Tom Guernsey

One of those British composers nobody seems to have heard of but who I’d say is more interesting than a lot of his more famous contemporaries… this is probably the best place to start if you want to sample his output. Really thrilling stuff.
 
 

Alien

 

 
The Black Hole

 

 
John Carpenter's The Thing

 

A few more and I’ll stop. Promise.
 
Doctor Who: Part 1/6 - Invasion of Death. First in an interminable 6 part serial starring Jon Pertwee as the popular Time Lord. This week, five minutes of plot are crammed into an entire episode as Jo and the Doctor traipse around London, slowly revealing clues about the pending invasion and leading them to the head alien being poorly revealed in a badly executed zoom shot during the closing cliffhanger.
 
Doctor Who: Part 4/6 - Invasion of Death. Padding episode of an interminable 6 part serial starring Jon Pertwee as the popular Time Lord. This week, Jo and the Doctor get stuck in a maze solving clues that are entirely irrelevant to the plot and outcome while the Brig is driven around in his jeep and shouts at Benton.
 
Star Trek: Enterprise. Previously unseen pilot of be unpopular Star Trek prequel starring former Tory MP Jeffrey Archer as the deceitful captain of the federation's first deep space exploration ship. This week Captain Archer offends the Klingon Chancellor and then lies about it leading to life imprisonment on a frozen asteroid prison where a shape shifting alien ensures he doesn't escape.

Deal or No Deal: creepy uncle figure Noel Edmonds introduces a special edition of the popular dim witted gameshow as a a selection of uniquely stupid members of the public open boxes in an attempt to win the popular Kent seaside town.
 
Quantum Leap: previously unbroadcast pilot for the popular time hopping drama series sees the avant garde Irish novelist leap through time and help avert happy endings. This week, Beckett ensures the wife of a wealthy oil baron drowns in the pool after being caught embezzling money from her husband's business.
 
Deep Space Nine. "The Weakest Link". As part of Star Trek's crossover season, Anne Robinson travels to the Gamma Quadrant to awkwardly hurl poorly scripted insults at unsuspecting members of the Founders as one by one they are voted off as the weakest link.
 
Star Trek: The Next Generation. In an all new crossover episode, "Silicon Avatar Part 2", the crew of the Enterprise must race to stop the crystalline entity and Data's evil brother Lore from destroying the peaceful Na'vi.
 
 

I’ll watch it because it’s Star Trek and if it’s good then I’ll be happy.
 
The thing is, origin stories for certain aspects of Star Trek mythology would almost certainly be better as flashback episodes of shows set in TNG and beyond era. Even if the reason for the flashback was a bit cheesy… some “contemporary” issue where the origin provides a parallel that informs the “present” being the most obvious approach. Or time travel. Or a long lived alien they encounter. Or whatever someone with more imagination than me can think of. 
 
That way you get little glimpses of the history of the Star Trek universe without it being  the sole reason for the show or film’s existence. I mean First Contact effectively did that with the first warp flight and meeting the Vulcans. It didn’t need to be an entire show or film set in that era (ie with a brand new cast). 

We'll give him a "warm" welcome 

Charlie Brooker, now of Black Mirror fame, used to write a fake tv listings magazine called TV Go Home (it’s online and very funny). According to my Facebook, 11 years ago, I went through a spate of doing my own. Sorry/not sorry for repeating them here. I don’t think these have dated too badly aside from the ones which are clearly references to much older shows. I’d definitely watch the Murder, She Wrote one. Why hasn’t anyone made that yet?!
 
High Concept: Brand new high concept sci-fi show in which an improbable event occurs, the reason or outcome of which never gets aired due to being cancelled midway through the first season as the audience quickly realise the writers haven't a fucking clue where the plot is going and stop watching.
 
Dexter, She Wrote: Prequel showing the early life of Jessica Fletcher during which serial killer Dexter Morgan shows a young Jessica Fletcher how to get away being a mass murderer and frame seemingly innocent people while visiting nieces or nephews.
 
Jeremy Kyle: Intervention! In a twist on the classic formula, Jeremy Kyle is put in front of an audience of mocking peasants as members of Kyle's own family are brought on to confront each of Kyle's own personal failings as the audience jeers at him like a monkey in a zoo. Followed by  Jeremy Kyle's Little Brother. Dara O'Briain asks Jeremy Kyle's little brother how Jeremy must be feeling about the vicious mocking he has just received while watching Jeremy Kyle weep uncontrollably in gloriously lo-def CCTV footage.
 
The Culture Show: Lauren Laverne compares the growth rates of Bacillus anthracis and cyanobacterium Synechococcus while discussing a new production of the Cherry Orchard starring a small tub of Activia.
 
Torchwood Late Night: Spin off from the unpopular sci-fi show. Episode 3/13 "The Shagging". Human dick machine Captain Jack Harkness must copulate with every human in the greater Cardiff area in order to prevent an alien invasion of some sort while the rest of the team go looking for a less conspicuous van to drive around in.
 
Whicker's World. Episode 3/6 The W(h)icker Man. This week, globe trotting documentary maker Alan Whicker visits a Scottish Island with surprising results.
 

It's difficult to narrow down the list to just 10, but I'll try. These are not necessarily the "best" out there, but the ones that have played important roles in my film score journey and I keep revisiting most frequently.
 
1. The Lion King (Hans Zimmer)
2. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (Howard Shore)
3. Jurassic Park (John Williams)
4. Dinosaur (James Newton Howard)
5. Titanic (James Horner)
6. Spider-Man (Danny Elfman)
7. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (Hans Zimmer) (the complete version, not the OST)
8. Enthiran (A.R. Rahman)
9. Up (Michael Giacchino)
10. Aladdin (Alan Menken)

Charlie Brooker, now of Black Mirror fame, used to write a fake tv listings magazine called TV Go Home (it’s online and very funny). According to my Facebook, 11 years ago, I went through a spate of doing my own. Sorry/not sorry for repeating them here. I don’t think these have dated too badly aside from the ones which are clearly references to much older shows. I’d definitely watch the Murder, She Wrote one. Why hasn’t anyone made that yet?!
 
High Concept: Brand new high concept sci-fi show in which an improbable event occurs, the reason or outcome of which never gets aired due to being cancelled midway through the first season as the audience quickly realise the writers haven't a fucking clue where the plot is going and stop watching.
 
Dexter, She Wrote: Prequel showing the early life of Jessica Fletcher during which serial killer Dexter Morgan shows a young Jessica Fletcher how to get away being a mass murderer and frame seemingly innocent people while visiting nieces or nephews.
 
Jeremy Kyle: Intervention! In a twist on the classic formula, Jeremy Kyle is put in front of an audience of mocking peasants as members of Kyle's own family are brought on to confront each of Kyle's own personal failings as the audience jeers at him like a monkey in a zoo. Followed by  Jeremy Kyle's Little Brother. Dara O'Briain asks Jeremy Kyle's little brother how Jeremy must be feeling about the vicious mocking he has just received while watching Jeremy Kyle weep uncontrollably in gloriously lo-def CCTV footage.
 
The Culture Show: Lauren Laverne compares the growth rates of Bacillus anthracis and cyanobacterium Synechococcus while discussing a new production of the Cherry Orchard starring a small tub of Activia.
 
Torchwood Late Night: Spin off from the unpopular sci-fi show. Episode 3/13 "The Shagging". Human dick machine Captain Jack Harkness must copulate with every human in the greater Cardiff area in order to prevent an alien invasion of some sort while the rest of the team go looking for a less conspicuous van to drive around in.
 
Whicker's World. Episode 3/6 The W(h)icker Man. This week, globe trotting documentary maker Alan Whicker visits a Scottish Island with surprising results.
 

I don’t have it to listen to but I recall it being kinda stodgy. Not enough spikiness for Stravinsky. Better for stuff like Strauss where all that Berlin Phil lustre is put to better use!

Alas I’m away so can’t check for all 15ish recordings i have but one of the first I got was Dutoit with the Detroit Symphony and it’s still a favourite performance (and an equally excellent Firebird). For a slightly more recent but also superb account Esa-Pekka Salonen and the LA Philharmonic is well worth a listen. I recently checked out Boulez and that’s definitely worth a listen. 
 
I don’t know if I have the Rattle recording. I feel I need to stop adding to this particular collection… however I concur that the Karajan one is not some of his best work. 

This one is also excellent…
 
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/May11/Stravinsky_Rite_BISSACD1474.htm

Just a "heads up", y'all.
Next Saturday at 4pm BST, there will be an interview with Eliot Goldenthal, on BBC Radio 3's programme THE SOUND OF CINEMA.

I was thinking of starting a thread about 10 favorite non-John Williams scores ever! (if I was to post my list for 10 overall favorite scores, I'm sure 8-9 out of 10 would be John Williams scores)
But I might as well post here my list:
 
In no particular order:
Poledouris - Conan the Barbarian
Elfman - Batman Returns
Kilar - Dracula
Rozsa - Ben-Hur
Green - Raintree County
Howard - Waterworld
Horner - Braveheart
Goldsmith - Legend
Nyman - The piano
Menken - Beauty and the Beast

I’ll watch it because it’s Star Trek and if it’s good then I’ll be happy.
 
The thing is, origin stories for certain aspects of Star Trek mythology would almost certainly be better as flashback episodes of shows set in TNG and beyond era. Even if the reason for the flashback was a bit cheesy… some “contemporary” issue where the origin provides a parallel that informs the “present” being the most obvious approach. Or time travel. Or a long lived alien they encounter. Or whatever someone with more imagination than me can think of. 
 
That way you get little glimpses of the history of the Star Trek universe without it being  the sole reason for the show or film’s existence. I mean First Contact effectively did that with the first warp flight and meeting the Vulcans. It didn’t need to be an entire show or film set in that era (ie with a brand new cast). 

This one is also excellent…
 
http://www.musicweb-international.com/classrev/2011/May11/Stravinsky_Rite_BISSACD1474.htm

That's not a bad take.
 
 
That puts them right into James Cromwell territory. Best of luck!

I don’t have it to listen to but I recall it being kinda stodgy. Not enough spikiness for Stravinsky. Better for stuff like Strauss where all that Berlin Phil lustre is put to better use!

When I have a kid, this is the closer he or she will ever get to The Phantom Menace 
 
 

In amongst the endless Andre Rieu concerts (sorry if you're a fan...), Sky Arts has a proper classical music documentary; a four part series focussing on the London Philharmonic Orchestra rehearsing and performing Mahler's 2nd Symphony, conducted by Edward "Ed" Gardner. Obviously, some of the information is pretty basic if you're a musician (which I am) or have a good knowledge of classical music (ditto), but the balance between that and decent insight into the music is well judged. Just seeing the orchestra rehearsing and how the conductor shapes both the small and large moments is fascinating.
 
There's no annoying narrator or celebrity presenter to make it relevant, just the conductor and a few of the musicians talking about the music, their instruments, their role in the orchestra, as well as how they prepare for the performance etc.
 
One bit of insight you get is that you can't help but notice that, while the musicians appear to live in smart, if modest, flats, Edward Gardner appears to live in a gorgeous house, all exposed brick, huge windows and a kitchen that has given me serious stove top envy. The life of being a conductor...
 
https://www.sky.com/watch/title/series/9a8b80aa-47d8-3c4d-80e0-7b20e3788e62/backstage-with-the-london-philharmonic-orchestra-9a8b80aa-47d8-3c4d-80e0-7b20e3788e62/episodes/season-1/episode-1

Agreed but I have to admit that even just playing stereo recordings though a surround sound setup gives a bit of depth to the sound field even if it’s not a true 3D space. 

Something like that?

Thank you. I've left it simple and ambiguous as I plan to use it for the Nic Raine conducted suite. But here is a version with 'Original Soundtrack'.
 

'Imagine being the reason the Kardashians are famous and that NOT being the worst thing about you' is by far the best comment I've seen about Simpson kicking the bucket. 

https://filmstories.co.uk/news/in-the-blink-of-an-eye-digging-into-wall-e-director-andrew-stantons-ambitious-upcoming-sci-fi/
 
Really interesting article about Newman’s next film. Seems really suited to his strengths, especially the lack of dialogue in places and the description of the tone of the end of the script. A nice read…

It very much is. I binged watched it in the last week it was on paramount but glad it’s found a new home.