Tis the Season!

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!

TCM – my happy place

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!

SKYFALL

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

BOND – Yes Please

Holy Heck! Thomas Newman's Skyfall score 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 site for 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

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.