It’s our 600th post! I laugh in the face of Hugh, who thought he could snatch the mystical cup of victory from my grasp and partake in the sweet nectar within. But I foiled him, and now my I stand proudly over his carcass, my foot triumphantly placed on his head. But I’ll share the nectar with him, I GUESS.

Considering this monumental moment in either/or’s history, it’s only fitting that some equally monumental music accompany it. This piece featured in Darren Aronofsky’s critically divided film The Fountain. Personally, I liked it, but it’s not the kind of film you go and watch for cheery happy times: this piece will certainly demonstrate that. The film deals with death, loss, life and life beyond, and it’s all wonderfully encapsulated in this rather haunting piece.

Anyway, here’s to more either/or! See you at 700.

It seems that Hayao Miyazaki has been creating brilliant films for a dang long time now. This is the theme song for his directorial debut, The Castle of Cagliostro, an entry in the long running series about the master thief known as Lupin III. It came out in 1979, and has a charming, James Bond style aesthetic to it. I am quite the fan of the intro motif, which is repeated throughout. The film itself is supremely brilliant too: it was said that Spielberg was amazed by this car chase scene. And if its good enough for Spielberg, it should sure as hell be good enough for you!

Well, it’s been a while since we’ve featured the music of Joe Hisaishi, and since I’ve just started playing the excellent Ni No Kuni, what better excuse could there be? Were I somewhat more trained in the technical know how of music, I could probably tell you what makes Hisaishi’s scores so iconic and vivid, but I’m not so you’ll just have to enjoy the beauty of it without the lecture!

So I’ve been having a James Bond marathon lately, and I remembered just how interesting the GoldenEye soundtrack was. Granted, it was kind of panned back in the day (though the film itself wasn’t), owing to its rather radical departure from the bombastic brass and strings which were standard fare for the series until that point. But if there’s one thing that Serra’s soundtrack did (and you can hear it in this track), it was to give the film a very Russian feel. Given that the film deals with a lot of Russian stuff, this is a pretty good thing!

I could wax lyrical about the awe-inspiring beauty of this planet and well, I’m going to! This piece comes from Planet Earth, a BBC documentary series that came out in 2006. If you only ever see one nature related documentary series in your lifetime, make it this one: it’s filled with all manner of gorgeous visuals that capture the utter brilliance and majesty of this little blue planet that we inhabit. Sucks to be any other planet without life on it, I can tell you that.

2012 marks the 50 year anniversary of the James Bond film series. Seeing as how that’s a damn impressive milestone, and the fact that I’m a massive fan, what better way to celebrate it than doing a post about that iconic theme music? Well, there’s probably far better ways to celebrate, but it’s the best we can do. Beyond living my life vicariously as James Bond, anyway. Which I don’t do. Because that’d be silly. R-right?

The surf rock style guitar riff that defines the theme has almost transcended the character himself, but its combination with the bold brass elements cements the reputation. No matter how many films that come about claiming to be ‘Bond-esque’, none will ever match what the Bond films offer. This theme is one of many reasons why that’s the case. Shaken, not stirred indeed!

For the sake of those that haven’t seen it, I’ll not spoil the scene that this piece plays in, but if you’re even remotely familiar with the concept to the film, the name of it should give it away. Whoops! Oh well, let’s just move on.

This is one of the most fantastically composed pieces attached to a specific film scene that I’ve heard in a very long time. Throughout the film, the underlying theme is built up in various forms, each related to the specific, er, situations, that the lead character grapples with. It finally reaches the climactic scene, and the theme is finally given a chance to explode with a desperate intensity before coming to an abrupt, relieved halt. It’s a wonderfully exhilarating composition, combining a lone guitar with all sorts of ambient darkness before the drums and strings kick in to carry it all to the end.

Aww heck, this post has turned into MUSICAL THEORY.

There’s something I love about a lot of Japanese music, and I may have already said this: it focuses very much on a strong melody. To this end, they tend to be quite catchy, and this tune is certainly no slouch in that department! Unless you’ve played Metal Slug 5, you may not have heard this track before: it continues on from Tanaka’s work on Metal Slug 4, what with its driving beat and the call and response between the old-fashioned, twangy guitars, and the saxophones. Yay video games!

A rather interesting mix of styles, this one: it blends folk with country-twang, underscored by a rather brutal electronic beat. And it sounds excellent as a result! This track featured on the end credits to the indie game Bastion (well worth checking out). The game has a wonderful, folktale-esque style throughout, with all the player’s actions narrated by a gravelly voiced storyteller. This track (and the rest of the tunes on the soundtrack) match the feel perfectly, giving it a rugged, frontier-time flavoured sound.

Without spoiling too much (and shame on you if you haven’t seen it), Spirited Away is about a girl finding herself trapped in the world of spirits. Produced by Studio Ghibli (My Neighbour Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service, Princess Mononoke), Joe Hisaishi’s score for the film is absolutely stunning (as is all his work for the studio). There’s something about the music for Ghibli films that feels so very different to the standard fare that accompanies most animated films. This track is a great example: this music defines the scene in which Chihiro begins the transition to the world of the spirits, a scene that also has her discovering that her parents have transformed into grotesque pigs. Rather than a piece that accentuates the horror and action of the scene, the music instead deals more with Chihiro’s helplessness as she is overwhelmed by the situation. It’s poignant, sad and just a little bit frightening all at the same time!