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

[GerateWohl 5,564]

I found out today that James Newton Howard's Night After Night album has a beautiful christmas vibe and fits perfectly for this time of year.

Big recommendation. 

[LSH 1,097]

 

I'm in bed struggling to get my head in the right place. This has been one of my go-to (and literally go to) sleep albums for a good few years.

[Edmilson 9,765]

Is this a movie inspired by the life and adventures of @Jurassic Shark?

[LSH 1,097]

For the purposes of politeness and because I'm not yet asleep... Yes.

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

2 hours ago, LSH said:

I'm in bed struggling to get my head in the right place.

 

The pillow. 

 

[LSH 1,097]

43 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

The pillow. 

 

 

Thanks, I did wonder why the oven felt a bit warm.

[Davis 3,726]

Emily by Abel Korzeniowski. Highly recommended.

[filmmusic 2,447]

 

Loved this! Dramatic, as I want it to be!

I haven't listened to any other Bacalov score, except for Il Postino.

Can anyone recommend anything else by him? @Thor?

[Thor 9,070]

Alas, I haven't explored his work much to be of much help. He's one of several composers on my 'explore list'. But there are a few titles I've heard discussed over the years. Spags like SUGAR COLT, DJANGO, IL GRANDE DUELLO. Non-spags like UN AMOUR INTERDIT, LE JUGE, CITY OF WOMEN. Obviously also Pasolini's THE GOSPEL ACCORDING TO ST. MATTHEW.

 

Anyways....

 

 

One of my favourite scores from 2020, even superior to the Revell original. Voices, synths, oddball rhythmic effects, art pop, totally hypnotizing.

[Thor 9,070]

 

When we think of Icelandic film composers like Jóhannsson, Gudnadottir, Arnalds, Stefansdottir (even some Örvarsson, after he moved back to his home country), we often think of static, slowly building, ambient soundscapes. But good as that stuff is, it's not all there is, of course. Helgi Sæmundur provides an absolutely brilliant synth score that is both funky and somewhat old-school. Clean lines meet slightly experimental sounds. Very entertaining.

 

 

I know that Skram's SNOWFALL made waves a few years ago, also internationally, but I hope those who latched on to that, also sought out this little gem. Only 25 minutes long, it's a wonderful display of post-minimalist romanticism back when it was new and fresh (film is from 2014).

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,296]

[Davis 3,726]

I like both.

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,296]

I like the flow of the OST, and it's great that it opens with The Mecha World. The complete score suffers from a lot of meandering on Disc 1, but Disc 2 really opens up a lot of what the OST missed and never feels slow or plodding. Reminds me a lot of my experience with the DE of The Abyss.

[crocodile 8,857]

3 hours ago, Davis said:

I like both.

They are both very distinct experiences. I appreciate that.

 

Karol

[Lady Dimitrescu 9,296]

Anyone else feel more drawn to JW's smaller, more intimate scores as we become old farts, as opposed to his bigger, franchisey scores?

[Jay 41,179]

I'm older than you and I definitely like his smaller, more intimate scores more now than I did when I was a teenager or in my 20s --- however I still love his big franchise scores JUST as much as always, too!

[Thor 9,070]

5 hours ago, The Train Station said:

Anyone else feel more drawn to JW's smaller, more intimate scores as we become old farts, as opposed to his bigger, franchisey scores?

Yes.

[Tallguy 5,030]

5 hours ago, The Train Station said:

Anyone else feel more drawn to JW's smaller, more intimate scores as we become old farts, as opposed to his bigger, franchisey scores?

 

It's a case by case thing. I'm never going to love Always more than Star Wars but I love Always more than I ever did. (Of course I always loved Always.)

 

I'm not sure how into The Eiger Sanction I would have been when I was younger and now I think it's a top ten score.

[bollemanneke 3,813]

Miracle on 34th Street, Broughton. My discovery of the year. What a score. The only drawback is that there's no concert arrangement in which all the themes can really blossom.

[Davis 3,726]

Such a fun, thrilling Dave Newman score. 

[Will 2,285]

Horner's Grinch is just marvelous, perfect for Christmas time. This cue is so good:

 

 

Can't believe we're nearing the tenth anniversary of Horner's passing. Truly one of the greats.

[bollemanneke 3,813]

Home Alone, first half of Strupie's film mix. Perfect before the family reunion.

[Quintus 5,544]

 

 

Max Richter's The Leftovers has a fairy repetitive austere elegance to it throughout its three seasons, but this one cue at a key moment early in its third season immediately caught my ear in the way the show and its music finally leaned deep into the grand philosophical sci-fi of the story's big premise, reminiscent of how Goldsmith used to do these things, I thought. When heard on a decent sound system, I love how airy non-committal harmonies can in an instant become a lofty neoromantic statement just by adding some trusty Hollywood horns, which effortlessly invite the viewer to contemplate the aching mystery of the scene they accompanied.

 

 

[Bilbo 3,934]

Home Alone playing at the moment. Might rewatch it tonight. It’s been years! 

[LSH 1,097]

 

Been a while since I’ve listened to this. It’s incredibly competent music - meticulously orchestrated. Action cues such as Market Chase are great in their John Williams approach but a bit messy.

 

The whole thing is very well made but not massively memorable. A good effort though. He always does well with this stuff.

 

The ‘resolution’ cue, I Want You To Rest Now, is a typical JNH doozy though. Adding that to the compilation.

[Smaug The Iron 614]

Merry Christmas!

[bollemanneke 3,813]

HP1, children's suite. Feeling very fuzzy.

[GerateWohl 5,564]

From all these golden age re-recordings this is definitely one of my favourite albums.

It opens up with a suite of Rózsa's The King's Thief, then continues with Victor Young's Scaramouche, definitely my favourite Young score. Then excerpts from Korngold's Captain Blood and Steiner's The Three Musketeers. Swashbuckling at it's best.

[Jurassic Shark 14,177]

Great music, but the recording could have been better. 

[LSH 1,097]

I'm back! Have you missed me, I've been in Munich over Christmas. Probably not.

 

Anyway, I'm absolutely knackered and hungover. Need something relaxing....

 

 

 

This'll do.

[Naïve Old Fart 11,017]

@LSH,

Welcome back, young fella. How are ya?

[Thor 9,070]

 

Dark and luscious synth score that was one of the highlights of 2018.

[filmmusic 2,447]

 

Oscar Winning score.

The one I would have picked too among the 5 nominations (the other 4 being The Color Purple, Witness, Agnes of God, Silverado).

Although, now that I think of it, maybe I would give it to Back to the Future.

Anyway, it flows well, I don't mind the repeats of the themes, they are wonderful. (in the vein of Dances with wolves I'd say)

[GerateWohl 5,564]

The Others - Alejandro Amenábar

 

 

 

Still my favourite ghost story score. Yes, I like it better than The Sixth Sense.

Very calm and elegant.

Everytime I listen to it, I think, maybe I should explore more of Amenábar's scores.

But somehow I never do.

 

 

[Tallguy 5,030]

1 minute ago, GerateWohl said:

The Others - Alejandro Amenábar

 

 

 

Still my favourite ghost story score. Yes, I like it better than The Sixth Sense.

Very calm and elegant.

Everytime I listen to it, I think, maybe I should explore more of Amenábar's scores.

But somehow I never do.

 

 

 

We watched The Sixth Sense last night. Still holds up!

[Naïve Old Fart 11,017]

A true story: I went to see THE SIXTH SENSE with a friend. At about 20 minutes in, she whispers to me: "I know what the twist is".

Of course, one look at the track listing would have given me a big clue 

[Marian Schedenig 9,710]

5 minutes ago, Naïve Old Fart said:

At about 20 minutes in, she whispers to me: "I know what the twist is".

 

That's me and Fight Club. I'd read exactly one word about the film in advance, and as soon as I saw that one frame on the escalator, I was pretty sure I knew what was going on. (The film was somewhat successful in making me doubt my initial conclusion at various points, but in the end I was right)

[Edmilson 9,765]

I didn't know the twist in Fight Club when I watched so managed to surprise me. But I did know the one in The Sixth Sense AND The Village 

[Naïve Old Fart 11,017]

Oh! I never got the twist in THE VILLAGE until I saw Shyalaman's reflection.

Greatest film, though. It has a deep heart of sadness that attracts me to it. Probably the same reason that I like ALIEN³.

[bollemanneke 3,813]

The man with the golden gun. This is not a good score at all. Its one and major problem is that it fails to understand that the song is possibly bad and definitely not love theme material in the slightest. I can't get it out of my head now, but the Holly Goodhead cues are so infinitely superior. Most of this work sounds like a mournful funeral march.

[Edmilson 9,765]

I've also been listening the recent JB Bond expansions. For the record, when I think about Barry I usually think about Out of Africa, Dances with Wolves, High Road to China, his romantic scores. His trademark "Bond sound" is more closely associated with The Incredibles and Austin Powers (insert joke about dumb idiot millenials who are ruining JWFan here).

 

That said, Golden Gun is my favorite out of the three we got this year. The main theme/song is catchy and I like the way Barry used it in the film cues. It's repetitive yeah, but when the theme is so good then I don't mind.

[Holko 11,029]

I've also been listening to them to decide which one(s) to buy - these things are getting so damn expensive that I really only want to pick the ones I'll want to listen to in full a lot. So far I have TND and LALD, and I'll definitely get Goldfinger and Moonraker, but all of them have good stuff which would be too good to ignore so I assembled suites from them and will also be adding to it in the future as they come out:

 

(TND was thrown out of my edit, I'm using Surrender as the opening titles and Surrender (alternate) as the credits, but this is a good place to feature it still)

[filmmusic 2,447]

 

Complete Isolated score

 

Well, apart from Helena's theme concert arrangement, I can't find anything else to really connect to...

 

* * *

Wow! This is an excellent score with a couple of original chase cues!

How on earth hadn't I heard of this before?

 

 

 

[Thor 9,070]

GLORIA is a wonderful score. One of Conti's best.

[filmmusic 2,447]

I don't know who suggested this to me, but it's exceptional!

 

[Bespin Copilot 9,214]

This classic score turns 50 this year!

 

 

[Thor 9,070]

1 hour ago, filmmusic said:

I don't know who suggested this to me, but it's exceptional!

 

 

Ooooh, nice. Goldstein is really an unheralded composer, even within our small niche. Not familiar with that one, but SHOCKER is probably his most famous score. I also have fond memories of his wacky, eclectic music for UP THE CREEK with Tim Matheson. One of those random VHSes we sometimes rented as a kid.

[Naïve Old Fart 11,017]

15 minutes ago, bespinGPT said:

This classic score turns 50 this year!

 

 

Among the very greatest scores of the '70s, and of Jerry's career.

An unqualified triumph.

[thestat 473]

2 hours ago, Thor said:

 

Ooooh, nice. Goldstein is really an unheralded composer, even within our small niche. Not familiar with that one, but SHOCKER is probably his most famous score. I also have fond memories of his wacky, eclectic music for UP THE CREEK with Tim Matheson. One of those random VHSes we sometimes rented as a kid.

This is a great score with one of Basil Poledouris' best themes. I think Goldstein did the score and Basil the themes. This one is very close to Les Miserables: 

 

Been on a Barry kick recently with all the Bond talk. Not a Barry Bond fan (outside of The Living Daylights which I adore). Barry's muscular large-scale early 1990s sound is very under-appreciated. Folks compare some of his early 90s works like The Specialist to Bond - The Specialist is, pardon the very appropriate pun, much more special than Octopussy or A View to A Kill:

 

The only aspect that takes this down is the bond-ian music, especially that terrible action riff that pauses to take a breath half-way through the action music - about 9:20 in the above - not very impressive. 

 

The themes and the sound is massive and expansive, and the jazz stuff is just brilliantly beautiful.

 

Another Barry gem from that era is The Scarlet Letter which has some amazing choral stuff and perhaps the best Barry theme of all time, repeated (unsurprisingly) to no end even in the muscular stuff:

 

 

[thestat 473]

 

Well, fuck. Nazis are not allowed.

 

Chris Gordon full on Don Davis style hard core orchestral mayhem? Don Davis?