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| There are 528 Reviews Done |
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Philip Glass - Anima Mundi
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| Classic Glass |
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Philip Glass is best known for being a minimalist, experimental composer. And that is certainly the case with Anima Mundi.
The majority of this album is pure Glass. Simple, repetitive, with lots of quirkiness. That doesn't mean it is bad. It just means that it is Glass and if you don't like Glass, then you aren't going to like this. However if you are a fan like I am, then this album is perfect.
There are two stand out songs in my opinion. "Perpetual Motion" really gives you the feeling of movement as you listen to it and is quintessential Glass. The other is "Living Waters". This track is arguably the most melodic on the album and it was sampled in another Glass album - The Truman Show.
I really enjoy this album but it isn't for everybody. And isn't for people who like grand sweeping scores with lots of instruments. It is for people who enjoy the limits of what music can be.
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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Andrew Lockington - City Of Ember
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| Adventerous Score from a Relatively New Composer. |
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The movie City of Ember is based off a book, and while the translation into film changes some aspects of the story, the music is able to capture the essence of adventure and the dire situation Lina and Doon find their city in. The music is able to instill a sense of urgency but also of excitement, leading the characters on the most important discovery of their life.
The score starts with the Main Titles and as the name suggests, the main theme of Ember is present in this piece, but it is more somber and desperate sounding, adding to the not-so-happy feelings at the start of the story. Lina Mayfleet is introduced in the score and her theme is a fast-paced theme, envisioning her love of running. The main theme is scattered through other tracks of the score, most notably in First Day, Blackout, Map and Mole, Clockworks, Control Room, Waterwheel and Escape to Sunrise.
One Last Message plays during the ending credits of the movie and it takes the main theme and makes it end on a happy note. Throughout the score the theme changed as Lina and Doon discovered more about their city and the way out of Ember, showing the progress of the Emberites in finding a way to survive.
I enjoy this score very much and I think Andrew Lockington has great potential for future score writing. This is a fun adventure movie and the score does a great job to enhance the feelings of the characters and add depth to the scenes of the film.
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5 of 5 found this review helpful |
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Susumu Hirasawa - Paprika
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| A one man band |
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It's rare when a composer actually plays on a soundtrack they compose. It is even rarer when the composer is a one-man-band and all of the music heard on the album is performed by him.
This is the case of Susumu Hirasawa.
The music for the album, Paprika, was composed, produced, and performed entirely by Hirasawa. Even the vocals heard on the tracks "Parade" and "The Girl in Byakkoya - White Tiger Field" were performed by Hirasawa. Only the female vocals were performed by someone else.
Paprika is a film about what separates dream from reality. Like most Satoshi Kon films, it is a bit (read: A lot) of a mind bender. The music reflects that.
There are two stand out melodies from the sound track:
The first is the most completely in "Parade" and "Parade (instrumental)." This theme is used to indicate the intruder's dreams and it is actually a parade full of dolls and toys in the film. Very creepy because like the Jaws music you know when you hear it, the Parade is a coming.
The second melody is from the song "The Girl in Byakkoya - White Tiger Field." Various versions of this song are heard in "Meditational Field" and "A Drop Filled with Memories". It is also sampled in other tracks on the soundtrack. The melody is the theme of the heroine, Paprika.
I highly recommend this soundtrack to any who likes electronica or eclectic music. But if you prefer pure orchestrations like from Williams or Zimmer, I would stay away. It is definitely an acquired taste.
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15 of 16 found this review helpful |
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Yoko Kanno - Please Save My Earth
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| Early Kanno - But still excellent |
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Please Save My Earth is an anime that is multi-faceted and beautiful. The soundtrack is the same.
Yoko Kanno was new to the composing world. Previously she had been a concert pianist, so scoring and anime OAV series wasn't on her list of things to do. However, she did and the world of anime has been greater for it.
Since this was her first soundtrack foray, there are some missteps. Many of the songs lack depth and aren't as memorable as many of her later compositions.
In fact, other than the vocal tracks (Prologue - Time Of Gold Flowing, A Song Without A Song, Ring and For The Moon's Prayer And Companions), most of the tracks do what they are supposed to do - act as background music to an anime based on reincarnating Space Races (this is before cylons and BSG). The lone standout instrumental track is Wounded Wings - this track really shows the depth that Kanno has. The track is both heartbreaking in its simplicity but there is depth to it.
In all, this is one of my favorite albums.
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James Newton Howard - Grand Canyon
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| A special score |
| By: |
Marlow
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| Date: |
12 Mar 2009 |
| Rating: |
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Grand Canyon is one of the really different scores when looking at Howard's work. It works well with the movie and escpecially the contrast is interesting: on the one hand, the kind of depressing situations shown in the movie underscored with more electronic threatening music, on the other hand the fanfare when the protagonists discover that there is something to live for. The movie nicely reflects Kasdan's interpretation of the beginning 90ies and the music contributes much!
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Antonio Pinto/Shakira, Antonio Pinto - Love In The Time Of Cholera
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| Love of the Macondian Carib |
| By: |
ikonweb
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| Date: |
6 Mar 2009 |
| Rating: |
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The music is excellent due to the mixture of folkloric rhythms and melancholic music. Very faithful to the Caribbean ambient written by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. I love the songs: Love, Sex Drums, 1900 and Despedida by Shakira.
Another song is Pienso en ti, lovely!!! Que viva colombia y su caribe macondiano!!
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1 of 1 found this review helpful |
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Jeremy Soule - Supreme Commander
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| Why this CD has two titles |
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Tracks 01-23 are from Supreme Commander, a real-time strategy computer game released on February 16, 2007 in Europe and February 20, 2007 in North America.
Tracks 24-40 are from Supreme Commander: Forged Alliance, a standalone expansion to Supreme Commander, released in November 2007.
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2 of 2 found this review helpful |
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Shirley Walker - Batman: Mask Of The Phantasm
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| The Best Batman Music for the Best Batman |
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This is the soundtrack for the full-length animated film released in 1993 and, until December 2008, the only way you could get any of Shirley Walker’s amazing Batman score. The movie itself is one of the better Batman films ever made and is recommended. The score is excellent, suiting the film in that it is dramatic, majestic, and deliberately a little old-fashioned. This album is more likely to provide satisfying listening in the SST queue than the 2008 Batman: The Animated Series, since that album presents the score from certain episodes, chopped into pieces.
But it’s Batman we’re here to hear, right? The “Main Title” starts with a choir singing the Walker Batman theme before it segues into the familiar horn and strings combo. It’s an auspicious beginning. The Batman theme disappears for a while, as the film is part origin story for the main character. For example, “The Promise” is a short but sweet track, underscoring Bruce Wayne’s vow to his murdered parents. It hints at the Batman theme, but doesn’t state it. “Phantasm’s Graveyard Murder,” a creepy track that might make good Halloween listening. The Batman theme returns at the end of the movie, obviously, and is featured prominently in the last three tracks on the album.
Another bonus of this release is that, in addition to the Batman theme, you can also hear Walker’s wonderful Joker theme on “Phantasm and Joker Fight.”
Request: “Main Title” “The Promise” “Birth of Batman”
Avoid: “First Love,” because it’s a little mushy and kinda boring.
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3 of 3 found this review helpful |
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David Zippel Matthew Wilder, Jerry Goldsmith - Mulan
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| The 5-star rating is for the outstanding score. |
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There are two parts to this album as there are to almost Disney animated soundtrack: the score and the songs. Let’s talk about the songs first, to get them out of the way. Frankly, they could have been better. I personally find “Reflection” to be a tired cliché of a song, and skip it not only when I listen to the album, but when watching the DVD. The pop cover is even worse, and isn’t here on SST. I suppose “I’ll Make a Man Out of You” is the best of the lot, and the only one I’d recommend requesting. Not that it needs my support, as the play counts above will testify.
The score, by Jerry Goldsmith, is another story entirely. There is simply nothing, nothing wrong with this score, and everything right. Well, everything except the lack of completeness, I suppose. But all the major moments are here. The music is majestic, adventurous, and grand, with an ethnic flavor that doesn’t go overboard. “Suite from Mulan” will give you the highlights, though I’m not a fan of that track, since it includes the melodies from the anemic songs. If I had to pick a favorite, it would be either “Attack on the Wall,” for the great statement of the Imperial Theme, or “Mulan’s Decision.” Though the latter doesn’t quite reflect what was used in the film, it’s a good track nonetheless. “Blossoms” contains some of the proud music used for Mulan’s father, and is also powerful.
Request away. You cannot go wrong with this score. It’s definitely a favorite.
Request: Anything from the score.
Avoid: “Reflection”
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3 of 3 found this review helpful |
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