The latest and greatest piece of music I have heard is from the Man of Steel trailer, composed by Hans Zimmer. I was very excited to see that Christopher Nolan was producing this project and that Hans was also brought on to score- they had previously worked together on the most recent Batmantrilogy and Inception- both essentials in my score library.
First listen, I hear some Lisa Gerrard, reminiscent of Gladiator. Who doesn't LOVE the Gladiator score?!
Please take a listen to Hans' greatness in this Man of Steel trailer:
Varietyhad a small article earlier this week with an interview from Hans and the "sonic landcape" that he created for Man of Steel- I like this approach. Not wanting to follow in the footsteps of John Willams and Danny Elfman, he created something new and unexpected...with a ton of strings- love me some strings.
If you want to check out some of my favorite Hans, give these masterpieces a listen:
I've been on the romance kick lately with my score listening, maybe because I'm a newlywed or maybe its the Star of Venus energy bracelet I received for Christmas (thanks Danielle). I'm going back to the "golden years" as my brother, Ditty, and I were just discussing for this post. For us, our "golden age" of film tends to include pics with rugged terrain, costumes and men on horses- most films from the 90's: Legends of the Fall, Last of the Mohicans, Dances with Wolves and Far and Away- yes peopleFar and Away yielded some good tunes.
Anywho, my brothers and I LOVED these movies, we still quote them daily. When my husband gets his hair cut too short I call him "Liuuu-tennn-taunt"- just like Stands with Fist in Dances with Wolves. YES, Dances with Wolves is played to death in commercials, PBS and trailers BUT it is one of the most beautiful scores ever written- thank you John Barry.
Where are movies with music like this today? If anyone knows one of recent I'm missing, please let me know in the comments. I have an entire post I'm saving for Last of the Moho's so don't even go there. I've put together a playlist with my favorite romantical pieces of music from films, commercials and tv throughout the years. Flicks that I've pulled from are the Illusionist (Philip Glass), Legends of the Fall ( James Horner), Amelie (Yann Tiersen), the Piano (Michael Nyman) and Inception (Hans Zimmer)- all great scores AND movies. One song in particular that I really like but have zero desire to watch the TV show is Battlestar Galactica (Bear McCreary). This song comes up often when I play Pandora (City of Prague Philharmonic Orchestra channel) at work. Thats what I LOVE about Pandora- hearing new scores daily, I encourage you to give it a whirl as well.
Has everyone seen this British Airways commercial? I have included this song in my playlist- it has breathtaking music and turned my family on to Helen Jane Long. The VO here is a bit cheesy, he finally shuts his yap at the end. My husband cracks up every time I play it because of the cheese factor, but this commercial gets my Oscar vote for, best picture, best cinematography, best score (of course) and best editing- well last years Oscar vote.
iTunes is not publishing entire playlist on link to right for some reason, please see YouTube links to songs below and entire playlist at bottom- enjoy!
This time of year reminds me of Vince Guaraldi- specifically from all of the Peanut specials that were endlessly playing on TV when I was a kid. I'm not well versed in jazz, but I like to think that this is light jazz - or as my husband would call it "kitty" jazz- it just makes me dance around with Bob Fosse jazz hands while bobbing my head like an OG Peanut.
I hear it all over the place this time of year-most recently at a sandwich shop in Ipswitch, where I just had lunch. I'm sure you have all heard his music before and associated it with Charlie Brown, but let me introduce you to Vincent - THE Man. I like to imagine having a sweet (large), mid-century pad full of family over for the holidays, serving up Manhattans and Hot Totties with Vince just quietly jamming in the background- it just SOUNDS like a good time- with lots of head bobbing of course. His music is so charming and nostalgic, I hope you like it as well.
I would recommend listening to Cast Your Fate to the Wind off of his Greatest Hits album to give you a taste of his mellow tunes, or just buy the entire album- it's a steal at only $6.99. My favorite song of his is off of the Charlie Brown Christmas album called Skating. It's my ringtone; year-round people not just during the holidays.
Happy Holidays Everyone!!
Side note here: a friend did a caricature of me the other day in true Peanut style and I LOVE it!
My absolute favorite channel on tv, the one I can't live without is TCM- Turner Classic Movies. Its the best $8/month I spend, if you don't already have it- get it.
TCM always has a 31 Days of Oscar promo going on around Oscar time, Oscar time is year-round for this moi. The 2009 promo done by Fresh Paint is the most amazing montage I've ever seen (not that I've seen them all) and the happiest piece of music I've come to know. It brings a tear to my eye and fills me with joy every
time- it's just so well done: the music, the montage, the stuff thats
going on outside of the montage- Brad Pitt AND Robert Redford- it blows my mindgrapes!
Click here to enjoy at full screen with the volume cranked. I watch this at least twice a week - so yeah, you should bookmark it as well.
The music is unaccredited, but TCM and Fresh Paint acknowledge that it's a piece of "Originally Scored" music- it's SO lovely, enjoy!
I have to admit, after the first few tracks I was not feeling this, but this is a HUGE score–31 tracks! In the end Thomas Newman KILLED it – in a good way. I listened to it 3 times today and was O so happy.
Its a mix of earthy, almost new-age sounds (Grand Bazaar, Adrenaline) with generous amounts of strings (LOVE me some strings) and full orchestration (She's Mine, Deep Water). There are also some dark and melancholy tracks reminiscent of Casino Royale(Mother, Skyfall). The score flows seamlessly and only makes me want to see to movie more.
The entire album is worth purchasing (only $10.99 on itunes) but here are my fav tracks:
:: The Chimera
:: Health & Safety (a little nod to Finding Nemo in this opening)
:: Kill Them First
:: Welcome to Scotland
:: She's Mine
:: The Moors
:: Deep Water
:: Mother
:: Adrenaline
Holy Heck! Thomas Newman's Skyfallscore releases tomorrow and I'm beyond excited! I heard a sneak peek last week on Cinemagic (XM- great station & cheap to get on your computer) and it was incredible. Jam packed with chase scenes and a full bodied orchestra with a ton of strings (I LOVE me some string section). Very reminiscent of the Casino Royale score by David Arnold & Nicholas Dodd, which was in my opinion life-changingly epic and a go-to score whenever I need to crank on some work- it just makes me want to go faster at whatever I'm doing.
I cannot wait to listen to Skyfall several times in full tomorrow…after Quantum of Solace…and after Casino Royale…and after I Vote of course.
You can stream 3 tracks on the Huffington Post UK sitefor free to get a taste. Also, please click to the right of my site for my Bond inspired playlist on itunes: ScoreWhore_Bond.
Welcome to Score Whore, where I give you the dish on what I think are the best movie scores out there. I have been obsessed with movies and their scores since I was a child at my first viewing of Amadeus. Granted that was all Mozart (another healthy obsession), but that movie made me open my ears to what's playing while I'm watching and I haven't stopped since–enjoy.
