On the playlist, or anime soundtrack mania!

I was glued to my TV set when [adult swim] aired Death Note and Serei no Moribito, and I’ve since acquired both series on DVD. After watching them again — multiple times in the case of Moribito — I developed a hankering to listen to the music.

The Evil Sharing Networks provided, and for most of the month of June, my playlist was dominated by Kawai Kenji, Taniuchi Hideki and Hirano Hirohisa. I barely paid attention to anything else.

And honestly — I think they’ll continue to dominate so long as new releases in 2010 continue to be a wash.

  • ASIAN KUNG-FU GENERATION, Magic Disc It’s not World World World, but at least it’s not Surf Bungaku Kamakura.
  • Art of Noise, Influence I so wished the b-sides from In Visible Silence were included, because how many remixes of "Moments of Love" does the world really need?
  • Chicanery, Chicanery Ex-Duran Duran guitarist Warren Cuccurullo — the one who joined only once — reaches back to his days as Frank Zappa’s guitarist to craft some pretty dissonant dance rock.
  • David Lang, the little match girl passion Art of Noise’s Anne Dudley recorded an album titled Ancient and Modern, which would be an apt description of this post-minimalist choir piece, a Pulitzer Prize winner.
  • iLL, I tried to listen to iLL’s albums and didn’t make it through. I made it through this one, if only because the collaborations kept Nakako in check.
  • Janelle Monáe, The ArchAndroid Yeah, I’m sticking with Metropolis: The Chase Suite.
  • Kawai Kenji, Serei no Moribito Ongakuhen 1 and Serei no Morito Ongakuhen 2 For me, a sign of a good soundtrack is one that can stand apart from its film material, which the soundtrack to Serei no Moribito does very well.
  • Kizuki Minami, Kana ~Itoshiki Hito yo~ Pony Canyon attempts to ride Hajime Chitose’s coattails. Key word: attempt.
  • Kylie Minogue, Aphrodite Perfect for the gym, of course, but X had more hooks.
  • lostage, LOSTAGE Like unkie and LOSALIOS with vocals.
  • Natalie Merchant, Leave Your Sleep I’m no fan of Natalie Merchant’s solo work, but she really stretches on this two-disc set, which has a diverse enough material not to sound labored over that entire length.
  • So Percussion/Matmos, Treasure State Haven’t listened to this one yet because as much as I like So Percussion, I’ve not warmed up to Matmos.
  • SPITZ, Sazanami CD I was under the wrong impression production work by Kameda Seiji would toughen up the band.
  • Taniuchi Hideki/Hirano Hirohisa, DEATH NOTE original soundtrack (all three volumes) Are these the missing albums from downy?
  • Timothy Andres, Shy and Mighty I think the only parts of this piano duo album that register are the ones that sound like Wayne Horvitz.
  • Toni Childs, Union This album sounds a lot better than I remember it.
  • Various Artists, Friday Night Lights, Original Television Soundtrack, Vol. 2 The program of this soundtrack is like a great mixed tape, but I think the 45 seconds of W. Snuffy Walden’s Explosions in the Sky imitation is worth the price of an entire album download.