Yoko Kanno (and The Seatbelts) -- Cowboy Bebop Blue

9/10

I don't know why I decided on Cowboy Bebop. When the first DVD hit the new releases rack at Babbage's (that's what GameStop used to be called), I felt some strange impulse, and spent the tiny amount of expendable income I had on Session 1, which featured the 26-episode show's first six episodes. I watched all six episodes that night, and was immediately hooked on the stylish anime's blend of drama, action, and comedy, its combination of breeziness and weight, its unbelievable sense of noir cool, and its stellar, jazz-centric soundtrack. I spent the better part of the summer of 2001 spending all my disposable income on Cowboy Bebop DVD's, going to the mall earlier than I ever have in my life to pick up the final "session" when it was released that July. That final DVD cost $35 (BEFORE TAX!) that should have probably gone to my rent. Session 6 was more expensive because Babbage's didn't have it, and I was forced to buy it from...sigh...Sam Goody. The mall has it all.

Needless to say, those final episodes didn't disappoint. Cowboy Bebop is about as perfect as 26-episodes of a show can be. I've gone through Bebop countless times since. It's always incredible. I don't see how the upcoming live-action Netflix remake is going to measure up. At least that remake's got one thing going for it, though--original show composer, Yoko Kanno, is returning to compose (and likely help perform) the score.

The brilliant Japanese composer's work for Cowboy Bebop is now legendary, and deservedly so. As soon as I finished watching Session 6, I wanted to purchase the OST's (fancy acronym for a soundtrack), but...well, at that point, I was essentially broke for the year (solidarity with the Bebop crew!). Thankfully, I was going to stay at my parents' house over Christmas break, so I asked them to get me a Cowboy Bebop soundtrack as a gift. Of course, there were many Cowboy Bebop soundtracks, so I thought hard about which one I wanted most...and settled upon Cowboy Bebop Blue. 

Blue features many of Cowboy Bebop's songs that feature vocals, including the final episode's ending theme, "Blue." "Blue" is a highly emotional and building track, bringing to mind and heart feelings of ascendance at death. Fittingly, it kicks off this album. What follows is an eclectic hodgepodge of musical selections from throughout the show's run. 

You've got two moody, atmospheric, acoustic rock tracks sung by The New York Dolls' Steve Conte, "Words That We Couldn't Say" and "Call Me Call Me." You've got jazzy instrumentals like "Autumn in Ganymede" and "N.Y. Rush" with no vocals, and others like "Mushroom Hunting" with some zany vocal stuff happening. Also, whoever played bass on this album, I'm guessing the bass player for The Seatbelts, the knockout jazz band Kanno put together to score this show, is a bass ninja. His playing is so nimble and sure-footed and active. He is my bass idol. Holy cow.

You've got many jazz adjacent genres reflected here. "The Real Man" is an awesome, intense D&B piece, which yet again show's how incredible The Seatbelts bass player is. You've got supper weird electronic-leaning pieces like "Chicken Bone," or a completely straight classical operatic version of "Ave Maria." There's some standard jazz ballad pieces like "Adieu" and "Flying Teapot." You've even got what amounts to a melancholy, wistful, French café song in personal favorite of mine, "Wo Qui Non Coin," sung with a sad, whimsical flair by Japanese voice actress for Ed, Aoi Tada. My personal favorite here is the slow, mournful, yet optimistic, like snow on a sunny winter morning "Farewell Blues," which I listened to on repeat that Christmas break, particularly on New Years Night, when LSU beat Illinois in the Sugar Bowl and it snowed (in South Louisiana).

Much like the show, Blue throws together a bunch of disparate elements that shouldn't work, but do. Take note that the show's opening and closing themes, as well as standout pieces like "Space Lion" or "Green Bird" aren't here. You'll have to look elsewhere for those. But what's here is pretty damn great. I'm still jamming it 20 years later. What a great show. What a great soundtrack.

Also, I had a wall scroll of the image for the below Youtube video on my apartment wall. It even made it to my house now (in the office closet, but still hanging proudly).


1999 Victor Entertainment
1. Blue (sung by Mai Yamane) 5:01
2. Words That We Couldn't Say (sung by Steve Conte of The New York Dolls) 3:27
3. Autumn in Ganymede 3:54
4. Mushroom Hunting (Based on a track by DJ Food, sung by Tulivu-Donna Cumberbatch) 3:18
5. Go Go Cactus Man 2:37
6. Chicken Bone (sung by Sydney and Sister R) 4:55
7. The Real Man 4:00
8. N.Y. Rush 5:03
9. Adieu (sung by Emily Bindiger) 5:39
10. Call Me Call Me (sung by Steve Conte) 4:42
11. Ave Maria (originally by Franz Schubert, sung by Jerzy Knetig) 5:47
12. Stella by Moor 1:08
13. Flying Teapot (sung by Emily Bindiger) 3:32
14. Wo Qui Non Coin (sung by Aoi Tada) 3:41
15. Road to the West 2:52
16. Farewell Blues 5:12
17. See You Space Cowboy... (Not Final Mix Mountain Root) (sung by Mai Yamane) 5:55