The film list presented for this new Horror movie music compilation from BSX records (available at www.buysoundtrax.com) features a number of selections that are cause for a raised eyebrow:  Creepshow, Dawn of the Dead, Psycho II, Warlock, True Blood.  The music runs the gamut from the innocuous Vic Mizzy music for The Addams Family and The Ghost and Mr. Chicken and Jack Marshall’s theme from The Munster’s; to several John Carpenter selections (Halloween, The Fog, and Christine; and Morricone’s music for The Thing); and a host of creepy classics from A Nightmare on Elm Street, to Fright Night and Shock Treatment.  There are several other TV shows featured here as well:  Tales from the Crypt and The New Outer Limits.  Though the BSX catalogue includes original score releases from a couple of the films represented here, all of the selections are contemporary electronic recreations of these pieces.  It does help that many of the selections were already synthesizer/electronic scores to begin with and that the state of the art sound makes many of these arrangements quite engaging.

Dominik Hauser is the primary producer/arranger/performer (he is either a good brass player, or has some great samples, or both) for selections in the first half of the disc.  His performances/realizations of the Carpenter pieces are quite good and make for an engaging introduction to these selections.  The little children’s march, “The Gonk,” from Dawn of the Dead by Herbert Chappell receives a performance that sounds like acoustic brass are being used as well as xylophone which helps break up some of the previous electronic material.  It is a delightful change of pace and one of the albums highlights.  His arrangement of “Carol Anne’s Theme” from Poltergeist is a fine example of samples used wisely to imitate a live orchestra though it can be a little stiff at times as is the “Overture” from The Nightmare Before Christmas.

Chick Cirino provides a fine arrangement of music from Creepshow, a suite from his score to 1989’s Roger Corman comedy Transylvania Twist, and music from Wendy Carlos’ The Shining which closes the album.  Joohyun Park, who has worked on a number of Christopher Young projects, provides arrangements of Goldsmith’s music from Psycho II (a tantalizing take on the “Main Title”) and Warlock (“The Sentence”); and a good reproduction of Nathan Barr’s “Love Theme” from True Blood and music from Fiedel’s Fright Night.

There are some other fun surprises.  John Beal performs his trailer for Graveyard Shift and provides an arrangement of music from Christine.  And there is Dennis McCarthy’s chilling take on Charles Bernstein’s music from A Nightmare on Elm Street.  Another potential point of interest are several songs performed by actress Victoria De Mare (Shadows-2005) from Shock Treatment (“Looking for Trade”), The Return of the Living Dead (“Tonight”) and Brian Hacksaw Williams from True Blood (“Bad Things”).  Charles Fernandez (Robot Chicken, and orchestrator for the films The Butterfly Effect, Mr. Magoo and others) performs and provides arrangements for The Addams Family (a little too cutesy at times) and “The Haunted Organ” from The Ghost and Mr. Chicken (taken a little slow and a bit laboriously).

Overall this is a fun disc with a generous playing time that traverses a number of classic electronic scores and does a good job reproducing selections from those that were originally orchestral.  The production values are high for the music.  The booklet includes paragraph summaries of the films and little or no information about the performances or equipment used to pull these pieces off.  The disc will likely sell best at Comic-Con with its built in fan base.  There are still plenty of fine selections here though to warrant a look by fans of these scores looking for a sampler.  The disc starts out fairly creepy enough but then slowly gives way to the lighter horror music, and pop-influenced selections.  The first half is perhaps the msot succsessful part of the release.

The month has flown by again!  We are now approaching that intriguing season of the year when every bad horror genre score is often offset by one for an Oscar hopeful.  The slow increase in quality is already apparent in some of the downloadable releases now out with more interesting scores to come.  This month there are 5 discs that are truly worth your time and which go across a broad spectrum.

Sony launched a series called Music of America earlier this year featuring re-packaging of music by the likes of Bernstein, Copland, and John Williams among others.  The three-disc set of music from the latter composer is of interest this month.  Most everything here comes from the two Olympic albums, the London Symphony Orchestra recording Williams made, his classical concert music albums, and a few pops albums.  If you missed the release that featured his bassoon concerto, you can hear it in this collection along.  Each disc features a suite, or concerto work as its centerpiece with a variety of shorter pieces and film selections thrown in around it.  Of greatest interest is the music from Memoirs for a Geisha that Williams recorded with Yo-Yo Ma in Chicago a year or so ago.  This is the suite that Williams has programmed with orchestras in Boston and elsewhere.  It is an exquisite work that stands well on its own.  There are plenty of great miniatures strewn throughout and it would not be a complete set with out a version of the Star Wars music turning up.  A great introduction to the composer for any fan, as well as some new music thrown in for those who already have the original releases.  The worst part about this release though is its packaging in a carboard box with the CDs likely to be scratched over time as they are removed and returned to their album sleeves. 

Next up is a new score by Italian film maestro Ennio Morricone.  It comes from the latest Tornatore film, Baaria.  There is some borrowing here frmo Bizet and Rota but the score continues to inhabit a sound and style that will be familiar from other Tornatore films like The Legend of 1900.  The thematic material here is quite beautiful as is the way Morricone orchestrates this idea in different guises.  The music is not from the composer's more innovative side, but can be admired for its craft and seeming effortlessness.  You can see the review elsewhere on this site for more details.

Louide DiTullio will be a familiar name to those who pay attention to the musicians listed on film score albums.  She has been a solo flautist on some 1200 scores over her career and was in the orchestra put together for the classic Columbia Stravinsky recordings.  The Hollywood Flute finds her performing with a Canadian chamber orchestra in a variety of film music arranged for flute and chamber orchestra.  There is a delightful suite from Hook, music from Dances with Wolves, and two beautifully-played thematic tracks from Jerry Goldsmith's scores for Sleeping with the Enemy and Rudy.  Either of those performances would be worth the price of the disc alone.  But there is also a gorgeous work for flute and orchestra by David Rose that deserves a place in more standard repertoire.  Overall, it is one of the most enjoyable releases of flute and film music you are likely to ever hear--and if you could only buy one disc this month, I think this would be the one.

Now to go back some 250 years to music by a Swedish Baroque master, Johan Helmich Roman.  CPO released a new recording of the composer's Music for a Royal Wedding (reviewed here) that features period instruments and a fine crisp recording of this Handel-like collection of brief musical numbers.  Roman's music is quite engaging and features some interesting violin work (he was a virtuoso violinist) and a sound that is reminiscent of Handel.  There are some interesting fiddle and harmonic ideas that suggest some influence from folk music in Sweden which makes this a quite interesting work overall.

From the past to the future, we turn finally to a re-issue from Silva Screen Records of a classic electronic score, Brad Fiedel's Terminator 2--Judgment Day (see review on this site).  This score, with its familiar opening theme, stands the test of time quite well with its use of computer electronics to recreate musical background score.  Apart from its theme, Fiedel's score features well-designed textures and some great action music that still outshines some of the electronic music being written today on far more sophisticated equipment.  Highly-recommended for fans who missed the original Varese Sarabande release.