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1[[quoteright:304:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/yk.jpg]]
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3->''"You have ''got'' to hear this shit. It's like she's hitting you over the head with a sock full of WesternAnimation/JonnyQuest!"''
4-->-- '''Alternate John Williams''', ''[[http://web.archive.org/web/20140909021421/http://www.webcomicsnation.com/memberimages/johnandyoko.wcn.725.gif John and Yoko]]''
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6Yoko Kanno (born March 18, 1963) is a famous Japanese composer and musician, known primarily for her work on {{anime}} soundtracks. Her name being attached to a project has caused many rejoicing moments for many fans.
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8Born in Sendai, UsefulNotes/{{Japan}} and having begun her career composing {{video game}} soundtracks for [[Creator/KoeiTecmo Koei]] in the mid [=1980s=], she has written or otherwise contributed to the soundtracks of a large number of anime, television shows, and movies. Kanno has also occasionally ventured into pop music; she has released two solo albums, and has served as producer for several albums from other musicians (including writing at least four of Creator/MaayaSakamoto's albums). She sometimes sings under the pseudonym of "Gabriela Robin," which for many years was her SecretIdentity. She publicly revealed herself as Robin by singing one of Robin's songs at a venue that Robin was slated to perform at, though she has not otherwise publicly acknowledged the alias.
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10Kanno can write in any genre known to mankind -- and even a few that haven't been invented yet. She is the master of the GenreMashup. Surprisingly enough, she isn't a One Woman Band, something that would make her even more awesome. She is a keyboardist and frontwoman of The Seatbelts, a {{jazz}} fusion band created exclusively for the soundtrack to ''Anime/CowboyBebop.''
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12A more in-depth biography can be found [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yoko_Kanno here]], and a slightly more in-depth discography can be found [[http://musicbrainz.org/artist/5ffb73c0-b739-4231-ba22-f8d361be1d45.html here]].
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14Not to be confused with Music/YokoOno.
15----
16
17----
18!!Notable musical contributions include:
19* ''Anime/BrainPowerd''
20* ''Manga/CardCaptorSakura'' (She composed the opening theme for the third and final season, "Platinum", which was performed by Creator/MaayaSakamoto.)
21* ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' (With her backing band the Seatbelts, probably her most famous and critically acclaimed soundtrack.)
22** ''Series/CowboyBebop2021''
23* ''Anime/DarkerThanBlack''
24* ''Anime/EarthMaidenArjuna''
25* ''Anime/GenesisOfAquarion'', as well as its sequel, ''Anime/AquarionEvol''.
26* ''Manga/GhostInTheShell''
27** ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex,'' and ''Ghost in the Shell: S.A.C: 2nd GIG''
28** ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplexSolidStateSociety''
29* ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'' (She helped ex-husband Hajime Mizoguchi by playing the piano and she sang on end theme song "Grace Omega" as Gabriela Robin.)
30* ''Manga/KidsOnTheSlope''
31* ''Anime/{{Macross}}:''
32** ''Anime/MacrossPlus''
33** ''[[Anime/{{Macross7}} Macross Dynamite 7]]''
34** ''Anime/MacrossFrontier''
35* ''Series/TheMakanaiCookingForTheMaikoHouse''
36* ''VideoGame/NappleTaleArsiaInDaydream'' (All of the game's vocal tracks were performed by Maaya Sakamoto, the sole voice actress of the game.)
37* ''VideoGame/NobunagasAmbition''
38* ''Film/OurLittleSister''
39* ''Ragnarok II'' (Both ''[[VideoGame/RagnarokIITheGateOfTheWorld The Gate of The World]]'' and ''[[VideoGame/RagnarokIILegendOfTheSecond Legend of The Second]]''.)
40* ''Anime/RahXephon'' (She composed the opening song "Hemisphere" and the movie theme "Tune the Rainbow", both performed by Maaya Sakamoto.)
41* ''Literature/RecordOfLodossWar: Chronicles of the Heroic Knight'' (she composed the opening, "Kiseki no Umi", performed by Maaya Sakamoto)
42* ''VideoGame/RomanceOfTheThreeKingdomsKoei''
43* ''Manga/SpyXFamily'' (she and The Seatbelts arranged and performed the instrumentals for the anime's third opening theme, "Kura Kura", with vocals by Ado)
44* ''VideoGame/StarwingParadox''
45* ''Anime/TerrorInResonance.''
46* ''Anime/TurnAGundam.''
47* ''VideoGame/UnchartedWaters''
48* ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'' (Along with Hajime Mizoguchi, her former husband.)
49* ''Anime/WolfsRain''
50* ''Film/YamatoTakeru''
51
52!! Tropes associated with Yoko Kanno:
53
54* GenreMashup: Expect even her most cohesive works to cross pollinate genres at some point.
55* GenreRoulette: ''Anime/CowboyBebop'''s soundtracks are a perfect example of this. While the series' music is anchored around bebop and {{blues}}, Kanno spun the wheel and added HardRock, drum and bass, {{chiptune}}, and HipHop to the score (not to mention several forms of jazz other than bebop.)
56* GratuitousEnglish: Her titles sometimes slip into WordSaladTitle territory.
57* MultilingualSong: Yoko is quite famous for mixing multiple languages together in her music. Examples include:
58** "Inner Universe" combines Russian, English, and Latin.
59** "Rise" switches between Russian and English.
60** "Velveteen" switches between English and Italian.
61** "Player" is mostly sung in Russian, but [[AWildRapperAppears features a full rap verse]] in English.
62** The aptly titled "''Anime/GenesisOfAquarion''" starts off in Japanese before moving into full English with the Japanese word "Aishiteru" ("I love you") peppered in the refrain.
63** "The Garden of Everything" from ''Anime/RahXephon'' is a duet between English singer Steve Conte and Japanese singer Creator/MaayaSakamoto. The later portions of the song features both of them singing a round with each other in their own languages.
64** "Voices" from ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' is mostly sung in Japanese, but the chorus kicks in with a full verse in English halfway into the song before going back to Japanese to finish out.
65* SecretIdentity: Her vocal performances are credited as "Gabriela Robin". This was pretty much an OpenSecret for years, though Kanno has not explicitly confirmed nor denied this. In 2009, she announced that Robin would perform in front of a live audience for the first time. During said concert, after conducting the orchestra, Kanno turned around and sung Robin's song "Moon" from ''Anime/TurnAGundam.'' This was her only public acknowledgement of her secret identity.
66* {{Sampling}}:
67** When she does sample, it's usually something obscure. ''Anime/MacrossPlus''' "Idol Talk", probably her most sample-heavy song, takes the beat from Music/WendyAndLisa's [[https://youtu.be/CSvWVZUhrs4?t=98 "Lolly Lolly"]]; the ever-sampled turntable scratches from hip hop group Beside's [[https://youtu.be/Tn9QAAXVXEw "Change the Beat"]]; as well as a phone sex operator's very explicit dialogue as it appeared on industrial artist Scanner's [[https://youtu.be/fe3o9tbs-O0?t=193 debut album]] (with the most graphic words edited out.) The intro features a field recording of ''pigs squealing'' and has a build-up similar to the intro of "Lolly Lolly" as well.
68** Sometimes, choices are more overt: the tune to "Pop Goes the Weasel" and a very-close-to-the-original homage to Music/PinkFloyd's "On the Run" made it into two separate ''Anime/CowboyBebop'' songs.
69* SpeakingSimlish: Kanno has written gibberish lyrics for several of her soundtracks and most of these are sung by herself (credited as ''Gabriela Robin.'') Her use of it in ''Anime/MacrossPlus'' is credited to the Zentraedi race present in that work. Examples include "Green Bird" from ''Anime/CowboyBebop'', "Sora" from ''Anime/TheVisionOfEscaflowne'', "Moon" from ''Anime/TurnAGundam'', "Grace Omega" from ''Anime/JinRohTheWolfBrigade'' and "Torkia" from ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex''. They all have made-up languages.
70* StopAndGo: Multiple aspects of this for her band the Seatbelts.
71** "What Planet Is This?!" seems to grind to a halt around the 3 minute mark, but then it re-starts with another solo and repetition of the main theme.
72** "7minutes" does the same, pausing right before the 5:15 mark before jumping into the loud chorus.
73* WordSaladLyrics: When she writes lyrics, this can happen. And sometimes what ''sounds'' like word salad is actually a nonsense language. The ''Anime/GhostInTheShellStandAloneComplex'' soundtrack in particular has a lot of this. However, the ultimate example is "LIVE in Baghdad" from the Cowboy Bebop soundtrack. While the lyrics are in full English, absolutely none of it makes any coherent sense.

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