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| With basically still two mail drops to go, I still figured it better to do a best of today than get behind in November. There were fewer release to choose from this month but what did come in were truly highlights. Three of the "best" releases come from limited edition recordings which may mean they are not available. The first of these is Goldsmith's score for Escape from the Planet of the Apes. Though unbelievably brief it is great to now have all the POA scores on CD as complete as we can get them. This score is a bit lighter at first but, like the film itself, gradually darkens along the way. This was my second favorite of the Apes films as a kid (the other being the more surreal Beneath the POA with its weird liturgical music scenes). It is unfortunate that Varese simply did not put all of this on their Planet of the Apes score release years ago. As it is the "new" material appears to have some sound distortion at times (though it is hard to tell if this might not have been intentional). Franz Waxman is another of those great Golden Age composers whose music is far more familiar than one would think. His score for Bride of Frankenstein is one of the early classic Hollywood horror scores. These more large orchestral scores, often feeling like B-pictures to the likes of say Rozsa's epics, still gave the composer a lot of chances to write engaging music. His brief jazz score to Rear Window feels like an exception to his output. Even Sunset Boulevard with its jazzier sweltery sax lines feels conceived as a bigger orchestral score. So Varese's release of Crime in the Streets gives everyone a chance to hear the composer exploring his jazz roots. Waxman actually worked as a pianist in German jazz bands, playing on singles sung by Marlene Dietrich. So this release, which features the composer exploring jazz in more concert music settings is revelatory in many ways. It is not quite West Coast Jazz, but it defintely has elements of that growing influential style and features some great musicians from that period. Highly recommended to fans of more unusual jazz releases (this is the re-issue and expansion of the collector's popular LP). Silva records 4-disc set, Definitive Horror Movie Compilation, was reviewed here earlier this month. See that review for more information, but this is really one of the best film music compilation sets of the year with plenty of great music to go around for fans of older and newer music. Highly recommended. La-La Land Records may still have a few copies of there Goldsmith 2-fer disc featuring two rather oddly-paired scores, I.Q. and Seconds. The first is from an uneven romantic comedy featuring Walter Mathau as Einstein from the 1990s. This release allows Goldsmith collector's to have on CD all of the composer's scores composed in the 1990s. Though it is interesting to hear Goldsmith's style in this genre, this is a fairly weak and uninteresting score when all is said and done, with a less catchy melodic idea than in other films by the composer at this time. The real reason for this CD then becomes the appearance of Seconds which is a Frankenheimer thriller featuring a great example of Goldsmith's 1960s blend of traditional film music and more experimental music which he would use in other psychological thrillers and is a descendent of his intriguing score to 1962's Freud. Great sound also helps make this a welcome addition to the catalogue but you'll need to hurry to grab a copy. Finally, Tadlow's re-recording of Gold's amazing Exodus score has to be one of the highlights of the year. This two disc set features the complete score performed in superb sound and quite beautifully by the oft-maligned City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra. The second disc features wonderful "extras" of music with a familiar setting from Goldsmith's QBVII to fabulous performances of two selections from Schindler's List. 8. I.Q./Seconds (Goldsmith) LLL 9. Exodus (Gold) Tadlow | | |
| Rolfe Kent’s winter was evidently spent working on romantic comedies. Silva has released two of his scores for late spring releases now giving film music fans a chance to enjoy two somewhat different takes on the genre. Though brief, this new Silva release of 17 Again should be welcome by fans of Kent looking to see how the composer handles a blend of comedy, romance, and great adventure scoring. The film is a sort of retelling of Freaky Friday with guys (a remake of which Kent also scored) featuring teen heartthrob Zac Ephron. At any rate, the music may turn out to be the best thing about the film and it definitely gives film music fans something to enjoy in a score that has to work hard to point out the obvious. Kent’s brief “Game Theme” which opens the disc, is like a light-pop version of a Thomas Newman score, but that’s where the similarities will end for the most part (another longer segment appears in “It’s Not About Basketball”). The music here tends to take a page from the jazzier aspects of approaches Kent used in Sideways but translated, and well, to a larger ensemble. The heartbreakingly beautiful music that follows in “Scarlett” (another thematic presentation) is among the composer’s finest. This continues to be the case as a huger orchestral sound moves into the magically-tinged sound of “Mike Realises” which is among the better tracks on the CD. The score illustrates a great mixture of wonderful big orchestral sounds hinting at romance or adventure, as well as lightly-scored, thematically rich moments of romance and mystery. It all works fairly well with the only caveat being that of many comedy scores in the brevity of their cues. Somehow though, Kent’s music in miniature tracks are offset by enough longer cues on this brief disc, to make it work very well as a coherent listening experience. The longer tracks tend to allow us to hear Kent’s approach to dramatic narrative underscoring over the long haul and this is on great display in “Mark Sees the Janitor” where a wonderful little waltz becomes overcome by increasing tension and dissolves into comedic underscoring over the course of 3 minutes. The blend of action and comedic scoring should please most fans. And the semi-Lord of the Rings parody in the brief “Elfish at Dinner” should bring an appropriate smile to film music fan’s faces. This is not the light-jazz Kent styles of Sideways but the Kent of Kate and Leopold with far more engaging thematic material. Something else worth noting is that the score was recorded in San Francisco using the “Skywalker Symphony Orchestra”—a group of musicians in the bay area that freelances in dramatic and operatic performing lending this score an almost electric sense of energy. ............................................. Ghosts of Girlfriends Past was another immediately forgettable (and perhaps regrettable?) featuring Matthew McConaughey. The music features several character themes, or musical styles/sounds, that help easily identify there appearance and cast their shadow in specific scenes. Uncle Wayne’s music tends to be cast in a jazzier swing a la Sideways less integrated with the orchestra than in his music for 17 Again (the Jazz group is even given a separate performer listing in the credits) . Jenny’s music moves between gentle lyrical presentations of innocence and beauty but can also get a bit punchy when it has to. It appears in several cues where it can be more percussive (“Jenny and Connor Meet and Spar”) or in more fragile reflective moments (“The Swings, Young Jenny”). Along the way many light comedic rhythms appear as well. There is another bittersweet idea in “Pauly’s Theme” as well that gets a fuller treatment there. The film gives the composer to score some darker musical explorations in the ghost moments of the narrative (“Graveside Narrative”). Another fascinating cue is “Conjuring the Ghost of Future” which features a darker texture in the orchestration as it bubbles along with interesting whistling (reminiscent of Twisted Nerve-a suddenly popular Herrmann score) and percussion ideas cast against a full orchestral sound. Film music fans know that when a film tends to be bad, good composers like Kent can deliver music which they will most likely enjoy. There is enough variety here for fans of romantic comedies and plenty of unique orchestral ideas to make for a great listening experience apart from the film where the music is forced to tell you what to do with lighter Hollywood fare like this. As with 17 Again, Kent headed to the Bay area to record the score at the Skywalker Ranch. | | |
| Nine years ago, Silva released a two-disc set of music from Horror films “from Nosferatu to The Sixth Sense” called A History of Horror. It appeared at about the time when the somewhat infamous City of Prague Orchestra seemed to be improving and the set was a fairly good mix of old and new music. That set was also a bit heavier on music from English films featuring music by Carl Davis and Debbie Wiseman as well as some James Bernard. Bernard’s music (taken from other fine Silva overviews of his music) is all that made it to this new four-disc compilation. Of the 28 tracks on that previous release, 18 reappear here, and several others are re-edited slightly, and a couple of different selections are chosen from films whose music appeared on that earlier release. Still at 4 hours and some 40 minutes worth of music over 60 tracks you can't find a better collection of great horror movie music. This new set is organized in reverse chronological order with the newest music kicking off disc one and the oldest music bringing up the final disc. Disc One serves up selections from present releases back to 2001. It kicks off with music from Christopher Young’s great score to Drag Me to Hell (listed here as “Original Version” end titles) in a performance that comes pretty close to the originals. Music from Twilight will delight fans of that new film series as well. Some of the selections are pulled from recent year highlight discs (like Giacchino’s “Roar” from Cloverfield). The variety of mostly lyrical music, and rarely chilling, makes for a wonderful listening experience that eschews the jolts and dissonance one may associate with music from this genre. The disc, featuring performances mostly conducted by James Fitzpatrick, is literally one great performance after another. Music from Sunshine, Zodiac, Pan’s Labyrinth, and The Mummy Returns give you just a quick glimpse of the variety of composers represented here. It is a mark of Silva’s love of good film music on display here and throughout the set that one has to admire. Some interesting moments include “Eli’s Theme” by Johan Soderqvist from the foreign film Let the Right One In (a delightful musical surprise), the appearance of the quirky theme by Rolfe Kent from Dexter, and a suite of music from Howard’s score for King Kong. The inclusion of non-orchestral driven music (like Clouser’s music from Saw or Murphy’s 28 Days Later) sometimes causes a quick readjustment due to the shift in sound but you have to admire the breadth of selections here. The selection from The Ring also has a rather abrupt end making it the only really “scary” music on the first disc in terms of its chilling effects. The rest is all a reminder of the great music composed over the first decade of the 21st century. Evidently there were no horror films in 2000 as the second disc covers music from 1984-1999 kicking off with music from Goldsmith’s score to The Mummy remake. Some of these selections have appeared elsewhere but this disc two turns out to be filled with intelligently-chosen selections covering a breadth of musical styles. Music from Sleepy Hollow and The Sixth Sense close out the first third of the disc which is separated by the energetic theme from Buffy the Vampire Slayer and the first appearance of synthesizer music from John Carpenter’s Village of the Damned. The “Dance of the Witches” from The Witches of Eastwick gives us a little Williams, Silvestri’s theme from Predator, music from Horner’s Aliens, and Bernstein’s Ghostbusters theme round off the more familiar names, while inclusion of Kilar’s music for Bram Stoker’s Dracula and music from Young’s Hellraiser and its sequel remind us of composer’s who got our attention with superb scores during this period. This disc is not as rigorously chronological in reverse which makes sense for some of the selections included here. Again, it is another fine disc of great film music all well-performed. Disc three features the most synthesizer-based film music as it covers 1977-1983, much of it by John Carpenter with instantly recognizable main themes. The disc begins though with Charles Bernstein’s theme for A Nightmare on Elm Street followed by a somewhat unnecessary, but well-played, cover of “Bad to the Bone” as used in Christine. Morricone’s music for The Thing and “Regan’s Theme” from Exorcist II make for nice additions in a disc that is filled out with music by Goldsmith (Poltergeist, Alien) and Williams (Dracula, The Fury). Fan favorites from Phantasm and Suspiria create equally creepy but no less jolting horror movie moments. The one odder inclusion is the Bartok music as used in The Shining which demonstrates again the wide net cast by the producers of the set. Disc four pulls us mostly back to orchestral music from 1976-1922 with the one exception of “Tubular Bells” from The Exorcist. Most of this disc revisits Silva’s earlier horror music compilation and features a number of selections from Hammer films scored by James Bernard. His more recent score for the 1922 film Nosferatu closes off the album so in theory the oldest music comes from Waxman’s score to The Bride of Frankenstein. The disc opens with “Ave Satani,” probably one of the more famous chilling film scores, and then shifts gears briefly for the “Transyvanian Lullaby” from Young Frankenstein before heading into music that demands to be listened to and features the most dissonant selections in the set. One delightful surprise here is music from Billy Goldenberg’s score for Duel conducted by Fitzpatrick (perhaps to reappear in a Spielberg compilation). Overall, this is a fantastic traversal of film music with of course plenty of great music missing and we could all carp about what we wish was included, but the bottom line is that this is a superb compilation with much to recommended it, especially if you missed the earlier release, and even if you have that one (!). The booklet is similar to the ones Silva did for the Cinema Century sets with only performer information, title, year of film, and publishing information, so it is hard to know when they are using their own arrangements or “original” ones. However, that should not make one hesitate from enjoying or purchasing this fabulous set. | | |
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Winifred Philips provided music for this year’s SimAnimals and has several film-related video game scores to her credit. SimAnimals is a wonderful score and had moments of lyricism recalling Elmer Bernstein. Phillips’ new score, for Spore Hero, has already been receiving many accolades and is now up in an Original Score category from the Hollywood Music in Media Awards. It is only the latest in a series of many notices that have noticed her fine melodic content, perfect orchestral colors, and command of narrative underscoring. Wii players will have a chance to enjoy her music for this latest game from Electronic Arts. The score is available as a digital download featuring over an hour of music. The main theme for the game has a definite jungle feel with little filigrees of harps and thematic statements with clarinet and a whistle-like flute sound that lends a little ethnic-coloring. “Home World” features some worldless choral ideas and a real magical quality—something which is a quality of the score as a whole—with plenty of little semi-comedic ideas and asymmetrical rhythm patterns. “Haven,” and later “Sporexplore” find us in a style reminiscent of a light Disney jungle adventure with everything good that one can imagine in the innovative scoring and delightful melodic ideas. The jungle feel permeates the score and is often explored with pizzicato string sounds and a great variety of instrumental colors. There is a rather light touch to all the musical bell sounds that sort of flit about in parts of the score as well. Menacing music, though rarely of the terribly frightening kind, appears first in “Sporaging” where a perfect sense of mystery and a little magic appears. There are some fine action moments too in “Monster Mayhem,” “Beast Brawl” and “Evolvable” which add just a little more brass to ratchet up the excitement and help create musical variety to the score as it plays out. And things get really menacing in the appropriately titled “Nemesis” which spills over into the creepy “Critters.” All heck breaks out in “Spore War” and we get a nice rounding off the score with a return to the main theme in a longer final statement on its own. Most of the tracks are substantial musical tone poems with enough variety to work well on their own and no doubt make Spore Hero an overall entrancing experience. Many a smile will also cross your face as you hear the exuberance and often hilarious sounds that follow you along this intriguing journey. | | |
| Jane Campion’s latest film, Bright Star, takes place in 1818 London and tells of the secret love affair between poet John Keats and his next door neighbor, FannyBrawne. The music is by Mark Bradshaw who has collaborated with the director on two film shorts, though this appears to be his first feature. Premiering at Cannes this year, it has been making mostly the festival circuit with a limited release here in the states in late September. Lakeshore’s disc is essentially a poetry disc with occasional music, and later bird sounds. The opening track, “Negative Capability,” opens with text and a rather modern small ensemble creeps in with a repetitive 3-4 note motif. “Return” last barely a minute but we get a hint at a longer melodic line that appears all to briefly in the equally short “Convulsion.” Bradshaw’s classically shaped violin lines are beautiful (getting a chance to breathe in “Yearning”, but all too often they are covered up by poetic recitation. If the release had perhaps included these poetic segments first with pure score material after it would at least have given listeners a chance to hear the intent of the music contextually, as well as being able to hear it as pure music (similar to what was done with the music for Il Postino—though that is by far a better score). The use of string quartet and keyboard help keep the feel of the music in an appropriately intimate fashion. The recurring theme helps cement the music overall, but is never given substantial enough treatment. A couple of curiosity tracks are the vocal settings of an “Adagio” from Mozart’s “Serenade in Bb, K.361). The first of these is presented without poetic insertions the other with one. These make up roughly seven minutes of the disc’s already meager play time of 23 minutes. Definitely a curiosity, fans of the film may find something here worth repeated listening. The disc plays more though as a poetry-on-tape release . | | |
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