernized; he usually depitcs beach scenes, restaurant and bar stories, baseball-related drawings, romantic/love stories, and most of them with ultra-stylized protagonists (nobody wears anything less than a suit or a cocktail dress). It's important to remark this, because the atmosphere of the show is crucial to understand what's the music trying to convey.
Now, it's time for the music. Although there are up to 7 soundtrack albums released for this series, there are common elements amongst them all. The predominant music style of Heart Cocktail series is JAZZ, but each volume of this series favors different subgenres of jazz music and in every album the music is always masterly executed.
Heart Cocktail Vol.1 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55818)
ハートカクテル Vol.1
MP3 320 KBPS (https://mega.nz/#!0MwXXDSK!EiLnmkm_pyjc84dWtCpqqgvr0jHRQWmcboh7I8XUVFw)
Heart Cocktail Vol.2 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55860)
ハートカクテル Vol.2
MP3 320 KBPS (https://mega.nz/#!xIp2XDxI!B_5Pb9jU1ewkBvaFl8ZSkh7U2JQr4HKiez6EDGuiMUc)
Naoya Matsuoka was the first composer of Heart Cocktail, a famous jazz and latin fusion musician in Japan. He established the sound that would define Heart Cocktail in future volumes, and damn if his music doesn't sound straight from the 80s, for the good and for the bad. I consider that the second volume is the weakest of the whole series, but the first one is plenty enjoyable in its own terms. Above all, don't forget the time when this music was created. Btw, these are the only albums with mp3 quality, not my rips.
Heart Cocktail Vol.3 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55927)
ハートカクテル Vol.3
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!VUZRRSCY!NppF2Cxa_4edI9WmYJ2dpoSdoOGvr5CRk1__9grz0bQ)
Takumi Yamamoto under the alias of TONY'S SHOW was the next composer to score this series. T.Y. didn't deviate too much from the musical roots of the two first volumes of Heart Cocktail, that is Latin-inspired pieces and lounge-ish tracks. He keeps putting more emphasis on production and mood than in musical substance, which means that most of the tracks excel in the mood department but usuallly don't develop much their ideas. All in all, a very refined album and not easy to get/buy for a reasonable price.
Heart Cocktail Vol.4 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55978)
ハートカクテル Vol.4
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!EYoDSDiA!dBrxlX0T1S8mTi77l2JutG-PtGuqbfAv_Ia4fDP_FDU)
Ken Shima is an outstanding pianist, arranger and musician. In his extensive career, his role as a composer is usually overlooked and that's a crime in my opinion, because he's incredibly talented. This guy knows all the tricks from the japan club scene (also, he was active in the US jazz scene during his first years as professional pianist) and for that reason is such a great fit for scoring a show like Heart Cocktail. In the fourth volume, Ken Shima manages to combine style with substance like no other and brings the blues and the heartfelt jazz to the Heart Cocktail world. If you'd want to give a try just one of these albums, this should be my recommendation.
Heart Cocktail Vol.5 (https://vgmdb.net/album/55992)
ハートカクテル Vol.5
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!gYY1hZwC!jqS4nNaLp2rc9IRqpdiIcn6vzDPIelpSoVHXgpuXFcg)
Heart Cocktail Vol.6 (https://vgmdb.net/album/56016)
ハートカクテル Vol.6
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!ZMoQ1LYL!3yqk1bi_PeDa7rs6s2aPsRyWI1ttpLJHL9COrxKBuIc)
Shigeaki Saegusa is a rounded composer, with orchestral inclinations. He was the last one to score the classic series and he brought something new to the table. True to the HC legacy, most of his tracks in volumes 5 & 6 are of jazzy nature, of the soft variety, but with more instrumental backing. His use of sax is remarkable too and very relaxing. Btw, these two albums were first uploaded by amish, so kudos to him.
Heart Cocktail again (https://vgmdb.net/album/58582)
ハートカクテル・アゲイン サウンドトラック
FLAC (https://mega.nz/#!0NwQVB5Z!DVFGV15A3mrvtPNuyIdlzIvwckOcyu1JbShGuA7HAy8)
Naoya Matsuoka, Hiroko Kokubu, Toshiaki Otsubo, Rie Akagi, were the musicians who gave closure to this series. In 2003, a short ova was produced for the 20th anniversary of Heart Cocktail, with a few new episodes released on DVD. As for the music, they spared no expense, it's by far the best produced soundtrack of the series. All the tracks respect the series' identity, but with a more sophisticated tone and more room for development of the music ideas. Yeah, you will find a little of Bossa Nova, Blues, Synth Stylings, Piano & Strings, Latin, in this album. Music played with emotion, where the musicians can express their talents, that's what really shines here.
A splendid album to finish the journey, maybe one of my most expensive purchases ever. And I regret nothing: If good music is not to be shared with others, then for what it is.