Stay Alive Motion Picture Soundtrack
© Nicabella Records
Horrors & Hauntings
By: Randall D. LarsonDate: Thursday, May 25, 2006
THIS WEEK'S RECOMMENDATION
A new soundtrack record label named Nicabella had made its debut with John Frizzell's excellent score for STAY ALIVE, William Brent Ball's eerie thriller about a group of teens who stumble upon a new video game called Stay Alive and are soon being murdered in the same method as the character they played in the game.
The music is a terrific hybrid of electronic and orchestral recordings. According to Nicabella, multiple versions of Frizzell's themes were recorded and manipulated during the composing-to-picture process; afterward, an additional unmanipulated orchestral recording was done to hold the score together and give it depth. The resultant mix is tonally and texturally very interesting, proffering some new sounds which lend this horror film a degree of aural originality not often found in modern horror picture soundtracks.
Frizzell, whose history in horror scoring includes the pulse-quickening scores for ALIEN RESURRECTION, GHOST SHIP, THIR13EN GHOSTS, and the forthcoming THE WOODS, provides a score that is both chilling and character-driven. In "Investigation," for example, a soft piano melody gives the eeriness an emotive characteristic that plays well against the brooding darkness of the riffing musical atmospheres that lie behind it. "Butch's Story" carries a similar emphasis: a very poignant and understated piano melody heard over the insistent atmospherics of the orchestra. "Winning By A Rose" and "Abigail is Captured" reveal agitated string lines that grow in intensity and volume and submit a gripping urgency through their relentless propulsiveness. "Final Encounter" concludes the score with an affecting melancholia that emerges into a powerful and persuasive resolution. A short coda, the quirky, burbling electronica of "In Stores Now," adds a humorous epilogue to the film, a final stinger suggesting that the game remains.... waiting for new victims.
STAY ALIVE is a great example of a predominantly ambient, dissonant horror score that never goes over the line into unlistenability when separated from its film on CD. Frizzell maintains a likable balance between creepy atmospheres and emotional tonality which serves both the film and its soundtrack well.
Sound of Superman Song Album Rhino
©
When film composer Lalo Schifrin's son, Ryan, got his first directorial gig with ABOMINABLE, a horror story about a confrontation with the infamous Sasquatch, he brought his dad in to compose the film's score. Schifrin's first new feature film score in two years, this potent and scary mix of orchestral and electronic chills is one of the most pervasive horror scores in years. Having scored barely a handful of true horror scores in his career (THE AMITYVILLE HORROR, AMITYVILLE II, THE DAY OF THE ANIMALS [just released on DVD, incidentally if you want to hear a taste of the otherwise unreleased score], DARK INTRUDER and let's not forget the famously rejected original score for THE EXORCIST), Schifrin proves he's lost none of his touch over the years
Released on CD by Schifrin's personal label, Aleph, ABOMINABLE is a richly frightening score, resplendent in orchestral darkness. In "The Cave," for example, Schifrin's sinewy strings and hardened, ivory-like percussion raps portray a consistent tonality of creepiness, an atmosphere fulfilled in the next cue, "Squatch Revealed." A ferocious atonality of piano and percussion, beaten, scraped, and rustled, created an ominously overpowering mood of dread. Oh, this is not a happy score by any means, but its provocative proclivity to increase Ryan's visual scares with an aural soundscape of persuasive pulse-poundingness.
But it's not all chills. With "Setting the Trap," Schifrin switches slightly from monster music to mission music with an aggressive, percussive riffing that would not have been out of place in an episode of his old MISSION: IMPOSSIBLE series, punctuated by a strident trumpet melody. It's an effective about-face as the former victims attempt to gain control of the situation and face the monster head on. "Escape Attempt" is a vibrant, violin-entwined action motif for strings, while "Off-Road Rage/Final Battle" is a violent assault of orchestral power, surging with confidence; "The Survivors" is the obligatory respite track, gentle and reassuring from soft violins and flutes; but oh, the happy tone sours and the music falls back into morose and dark cellos and low winds... what could this mean?
Above all, an absolutely splendid score. A cute version of the old standard "One Blade of Grass," gently sung by Pat Windsor Mitchell, concludes the score proper. The CD includes a trio of bonus tracks (a cute romantic melody, a terrific and all-too-brief surging orchestral motif, and an alternate version of "Rampage," 3-pages of liner notes by Nick Redman, and an appreciation by Ryan Schifrin.
See: www.schifrin.com
Taking a step back into classical horror cinema, I'm very pleased to see a full recording of Benjamin Frankel's masterful score for Hammer's CURSE OF THE WEREWOLF finally made available (replacing short excerpted tracks on previous compilations). In a splendid new recording performed by the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by film composer Carl Davis, Frankel's 1959 score takes on a vigorous life as vibrant and bristling as any lycanthrope under the affect of the full moon. Released along with passages from the decidedly less severe dramas SO LONG AT THE FAIR (1950), THE NET (1953), and THE PRISONER (no, not the McGoohan TV series, a 1955 Brit political drama) as the latest Film Music Classics release from Naxos, the score is challenging and effective, drawing melodic poignancy towards the afflicted Leon, afflicted by the titular condition. Doubling brass and snare drum for moments of severe horror in a manner reminiscent of James Bernard's DRACULA scores Frankel actively supports Leon's rages as he grows into the howling beast, while also supporting the pathos of the innocent man damned from birth by a terrible curse. As with most scores of the era, the melodies are slight, with the emphasis more on briefer figures and moody motifs. "Final Transformation" is a fully unleashed orchestral attack, brimming with crashing brass and howling violins and pounding drums, yet laced with Frankel's sympathetic woodwind motifs so that even in the midst of Leon's public revealing as the savage werewolf, we recall his essential innocence and are able to offer a degree of pity even as the vicious beast is brutally and necessarily shot down. Frankel's "Finale," (previously released as "The Werewolf at Bay and Apotheosis" in Silva's 1996 recording, Horror! and again in their 2002 compilation, Hammer the Studio That Dripped Blood!) is one of the most powerful orchestral cues in Hammer's horror history. Had Hammer chosen to develop the werewolf idiom as they did their Frankenstein, Dracula, or Mummy series, and Frankel scored them, he may have rivaled James Bernard and Don Banks as Hammer's horror heavies.
AMAZING STORIES Anthology One
© Intrada
Caine Davidson's impressive debut score for AN AMERICAN HAUNTING, the recent Hollywood spine-tingler starring Donald Sutherland and Sissy Spacek, has been given a much deserved online release from digital soundtrack label Moviescore Media. The film, supposedly based on true events occurring in Tennessee in the early 1800s (as true as you care you believe them, anyway, ala THE EXORCISM OF EMILY ROSE), about an actual haunting that, like the Emily Rose case, was well documented and revealed the reportedly supernatural events leading to the death of a young girl. Performed by the prestigious London Symphony Orchestra, Davidson's score is an intense composition. There's nothing necessarily new or innovative about it, the techniques applied are familiar ones (the recurringly massive, percussive pounding orchestral chords, the repeated staccato violin chords, the snarling low bass brasses over squeaky synths and vibrato violins, etc.) but they are expertly accomplished. The composition is first-rate and it's a very effective spook score. A very effective moment occurs in "Something Evil Here," where the music suddenly breaks for the quiet solitude of a softly pealing bell broken only by the onslaught of horror chords that open the following track, "Entity's First Attack," which is as musically shocking as its visual counterpart is in the film. The music continues to support the film's mix of compelling mysterioso ("Ethereal Girl" is a brilliant cue, richly evocative as a lithe effervescence of violin and a growing elevation of strings amid a low, gutturally growling descent of brass, segueing beautifully into the haunting female chorus of "Wolf In The Garden") and sudden, visceral shocks. The ghostly voicings will continue, always suggesting the ethereal presence. "The Curse of Kate Batts" reveals a tender poignancy beneath the music's malignant malevolency, reminding us as Frankel did almost fifty years earlier that despite the embodied horrors, an innocent suffers. AN AMERICAN HAUNTING is Moviescore's fifth release and their first genre soundtrack album. Davidson's score can be had via iTunes.com, or see: www.moviescoremedia.com
FILM MUSIC NEWS
Stay Alive Motion Picture Soundtrack
© Nicabella Records
We've received word of an online preview of a notable Jerry Goldsmith biography: Daughter Carrie Goldsmith has devoted all her time since 2004 to writing a biography about her father, called Deconstructing Dad: The Unfinished Life and Times of Jerry Goldsmith, is the culmination of two years work and was pieced together from interviews with Goldsmith's friends and associates, five months of interviews with the man himself (begun seven months before his death) and the personal recollections and memories that only a close relation could know. It has not been revealed to when the book will be finished or available, but those who can't wait can now get a glimpse of some of Carrie's writing at Jerry Goldsmith Online and also Joel Goldsmith's own webpage (where he has uploaded Chapter One):
www.jerrygoldsmithonline.com and www.freeclyde.com/people
John (FANTASTIC FOUR, X2, THE USUAL SUSPECTS) Ottman's musical score for Superman Returns, the highly anticipated film featuring the Man of Steel's latest heroic adventure, arrives in stores June 27, with nearly an hour of Ottman's music. The score album will be enhanced with an exclusive video interview with the film's director, Bryan Singer, a featurette on the making of the score and two trailers for the film. Recorded with a 97-piece orchestra led by conductor Damon Intrabartolo, Ottman's epic score includes his own twists on themes that John Williams composed for the original 1978 film. The score album also includes liner notes penned by Ottman, who writes about his admiration for the 1978 original and its Williams score. "When Bryan (Singer) called informing me we were going to be making this film, I could actually feel my neck and shoulders tightening up. I mean, this is the Man of Steel. This is the superhero. Why are we fooling with this!? Soon thereafter I swear I could see an apparition of John Williams, like Obi Wan Kenobi, waving his fingers, mouthing, 'Don't screw this up.'" The score soundtrack is due on June 27th from Rhino, following wouldn't you know it the release of Sound Of Superman, a collection of rising rock bands paying musical tribute to the red-caped American icon, which will be released by Rhino on June 13th. No comment.
LATITUDE ZERO Soundtrack
© Futureland/Toshiba
SoundtrackNet continues its noteworthy series of exclusive photo essays from scoring sessions with the latest film from director M. Night Shyamalan. LADY IN THE WATER features a large orchestral and choral score by Oscar-nominated composer James Newton Howard (and sole Shyamalan scorer, so far). Surf over to: www.soundtrack.net for a look-see.
Michael Wandmacher, the composer who wrote a stylish score for last year's horror film CRY WOLF, has been hired to provide the music for a new genre film: THE KILLING FLOOR. This is a thriller written and directed by Gideon Raff, starring Marc Blucas, Shiri Appleby and Reiko Aylesworth. The film is produced by Doug Liman (the director of THE BOURNE IDENTITY and MR & MRS SMITH) and Marvel Comics' Avi Arad (SPIDER-MAN, X-MEN, BLADE). Fans of Wandmacher's music should also be aware of the forthcoming release of a compilation album featuring music from the TV series NIGHT STALKER, which will be available as an iTunes release shortly. www.filmmusicradio.com
Lawrence Of Arabia CD
© Silva America
George S. Clinton returns to the holidays with his score for THE SANTA CLAUSE 3, set for release this... well, I think you can figure that part out. After having previously scored the hit comedy AUSTIN POWERS: INTERNATIONAL MAN OF MYSTERY and its blockbuster sequels along with the hit martial arts fantasy MORTAL KOMBAT and its sequel, not to mention 2002's holiday hit THE SANTA CLAUSE 2, Kevin Costner's 3000 MILES TO GRACELAND, the spooky THE ASTRONAUTS WIFE with Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp, and the popular thriller WILD THINGS, Clinton is ready for a mixture of comedy and fantasy. The new film, directed by Michael Lembeck, again and stars Tim Allen as Santa, aka Scott Calvin, who is faced with double duty: how to keep his new family happy, and how to stop Jack Frost from taking over Christmas. Currently on post production, the movie is coming out of Walt Disney Pictures and Buena Vista Pictures in November, 2006. In other news, George S. Clinton has recently finishing his score for New Line's THE CLEANER, directed Les Mayfield and starring Jeff Dimitriou in the story of an amnesiac janitor who is fooled into believing he is an undercover agent on the trail of an international arms ring involving the CIA and FBI. This film is set for a December 20th release. Additionally, George has created a suite of his music from the AUSTIN POWERS movies to be performed live in concert by Symphony Orchestras around the United States this summer. -scoremagacine.com
Grahem Reynolds' original score for Richard Linklater's upcoming science fiction film A SCANNER DARKLY, starring the animated alter egos of Keanu Reeves and Winona Ryder, will be released on CD by Lakeshore Records on June 27. The film is based on the novel by Philip K Dick and investigates themes such as paranoia and morality in future California. Graham Reynolds' previous credits include THE JOURNEYMAN and MOONLIGHT BY THE SEA. www.filmmusicradio.com
The music for DreamWorks' new animated short film, FIRST FLIGHT, which is showing before their newly released animated feature film OVER THE HEDGE, in selected markets (New York and Los Angeles, to start with), was composed by James Dooley (WHEN A STRANGER CALLS). Dooley also scored DreamWorks' animated short A CHRISTMAS CAPER, starring the penguins from the hit film MADAGASCAR, on which he previously teamed with Hans Zimmer (the short was seen before WALLACE AND GROMMIT: THE CURSE OF THE WERE-RABBIT, for which Dooley provided additional music; he also composed additional music for Zimmer's THE DA VINCI CODE. Dooley recently mixed and scored the new animated film, URMEL AUS DEM EIS, or IMPY'S ISLAND as it will be known in the US. The film is based on a German children's book about a dinosaur that hatches in modern times on an island where animals learn to speak. And most recently, Dooley has announced a deal to score the videogame, Socom 4, a sequel to Socom 3, US Navy SEALs, which he composed and recorded at London's Air Lyndhurst Hall with a 70-piece orchestra. Deservedly, Dooley is not finding it difficult securing new work. He's definitely a composer to watch out for.
Ark Square ( www.arksquare.com ) announces a complete score recordings of Akira Ifukube's classic score to Toho's LATITUDE ZERO. The 2-CD release includes the soundtracks to the International version as well as the Japanese version (the original English version for international audiences was made in 1969 and was 105 mins long; Japanese audiences saw a re-edited version totaling 89 minutes, dubbed into Japanese (even though this was a Japanese film, it was made primarily for American audiences; this the peculiarity of a Japanese film being dubbed and imported back into its own country!). Release date for the soundtrack is May 26th (tomorrow).
Abominable Motion Picture Soundtrack
© Aleph Records
Intrada has released the first of three double-CD sets featuring the stunning music composed for Steven Spielberg's 1985 TV anthology series, AMAZING STORIES. Featuring the work of guest directors like Clint Eastwood, Danny DeVito, Robert Zemeckis, Joe Dante, Martin Scorsese and many more. The show's music similarly featured some of Hollywood's biggest talents a roster of composers never seen before or since on a single television series. Some of the highlight episodes to be included on Intrada's trilogy are John Williams' GHOST TRAIN and THE MISSION, Jerry Goldsmith's BOO, James Horner's ALAMO JOBE, and music by Bruce Broughton, Michael Kamen, Leonard Rosenman, Georges Delerue, Danny Elfman, Alan Silvestri, Craig Safan, David Shire, and others. Each represented episode is complete, and each disc features a different version of the AMAZING STORIES theme. Also featured is Williams' Amblin logo theme. The music was mixed from the original multi-track masters and result in stunning stereo sound throughout. Liner notes are by Jon Burlingame. The first set is available now and is limited to 3000 copies.
For cover art, track listing, and sound samples, please visit http://shopping.netsuite.com/s
Intrada has also announced their Special Collection Volume 31, rescuing from oblivion a pair of classic scores from 1956 that you have probably never heard of but should. Both are Cinemascope films about strong-willed women, and both have exceptional scores from the period. THE REVOLT OF MAMIE STOVER was composed by Hugo Friedhofer, and HILDA CRANE, composed by David Raksin
Conducted by Alfred Newman. Friedhofer's challenge was to come up with a theme for the proverbial hooker with a heart of gold; while Raksin needed to write a theme for an independent woman decades before women's liberation which he did with characteristic integrity and conviction. Considering that both Hilda and Mamie were relatively minor cinematic efforts, the sumptuously high level of the composers' work becomes even more astonishing. Both scores are from the original stereo elements that were in excellent condition. This Intrada Special Collection release is limited to 1200 copies. For artwork, track list, and to order, please visit
http://shopping.netsuite.com/s
Perseverance Records, the label behind such collector's-item scores as Trevor Jones' LOCH NESS and Dennis Dreith's THE PUNISHER, will release Paul Hertzog's complete score for the Jean-Claud van Damme action flick KICKBOXER (1989). Hertzog, who also scored 1980s action films such as BLOODSPORT and STREET JUSTICE, is writing the liner notes for the album and the score is to be remastered from the original session tapes. The album is scheduled to be released on October 17. www.perseverancerecords.com
THE TRUTH BEHIND LAWRENCE
Da Vinici Code Video Game
© Columbia Pictures
According to Silva Screen Records most prominent conductor-Nic Raine, Silva execs want to do another version (probably a more complete version) of Maurice Jarre's classic magnum opus, LAWRENCE OF ARABIA (they released a newly recorded, expanded edition of the celebrated score in 1992). This was revealed in the latest FSM online magazine interview. Silva's James Fitzpatrick responded to the rumor on the FSM message board describing the situation (and in so doing revealing much about Silva's 1992 LAWRENCE recording sessions): "re: LAWRENCE, the presumption from the Nic Raine interview was that Silva Screen were planning a new recording. This is not the case. Why should they as it is their best ever selling film music CD? However, what is true, is that I was never happy with production and engineering by Christopher Palmer and Dick Lewzey. (Chris even got me to credit his assistant, Geoff Alexander as Producer rather than himself as he probably realized it was not a great job!). However, Chris and Dick were not solely to blame for my disappointment... having commissioned this recording I was the one responsible for looking after the tight but large budget given me by Silva Screen... and just about everything that could go wrong on a session did! To cut a long a boring story short, the main problems (highlights!) with those LAWRENCE sessions were: 1. Maurice having to pull out of the sessions because of illness; 2. Chris and Maurice deciding to "improve" the orchestrations on a few cues; 3. Dick Lewzey spending 90 minutes of the first session trying to get an orchestral balance... which meant we only recorded one minute of music in that time... so we had to race through everything else; 4. As we were recording direct to stereo the balance was crucial but unknown to me at the time the left hand channel was record some 8 to 10 DBs less than the right... so the violins in particular sound very weak. (Although this was not helped by me booking a string session that wasn't large enough for the music, plus it was not my choice of studio in the first place... I wanted to do the recording at Abbey Road with my friend Mike Ross as engineer... but I was "overruled" by Chris); 5. And to top it all, between session 1 (in the evening) and session 2 (next morning) the CTS cleaners had gone into the studio and removed all the music from the stands and thrown it in the garbage outside! So, I had an 80 piece orchestra patiently waiting in the studio while Chris and I frantically tried and recover the crap-stained parts from the rubbish bins outside!!!)
So, my memories of those sessions were not happy and they are still vivid... but after producing some 250 albums since then, I feel I'm beginning to get the hang of things?
Re: a possible new (and complete) LAWRENCE. I am actually working on this for my own little label Tadlow Music, which has nothing to do with Silva Screen except that they distribute my titles... and although I went freelance (as contractor, producer, and some-time conductor) over 3 years ago, I still have a close and friendly relationship with them.
The relative success of Tadlow's THE GUNS OF NAVARONE CD and (hopefully) the success of TRUE GRIT has meant that I have a number of other projects "on the go" (including a Rozsa CD)... but these are all "labors of love," as I know I will never recover all the recording costs.
With LAWRENCE I still have all the original Gerard Schurmann orchestrated manuscripts but as these are some 40 years old the print is beginning to fade... so, as with TRUE GRIT, I am having an copyist friend transfer all the manuscripts onto the Sibelius software program in order to both preserve the original scores and produce new and pristine orchestral parts.
Once this is done (and if I can get the funds) I shall be ready to re-record LAWRENCE and do it as I originally intended. I have already done a "test recording" of the Overture and Main Title in Prague (this time with 105 musicians, including 60 strings) just to check if I could get both the performance and more importantly the "sound" I wanted. As this score has some 10 percussionists it is not the type of thing you can do in a concert hall as their instruments would spill onto all the string and brass mics . So, I will do in on a film scoring soundstage...I hope..."
GAMES MUSIC NEWS
Composer Inon Zur will be celebrated in a special live symphony concert presentation of his music for the computer game Lineage II®: Chronicle V: Oath of Blood, to be performed by the Mostly Philharmonic Orchestra at the AX-Hall in Seoul, Korea on May 30th, 2006. Internationally recognised as one of the A-list composers in the video games industry, Zur was commissioned by NCsoft® Korea to compose the game's original score based on his award-winning dramatic music for film, television, and video games. His other game credits include blockbuster titles such as Prince of Persia: The Two Thrones, Champions of Norrath: Realms of EverQuest, Baldur's Gate II: Throne of Bhaal, Icewind Dale II and SOCOM II, each production featuring Zur's distinctive orchestral style.
For more information on Lineage II: The Concert please visit:
http://bbs.lineage2.co.kr
Winifred Phillips, a multiple award winning composer for video games, radio, television and film, has created the theatrical score for The Da Vinci Code video game, developed by The Collective for 2K Games. The video game is based on the highly-anticipated THE DA VINCI CODE film by Oscar winning director Ron Howard, which is based on Dan Brown's critically acclaimed, best-selling novel. The video game was timed to coincide with the film's world-wide release date of May 19th.
American Haunting Soundtrack
© Movie Score Media
Selected by the development team at Collective Studios for her imaginative and innovative approach to choral composition, Winifred was given extensive creative control to produce an original sound for the game inspired by Dan Brown's novel. Embracing the developer's ambition, Winifred wrote more than one hundred tracks of dramatic and ethereal music for The Da Vinci Code video game that combines classical and liturgical techniques with an aggressive contemporary edge and all the orchestral power of a modern-day thriller. Phillips is a classically trained vocalist as well as a composer, so for the score she personally sang all the voices of a full symphonic chorus including sopranos, altos, tenors and basses.
For a new interview with Winifred about this gamescore and to answer the burning question of "why" a Da Vinci Code game, seek answers at:
www.music4games.net/Features
Recommended Soundtrack sources:
www.arksquare.com/index_main
www.intermezzomedia.com/ (Italy)
For questions or comments, contact the author at Soundtrax@cinescape.com
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