Dead Man's Chest and Tokyo Drift

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, July 06, 2006

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATION

Hans Zimmer, who produced Klaus Badelt's masterful score for the original PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN: CURSE OF THE BLACK PEARL (but who, as Badelt's immediate protégé, was also believed to have had more than a slight hand in its composition not that Badelt needed it, witness his excellent scores to POSEIDON, THE PROMISE, and others), has solo scoring credit on the sequel, DEAD MAN'S CHEST, released this week by Disney. Opening with a provocative violin motif for "Jack Sparrow," the score is very much in the vein of Badelt's original, especially in its use of strident, fast, and powerfully-stroked violin notes, but the actual rhythmic melody of the BLACK PEARL score only shows up in a couple of places on the album ("I've Got My Eye On You," "Tia Dalma"). More often, Zimmer adopts the pulsating rhythmic essence of the original theme and makes more of a non-melodic, rhythmic riff out of it. That opening track, "Jack Sparrow," introduces Zimmer's new motif from solo fiddle, gradually expanding it into the full rendition of the riff/theme for full string section and orchestra. The theme, as it is first heard in its more plaintive, solo austerity, beautifully suggests the playful cynicism of Sparrow, before advancing into the power powerful measures that reflect his swashbuckling daring-do. "Kraken" is a muscular track that surges with undersea weight and growling might. The track reaches a furious rhythmic power as it develops into a sturdy and repressive action cue; Zimmer provides his second new theme, played on an organ which provides a fresh and unusual texture amid the track's heavy-laden electric guitar, synth-percussion, and orchestra. "Davy Jones" reprises the same tonality in another new theme, introduced by music box and then taken by orchestra, given a slow and quite ominous cadence. After a straightforward rendition of the original BLACK PEARL theme in "I've Got My Eye on You," "Dinner is Served" comes as a raucous and tongue-in-cheek scherzo, roaming from a roughly hewn voice melody to a very classical waltz.


"Two Hornpipes (Tortuga)" is a stirring scherzo for, well, two hornpipes and orchestra. "A Family Affair" is a throbbing hybrid of orchestra and synths, Zimmer's trademark, which heaves with a vast musical propulsion, broken by an intimate violin soliloquy midway through. "Wheel of Fortune" and "You Look Good Jack" provides more of what we've already heard in "The Kraken" and "A Family Affair," suggesting that this score isn't quite as varied or innovative as the original and that much of the action material becomes redundant on CD; still it's a very workable, likable, and energetic score that develops some of the material introduced on the first one, although without really introducing anything of its own to the mix (it might be noted, however, that the album represents only about half of the music that actually appears in the 2.5-hour film). "Hello Beastie" offers a slowly-growing and choir-laden sonority that closes the score very reflectively and powerfully; the antithesis of the hybrid surging of "The Kraken," this track is more restrained and quite eloquent in its derivation of the score's previous elements, taking its time to build up a level of emotion in its towering reaches. In its careful development and subtlety, the 8-minute "Hello Beastie" makes amends for the redundancy of several previous tracks and becomes, along with "Jack Sparrow," the new soundtrack's most provocative cues.

Concluding the CD, regrettably in an entirely ill-fitting industrial vibe, is "He's A Pirate Tiësto Remix." Just what we need, a throbbing techno dance instrumental after the intricate expressiveness of Zimmer's concluding score track. Reach for the STOP button as soon as "Hello Beastie" concludes and avoid this pounding cacophony.

PS: Best Buy stores are offering an "exclusive" edition of the soundtrack that includes two additional bonus tracks not otherwise available, but they are not score tracks they are just alternate edits ("Pete N' Red's Jolly Roger Radio Edit" and "Chris Joss Ship Ahoy Tribal Mix" of the "He's A Pirate Song" already on the soundtrack CD). Hold me back.

www.disneyrecords.com


Brian Tyler's score for THE FAST AND THE FURIOUS: TOKYO DRIFT, released recently on Varese Sarabande, is a propulsive and effective hybrid mix of large symphony orchestra and modern, urban electronic riffing.

The first FAST AND THE FURIOUS film featured a score by electronica wizard, BT, but another BT, Brian Tyler, had contributed a cue during his early days in Hollywood. The second film, 2 FAST 2 FURIOUS, was scored by David Arnold in between 007's DIE ANOTHER DAY and THE STEPFOD WIVES. A far cry from Tyler's previous score, the poignant and very melodic ANNAPOLIS, TOKYO DRIFT (a sequel only in name; cast and characters are different) is a raucous and rhythmically progressive, urban ceremony of synths, symphs, electric guitar, hip-hope vibes, and metallic riffing that carves out an effectively in-your-face ambiance for this streetwise tale of the need for speed.

Balanced with a number of provocative guitar-based instrumentals that provide a subtler undercurrent of reflective emotionality for the film's character interactions ("Sumo," the "Welcome to Tokyo" track co-written with Guns N'Roses guitarist Slash, the feminine acoustic guitar vibe of "Neela" and "Neela Drifts"), Tyler's score works as well off screen as it does within the movie's mix of roaring engines and screeching tires. It drifts well between the film's moments of character, story, and sheer adrenalin-rushing action. Tyler gives TOKYO DRIFT as much of an edge as a push. The CD's final track, "Symphonic Touge," is an almost 7-minute cue wherein Tyler dispenses with the guitars and hip-hop drums and produces the same ferocious drive and speed purely with the orchestra. It's an amazing track one of Tyler's best rich in nuance, texture changes, and propulsion that, even in the midst of its roaring drive, it provides a heroic, well-measured theme for heroism that is effectively stated.

At 30 tracks and more than an hour's music, this is a well stocked CD, with music than runs far ahead of what you might expect from the typical urban street drama.

www.varesesarabande.com

see also: www.briantyler.com

PS: For a recent audio interview with Tyler that discusses this score and others, see: www.scorenotes.com/brian_tyler.html


FILM MUSIC NEWS

England's Silva Screen Records has released Comic Strip Heroes, a collection of newly recorded suites or excerpts from super hero films SPIDER-MAN, SUPERMAN (1978), FANTASTIC FOUR, BATMAN, THE SHADOW, BATMAN BEGINS, JUDGE DREDD, X2, and JUDGE DREDD. Despite the fact that virtually none of these films were based on comic "strips," (versus comic "books"), the collection provides a notable gallery of music from recent cinematic super hero incarnations, from the Danny Elfman's broodingly Gothic BATMAN and John Williams' sparkling, glistening SUPERMAN music through Michael Giacchino's delightful music from THE INCREDIBLES, Elfman's rhythmic riff for SPIDER-MAN, and John Ottman's effective music for X2 and FANTASTIC FOUR. Performed by the City of Prague Orchestra & Choir, enhanced by the Crouch End Festival Chorus, conducted by Nic Raine and James Fitzpatrick, the collection suffers from some inconsistent pacing (often slower than the originals), orchestral exaggeration that muddies up many of the excerpts' nuances in a drive for volume and might, and a significant lack of verve among several of the cues. The SPIDER-MAN theme, for example, loses its signature electronic percussion drive, and is paced far slower than the original, making it sound as though it were being listened to underwater. The readings of these score excerpts suffer a bit from the film music collector's community familiarity they are so well known that fans don't often tolerate alternate performances. But for the indiscriminating listener, this may well be a likable collection of super hero music.

Silva Screen has also released the second two editions in its "Film Music Masterworks Set." Following last month's releases of compilations of music from Ennio Morricone and John Barry come collections of the work of James Horner and John Williams that continue to solidify the label's reputation as leading compilers of contemporary film music. All the tracks are performed by Silva's usual ensemble, the City of Prague Orchestra, under a variety Silva conductors, most culled from previous compilations. The arrangements are uneven, however; as with the Comic Strip Heroes CD, slower pacing of several tracks are in evidence and instrumentation and arrangements have occasionally been changed (especially notable on the Morricone CD, since his unique orchestrations are so difficult to emulate faithfully); however, where these new recordings are not precisely authentic interpretations of their original sounds, they are often quite compelling retakes, and all are embellished by the label's high digital recording standards. The Williams collection includes lengthy suites and excerpts from the composer's most notable works, from JAWS, STAR WARS (Episodes I, III, and IV), and E.T. through the very recent WAR OF THE WORLDS, MUNICH, and MEMOIRS OF A GEISHA. HARRY POTTER, SCHINDLER, INDIANA JONES, SUPERMAN, and A.I. also make their appearance. The Horner collection ranges from STAR TREK II, COCOON (a pretty orchestral rendition that suffers somewhat from slowness that it didn't have in Horner's original), and WILLOW to TITANIC (here, an especially expressive orchestral variation without the Enya voices or Celine Dion edge inherent in the original), TROY, BRAVEHEART, DEEP IMPACT, MASK OF ZORRO, APOLLO 13, and LEGENDS OF THE FALL and serves as a good intro to Horner's endeavors. While the original versions are almost always preferred over these concert performances, especially when they are all readily available (and there are no previously unreleased tracks on any of these "Masterworks" CDs; but, then that was not the intention of these collections anyway), Silva's admittedly uneven but mostly effective interpretations serve as a fine introduction to these composers for the noncompletist.

www.silvascreenmusic.com

David Arnold has started work on the new James Bond title song for CASINO ROYALE, and the singer selected to perform the song is not Alison Goldfrapp, as earlier suggested. To BBC 6 Music, Arnold has confirmed that the recent rumors that Goldfrapp would be writing and performing the CASINO ROYALE song are false. This is the second film music-related Internet hoax in recent time. A few weeks ago, a fake John Powell blog was unmasked. According to David Arnold, the Goldfrapp rumor originated from a fan-made CASINO ROYALE poster, featuring Goldfrapp's name, that was posted on the internet a while ago. "The internet is really quite amazing," David Arnold commented to BBC 6 Music. - via filmmusic radio.com

La-La Land Records has announced three upcoming releases: SPACEBALLS will present the first score release of John Morris' music for Mel Brooks' Star Wars spoof the previous CD release was largely songs with only seven minutes of Morris' score. TANGO & CASH features the score for the Kurt Russell/Sylvester Stallone cop film, which was originally directed by Andrei Konchalavsky (RUNAWAY TRAIN, SHY PEOPLE), though an uncredited Albert Magnoli (PURPLE RAIN) took over during the troubled production. Harold Faltermeyer, who created the original "Jerry Bruckheimer sound" (BEVERLY HILLS COP, THIEF OF HEARTS, TOP GUN) before Hans Zimmer came along, wrote the score. Both discs are limited to 3000 copies and are due in August. The third disc presents two scores by Dominic (HANG 'EM HIGH) Frontiere and is due in September. A NAME FOR EVIL is a 1973 thriller starring Robert Culp and Samantha Eggar, while THE UNKNOWN was a TV pilot from 1964 which was later reworked into the Outer Limits episode "The Forms of Things Unknown."

-via filmscoremonthly.com

See: www.lalalandrecords.com

Cinemusic.net offers a preview of the soundtrack for the new M. Night Shyamalan film, LADY IN THE WATER. "It's no secret that Howard does his best work musically enhancing Shyamalan's films, and while the movies have slowly gotten worse, Howard has never wavered," writes Ryan Keaveney at http://cinemusicnet.blogspot.com/. "LADY IN THE WATER is structurally not that different than SIGNS. It's a slow burning build to the climax, anchored by a strong, circular theme (first heard in "Prologue" and given weight in "Charades" before exploding in "The Great Eatlon"). Howard wrote about 75 minutes of music for the film, with about 40 of those making Decca's album (in stores July 18th). For more mouth-watering preview of Howard's LADY IN THE WATER music, surf over to www.soundtrack.net and read Dan Goldwasser's track-by-track sneak peak of the music. Both sites have sample sound bytes from the score.

The score for German director Tom (RUN LOLA RUN) Tykwer's new film, PERFUME: THE STORY OF A MURDERER, gets a very special quality stamp over it: it's performed by the Berliner Philharmoniker under the direction of Sir Simon Rattle. It's highly unusual that the Berlin orchestra, which is considered to be one of the top five symphony orchestras in the world, records an original film score. (Simon Rattle has conducted film music before when he was the leader of the City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, he recorded Patrick Doyle's score for HENRY V in 1989). The film, which has 65 million dollar budget, will come out in December and features a score composed by Tom Tykwer, Reinhold Heil and Johnny Klimek the same trio that worked on Tykwer's previous films including RUN LOLA RUN and THE PRINCESS AND THE WARRIOR (Heil and Klimek have also scored LAND OF THE DEAD and THE CAVE on their own). The film is based on the novel by Patrick Süskind and tells the story about a man who creates the world's finest perfumes, a quest that gets into dark territories as he searches for the ultimate scent. Dustin Hoffman, Alan Rickman, Ben Whishaw and Rachel Hurd-Wood stars in the film. via filmmusic radio.com

The sixth edition of the World Soundtrack Awards, which will be held on October 14, 2006 in Ghent, Belgium, is once again promising to be the pre-eminent event for film music lovers. The international elite of film music composers will be in Ghent that evening to attend the presentation of the World Soundtrack Awards and the concert thereafter. Among other works, the music of Michael Giacchino, Peer Raben, John Powell and Piet Goddaer will be the main features of the evening. Launched in 2001 by the Flanders International Film Festival, the World Soundtrack Academy is aimed at organizing and overseeing the educational, cultural and professional aspects of the art of film music, including the preservation of the history of the soundtrack and its worldwide promotion; the latter through the presentation of awards as well as through the development of several other promotional initiatives.

www.worldsoundtrackawards.com


GAMES MUSIC NEWS

As reported earlier this week in Monday's Music News, BAFTA® award-winning composers Jeremy and Julian Soule have composed the music for the new video game, PREY, which is being hailed by many as featuring the first movie-length soundtrack for a video game. The game's storyline follows Tommy, a young Cherokee and former soldier who has renounced his heritage and spiritual foundation. Kidnapped by aliens, bent on harvesting the Earth's peaceful inhabitants as a food source, he is imprisoned alongside his grandfather and girlfriend by their biomechanical captors. Breaking free from his confinement, Tommy is contacted by his late grandfather's spirit who urges him to re-affirm his beliefs as the only way to find salvation and rescue Jen.

Two volumes of music featuring Jeremy and Julian's soundtrack have been released in advance of the game's summer debut. Both volumes showcase almost 145 minutes of courageous and thrilling music. The albums are available exclusively for download at DirectSong.com, the gaming industry's leading music portal. For more information, see: www.jeremysoule.com



Former editor/publisher of CinemaScore magazine, Randall Larson was for many years senior editor for Soundtrack Magazine and a film music columnist for Cinefantastique magazine. He is the author of Musique Fantastique: A Survey of Film Music in the Fantastic Cinema (Scarecrow, 1984) and Music from the House of Hammer (Scarecrow, 1995). In addition to Soundtrax and Music News for Cinescape.com, Randall reviews soundtracks Music from the Movies, writes for Film Music Magazine, and in many other fields.


Recommended Soundtrack sources:

www.buysoundtrax.com
www.intrada.com
www.screenarchives.com
www.footlight.com
www.arksquare.com/index_main.html (Japan)
www.intermezzomedia.com/ (Italy)
www.moviegrooves.com
www.moviemusic.com


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