Music Box Records: GOLDEN NEEDLES - Lalo SCHIFRIN

50th CD release, Music Box Records is very proud to present the original soundtrack from Golden Needles (1974) by Lalo Schifrin. 

Capitalizing on the early ‘70s kung-fu craze, the film tells the story of a mysterious statue which contains the secret location of acupuncture points that may cure many illnesses – or lead to instant death if they are applied in the wrong order. When rival gangs start a fierce hunt after the statue, it’s up to Dan (Joe Don Baker) to get the statue for the mysterious girl who had hired him. Briefly teaming up with blaxploitation icon Jim Kelly, Baker is ready to deliver swift punches, escape death traps and throw people across panes until he gets what he wants…

This CD will be released on June 2, 2014.

GOLDEN NEEDLES (MBR-050)
Music Composed and Conducted by Lalo SCHIFRIN 

This CD marks the premiere release of Golden Needles. This soundtrack presents all the music and is accompanied by an 8-page booklet with liner notes by Gergely Hubai who discusses the film and the score. Golden Needles may lack the name recognition of Bullitt or the cult factor of Enter the Dragon, but the score definitely delivers everything you’d expect from the composer at the top of his game – and it certainly doesn’t disappoint fans of Schifrin or martial arts movies in general.

Limited Collector's Edition of 1000 copies
> More details about the CD

Just Released... Happy 50th release.
Jeremy [Howlin' Wolf]

Music Box Records: Le Professionnel - Ennio Morricone

LE PROFESSIONNEL
Music Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Ennio MORRICONE

52 minutes of music. Remastered edition supervised by Claudio Fuiano.
8-page CD booklet with French and English liner notes by Laurent Perret.
Limited Edition of 500

 

Music Box Records is pleased to reissue the classic Ennio Morricone soundtrack for Le Professionnel, one of the Maestro’s best known scores and themes that attained fame all over the world. Supervised and mastered by Claudio Fuiano, the soundtrack has the same program as the limited edition GDM CD released in 2002 that had been going for unreasonable prices on the secondary market.

For a long time, Le Professionnel has been notable for being one of the best-known Morricone scores even though very little of the composer’s music actually written for the film survived in the final cut. Instead of using the cues Morricone actually penned, director Georges Lautner and more importantly star Jean-Paul Belmondo decided to use a recording of "Chi Mai" a very famous Morricone composition that has been used and recorded in a number of different projects. The first appearance of the famous "Chi Mai" melody was in Maddalena (1971) and was later recorded as a pop song (in several languages) and a so-called disco instrumental was done in 1978. It was this recording that was used in Le Professionnel and is known as the theme from the film (even though it wasn’t specifically written for it).  

Just Announced!

Jeremy [HWR:OLM]

Music Box Records: Le Marginal (The Outsider) - Ennio Morricone

LE MARGINAL

Music Composed, Orchestrated and Conducted by Ennio MORRICONE

74 minutes of music. Remastered edition supervised by Claudio Fuiano.
8-page CD booklet with French and English liner notes by Patrick Bouster.
Limited Edition of 500

Music Box Records is pleased to reissue the complete (slightly expanded) soundtrack of Le Marginal (The Outsider) composed, orchestrated and conducted by Ennio Morricone.

Le Marginal was a 1983 film directed by Jacques Deray (La Piscine, Borsalino, Trois hommes à abattre) and starring Jean-Paul Belmondo, Henry Silva, Carlos Sotto Mayor and Pierre Vernier. The story is about Commissioner Jordan (Jean-Paul Belmondo) who arrives in Marseille to combat drug trafficking activities in his own unique way. After scuffles with local mafia godfather Mecacci’s men, as well as with his own superiors, he is transferred to Paris. Soon at loggerheads with various criminal elements, he turns to a resumption of the pursuit of drug kingpin Sauveur Mecacci (Henry Silva).

The composer, in an unusual move, used a rock theme which would resurface in Copkiller that same year of 1983, and in Frantic in 1988. This urban score features numerous variations both similar and far off, from the most melodic (a catchy theme on oboe, which is both simple and elegant) to the harshest (tensed and percussive pieces).

The soundtrack of Le Marginal has been issued numerous times. The soundtrack LP was first issued by General Music in France in 1983 with a 10-track program. In 2002, GDM released an expanded edition with a 23-track program with a rich and varied presentation far superior to the original disc. It has been sold-out for so many years.

Just Announced!

Jeremy [HWR:OLM]

Music Box Records: LE DERNIER AMANT ROMANTIQUE/CAPITAINE X - Pierre BACHELET

LE DERNIER AMANT ROMANTIQUE / CAPITAINE X

Music Composed by Pierre BACHELET

First time on CD. More than 70 minutes of music.
8-page CD booklet with French/English liner notes by Nicolas Magenham.
Limited Edition of 500

Music Box Records is pleased to present on the same CD two original motion picture soundtracks composed by Pierre Bachelet: Le Dernier Amant romantique (The Last Romantic Lover, 1978) directed by Just Jaeckin (Emmanuelle, The Story of O, The Perils of Gwendoline in the Land of the Yik Yak) and French TV mini-series Capitaine X... (1983) directed by Bruno Gantillon.

Four years after Emmanuelle (1974), Just Jaeckin worked again with Pierre Bachelet for a film which is an homage to the world of circus and a satire on medias. The film, produced by Bernard Lenteric for Warner-Columbia Films, was written by the director himself and Ennio de Concini (who won an Oscar in 1963 for the screenplay to Divorce Italian Style directed by Pietro Germi). It tells the story of a female editor-in-chief of a large newspaper who falls in love with the lion tamer of a circus going bankrupt. She thus organizes a beauty contest for men, seeing to it that he wins.

With this film, Jaeckin goes slightly off the beaten path of sophisticated eroticism, in an altogether more delicate, but also ironic, direction. The film preached a sort of return to roots, a tradition incarnated at one and the same time by a certain idea of the romantic and by the world of the circus – in contrast with another kind of circus, of a more deleterious sort, that of the media and of beauty competitions. Bachelet’s music plays on this opposition: it is both situated well within the times, with its disco tempos and synths typical of the 1970s (especially for the title song Romantic Lover).
The scenes where the relationship between the image and the music has without doubt the most force are those that depict the world of the circus and in which Bachelet often utilizes anxiety-provoking synthesizers contrasting with these images from another age, which at the same time, curiously, adhere perfectly with them. For other scenes, Bachelet composes nostalgic themes that are more melodious, while preserving throughout a disconcerting and almost limping aspect, which recall certain pieces by Francis Lai done for Claude Lelouch.

This edition also presents for the first time on CD the original soundtrack to the spy series Bruno Gantillon's Capitaine X…, aired on the French television in 1983. The score showcases in large part original jazz music and romantic tracks.

 

Just Announced!

Jeremy [HWR:OLM]

Music Box Records: L’État Sauvage and Le Grand Frère - Pierre Jansen

After releasing on CD René la Canne, Le Bon Plaisir and Descente aux Enfers, Music Box Records explores a new chapter in the career of Francis Girod, releasing the two original motion picture soundtracks composed by Pierre Jansen for this director. L’État Sauvage (1978) adapted from the novel of the same name by Georges Conchon (winner of the 1964 Prix Goncourt) deals with the initial period after decolonization of a fictional African state, centring on the tormented and chaotic destinies of five main characters. Le Grand Frère (1983), a revamp set in Africa and Marseille of Sam Ross’s novel Ready for the Tiger (translated as part of the Série Noire collection), allows, through the conduit of a seedy story of revenge, for the head on tackling of a number of social problems, not least among which features the integration of the first generation of French of North African descent.

Pierre Jansen recalls his two exigent collaborations with Francis Girod: “L’État Sauvage deliberately avoided any musical reference to Africa as it was my intent to avoid at all costs producing an illustrated postcard in sound. To resurrect the harsh savagery of racism – and even of the types of racism denounced in the film to the point where the viewer is led to wonder who it is exactly who is the savage! – I opted for a Westernized, jerkily rhythmic and dissonant score, which can be heard right from the main title, which is particularly jarring.”

“For Le Grand Frère, I let myself be inspired by the general climate of the film and I also wrote in a highly rigorous manner, image by image, out of which came a result approaching a more traditional type of film music. One can distinguish two principal streams running through what I contributed: on the one hand the symphonic tracks intended to enhance the dramatics of the screenplay and the psychology of the protagonists with impressionistic touches in places and on the other hand I created the majority of the source music myself.”

Music Box Records, in collaboration with Gruppo Sugar and EMI Music Publishing, presents both scores for the first time on CD and transferred from the original stereo master tapes. The limited edition of 500 copies comes with an 8-page booklet with French and English commentary by Laurent Perret and an interview with Pierre Jansen.

Music Box Records [CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO]

Music Box Records: She-Devil [Score] - Howard Shore

Music Box Records presents the original soundtrack from She-Devil by Howard Shore. Based on the novel The Life and Loves of a She-Devil by British author Fay Weldon, Susan Seidelman’s adaptation of the book tells the story of frumpy housewife Ruth (Roseanne Barr) who thinks she got it made with her handsome accountant husband, Bob (Ed Begley Jr.). When Bob meets bestselling romance novelist Mary Fisher (Meryl Streep), the couple quickly separates but the trauma unleashes great powers within Ruth. Once bored and lonesome, Ruth reinvents herself, gets a job, then starts her own enterprise in order to carry out an elaborate revenge against Bob…

Written by Howard Shore (composer of The Lord of the Rings and most of David Cronenberg’s films), the music for She-Devil is a brilliantly energetic score balancing between deliberately overblown romance and devilishly clever cues underscoring Ruth’s sudden urge for creative destruction. The key idea of the score is transformation as we can hear two sides of the most important musical ideas – one for Mary and one for Ruth. There’s also a rich tapestry of musical allusions, ranging from the evergreen song Strangers in the Night (the theme for Bob and Mary) to colorful references from Russian classical music, including Mussorgsky’s Night on Bald Mountain and The Gnome.

While there was a previous soundtrack release of She-Devil, it was a "songs from and inspired by" type of compilation that featured nothing from Shore’s brilliant contributions to the film. Music Box Records corrects this omission by releasing all 42 minutes of the underscore, transferred from the original 24-track master tapes, with several reprises of the great romance theme, Ruth’s chilling vengeance music and a couple of other surprises for the attentive listener. The 8-page booklet features liner notes by Gergely Hubai discussing the film and the score, plus includes quotes from Howard Shore on how he remembers the project.

Music Box Records [CLICK HERE FOR MORE INFO]

Music Box Records: Good Will Hunting [Score] - Danny Elfman

MUSIC BOX RECORDS PRESENTS: COMPLETE RELEASE OF
DANNY ELFMAN’S OSCAR NOMINATED

"GOOD WILL HUNTING" 

French film music label Music Box Records presents the complete score for Good Will Hunting (1997) by Danny Elfman. Directed by Gus Van Sant based on a screenplay by Matt Damon and Ben Affleck, the film tells the tale of the troubled title character (Damon) who is a janitor at MIT and is secretly a real mathematical genius. Reluctant to leave his regular life and job behind, Will needs help from psychologist Sean Maguire (Robin Williams) who shows him the way of realizing his full potential without abandoning his roots…The film won two Oscars (one for Williams and one for the writers) while it was nominated for another seven statuettes, including one for composer Danny Elfman and one for songwriter Elliott Smith.

Danny Elfman is of course best known for his Tim Burton movies (ranging from the director’s two Batman films to more recent affairs like Alice in Wonderland), but the composer has numerous other directors with whom he works regularly. Good Will Hunting marked the second collaboration between Elfman and Gus Van Sant (the first one being the director’s bitingly satirical To Die For, 1995); the relationship later extended to other films like Psycho (1998) Milk (2008), Restless (2011) and Promised Land (2012). Their collaboration on Good Will Hunting proved to be the most elusive of the bunch even though it brought Elfman the first Oscar nomination in his career.

The music for Good Will Hunting is a far cry from the usual Gothic sound of the composer who proves himself to be more than capable when it comes to scoring a deeply personal story. The music features acoustic guitar, piano, a smaller ensemble of strings and woodwinds plus a light choral effect in addition to some Irish sounding whistles that address the Boston setting of the story. From the "Main Title" to the "End Titles" (previously known as "Weepy Donuts"), Elfman’s music is mingling among minimalistic thematic variations the same way the titular Will Hunting is looking for a purpose in life…

Spicing up the intimate orchestral score are the contributions of indie songwriter Elliott Smith, whose "Miss Misery" was nominated for an Academy Award in the category of Best Original Song. The song gave major exposure to Smith who unfortunately passed away at the tragically young age of 34 in 2003.

 MUSIC BOX RECORDS [CLICK HERE]

This is one of those scores that everyone wanted, well now it's here and fans will rejoice! I want to welcome Music Box Records for becoming part of our family, they have some wonderful scores and soundtracks to some of the greatest films. They have been very nice and kind to have waited for me to get back on my feet... well my broken ankle! Thank you and Welcome!
Jeremy [HWR:OLM]

Music Box Records: Hold-Up and Dernier Été à Tanger - Serge Franklin

MUSIC BOX RECORDS PRESENTS:

TWO SCORES BY SERGE FRANKLIN:
HOLD-UP AND DERNIER ÉTÉ ÀTANGER

Following the releases of Coup de Sirocco, Le Grand Pardon and Le Grand Carnaval, Music Box Records presents two more scores by French composer Serge Franklin from  his collaborations with Algerian-born director Alexandre Arcady.

Shot in Montréal, Canada, Hold-Up (1985) is a unique cross between French and American heist films, featuring the great Jean-Paul Belmondo as a clown who breaks into the most secure bank in the city. Also starring an international cast of Kim Cattrall, Guy Marchand, Jean-Pierre Marielle and Tex Konig, Hold-Up was quite successful in America as well and was remade as Quick-Change in 1990. Franklin’s score is an ingenious blend of American/French heist movie traditions with an addictive, funky sound, including the theme song by Rena Scott and the song “Running Wild” by Jan Loseth.

Dernier Été à Tanger (Last Summer in Tanger, 1987) is a more series affair, starring Valeria Golino (Hot Shots!, Rain Man) as the beautiful Claudia Marchetti who is seeking vengeance for the death of his father. As per usual, the private vendetta interferes with official police business: local detective Corrigan (Thierry Lhermitte) is recruited to find international crime boss William Barrès (Roger Hanin), but the personal angle eventually intervenes the investigation. Returning back to his North African roots, Arcady asked Franklin to composer a Oriental-flavored, erotically charged thriller scores that also features a couple of songs: one by star Valeria Golino and two by Anna Karina who appears as a cabaret singer in the film.

Music Box Records presents both scores in as complete a form as possible. The Hold-Up presentation recreates the original LP and since the original album was fairly representative of the score, there was no need for expansion. Last Summer in Tanger had previously been released on LP, but this new release expands the original album with 9 minutes of additional jazzy goodness that wasn’t featured on the record. The limited edition of 500 CDs comes with an 8-page booklet with French and English commentary by Gérard Dastugue.

MUSIC BOX RECORDS [CLICK HERE]
 

I am enjoying what I am hearing, these two are very new to me... you really should look into theses scores and once again... thank you to Music Box Records for offering some great score music.

Jeremy [HWR:OLM]

Music Box Records: TOUGH GUYS DON'T DANCE

Music Box Records latest CDs to be

released on January 15, 2014 :



TOUGH GUYS DON'T DANCE
Music Composed and Conducted by Angelo BADALAMENTI

World Premiere Expanded CD release.
More than 45 minutes of music, including 10 minutes of music never released before.
12-page CD booklet with liner notes by Daniel Schweiger.
Limited Collector's Edition of 1000 copies
> More details

 

AFRIK'AÏOLI / TRAVAIL D'ARABE / LES 4 SAISONS D'ESPIGOULE
Music Composed by Michel KORB

65 minutes of music, including 30 minutes of music never released before.
8-page CD booklet with film director Christian Philibert's statement.

This present edition coincides with the French theatrical premiere of the film Afrik'aïoli on January 22, 2014.
> More details

Just Announced!
Jeremy [HWR:OLM]