Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2010 October 11 • Monday

The 134th Soundtrack of the Week is Kikuchi Shunsuke's music for Edogawa Rampo Series: Akechi Kogoro.

I became obsessed with the main title music for this after seeing the opening credits on a DVD that collected the credits sequences for various Japanese TV shows.

I was pretty thrilled when the CD came out! Lots of slinky bass and harpsichord on this one. The main theme mixes electric guitar, wordless vocals, harpsichord, organ, drums, bass and some weird instrument I can't identify. Much of the music has the kind of 1960s TV sound that I associate with Edwin Astley's Danger Man music.

I guess this TV series is about Edogawa Rampo's famous detective character Akechi Kogoro (the first person below) solving crimes with the assistance of those other people.

Since the stories are apparently based on Edogawa Rampo's fiction, the strange happenings are likely to be pretty weird and twisted.

There are 67 tracks on the CD, none of them more than two minutes long. The first track is the main theme, and you hear it quite a few times. It would be a great tune for a surf band to cover.

Several of the tracks last only 7 seconds or so, perhaps just stings for "Edogawa Rampo Theatre Will Be Right Back" cards between commercials.

Many of the tracks manage to be brooding, suspenseful and groovy all at the same time. Track 11 sounds like a carousel on tranquilizers. Track 23 sounds a bit like a Hawaiian tune. Track 25 has some good fuzz guitar.

Track 41 is a cool piece for solo electric guitar. Track 42 is solo harpsichord. Track 43 is solo church organ.