The Official DANIEL PEMBERTON Thread

[Disco Stu 15,517]

He's notable enough to have his own thread.

 

His main credits theme for the new Dark Crystal show on Netflix was released today.

 

 

I have to admit I'm not overly impressed.  Maybe it'll grow on me when I watch the series.

[Kasey Kockroach 2,712]

If you’re not impressed or compelled by him, why only draw attention to his lack of talent by giving him his own thread?!

[Disco Stu 15,517]

He's had some very good scores.  I'm just not impressed with this cue on first listen.

 

Check out The Old Man & The Gun or The Man from UNCLE!  They're good.

 

Edit: As pointed out by Koray, I mixed up Daniel Pemberton with Daniel Hart, the composer of The Old Man & The Gun.

[KK 3,310]

I like Pemberton, and think he's done some solid work.

 

But this is a very far cry from Trevor Jones otherworldly original.

[Jay 45,771]

I like his score to Ocean's 8 a lot! 

 

 

[Rachael Foley 10,001]

I liked Spider-Verse in context.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

I did too.  It was very bold and interesting, which is more than most film scores manage.

[KK 3,310]

I thought his Steve Jobs score was pretty good as well. Had some inspired moments.

 

 

[Koray Savas 2,260]

2 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

He's had some very good scores.  I'm just not impressed with this cue on first listen.

 

Check out The Old Man & The Gun or The Man from UNCLE!  They're good.

Daniel Hart scored The Old Man & The Gun. 

[Disco Stu 15,517]

1 minute ago, Koray Savas said:

Daniel Hart scored The Old Man & The Gun. 

 

Heh, oops!  Wrong Daniel.

 

Well, The Man from UNCLE is a good score.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

Sure is! His best score, in my opinion. I’m also fond of The Counselor. He’s up there with Woody Jackson and Zimmer in channeling his Morricone influence quite well. 

[Not Mr. Big 4,954]

4 hours ago, Disco Stu said:

He's notable enough to have his own thread.

 

His main credits theme for the new Dark Crystal show on Netflix was released today.

 

 

I have to admit I'm not overly impressed.  Maybe it'll grow on me when I watch the series.

Fine by TV standards but bland by any other.  Why not just bring Trevor Jones back?

[publicist 4,650]

Watered-down LOTR, what did we expect?

[Thor 9,345]

Good composer. His best have been mentioned already: STEVE JOBS, OCEAN'S 8, THE MAN FROM UNCLE. But I always keep my eyes out for him. The DARK CRYSTAL thing should be interesting. Oddly, I was never that big a fan of Jones' original feature film score.

[Jill Sandwich 11,000]

Who?

[MedigoScan 409]

Man from UNCLE got me to notice him.

Spiderverse got me to love his work.

[Caliburn 72]

King Arthur: Legend of the Sword is one of my favorite scores of the last decade. You love it, or you hate it.

 

 

And of course

 

 

[Jay 45,771]

I've always been surprised the Ocean's 8 score didn't get more love.  Sure, the movie was terrible, but the score is super fun!

 

 

[Koray Savas 2,260]

It didn’t particularly stand out to me while watching the film. Need to give it a proper listen on its own. 

[Thor 9,345]

OCEAN'S 8 was one of my favourite scores that year. The film was lacklustre, to put it mildly.

[Naïve Old Fart 12,871]

I like the (admittedly slight) variation on Jones' theme, beginning at 1.28.

 

 

12 hours ago, Thor said:

Oddly, I was never that big a fan of Jones' original feature film score.

What are you talking about, Thor? THE DARK CRYSTAL is a gorgeous score, full of magic, mischief, and wonder...like the film.

[Thor 9,345]

For some reason, I find both THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH kinda grating. Lots of samey chords in the same register. But I love a lot of Jones' other work.

[Disco Stu 15,517]

Dark Crystal isn’t a perfect score, but when it works it’s truly magical.

[Naïve Old Fart 12,871]

8 hours ago, Thor said:

For some reason, I find both THE DARK CRYSTAL and LABYRINTH kinda grating. Lots of samey chords in the same register. But I love a lot of Jones' other work.

Geez, you're right, there, Thor, baby!

LABYRINTH is a nasty, patronizing, cloying film. I truly dislike it. The one good thing about it, is UNDERGROUND.

[Thor 9,345]

It's been YEARS since I saw it. 

 

My favourite Joneses are EXCALIBUR, NATE AND HAYES, THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH, RUNAWAY TRAIN, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, G.I. JANE, DARK CITY and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

 

A shame he has basically disappeared off the face of the earth. Last time I heard, he was teaching in his home country of South Africa.

[Jurassic Shark 16,346]

8 hours ago, Thor said:

It's been YEARS since I saw it. 

 

My favourite Joneses are EXCALIBUR, NATE AND HAYES, THE LAST PLACE ON EARTH, RUNAWAY TRAIN, THE LAST OF THE MOHICANS, G.I. JANE, DARK CITY and AROUND THE WORLD IN 80 DAYS.

 

A shame he has basically disappeared off the face of the earth. Last time I heard, he was teaching in his home country of South Africa.

 

No love for Cliffhanger?

[Thor 9,345]

It's OK, but the highlight is the theme. And Jones did that same theme better in MOHICANS anyway.

[Not Mr. Big 4,954]

13 minutes ago, Thor said:

It's OK, but the highlight is the theme. And Jones did that same theme better in MOHICANS anyway.

Ugh.  Last of the Mohicans SUCKS.  It's just the same thing over and over

[Jurassic Shark 16,346]

3 minutes ago, Not Mr. Big said:

Ugh.  Last of the Mohicans SUCKS.  It's just the same thing over and over

 

Then you need to listen to Varese's rerecording.

 

17 minutes ago, Thor said:

Jones did that same theme better in MOHICANS anyway.

 

That's so true!

[publicist 4,650]

New track sounds more solid:

 

 

[Tydirium 1,569]

NZ iTunes links with previews:

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/dark-crystal-age-resistance-vol-1-music-from-netflix/1477268447

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/dark-crystal-age-resistance-vol-2-music-from-netflix/1477268402

[thestat 497]

Pemberton totally knocked it out of the park with this one. The score is gorgeous and massively succesful in using the general template of Jones' score (the recorder solos and atmosphere in particular) but it also pays homage to Last of the Mohicans (probably via Hurwitz' First Man) in using minimalist string figures to tie the whole together. This is especially powerful in Today We Fight....

 

What I find awesome is that he somehow captured the Trevor Jones essence here (or at least the late 90s variation of it). The sweeping melodies, quirky synth stuff, the use of gaelic instruments, and a general sense of melancholia that, to me, always was key Trevor.

[Tydirium 1,569]

The Sorcerer's Stone motif functions as Chamberlain's motif in the series...

 

 

[Tydirium 1,569]

Bump. Has anyone else listened to this yet?^

[Thor 9,345]

Yes, I've made a few comments in the DARK CRYSTAL thread.

[Tydirium 1,569]

About the Sorcerer's Stone motif rip-off? Sorry, didn't see.

[Thor 9,345]

Sorry, I thought you meant the series and music in general.

[Smeltington 1,910]

LOVE the Dark Crystal score! I like the soundscape Pemberton creates, he seems to have a bit of an experimental streak. There are several different prevailing moods, from mysterious, to playful, to scary, but there's a great sense of unity to the whole thing, thanks to the composer's sonic palette. It sounds great on headphones, where you can really be immersed and get lost in the music. It has a very satisfying blend of traditional, organic sounds presented via thoroughly modern-sounding production techniques.

 

Hope they announce the CD release soon.

[Caliburn 72]

For who is interested in my thoughts. I have reviewed THE DARK CRYSTAL: AGE OF RESISTANCE.

 

https://soundtrackworld.com/2019/09/the-dark-crystal-age-of-resistance-daniel-pemberton/

[fommes 164]

Is there going to be a CD of this?

[Smeltington 1,910]

It'll be "on CD and vinyl in the coming months" according to a press release. So far I haven't found any other info.

[thestat 497]

'Experimental but safe' is the Pemberton brand, and it's working wonders. No dissing of the man, who by all accounts, including mine, is awesome (I saw him arriving late for the London fan film score convention, running out of the taxi etc, 'excuse' was that he'd got too hammered the night before - respect. The fact that he took what was effectively a fan convention so seriously to still bother turning up and doing talks is in his credit.

 

But again, his The Dark Crystal score is better than any film score done this year - right?!

 

[Thor 9,345]

16 minutes ago, thestat said:

But again, his The Dark Crystal score is better than any film score done this year - right?!

 

No, far from it. But when whittled down to a decent presentation, it's a highlight among the TV/film scores this year.

 

Pemberton is a bit uneven in quality, but the aforementioned three titles (STEVE JOBS, MAN FROM UNCLE, OCEAN'S 8) are all top notch, and among the best in their respective years.

[Smeltington 1,910]

What convention are you referring to? Sounds interesting.

 

After listening to more of his scores, my biggest complaint is that he too often relies on loops. He'll build on them, drop out certain instrumental lines, etc. to keep them interesting, but they still get a bit repetitive. I haven't had that problem with Dark Crystal, though.

[Not Mr. Big 4,954]

3 hours ago, thestat said:

But again, his The Dark Crystal score is better than any film score done this year - right?!

 

No. 

[MedigoScan 409]

His score for that season4 Black Mirror episode was also quite interesting (and not just Star Trek TOS Pastiches, which he did mimic admirably)

[Tydirium 1,569]

16 hours ago, thestat said:

But again, his The Dark Crystal score is better than any film score done this year - right?!

 

Far from it. It doesn't hold a candle to Powell's HTTYD3.

[thestat 497]

Totally agree with some of those comments. Uneven is the Pemberton brand - outside of The Dark Crystal, I don't think he's ever produced a cohesive score. Yes, Jobs has that awesome Glass-ripoff but it does not mix with the rest of the Atari soundscapes. But this works in his favour as he's able to sell this as diversity.

 

Not sure about HTTYD3 - I love Powell, obviously, but this is yet again a case of too much mickey-mousing that is so prevalent in his animation work. If he could get to this level of consistency within the composition of a singular track, awesome:

 

[Thor 9,345]

51 minutes ago, thestat said:

Totally agree with some of those comments. Uneven is the Pemberton brand - outside of The Dark Crystal, I don't think he's ever produced a cohesive score. Yes, Jobs has that awesome Glass-ripoff but it does not mix with the rest of the Atari soundscapes. But this works in his favour as he's able to sell this as diversity.

 

Have you seen the film (STEVE JOBS)? The music actually reflects the three main acts (or periods) of the film. It's supposed to be three very different approaches or styles of music for each.

[Koray Savas 2,260]

The Man From UNCLE is as cohesive as it gets.