Eplicon

For those that missed the Mondo pre-order, the Amazon link is now live.  Hurry!
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYLVSSQ5

For those that missed the Mondo pre-order, the Amazon link is now live.  Hurry!
 
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CYLVSSQ5

Don’t forget, if you want to watch it live, it’s tonight at 8 EST. If you can’t watch it live, it should be available shortly afterwards as a regular video.

My brother-in-law made my Christmas by handing me the upper of these items yesterday:
 

 
The lower item, for your entertainment, is my original OST, including the track listing my 18-year-old self printed out on my dot-matrix printer. How times change.
 
Whilst on a personal note, both my wife and one of my daughters were hospitalised earlier this year, my wife for a quite serious operation. We’re still not in the clear yet, and a lot of peripheral things haven’t gone our way. Getting this release is a small but significant personal bonus for me that is not unappreciated.
 
Mark

Well this 1st Hook episode was a thoroughly fascinating and engaging one. And it opened a window into the complexities of producing of these expanded/complete soundtrack releases in a very engaging way. I also loved the little asides touching on different releases, actually a lot of Williams and other scores, along the way from 2016 until the release of Hook Ultimate Edition.  This release obviously felt like a culmination of something big to Mike as well. A long and circuitous journey finally complete.
 
As a film score fan I felt deeply grateful after listening to this as hearing about the enormous amount of work and finessing involved in some of these releases made appreciate Mike Matessino's integrity and his work philosophy all the more. No point in doing things if you are not going to do them right.
Yeah that just sounds like cynical repackaging of previous versions with minimum effort to get it out quickly for some extra bucks. Quite a few of the Deutsch soundtrack re-releases unfortunately followed this same philosophy.

The final performance edit of Hedwig's Theme has 38 intercuts between 14 different takes 

I'll probably get the super deluxe edition; there really hasn't been a satisfactory release of the soundtrack on CD until now.  It's been a long time since I last played it, but the very first issue sounded muddy, like someone amped Dolby noise reduction to the max to the point where the music didn't breathe and had no clarity, almost like hearing something while suffering from bad cold and stuffed up ears.   
 
Every five years when a "new" anniversary edition is released, it sounded no better than the previous incarnations.  The new/bonus tracks on those had no bearing to the original, i.e., contemporary cover versions of the most popular songs.   (Didn't buy all of these releases, just sayin'. )  I do have that limited two-disc edition 35th anniversary from a few years back that contained some more underscore than the single CD version, but that wasn't as good as it could have been.
 
Glad a definitive edition is finally coming out!

*sad trumpet*
 
Kidding. A great release and a really nice "full circle" moment for Mike, I expect, given his story about how he got started in the industry with The Sound of Music.

‘The Sound of Music’ Soundtrack Due for Deluxe Expanded Reissue: Exclusive 
9/27/2023 Keith Caulfield The chart-topping film soundtrack to Rodgers & Hammerstein’s The Sound of Music will be reissued on Dec. 1 in an array of new expanded, remixed and remastered formats. Among them: a lavish Super Deluxe Edition boasting over 40 previously-unreleased tracks – 11 of which are never-before-heard alternate takes from the 1965 blockbuster movie.
One of those alternate takes is an unreleased rendition of the film’s opening number “Prelude / The Sound of Music,” by the film’s star Julie Andrews, and cast. The song is now available to stream and download (Sept. 27) — listen below.
And, for the first time, all of the Academy Award-winning film’s music – including every musical element from the movie – will be included on the Super Deluxe Edition of the album. Among those classic songs: “My Favorite Things,” “Do-Re-Mi,” “Edelweiss,” “Sixteen Going on Seventeen” and “Climb Ev’ry Mountain.”
The Sound of Music soundtrack spent two weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard 200 chart in 1965 and was a near-constant presence in the top 10 from the spring of 1965 through the spring of 1967. It spent a staggering 109 weeks in the top 10 – the most of any soundtrack in the chart’s history. In 2015, Billboard ranked The Sound of Music as the most successful soundtrack of all time on the chart.
The Super Deluxe Edition of The Sound of Music will be available as either as a four-CD/one-Blu-ray audio boxed set or as a digital download album. The Blu-Ray audio disc contains the film’s full score in hi-resolution audio, as well as a new Dolby Atmos mix of the original 16-track soundtrack released in 1965.
The boxed set features new liner notes written by film historian and preservationist Mike Matessino, who remixed and remastered the album from the original multi-track tapes.
The Super Deluxe Edition is one of multiple new iterations of The Sound of Music that Craft Recordings will release on Dec. 1. (Craft is the catalog label for Concord.) The Sound of Music will also be reintroduced in a Deluxe Edition (on two-CDs) and a three-LP vinyl collection (including a “Picnic Meadow Green”-colored vinyl pressing limited to 500 copies worldwide). A standard edition of the album will also be refreshed, where the original 16-track 1965 soundtrack will be reissued digitally in standard digital, HD digital and in a Dolby Atmos mix. (The standard digital album will also be available in multiple non-English-language editions, including Spanish, German, French and Italian).
“It’s been wonderful to collaborate across all of Concord’s divisions to help bring this historic and culturally significant reissue to light,” says Sig Sigworth, president, Craft Recordings and chief catalog officer, Concord, in a statement. “This deluxe edition has been years in the making, with Craft Recordings working in concert with Concord Publishing and Concord Theatricals (home of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization). We’re delighted that The Sound of Music fans around the world, old and new, will be able to enjoy the iconic soundtrack in a brand new listening experience, more than a half century after its original release.”
Imogen Lloyd Webber, SVP at Concord Theatricals on behalf of The Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization adds: “This reissue of The Sound of Music, lovingly—and painstakingly—curated by the team at Craft with collaboration from so many at Concord, alongside Mike Matessino, is a landmark moment in the history of the title. It is a truly fitting tribute to the last of the Rodgers & Hammerstein musicals and one we hope fans across the world will treasure for years to come.”
For a full recap of the tracklists for each variant of the album, visit the Craft Recordings website. A summary of the new iterations is below:
The Sound of Music Soundtrack 2023 Reissues:
Super Deluxe Edition (4-CD/1 Blu-Ray boxed set)
100 tracks on the CDs, 62 tracks on the Blu-Ray audio disc.
Super Deluxe Edition (Digital Download Album)
84 tracks
Deluxe Edition (2-CD)
46 tracks
Deluxe Edition (3 vinyl LPs, plus a “Picnic Meadow Green” color variant triple LP limited to 500 copies worldwide)
46 tracks
Original 1965 Release (Standard Digital [inclusive of multiple international language versions such as Spanish, German, French and Italian] & HD Digital)
16 tracks
Original 1965 Release (Dolby Atmos)
16 tracks (all in 2023 Stereo Mixes)
 
https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/sound-of-music-soundtrack-deluxe-reissue-unreleased-tracks-exclusive-1235426758/
 
 
 

It has been announced

Reprint of the DoD OST?

Today it's quiet, but tomorrow there will be... something that won't feel real to me until then, despite how long it's been in the works.
 
_Mike Matessino on his Facebook status.
 
 

Hang on to your cracked jewel case... it belongs in a museum!

Ok, I finally had the time to write up a mini review. Pardon the grammar mistakes, lapses of memory, mistaking of instruments, etc. (please correct me if you find any obvious mistakes 😅) I also added some random notes down the bottom that don’t fit neatly into my review.
 
Mini review
 
(review updated Sept 9 after viewing Stage+ recording! I made a few mistakes in my original review 😂)
 
Having been extremely fortunate to see John Williams conduct live in concert three times in the last year (once in LA, once in Milan, and now in Tokyo), l’d have to say that last night’s concert was my favorite.
 
As this was JW’s first visit to Japan in 30 years, excitement levels and expectations were understandably high. This was evident as soon as I arrived at Suntory Hall on a brutally humid Tuesday evening in Tokyo.  You could feel the anticipation in the air, and you could see, in each and everyone’s faces, that they knew they were here to experience something special and truly historic.  People certainly dressed up for the occasion (myself included!), so it wasn’t unusual to see people in kimonos and tuxedos despite the blistering hot summer weather.
 
As the auditorium lights dimmed to signify the beginning of the concert, the conductor for the first half, Stephane Deneve, walked out onto the stage to rapturous applause.  He started off with an amusing joke – his interpreter (who was a cellist in the orchestra), opened in English with “Ladies and Gentlemen,” to which Deneve translated into Japanese!  After the laughter died down, Deneve switched to English (with his charming French accent!) and explained the program for the night as well as some brief thoughts on Seiji Ozawa and John Williams. 
 
“Sound the Bells!” kicked off the concert with its rousing array of brass melodies and sounds.  From where I was sitting behind the orchestra, I could clearly see the tubular chimes which sounded crystal clear.  I honestly never warmed up to this piece until I heard it live last night.
 
This was followed by “Tributes! (for Seiji),” a piece written by Williams for Ozawa.  This was a long and less melodic piece than JW’s more popular works, but it was great hearing this  rare piece live. It’s unfortunate that Ozawa was not on stage to enjoy the music.
 
A suite from “Far and Away” came next with its jaunty Irish sounds and spirit.  It was an excellent performance that was well received by the audience.
 
Then came “ET,” the music many people had been waiting for.  Starting with the piccolo solo in “Three million light years from home,” the audience was immediately spellbound by this masterwork of composition.  It was then that I heard a familiar but unexpected sound… the pipe organ!  I then turned to the huge pipe organ not far from me and I saw a young organist play the mysterious opening lines to this incredible piece.  I most certainly had the feels (as young people would say!), and was left fixed on the pipe organ parts for the remainder of the piece.
 
Stunning is the only word that can be used to describe the night’s performance of “Stargazers.”  What an incredibly moving, incredibly perfect piece.  The delicate harp, the sweet caress of the strings, the yearning flute… it was gorgeously dream-like. The audience was dead quiet during the entire piece – in fact, it felt like we were all holding our breath, hanging on to every phrase and every gesture from the orchestra, not wanting to spoil the mood, the magic.  When the final notes played in to silence, the audience remained quiet for what seemed like minutes, but was in reality only a few seconds.  We then collectively wiped a tear (or two), cleared our throats, and got ready for the next assault on our emotions.
 
The “Flying theme” is probably, next to the Star Wars theme, one of the most well-known JW pieces among Japanese fans.  And boy, did it not disappoint under the commanding baton of Deneve!  This piece just soared under the Saito Kinen Orchestra and had the audience in raptures during the finale.  And that ended the sensational first half of the concert.
 
The feeling of anticipation had by now reached fever point with the knowledge JW would soon be gracing the stage.
 
As the lights once again dimmed and the audience quietened down, the volume immediately jumped to 11 as John Williams, the undisputed GOAT of film music, stepped onto the stage to the adulation and applause of over 2,000 star-truck fans.  We were all on our feet cheering, professing our love for the man and his music, and hungry to hear his first piece at the podium.  Before that, JW quickly talked about how honoured he was to be there, how Japan had changed in the last 30 years, and how much love and respect he had for his dear friend, Seiji Ozawa.  He then explained that the Japanese translation of the word “Superman” was “Seiji Ozawa,” which drew thunderous approval from the audience.
 
And thus began the second half with the iconic march from “Superman.”  Expertly performed with passion, it set the tone for the rest of the night.
 
The “Harry Potter” suite came next, and I suspect many had come to hear this with JW at the podium.  The suite was beautifully  performed and didn’t sound too different from previous concert performances.
 
Without any introductory words from JW, the familiar strains of “Schindler’s List” began to fill the auditorium and we were treated to a precise and impassioned violin solo.  From where I was sitting behind the orchestra, it was somewhat difficult to absorb the full sound and feel of the solo, but luckily it was well-captured in DGs video recording on Stage+.
 
It was now time for select pieces from “Star Wars” to shine.  I honestly would have preferred “March of the Resistance” or “The Asteroid Field,” but we were treated to a fine performance of “The Rebellion is Reborn.”  This was followed by “Princess Leia’s Theme” which was one of the highlights of the evening for me.  The flautist absolutely nailed his solos which were gorgeously complimented by the French horn parts.  I get goosebumps just thinking about it!
 
The final piece for the main program was the “Finale & Throne Room,” which was performed with such gusto and passion that it permeated an infectious energy and drive.
 
This was followed by JW’s second standing ovation for the night before he signaled “one more” to the audience for his first encore, which was “Yoda’s theme.”  The “Raider’s March” came next with the night ending with “The Imperial March.”  Except JW didn’t call it that – he just turned to the audience and said, “Darth Vadar,” to which the audience went nuts!
 
As soon as that ended, everyone in the audience got on their feet and gave JW the most enthusiastic standing ovation that I have ever seen… and I’ve been to a lot of film music concerts!  Surely, we were clapping away for close to 15 minutes – first for Williams, then the Saito Kinen Orchestra.  What was clearly apparent was the audience’s mutual love for John Williams and his music, and our deep appreciation to the Saito Kinen Orchestra for bringing his timeless music to life.  My hands were truly numb by the end of night, but I just didn’t want it to end…
 
Going home that night and processing what I had just seen, heard, and experienced, only solidified my belief that John Williams is the GOAT of film music - I doubt anybody could argue with that.

***
 
RANDOM NOTES:
 
The ticket debacle
I really must add a note about how bittersweet this experience has been.  While I had been ecstatic about seeing JW in the lead up to the concert, I had also felt extremely guilty knowing that my closest Japanese soundtrack friends, who are passionate JW fans, were not able to get a ticket despite their very best efforts.  It was good that concert organizers instituted a ticket lottery system because that was fair even if the chances of winning were low.  However, when general tickets sales opened for the remaining tickets, tickets pretty much sold out immediately with people left with zero chance of getting a ticket.  What boils my blood is that tickets started appearing online soon after at six or seven times the original prices (which were already extremely high to begin with) – and people were actually paying for them.  On Twitter in the lead up to the concert, people were practically begging for tickets.  And outside Suntory Hall on the day of the concert, there were scores of people holding up signs desperately looking for tickets.  The organizers should have put in place a system where the ticket holder’s name had to match their ticket – and if not, there had to be an official authorized resale system.  It was truly upsetting seeing the disappointment of so many people that could not get a ticket, especially those who were “true” JW fans and had waited to see JW their whole life.  Shame on you ticket scalpers, SHAME.
 
JWFan meetup
I met up with @Harry-Pot and @zhonghun1988 before the concert.  Two very friendly chaps who are deeply passionate about JW.  And they certainly travelled far for this concert!
 
We ended up having Italian just in front of Suntory Hall… not the fancy Japanese food that I had promised (my bad!!! 😂)
 
Sorry no pics - we are shy!
 
Merch
Surprised with the lack of merch on offer.  They sold:
 
Commemorative DG booklets with a handful of pages about JW and the concert - in Japanese only Commemorative DG tote bags A bunch of Sony and Universal/DG CD reissues (including the postcard with the printed signature)  
I was hoping for a poster to hang up on my wall, but nothing… oh well.
 
Also, they were giving free single-sheet flyers with the setlist.  Very basic – surprised they didn’t bother to design something fancier.

The original is a brilliant, brilliant film that lives because the script, voice actors, and score all perfectly complement the strengths and weaknesses of claymation. It's from the time when special effects could still be admired for how they did stuff (before you could basically do everything with CGI and it became pointless to figure out "how" they did it - not a bad thing for what effects are actually *meant* to achieve, but there was an exciting meta dimension to film effects at the end of the 20th century that I do miss). I'm a big fan of the score, too, and while I have no idea how much of it is Powell and how much HGW, I've never heard another HGW score that had me excited.
 
All of that means that a modern day, presumably semi-CGI sequel, is unlikely to be successful. But this actually doesn't look half bad!

This thumb is at peace!
 

Guarding the asset from Imperial entanglement!

Link (https://www.disneymusicemporium.com/product/XVCD60/john-williams-indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny_ )seems to be live again for pre-order.  My order went through and there's a corresponding pending charge on my credit card.  Crossing fingers, and good luck everyone else who also missed out!
 
 

Link (https://www.disneymusicemporium.com/product/XVCD60/john-williams-indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny_ )seems to be live again for pre-order.  My order went through and there's a corresponding pending charge on my credit card.  Crossing fingers, and good luck everyone else who also missed out!
 
 

Link (https://www.disneymusicemporium.com/product/XVCD60/john-williams-indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny_ )seems to be live again for pre-order.  My order went through and there's a corresponding pending charge on my credit card.  Crossing fingers, and good luck everyone else who also missed out!
 
 

Oh my gosh! Ordered! Thanks for the heads up, @Eplicon!! It’s been an hour since you posted and they’re still allowing orders, too. I guess they finally decided to press more - just wonder how many.
 
And to think, someone bought one on eBay last night for $760. Ouch to them!

beats $5,000

Link (https://www.disneymusicemporium.com/product/XVCD60/john-williams-indiana-jones-and-the-dial-of-destiny_ )seems to be live again for pre-order.  My order went through and there's a corresponding pending charge on my credit card.  Crossing fingers, and good luck everyone else who also missed out!