CD REVIEW - VAN DE VELDE: DIE VOLLKOMMENE EHE & DAS LEBE ZU ZWEIT + NEWS FROM TOP DOLLAR PR


Van de Velde: Die Vollkommene Ehe/Das Leben zu Zweit
Music by the Peter Thomas Sound Orchester
All Score Media ASM 029/CSC 004
24 tracks 42:28 mins

The swinging sixties was a time for discovery and the new permissive society in turn spawned the sex education movie, with Germany leading the way, introducing more nudity to the cinema screens than had ever been seen before. Two of these films were adapted from a 40-year-old book by Dutch gynecologist Theodoor Hendrick van de Velde. To use their English-language titles, 1968's The Perfect Marriage and the following year's Every Night of the Week.
The scores for these films were provided by the dependable Peter Thomas and his "Sound Orchester." Some of his tracks from the first film were released on an extremely rare Canadian soundtrack LP, but the remainder of the score, plus the music for Every Night of the Week has only just come to light and so this is premiered here.
Rather than presenting the music in film order, the tracks are integrated, presumably to make for a more satisfying listening experience, but which is not ideal for purists. And it should be said that these are not film scores, in the dramatic sense, rather a series of easy listening tracks to provide a fun accompaniment, rather than anything remotely sleazy or, by contrast, cold and scientific.
The CD gets under way with the catchy "Natascha (End Title)," with its Edda-like wordless female vocal and welcome trombone solos (whatever happened to them - they used to be standard fare in the '60s - now the instrument, whilst a vital part of the orchestra, is seldom heard on its own). The poppy, uptempo "Love Sequence" follows, again with vocal contributions, as are standard, either solo, or in combinations throughout this disc. More uptempo pop follows in "Love Maker" and "Embrace." "Gisela's Seduction" slows things down considerably, with "Teach Me, Teacher" offering the kind of music often found in seductive scenes from Italian movies, composed by the likes of Morricone et al. "Big Love" has a more ethereal quality, with solo flute and harp added to the heavenly voices. A different, lighter arrangement of "Natascha (Main Theme)" follows, and then "The World's History" unfolds with the addition of harpsichord. A beat track follows in the form of "Cin-Cin-Mon Marie: Nu" and then we have a jazzy source-style track "Lord Esquir's Party Tune." The brief "Hurdy-Gurdy" follows, with its somewhat off-key organ solo.
The sprightly "The Grand Day" leads into the breezy "Love Bureau" and somewhat light-hearted "First, First Love," followed by the seductive guitars of "Eternal Song." "Love" is a soft, romantic, flute-lead piece, with the somewhat disjointed "Girl and Teacher" following. We enter a world of smoky jazz with "Shaker," followed by the easy confidence of "Playboy."
More easy-going erotica follows in "Tivoli," complete with female voices and yes, more trombone solos, contrasting with the purposeful brass of "Rookies." "Coitude Melanchodelic" is almost as spaced-out as its title suggests; the album closing on a brief variation on "Here Comes the Bride" for "The Marriage."
Whilst this album will probably not appeal to serious film score fans, especially of the Hollywood style, if you like European film music of the sixties, or maybe if you're a James Last fan, this will very likely appeal to you. It's undeniably a very tuneful and infectious little disc.
Accompanying the CD is a colourful, tastefully done booklet, featuring stills from the film, plus notes on the films and the sex education movie genre in general. Go to www.allscore.de/sites/ASM_029_DE.html for samples and to order your copy.



ASSASSIN'S CREED II IMMERSES PLAYERS

WITH EPIC MUSIC SCORE BY JESPER KYD
Assassin's Creed II Original Soundtrack available November 16th
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Los Angeles - November 2nd, 2009 - Award-winning composer Jesper Kyd has created
an epic soundtrack for Assassin's Creed II, the sequel to the fastest-selling new
IP in video game history. Following his atmospheric score for the original Assassin's
Creed, Kyd takes the music in an adventurous new direction and crafts an immensely
diverse, melodic and progressive musical pallete featuring acoustic and symphonic
orchestrations with emotional depth and diversity. The original score was recorded
with A-List musicians and a Hollywood orchestra and choir at the world-renowned
Capitol Studios. The Assassin's Creed II Original Soundtrack will be available for
digital download from popular music stores on November 16th.

Assassin's Creed IIfeatures a new hero, Ezio Auditore da Firenze, a young Italian
noble, and a new era, the Renaissance. The game tells an epic story of family, vengeance
and conspiracy set in the pristine, yet brutal, backdrop of a Renaissance Italy.
Ezio befriends Leonardo da Vinci, takes on Florence's most powerful families and
ventures throughout the canals of Venice where he learns to become a master assassin.
The music propels the action, captures the allure and mystery of the story and immerses
players in the breathtakingly detailed settings.


Patrice Desilets, Creative Director at Ubisoft: "Jesper Kyd's score for Assassin's
Creed II brings players into the Italian Renaissance by providing a true sense of
depth for the poignant moments, while also giving a jolt of adrenaline to the action-packed
sequences. We are thrilled to have Jesper Kyd back with us in making Assassin's
Creed IIan epic title on all levels."


Jesper Kyd: "We created a unique musical identity for Assassin's Creed IIthat reflects
the character and story of Ezio and elevated the music, both in terms of creativity
and live production, to a whole new level."


Assassin's Creed II is the product of over two years of intensive development by
the original creative team behind the Assassin's Creed brand. Assassin's Creed
II is scheduled to launch on November 17th, 2009 for the PLAYSTATION® 3 computer
entertainment system, the Xbox 360® video game and entertainment system from Microsoft
and the PC. For more information about Assassin's Creed II, please visit www.assassinscreed.com.


About Ubisoft:
Ubisoft is a leading producer, publisher and distributor of interactive entertainment
products worldwide and has grown considerably through a strong and diversified line-up
of products and partnerships. Ubisoft has teams in 28 countries and distributes
games in more than 55 countries around the globe. It is committed to delivering
high-quality, cutting-edge video game titles to consumers. For the 2008-09 fiscal
year, Ubisoft generated sales of 1.058 billion euros. To learn more, please visit
www.ubisoftgroup.com.


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