CD REVIEWS - UNDER THE SAME MOON & MAN IN THE CHAIR + NEWS FROM SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENT
Sorry I've been absent for a few days, due to other commitments. I'm back now with a vengeance though with reviews of two recent releases from Lakeshore Records, plus news of yet more releases from label of the year Intrada.
Under the Same Moon
Music by Carlo Siliotto
Lakeshore Records Promo (US)
13 Tracks 28:14 mins
I must admit to not having heard a great deal of Carlio Siliotto's film scores. The Punisher didn't realy impress me, but I was much more taken with his work on Nomad the Warrior. Both these scores could not be more different than his intimate, melodic work for Under the Same Moon, which follows a young Mexican boy, who, on the death of his grandmother, crosses the border into the USA to reunite with his mother.
This charming, though rather brief album gets off to a fine start with the lovely, if somewhat poignant piano, accordion and orchestra of "La Misma Luna," continuing on into "La Fantasia De Carlitos." The theme again appears at the conclusion of "La Muerte De La Abuela," before the score takes a slightly menacing turn in "El Cocho," which has more of a Mexican feel than anything that has gone before, with "La Mano" building on that menace. A much sunnier feel is provided by "El Viaje y Enrique," though this gives way to more sentimental fare. What follows is very much in the same vein, a mix of sadness, anxiety, sentiment and eventual joy; mostly melodic and suitably innocent in feel, with guitars and accordion never far away to provide the appropriate colours. One cannot fail to be charmed by simple, melodic charm of Siliotto's score and its delightful main theme.
The album is of course readily available from soundtrack retailers, with presumably the same contents as this promo disc, kindly furnished by the label.
Man in the Chair
Music by Laura Karpman and various artists
Lakeshore RecordsLKS 33992 (US)
15 Tracks 50:26 mins
Laura Karpman has written many an acclaimed score for TV, documentares and video games, without really cracking the feature film market. I fear her latest attempt for Man in the Chair, starring Christopher Plummer, will not do her any favours in this respect. It doesn't help that the soundtrack album only presents four brief excerpts from her score, the rest of its playing time being given over to songs by a number of artists completely unknown to me, like The Frames, Eric Anders, and Rene Reyes, plus widely differing source instrumentals by Israeli band Zino and Tommy, some of which aren't actually half bad; and even a couple of Carols by the LSO and Nashville Children's Choir.
Concentrating solely on Karpman's score, it's really quite spare, with piano, strings and woodwinds giving a feel of sadness to "Not Forgotten, though the track ends somewhat business-like. "Lockup" is a mercifully brief piece of electronica, with "Mr. Moss Pt.1" having a kind of ethereal quality, mixing both orchestral and electronic elements. Karpman's final offering is something of an extension of her preceeding track, though with orchestra most predominant. With all four cues totally around six minutes, it really is hard to judge the composer's overall impact on the film.
Sorry I've been absent for a few days, due to other commitments. I'm back now with a vengeance though with reviews of two recent releases from Lakeshore Records, plus news of yet more releases from label of the year Intrada.
Under the Same Moon
Music by Carlo Siliotto
Lakeshore Records Promo (US)
13 Tracks 28:14 mins
I must admit to not having heard a great deal of Carlio Siliotto's film scores. The Punisher didn't realy impress me, but I was much more taken with his work on Nomad the Warrior. Both these scores could not be more different than his intimate, melodic work for Under the Same Moon, which follows a young Mexican boy, who, on the death of his grandmother, crosses the border into the USA to reunite with his mother.
This charming, though rather brief album gets off to a fine start with the lovely, if somewhat poignant piano, accordion and orchestra of "La Misma Luna," continuing on into "La Fantasia De Carlitos." The theme again appears at the conclusion of "La Muerte De La Abuela," before the score takes a slightly menacing turn in "El Cocho," which has more of a Mexican feel than anything that has gone before, with "La Mano" building on that menace. A much sunnier feel is provided by "El Viaje y Enrique," though this gives way to more sentimental fare. What follows is very much in the same vein, a mix of sadness, anxiety, sentiment and eventual joy; mostly melodic and suitably innocent in feel, with guitars and accordion never far away to provide the appropriate colours. One cannot fail to be charmed by simple, melodic charm of Siliotto's score and its delightful main theme.
The album is of course readily available from soundtrack retailers, with presumably the same contents as this promo disc, kindly furnished by the label.
Man in the Chair
Music by Laura Karpman and various artists
Lakeshore RecordsLKS 33992 (US)
15 Tracks 50:26 mins
Laura Karpman has written many an acclaimed score for TV, documentares and video games, without really cracking the feature film market. I fear her latest attempt for Man in the Chair, starring Christopher Plummer, will not do her any favours in this respect. It doesn't help that the soundtrack album only presents four brief excerpts from her score, the rest of its playing time being given over to songs by a number of artists completely unknown to me, like The Frames, Eric Anders, and Rene Reyes, plus widely differing source instrumentals by Israeli band Zino and Tommy, some of which aren't actually half bad; and even a couple of Carols by the LSO and Nashville Children's Choir.
Concentrating solely on Karpman's score, it's really quite spare, with piano, strings and woodwinds giving a feel of sadness to "Not Forgotten, though the track ends somewhat business-like. "Lockup" is a mercifully brief piece of electronica, with "Mr. Moss Pt.1" having a kind of ethereal quality, mixing both orchestral and electronic elements. Karpman's final offering is something of an extension of her preceeding track, though with orchestra most predominant. With all four cues totally around six minutes, it really is hard to judge the composer's overall impact on the film.
From: SCREEN ARCHIVES ENTERTAINMENTSubject: TWO NEW LIMITED RELEASES FROM INTRADA!NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC: THE EXPLORERS - A CENTURY OF DISCOVERY (1000 EDITION) and THE STUNT MAN / AN UNMARRIED WOMAN (3000 EDITION)!
For more detailed information, click on this URL:
http://www.screenarchives.com/email.cfm?eid=7
posted by jeffhall | 2:51 PM
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