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.
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.
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| 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). © Cinema-kan © Toei Company, Ltd. © Toho Co., Ltd. © Toho Music Corporation © Brandon O'Brian |
I also picked up some non-Japanese releases last year as well. Two were Les Baxter scores released by Kritzerland, Sadismo (KR 20017-0) and Marco Polo (KR 20019-1). The former of which was one I've been wanting to grab since I heard a good deal of the album back in 2012. It's now my second all-time favorite score. For those wondering, my absolute all-time favorite score is surprisingly not Japanese, being Mark Mancina's "Twister" (1996).
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| Sadismo (KR 20017-0) and Marco Polo (KR 20019-1). © Kritzerland © MGM © Brandon O'Brian |
Of course, other Japanese labels released some great stuff as well, most of which are also buried in my lengthy wish list. One release I was happy to obtain was Three Shells' Akira Ifukube 100th Anniversary Concert Vol. 5 (3SCD-0037). It won't be showing up on my blog, but I do highly recommend it.
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| Daimajin Original Soundtrack (CINK-27-28-29) and Akira Ifukube 100th Anniversary Concert Vol. 5 (3SCD-0037). © Cinema-kan © Three Shells © Kadokawa © Brandon O'Brian |
I also picked up a release from Intrada, Rocket Gibraltar (ISC 411), composed by Andrew Powell. It's an absolutely breathtaking score, and I'm glad to have it in my collection. Lastly, I was given a copy of Fanderson's Doppelgänger (FAND022).
2019 has been off to a great start with the purchase of another non-Japanese release, La-La Land Records' mammoth seven disc box set, Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection (LLLCD 1476). They are some of my favorite scores from John Williams, and words cannot express how amazing the set is! As for Japanese releases, I recently picked up Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works First Collection - Oda Nobunaga/Oda Nobunaga: Honnō-ji Incident (VPCD-81153), the first of four volumes featuring scores from Kabuki theater productions composed by Akira Ifukube. I'm looking forward to obtaining the remaining three volumes.
2019 has been off to a great start with the purchase of another non-Japanese release, La-La Land Records' mammoth seven disc box set, Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection (LLLCD 1476). They are some of my favorite scores from John Williams, and words cannot express how amazing the set is! As for Japanese releases, I recently picked up Akira Ifukube Stage Music Complete Works First Collection - Oda Nobunaga/Oda Nobunaga: Honnō-ji Incident (VPCD-81153), the first of four volumes featuring scores from Kabuki theater productions composed by Akira Ifukube. I'm looking forward to obtaining the remaining three volumes.
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| Harry Potter - The John Williams Soundtrack Collection (LLLCD 1476). © La-La Land Records © Warner Bros. Entertainment © Warner Music Group © Brandon O'Brian |
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| 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. © Brandon O'Brian |
As for potential Japanese CD releases for this year, some I'm hoping for:
Akira Ifukube's Sakuma Dam Trilogy (1954 - 1957) [my Holy Grail (provided that the tapes are still extant)], "Whale God" (1962) [this one needs a serious restoration and reissue] and "Adventure in Kigan Castle" (1966) [or any unreleased Ifukube score for that matter].
Ikuma Dan's "Madame White Snake" (1956).
Riichiro Manabe's "The Militarists" (1970).
Toshiaki Tsushima's "The Magic Serpent" (1966) and "Deathquake" (1980).
I'm certainly looking forward for what is to come this year, both collecting future releases as well as past releases. Anyway, I've been digressing way too much here! It's time to get on with the actual topic.
Akira Ifukube's Sakuma Dam Trilogy (1954 - 1957) [my Holy Grail (provided that the tapes are still extant)], "Whale God" (1962) [this one needs a serious restoration and reissue] and "Adventure in Kigan Castle" (1966) [or any unreleased Ifukube score for that matter].
Ikuma Dan's "Madame White Snake" (1956).
Riichiro Manabe's "The Militarists" (1970).
Toshiaki Tsushima's "The Magic Serpent" (1966) and "Deathquake" (1980).
I'm certainly looking forward for what is to come this year, both collecting future releases as well as past releases. Anyway, I've been digressing way too much here! It's time to get on with the actual topic.
Blog Update (01/30/19)
With all of that out of the way, it's time to talk about the blog updates. For a while now, I've been correcting errors and revising track lists for several albums as well as tweaking the overall blog. However, the greatest change to the blog is one I'm overjoyed with and one I've spent over 48 consecutive hours working on. Now that it's complete, I'm pleased to announce that blog posts now have photo galleries of my copies of the albums featured!
This new addition to my blog posts will provide the reader with a look at these albums as I received them through my perspective. All past posts from 2018, starting with Akira Ifukube: Nikkatsu Film Music Complete Works (3SCD-0032), have been updated with the photo galleries. The only exceptions are two CD News posts as I've yet to purchase copies of them, and all posts prior to 2018 as I no longer have copies of those albums.
Anyway, I'm excited about the new addition of the photo galleries, and I hope you'll enjoy taking a look at these albums through my eyes! Have a great day and happy collecting!
With all of that out of the way, it's time to talk about the blog updates. For a while now, I've been correcting errors and revising track lists for several albums as well as tweaking the overall blog. However, the greatest change to the blog is one I'm overjoyed with and one I've spent over 48 consecutive hours working on. Now that it's complete, I'm pleased to announce that blog posts now have photo galleries of my copies of the albums featured!
This new addition to my blog posts will provide the reader with a look at these albums as I received them through my perspective. All past posts from 2018, starting with Akira Ifukube: Nikkatsu Film Music Complete Works (3SCD-0032), have been updated with the photo galleries. The only exceptions are two CD News posts as I've yet to purchase copies of them, and all posts prior to 2018 as I no longer have copies of those albums.
Anyway, I'm excited about the new addition of the photo galleries, and I hope you'll enjoy taking a look at these albums through my eyes! Have a great day and happy collecting!
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