End of Year Blog Update for 2019

Happy New Year!

Before I get to the blog update, I hope everyone had a great Christmas! I can't believe it's already New Year's Eve! 2019 certainly came and went quickly. Having said that, i hope you had a great year and I wish everyone a Happy New Year!

Bewitched Love of Madame White Original Soundtrack (CINK-93-94)

© Cinema-kan
© Toho Co., Ltd.
© Toho Music Corporation

Description:

Remastered reissue of the score to Shiro Toyoda's "Bewitched Love of Madame White" (06/22/1956 [Roadshow], 07/05/1956). Disc 1 features the score its entirety. Disc 2 features unedited cues as initially recorded, unused takes, sound effects and more. Bonus tracks (on disc 2) include music from three additional films (two of which never had music released before) scored by Ikuma Dan. Music by Ikuma Dan. Both discs are in mono.

Anokoro Film Soundtrack Series: Vessel of Sand Film Original Music Collection (SOST-3014)

© Shochiku Records
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.
© Shochiku Music Publishing Co., Ltd.

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Yoshitarō Nomura's police procedural "Vessel of Sand" (10/19/1974). This is the first of five volumes in Shochiku Records' Anokoro Film Soundtrack Series. Also released in commemoration of the film's 40th anniversary. Bonus material includes unedited material used for "Fate". Music composed by Mitsuaki Kanno. Piano performed by Kanno. All music is in stereo except for tracks 10 - 13 and 15, which are in mono.

Chase the Killer Original Soundtrack (CINK-17)

© Cinema-kan
© Nikkatsu Corporation

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Masuo Maeda's "Chase the Killer" (10/24/1962). Bonus material includes unused cues. Music composed by Kunio Miyauchi. All music is in mono.

Legend of Dinosaurs · Monster Birds Original Soundtrack (CINK-76)

© Cinema-kan
© Toei Company, Ltd.
© Toei Music Publishing Co., Ltd.
© Tokuma Japan Communications Co., Ltd.

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Junji Kurata's science fiction monster film "Legend of Dinosaurs · Monster Birds" (04/29/1977). Bonus material include stereo sound sources, outtakes and sound effects in pseudo stereo. Music composed by Masao Yagi. All music is in mono except for tracks 18 - 21 and 26 - 29, which are in stereo.

Battles Without Honor and Humanity Original Soundtracks (CINK-53-54-55)

© Cinema-kan
© Toei Company, Ltd.
© Toei Music Publishing Co., Ltd.
Photo: © Brandon O'Brian

Description:

Deluxe box set featuring the premiere release of the scores from Kinji Fukasaku's Battles Without Honor and Humanity Pentalogy (1973 - 1974) on three discs:

Disc 1:
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity" (01/13/1973)
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Hiroshima Deathmatch" (04/28/1973)

Disc 2:
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Proxy War" (09/29/1973)
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Top Operation" (01/15/1974)

Disc 3:
"Battles Without Honor and Humanity: Concluding Chapter" (06/29/1974)

In addition to the five scores, the set includes a wealth of bonus material, including outtakes and record album material, spread out across the three discs. Music composed by Toshiaki Tsushima. Disc 1 is in mono except for tracks 50 - 53, which are in stereo. The entirety of disc 2 is in mono. Disc 3 is in mono except for tracks 18 - 27 and 39 - 45, which are in stereo.

Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works Fourth Collection - The Tale of Zatoichi/Yanagi (VPCD-81156)

© VAP
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.
© Show Biz Studio Co., Ltd.

Description:

This is the fourth and final volume in a four volume series titled Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works, which features scores from New Kabuki theater productions composed by Akira Ifukube. This volume features the scores from "The Tale of Zatoichi" (09/02/1972 - 09/25/1972) and "Yanagi" (04/02/1968 - 04/29/1968).

"The Tale of Zatoichi" starred Shintaro Katsu as Zatoichi and was produced by Kiyokata Saruwaka and Toshio Okumura (Shintaro Katsu). The production was held at the Meiji-za in Tokyo, Japan.

"Yanagi" starred Minosuke Bando (Mitsugoro Bando IX) as Yanagi and was produced by Daisuke Ito. The production was held at the Shin Kabuki-za in Osaka, Japan.

Music by Akira Ifukube. All music is in mono.

Hunchback Man Ghost Story Original Soundtrack (CINK-31)

© Cinema-kan
© Toei Company, Ltd.

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Hajime Sato's horror film "Hunchback Man Ghost Story" (08/01/1965). Bonus material includes an outtake. Music composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi. All music is in mono.

Great Insect War Original Soundtrack (CINK-9)

© Cinema-kan
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Kazui Nihonmatsu's science fiction horror film "Great Insect War" (11/09/1968), also known as "Genocide" or "Genocide: War of the Insects". Bonus material includes a percussion overlay and the trailer music. Music composed by Shunsuke Kikuchi. All music is in mono.

Prince of the Sun: Horus' Great Adventure Original Soundtrack (CINK-88-89)

© Cinema-kan
© Toei Animation Co., Ltd.
© Toei Music Publishing Co., Ltd.

Description:

Remastered reissue of the score to Isao Takahata's animated masterpiece "Prince of the Sun: Horus' Great Adventure" (07/21/1968). Disc 1 features the film's score and disc 2 features a great wealth of bonus material. Music composed by Michio Mamiya. Score recorded in 1966 and 1968. All music is in mono.

Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works Third Collection - New Snow: Nanbuzaka/The Last Shogun: Tokugawa Yoshinobu (VPCD-81155)

© VAP
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.
© Show Biz Studio Co., Ltd.

Description:

This is the third in a four volume series titled Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works, which features scores from New Kabuki theater productions composed by Akira Ifukube. This volume features the scores from "New Snow: Nanbuzaka" (09/02/1976 - 09/27/1976) and "The Last Shogun: Tokugawa Yoshinobu" (08/03/1969 - 08/29/1969).

"New Snow: Nanbuzaka" starred Kinnosuke Yorozuya (Kinnosuke Nakamura) as Ōishi Kuranosuke and was produced by Daisuke Ito. The production was held at the Misono-za in Nagoya, Japan.

"The Last Shogun: Tokugawa Yoshinobu" starred Kinnosuke Nakamura as Hitotsubashi Yoshinobu (Tokugawa Yoshinobu) and was produced by Daisuke Ito. The production was held at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, Japan.

Music by Akira Ifukube. All music is in mono.

Blog Update: Updated the Posts for the Akira Ifukube Unreleased Film Music Complete Works Series

Hello everyone! I hope all of my U.S. readers had a good Independence Day. Mine was pleasant, albeit uneventful. While I've made small tweaks to the blog's overall appearance, I recently finished making major changes to six of my early blog posts, which I will detail here.

Great Prophecies of Nostradamus Original Soundtrack (CINK-74-75)

© Cinema-kan
© Toho Co., Ltd.
© Toho Music Corporation

Description:

Remastered reissue of the score to Toshio Masuda's "Great Prophecies of Nostradamus" (08/03/1974). Disc 1 features the original LP album plus additional stereo material and disc 2 features the complete monaural score. Bonus tracks (all on disc 2) include an outtake, cues without synthesizer overlays, additional mono material and stereo singles. Music by Isao Tomita. Disc 1 is in stereo. Disc two is in mono except for tracks 41 and 42, which are in stereo.

Mysterious Star Gorath Original Soundtrack (CINK-72-73)

© Cinema-kan
© Toho Co., Ltd.
© Toho Music Corporation

Description:

Remastered reissue of the score to Ishiro Honda's "Mysterious Star Gorath" (03/21/1962). Disc 1 features the complete score in mono (possibly the first time on CD [see Additional Notes]) and disc 2 features the score in stereo. Bonus material includes outtakes, film edits and trailer music on disc 1 and music from additional films scored by Kan Ishii on disc 2. Music by Kan Ishii. Trailer music on disc 1 (track 50) features material composed by Akira Ifukube and Ikuma Dan. Disc 1 is in mono except for track 50, which is partially in stereo. Disc two is in stereo except for tracks 37 - 42, which are in mono.

Yagyu Clan Conspiracy Original Soundtrack (CINK-60-61)

© Cinema-kan
© Toei Company, Ltd.
© Toei Music Publishing Co., Ltd.

Description:

Premiere release of the scores to Kinji Fukasaku's "Yagyu Clan Conspiracy" (01/21/1978) and the television series of the same name (10/03/1978 - 06/26/1979). Bonus material, all for the film score on disc 1, include unused cues and selected tracks from the original LP album. Music by Toshiaki Tsushima. All music is in mono except for tracks 17 - 25 of disc one, which are in stereo.

Lady with Seven Faces Original Soundtrack (CINK-59)

© Cinema-kan
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.
© Watanabe Music Publishing Co., Ltd.
© Nippon Crown Co., Ltd.

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Yoichi Maeda's action-comedy "Lady with Seven Faces" (06/21/1969). Bonus material include songs and outtakes. Music by Katsuhisa Hattori. All music is in mono.

Toru Fuyuki - World of Picture Music Series Vol. 1: "Mandara" Music Collection (3SCD-0042)

© Three Shells
© ATG

Description:

Premiere release of the score (from the recently discovered master tapes) to Akio Jissoji's beautifully crafted "Mandara" (Art Theatre Guild, 09/11/1971). The film stars Koji Shimizu, Akiko Mori, Ryo Tamura, Hiroko Sakurai and Shin Kishida. Bonus material on the album include a number of unused cues and outtakes, as well as cue calls by Toru Fuyuki. Music by Toru Fuyuki. All music is in stereo except for tracks 16 and 19, which are partially in mono, and tracks 17 and 34 which are entirely in mono.

The Combined Fleet Original Soundtrack (CINK-65-66)

© Cinema-kan
© Polystar Co., Ltd.
© Toho Co., Ltd.
© Toho Music Corporation

Description:

Premiere release of the score to Shuei Matsubayashi's epic war drama "The Combined Fleet", A.K.A. "The Imperial Navy" (08/08/1981). Disc 1 features the score in mono, with disc 2 featuring surviving stereo elements and additional mono material. Music by Katsuhisa Hattori and Shinji Tanimura. The entirety of disc 1 and tracks 30 - 39 of disc 2 are in mono.

Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works Second Collection - Hangyakuji/Chivalry · Kiso Highway: Shinsan Nakanori (VPCD-81154)

© VAP
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.
© Show Biz Studio Co., Ltd.

Description:

This is the second in a four volume series titled Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works, which features scores from New Kabuki theater productions composed by Akira Ifukube. This volume features the scores from "Hangyakuji" (10/01/1971 - 10/27/1971) and "Chivalry · Kiso Highway: Shinsan Nakanori" (09/02/1975 - 09/27/1975). 

"Hangyakuji" starred Kinnosuke Nakamura as Saburo Nobuyasu (Matsudaira Nobuyasu) and was produced by Daisuke Ito. The production was held at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, Japan.

"Chivalry · Kiso Highway: Shinsan Nakanori" starred Katsuo Nakamura as Shinsan Nakanori and was produced by Daisuke Ito. The production was held at the Misono-za in Nagoya, Japan.

 Music by Akira Ifukube. All music is in mono.

Blog Update: Photo Galleries!

Happy (Belated) New Year!

I hope everyone had a wonderful 2018! I certainly had a great year. Some great releases were released last year, with some fantastic reissues and premiere releases from my favorite label, Cinema-kan. I was absolutely thrilled with their releases of The Naughty Prince's Orochi Slaying Original Soundtrack (CINK-51-52), Giant Monster Varan Original Soundtrack (CINK-56-57) and Space Monster Dogora Original Soundtrack (CINK-58). They released other fantastic albums last year, which are on my lengthy wish list. On the bright side, I managed to pick up some of their releases from previous years that I had been wanting. The most noteworthy of which is Daimajin Original Soundtrack (CINK-27-28-29). I'm grateful that I finally had the opportunity to pick it up, as it had been high on my wish list since it was released back in 2017.

Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works First Collection - Oda Nobunaga/Oda Nobunaga: Honnō-ji Incident (VPCD-81153)

© VAP
© Shochiku Co., Ltd.
© Show Biz Studio Co., Ltd.

Description:

This is the first in a four volume series titled Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works, which features scores from New Kabuki theater productions composed by Akira Ifukube. This volume features the scores from "Oda Nobunaga" (06/02/1966 - 06/28/1966) and "Oda Nobunaga: Honnō-ji Incident" (06/06/1967 - 06/30/1967). Both productions starred Kinnosuke Nakamura as Oda Nobunaga and were produced by Daisuke Ito. The productions were held at the Kabuki-za in Tokyo, Japan. Music by Akira Ifukube. All music is in mono.