John Barry Reflects on 10 Scores

Variety has posted an interesting, albeit brief, interview with composer JOHN BARRY. In it, he talks about 10 of his most popular scores including: GOLDFINGER, BORN FREE, SOMEWHERE IN TIME, OUT OF AFRICA, and DANCES WITH WOLVES. The article continues to talk about his much overlooked career writing music for both stage and the small screen.

Can you guess what film he said this about, "...the only way I can do this is by doing almost a satire on a sentimental Disney kind of picture."


Have a looksee here

Angels and Demons Teaser Trailer

The first trailer for the upcoming ANGELS AND DEMONS film has recently been released. The film, due in May 2009, is the sequel to Ron Howard's THE DAVINCI CODE.

The teaser does its job well enough. I was one of the few who enjoyed the first film and am now looking forward to this one. I found the book, ANGELS AND DEMONS superior to THE DAVINCI CODE (and also was written before the mega-hit book) and so I have even higher hopes for the film adaptation. Not only did I enjoy the book and the film, but thoroughly enjoyed Zimmer and company's score. I'm looking for nothing less in this next film.

This trailer features what sounds to be HANS ZIMMER's music from THE DAVINCI CODE in the first half but concludes with music I can't quite peg.


You can have a peek at the official site here

Synecdoche, New York by Composer Jon Brion

Director Charlie Kaufman's film SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK has been labeled one of the more challenging film's of 2008 to grasp. The first time director, himself, called the film his version of a horror movie. Dealing with the subject matter of "death" rarely makes for simple viewing and that querky undefinability will certainly find representation in the film's score. Brought on to write the musical score for this mind-bending film is composer JON BRION, who seems to be the de facto choice when it comes to providing the score for movies in this vein. His work for MAGNOLIA and ETERNAL SUNSHINE OF THE SPOTLESS MIND both earned him Grammy nominations. Below is the full press release:

JON BRION CREATES ORIGINAL MUSIC FOR SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK SOUNDTRACK
AVAILABLE ON LAKESHORE RECORDS

RELEASE DATES:

DIGITAL: iTunes, Amazon Digital on October 21st

IN STORES CD: November 11

Los Angeles, CA – Singer, songwriter and composer Jon Brion (Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, Magnolia) composed original music for the soundtrack for SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK. Lakeshore Records will release the soundtrack in stores on November 11, available now via iTunes and Amazon Digital.

Jon Brion received a Best Score nomination at the World Soundtrack Awards for the score for Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind, which was co-written by his Synecdoche, New York director Charlie Kaufman and that film’s director Michel Gondry. He recently composed the scores for Step Brothers, The Break-Up and scored and wrote songs for I Heart Huckabees. Additionally, Brion composed scores for Paul Thomas Anderson’s Punch-Drunk Love (2001) and Magnolia (1999, Grammy nomination for Best Score), and Hard Eight (1996).

Highly in demand as a producer and studio musician, Brion has collaborated with such artists as Kanye West, Dido, Macy Gray, Rufus Wainwright, The Crystal Method, Jude Cole, Susanna

Hoffs, Sam Phillips, and The Eels. In addition to his collaboration with top artists, he is an indie music darling and is renowned for his regular Friday-night gigs at the Los Angeles club Largo, which features covers and original songs, a variety of instruments and the occasional guest.

SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK is the directorial debut of two-time Academy Award®-winning writer Charlie Kaufman (Adaptation, Being John Malkovich). The film boasts an all star cast, including Academy Award®-winner Philip Seymour Hoffman, two-time Academy Award®-nominee Samantha Morton, Academy Award®-nominee Michelle Williams, two-time Academy Award®-nominee Catherine Keener, two-time Academy Award®-nominee Emily Watson, two-time Academy Award®-winner Dianne Wiest, Jennifer Jason Leigh, Hope Davis, and Tom Noonan.

Sony Pictures Classics presents SYNECDOCHE, NEW YORK in theaters in New York and Los Angeles on October 24, 2008, and theaters nationwide throughout October.

New Prince of Persia Game Score by Inon Zur and Stuart Chatwood

Composer Inon Zur's busy game schedule continues...Following close on the heals of the recent release of the high anticipated FALLOUT 3 (you can read our review of the 5 track Fallout 3 sampler here), INON ZUR teams up with composer STUART CHATWOOD for yet another much-salivated-over-title, PRINCE OF PERSIA. While no official soundtrack release has been announced, those who pre-order the limited-edition of game will receive the soundtrack! (By pre-ordering the regular edition, you will be auto-upgraded to the limited edition).

Below is the official presser:


MEDIA RELEASE
PRINCE OF PERSIA SOUNDTRACK COMPOSED
BY INON ZUR AND STUART CHATWOOD


Veteran Composers Create Emotionally Complex and Musically Diverse
Adaptive Music Score For Franchise Debut on Next-Generation Consoles

Los Angeles – October 30th, 2008 – Award winning composer Inon Zur (Prince of Persia The Two Thrones®, Prince of Persia Warrior Within®) and celebrated musician Stuart Chatwood (Prince of Persia®: The Sands of Time, Prince of Persia Warrior Within®, Prince of Persia The Two Thrones®) have created a compelling and epic original score for Ubisoft’s new Prince of Persia video game. Developed by Ubisoft’s Montreal studio, the game opens an entirely new chapter in the Prince of Persia universe in addition to introducing a fresh illustrative art style, evolved combat system, and open world structure. Prince of Persia is scheduled to release December 2, 2008.

The new Prince of Persia score features eastern ethnic instrumentation blended with a cinematic orchestral approach, combined with a different musical treatment for each of the game’s four lands. Lead composer Inon Zur contributes dramatic and majestic orchestral music performed by the Northwest Sinfonia and recorded with Arabic flutes and duduk. Zur’s compositions, which include the Main Theme, capture the complex emotional evolution of the characters as well as immersing players during gameplay and in select locations.

“Inon’s music underlines sumptuously the dramatic and the cinematic qualities of the story,” said Simon Landry, Music Supervisor for Prince of Persia. “Bringing together, in a video game perspective, tragedy, humor, violent confrontations, romance and moral dilemmas is a huge challenge but the new Prince of Persia soundtrack makes it happen, reaching new artistic heights and emotional depth.”

Stuart Chatwood, a member of the renowned Canadian rock band The Tea Party, brings his distinct rhythmic style and unique palette of world music instruments that draws upon the cultural sounds of Persia. In addition to augmenting world music library sounds and mixing his own recordings of multiple instruments from his travels worldwide, including Santoors, Sarods, Sitar, Zournas, and Tamboura, Chatwood performs ethnic instruments such as the Oud, Zourna and snake charmer flutes. The intricately layered music mechanism playing musical variations by both composers enhances the gameplay in such a way that is totally adaptive and embraces the gamer’s performance, as if the composers were scoring in real-time, following the player’s action.

“The musical challenge for the Prince of Persia soundtrack was to further push the interactivity, the diversity and the emotional complexity,” adds Landry. “The colossal achievement of Inon and Stuart’s work is to have composed such a powerful and impressive interactive musical odyssey. The complementary approach of these two skilled composers pushes musical boundaries and creates a fascinating and authentic world.”


About the Prince of Persia video game

Set in a land rooted in ancient Persian mythology, the Prince finds himself caught in an epic battle between the primal forces of light and darkness: the God of Light, Ormazd versus his brother Ahriman, the destructive God of Darkness. The Prince arrives just in time to witness the destruction of the legendary Tree of Life – an act which threatens to plunge the entire world into eternal darkness. Manifested in the form of the Corruption, a dark substance that physically contaminates the land and the skies, the Prince must partner with Elika, a deadly companion, to heal the world from the evil Corruption.

Star Wars: The Clone Wars by Kevin Kiner (Soundtrack Review)

Return of the Clones
Review by Christopher Coleman


It is no secret that George Lucas does what he wants to. Not only that, but he does what he wants HOW he wants. He's got the money and the right to do just that. He has now taken the story out of the rigors of the live-action genre and put it solely in the hands of 3D digital artists. It's easier. It's faster. It's cheaper. Why not? It is a new era for the Star Wars galaxy and along with this change in sub-genre comes a significant musical shift. The musical score is now in the hands of veteran composer KEVIN KINER.

Believe it or not, STAR WARS: THE CLONE WARS has shifted much further in regards to its music than it has in its visuals. With increasing frequency , the only things on-screen during the prequel trilogy were the starring actors. But now even the "last remnants of that old republic have been swept away." So, Lucas is still infatuated with these wars and the story of Obi Wan and Anakin, but perhaps composer JOHN WILLIAMS has had enough of this galaxy, and so new musical blood was in order. Rather than try to dance the line between stylistic continuity and "rip off" it sounds as though, deep within the halls of LucasFilm/LucasAnimation, after hours of deliberation, the conclusion was reached..."Screw it. Let's just sample a bit of all things Star Wars and hope for the best." The end result is a score from composer Kevin Kiner that hardly had any chance to be appreciated on its own merits. Nevertheless, we have to try.

Read the Full review here

More Superman/ Super-Trilogy Talk from Mark Millar

In our first episode of THE SOUNDCAST we discussed superhero film scores and we specifically brought up the question of, "If Mark Millar's vision of a Superman reboot trilogy were to happen, who should write the score for it?"

Well, just to update the rumor-mill on all this - EMPIRE has recently published a new interview with Millar where he discusses more details about what he'd like to do with his proposed trilogy. After reading the short article, I have to admit...it sounds awfully ambitious and you can count me among the interested! Superman sitting alone on the planet earth with the Sun about to supernova? Yes...I do think that might be a pretty powerful conclusion to a trilogy.

Of course, he doesn't mention anything about who would be the ideal composer and he doesn't even reveal what "big Hollywood action director" he's been talking with. Whoever that turns out to be could give us a clue as to what sort of score we might be looking at should all this move past the internet-hub-bub stage.

Oh - one quote I do find peculiar, "I understand what Bryan Singer was trying to do, to pay homage to Richard Donner’s original vision, but I think you should pay homage by doing something completely different.”

Say wha?

Anyway, you can read the full article here.

Gears of War 2 by Steve Jablonsky is Sumthing Else

"Big games draw big names." The first Gears of War game has sold well over 3 million copies, spawned a book and the development of a feature film. As one of the Xbox 360's biggest sellers, a sequel game was a foregone conclusion long ago. That sequel is due in stores this month. While KEVIN RIEPL's score for the first game was certainly good enough to warrant him being brought back for part deux, the game's producers elected to go with composer STEVE JABLONSKY. Even though Jablonsky has done his share of game scores in the past, he is fast becoming a popular choice for big, budget feature films these days. Still, the big-name-allure of GEARS OF WAR 2 must have simply been too huge to pass up. With the immiment feature film, it would make sense to lock him up to pull double duty here, but perhaps that makes too much sense. In any case, here is the full press release on the soundtrack.


MEDIA RELEASE
SUMTHING ELSE MUSIC WORKS ANNOUNCES
RELEASE OF GEARS OF WAR 2 THE SOUNDTRACK


Original Music Score by Hollywood Composer Steve Jablonsky
and performed by the Skywalker Symphony Orchestra and Chorus


New York – Oct. 27, 2008 – Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc., through its licensing relationship with Epic Games, Inc., proudly presents Gears of War® 2 The Soundtrack. The original soundtrack from the highly anticipated blockbuster Xbox 360™ action video game will be released on Nov. 25, 2008 to retail outlets through Nile Rodgers’ Sumthing Else Music Works record label www.sumthing.com, and for digital download at www.sumthingdigital.com.


Gears of War 2 The Soundtrack features a new original music score composed by Hollywood composer Steve Jablonsky (“Transformers”, “The Island”, “The Texas Chainsaw Massacre”) and recorded with the Skywalker Symphonic Orchestra and Chorus at the world famous Skywalker Sound
.

Epic Games wanted every aspect of Gears of War 2 to be “bigger, darker, and crunchier” than the original game, including the bombastic orchestral soundtrack. Drawing on his extensive experience scoring big budget action films as well as a unique musical repertoire and Hollywood production values, Jablonsky was the perfect match for creating the adrenaline-pumping, emotionally charged Gears of War 2 score.

“It’s been a real treat working with Steve on the score for Gears of War 2. We have a tremendous amount of confidence in him, and believe the Gears community will embrace the new sound," said Mike Larson, Audio Director of Epic Games. "We’ve designed Gears 2 to impact players on a deep emotional level, and much of that connection is made with music that grabs their attention and makes them feel personally involved with the game universe. We have aimed to create something a bit more serious, cinematic, and refined with a harder-hitting approach toward composition and production.”

“Epic gave me a blank canvas, which was really great,” said Steve Jablonsky, Composer for Gears of War 2. “I experimented with a lot of hybrid organic/electronic elements, and combined them with the power of a large orchestra and choir.”

Track Listing:

1. Return Of The Omen

2. Hope Runs Deep

3. Green As Grass

4. Expectations

5. Finally, A Lead

6. Armored Prayer

7. Hold Them Off

8. Derrick Chase

9. Building Thunder

10. Hell Breaks Loose

11. Bedlam

12. Breakneck

13. Landown

14. Racing To Extinction

15. If They Can Ride Em

16. Hollow

17. Unexpected Changes

18. March Of The Horde

19. Highway

20. Denizens Of The Deep

21. With Sympathy

22. Insurmountable Odds

23. Bump In The Night

24. Frenzy

25. Outpost

26. Finale

27. Autumn Of Mankind

Gears of War 2 tells the story of humanity's last stand against the nightmarish, underground Locust Horde, and is the follow-up to one of the most popular Xbox 360 games in history. Gears of War 2 blends best-in-class third-person shooter action with unsurpassed high-definition visuals, all layered on top of an engaging story of survival, loss and retribution. Gears of War 2 will be available worldwide on Nov. 7 exclusively for the Xbox 360 video game and entertainment system. For more information, visit http://gearsofwar.com.

About Epic Games

Epic Games, Inc., based in Cary, NC and established in 1991, develops cutting-edge games and cross-platform game engine technology. The company has created multiple million-selling, award-winning titles in its Unreal series, most recently shipping Unreal Tournament 3 for PC, PLAYSTATION®3 and Xbox 360. Epic’s breakthrough game, Gears of War, sold 5 million copies and won over 30 Game of the Year awards. The highly anticipated sequel, Gears of War 2, is scheduled for release this November. Epic’s Unreal Engine 3 is the current holder and three-time consecutive winner of Game Developer magazine’s Best Engine Front Line Award. Additional information about Epic can be obtained through the Epic Games Web site at www.epicgames.com.

About Nile Rodgers

Award winning record producer Nile Rodgers is one of the most prolific music producers in history. Nile’s production accomplishments include such diverse artists as Diana Ross, Madonna, David Bowie, Duran Duran, The B-52’s, David Lee Roth, Grace Jones, Mick Jagger and top selling game soundtracks such as Halo® 2 Volume One. Records produced by Nile Rodgers have sold more than 100 million copies worldwide. As a founding member of the perennial Rhythm & Blues dance band Chic, Nile co-wrote all of their big hits including "Le Freak" and "Good Times", as well as "We Are Family" for Sister Sledge. In addition to records, he has also scored or produced music for numerous films including "Coming to America", "Thelma and Louise", "The Flintstones", "Beverly Hills Cop" and "Rush Hour II," as well as a variety of television shows and commercials. Nile is a board member of several organizations including the National Association of Recording Arts and Sciences (NARAS).
About Sumthing Else Music Works, Inc.

Since its creation in the late 1990’s by the world-renowned song writer, musician and record producer, Nile Rodgers, Sumthing Else Music Works has become the acknowledged industry leader in licensing and distributing video game soundtracks. Possessing full in-house services worldwide, from creation of original video game soundtracks through physical distribution, Sumthing is partnered with the world’s leading video game developers and publishers including BioWare, Bungie Studios, Capcom, Crytek, Eidos Interactive, Epic Games, Gearbox Software, Microsoft, Mistwalker, Rare, SEGA, Silicon Knights, Sony Computer Entertainment and Ubisoft. Their catalogue of titles includes the best selling video game soundtrack of all time, Halo 2: Volume One, as well as award-winning titles including: Crysis, Advent Rising, Fable, Gears of War, Halo: Combat Evolved, Halo 2 Volume Two, Halo 3, Hitman: Contracts, Hitman: Blood Money, Jade Empire, Kameo: Elements of Power, Mass Effect, Red Steel, Unreal Tournament 3 and many others.

For Sumthing’s full catalogue please visit www.sumthing.com and their digital download service at www.sumthingdigital.com.

Epic, Epic Games, Gears of War, Gears of War 2, Marcus Fenix, Unreal, Unreal Engine, and Unreal Tournament are trademarks or registered trademarks of Epic Games, Inc. in the United States and elsewhere. All rights reserved. Sumthing Else Music Works and Sumthing Distribution logos are copyright of their respective companies. All other names of products mentioned herein may be the trademarks of their respective owners.

Win The Day the Earth Stood Still Poster + More Winners Announced

While time is still moving forward, make the most of it and enter to win your choice from two poster prints of THE DAY THE EARTH STOOD STILL! Contest is open now and will close on December 15, 2008.

What about winners of the TWILIGHT POSTER and QUANTUM OF SOLACE POSTER? We've got that for you right here! Congrats to:


Twilight Poster Winners

Melanie Estill
Yocelyn Riojas

----------------

Quantum of Solace Poster Winners

Christine DiMenna
Maine Brulein


All winners have been notified by email. Congrats to you!


ENTER THE CURRENT CONTEST HERE.

Epic News: Gears of War to become Legendary?

And the two shall become one...

Here's a bit more news on the convergence of the film and gaming industries. Once again, Variety reports that apparently, LEGENDARY PICTURES is in acquisition negotiations with EPIC GAMES - the developers who blessed the world with their Unreal engines and also gave us the GEARS OF WAR and UNREAL TOURNAMENT game franchises.

The GEARS OF WAR movie was put into the pipeline some time ago, but if this acquisition happens, it will be the first time a film-financing company invests in video games (according to the Variety article).

The blurring of the gaming and film worlds continues. While there has yet to be a truly great film (or respective film score) based on a video game yet, I see this trend as mostly a good thing. We essentially get two shots at getting at least one decent score for any one franchise.

Read the full article here

Army of Two - Movie On the Way

Variety reports that yet another game is going to suffer the attempt at movie-transformation. We all know few have successfully made that transition - MAX PAYNE being the most recent example. In any event, Hollywood continues to try. EA already has titles like THE SIMS, MASS EFFECT, and BIOSHOCK signed over to various studios for development. Apparently, Universal Pictures is "fast-tracking" this particular property...which I doubt is a good thing in terms the quality of the final film, but they did hire Scott Burns (The Bourne Ultimatum) to write the script.

It will be interesting to see what they do with the music for these films. For ARMY OF TWO, Will they be true to composer TREVOR MORRIS' original score or go a completely new direction? Perhaps a better question is SHOULD these movies stay true to the games' original music? What do you say?

You can read the full Variety article here

The International - Trailer

The latest trailer for director/composer TOM TYKWER's latest flick, THE INTERNATIONAL, has recently been released. Trailer looks great...and the film's topic could hardly be more timely. Looks like it could be a good one! The score will be provided by the same trio that brought us PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER: REINHOLD HEIL, JOHNNY KLIMEK, TOM TYKWER. So we have a good score to look forward to as well.

THE INTERNATIONAL releases in February 2009.


You can check the high def trailer for THE INTERNATIONAL here

Steve Jablonsky Scores The Sims 3

According to the good folk over at 1up.com, composer STEVE JABLONSKY will be writing thematic music for the upcoming game, THE SIMS 3. Seems he is getting more and more involved in the gaming world of late - most notably landing the big-to-do, GEARS OF WAR 2. Suffice it to say, GEARS OF WAR 2 will likely be a little more dramatically engaging than THE SIMS.


You can get the full story here at 1up.com

Composer Billy Martin to score Petz Sports: Dog Playground for Wii

The popular PETZ title from the Nintendo DS has broken loose and is coming to your Wii. In only the Wii-world can you play fetch will your virtual pet, race him against other dogs, skip rope with him, or just pet him. So just how do write music for something like this?

Composer Billy Martin knows, as he has signed to provide the music for the upcoming Wii title, PETZ SPORTS: DOG PLAYGROUND. Below is the official press release.



PRESS RELEASE

Billy Martin Scores Petz Sports: Dog Playground for Ubisoft

Los Angeles, October, 2008 - Composer Billy Martin (www.billymartinmusic.com.) has announced that he has composed all of the music for the upcoming Ubisoft game, Petz Sports: Dog Playground. Petz Sports will be available exclusively on the Wii™ home video game system from Nintendo. Petz Sports gameplay will be designed to take advantage of the Wii system’s technology and full utilization of the Wii Remote™. Petz Sports is scheduled for release on November 4, 2008. A trailer for the game featuring Martin’s theme music is available at the Petz Press Portal.

Martin commented “the gameplay really lends itself to an upbeat, rhythm-section oriented approach for the music. I really enjoyed working with Ubisoft again on this title.”

Composer Billy Martin composes for new media with a range of projects for companies including Ubisoft, Sony Online, EA, and Disney Interactive. His recent scores include Petz Sports, Chicken Little, and EA Skate (additional music). A five-time G.A.N.G Award nominee, the Game Audio Network Guild presented Billy with a 2002 G.A.N.G Award "Best Edutainment/Children Audio" for his score to the PC game Disney/Pixar Learning 2nd & 3rd Grade w/Buzz Lightyear. For television, he wrote the theme for the long-running celebrity interview show Entertainers featuring Byron Allen. As a songwriter, he has contributed songs to feature films including Spiderman 2 and Selena while television series from Desperate Housewives to Sex and the City have also featured his lyrics and music.

Billy serves on the board of directors for the Society of Composers and Lyricists. He is represented by Bob Rice of Four Bars Intertainment. For more information visit www.billymartinmusic.com.

Star Wars: The Old Republic coming from LucasArts and Bioware

Well, just as we complete our feature on LucasArts' most recent release, FRACTURE, they and Bioware make a big announcement regarding their next "biggie." As many have speculated about for months, LucasArts and Bioware are returning to the STAR WARS universe, but in MMO style.

STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC is under development. The official announcement was made today amidst much hoopla. This sequel (of sorts) to the KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC (KOTOR) franchise, is set some 300 after the events of THE SITH LORDS. Claims are that, while some tasks can be completed as a single player, others will take cooperative efforts to complete. So perhaps both the KOTOR faithful (which were RPGs) and the massively multiplayer online (MMO) crowd will be happy with the game.

The official site offers some concept artwork, backstory details, discussion forum, and the like, but it is early days yet. No official announcements have been made regarding the game's music. Well, we can always speculate...

I think we can rule out KEVIN KINER, as THE CLONE WARS appears to be his era. JEREMY SOULE did a nice job with the first KNIGHTS OF THE OLD REPUBLIC and of course we have gotten more familiar with the good work of MARK GRISKEY since KOTOR 2: THE SITH LORDS via his recent work for THE FORCE UNLEASHED...or perhaps resident composer and music supervisor, JESSE HARLIN will pen this one. We have quite some time to think about the possiblities as no release date for the game has been mentioned yet.

Who do you think would be the best choice to score STAR WARS: THE OLD REPUBLIC?


You can check out the official site here


Stay tuned...

Terra Fragga! The Music of Fracture (Video Game)

We present a special in-depth look at the music from the recent LucasArts video game, FRACTURE. The score was composed by MICHAEL GIACCHINO, CHRIS TILTON, and CHAD SEITER and we have a full review of the soundtrack plus 22 SOUND-CLIPS from the score!

We also have a special interview with LucasArts Music Supervisor, JESSE HARLIN. He gives us some insight into the development process and his role as music supervisor.


Check out the Review of FRACTURE here


Check out the Interview with JESSE HARLIN here

Director Zack Snyder signs deal with Electronic Arts

Director Zack Snyder has signed a deal with EA (Electronic Arts) to develop three new video games. The short news bit starts at 00:40.

Perhaps more video game work for composer TYLER BATES is imminent?

Watch The Fellowship of the Ring in High Definition with Live Orchestral Performance!

If you are longing to experience Peter Jackson's THE LORD OF THE RINGS: FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING a-fresh...and you're going to be in the UK next April, then you'll want to get your tickets for this unique showing of part-one of Jackson's trilogy.

While a high-definition presentation of the film plays, you'll be treated to a live performance of Howard Shore's score by the original orchestral and choirs!

London Philharmonic Orchestra
The London Voices
The London Oratory School Schola

The performance is to be conducted by Ludwig Wicki.


Thanks for the heads up from our friends at THEONERING.NET. Head on over their for more info on how to book your tickets!

The Express: The Ernie Davis Story - Music by Mark Isham

As the NFL season is hitting its stride, another inspiring football-flick hits the big screen. Accompanying the intriguing story of Ernie Banks comes composer MARK ISHAM's appropriate score. While it's no Trevor Rabin inspiration bonanza, it certainly is one of Isham's more "lively" scores in a while. The prolific Lakeshore Records has released the soundtrack. You can read the full press release below.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

LAKESHORE RECORDS TO RELEASE THE SOUNDTRACK FOR THE EXPRESS
BASED ON THE TRUE STORY OF ERNIE DAVIS

Soundtrack Features Original Music by Mark Isham

(October 6, 2008- Los Angeles, CA) – Lakeshore Records will release the soundtrack for THE EXPRESS THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY, available via iTunes and Amazon Digital on September 30, 2008 and in stores on October 7th. The soundtrack contains original music composed by Mark Isham (Reservation Road, Crash). The film is based on the true story of Ernie Davis, the first African-American to win the Heisman Trophy.

From his days as a pioneer of electronic music in the '80s to his current status as a world-renowned film composer, Mark Isham continues to be one of the most prolific and provocative artists on the scene. As an accomplished trumpet player, Isham’s solo recordings span from electric jazz and classic acoustic jazz to New Age and ethnic world music. His musical signature is evident in his memorable scores for such notable films as Crash, Bobby, The Valley of Elah, and The Black Dahlia, with its critically lauded jazz noir soundtrack.

Isham has composed over 75 film scores including Eight Below, The Cooler, A River Runs Through It, Blade, Nell, Men of Honor, Reservation Road, Lions for Lambs, and Miracle. He recently received the Henry Mancini Lifetime Achievement Award from ASCAP.

THE EXPRESS THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY follows the extraordinary life story of Ernie Davis (Rob Brown). His fight for equality and respect forever changed the face of American sports, and his story continues to inspire new generations. Raised in poverty in Pennsylvania coal-mining country, Davis hurdled social and economic obstacles to become one of the greatest running backs in college football history. Under the guidance of legendary Syracuse coach Ben Schwartzwalder (Dennis Quaid), he became a hero who superseded Jim Brown’s achievements and set records that stand to this day.

As the growing civil rights movement divided the country in the 60s, Davis became a symbol for achievement that transcended race. Refusing to flinch from others’ prejudices, he achieved all his goals – until he faced a challenge that would make most men crumble. He joined the ranks of black pioneers by teaching a generation tolerance, inspiring a movement that smashed barriers on and off the field.

Universal Pictures presents THE EXPRESS THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY in theaters on October 10, 2008. THE EXPRESS THE ERNIE DAVIS STORY original soundtrack on Lakeshore Records will be available via iTunes and Amazon Digital on September 30th, and in stores on October 7th.

Valkyrie: Bryan Singer and John Ottman team up again!

Just received this press release regarding the delayed VALKYRIE film from director BRYAN SINGER. Once again the director teams up with long time collaborator, JOHN OTTMAN as the score's composer. With their past successes, this gives reason to hope for at least a decent score. The film looks interesting, but the lack of German accents is a bit strange. Below is the official press release, but you can check out the official movie site, where it appears they have a number of pieces from the score incorporated throughout.

Official Press Release

SUPERMAN RETURNS COMPOSER/EDITOR

JOHN OTTMAN

Reteams with Director Bryan Singer for

“VALKYRIE”

(Los Angeles, CA) “Superman Returns” composer/editor John Ottman reteams with director Bryan Singer on his World War II film “Valkyrie.” Ottman again does double duty as both editor and composer for MGM’s “Valkyrie,” starring Tom Cruise as a German officer (in theatres December 26). Ottman will again join forces with Singer to score the upcoming film “Superman: Man of Steel;” Ottman has written the scores for and edited nearly all of “Superman” director Bryan Singer’s films including "The Usual Suspects" and "Apt Pupil."

The score to “Valkyrie” marks a high point in Ottman's unique career. Ottman's score is highly effective and avoids the cliches associated with a WWII story. This was done by blending carefully designed electronic sounds with the orchestra. When he couldn't find the right textures, Ottman manipulated his own voice to create them. Like his heralded score to “The Usual Suspects,” Ottman's music is the very pulse of “Valkyrie,” creating unrelenting tension and suspense, yet somehow artfully not getting in the way. The score subliminally leads to a highly emotional ending, culminating in an incredibly moving climax, leaving test audiences in tears. At times atmospherically restrained, and at others rousing, the score to “Valkyrie” is not one that can be categorized. Once again, Ottman provides an intelligent and refreshing voice, continuing to raise the bar in the art of scoring films.

“Valkyrie” is a true story that takes place during the height of WWII. A group of high-ranking German officers hatch a plot to assassinate Adolf Hitler, and seize power of the military command in order to end the war. The operation was code named "Valkyrie", for the emergency plan that was meant to be used in case of a revolt against the Nazi government.

Having also scored “X-Men 2” and “Fantastic Four,” Ottman is quickly becoming a musical voice for superheroes. For the Man of Steel, he wrote nearly two hours of score music for the adventure epic. As a tribute to fellow composer John Williams, Ottman incorporated about fifteen minutes of his original 1978 score into the film.

His editing on "The Usual Suspects" won him the British Academy Award and a nomination from the A.C.E. (American Cinema Editors). His score for that film also won the Saturn Award. Ottman and Singer first began collaborating together at USC Film School on “Public Access,” which won the Grand Jury Prize at the 1993 Sundance Film Festival.

Since then, Ottman has composed the music for such diverse films the recent “Kiss Kiss Bang Bang,” the thrillers “Hide and Seek,” “Cellular,” and “Gothika,” and the dark comedy "The Cable Guy" with Ben Stiller. Although most recognized for film work, Ottman’s score to Barry Sonnenfeld’s "Fantasy Island" garnered an Emmy Award nomination.

Check out the official site here

Songs of the Sea: The Regatta Suite by Jeff Rona

Gold Medal Suite!
Review by Christopher Coleman


The spectacle that was the Beijing Olympics of 2008 will hardly be forgotten by anyone who saw the opening ceremonies or the awe inspiring performances from athletes. While there was ample cable-coverage of the games, one particular segment of this Olympiad that was sorely under-represented was that of the Olympic Regatta held in Qindao. Make no mistake. These sailing events were a big to-do. As with Beijing, Qingdao was in preparation for these events for years. Included in this preparation came a special commission from the IOC (International Olympics Committee) for the composition of a suite of music to represent this Olympic regatta. Veteran film composer JEFF RONA became the choice of special committee for this daunting task.

The idea of "water" and Jeff Rona are certainly no strangers. Back in 1996, Rona composed the score for WHITE SQUALL, which was when my eyes and ears were first opened to his talents. While he has since completed a bevy of projects, another "watershed' project came with last year's release of the award-winning documentary, SHARKWATER. As important as those projects may have been, neither approaches the scope and weight of writing music for the Olympics.

JEFF RONA has long excelled at delivering scores that trend towards ambient-electronica experiences or projects that make use of his expertise with ethnic wind instruments. Admittedly, when I found out that he was on this Olympic project, I wondered how his talents would translate. In short, SONGS OF THE SEA is unlike anything I have heard from JEFF RONA before. He has delivered a bold and inspirational orchestral suite that is every bit worthy of connection to this premiere world event. The only tragedy is that the events which this music represents were so poorly covered that comparatively few will have little to no knowledge of this project's existence.

Read the full review here

Gametrailers TV Interviews Composer Inon Zur

Gametrailers TV takes a couple of seconds to interview composer INON ZUR regarding his score for the upcoming FALLOUT 3 and PRINCE OF PERSIA. Zur shares about his development process for the FALLOUT 3 score as well as the challenges posed by PRINCE OF PERSIA.


Watch the high def version here

New Poll: What November Film Score are you most anticipating?

The drama is about to thicken. In the waning months of 2008, some of the most anticipated films of the year are on deck. Our latest poll dives into November offering you a number of good choices. Which FILM SCORE are you most anticipating?

Interview with Composer Jeff Beal

Composer Jeff Beal returns to work with actor/director Ed Harris on APPALOOSA. He shares about his work relationship with the director, Harris, the challenges of writing a score for a Western, and what he'd like to do next.


Here's an exerpt...

CC: How did you come to work on APPALOOSA? Was it because of your previous collaboration with director/actor ED HARRIS for POLLOCK?

JEFF BEAL: Yes. Exactly. I had hoped that we'd work together again, but POLLOCK was his first film as a director, so I never knew if it would happen. One thing about Ed (Harris) is that he is very loyal to people he cares about and whose work he likes. There are actually a number of people who worked on Pollock who he has brought back for APPALOOSA.


CC: How is it working with Ed Harris?

JEFF BEAL: It was a real treat. I have worked with several different directors multiple times and there's a bit more of a personal connection that is forged when you go through this process together. There's a bit of a short-hand that's developed between you and the amount of safety you feel in working together. I definitely felt that way in this movie. As much as I loved working on POLLOCK, this one was a real treat.



Read the full interview here

Appaloosa (Soundtrack) by Jeff Beal - Full Review

A Hitch and Getalong
Review by Christopher Coleman


The name of "Ed Harris" is certainly not an unfamiliar one when it comes to Hollywood's A-list of actors. His name as a director, though, is a bit less recognizable. Eight years ago, Ed Harris made his directorial debut with his poignant and sincere portrayal of artist Jackson Pollock in, POLLOCK. Harris' choice to compose the original score for POLLOCK was veteran television composer, JEFF BEAL. Some eight years later, the two creatives connect to bring Robert Parker's novel, APPALOOSA, to the big screen.

APPALOOSA is a small story built in classic, western fashion, yet somehow within its details, remains somewhat fresh. With Harris at the helm, he also stars in the film alongside his brilliant cast of Viggo Mortensen, Renee Zellweger and Jeremy Irons. In much the same way 2007's 3:10 TO YUMA was much more about the characters than the settings or action, APPALOOSA focuses on the noble but imperfect hero of Virgil Cole (Harris), his deputy Hitch (Mortensen), their skirmish with the murderous Randall Bragg (Irons) and the unscrupulous woman, Allison French (Zellweger), who is set in the midst of all three men. With such an emphasis on character and performance, the door was left wide open for composer JEFF BEAL to help define each.


Read the full review here

Mirror's Edge Title Song Remix Coming November 11

1UP.com reports that the title song for the upcoming game, MIRROR'S EDGE (one incredible looking game), is about to get a remix and a release. Make that SIX remixes and will be available by various means come November 11, 2008. The original song is performed by Lisa Miskovsky and is entitle "Still Alive."

While pegging out the money-making-marketing-meter at "overkill," hopefully this song is as good and as catchy as the music used in the game's first trailer.

You can check out the full article here

Caption Contest Winners Announced!

We've got two winner announcements for you today!

First the winner of the BATMAN: GOTHAM KNIGHT + TEEN TITANS SOUNDTRACK is...

FierceDeityYS


Second, the winner of the EAGLE EYE SOUNDTRACK is...

BrannigansLaw



Winners must contact scoreman AT tracksounds.com with their shipping information.

Thanks to all who participated! There were some great entries. You can check out the winning entries (as well as all the others) here.

Win Igor (Soundtrack) by Patrick Doyle

Can you caption this shot from IGOR? Enter up to three captions for this image and you could win the original soundtrack from IGOR by Patrick DOYLE!


Enter here

Zack Snyder Confirms a 300 Pre-Sequel

IESB.NET breaks news that director Zack Snyder has confirmed that there will be a sequel...err a prequel...err another 300 film. He shares that it is both a pre-quel and a sequel. A "pre-sequel" (you heard the term here first, folks!) The movie is said to be set in the "year" between the battle at Thermopylae and the battle of Plataea (which closes the film).

At this point, it's all discussion as Snyder apparently wants Frank Miller to pen the graphic novel first and then base the movie around that. If they can nab David Wenham and Lena Headay to reprise their roles, it might be something to look forward to.

Love or hate the score to 300 by Tyler Bates, its hard to imagine any other composer dropping the musical score for this pre-sequel. Wouldn't you say?


You can read the article here

More Awesomeness and Bodaciousness! Kung Fu Panda Sequel

Variety.com reports that a sequel to the surprisingly successful KUNG FU PANDA is in development...and will be released in 3-D to boot...but not until 2011.

Unlike some of the sequels announced from Pixar, I'm pretty excited for this news. With all the hub-bub over WALL-E (much deserved as it was), I don't think KUNG FU PANDA received the attention it should have (well, maybe I ought to finish my own review of the score before I complain). Suffice it to say, I thought KUNG FU PANDA was very well done and right up there with Shrek.

While Wall-E was a dramatic piece of digital art, really, I have to say I had a load more fun watching the Panda. Hans Zimmer and John Powell's score was fairly entertaining too. I had some doubts about both this film and its score given Dreamworks Animation's previous lackluster efforts.

So does this mean the duo will return score part 2? I'd be fine with it. Would do you say?

Read Variety's article here