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JOHN WILLIAMS
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- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008
So, is mostly everyone ordering from Amazon?
Would they be the fastest? -
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008
I ordered from play.com. Cheaper than Amazon (UK), and probably as quick. -
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008
I've pre-ordered from Amazon. It will be my first soundtrack purchase in 7 months!I am extremely serious. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008 edited
Thor wrote
I've pre-ordered from Amazon. It will be my first soundtrack purchase in 7 months!
And I thought I didn't buy much!?
This is a case of priorities.....am I right?On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008 edited
I know. Last soundtrack I got was the Michel Legrand 4CD box in late October or early November last year. Several items have been going OUT of my collection, though (and more are on their way).
And yes, it's a case of priorities!I am extremely serious. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008
Thor wrote
I know. Last soundtrack I got was the Michel Legrand 4CD box in late October or early November last year. Several items have been going OUT of my collection, though (and more are on their way).
And yes, it's a case of priorities!
Fair 'nuff!
I've cut down due to lack of money, space and QUALITY of today's film music.
The 4 CD Legrand box is an excellent purchaseOn Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentAuthorMatt C
- CommentTimeApr 29th 2008
I preordered from Deep Discount. They do have a checked history of shipping stuff out in advance.http://unsungfilmscores.blogspot.com/ -- My film/TV/game score review blog -
- CommentAuthorfranz_conrad
- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
Who knows whether it is legitimate, but this review translated from French of the new Indy score sounds pretty good:
This was indeed the most eagerly awaited score since JW's 1999 Phantom Menace, and we finally got our hands on it ! Without further ado, here's an analysis of what may be remembered as the last great scores of John Williams's career.
One could choose not to comment on the numerous retreads of the Raiders March riddling the
KOCS score. However, the amount of unexpected variations around this famous theme give us a
feel of John Williams' mindset on this fourth score. The orchestration is tinged with undisputable nostalgia and proves to be tamer than on Temple of Doom : the stress on flutes & woodwind sections mellows the heroic bursts of the melody, without depriving it of its universal scope.
The End Titles are even more surprising : this true symphonic prowess streches over 10 minutes, introduces a brand-new coda, the maestro seemingly decided to 'jostle' his legendary work whenever the occasion arises.
Marion Ravenwood's leitmotiv follows in the same logic, starting on a well-known base and wandering into new territories. John Williams thus develops, to the last incidental, a melody he'd added to the Raiders score at the last minute, and the new bars (mostly found in the finale) could well take fans aback. Whereas one could have expected the composer to effortlessly sail the musical seas of his own legacy, KOCS becomes the stage of a true artistic soul-searching, which grows, in no small part, through the 3 new themes.
True to the Raiders tradition, le KOCS score is based on a showdown between the protagonists' themes. The main leitmotiv (for the mysterious power-laden Crystal Skull) becomes at once an arena and a common goal. On one side, Williams depicts the 'good guys', namely Indy (whose daring feats play to the strains of the Raiders March, which the composer twists & turns across all possible tonalities, at times even only retaining its so-familiar pounding rhythm) and his sidekick Mutt (Shia la Beouf).
On the other, Williams musically paints the main new villain, Irina Spalko (Cate Blanchett). If the overall structure remains the same, the writing proves defiantly radical, bridging all of the composer's musical vocabulary (jazz à la Charles Ives, Mozart & Wagner's operas, tortured Bartokian orchestrations) and some of his latest experiments (musique concrète from
War of the Worlds, exclusive rhythmic use of brass in the latest Star Wars movies) :
The result being a score of exceptional textural wealth but also (and primarily) in complete contradiction to the current film scoring trends.
No composer today would use the musical palette characteristic to this new opus. And the reason is simple : such a work cries for a composer that has a musical culture, training level & creative genius mostly absent in the new generation, which is more comfortable in 'advertisement' lyrism à la Hans Zimmer. Derived from Mozart, the D Major 'motif' for Mutt (in The Adventures of Mutt) unrolls a succession of descending rapid-fire scales that, in addition of being daunting for the orchestra's virtuosity, provides a backup to Indy's Theme against the sonic onslaught of Irina Spalko. Irina also gets new singular musical colors, proving that John Williams is the last great theme composer alive. Tinged with melancholy, but also noble and threatening, evoking an ambitious & tragic Russia, Spalko's leitmotiv is a showcase of complex musical writing, from unnerving (but thoughful) chromatisms to unexpected (but to-the-point) cadenzas. A complexity the composer hides behinds steady rhythms and canon-like accompaniments, thus helping melody to 'sink in' in the listener's unconscious. The juxtaposition of the three themes that compete in the album's first half breeds awesome musical setpieces that will no doubt leave their imprint on the saga (most notably, the Jungle Chase).
This leaves us with the final 'Crystal Skull' leitmotiv, which may desorient many, or attract brimstone from the fans of ' great envelopping melodies'. Based on an barely modified inverted version of the Ark Theme which reappears in track 6 (for musicians the Skull theme is a B half note, F natural quarter note, and B quarter note up one scale whereas the Ark theme was F sharp half note, F natural quarter note and B quarter note below), the Skull theme proves to be the most unnerving leitmotiv of the whole saga, and drowns the whole story in a feeling of raw nightmare. The album's whole second half veers to an 'ebony' blackness territory, stressed by musical cues edging on the atonal (Grave Robbers and its tribal rhythms, Secret Doors and Scorpions and its shrill piccolos, Ants ! and its brawl between the orchestra and the percussions)
Wildy exotic (The Journey to Akator even allows for a peruvian interlude) and riddled with epic trademark Williams outbursts, KOCS can teach meny lessons to the new upcoming generation of movie composers, whether dealing with romance, blockbusters or horror movies. Let's just hope they can learn from it.A butterfly thinks therefore I am -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
"Let's just hope they can learn from it"
On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentAuthorfranz_conrad
- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
I must say I like the sound of 'jazz a la Charles Ives'.A butterfly thinks therefore I am -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
I'm hyped!
''...exclusive rhythmic use of brass...''
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- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
By the way, the review is legit, Mad Movies.com is the website of France's biggest genre movie magazine, and the website's reviewers are journalists from the mag that often get exclusives.
(and both soundtracks reviewers are nice guys, from experience)
Now... If the Skull's theme is the Ark Theme inverted... does it mean that, in the movie, both are linked to God (which would be an alien, then...). Or does it mean that the Skull is the "anti-ark", a weapon used by the enemy of the one that created the ark.... arg... too much possibilities !!! -
- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
Le Docteur wrote
By the way, the review is legit, Mad Movies.com is the website of France's biggest genre movie magazine, and the website's reviewers are journalists from the mag that often get exclusives.
(and both soundtracks reviewers are nice guys, from experience)
Now... If the Skull's theme is the Ark Theme inverted... does it mean that, in the movie, both are linked to God (which would be an alien, then...). Or does it mean that the Skull is the "anti-ark", a weapon used by the enemy of the one that created the ark.... arg... too much possibilities !!!
You know, there is such a thing as taking something too far...
You may have it it.
the Skull, is probably just... a boney, round thing, with eye holes. -
- CommentTimeApr 30th 2008
Except it isn't round, wields tremendous powers, and looks like an alien head, of course. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Le Docteur wrote
Except it isn't round, wields tremendous powers, and looks like an alien head, of course.
...and made of Crystal?
....just a guessOn Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentAuthorAnthony
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
NO ALIENS please. -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Anthony wrote
NO ALIENS please.
Shut up.On Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
I hate aliens. -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Anthony wrote
NO ALIENS please.
It's inevitable. Have you seen ANY of the toys?
-Erik-host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS! -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children! I still refuse to believe there are aliens in this. Surely Spielberg wouldn't... would he? -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children! I still refuse to believe there are aliens in this. Surely Spielberg wouldn't... would he?
You had a little visit from 2 men wearing black clothing? -
- CommentAuthorPawelStroinski
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
You mean Will Smith and Tommy Lee Jones?http://www.filmmusic.pl - Polish Film Music Review Website -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children!
Well said. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep it that way. -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Steven wrote
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children!
Well said. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep it that way.
That'd be easy. Just steer clear of sex, and you'll be alright. -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Kazoo -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
BobdH wrote
Steven wrote
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children!
Well said. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep it that way.
That'd be easy. Just steer clear of sex, and you'll be alright.
Thank God I'm not a devout Christian then. -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
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- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children! I still refuse to believe there are aliens in this. Surely Spielberg wouldn't... would he?
The figure — seemingly an alien skeleton with a crystal skull — apparently relates to the climax of the film - specifically the lost Temple of Akator, which the LEGO description tells us falls into the hands of Cate Blanchett’s Irina Spalko.
http://moviesblog.mtv.com/2008/02/17/to … stal-skull -
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008 edited
Steven wrote
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children!
Well said. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep it that way.
Just because I have a kid DOESN'T mean that I OWN any of the toys. But I'm a frequent reader of theraider.net and they have showcases some of the new toys that are due to come out... and yeah... most of them contain spoilers.
BTW, if I EVER buy any of the toys they will be for ME not Liam. I mean, I'm already saving for my 12 inch Raiders of the Lost Ark Sideshow Exclusive Edition figure.
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=39051
-Erik-
PS - Steven... I hope that when you get a little older that you too can experience the JOY of having kids.host and executive producer of THE CINEMATIC SOUND RADIO PODCAST | www.cinematicsound.net | www.facebook.com/cinematicsound | I HAVE TINNITUS! -
- CommentAuthorTimmer
- CommentTimeMay 1st 2008
Erik Woods wrote
Steven wrote
Southall wrote
Funnily enough, no. We don't all have children!
Well said. As far as I'm concerned, I'd like to keep it that way.
Just because I have a kid DOESN'T mean that I OWN any of the toys. But I'm a frequent reader of theraider.net and they have showcases some of the new toys that are due to come out... and yeah... most of them contain spoilers.
BTW, if I EVER buy any of the toys they will be for ME not Liam. I mean, I'm already saving for my 12 inch Raiders of the Lost Ark Sideshow Exclusive Edition figure.
http://www.sideshowtoy.com/?page_id=4489&sku=39051
-Erik-
PS - Steven... I hope that when you get a little older that you too can experience the JOY of having kids.
Excellent stuff!
I bought a Sideshow George Lazenby which is posed with my Bond CD's, I got him really cheap from a sci-fi shop....no one seemed to want old GeorgeOn Friday I ate a lot of dust and appeared orange near the end of the day ~ Bregt