Soundtracks

CD Review: TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY

TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY soundtrack | ©2011 Silva Screen Records

Having dealt with political subterfuge in “Che” and his Oscar-nominated score for “The Constant Gardener,” Spaniard Alberto Iglesias gets to take on Britain’s spy agency of The Circus for the second major adaptation of John Le Carre’s classic novel TINKER TAILOR SOLDIER SPY. But whether Iglesias was dealing with Latin rhythms or African percussion on his previous ventures into subterfuge, the composer’s work has always been distinguished by how simultaneously cerebral and melodically entrancing it’s been. That talent is taken to a whole new, subtle level here for what might be the calmest, action-less and near-geriatric spy movie of all […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: 2011’s Best Soundtracks: The Runners-Up and Composers to Watch

SUPER 8 soundtrack | ©2011 Varese Sarabande Records

It was hard to whittle down the year’s best scores to ten top picks, let alone ten runners-up. Here are the best of a close batch of scores that are far more than second-runs, followed up by the budding composers to watch. ALBERT NOBBS (Brian Byrne /, Varese Sarabande) Irish composer Brian Byrne takes up residence in 19th century Dublin for the upstairs/ downstairs cross-dressing-by-necessity of “Albert Nobbs.” While there’s a sprightly, Gaelic-accented classical sound to the happy-go-lucky strings and harpsichord that propels this not-so proper man of the hotel about, Byrne gradually looks behind the confident veneer to discover […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: The Best Scores of 2011

HARRY POTTER AND THE DEATHLY HALLOWS- PART TWO soundtrack | ©2011 Water Tower Music

THE BEST SCORES OF 2011 THE ADJUSTMENT BUREAU (Thomas Newman / Relativity) There’s always been something ethereal, if not downright unearthly about the dreamy, often rhythmic sound that’s allowed Thomas Newman to become the first alt. rocker to make it big as a film composer. It’s a sound that’s particularly well-suited to the spiritual, conveying a universe behind the walls of reality in such scores as THE RAPTURE, OSCAR AND LUCINDA and PHENOMENON. Now Newman’s on the side of the angels with hats for this moving, faith-based Phillip K. Dick adaptation. His mesmerizing mix employs strings and acoustic guitar, suspenseful […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: WOLFEN soundtrack

WOLFEN soundtrack | ©2011 Intrada Records

In the late 1970s and super early 1980s, James Horner had been clawing his way up from the low-budget likes of  THE LADY IN RED, HUMANOIDS FROM THE DEEP and BATTLE BEYOND THE STARS, giving 110% of his already formidable thematic talent to these enjoyable Roger Corman-produced flicks. It was only a matter of time before Hollywood would notice, and 1981’s one-two Orion Picture horror punch of THE HAND and WOLFEN would deservedly take Horner into the big leagues- even if these two thrillers remain cult items. Smong soundtrack fans, they’ve also been two of James Horner’s most-requested releases. Now […]Read On »


COMMENTS (1)

CD Review: RAPTURE soundtrack

RAPTURE soundtrack | ©2011 Intrada Records

In the early 1960’s, Georges Delerue was well established in Europe for his delicately classical, and distinctly French approach to such dramas as THE SOFT SKIN and CONTEMPT. It was this poetic sound that finally took him to Hollywood by mid-decade, with one of his first English language scores ironically accompanying the French setting of 1965’s RAPTURE. No longer obscure thanks to Intrada’s soundtrack release and the film’s accompanying DVD debut on Twilight Time, RAPTURE is a true revelation in Delerue’s resume of early masterworks. The composer’s voice is immediately recognizable in his use of harps, dulcimers and languid string […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: DIRTY GIRL soundtrack

DIRTY GIRL soundtrack | ©2011 Lakeshore Records

It’s been a long time since the glory song-soundtrack days of FAST TIMES AT RIDGEMONT HIGH and THE BREAKFAST CLUB, LP’s so full of instantly great, eternally listenable FM hits that you were guaranteed to wear their vinyl out. Set in 1987 DIRTY GIRL has that awesome pop-rock flashback power, with an accent on Grlll Power that makes its heroine anything but a hussy. With Tanya Tucker’s “Delta Dawn” standing for the boring Oklahoma digs she flees from in search of her biological dad in Fresno, DIRTY GIRL brings on a fun road trip with the proto-punk likes of Bow […]Read On »


COMMENTS (4)

CD Review: THE CORE soundtrack

THE CORE soundtrack | ©2011 Intrada Records

If it’s going to be the end of our globe as we know it, leave it to Christopher Young to be damn sure to try and save it with a big bang instead of a whimper for THE CORE. After doing many ferocious scores about the depths of hell, Young actually got to go to the pseudo-scientific thing with this journey to the musically raging center of the Earth, its hugely entertaining disaster-movie mission to re-ignite of our planet’s very CORE. Sensing the monumental burrowing task at hand, Young responded with more notes than a Mahler symphony for what stands […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION soundtrack

DEUS EX soundtrack | ©2011 Square Enix

If you dug the techno sheen of TRON LEGACY then you’ll likely love the vibe of DEUS EX: HUMAN REVOLUTION, an impressively atmospheric score that also paints its game grid in hypnotic, neon-sounding colors. Before you cry foul on composer Michael McCann for trying some unfair light cycle move on Daft Punk, know that DEUS EX was generated even further back, making McCann’s to-the-second technological wash of eerily pulsating samples and electronics that much more futuristically impressive. Having composed the ruthless spy suspense for SPLINTER CELL: DOUBLE AGENT, McCann gives DEUS EX’s industrial operative a propulsive sense of mission as […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: REAL STEEL soundtrack

REAL STEEL soundtrack | ©2011 Varese Sarabande Records

If there was one film whose high concept promised a TKO, then it was having the director of the disastrous PINK PANTHER redo make the movie version of the old Hasbro toy Rock ‘Em Sock ‘Em Robots- as channeled through the father-son corniness of THE CHAMP. But like its junkyard automaton, REAL STEEL shouldn’t have been counted out, as this Hugh Jackman effects vehicle has not only proven to be one of this year’s most entertaining box office winners, but has also delivered a truly unique Danny Elfman genre score that’s all about the musical rope-a-dope as opposed to a […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)

CD Review: TRADING PLACES soundtrack (2,000 edition)

TRADING PLACES soundtrack | ©2011 La La Land Records

An old fogey named Elmer Bernstein became the new (and perhaps unwitting) king of youth comedy scores when filmmaker John Landis had the idea that the composer’s straight-laced, old Hollywood approach would be ideal to play the classically pompous academia who did their best to make sure Faber College had no fun of any kind. The keg smash of 1978’s ANIMAL HOUSE made Bernstein into The Man in more ways than one, tuning his often brassy approach to the height of wealth-spoofing irony- an approach that would pay huge dividends for both men ten years later with TRADING PLACES. Of […]Read On »


COMMENTS (0)
Increase your website traffic with Attracta.com

Dr.5z5 Open Feed Directory

bottom round