Soundtrek

Free Music Friday: Tyler Bates

2007-03-09T18:02:00.000-06:00

Tyler Bates has been scoring movies for about 10 years now but he's managed to stay under the radar until Zach Snyder hired him to score '300', which opens today (please see the previous post for a look at that score). Snyder used him previously on 'Dawn of the Dead' and he did the music for Rob Zombie's 'The Devil's Rejects'.

I haven't heard much of Bates' output yet; I have the score for 'Dawn' but haven't listened to it much, as well as '300' which I have been playing non-stop; it is a great score (again, see below) and has a lot of replay value.

You can find samples of Bates' musical output in a flash music player located in the bottom left-hand corner of the screen and most are downloadable including selections from 'The Devil's Rejects', 'Slither', 'Dawn of the Dead' and others.

He has 'Day of the Dead' coming out in April and Zombie has since rehired Bates to score his upcoming remake of 'Halloween'. He is also currently attached to Snyder's adaptation of the comic series 'Watchmen'.

Click this post's title for a link to his official website and leave me a comment to let me know what you think.

See you on the web...

300 by Tyler Bates

2007-03-09T06:52:00.000-06:00

300 (Original Motion Picture Soundtrack)
Music by Tyler Bates

Based on the comic series by Frank Miller and Lynn Varley (which in turn is based on a true story), the movie directed by Zach Snyder tells the story of 300 Spartan warriors defending Greece from a million-strong Persian army in 480 B.C. Zach Snyder had employed Tyler Bates to score his last film, a remake of ‘Dawn of the Dead’, and has brought him back for this.

Utilizing orchestra, electronics, exotic instruments, guitar and vocals Bates produces a score that evokes the past while updating it with a fresh and modern quality. Some of the pieces call to mind the epic scores of yore, but it wouldn’t surprise me to find this being compared to similar genre work of late, specifically Hans Zimmer & Lisa Gerrard’s ‘Gladiator’. There are only so many ways you can score a period piece and have it come off as somewhat authentic so comparisons are bound to be made but I feel that the use of different instruments, especially the guitar, and an electronic ambiance provide enough for this score to stand on its own. Bates’ horror film past (he scored Dawn of the Dead, The Devil’s Rejects and Slither among others) shines through on a few cuts giving the music some welcome creepiness and atmosphere.

The guitar here is heavily distorted and used to great effect especially in track 17: “Fever Dream”. Not since John Carpenter’s ‘Ghosts of Mars’ have I heard so much rock guitar in an orchestrated score and it fits perfectly, unlike other attempts such as ‘Star Wars Episode II: Attack of the Clones’ track 3: “Zam the Assassin & The Chase Through Coruscant” where it seem to be used more for novelty than as a respected contributor.

You don’t get a lot of returning themes in this score and that’s just fine; a huge fan of John Williams I may be but not every score needs to be a text book lesson in letimotif. We don’t necessarily need a musical reminder every time a character walks on screen.

My biggest complaint is regarding the album presentation; most of the tracks are short and even though some bleed into each other, others just feel too brief. I would have liked to see some ques reedited together into longer tracks to create a smoother listening experience.

If you purchase the download version through iTunes (and possibly others), you get a bonus track of “To Victory (Philip Steir’s Sacrifice for Sparta Remix)”. I didn’t find this to be as offensive as a lot of film score fans potentially might but I do think it’s a bit of a cop out as far as value added material goes. Last year, David Arnold’s entire score to ‘Casino Royale’ was released through iTunes and it added a full 10 minutes to the cd release. I think that they should have done something similar here, adding in more real score instead of a remix.

The music has the near thankless job of keeping up with what look to be stellar visual effects and I will be interested to hear how the score (an estimated 90 minutes – 60 min on cd) will work within the confines of the film (117 minutes).

There are three versions of this soundtrack available:

Standard Edition - 25 tracks
Deluxe Edition - 25 tracks / Digipak packaging / 16 page booklet / 3 trading cards
Download Edition - 26 tracks including “To Victory (Philip Steir’s Sacrifice for Sparta Remix)” / 3 page pdf digital booklet

Final thoughts: I really like this score from a composer I never really gave much thought to and I plan on picking up more from Tyler Bates in the future. The music is edgy, crisp and poignant to the film; my only hope is it doesn't get buried in the audio mix and the people who only hear it in the theater don't miss out.

4 stars out of 5

Passion Of The Dialogue

2006-08-30T20:36:00.000-05:00

I recently purchased ‘Themes from the Passion – Single (Special Radio Re-Mix)’ from The Passion Of The Christ by John Debney off of iTunes. Debney’s score is very good and it still remains a mystery to me why mainstream success seems to elude him, but there’s another aspect to this track I want to touch on.

The few radio singles from orchestral scores that come out these days usually include dialogue from the film and this one is no exception. As a fan of film music, I don’t see the need for that other than as a feeble attempt to get a few non-film music listeners to connect to the music and hopefully run out and buy the soundtrack (but as a collector, I love this kind of stuff). The big difference here is that The Passion Of The Christ was filmed with the majority of the dialogue spoken in Aramaic and Latin and subtitled in English. Let me rephrase that: it’s not in English. Or Spanish. Or any other language widely spoken in the US, where the single was solicited to classical music (and possibly religious) radio stations.

Now that’s fine for the movie itself, where the filmmakers are trying to keep it historically accurate and the audience can read the subtitles to follow along. But how many people can hear a passage in Latin (especially which has been disembodied from the visual source material) and think “Oh yeah, I loved that part”? It just doesn’t make any sense.

Look, if the major record label marketing machine wants to put out stuff like this, that’s fine. If it gets a few more people to buy score albums who wouldn’t normally, that’s great. But I just wonder what the thought process was behind this particular decision: “who cares if you can’t understand what they’re saying, we can put it on the radio”.

Maybe that’s how they feel about popular music too.

'Superman Returns' composed by John Ottman

2006-06-21T22:49:00.000-05:00

Let me preface this review by saying that I am a big fan of John Williams original 'Superman' score and of John Ottman's previous efforts.

For those that do not know, Bryan Singer (the film's director) and John Ottman (the film's editor & composer) decided to mine John Williams' original themes to help establish ties to the original films (at leaset the first two). This score walks a fine line: adhere too close to the original and fans will say it's just a copy. Change too much and fans will be up in arms at the radical departure. I applaud John Ottman for finding and maintaining that delicate middle ground.

Ok, where to begin? Listening to the 'Main Title' reminds me of listening to Eric Kunzel conduct the Cinncinati Pops Orchestra through Hollywood's greatest hits. That's not a bad thing; Eric Kunzel does great work. However, the arrangement is almost identical to the original concert version (actually it combines elements from several versions but mostly the concert version). It sounds great, but I find myself asking "why"? As I said before, the filmmakers are deliberetly tying this movie to the original; I get that. But it still comes across as very 'concert in the park'.

Several of JW's themes make an apperance throughout; the 'main title march', the 'love theme/Can You Read My Mind' (thankfully, no dramatic reading of the lyrics), the 'Krypton theme' and even a variation of the 'growing up' music. After all of that I have to ask "no 'March of the Villians'"? I know that piece is written as comedic but I think it could easily be manipulated to suit the Lex Luthor of the new millennium.

Track 5 - 'Bank Job' has bongos in it that reminded me of Danny Elfman. Also, there's some choir work later in the score that reminded me of 'Edward Scissorhands' also Elfman.

About halfway through track 11 'The People You Care For', there is a stacatto piano that reminded me of Jerry Goldsmith's 'Planet Of The Apes' ('The Hunt' - great track!).

Not everything reminds me of something else; I think that Ottman's contibutions are fantastic. This might just be his most "hopefull" score yet and his action music is dynamic and exciting. I did however find myself waiting to catch the next borrowed theme, which I feel kept me from being able to completely immerse myself in Ottman's work. My hope is that with time I will be able to see past the recycled music to hear and appreciate the new material.

Listening to 'Superman Returns', I found myself continually being drawn back to 1978 through the use of the original themes. Perhaps because of my long-standing love of the original film and music, I kept being pulled out of the listening experience and transported back 28 years. Has this happened to anyone else? I doubt this was part of the filmmaker's intentions. Also, I'd be interested in hearing the perspective of someone who is not as attached to the original or has never heard or seen it at all. Does some of the music in 'Returns' sound "old"? Even though they are modern recordings, the writing, arranging and orchestrating styles and senseablilities of 30 years ago are somewhat different than today. Could a younger person tell the difference? Ponder that and drop me a comment or email.

Overall I like the score a lot, but I need more time to sort out how I "feel" about some of the elements borrowed or new. At any rate, this album just goes one step further in defining John Ottman's place in modern film music.

See you in the theater...

Transformers: More Than Meets The Ear...

2006-06-19T23:32:00.000-05:00

Posted at Soundtrack.Net on 06/17/06:

NEWS: Steve Jablonsky scores a teaser for Transformers: "It's more than meets the eye, and won't be in theaters until July 4, 2007 - but today at the Sony Scoring Stage, composer Steve Jablonsky recorded music for the theatrical teaser to the new Michael Bay film, Transformers.

Now Me:

I have Jablonsky's score for 'The Island' (also Bay); think Hans Zimmer remixed by Trent Reznor. I do enjoy that score and after listening to it again today, I think his style would fit in very well with the Transformers. If you've not heard 'The Island', it's an amalgamation of hard rock styling meets techno percussion meets synthesizer ambiance meets modern orchestra. I recommend 'The Island' if you want to try some fresh action music.

All this talk about the upcoming movie also got me thinking about the original animated Transformers movie composer, Vince DiCola. Perhaps it's because I bought this soundtrack when it came out (1986 - I also saw the movie in the theater) but I love the score for this movie - very slickly produced synthesizer music with pounding beats and heavy guitars. There's some great pseudo-metal songs too - check out Lion's version of the Transformers cartoon theme... Awesome!

Actually, DiCola's score is a lot like the 80's equivalent of Steve Jablonsky's 'The Island'; No wonder why I think Jablonsky would be perfect.

You've got a year until 'The Transformers' comes out (July 4th 2007), so until then go pick up the original soundtrack (and if you like Vince DiCola get 'Rocky IV' too) and 'The Island ' and judge for yourself.

SoundtrackNet : News : Trevor Rabin scores Snakes on a Plane

2006-06-16T21:16:00.000-05:00

SoundtrackNet : News : Trevor Rabin scores Snakes on a Plane

Click the above link to check out the full article at Soundtrack.Net.

V For Vendetta

2006-03-20T00:05:00.000-06:00

I just saw the movie and I enjoyed it. Not as much as the graphic novel, but what are you going to do.

As for the score; it didn't make much of an impact on me during the film. However, I do plan to get the soundtrack when it's released this Tuesday (3/21). Hopefully, a review will be soon to follow (I know, I know... I've said that before).

You can hear 30 second clips from the album on the offical site (click this post's title for the link).

Until then...

Free Music Friday Update

2006-03-05T10:11:00.000-06:00

It's been increasingly difficult to find composers that have music available to download, so Free Music Friday will not be a weekly feature (sometimes semi-weekly) on the blog anymore.

I still plan on posting things like this as I find them. If anyone else knows where to find legally posted soundtrack music, please let me know and I'll post it here.

Thank you for your understanding.

iTunes Exclusive - John Williams & Yo-Yo Ma Live

2006-02-28T22:09:00.000-06:00

In this 4-track iTunes Exclusive, John Williams and Yo-Yo Ma perform 3 pieces from "Memoirs Of A Geisha" for piano and cello and then talk about it.

Here are the tracks:

1. Sayuri's Theme (Live Version)
2. A Dream Discarded (Live Version)
3. Going To School (Live Version)
4. Interview with John Williams and Yo-Yo Ma

This should be the reason you've been waiting for to start using iTunes.

Enjoy!

Dario Marianelli Scores V For Vendetta

2006-02-26T01:13:00.000-06:00

The soundtrack album to V For Vendetta has a street date of March 21st; here is the track listing:

1. Remember Remember
2. Cry Me A River - JULIE LONDON
3. "...Governments Should Be Afraid Of Their People..."
4. Evey's Story
5. Lust At The Abbey
6. The Red Diary
7. Valerie
8. Evey Reborn
9. I Found A Reason - CAT POWER
10. England Prevails
11. The Dominoes Fall
12. Bird Gerhl - ANTONY & THE JOHNSONS
13. Knives And Bullets (And Cannons Too)

The score is by Dario Marianelli and he previously scored The Brothers Grimm for Terry Gilliam and has been nominated for an Oscar for Pride & Prejudice.

I'm not familiar with Dario's work so I'm interested but not excited about this.

We shall see...

John Williams & Yo-Yo Ma Live!

2006-02-23T20:15:00.000-06:00

If for no other reason than to see/hear JW perform on the piano live, you have to check out this footage from the Tonight Show.

Click here and then let me know what you think.

Free Music Friday: Carter Burwell

2006-02-17T22:44:00.000-06:00

Composer of choice for the Cohen Brothers, Carter Burwell has made a career out of composing dark and quirky music for dark and quirky films.

I've never been terribly impressed with CB, however I do enjoy the music he did for Three Kings (perhaps because that film is a different kind of dark and quirky).

Decide for yourself after you go to his site here to download music from eight of the films he's worked on. Even though the amount of music is small, it appears that the scores that are available to download samples from are hard-to-find or out-of-print. Kudos to CB for making those available.

Let me know what you think by leaving a comment or sending an email.

And I do remember I still have to review Firewall; I'm on vacation all next week so hopefully I'll have more time to devote to this illness... er... hobby.

Until next time...

iTunes, will you be my valentine?

2006-02-14T09:30:00.000-06:00

I love iTunes. There... I said it.

I purchased Alexandre Desplat's score for Firewall at 7:30 this morning without having to leave the house; I will remind you that the soundtrack comes out today. So without having to go to the store, I am listening to Firewall right now on my iPod (and at work no less).

It's a beautiful thing; beautiful and dangerous. The ability to purchase music online and download it right then is a form of consumer instant gratification that my wallet doesn't really need.

But I do love it (although not as much as I love my beautiful wife - good save!).

Oh yeah; I'm enjoying the score so far (I've got through the first two tracks) and I hope to have a review up tonight or tomorrow.

Later.

Free Music Friday: Marco Beltrami

2006-02-10T22:25:00.000-06:00

I started to notice Marco Beltrami when he was hired to do the score for Terminator 3: Rise of the Machines. An utterly terrible movie, the score definately falls into line with the first 2 Terminator scores; serviceable in the film but not of much interest outside. However, I was impressed by his arrangement of Brad Fiedel's original Terminator theme.

Then came Hellboy; I like the score to Hellboy. Is it great? No, but it is solid and fun. Next came I, Robot. Another solid score.

His most recent projects include Underworld: Evolution and Three Burials.

Click here to listen to and/or download tracks from 17 of his scores including the ones I just mentioned. And they do swap some out from time to time so be sure to check back.

I'm keeping my ear on Marco Beltrami in the future.

I'm a Slacker...

2006-02-06T20:52:00.000-06:00

I know I missed Free Music Friday again; the new baby is really taking a lot out of us right now. However, I still have a composer ready from last week to spotlight this Friday.

Stay Tunned!

78th Academy Awards Nominations

2006-01-31T11:05:00.000-06:00

This morning, the nominations for the 78th Academy Awards were released; here are the soundtrack related categories and nominees:

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original score):
1. “Brokeback Mountain” (Focus Features) Gustavo Santaolalla
2. “The Constant Gardener” (Focus Features) Alberto Iglesias
3. “Memoirs of a Geisha” (Sony Pictures Releasing) John Williams
4. “Munich” (Universal and DreamWorks) John Williams
5. “Pride & Prejudice” (Focus Features) Dario Marianelli

Achievement in music written for motion pictures (Original song):
1. “In the Deep” from “Crash” (Lions Gate)
Music by Kathleen “Bird” York and Michael Becker
Lyric by Kathleen “Bird” York
2. “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp” from“Hustle & Flow” (Paramount Classics, MTV Films and New Deal Entertainment)
Music and Lyric by Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard
3. “Travelin’ Thru” from “Transamerica” (The Weinstein Company and IFC Films)
Music and Lyric by Dolly Parton

I heard a couple pieces from "Brokeback Mountain" and was very impressed but I am unfamiliar with both "The Constant Gardner" and "Pride & Prejudice" and I have never heard any of the songs nominated. I may have to hunt those down and check them out.

Once again, I am a huge John Williams fan and "Memoirs of a Geisha" was one of my favorite scores last year; I also really enjoyed his music for "Munich". After winning the Golden Globe for "Memoirs", I hope that score takes the Oscar as well. Good luck JW!

You can check out the nominees in all categories by clicking here. The 78th Academy Awards will be held and televised on ABC on Sunday, March 5th.

Alexandre Desplat scores Firewall

2006-01-28T09:00:00.000-06:00

On February 14th, Varese Sarabande will release Alexandre Desplat's score to the new Harrison Ford thriller Firewall.

Here is the track listing:

1. Firewall (3:16)
2. Surveillance (3:38)
3. Breaking In (2:56)
4. The Bank (:57)
5. First Night (1:21)
6. Hostages (3:24)
7. The Camera Dances (3:47)
8. The Epi-Pen (3:59)
9. The Family Theme (1:21)
10. Escape From The Bank (10:23)
11. Looking For Help (3:04)
12. Exchanging The Files (2:10)
13. The Fight (7:14)
14. Rainy Day (3:15)
15. Together Again (1:20)

I really liked Desplat's score for Syriana so I'm excited about this.

Click the post title to be taken to Varese Sarabande's web page for the soundtrack.

Free Music Saturday(?): George S. Clinton

2006-01-28T08:11:00.000-06:00

George S. Clinton's most notable contribution to the world of film music up to this point is probably the Austin Powers movies. A stylish mix of 60's meets 90's, the music of Austin Powers really helped set the tone and, I feel, elevated the sometimes overly silly plots.

Click here to download select tracks from over 30 of his scores. Highlights are the Austin Powers movies, the Mortal Kombat movies and The 4400 mini-series.

A solid composer who seems to dance at the edge of the A-list.

Check him out and let me know what you think at soundtrekmail@gmail.com.

Free Music Firday: More Jeremy Soule

2006-01-20T21:50:00.000-06:00

My wife gave birth to our second son this morning and I'm wiped out.

If you enjoyed the Star Wars: Bounty Hunter tracks I recommended a while back then click here and check out a few pieces of Jeremy Soule's score to the game Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic.

Also, I picked up the score for Syriana by Alexandre Desplat. I hope to get a review up soon but I'm already behind a few scores and with the new baby, I'm not sure when I'm going to have the time.

Here's to the power of positive thinking!

Later.

2006 Golden Globe Winners Announced

2006-01-17T19:57:00.000-06:00

As posted yesterday on SoundtrackNet:

Release Date:(01/16/2006)

Tonight in Beverly Hills, the 63nd Annual Golden Globe Awards were handed out. Winning for Best Score was composer John Williams, for his music to Memoirs of a Geisha. Williams has always been a contender for the Oscars this year, and now the question is whether or not he'll get nominated for Munich in addition to Geisha. His score for Memoir of a Geisha was also listed on SoundtrackNet's Best of 2005.

I can't say I "predicted" this but Memoirs was one of my favorite scores of last year and possibly John Williams' career. I knew to expect great things.

Congratulations to JW and lets hope for a repeat at Oscar time!

New Email Address!!!

2006-01-15T21:40:00.000-06:00

We finally have an email address: soundtrekmail@gmail.com!

If you have any questions or comments regarding anything you read here please take a minute to let me know.

Free Music Friday: Jeremy Soule

2006-01-13T23:01:00.000-06:00

I started writing this on Friday, I swear!

You've probably never heard of Jeremy Soule, but he has scored a number of video games including the first 3 Harry potter games and Star Wars: Bounty Hunter.

In Star Wars: Bounty Hunter, you assume the role of Jango Fett, the most feared bounty hunter in the galaxy. Click here to download 4 tracks from Bounty Hunter and this post's title links to his official site.

There are no clips of Jeremy Soule's music available on his own site.

See you next time!

Mann Hunter

2006-01-12T21:35:00.000-06:00

Any one know where I can find this?

One of my favorite movies of the 80's, Michael Mann's version of the novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris is a stylistic thriller that, while visually dated, still holds up very well as a crime drama.

The soundtrack was released on record and cassette but never officially on cd. Also very much of the 80's (with the noteable exception of Iron Butterfly), the soundtrack is synthy and moody and great.

Here is the track listing of the official release:

Strong As I Am by The Prime Movers
Coelocanth by Shriekback
This Big Hush by Shriekback
Graham's Theme by Michel Rubini
Evaporation by Shriekback
Heartbeat by Red 7
Lector's Cell by The Reds
Leed's House by The Reds
In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida by Iron Butterfly

I'm trying to find this soundtrack so if you see it or have it, let me know.

Later.

Free Music Friday: Basil Poledouris

2006-01-06T23:20:00.000-06:00

I'm just sneaking this one in on Friday... barely.

If you've never heard Basil Poledouris' score for Conan The Barbarian, then run out now and buy it. One of my favorite scores from the 80's, it is primal and bombastic music that appropriately represents a fictitious pre-history filled with sword and sorcery.

Unfortunately, Basil's web site doesn't contain any samples from that score or the sequel (or Robocop either) but it does have many more that provide a decent overview of his career. Highlights include The Hunt For Red October, Red Dawn and Starship Troopers.

Check out his music and leave me a comment letting me know what you think.

Enjoy!

King Kong by James Newton Howard

2006-01-05T23:57:00.000-06:00

James Newton Howard is a decent composer and that is exactly what King Kong is; a decent score. He replaced Howard Shore after Shore’s score was rejected by director Peter Jackson (citing creative differences) and JNH had only 5 weeks to write 2 hours 48 minutes of music for the film.

I’ve never been a big fan of James Newton Howard; in fact, the only other scores I own by him are Unbreakable and Batman Begins with Hans Zimmer, both of which fall somewhere between decent and good. Even though I was underwhelmed with the music as I heard it in King Kong, I decided to give it another chance.

I am still underwhelmed.

It’s not that the music isn’t serviceable and one could argue that not noticing the music through most of the movie is the mark of a good score. But, in a manner of speaking, I’m not noticing it on the album either.

The “main title” is uninspired much like the art decoish main title sequence in the film. Most of the action cues don’t seem to have much adrenaline behind them. The quiet moments are pleasant and there is some nice piano work sprinkled throughout.

The album’s “centerpiece” is the five part “Beauty Killed the Beast”, which encompasses the battle on the Empire State Building. This is the best part of the album; not only is the music more exciting than anywhere else and some other themes from the score are intertwined nicely but the orchestration seems more involved and better layered than in previous pieces. I like the choral parts too; nice use of the solo voice as Kong plummets to the street below. My only complaint is that some of the cues are only a couple of minutes long; couldn’t this have been edited into one long track?

I’m not sure if it’s the production or the mixing or even the orchestration, but the score sounds flat. There is little or no depth to the “sound” of the music and the fact that most of the score itself isn’t particularly dynamic to begin with makes the sound’s lack of dimension even more noticeable. Perhaps they felt that they had to rush to get the cd released before the movie. I hope if they decide to do an expanded album at some point that they remix the music.

I give King Kong by James Newton Howard TWO and a HALF stars out of FIVE.

Memoirs Of A Geisha by John Williams

2006-01-02T11:20:00.000-06:00

This score is so utterly different from anything John Williams has done before, it doesn't even sound like him. But, that's not a bad thing; I find it refreshing.

Don't get me wrong, I love John Williams' music (I have 36 albums of his), but he had begun to repeat himself a bit in the last few years (Episode II, AI and Minority Report all had a few cues that could have been interchanged).

In 2005, JW scored 4 films; Revenge of the Sith, War of the Worlds, Memoirs of a Geisha and Munich. Being a huge Star Wars fan, I'm already predisposed to Episode III but I think my next favorite is Memoirs. Featuring the solo work of Cellist Yo-Yo Ma and violinist Itzhak Perlman (one might think that having two world-renown soloists on one album would be overkill, but I never felt that the music became "busy" or "crowded"), this score is lyrical and haunting with probably my favorite theme of the year in "Sayuri's Theme".

JW's last two forays into this territory (Empire of the Sun and Seven Years in Tibet) still sounded very much like John Williams symphonic scores; Memoirs is very "Asian" in its instrumentation and styling. It seems like JW has take a cue from recent popular Asian scores such as Tan Dun's Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon (also featuring Yo-Yo Ma) though I feel Williams' Memoirs is a smoother listen overall especially for American audiences.

The cd contains 18 tracks for a total of 61:01 minutes.

Not having seen the film, I cannot comment on how the music plays there but I continue to find the soundtrack album an enjoyable listening experiance.

I give Memoirs of a Geisha by John Williams FOUR out of FIVE stars.

Free Music Friday: John Ottman

2005-12-30T17:28:00.000-06:00

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!

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

2005-12-27T11:48:00.000-06:00

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

2005-12-23T07:11:00.000-06:00

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!

The Star Wars Holiday Special

2005-12-17T10:25:00.000-06:00

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.

Free (Legal) Video Game Music

2005-12-15T22:59:00.000-06:00

If you want to check out some free music, here are a few video game scores to try:

King Kong by Chance Thomas

Star Wars: Republic Commando by Jesse Harlin

and

The Chronicles Of Riddick: Escape from Butcher Bay by Gustaf Grefberg

Enjoy and let me know what you think!

Coming Soon

2005-10-26T17:21:00.000-05:00

I hope to have some free time in the near future and start posting news and reviews of soundtracks and film and television scores. Eventually, I want to turn this into a podcast, but with a 3 year old and another child on the way it's going to be difficult.

For now, please check out my other blog and podcast @ View from the Cheap Seats.

Please stay tunned...