[Closed] Now Playing XLIX

NP: Tom and Jerry - Scott Bradley

Excellent 'mickey-mousing' or 'Tom'n'Jerrying'.

NP: The Ipcress File - John Barry

It's difficult for me to articulate clearly just how much I love this score! Sure, it's monothematic but Barry does so much with that fantastic theme throughout the score. I just love it from beginning to end...

Thanks for explaining the Katra bit, Captain. Regarding the derivative remarks about ST III, I thought it was only logical to expand the Genesis theme for this, and "Stealing the Enterprise" is absolutely breathtaking. Given that III's story is basically the backlash of II's events, I don't mind the similarities one bit; it enhances the feeling of a continuing storyline, and I wished Horner would have returned for IV.

I don't like IV's score either, basically for the same reason I don't like most of Giacchino's Trek stuff. It just sounds too "dry" and "small" compared to the epic sound of Horner's scores.

Poor soul.

This is what I think about you being a Martinez or a Reznor fan, so fair's fair.

I agree that it's not as 'religious-sounding' as the title suggests, but the sweeping romanticism is something that I fell totally in love with. This is one of my highlights of the year.

Star Trek Beyond - Michael Giacchino

Like Thor, I'm not finding this particularly magical. Nor musically interesting.
Giacchino's sound for blockbuster spectacles leaves a lot to be desired for me.

I used to feel the same. His work since Up doesn't connect with me.

I have to say I was rather underwhelmed by Up (the score) and hence didn't listen to it in a while. I'll see to that tomorrow.

NP: Magdalene - Cliff Eidelman

I tend to be disappointed by this score because the power and drama of the opening track promises much but the remainder of the album is much more restrained. But, then I reflect on the quality of the more tender and emotional tracks that make up the bulk of this score and my disappointment is lessened.

This is a very good album with some beautiful tracks.

Certainly true of his film scores. Lost remains his most 'personal' sounding project, and his most emotional.

NP: DAYS OF THUNDER (Hans Zimmer)

Top 10 Zimmer, easily. Superb!

Earlier I was listening to my own personal edit and arrangement from the score to "The Quick and the Dead" (Silvestri), from the nearly complete 2CD sessions. Hopefully this gets a full release one day.

It's a wonderful score that flew under most people's radars. Wonderful cues like this make it a fine score, though the old western scores of yesteryear are clearly of an influence:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j5cBsJqJ8GU
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MWZvqTBPxvE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mZF8zffFf3k (yeah, Mars, Bringer of War, but still a great cue)

Well, of all the composers coming from the most recent generation (outside of RCP) of A-list film composers, I think Giacchino (largely from his love to the music he grew up with, that being of course the John Williams score from post-and-including Star Wars era, but also from his highly leitmotivic approach to a series like Lost) has the strongest and finest approach to structure. He might not be as thematically memorable as, say, John Williams or Jerry Goldsmith, but that's because he is coming from a more contemporary musical tradition.

I gave that a bit of thought at some time and I realized that some techniques employed by Giacchino, starting actually with Lost (though his Medal of Honor scores, in particular Underground and Frontline already hint at the development), come from the more contemporary classical tradition. While doing huge projects, often connected to beloved franchises (Jurassic Park, Mission: Impossible), Giacchino combines the big orchestral approach of the "yesteryear" (I know, unfair) with the modern approach preferring ostinati (again, I am aware that Giacchino's ostinati is a completely different ball game than, say John Powell or Hans Zimmer) and more restrained melodic and emotional approach. A lot of it is in the sound. It's harsher, more dissonant in its action approach (especially the post-Lost period, Mission: Impossible III with the exception of the Schifrin material is basically Lost on steroids played with a full orchestra rather than the limited ensemble he had on the series, focusing on percussion, strings and brass). But his dramatic material is also interesting, because it is not mostly simple (sometimes a tad simplistic) melodies, but also a specific, sul ponticello based choice of articulation. That already strains the emotions and making it way subtler, for many all-too subtle, than a fully fledged romantic theme would be. In that way, Michael Giacchino would be on the opposite side of the spectrum of someone like the sadly late James Horner, whose themes not only were highly melodic, but also highly expressive.

Maybe to some people Giacchino seems to have stopped half-way and not really fully getting into the films and maybe even orchestration. A harsher, yet more restrained approach, may make some (perhaps that's where Thor is coming from!) roll their eyes. But I think it's a viable approach. Using the structure that made the past scores so amazing for everyone, yet giving it enough modern touch (though in terms of the classical tradition rather than, say, electronica or rock/pop/whatever influences that may permeate a lot of the mainstream scores today) to adapt to the modern, more visceral, cinematic aesthetics. That's what I think.