WATCH THIS SPACE!


Due to other commitments, I'm just not finding any time to listen to new CDs coming in at the moment but, rest assured, reviews will follow ASAP. In the meantime, here is a little list of what there is to look forward to:-

Firstly, Silva Screen Records have the following new scores in release:-

Flood by Debbie Wiseman (SILCD1247)
King of California by David Robbins (SILCD1252)

From All Score Media there is:-

Sam Spence - Our Man in Munich (ASM 025)

A brand new label hits the scene. Sepia Records have released:-

Drango by Elmer Bernstein (SEPIA 6000)
Trapeze by Sir Malcolm Arnold, coupled with The Greatest Show on Earth by Victor Young (SEPIA 6001)

Both releases are accompanied by colourful booklets, featuring stills and artwork, together with notes on the films, their composers and the music. Sepia Records releases are available from Backtrack - Tel: 01797 222777 (00 44 1797 222777 if calling from outside the UK) or e-mail info@backtrackrye.com.

Finally, the latest release from Extreme Music in their Directors Cuts series is Dark Drama 2 (DCD029), with music by various composers, including Geoff Zanelli, James S. Levine, Phil Marshall and Jim Dooley.

Y'all come back now!

NEWS FROM SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT AND COSTA COMMUNICATIONS

From: "SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT"

Screen Archives Entertainment Announces New CD Release of Dimitri Tiomkin's score to D.O.A.

For more detailed information, click on this URL:

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Screen Archives Entertainment Announces New CD Release from
Fin De Siecle Media!

CORRUZIONE AL PALAZZIO DI GIUSTIZIA (CORRUPTION IN THE HALLS OF JUSTICE) By Pino Donaggio

For more detailed information, click on this URL:

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FROM COSTA COMMUNICATIONS

COMPOSER
CHRISTOPHER LENNERTZ
JOINS THE TEAM FOR
"THE COMEBACKS"
Fox Atomic Release October 19

(Los Angeles, CA) Composer Christopher Lennertz scores "The Comebacks," a new comedy from the producers of "The Wedding Crashers." The film stars David Koechner ("Talladega Nights," "Anchorman") as a college football coach with the worst record in the history of the sport on a quest to turn his team around. In addition to his score, Lennertz recorded a song he produced and arranged, performed by the film star David Koechner. Fox Atomic releases "The Comebacks" October 19. The score is available digitally on iTunes beginning October 17, including "Legends," co-written and scored by Lennertz and performed by "Comebacks" star David Koechner.

Lennertz began his musical education at the early age of nine and quickly developed what director Joshua Butler ("Saint Sinner") calls "an incredible gift for melody." After learning to play the trumpet and guitar, he ventured out of performance to study composition, jazz arranging, and theory in high school. Soon, he made his way to the University of Southern California to continue his musical education and begin scoring films.

Lennertz has since expanded his repertoire as a composer for all types of media, from film to television and even to videogames. Among his film scores are several notable independent films, including the jazz-based gangster drama "Baby Face Nelson" featuring Academy Award winner F. Murry Abraham, the seductive thriller "Lured Innocence" starring Dennis Hopper, and the film festival favorite, "Art House." His television credits include the WB's "Supernatural," Fox's "Brimstone," the WB's "The Strip," and the theme song for the MTV series "Tough Enough," which appeared on the album for the show and put him on the Billboard top 100 charts for weeks. His powerful, full orchestral score for the Stephen Spielberg-created videogame "Medal of Honor: Rising Sun" earned an award from the Academy of Interactive Arts and Sciences and led him to score two more "Medal of Honor" games.

Most recently, Lennertz scored the Latin comedy "Tortilla Heaven." He is currently working on "Perfect Christmas," a family romance starring Terrence Howard, Queen Latifah and Gabrielle Union.

CD REVIEW - ATONEMENT


Atonement
Music by Dario Marianelli
Universal Music Classics & Jazz 4766195 (EU)
15 Tracks 40:31 mins

Joe Wright's adaptation of Ian McEwan's novel of the same name has already received much acclaim, not least at this year's Venice Film Festival, and is now on release in the UK. A romantic tale with its fair share of tragedy, the story spans several decades, encompassing World War II and stars James McAvoy and Keira Knightley.
Composer of the film's score is Italian in Britain Dario Marianelli, re-teaming with Wright, following their triumph with Pride and Prejudice and, whilst his score, on disc at least, left me somewhat cold (though I admit not having seen the film), this, among several scores I have sampled by the composer in recent times, is the standout for me, an emotion-packed masterpiece, based largely on two themes, that representing Knightley's character's sister Briony, a busy theme, sometimes driven by the clattering rhythms of an old manual typewriter, and a somewhat versatile love theme, at times quite melancholy and even tragic, at others passionate and soaring. Most of the album's tracks feature variations on these pieces and there is not a one that doesn't have something to offer.
Probably one of the highlights of the score is "Elegy for Dunkirk," in which cellist Caroline Dale leads the strings in a powerful piece of writing, pitted against a well-known hymn at one point. Having seen some of this scene on TV recently, I can vouch for its power in the film.
The other principal soloist is pianist Jean-Yves Thibaudet, who sometimes leads the English Chamber Orchestra on his own, or duets with Ms Dale.
Having been heard mostly in variations on its initial busy interpretation, Briony's Theme closes the score in more reflective mood, with the final album track being the lovely, but somewhat redundant "Clair de Lune" by Debussy.
The disc's packaging includes plenty of colour stills from the film, plus notes from both director and composer.
It seems highly likely that both film and score will feature strongly come awards time next year.

CD REVIEW - THE FILM MUSIC OF ERICH WOLFGANG KORNGOLD Volume 2


The Film Music of Erich Wolfgang Korngold, Volume 2
Music by Erich Wolfgang Korngold
Chandos Movies CHAN 10438
30 Tracks 76:57 mins

Following the label's first volume of music by Hollywood golden age composer Erich Wolfgang Korngold, the much awaited The Sea Wolf, the same forces, Rumon Gamba and the BBC Philharmonic now bring us a suite from 1940's Errol Flynn swashbuckler The Sea Hawk. Well, I say a suite, because that's as it is described, but it's hard to classify it as such when it runs longer than many a complete film score at nearly 77 minutes. However, due to the practices of the day, where often a film score would start at the opening credits and barely pause until the end titles, there is still quite a bit more music in The Sea Hawk, which is where Naxos' recent release of the complete score comes in.
It is in fact very bad timing that this disc should come out on the heels of that excellent release, because fans of the film will no doubt have snapped that CD up and therefore may well give this one a miss, which is a pity, because it is a worthy effort and highlights practically all of the major moments in the score. It isn't however complete, nor does it have the extensive liner notes that the Naxos release has, despite Brendan G. Carroll, who also contributed to the Naxos recording, furnishing an adequate guide to the music presented, with his notes given in the usual three languages.
It has also to be said that this performance, like so many of the partial recordings that came before it, does seem to my ear to pay a little too much respect to Korngold's music. If you have the Tsunami release of Korngold's original tracks from a few years back, or if you listen to the score on DVD, you will notice that Korngold conducts with much sweep and swagger and often achieves a quite electrifying sound and tempo which, try as they may, few have been able to match. However, taken as a concert performance of the composer's marvellous score, this recording is enjoyable enough in its own right. It's just that I wonder if another recording of what remains one of my favourite film scores of all time was needed at this time.

CD REVIEW - GREEN WING


Green Wing
Music by Trellis
Silva Screen SILCD1245 (UK)
23 Tracks 44:59 mins

I am not familiar with the Channel 4 comedy series Green Wing, which first aired in 2004, nor any of the other largely comedic shows scored by Jonathan Whitehead (AKA Trellis), so when this disc first dropped through my door I didn't really know what to expect. And the publicity was very off putting, saying that, although the music for the series won the Royal Television Society Best Music Original Score in 2005 and was also nominated for a BAFTA that year, it was an "electronic score." Knowing the kind of music budgets we are often talking about in TV, I expected the worst, but actually the music turns out to be really quite enjoyable and, though it may have been produced in the composer's studio, he combines electronics with what certainly sound like live instruments and voices to provide melodic, rhythmic, quirky and very fresh and inventive music. Stylistically, it's all over the board - there's rock, reggae, opera and even Hawaiian to be heard here, with a touch of the otherwordly along the way. If you've got any mundane tasks to perform and you want to put something on to help you on your way, this may be just the kiddie, and it all flows pretty seemlessly. Great fun!

CD REVIEW - THE JANE AUSTEN BOOK CLUB + News from Screen Archives Entertainment


The Jane Austen Book Club
Music by Aaron Zigman
Kraft-Engel Management Promo
29 Tracks 36:16 mins

Released in the States today, Sony Pictures and director Robin Swicord bring you an adaptation of Karen Joy Fowler's novel of the same name. The story concerns six book club members, six Austen books, and six interwoven story lines set in the city of the city of Sacramento.
The score is provided by the busy and versatile Aaron Zigman, who has a number of projects upcoming. For The Jane Austen Book Club, he has written in a style somewhat reminiscent of Thomas Newman. Indeed, the latter's often offbeat colours burst forth in the opening track "Prudie Sees Trey," a busy mover with an Indian feel. The following track "The Buffy Conference" introduces a whimsical theme that is to appear in quite a few subsequent tracks but, on this occasion, it gives way to a waltz, with a distinctly French flavour. Many of the tracks on this disc are pretty brief, including a number of busy intros, which mark the times of the year. Along the way, the composer takes us capably through the many moods of the story, at times purposeful, at others saddish and poignant, and even a little quirky, all realised by predominately "live" musicians, though enhanced here and there by synths.
A commercial score release is expected from Varese Sarabande on October 8th, and I would expect a somewhat different track listing, perhaps combining some of the briefer cues.

I was going to make you aware of a number of re-releases by Naxos of Morgan/Stromberg film music recordings, originally released on the Marco Polo label, but it seems Screen Archives have beaten me to it, so check them out

From: "SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT"

BRAND NEW BUDGET PRICED SOUNDTRACK CDS HAVE JUST ARRIVED

For more detailed information, click on this URL:

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CD REVIEW - ALLA RICERCA DEL PIACERE + News from Screen Archives Entertainment and Top Dollar PR


Alla Ricerca del Piacere
Music by Teo Usuelli
Beat Records CDCR 76 Gold Series (Italy)
24 Tracks 52:06 mins

This 1972 thriller starred Barbara Bouchet and Farley Granger and carries a score by Teo Usuelli, a new name to me (and here was my thinking I knew all the Italian film composers of the period, having collected so much of their music over the years). John Mansell's liner notes, featured in a colourful booklet that also features striking artwork and stills from the film, reveal that the composer was born in 1930 and has worked in a variety of fields, including composing for theatre, films and TV from 1949. Today he is still active, writing music with the aid of computers.
Usuelli's music for this particular film is understandably suspenseful and in fact downright eerie and atonal at times, but there is also light relief in the form of a number of source dance cues, including track 22 (there are no track titles), which is particularly sexy, with seductive female vocals. Presumably it's the same uncredited female who is featured prominently throughout the score, providing some particularly striking combos with what sounds like moog. Some of these moments are featured in a kind of travelling figure, while others are just plain eerie and threatening. Despite all the more difficult music on display, the album begins with a very pleasant, easy-going theme, again featuring the vocalist, and ends on a different, yet just as pleasant theme, in which she features again.
A good and varied listen then, and I look forward to acquainting myself with more of this composer's music. As they say, better late than never!
Visit www.beatrecords.it.

From: "SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT"

INTRADA'S NEW LIMITED (1500) RELEASE OF THROW MOMMA FROM THE TRAIN BY DAVID NEWMAN

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From Top Dollar PR

DEAD HEAD FRED™ ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK NOW AVAILABLE ON iTUNES®

ORIGINAL MUSIC BY AWARD-WINNING COMPOSERS ROD ABERNETHY AND JASON GRAVES
RELEASED AS DIGITAL DOWNLOAD BY LAKESHORE RECORDS

Los Angeles, CA – September 18, 2007 – Rednote Audio (www.rednoteaudio.com) and Lakeshore Records (www.lakeshore-records.com) today announced the original soundtrack to the PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) third person action game Dead Head Fred™, developed by Vicious Cycle Software, Inc. and published by D3Publisher of America, Inc. (D3PA), is now available at the Apple iTunes® music store.

The Dead Head Fred Original Soundtrack includes nearly 40 minutes of music encapsulating the unique, often sublime atmosphere of the game’s ‘twisted noir’ setting. Written and produced by veteran video game composers Rod Abernethy and Jason Graves, the game’s eclectic score blends cinematic orchestrations with a dark panorama of jazz, southwestern guitar, ambient, rock fusion and other seemingly disparate music styles into a cohesive and alluring listening experience.

“When we went to Rednote Audio we already knew a lot about Dead Head Fred and Hope Falls but we didn’t know what Fred’s world sounded like,” said Adam Cogan, Game Designer, Vicious Cycle Software, Inc. “Luckily, Rod Abernethy and Jason Graves at Rednote Audio did. They far exceeded our expectations and managed to create scores that are every bit as original and distinctive as Fred is.”

Created specifically for the PSP®(PlayStation®Portable) system, Dead Head Fred draws players into an original 1940’s inspired alternative universe where players experience an innovative and refreshing twist on action gameplay as cranium-impaired hero Fred Neuman, collecting, upgrading and strategically switching his head with the heads of enemies to battle through a story of revenge and redemption.

Mark Reis, Senior Sound Designer at Vicious Cycle Software, Inc., added “Working with Rod and Jason is always a joy and their contribution to Dead Head Fred added flavor and depth that complemented the sound design and voice acting. The edgy soundtrack is a perfect accompaniment to the twisted noir world of Dead Head Fred.”

For more information on Dead Head Fred, visit the official game web site at www.deadheadfred.net.

About Rod Abernethy and Jason Graves

Rod Abernethy and Jason Graves of Rednote Audio create award-winning music for video games, film and television. Their video game credits include BlackSite: Area 51, Transformers, Star Trek: Legacy, Blazing Angels, King Arthur, Zathura, Gauntlet: Seven Sorrows, Rise of the Kasai and The Hobbit (“Soundtrack of the Year” – 2004 Game Audio Network Guild Awards). Rod Abernethy’s work in video games began by collaborating with veteran film composer Elmer Bernstein on the video game Wild Wild West, The Steel Assassin. Since 1998, Rod has created scores for over forty video games. Early in his career, he recorded and collaborated with many well-known producers including legendary Paul Rothchild (The Doors, Janis Joplin, Bonnie Raitt) and David Lord (Peter Gabriel, Tori Amos, The Pretenders). Working in many major studios in the U.S. and U.K., Rod has recorded for Warner Bros., Elektra, Atlantic, and MCA Records. Jason Graves has studied with film composers Elmer Bernstein and Christopher Young, as well as Hollywood orchestrators Jack Smalley and Will Schaefer. He has composed and conducted for the Hollywood Studio Orchestra at Capitol Records and Paramount Pictures, as well as the Northwest Sinfonia in Seattle. In addition to film scores, national commercials and trailer music, Jason has more than ninety television shows to his credit including three Telly Awards, an Addy, nine Silver Reels, a Gold Case Award, and a Cable A.C.E. Award. Jason also won 2nd Prize in Turner Classic Movies’ 2005 Young Film Composer Competition. Rod Abernethy and Jason Graves are represented by Four Bars Intertainment. For more information visit www.rednoteaudio.com.

CD REVIEW - PRISON BREAK


Prison Break
Music by Ramin Djawadi
Varese Sarabande VSD 6839 (EU)
31 Tracks 63:47 mins

Fans of the popular series have long been clamouring for a soundtrack release of its music by Ramin Djawadi. They should be well satisfied with this generous disc, which I believe gathers together cues from Season One. The show has never appealed to me and, from listening to the music, it certainly doesn't make me want to change my mind. Like many U.S. shows of this kind, the score is in the modern synths and samples style, though possibly some live instrumentation may be present - I'm thinking guitars and percussion. It's by the numbers stuff, with plenty of brooding suspense and threat, drum-driven, tense and more flowing action, and a few poignant moments along the way. Around Track 26, "Panama," the score takes an appropriate latin feel, which provides a little more interest, before the final cue, "Sona," ends things on a threatening note.
I
Whatever I may think of the music, it's good that the wishes of fans of shows such as there are being catered for these days, where once a soundtrack release like this would have been a definite no-no.

NEWS FROM SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT

From: "SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT"

SCREEN ARCHIVES PRESENTS TWO NEW RELEASES MOVIESCORE MEDIA

For more detailed information, click on this URL:

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CD REVIEW - DEXTER


Dexter
Music by Daniel Licht & various artists, Theme by Rolfe Kent
Milan M2-36301 (US)
25 Tracks 64:05 mins

This popular TV series has yet to screen on terrestrial TV in the UK, so I have yet to acquaint myself with the foreniscs man, moonlighting as a serial killer of criminals who have escaped justice. There is however a CD out now of music from the first season and, as well as featuring latin numbers by various artists, Andy Williams' take on Matt Monro's Born Free, and a couple of tracks by Kinky, including a muddy, beat-driven arrangement of Rolfe Kent's title theme, there are 17 tracks featuring Daniel Licht's score.
But taking a step back, the aforementioned Rolfe Kent composition is characteristically catchy, a funky, quirky little mover, which reminds me somewhat of John Barry's Ipcress File theme. As for Licht's music, he has his own main theme, a mysterious prowler, which becomes more percussive as it proceeds. This theme actually closes the album as a rap vocal by Jon Licht, who also helps out on the realisation of the score, which is a mix of live instruments and synths, with both Lichts performing, as well as Mark bensi, Marcel Camargo, Gentle thunder, the Supernova String Quartet, as well as vocalists Emma Barton, Kristin Gould and Jessica Ficht. These fine musicians all come together to make a wonderful, latin-flavoured soundtrack to Dexter's adventures.
Obviously, given the latin approach, guitar features a lot, but so do keyboards, particularly in the more melancholy moments, of which there are a few. It is however the often percussive latin grooves that populate the score that really held my interest, as I am partial to a good latin groove. Occasionally the score descends into atonality and an ethereal feel is given by synths and the female vocalists, but these moments don't really detract from what is overall a somewhat offbeat and enjoyably infectious listen. Incidentally,three of Licht's cues feature star of the show Michael C. Hall's original voiceovers, but this still leaves plenty of music to enjoy uninterrupted.
If you haven't been able to catch up with the series thus far, the first season is now available on DVD in the States, but I don't believe it has received a European release as yet. Just hearing this music makes me hope I can get to see it soon.

NEWS FROM COSTA COMMUNICATIONS

From Costa Communications

COMPOSER CHRISTOPHER YOUNG
HONORED THIS SUNDAY AT
13TH ANNUAL TEMECULA VALLEY
INTERNATIONAL FILM & MUSIC FESTIVAL

(Temecula, CA): Renowned music composer Christopher Young will be honored at the 13th Annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival at a star-studded black tie affair honoring significant film and music icons of the past and present. The award for Outstanding Career Achievement in Film Composing recognizes the profilic and significant film composer for his work in some 85 feature films including "Spider Man 3", "Entrapment" and "The Hurricane." The Closing Black Tie Awards Gala will be held Sunday, September 16, 5 p.m. at the Pachanga Resort & Casino Ballroom.

Young's distinctive and imaginative approaches to several unusual projects have made him a highly sought-after commodity on films with unusual subject matter. He wrote an ingenious score incorporating breathing effects for the offbeat film "The Vagrant"; provided a darkly dramatic score to the Christian Slater/Kevin Bacon prison drama "Murder in the First"; and tuned in perfectly to the offbeat sensibility of the Bill Murray comedy "The Man Who Knew Too Little." His long list of works include the scores for "Hellraiser" and its sequel "Hellbound: Hellraiser II"; plus such hits as "Runaway Jury," "The Shipping News," "The Core" and "The Grudge." His most recent scores include "Ghost Rider," "Lucky You" and the mammoth hit, "Spider-Man 3."

Young joins a stellar line-up on honorees that includes Smokey Robinson, Kay Panabaker, Michael Madsen, Robert Rosen and Eve Craig. Past Lifetime and Career Achievement Award honorees include distinguished film and music icons of past and present such as Dionne Warwick, Hector Elizondo, Dennis Haybert, John Ottman, John Badham, Lucas Foster, Rick Shroeder, Steve Dorff, Natasha Hentsridge, AFI's Jean Firstenberg, Howard W. Koch, Robert Wise, Carl Reiner, Karl Malden, Shirley Jones, Michael York, Ray Charles, Rita Coolidge, Marsha Mason, Robert Stack, Gale Ann Hurd, William Shatner, Patty Duke, Billy Preston, Sam Grogg, Julie Corman, Etta James, John Spencer, Diane Ladd, Penelope Spheeris, Howard Suber, AC Lyles, Louis Gossett, Jr, Lou Rawls, Jonathan Lynn, Dr. Elizabeth Daley, Gina Gershon, Trevor Rabin, and Michael Childers.

The 13th Annual Temecula Valley International Film & Music Festival (Sept. 12-16, 2007) is presented by Cinema Entertainment Alliance, a nonprofit arts and education organization dedicated to celebrating world cinema and music.

CD REVIEW - THE BOURNE ULTIMATUM


The Bourne Ultimatum
Music by John Powell
Decca 174 1038 (EU)
10 Tracks 55:01 mins

Just as Jason Bourne wouldn't be Jason Bourne without Matt Damon, his adventures just wouldn't be the same without John Powell's music. For this third, and possibly final, outing for the amnesiac one-man killing machine, striving to uncover his past, it's basically more of the same, propulsive action music, sometimes incorporating the familiar Bourne theme, with quieter, reflective, melancholy interludes and the odd bit of weightiness and drama here and there.
Standout tracks are "Tangiers," which starts out evoking the mysterious east and then takes off with ethnic percussion driving it on before the Bourne theme joins in to propel it to a close; the propuslive action and suspense of "Assets and Targets;" the emotive strings of "Faces Without Names;" the lengthy foot pursuit at "Waterloo," with its almost a capella percussive interlude;" and the exciting "Man Verses Man." Even the final track, "Extreme Ways," written and performed by Moby isn't unacceptable.
I'm always glad to hear a new score by John Powell, who is without doubt one of the most consistently interesting and enjoyable film composers we have these days and, if this is to be the last outing for Bourne, at least we can revisit his fine soundtrack albums for the films.

CD REVIEW - THE INVASION


The Invasion
Music by John Ottman
Varese Sarabande VSD 6837 (EU)
17 Tracks 49:03 mins

For this latest variation on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, starring Nicole Kidman, who famously got hurt whilst shooting a car chase, and new James Bond Daniel Craig, John Ottman has written a largely eerie, suspenseful and mysterious score, realised for the most part by orchestra, though at times making some unusual, otherwordly sounds, but enhanced by Ottman's synths. At times the music is so muted as to be almost inaudible, but now and again action ensues, and it's good and interesting action writing, sometimes quite powerful and percussive.
The album gets off to a good start, after a suspenseful intro, with the composer introducing a pulsing theme in "Dance of the cells," which is reprised in variations sparsely thereafter. The tense action of "Escape with Ollie" follows. More tense action writing, which ultimately becomes quite exciting, can be found in "Carol's Wild Ride," and also "Final Escape" brings the album to a
satisfying close.
This is a mature work from Ottman and I can well imagine it working well on film. It's not the easiest of listens away from it, but it has many interesting moments to keep one listening.

NEW RELEASES FROM FILM SCORE MONTHLY AND BSX + NEWS FROM COSTA COMMUNICATIONS

From: "SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT"

THE UNFORGIVEN: CLASSIC WESTERN SCORES FROM UNITED ARTISTS
NEW FSM RELEASE! 5 SCORES ON 3 CD'S LIMITED TO 1500!

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From BSX Records

CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER – ORIGINAL MOTION PICTURE SOUNDTRACK – COMPOSED BY LAURIE JOHNSON TO BE RELEASED ON BSX RECORDS.

This release is a limited edition of 2000 units.

UPC

712187883122

The first 100 copies purchased through BUYSOUNDTRAX will be autographed by Actress Caroline Munro.

(September 6^th, 2007; Los Angeles, CA) BUYSOUNDTRAX Records, in association with GDI Records, will be releasing CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER. The soundtrack features music composed and conducted by Laurie Johnson (THE AVENGERS, DR. STRANGELOVE, FIRST MEN IN THE MOON) for the 1974 cult classic written and directed by Brian Clemens (THE AVENGERS, DR. JEKYLL & SISTER HYDE, THE PROFESSIONALS).

Set in Eastern Europe, in the 1600s, CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER stars German actor Horst Janson as Kronos, expert swordsman and vampire slayer, armed with a samurai sword, along with John Cater (THE AVENGERS) as his hunchbacked assistant, Professor Hieronymos Grost. They are joined by the First Lady Of Fantasy, Caroline Munro (GOLDEN VOYAGE OF SINBAD, AT THE EARTH’S CORE) as the beautiful Gypsy girl, Carla, whom they rescue from the gallows at the beginning of the film. Together, they must unravel the mystery of a series of deaths in the countryside that has left once young and beautiful girls old and withered in their demise. Boasting exquisite Gothic set design, rich colorful photography, impressive make-up effects, and a bevy of beautiful actresses, all in typical Hammer fashion, CAPTAIN KRONOS is augmented by a superb score by composer Laurie Johnson, featuring one of the strongest main title themes that still commands the attention decades later.

Born in Hampstead, London, in 1927, Laurie Johnson undertook his musical studies at the Royal College of Music, where he would later return as a professor. He embarked on a professional musical career at the age of 21, composing and arranging for a variety of big bands, a love which continues to this day with his jazz ensemble, The London Big Band. Johnson began scoring films and television in 1956, and soon proved to have an affinity for quirky and fantastic films with his scores for Stanley Kubrick’s DR. STRANGELOVE (1963) and FIRST MEN IN THE MOON (1964). In addition, Johnson scored episodes of THRILLER and THE AVENGERS for television, including the latter’s popular title theme. Johnson also became associated with the legendary Hollywood composer, Bernard Herrmann towards the end of Herrmann’s career.

BUYSOUNDTRAX Records presents the original motion picture soundtrack to CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER in film order, along with several bonus tracks of musical effects tracks used in the film and a special extended version of the Kronos theme. The booklet contains liner notes written by noted author Randall D. Larson and a forward by Carla The Gypsy herself, Caroline Munro. CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER is the first collaboration between BUYSOUNDTRAX Records and GDI RECRODS and we are looking forward to continuing in the fine tradition of GDI’s incredible series of soundtracks from the Hammer vaults.

To get more information and to hear audio samples go here:

http://buysoundtrax.stores.yahoo.net/capkronvamhu.html

CAPTAIN KRONOS, VAMPIRE HUNTER is available for pre-orders at www.buysoundtrax.com and will start shipping on Sept 14th,2007.

From Costa Communications

AWARD-WINNING FILM COMPOSER
AARON ZIGMAN
Is Hollywood's Busiest Composer
2007 Film Release: "Good Luck Chuck," "The Jane Austen Book Club,"
"Smart People," "Martian Child," "Christmas Cottage,"
"Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" "Why Did I Get Married," "Bridge to Terabithia,"
"Alpha Dog" and "Pride"

(Los Angeles, CA) Award-winning composer Aaron Zigman is known as one of Hollywood's most diversified young film composers. Now Zigman is Hollywood's busiest composer. In five years, Zigman has scored more than twenty-five movies including "John Q," "Take the Lead," and "The Notebook." In 2007, ten movies he composed will be released, including two pairs of movies with simultaneous release dates. Aaron Zigman is of high demand in Hollywood, with no signs of slowing down.

For the next year Zigman will have at least one movie premiering each month including "Good Luck Chuck," and "Jane Austen Book Club" on September 21st, then "Martian Child" in October, followed by "Why Did I Get Married," and "Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium" on November 16th, and "Christmas Cottage" in December.

Aaron began his musical career as a producer and arranger to popular music stars. His resume boasts names such as Aretha Franklin, Natalie Cole, Phil Collins, Tina Turner, Patti Labelle, Carly Simon, Christina Aguilera, and Seal. A classically trained pianist as a child, Aaron has a foundation for writing melody with an ear for a good tune. His command of rhythm and different styles has led him to the success he is today.

Orchestration is Aaron Zigman's passion. He is an accomplished composer of concert works, writing numerous symphonic pieces including a 35 minute-long tone poem divided into 5 movements which was written in tribute for Yitzhak Rabin, and performed by the Los Angeles Jewish Symphony. Recently, the USC Symphony orchestra performed Zigman's "Impressions", a suite for a wind ensemble. To further expand his career, Aaron arranged and orchestrated for feature films such as "Mulan," "The Birdcage," and "Licensed to Kill."

Zigman's big break into feature film composing came in 2002, when director Nick Cassavetes offered him a shot at scoring "John Q" starring Denzel Washington. Zigman paid for a 55-piece orchestra and wrote an extravagant six-minute opening montage that he submitted as a demo to land the job. The relationship has led to further film collaborations including the romantic classic "The Notebook," and the edgy drama "Alpha Dog."

CD REVIEW - THE LAST LEGION


The Last Legion
Music by Patrick Doyle
Varese Sarabande VSD 6820 (EU)
15 Tracks 51:24 mins

We can all be very thankful that Patrick Doyle is still with us, following his serious illness of a few years ago, for now, more than ever, he is producing the goods - and how. Following excellent scores for the Nanny McPhee, Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire and Eragon, now comes his thrilling music for The Last Legion, starring Colin Firth and Ben Sir Ben Kingsley, with the young star of TV's Feather Boy (scored incidentally, and excellently, by Debbie Wiseman), among others, playing the the 12-year old and last emperor of Rome.
Utilising the most excellent services of the London Symphony Orchestra and Choir, Doyle has produced some fabulous music for the film, including a memorable main theme, first heard moving weightily to a triumphant ending in the opening album track "Sacred Pentangle" and at its most triumphal in the following "Coronation," but then repeated in variations throughout many subsequent tracks, sometimes competing with the theme for the enemies of Rome, first heard in the dramatic actioner "Goths Seize Rome" and most effectively thereafter in "Death of Vortgyn."
Other tracks of particular note (though all have something to offer) are the stringed fugue-like "Escape from capri," the heroic and purposeful "Journey to Britannia; the nobility and triumph of "Hadrian's Wall;" the magical opening to "Excalibur;" the flowing "Sword Play Romance;" "Who Killed Them?" with its choral lament; the inspiring opening and conflict of "The Battle of Hadrian's Wall" and the satisfying vaiations on the main theme in the concluding "No More war."
If you like your music to be big and symphonic, with strong themes, you'll lap this up as much as I did.

CD REVIEWS - SHOOT 'EM UP & DEDICATION


Shoot 'Em Up
Music by Paul Haslinger
Varese Sarabande (no catalogue number given) (EU)
22 Tracks 36:35 mins

This latest score by Paul Haslinger for the Clive Owen/Monica Bellucci thriller is a mix of live musicians and synths, with guitars, bass and drums to the fore. Without really having any themes as such to hold the interest, most tracks are propelled by drums or other percussion and/or synths. Most of them are mercifully quite brief, though often they merge together, so that if one doesn't concentrate it's hard to tell which track you're on.
If you like your film scores with a modern sensibility, kind of a mix of rock and techno, this may very well be for you but, as for me, I'm afraid it just leaves me cold.


Dedication
Music by Edward Shearmur
Kraft-Engel Management Promo
10 Tracks 13:09 mins

Thanks to Costa Commmunications, I got to hear this score for the new comedy from director Justin Theroux, which stars mandy Moore and Billy Crudup.
The score, as presented on this disc at least, is quite brief and is described as in the ambient style that composer Edward Shearmur composed for the Kevin Spacey film K-Pax. Well, I'm not sure about that, and I would describe it as a quirky mix of live instruments and electronics.
"Christmas Theme" is a very catchy, guitar-lead tune and gets the disc off to a nice start, but unfortunately the rest of the score fails to live up to it, most of the tracks being too brief to latch on to, which is a shame because some of them show real promise, like "Down to Work," with its feamle voice and piano and the keyboard and banjo walker "On the Beach." The concluding tracks "Dedication" and "In the Bathroom" drift along to a warm conclusion.
There is apparenly a soundtrack album to be released by Commotion Records on September 11th, but I have yet to determine if any of Shearmur's score will feature thereon.

CD REVIEW - RIDE, VAQUERO!/THE OUTRIDERS + News of an exciting new release from Intrada


Ride, Vaquero!/The Outriders
Music by Bronislau Kaper/Music by Andre Previn
Film Score Monthly Vol.10 No.9 (US)
36 Tracks 78:38 mins

Fans of vintage western movies will lap up this latest double bill from FSM, which presents Bronislau Kaper's score from the starry 1953 western Ride, Vaquero!, together with the surviving tracks from the 1950 Joel McCrea starrer The Outriders.
Ride, Vaquero! stars Robert Taylor, Ava Gardner, Howard Keel, Anthony Quinn and Kurt Kasznar and is set in Texas just after the Civil War. Quinn, before he became a big star, plays a Mexican bandit, with Taylor as his reluctant cohort and adopted brother.
As such, the score has a good deal of Mexican flavoured music, with Quinn's theme cropping up a great deal, particularly effectively in the action moments and there is plenty of trumpet and guitar work. A number of Mexican folk tunes are also incorporated in the score, and tracks 16-20 feature source music used in the film. It's not all action though. There are some nice optimistic travel moments, passionate scoring for the Taylor/Gardner romance, and a fine spiritual theme for Kasznar's priest.
Unfortunately, much of Andre Previn's score for The Outriders didn't survive the years, but what is left can be found here, supplemented by the opening and closing music, taken directly from the film itself and, as such, Leo the lion can be heard over the "Main title," and there are barely audible effects present on the final cue. The rest of the music is, like Ride, Vaquero! in very good mono sound.
Previn's main thematic material is very rhythmic and Coplandesque and crops up in variations throughout the score. There are some nice pastoral moments, plus plenty of action and suspense, a little romance, and one or two source cues along the way.
As always, the disc is accompanied by a splendid illustrated booklet, with producer Lukas Kendall's notes on the film and its music, included the customary cue-by-cue guide.
Go to www.screenarchives.com/title_detail.cfm?ID=7709 for more details, samples, and to order your copy.

From: "SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT"

BILL AND TED'S BOGUS JOURNEY! LIMITED 1500!

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GREAT EXCLUSIVE AT SOUNDTRACK.NET


Get on over to www.soundtrack.net for a fabulous exclusive opportunity to listen to Brian Tyler's latest score for WAR. These are not just extracts you can hear, but complete tracks. The music is often quite thrilling - a mix of orchestral (the LSO) and electronics.

More on Clive Barker's Jericho & Bioshock

I recently ran press releases from Top Dollar PR on the above game scores and would just like to point you in the direction of the music4games.net website, where you can read interviews with composers Cris Velasco and Garry Schyman on their respective scores. Click on the "features" panel at the top of the site to read these interviews among others.
My thanks again to Top Dollar for letting me preview three clips from Jericho. All three tracks feature boy soprano and choir, and "Firstborn Theme" and "Legend of the Firstborn" have a kind of religious feel, though the latter becomes quite powerful in the middle. The third track "Final Confrontation" is particularly powerful.
As for BioShock, well, if you go to www.2kgames.comcultofrapture, you can download 12 tracks from the score.

NEWS FROM COTA COMMUNICATIONS & SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT

From Costa Communications

AWARD-WINNING COMPOSER
GEORGE S. CLINTON
RECEIVES EMMY NOD FOR
HBO FILMS "BURY MY HEART AT WOUNDED KNEE"
DVD Release Date : September 11

(Hollywood, CA) Grammy Award nominated composer George S. Clinton has just received an Emmy nomination for his score to the HBO original film, "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee." Clinton's score features master Lakota flutist and recording artist John Two-Hawks. The composer's nomination is in the category of Outstanding Music Composition for a Miniseries, Movie or a Special (Original Dramatic Score). The 59th Primetime Emmy Awards will be held Sept. 16. "Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee will come to DVD September 11. Last Month, Clinton received the prestigious Richard Kirk Award for outstanding career achievement at the BMI Film & Television Awards.

The film, starring Aidan Quinn and Anna Paquin, is directed by Yves Simoneau. Based on Dee Brown's best-selling novel of the same name, the film examines the overwhelming impact that the United States' westward expansion had on American Indian culture, focusing on the preceding events to the tragic Sioux massacre of 1890.

Composer George S. Clinton researched Native American music to create the score. By combining the sounds of Two-Hawks' Lakota flute, an 80-piece orchestra, and a 32-voice male choir, Clinton creates a score that accurately reflects the due respect for Native American culture conveyed through the film. "I had the choir sing Lakota text at times to further integrate the Native American and the traditional orchestral elements of the score," says Clinton. In order to portray the forced assimilation of Native Americans during the time period, Clinton intertwined the flute and the piano to thematically represent both the Native American and so-called "civilized" dispositions of main character Charles Eastman. Clinton wrote the complete 120-minute score within a mere four weeks.

Clinton's musical innovation and versatility has allowed him to create memorable scores for a variety of different genres including his most recent work, "The Cleaner." His other credits range from such diverse films as the hit comedy "Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery" and its blockbuster sequels to the hit martial arts fantasy "Mortal Kombat" and its sequel. Other noteworthy projects include Zalman King's "Red Shoe Diaries," John Waters's "A Dirty Shame"; Tim Allen's "Joe Somebody"; Kevin Costner's "3000 Miles to Graceland"; "The Astronaut's Wife", starring Charlize Theron and Johnny Depp; and the sexy thriller "Wild Things."

Along with his film projects, Clinton has also written several concert works, three musicals, and songs recorded by such artists as Michael Jackson, Joe Cocker, Smokey Robinson and Johnny Mathis. In addition, he has won six BMI Awards including the Richard Kirk Award. With past recipients such as Jerry Goldsmith and John Williams, the Richard Kirk Award is given annually to a composer who has made significant contributions to the realm of film and television music.

SCREEN ARCHIVES PRESENTS MUSIC FROM THE MOVIES DVD'S NOW IN STOCK!

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