Yoko Kanno is one of the most prolific and important composers in anime. She spearheaded the soundtracks for classics like Cowboy Bebop, Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex, and Wolf’s Rain amongst many, many others. Her passion and craftsmanship shines through on all of her works, blending genres and emphasizing the emotions required for a scene. Of course, she didn’t do everything herself. She has worked with the best talent from across the world.
Two musicians she has featured and their respective discographies have become my go to for my own music listening pleasure. One, a rocker from New York, and the other, a melancholy singer from Australia, residing in New York.
Steve Conte - Guitarist, Vocalist, Badass.
Steve Conte is in a class of rocker where rock isn’t just a lifestyle, but the blood pumping through your heart. His career is a long and plentiful one. He was the lead guitarist for the New York Dolls from 2004-2010, a band that has been around since 1971. In 2009 he formed the band, Steve Conte & The Crazy Truth, and released a phenomenal self-titled album. One of his first successful albums was in 1990 when he was a part of Company of Wolves, their self-titled debut album is an underground classic and one I still need to get my hands on.
He frequently works with glam punk multi-instrumentalist, Michael Monroe
As aforementioned, he has worked on various anime projects with Yoko Kanno, most famously, “Call Me, Call Me” and the male version of “Rain” from Cowboy Bebop, as well as having worked with SEGA on 2007’s Sonic and the Secret Rings adding vocals to the main theme.
Most recently, during the pandemic, Steve released a EP of songs made in the early 90's by him and his brother, John, entitled, Bootleg Rarities.
After having followed his music since I was a teenager, the two things that stick out the most for me about Steve, besides his powerful vocals and guitar shredding, is his respect for other musicians and his love for his family. I have never seen him miss an opportunity to highlight the successes of others or to put his family first. I have a lot of love for the music he makes and a lot of respect for the person he is.
Scott Matthew - Poetry and Emotion
I do not know much about who the person Scott Matthew is. His music videos have featured, who I presume to be, his friends and colleagues. He seems to be surrounded by happiness.
His music, however, I am intimately familiar with. His 2009 album, There Is an Ocean That Divides and with My Longing I Can Charge It with a Voltage That's So Violent to Cross It Could Mean Death, was the album I went to sleep listening to for over three years. His music is calming, his voice packed with emotion. His songs bring out melancholy, loss, happiness. I have yet to hear another singer who emotes more in their music than Scott Matthew.
As aforementioned, he has collaborated with Yoko Kanno, and is featured on the Ghost in the Shell: Stand Alone Complex soundtrack. “Beauty is Within Us” is a powerful ballad; one that almost doesn’t fit into the confines of the episode it was aptly featured in.
His most recent album, Adorned, which debuted in 2020, is a collection of his most prominent songs from throughout his career, re-contextualized.
I find it difficult to write about Scott’s music without sounding like I am embellishing his music. To listen to his music is to listen to something personal and vulnerable. Even his covers of famous songs, like Whitney Houston’s “I Wanna Dance With Somebody”, adds a layer of intimacy not seen in the original.
Steve and Scott are on two very different parts of the musical spectrum, and yet their paths crossed in a land foreign to both of them, on projects that have been viewed across the world. Their lended talents elevated stories that became era defining and have had an immensely huge impact on myself and I assume many others. I would encourage you to dabble in both artist’s accomplished discographies, you will not go wrong.
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