Intrada: THE AVIATOR [1985-2015] - Dominic Frontiere

In 1985, composer Dominic Frontiere composed a large, soaring symphonic score for MGM's  The Aviator.   In a year filled with symphonic splendor, including  Back to the Future, Silverado, Explorers, Rambo II, The Goonies, Return to Oz, The Black Cauldron... a seemingly endless bounty of stunning scores, it was easy for the magnificent score to  The Aviator  to get lost.  Frontiere's score is designed around two major themes: one for Edgar (played by Christopher Reeve) and and one for Tillie (Rosana Arquette).   Edgar's theme is all about flight -- its beauty and nobility. It's an aptly old-fashioned, symphonic tune played with unabashed sentiment by the Munich Symphony Orchestra. It’s a movie theme that harkens back to the “Golden Age” of cinema, with its liquid slurs and high, expressive string phrasing.   Tillie's theme is similarly old-fashioned, endowing the young flapper with a sense of innocent romance and fragile beauty.

This release of  The Aviator  features a number of important distinctions from all previous releases of the music. It was originally available on vinyl and later on a slightly expanded CD. Both of these prior versions not only omitted a significant number of cues from the score but, interestingly, did not include the separately recorded percussion tracks for several sequences. This fully restored release features every track Frontiere recorded during his Munich scoring sessions—including the separate percussion overlays which are mixed as the composer intended.  Including several alternates in “the extras” section of the disc plus the composer’s source cues, this new Intrada CD presents 75 minutes of music in all.

In the film, Reeve plays Anscombe,  a veteran mail pilot in 1920s Nevada. His boss (Jack Warden) tasks him with carrying a passenger to Boise—Tillie (Arquette), the gabby daughter of a wealthy banker who owns most of the route’s airplanes—a charge Anscombe instantly resents. High over the mountains, an engine failure forces them to crash-land in the wilderness, and he and Tillie must learn to survive the elements, wild wolves, injuries and each other to make it home alive.

INTRADA Special Collection Vol. 324
For track listing and sound samples, please visit:
[CLICK HERE]

 

Just Announced!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

OLIVE FILMS: JUNE 23rd RELEASES (BRINGING OUT THE BIG GUNS!)

SOUL PLANE – COLLECTOR’S EDITION (2004, comedy): Academy Award winner Mo’Nique (Best Supporting Actress, Precious) is part of an all-star line-up of gifted actors and comedians who come on board the Soul Plane. Our release includes both the Rated and Unrated version plus cast audio commentary and more!

SOUL PLANE – COLLECTOR’S EDITION DVD
SOUL PLANE - COLLECTOR’S EDITION BD

FLED (1996, action): Laurence Fishburne, Academy Award nominee for Best Actor (What’s Love Go To Do With It) shares the screen with Stephen Baldwin, National Board of Review winner (Best Acting By An Ensemble Cast, The Usual Suspects) in Fled, a nod to the Sidney Poiter and Tony Curtis men-on-the-run drama The Defiant Ones.

FLED DVD
FLED BD    
 

STONE COLD (1991, action): As the psychotic leader of a biker gang in Stone Cold, co-star Lance Henriksen brings his distinctive menacing quality to a role that he’s successfully honed in a variety of films ranging from Near Dark to Alien 3.

STONE COLD DVD
STONE COLD BD    
 

JOHNNY BE GOOD (1988, comedy): Former Saturday Night Live castmates Anthony Michael Hall and Robert Downey, Jr. are reunited as best friends in the comedy Johnny Be Good. The film also features a supporting performance by Academy Award nominee (Best Supporting Actress for Bullets Over Broadway) Jennifer Tilly.

JOHNNY BE GOOD DVD

JOHNNY BE GOOD BD  
 

THRASHIN’ (1986, Action): Thrashin’ features Academy Award nominee Josh Brolin (Best Supporting Actor, Milk) in one of his earliest film performances. Thrashin’ also features special appearances by skating royalty Tony Hawk, Per Welinder and Rodney Mullen, along with cameos by Flea and Anthony Kiedis of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and director Catherine Hardwicke (Lords of Dogtown, Thirteen, Twilight).

THRASHIN' DVD
THRASHIN' BD 

THE MEAN SEASON (1985, thriller): Academy Award nominee Mariel Hemmingway (Best Supporting Actress, Manhattan) stars as Christine, the school teacher girlfriend of lead Kurt Russell who will become a pawn in a frightening game of cat & mouse in The Mean Season.

THE MEAN SEASON DVD
THE MEAN SEASON BD    

 

THE THING WITH TWO HEADS (1972, horror/comedy): The Thing With Two Heads is the one and only on-screen pairing of acting great Ray Milland and former L.A Rams player Rosey Grier. The film features the early work of multi Academy Award-winning special effects master Rick Baker (The Wolfman, Ed Wood, An American Werewolf in London, Men In Black).

THE THING WITH TWO HEADS DVD
THE THING WITH TWO HEADS BD 

Classic, Cult and Can you dig it... yes you can!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Lionsgate: Power Rangers Super Megaforce: Sky Strike [DVD]

The longest running and most-watched kids action series in television history continues with Power Rangers Super Megaforce: Sky Strike arriving on DVD (plus Digital), Digital HD and On Demand June 9th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. In these five action packed episodes, the iconic Power Rangers, Troy, Noah, Emma, Jake and Orion must work together to save the world when Vrak returns to annihilate our planet. The Power Rangers Super Megaforce: Sky Strike DVD.

The Power Rangers are in for the fight of their lives as they battle their greatest enemies yet -- dimension-hopping Professor Cog, Prince Vekar's mighty Armada Megazord, Emperor Mavro and his Royal Guard, and Damaras, the most lethal warrior in the universe! When Vrak returns, transformed and more powerful than ever, he will turn one of the Power Rangers' most trusted allies against them -- the Super Megaforce team will never be the same after facing Dark Robo Knight!
 

Good Lordy... how many are there of these Power Rangers! 

Jeremy [The Wolf]

MovieScore Media: 5 FLIGHTS UP [2015] - David Newman/Max Calo

The latest release of MovieScore Media presents a short but tender and emotionally charged score from David Newman, the composer of fan favorite animated hits Anastasia and Ice Age. Directed by Richard Loncraine, 5 Flights Up stars Morgan Freeman and Diane Keaton as a long-time married couple who've spent their lives together in the same New York apartment. Due to the titular five flights of stairs, they decide to sell their home in Brooklyn and look for something less taxing on their health, but they eventually  become overwhelmed by personal and real estate-related issues when they plan to move away. Based on Jill Ciment's novel Heroic Measures, 5 Flights Up also stars Carrie Preston and Cynthia Nixon.

Composer David Newman is the son of legendary Hollywood film music maestro Alfred Newman and the elder brother of Thomas Newman. He has worked on over a hundred films in the past 30 years. He has worked on several comedic and dramatic movies directed by Danny DeVito (The War of the Roses, Hoffa) and has scored some of the best Eddie Murphy Comedies (The Nutty Professor, Dr. Dolittle 2). His list of credits also include such cult favorites as The Sandlot (1993), Matilda (1996), Anastasia (1997) and Ice Age (2002).

“5 Flights Up is such a delicate movie about a very unusual situation - all the emotions that come with selling a home where you have lived for so many years”explains the composer. “There is a certain joy in Diane Keaton’s and Morgan Freeman’s relationship so the flashbacks were very evocative and were very interesting to score. We don’t have a lot of music in the film and it isn’t flashy at all - just commenting on the passing of time  - the sadness but also the joy of growing old together and what a change does to a relationship. The “Main Title“ is probably the longest set piece and it’s about the quirky joy side of their marriage. There are also cues that reflect the loss of the past to just memories and the sweet sadness that evokes.” Apart from Newman’s brief but sweet score, the soundtrack also includes three songs, courtesy of Max Calo.

MovieScore Media | http://moviescoremedia.com/

Just Announced!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Lakeshore Records: BARELY LETHAL - Mateo Messina

Lakeshore Records will release the BARELY LETHAL – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack, featuring the original music composed by Mateo Messina (JUNO, BUTTER). The recording will be released digitally on June 16, 2015 and on CD later this year.

“The protagonist is a badass secret agent, but at the same time she’s a teenage girl who just wants to fit in,” said Messina. “I wanted to honor all of her ‘inner badass’ while still playing her vulnerability as a teenager.” 

In this high school action comedy, a teenage special ops agent named Megan (Hailee Steinfeld), yearning for a “normal” adolescence, fakes her own death and enrolls as an exchange student in a typical American high school. She quickly learns that surviving the treacherous waters of high school can be more difficult than international espionage. BARELY LETHAL also stars Samuel L. Jackson, Jessica Alba, and Jaime King. 

“The viewer begins this film in an intense world of spies, action, training, drama, and just a lot of fighting with fists, feet, and guns,” explained Messina. “But then we transition to an entire new world, the small Anywhere American town of Newton. Despite the difference, this mundane little town is the greatest place in the world to Megan. The score had to reflect the town’s small-time charm without feeling like too much of a disconnect from the rest of the world. While I switched up the style and instrumentation dramatically, I made sure there were hints of our theme inside it melodically so viewers would always be a connected to the whole story just as Megan is.”

A24 and Main Street Films present BARELY LETHAL, currently available in limited release and on VOD. The BARELY LETHAL – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available digitally on June 16, 2015 and on CD later this year.  

###
http://www.lakeshore-records.com/

Just Announced!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

WTF! Strands Seven Friends in a Cabin in the WoodsThe Bloodbath Begins Filming June 15th around Los Angeles

Los Angeles, CA- Cthulhu Crush Productions is excited to announce principal photography is set to begin on Peter Herro's WTF! June 15th around Los Angeles.  The horror film sees a survivor of a mass killing on a trip with six close friends, when her nightmare threatens to begin again.

Herro is directing from a script he co-wrote with Christopher Centanni and Adam Buchalter.  Callie Ott (The Horror), Sarah Agor (Hatchet II, VH1's "Scream Queens"), Andrea Hunt, Ben Norris, Johnny James Fiore, Nick Reilly and Adam Foster will star. 

Three years ago, twenty-two year old girl-next-door Rachel (Ott) barely survived a brutal massacre that left her friends in pieces. Time has passed, and Rachel has moved on, but unfortunately history has a way of repeating itself.  Her close friends are spending spring break in a secluded house in the woods, and they have cordially invited her to join. Little does she realize that another bloodbath will be showing up as plus one. Once Rachel and her friends arrive at the cabin, the partying, sex, and terror begins.

From girls' only pillow fights to debauchery in the bedroom, it's going to be a blast...until the stabbing, flesh melting, and castration starts. Seven friends will go into a secluded house for the best spring break of their lives, but only one will be alive to post about it on Instagram the next week, as Rachel's biggest fears become a reality once again. Will Rachel survive another bloody massacre?

 

For those in the area, watch out... it might just be filming behind you.

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Varèse Sarabande: THE LIBRARIANS - Joseph LoDuca

Varèse Sarabande will release THE LIBRARIANS – Original Soundtrack digitally and on CD on June 23, 2015.  The album features the original music composed by Joseph LoDuca (EVIL DEAD Trilogy, XENA: WARRIOR PRINCESS).

“THE LIBRARIANS is a fantasy/adventure series that was created out of the success of three LIBRARIAN telefilms that aired on TNT over the past several years,” said LoDuca. “In those stories, Flynn Carson (Noah Wiley) plays the learned nerd who saves the world from evil. In the current series, a team of specialists with ‘super powers’ join with Flynn to battle evil magic in many forms. The music requires a full orchestra to match the enormity of their task.” 

Returning to the universe of TNT's hit movie franchise, The Librarian, this new series centers on an ancient organization hidden beneath the Metropolitan Public Library dedicated to protecting an unknowing world from the secret, magical reality hidden all around. This group solves impossible mysteries, fights supernatural threats and recovers powerful artifacts, including the Ark of the Covenant, the Spear of Destiny and Excalibur.

The second season of THE LIBRARIANS will be on TNT this fall. THE LIBRARIANS – Original Score on Varèse Sarabande, will be available digitally and on CD on June 23, 2015.

###
http://www.varesesarabande.com/  

Love it, Period!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Lionsgate: BEYOND THE REACH [BLU-RAY/DVD] - Michael Douglas

Academy Award® winner Michael Douglas (Best Actor, Wall Street, 1987) basks in the blazing desert sun in his most menacing role in years in the suspense-filled Beyond the Reach, arriving on Blu-ray™ (plus Digital HD), DVD (plus Digital) and Digital HD on June 16th from Lionsgate Home Entertainment. An Unrated version of Beyond the Reach will be available the same day on Digital HD including an extra five minutes of never-before-seen footage. The movie is currently available On Demand.  Director Jean-Baptiste Leonetti (Carré Blanc) delivers “the best cat-and-mouse thriller in years!” (Stuart Lee/WNYN-TV) with this gripping psychological action film that debuted at the 2014 Toronto International Film Festival.  Based on the crime novel entitled “Deathwatch” by Robb White, from a screenplay by Stephen Susco, Beyond the Reach also stars Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) and Ronny Cox (Total Recall,RoboCop).

A cocky businessman (Douglas) spends his spare time big-game hunting. But when he hires an earnest young guide (Irvine) to take him deep into the Mojave Desert in search of prey, things quickly go awry when he shoots and kills an innocent man by mistake. When the guide refuses to be drawn into the dishonest cover-up, a deadly game of cat-and-mouse ensues across a barren and brutal desert pitting hunter against prey.

The Beyond the Reach special features include a behind-the-scenes look at the making of the film, audio commentary with Michael Douglas, director Jean-Baptiste Leonetti and producer Robert Mitas, and the ultimate insider’s guide to Douglas’ sensational chrome and steel co-star, the 2014 Mercedes G63 AMG 6x6.  The Blu-ray and DVD.
 

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Magnolia Home Entertainment: SERENA [DVD/BLU-RAY] - Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence

The North Carolina mountains at the end of the 1920s - George and Serena Pemberton, love-struck newly-weds, begin to build a timber empire. Serena soon proves herself to be equal to any man: overseeing loggers, hunting rattle-snakes, even saving a man’s life in the wilderness. With power and influence now in their hands, the Pembertons refuse to let anyone stand in the way of their inflated love and ambitions. However, once Serena discovers George’s hidden past and faces an unchangeable fate of her own, the Pemberton’s passionate marriage begins to unravel leading toward a dramatic reckoning.

Starring Bradley Cooper, Jennifer Lawrence, Rhys Ifans, Toby Jones, David Dencik, Sean Harris and Ana Ularu, SERENA is directed by Susanne Bier, written by Christopher Kyle based on the book by Ron Rash, and produced by Nick Wechsler, Susanne Bier, Steve Schwartz, Paula Mae Schwartz, Todd Wagner, Ron Halpern and Ben Cosgrove.

Wellgo USA Entertainment: CROSS [DVD] #CrosstheMovie @wellgousa

Internationally-acclaimed Hong Kong superstar Simon Yam (Ip Man franchise, Iceman, Lara Croft Tomb Raider: The Cradle of Life) stars as a serial killer in the horrifying crime thriller CROSS, debuting on DVD and digital HD June 23 from Well Go USA Entertainment.  Devastated by his wife’s suicide, which according to his beliefs condemns her to hell, Lee Leung (Yam) decides to save as many souls as he can by killing suicidal people before they do it themselves. After surrendering himself to the police, he realizes that someone may have been pulling his strings all along.  Written (along with Steve Woo) and directed by Daniel Chan (Triad), CROSS also stars Jason Chang (Poker King), Kenny Wong (Tomorrow is Another Day), Morning Mo (Canapy), Kageyama Yukihiko (Kano), Liu Kai Chi (The Stool Pigeon) and Nick Cheung (Triad Election, The Stool Pigeon). 

Leonard (Simon Yam) has finally found a way to quench his blood thirst by killing those who wish to die but are too afraid to kill themselves.

Wellgo USA Entertainment | www.wellgousa.com

You will feel disturbed at the end, then feel the fingers on the back of your neck grab you...
Jeremy [The Wolf]

Sony Classical: Poldark [Series] - Anne Dudley

Sony Classical is delighted to announce the release of Poldark – music from the hit BBC period drama show.  With original score by Anne Dudley, the soundtrack album will be available on June 9. The series will begin airing nationally on PBS starting on June 21.

With weekly viewing figures approaching 9 million, Poldark is the hottest new drama series on British TV.  Based on the novels by Winston Graham and adapted by Debbie Horsfield, Poldark is set in the late 18th century.  Lead character, Ross Poldark – memorably played by Aidan Turner (The Hobbit) - returns from the American War of Independence to his beloved Cornwall, having spent three years in the army to avoid charges of smuggling, leaving behind his sweetheart Elizabeth.   Alas, he finds his world in ruins with his father dead, his house wrecked and his sweetheart engaged to his cousin.  How will he move on from this destruction?

Anne Dudley’s haunting and evocative score for Poldark underpins the dramatic sweep of this epic tale and her unforgettable music has been a key ingredient in the show’s runaway success. “This adaptation of Poldark appealed to me immediately,” says Dudley.  “I wanted to create a character to the music which was distinctive. The music in Poldark plays two roles – the general and the specific. Music helped underline the connectivity of the scenes and plot lines. There are also many shots of Cornwall itself - its weather and its landscape have a huge part to play in the drama. This gave me an opportunity for thematic material reflecting these elements and hopefully adding a further layer of drama.”

Anne Dudley is a composer, arranger and producer as well as being renowned as a multi-talented, critically acclaimed, versatile musician.   Acclaimed for her music in the classical arena, Dudley has also enjoyed huge success for her work with leading entertainers such as Robbie Williams and Bill Bailey.  An Oscar, Grammy and Brit Award winner, she has composed music for more than forty films including The Crying Game, American History X, Bright Young Things, and served as music producer for the Academy Award-winning  film, Les Misérables.

Sony Music Masterworks comprises Masterworks, Sony Classical, OKeh, Portrait, Masterworks Broadway and Flying Buddha imprints. For email updates and information please visit www.SonyMasterworks.com.
 

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Plaza Mayor Company Ltd.: LOST FOR WORDS - Andre Matthias

Plaza Mayor Company Ltd. will release the LOST FOR WORDS – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally and on CD June 15, 2015.  The album features the film’s original score by Andre Matthias (THE DRUMMER, The LIGHT THIEF).

“Scoring Lost for Words was a wonderful challenge.” Matthias said. “In recent years, film music with actual melodic themes has become quite rare, so the opportunity to write a traditional romantic score with an Eastern touch was wonderful.”

Andre Matthias took private piano and composition lessons before studying Musicology at the University of Hamburg. An avid fan of film music since the age of 12, he composed his first scores for the Hamburg University Players. After finishing his Masters Degree in 2002 he scored many student films and the odd feature length project in between, before breaking onto the big screen in 2007 with THE DRUMMER (nominated for Best Original Film Score at the 27th Hong Kong Film Awards). His next movies were Aktan Arym Kubat's critically acclaimed THE LIGHT THIEF, FOUR ASSASSINS, the romantic drama LOST FOR WORDS and Kenneth Bi's futuristic thriller CONTROL.

 “The fact that the music is sometimes pretty much in the foreground was particularly daunting.” Andre Matthias said. “I'm glad to have been given the opportunity to contribute to such a gentle, beautiful film and hope that everyone will enjoy the music.” 

Studio Strada presents LOST FOR WORDS available on DVD and VOD June 23 in the United States and in theaters of France July 1, 2015.  The LOST FOR WORDS – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack will be available digital and on CD June 15, 2015.
 

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Milan Records: A LITTLE CHAOS and TESTAMENT OF YOUTH

A Little Chaos – original music by Peter Gregson - Directed by Alan Rickman (The Winter Guest) and starring Kate Winslet, A Little Chaos tells the story of two talented landscape artist who become romantically entangled while building a garden in King Louis XIV’s palace in Versailles.

The elegant period piece features a gorgeous score by up and coming composer Peter Gregson. The cellist and composer – “working at the forefront of the new music scene” (The New Yorker)- has premiered works by composers such as Max Richter, Johann Johannsson, Steve Reich and many more. Focus Features will release Little Chaos in the USA on June 26.

Testament Of Youth – Original Music by Max Richter - Directed by James Kent, starring Colin Morgan and Georgina Bennett, Testament Of Youth is a powerful coming-of-age story which tackles love, war, loss and remembrance. It’s based on the beloved WW1 memoir by Vera Brittain, heralded as the voice of a generation and has become the classic testimony of that war, from a woman’s point of view. The film follows Vera‘s rites of passage through war, and through her wartime experiences, we understand how she went on to write one of the defining memoirs of her age, which gave voice to a lost generation. 

Acclaimed composer Max Richter (The Leftovers, The Congress, Waltz With Bashir, Disconnect) lends his musical talent on Testament of Youth. The result is a beautiful, elegant score filled with mesmerizing themes. A must have for the lovers of Max Richter‘s music. Sony Pictures Classics is releasing Testament Of Youth as a platform release in the USA on June 4th, 2015
 

Milan Records | http://milanrecords.com

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Milan Records: ROBOCOP - Basil Poledouris 2xLP

After “Oldboy” and “It Follows” Milan Records and Nicolas Winding Refn have partnered with MGM to bring back to vinyl the cult soundtrack to Paul Verhoeven’s ROBOCOP. The amazing score with its unforgettable theme is composed by Basil Poledouris (Conan The Barbarian). This release is limited to 3,000 units pressed on 2x 180 gm silver/metal colored LP. The original artwork designed by Jay Shaw is presented on a tip on shiny silver gatefold. Each LP is housed in an OCP labelled black sleeve. The packaging also includes a digital download card.  

TAKE A LOOK: I'D BUY THAT FOR A DOLLAR! [click here]

Ah, SWEET!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Lakeshore Records: INFINITELY POLAR BEAR [2015] - Theodore Shapiro

Lakeshore Records will release the INFINITELY POLAR BEAR – Original Motion Picture Soundtrack digitally on June 16 and on CD June 30, 2015.  The film is a very personal, semi-autobiographical story from writer/director Maya Forbes.

INFINITELY POLAR BEAR is about a manic-depressive mess of a father who tries to win back his wife by attempting to take full responsibility of their two young, spirited daughters, who don't make the overwhelming task any easier.  “When I was six, my world imploded. My father suffered a series of manic breakdowns and my parents separated as a result,” described Maya about this incredibly intimate film.  “My sister and I were sad and furious and ashamed of the way we lived. And yet, in the end, it worked. We became our own version of a family -- just like so many families out there who survive, and even thrive, in unconventional ways.”

Maya would reach out to her sister, Pink Martini front person China Forbes, to contribute an original song for the soundtrack.  “I wrote ‘The Northern Line’ in a London hotel room on my son's toy ukulele,” China described.  “Maya asked me to write a song about a train.  I had just taken the Northern Line of the tube to see my cousin and I have always found poetry in that title.  Mania is like a runaway train. Depression is a train off its track.  I really understood my father and his struggles and I am so happy I could contribute this joyful and wistful song to my favorite film: Infinitely Polar Bear.” 

The album also features songs lovingly curated by music supervisor Randall Poster, a friend of Forbes, with songs from George Harrison, Brenton Wood, Jerry “Swamp Dogg” Williams, Elvis Perklands in Dearland, and the film’s original score by Theodore Shapiro (MARLEY & ME, THE SECRET LIFE OF WALTER MITTY).

“Maya has a great instinct for songs. Using music to amplify and humanize the family dynamic at the core of Infinitely Polar Bear,” said Poster.  “We collect in the film a unique combination of songs that along with Teddy Shapiro's magical score plant us in time and place, and set a place for us at the table of these lives. Maya put so much of herself into the film and it's the songs I think that help her find that safe place from where this story comes alive.”

Composer Shapiro agreed. “When Maya and I began working on Infinitely Polar Bear, she had a very clear and helpful direction: whatever form the music took, she wanted it to underline the idea of family,” he described.  “Although the family that this story is about has a father who has bipolar disorder, the family is defined not by mental illness but by a messy, chaotic warmth.”

Lakeshore Records | http://www.lakeshore-records.com

 

Just Announced!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

Perseverance Records: ROUGH MAGIC [2015] - Craig Safan

The ancient caves of Southern France and Northern Spain served as the inspiration for Rough Magic, composed by Craig Safan.  Perseverance Records will release the album digitally and on CD on July 7, 2015.

“For many years I have wanted to take my love of Paleolithic art and ancient myth and translate it into a musical form. Rough Magic is the final outcome,” said Safan, who was influenced by the caves he initially toured in the 1970s.  “I was fascinated by some really interesting studies on music and what the music of primitive man might have been like.  As a composer, everything speaks to me musically. So the concept of basing a piece of music on the cave art I’d experienced in my youth inevitably gelled.”

The first cave paintings containing art made by primitive humans were discovered in Spain in 1870 – some of which are believed to be 40,000 years old. “Studies into the origins of music suggest a correlation between the development of music and cave art in what is known as the ‘cultural explosion’ of 60,000 to 30,000 years ago. It is believed that these and other new forms of behavior and creative expression reflected the emergence of ‘intentionality’ as humans passed from instinctive behavior to intentional thought,” described Randall D. Larson in the album’s liner notes.

“Being a pictorial composer I tend to see music in visual terms - what used to be called ‘programmatic music’,” described Safan.  “Each piece in Rough Magic is based on a specific scenario and in that way the work is somewhat like a ballet built on thirteen scenes. The titles allude to these stories but not in an overly detailed way, leaving much to the listener's imagination.”

After visiting these caves with his field recorders, “I took all the sounds that I had gathered on my visit to the caves, and I took a lot of samples from other weird instruments I’ve collected over the years, plus my own huge library of sound effects, and I loaded them into computers so that I could play them on a keyboard using different music software programs,” Safan said.

But the influence of the caves didn’t stop there.  Safan described, “All the reverbs used for the music was modeled using the echoes I recorded in specific caves. Voices, footsteps, breaths, rocks, handclaps, whistles, and even stalactites being struck; all were turned into the various instruments I used performing the music.”

He continued, “It’s like painting, - I’m painting with sound. The digital equipment in my studio enabled me to experiment, change, and adjust layers until I was satisfied I’d achieved what I had in mind.” 

Craig Safan has composed the music for over thirty feature films including MR. WRONG, STAND AND DELIVER, MAJOR PAYNE, NIGHTMARE ON ELM STREET IV, REMO WILLIAMS, and THE LAST STARFIGHTER.  For the small screen, Craig is best known for his work as the composer for the series CHEERS for which he was awarded eight ASCAP Top TV awards, as well as for his music for LIFE GOES ON, which earned Safan an EMMY® nomination.

“As people listen to Rough Magic, I hope they let themselves go to another place,” Safan said. “A place of spirituality, a place of fear, a place of mystery. I’ve never been religious, but I’ve always been very spiritual, and fascinated by the mysteries of life. There are endless mysteries of life that we’ll never solve in our lifetime. And to me, Rough Magic is about the mystery and the sense of awe, the sense of spirituality, and how astonishing everything was to primitive humanity.”

Perseverance Records presents Craig Safan Rough Magic, available digitally and on CD on July 7, 2015.

###
http://craigsafan.com

 

It's extreme, impressive and you will be adding this to your favorites for 2015!!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

La-La Land Records: Millennium - Mark Snow

Millennium is an American television series created by Chris Carter, creator of The X-Files, that aired on the Fox Network between 1996 and 1999. The series follows the investigations of ex-FBI agent Frank Black (Lance Henriksen) now a consultant, with the ability to see inside the minds of criminals, working for a mysterious organization known as the Millennium Group. There was also a crossover episode of The X-Files titled "Millennium" that featured the Millennium Group and Frank Black.

This reissue features the same content as our previously sold-out 2008 release. The only difference is “Limited Edition of 1000 Units” has been printed on the back tray card.  La-La Land Records and 20th Century Fox present renowned composer Mark Snow’s (THE X-FILES, SMALLVILLE, GHOST WHISPERER) score to the critically-acclaimed FOX series MILLENNIUM, created by Chris Carter (THE X-FILES) and starring Lance Henriksen (ALIENS, NEAR DARK, PUMPKINHEAD). Composer Snow creates indelible, hauntingly beautiful music that expertly melds the show’s dark horrors and its promise of hope. His powerful score expertly runs the gambit of emotions from unrelenting fear to redemptive love. CD Booklet features in-depth liner notes by Randall D. Larson and art design by Mark Banning. This is a Limited Edition of 1000 Units.

La-La Land Records and 20th Century Fox present a second volume of acclaimed composer Mark Snow’s (THE X-FILES, BLUE BLOODS, THE LONE GUNMEN) original score to the groundbreaking dramatic thriller television series MILLENNIUM, starring Lance Henriksen, Megan Gallagher and Terry O’Quinn, and created by Chris Carter (THE X-FILES). Haunting, soulful, terrifying and beautiful, Mr. Snow’s complex musical tapestry for this landmark show is an immersive experience to be treasured. This 2-CD presentation is a further exploration into the series’ most impressive musical moments – the perfect complement to the first volume of the show’s music (which has just been re-issued). Produced by Mark Snow, Nick Redman and Mike Joffe, and mastered by James Nelson, this new compilation of original tracks is limited to 2000 units and features exclusive, in-depth liner notes from writer Randall D. Larson, (which include interview comments from the composer, writer producers Frank Spotnitz and Chip Johannessen and music editor Jeff Charbonneau – as well as a forward quote from Lance Henriksen). Hauntingly soulful art design is by Mark Banning.

La-La Land Records | http://www.lalalandrecords.com

Just Announced... I can only say "COOL"!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

KKB: GOT TO GET BACK - Bruce Kulick

KKB, Bruce Kulick's first band created back in 1974 with his local friends, singer/bassist Mike Katz and drummer Guy Bois, are releasing a brand new single and CD called “Got To Get Back.” The new single leads off the CD, which continues with 6 more songs they recorded in 1974. The vintage tracks were revisited for 2015, and the original tapes were totally remixed and remastered. 

Milan Records: SPY (Score) [2015] - Theodore Shapiro

Written and directed by Paul Feig (Bridesmaids, The Heat), and starring an all-star cast (Melissa McCarthy, Jason Statham, Rose Byrne, Jude Law), the action/comedy Spy tells the story of a desk-bound CIA analyst (McCarthy) who goes undercover to infiltrate the world of a deadly arm dealers, and prevent global disaster.

This fun and exciting take on the James Bond film genre features a modern and thrilling score by acclaimed composer Theodore Shapiro (The Secret Life Of Walter Mitty, St. Vincent) The album also includes the original opening credit song Who Can You Trust performed by Ivy Levan and produced by Theodore Shapiro.  Pasadena-based illustrator Paul Rogers designed the retro and original cover for the Spy original score album. 20th Century Fox is releasing Spy nationwide on June 5th 2015. Milan Records | http://milanrecords.com

Just Announced!

Jeremy [The Wolf]

MovieScore Media: The King of Nerac [2015] - Michael Csányi-Wills

MovieScore Media's latest documentary release, the minimalism-influenced score to The King of Nerac, directed by Annie Sulzberger and Guy Natanel, is a biography of David Breuer-Weil, the reclusive artist who went into self-imposed exile much like a modern day Gauguin. Both a successful art dealer and artist, Breuer-Weil creates giant apocalyptic canvasses and colossal sculptures and installments that dominate public squares everywhere from London to Jerusalem. Dubbed by The Times of London as 'one of Britain's most powerful and original contemporary artists', The King of Nerac draws a fascinating portrait of a mysterious artist who is well-worth discovering.

Composer Michael Csányi-Wills is a veteran of film music; between 1997 and 2012  he collaborated with Nigel Clarke on several scores, including Warner Brothers’ The Little Vampire, The Little Polar Bear and The Thief Lord. Apart from The King of Nerac, his most recent solo credits include the Paavo Järvi documentary Maestro as well as the short film A Love Story in Milk for which he won the Best Score Award at the Movie Maverick Awards. Besides his career in film scoring, Michael was recently appointed composer in residence of the Welsh Sinfonia and still regularly performs as a pianist. 

"When first approaching the music for this film, I focused on David Breuer-Weil's extraordinary and imaginary world of Nerac. This is a world which is made up of hundreds of artists, all of whom survive for only as long as his pencil lasts.  His images made me think of medieval Indonesia and the Temple at Borobudor in Central Java. I began to assemble the musical instruments that, for me, represent that world; i.e Gamelan, Gongs, and Angklungs, and wrote motifs and harmonies that brought this imaginary world into a form of reality without representing it literally. I chose the Cor Anglais to unite all these sounds, and to create a type of angular lyricism to represent the world of Nerac.” 

MovieScore Media | http://moviescoremedia.com/

Just Announced!

Jeremy [The Wolf]