The Monster Music project is a tribute to the music of Akira Ifukube and the Kaiju movies of the Toho Film Company, from 1954-1995.  For this project, the Ensemble play the tunes of Akira Ifukube who wrote most of the scores for the Toho Monster movies from the original 1954 Godzilla directed by Ishirō Honda to the 1993 Godzilla vs Mechagodzilla II.  We use 8 minute Super 8mm silent Toho film reels, in which we adapt Akira’s tunes to fit where we think they fit, and off we go….

Akira Ifukube 1914-2006.
Legend has it that at the age of 14 Akira decided to become a composer after hearing Stravinsky’s The Rite of Spring. His first musical break came in 1935 when his Orchestral piece Japanese Rhapsody won the International Alexander Tchreprin prize, establishing his reputation as an important new young composer.

Akira composed his first film score, The End of the Silver Mountains, in 1946. Over the following half century he would go on to write more than 250 film scores, mainly for The Toho Film Co.

His powerful and emotional sountrack for the groundbreaking 1954 Godzilla movie is now rightly regarded as one of the most important film scores.  Akira also wrote the score Toho Film’s final Godzilla outing Godzilla Vs Destroyah (1995), this was also to be Akira’s last work for film.

Akira Ifukube passed away on February 8 2006, at the age of 91.

Personnel:
Anton Wuts – Saxophones/Flute/Music Transcription.
Vinnie Beaumont – Electric Guitar.
William Devine – Electric Bass/Propoganda/Merchandise.
Max Parkes – Drums/Percussion.
Joe Dobson – Drums/Percussion.
Adrian Thornton – Film Projectionist/Set Design/Propaganda/Merchandise.