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What Is The Last Score You Listened To From 2021?


Jay

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6 hours ago, Jay said:

I do think a complete release would be more of an improvement to the listening than either of the first two score's getting expanded one - a lot of good stuff in the film that isn't on the album

Which cool unreleased cues were left out of the album? AFAIK the OST included the major highlights?

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15 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Which cool unreleased cues were left out of the album? AFAIK the OST included the major highlights?

 

 

On 16/12/2021 at 10:34 PM, Jay said:

there are tons of unreleased cues that go in between almost every OST track.  Many of the unreleased cues are short, but they are all uniquely interesting!  A lot of them feature cool, new, never-before used variants of the main theme, which makes it extra strange why so many of the usual arrangements are on the OST album, or why that new epic choir variant is on the album so much, when there's so many more interesting arrangements he could have gone with.  There are also unreleased cues with Elfman's Spider-man theme, and at least two really cool unreleased cues that feature Doctor Strange's theme backed by really cool sounding harpsichord!  I think a more unique and varied OST album definitely could have been arranged than what they went with.  Basically, this jumps to one of my most wanted expansions instantly!

 

&

 

https://www.jwfan.com/forums/index.php?/topic/33245-michael-giacchinos-spider-man-no-way-home-2021/&do=findComment&comment=1853889

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ab67616d0000b2731eda62a7c76d44dd2abaec80

 

Between this wonderful synth score (skip the inane Liza Minelli soundalike songs!) and THE GREAT -- two late discoveries in 2021 -- Barr is suddenly a force to be reckoned with. He's no longer just the "horror guy" for me.

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On 12/11/2021 at 7:13 AM, filmmusic said:

Spencer by Jonny Greenwood.

Wow! Very sophisticated! I Love it!

 

Literally the exact word I used when I heard it.

 

The main theme - you could EASILY fool someone telling that this is a piece of classical music from the 1600-1800s. It sounds very refined and very well composed. Has a great presence in the film too.

 

The film is scored with intelligence too. When we first see Diana - the theme is on solo piano.

 

When there is a dramatic church scene - it is played on organs to bring an appropriately portentous feel.

 

As someone said this is a cousin to Phantom Thread and this is indeed very good work.

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The King's Man - Matthew Margeson & Dominic Lewis

 

Margeson & Lewis did a great job. This is my favorite score of the Kingsman scores. There is one moment of electronics but the rest of the score is completely orchestral. The new King's Man theme is similar to the overall Kingsman theme, but different enough to make it stand out.

The villain theme is good. Especially in the final battle. When it's intertwined with The King's Man theme.

The moment when Tchaikovsky is used under a fight scene is the best use of classical music in a film since William Tell's Overture in The Lone Ranger.

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I think it's a pretty good effort by Helmersson. MAGNUS and LØVEKVINNEN are better, but it's up there. He very much nurtures the ambient stylings of his mentor Johan Söderqvist.

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Various - Minecraft: Caves and Cliffs

 

I listened to this because Lena Raine contributed to it.  Her tracks were good, the others not so much

 

 

Yasunori Mitsuda - Irina: The Vampire Cosmonaut

 

My man!  I'm only familiar with his video game work - this was the first narrative / episodic television scoring I've heard from him.  I liked it!  There's a bunch of songs in between the score cuts, but they were all kinda fun.  I need to revisit and formulate more coherent thoughts.

 

 

Anne Dudley - Benedetta

 

This didn't do much for me on 1 listen, but I want to give it a second chance

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42 minutes ago, Jay said:

Anne Dudley - Benedetta

 

This didn't do much for me on 1 listen, but I want to give it a second chance

 

Sorry to hear it. For me, it was love at first sight (or first hearing). Easily top 3, maybe the winner of 2021 if I had heard it in time. Brace yourself: I've even made an "expanded" version of the album, tagging on the Youtube end credits suite, since I felt the album as is kinda went out on a whimper.

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The first track is a stunning suite of the score's main theme. After that, the rest of the album isn't as great, but still pretty good. Lots of emotional religioso music that reminded me of Ennio Morricone.

 

Everyone looking for great new scores to listen to should check Jon Broxton's Under-the-Radar Roundups, which he publishes on MMUK. 

 

https://moviemusicuk.us/2021/11/30/under-the-radar-round-up-2021-part-4a/

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Since Hollywood these days only cares about dissonant experimental electronic scores, one has to go to China to listen to orchestral film music.

 

New score of the Avatar 2 composer and long time James Horner collaborator Simon Franglen. Meh. Parts of it are pretty good, but overall it's a forgettable mix of Horner, Silvestri, etc., in a Chinese setting. It may recall the great fantasy scores of the 80s and 90s, but without that magic that made them extra special.

 

Now that one was pretty amazing. The movie looks like propaganda for the Chinese government, and so the score is very rousing and patriotic. A lot of emotional power anthems similar to those composed by Hans Zimmer in the 90s and 2000s. Nice to see what Gordy Haab does aside from Star Wars games. Unlike Franglen's score, this one is pretty short and doesn't overstay its welcome.

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29 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

Since Hollywood these days only cares about dissonant experimental electronic scores, one has to go to China to listen to orchestral film music.

 


I’d include Chad Cannon’s score for Qing-Hai in this category as well.  Beautiful soundtrack.

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

My latest discovery of great film music from 2021 are by the great composer Lena Raine, who blew me away with her Celeste score in 2018, and then had yet to truly wow me again with her immediately followups.  Finally in 2021 (though I never heard them until 2022) she did it again with not one, but two new major scores

 

 

Chicory: A Colorful Tale

 

Wowweezowee, there's the killer hooks and lush orchestrations I've been waiting for!  This score is so rich with melody and color - which seems totally fitting for what I've heard about the game.  The 2 1/2 hour OST album is a lot to take in at first; a condensed bit a highlights might be a nice way to start before going into the whole thing later.... but there's so much great stuff here.  Really makes me want to play the game!

 

 

 

 

Moonglow Bay

 

This is really awesome chill music!  Lots of delicate guitar playing, really helpful to help unwind and chill out.  The 105 minute OST album maintains a chill vibe for a large portion of its runtime, and one could make a playlist that omits some of the more exciting tracks for a total mellow experience, though many of those tracks are cool too.

 

 

 

I've been listening to these albums a lot since discovering them!

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Dudes, I absolutely adore what Gia did - it's iconic, the love theme is touching, the Bat beat will be the industry standard, the Riddler stuff is okay - but the Bat stuff will be iconic.....

I know most don't like it, but to me it's perfect, a sleuth with no morals in a very dark noir  world, persistent as fuck. hence the theme repetition, single-minded monster

 

 

Clearly this theme obsession of mine has traction

 

 

The Desmond and Penny themes

 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

Rob Simonsen - Ghostbusters: Afterlife

 

I had heard this before but wanted to listen to it again.  It's pretty good, though largely because of how often it uses / reinterprets Bernstein material.  Though the unique Simsonsen action music is pretty good, especially "Trap Him"

 

I'd like to see the movie before listening again, but who knows when it will be streaming free somewhere since Sony doesn't have their own service like the rest of the remaining Big 5 studios

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The Harder They Fall - Jaymes Samuel

 

Just as I really like the film, I like this score a lot. It's not at all a typical western score, but neither is the film a western like we've seen.

 

The mix of orchestral beauty, hip hop/rap & choral music is great. The recording is superb. And the album is very well put together at 42 minutes.

 

Highlights for me are:

Three And Forty Years

Away With The Wind She Goes (Both parts)

Do Unto Others / Ride Out, Pt. 1

Redwood Theme

Ride Out, Pt. 2

The Return Of Nat Love

Bad Karma In The Afterlife

The Harder They Fall Choir

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1 hour ago, JNHFan2000 said:

The Harder They Fall - Jaymes Samuel

 

Just as I really like the film, I like this score a lot. It's not at all a typical western score, but neither is the film a western like we've seen.

 

Yeah, I mentioned this earlier in the thread. Certainly interesting, and the good cues are really good, but it wasn't consistently good enough throughout to "warrant" a place in my iTunes collection.

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This Game's Called Murder - Bear McCreary

 

I listened to this once when it came out during making dinner. I didn't really listen to it then.

Listened again today, and WOW, it's great. It's McCreary weirdest/wackiest score and I love it.

 

You have to have a tolerance for rock music and oingo bongo style stuff. This is one of the most creative and sophisticated scores from last year and McCreary's career. Very cool!

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49 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

This Game's Called Murder - Bear McCreary

 

I listened to this once when it came out during making dinner. I didn't really listen to it then.

Listened again today, and WOW, it's great. It's McCreary weirdest/wackiest score and I love it.

 

You have to have a tolerance for rock music and oingo bongo style stuff. This is one of the most creative and sophisticated scores from last year and McCreary's career. Very cool!

 

Yeah, definitely a runner-up last year. Not only is it Oingo Boingo-style, actual members of Oingo Boingo play alongside Ego Plum (Avila and Bartek are definitly on there....not sure about "Vatos", "Sluggo" and the other guys).

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  • 3 weeks later...

Mick Giacchino - Extinct


Well, that was super fun!  I am so happy the OST album for this 2021 film finally came out because I've been enjoying my rips of the end credits and a montage cue for months now.  Maybe Netflix is playing catch up and we'll finally get an album for Danny Elfman's Woman in the Window score too?

 

Anyways, this has a really nice laid back tropical feel to most of it, and some catchy themes that play throughout the score.  Here's a sample track that captures the feel nicely

 

 

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  • 5 months later...
  • 4 months later...

Christopher Larkin - Tohu

 

The first score I've heard from him since Hollow Knight.  It shared too many similarities at times for my liking.  Not in mood or tone, but melody.  Bummer.  Bring on Silksong, please!

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