Bayesian

No! No rebooting. At least not for a long long time. Don’t diminish JW’s singular achievement by asking Disney to basically admit it made a mistake with Eps 7-9. The nonology is complete and legit, for better or worse. People want to see “better” Star Wars movies? They can damn well wait until 2022 when the next one comes, without an episode number and without a skywalker in it. Star Wars movies that start with “Episode __” and involve skywalkers are now and forevermore done. That ship’s sailed and JW’s musical legacy for that ship must never be tainted or asterisked by some sequel trilogy redo.

MBB looks a little too waxy here to be a convincing deepfake, but in a few years the technology will be perfected and that will be a disaster. When it comes to this stuff, I'm a total Luddite. This shit needs to be straight-up banned. There is so little upside compared to the potential for misuse.

I just listened to this first episode, @Erik Woods -- and I like it. A lot. I played it as I was working, much in the way I would occasionally have sports radio playing in the background. The off-script nature of this podcast works really well for me, because I like being able to have it on while doing something else. The ability to put 40% of my attention to the podcast while putting the rest to another task appeals to me as making good use of my time. Not to say that your material isn't worth 100% of a person's attention, of course, but somehow, psychologically, I think of an ad lib show as less "lecture" (requiring devoted listening) and more "conversation" (where you can still get 90% of the content/message through more passive listening). That makes it more likely that I'll tune in, actually, because the usual film score podcast (like yours, or Trumpeteer's, or TownerFan's) rewards active listening and I often find it harder to make time for that. I'll also take a moment to say that I love your speaking manner. It's almost ASMR-like. Obviously it must have come from your years and years of podcasting, but man, you have a cadence and lilt that just gladdens my ears. And I don't think I heard a single filler word in your 80 minutes of ad-libbing. That's talent right there. Keep these coming! I'm definitely a fan.

I agree with you about the propulsion aspect, but for now it doesn’t bother me because the show’s setup is so different from anything I’ve watched in a long time and that’s been enough to keep my interest. If E3 doesn’t start getting into the plot, my interest might wane. The novelty of 60s era TV sitcoms in a present-day show will start wearing thin. But I don’t think that’s going to be a worry; I just remember the trailer and the action-y bits it teases.

Is it true that Westlake re-orchestrated parts of his score for the re-recording? If so, that might make the re-recording worth owning (assuming the differences are meaningful).

We had a great time, @Thor! Thank you for organizing it! It’s too bad no one else was able to join us, but let’s not conclude just yet that this activity is doomed. Sometimes the timing just doesn’t work out. I for one am definitely looking forward to doing this again soon, and seeing others join in.

Classical music is where it all started for me. Beethoven is the only composer from any era whose music gives me more pleasure than JW's (and it's not necessarily by a lot). LvB and JW hold pride of place in my music-appreciating life. Elsewhere in the classical realm, there's not too much before Beethoven that I seek out. Bach's secular stuff, a few things here and there by Mozart and Haydn, some Scarlatti. And there's little after Ravel I really enjoy. Between them, I have great appreciation for folks like Saint-Saens, Brahms, Debussy, Dvorak, Mendelssohn, Bizet, Tchaikovsky, Shostakovich, Berlioz. (For some reason, I never warmed up to Wagner or the 19th and 20th century Austrians.) Elsewhere in music, I'm less experienced, but I like catchy and powerful things (e.g., a lot of Queen's discography, much of whatever Jim Steinman wrote...). I also enjoy the likes of Daft Punk and Parov Stelar. Finally, I also like accessible jazz. Stuff like Bill Evans and Claude Bolling.

The finger thing means the taxes.

That's how mine came (likely a big part of the reason why my copy was so damaged). Without even a cardboard or cardstock insert to help stiffen the magazine against the rigors of transit. I emailed for a replacement without the CD, in hopes that at least the spine won't tear apart again, but the CD area was the one part of the magazine cover that didn't have creases all over it, so I have meager hopes that my replacement copy will come in any better shape. I would have paid more for better protection, if it were possible to do so. No B&N near me stocks BBC Music, so I can only hope I have better luck with my replacement mailing. Or wait until it shows up on eBay at an inflated price.

If you click on the link @thx99 gave us (https://www.marineband.marines.mil/Portals/175/Docs/Audio/Educational_Series/john_williams/JohnWilliamsUSMB.zip), you'll get the mp3's. For the time being, no FLACs, but let's all just appreciate that this is finally available to us -- for free, to boot.

Interesting topic. Semantically, “last work” suggests the composer being aware of the finality of his/her career and possibly considering that work as a swan song. (At least that’s how it seems to me.) But many composers’ final works are only final because of the composers’ untimely deaths. I think of James Horner and how obviously he was going to compose plenty more after Southpaw if he hadn’t died. In such cases, it seems unfair to talk about last scores as anything but random events.

Yeah, what was that all about? Anyone know the reason for making him blue?

All the classical and/or film score collectors here seem to prefer organizing by a date of some kind. That’s utter madness! I’d never be able to find anything that way unless I did a search. No, my friends, the best way to organize a collection is by qualitative categories. Start by aggregating your albums by genre. Then, within each genre, you subset by composer, album artist, or even label. It can be quite fun to see your collection sorted into different “communities” that each share a particular likeness among its members—especially if you have a sizable collection.

This sounds like great fun and I'm definitely in. It'll only be 10:00 am where I am (SF Bay Area), so no drinking from me. Well, nothing alcoholic at least. (This ain't Key West.)

Very excited for Babe! I loved Westlake's treatment of Saint-Saens' theme (and his incorporation of melodies by other French composers) and the movie itself is something of a gem. Ordered.

That's mostly because you're not a big fan of classical music, if I'm not mistaken, right?

Until Yavar gets back to us with the answer, I'm gonna suggest that the guy in the Varese pic is doing much more that's alike to the person in the Brainstorm poster than different: He's clutching at his head with both hands, fingers tented; he's got his eyes closed and his mouth is open; and his expression is one of pleasure. Whatever is different isn't going to outweigh those parallels. Ergo, Brainstorm it is! QED.

I just finished watching the first part of the roundtable, @Trumpeteer, and I loved it. Such enthusiasm for JW's music, and such obvious admiration of you and your tireless efforts expressed by your cohosts! I've been collecting all your episodes for the better part of the past year and am eager to listen to them in order in the weeks and months ahead, now that your cycle is complete. (I've listened to parts of several episodes over the past year but held back from doing more than that until I could find time to devote the proper attention to them. That time has finally come.) What you accomplished with The Baton -- an immersive, complete survey of JW's film scores -- will be long recognized as an important and necessary contribution to JW appreciation and scholarship. That alone is worthy of the highest praise. But the fact that you did it like clockwork, 60-90 minutes weekly without fail, is basically superhuman to the likes of procrastinators like me. I am in awe. You are my role model for 2021. Bravo for a wonderful podcast! And thank you!

I like the parallels in the two pics! Brainstorm would be an amazing release -- an instant buy for me.

I received my copy of the magazine in the mail today — and it arrived in utterly trashed condition 😣. The cd on the front didn’t help matters, being where the magazine spine ripped in two, presumably from a shit-ton of parcels lying on top of it during transit. But that doesn’t explain why the rest of cover, front and back, is full of creases. I’m pissed. Now I have to drive to Barnes and noble, hoping against hope they stock bbc music on the shelf.

I always love a good golden-age Simpsons reference. Returning to topic, I was dismayed to learn that Claude Bolling died at age 90 a couple days ago. I love his jazz suite albums. https://variety.com/2021/music/news/claude-bolling-dead-dies-french-pianist-the-holiday-joker-1234877795/

Alan Menken is awesome. Listen to what he does between 1:13 and 1:41. It's straight-up magical. (I didn't timestamp this one because I think the buildup in the cue is helpful to making the short moment I mention really pop.) EDIT: I'm back with another one! Randy Edelman this time: From 0:32 to 0:51. But especially from 0:40 to 0:51.

My wife and I watched WW84 last night and we loved it. In my case, this was a more enjoyable movie than just about every MCU/DCEU film I can recall right now, with the exception of Thor: Ragnarok and the first Iron man and Wonder Woman. Agreed with @Matt C that Wiig is hot in this (as is Gadot). Very much disagree that Pascal was miscast--his performance was wonderfully exuberant and "big." I can't believe he's the fucking Mandalorian. I mean, you could have a robot play the Mandalorian for all the acting that that character does, but there's something about Pascal in this performance that's perfect for Max Lord. I get it that one's suspension of disbelief falls apart by the end of the movie, but I think I really just appreciate that the villain and main plot device are not "monster-y," if that makes sense. And the way wish fulfillment is woven throughout the characters and plot line is handled surprisingly well for a movie in this genre. I loved it all.

Which label would be likeliest to work on and release Family Man? Maybe Intrada?

We’re watching The Family Man on HBO right now, and I’m reminded that Elfman’s score for this movie has never been released. Why is that??