September 3, 2007

• Best of August (New to the Collection)

  I know it's a little late, but last week was one of those crazy weeks that just got weirder by the end of the week.  I took a quick break to catch Mr. Bean's Holiday which is receiving little notice here...mostly because it's rated G, has little or no language, has subtitles, and physical comedy that rarely sinks to the lowest common denominator.  It is a bit of a throwback to Jacques Tati's Mr. Hulot films of the 1950s. 

  Anyway, as is the norm, here are my 5 top favorite new CDs to the collection for August.

  This month we kick off with 2 Varese CD Club releases both by the great Jerry Goldsmith.  First off is The Burbs a Tom Hanks sleeper horror/comedy that is actually a lot of fun to watch these days.  There are some great little Goldsmith electronic experiments along the way, but the score which surpised me was The Vanishing.  I had passed on this when Varese first announced it thinking I did not need another 90s-generic effort, but I guess I missed hearing a new JG score that I added it to my order.  This is an interesting mix of JG's music for The Russia House and Basic Instinct with a little of The Edge thrown in for good measure.  But it plays very well as a listening experience more than some other JG CDs.  It still has a few copies available whereas I think The Burbs is sold out from the label at least.

  The BIG news in August was Intrada's release of a 2-disc set of Goldsmith's music for The Wind and the Lion.  I reviewed this earlier in the month on the blog.  The first pressing sold out, and the label sent out for more copies making this one of their more successful releases.  It features the complete score, with additional source music, plus a remastering of the album itself.  The booklet notes are also well done.  For younger Goldsmith fans, this is the prototype for JGs music in The Thirteenth Warrior and The Mummy.  Call it Act One if you will.

  Telarc released a new compilation disc featuring the Cincinnati Pops and Erich Kunzel earlier in the summer.  Masters and Commanders has a little something for young and old, kicking off with a fine performance of music by Alfred Newman ("Conquest") and heading into music for the first two outings of Pirates of the Caribbean.  There is no Goldsmith or Williams on this disc (one would have thought there was at least some room for each) but what is there is much rarer, in general public, recordings of music from scores like The Plymouth Adventure and The Buccaneers.  A highly enjoyable listen overall.

  And finally, I've gushed enough over Patrick Doyle's beautiful score for As You Like It.  It's one of his best efforts in some time.  The violin playing throughout is exquisite and the only real detriment to the album are the two songs adapted from Shakespeare--they can't all be good I guess.

  Have a great Labor Day! 

   

  • 12:43 pm
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