[zuko]

It's on norman too:

http://www.normanrecords.com/records/14 ... udio-ghibl

Ouch, pricey!

[DrRhythm]

Whisper it quietly people but this one isn't quite the right thing - unless I'm very much mistaken it's a bunch of re-records (albeit with some pretty packaging) and it's certainly not worth paying a premium price for under those circumstances!!

[siforster]

Rough Trade has it too, at a slightly (erm) cheaper 33 quid. Piccadilly Records is currently showing it a unavailable after having plans for an October 21 release.

[Re-animated Cat]

@Drrhythm: Yeah, I'd kinda guessed the same thing. The music is by the Czech Philharmonic, if I'm not mistaken. Were they originally hired for every film then?

Packaging is lovely though. Except for the ringwear caused by tight shrinkwrap, of course.

[siforster]

Joe Hisaishi's usual orchestra of choice when working with Ghibli (certainly with the bigger pictures) is the New Japan Philharmonic, so it's not unfair to say that this is an album of covers.
But, the Czech Philharmonic are no chancers - they were formed over a century ago and were frequently conducted by Antonín Dvořak, so they're not too shabby.

[Re-animated Cat]

Nice info, Si

[DrRhythm]

Yeah - nothing wrong with the Czech Philharmonic but when I buy a soundtrack I want the real thing. As Si says, in this case it should be the New Japan Philharmonic. I'm sure there is some good technical reason for what Mondo have done here but it still leaves a slightly bad taste in the mouth!

[siforster]

I suspect that the technical reason might be that the NJP would either be hugely expensive to hire, or - most probably - licencing the original soundtracks would have cost even more as well as being difficult to grant. US-wise for example, Spirited Away is owned by Disney and Princess Mononoke is owned by Miramax (who Disney sold off 3 years ago).
Would presumably have been much cheaper to get someone else in to do it - Ghibli don't seem to be too bothered about letting anyone re-recording their stuff, if the reggae Totoro soundtrack is anything to go by

I think mine's turned up (dreaded red postcard of doom from the Post Office so I have to get up early on a bloody Saturday again), I'll compare the stuff on there to the original ones I have on CD here. AFAIK, no Hisaishi scores have appeared on vinyl - someone really needs to rectify this (hello, interested labels who frequent/own this site!) by putting out everything from Sonatine to Dolls, as his work with Kitano is unparalleled.

[Re-animated Cat]

Very interesting. That sounds very likely, especially considering that we're dealing with multiple films here, each owned by different studios it seems. Right, it sounds like I need to get some more of Hisaishi's stuff ASAP. I love Kitano's films.

[siforster]

Early World Cinema (which much of this is - it's probably weird now to think that My Neighbour Totoro* was originally released on censored VHS only back in the day) was licenced all over the place because it was a risk to release, and expensive to do so. Subtitling was an issue (original UK DVDs of Violent Cop is barely subbed, missing out whole conversations) or dubbing was done terribly, and the market just wasn't there. To use Hisaishi as a handy bridge between the two "worlds" here, Ghibli was considered too grown-up for the kids and literally too cartoony for the adults, and Kitano was simply seen to be too violent (which it wasn't really - just shocking when it happened). It's kind of strange (and brilliant) that Ghibli and Kitano are now seen as worldwide industry standards for their own endeavours. Must admit though to being so disappointed in Takeshi's that I've not watched a Kitano film since...






* A film that was specifically made as the 2nd half of a double-bill with Graveyard of the Fireflies. If you ever want to know what a proper emotional rollercoaster feels like, watch those two back-to-back

[siforster]

Big dumb ramble there, and I forgot why I came here!
Piccadilly has this now in stock, £35. Presume these stores have bought these retail from Mondo, as that's some markup otherwise.

[layneharvey]

did you guys all see this? Mondo is releasing Halloween for halloween!

via Twitter - @Mondonews: One of our vinyl releases this Halloween. instagram video

[albatard]

Can't say i'm thrilled about that news...would have loved it to get a death waltz treatment...

[maxvelvet]

Naa... I expected a DW release for this classic...

[ghostfires]

Yeah I've really not been a fan of Mondo stuff for a while now, so this is actually disappointing. I wanted a full set of Halloween re-releases from DW.....that way it wouldn't be such a joke trying to get a hold of one, and the quality would be unbeatable.

[siforster]

Do they say which Halloween it'll be ready for?

[Bub]

Well according to his post on Instagram, it seems like it's THIS Halloween (2013) if that's what you're asking.

"Our vinyl release this Halloween"

[matowest]

Yes, this Halloween. But I wouldn't count on having in hand by then...

[ghostfires]

hah yeah it would be a Halloween miracle if they actually released it and put it in the listeners' hands by Halloween night. I'm almost willing to put money on them not pulling that off, and everyone actually receiving the record by Thanksgiving!

[layneharvey]

my most recent Mondo shipment left Austin a week ago and is currently sitting in California, scheduled to be delivered yesterday. destination: South Carolina. thanks USPS! <sarcasm> wtf.

[thedeepness]

I have to admit I am bummed that Mondo got Halloween and not Death Waltz. Maybe Mondo is going to be the US version and Death Waltz will do a UK version like with Maniac. If that were the case there will be some serious "vinyl buddy" action going on.

[Whip Wilson]

Agreed! I did see a picture of a former Ken Taylor Mondo print for Halloween (apparently one of their most sought after prints) and it does look pretty sweet. I just worry about the sound and I would love to get the expanded music and cues that didn't make the original release, but were included on the anniversary CD, a la DW's the Fog. I also read on another forum where "someone in the know" (take that with a huge grain of salt) wrote that Jay Shaw might be involved artistically and his work is always a pleasure.

[siforster]

Arrived today (thanks to Fanboy!) - purposefully avoided reading the tracklisting beforehand so slightly disappointed that there's only one Spirited Away track on there but hey ho. It's all very close to the originals (especially the Mononoke score), the piano (Hisaishi's own instrument) in particular sticking as close to the script as possible. Joe's stuff needs to be loud and brash and slightly silly at times (all three in the case of the Yamadas), so it's a shame that the recording as a whole is slightly quiet, but that's just nitpicking from me

The whole package evokes the films wonderfully well (even if I now find myself with a desire to watch The Castle Of Cagliostro, which is neither Hisaishi nor Ghibli - Miyazaki and Takahata though! - it's the vibraphone car chase score that I love so), and that's the important bit. Hoping they can licence enough stuff for a sequel, if only for the fact that there is no Porco Rosso/Totoro (!) here...

[dumaisaudio]

Heads up, Mondo released more Studio Ghibli records on their site yesterday. They only had two versions available (the pink/purple wasn't available), and as of this morning, only the blue/red one remains. So is this a repress or just more copies (if anyone knows)? I thought this was released months ago and sold out, but now I see it up for pre-order on Amazon and other sites for mid-October release. Not as limited as originally thought?

[pabloeterovic]

I bought one copy from Amazon last week. No international shipments restrictions.
Hope it's not Princess Mononoke, because I got that version already.