“Hypnosis / Odessa” Original Motion Picture Score
KeepMoving Records announces two scores on one CD by Anna Drubich, a Russian-born composer often working on the projects of Marco Beltrami (Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Fear Street).
The soundtrack features two collaborations with writer/director Valeriy Todorovskiy. The first one is the movie Hypnosis, which tells the story of a teenager Misha (Sergey Giro) who receives hypnotic treatment for sleepwalking, but eventually he becomes so dependent on the therapy that he is no longer able to distinguish reality from illusion. The score’s idea of blending the border between reality and dreamscapes is a beautiful motive that disintegrates as the story progresses.
The second score is Odessa, a family dramedy based on Todorovskiy’s own personal memories about getting stuck in the Russian city in the midst of a cholera outbreak. The score has two main themes: the Childhood Theme – which supposed to be a stark memory from the childhood that stays with you all entire life – and then the second main theme of the film would be the Family/Destiny Theme which is about taking responsibilities for your doings and wishes.”
The limited-edition CD comes with liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the films and the scores based on an original interview with the composer.
“Battalion” Original Motion Picture Score
KeepMoving Records announces the CD release of Yuri Poteyenko’s for the WWI drama Battalion as well as additional music for the WWII tank battle movie White Tiger.
The film tells the true story of a battalion of enthusiastic women volunteers who must fight in World War I as the fatigue of male troops is found demoralizing after the February Revolution. While the all-female Battalion lead by Maria Bochkareva is seen as nothing but a crazy idea at first, the female soldiers prove themselves on the front where shifting alliances and the tumultuous political situation truly test their limits. As a unique women-in-war movie, Poteyenko gets the chance to not only score battlefield action but also dig down deep enough for the emotional core of the movie.
The CD also includes additional music from White Tiger, a 2012 tank battle movie directed by Karen Shahnazarov. Poteyenko contributed only two cues for the picture. In this case, the composer was specifically asked to incorporate the music of Richard Wagner into the two cues with both “Tank Attack” and “End of the War” featuring elements of the “Tannhäuser Overture” in the midst of massive action scoring.
The limited-edition CD comes with liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the film based on commentary by the composer himself.
“Frontier” Original Motion Picture Score
KeepMoving Records announces the CD release of Yuri Poteyenko’s for the time-hopping action thriller Frontier.
The film tells the story of young and disillusioned businessman Mikhail Shurov doesn’t get to access his dream property, a sandy quarry at the Nevsky Piglet as archaeological work needs to be done on the site. Confused about why the events of the past should undermine the investments of the future, Mikhail’s outlook changes when the removal of a mysterious object from the excavations lands him in the past, on the tragically famous Nevsky Piglet during the Great Patriotic War.
In this project, one of Poteyenko’s biggest challenges was finding the right balance between contemporary and the old school way of film scoring as the storyline jumps between two different time periods with different visual styles. The time-hopping aspect of the story is achieved through clever changes in approaches to the two timeframes, a crescendo that represents the time jumps and a balance of electronics for battle scenes that take place in two worlds.
The limited-edition CD comes with liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the film based on commentary by the composer himself.
“The Last Frontier” Original Motion Picture Score
KeepMoving Records announces the CD release of Yuri Poteyenko’s WWII drama score for The Last Frontier.
The Last Frontier tells the story of the Podolsk cadets who defended Moscow in October 1941 and were one of the first victims of the German attack. The suicide mission was expected to buy five to seven days for relocating the military reserves. Within a week, only about 1000 cadets were still alive, while some sources claim only a tenth of the regiment survived.
The score performs a careful balancing act between rousing action music (Jerry Goldsmith’s The Blue Max might come to mind) whereas it also has a handful of emotional highlights as it focuses on the story of the cadets and the girls they left behind. A soprano voice emerging from an all-male choir (the famous Alexandrov Ensemble of the Russian Army) highlights a spiritual connection between soldiers of past and present.
The limited-edition CD comes with liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the film based on commentary by the composer himself.
“Devyatayev” Original Motion Picture Score
KeepMoving Records announces the CD release of Yuri Poteyenko’s score for the shocking true story of Devyatayev.
Devyatayev was a war hero of the Soviet Union, a fighter pilot who got captured and held hostage on the island of Peenemünde, the place where the Nazis conducted their secret rocket experiments. After a daring escape where he flew away by a German plane, Devyatayev provided important information for the Soviet rocket program based on his experiences. His story however was found unbelievable and he was labelled a traitor until the value of his reports proved to be undeniable.
Reuniting with director Timur Bekmambetov (Nightwatch, Daywatch), Yuri Poteyenko wrote one of his most contemporary sounding scores with a strong anchor to the past. The main theme of the movie is “Beloved Town”, a hit movie theme song from the 1939 film The Fighters, which itself was a pre-war Soviet drama about cocky fighter pilots. The connection between old and new film music traditions creates a compelling underscore that connects 80 years of history together.
The limited-edition CD comes with liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the film based on commentary by the composer himself.
“Alaska Kid” Original Music From The Television Series
KeepMoving Records announces the CD release of John Cameron’s score for Alaska Kid, a Russian co-production inspired by the works of Jack London.
Helmed by Oscar-winning filmmaker James Hill, the German/Polish/Russian co-production of Alaska Kid arrived on the scene right in the middle of the Jack London Renaissance marked by movies like White Fang and Balto. The 13-episode series starred Mark Pillow (Nuclear Man from Superman IV: The Quest for Peace) and Donovan Scott (Leslie Barbara from Police Academy) as two men trying their luck in the Alaskan wilderness. Although not based on one particular Jack London book, the series focused on the milieu established by White Fang or The Call of the Wild.
The rousing score by John Cameron had the benefit of using around 70 live musicians (a rarity for a ’90s TV show). Although it was made for the small screen, the music for Alaska Kid has all the sweep and thematic richness of any contemporary adventure score with Russian musicians providing the basis – while a few additions were produced back in England. The end result is an adventure score you didn’t know you needed in your life – for Alaska Kid turned out to be quite an obscure show.
The limited-edition CD comes with liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the films and John Cameron adding his own unique insight and memories into being a pioneering Western composer working in Moscow.
Some great music from great composers and released on an awesome label "KEEPMOVING RECORDS"
Jeremy [Six Strings]
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