Hellblazing Music

By: Randall D. Larson
Date: Thursday, March 03, 2005

THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATIONS

Varese Sarabande has released the score to CONSTANTINE (302 066 636 2), a commanding combination of atmosphere and rhythmic pulse. Studio tampering resulted in the inclusion of Klaus Badelt, a first-rate composer (K-19, PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN, THE TIME MACHINE) and one of the best to come out of the Hans Zimmer Media Ventures laboratories, whose style is much more surface level gloss than Tyler's far deeper musical introspection; as a result the score suffers somewhat from the divergence of styles. Fortunately, the majority of Tyler's efforts were retained, with Badelt's material laid on top of it or, in some cases, replacing a few cues. Tyler's music, featuring a huge string section, tends to be more thoughtful and impressionistic notably tracks like the gorgeously soaring "Flight to Ravenscar," the moody ambiance from ethnic woodwinds in "Circle of Hell," and the lyrical violin and harp soliloquy, "Humanity," while Badelt's synthwork, dominated by electronic cello and sampled rhythmic patterns, tend to be much more raucous and dissonant, especially the jarring inclusion of heavy metal guitars in the grating "Ether Surfing" and the brutal techno riffs of the End Titles, an ill-fitting denouement in lieu of a more fitting and proper musical resolution of what has gone before. Badelt's more subtle work, where Tyler's recordings are overlaid with Martin Tillman's electric cello, are more effective and integrated into the overall mood, and work much better on the CD.

Interestingly, the music takes on the obvious role of contrasting good versus evil, which is the thrust of Hollywood's latest attempt to show one earthly hero or another needing to help God save the world. Tyler's music, as it now seems to be placed, develops more of the "good" side of the score, emphasizing John Constantine, his humanness and his hopes for redemption, and the emotional depth of the Rachel Weisz character, while Badelt's material seems to associate itself more with the drive and lust for domination of the demons and the wayward Gabriel. www.varesesarabande.com

John Ottman's spooky score for HIDE AND SEEK, released by Kirtland Records (KR-

25), carries noticeable overtones of ROSEMARY'S BABY in its use of a child's vocal lullaby over violin atmospheres in its Main Titles. This motif, later given a vocal lyric, is Emily's Theme, and provides a neat childlike innocence that contrasts effectively with the overall darkness of the score as a whole. Aside from this dominant theme, the score is a wondrous and compelling adventure in dark and creepy atmospheres. The music is constantly shifting, synths and symphs layered upon one another in variable patterns, taking on placid cadences and then urgent, jarringly dissonant rhythms, soon resolved back into calm tempos once again. The contrast between soft and harsh, innocence and corruption, rhythm and dissonance, marks the character of this score, and Ottman, who did it so well in SNOW WHITE, GOTHIKA, HALLOWEEN H20, and others, once again proves his mastery at musique pour effrayer. An attractive alternative rock-styled arrangement of Emily's Theme, arranged by Lior Rosner and sung by pop vocalist Sharlotte Gibson, gives the theme a strident and progressive rhythm that is enough in keeping with the rhythmic tonality of the motif that it works well as a satisfying denouement to the score. www.kirtlandrecords.com

The French label Cinefonia has launched an ambitious series of recordings of Gabriel

Yared (TROY, rejected, COLD MOUNTAIN, CITY OF ANGELS) film scores. Produced in cooperation with the composer, Gabriel Yared Film Music Vol. 1 contains music from Yared's second and third feature film assignments, Jean-Luc Godard's 1980 SAUVE QUI PEUT LA VIE (Every Man For Himself), and Christian de Chalonge's 1981 futuristic survival thriller, MALEVIL, based on the Robert Merle novel. The Godard drama received a spellbinding keyboard score, based completely (at the director's insistence) on four bars from the opening of a Ponchielli opera. Yared overcame his initial trepidation and created a beautiful and stimulating score, performed by himself on different keyboards. It's an unusual and highly effective score, preserved on disc in its original form (Godard effected several changes when placing the music into the film soundtrack). The MALEVIL score is a rich and provocative atmospheric work, also heavy on keyboard. The score is performed almost entirely on a then newly-created Fairlight computer sampler, using a wide array of diverse sampled sounds, with which Yared has crafted a variety of emotive atmospheres and enriching moods, surpassing the mechanical nature of the computer by achieving some truly moving tonalities and warm, palpable sonorities. This is a score that seethes with life for a film that dramatizes the survival of a small group in a post-apocalyptic, lifeless world. The music is charming and compelling, texturally intriguing and sonically inventive. As with the previous score, only a few portions made it into the finished film; the bulk of Yared's innovative composition are heard here for the first time.

Gabriel Yared Film Music Vol. 2 contains a single score, from the 1988 biodrama, CAMILLE CLAUDEL, which Yared counts as one of his most significant works. He was called in late in the game to replace an existing classical temp score, and his music drew upon a richly orchestral, classical sensibility. The music is passionate and persuasive, delineating a tragic human biography through the exploration of variations upon two simple motifs. Both Cinefonia CDs contain illuminating notes, in both English and French, from Yared about the composition and intentions on each of the scores, and his use of synthesizers and samplers in his work. www.cinefonia.com

From out of the past comes the score for the 1967 German science fiction feature,

PERRY RHODAN (SOS AUS DEM WELTALL; a.k.a. ...4..3..2..1...MORTE, a.k.a. MISSION STARDUST, a.k.a. YOU ONLY LIVE ONCE, etc.) on Germany's Diggler Records. The score combines the talents of Italian composer Marcello Giombini and Spanish composer Anton Garcia Abril, interspersed with a few brief snippets of German dialog from the film ("das experiment hat begonnen!"). In the best BARBARELLA and DIABOLIK fashion, the score is ripe with '60s pop rhythms and tuneful choruses, featuring the significant vocal talents of Ennio Morricone collaborators, Edda Dell'Orso and the Alessandro Alessandroni Orchestra and Choir Cantori Moderni, as well as a track by noted German film composer Peter Thomas. The music is terrifically cheesy the way only '60s European film music can be, and I mean that with terrific fondness. The film was one of a handful based on the extraordinarily successful European science fiction book series (reportedly 1.3 billion copies sold to date), but the style here was pure space pop. A terrific Andrew Sisters-styled song, "I'm Forever Blowing Bubbles," performed by the Clark Sisters, and Edna Bejarand's Shirley Bassey-like ballad, "Lonely in Time," are two vocal highlights of the album. A bonus track, consisting of a pretty good 2002 version of John Barry's MOONRAKER theme song, performed by a German pop combo named Sternenstaub (Stardust) Ensemble, makes its premiere on the CD also (the tie-in is that the first amateur Perry Rhodan movies used recycled James Bond music as soundtracks). The CD booklet includes a number of very provocative a well-illustrated with notes in both English and German tiny print. The Diggler label has also released a limited release soundtrack CD from MARK OF THE DEVIL (review forthcoming), and a whole slew of German erotica soundtracks that are also worth hearing. www.diggler.de

FILM MUSIC NEWS

Film composer Chris Walden has released a jazz [IMG6R]record on Origin Records. Entitled Home of My Heart, Walden arranges and performs the jazz and film music that inspired his international career and incorporates original compositions that pay them homage. Of note is a 3-segment original piece called Film Noir, an arrangement of Dave Grusin's theme from MULHOLLAND FALLS, and an absolutely brilliant jazz interpretation of John Williams' STAR WARS, featuring Brandon Fields on tenor sax and Peter Erskine on drums. According to Origin, the album debuted at #31 on the Jazz Week national airplay charts in only it's 2nd week of release. Walden, who began his career in Germany before moving to Hollywood in 1996 (though he frequently takes scoring assignments in his homeland), is currently scoring his second feature for UFO films, CRIMSON FORCE, which will debut later this year in the Sci-Fi Channel. Walden's first UFO feature, ALIEN SIEGE, debuted last week on Sci-Fi. www.originarts.com

At last Sunday's Academy Awards, the Oscar for Best Musical Score went to Jan A. P. Kaczmarek's sublime and gently lyrical score for the fantasy-drama FINDING NEVERLAND, beating out John Williams' HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, John Debney's THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST, James Newton Howard's THE VILLAGE, and Thomas Newman's LEMONY SNICKET'S A SERIES OF UNFORTUNATE EVENTS. The Best Song Oscar went to "Al Otro Lado Del Río" from MOTORCYCLE DIARIES, by Jorge Drexler. Other nominees for Best Song were "Learn to Be Lonely from THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (Andrew Lloyd Webber & Charles Hart), "Look To Your Path" from THE CHORUS (Bruno Coulais & Christophe Barratier), "Believe" from POLAR EXPRESS (Alan Silvestri & Glen Ballard), and "Accidentally In Love" from SHREK 2 (Counting Crows). As reported this week by Music from the Movies, Craig Armstrong will be the link between the British and American cultures for the latest European comedy remake, when the Farrelly brothers bring the 1997 English drama comedy FEVER PITCH to American audiences in a new US version. The Scottish composer has been hired to score the film, which stars Drew Barrymore and Jimmy Fallon and is directed by Bobby and Peter Farrelly. Although the film is based on the Nick Hornby novel, one important element is changed in the new US version: the sports culture portrayed is now baseball instead of football (in the original story, the male character is an avid Arsenal fan). The film is set to open on 8 April. www.musicfromthemovies.com

Film Score Monthly's web site noted that, for those who feel that awards are too dependent on critical standards or sentiment, ASCAP is presenting their 20th annual Film and Television Music Awards, whose winners are decided entirely by box-office and ratings, on April 27th at the Beverly Hilton Hotel in Beverly Hills, California. Mark Snow will also receive ASCAP's Golden Note Award, and John Debney, who has been writing scores for roughly two decades, will receive their Henry Mancini Award For Lifetime Achievement.

La-La Land Records will issue Iain Ballamy's score to MIRRORMASK, the new fantasy/adventure from the Jim Henson Company and bestselling author Neil Gaiman (Sandman, Neverwhere). Also in the works fro LLL: Richard Gibb's beautiful score to the drama BOOK OF STARS, Jesper Kyd's sensational scores to the videogames HITMAN 1 & 2, and Brian Tyler's score for the uniquely quirky fantasy, THE BIG EMPTY.

No, THE FOXES OF HARROW isn't a new reality show about

scantily-clad supermodels in some old Southern mansion, but a sublime 1947 drama starring Rex Harrison and Maureen O'Hara. Screen Archives will issue the David Buttolph score from this film, with pre-ordered now being accepted at www.screenarchives.com. The score features the Jester Hairston Choir with musical direction by Alfred Newman. Complete and in stereo. The CD will include a 32 page color booklet with liner notes by Jon Burlingame and Ray Faiola.

The Soundtrack.net web site has posted a notable interview with composer Alan Silvestri, conducted by Dan Goldwasser. Among the subjects discussed are the POLAR EXPRESS score, VAN HELSING, and what happened with Silvestri's ill-fated assignment to score PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN. On the latter topic, Silvestri notes that "it was a Jerry Bruckheimer film, which has a certain sound that has to be kept in the mix... In the end, I think Jerry was much more comfortable working in a way that he had worked historically, with people he had worked with historically, and it seemed the best idea for us to part our ways. But never anything acrimonious happened... It just wasn't the right chemistry in the end, for all of the forces at work." Silvestri also notes that he's taking some time off from film scoring to work on his new vineyard in the Carmel Valley. Surf over to www.filmmusic.com/features/article/?id=137 and have a look see. (there is no word on wine tastings just yet..., but you can check out the vineyard at: http://www.silvestrivineyards.com)

Silva Screen Records has released their latest newly recorded compilation set, a little late for Valentine's Day but full of luscious romantic film music from CASABLANCA to FINDING NEVERLAND, and not a car chase or tunnel explosion anywhere in earshot. Reel Love: The Cinematic Romance Album (SILCD 1176) hits the streets on March 7th and is a 2-CD set divided into five themed sections: The Golden Age of Hollywood Romance (GONE WITH THE WIND, DR. ZHIVAGO, etc), Piano Love Themes (SOMEWHERE IN TIME, LOVE STORY, etc), The Jane Austen Romances (EMMA, SENSE AND SENSIBILITY, PRIDE AND PREJUDICE), European Romantic Cinema (A MAN AND A WOMAN, SUMMER OF '42, EMMANUELLE, ROMEO & JULIET, etc), and Contemporary Hollywood Romances (BRAVEHEART, TITANIC, GHOST, THE ENGLISH PATIENT, etc). www.silvascreen.co.uk

Walt Disney Records celebrates this week's DVD release of BAMBI with the re-release of the original soundtrack CD. The BAMBI Original Soundtrack contains the timeless original music from the animated film, both song and score; this release also includes bonus archival interviews with Walt Disney, Henry Mancini, and animators Frank Thomas and Ollie Johnston which weren't on the 1996 Disney soundtrack that first added score tracks to the previously released song-only record. http://disney.go.com/disneyrecords/

GAMES MUSIC NEWS

Tom Salta has written a modern, industrial-fused orchestral soundtrack for Cold Fear, the new action-horror title from Ubisoft being released in March. Developed by Darkworks Studio, the game will launch simultaneously for the PlayStation®2 computer entertainment system and the Xbox® video game system from Microsoft. Salta has toured with and worked on numerous platinum-selling releases by a diverse array of artists such as Peter Gabriel, Junior Vasquez, Everything But The Girl, Mary J. Blige, Whitney Houston and Sinead O'Connor. In 2004, Salta released his debut solo album 2 Days or Die under the artist name "Atlas Plug." Available through Persist Records, the album features his unique style of anthemic orchestral and electronica rock grooves.

Tom Salta's music has also been featured in numerous TV shows, film promos, and advertisements including the Volvo S40 "Video Game" commercial, MAKING OF SPIDER-MAN 2 on HBO, MAKING OF ANACONDA 2 on Cinemax, NBC's THIRD WATCH, UPN's AMERICA'S TOP MODEL, CBS' JOAN OF ARCADIA, and MTV's MAKING THE VIDEO and TOUGH ENOUGH.

Visit the official Cold Fear website at http://www.coldfeargame.com to hear a preview of Tom Salta's Cold Fear main title music playing during the opening cinematic.

See also: www.tomsalta.com

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)

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