Joe Hisaishi – Kiseki No Ringo (FLAC)

conducted by The Composer
Tadashi Aoyama, mandolin
Mikihiko Matsumiya, guitar and ukulele
Ikuo Kakehashi, Jew’s harp

FLAC. English track titles and scans included. NOT MY RIP. All the gratitude in the world to my Japanese friend who wishes to remain anonymous but who hopes you’re enjoying the music.

https://mega.co.nz/#!c8gDxLqC!WsySeVk7T1otT_VHa9_fqR1hGr5RYN6jZDdEWjm rabk

A million apologies for how long it’s taken to get this up! Hopefully it’ll be worth the wait.

What do we have here, then? Well, for starters, an absolutely KILLER theme – and that’s bearing in mind Hisaishi’s skill as a melodist. We first hear it in the first track as a trumpet solo – a cheerful melody calling back to Hisaishi’s early Ghibli work (splashes of Totoro and Laputa) that expands out into a lovely pastoral piece for full orchestra. Nobody, truly nobody, can score a beautiful sunny day like Hisaishi. You can feel the warmth and taste the apples. There is a significant role for mandolin, guitar, and ukulele (unusual for Hisaishi) which blends with the orchestra beautifully, and if you’re wondering what that weird springy noise is… that’s the Jew’s harp! (Which, incidentally, is nothing to do with Jews or Judaism, and is in fact an instrument native to the Asian continent.)

As is usually the case with film scores, the cues are short, with over half the tracks coming in under two minutes and only five tracks over three minutes… but it’s Hisaishi, and he says what he needs to say in the time he has to say it. The short cues feel just long enough – and the album plays beautifully as a complete listening experience; ignore the tracks flicking past and imagine it’s an episodic symphony divided up into 28 parts.

It’s youthful, it’s happy, it’s joyous. I admit I didn’t really enjoy it the first time I listened… but then I listened to it on a gorgeous summer’s afternoon, relaxing with a glass of good cider, with the sun pouring down… and then it all made sense.

Coming up… we’ve heard Hisaishi’s ode to sunshine… later on, we’ll hear his ode to the sea…

Enjoy 🙂
TT