Unwrapping: Studio Ghibli Classics from Wasabi Records

Wasabi Records has released at least seven of Joe Hisiashi's original scores for his works with Hayao Miyazaki and Studio Ghibli.  We "unwrap" seven at once and give you a peek at the beautiful design put into these releases.  As of April 5, 2014, these titles retail only in Europe.

The music is from each title is property of Wasabi Records and no copyright infringement is intended but offered for informational purposes only.

Tracks used:

00:00 - "Opening Theme" - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

04:52 - "Carrying You" - Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind

07:06 - "The Girl Who Fell from the Sky" - Castle in the Sky

08:12 - "The Village in May" - My Neighbor Totoro

09:36 - "On a Clear Day" - Kiki's Delivery Service

10:23 - "Porco E Bella" - Porco Rosso

11:40 - "Journey to the West" - Princess Mononoke

12:59 - "Princess Mononoke Theme - Vocal" - Princess Mononoke

14:25 - "One Summer's Day" - Spirited Away

16:31 - "The Return" - Spirited Away

PURCHASE OPTIONS - Amazon.it

Nausicaa of the Valley of the Wind - http://amzn.to/PFyeb1

Laputa: Castle in the Sky - http://amzn.to/1q5vhvy

My Neighbor Totoro -  http://amzn.to/1qcuqeC

Kiki's Delivery Service - http://amzn.to/1lAEADF

Porco Rosso - http://amzn.to/1oBO1Yj

Princess Mononoke - http://amzn.to/1jhIBw0

Spirited Away - http://amzn.to/1mMQHNZ

MORE UNWRAPPING/UNBOXING VIDEOS

The Matrix Unloaded! Unwrapping The Matrix Reloaded 2-Disc Soundtrack by Don Davis from La-Lan Land Records

Time magazine declared 2003, "The Year of the Matrix." They did so with good reason: Two feature films and at least one major video game title would be released. Unfortunately, the franchise hasn't endured over the last decade, but there's little argument that Don Davis' score for the trilogy has left an indelible mark upon film music history. While original release of The Matrix Reloaded soundtrack delivered most of the key tracks from the film, there remained quite a bit of his score which went unofficially released. 

Christopher Coleman dives into La-La Land Records generous, new, 2-Disc release which fills in those notable gaps...and then some. Here you can have a look at the liner notes, disc art, and more.

Come on, let's go back to the Matrix one more time.

The music is from La-La Land Records release and no copyright infringement is intended but offered for informational purposes only.

TRACKS USED:

Track 01 - "Main Title" (Disc 1)

Track 06 - "Chateau Swashbuckling (Alternate)" (Disc 2) 

Track 19 - "Sample This" (Disc 1)

Track 22 - "Double Trouble" (Disc 1)

Track 23 - "Mona Lisa Overdrive" (Disc 2)

THE MATRIX RELOADED: LIMITED EDITION

Original Release Date: 2013

Number of Discs: 2

Number of Tracks: 32

Label: La-La Land Records

PURCHASE OPTIONS

Available here: http://lalalandrecords.com/MatrixRe.html

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Hans Zimmer and Lorne Balfe talk about Making Beyond: Two Souls

Hans Zimmer.  Lorne Balfe.  Two Souls.

One of the most intriguing game titles of 2013 is David Cage's (Heavy Rain) BEYOND: TWO SOULS and it was recently made known that composers LORNE BALFE and HANS ZIMMER were going to be involved with it's original score.  As it turns out, Lorne Balfe will be the hand-on composer, while Hans Zimmer produces. 

The two have already made a significant mark in the video game world with work on Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 and Assassins Creed III, but Beyond: Two Souls may be their most cinematic, game-score yet.

Sony has just released a nice, sit-down, interview with the duo.  They give us some insights into their approach for scoring this game and also share their thoughts about the unique opportunities afforded and challenges presented in the realm of video game music

We are apparently treated to a preview of the score to come when the game releases in October 2013.  Certainly sounds as though we are in for an Inception-like-experience and some dramatic, mysterious, string work.

So are you looking forward to this game?  Do you think these "two" will go "beyond" with the musical score?

Audio Evidence: 5 Composers (You Haven't Thought Of) That Could Score Thor: The Dark World

Audio Evidence: 5 Composers (You Haven't Thought Of) That Could Score Thor: The Dark World
by Christopher Coleman (@ccoleman)

With the untimely departure of composer Carter Burwell from THOR: THE DARK WORLD, the film music world has been left to speculate on who will be taking over the scoring-reigns.  While I've made it quite public that I think either ELLIOT GOLDENTHAL or HOWARD SHORE would be so-good-it-hurts-choices, neither are very likely...but not impossible.  Of course the most obvious choice would be to bring back PATRICK DOYLE.  This would bring some much needed musical continuity to the Marvel film universe, but, while delivering an adequate score for THOR, this choice doesn't seem to excite too many people for some reason.  So, let's see if we can present a few names that might excite some of you...

There are a great number of veteran Hollywood composers who could handle scoring duties for The Dark World, but let's, as we are prone to do around here, take a look at some names that you probably haven't thought about for this project.

Shall we begin?

Oscar Araujo 

One of 2010's most forceful video game scores came from Oscar Araujo.  CASTLEVANIA: LORD OF SHADOWS exploded onto the scene with it's brilliant brass and choir and with enough percussion to make the Thunder-god dance.  (Hint: you'll likely find these same ingredients in all of our five selections.)    In the second video, CASTLEVANIA LORD OF SHADOWS 2, you'll hear (and see actually) a style that is quite reminiscent of Patrick Doyle's score for the original Thor film.  Araujo leaves little doubt that he could bring in the full Asgardian funk the Thor sequel.

James Hannigan

Well known for his scores for the video-game-tie-ins for the HARRY POTTER franchise, James Hannigan, has oft-times outclassed the feature-film-counterpart-scores.  As evidenced here in "The Grave,"  we hear him make use of John William's thematic work initially, but soon takes things in his own dark and foreboding direction.   Perhaps a bit more than Oscar Araujo's work above, Hannigian's score here has a bit more of an air of royalty about it ...which, of course, suits extra-terrestrial heroes just fine.

Need more evidence?  This night suite of eight themes from Hannigan cement the fact that his talents could easily embrace Thor's diverse world of science and magice.  Besides more Harry Potter-ness, you'll hear his "Soviet March" from RED ALERT 3,  Somehow a Russian-flavored theme or two wouldn't see totally out of place in that world and his heroic "To Save The World."

Abel Korzeniowski

Fans have been pining for ABEL KORZENIOWSKI's score for BATTLE FOR TERRA for years.  While an official release seems unlikely any time soon, he has since gone on to dazzle us with his scores for ESCAPE FROM TOMORROW, W.E. and A SINGLE MAN.  While none of these might evoke thoughts of the Rainbow Bridge of Asgard...where the booming heavens roar, one listen to this piece from Terra and you'll see that Korzeniowski could easily bring his distinctive beauty to Thor's world and balance it with enough musical gravitas to satisfy even the most jaded Frost-giant.  It's only a matter of time before Korzeniowski breaks into the A-list of  the Hollywood composing ranks.  There's no reason why it couldn't be via Thor: The Dark World.

Arnau Bataller

Few composers out there can rival Elliot Goldenthal when it comes to sheer musical force; however,  Cue Award winner, ARNAU BATALLER is one of those few.  It will only take you a few seconds into the opening track from LA HERENCIA VALDEMAR to hear the evidence.  Brass and choir don't rise up much higher than this!   If Thor couldn't manage it on his own, Bataller's music could certainly be the musical-hammer upside his enemy's unsuspecting head!

Still not convinced?  Try this track from LA HERENCIA VALDEMAR 2: LA SOMBRA PROHIBIDA.

Bataller clearly shows he can balance his intensity with the melodically beautiful here.  With the love-trianglish tinge to the recent Thor trailers, the mastery of both styles of music evidenced in this single track would seem a very good fit.

Neal Acree

Ah.  Neal Acree.  He's been thrilling gamers with his immaculate and sublime creations for the World of Warcraft cutscenes for years.  Here in "Arthas, My Son" we get all the ingredients that a film like THOR: THE DARK WORLD deserves.  The innocent soprano vocal, the chanting choir, exploding percussions, war-crying-brass, and dissonant strings would easily flow through the streams, hills and corridors of Asgard. In the second track, "Westfall" from WORLD OF WARCRAFT: CATACLYSM we get the balancing, reflective, even tragic tone, that our next Thor experience is likely to contain.  Neal Acree has already seen and scored it all in universe of World of Warcraft.  Thor's world would be a cinch.

So there you have it.  Five samplings from five different composers that could do a fine job of crafting the musical personality of the next Thor film.  Just as Carter Burwell was not a name the immediately came to mind when considering who might score The Dark World, so these names above might also be overlooked.  But as you can plainly hear, they are names that should be considered.  Yes.  Most of these gentlemen are from the world of video games, but it is a comic-book film we are talking about here.  If there is any more natural cross-over point for a composer, I can't think of what that might be.

We'll see and hear what comes of Thor: The Dark World soon enough.  For now, let us know what you think of these selections or what other composers you feel could do Asgard justice in the comments below. 

Unboxing - Star Trek The Original Series Soundtrack Collection from La La Land Records

Take a time trip with us as we go back...back...back to the future as interpreted 40+ years ago through the vision of Gene Roddenberry and the music of Alexander Courage, Jerry Fielding, Fred Steiner, Sol Kaplan, Jerry Fielding and the other great composers who forged the original television score for the original Star Trek series.

Christopher Coleman (@ccoleman) shares his unboxing experience of this boxset released in 2012 by La La Land Records. Join him as he looks at every page of the extensive liner notes and each one of the 15 discs included!

Tracks used:

Track 01 - "Main Title" (Season 1 Disc 1) by Alexander Courage
Track 06 - "Man- Salt Chaser" (Season 1 Disc 2) by Alexander Courage
Track 20 - "The Ancient Combat - 2nd Kroyah" (Season 2 Disc 2) by Gerald Fried
Track 52 - "End Title" (Season 3 Disc 5) by Wilbur Hatch
Track 53 - "Paramount Television I.D." (Season 3 Disc 5) by Wilbur Hatch



STAR TREK: THE ORIGINAL SERIES SOUNDTRACK COLLECTION
Original Release Date: 2012
Number of Discs: 15
Label: La La Land Records


PURCHASE OPTIONS

You can support Tracksounds by picking up this massive release at Amazon.com here: http://amzn.to/12S4ycP or

You buy directly from LA LA LAND RECORDS: http://lalalandrecords.com/STTOS.html
Use the code JWROCK for 20% off your entire order! (valid through 6/4/13)



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This video was recorded, narrated, and edited by Christopher Coleman (http://twitter.com/ccoleman)

2013 BMI Film & TV Awards - Composer Interviews

On May 15th, BMI (Broadcast Music, Inc.) held their annual awards gala, The Film & TV Awards, where they honor the composers of the years top-grossing films and top-rated television programs.

As they have done of late, they offer short videos with many of the top composers in the industry via their Youtube channel.  They've created a playlist of them all, which we offer to you above.  Interviews included are:  Christopher Lennertz, John Williams, Brian Tyler, Mark Isham, Cliff Martinez, Mike Post, David Buckley, Nathan Barr, Theodore Shapiro, iZler, Blake Neely and more!

As always, its great to see and hear from the people behind some of the past year's best music.  In addition to Cliff Martinez (this year's recipient of the Richard Kirk Award winner), Christopher Lennertz shares about playing the role of James Bond as a 9-year-old.  John Williams talks about scoring Lincoln (and looks great... strong enough to pull the ears off a gundark...or score a Star Wars film or something.).  Mark Isham shares about scoring the weekly "Once Upon a Time" and biopic "42." while David Buckley shares about scoring season-to-season on The Good Wife.  Brian Tyler talks about scoring a "post-Avengers" film, Iron Man 3, and iZLER reveals how gratifying and hair-raising it is to score two TV series at one time:  Revenge and Shameless.

Give the entire playlist a listen above and you can see a list of ALL the winners below:


RICHARD KIRK AWARD

CLIFF MARTINEZ

ACADEMY AWARD WINNERS

MYCHAEL DANNA
Life of Pi

ADELE (PRS)
"Skyfall," from Skyfall

BMI FILM MUSIC AWARDS

ALAN SILVESTRI
The Avengers

THOMAS NEWMAN
Skyfall

DANNY ELFMAN
Oz the Great and Powerful

JOHN WILLIAMS
Lincoln

DANNY ELFMAN
Men in Black 3

BRIAN TYLER
Iron Man 3

ALAN SILVESTRI
The Croods

MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
Hotel Transylvania

NATHANIEL MECHALY (SACEM)
Taken 2

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (SACEM)
Argo

CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
Identity Thief

DANNY ELFMAN
Silver Linings Playbook

MYCHAEL DANNA
Life of Pi

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (SACEM)
Rise of the Guardians

ALEXANDRE DESPLAT (SACEM)
Zero Dark Thirty

ALAN SILVESTRI
Flight

CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
Think Like A Man

THEODORE SHAPIRO
The Campaign

BRIAN TYLER
The Expendables 2

JOE KRAEMER
Jack Reacher

DANNY ELFMAN
Dark Shadows

AARON ZIGMAN
Madea's Witness Protection

STEVE JABLONSKY
Battleship

ALAN MENKEN
Mirror Mirror

JOHN OTTMAN
Jack the Giant Slayer

THEODORE SHAPIRO
Hope Springs

MARK ISHAM
The Lucky One

HARRY GREGSON-WILLIAMS
Total Recall

LYLE WORKMAN
American Reunion

AARON ZIGMAN
Escape From Planet Earth

BMI SPECIAL CITATION OF APPRECIATION

LAURA DUNN

BMI MINISERIES MUSIC AWARD

TONY MORALES
Hatfields & McCoys

BMI TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

BRIAN KIRK
NCIS

CHUCK LORRE
Two and a Half Men

BLAKE NEELY
Golden Boy

JOS JORGENSEN
America's Got Talent

ANDY LOVE
America's Got Talent

BLAKE NEELY
The Mentalist

PETE TOWNSHEND (PRS)
CSI

CHRISTOPHER FRANKE
The Amazing Race

VAUGHN JOHNSON
The Amazing Race

LEE SANDERS
The Amazing Race

MARK MANCINA
Criminal Minds

ROB SIMONSEN
Blue Bloods

ROB CAIRNS
The Bachelor

GEORGE RITTER
Rules of Engagement

BERT SELEN
Rules of Engagement

CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
Revolution

KEITH POWER (SOCAN)
Hawaii Five-0

BRIAN TYLER
Hawaii Five-0

CARIM CLASMANN (PRS)
Grey's Anatomy

GALIA DURANT (PRS)
Grey's Anatomy

PETER BJORN AND JOHN (STIM)
2 Broke Girls

JOHN FRIZZELL
The Following

PETE TOWNSHEND (PRS)
CSI: NY

BILL BROWN
CSI: NY

KEB' MO'
Mike & Molly

DAVID BUCKLEY (PRS)
The Good Wife

JOS JORGENSEN
The X Factor

ANDY LOVE
The X Factor

SCOTT KIRKLAND
Bones

KENNETH BERRY
Undercover Boss

EHREN EBBAGE
Undercover Boss

MATT KOSKENMAKI
Undercover Boss

JOHN NOONEY
Undercover Boss

CRAIG OWENS
Undercover Boss

CHAD FISCHER
Scandal

iZLER
Revenge

CARTER BAYS
How I Met Your Mother

CRAIG THOMAS
How I Met Your Mother

MARK ISHAM
Once Upon a Time

MIKE POST
Law & Order: SVU

BLAKE NEELY
Arrow

BMI SPANISH-LANGUAGE TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

JOSE ANGEL
La Patrona

MARLU
La Patrona

PACO PANIAGUA
La Patrona

JUAN CARLOS RODRIGUEZ
La Patrona

ALEJANDRO SIRVENT BARTON
Abismo de Pasión

BMI CABLE TELEVISION MUSIC AWARDS

TREE ADAMS
Perception

JIM JOHNSTON
WWE Raw

MICHAEL BOLGER
SpongeBob SquarePants

SAGE GUYTON
SpongeBob SquarePants

EBAN SCHLETTER
SpongeBob SquarePants

JEREMY WAKEFIELD
SpongeBob SquarePants

JACE EVERETT
True Blood

NATHAN BARR
True Blood

CHARLIE CLOUSER
American Horror Story

CESAR DAVILA-IRIZARRY
American Horror Story

DAMON CRISWELL
Fish Hooks

ANDY STURMER
Fish Hooks

BRANDON KINDER
Bering Sea Gold

J.G. QUINTEL
The Regular Show

JOHN ENROTH
The Regular Show

ALBERT FOX
The Regular Show

MARK MOTHERSBAUGH
The Regular Show

CRAIG OWENS
Dance Moms

RONNIE VAN ZANT
Mountain Men

JACOB SHEA
Mountain Men

ROLFE KENT
Dexter

DANIEL LICHT
Dexter

iZLER
Shameless

Find out more at the official BMI site

Interview with Jamie Christopherson - Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance

Composer Jamie Christopherson talks with Christopher Coleman (@ccoleman) about scoring one of 2013's most hotly anticipated games, METAL GEAR RISING: REVENGEANCE.  He also shares about not coming back to the LOST PLANET franchise and working with Christopher Lennertz on NBC's popular show, Revolution.

Music:

00:00 "Revenge with a Vengeance"
13:00 "The Hot Wind Blowing" featuring Ferry Corsten (Plantinum Mix)
24:04 "The War Still Wages Within"

Interview:

06:00 - Not on Lost Planet 3
08:00 - Working with Christopher Lennertz
10:17 - How did you come on to Metal Gear Solid: Revengeance
12:06 - The weight of the Metal Gear tradition
13:32 - Change in Musical Direction
15:20 - Dealing with the sheer volume of music needed
16:28 - Boss Battles and building up to vocal versions
18:29 - Finding the band members
20:28 - Which came first the score or the song?
22:03 - The Revengeance Launch Party
23:59 - Officially released music
26:32 - What else are you working on?
28:45 - Will there be more Metal Gear Rising?

You can support Tracksounds by picking up Jamie Christopherson's original vocals soundtrack at Amazon.com here: http://amzn.to/12GNG65

Find more Audio Interviews and Podcast Episodes on The SoundCast
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Connect with Tracksounds:

Twitter: http://twitter.com/tracksounds
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Interview conducted and produced by Christopher Coleman.  Video editing and effects by Marius Masalar.

Interview: Jason Graves Talks Tomb Raider

Marius Masalar interviews composer Jason Graves on one of his latest scores, TOMB RAIDER.  The two dive deep into just what went into the unique sound created for Lara Croft's return!

Music:

0:00 - Adventure Found Me

7:18 - First Blood

13:33 - The Scavenger's Den

18:08 - The Scavenger's Camp

21:26 - Reaching Roth

23:09 - Scaling the Ziggurat

36:30 - Infiltrating the Bunker

44:06 - The Tomb Raider

Conversation:

0:00 - Intro

0:45 - The new studio

1:40 - Jason's first encounter with Tomb Raider

3:00 - Musical goals for the new Lara

5:35 - What makes Lara iconic, why we care about her, and what her new iteration is like

10:32 - Building "The Instrument"; the voice of the island

16:18 - Matt's other sculpting work

17:25 - Creative freedom and collaboration

19:37 - Traditional thematic elements; Lara's piano theme

22:27 - Exotic percussion, recording live

26:00 - Tomb Raider and Uncharted: inspiration?

27:53 - A thematic coincidence and inspiration from within

29:05 - Tomb Raider's audio implementation story

35:50 - Jason samples his own orchestra

39:28 - Hints about future titles, and scheduling multiple projects

40:57 - The single best piece of advice Jason has ever received as a composer

43:56 - Conclusion and contact info

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Twenty Minutes of Mychael Danna's Score for Life of Pi

Recently, youtuber, Cinemamusica1, posted over twenty minutes of Mychael Danna's upcoming score for the highly anticipated film, LIFE OF PI.  We apparently get a sampling of the entire soundtrack which looks to have 28 tracks.  The original soundtrack isn't due to release from Sony Classical until November 19, 2012 in the United States.

It appears that Danna includes a number of ethnic instruments like the bansuri, instantly matching the mystical and quite beautiful tone that the film will also be creating visually.  We hear some wordless, female vocals, which further add to the exoticism.   There are one or two moments that give me hope that they might be building up to exultant moments like those found in his work for The Nativity Story.  The general tone of these samples does suggest that the score will likely stay more restrained than that though. The track "God Storm" does make it clear that Danna definitely delivers some dramatic, symphonic material for sure.

We have about a month to think about and anticipate it.

What do you think of you hearing here?  Does this make you look forward to hearing it in full or seeing the film any more?

Star Wars - Music By John Williams in Six Parts | Video

After being stirred up by some newly found documentary footage centered on THE EMPIRE STRIKES BACK, I was pleasantly made aware of this documentary which focuses on John Williams and his original score for, what many call, the best of the original trilogy films.

We've compiled a convenient list of all six parts of the documentary for your viewing pleasure.  So I highly encourage you to take about 60 minutes of your day and enjoy this fantastic look at the maestro at work on this iconic film.

Why don't they make docs like this any more?  Share your thoughts in our comment section below.

You can follow us on Youtube for more future playlists, too.