Bleep

Spirited Away / Soundtracks

Studio Ghibli deliver a stunning edition of the soundtrack to their iconic 2001 film Spirited Away. Joe Hisaishi’s compositions for Hayao Miyazaki’s film are a huge part of why Spirited Away is now considered an all-time classic of animated cinema - indeed, the same goes for all of the Studio Ghibli films that Hisaishi has made music for down the years. His Spirited Away score builds on the classic orchestral film-scoring style of golden-age Hollywood movies while flushing that sound with influences from jazz and Hisaishi’s own piano compositions. The recording by the New Japan Philharmonic orchestra is a shimmering, dreamlike rendition of music which more than deserves this standalone pressing.

Spirited Away / Image Album

Studio Ghibli’s Spirited Away Image Album has its genesis in a note scribbled down by Hayao Miyazaki, the director of this beloved animated film. After talking with Miyazaki, Studio Ghibli’s soundtrack composer Joe Hisaishi then constructed a set of ten songs which draw inspiration from both the film as a whole and the poetic musings put down by Miyazaki on that note. The result is a gorgeous set of ballads which see a series of vocalists - U-MI, Sizzle Ohtaka and Tsunehiko Kamijo to name but three - enliven material that ranges from soaring chamber music to curious, vaguely art-rock-ish songcraft. All in all the Spirited Away Image Album is another delightful dispatch from Studio Ghibli’s universe.