First Impressions: The SCORES of 2023

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

This is such a fun score!!!

Lamboley really is on a role in the last 2 years. I first discovered him with Lupin in 2021 and I've enjoyed every one of his scores since. I really hope he gets some more bigger projects in the future. He's very talented.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

I really enjoyed the first 8 tracks of the album. It's some great instrumental pieces. The first cue especially is great. It almost sounds like an instrumental from UB40.

But the rest of the album is much more downstated and focused on synths, strings, piano and more modern thriller stuff.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Haha. I feel I'm the only one posting here, but whatever.

 

I quite enjoyed this. I feel it's one of Mansell's more interesting works of the last few years. It's mainly strings, piano, (Blade Runner-style) synths and some electronic beats.

It's not completely my thing and I'm not really a fan of Mansell (I only have Black Swan in my collection) but I felt it was nicely done and it kept my interest through most of the 43 minutes.

Fans of Mansell might want to check it out, but it will mostly fall into the other hundreds of thriller scores.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

6 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

It's not completely my thing and I'm not really a fan of Mansell

 

Me neither, but I really like The Fountain. What do you think of that?

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

2 minutes ago, Jurassic Shark said:

 

Me neither, but I really like The Fountain. What do you think of that?

Never heard that one. I will check it out.

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

4 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Never heard that one. I will check it out.

 

Listen to it from start to end!

[crocodile 7,988]

What about Moon and High-Rise? I like those two.

 

Karol

[Jurassic Shark 12,033]

8 minutes ago, crocodile said:

What about Moon and High-Rise? I like those two.

 

Karol

 

Could you recommend some highlights?

[crocodile 7,988]

In regards to High-Rise I would just listen to the entire album. As for Moon, this final track will do:

 

 

Karol

[filmmusic 1,823]

27 minutes ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Never heard that one. I will check it out.

A recommendation from me also about the Fountain. The film is quite good too!

[Edmilson 7,395]

The Fountain is a great score. I also like Sahara (the best David Arnold score not written by David Arnold) and parts of Moon and Noah.

 

But I haven't listened to a new Mansell score in years, lol. I heard that he was doing those crappy DC TV shows collaborating with Kevin Kiner of all people.

[Stark 311]

9 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

I really enjoyed the first 8 tracks of the album. It's some great instrumental pieces. The first cue especially is great. It almost sounds like an instrumental from UB40.

But the rest of the album is much more downstated and focused on synths, strings, piano and more modern thriller stuff.

I haven’t listened to this yet, but I discovered Fil Eisler last year and was pleasantly surprised by all of his work. He’s definitely got a lot of potential.

23 minutes ago, Edmilson said:

The Fountain is a great score. I also like Sahara (the best David Arnold score not written by David Arnold) and parts of Moon and Noah.

 

But I haven't listened to a new Mansell score in years, lol. I heard that he was doing those crappy DC TV shows collaborating with Kevin Kiner of all people.

Kiner’s done additional music for a number of Mansell projects (like Ghost in the Shell), it seems to be a regular collaboration.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Wooooow! I loved this. 

I feel it's a bit of a mix between Beltrami's 3:10 To Yuma and some of the more Goldsmith wrote for some westerns. There some darker more challenging moments, but when it leans into its western roots it's a hoot.

Banjos, guitars, dancing strings and percussion. A very nice surprise.

[Dr. Know 326]

 

Evan Call's GOLD KINGDOM, WATER KINGDOM is an impressive work.  I have been really impressed with his orchestral scores of the last couple of years.

[Jay 37,319]

On 18/02/2023 at 4:47 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

Haha. I feel I'm the only one posting here, but whatever.

 

 

I can't speak for anyone else, but for myself: We're only 7 weeks into 2023, and I frankly haven't seen any 2023 movies, watched any 2023 television episodes, or played any 2023 video games that made me want to check out their scores on album. 

 

I enjoy reading this thread to see what scores people are checking out, and I'll check out Andrea Datzman's Up score and Ant-man 3 eventually, but haven't seen anything else that caught my attention yet.  But the year is young!

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Glad I can maybe give some insights into what scores are out.

[Jay 37,319]

Yes, please keep it up!  You are doing great work; We need people like you who check out everything and tell us a little bit about them!

[thestat 348]

On 18/02/2023 at 9:47 PM, JNHFan2000 said:

Haha. I feel I'm the only one posting here, but whatever.

 

I quite enjoyed this. I feel it's one of Mansell's more interesting works of the last few years. It's mainly strings, piano, (Blade Runner-style) synths and some electronic beats.

It's not completely my thing and I'm not really a fan of Mansell (I only have Black Swan in my collection) but I felt it was nicely done and it kept my interest through most of the 43 minutes.

Fans of Mansell might want to check it out, but it will mostly fall into the other hundreds of thriller scores.

I did not dislike this. I was a huge Mansell fan back in the glory days of the 2000s - The Fountain is a work of brilliance. This new one has this track (which is not representative of the whole score):

 

 

[Thor 7,478]

 

Pretty decent, "floaty" electronic score for a (presumably) surf series I've never seen. Nor have I heard of CJ Mirra before.

 

Others I've sampled recently, but not cared particularly for include UN HOMME HEUREUX (Bouhafa), GOLIATH (Creaghan), OPPONENT (Ekstrand & Sevedag), THE STRAYS (Levienaise-Farrouch), OUTER BANKS (Eisler), WE HAVE A GHOST (McCreary). JUSTE CIEL (Lamboley) has some potential, but ultimately a little too lightweight.

 

Had the highest expectations for the aforementioned SHARPER, being a big Mansell fan, but it was one of the most boring efforts I've heard from him in a while, sorry. To the discussion above, some of my favs of his include PI, THE FOUNTAIN, MOON, BLACK SWAN, STOKER, NOAH, BLACK MIRROR: SAN JUNIPERO, MUTE and last year's SHE WILL.

[Thor 7,478]

 

Whimsical and light in tone, with a Desplat-ian cloppety-clop theme center stage, it quickly wears out its welcome for me. But cute.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

New week, new scores.

To make it fun, I'll start with a disappointing score.

 

I was actually hoping for a cool orchestral score for this, but it seems like the director just wanted an badly written RCP style drone and bombast score, by someone who could've done so much better. It's a shame. I really love quite a few scores by Beltrami, byt things like this make it hard to look forward to new scores.

[Thor 7,478]

Yeah, disappointing score by Beltrami and Trumpp. But I found the film very entertaining in its potboiler-style approach.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

This is Velázquez doing The Mummy (literally). It's a lot of fun. Fully orchestral with some Egyptian colors. Because it's for an animated film it sometimes jumps around between ideas quickly. But there is a wonderful main theme and some great action material. And if you cut the songs (because why wouldn't you?), you're left with just over 50 minutes of great orchestral scoring.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

No. 3 of the day.

Yudo by Naoki Sato

I really like Sato, but I feel.his latest output hasn't been that strong. This score is nice, but that's it really. I couldn't find a theme to latch onto so the whole thing is a little anonymous.

Small disappointment.

 

 

 

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

No. 4 of the day.

And woow!! This is fantastic. This is a full on orchestral horror score in the style of Goldsmith & Beltrami, with a few hints of Young's Hellraiser & Kilar's Dracula.

I've only discovered Andrew Morgan Smith a few weeks ago when his score for The Old Way was released. That score is an homage to the western genre and this is one to the horror genre. I loved every minute of the 37-minute album. It flows really well and I can't wait to hear what Smith does in the future.

 

And again a shoutout to MovieScoreMedia for releasing so many 'under the radar' and international scores.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Last 3 scores of the day. 3 very different ones.

 

The first is by Nitin Sawhney. It's a basic romantic comedy score with some added Indian/Pakistani instruments to give it enough flavour to let is stand out. It's just around 30 minutes of score and is quite pleasant.

 

 

Aaltio's score is very much a cpusin to his score to Finders Of The Lost Yacht, although this one has some more contemporary elements. It's still a delightful adventure score with a great main theme, some secondary themes and gorgeous orchestrations. This continues Aaltio's run of superb scores in a number of different genres. Recommended!

 

 

The final new score is by Mark Mothersbaugh. I'm actually quite the fan of his I found out recently. I really love some of his scores from 2014 onwards (Thor: Ragnarok, Pee-Wee's Big Holiday, Mitchells And The Machines) and am always looking forward to new music.

I'm really excited about this film and I'm seeing it on monday.

The music is just as crazy as the films looks like. A mix of synth, rock & orchestra. It's all really well done and has definitive '80's vibe to it. I actually really love it and listen to it multiple times already. This sort of stuff doesn't happen very often, but when done right it's right up my alley and I can't wait to experience the score in the film.

[Jay 37,319]

Creed III OST is out

 

https://music.apple.com/nz/album/creed-iii-original-motion-picture-score/1674668382

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

It's quite different than 1 & 2. I do really like it, but the Creed theme isn't as prominent. Seeing the film saturday so I'm excited to hear the score in context

[Thor 7,478]

 

Italian film music isn't what it once was, but every year or so you see new and young talent subscribing to a far more traditional and melodic style than most of Europe otherwise. Here's another example. Not familiar with the two composers, but I dig their broad, spiritual landscapes here - augmented with what sounds like a duduk (an instrument that was all the rage two decades ago, post-GLADIATOR, but has since waned, so it's kinda refreshing to hear it back).

[GerateWohl 4,343]

29 minutes ago, Thor said:

 

Italian film music isn't what it once was, but every year or so you see new and young talent subscribing to a far more traditional and melodic style than most of Europe otherwise. Here's another example. Not familiar with the two composers, but I dig their broad, spiritual landscapes here - augmented with what sounds like a duduk (an instrument that was all the rage two decades ago, post-GLADIATOR, but has since waned, so it's kinda refreshing to hear it back).

At first glance this cover looked like a forgotten Phil Collins album.

[Richard Penna 3,675]

On 24/02/2023 at 7:54 AM, JNHFan2000 said:

I was actually hoping for a cool orchestral score for this, but it seems like the director just wanted an badly written RCP style drone and bombast score, by someone who could've done so much better. It's a shame. I really love quite a few scores by Beltrami, byt things like this make it hard to look forward to new scores.

 

I'd guess that most of this is not Beltrami, and listening to a few bits on Spotify it doesn't sound that much like him either.

 

Similar to Underwater (which I rather like) which I suspect is mostly Brandon Roberts' work. I reckon that with most of these smaller films where two composers are credited, the lower profile of two has actually scored the film, and the higher profile one has done themes and overseen the whole thing.

[Jay 37,319]

Yasunori Nishiki - Octopath Traveler II

 

Wow!  The first GREAT score of 2023.  I'm only 2 hours into this 7 hour album, and I LOVE it.  Great stuff - a big step up from his work on the first game!

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

7 hours!!!!!?????🤯

[Jay 37,319]

Yea

 

https://vgmdb.net/album/125168

 

This is common for massive Japanese RPGs

[Thor 7,478]

 

I absolutely dig the lean, beat-based synth grooves in certain tracks, but they continually alternate with less interesting, static tracks.

[thestat 348]

Had a go with those two Andrew Morgan Smith works - solid stuff but I struggle with getting a handle on both.

 

The Old Way is a relatively typical post-JNH/Tyler - solo violins etc. Not sure why someone compared this to Goldsmith. Nothing to do with his western style at all. I do love the wild action music that comes up here and there - it is perhaps a reference to Broughton's Cowboys theme from Tombstone in its aggressiveness, best displayed in this too short of a track:

 

 

The Bunker score is harsh orchestral mayhem referencing a lot of Goldsmith, Horner, Goldenthal etc. It sounds amazing as a sonic experience - but I wonder about the composition itself. It is very overbearing in its massive sound - and congrats to Smith for getting that sound! Not the most pleasant of listens but very impressive in what he can do. Look forward to what this dude does next!

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

I would describe this as a sort of polka-like score. It's a lot of bouncy rhythms, small ensemble and a few slower piano/guitar led cues. It sometimes reminds me a bit of the more quirky Desplat scores.

It put a smile on my face for 38 minutes, but won't last in the memory I think. Just a bit of fun.

[Jay 37,319]

On 07/03/2023 at 9:25 AM, Jay said:

Yasunori Nishiki - Octopath Traveler II

 

Wow!  The first GREAT score of 2023.  I'm only 2 hours into this 7 hour album, and I LOVE it.  Great stuff - a big step up from his work on the first game!

 

I finished the album, and loved it.

 

I listened to it again today while working, and still love it!  Really good stuff!

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Sounds a bit strange maybe, but this is a sort of upbeat-noir score. It's very much rooted in the sound of The Golden Age.

There are a few wonderful sweeping cues, some more thriller pieces, a sexy saxophone and some waltzes and comedy.

I really like it. Great listen.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

Unfortunately, this is bad. I really enjoyed quite a lot if Balfe's scores over the last few years and really feel he's improving as a composer. But then something like this comes around and it's really upsetting. The whole score is low, meandering sound design and the action is just bad. And it's an hour and a half! Waay to long. Disappointing

[GerateWohl 4,343]

20 hours ago, JNHFan2000 said:

Sounds a bit strange maybe, but this is a sort of upbeat-noir score. It's very much rooted in the sound of The Golden Age.

There are a few wonderful sweeping cues, some more thriller pieces, a sexy saxophone and some waltzes and comedy.

I really like it. Great listen.

Thank you for the recommendation. I already liked Rombi's score for "Le Temps des Secrets" a lot. I wouldn't call this sound here Golden Age rooted. Rather 50s musical sound. But of course that was grounded on the Golden Age sound as well somehow.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

This is great. Fully in line with Fenton's previous work nature documentaries. Grand, thematic, orchestral, sweeping, great action. It's wonderful to hear him back doing this sort of thing. If you liked any of his previous work in this genre, you'll enjoy this.

[Thor 7,478]

Yeah, sampled it yesterday, and liked it too. Funny coincidence that I had just finished going through my entire Fenton collection when I discovered this new score.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

This a quite strong orchestral score for an animated film. I've never heard of either the film or the composer, but there's definitely talent for orchestral writing.

I do feel that at 70 minutes the album's too long. But not bad at all.

[JNHFan2000 2,944]

I didn't want to listen it until the series was finished. But I have to say, except for the main title and the final cue, I don't really find it very interesting.

Don't get me wrong, it all works very well in context, but during the show I never had a moment where I thought to myself "this is great music". With me it all goes in one ear and straight out the other.

It might also be that I've never really liked any of Santaollalla's music.

I'll probably keep the opening and closing cues, but the rest isn't really for me.

[KK 3,307]

The Night Logan Woke Up by Hans Zimmer and David Fleming

 

This was a nice little surprise! Written for Xavier Dolan's new limited TV series, it evokes the old school Zimmer orchestral mystery melodrama of the like of House of Spirits (yaay woodwinds!), diffused through the more contemporary sensibilities of Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. It runs too long, as these things do, but it is refreshing detour for Zimmer and team.

 

 

[crocodile 7,988]

So far my favourite track from this year by far:

 

 

By the way, I wish the album featured the actual opening cue from the film. 

 

Karol

[Jay 37,319]

I played that clip because I've been mildly curious about the Creed scores; I've never seen the movies and tried one of the OST albums once and it didn't do much for me.  Sadly this clip didn't either.  Maybe someday I will check out this movie series and revisit the scores

[Thor 7,478]

10 hours ago, KK said:

The Night Logan Woke Up by Hans Zimmer and David Fleming

 

This was a nice little surprise! Written for Xavier Dolan's new limited TV series, it evokes the old school Zimmer orchestral mystery melodrama of the like of House of Spirits (yaay woodwinds!), diffused through the more contemporary sensibilities of Max Richter and Jóhann Jóhannsson. It runs too long, as these things do, but it is refreshing detour for Zimmer and team.

 

Yeah, it's pretty good. I don't hear a lot of Richter and Jóhannsson, nor really HOUSE OF THE SPIRITS, but I do hear several references to Elfman anno 1990-ish. That's cute.

[Benhip 21]

I know I’m late, but here’s my thoughts about some of the scores from the beginning of the year :

 

 

M3GAN, Anthony Willis

 

Classic thriller action movie, with a completely forgettable main theme. Fortunately, the action is great, especially for the last third. A few others cues contain some sort of choir, which makes a great effect. 
Not bad, but could have been better…

 

Tirailleurs, Alexandre Desplat

 

Being a huge fan of Desplat’s, I must tell that this was a big disappointment. It’s essentially anonymous action music, and no theme to help making it memorable, except maybe the one you can hear in Sénégal for exemple, but even that is not as good as anything Desplat did and can do.

 

 

L’Envol, Gabriel Yared

 

That is a good score ! It’s a drama soundtrack, with everything you can wait from Yared : orchestra, piano, choir, and even an organ. The lyrical main theme and the sad secondary theme are beautiful and wonderfully arranged (listen to At Sea or to L’Envol Suite for exemple). The only problem I have is that it is a little bit monotonous : you don’t have really changes of tone in the album. Maybe a few minutes less and it would have been a masterpiece…

 

I think I’m going to be a little more present. I’m rather new at JWFan, but I’ll try to keep posting !