I was lucky enough to get to go to the Joe Hisaishi concert the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra put on at the end of April and I have been listening to Studio Ghibli music pretty much non stop since.  He's an amazing composer and really looked like he was having fun with the orchestra.

Joe Hisaishi manages to capture the essence of Miyazaki's movies with his beautiful music and they're incredibly emotive. The perfect background music for writing important scenes. I'm really hoping the MSO puts out a recording with him, but this is a really good album to listen to in the mean time.

Has anyone else been obsessed with the Winter Olympics lately? I love the figure skating so so much. I'm not embarrassed to admit I have even been studying the scoring so I understand this beautiful sport better.

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So my song for this month has to be the song the Japanese pair figure skaters, Miu Suzaki and Ryuichi Kihara, used which weirdly enough is from an anime about ice skating (so meta). I have listened to it literally every day since hearing it, it's such an inspirational song and gives me a boost whenever I'm feeling low about my writing.

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(Also Yuzuru Hanyu, I LOVE YOU!! Figure skating is the best)

I am so in love with this movie. It was funny, it was heartbreaking, it was touching. If you haven't seen it yet, what is wrong with you? The soundtrack is an awesome mix of new and old music, and was an absolute no brainer for April playlist.

Sometimes I hear a song that is just SO perfect for a show opening and I start imagining what one of my stories would look like to it. Just Meet by Silent Siren is definitely one of those songs. It's so happy and catchy, and it just makes me want to write so much!

Enya!! What ever happened to her? I used to be obsessed with this album when I was a teenager. Someone mentioned on Twitter the other day that they listen to her when they write (sorry I can't remember who!) and I've gotten back in to her since then. Great background music.