Music of Kids on the Slope
The manga series Kids on the Slope (Japanese: 坂道のアポロン, Hepburn: Sakamichi no Aporon, lit. "Apollo on the Slope") and its anime and live-action film adaptations have had various soundtracks and compilations released around them. The music for the series draws from jazz music of the early- to mid-20th century, and prominently features American jazz artists such as Art Blakey and Bill Evans.[1]
| Kids on the Slope discography | |
|---|---|
| Compilation albums | 1 |
| Singles | 2 |
| Soundtrack albums | 3 |
The soundtrack for the anime series is composed primarily by Yoko Kanno, who won Best Music at the Tokyo Anime Awards for her work on Kids on the Slope in 2013.[2] The anime series uses two pieces of theme music: its opening theme "Sakamichi no Melody" is performed by Yuki,[3] while its closing theme "Altair" is written and performed by Motohiro Hata.[4]
Compilation albums
Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack (2009)
In 2009, EMI Music Japan published Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack, a compilation album collecting songs referenced in the manga series. The album is composed of a combination of licensed original recordings, and cover versions by the Japanese jazz quartet Quasimode.[5] The album peaked at 261 on the Oricon sales charts.[6]
| No. | Title | Music | Performed by | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Moanin'" | Bobby Timmons | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | 9:35 |
| 2. | "Blowin' the Blues Away" | Horace Silver | Horace Silver | 4:43 |
| 3. | "Someday My Prince Will Come" | Frank Churchill | Quasimode | 3:24 |
| 4. | "A Night in Tunisia" | Dizzy Gillespie | Art Blakey & The Jazz Messengers | 9:39 |
| 5. | "But Not for Me" | Ira Gershwin & George Gershwin | Chet Baker | 3:04 |
| 6. | "Us Three" | Horace Parlan | Horace Parlan | 4:34 |
| 7. | "Love for Sale" | Cole Porter | Cannonball Adderley | 7:04 |
| 8. | "Easy to Love" | Cole Porter | Sarah Vaughan | 2:11 |
| 9. | "My Favorite Things" | Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II | Quasimode | 4:30 |
| 10. | "Bags' Groove" | Milt Jackson | Milt Jackson | 3:08 |
| 11. | "Blue Train" | John Coltrane | John Coltrane | 10:41 |
| 12. | "My Funny Valentine" | Richard Rodgers | Bill Evans & Jim Hall | 5:21 |
| Total length: | 67:54 | |||
Singles
"Sakamichi no Melody"
"Sakamichi no Melody" by Yuki is the theme song used in the anime adaptation of the series. The song is composed and arranged by Yoko Kanno, and written by Yuki. The song was released as the B-side to her single "Playball" on May 2, 2012, and peaked at 4 on the Billboard Japan Hot 100[7] and 3 on the Oricon sales charts, where it remained for 11 weeks.[8][9]
"Altair"
"Altair" by Motohiro Hata is the closing theme for the anime adaptation of the series. The song peaked at 17 on the Oricon sales charts, and remained on the chart for 5 weeks.[10]
Soundtrack albums
Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack (2012)
In 2012, Epic Records Japan published Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack, which collects songs used in the anime adaption of the series and Yoko Kanno's original score.[11] The album peaked at 39 on the Oricon sales charts, and remained on the chart for 16 weeks.[12]
| No. | Title | Music | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Kids on the Slope" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:28 |
| 2. | "Chick's Dinner" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:01 |
| 3. | "Moanin'" | Takashi Matsunaga | Bobby Timmons & Art Blakey | 4:42 |
| 4. | "Bags' Groove" | Yoko Kanno | Milt Jackson | 2:29 |
| 5. | "Blowin' the Blues Away" | Yoko Kanno | Horace Silver | 1:26 |
| 6. | "Satin Doll" | Yoko Kanno | Duke Ellington, Billy Strayhorn & Johnny Mercer | 1:08 |
| 7. | "Yurika" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:35 |
| 8. | "Rosario" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:17 |
| 9. | "Curandelo" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:40 |
| 10. | "Transparent" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:37 |
| 11. | "run" | Mabanua | – | 1:33 |
| 12. | "But Not for Me" | Yoko Kanno | Ira Gershwin & George Gershwin | 4:30 |
| 13. | "My Favorite Things" | Yoko Kanno | Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II | 3:20 |
| 14. | "Equinox" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:40 |
| 15. | "A Piece of Blue" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:27 |
| 16. | "Lullaby of Birdland" | Yoko Kanno | George Shearing & George David Weiss | 3:05 |
| 17. | "Jazz for Button" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:19 |
| 18. | "Four" | Yoko Kanno | Miles Davis | 1:38 |
| 19. | "Easy Waltz" | Takashi Matsunaga | – | 2:04 |
| 20. | "float" | Mabanua | – | 1:25 |
| 21. | "Milestones" | Yoko Kanno | Miles Davis | 2:43 |
| 22. | "Apollon Blue" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:43 |
| 23. | "Kaoru & Sentaro Duo in Bunkasai" | Yoko Kanno | Various[lower-alpha 1] | 3:38 |
| 24. | "Someday My Prince Will Come" | Takashi Matsunaga | Frank Churchill | 1:42 |
| Total length: | 56:10 | |||
- Medley of "My Favorite Things", "Someday My Prince Will Come", and "Moanin".
Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack: Plus More & Rare
Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack: Plus More & Rare, a supplement to Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack (2012) featuring additional and rearranged music from the anime series, was also published by Epic Records Japan in 2012.[11] The album peaked at 49 on the Oricon sales charts.[13]
| No. | Title | Music | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Angel and Rosary" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:26 |
| 2. | "Sentaro Drum Solo" | Shun Ishiwaka | – | 0:37 |
| 3. | "Moanin' Copy (Mono Mix)" | Youichi Takeda | Bobby Timmons | 1:33 |
| 4. | "But Not for Me (festival jazz version)" | Takashi Matsunaga, Shun Ishiwaka, Yoko Kanno | Ira Gershwin & George Gershwin | 0:26 |
| 5. | "Slasher than Bop" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:02 |
| 6. | "Raindrops Keep Swingin' on My Head" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:13 |
| 7. | "Skip" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:38 |
| 8. | "Button2" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:09 |
| 9. | "Memory" | Takashi Matsunaga | – | 1:23 |
| 10. | "Hey Boy" | Hiroto Sasaki, Hiroshi Kamayatsu, Yoko Kanno | – | 1:34 |
| 11. | "Bang Bang Bang" | Hiroshi Kamayatsu, Yoko Kanno | – | 2:38 |
| 12. | "Grande valse brillante" | Takashi Matsunaga | Frederic Francois Chopin | 0:52 |
| 13. | "Slope" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:24 |
| 14. | "Piano2" | Mabanua | – | 0:14 |
| 15. | "nichijo3" | Mabanua | – | 1:04 |
| 16. | "Moanin' Organ Version (Kaoru & Sentaro Duo)" | Takashi Matsunaga, Shun Ishiwaka | Bobby Timmons | 1:19 |
| 17. | "kumori" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:18 |
| 18. | "Days of Egg" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:53 |
| 19. | "nichijo0" | Mabanua | – | 1:40 |
| 20. | "Smokey4" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:26 |
| 21. | "Button5" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:08 |
| 22. | "Blue Egg" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:42 |
| 23. | "Yurika (DJ Mitsu the Beats re-arrange version)" | Yoko Kanno, DJ Mitsu The Beats, Takumi Kaneko | – | 3:26 |
| 24. | "Without a Word" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:53 |
| 25. | "Ritsuko's rit." | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:52 |
| 26. | "Kira Kira Road" | Takashi Matsunaga, Youichi Takeda | – | 2:03 |
| 27. | "Honey Mustard Waltz" | Yoko Kanno | – | 2:39 |
| 28. | "Piano1" | Mabanua | – | 0:11 |
| 29. | "Lullaby of Birdland (sax intro version)" | Yoko Kanno | George Shearing & George David Weiss | 3:04 |
| 30. | "Flutter Jam" | Yoko Kanno | – | 1:21 |
| 31. | "Conflict" | Yoko Kanno | – | 0:58 |
| 32. | "Baka Session" | Takashi Matsunaga, Shun Ishiwaka | – | 0:32 |
| 33. | "hope" | Mabanua | – | 2:39 |
| 34. | "dew" | DJ Mitsu The Beats, Takumi Kaneko | – | 1:17 |
| 35. | "Someday My Prince Will Come (full version)" | Takashi Matsunaga, Yoko Kanno | – | 3:13 |
| 36. | "Moanin' Ending version (Kaoru & Sentaro Duo)" | Takashi Matsunaga, Yasuo Sano, Yoko Kanno | Bobby Timmons | 3:04 |
| Total length: | 52:18 | |||
Kids on the Slope Soundtrack & Jazz Music Collection
In 2018, Ariola Japan published Kids on the Slope Soundtrack & Jazz Music Collection, which collects the soundtrack of the live-action film adaptation of the series.[14] The album peaked at 161 on the Oricon sales charts.[15]
All songs are composed by Masato Suzuki of the band Little Creatures.
| No. | Title | Original artist | Length |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. | "Beginning" | – | 2:28 |
| 2. | "Moanin'" | Bobby Timmons & Art Blakey | 1:23 |
| 3. | "Rampage Rain" | – | 0:58 |
| 4. | "Wild and Bright" | – | 0:45 |
| 5. | "Pavane pour une infante défunte" | Maurice Ravel | 0:40 |
| 6. | "Day-to-Day" | – | 1:14 |
| 7. | "Sentaro's Drum" | – | 0:32 |
| 8. | "Get You Back" | – | 0:52 |
| 9. | "Fat Girl" | Fats Navarro | 2:01 |
| 10. | "Day-to-Day 'Summer'" | – | 0:51 |
| 11. | "Our Youthful Days" | – | 1:38 |
| 12. | "Beautiful Woman" | – | 0:43 |
| 13. | "Lovesickness" | – | 1:03 |
| 14. | "Envious" | – | 0:23 |
| 15. | "Follow Your Heart" | – | 1:01 |
| 16. | "Love Cry" | – | 0:58 |
| 17. | "Sadness" | – | 2:08 |
| 18. | "About Him" | – | 1:44 |
| 19. | "I'm Sorry" | – | 1:48 |
| 20. | "Emptiness" | – | 0:49 |
| 21. | "Chasm" | – | 1:42 |
| 22. | "Grow Apart" | – | 0:42 |
| 23. | "The Pain" | – | 1:16 |
| 24. | "Apollon Special Medley" | – | 4:33 |
| 25. | "Theme of Apollon" | – | 1:27 |
| 26. | "Someday My Prince Will Come" | Frank Churchill | 0:46 |
| 27. | "Someday My Prince Will Come (With Hope)" | Frank Churchill | 0:48 |
| 28. | "Unconscious" | – | 0:48 |
| 29. | "About Him "tears"" | – | 2:46 |
| 30. | "Sadness "Rosary"" | – | 1:22 |
| 31. | "Good Old Days" | – | 1:39 |
| 32. | "My Favorite Things" | Richard Rodgers & Oscar Hammerstein II | 1:43 |
| Total length: | 41:24 | ||
References
- Hamilton, Kirk (5 July 2012). "A Listener's Guide to the Music of Kids on the Slope". Kotaku. Retrieved 29 May 2020.
- Loo, Egan (24 March 2013). "Wolf Children, SAO, Kuroko's Basketball Win Tokyo Anime Awards". Anime News Network. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- "Yoko Kanno Interview with Amazon". Amazon Japan (in Japanese). Retrieved 27 May 2020.
- Kanno, Yoko (2012). "Making of Kids on the Slope, Session 2: Interview with Yoko Kanno" on Kids on the Slope, Complete Collection (DVD). Sentai Filmworks.
- "『坂道のアポロン オリジナル・サウンドトラック』に再度注目が！～登場人物が演奏し、また聴いているオリジナル楽曲を収録" (Press release) (in Japanese). PR Times. 14 June 2012. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- "坂道のアポロン オリジナル・サウンドトラック". Oricon News. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "Hot 100｜JAPAN Charts｜Billboard JAPAN". Billboard (in Japanese). Archived from the original on June 4, 2011.
- "プレイボール/坂道のメロディ". Oricon News. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "YUKI×菅野よう子「坂道のアポロン」OPで初コラボ実現". Comic Natalie (in Japanese). 3 March 2012. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "Altair". Oricon News. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "Information". Kids on the Slope Original Soundtrack (in Japanese). Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- "アニメ「坂道のアポロン」オリジナル・サウンドトラック". Oricon News. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "アニメ「坂道のアポロン」オリジナル・サウンドトラック プラス more & rare". Oricon. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
- "映画『坂道のアポロン』サウンドトラック配信開始！ 作中登場のジャズ・スタンダード楽曲もご紹介". Mora (in Japanese). 7 March 2018. Retrieved 23 May 2020.
- "映画「坂道のアポロン」サウンドトラック&ジャズ演奏曲集". Oricon News. Retrieved 2 June 2020.
Further reading
- Hamilton, Kirk. "A Listener's Guide to the Music of Kids on the Slope" (Kotaku, May 2012). Listing and breakdown of the jazz songs used in the anime series.