Tom Guernsey

Cool, I think I'll get the Jarvi recording. Is the complete set conducted by Svetlanov worth getting? It's surprising reasonable on Presto (£28 for the whole lot!) but some of those USSR recordings can be a bit... rough.

The Luzhin Defence (Alexandre Desplat) - I seems a bit churlish to conclude that early Desplat was perhaps a bit more memorable, but this, and Girl with a Pearl Earring, in particular, are superb. His style is fully there but the thematic material is more memorable and there's just a bit more variety and imagination. Don't get me wrong, still love his music but the hit rate is a bit more variable, which brings me to... Airlines, mixing a couple of new concert works, notably a fine work based on Pelléas et Mélisande and the titular work for solo flute which is fine, but somewhat less approachable. The film selections, arranged for the album, are excellent and always makes me appreciate Desplat again. Hopefully he does a further volume and makes time to write some more concert works. A bit like Danny Elfman, writing for the concert hall distils his style down and the writing is more focussed when you don't have to fill up 2 hours of movie with underscore. Abominable (Lalo Schifrin) - I really wanted to like this as an orchestral "comedy" horror score, but it's pretty slow going despite a few more entertaining tracks by the end. Batman & Robin (Elliot Goldenthal) - Shame it's not seen a proper release as there's some good stuff in there beyond the reprises from Batman Forever.

Some interesting comparisons with the Debussy, Henze and Myaskovsky there; more at the stylistic influences end of the spectrum than specific and obvious passages, but this kind of thing is what led me to a huge love of classical music (I made the jump from James Horner to Prokofiev and rarely looked back!). I have a few Myaskovsky symphonies but not the 6th but I shall clearly have to rectify this (I mean, 27 is a lot... most composers after Mozart and Haydn barely reached double figures!). I'm trying to work out if I heard some Henze and didn't like it or if I'm confusing him with another composer (maybe one who did electronic music or processed sounds? - anyone know?!), but from listening to a few sections of Undine (or Ondine apparently), it's challenging but within my tolerance for astringent orchestral music. I think I'll have to check out the full thing. Ballet music often seems to be a good way into discovering a composer! Annoying that both the Henze and Myaskovsky aren't available on download from Presto though, 7Digital is way more expensive!

I still don’t understand why they got a younger (if excellent) actress to portray younger Guinan when in Time’s Arrow, which is set further in the past, she was still played by Whoopi Goldberg.

I know, who'd have thought?!

It's a nice island, but we don't have any kind of goods and sales tax so when vendors sell stuff to us, they should take off the VAT. In reality, many don't, but Amazon take it off automatically. We're lucky that we don't get charged import duties either so I don't have to pay when I receive a parcel from LLL etc. like most people do. Otherwise it's a pretty expensive place to live, but hey, small wins!

Same... living on Guernsey, we often run into problems with suppliers not wanting to send to us, even from the UK which is frustrating as all they need to do is complete a customs form (and it's not complicated like sending to Europe from the UK is now... thanks Brexit) and the postage is about the same, yet I've had lots of orders cancelled. Sometimes you can trick them by putting the country as UK and they'll send anyway... but often not. Then it's back to Amazon who will pretty much send anything (with a few exceptions like batteries and other stuff you can't send by plane) and remove the VAT (since it's not payable in Guernsey). I'm in the fortunate position that I can pay a little more to use someone independent but if they can't or won't ship to me, Amazon is the easy option. Fortunately for music I buy almost everything digitally from 7Digital or Presto, plus occasional orders from LLL and Intrada. Oops, bit off topic...

Aren't they all to some extent?! I have similarly strong feelings about Amazon and have largely stopped using them for shopping but haven't yet cut them out as a streaming provider for TV/movies. However, I cancelled my Amazon Music subscription when they sent me a notification of the price increase as I realised that I hardly ever use it and my iTunes library is ludicrously large anyway.

I do wonder if subscribing to streaming services in rotation is the better option - guess partly it depends how easy it is to active and reactivate and how much you can be bothered! There's quite a lot on Netflix and Disney+ we are watching and want to watch, less on Amazon (I've just started watching Babylon 5 "with adverts" which I assume would be the same deal if we did unsubscribe) and only a couple of things on Apple TV. The latter we got when my partner got a new iPhone and it came with a year, he was keen on The Morning Show and Central Park, but we've watched those and have just finished all of Ted Lasso which was probably the best of the tree (I realised that I couldn't care less about the characters in The Morning Show partway through season 2). I can see us keeping Netflix and Disney+ permanently in any event. The latter, in particular, has already expanded greatly since launch and this is likely to continue. Plus, I assume it won't suffer from the annoyance of shows suddenly disappearing that can make Netflix etc. so frustrating. This strikes me as a distinct advantage for specific studio based services over those who rely more heavily on content from others (Netflix, Amazon, Apple).

It is but very effectively realised. Synth instruments these days are pretty impressive. It’ll never replace the Hollywood players or the LSO but it’s a fine representation. I’m still hoping Tadlow might record them as bonus tracks on a future Goldsmith re-recording.

Yeah the sound on Dracula is still a bit disappointing especially compared to other JW scores of the same vintage which sound terrific. I have to say that a Tadlow re-recording would be very welcome unless better quality masters show up. Wallace and Gromit: Curse of the Were-Rabbit (Julian Nott) - man I love this score. Lots of brilliant themes beyond the original, iconic W&G theme, actually fun action scoring that sounds like real music rather than banging ostinatos that are just marking time. Yes it’s silly and over the top in places but that’s part of the charm.

It's perhaps a bit sad but the most exciting thing for me will be the newly realised versions of the unrecorded cues from ST:TMP. I can't imagine it was super easy to get permission to get them on disc either. The version of Body Meld (The Meld) that was posted on Youtube (see below) sounds great so it'll be great to hear the other few tracks. There's always a bit more Jerry ;-) )

I don't think the thinly veiled sexism about Pinar Toprak is at all necessary. You can like or dislike her music, but that's totally uncalled for.

Cool thank you. That’s what I was trying to work out. I’ll keep them both!

Happy 100th birthday Elmer! We still miss you… For all you Elmer fans out there, BBC Radio 3’s Composer of the Week this week is the man himself featuring interviews with his son Peter. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds/play/m0015vrz

Maybe I’ll have to watch it sometime then. I’ll definitely give the album another try. I don’t think I made myself clear with my query though, sorry. What I meant was, are the versions on the original LP soundtrack programme the same as those on the first disc of the 3CD set or are they different takes/edits?

It’s hard to see who else they might bring in given that it’s not just that RTD did lots of great stuff on Doctor Who but that he still scores everything else that RTD makes. Totally with you on your other comment. I really wanted to give Anikola a chance and while there are moments, he just doesn’t have that remarkable gift for melody and enjoyable over the topness that MG brought to things.

Murray Gold series 10! Murray Gold series 10! Murray Gold series 10! Murray Gold series 10! Oh sorry what were you saying? ;-) Actually I quite enjoyed some of the music in Flux. Not that I can remember anything about it.

Goodbye, Mr Chips (Leslie Bricusse & JW) - Not sure what to make of this one. I quite like musicals but the songs all seemed a bit meh and it presents a fairly rose tinted view of public school in England. The close miking of the singers didn't help much either, especially for Peter O'Toole. Quick question though... if you have the extended version from FSM, is the original album necessary? Breakdown (Basil) - Had a listen to the alternate early score which is much more orchestral than I remembered. I can almost hear how it might have been a bit much. The film kinda suggests much more electric guitars and a more limited palette rather than a full orchestra. Still, it makes for an enjoyable album. Need to give the final score another listen now. Gray Lady Down (Jerry Fielding) - I usually like Fielding, but this was pretty slow going. For what should be a gripping submarine thriller, a lot of it sounds a bit like uninteresting Bond style sneaking around scoring. Also listened to a few things that I had clearly randomly added to my playlist but which didn't excite me at all so I kinda gave up, but I don't like to be too negative so will pass on comment!

Agreed, much more technically accomplished, more interesting and a wider range. I have The Music of Kings & Queens but haven't listened to it yet so I really must. I'm kinda put off by the narrative tracks but I assume the music is presented discretely.

Hilarious.

I think that's a touch unfair, some of the others I've mentioned above are a bit more interesting and deviate from her core style more than your comment suggests. I think maybe her drama scores are all fairly similar but there's greater range elsewhere. I'm not saying she's an especially amazing or adventurous composer but there is a bit more to discover, but I can understand why people would stop bothering when it all feels a bit samey. I do think her Oscar was a bit of a token award, it was just a typical Oscar bait movie at the right time. As I said before, compared to Patrick Doyle's period scores of the time such as Sense & Sensibility or his various Branagh Shakespeare scores, it's fairly underwhelming. Alas I fear it may be lack of opportunity than anything, but Shirley Walker was definitely one of the finest. Her Batman: Mask of the Phantasm theme is my favourite Batman theme (even over Elfman's, albeit by the thinnest of margins!) and the rest of the score is excellent. Agreed on the Superman animated show, the Batman TV scores are great (if not better) too. I'd also recommend Willard and the music she wrote for the short lived sci-fi show, Space: Above and Beyond. At the risk of going too off topic I would also recommend checking out stuff by Debbie Wiseman who is a considerably more interesting composer than Portman. Indeed her score to Wilde would have been another more worth winner than Emma. For a complete change of pace, Arséne Lupin is a terrific, fully orchestral action/thriller score. Exactly! Sometimes one theme (and maybe the odd recurring idea) is all you need, but I can understand that it's not just that which makes her scores a bit samey, the style and approach can be pretty unvarying.

I can't find out how old Mick is, but considering his dad is only 54, I guess he's probably not far into his 20s. He must be close to Andre Previn's record for scoring a film at a disgustingly young age (Previn first scored a film while he was still in school)! I guess it does help when your dad is a multi Oscar winning composer... he certainly has potential and it's a lot more interesting and fun than a lot of other scores around, he just needs something with a bit more focus and requiring of more dramatic writing.

But definitely one of the top ten film composers of all time ;-) That's pretty much my problem with her music, it's lovely but you don't need much of it and it's fairly simplistic. Cider House Rules is pretty nice too, but like most of her scores, I never really think to listen to it! It's certainly not a patch on Isham's original Dolphin Tale score, although I seem to remember thinking it was enjoyable enough. Beauty and the Beast 2 was during Disney's direct to video sequel phase (to go with Mulan 2, Hunchback 2 and the Aladdin spin-offs). I think it's technically a midquel (or whatever they call it these days) in that it occurs while Belle as at the castle but while the Beast is still a beast. I've not seen the film but the music is actually pretty nice and it's a shame it's never been expanded as I expect it's probably worth a listen. I guess when you're writing songs for a film, you end up with more thematic material to work from, which undoubtedly helps. I would still highly recommend both Adventures of Pinocchio and War of the Buttons that I mentioned earlier, they are really good indeed. What's everyone's thoughts on The Storyteller? Having been really excited by the release (I loved the show as a kid and remembered really liking the theme music) I kinda listened to it once and didn't feel any pressing urge to revisit it and any discussion about it quickly tailed off!

Ouch, harsh but fair. I kinda like Portman but her stuff is somewhat samey after a while, although she has finally moved away from everything being a clarinet melody over chugging strings. For a really lovely Portman Christmas score, Beauty and the Beast 2 is a creditable follow up to the original (Alan Menken at the top of his game would be a hard act for anyone to follow). It's a shame the album has barely a suite's worth of score, although the songs are pretty decent, even if the big production number, As Long As There's Christmas is yet another variation on Sibelius' 5th Symphony (see also The Polar Express and Spirited Away, amongst others). Better represented on disc is The Adventures of Pinocchio which is tuneful and a lot of fun. My favourite Portman is probably War of the Buttons which is absolutely terrific, particularly the thrilling Battle Of Bunduff Castle. Of her more adult scores, her Oscar winning effort for Emma is of course lovely (although I do think Patrick Doyle was robbed as his score for Sense and Sensibility is miles better), The Road to Wellville is quirky and fun that uses her trademark style to great effect and Chocolat is great, although you do kinda remember the Django Reinhardt more afterwards.