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http://www.intrada.net/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?f=4&t=8918 Coming May 31... Something to boost you through the rest of the week:

I specifically chose to make reactions a positive only experience. The neutral face is the best you're gonna get!

New audio interview with Williams and Ma https://www.npr.org/2022/05/24/1100996754/composer-john-williams-and-cellist-yo-yo-ma-bring-together-a-gathering-of-friend "I'm told I should be counting in Celsius, which would make me 32" - that's a new one!

Overscored for the movie, sure. Fun to listen to on its own? Heck yeah.

The holy trinity of Williams, Goldsmith and Horner in one month? Intrada May have just won the month! Karol

I’m in CA for Star Wars Celebration, and took a trip to Laguna Beach. Was walking along an ocean-side path and came across a string quartet practicing the Jurassic Park Theme for a wedding. Williams music on one side, beautiful scenery and ocean waves on the other! IMG_8020.MOV

Like the previous year’s Born on the Fourth of July, the instrumentation is uncharacteristically small and economical for a John Williams score: 1 Flute 1 English Horn 3–4 Horns 1 Percussion 1 Harp 1 Piano 2 Synthesizers Strings

Jay spends way to much time here. So, he wouldn't be able to finish the Indy V score on schedule.

YO-YO MA: Hello. JOHN WILLIAMS: Oh, my dear. Oh. MA: Ludwig. Ludwig. WILLIAMS: Angel, we need a cello here today. MA: You do? WILLIAMS: Yes, we do. MA: Well, there's a cello attached to me. WILLIAMS: (Laughter) I know.

I really dislike the traditional rock rhythm section in orchestral scores (drum kit, bass and guitar). It always sounds so cheesy to me. Murray Gold was a shocker at this with many of his Doctor Who episodes; wonderful scoring but brought down by a boring rock beat. Also I really don't like how many composers use the full chorus these days. This isn't so much a dislike of the sound, but just a recognition of when it's appropriate or not. Lord of the Rings or Star Wars? Yeah sure, I'll lap it up. But I saw the latest Spiderman movie and egads, that is not a film that needs an epic choir, certainly not for the scenes it was used in. You can always rely on Giacchino to turn things up to eleven when a nine or ten would've done fine; it only serves to diminish the effect - the same happened with his Jurassic World scores. He just gets a pass for the choir in the Vader hallway scene from Rogue One, purely because of Williams' work setting it up with the Anakin/Vader scenes from Revenge of the Sith.

What was so effective and brutal about the ending was not just the fact that Lalo killed Howard, but the way the scene was presented! The acting from all 3 parties he barges into was perfect. Half-drunk Howard sort of jokingly assuming this is some guy that doesn't matter at first, and then his whole demeanor change when he sees Kim and Jimmy's reaction. Kim's reaction of being scared, and Jimmy's reaction of being scared and utterly surprised were all amazing. And then, even with Lalo pulling his gun out and slowly putting the silencer on, I truly didn't know he was gonna just pop Howard in the head real quick like that. The way it cuts to that brutal act and then the episode quickly ends is a huge part of what made it so effective. That, and its a twist that makes perfect sense, it isn't just some random death like so many other shows might do. On the Insider podcast they talked about having shot a lot more footage than they used, like closeups of Jimmy's eyes and stuff, and boy, were they absolutely right to cut that. The final edit is fantastic.

Catch of the day

@Yavar Moradi provides information about this release in the fsm thread: Yup -- "Mobilization", Roger and Doug's favorite cue in the entire score which was left off the original album! Roger really stumped me with it a few years back, when he put it in the fun "That unreleased cue" thread at the Intrada forum. I was POSITIVE it was an unreleased cue from Twilight's Last Gleaming! Very cool that Goldsmith channelled his 60s/70s side for that.

Since we've extended into choral sounds, I'd add the "exotic" crooning woman vocals.

Christopher Nolan's Oppenheimer has wrapped filming.

This is the real one, not the one based on a stupid pun

I don't understand why we need Ford's giant head floating around on the cover at all. I understand that is what the original poster/marketing material is/was, but couldn't they "reinvent" the cover to something a bit more atmospheric? Just a thought (and 5 minutes in MS PAINT!):

Semi connected visual gag… I bet this would send the Sony Classical marketing department into meltdown…

I'm beginning to think Main Titles, Multiverse of Madness and Stranger Things Will Happen are just three versions of main on end? Maybe, maybe not not. I can't decide whether it's best to open my playlist with Stranger Things or Multiverse. They both work well but I sort of like how the former serves as a more subtle and quiet overture before the chaos of the opening action sequence. But it works both ways really. The more I listen to this (and I do listen to it a lot!) the more detail and thematic subtleties become apparent. I love how the material for Wanda and Strange constantly shifts between light and dark. Brilliant dramatic work by Elfman. And while the presentation is by no means complete, it is mostly satisfying. But I also get why it doesn't appeal to so many people. It's more focused on story at hand rather than the franchise building. But I like it. Karol

How about Horner’s reliance on that darn pan flute! A couple of times, okay, but he just kept jamming it down our ears. More than once, I turned off a CD thinking, “Dude, get a new favorite spice! Not everything sounds better with it.”

I don't think we need a thumb down button, you can just add Jurassic and Bruce on your ignore list instead!

Ironically I wanted the thumbs down because I thought the angry face was too aggressive.

Woah, I can't believe I didn't notice that the first time... that's really bad

This is how you display your collection: VERTICALLY! 😎 Non- soundtracks Whole thing. Lps are 1/4 scores, 3/4 non- scores Soundtracks

Banjo is wonderful in Reivers, what are you talking about? In that time period and location.

Just want to post a public thumbs up for Varese International Store customer service. I ordered both new releases and totally forgot about their sale. Seems you can’t cancel an order through the website (as far as I could see) and so I ordered half a dozen sale items then sent an email asking if they could combine orders to reduce postage which they kindly offered to do. However one of the orders got posted before they could combine but they offered to refund the full cost of the postage on one of the orders (a not insignificant £18). Very helpful and appreciated!

This. For every instrument mentioned in this thread, I can think of numerous passages that put it to wonderful use. There are plenty of contexts where a given instrument could sound out-of-place, and plenty of contexts where it's exactly the flavor that's needed.

None, its all about context, techniques, and recording mixing.

Thomas Hooten's tone is so beautifully pure on the studio recording. But also this is my "home" John Williams sound, as in I consider myself most at home listening to "Long Road to Justice," "With Malice Toward None," "Omaha Beach", etc. The Copland informed sound. On the sheet music for "With Malice" he even used the same performance directive that Copland used for the opening of the Third Symphony: "With simple expression." So you know... I'm predisposed. In Copland's hand: In Williams':

For me there's a few I find annoying . Sometimes it "works" but I'd rather hear the same tracks without them. 1-Saxophone (often used for a "jazzy" flavor but I tend not to like it and no Saxophone dominant tracks are in my favorites) 2-Accordion (please ban this instrument) 3-Harpsicord (I dunno, sounds kind of annoying and cheap...one of the reasons some of Williams 70's pre- Star Wars scores don't sound as good as they should) 4-Accoustic Guitar (Should remain in pop music and songs) 5-Harmonica (irritating sound) 6-Synthesisers (especially Goldsmith's Drum Machine) I might have forgotten a few. Added to original list: -Banjo.

I listened to Snow Falling on Cedars the other day and I thought it was a bit too depressing. However, the "Snow Angels/Can I Hold you Now?" combo is one of my favorite emotional moments by JNH, alongside "Malcolm is Dead" and "Central Park".

Well lets not go crazy here. As much as I love it, I still prefer TLW.

Gloriously overscored!! It is a movie that had a mutant dinosaur on top of a mansion at night! Giacchino got the tone right, better than the script for sure. These movies are supposed to be fun!

And the “impact thremors “tremolo from t rex chase is there too i think

Presumed guilty, you mean.

Did the same thing in OUR MAN FLINT#!

Nearly as important, no sign of official releases of the original versions of the films

He's the best of all of us

I listened to it two times today and really enjoyed it. It is a very good balance of synth and orchestra, Not like what I criticized about modern scores in the neighbour thread.

Unsurprisingly, Marriner's is ace.

How do we know Jay isn't JW? Starts with the same letter...

Watch me

Funnily enough, here in Brazil (and I think in some other countries too), the title of the movie was in the plural: "Os Últimos Jedi". Apparently, the translators working for Disney didn't know if "The Last Jedi" meant just one Jedi or more than one, so they chose to put in plural. If I remember correctly, Johnson was pretty upset with that, as it was supposed to be just one last Jedi (at least at the beginning of the movie).

So this show is for fans of the cartoons, then. Damn. Hard pass.

Hot take: Howard's main theme for this franchise (the tinkly magical one in "Tina Takes Newt In" from the first score) is every bit as vivid an evocation of a secret, whimsical, magical world as "Hedwig's Theme," which itself is on my Mount Rushmore of Williams themes.

I found this nice pine shelf off of Facebook Marketplace right up the road from me for $25! Seller told me they got it from World Market. I love the fact that it's solid wood and not the Ikea ones I used to have. I've got plenty of room for future releases, only drawback is that the space is very snug so anything over standard jewel case size won't fit, not even the LLL box sets, so they are relegated to the top shelf. Bottom right are a bunch of extra jewel cases to replace any that get cracked in shipping.

He's not drunk, he's just Scottish They all talk like that. I live among them; I should know.

(Ahem) Obi-Di, Obi-Da, Obi-Waaaan Brah! La La La La Obi-Wan In a couple of years They have built a homestead in the stars With a couple of droids running in the yard Of Beru and Owen Lars Jabba has some spices in the market-place Snootles is the singer in the band Pig nose Guy says "Hey Boy I don't like your face" And Then he and Walrus Man both lose a hand. Obi-Di, Obi-Da, Obi-Waaaan Brah! La La La La Obi-Wan And if you want some fun Sing Obi-Di-La-Wan!

Now I know why Star Wars expansions still haven't come out. Every time Mike puts the finishing touches on the liner notes, he has to go back and add another chapter!