Hungarian and Romanian folk songs sitting next to Japanese pop standards from the '60s, and somehow it all feels like one continuous memory. Katsu Hoshi arranged the original soundtrack for Takahata's Only Yesterday, weaving Eastern European folk recordings into a deeply Japanese story about growing up.
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"TEREMTES" and "HAJNALI NOTA" bring this raw, earthy vocal quality that makes the countryside scenes feel timeless and borderless. "Mayim Mayim" hits with instant nostalgia if you ever did folk dancing in school. "Memories Come Tumbling Down" captures that exact sensation its title describes.
The mix of licensed folk tracks and original score gives the whole thing a collage quality, like flipping through a photo album where half the pictures are from places you've never been but somehow recognize. If you love Ghibli for how it finds the universal in the specific, this soundtrack is a perfect example.