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NP: A UNITED KINGDOM (Patrick Doyle)

While I sometimes say that Doyle's "cut-off point" in terms of providing excellent scores on a consistent basis more or less is 2006 (with AS YOU LIKE IT), there are still some nice scores after that, of course. This 2017 effort is one of them - slow, romantic, epic.

Np: Jane's Newton Howard

Played his first four M. Night Shayalaman scores back to back today. It's been a long time since I played any JNH and I enjoyed these excellent scores so much.

NP: SILK (Ryuichi Sakamoto)

This wonderful 2007 effort by Sakamoto doesn't get talked about enough. It's moody, but also elegant and sensual. And it manages to stick with its style throughout (more or less), not just one spectacular theme and the rest rather meddling (which sometimes happened with him, including LAWRENCE).

JP: THE CREATOR - Hans Zimmer **

This was a disappointment, if I’m honest, especially after the praise I’ve seen it received. It comes across as an amalgamation of familiar sounds Zimmer has produced over the years for better scores, but with minimal inspiration to give the film its own sound. No memorable themes or melodies, just a vibe and meaningless crescendos. Which would be fine, if the soundscape that were created would be interesting, or something you could lose yourself in.

Occasionally Zimmer does something that adds some color to the score - like the choir and organ in Prayers, or some oriental instrumentation - but these moments are few and far in between. Especially Heaven was a track I expected more of, supposedly being this big emotional moment, yet I kept waiting for the track to liven up, to inject some soul into the score, but then it just… ended.

In short - basic Zimmer, with nothing to really grap my interest, as if the majority was scored by additional composers, and even though it ended only minutes ago, I’ve already lost the vibe of the music. Between Standby, Prayer and True Love, there’s probably around 10 to 15 minutes of worthwhile music.

NP: 30 C IN FEBRUARI (Andreas Söderström & Johan Berthling)

Loved this Swedish show from 2012, and the music too! Soft oriental flourishes, always melodic. Perhaps the album is a bit long at 70 minutes, but it's tricky to weed down.

NP: THE PARENT TRAP (Alan Silvestri)

At this point, I feel like I've curated my Silvestri iTunes collection the way I want it, after having sampled everything he's ever done. It's down to 34 top notch albums (although I have more on my hard drive). However, every time I find this while scrolling my iTunes, I ask myself "how did THIS end up here?". But then when I listen to it, I remember -- straight-up, melodic, orchestral drama "fluff" that nonetheless exude warmth and charm. It's more or less interchangeable with what John Debney did at the time (late 90s), but I have a soft spot for that kind of sound.

Simple Song #3 from the score to Youth by David Lang (vocals Sumo Jo)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=O-KFx-bOcYk

Pure magic.

Dick Maas - De Lift
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mNKcS1pIpwo

Karaindrou does come up with some lovely themes for her scores - The Weeping Meadow is one of my favourites. What I particularly like is how there are multiple versions of the main themes. Her scores sometimes feel like musical studies of one or two themes.

And her choice of instruments is also appealing.

NP: THE HONEYTRAP (Dominik Scherrer)

Dominik Scherrer, who has delivered one of 2024's most interesting scores so far in BOAT STORY (and who previously impressed me with his score for MISS MARPLE) really blasted on to the scene with this excellent 2007 score, fusing electronics, orchestra and voices.

NP: BERNADETTE (Francis Lai)

Such a beautiful score. Primarily synths, true, and sometimes synths mimicking acoustic ensembles (which is usually a no-no), but somehow I like this. Only 22 minutes, though, which is too little.

NP: J'AI RECONTRÉ LE PÈRE NOËL (Francis Lai)

Too late for Christmas, but I love this score. Not the songs, necessarily (although they're nice enough), but Lai's gorgeous synth melodies. I've been on a Lai binge for a couple of months now.

NP: TIBET - CRY OF THE MOUNTAIN LION (Jeff Beal & Nawang Khechog)

I've been kinda hooked on New Age/ethnic-style scores recently, which made me go back to this 2003 score by Jeff Beal, before he became famous. Love those vast, echoey ambiances, with gongs, voices and winds.

I always try to avoid the Bollywood songs and look for albums stating that explicitly state that they are "background score" albums.

There's a high number of Bollywood albums being released digitally that I ignore because I know that they would be predominantly made up of songs.