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Top 20 Reviews for June
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"Waltz with Bashir" by Max Richter
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Waltz with Bashir is a wonderfully warm, romantic, but also harrowing film by Ari Folman. Equally the soundtrack is a very moving piece of work by composer Max Richter which complements the film perfectly. With this score the composer has finally obtained proper worldwide exposure, winning the hearts of music critics and musicians around the globe. The score was nominated for an Annie Award for Best Music in an Animated Feature and, most importantly, won the European Film Awards for Best Composer in 2008. More...
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"The Reel World" (2nd edition) by Jeff Rona
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Hal Leonard Books has just published a new and completely revised second edition of The Reel World by composer Jeff Rona. The book details the technical, business, and creative aspects of becoming a successful film scorer. Based upon his significant experience in the field, the author shows how to work with the many different professionals involved in filmmaking without diluting the essential element of creativity. This revised edition includes a wealth of new interviews with some of Hollywood’s top film scorers including John Williams, Carter Burwell, James Newton Howard, Hans Zimmer, Mark Isham, Wendy and Lisa and more. Check out an extract of the book, and receive a 20% discount on online purchases. More...
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Alexandre Desplat: The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
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French composer Alexandre Desplat is a good choice for a quirky film like The Curious Case of Benjamin Button where the main character ages backwards. Desplat rightly treats this as a magical fairytale but with an element of involving realism. The music is light and delicate in texture with a number of recurring themes, but never repetitive as they are always evolving. Harp and strings are quite prominent throughout but many other instruments have a say, including a saxophone which blends well with the film's source music of jazz tracks which are included on CD2 of the double album. More...
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Laurie Johnson: The New Avengers
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Laurie Johnson is most famous for his music for cult television series. He created themes for Animal Magic, This is Your Life and Wicker's World, but it is series like The Avengers and The Professionals which achieved cult status. Having been in the business for 50 years, the composer is steadily releasing his back catalogue in a series of triple albums. The first was called "The Avengers", the second was "The Professionals" and now the third set The New Avengers has been released. Disc 1 from this set contains music from 3 complete episodes and several other themes and cues from "The New Avengers", while discs 2 and 3 contain respectively, music from two of his stage musicals and various tracks from film, television and big band jazz arrangements. More...
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Dance of the Dead by Kristopher Carter
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Kristopher Carter is best known for his musical contribution to various animated television series about superheroes, such as "The New Superman Adventures", "The Justice League", "Teen Titans" and "Batman Beyond". However he has also scored a number of films including the recent Dance of the Dead. This is a teen zombie flick, which has given Carter the opportunity to provide a varied range of musical cues from dark suspense through several shock/horror moments and some heroic action elements. These are all well executed and surely show that the composer has a promising future in film. More...
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Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection by John Williams
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The combination of director Steven Spielberg and composer John Williams have been entertaining us for years, and the Indiana Jones film series exemplifies the great story-telling collaboration. The most definitive versions of all the Indiana Jones Soundtracks have now been released in a fantastic box set called Indiana Jones: The Soundtracks Collection. The set consists of the four film soundtracks, with many of these containing previously unreleased tracks, a 5th bonus CD featuring yet more music from the films and an interview with the film makers, plus a substantial booklet with further information and behind-the-scenes photos. More...
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Humboldt County by iZLER
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It's awards season again where the focus will no doubt be on the past year's big budget movies and stars. But away from the major studios it's good to know that there are many independent film-makers who are turning out good films on a minimal budget. Independent films can be a great training ground for many film professionals including composers. We take a look at the soundtrack to Humboldt County by the composer iZLER. Could this be a name we will hear much more about in future, possibly during awards season? More...
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Requiem for a Dream by Clint Mansell
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Requiem for a Dream is composer Clint Mansell's Magnum Opus. It won the Online Film Critics Society Award in 2001 for Best Original Score and should have won a whole lot more. But perhaps this was a slow burner - it was only when the music was picked up and used elsewhere that people started to recognise it and respond to it. And it has been reused many times including the trailer for "Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers". We now review the original soundtrack. When music is made to perfectly match a film as intense as Requiem for a Dream, you know you are in for quite a surreal experience. More...
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Songs of the Sea: The Regatta Suite - by Jeff Rona
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The Sea has always been a great source of inspiration for all types or creative people, whether artists, story-tellers, poets or composers. Jeff Rona was commissioned to compose music for the nautical events held at this year's Olympic Games in China. The music was performed in a number of Chinese cities, and the composer has now adapted and recorded the music so that it can be experienced more widely. The resulting album is called Songs of the Sea: The Regatta Suite and clearly illustrates how good a composer Rona is. The music is varied - in places heroic and majestic, but at other times impressionistic and evocative. More...
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The music of James Bond 007
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With new Bond film "Quantum of Solace" on general release, we take a look at the Music of James Bond. Two new CD releases have taken differing approaches to celebrating the last 45+ years of James Bond music. The Best of Bond has been superbly crafted by conductor Carl Davis with a mixture of Bond Songs and incidental tracks. In contrast James Bond: The Gold Edition is purely instrumental but comes on 2 CDs with a comprehensive booklet on the history of James Bond music.
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Torchwood - music by Ben Foster and Murray Gold
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Newly released, this album covers music from the first two seasons of Torchwood the post-watershed spin-off from the nation's favourite "Doctor Who". Most of the incidental music has come from Ben Foster who acted as orchestrator and conductor for "Doctor Who" with the parent series' resident composer Murray Gold providing the "Torchwood" main theme and one or two episodes. The style is similar in some ways, with some of the orchestral sections being recorded by the BBC National Orchestra of Wales in Cardiff, but Torchwood veers off into the kind of dark adult territory that is out of bounds for "Doctor Who". More...
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Javier Navarrete - Pan's Labyrinth
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2006 was a very exiting year for film soundtracks, and gave the award committees a lot of excellent material to choose from. Javier Navarrete's score for Pan's Labyrinth stood out as a deserving entry among many notable scores from well-established hollywood composers. The music of "Pan's Labyrinth" has the focus and simplicity of traditional story-telling, and therefore stands very well on its own, even away from the outstanding film for which it was created. Although all the music is based upon a simple melody, a lullaby in waltz tempo, the complete soundtrack is surprising varied and transports the listener into a child's fantasy world inhabited by strange creatures. More...
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Bernard Herrmann - Taxi Driver
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This week we revisit a favourite film score when we find it in an unusual format. "The Vinyl Classics" series has re-released a number of classic soundtracks in a format which looks exactly like a small but perfectly formed LP. Although black in colour and unlike any other CD, it will play on your CD player, and Taxi Driver is a soundtrack which needs to be revisited from time to time. It was composer Bernard Herrmann's last soundtrack but, among a whole career of superlative scores, this is one of his best and fully matches the performances we see on screen. In central position there is a jazz feel with a wonderful sax solo, which sums up the view of New York as witnessed by the Taxi Driver. More...
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New Film Sheet Music
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Compared with a few years ago, there is now a staggering amount of film sheet music available, both song-based and instrumental soundtrack and typically arranged for piano. The trend is now to release Sheet Music at the same time as movie soundtracks, to tie in with the movie's theatrical and/or DVD release. Not all movies have sufficient playable music to fill a sheet music book, but even these movies are still catered for. The "Essential Film Themes" series is now up to number 6 containing the finest music from today's outstanding films. For those who also have an interest in older film music, there is also the continuing "Collection" Series with music from different film genres, now adding "Adventure", "Animation" and "Costume Drama" to the existing themes. Check out our survey of recent Film Sheet Music.
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Planet Twist from The SG Sound
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The Planet Twist album is well named since its has its roots in the swinging 60s when "The Twist" was the latest dance craze. This is a modern but nostalgic look back at some of the music of those days, and is a fusion of many influences from the period, with classic electric guitar sounds meeting period jazz bands. The SG Sound is the unique creation of composer Stephen Greaves, and if you remember hearing music from those days, these tracks will instantly transport you back to the 60s and those old vinyl discs turning at 45 rpm. This music is lively and evocative, but most of all it is fun, fun, fun. More...
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The Doctor Who Prom Concert by Murray Gold
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Two British institutions come together for the first time this month, with a special Doctor Who Prom Concert in the Royal Albert Hall which features a mix of Classical and Doctor Who Music. The music of composer Murray Gold will feature alongside that of Copland, Holst, Wagner, Prokofiev and Turnage. The show will be presented by Freema Agyeman (who plays Martha Jones in the series) with Daleks and Cybermen, and a specially filmed scene written by departing producer Russell T Davies, starring David Tennant as the Doctor. For more about the music from the series, see our reviews of the two Doctor Who CDs covering music from Series 1 and 2 and from Series 3.
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The Kite Runner by Alberto Iglesias
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In light of his previous score for Pedro Almodovar's "Volver" in 2006, Alberto Iglesias' music for The Kite Runner marks a change from the sensual Spanish vibes of Flamenco dance music to traditional Afghan styles. The story is a very personal one but set amidst a series of tumultuous political changes in Afghanistan, from the fall of the country's monarchy and the Soviet invasion, to the dominance of the Taliban. For capturing the unique perspective of this story in such a beautiful way, the composer's score received nominations for many awards, including a Golden Globe, a BAFTA and an Oscar. More...
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Brick Lane by Jocelyn Pook
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Jocelyn Pook is an experienced viola player with a varied background as a performer. She has composed extensively for the theatre and concert hall, with her first major film score being "Eyes Wide Shut" for the late Stanley Kubrick in 1999. Her latest film score Brick Lane depicts a Bangladeshi woman who moved to an arranged marriage in London. With the film's emphasis on how people adapt to circumstances in different cultures, and filled with flashbacks to life in Bangladesh, Pook's authentic Eastern music is at the heart of this story and mixes seemlessly with elements of Western style underscore. More...
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Ratatouille by Michael Giacchino
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On paper, Ratatouille is a distinctly strange proposition even for an animated movie: a rat working in a kitchen who turns out to have talents as a gourmet chef! Yet the movie was by the same team who created "The Incredibles", and "Ratatouille" turned out to be equally entertaining and fun for all the family, winning many awards while composer Michael Giacchino rightfully received an oscar nomination for his contribution to the experience. The music is upbeat, wild, dizzy, spectacular and original, one of the best scores of 2007, and should be on the music lover's list. More...
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The Golden Compass by Alexandre Desplat
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Alexandre Desplat has made quite a name for himself in recent years, receiving much critical acclaim and winning a number of awards. He has certainly demonstrated his skills at incorporating ethnic influences in his scores such as "The Painted Veil" and "Syriana", but for the most part his films have been character-driven or even eccentric which seems to suit his style very well indeed. However with The Golden Compass we get to hear the composer take on a big budget mainstream film adaptation of a fantasy children's novel, and Desplat crafts some suitably full orchestral tracks and action accompaniment, while still retaining elements of his more intimate style for the characterisation. More...
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The Blob (and other Creepy Sounds) - Ralph Carmichael and others
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Many people have a fondness for early Monster and Sci-Fi movies and soundtracks and "Monstrous Movie Music" caters directly for that market. Often they must resort to re-creating soundtracks when the music is no longer available. However original recordings of The Blob were carefully preserved, and have been remastered for this latest release. Written by Jazz and Film composer Ralph Carmichael, the score is full of suspense with suitably scary moments and a love theme for Steve McQueen and his girlfriend. When the film was released the Main Title was replaced with a light hearted but catchy theme song by Burt Bacharach. Both these tracks are presented on this superb album - it is great to rediscover gems like this. More...
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Airwolf Themes - Sylvester Levay, Udi Harpaz and Mark J Cairns
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Do you remember "Airwolf" the TV series from the 80s with its super-sophisticated helicopter and exciting theme tune. The theme tune was written by Sylvester Levay who with Udi Harpaz wrote most of the series' incidental music. This music could have fallen into obscurity if it wasn't for fan Mark J Cairns who recreated their music in a double album. This was a limited edition release and its cult rarity value meant that at one time the album was trading on eBay for many times its original value. The music has now been presented as a special online release and all the tracks can be downloaded in mp3 format. Check out our review of this rather special release, and relive the infectious electronic sounds of the 1980s. More...
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Zirkus by Cary Chow - playing works by Robert Schumann
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The publicity photos of Cary Chow with his dark t-shirt and tatoos may deviate from the traditional image of a concert pianist's bow tie and tails, but there is no mistaking the technical and interpretative skills evident in his latest album called Zirkus. This is the German word for Circus and the album consists of two major works ("Carnaval" and "Kreisleriana") from the significant piano solo output of composer Robert Schumann, who poured intensely personal messages into his creative output. Chow effortlessly flits between the many sides of the composer's nature, from the playfulness of "Carnaval" to the more intense virtuoso facets of "Kreisleriana". If you want to delve into Schumann's fascinating world, this album is an excellent place to start. More...
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Blade Runner 25th Anniversary - by Vangelis
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It is now 25 years since "Blade Runner" first hit our screens, and the movie and its music have had a remarkable impact on subsequent films and soundtracks. To mark the anniversary, director Ridley Scott has released his definitive version of the film called "The Final Cut", and composer Vangelis has released a 3 CD celebration of the music. CD1 of this Trilogy is the original soundtrack release, CD2 contains previously unreleased music from the film including some tracks which weren't used in the movie, and CD3 is all new material by Vangelis inspired by the music and mood of the Blade Runner score. Further details and a short interview with Vangelis can be found on our review page. More...
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Beowulf - by Alan Silvestri
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The film composer Alan Silvestri has long been associated with director Robert Zemeckis, having scored many of his films from the "Back to the Future" trilogy, "Who Framed Roger Rabbit?" and "Forrest Gump" through to the more recent "Polar Express". Their latest film Beowulf uses the same Performance Capture process as "Polar Express" which essential turns a live action movie into a kind of computer animation with added special effects. Much of the music is definitely very "Macho" with loud drums and brass, with limited synth effects helping to establish the ancient mythical setting. However these moments and their associated main theme don't dominate the movie, and are well balanced by the mysterious seduction tracks and a couple of songs sung by Robin Wright-Penn in the movie. More...
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Silence, Night & Dreams - Zbigniew Preisner
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A unique concert called Silence, Night & Dreams will be held in London's Barbican Centre on December 2nd. This features the UK Premiere of the latest composition by Polish composer Zbigniew Preisner. This is a large scale work for orchestra, chorus and soloists, and the composer will conduct the London Symphony Orchestra with the Crouch End Festival Chorus and soloists led by special guest Teresa Salgueiro. The programme also includes music from "The Double Life of Veronique" and the "Three Colours" trilogy, films which the composer scored for the late Polish director Krzysztof Kieslowski. More...
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Atonement - by Dario Marianelli
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In some ways the music to Atonement is a return to the world of "Pride and Prejudice" for composer Dario Marianelli, with its piano theme taking central place and performed once again by French pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet. On closer inspection however, this is a very different soundtrack with greater emotional depth and a central duet between Thibaudet's Piano and the Cello of Caroline Dale. There are other solo moments for Clarinet, Oboe and even Harmonica but the score has some unusual tricks up its sleeve. In places it carefully blends underscore with some period choral music, but most unusual of all it features an old-fashioned typewriter as a musical instrument! More...
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The Sea Hawk and Deception - by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
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In the early days of the film industry Hollywood didn't have sufficient home-grown talent and sought to attract composers from Europe. The supreme example of this is Erich Wolfgang Korngold who had grown from a child prodigy to become a very successful classical composer in Vienna, before being tempted by work in Hollywood. This substantial release restores and recaptures two of the scores he created there in their entirety. "The Sea Hawk" and "Deception" are very different film scores but between them they demonstrate some of the very best film music ever created. This double album is the culmination of an enormous project and has been put together with great care and attention. More...
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The Illusionist - by Philip Glass
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Philip Glass has an unusual style which has had a significant influence on film composers, though the composer himself has not scored that many films. His involvement in traditional movies has grown in recent years firstly with "The Hours" and then in the past year with both "Notes on a Scandal" and The Illusionist. The latter film takes the composer away from dark, intense dramas and allows him to expand musically into new directions. The contrast is such that a number of tracks seem unlike the composer's normal style. Yet it quickly becomes apparent that his unique style and genius has merely been shaped and adapted for the subject matter, and the relevance of that style to film music is equally obvious. More...
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The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes - by Miklós Rózsa
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This year celebrates the centenary of the birth of composer Miklos Rozsa and among other commemorative items there is a new release of a suberb collector's album of The Private Life of Sherlock Holmes. The film score also gives an insight into the private life of the composer, because at the request of director Billy Wilder it uses some of the haunting melodies from Rozsa's Violin Concerto. The album is a wonderful package with a comprehensive booklet about the film and music and their creation, and it also features a full 20 minutes of music written for the film but not used in the finished cut, which gives yet another insight into the creative process. More...
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