SEATBELTS Vinyl & CDs

Review: Introducing Cowboy Bebop: The Real Folk Blues Legends, a vinyl masterpiece with captivating designs by Toshiaki Uesugi, celebrated for his work for the Cowboy Bebop franchise. Thw LP, carefully supervised by the legendary Yoko Kanno, compiles tracks from the whole Cowboy Bebop discography including 'Blue', 'No Disc' and 'Knocking on Heaven's Door', and not least the iconic 'The Real Folk Blues'. This release brings to vinyl for the first time many such classics, delivering to fans a unique sonic experience not only highlighting the sonic world of Cowboy Bebop, but the opportunity to share in the legacy of one of the most successful anime series of all time. This vinyl set features two deluxe LP discs on 140g dark blue marbled 12" vinyl. It also includes an insert print with tracklists, credits, liner notes and interviews with Yoko Kanno.

Review: Widely hailed as one of the greatest animes of all time, and certainly one of the most successful, Cowboy Bebop was celebrated for its music as much as its narrative and animation. The soundtrack was composed by Yoko Kanno, who formed a blues and jazz band Seatbelts especially for the task. Kanno took a bold approach following her own instincts instead of sticking close to the requests from director Shinichiro Watanabe, and in turn her music ended up having a big impact on the way production unfolded. Quite simply, the end result would have been very different without Kanno's work, which has been faithfully packaged on this stunning double LP edition, pressed in brown and white vinyl.

Review: The Cowboy Bebop was an anime series that was much loved for its soundtrack albums by Japanese composer and instrumentalist Yoko Kanno and his band the Seatbelts. The sounds were weird and wonderful affairs that made odd connections between seemingly disparate worlds - jazz, rock, J-pop and electronic, often with a curious aesthetic. Just this year, Kanno has returned to soundtracking the series on Netflix so this reissue is sure to connect with fans old and new. It is largely instrumental, with big band pieces next to more ambient passages and extensive alto sax deployment. As far as cult records go, this one is right up there.