Other Soundtracks

Video Games

Uncharted 4

Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild

Ghost of Tsushima


Soccer

Or "football" as they say in most all countries except the US. You might be thinking, what are soccer soundtracks?

UEFA Champions League

FIFA


Airlines

You might have thought, what on earth are airline soundtracks? Well, I'm talking about those songs that airlines play when boarding the plane, or while taxiing on the runway. They're all original soundtracks, and to be honest, the songs are pretty damn good.

There are several reasons that airlines play these tracks, but one of the more practical ones is to calm down the passengers. Travel can be both exciting and extremely stressful, and especially when hundreds of people are trying to get to their seats, it can get chaotic real fast. The songs are used to calm people down, and so they all have a somewhat chilling, ambient nature to them.

The special thing about these airline tracks is that there is always a story or emotion attached to them, and in that sense similar to a movie score. Whether it's your first time traveling abroad, moving to a new place, or going to meet someone, the songs accompanies those experiences and enhances them. When you listen to these songs after your trip, you are not just listening to sounds in a vacuum: you get to relive those experiences through them.

ANA

ANA is my favorite out of the two Japanese flag carriers (the other one is JAL by the way). One of the reasons is the cabin music.

It's a track called "Another Sky" created by Taro Hakase, a famous Japanese violinist/composer, and it is exactly what an airline cabin soundtrack should be - calm, undisturbing, cheerful, and a hint of emotion. It gets you excited for what lies ahead, while at the same time calming the uneasiness and bustle of travel.

For many of us Japanese, this song gives encouragement to get out into the world, while also providing a sense of safety and calm. Especially for terrified first-time travelers, the emotion you get from hearing this song in a foreign airport is immense.

JAL

The counterpart to ANA. Their theme song is much more merrily and gets you excited, but it's lacking that sense of calmness or nostalgia that the ANA song offers. It's not bad though.

Malaysia Airlines

The boarding song for Malaysia Airlines is really nice. It's a sort of healing ambient sound, and calms the atmosphere of the cabin when everyone is bustling around. The video they show on the monitor is pretty cool as well.

SriLankan Airlines

When I travel with my own money, I often use SriLankan Airlines because it's usually the cheapest on Skyscanner. It has a Tokyo Narita ~ Colombo route, so I transfer at Colombo and take off to where ever I'm going. I usually never have time to leave the airport in Colombo because of the short transfers, but I want to explore Sri Lanka one day.

The theme song "Ode to Paradise" is ringing in the cabin non-stop when boarding and taxiing, and it completely gets stuck in your head by the the time you're in the air. And I don't mind it, it's a pretty good song.

By the way, SriLankan Airlines may not be the most comfortable airline, but the food is pretty awesome. They serve authentic Indian/SriLankan curry with rice, and it's really good. Other Airlines try to go for the fancy route and serve something like a french course dish, but they rarely pull it off and it's not good. Instead, airlines which serve whatever is authentic to their culture usually succeed and I end up having a better experience.

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