[Closed] Now Playing XLIX

NP: LE BON PLAISIR (Georges Delerue)

Beautiful, as always.

I like Jo (or rather the composers he employ), but I'm a bit skeptical to the 'pounding action stuff' you mention.

The man still outshines 90% of his peers with every single effort.

NP - A MONSTER CALLS - Fernando Velasquez

Just started my first listen. I'm super excited for this one!

Erm.... I have to say I sort of agree with Thor, IMO our greatest living orchestral composer just isn't the "force" he was, JW is in my top 5 film composers, I love him to bits but I've been very underwhelmed by all of his post 2010 output, that isn't to say there hasn't been great moments but on the whole I've been disappointed.

I guess that makes me a "bit" truly fucking nuts too.

Splendid? Hm.
Force Awakens was certainly a return to form, but the rest of these barely even cracks the 'honourable mention' bit of his oeuvre. Functional scores, certainly. But fairly immemorable.

Whistle Rey's theme.

Now whistle the War Horse theme. Or Tintin's theme. Or Lincoln's theme.
There ya go.

I did all of them and now I've got Tintin's theme stuck in my head again, thank you very much.

Your bluffing skills are no match for my devastating analytical skills. I recommend against you picking up poker.

Ha! Now you leave me wondering which would be the more valuable skill to have in a game of poker, analytical skills or the ability to bluff. I'd wager it's the poker face you want if you'd have to choose either.

On a more serious note, having heard none of these scores in a while I have no difficulty reciting War Horse's The Homecoming for the better half of the track, which includes none less than 3 themes, and for Tintin it's easy to recall The Adventure Continues. Neither do I have trouble recalling the main titles, though that asks a bit more thinking, and now that I'm typing I realize I can recall the Thompson's theme by heart as well. Lincoln, on the other hand... you're right, that proves more difficult. However, Rey's Theme... blank as well. I do remember the opening bars, but then... the string section, nope. And I've heard The Force Awakens 2 weeks ago last time (March of the Resistance, though, no problem!).

I sometimes wonder if with maturing age I loose the skill to remember each and every memory, or loose the interest to do so. Same with film knowledge: I used to remember each and every film on release, theatrical or Bluray, and now I'm not sure I'd be able to remember all of them. Or I just don't care as much anymore, having other stuff to worry about. So bottom line, I don't necessarily need to remember themes afterwards, as long as I enjoy and recognize them during listening. At this moment, I can't recall the main Fantastic Beasts theme, as set out in A Man and his Beasts suite, even tough it's the score I listen to the most these days, but I do enjoy it very much. Is remembrance of these themes a signifier of its quality?

Yet the ability to remember a theme, melody, motive while not listening to the score, might also have something to do with how much repeated listens you've given that theme or how often it features in the work. I can recall awful, hideous songs right now this instance because they keep coming on the radio, while there are brilliant themes I know I know but can't whistle right now. Also because I think the most memorable themes are often the simplest ones, while the most enjoyable or "best" might be more complex ones.

I recently did a film music listening evening with a friend of mine who a few years ago was very much into film music but recently fell out of it so wanted to be brought up to speed, and we concluded modern themes are often a single line of repeated melody, glorified motives, while proper themes contain an A and B part etcetera. Those modern themes are more likely to stick in your head, because it's easier, but I wouldn't prefer them.

But this might be getting into semantics. I know you enjoy immediately recognizable themes, for me I would just formulate it as that: recognizable, as opposed to memorable.

There are only two 2016 themes I could hum on demand - the end title theme from The Light Between Oceans (score of the year by a mile) and the grand, sweeping, epic penultimate cue from The Monkey King 2 (second best score of the year).

The Last Guardian - Takeshi Furukawa

Pretty decent, though it's a struggle to remember anything once it's over.

NP: Interstellar (2014) - Hans Zimmer

Enchanting melodies and soundscapes. The combination of electronics and pipe organ is marvellously executed.

Volker