Soundtrek: December 2005

Free Music Friday: John Ottman

John Ottman is both a film editor and composer (and one-time director); it was a daunting task when he stepped up to do both for X-Men 2.

Musically following the late Michael Kamen (who scored the first X-Men), John Ottman's score is more dynamic and better fleshed-out Kamen's. Kamen's main theme survives in this film, however in a much more exciting and vibrant arrangement.

John Ottman's web site (click post title for link) has many samples of his work that can be downloaded, but the real gem here is an unreleased track from X2: X-Men United called "The White House Attack" which is taken from the opening scene where a drugged Nightcrawler tries to assassinate the president.

Not the greatest quality (60 kbps VBR), it is a high-energy action piece with fantastic choral work; it's any wonder why this cue didn't end up on the soundtrack album.

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think of this track and/or Ottman's music in general. And if you're in the mood for an atmospheric noir score, check out his music for The Usual Suspects, my personal favorite by John Ottman.

I have some exciting things lined up for Soundtrek in '06 so see you then and have a happy New Year!

Labels: free music, John Ottman

Christmas & iTunes: Two great tastes that taste great together...

Over this holiday weekend, I received a combined $100 worth of iTunes gift cards and I felt that this would be a good time to catch up on some soundtracks I'd been meaning to pick up. So far, I've purchased 5:

War of the Worlds by John Williams
Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams
Munich by John Williams
King Kong by James Newton Howard
Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe by Harry Gregson-Williams

My hope is to have reviews up for these over the next few weeks; here's to the power of positive thinking!

See you soon.

Free Music Friday: Don Davis

If you enjoyed the music in the Matrix films or Jurassic Park III, then navigate to the audio page @ composer Don Davis' web site here. He has many samples of his work available for download; most are shortened versions of available cues but some are unreleased such as a few tracks he did for the Matrix Online video game.

Don Davis was elevated to a new plateau with his Matrix scores, an exciting blend of orchestra and techno that could be both beautifully melodic and frighteningly dissonant at the same time. While not the stepping stone to film music greatness that the Lord Of The Rings scores were for Howard Shore, I believe that we have only begun to see the best from Don Davis.

Check out his music and let me know what you think.

Happy Holidays!

Labels: free music

The Star Wars Holiday Special

I'm a huge fan of Star Wars; both the films and the music. I even like the bad stuff to a certain degree. So when I stumbled upon a web site with music from the infamous Star Wars Holiday Special, I had to check it out. Broadcast only once on November 17th 1978, this travesty of modern television (even by 1978 standards) has been denounced by George Lucas since the day it aired. But I'm not here to debate the show's (lack of) merits, so on to the music:

Diahann Carroll as Mermeia - "This Minute"
Sure Diahann Carroll's voice sounds great, but the song itself sucks. The instruments sound like they are being played underwater and the context of why the song is in the show is creepy at best (I'll let you listen to it to figure out what I mean).

Jefferson Starship as the Holographic Band - "Light the Sky on Fire"
Whatever you think of the band, at least this is a straight forward rock song. I believe that this song wasn't written for the Holiday Special so it doesn't suffer from trying to create pop lyrics to squeeze into the Star Wars Universe.

Bea Arthur as Ackmena - "Goodnight But Not Goodbye"
This is almost the worst song here; it is a bastardization of the Cantina Band music from Star Wars with lyrics as Bea (owner of the cantina) tries to get here clientele to leave; I don't remember why. Shiver.

Carrie Fisher as Princess Leia - "A Day To Celebrate"
An utter travesty, a sedated Carrie Fisher "sings" words set to the Star Wars Main Title, which is one of the greatest pieces of orchestral music ever. It is horrific and, thankfully, short.

With the possible exception of the Jefferson Starship song, this music is terrible. However, like a bloody car accident, you just can't look away (or stop listening in this case).

Since these songs will probably never see the light of day in any official capacity, go to www.starwarsholidayspecial.com to download MP3 files and while you're there, immerse yourself in almost everything else this flaming train wreck has to offer.

Enjoy!

12/19/05 NOTE: Actually "Light the Sky on Fire" by Jefferson Starship is available officially, but it is a different version than the one featured in the program.