Category: Music

If you enjoy progressive rock and if you have work to do, under no circumstances visit Prog Archives. I just discovered that the site now has embedded players that let you listen to examples by the musicians discussed — entire pieces, too, not just twenty-second samples. Earlier I heard The Strawbs’ “Hero and Heroine” and “Benedictus” for the first time since my tape player died, and I’m listening to electronic music like Kraftwerk and Tangerine Dream right now. I had plans for the evening, too.

There’s about three and a half hours of Halloween left here, so let’s have a spooky tune. Here’s the opening theme of Ghost Hound, “Poltergeist” by Mayumi Kojima, I have no idea what the lyrics say, but the music tells you all you need to know.

(This would ordinarily go on my other weblog, but I suspect that I’m more likely to find knowledgeable musicians among the visitors here.)

One of the many distinctions of the eccentric anime Oh! Edo Rocket is the soundtrack. It’s mostly swing. Yusuke Homma (or Honma) is credited as the composer. A friend says that Homma didn’t merely use the big band numbers as models but plagiarized the tunes. Although much of the soundtrack sounds familiar to my ears, I don’t quite recognize any particular melodies. My knowledge of that musical era is slight, however, so I’m wondering if Homma can really claim to have written the music.

Here are three of the numbers, “Swing,”, “Laid Back” and “Matsuri.” Have you heard these before?

… sounds best on ukuleles.