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What Is The Last Score You Listened To? (older scores)


Ollie

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19 hours ago, The Illustrious Jerry said:

A carefully curated 77-minute program of George Fenton's score for this 2006 BBC wildlife series is the latest subject for our Discord listening sessions.

 

Each episode focuses on a different environment (i.e., deserts, seasonal forests, grasslands), an approach that ultimately lends itself to a rich and inspiring musical epic with enough scope and scale to match the very landscapes themselves. Fenton captures the sheer awe and wonder of it all with Elgarian majesty, combining soaring flourishes and dense orchestrations to create a wellspring of musical richness. Even the score's locational interludes are some of the most tasteful I've ever heard, especially considering they come right in the thick of time where the wailing woman cliche was plastered over anything and everything remotely exotic or foreign. The expert interplay of cultural sounds add a layer of authenticity and coherence that really transforms the palette in these sections (see the stunning Namibia - The Lions and Oryx, which climaxes with some truly rousing vocals and ethnic winds). There's an overflowing amount of colour and life to every bit of this, and the energetic performance from the BBC Concert Orchestra is nothing short of fantastic.

 

It's been an absolute joy to rediscover this one, as I fondly recall being very attracted to the score when I first saw the series back in 2008 or thereabouts. Although I hadn't really realized just how much of an influence it has had on my tastes until now, I'm fairly confident this is a major touchstone in the development of my admiration for both film and classical music. In any case, it's always exciting to find that something you enjoyed when you were younger not only holds up, but exceeds your expectations the way this does for me. Besides, I really do miss the days when you could expect this level of composition and class from a nature documentary of all things (Fenton's Blue Planet and Frozen Planet entries are similarly excellent). 

 

Anyway, the gang really enjoyed what this had to offer: the hymn-like passages of the Prelude and The Snow Geese, the inspired instrumentation of River Predation and The Wolf and the Caribou, the joyous aquatic action pieces like Surfing Dolphins and A School of Five Hundred, the darker off-kilter interjections from The Geladas and Bat Hunt, and the classically-infused eruptions of Iguacu and Mother and Calf - The Great Journey (the main melody is like Elgar's 2nd symphony on steroids).

 

Many thanks to @HunterTechand @Holkofor joining!

Thanks for reminding me to give this another listen. Absolutely joyous couple of hours of scoring (I don’t mind wallowing in the whole thing). It’s a real shame that Fenton has fallen off the wildlife documentary radar these days especially not being asked for Planet Earth 2. But it’s funny how the music for the more recent shows is basically an approximation of Fenton’s music for the three shows you mention. Although it never sounds as good or as memorable (and seriously, whoever thought Bleeding Fingers Music was a good name for a music studio should be thrown to the sharks. Which Fenton will score). Having said that, Steven Price’s music for One Planet is pretty great. 

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27 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Having said that, Steven Price’s music for One Planet is pretty great. 

 

Gosh, I really hated that -- a rare opportunity for me to really rip into a score in a review.

 

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This, however, is great. Johnny Jewel's DON'T COME BACK FROM THE MOON. A far more glowing review here.

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Elias is a vastly underrated composer. Editing an article that a colleague of mine recently did on his discography, I decided to give this promo compilation another shot. Elias perfectly balances orchestral and electronic elements here.

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On 09/10/2021 at 5:52 AM, Disco Stu said:

For Your Eyes Only - Bill Conti

 

Easily my favorite of the non-Barry, pre-Arnold Bond scores.

 

Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, License to Kill, Goldeneye? Right? (More than I thought.) Oh, I suppose there is Dr. No, isn't there?

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14 minutes ago, Tallguy said:

 

Live and Let Die, The Spy Who Loved Me, For Your Eyes Only, License to Kill, Goldeneye? Right? (More than I thought.) Oh, I suppose there is Dr. No, isn't there?


Yeah!  Licence to Kill is a close second to FYEO for me.

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Not the most engaging of Howard's repertoire but it is a lovely half hour of inoffensive string and woodwind noodling that gets me through making dinner.  

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Frankenstein (Patrick Doyle)

 

We watched Abbot & Costello meet Frankenstein last night. This seemed like a logical followup.

 

I'd watch the movie but I don't recall it being very good. Definitely a film where I wish the movie was as good as the score. I haven't listened in a long time but I freaking love this music!

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On 09/10/2021 at 5:05 PM, Tom Guernsey said:

Thanks for reminding me to give this another listen. Absolutely joyous couple of hours of scoring (I don’t mind wallowing in the whole thing). It’s a real shame that Fenton has fallen off the wildlife documentary radar these days especially not being asked for Planet Earth 2. But it’s funny how the music for the more recent shows is basically an approximation of Fenton’s music for the three shows you mention. Although it never sounds as good or as memorable (and seriously, whoever thought Bleeding Fingers Music was a good name for a music studio should be thrown to the sharks. Which Fenton will score). Having said that, Steven Price’s music for One Planet is pretty great. 

 

(I've already posted this somewhere on the board a while back) I recently watched Life. This footage of sea birds edited and scored (by Fenton) like WW2 airplane dogfights is pure genius:

 

 

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1 hour ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Indeed, @Tallguy.

Branagh should have kept his shirt on. 

 

I remember several people I knew when the film came out who would disagree with that statement.

 

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (Paul J. Smith)

This movie and this book (and the ride) had a tremendous affect on me as a child. But I didn't really discover the score until I was an adult. For me the standout tracks are Deserted Sub / Burial / Captured, Ambush at Vulcania, and Finale / Deep is the Mighty Ocean. But pretty much all of it is great.

 

This go round I skipped all of the songs except for Whale of a Tale by the Wellingtons. (They sung Gilligan's Island? I should know that, right?) And that's just because that was the first version of the song I owned back when I was not tall.

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I remember listening to the opening theme of this 1988 National Geographic special a few years ago, and thinking "where have I heard that before?". Of course, it turns out Holdridge repurposed his theme from WIZARDS & WARRIORS for this -- a theme I was intimately familiar with from the iconic GREAT FANTASY ADVENTURE ALBUM. Not everything is equally exciting, but it has that unashamed, consonant orchestral style of the decade nailed down.

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A View to a Kill (John Barry) - felt appropriate to revisit one of my favourite Bond scores. I never used to care for the song but it grew on me and these days it’s one of my favourites, even down to the batshit crazy lyrics, which somehow seem completely normal. And the way Barry turns the won’t melody into a luxurious love theme is a typical touch of genius. The guitar twangs in the main action motif dates it slightly but the action motif itself is terrific, showing that Barry still had new things to say for a Bond score after all those years (especially after Octopussy and The Man with the Golden Gun, which aren’t high points in his Bond career). 

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19 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

A View to a Kill (John Barry) - felt appropriate to revisit one of my favourite Bond scores. I never used to care for the song but it grew on me and these days it’s one of my favourites, even down to the batshit crazy lyrics, which somehow seem completely normal. And the way Barry turns the won’t melody into a luxurious love theme is a typical touch of genius. The guitar twangs in the main action motif dates it slightly but the action motif itself is terrific, showing that Barry still had new things to say for a Bond score after all those years (especially after Octopussy and The Man with the Golden Gun, which aren’t high points in his Bond career). 


Yeah, the song’s great.

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A track from this popped up in my weekly Spotify playlist - I know nothing about the book or composer(s).

 

Some of the earlier action is a tad generic, but most of it is really solid instrumental material; sort of thing a video game would be glad to have.

 

 

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4 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

Agreed. I've a soft spot for TMWTGG, both film, and score.

I’ll give it a listen. But first Sheena Easton… For Your Eyes Only… only for you… you’ll see why no one else will see. Mind you, I can’t imagine her singing that about Daniel Craig… although the passions do collide in me. Hmmm.

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My new rip: the 1979 score to the local children's (and parents') classic, That Lovely Green Grass, by local funk/alt rock band LGT. The main theme shares its base with their Reggae-esque single that came out that same year, the "action" material is fun, the quieter emotional moments are nice too.

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I also forced myself to play spooky scores on my work commutes this week, even though it's actually quite warm and sunny this week!

 

 

Danny Elfman - Sleepy Hollow (OST)

 

I played the corrected Intrada pressing that came in the bonus sleeve separate from the shrinkwrapped set with the faulty OST disc inside.  Holy hell!  What a cool score!  I never warmed up to it back in the day, for whatever reason.  I saw the film in theaters and again on DVD, I had the OST album since it came out, it just never clicked with me for whatever reason.  This time it was totally different.  We actually watched the film Friday night, which I hadn't seen in probably 20 years, which led to me appreciating how the score worked in it.  Then I played the OST album and was wowwed all over again!  Love the moody atmosphere, the oppressive headless horseman motif, and the beautiful flashback music.  Soon I'll dig into the new Intrada set!

 

 

James Newton Howard - The Village (OST)

 

I picked this up at Amoeba records for like $5 on one of my trips to LA.  I cannot recall if I ever actually listened to it (streaming or otherwise) until now, but holy hell!  What a gorgeous score!  I loved all the violin solos, and the action material too.  And you guys say the OST is a poor representation of the whole shebang, and many highlights are found in the complete score? Holy hell!

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I personally wouldn't say that The Village has any massive highlights missing, but it lacks lot of the 'lighter dramatic (i.e. less horror based) underscore to give a bit a breather, and the romantic theme is barely on the album. Also what's on album is just far more out of film order than it needs to be.

 

And, well, I've banged on enough about how fantastically brilliant Sleepy is... just wait till you hear the whole thing :dance:

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Yea I just compared the OST to the recording sessions. Bloody hell, it's like JNH just chose 4 sections of film to take cues from, ignoring the rest, and then jumbled the order up immensely.  Wow!

 

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1q-ttkrzK1z32w2-DXWYxhql-0ISgmgrD2A3w4Q0g954/

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Despite loving The Village, I really don't like the OST. There's a few wonderful unreleased tracks that were inexplicably left off the album, my favorite being this one:

 

 

And the listening experience of the complete and chronological score is so muc better and more satisfying.

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On 08/10/2021 at 2:56 PM, Jay said:

This week's physical CDs finally opened up (well, the first one I was last week):

 

 

 

John Williams In Vienna (2CD live edition)

 

First time checking this edition out at all.  Wonderful concert that was a pleasure to listen to!

 

I didn't know the existence of this CD edition, finally it's the audio version of the DVD, including presentations and applauses, not much, right?

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10 hours ago, Bespin said:

 

I didn't know the existence of this CD edition, finally it's the audio version of the DVD, including presentations and applauses, not much, right?

 

It's a 2CD set that contains the entire concert, including audience applause between every piece, and all the introductions Williams said at the show. 

 

The first CD edition removed all audience noise by editing in rehearsal recordings, did not contain any of Williams' introductions, and removed 5 pieces played at the show to fit on one CD

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1 hour ago, Jay said:

 

It's a 2CD set that contains the entire concert, including audience applause between every piece, and all the introductions Williams said at the show. 

 

The first CD edition removed all audience noise by editing in rehearsal recordings, did not contain any of Williams' introductions, and removed 5 pieces played at the show to fit on one CD

 

Okay... ORDERED.

 

Is the live CD exactly the equivalent to the audio rip of the concert? Sometimes, they "enhance" an album concert, I have some Aznavour concerts like that... the DVD doesn't contain the exact sames takes than the equivalent album.

 

So I ask...

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The music is probably identical to the Blu Ray audio, but the audience noise is likely shortened on the CD compared to the BD would be my guess

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Anyway I purchased it, as I'm not equipped to make audiorips from Blu-Ray.

 

The Dudamel tribute concert should have been released on a CD too BTW...

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23 hours ago, Bespin said:

Anyway I purchased it, as I'm not equipped to make audiorips from Blu-Ray.

 

The Dudamel tribute concert should have been released on a CD too BTW...

 

That was Quick Amazon!

 

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Lena Raine - Celeste (Farewell OST)

 

Despite not being a great as the initial OST, this is still a nice listen, if a bit undercooked and a little repetitive

 

 

Alan Silvestri - Predator 2 (Varese Deluxe)

Love this score!

 

 

Theodore Shapiro & Craig Wedren - Wet Hot American Summer

 

Been listening to this score a lot lately, somewhat randomly.  I love it.  I wish the OST was complete :(

 

 

Ludwig Goransson - The Mandalorian (Season 1)

 

I've been listening to these individual episode scores recently, then going back and playing great tracks over again before moving on to the next one, etc.  This stuff is just terrific all around, I love it

 

 


 

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8 hours ago, Jay said:

Ludwig Goransson - The Mandalorian (Season 1)

 

I've been listening to these individual episode scores recently, then going back and playing great tracks over again before moving on to the next one, etc.  This stuff is just terrific all around, I love it

 

 


 

 

Any recommendations? I always enjoy it when I hear it, but that massive 1st season collection is a lot. 

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