My Best-of 2015 (you're a jackass if you miss 'em)

[publicist 4,643]

Only current scores. Bold means i actually made a Spotify playlist, regular ranges from 'would be unfair to leave it out' to 'one or more tracks bought off iTunes & Co.).

THE 33 - James Horner

ASASSIN'S CREED SYNDICATE, Austin Wintory (video game, but who cares?)

ATTACK ON TITAN, Shiro Sagisu

CAROL , Carter Burwell

CREED, Ludwig Goransson

EN MAI FAIS CE QU'IL TE PLAIT, Ennio Morricone

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, Alexandre Desplat

THE GOOD DINOSAUR, Mychael und Jeff Danna

THE HATEFUL 8, Ennio Morricone

THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY Part 2, James Newton Howard

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, Roque Baños

INSIDE OUT, Michael Giacchino

JUPITER ASCENDING, Michael Giacchino

JURASSIC WORLD, Michael Giacchino

McFARLAND USA - Antonio Pinto

MACBETH, Jed Kurzel

MISSION IMPOSSIBLE: ROGUE NATION, Joe Kraemer

THE MAN FROM U.N.C.L.E, Daniel Pemberton

THE MARTIAN, Harry Gregson-Williams

MR. HOLMES, Carter Burwell

PAN, John Powell

THE PROGRAM, Alex Heffes

SICARIO, Johann Johannsson

SOUTHPAW, James Horner

STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS, John Williams

TOMORROWLAND, Michael Giacchino

TRUMBO, Theodore Shapiro

UN ADOLESCENTE, Shigeru Umebayashi

WOLF TOTEM, James Horner

So it seems Carter Burwell and Ennio Morricone are leading the pack but what i'm saying is that 2015 wasn't a bad year filmmusic-wise at all.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Good choices.

[BloodBoal 7,538]

I haven't listened to a lot of scores released this year, but what I've heard was pretty good (The Force Awakens, Pan, The Man From U.N.C.L.E., MI5...). I agree that it wasn't a bad year for film music!

[#SnowyVernalSpringsEternal 10,265]

JunkieXL's Fury Road!

[Jay 37,346]

It was a very strong year for film music!

[publicist 4,643]

JunkieXL's Fury Road!

I hated that. But i loved the movie, so..

I will also single out these probably little-heard scores tat should be at least sampled...even if that means to stop listening to TFA for a while:

 

CAROL , Carter Burwell

 

 

EN MAI FAIS CE QU'IL TE PLAIT, Ennio Morricone

 

 

EVERYTHING WILL BE FINE, Alexandre Desplat

 

 

IN THE HEART OF THE SEA, Roque Baños

 

 

MACBETH, Jed Kurzel

 

 

MR. HOLMES, Carter Burwell

 

 

THE PROGRAM, Alex Heffes

 

 

UN ADOLESCENTE, Shigeru Umebayashi

 

[Brónach 1,302]

Thank you for this thread, I haven't listened to much of this year.

[publicist 4,643]

The last two are especially protection-worthy.

[Disco Stu 15,495]

On December 20, 2015 at 7:25 AM, publicist said:

Only current scores. Bold means i actually made a Spotify playlist, regular ranges from 'would be unfair to leave it out' to 'one or more tracks bought off iTunes & Co.).

 

On December 20, 2015 at 7:25 AM, publicist said:

 

 

McFARLAND USA - Antonio Pinto

 

 

 

 

I was just listening to the excellent McFarland USA soundtrack, searched JWfan and this is the only reference I found to it.

 

Cheers!  It's a really cool score.

[Thor 7,493]

Hmmm...we have rather different taste, publicist. I've heard all your choices, and while I can fully support a small handful of them, the rest did absolutely nothing for me.

[publicist 4,643]

And you needed a best-of 2015-list to realize that? 

[Thor 7,493]

Ha, ha....no, I guess I've realized that for years. Still, it's interesting to get it in writing once again.

 

From your list, I really like THE MAN FROM UNCLE and WOLF TOTEM. Some good things in THE MARTIAN, STAR WARS and MR. HOLMES too. But otherwise, I disliked or were indifferent to most of them, I'm afraid. While there's some great stuff in mainstream Hollywood films, my taste has veered more and more towards the alternative in later years.

[publicist 4,643]

I don't think most of it is superhot, either, but those were the choices and i didn't even highlight the second tiers. And these are not exclusively Hollywood movies. I don't find much solace in "alternative" film music, which is, by and large, a wasteland and can be bypassed for better alternatives/musical genres. 

 

I am astounded that 2016 already brought two scores i genuinely liked. We may see if the trend continues.

[Thor 7,493]

11 hours ago, publicist said:

I don't think most of it is superhot, either, but those were the choices and i didn't even highlight the second tiers. And these are not exclusively Hollywood movies. I don't find much solace in "alternative" film music, which is, by and large, a wasteland and can be bypassed for better alternatives/musical genres. 

 

Have you really explored it, though?

[publicist 4,643]

As far as i could (we have a lot of small festivals here). Much of it is not very musical to me, for the lack of a better term. There are some gems (i recently found an amusing mexican vampire movie, 'A Girl Walks home alone at Night') but mostly, it's the same quarry that Hollywood is.

[Thor 7,493]

Well, depends. It's true that many have very little music or more sound design-ey/ambient scores (which often suit them well). A GIRL WALKS HOME ALONE NIGHT (which was an Iranian-US co-production, btw) was cute, but not among my favourites. Also, I'm not sure about how much you like electronic music or scores that are less reliant on orchestral elements. But some of my favourite 'alternative' scores from last year include:

 

GULDKYSTEN (Angelo Badalementi et.al.)

THE DUKE OF BURGUNDY (Cat's Eyes)

LOST RIVER (Johnny Jewel)

DRYADS - GIRLS DON'T CRY (Marius Christensen)

O PÁTIO DAS CANTIGAS (Nuno Malo)

MISTRESS AMERICA (Britta Phillips and Dean Wareham)
EN UNDERBAR JÄVLA JUL [A WONDERFUL BLOODY CHRISTMAS] (Per Andreassen)

THE MURDER PACT (Matthew Llewellyn)

IT FOLLOWS (Rich Vreeland/Disasterpeace)

CONDEMNED (Daniel Davies and Sebastian Robertson) 

SOLAN OG LUDVIG - HERFRA TIL FLÅKLYPA (Knut Avenstroup Haugen)

HUMAN (Armand Amar)
ÄIDIN TOIVE [MOTHER’S WISH] (Jonas Bohlin)
JAG STANNAR TIDEN [I STOP THE TIME] (Johan Ramstrom)
NINA’S CHILDREN (Gaute Storaas)

DE NÆRMESTE [HOMESICK] (Ginge)

 

And if you'll allow me to copy/paste from a shortlist I have beyond those:

 

·         AEROBICS: A LOVE STORY, music by Juha Silventoinen [X]

·         THE AGE OF ADALINE, music by Rob Simonsen [X]

·         BEASTS OF NO NATION, music by Dan Romer [X]

·       DAWN PATROL, music by Joe Kraemer [X]

·         HENKESI EDESTÄ [ABSOLUTION], music by Stephen McKeon [X]

·         HØST [AUTUMN FALL], music by Jan Vardøen [X]

·         KÄTILÖ [WILDEYE], music by Pessi Levanto [X]

·         LOST FOR WORDS, music by Andre Matthias [X]

·         MIEKKAILIKA [THE FENCER], music by Gert Wilden Jr. [X]

·         MIN LILLA SYSTER [MY LITTLE SISTER], music by Per Storby Jutbring [X]

·         MUHAMMAD: THE MESSENGER OF GOD, music by A.R. Rahman [X]

·         PAPER TOWNS, music by Son Lux [X]

*         TERESA, music by Federico Jusid [X]

·         TERRITORY, music by Tuomas Kantelinen [X]

·         TESTAMENT OF YOUTH, music by Max Richter [X]

·         TYTTÖKUNINGAS [THE GIRL KING], music by Anssi Tikanmäki [X]

·         WORLDS APART, music by Kostas Christides [X]

·         THE D-TRAIN, music by Andrew Dost [X]

·         ELÄMÄLTÄ KAIKEN SAIN [HOMECOMING], music by Mauri Sumén [X]

         KVINNER I FOR STORE HERRESKJORTER [WOMEN IN OVERSIZED MEN’S SHIRTS], music by Kare Vestrheim [X]

·         MÆND & HØNS [MEN & CHICKENS], music by Frans Bak and Jeppe Kaas [X]

·         BØLGEN [THE WAVE], music by Magnus Beite [X]

·         ENRAGES [RABID DOGS], music by Laurent Eyquem [X]

         VICTORIA, music by Nils Frahm [X]

         EX MACHINA, music by Geoff Barrow and Ben Salisbury [X]

         SKAMMERENS DATTER [THE SHAMER’S DAUGHTER], music by Jeppe Kaas [X]

·         ÄVEN DE DÖDE HAR ETT NAMN, music by Rasmus Ohlander and Sebastian Sandberg [X]

·         BLODSSYSTRAR, music by Rebekkah Karijord [X]

·         PØBLER [REBELS], music by Lars Fredrik Frøislie and Ketil Einarsen [X]

 

If you get the opportunity to check out some of these, go for it!

[publicist 4,643]

Lost River and Duke of Burgundy i know (and like), the rest i will try, thanks!

[Thor 7,493]

16 minutes ago, publicist said:

Lost River and Duke of Burgundy i know (and like), the rest i will try, thanks!

 

Glad you liked those! They were, simply put, my two favourite scores last year (BURGUNDY no. 1 and LOST RIVER no. 2). So maybe we're not so different after all.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Nice to see someone else that even knows of Mistress America's existence! Have you seen the film, @Thor?

[publicist 4,643]

1 hour ago, Thor said:

 

Glad you liked those! They were, simply put, my two favourite scores last year (BURGUNDY no. 1 and LOST RIVER no. 2). So maybe we're not so different after all.

 

I only heard them after christmas, got them as Spotify recommendations.

[Thor 7,493]

1 hour ago, Koray Savas said:

Nice to see someone else that even knows of Mistress America's existence! Have you seen the film, @Thor?

 

I have. I'm afraid I didn't care for it much. A bit too 'hipster'-like, and 'hipsterism' is something I'm a bit allergic to. But I really did enjoy Baumbach's FRANCIS HA a couple of years ago. That balanced things more evenly. But the MISTRESS AMERICA score was gorgeous regardless.

[Koray Savas 2,251]

Don't get how you can like Frances Ha but not this. Both love letters to the French New Wave.

[publicist 4,643]

So a short sampling - some of these are unavailable anywhere but in the movie, unfortunately - confirms my views in purely compositional terms: if its not a pleasant variation on the DRIVE soundtrack (spoken ironically, of course, 'Mistress America' and 'LOST RIVER' for example) for which i not really need film music - a sampling of similar artists on Spotify often yields better hit rates - the purely instrumental selections are either warmed-over Desplat (the Amar, you know, endless piano runs over dirg-y strings) - and i mean, Thor, if you prefer this over said man's 'Everything Will be Fine', which at least sounds like something new, i call it a very heavy bias - or are nice-but-inconsequential (i. e., 'Nina's Children').

 

The only ones (apart from the pop) that really made their mark were 'The Duke of Burgundy' (it might throw a glance back to stuff like 'Rosemary's Baby' and so on but it's got its own vibe) and 'Gold Coast' (oppressive as it may be).

 

PS: Try the new Wintory(s), cut from the same cloth as some of these and rather well written.

 

[Thor 7,493]

7 hours ago, Koray Savas said:

Don't get how you can like Frances Ha but not this. Both love letters to the French New Wave.

 

As I said, FRANCES HA seemed more balanced and less "on-the-nose". Less whimsical. I don't think there's much in terms of French New Wave here (although I know what you mean -- more specifically Truffaut), but rather an extension of the mumblecore sub genre. Baumbach has so far been very uneven -- the lovely FRANCES HA, then the very poor WHILE WE'RE YOUNG, and then MISTRESS AMERICA, which is somewhere inbetween (I love the last scene in MISTRESS, quite moving).

2 hours ago, publicist said:

PS: Try the new Wintory(s), cut from the same cloth as some of these and rather well written.

 

 

They had some OK tracks, but not quite my cuppa tea, I'm afraid.

[publicist 4,643]

Some OK tracks is enough for me. But it's a lot of digging for convincing new stuff, for sure.