When it comes to musical genres, composer Yoko Kanno has covered nearly everything under the sun. Her soundtracks for various anime series and films have had her doing everything from classical (Escaflowne) to pop (Macross Plus), electronic (Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex), funk (Cowboy Bebop),and even Brazilian-style jazz (Wolf's Rain). On Be Human, a side soundtrack to the Ghost In The Shell: Stand Alone Complex anime series currently airing on Adult Swim, she covers a wide variety of genres in the space of about 44 minutes. The result is an uneven album that contains songs that will both engage you and make you cringe.
It's clear from the cover of Be Human that this soundtrack would be different from the GITS:SAC soundtracks that came before and after it. Unlike the other covers that feature main character Motoko Kusanagi, the cover of Be Human features a "tachikoma." Tachikoma are spider-like robots used by the characters in the anime series. The robots have very advanced AI (they are about as smart as children) and can think for themselves. Most of the music on Be Human deals with these robot characters and the music from the "Tachikoma Specials" is included on this album.
Be Human runs the gamut in terms of the types of music it contains. The album opens up with the slow, slightly somber title track. The song is about a desire that lots of robots have in science-fiction works...the desire to become human. The childlike perspective of the tachikoma results in lyrics like these: "I'd roll around the mud/and have lots of fun/then when I was done/build bubblebath towers and swim in the tub." The somber electronic tones of "Be Human" give way to hard rock on "Trip City," a song about a robot having some serious issues. Things get even more varied from here.
Songs like "Patch Me" and "Let's Oil" are quick bursts of pure techno. "Tachikoma no Iede (Runaway Tachikoma)" is the complete opposite of those songs with its light combination of piano and flute. "Rocky wa Doko? (Where's Rocky?)" is a light, sweet little instrumental that features strings, acoustic guitar, and some European elements. You get a taste of Japanese rapping on "Cream" while "Spotter," one of the best tracks on the album, is an excellent combination of electronic beats and strings. "Piece by Ten" is a full-on orchestral piece performed by the Warsaw Philharmonic Chamber Orchestra while "Good By My Master" would not have sounded out of place in one of the Matrix films.
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