Cowboy Bebop is a great series, and if you’ve watched it, then you’re ready for this video, which is a kickass performance of the intro. It’s definitely different, but amazingly faithful to the studio version.

From wikipedia for Tank!:

“Tank!” is the opening song for the popular anime series Cowboy Bebop. The song, written by Yoko Kanno and performed by The Seatbelts, has an extensive alto saxophone solo played by Masato Honda, as well as a fill part at the end. The song is a big band jazz piece in a hard bop style with a rhythm portion that combines a double bass and bongo drums.

“Tank!” is primarily an instrumental piece, though it does feature some spoken male vocals in the introductory portion of the song, thematically jazz in style. The vocal portion provides a lead-in to the instrumental portion, and its final lyrics, “I think it’s time to blow this scene. Get everybody and the stuff together. Ok, three, two, one let’s jam,” signal the beginning bursts of the majority, purely instrumental end of the song.

It has been featured on the soundtracks to the series and as the original opening theme it is somewhat iconic, one of several popular pieces which are still closely associated with the Bebop series. It has also been occasionally used as background music for some international commercials, such as a preview for My Own Worst Enemy.

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-TAxm00jOg

From Souvenir of Tokyo. Part 1/5.

Beardyman does it again, this time with a few samplers (if I’m not mistaken, it’s TWO Korg Kaossilators) and a FANTASTIC video presentation by mr_hopkinson. Watch for the different drums to slide in from the side of the screen on a platter: first, there’s the High Hat, then some Kick, and then some funky glasses. …because Beardyman is one funky monkey, obviously.

This is recorded in a single take, and with the limited manner in which sampling isn’t strictly live, this is all done live. I can’t say enough good things about the video, so just freaking watch it, okay?

RTFA: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6fC65sy9tzY&NR=1

Combining the talents of 2 times UK Beatbox Champion Beardyman [ http://www.beardyman.co.uk ]and master of the edit mr_hopkinson [ http://davidhopkinson.org ], this is a one take performance by Beardyman using live looping technology that has been visually explained and augmented by mr_hopkinson’s edit and animation.

We’ve covered Beardyman before on RTFA, and he never disappoints.