The Music Behind the Magic: A Decade of Pottering - Part 1

Since the Harry Potter books and films all have such long titles, I figured I was allowed one for a rough, entirely incomplete and biased retrospective of a decade (more or less) of Harry Potter films and their music. The eight films have had four composers along the way, but I (rightly or wrongly) find myself grouping them in pairs and so I'll deal with them two at a time. I'm in the process of re-watching all of the films and so it'll probably take a bit of time to complete the entire retrospective but I'm sure it'll be mildly interesting to one person. At least.

I suspect few people will need persuasion to consider the first two films and their scores together. Both films were directed by Christ Columbus and scored by John Williams. As a result of their prior working relationship (Home Alone, erm, Home Alone 2 and Stepmom), one must imagine that Williams was Columbus' first choice. I think at that point in his career, no fan of the composer expected him to launch another musical franchise. Notwithstanding the Star Wars prequels which were a continuation (of sorts) of a franchise, not many of Williams' late 90's scores had themes that hit home in the way his late 70's to early 90's output did. Harry Potter changed that run and Hedwig's theme - the first few notes are enough for even the casual cinema goer's recognition - became the defining musical accompaniment to JK Rowling's world.

One comment I have made on a couple of occasions, most notably in my review of Harry Gregson-Williams' score to The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, is how easy it is to take someone of John Williams' talent for granted. Oddly named it might be, but Hedwig's Theme catches the ear instantly. Gregson-Williams can be a fine enough composer, but even a handful of plays of his Narnia score (and its first sequel) and I can barely remember any of the main themes. Williams' Potter music is, like so many of his classics, instantly memorable and not just to film score geeks.

Both scores are filled to the brim with other memorable melodies, but the tone is generally grandiose and there is little room for subtlety, but the insistence of the music gives both films much of their atmosphere. Almost every bit of Hogwarts seems to get its own theme - grand for the great hall, more gothic and scary for the outside - in a way that Williams has rarely done since the mid/late 90's. When it comes to taking composers for granted, it's too easy to forget that many of the B themes in Williams scores are better than a lot of composer's best material. True, after a while you can have heard a couple of the major themes one to many times and the dialled down use in later instalments was probably a wise move, but the series couldn't have started on a stronger musical footing.

Jig - Patrick Doyle

Patrick Doyle is having a busy year with two of the summer's biggest films (Thor and the upcoming Rise of the Escape Beneath the Battle Beyond the Planet of the Apes), but one that is likely to go under the radar are the 40 delightful minutes of Jig. Given that it's a documentary about Irish dancing, I was fully expecting some full on Riverdance action but, of course, Doyle is scoring the human drama backstage, not the competition itself. Therefore, while the tone is very firmly entrenched somewhat typical, film music Irish territory, but managing to sound a lot more authentic than most.

The focus is on a small ensemble; guitar, flute, violin and piano, with a delicate subtlety that is welcome after the bombast of Thor. The delicacy of the textures means it's something of a Celtic version of La Ligne Droit, although it is perhaps a little less memorable. The album closes with the lengthy Final Results, followed by a song with lyric by Doyle Jnr (male) and performed by Doyle Jnr (female). The results, like the rest of the score, are most fetching. In the midst of a noisy summer schedule, a charming and low key alternative.

Dance your way across to Amazon and jiggle your mouse once there.

Captain America - Alan Silvestri

Alan Silvestri is (and sorry to Mr Silvestri for sharing) 61. Yes, 61. I remember when he was one of the "young" composers. God, now I feel old. Given that he's now at a time when most people are starting to hope to retire soon, one can't complain that he's slowing his output, with only one 2010 release - The A Team (shame it wasn't a bit more inspiring, if I'm honest) and one for 2011. Captain America is yet another in the seemingly endless stream of comic book adaptations that Hollywood is spewing forth (not to mention the series that have or are soon to be rebooted - Batman, Spider-Man, Superman). After the slight disappointment of Thor (Patrick Doyle) and the considerably disappointment of The Green Lantern (James Newton Howard), Captain America is definitely a distinct improvement, music wise (and the film has been getting fairly decent notices too).

The one thing that Captain America has is a(n) heroic theme. Yes, a theme. Imagine that. A theme for a comic book superhero. It's even actually quite heroic. Having said that, it's rather short - more of a fanfare than a full blown theme - but it's still very credible and quite memorable. That it has a couple of short quasi-concert versions (the final, titular, score track, and, if you buy the iTunes version, a fun marching band version). As you might expect for an origin story (they all seem to be, possibly because so few get beyond that stage), the first half barely features the theme at all, being rather more dark and brooding. In common with Super 8, the first half features perhaps just a few too many short, none too exciting tracks that don't really add much despite a few genuinely effective suspenseful cues.

Once the action proper kicks in halfway through, the tempo rarely lets up and Silvestri's patented action scoring comes to the fore. Perhaps the closest antecedent is The Mummy Returns (and a touch of Van Helsing), although Captain America lacks that score's broad selection of memorable themes. In any event, it's his bustling, epic action that he's employed to generally fine effect over the last decade. It's nice to hear some action music that sounds like it was written with an orchestra in mind rather than on a keyboard and multiplied up. The album rounds out with a retro 40's musical style chorus number composed (unexpectedly) by Alan Menken. It's slightly cheesy, but good fun. One wonders what Menken might have done with the whole film, his underscoring these days is generally top notch. In any event, Silvestri's score is solid with a decent main theme, even if the secondary material is perhaps a little more workmanlike. Solid if not spectacular.

Toss your discus in the general direction of Amazon to buy it.

Super 8 - Michael Giacchino

I think Super 8 was my most anticipated score of the summer. Giacchino has turned into one of my "must have" composers where I'll buy everything he puts out, confident of it being worth the investment, with Super 8 at the top of the 2011 list. Therefore, it pains me to say that it doesn't quite excite me like I hoped it would. Several listens later and the first half still feels rather patchy, not helped by an inordinate number of brief, unrelated, but occasionally not hugely exciting cues. True, 30 second tracks can be a miniature epic of condensed genius, but more often they are incidental and that is largely the case here. The first half is largely suspenseful and feels a little laboured with so many short bursts of murmuring.

Giacchino presents several major themes which are typically memorable and delightful, although for some reason put me in mind of Howard Shore's score to The Last Mimzy, particularly in the finale track, Letting Go, which seems to be heading for an ET style finale, but never quite gets there. The fact that Giacchino doesn't do a great deal with his themes doesn't help matters. Indeed, lack of variation and invention in the use of his themes is surprisingly problematic in Super 8. Compared to the dazzling invention in Up or Ratatouille where the main themes are contorted and played with all over the place, Super 8 feels surprisingly pedestrian. The aforementioned Letting Go should be the point at which the main theme (or themes) get a full and glorious workout, but they are merely presented a few times getting a bit louder each time.

Perhaps it's unfair to have ET so strongly in mind, but the film clearly echoes Spielberg's classic and has been marketed as a throwback to those movies. Further, the trailer made excellent use of James Horner's Cocoon and Horner, for his faults, does a lot more interesting things with what is a fairly simplistic melody than Giacchino manages here. Elsewhere there's some fine action writing, World's Worst Field Trip, The Siege of Lillian and Creature Comforts are the major contenders, although it's not as structurally satisfying as some of his Pixar work. A three note motif that puts in mind Cliff Eidelman's Star Trek VI score doesn't help.

Sometimes, despite my slackness of updates, I try to put out reviews quickly to be ahead of the curve but halfway through my review of Super 8 I was disappointed at what I was saying so hoped that giving it more of a chance might help. It didn't. True, the various motifs that run through the score become more apparent with familiarity, but don't really form a greater, satisfying and more unifying whole. However good we want a composer to be - especially on a particular project - you simply can't will the music to be better than it is. Super 8 is not a bad score; there's plenty of energetic writing and a collection of memorable melodic ideas, but it doesn't push the material to the same extent as I know Giacchino is capable of doing and that marks it as something of a disappointment.

Go online in the mothership to acquire Super 8 from Amazon.

Cars 2 - Michael Giacchino

Pixar eventually had to make a film that didn't quite live up to expectations and general consensus is that Cars was that film. It's not that it's bad, but there's something that rings hollow about it; my money is on it not being set in a subset of our own world. Despite their fantastical settings, all other Pixar films somehow intersect our world so we can relate to them. With Cars, it's just cars living in a world that is otherwise like ours, but is filled with... well... cars. Fun, but difficult to relate to in any meaningful sense. Still, the kids loved it and even a classic films factory such as Pixar is allowed to make something a bit more fun.

Given that Cars was pretty much a self contained film, Cars 2 takes the characters and somehow turns it into a spy spoof thing. With cars. I hate to say it, but when a company can make something as inspired as Up, Wall-E, Toy Story or Finding Nemo, a spy film about anthropomorphic cars seems pretty weak. Guess I shouldn't prejudge, but hey, I'm a judgemental type. After Randy Newman's fine effort for the original, Michael Giacchino - who seems to be becoming in-house Pixar composer - picks up on the sequel. Given the lack of story continuity, the lack of musical continuity isn't especially problematic and Giacchino has form in the genre.

Perhaps expectedly, Cars 2 is a pretty fun action score with lots of 60's spy motifs running through it. Although other reviews have mentioned the British spy element, it sounds a lot less like Barry doing Bond than The Incredibles; maybe more the Persuaders or the Avengers. There's some comedy country for Mater (possibly Pixar's least endearing creation) and a little playful creeping about music which is something of a lighthearted take on his Mission: Impossible 3 music (a hint of M:I 4 coming out later in 2011 perhaps? OK, unlikely) to break up the action, but that does rather take centre stage.

The main three note theme gets a good work out (maybe a little too often, but we'll let it pass as it's good fun and is used in sufficiently varied ways to just about remain fresh) and the results are entertainingly action packed. After the Oscar success of the stunning Up and the gorgeous Ratatouille (his best for Pixar to date, for my money), Cars 2 wasn't likely to be another classic, but Giacchino rarely disappoints and Cars 2 is terrific fun; catchy, tuneful, carefully treading the line between pastiche, spoof and parody (if they aren't all sides of the same thing) with his usual consummate skill.

Drive on down to Amazon and buy it. Um... ok, maybe not drive, as such.

Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows: Part 2 - Alexandre Desplat

...and so it came to pass, Harry Potter did (more probably than not, maybe he dies at the end... yeah, right) smite that bloke who can’t be named and probably will end up shacking up with some random C list character we haven’t previously seen much of and everything will be well. It seems like an age since the three variably talented kids set off on their magical adventures in Rowlingland. In fairness, they have got better (presumably much of Daniel Radcliffe’s improvement came from being on stage and undressed in Equus or being able to use his huge fortune to pay for acting lessons), but when it comes to the music, the series definitely front loaded when it came to talent.

The first four films had broad, dynamic and fantasty scores that set a tone that was then largely disguarded in the last four. Nicholas Hooper hardly set the world alight with his pleasant, but fairly slight efforts. After John Williams and Patrick Doyle, all but the best composers would have had trouble but Hooper seemed a pretty steep drop. We all hoped that Alexandre Desplat would provide a spike in quality when he took on the musical mantle for both parts of Deathly Hallows (HP7) but to many, part one was something of a letdown. Part two improves matters but it’s not the musical masterpiece everyone hoped for.

I’ve tried to work out exactly what it is that makes Desplat’s Potter contributions so disappointing and I think it’s that he takes it all a bit too seriously. Yes, these films are a long way from the frothy first couple but by parts 3 and 4, the films were pretty dark in places, yet Williams and Doyle, respectively, rose to the task admirably and managed to combine drama with fantasy. Ironically, Hooper's efforts for arguably even darker films are consirably lighter in tone. Desplat seems to have wanted to move into more gloomy territory and the result is that it's all a bit too subdued.

Even when the epic battles are playing out, Desplat sounds too restrained; whether it’s the orchestration or the mixing is hard to say. Even when the orchestra are going at it hammer and tongs with heavy percussion and brass, there’s a crystalline quality which isn't nearly as charming as it should be. A bit more density and heft might have worked better. Desplat’s penchant for delicacy serves him very well much of the time, but sometimes a bit of weight and grand guignol are required. You really do miss John Williams', erm, magical, touch. Even the slightly more promiment appearances of Williams' original themes only serve to emphasise how unmemorable Desplat's are. Only Patrick Doyle came close to matching the quality of Williams' work in this regard.

Having said all that and despite a couple of longeurs, HP7 part 2 is a distinct improvement on part 1. It is more heavily weighted toward an epic showdown rather than the low end noodling that plagued much of the first half. Then again, the (presumably) climactic battle between Potter and Voldemort still feels underwhelming. Compare it to (say) the climax of Revenge of the Sith and Desplat comes up short. Even compared to similar moments in earlier movies - notably Doyle's Goblet of Fire - and it's pretty listless. The final track is about as underwhelming as it's possible to get. The chiming brass finales of the earlier episodes may not be entirely appropriate, but the score just fizzles away to nothing.

This may all sounds like too much of a rail against Desplat, who is, after all, one of the finest composers around at the moment and one to give hope that film music isn't completely going down the pan, but it really isn't. Given that the director seemed happy with Nicholas Hooper's lightweight efforts (which are, I would add, actually very pleasing, just rather frothy and up against some strong antecedents), it's hardly surprising that Desplat's effort seems a little underpowered. Down the years, I would be surprised if much beyond Williams' original work will be remembered. Even now, film music concerts only include Hedwig's theme and that's hardly appeared for several movies, yet everyone still recognises it. A disappointing end to a once promising musical series.

Get on your broomstick and waggle your wand towards Amazon to acquire it.

Green Lantern - James Newton Howard

I'm not sure at what point superhero/comic book scores started getting samey and kinda dull. My money is on Graeme Revell's average effort for Daredevil, but I could be wrong. If you work forwards from Superman, there's little drop in quality until well into the 90's after Messrs Elfman and Goldenthal stopped scoring for caped (or otherwise attired) heroic types. Perhaps only the X-Men franchise has kept its musical head above water, quality wise, although from the solid and edifying heights of John Powell, it's slipped down to the knock off Remote Control meets Powell by Henry Jackman (not singling Jackman out on purpose, just wrong place, wrong time). Even Patrick Doyle turned in a fairly average effort for Thor; still, I suspect he got a decent paycheck and it's no bad thing keeping ones profile high.

Having delved into the back issues of FSM, I've been slightly surprised at how highly rated James Newton Howard is. It's not that I think Howard is a bad composer, on the contrary, his Shyamalan efforts are excellent to terrific, but the rest is rather variable. He certainly didn't do a great deal to perk up Christopher Nolan's morose Batman pictures while working with Hans Zimmer and with Green Lantern he gets a solo comic book gig. At least Green Lantern is materially more exciting than his Batmans (Batmen?), with a broad and very Goldsmithian, fifth based brass theme. Unfortunately, it doesn't appear particularly often and even when it does, it doesn't quite hit the nail on the head.

One of Green Lantern's biggest problems (other than looking like, coming across as and generally appearing to be a second to third rate superhero and artwork that looks like it's from a spoof of the genre) is that good ideas in its score are swamped with electronics. Sections sound like the horrible overlays that plagued parts of Michael Kamen's otherwise rather good original X-Men score. Not that Kamen was responsible for them, merely obliged to suffer having them put over his orchestral score, but it was clearly a sign of things to come. Of course, while Howard has put the electronics in himself, they smother some fine orchestral writing. Green Lantern isn't terrible but it doesn't really distinguish itself in the pantheon of superhero scores. Once upon a time, each superhero had his (or her) own sound world, now there's not a lot that sets them apart. Here's hoping Alan Silvestri can do something a bit more memorable with Captain America. As it were.

If you can't find a CD shop with your lantern (green or otherwise), go and acquire it from Amazon.

The Tree of Life - Alexandre Desplat

Despite some mild disappointment with his recent output - not so much a reduction in quality, more a lack of variation of style - Alexandre Desplat is a composer I will plump down my money for on almost every occasion. The Tree of Life was a no brainer of a choice. Terence Malick is one of Hollywood's most revered, but infrequent filmmakers so every effort is a big event. He's not a director who sticks to a composer, so after Hans Zimmer on The Thin Red Line and James Horner on The New World, Desplat gets his turn on The Tree of Life.

The best description of The Tree of Life I could think of is "epic chamber music". The orchestra is fairly small, strings and woodwind predominate, but the scope feels grand and somehow endless. There's more than a hint of Philip Glass or Steve Reich there from time to time, notably in the extended Circles, perhaps the score's finest single cue. Rarely has a cue sounded so much like its title; Desplat spinning short phrases one upon the other, but always with great clarity, never allowing the textures to become muddied. It sounds boundless and epic, but as my summary description suggests, is done with a fairly modest ensemble.

The Tree of Life is not an especially warm score, Desplat's harmonies are a bit too twisty to ever become truly satisfying. One feels that it could break out into something heroically uplifting, but it never does, minor key harmonies always pulling it back to a more nebulous harmonic framework. Apart from James Horner, few composers write long cues these days, but clearly The Tree of Life gave ample space for Desplat to craft well structured cues, albeit largely from smaller building blocks. A beautiful and elegant album that is sure to my one of the year's finest.

CDs don't grow on trees, so get it from Amazon instead.

Pirates of the Caribbean: On Stranger Tides - Hans & Friends

Oh goody, a fourth Pirates of the Caribbean (POTC) movie. I'm not sure I'll ever bother finding out what is so strange about the tides in this one as the reviews have been largely crap and I was bored after half of the first one. No idea how or why I ended up seeing the two ear and eye bleeding sequels. Maybe I really have no willpower of my own.

The one thing that did improve after the first film (nominally by Klaus Badelt, but how come Badelt is never credited with "original POTC themes" in the later, Zimmer scores?) when Zimmer took over to deliver some occasionally jolly accompaniment. On Stranger Tides is more of the same, exactly what you'd expect; action music that sounds like Gladiator (really, Hans, something else, please?) and lots of Captain Jack's theme. Unfortunately, some of the whimsy of the theme is lost as it's ramped up too far, too often.

One significant redeeming feature is the inclusion of some gorgeous guitar cues performed by Rodrigo Y Gabriela (evidently Heitor Pereira is busy these days). The only downside is that they result in the album sounding like two scores mixed up; one intimate, Hispanic, the other trad Hans Zimmer. Still, it makes for a pleasing rest. The album is almost half remixes and other crap, best avoided. Fun enough and worth a punt if you like the previous POTC scores, but hardly essential.

Pieces of eight accepted at Amazon if you want to acquire it. Or they might exchange it for your parrot.*

*They won't, the lily livered bastards.

Thor - Patrick Doyle

If Kenneth Branagh is an unlikely choice to direct a comic book movie, then Patrick Doyle is a mildly unlikely choice to score it, but I guess we should be grateful Branagh as able to engage his composer of choice. Films based on Marvel Comics have had variably good scores, the high water being Elfman's Spider-Man efforts, but with some fine entries from the X-Men films and John Ottman's decent scores for the Fantastic Four.

The most striking thing about Thor is that it doesn't sound a whole lot like Doyle most of the time. Much has been made of its Remote Control-ness, which isn't entirely unfair. There's a lot of sustained string lines and percussion; Frost Giant Battle is typical in this regard. It's all quite exciting and there's more going on than in the average RC (or Brian Tyler) score, at least the strings occasionally bounce around but it sounds from interviews that Doyle very much did what was expected without too much room for manoeuvre.

Outside of the action, the incidental scoring is action without the drums in a lot of cases. Long string lines and low registers predominate (another aspect Doyle commented upon in interviews). The main melodic material is fine enough at the time, but not exactly indelible afterwards. I'm sure it'll look good on his CV and keep his profile raised - I rather dreaded his music being rejected given that his scoring can be a touch intrusive at times (although this usually makes for a great album). Thor is certainly muscular (haha) entertainment, but the strictures of the studio and genre conventions don't really show Doyle at his best.

If you can find your magical hammer, sell it and go buy the score from Amazon.

Film Music Free Friday: Reboot the Music Part 3

OK, a day late, but thought I should finish (probably) this particular column stream.

Not only do film serials get rebooted, but so too do TV shows and where better to look than two of the longest running TV shows in history and, in one case, the longest running sci-fi show in the world.

When Doctor Who started in 1963, I doubt anyone would imagine that Daleks would be running amok at the Royal Albert Hall while a symphony orchestra blasted out a ramped up version of Ron Grainer's ghostly theme (originally produced by the BBC Radiophonic Workshop in a version that changed little for almost 20 years). For all the protestations that Doctor Who was a bit of a cult TV show, the original series actually had MORE viewers than it does today. Yet the BBC rarely considered it more than a show for kids and gave it a budget of about 49 pence per episode until being cancelled in 1989. Even then it regularly received as many viewers as the show does today but in 2011, it's deemed a smash hit.

Fortunately, the good Doctor made a return in 2005 with Russell T Davis rebooted Doctor Who after 16 years off our screens, save for the 1999 movie. Although I am not a fan of Debney's score to the TV movie, it did at least set some kind of precedent for Murray Gold when he took over scoring duties for RTD. The original Doctor Who went through an eclectic mix of composers, some independently engaged by specific directors, but often from the BBC Radiophonic Workshop when an electronic score was called for (or, perhaps more accurately, all they could afford). The original scores often seem rather hokey these days. If acoustic, the ensembles were small and the music fairly terse and unmemorable. The same goes for the electronic scores which were often difficult to separate from the sound effects.

However, Davis decided that in 2005, only big scoring would do, although I suspect few remember that the first series of the rebooted show was almost entirely electronic, albeit more synth orchestra than the kind of eerie bleeps of the original show. However, a small chorus for the first Dalek episodes gave a taste of things to come and by the first Christmas special, the BBC National Orchestra of Wales were performing a full orchestral score. If one had to imagine the opposite of the original show's music, Murray surely provided it. Bold, epic, tuneful, not to mention loud - indeed, loud enough to be spoofed for its occasional intrusiveness. However, it was just one element the show had always needed, although I grant that had the original episodes been scored in the same way, they would have come across as ridiculous, but with RTD's grand vision, it all seemed perfect. So it continues as Gold continues to score the show for Stephen Moffat.

While Doctor Who is going strong, Star Trek has stumbled badly and is only just picking itself up again after JJ Abrams' exciting new take. I'm not a massive fan of Abrams' film, at least not a fan of it as a Star Trek film; it doesn't seem to quite get the point of Star Trek, but on its own terms, is a thrilling ride. The franchise has had many reboots over the years, most notably when Jerry Goldsmith scored the first film and made Star Trek grand, but also reflected the mysteries of existence with his thunderous V'Ger music. The films and their music have felt rebooted over and over in some ways. James Horner took an entirely different approach for an entirely different type of Star Trek film in the Wrath of Kahn, although The Search for Spock retains more continuity.

Each subsequent film has felt a little different, until the final three Next Generation movies that almost seemed to undo what Goldsmith originally did with The Motion Picture, making Star Trek progressively less and less grandiose, rather more and more of a standard action/adventure in space. Goldsmith was only reflecting the movies he was given, but the rush of imagination that created The Motion Picture, or even Star Trek V. The latter may have been a terrible film in many ways, but Goldsmith was still composing for the film it should have been and the endless possibilities of existence rather than the disappointing action/adventure film it was. Michael Giacchino's first Star Trek outing was perhaps more successful than Goldsmith's last, Nemesis, but is still more firmly rooted in action and adventure rather than ideas, possibilities and the human condition. However, it'll be interesting to see what he does next. Here's hoping for a more memorable main theme, at least.

One thing Giacchino did with his score was bring the main theme full circle by including a sweeping version of Alexander Courage's original TV series melody. It made me think that Courage's tune wouldn't seem so hokey these days had it been arranged rather differently. It certainly feels a lot more adventurous, soaring between the stars than the bongos and soprano original. The original TV show had some of the best TV music of the 60's, orchestral and in striking contrast to the bleepy Doctor Who music of the same era. While somewhat of its time, it still stands up today and is certainly strikingly different to the broad washes of orchestra that characterised a lot of the Next Generation and early Deep Space Nine scoring.

Fortunately, the producers eased up on the Star Trek composers and some of the later Deep Space Nine and Voyager scores are genuinely rather exciting, although they don't match the best of the early Next Generation scores. Little beats Ron Jones' thrilling music for the classic two hander, the Best of Both Worlds. Should another series ever make it to our screens - which seems unlikely for the foreseeable future, Paramount are clearly happier letting the new film series bed down and make it a nice chunk of cash, more than any of the previous films - one wonders whether maybe it'll be more like Bear McCreery's music for the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica which went in a different direction to Stu Phillips' Star Wars Lite score for the original and replaced it with percussion loops, string elegies and even a little Celtic lilt here and there. It's certainly some of the most accomplished and effective scoring of the 2000's.

Reviews, reviews, where are you?

Well hello my lovelies. So, how are you? Really? How interesting. OK, back on me.

Sorry to Miranda Hart for stealing her material there.

Apologies to you, the loyal reader(s) for the lack of updates of late. I'm moving back to Guernsey from London, where I have been living this past earth year. London, you may have heard of it? Fair sized down in the south east of the land of the Angles. Hopefully, once settled back into island life, updates will resume a little more often. Plus there's a few bits of good musical shit coming our way (even if the first of these, Patrick Doyle's score to Thor, has been a bit of a disappointment) which I clearly must pontificate on.

In the meantime, live long and prosper, bitch. As Vulcan youths say.

The Next Three Days - Danny Elfman

Thrillers are a bit of a bugger of a genre to make interesting. If there's enough action, it's not too bad, but suspense is only interesting for so long. John Powell rarely let his Bourne scores get too boring, but it's the action music you remember the longest afterward and Alexandre Desplat made a good fist of his first forays into mainstream Hollywood scoring, notably Firewall and Hostage. Danny Elfman isn't perhaps the most obvious choice for a standard thriller, but he's scored a few in his time. I suppose Mission: Impossible counts and it's one of his finest scores, but the others - Extreme Measures and Article 99 amongst them - are fine enough, but don't musically set the world alight.

The Next Three Days is, however, rather more Extreme Measures than Mission: Impossible. The most striking thing is how little of it sounds like Elfman. Even outside of his most obvious mannerisms through the years, he has plenty of other musical fingerprints that give him away, but here I'd be hard pressed to identify the composer aside from on a couple of occasions. Indeed, the percussive suspense/action passages sound more like John Powell (perhaps a touch less percussion and more low key) than the tick-tick rhythms of Mission: Impossible. While it's not crucial that every score by a particular composer sounds like their others, when the tropes are as strong as Elfman's, they are missed when absent.

A lot of the score is actually fairly subdued, gentle piano and suspended strings are pleasing, albeit a touch slow going. Indeed, not a great deal happens until  Breakout (where it becomes more readily identifiable as Elfman as well) and a good number of the earlier cues could have been dropped at no great loss. After the thematic delights and richness of Alice in Wonderland it doesn't immediately leap out of the speakers. Elfman is always worth a punt, but a bit of judicious pruning might have made for a more readily enjoyable album. As with the Bourne films, a couple of Moby tracks complete the disc and, as with the Bourne films again, compliment the underscore quite nicely.

Acquire within 72 hours from Amazon.com.

The Adjustment Bureau - Thomas Newman

I think Thomas Newman scoring The Adjustment Bureau is a bit odd. Isn't it? I expected to see John Powell, Harry Gregson-Williams or ... Still, it's enough of a surprise to see Thomas and not Randy in the credits of Wall-E, but he did a fantastic job there. The Adjustment Bureau is another Philip K Dick adaptation; a writer who has done pretty well when it comes to turning his writing into celluloid - Blade Runner, Total Recall, Minority Report amongst the best well known. As I noted in a previous review, brief, high concept stories are ideal for blockbuster movies.

The Adjustment Bureau is ostensibly a thriller, but based around a love story and the concept of fate being determined by some overseers; the titular bureau. However, the romantic aspect leaves Newman a bit more room for a somewhat gentler approach. There is suspense and action, but the textures are somewhat lighter and less intensely ominous than one might expect. Having said that, from the breezy guitar led The Girl on the Bus, Square-One Reset is considerably darker. Unsurprisingly, the romance is fairly underplayed, even Real Kiss is pretty tentative, but the lack of any kind of romantic completion does give the album a somewhat unresolved quality.

Newman albums more often than not have a couple of non-score tracks or songs amongst them, but usually well worked into the flow of the album. I suspect grumbles will go up about the entries by Messrs Ashcroft and Vaughan. Rightly in the case of the latter which is drivel (a dance remix of the classic song Fever forming 7 minutes of aural abuse), but Richard Ashcroft (he off of the Verve, still proving the drugs don't work) collaborated with Newman and, as such, those efforts fit quite smartly within the album. If you were expecting a John Powell type effort, you might be disappointed (notwithstanding the plentiful percussion) as Newman plays it a bit more low key, indeed perhaps a bit too low key. It leaves an impression, but a subtle one based on atmosphere rather than striking melody, but when so many scores can feel so workmanlike and lacking in style, Newman is still a welcome musical voice.

Adjust your bank balance by acquiring this disc at Amazon.com.

Jane Eyre - Dario Marianelli

Oh goody, another version of Jane Eyre to go with the 432 other filmed versions, 100 weight of musicals, ballets and one in plasticine (possible lie). Where for Pride and Prejudice he filled the fairly large shoes of Carl Davis who did superb work on the 90's BBC version, Dario Marianelli is stepping into the epic galoshes of John Williams and Bernard Herrmann. Oh, and Roy Webb who scored the 1943 zombie version (not a lie).

I must admit that, lovely though his effort is, Marianelli's Jane Eyre is a bit, erm, dull. It's beautiful and delicate. It's exactly what you'd expect. But it isn't anything else. That's not necessarily a bad thing; even fulfilled expectations can be excellent. Marianelli seems to be in danger of doing a bit of a Desplat and remaining a consummate craftsman, but becoming rather samey. I'd be hard pressed to pick his Jane Eyre out of a lineup (especially if one of the suspects was his Pride and Prejudice up against the wall).

I know it's bad to benchmark too much, but both Herrmann and Williams filled their Eyres with drama and passion. Marianelli's is about as passionate as a Belgian taxi driver (I'm going to get letters), seemingly trying to never make too much of an impact. Of course it couldn't be scored in grand, melodramatic style given modern film making sensibilities, but it's wetter than Mr Darcy striding out of a lake. Sorry, wrong story. I have no doubt that it's gorgeous and apt in the film, but on disc you'd be hard pressed to notice it's there half the time. Undeniably gorgeous, but in need of a hearty dose of passion and drama.

Paul - David Arnold

After the success of Shaun of the Dead and the almost as good Hot Fuzz, Simon Pegg and Nick Frost can do nearly no wrong and Paul seems to continue the trend (not that I've seen it, although the trailer didn't look hugely inspiring). It looks like a comedy version of ET, but starring Roger from American Dad, although Paul is not as camp as Butlins. David Arnold worked on Hot Fuzz and evidently buoyed by the coup of getting a top Hollywood composer, Pegg, Frost and Arnold reunited for Paul.

As a cross between a sci-fi and a road trip, buddy movie, Arnold's music takes both in its stride; quite literally with the perky, folksy Road Trips with a bit of guitar and harmonica. Campfire Confessions is a little darker while A Little Talk With Paul and 1st Contact are pleasingly underplayed. The finale, Goodbye, is a pleasing riff on grandiose sci-fi finales, although ET is the most obvious comparator, even if Arnold is considerably more subtle than Williams (had to happen sometime, I guess).

The album is filled out with an eclectic, but somewhat noncommercial selection of songs, including a cover of Williams' Cantina Band music from the original Star Wars. One supposes there's a good sight gag to go with this in the film itself. Sometimes short and sweet works very well for a score and while half an hour might have been better, 21 minutes of David Arnold's delightful music seems about right (and it's entirely possible there isn't much else of note).

Fly to another world or order it from Amazon.com.

La Ligne Droite -Patrick Doyle

Patrick Doyle has evidently had a bit of time off with only a very obscure score for 2010 (Main Street), but is back with La Ligne Droite for Régis Wargnier, for whom he composed Indochine, Est-Ouest and Une Femme Francaise. La Ligne Droite is a little smaller in scale than some of Wargnier's other films and that extends to Doyle's intimate score, written for 11 players, a double string quartet, bass, piano and harp. The film is about a young runner released from prison who helps a blind athlete train and the music is delightfully lithe, with moments of introspection as the two bond during their training.

There is a distinct Philip Glass/Michael Nyman vibe running through the score, although it's not strict minimalism but Doyle weaves the fetching melodic content around repeated patterns. I've often felt that action music, or any music depicting motion and momentum can be achieved very - if not more - effectively with a smaller ensemble than a huge orchestra. Sometimes rows of horns, banging percussion and the rest of the 100 odd players pounding away cancels itself out and all you are left with is aural stodge. The clarity in La Ligne Droite is extremely refreshing.

As an aside, Doyle was interviewed (by his daughter) at Glasgow University in early 2011 and a video of it is available here. La Ligne Droite is mentioned and his comments about an 11 member chamber orchestra being recorded to sound big are especially interesting. He makes some fascinating comments about working on the then upcoming Thor, plus experiences of working with Kenneth Branagh on earlier films. As it's a bit less formal than a DVD extras type interview, the anecdotes and asides are especially interesting. In any event, if you only learn one thing from it, it's that Doyle is a delightful and charming chap. Thoroughly recommended for any fan of film music, whether you're particularly a fan of the composer or not. Which you should be, he's terrific and La Ligne Droite is another gem.

Apparently not yet available in Americaland, so run across to somewhere importing or European to acquire in haste.

Doctor Who: Season 5 - Murray Gold

...and so it came to pass, David Tennant did regenerate into Matt Smith and Russell T Davies did regenerate into Stephen Moffat. For a show that, until 2005 (and ignoring the 90's TV movie), had a budget of approximately £3.96 an episode, the Doctor Who of 2010 seems almost improbably well made with a movie scope, even if it has a budget per episode that would make about 1.2 seconds of Avatar. For all the on and off screen change of cast, Murray Gold remains the show's in-house composer and doing a pretty good job at being the same, but different, for Matt Smith's 11th Doctor.

For my money, Matt Smith is every bit the equal of Tennant, although the writing has been disappointingly uneven and, despite delightfully sparky rapport with his new companion, Amy Pond hasn't quite hit Rose Tyler levels of popularity. Similarly unpopular is Gold's new arrangement of Ron Grainer's classic theme tune. The opening trumpet fanfare is a bit naff and makes it sound more like a kids' show theme, knocking out some of its more adventurous impact and almost completely neutering its mysterious quality. His new Doctor theme is, however, a lot more adventurous than Tenant's more wistful tune and right enjoyable it is too.

As ever, Murray traverses as much musical time and space as the show itself. From WWII heroics when Spitfires face the Daleks in Victory of the Daleks to unusual low end wind timbres for the Silurians (one of the less successful reincarnations of an old school Who monster, although the crappy new Dalek design... OK, don't get me started... back to the music) to eerie effects for the Weeping Angels (proving many is sometimes less scary than one) to the typically grand score for the season finale, Gold is still coming up with the goods.

The wild eclecticism of the previous albums is replaced by a more cohesive style, so there's less standout stuff but it does flow better. Call it a maturing of style or simply the new producers wanting a more through composed sound, but Gold has modulated his approach to some extent; the same but different. It is, fortunately, still by and large, rollicking stuff replete with full orchestra, choir, vocal soloists and everything fans of the show have come to expect.

Doctor Who: The Specials - Murray Gold

The moment all Who fans thought would never come, David Tennant left the TARDIS after three years and a of occasional hour long specials, culminating in the understatedly titled The End of Time in which he made his last stand against the Master. Well, until they meet again of course... For his last year in time and space, Murray Gold's music receives the double disc treatment, with lengthy contributions from each Special score and over an hour from his last stand.

Tenant's last light hearted Christmas special was The Next Doctor; unsubtly playing with the audience's expectations over whether Tenant would leave sooner than expected. He didn't, but it was still a fine special, even if the Cyberking (a kind of Cyberman Iron Giant) was just a bit too silly. Gold takes the Victorian setting to heart with a grandiose main theme. Of course it's not long before it's going all action, although the swaggering Bondian brass is perhaps a touch incongruous, but Gold has always been good at setting styles off against one another. However, as the longest of the Specials outside The End of Time, it's rollicking fun throughout, although there's still time for a reflective pause in The Greats of Past Time. 

Planet of the Dead was the weakest of the Specials, seemingly dragging out a serviceable mid-season episode to an hour of unnecessary asides, a Potter-esque flying bus and creatures that seemed dimly reminiscent of Pitch Black. Gold's score is fun enough, but rather inconsequential. Waters of Mars was a much better entry; a thrilling combination of grand horror, sci-fi, time travel, a moral dilemma and the Doctor believing he can start to play god. The suite emphasises the gentler moments, touching gently on the horror and action in By Water Borne. Something of a shame that some fine action scoring was missed out, but it's properly dramatic, notably The Fate of Little Adelaide which is quite gorgeous.

Not since Tom Baker's epic send off has a Doctor's end been quite so heavily foreshadowed - indeed, previous regenerations, especially in the original series, were somewhat perfunctory affairs. However, for his last story, Russell T Davies decided to pull out all the stops, bring back the Master, the Time Lords and make it a grand epic. As ever, some of it works, some of it doesn't but importantly, it's the bits that really matter that work the best. The Master's madness and the Time Lord's (brief) return are great bluster, but the emotional substance of Tennant's last stand is brilliantly pulled off, even if the denouement is a touch drawn out, although as he enters the TARDIS for the last time, there may well have been sobbing at Chez Tom.

Gold throws more or less every trick in his musical book into the mix; gentle choirs for the Ood, a little perky town music for Donna's granddad, Wilf, a terrifically portentous version of his Gallifrey theme from the third series for The Council of Time Lords and a reprise of his whirling Master music from the same series. The circular string motif (inspired by the Wicked Witch of the West's theme from the Wizard of Oz), coupled with the four note knocking motif, never ceases to impress as an ingeniously unhinged theme for an unhinged genius. It would have been so easy to assign a fairly standard villain motif, but Gold manages to capture The Master's eccentric madness quite superbly.

As the moment approaches, Four Knocks finally tells the Doctor that his 10th incarnation's time is up, leading to Vale Decem as his regeneration takes place. As perfect a scene as the show has ever produced, Tennant's regeneration is spine tingling and wonderful, Gold's music is no small part of the reason why. Yes, it's overwrought to some extent, but when you have a lead character turning into a new man amidst huge explosions, nothing less will do. Then, as on the show, it's swiftly onto this new man as the real New Doctor starts dealing with a crashing TARDIS...

Please Release Me (let me go) - Part 6

Apologies for the lack of updates over the last week; lack of internet, but here's part 6 (possibly the final part as I'm running out of things I feel are desperately lacking...) of my summary of scores that could do with being re-released or released for the first time.


I feel kinda bad that I'm not desperately trying to get some obscure Alex North or Bernard Herrmann score released, but rather music written for films about submarines, bugs in space and psychotic toys. Having said that:

North by Northwest - Bernard Herrmann

Here's a puzzle for your little mind to dwell on, dear reader (the patronisometer is set to max, baby), how come the otherwise superb release of North by Northwest by Rhino is only let down by having variably crappy sound. Ok, it's a score from the 50's and there plenty enough scores from the 70's and 80's which haven't aged well (there's even debate, I recently learned, over the quality of the tapes on Elfman's Batman score, which is 1989. Worrying. It sounds fine to me, but maybe my ears are tin) but then there are plenty from the 60's which sound just great. However, in the specific case of North by Northwest, there is a DVD with the score isolated which sounds absolutely remarkable. Maybe there is some kind of mixing skulduggery at work here and they have somehow reduced the hiss by muddying the sound. I must confess my copy of the DVD is stuck across the seas in Guernsey but from recollection, it was neither muddy or hiss and certainly vastly improved on the Rhino release; in particular there are sections of the Rhino release where there was tape damage, but no such damage is obvious on the DVD. Presumably both were taken from different sources, but it would be rather jolly for a label to revisit those sources and perhaps give the tapes from the isolated score a spruce up for CD release. If anyone has any info on why there is such an obvious disparity in quality, I'd love to know. There is, of course, the fine re-recording conducted by Joel McNeely, but it's always good to have Herrmann conduct Herrmann.

Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban - John Williams

OK, back to the magical, non-serious stuff again. While Williams' first two Potter scores provided the series with a core of famous thematic material, it was only with a change of director and tone on Azkaban that Williams could actually write something that didn't drench the film like treacle. There's an incisiveness to the music that simply isn't present in the first two scores which have a denseness that makes them quite tiring to listen to. I'm sure plenty of collectors would like expanded releases of all three of Williams' Potter efforts, but I'm not sure I could face 2 plus hours of the first two, but Azkaban has the scope to be of interest in a longer format. It's a rather unlikely prospect unless Warner Brothers decide they want to do an epic Potter music boxed set, not to mention the existing album is quite generously proportioned.


Sky High - Michael Giacchino
A rare, unreleased, but pretty mainstream effort from Giacchino for a good and somewhat underrated movie about a superhero school. It should be awful, but is surprisingly entertaining. Giacchino's score is a distant cousin to his wonderful effort for The Incredibles. Not quite as retro - indeed some of it is very modern - but his ability to tap into a bit of a John Barry vibe is still in evidence. Perhaps a bit of a lightweight effort compared to some of the other scores that have yet to see the light of day, but fun none the less.


Beauty and the Beast 2: The Enchanted Christmas (Rachel Portman)
Following up on Alan Menken's Oscar winning music for the now classic Beauty and the Beast was never going to be easy, but Rachel Portman's music for the straight to video (as was) midquel (i.e. the events are meant to take place during the original film) is a delight. The handful of songs don't quite hit Be Our Guest or Belle in their brilliance, but Stories and the title track, As Long As There's Christmas are both most charming. The latter is particularly interesting since the film version is a bouncing ensemble number (the film's Be Our Guest, I suppose) whereas it becomes a ballad for the end credits. I do (of course) prefer the film version. Only a better lyricist might have improved things. Unfortunately, the underscore gets possibly the shortest shrift in the history of soundtracks with a paltry 2 minutes and 19 seconds. Over 2 tracks, at that. Again, as another effort for Disney, the chances of more of Portman's charming score seeing the light of day are small, but we can but hope.

Film Music Free Friday: Reboot the Music Part 2

Where Batman was very successfully rebooted by Christopher Nolan after the original series went wildly off the rails in Batman & Robin, the Superman franchise hasn't restarted with quite such success. Expectations for Bryan Singer's Man of Steel reboot were sky high given his track record with the X-Men films, but it never really quite got its act together. It's hard to pinpoint exactly what's wrong with it, but with its moniker as the most expensive film ever made - unofficially, of course - expectations were naturally ludicrously high. It was unlikely that John Williams would return - after all, he didn't score any of the sequels - but it was certain that John Ottman would take over given his working relationship with Singer. Ottman is a fine enough composer, but I've never been convinced that epic, orchestral scores are his forte. However, unlike Messrs Zimmer and Howard who didn't refer to Elfman's Batman music, Ottman used most of the major themes from Williams' classic original.

Much though he did fine work using the main theme and its simple, but memorable rhythm, which is a perfect lead in to any heroic act, Ottman did make the odd choice to reharmonise the love theme. Ottman is reported as saying that he felt it sounded rather old fashioned. Possibly, although he could simply have made it a little less sweeping and more delicate but retaining Williams' original harmonies. Any theme can be made more sensitive and understated with the right approach but just simplifying the harmony does nothing but make it sound, well, simple. Having said that, his decision not to use the original March of the Villains was decidedly sensible and his Lex Luthor material is far more dramatic than Williams' and gives Luthor the kind of menace he deserves.

After the relative failure of Singer's film, the franchise is being re-rebooted by Zack Snyder, he of 300 and Watchmen and, erm, that Legend of the Guardians film about talking owls. It's unclear who Snyder is likely to ask to write the music. His favourite composer is Tyler Bates, whose work, I have to admit, I have found to be largely risible. The only time it seemed decent was 300 and that's only because Elliot Goldenthal wrote it, but called it "score from Titus". Perhaps Bates can pull one out of the hat should Snyder go with him, but I have strong reservations and certainly doubt it would be done with the general reverence that Ottman brought to the material. Needless to say, I don't think John Williams is in any danger of being surpassed.

Spider-Man is another franchise that rather lost its way on part 3. The same could be said for the music, to some extent, although the problems began during Spider-Man 2 when Danny Elfman, for the first time ever, walked. Christopher Young took over for Spider-Man 3, but basing his music on Elfman's in large part, but the film was a critical failure and enough of a commercial flop that the plans for a fourth were canned. Instead, we have a Peter Parker: The Teenage Years type take on the material. Could be interesting (probably won't be). It seems unfortunate that Sam Raimi appears to have gone a bit off the rails as the original two films really were superb entertainment. Give me them over Nolan's self important Batman films any day, but also occupying a world that seems rather more plausible than Burton's. The choice of composer isn't exactly clear as reboot director Marc Webb (who is about 12) has only 500 Days of Summer on his CV and that was scored by Mychael Danna. A Mychael Danna superhero score could certainly be interesting, although my hunch is that they will go for a lot of songs and rather more incidental score. Elfman's material seems unlikely to make a return.

Next time, Treks through the Stars and time travelling Doctors.

True Grit - Carter Burwell

Elmer Bernstein was at the peak of his western writing powers when he scored the 1969 version of True Grit, starring - of course - John Wayne. It was even Oscar nominated. For best song. Well, quite. The Coen brothers had quite a lot to live up with their 2010 remake, but have, by all accounts, acquitted themselves more than admirably and the film has received fine reviews. And yes, I must see it.

Carter Burwell's score was never going to be anything like Bernstein's, but is actually warmer and more lyrical than I had anticipated (something more along the lines of Beltrami's tense, but superb The Three Burials of Melquiades Estrada was in my mind). The major melodic material is based on old hymn tunes, but of a fairly warm and homely sort. As Burwell noted, he and the directors were after "something that was severe (sounding). It couldn't be soothing or uplifting, and at the same time it couldn't be outwardly depressing." They are actually somewhat more pastoral and homely than that description suggests but there are hints of darkness with some subtle, but well placed bass notes. The delicate arrangements for strings and woodwind are very fetching.

The moments of increased drama - The Snake Pit and Taken Hostage, in particular - don't feel too intrusive in an otherwise surprisingly gentle album. The music merely surges to those points, then eases off again towards the low key finale. At a shade over 35 minutes, it's a surprisingly short album by 21st century film music standards, but it somehow feels just right. Western scores seem unlikely to return wholeheartedly to the Bernstein, Moross, Goldsmith, Broughton heyday and Morricone only ever seems to be referenced in parody, but this more sombre take on the genre is still highly recommended.

Shoot up varmints and git some of your cash over to Amazon.com to acquire it. Or steal it from a sheriff (just don't shoot the deputy).

February 2011 Round Up: Battle LA, The Eagle, Gnomeo & Juliet, The Mechanic

Battle: Los Angeles - Brian Tyler

Brian Tyler used to be really promising, but seems to have got stuck with a lot of fairly crappy movies (Alien V Predator: Requiem anyone?), or at least movies that don't require much in the way of subtlety or skill. Battlefield: Los Angeles continues the trend. Imagine Tron: Legacy with all the subtlety taken out, even less in the way of memorable melodic material and action music that's largely indistinguishable from his other scores or ones from Remote Control. Still, it's the kind of scoring that makes what used to pass for a muscular score - Goldsmith's Total Recall or Poledouris' Robocop or Starship Troopers - seem positively wimpish in comparison and appear like masterpieces of nuance.

The Eagle - Atli Orvarsson

Atli Orvarsson might still count as promising and, for some reason, composers from Nordic and Scandinavian countries are usually ace (albeit more in the classical realm, Sibelius, Nielsen and Tviett wrote some of the 20th century's finest works. Oh, and Sigur Ros). Having seemingly appeared from nowhere to score Stuart Little 3 (even Alan Silvestri has to say no eventually), he has a decent CV of TV and movie credits to his name. His latest, The Eagle, is about a lost Roman legion... hang on, wasn't that what The Last Legion was about? Despite actually being a Remote Control composer, Atli's score is reasonably restrained, albeit not hugely distinctive. Large doses of highland pipes and fiddles abound which at least provide some decent flavour; it's set in Scotland... hang on, isn't that where The Last Legion was set? Of course, there are a few decent action licks, in a stolid, marching about kind of way although Out Swords! (which sounds just a bit naughty to me) has some surprisingly quasi-atonal violin skittering over the top of otherwise rather plain brass and percussion. Touches like this push it above average, just.

Gnomeo & Juliet - James Newton Howard & Elton John

The 2011 Oscar for "Film that looks least promising from its poster, concept description and trailer" must surely go to Gnomeo & Juliet, from the producing hand of Elton John and husband, David Furnish. Romeo & Juliet with gnomes. But, of course. Just what we always wanted. However, reviews have been pretty favourable and I might just about persuade the boyfriend to see it. Maybe. Surprisingly, most of John's contributions are from his back catalogue rather than new songs, although an ill advised redo of Crocodile Rock with Nelly Furtado is, well, ill advised. James Newton Howard and, erm, accomplice(?) Chris Bacon contribute a few score tracks to the album. It's fairly typical Howard stuff, but not really a patch on his previous animated adventures, although the titular track is fairly engaging.

The Mechanic - Mark Isham

Mark Isham has started releasing scores on his own label, the imaginatively titled Mark Isham Music, starting off with The Mechanic which, I have to confess, is one of his "oh bloody hell, why can't he stick to jazz and not action films" scores. It even comes in three versions. One short, "album" version, a complete version and a special edition which comes with a hand engraved model of his toilet seat (possible lie). Frankly the full version is a bit long but the suite format of the "album" version is interesting enough action/suspense stuff. It does have the benefit of not sounding like Remote Control, which is a start, but it's quite stark and dense stuff so isn't quite enjoyable in any meaningful sense, but is expertly written for what it is, just something of a tough listen to want to put on too regularly.

Film Music Free Friday: I Wouldn't Have Scored it Like That...

A discussion on the FSM forum regarding the music of Star Trek (which, inevitably, descended into a Goldsmith versus Horner debate - for the record, I view the first two scores as equally superb, but totally different so barely comparable) and I made a confession. I would have scored the opening - or rather more precisely, the opening titles - to Star Trek: The Motion Picture differently. Rather than the vibrant version of the now classic theme, I'd have gone for mysterious and ominous, using hints of the V'Ger material. Keep Ilea's Theme as the overture (the last ever, as I'm sure every fan knows), but against the black screen and stark, white writing, rumblings from the blaster beam, low brass chords.

When I floated this idea on a message board (often a terrible mistake), the response was actually surprisingly moderate/positive. It's not that I think Goldsmith did anything wrong, I have no doubt that Paramount, Rodenberry and Robert Wise wanted a big, epic theme to start the film; remember, the original viewers had never heard the now classic theme and might well have expected Courage's original theme. Indeed, this was the only area of contention regarding my suggestion on the message board; fans seeing the film on the big screen for the first time in 1979 would be having enough trouble accepting vastly different music as it was, without the opening to the film with a non-heroic couple of minutes. Therefore Goldsmith did what was asked of him. However, it strikes me that it would be vastly more dramatically satisfying to set a menacing and mysterious tone from the outset and slowly reveal what the menace is. Then, by the time you actually get to Starfleet after the opening segments with the Klingons and on Vulcan, the arrival of the main theme starts to give that traditional, upbeat Trek reassurance that Kirk is on the case and things might turn out OK in the end.

I also rather like the idea of an opening that confounds expectations. If you're not going to use the original TV theme, then you might as well do something totally different. Goldsmith's theme is, of course, very different to Courage's, but it still springs from the same, radiant, positive, adventurous outlook. While I've no doubt a few Trekkies were disgruntled that Courage's theme wasn't pride of place (possibly, fortunately we're saved due to the non-existence of online message boarding in 1979) but if you're going to go different, go totally different. As an experiment, I'm sure it wouldn't be too difficult to track in some of the V'Ger Fly Over or Cloud music (a couple of minutes would suffice) that could happily segue into the existing Klingon Battle (it is literally just the opening credits music I would change) and provide just a little more tension.

The way that Dennis McCarthy scored the opening to Star Trek: Generations is perhaps the best comparative in the Star Trek pantheon. I do remember being disappointed that Goldsmith wasn't signed on and it was perhaps surprising that they didn't stick with Goldsmith's theme for the first Next Generation movie, but McCarthy did his own thing and was often more successful than fans give him credit. However, his almost free form, impressionistic opening titles music, leading to a heroic version of the Courage fanfare is a masterful stroke. It doesn't play its hand too early, keeps the viewer guessing (especially with the shots of the bottle spinning through space which is a nicely surreal touch in an otherwise pretty unimaginative and crappy film). It also means that the reveal of McCarthy's main theme a bit later on is that bit more distinctive and dramatic; "this is the main theme, it's for the Next Generation crew... we're off on an adventure with them." Of course it never returned in later films, but that didn't matter at the time.

I was thinking that maybe there were a handful of films or bits of films I'd come up with to score differently, but realised there wasn't one I felt so strongly about as the opening to Star Trek: The Motion Picture. The only other I had idle thoughts about was Williams' score to Saving Private Ryan. Yes, it's lovely music and the end credits hymn is terrific, but it's a film that probably needs almost no music. There isn't a huge amount by Williams/Spielberg standards (less than an hour), but it's just a little too warm and fuzzy, overselling the gooey feeling inside you're meant to have from time to time. Fine in something like E.T. which is meant to tug at the heart strings like a steam train, but for Saving Private Ryan, one can't help but feel we should react from the stark realities of the situation and characters, not be spoon fed emotionally by the music. Shorter cues, rather than elongated, pastoral scoring might also have been more appropriate, at least outside of the opening and closing scenes and end credits.

If you have any thoughts on the issues raised in this article, please don't hesitate to contact our action helpline. Or, e-mail me with your thoughts. I don't really want "I wish X had scored Y film instead of Z" (i.e. I wish John Williams had scored every film ever made) but rather certain parts of a film, or even the whole film, that somehow doesn't work for you plus any comparatives as to how you might have done it differently. If there's enough interesting ideas, I'll put them together in a future article.

Rango - Hans Zimmer

Hans Zimmer and John Powell seem to be battling it out as to who can score the most CGI animated movies, although the former invariably gets help and the better invariably gets the better movies. The trailer for Rango looks half amusing and stars the voice of Johnny Depp as a chameleon in Mexico something something something. Naturally the music sounds like Pirates of the Caribbean rendered by someone impersonating Ennio Morricone in about 1965. Not that that's a particularly terrible thing, although the delightful Rango Suite does sound a bit too much like Depp's Pirates theme gone Mexican. Oh, and there's a none too subtle quote of Bernstein's Magnificent Seven rhythm in We Ride, Really!

Of the longer tracks, Bats is the standout; starting off as the unpromising 984,325th spoof of Wagner's Ride of the Valkyries gets, erm, ethnically cleansed with harmonica, banjos and such like. Mind you, the quote of Strauss's Blue Danube later in the track, in amongst some standard issue Zimmer action music is less inspired but the track has more variety in 4 minutes than the rest put together. Then again, the brief songs from Los Lobos and others are amusing and breakup the heaviness of some of Zimmer's underscore. Serious, Hans, you don't need to turn up the synth percussion track to 11 in every score you write.

Tracks are generally short and pithy, interspersed by short narration tracks. This counts as one of the five cardinal sins of film music albums (one day I might tell you the other four) but they are brief and humorous enough not to be too annoying. Still, sure someone will complain. It's all very jolly and enjoyable but doesn't exactly stick out. It's one of those scores that sounds exactly how you imagine (as per the above description). The main themes are pleasant enough but I can't see me humming them to the distraction of others.

Purchase this from Amazon.com with money.

Please Release Me (let me go) - Part 5

While browsing the net in unfocused fashion the other day, it occurred to me that there's one contemporary composer who has been pretty short changed when it comes to soundtrack releases. Quite a number have appeared as "official" promos - Galaxy Quest immediately springs to mind. I couldn't believe my luck when I was sent it to review (them were the days) and is probably the best Star Trek score the franchise never had. David Newman has always been the neglected Newman and that extends to CD releases; a lot of the time, he's reduced to a single cue on a song album and for whatever reason, the usual suspects (Varese being the prime candidate) haven't managed to get the rights to do a proper score release.

Thomas may not yet have an Oscar, the inevitability of him winning is cancelled out by the Oscar dramatic irony category by which at least half of each generation's finest composers will never get an Oscar despite being hugely talented, highly influential (American Beauty, in particular) and scoring otherwise Oscar winning films. Seriously, how did American Beauty not win? It's hugely popular and every other drama score since owes a debt. There's even a dance remix. If the endorsement of drugged out clubbers isn't one of the highest order, I don't know what is... Oh yes, Randy got his long overdue Oscar for one of his least memorable songs (especially frustrating given how good That'll Do from Babe 2 and When She Loved Me from Toy Story 2 were).


David seems to be the Jerry Goldsmith of the family, toiling away on often shoddy family films that are vastly beneath his talents. I'm almost shocked that he's not been tapped by Pixar. Even if the satisfaction of the entire raft of Newmans contributing weren't enough, any moron could tell that David would do some top notch work for them; surely the most consistently excellent studio going. In no way a dig at Pixar's choices, music for their films is always terrific, but Newman, D would join one of the most consistently excellent group of composers around. He did great work on the first Ice Age but got ditched for John Powell when it came to the sequels. Tough call though, Powell is marvellous.

So, instead of American Beauty or Toy Story on his CV, David has, erm, Galaxy Quest and Bill & Ted. In fairness, those are two of the better films he's scored. Serenity and the animated Anastasia also fine features and largely great scores, even if Serenity wasn't quite the unofficial sequel score to Galaxy Quest we all hoped for. Still, at least it got a soundtrack release. As Fox's answer to the Disney machine, Anastasia held its own next to Hercules (when they were still pretty much on game, 2D animation wise). Newman's scores perfectly compliments the songs of Stephen Flaherty and Lynn Ahrens. It's a grand, epic affair, with all the memorable melodies and drama one could hope for when composing for such a story. The score doesn't fair too badly on disc, but there's over an hour of score in the film, all worth hearing. He even got a rare Oscar nod, but lost to Anne bloody Dudley for her unimpressive work on The Full Monty. Dudley has written some great scores - from the Fry and Laurie version of Jeeves and Wooster to American History X to Bright Young Things - but The Full Monty ain't one of them. Anastasia is leagues ahead. No wonder she looked a bit embarrassed.

Ice Age has a paltry 30 minutes, with much else to commend from the film (although I can imagine it might become a little bitty over an hour). Even the aforementioned Galaxy Quest never got an official album. The 50 minute promo is just right and should surely get wider, legitimate exposure. The film did OK and sci-fi scores invariably sell well. 102 Dalmatians and Matilda were both fine, live action family films and got delightful scores, neither released. Composer promos float about, but nothing official. We must, of course, mention those films which weren't quite so good, but scores such as The Flintstones, DuckTales, even Scooby Doo would be welcome. All are filled with Newman's hummable melodies, his great way with the orchestra and and general fine craftsmanship. It seems probable that some of these will see the light of day eventually as Newman is one of those film music fan's film music composers whom the fans adore, but nobody else knows much about. Perhaps some well deserved releases will change that.