Rob Price
Gutbrain Records
rob + gutbrain.com = email

2024 November 25 • Monday

An unusual recent development in the soundtrack world has been this Japanese a capella group calledd Bukimisha. They've released several recordings of voice-only interpretations of soundtrack music and they're quite impressive.

The 832nd Soundtrack of the Week is the Bukimisha treatment of Akira Ifukube's music for both Godzilla and Godzilla vs. Rodan.

First up is the famous Godzilla march and Bukimisha adds some lyrics to it, replacing the incessant three-note motif with the singing of "Gojira".

They take advantage of other opportunities to use "Gojira" as their sung notes, such as in "Fury of Godzilla" and "Attack Godzilla!". These are some of Ifukube's best-known cues and hearing it in this very different way is not only rewarding to the listener but a tribute to how powerful Ifukube's writing was.

They're also quite good at the dreamy side of Ifukube ("Eiko-maru Ship Music") as well as the suspensful "Uneasiness on Odo Island"), the weird ("Horror in the Water Tank", which will extend the range of what you think a capella can do) and the moving ("The Large Underground Cave").

As unusual as this endeavor is, what's most striking about it is how good it is. Strange, yes, but also essential.