Under-Terrestrial

Certainly not bereft of thought, but definitely rather muted in richness of feeling.

"Finally a new Richter score", I thought (he dont seem to do much scores these days)...but this...? 
Just soundscapes and hardly any "music"... unfortunately. 

Yup, Jóhann Jóhannsson scored ARRIVAL, and Villeneuve used the existing recording of On The Nature Of Daylight to bookend the film (and I think Johannsson *may* have subtly referenced Daylight in his input, though I'm not sure).

I thought it was (the late) Jóhann Jóhannsson who composed Arrival. I can't actually recall a context that a Richter piece was used in...? 
 
Though, because his work is mostly of a minimalist nature, I s'pose that's a gift to filmmakers wanting to track in something that fits the mood of a scene. His work for My Brilliant Friend seems to be assembled from both already existing pieces and the odd new composition. (I may be mistaken - I don't have a physical copy.) 
 
Looking forward to the soundtrack to Spaceman (out tomorrow, as I write this)!
 

SPACEMAN - Max Richter
 
https://music.apple.com/nz/album/spaceman-original-motion-picture-soundtrack/1729872386
 
Based on the trailer for SPACEMAN (which seems like my kind of sci-fi), muted minimalism might suit this film just fine. But every time Hollywood employs Max Richter, I hope they'll seize on his gift for more outwardly expressive minimalism present in pieces like "On The Nature Of Daylight" and "November" that brought him so much attention. "Memory Is A Voyager" sticks out a bit in this album. I haven't seen a lot of Ricther-scored films (SHUTTER ISLAND and ARRIVAL don't count to me), so as of now AD ASTRA is still the closest I've come to loving a Richter score written exclusively for the given movie (and, as a lot of JWFan knows, even that isn't all Richter).
 

DRIVE-AWAY DOLLS - Carter Burwell
 
https://music.apple.com/nz/album/drive-away-dolls-music-from-the-motion-picture/1731277127
 
Theremin! A fun selection of comically-exaggerated caper material! Heartening to know that decades later, Burwell's voices is still fresh and very much his own.
 

It hasn't been given an official release date, but based on its 2022 announcement and 2023 production, Andrew Stanton's live-action IN THE BLINK OF AN EYE for Searchlight Pictures ought to release this year. I worship Stanton even when he misses, and this film reportedly draws inspiration from things like INTERSTELLAR and MAGNOLIA, which is nothing but good news to me. Hoping for a Thomas Newman reunion!!!
 
(Also, this is from an original script from Colby Day, whose first produced screenplay, SPACEMAN, is releasing on Netflix on March 1st and seems to have potential!)
 
 

Well IF is already recorded, or almost done.  And whoever scored Inside Out 2, that'd be recorded by now as well.

Giacchino would probably get the first call, but he might be too busy with Them!

I feel this with half of Desplat's scores. His actual writing is always aces to me, this cue included, but I wish the beat overlays were lower in the mix (which is difficult to ask of ever-rhythm-forward Desplat), and the sense of space in the recording stage was fuller.

Yea, it's a great composition.  The way it builds and builds, and then reaches that glorious climax.  It's like everything that can be great about sports scores all in one piece

Nobody has yet mentioned my favorite cue of the year
 
 
 
What do you guys think of this piece?

BEST [PRIMARILY ORIGINAL] SCORES OF 2023
 
Winners:
AMERICAN FICTION - Laura Karpman (biased because she co-taught a poetry+music class during my last semester of undergrad) ASTEROID CITY - Alexandre Desplat THE BOY AND THE HERON - Joe Hisaishi (***my fave of the group***) THE CREATOR - Hans Zimmer DREAM SCENARIO - Owen Pallett (no one talks about this one!!) ELEMENTAL - Thomas Newman THE INVENTOR - Alex Mandel (no one talks about this one either!!) OPPENHEIMER - Ludwig Goransson PETER PAN AND WENDY - Daniel Hart POOR THINGS - Jerskin Fendrix Pending Viewing:
ORIGIN - Kris Bowers THE ZONE OF INTEREST - Mica Levi THE PEASANTS - Lukasz Rostkowski  
TOP 10 BEST TRACKS OF 2023
"Sail Away" - BEAU IS AFRAID - Bobby Krlic "The Last Smile" - THE BOY AND THE HERON - Joe Hisaishi "Presentation Music" - CHICKEN RUN: DAWN OF THE NUGGET - Harry Gregson-Williams "A Place In The Sky" - THE CREATOR - Hans Zimmer "I Wish This Was Real" - DREAM SCENARIO - Owen Pallett "You Were The Dream" - ELEMENTAL - Thomas Newman "Pipes" - A HAUNTING IN VENICE - Hildur Guonadottir "Tuk Tuk Chase" (***unreleased second half***) - INDIANA JONES AND THE DIAL OF DESTINY - John Williams "The Women Ascend" - THE INVENTOR - Alex Mandel "Can You Hear The Music?" - OPPENHEIMER - Ludwig Goransson (sorry, I know this piece is ubiquitous at this point) "Neverland" - PETER PAN AND WENDY - Daniel Hart "Paris" - POOR THINGS - Jerskin Fendrix "Sacrifice And Departure" - KNOCK AT THE CABIN - Herdis Stefansdottir  
BEST FILMS OF 2023
 
Winners:
AIR POOR THINGS OPPENHEIMER ROBOT DREAMS THE HOLDOVERS MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE DEAD RECKONING PART ONE Runners-Up:
NIMONA SUZUME NO ONE WILL SAVE YOU THE BOY AND THE HERON KILLERS OF THE FLOWER MOON

A pleasant surprise!
Although I don't usually listen to such kind of music, I enjoyed this.

Oppenheimer seems like it has already won, and Killers Of The Flower Moon seems like the only other nominee lock. After that it could be anyone (I'd like to see American Fiction and Society Of The Snow in there).

Occasionally I puruse IMDB music credits before composers are announced for hints, and some of the Inside Out 2 music team are frequent Mark Mothersbaugh collaborators 👀

THE PEASANTS - Lukasz Rostkowski
 
Haven't seen the film [yet], but this is an immediate winner to me.
 
The film is the hand-painted followup to LOVING VINCENT (same team), and THE PEASANTS score feels like an extension of Clint Mansell's sumptuous rural atmosphere VINCENT, except now it's party time. It's got one foot in Irish folk music, one in Yann Tiersen's Amelie soundtrack (not just the accordian, but similar rhythm/harmony), and a hand in Bulgarian choral music. This is the first feature score by Polish composer/producer/rapper Lukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski, and I bet he'll be in demand after this.
 
Opening track is my favorite so far
 
 

That's a great sell-in, Under-Terrestrial! Lots to like in what you said. Alas, I didn't have the immediate love of the track you shared, but I'll definitely check out the whole album. Thanks for the tip!

THE PEASANTS - Lukasz Rostkowski
 
Haven't seen the film [yet], but this is an immediate winner to me.
 
The film is the hand-painted followup to LOVING VINCENT (same team), and THE PEASANTS score feels like an extension of Clint Mansell's sumptuous rural atmosphere VINCENT, except now it's party time. It's got one foot in Irish folk music, one in Yann Tiersen's Amelie soundtrack (not just the accordian, but similar rhythm/harmony), and a hand in Bulgarian choral music. This is the first feature score by Polish composer/producer/rapper Lukasz L.U.C. Rostkowski, and I bet he'll be in demand after this.
 
Opening track is my favorite so far
 
 

This score was such a nice surprise! Other folks on here would be better equipped to describe its influences beyond the broad adjective of "medieval". I saw this film last night, and not only is it stop-motion, but it's rare to see any new feature aimed at children that is both wholesome and gentle. It's all about Leonardo Da Vinci's spirit of innovation, directed by one of the initial writers on Ratatouille. The score lets strings and winds stand out like nobody's business, my kind of score

Correct, I was making a few different, semi-unrelated points that broadly fit under the "A.I. is bad news" umbrella.
 
The idea that A.I. should be used when producers don't feel like trying hard for something fresh and inspired...man, that is one slippery slope. My baseline belief is that it is fundamentally wrong to give anything other than human beings an inch. Composing, conducting, performing, whatever the creative job is. If we don't have A.I. severely regulated in the media industry, then producers/executives will OK its use left and right.
 
And frankly, I'd rather take a mediocre score from a human composer than an A.I.-generated score that puts up the illusion of being fresh and inspired. Quality is a high cause. Human artists looking out for one another is the higher cause.

^^^I second all of this^^^. I'm happy that a lot of people on here are speaking out against the use of A.I.
 
In many artistic circles (composing, writing, illustration, etc.) the prevailing argument I see is "It's not as good." By and large this is true. In fact, it will always be true. But we have every reason to believe that the tech will improve to the point where the facsimile of a Williams/Zimmer/Elfman score will fool even trained ears.
 
The argument should be on moral grounds. Even if a human and A.I. were capable of producing identical music, it's just...plain wrong. We're all we've got to fight for. The motive for A.I. producing art/music/etc. is half-"we can so we should" and half-monetary (well, probably mostly monetary). One would think that the human rights violation here would get through to even the coldest studio executive, but evidently not.
 
The other thing is, A.I. is trained on existing data. Which means that anything it produces will, in some way, sound like what's come before. But the spirit of human art is that artists' creativity and sense of craft morphs and grows. Zimmer's work nowadays has changed so much from what it was in the '90s. If people aren't allowed to produce art full-time, the message being communicated is not only "We just want to go cheap," but also, "You don't deserve to grow as an artist. You don't deserve to use your own mind." That is the cruelest thing of all.

My opinion on that subject matter is that: I'm not a fan of Lorne Balfe's or Junkie XL's music. But I wouldn't like to see any of them, as well as other musicians who depend on their work to earn their living, be out of work because some billionaire CEO decided to save a few bucks by using A.I.
 
According to Balfe himself, he used over 500 musicians to perform on Dead Reckoning. I wasn't a fan of the score, but so what? Firstly, many people liked it, and secondly, at the very least 501 people (including Balfe, lol) were paid for their art.
 
Either Hollywood kills A.I., or at least establishes some well defined limits for it, or soon many people will find themselves starving.

This score was such a nice surprise! Other folks on here would be better equipped to describe its influences beyond the broad adjective of "medieval". I saw this film last night, and not only is it stop-motion, but it's rare to see any new feature aimed at children that is both wholesome and gentle. It's all about Leonardo Da Vinci's spirit of innovation, directed by one of the initial writers on Ratatouille. The score lets strings and winds stand out like nobody's business, my kind of score

^^^I second all of this^^^. I'm happy that a lot of people on here are speaking out against the use of A.I.
 
In many artistic circles (composing, writing, illustration, etc.) the prevailing argument I see is "It's not as good." By and large this is true. In fact, it will always be true. But we have every reason to believe that the tech will improve to the point where the facsimile of a Williams/Zimmer/Elfman score will fool even trained ears.
 
The argument should be on moral grounds. Even if a human and A.I. were capable of producing identical music, it's just...plain wrong. We're all we've got to fight for. The motive for A.I. producing art/music/etc. is half-"we can so we should" and half-monetary (well, probably mostly monetary). One would think that the human rights violation here would get through to even the coldest studio executive, but evidently not.
 
The other thing is, A.I. is trained on existing data. Which means that anything it produces will, in some way, sound like what's come before. But the spirit of human art is that artists' creativity and sense of craft morphs and grows. Zimmer's work nowadays has changed so much from what it was in the '90s. If people aren't allowed to produce art full-time, the message being communicated is not only "We just want to go cheap," but also, "You don't deserve to grow as an artist. You don't deserve to use your own mind." That is the cruelest thing of all.