Composer Threads Official Danny Elfman Thread

[Bespin 8,480]

11 minutes ago, Tom Guernsey said:

Awesome. At the risk of being the “now we need” guy but… now we need someone to figure out how to rip it and turn it into an mp3/flac/wax cylinder etc 😜 

 

You just need FireFox + the "Video DownloadHelper" add-on.

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

11 minutes ago, Bespin said:

 

You just need FireFox + the "Video DownloadHelper" add-on.

I shall have to try and figure that out when I get home then! Need more Elfman concert works… haha

[crocodile 7,984]

Listening now. Sounds great.

 

Karol

[crocodile 7,984]

Arrived today:

 

 

Karol 

[mstrox 6,647]

Dumb ol’ me bought the digital version, not even fathoming that they’d release a CD version for some reason.  Remedied now!

[crocodile 7,984]

It's a terrific piece. Very fun. I like the Glass one too.

 

Karol

[ddddeeee 243]

 

[Jurassic Shark 12,030]

Dammit, when I think I've got all of Elfman's concert works, a new one is released.

[Edmilson 7,393]

wat

 

Quote

Elfmaniac Media will release a soundtrack album for the sci-fi comedy Aliens, Clowns & Geeks. The album features the film’s original music composed by Danny Elfman (Batman, Spider-Man, Alice in Wonderland, Nightmare Before Christmas, Avengers: Age of Ultron, Edward Scissorhands) & Ego Plum (The Cuphead Show!, Harvey Beaks, Jellystone). The soundtrack will be released digitally and physically this Friday, July 1. Visit Amazon to pre-order the CD and digital version. Aliens, Clowns & Geeks is written and directed by Richard Elfman and stars Bodhi Elfman, Verne Troyer, Steve Agee, French Stewart, George Wendt, Anastasia Elfman, Malcolm Foster Smith and Rebecca Forsythe. The movie follows an out-of-work actor who stumbles upon key to the universe and is drawn into intergalactic war between clowns and aliens. The comedy opened in select drive-in theaters last year and just been released on VOD, Blu-ray and DVD earlier this month.

1. Main Title – Danny Elfman
2. Hipster Theme – Ego Plum
3. Clown Chase – Ego Plum
4. Dream Sequence – Danny Elfman
5. A Visit with Mom/Hillbilly Ping Pong – Ego Plum
6. Clown and Mom/The Police Station – Ego Plum
7. Meet the Professor – Ego Plum
8. Love Is in the Air/Love Theme – Ego Plum & Danny Elfman
9. A Pleasant Drive/The Gangster – Ego Plum
10. Helga VS Gangster – Ego Plum
11. No Help at the Police Station – Ego Plum
12. Love Theme – Danny Elfman
13. Stupid Love Machine – Ego Plum
14. Back to the Observatory – Ego Plum
15. Clown Theme – Danny Elfman
16. Bucket of Clown Brains – Ego Plum
17. Hipsters Getting Ready for Action – Ego Plum
18. Back to the Lab – Ego Plum
19. All Talk and No Action… Yet – Ego Plum
20. Alien Theme – Danny Elfman
21. Ach, Mein Leben – Ego Plum
22. Emperor Beezel-Chugg’s Theme – Ego Plum
23. Cucucucucucucu – Mambo Diabolico
24. The Ritual (Cochino Soy) – Ego Plum
25. Clown Theme, Part 2/Beezel-Chug Redux – Danny Elfman & Ego Plum
26. Speaking in Tongues – Ego Plum
27. Getting Ready for Something (Ego Plum
28. Fritz on the Fritz – Danny Elfman & Ego Plum
29. Our Heroes Make a Plan – Ego Plum
30. Inga Gets Possessed – Danny Elfman & Ego Plum
31. Lenny & Beezel-Fritz On the Prowl – Ego Plum
32. Beezel-Fritz Attacks! – Ego Plum
33. More Antics at the Police Station – Ego Plum
34. Waiting and Waiting – Ego Plum
35. Mom Attacks!/Ramon Attacks! – Ego Plum
36. Alien Theme Reprise – Danny Elfman & Ego Plum
37. Ready for the End – Ego Plum
38. Preparing the Obelisk – Ego Plum
39. Preparing for Battle – Ego Plum
40. The Final Confrontation – Ego Plum)
41. Aliens, Clowns & Geeks! – Ego Plum)
42. Alien VS Clown Finale! – Danny Elfman & Ego Plum
43. Eddie, Oh Eddie! – Ego Plum
44. Eddie Does What He Has to Do! – Danny Elfman & Ego Plum
45. Epilogue – Ego Plum

 

 

http://filmmusicreporter.com/2022/06/28/aliens-clowns-geeks-soundtrack-to-be-released/#more-91205

[mstrox 6,647]

Hell yeah!  In the scheme of recent unreleased Elfman stuff, this was one I assumed would never come.

That trailer looks off the hook, too!

[ddddeeee 243]

 

[Naïve Old Fart 9,499]

Whoa! I'm liking this. Something very different, from our Dan.

I hear Reich, Talking Heads, King Crimson, and Mike Oldfield.

Yeah, it's not half bad.

 

 

[mstrox 6,647]

Listening to Aliens Clowns and Geeks and it is a big win for fans of the super weird very early Elfman sound (think Forbidden Zone and Shrunken Heads and some of his early TV work).  Very weird, clearly very cheap, and even though Ego Plum wrote most of it, very “Elfman”y in a way that Elfman himself doesn’t do anymore.

 

Give me more weird Troma-level schlock and less big budget blockbuster stuff, IMO.

[ddddeeee 243]

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

56 minutes ago, ddddeeee said:

 

I happened to give this another listen today and really enjoyed it. The other works on the album are great too. 

[ddddeeee 243]

Elfman's piece for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain premiered this weekend. The reaction on social media and in the handful of reviews out there has been very positive.

 

It's available to listen to on BBC iPlayer if you can access that.

 

BBC Radio 3 - BBC Proms, 2022, Prom 27: NYOGB play Elfman, Gershwin and Ravel

 

If not, someone has uploaded it to Youtube, but I imagine it'll be taken down soon enough.

 

 

The performance will be broadcast later this month.

[DangerMotif 1,037]

On 08/08/2022 at 8:55 AM, ddddeeee said:

Elfman's piece for the National Youth Orchestra of Great Britain premiered this weekend. The reaction on social media and in the handful of reviews out there has been very positive.

 

It's available to listen to on BBC iPlayer if you can access that.

 

BBC Radio 3 - BBC Proms, 2022, Prom 27: NYOGB play Elfman, Gershwin and Ravel

 

If not, someone has uploaded it to Youtube, but I imagine it'll be taken down soon enough.

 

 

The performance will be broadcast later this month.

This is phenomenal . Thanks for sending

[ddddeeee 243]

Elfman will score Noah Baumbach's White Noise.

 

Danny Elfman: ‘Somewhere ahead of me is the Grim Reaper’ (inews.co.uk)

[Disco Stu 15,495]

On 11/08/2022 at 7:28 AM, ddddeeee said:

Elfman will score Noah Baumbach's White Noise.

 

Danny Elfman: ‘Somewhere ahead of me is the Grim Reaper’ (inews.co.uk)

 

Baumbach and Elfman is certainly an interesting pairing.  The last two Baumbachs were scored by Randy Newman, but knowing a bit about the novel this movie is based on, I'm not surprised he decided on a different composer.

[ddddeeee 243]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Baumbach and Elfman is certainly an interesting pairing.  The last two Baumbachs were scored by Randy Newman, but knowing a bit about the novel this movie is based on, I'm not surprised he decided on a different composer.

Yeah, I'm the same. I first thought this was a really weird pairing, but after reading the book, which moves between comedy and horror and drama and thriller sometimes mid-sentence, the decision made sense to me.

 

Apparently Baumbach asked Elfman to refamiliarise himself with Midnight Run when they were working on this.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

 

[WampaRat 1,105]

13 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

Wow! That is terrific! I kinda want to watch more movies like this now. Not just in “isolated score”. Very cool.

[Jay 37,287]

Hehe, I remember seeing that posted before, I think it was the whole movie at the time?  I remember watching portions and thinking it was pretty clever!  Can't find the discussion now

[Disco Stu 15,495]

11 minutes ago, WampaRat said:

Wow! That is terrific! I kinda want to watch more movies like this now. Not just in “isolated score”. Very cool.

 

I dunno if it would work as well for many other films as it does here since German silent films are such a key ingredient of Burton's Batmen.

[WampaRat 1,105]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

 

I dunno if it would work as well for many other films as it does here since German silent films are such a key ingredient of Burton's Batmen.

Very true. This one lends itself to it so much. You could intercut scenes of “The Cabinet of Dr Caligari” into this and you would hardly tell the difference lol. Love it.

 

I’d be curious to see the OT Star Wars or even LOTR in this fashion some way as those scores are so illustrative of what’s occurring on screen. Just for fun.   

[Disco Stu 15,495]

The guy has put his entire edit on Archive.org (the best site on the internet)

 

https://archive.org/details/batmanthesilentmotionpicture

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Danny Elfman was on the panel for the premiere of White Noise at the New York Film Festival!

 

First question for Danny begins at 13:08.  Notice that Baumbach says that it’s his first time working with Elfman and that it won’t be the last, so I guess that collaboration went well.  Also seems like from what they’re saying that the score will not be orchestral.

 

 

[crocodile 7,984]

5 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

The guy has put his entire edit on Archive.org (the best site on the internet)

 

https://archive.org/details/batmanthesilentmotionpicture

He should definitely do Returns as that recalls the German expressionist cinema even more.

 

Karol

[Disco Stu 15,495]

55 minutes ago, crocodile said:

He should definitely do Returns as that recalls the German expressionist cinema even more.

 

Karol

 

 

It's not uploaded in full but....

 

 

[Edmilson 7,393]

Danny Elfman Got ‘Horrible Reviews’ for His ‘Nightmare Before Christmas’ Score Because ‘Nobody Understood It’

While he claims that the studio didn't understand the film at first, Elfman praised Disney for continuing to promote it throughout the years.

[Bespin 8,480]

Well, for me, it's a movie and a score directly on my 'X', but it took me 25 year before discovering it. It was definitely ahead of its time.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

X?

[Disco Stu 15,495]

Cross-posting here because I'm so excited by this clip of the White Noise score

 

6 minutes ago, Disco Stu said:

Oh wow, that Elfman White Noise clip is not what I was expecting from this score based on interviews.  It sounds fantastic.  This has just shot up my list of anticipated releases!  Let's hope the movie gets lots of awards momentum so Danny can get a nomination.

 

 

Here it is embedded for those who didn't want to click the link above

 

 

 

[mstrox 6,647]

Huh!  This sounds very old-school Elfman, and not in a grasping way.  I was gonna buy it regardless, but color me intrigued.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

1 minute ago, mstrox said:

Huh!  This sounds very old-school Elfman, and not in a grasping way.  I was gonna buy it regardless, but color me intrigued.

 

Right?  This sounds like a 90s Tim Burton score!

[Thor 7,470]

It's fine, but I hope it's not representative of the score as a whole. I was getting excited hearing Baumbach speak about Tangerine Dream being a reference (something Elfman has rarely explored in his career...WISDOM probably comes closest), so hopefully that remains a big part of it. That they haven't changed complete direction into what we hear above.

[ddddeeee 243]

Elfman is currently writing a commission for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

 

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/danny-elfmans-nutty-year-continues-with-s-f-symphony-premiere-with-michael-tilson-thomas

 

 

[Tom Guernsey 2,280]

12 hours ago, ddddeeee said:

Elfman is currently writing a commission for the Orpheus Chamber Orchestra.

 

https://datebook.sfchronicle.com/music/danny-elfmans-nutty-year-continues-with-s-f-symphony-premiere-with-michael-tilson-thomas

 

 

Thanks for posting about this, but randomly this article is “not available in my country“ (as I discovered when k saw it on Facebook). Anyone mind posting the text here? Thank you!

[Bayesian 1,359]

On 10/11/2022 at 4:52 AM, Tom Guernsey said:

Thanks for posting about this, but randomly this article is “not available in my country“ (as I discovered when k saw it on Facebook). Anyone mind posting the text here? Thank you!

Danny Elfman is having the busiest year of his life.

Revered as one of Hollywood’s premiere film composers, the former Oingo Boingo frontman is perhaps best known for his prolific partnership with director Tim Burton. In addition to both writing the songs and providing the singing voice for Jack Skellington in the beloved 1993 stop-motion animated musical “The Nightmare Before Christmas,” Eflman also writes classical compositions.

One such piece, created specifically for French cellist Gautier Capuçon, is now slated to make its long-awaited U.S. premiere with the San Francisco Symphony with three performances beginning Friday, Nov. 11. Conducted by Music Director Laureate Michael Tilson Thomas, Elfman’s cello concerto was initially intended to premiere in 2021 before being delayed a year due to the COVID-19 pandemic. These shows will also serve as but the latest landmark moment in a year that’s already seen Elfman perform at the Coachella Valley Arts and Music Festival, premiere multiple other concert compositions, and, most recently, headline a pair of Halloween shows at the Hollywood Bowl in Los Angeles.

“It’s been a nutty year,” Elfman said. “As a result of the pandemic, along with the Hollywood Bowl shows and Coachella, I’ve also had three world premieres with symphony orchestras, I scored (the forthcoming Noah Baumbauch film) ‘White Noise,’ and we have ‘Nightmare’ shows in London next month.

“I never expected this year — where I should have been retired and living by the seaside somewhere — would, in fact, be the busiest of my life.”

Danny Elfman, founding member of Oingo Boingo, performs during Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 23, in Indio (Riverside County).Photo: Scott Dudelson / Getty Images for Coachella

But Elfman isn’t complaining. Instead, he’s grateful for the opportunity to exist in so many worlds at once —  whether he’s attending a world premiere at a symphony hall or ripping his shirt off in front of more than 100,000 screaming fans in a desert, the 69-year-old is enjoying what he calls “the extremes” life has placed in front of him.

“Who gets to have that kind of juxtaposition, going from a concert hall in Vienna, being in a legitimate symphonic, classical world, to walking out onstage at one of the biggest rock festivals in the world? I really appreciate the fact that fate has allowed me to enjoy these types of very extreme juxtapositions,” he said.

Speaking with The Chronicle by phone from his home in Los Angeles before heading to San Francisco this week, the four-time Oscar nominee detailed how his collaboration with Capuçon came together, his affinity for Thomas and how the pandemic was secretly a blessing for his creativity.

This conversation has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: Before we discuss your upcoming premiere with the San Francisco Symphony, how were the recent pair of Halloween shows you just played at the Hollywood Bowl?

A: Pretty insane. It all literally started as a concept for Coachella. After I agreed to play Coachella (in 2020), I realized, to my horror, that I’d probably just come up with the worst idea of my life. I worried it would be a train wreck of my own design once I finally started rehearsing stuff, as none of it fit together in any way, shape or form. I thought it was going to leave people horrified.

When we finally did Coachella (after the festival postponed its 2020 and 2021 editions), I literally walked onstage as if I was walking out to my firing squad. But, to my astonishment, it didn’t go that way. That led to the Hollywood Bowl. We doubled the set length, which doubled the pressure and the stress.

I’m the eternal pessimist, so I was shocked and pleasantly surprised by the incredible turnout. It didn’t make sense to be doing 30- and 40-year-old material for a third of it, another third of it being brand-new stuff — much of it world premieres, things we’ve never played publicly before — and then the last third of it consisting of orchestral film music. It was pretty nuts, but it went really well. 

Danny Elfman performs onstage at the Outdoor Theatre during the Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival on April 16 in Indio (Riverside County).Photo: Kevin Mazur / Getty Images for Coachella

Q: How did you meet Gautier Capuçon, and what led you to collaborate together on a new concerto?

A: Long story short, my classical music agent introduced me to Gautier because he said he was interested in meeting me, and we hit it off very quickly — only to find ourselves all in lockdown some months later. That led to a three-way call with me, MTT and Gautier, where we discussed what the overriding concept for this concerto might be. The U.S. premiere was originally going to be first, but then COVID-19 bumped that back a year, so Vienna ended up being the first performance (in March).

Gautier is all over the world, so I was trying to send him ideas and interface with him and get his input. At first, it seemed like it would be impossible — he’s over there and I’m over here — but eventually, I realized that this is just the way everything is now. Everything’s on Zoom or FaceTime, and, after a bit, it seemed quite normal. I’d send him ideas, and he would send back feedback. We tried, as best we both could, to stay in communication throughout the creative process. He knew what I was doing, and I knew what he was reacting to, because that’s how I’m used to working with an artist.

Then, suddenly, boom: I had concerts in a month. It was extra crazy, because I had a percussion concerto with (Scottish percussionist) Colin Currie in London, and the cello concerto with Gautier in Vienna was only a week later. In my wildest imagination, I never could have dreamed of pretty much everything that’s happened this year.

Cellist Gautier CapuçonPhoto: Anoush Abrar

Q: How long have you been writing classical compositions?

A: My goal is to do one classical piece per year. It’s been like that for six or seven years now. I made the decision that I was simply going to take off part of each year from film and commit to concert writing, and I’ve pretty much stayed on course.

The piece with Gautier has a very special feeling for me. When I sat down six or seven years ago to do a violin concerto, I decided for the first time to commit myself to writing for symphony orchestras as they exist,  as opposed to how they exist in my imagination. I’ve tried to stick with that, and when I met Gautier, I got the feeling that he wanted to be challenged, musically, but that he also really responded to melody and the romantic aspects as well. I tried to keep all that in mind, to make it something that is both from my personality, but also something through which he could express himself and his own personality.

I’m learning more and more how to keep that in mind when I’m writing for soloists. I’m writing for myself, but I’m also writing for their personality, as I begin to understand them.

Q: On top of Gautier’s involvement, you also had Michael Tilson Thomas offering input, too. Have you two worked together before?

A: No, I didn’t really know him before this. … We never really had many chances to cross paths, but I’ve admired him from afar. He’s been such a great figure of conducting in my own lifetime. I told him the first time I met him that when my son, Oliver, was 3, we used to obsessively watch this DVD of the San Francisco Symphony playing “The Rite of Spring,” with him conducting. My son used to request it every day. … He’d go, “Play ‘The White of Spwing!’ ” He was obsessed with it. There was this long period of time where he wanted to hear it almost every day. We would pause at different sections, and I’d go, “What instrument is that?” and he’d go, “Contrabassoon!” He had this whole fascination with that recording from that orchestra, so I thanked Michael and told him how that recording was definitely a part of my son’s DNA.

In terms of his participation (with this work), he’s been mostly like a guiding light, giving me general advice. He warned me that I’d be surprised by how soft the cello is compared to the violin, and it’s true! I love to write aggressively, and I love to write music that has lots of parts and ideas going on, but you also need to be aware of your soloist. That was definitely a learning curve for me.

Michael Tilson Thomas conducts the San Francisco Symphony at Davies Symphony Hall on Nov. 12, 2021. It was his first in-person appearance at Davies since before the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Thomas, formally the longtime music director of the Symphony, had been recovering from surgery he had in July 2021 to remove a brain tumor.Photo: Laura Morton / Special to The Chronicle 2021

Q: You released your first solo rock album, “Big Mess,” last year. How did that fit in with everything else you’ve been working on?

A: It was another wonderful, big, liberating surprise. I had no intention of making a record. It was my luck that, in 2020, when everything shut down, I had just decided, for the first time in my life, to take a year off from film and to just do performances and commissions. I had a number of performances of “Nightmare Before Christmas,” of (touring concert) “Elfman/Burton” and different concerts planned. It was going to be an interesting year. Then, of course, it all collapsed, and I was in quarantine wondering what I was going to do with myself.

Here’s where I feel guilty. I feel great guilt because most of my friends are involved with either writing or performing, and every performer suffered so badly in those two years. Everyone in the film industry suffered because productions were all shut down. The few of us who flourished were the writers. … With time on my hands, I figured I’d play around with a few songs, just for the hell of it, and the result was 18 of them.

Weirdly, I look back almost nostalgically at that time period as being incredibly fertile for me, which I wasn’t expecting. At the same time, I feel guilty for feeling that way because so many of my friends and family suffered so much during that period. That said, I wasn’t expecting to perform again. I wasn’t expecting to hold an electric guitar in my hands again, except to make squealing feedback for film scores every now and then, so this has all been a series of surprises.

Q: Good ones though, from the sound of it.

A: Yes! “Big Mess” led to so many fun, interesting collaborations too. The remix album (“Bigger, Messier”) was my first time ever doing collaborative vocal work with anybody else. Literally, in 48 years of performing, I have almost no collaborations.

I did one in ’92 or something with Siouxsie and the Banshees for “Batman Returns,” and, honestly, that’s it. I can’t think of another one. So to suddenly be doing pieces with Trent Reznor and Iggy Pop? It was crazy, unexpected, fun, off-the-hook stuff that I just never would have guessed I’d be doing.

I love the extremes in my life. It’s what keeps me happy. It’s why I started doing concert music after writing film music for so long. After a hundred scores, it’s time to push yourself out of your comfort zone. Concert music was how I did that. It was all about pushing myself out of my comfort zone, starting with a violin concerto, which was catastrophically difficult for me. I literally thought it was going to kill me, and by the end of it, I’d sworn that I would never do it again.

Then I took another commission the next year.

These are the things that push me. Right now, I’m doing a commission for a chamber piece for the Library of Congress’ Orpheus ensemble, and I’m once again sitting there every night going, “Why do I do this to myself?” I never seem to learn, but it’s essential for me to be doing this stuff.  

MTT: Capuçon Plays Danny Elfman: San Francisco Symphony. 7:30 p.m. Friday-Saturday, Nov. 11-12; 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 13. $35-$170; post-concert Q&A with composer Danny Elfman and cellist Gautier Capuçon, moderated by Symphony CEO Matthew Spivey, on Saturday. Free to all ticket holders. Davies Symphony Hall, 201 Van Ness Ave, S.F. www.sfsymphony.org

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

 

[Thor 7,470]

It's OK, but when do we get to the Tangerine Dream stuff, dammit!? I had hoped this was another THE CIRCLE-type score from Elfman, based on the blurbs.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

I listened to The Circle last week and really had a hard time getting through the album.

It's maybe the only album of Elfman that I've never been able to connect with in any way. I don't know why exactly but I just don't like it very much.

[Jay 37,287]

I found that one on my CD shelf while organizing yesterday.  I've never heard it

[Disco Stu 15,495]

5 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

 

Oh man I just love love love it!  I am so excited for this OST.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

New Zealand samples for White Noise

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/white-noise-soundtrack-from-the-netflix-film/1652315684

 

It just sounds so good.  I am going to be playing this OST a lot.

 

Sadly, looking at the RT blurbs the movie doesn't seem like it will have much awards momentum, so Danny might be SOL on that front.

 

https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/white_noise_2022/reviews?type=top_critics

[mstrox 6,647]

Guessing this one’s gonna be digital only.  Not my preferred choice for Elfman, but at least Netflix is releasing the score unlike The Woman in the Window.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Indeed. I wish there was a release for that! It's such a wonderful score.

[DangerMotif 1,037]

55 minutes ago, mstrox said:

Guessing this one’s gonna be digital only.  Not my preferred choice for Elfman, but at least Netflix is releasing the score unlike The Woman in the Window.

The Woman in the window was originally Reznor and Ross but Elfman replaced them

Duel Lecture the track the came out yesterday isn't on the OST. odd

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

28 minutes ago, Gibster said:

The Woman in the window was originally Reznor and Ross but Elfman replaced them

Duel Lecture the track the came out yesterday isn't on the OST. odd

It is. It's track 3, but with a different name

[mstrox 6,647]

Looks like Danny released a deluxe edition of the remix album Bigger. Messier. today, and I have to admit - I feel like with this third purchase I’m now stuck in a milking machine.

 

https://dannyelfman.bandcamp.com/album/bigger-messier-deluxe?from=fanpub_fb