Soundtrax

James Horner's score for COMMANDO is available in a limited release.
© Varese Sarabande

Action Music

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, January 15, 2004

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

From France comes the first ever original soundtrack release of the full score from 1976's ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 (Record Makers 7243 593241 2 8). The movie was John Carpenter's sophomore directorial effort, a kind of RIO BRAVO in the urban ghetto that, despite its low budget, drove forth an absorbing story with tremendous energy and likable heroics. As he's done with almost all of his films, including the first (DARK STAR), Carpenter provided his own electronic keyboard score, a rhythmically driving craftwork of electronic riffs that funneled the film's energy into a powerful and straight ahead barrel of cinematic intensity. The score play it loud! has been beautifully preserved on CD, its electronic tonalities sounding clear and crisp in a very nice mix. The score is a cold score reflective primarily of the heartless machinations of the armed felons waging gang warfare against the lone police station. Contrasting these action riffs is a single warm and mellow keyboard composition ("Precinct 9 Division 13") that at first aligns itself with the titular Police Precinct itself and only later, once we have gotten to know the characters instead of being associated with any one of the film's diverse characters (who form a camaraderie toward survival not unlike that in NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD except that none of them is eaten...), begins to sympathize musically with one of them ("Julie") and, ultimately, all of the survivors ("Walking Out"). In both cases it offers a simple respite from the unremitting onslaught waged against the group trapped in the beset Precinct. In his introductory note, Carpenter describes his score as a "minimalist" score, composed with a miniscule budget, achieving maximum impact from minimal means. The score is only 26-minutes long, and it doesn't waste a second. It's extremely potent and very likable, capturing a fatalistic mood while also creating a kind of dance of death in its repetitive beat and rhythmic electronic taps that are uniquely appropriate to the film's eccentric visualizations of violence and resilience. There are enough nuances and energy in those 26 minutes to sustain a movie of much greater length, and in its very minimalist simplicity Carpenter has crafted one of his most potent compositions. It achieves what ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK does with even greater effectiveness, a rhythmic cohesion that embodies the resolve of its characters, lends potency to their conflicts, and creates a terrifically toe-tapping riff that gives both of these films a very memorable musical fluidity. The French CD contains 16 pages of well-illustrated notes, including Carpenter's intro, a June 2003 interview with Carpenter about the score, plus notes from executive producer Joseph Kaufman.

Varese Sarabande, in December's trio of limited edition Club releases, issued the first-ever soundtrack CD to one of James Horner's most eagerly sought scores, the pulsating action music for Arnold Schwarzenegger's 1985 film, COMMANDO (VCL 1103 1026). The film, a vicarious spectacle of machismo, starred the Governator as a former military commando, now reclusive, whose daughter is stolen by bad guys resulting in mayhem and clever quips being done to them as Arnold retrieves his precious charge. The film also featured Rae Dawn Chong in a very very likeable role as a gutsy federal agent won over by Arnold's family charm. The Horner score, apart from a very pretty love theme for dad and daughter that's heard just after the main titles (and no where else), is a rapid-fire succession of pulsing riffs, punctuated by orchestra, bluesy jazz saxophones, Latin American woodwinds, and steel drums. The latter give the music a particularly unique texture, and

Composer John Debney

the style merges the now-typical action-movie techno-pulse-riff with a jazzy blues sensibility and a touch of reggae rhythm from the steel drums. The sound design which is easy to miss in the joyful cacophony of the film itself is quite simple, driven by a frenetic and consistent palpitation of electronics and acoustics. Heard apart from the film, on its own without the intrusion of sound effects, Horner's score really comes alive. It's got an impressive textural depth and a relentless constancy to its forward motion that really energizes the film. It's a jazz-fusion score that takes off and gains both altitude and velocity until it runs its course, with little if any breathing space in between. It's darkly hued, like the khaki camouflage painted on Schawrzenegger's skin in the movie, rippling with musical musculature. In many ways COMMANDO was the archetypal Schwarzenegger film existing simply for the vicarious pleasure of seeing Arnold beat the snot out of a bunch of low-lifes (I used to watch this movie when I got into a fowl mood its joyful celebration of righteous retribution via fists and elbows and machine guns and shoulder-launches missiles, as machismo a fantasy as there ever was one, never failed to lift me up!) and in that context, this is the archetypal Schwarzenegger score. This limited release contains about 45 minutes of music probably the extent of the score. Eric Lichtenfeld supplies laudably informative liner notes describing the music and its use in the film. www.varesesarabande.com

From the electronic pulses of the 70s and 80s, we reach ignition with this year's rock-based score for UNDERWORLD, Len Wiseman's MATRIX-influenced exploration of the end of an ongoing war between vampires and werewolves, set in an indistinct era but brimming with terrifically modern cinematic visualizations to its storytelling. The driving musical score, by former Tangerine Dream musician Paul Haslinger, has been released on Lakeshore LKS33787). More a thriller than a horror film, the score eased its way throughout the film in between the heavy metal numbers (released separately, with added "influenced by" tracks, also on Lakeshore) in a sound design that was also influenced by the style and sensibility of THE MATRIX. Haslinger's score is heavily in a rock idiom that matches the punk and

Don Davis, composer for THE MATRIX films

alternative cues inserted into the mix, while incorporating electronics to create a strong atmospheric dynamic and an emotive flavor that songs just can't achieve. There is one song included on this CD, "Red Tape" from Agent Provocateur, which congeals well within the musical/textural context that Haslinger has built. Forgive the continual comparisons UNDERWORLD is very much its own films but one has to fess up to the obvious visual and musical influences derived from THE MATRIX but in the same way that Don Davis crafted a consistent sound design within and without the techno metal elements that fused the MATRIX films, so has Haslinger synchronized the musical matrix (sorry) that has fused the heavy rock numbers with his own dark shadow-carved and heavy-laden musical approach. Instead of gravitating to the minimalist electronics of the 70s or the rhythmic synthesizer sensibilities of the 80s that were effectively characterized by both ASSAULT ON PRECINCT 13 and COMMANDER, UNDERWORLD embraces a weighty reliance on a throbbing rock beat, mixed with a healthy dose of nicely textured mysteriosos, soaring suspense sonorities, and dramatically provocative dissonances. www.haslinger.com www.lakeshore-records.com

SOUNDTRACK & FILM MUSIC NEWS

Goldsmith's unused score for TIMELINE will soon see a CD release from Varese Sarabande Records. The announcement comes scant weeks after the same label released Brian Tyler's replacement score for TIMELINE, the one we heard in the film. An overjoyed jerrygoldsmithonline noted that "an official release of a rejected score is a rare event which Goldsmith fans could have only dreamt about after hearing the news early last year that Goldsmith's score was to be replaced." Varese will reportedly be giving the disc the Deluxe Edition treatment and presenting it in the SACD format.

Varese Sarabande has also announced an eclectic trio of new soundtrack releases for February 24^th: TWISTED is Mark Isham's score for Philip Kaufman's new thriller (formerly titled BLACKOUT), with Ashley Judd as a detective on the trail of a killer. TRAFFIC: THE MINSERIES is a USA Network spinoff of the Oscar winning film (which was itself based on a British miniseries), with music by Jeff Rona. CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is a "special edition" release of Richard M. Sherman and Robert B. Sherman's popular score for the 1968 musical, to tie in with the film's recent deluxe DVD release.

Don Davis and orchestrator Erik

Lakeshore Records' score CD to UNDERWORLD, featuring Paul Hasslinger's musical score

Lundborg are currently working on a concert suite based on the three critically acclaimed scores for the MATRIX films. The suite will be approximately twenty minutes and in three movements using material from each and one of the three films. The suite is being re-orchestrated for a standard orchestra, which means that the brass section will be different from the original scores, the percussion will be reduced a bit, and there will only be one piano. The first movement of the suite, featuring music from the first film, will be performed in concert by the Gothenburg Symphony Orchestra in Sweden in three film music concerts from 18th-20th March 2004.

Music from the Movies reports that John Debney

James Horner's score for COMMANDO is available in a limited release.

will compose an original score for Mel Gibson's much debated film about Jesus, THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST. A lot of rumours have surrounded the choice of composer for the film, which is set to open in the US on 25th February. At this point, no music by Lisa Gerrard, who was attached to the project earlier, is in the film, according to MFTM, which added: the majority of the films John Debney has scored throughout his career have been light comedies and action movies. Undoubtedly, The Passion of the Christ is one of this year's most prestigious films and could easily be considered to be John Debney's most important scoring assignment so far.

Oscar-winning composer Howard Shore will conduct his massive new symphony for THE LORD OF THE RINGS in London on Sunday 23rd May 2004. The concert will be performed at the Royal Festival Hall by the London Philharmonic Orchestra at 3.00pm. According to the LPO web site, "You will be taken on a musical and imaginative journey from the tranquility of the Shire to the horror of Mordor and the explosive Mount Doom. The Royal Festival Hall will never seem the same again!"

The Lord Of The Rings Symphony features music from THE FELLOWSHIP OF THE RING, THE TWO TOWERS and THE RETURN OF THE KING.

After his noted score for Disney and Pixar's FINDING NEMO and his effort for television miniseries ANGELS IN AMERICA, Thomas Newman will score the Jim Carrey comedy, LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS, a family comedy helmed by CASPER director Brad Silberling. The film is set to open on 25th December 2004.

Film Score Monthly's new limited edition CDs features a 2CD set pairing two Ron Goodwin WWII scores: WHERE EAGLES DARE/OPERATION CROSSBOW. The complete underscore to WHERE EAGLES DARE comprises disc one of this release the first-ever release of the film soundtrack, as the previously-released LP was a re-recording. The score to OPERATION CROSSBOW can be found on disc two. Complete source music and alternate score cues round out disc two. The entire release is in stereo.

FSM's companion release is Miklos Rozsa's classic score for MOONFLEET, a 1955 M-G-M swashbuckler directed by the legendary, Fritz Lang. Rozsa responded with "a melodic score driven by a soaring seascape evoking the British Isles, one of his loveliest themes," as FSM puts it. This premiere soundtrack CD features the complete score in stereo from the original 35mm master elements. The program features a chronological assembly of the complete underscore (46:48) followed by alternate score cues (including four alternate endings) and source music (30:22).

John Woo's latest action fest, PAYCHECK, is based on the short story by science fiction writer Philip K. Dick. John Powell's exhilarating score is a wild ride all its own was released this week.

La-La Land Records [IMG6R]presents the soundtrack to New Line Cinema's big-screen sci-fi/romantic-thriller THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT, starring Ashton Kutcher, Amy Smart, and Eric Stoltz. Composer Michael Suby's dynamic score, performed by the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, captures all the suspense, romance and wonder of this motion picture event. Includes exclusive liner notes from the writer/directors and more.

A compilation album of Dutch composer, Rogier van Otterloo, has been released and is available from www.rogiervanotterloo.nl. Van Otterloo died at the young age of 46 in 1988, after composing a handful of notable scores for Dutch films like SOLDIER OF ORANGE, TURKISH DELIGHT. On this 3 CD set, Rogier van Otterloo Verzameld Werk, CD 1 has over an hour of his film music of which most of it was never released on CD before. The other two CD's include a number of the non-film composition. For more info and ordering, visit Rogier van Otterloo.nl.

Brian Tyler's music for BUBBA-HO-TEP is available in limited quantity and for a limited time, on CD. Based on the Bram Stoker Award nominee short story by cult author Joe R. Lansdale, BUBBA HO-TEP tells the "true" story of what really did become of Elvis Presley. The limited edition release comes autographed by Brian Tyler and director Don Coscarelli and is only available for a limited time through the official web site, http://www.bubbahotep.com/cd.html

A special tribute to Federico Fellini and his cinema has been released by Italy's GDM label as a deluxe double CD containing 3 complete soundtracks written by Nino Rota. The set includes the complete music from TOBY DAMMIT (an episode of the three-part Edgar Allen Poe thriller, SPIRITS OF THE DEAD) released for the first time. including also alternative takes and a rare historic document: Fellini's and Rota's voices during the recording in 1968. Two additional Fellini/Rota collaborations are featured: SATYRICON is a stereo LP digital transfer, and the complete edition of ROMA was taken from the original mono recordings and the addition of five rare stereo tracks never appeared on CD before. This box includes a deluxe booklet with very rare pictures and posters.

Screen Archives Entertainment has released the legendary Alfred Newman Academy Award nominated score for THE BLACK SWAN. The rare recording was produced using mono preservation copies of the original nitrate optical scoring sessions. The CD includes 24 page deluxe color booklet.

Horror scores coming soon from Italy: THE CARD DEALER (new Dario Argento film) by Claudio Simonetti. Pino Donaggio's 1988 horror score PHANTOM OF DEATH and Giorgio Gaslini's 1972 horror score NIGHT OF THE DEVILS (LA NOTTE DEI DIAVOLI).

Buysoundtrax.com reports they have secured a limited quantity in stock of hard-to-find English CD release of original soundtrack album composed by Joseph Lo Duca (HERCULES and XENA) for the 1987 sequel to EVIL DEAD entitled EVIL DEAD 2 DEAD BY DAWN!

Soundtrack sources:

www.buysoundtrax.com

www.intrada.com

www.screenarchives.com

Soundtrax is our weekly Movie Soundtrack column.

For questions or comments, contact the author at Soundtrax@cinescape.com.

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