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Michael Giacchino's TRAVELOGUE: VOLUME 1 (2020)


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Michael Giacchino Unveils First Track from His Debut Solo Album.

 

The “Travelogue: Volume 1” vinyl is available for pre-order from Mondo Records’ online store now. The label’s Death Waltz Originals imprint will release the album on streaming platforms, digital retailers, and independent record shops on October 30.

 

https://www.indiewire.com/2020/10/michael-giacchino-non-soundtrack-album-release-single-1234590482/

 

 

 

 
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Huh.  Interesting.

 

Not digging the narration tbh  (it at least ended a minute in)

 

It's got like a 60s exotica sound to it.  With this and his two space program concert works and Tomorrowland, I think it's fair to say that Giacchino is very nostalgic for the Space Race era.

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Hmmm. I wasn't aware of this, thanks for the heads-up. Since I dislike 95% of everything Giacchino has ever done, score-wise, I'd be willing to check this out to see if he improves outside the restraints of film. You never know.

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1 hour ago, Nick Parker said:

So in the end this track is a hollow pastiche of better things that has come before...so actually a perfect representation of Giacchino's creative soul! 

 

Pretty much my thoughts. The core idea is simple (Gershwin-lite?) but he's really dressed it up with colour. But better this than the blockbusters he scores.

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This sounds intriguing, I'm guessing it's part of a longer movement that the other tracks will fill out. I like the development in the trailer piece which does sound more exotic.

Not going to judge the whole thing on that one track though. Interested to hear the rest of this perhaps with the animations and narration.

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1 hour ago, Arpy said:

This sound intriguing, I'm guessing it's part of a longer movement that the other tracks will fill out. I like the development in the trailer piece which does sound more exotic.

Not going to judge the whole thing on that one track though. Interested to hear the rest of this perhaps with the animations and narration.

 

How often do you listen to non-soundtrack albums, Arpy?

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2 hours ago, Arpy said:

Why? All the time.

 

For one, if you didn't, I'd be curious to hear how it "flowed" for you, as album storytelling and film score storytelling are often very different.

 

Which leads to my second reason, being that generally speaking, I feel like a track can give much more a sense of a standalone album than the same for a film score album.

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Well, as you've pointed out and as Giacchino has said in the article above, it is of the 50s/60s exotica sound so I'm guessing the rest of the album might go in a similar direction, but the thing I've often encountered with non-film score albums, be it jazz, rock, pop etc. - one track isn't necessarily indicative of the album. There are albums of some alternative music I've got that have some absolute stonkers on there that I would burn in an instant, yet they're mixed in with some of my all-time favourite tracks. I've found artists by listening to one track and then going to their catalogue and finding absolute shit.

 

I get the sense that even if this isn't a film score, there still exists a narrative both in the spoken narration and the visual aesthetic of those promo videos. I'd be interested to know if that was some of Giacchino's work too, owing to the fact he started out doing visual arts...

 

Also, forgive me for being a little defensive when a critique is aimed at Giacchino where other composers don't get the same treatment, especially when we get a 2 minute track from an unreleased album. You might think it's 'creatively hollow', yet I think if you're tired of his fondness for pastiche now, you should've jumped off the Gia train ages ago. Instead, every major thread announcing his work there's the usual condescension about how he's a dud. 

 

Don't get me wrong, I don't believe this is the greatest thing I've heard, I'm merely interested to hear what else the album offers, even if I'm biased towards Giacchino's work.

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It's nice enough to have on in the background. It's the kind of music you hear in the background of youtube listicle video. Or a mobile video game on loop like candy crunch.

 

God, hate to say this but Gia often sounds very hack-y to me these days. I actually loved him some years ago. 

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1 hour ago, Arpy said:

There are albums of some alternative music I've got that have some absolute stonkers on there that I would burn in an instant, yet they're mixed in with some of my all-time favourite tracks. I've found artists by listening to one track and then going to their catalogue and finding absolute shit.

 

I've definitely encountered this, too, both qualitatively and tonally. It's not necessarily the norm in my experience but you're completely right in stating the possibility that there might be some surprises.

 

What I meant moreso is that on many, if not most albums, they are collages of individual tracks, united by an overarching concept more than anything else, whereas film score albums tend to be a tapestry where distinct tracks can be more difficult to discern, just by the very nature of what film music usually has to do. Let's take a famous score such as Raiders of the Lost Ark, we'll say. The opening track, In the Jungle...it's moody, filled with all kinds of tense and mysterious instrumental colors and harmonies. I love it, and I love listening to it. But would I really call it a standalone track the way I would, I don't know, "Doin' It Right" by Daft Punk? Hell no.

 

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Yet for the score, even tonally distinctive pieces are united through the context of the film. It's apples and oranges. It's a tapestry either way, though Raiders has a strong thematic integrity beyond the introductory action set pieces with Marion's Theme, the Ark Theme etc. 

 

 

 

 

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2 hours ago, TheUlyssesian said:

It's nice enough to have on in the background. It's the kind of music you hear in the background of youtube listicle video. Or a mobile video game on loop like candy crunch.

 

God, hate to say this but Gia often sounds very hack-y to me these days. I actually loved him some years ago. 

*Ukelele intensifies*

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Sounds like he's having fun making music in the lockdown and managed to put this together from his home with other musicians long distance. 

 

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  • 3 weeks later...

This is out now

 

1 Exoplanet Data Archive 1:15
2 Sidereal Day: 1 6:23
3 Sidereal Day: 2 5:03
4 Sidereal Day: 3 4:29
5 Sidereal Day: 6 4:04
6 Sidereal Day: 8 5:36
7 Sidereal Day: 15 6:02
8 Sidereal Day: 23 5:40
9 Sidereal Day: 35 5:41
10 Sidereal Day: 39 5:53
11 Remembrance 5:01
Total length: 55:07

 

 

lossless:
https://tidal.com/browse/album/156977200
https://www.qobuz.com/us-en/album/travelogue-volume-1-michael-giacchino-and-the-novelle-modernica-orchestra/qz4ut8670ndeb

https://open.spotify.com/album/1ztAvks60RhdU7Alv7pfEh?si=_YDTobOIRvSNdUpmMXLhww

 

lossy:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08KFPCMVL
https://music.apple.com/us/album/travelogue-volume-1/1533831366

 

physical vinyl:
https://smile.amazon.com/dp/B08KMGJ79K

 

Quote

Death Waltz Originals is proud to be the home for Academy Award-winning composer Michael Giacchino's debut non-soundtrack album. A masterfully constructed concept album titled Travelogue Volume 1. TRAVELOGUE VOL 1 by Michael Giacchino and his Nouvelle Modernica Orchestra takes the listener into a journey of both space and time, unlike anything they have heard before. The record follows a space traveler seeking solace on a planet that isn't as broken and lost as her own distant world, upon discovering earth the story unfolds throughout it's 11 captivating tracks. To say more would be to spoil the journey and interpretation of the listener as the story is told.

 

The songs have a beautiful, timeless, hazy feeling that transports the listener to their own imagination. Musically, it's indebted to the easy listening wonders of such legendary musicians as Martin Denny and Lex Baxter (both of whom pioneered the lounge music of the '50s & '60s). While Michael continues the tradition of using driving jazz-infused rhythms, he updates this timeless sound with synths, samples & a full string orchestra bringing it into 2020 and making it his own. His melodies (as always) are incredible, weaving in and out of tracks with a boundless fluidity, and the record is so much fun you'll find yourself listening to it again the minute the needle hits the run-out groove of side 4.

 

The cover artwork by Henry Abrams compliments the music perfectly, it's effortless beauty is something to get lost in as you listen, truly wondrous. Sit back and let Michael Giacchino and his Nouvelle Modernica Orchestra transport you to a place both familiar and strange as you let the sounds of yesteryear take you into the future.

 

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Finally listening to this now.

 

There's dialogue over ever track that is incredibly annoying.  How unfortunate.

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I finished the album.  It's mostly really fun music!  A lot of relaxing, lounge-y type stuff for a while, that builds to a big climax that's a lot more upbeat, with a nice denoument after.

 

However, the dialogue over the music really ruins the whole experience, at least for me.  I hope someone makes an edit with the dialogue parts removed, and that Giacchino considers releasing a version of the whole thing without dialogue in the future.

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Pre-ordered the CD. Yeah I could do without the narration as well but that’s Giacchino’s intended preference for the whole project.

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  • 7 months later...

Listening to this. Fun background music while working.

 

 

On 11/1/2020 at 4:35 PM, Jay said:

There's dialogue over ever track that is incredibly annoying.  How unfortunate.

 

Then you probably don't like this gem either:

 

 

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 11 months later...

Today I took the shrinkwrap off and listened to my physical CD copy.

 

I haven't heard this album since the one or maybe 2 listens I gave it when it first hit streaming.  I liked the music then, but was annoyed by the dialogue.

 

Now 2 years later, that had not changed; I like the music, but find the dialogue only detracts from the experience, not enhances it.  I wish the physical CD edition had been a 2-CD set where disc 2 was the whole album again except without dialogue.  Oh well.

 

Still, putting that to the side, there's some really nice music here.  I hope he does a Volume 2 some day

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1 minute ago, Jay said:

I haven't heard this album since the one or maybe 2 listens I gave it when it first hit streaming.  I liked the music then, but was annoyed by the dialogue.

 

Ha, I listened to this for the first time in ages last week and my thoughts are exaclty the same!

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It's a shame he went in that direction, or at least went in that direction exclusively.  

 

Oh and I forgot to mention the physical CD edition has some nice artwork, and a nice 2-page spread that lists every musician and vocalist who contributed.  Andrea Datzman is "The Voice of Home"

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I'd never heard of this. So yesterday I gave it a spin.

 

I didn't have any complaints about the spoken word parts. They're clearly part of the design. I suppose I wish they had been confined to their own tracks so I could include the tracks in playlists.

 

But the music is terrific. It's an interesting illustration of what Gia can do when he's not dealing with the various constraints of movie making. The last track (Remembrance) is very John Barry.

 

I like some of the more big band sounding tracks. I especially like the saxophone bits.

 

Anyway, good listen. I'll probably come back to it.

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