I haven’t seen the new Tom Cruise sci-fi blockbuster, Oblivion, yet, but I have heard and love its soaring theme by M83. The song features vocals by Norwegian singer, Susanne Sundfør. You can stream the song below…
The soundtrack to the new Anthony Hopkins biopic, Hitchcock, is pretty much what you would expect from composer Danny Elfman. His Hitchcock film score is effectively evocative of Bernard Herrmann’s original Psycho score, but has enough of Elfman’s signature whimsy to keep it fresh. It’s not my favorite of Elfman’s work – that remains Edward Scissorhands
Guest Post By: Brendan
Thomas Newman is perhaps best known for his collaborations with Sam Mendes – I noticed his American Beauty
The tragic character of “Severine” provides a brief respite in a score which otherwise pummells you into submission. It is a glorious, 78-second string arrangement, conjuring memories of my favorite Bond music – John Barry’s instrumental “We Have All The Time In The World
Skyfall is otherwise a surprisingly forgettable score, though I did enjoy the “Shanghai Drive” theme, its reprisal in the album’s concluding track, “Adrenaline,” and the percussive energy of “Silhouette.” Monty Norman’s original theme is incorporated particularly well in “Breadcrumbs.”
Adele’s “Skyfall”
Guest Post By: Brendan
The 1997 soundtrack to James Cameron’s Titanic became the highest-selling primarily orchestral soundtrack ever. A remastered “Anniversary Edition” of the soundtrack has been released to coincide with this week’s Titanic 3D movie release. Two versions of the Titanic: Anniversary Edition are now available: the 2-disc package
In the 1990′s, I was an avid collector of Film music, and a cornerstone of my collection was composer James Horner. Horner’s work was amazing and his prolific mid-90s film score catalogue included Legends Of The Fall
The music of Titanic remains impressive. Horner made an inspired choice to emulate the music of Enya by using the angelic vocals of Norwegian singer Sissel, resulting in a heartbreaking nostalgic sound. Some of the more remarkable tracks include “Never an Absolution” and “Unable to Stay, Unwilling to Leave.”
The previously unreleased I Salonisti album is a pleasant set predominantly comprised of violin waltzes arranged and produced by John Altman. I first became aware of Altman from his gorgeous suite of music on the Beautiful Thing
The review copy from Sony was the 2-disc edition, but I’ve heard Back to Titanic before. I actually enjoyed Back to Titanic more than its predecessor, perhaps due to the increased Irish influence. “An Irish Party in Third Class” and “Jack Dawson’s Luck” both include sets of traditional Irish music, while Maire Brennan’s voice and Eileen Ivers’ fiddle respectively appear on “Come Josephine In My Flying Machine” and “Nearer My God to Thee.” The beautiful solo piano track, “The Portrait,” is also featured.
I have not yet heard Popular Music From the Titanic Era from the 4-disc edition, but any album that promotes the music of John McCormack is good in my book.
James Horner was interviewed about his Titanic work in a recent Classic FM podcast.
Buy 2-Disc Titanic Anniversary Edition
Buy 4-Disc Titanic Collector’s Edition
![Titanic (Music from the Motion Picture) [Collector's Anniversary Edition] - James Horner](http://r.mzstatic.com/images/web/linkmaker/badge_itunes-sm.gif){kind=icon}
Last week’s selection, Les Miserables: Original Broadway Cast Recording
This week’s classic album is…Rufus Wainwright: Poses
boxset – set for release by Universal Music on July 20th..
To recap the procedure here: At the beginning of each week, I’ll post brief thoughts on the previous week’s listening experience along with the coming week’s classic album selection. Then sometime in the week that follows, we’ll all take the time to listen to the album from beginning to end with no distractions. It can be as simple as just getting away from the computer to listen alone or you can make an event of it with candles, beverages and friends. Whatever format you play the album in or the manner in which you listen, just give the music your full and undivided attention.
Feel free to comment or email your opinions of our selections and recommendations for classic albums (from any decade, including this one).
I have not seen the new film, Water for Elephants, which is based on Sara Gruen’s novel
Occasional Muruch writer Brendan was pulled out of the shadows again by the death of composer John Barry. I (Vic) would count Barry’s beautiful theme from Somewhere In Time
One of my favorite composers of film music died this week. Career retrospectives are easy to find, so I’ve decided to post a chronology of my favorite John Barry music.
The James Bond theme is perhaps one of the most recognizable pieces of music ever composed and I heard it many times in reruns of Bond movies on Irish television growing up. I also remember a Guinness TV commercial from the mid-nineties, which used “All the Time in the World” to great effect.
The first time I really noticed Barry’s music, perhaps sadly, was in The Specialist
Barry’s jazz-infused score for Playing By Heart:
Then, at the dawning of the new millennium, I discovered Somewhere In Time
In recent years, I’ve rediscovered some of Barry’s other work – his groundbreaking Midnight Cowboy
His last score was for the 2001 film, Enigma
John Barry died on January 30th, 2011 at aged 77.
Muruch husband and wife duo Brendan and Vic were among those enamoured with the new Leonard DiCaprio film Inception. Director Christoper Nolan’s trippy intellectual dreamscape successfully combines the sci-fi plots and astounding effects of movies like The Matrix with a noirish mystery and settings seemingly ripped from the work of M.C. Escher. Being the movie soundtrack and Hans Zimmer expert of the house, Brendan took on the review of Zimmer’s score for the Inception soundtrack. You can read his thoughts on the album below…
I’ve enjoyed the music of Hans Zimmer since 1993’s True Romance
On to Zimmer’s latest release, Inception. I listened to it walking through the streets of my town as the sky darkened and the wind grew and thunder crashed. The Inception score was a perfect soundscape – when I heard a snatch of a particular song central to the movie, I felt a strong urge to wake up.
Inception is moody and brooding, somewhat similar to Zimmer’s work on other recent Christopher Nolan collaborations, but intensified by the guitar playing of former Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr.
The final track, “Time,” is representative of this score – an emotional triumph that builds and builds until you feel the love and loss of the character it represents, then fades with a bittersweet solo piano.
Inception is a heady mix of electronics, orchestra and guitar, and surely will be a forerunner for best score when Oscar season arrives.
I was not granted permission to share an mp3, but you can listen to an interview with Hans Zimmer at WV Public Radio and hear samples from the album at the links below…
Ice-9 Ballads is the new soundtrack to Kurt Vonnegut‘s classic novel Cat’s Cradle
Kurt Vonnegut adapted the lyrics himself from his novel Cat’s Cradle, and named the songs after chapter titles in the book. Dave Soldier composed and arranged the melodies, which capture the delightfully bizarre mood of the novel. The songs are fleshed out beautifully by The Manhattan Chamber Orchestra, Tiye’ Giraud, Jimmy Justice, and Valarie Naranjo on the African balaphone.
“Annihilation Life” opens in a mellow, old-fashioned blend of bluegrass, jazz, and classical styles akin to Pianafiddle. “Dyot Meet Mat” follows with a buoyant, chiming Caribbean vibe.
Vonnegut narrates several songs in a cool, spoken word manner reminiscent of William S. Burroughs. This vocal style is particularly used well in the standout track “Nice, Nice, Very Nice”, the lyrics of which were culled from Bokonon’s “Fifty-third Calypso” in Cat’s Cradle. The song swirls and chirps like a psychedelic Talking Heads number accented with dramatic orchestration and a choir of female voices that remind me of Cibo Matto.
“Duo for Clarinet & Meade Lux Lewis” returns to the vintage style of the opener with a splash of classic piano blues, then “14th Calypso” stirs a light hint of Gospel into Island instrumentation.
Also included on the disc is “A Soldier’s Story”, which was recorded in the style of a 1940s radio broadcast. The song is based on a text by Vonnegut that was inspired by the death of Private Eddie Slovik, the only American soldier to be executed for cowardice during World War II. Vonnegut voices the General in the piece, which again features music composed by Dave Soldier. DJ Phil Schaap fittingly plays “The Radio Announcer”, Dina Emerson is “The Red Cross Girl”, Wilbur Pauley is “The MP”, and Brad Hougham portrays “The Soldier.”
“East St. Louis, 1968″ closes the album with the tale of a young viola player’s first trip to the city. But it is undoubtedly the first literature-inspired portion of the disc that will certainly push it toward the top of my end of year list.
Kurt Vonnegut & Dave Soldier – Dyot Meet Mat (mp3) *
Kurt Vonnegut & Dave Soldier – Duo for Clarinet & Meade Lux Lewis (mp3) *
*mp3s hosted by Mulatta Records
Away We Go is the upcoming film by Revolutionary Road
Several of the tracks on the Away We Go soundtrack were culled from Alexi Murdoch’s own Time Without Consequence album (my favorite song is “Orange Sky”), along with three previously unreleased Murdoch songs: “Towards The Sun”, “The Ragged Sea”, and “Crinan Wood”. The disc also features a selection of classics by George Harrison, The Stranglers, Bob Dylan, and The Velvet Underground.
Away We Go Track List:
1. All My Days
2. Blue Mind
3. What Is Life (George Harrison)
4. Song For You
5. Golden Brown (The Stranglers)
6. Towards The Sun
7. Meet Me In The Morning (Bob Dylan)
8. Breathe
9. Wait
10. The Ragged Sea
11. Oh! Sweet Nuthin’ (The Velvet Underground)
12. Orange Sky
13. Crinan Wood (bonus track)
Alexi Murdoch – All My Days (mp3 expired) *
*mp3 provided by & posted w/ permission of Nettwerk Music
