Gametime 2009 - Interview with Garry Schyman (Bioshock 2) and Diego Stocco (The Conduit)

Behold our lastest update to High Score! Well, maybe it's "be-listen" more than "behold." In any event, we've posted our latest podcast interviews with another two composers: GARRY SCHYMAN, who shares about returning to Rapture in BIOSHOCK 2 and DIEGO STOCCO, whose innovative sound design and composing style undergirds the Wii FPS, THE CONDUIT.

Insert Coin Here!

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra (Video Game) - Making the Music

While you may have been diggin' on our first High Score! Interview with composers Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco regarding their work for the video game, PROTOTYPE, they have also been knocking out the video-game-tie-in for G.I. JOE: RISE OF COBRA. Once again, the two have composed in parallel to a film scored by Alan Silvestri (Beowulf and Beowulf: The Game) and once again, it sounds like they've done an admirable job. In the video below, you'll get to hear a nice slice of the score, from both Dikiciyan and Velasco, conductor Tim Davies and audio director, J.P. Walton.

Gametime 2009 - Interview with Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco (Prototype)

Well, it's GAMETIME once again here at Tracksounds! Once a year, we like to get our game (music) on around these parts...and we like to bring you along for the ride. This "new era" of video game music continues to provide, not only gamers, but many traditional fans of film music, with hours of experiential music to feast upon. Video game titles are getting at least as much attention as major feature films these days. People are hunting for every tidbit of information they can scrounge up on their favorite game franchise. We are waiting for hours in line to be among the first to dive into a new gaming world or back into a world we have devoted countless hours to already. The world's love-affair with video games continues to grow and in the answering of such great demand, comes a lot of exciting music that should not be overlooked. High Score! exists to put the spotlight on some of this great music.

To launch things, we have a great podcast interview with composers Sascha Dikiciyan and Cris Velasco who share about their most recent collaborative work for the video game, PROTOTYPE.

Check the interview and full feature here

Tron: Legacy. Remember Tron? Not like this, you don't!

One of the big "to dos" at Comic-Con has been coverage for the upcoming sequel to the classic TRON. TRON LEGACY is set to debut next year and this Disney release will be in 3D as well. I can't hardly think of a film better suited for this new trend.

Recently released was some video-effects, concept footage that is absolutely breathtaking! What you see above is a low-res version, so I high recommend you view and/or download the high def versions, offered up at Firstshowing.

The soundtrack for TRON LEGACY is to be provided by the electronica group DAFT PUNK. While I was initially disappointed by this announcement, given DAFT PUNK's retro-electronica sound, it's hard to argue that they aren't a good fit for this film.

Check the high def footage here | Check out the official Tron Legacy site here

More Star Wars: The Force Unleashed to come. More new music, too?

UPDATE: 7/26/09

Well, some sad news. We won't be hearing any new music from composer Mark Griskey for any of the DLC or Ultimate Sith Edition. Of course, that doesn't mean there won't be ANY new music at all, but looking pretty doubtful at this point.

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And even more news from the Star Wars galaxy...

Also announced at Comic-Con today, LucasArts tells us that there is more DLC (downloadable content) coming for THE FORCE UNLEASHED for both Xbox360 and PS3. It will be available sometime this Fall. That's all well and good and I'm fairly excited about that, but they've gone the next step and announced THE FORCE UNLEASHED: THE ULTIMATE SITH EDITION!

Looking good. No? As you saw in the teaser, this new DLC and Ultimate Sith Edition will explore the question "What if the dark side had won?" Now, who wouldn't want to play through the answer to that?

Admittedly, I'm scratching my head a little over the marketing strategy: make the first part of this new storyline available as DLC, but make us have to buy the new edition to complete the storyline. Seems like a double-dip of the Sith kind. Yes...well...call me weak-minded, because I'll be forkin' over the dollars to finish that story. Plus, battling an aging Obi Wan and Boba Fett? Impossible to resist, the double-dip is.

Last of all, could all of this new content mean some additional new music from MARK GRISKEY and/or JESSE HARLIN? This alternative storyline is begging for some new thematic material. Let's hope I'm right.

You can check out more on The Force Unleashed: Ulimate Sith Edition at the official site.

Star Wars in Concert!

Well, when did this sneak onto the scene? Apparently, my head has been in the sand on this, as I was just introduced to these series of concerts via 1UP and Comic-Con, today.

With the 10th Anniversary of The Phantom Menace being this year (Is that possible already?) and 30th Anniversary of The Empire Strikes Back looming for next year, (and perhaps due to the success of the traveling Lord of the Rings concerts), George Lucas, John Williams and company have put this special multimedia, live performance together.

At this time, it appears most of the performances are in California, with a few in Oklohama and Washington state. Unfortunately, John Williams isn't conducting himself (that would have just made it too irresistable), but still should be a very entertaining show. I think this is a great way to celebrate these anniversaries, but you know what would be better?...

John Williams conducting the London Symphony Orchestra at Abbey Road, re-recording the entire scores of the original trilogy! Now, that would be cause to get your "yub yub" on! In the meanwhile...

You can get all the info you need at the Star Wars in Concert official site here.

Tracksounds is Twitcasting...err Twitcamming?

Livestream (a great company with a great webcasting product) just released TWITCAM today. It's a very interesting idea and simple way to do a video webcast via your twitter account.

As a bit of a test, I did about 30 minutes worth of "twitcasting" today...just to see how it all works. To keep it from being just me staring blankly into the webcam, I decided to give you a behind-the-scenes glimpse of me editing an upcoming interview. Ooooo! I know.

Now, before you finish your *yawn*, you do get to hear a few significant segments of the interview with SASCHA DIKICIYAN and CRIS VELASCO on their recent project PROTOTYPE. Not only that, but you get to hear a few bits of the score itself. I also talk a little bit about why our High Score update has been delayed so long.

Anyway...check out our first Twitcast...and if you start twitcasting be sure to let us know. We'll watch.

You can find our Twitcast page here, but whenever we do cast...it will be auto-tweeted so just follow us to be notified of our next cast!

Let me know what you think about the twistcast.

What is Your Favorite Harry Potter Score? Vote!

You've been baptized in the hype. You've done the movie marathon. You've finally seen the latest Harry Potter film. Now, your time has come. Even the unlikeliest of muggles can change the course of history ... or something like that.

Anyway, with six original scores now for the Harry Potter film franchise, it's time to ask and answer the inevitable question, "What is your favorite Harry Potter score thus far?"

So there is the question... now you must decide and vote below!

New Site for Bear McCreary's Battlestar Galactica Orchestra Unveiled!

BEAR MCCREARY ANNOUNCES WINNER OF DESIGN CONTEST

Arild W. Tvergrov Wins Contest and Designs Battlestar Galactica Orchestra Website

(July 16, 2009- Los Angeles, CA) – Norwegian web designer Arild W. Tvergrov was named the winner of the “Design the BSG Orchestra Website” contest by composer and orchestra founder Bear McCreary. The 23 year-old developer’s winning design can be viewed at www.bsgorchestra.com.

Arild W. Tvergrov is a web designer and developer at the Centre for Development and the Environment, University of Oslo in Norway. His current web projects include Final Fantasy Norge (http://finalfantasy.no/), the largest Scandinavian Final Fantasy fansite, The Norwegian Latin America Research Network (http://www.norlarnet.uio.no/), Network for Asian Studies (http://www.asianettverket.no/url/forsiden/), and of course The Battlestar Galactica Orchestra Website.

As part of the prize he has won, Tvergrov will be flown to San Diego for the July 23rd performance of The Music of Battlestar Galactica at the House of Blues as part of Comic Con. He will be given all access to the band’s sound check, and will be given Bear’s personal baton from that evening, a poster, and the Battlestar Galactica: Season 4 soundtrack all autographed by Bear and/or the members of the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra.

Battlestar Galactica composer and Battlestar Galactica Orchestra founder Bear McCreary was recently called one of the top 10 composers “that make space adventures epic” by www.io9.com. His work on the television series Battlestar Galactica has been described as offering “some of the most innovative music on TV today,” by Variety, and his blog www.bearmccreary.com/blog, which features in-depth inside looks at the process of scoring Battlestar Galactica, was called "one of the best blogs in the business. It's a fascinating look at the process of making music for film and television and the care he takes with aligning the score with the twists and turns of each character's plot lines," by The Hollywood Reporter.

McCreary announced the design contest on his blog on June 21, 2009. “I was thrilled with the quality of the submissions to our contest,” McCreary said. Because of that he decided to give a special limited edition signed CD to all of the contest entrants.

“Arild's design is unique and captures the spirit of the BSG Orchestra,” explained McCreary. “Were it not for this web design contest, I would never have had the chance to witness the dedication and enthusiasm he brings to his projects. I greatly look forward to meeting him backstage in San Diego."

Tvergrov is doubly excited to have won the contest – not only is he an up and coming web designer, he is a true fan of McCreary’s! “This is surreal,” said Tvergrov. “I am soon off to San Diego to meet my favorite composer and most certainly one of the greatest musical geniuses alive — Bear McCreary … I hope the design is to his liking and that it at least remotely measures up to the ingenious work of Bear and his band.”

To see the winning entry visit the Battlestar Galactica Orchestra’s new website at www.bsgorchestra.com.

The Informers (Soundtrack) by Christopher Young - Review

Greed is good. Sex is easy. Youth is forever. Only if you're uninformed.

Review by Vince Chang

THE INFORMERS is a 2009 film directed by Gregor Jordan. The script was written by Nicholas Jarecki and Bret Easton Ellis, who wrote the original series of short stories back in 1994. The film contains 7 of the 13 linked, short-stories found in the original book. The stories make up a broader slice-of-life snapshot of an entire week in the lives of social circle of people who represent everything from the cream of the crop to the scum of society. The plot creeps forward mostly just by showing their interactions amongst themselves, always in morally deficient ways. An entire subplot involving vampires was cut-out, presumably because a supernatural theme seemed too out of place for a live-action movie adaptation. The film was given only a limited release on April 24, 2009, in 482 select movie theaters across the nation, and maybe rightfully so, since it received scathing reviews by critics and the general public. While best known for his works in the horror-genre with credits to titles such as DRAG ME TO HELL, THE GRUDGE (the original and sequel), and THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE, veteran composer CHRISTOPHER YOUNG was brought on to undergird the darker textures of the film's plot. As a memorial note, this was Brad Renfro's final film before he died on January 15, 2008 of a heroin overdose.

Electric guitar, keyboard synth and bass are the dominant forces in this entire soundtrack, with sparse percussion in the form of triangle, cowbell, and other obscure instruments. There is also prominent use of echo and stereo panning, especially in “What was, it is. What is, it's not” (Track 3). Most of the tracks are slow paced, with many Latin rhythms incorporated via percussion and electric bass. The result is a soundtrack that consists of soft rock combined with elements of samba, salsa and tango. The track titles mostly consist of explicitly sensual references (“Please me, Please, Please”), hinting at the many love scenes throughout.

Read the full review

Win Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince Soundtrack by Nicholas Hooper

Ok Score-muggles, here is your chance to bring home Nicholas Hooper's original score for HARRY POTTER AND THE HALF-BLOOD PRINCE!

Simply caption the provided scene from the film. The top-rated entry for the contest, as voted on by the official contest judges, will receive one original soundtrack!

Get the rules and Enter Here!