(l to r) James Cromwell, Andre Braugher, Samantha Mathis, Rob Lowe and Rutger Hauer star in TNT's version of SALEM'S LOT.
© TNT
Basic Harry
By: Randall D. LarsonDate: Thursday, May 13, 2004
THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATION
Jerry Goldsmith's sultry and sexy score for Paul Verhoeven's provocative thriller, BASIC INSTINCT, has been given a new lease on life through the new release on Belgium's Prometheus label (XPCD 154), which expands the earlier 1992 Varese Sarabande CD by 16 tracks and 30 minutes and purports to proffer the complete original soundtrack music from the film. The score ranges from the sensuality of its main strings and saxophone riff to the dangerous aggression of its more assertive tonalities. Hollow echoes of delicate, high-end woodwind in "Catherine and Roxy," one of the unreleased cues added to this release, create a unique impression of fragility even while capturing an aura of menace through its furtive violin figures. It's a remarkably suspenseful and suggestive cue, and one that illustrates the primary sensibility of this score, which is found in its interplay between cold and hot despite the prevalent intimacy of the character interactions, there is very little warmth and very much manipulation and deception. Goldsmith establishes this in his music by providing a score that is, on the surface, very sensual and sinewy, but in its depths is very cold and impersonal. The music is melodic but constantly aloof in its phrasing, maintaining an atmosphere of unease even as it accompanies the most intimate of acts. A purer accompaniment for dishonesty and deception hasn't yet been composed (the cue, "Crossed Legs," being perhaps the finest example of this, and one of Goldsmith's most compelling and unforgettable mysteriosos [as was the visual sequence it accompanied!]).
"Beth and Nick," another major score sequence hitherto unreleased, is a remarkably potent cue that accompanied the violent coitus aggressivus between these characters, the music pulsing not which pleasure and eroticism but with increased hostility. "Night Life," which follows it, is a more traditional Goldsmith action cue for long string lines soaring over a rapidly pulsing amalgamation of horns and percussion. "It Won't Sell" is a cool variation on the main theme for piano, lamenting poignantly over whispering violins, also presented here for the first time. A jarring but quite amusing new cue presented here is "That's Real Music," which accompanied a brief sequence of the Michael Douglas character watching TV while a scene from HELLRAISER plays. Imagine HELLRAISER as interpreted by Goldsmith for 27 seconds!
The Prometheus release features a 16-page booklet containing a thorough analysis of the film and its music by Gary Kester, as well as a short note from director Verhoeven. While the original 44-minute Varese CD was a more than adequate compendium of the score's primary attributes, the additional nuances, variations, and extended developments found on the Prometheus release make this version a much more satisfying acquisition.
Lalo Schifrin's Aleph Records label has released a sparkling and complete edition of his landmark urban jazz score to DIRTY HARRY (Aleph 030). Released a couple of years after Schifrin's notable BULLITT (also set in San Francisco), DIRTY HARRY is an edgier, dirtier score, accompanying both its enigmatic anti-hero cop, Harry Calahan, and its unconscionably evil villain, [IMG3R]Scorpio, with a cold rhythm of urban jazz-funky. An ethereal female vocal motif (echoing, it seems, the reflective synth tones that open the "Scorpio's View" cue) is associated with the murderer's viewpoint, lending just the right tonality of unreality to the music. Schifrin's Main Title is one of his most exciting ever, featuring an insistent suspense riff rippling with an urban jazz musculature as Calahan is shown trawling the city for clues. A brutally aggressive theme for Scorpio theme appears in full in the second half of "Scorpio's View," segueing from the sinister female voice motif into a completely inexorable suggestion of relentless, compulsive murderousness; "The School Bus" features a similar and very suspenseful rendition; those cues are notable for achieving a very potent degree of suspense not through mysterious tonalities or spooky sounds, but through the awesome integrity of Schifrin's unrelenting rhythmic riff, which resonates like a charging rhino that Calahan has only moments to lasso. There are a couple of songs included on the CD, these were heard as source music during downtown San Francisco street scenes; additionally there are four alternate versions of cues included as bonus tracks, including an alternate, more prolonged vocal take of the Scorpio motif by singer Sally Stevens, and a brief snippet where she breaks up half way into the cue. The Aleph web site is at www.alephrecords.com but it hasn't been updated in about a year; check the soundtrack sources at the end of the column to acquire the CD.
FILM MUSIC NEWS
Music from the Movies reports that Christopher Young will not be scoring EXORCIST: THE BEGINNING as originally intended. Young had been hired by original director Paul Schrader, after composer Michael Kamen, some time before his death last year, had to leave the project. "Young is no longer involved with the project. We will have an announcement in the next week or so as to whom we will be bringing on-board," confirms Greg Mielcarz, Head of Worldwide Publicity at Morgan Greek Productions. Young (HELLRAISER, URBAN LEGEND, SPECIES) reportedly had not yet written any music for the film.
www.musicfromthemovies.com
Film Score Monthly adds this bit of Christopher Young news: he's just scored a new cable movie called SOMETHING THE LORD MADE, which will premiere on HBO on Sunday, May 30th. Alan Rickman and Mos Def star as a pair of heart surgeons in this period docudrama, which was directed by Joseph Sargent.
The SoundtrackNet! Web site has just posted an intriguing interview with Italian composer Carlo Siliotto regarding his score to THE PUNISHER, which will be released later this month on La-La Land Records. Read it now at www.soundtrack.net/
Hans Zimmer has composed the score for the latest epic adventure, KING ARTHUR, directed by Antoine Fuqua and produced by Jerry Bruckheimer, in August. Zimmer also scored TEARS OF THE SUN, for Fuqua. Hollywood Records will release the original score. The film premieres July 7th.
Trevor Jones will not be scoring I, ROBOT; he has been replaced on the project with Marco Beltrami (TERMINATOR 3).
Film Score Monthly's Gold and Silver Age Classic CD releases for May are Bronislau Kaper's complete score for the romantic comedy THE SWAN, which featured Grace Kelly in her penultimate film role; and Alex North's THE SHOES OF THE FISHERMAN, featuring the complete score on Disc One, while Disc Two features source cues from that score as well as MICHEL LEGRAND'S demo cues for ICE STATION ZEBRA and the original album rerecording of Ron Goodwin's WHERE EAGLES DARE (those portions of the latter two films having not been included on FSM's "complete" original soundtrack releases of either score). www.filmscoremonthly.com
Next Tuesday Varese Sarabande will release Harald Kloser's powerful score for Roland Emmerich's speculative look at the future, THE DAY AFTER TOMORROW. Interestingly, the CD features the unusual credit "score co-composed by Thomas Wanker," whose biggest claim to fame this far is as the composer of the last seasons of BUFFY, THE VAMPIRE SLAYER after Christophe Beck left the show.
Christopher (l to r) James Cromwell, Andre Braugher, Samantha Mathis, Rob Lowe and Rutger Hauer star in TNT's version of SALEM'S LOT. © TNT
Craig Armstrong (THE BONE COLLECTOR, MOULIN ROUGE, LOVE ACTUALLY) has scored the new Robert Redford/Helen Mirren thriller, THE CLEARING. Varese will issue the soundtrack CD on June 29th; film opens July 2nd. See www.varesesarabande.com for information on all these new and forthcoming releases.
Film Score Monthly reports that New York's Julliard School is about to award an honorary doctorate to John Williams.
Coming this summer, Percepto Records sends in the clowns courtesy of MGM with a deluxe release of the 1988 cult classic KILLER KLOWNS FROM OUTER SPACE. This world premiere limited edition showcases every note of composer John Massari's sinister synth score, plus the popular theme song by 80s punk fave, The Dickies. The CD also includes a 24-page full-color booklet detailing the film's history, including in-depth interviews, rare photos, production artwork and much more. The label has slated July as the probable release date for Vic Mizzy's THE RELUCTANT ASTRONAUT, the 1967 Don Knotts comedy. Like Percepto's previous release of Mizzy's GHOST AND MR. CHICKEN, another well-worn Knotts fantasy-comedy, this will Mizzy's complete score, including source cues, and a detailed CD booklet. www.percepto.com
John Ottman (URBAN LEGENDS FINAL CUT, EIGHT-LEGGED FREAKS, X2) will score the upcoming remake of the classic 1953 horror thriller HOUSE OF WAX, directed by newcomer Jaume Serra and produced by Dark Castle Entertainment (Robert Zemeckis' and Joel Silver's company specializing in horror flicks). Ottman also scored Dark Castle's GOTHIKA last year. The film premieres on 22nd October. Ottman will also score KISS, KISS, BANG, BANG, a 2005 action comedy starring Val Kilmer and Robert Downey, Jr., and wrote the themes for IMAGINARY HEROES (adapted and scored by Deborah Lurie) and the Kim Basinger crime thriller CELLULAR. via musicfromthemovies.com
John Powell (CHICKEN RUN, EVOLUTION, PAYCHECK) will score Charles Shyer's upcoming remake of Alfie, (which currently bears the unwieldy title WHAT'S IT ALL ABOUT, ALFIE?) starring Jude Law in the Michael Caine role, and his score will incorporate three new songs by Mick Jagger and Dave Stewart. filmscoremonthly.com
GAMES MUSIC
Jack Wall (MYST REVELATION, SPLINTER CELL: PANDORA TOMORROW) has composed the music to WRATH UNLEASHED, the new mythology-inspired combat action game from The Collective/LucasArts. Wall recorded the soundtrack with the 77-piece Northwest Sinfonia (which also performed the scores to such games as INDIANA JONES & THE EMPEROR'S TOMB, MYST III: EXILE, and MEDAL OF HONOR) and a 16-piece choir.
In an interview with Music4Games.net, [IMG4R]Wall described the score as "Bombastic, energetic, earthy, raw. It's not slick. The setting is rocks, dirt, metal, heroic mythology - you get the point. I guess that Conan The Barbarian was really a major picture influence in my mind. We've got lots of overblown and just plain loud brass and percussion. The strings and winds are really the motor of the orchestra."
Wall recorded the score at the Bastur University Chapel, near Seattle, due to its "great acoustics. It provides fairly long reverb times with a very smooth decay, which is really perfect for a large group recording" said Wall. The score is rich in energy and orchestral power, featuring a strong primary theme and a number of eloquent choral motifs that build a highly mythic atmosphere. There's no word yet on whether or not a commercial soundtrack CD will be issued or not.
For more information on Wall, see www.jackwall.net; for more information on the WRATH UNLEASHED score, see www.music4games.net/n_wrathunleashed.html
Soundtrack sources:
Soundtrax is our weekly Movie Soundtrack column.
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