Providing pop music, television, film and video game score reviews to the public since September 2013.
Thursday, 16 January 2020
Saturday, 1 October 2016
22, A MILLION Album Review
"For thirty-four beautiful, heart-wrenching minutes, [on 22, A Million,] Justin Vernon meditates on loss, the past, and regret"
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Wednesday, 17 August 2016
STAR WARS: THE FORCE AWAKENS Score Review
Check it out... if you seek a score that will satisfy your
expectations of John Williams, Star Wars,
and the sci-fi/fantasy genre with its brawn, beauty, and a dash of nostalgia,
for The Force Awakens will remind you
of what can be achieved with a film score.
Skip it... if you are either too impatient to be rewarded with
Williams’ craftsmanship over the course of numerous listens, or if you are so
patient that you are willing to wait up to 20 years (or more) for the eventual
release of the complete score, despite the excellent arrangement of highlights
on the commercial album.
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Friday, 5 August 2016
Analysis of a Cue - James Horner's "The Mask of Zorro"
I’d like to begin a new occasional feature: Analysis of a Cue. In essence, I take a scene from a film and break down in great detail how and why the music elevates the scene. This time, we’ll take a look at a couple of scenes from 1998’s The Mask of Zorro, directed by Martin Campbell, starring Antonio Banderas, Anthony Hopkins, and Catherine Zeta-Jones, with music by James Horner.
Cue: “The Fencing Lesson” (0:00-1:26 for Clip 1, 1:27 onwards for Clip 2)
Clip 1 Context: Don Diego (Hopkins),
who was once the folk hero vigilante Zorro, has escaped from prison after many
years and seeks revenge against those who put him there. He sees Alejandro
(Banderas), eager for his own vengeance, as a promising ally to aid him in his
quest, and thus agrees to train him to take up the mantle of Zorro.
Clip 2 Context: Alejandro, having just
stolen an important map from Don Rafael (Stuart Wilson), hides in the barn
before escaping. However, Rafael’s daughter Elena (Zeta-Jones) confronts him,
forcing Zorro into a duel.
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This
training montage, while by default exciting, carries a uniquely comedic tone. Horner
maintains a relatively sparse musical palette, allowing the sound effects to
take center stage when necessary. A shakuhachi blast at 1:09 sets
up Alejandro in dramatic fashion, whose every wave of his sword whooshes through the air, the sounds setting up the comedic payoff at 1:24, Diego’s casual whack
echoing through the cave.
They
begin the lesson with a fresh start, and a plucked bass establishes a 3/4
meter, soon accompanied by clapping, foot stomping, and castanets. Between the
flamenco tones and the triple meter (perfectly synchronized with the strikes of
the swords), Horner reinforces the artistry and dance-like qualities of sword
fighting. The music picks up pace to match the increasing speed of the
swordplay, and the swashbuckling main theme slowly forms on trumpet as
Alejandro learns more and develops his skills at Zorro-ing.
The
guitar enters with vigor alongside a sharp cut to Alejandro’s push-ups.
Repeatedly, the music builds before cutting off suddenly to enhance the comedy.
The first cutoff comes when Diego whips him, leading to the next sequence. The
tempo increases as Diego drills and whips Alejandro. Furious, Alejandro charges
his mentor and the music charges along, ready for a rumble—until Diego puts a
knife to his throat, silencing Alejandro and Horner, and tells him Lesson
Number 1.
A
soft wind solo accompanies Alejandro’s second lesson, before a restrained but
confident trumpet underscores his mastery of swordplay, building to a statement
of Zorro’s theme to transition to the next scene.
However,
on album, Horner excises this gentler portion, opting instead to cut
immediately to the music for Aleajandro’s duel with Elena. Horner once again
drives the scene with the 3/4 meter and castanets, playing up the dancing
parallels and accentuating the sensual undercurrent of the repartee. Melodic
phrases are reserved for the frequent pauses in the fight, leaving just the
percussive elements to accompany the clanging of swords. When Zorro is
disarmed, a key shift in his theme occurs as he improvises his way to stealing
Elena’s sword and claiming victory.
As
the two foes share a romantic moment, a lovely wind solo and strings build into
Zorro’s theme, though as Elena pulls in for a second kiss, our hero dashes off
with a flourish of his swashbuckling mariachi fanfare, doubling back for his
hat as the castanets and violins play him out.
Random
observation I couldn’t figure out where to put so I’m sticking it at the end so
I don’t have to write a conclusion either: at 0:16 of Clip 1, Alejandro says
“Pointy end goes into other man.” This movie came out in 1998, nearly 2 years
after the publishing of George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones. Does anyone else think Jon Snow’s first sword
lesson to Arya (“Stick them with the pointy end.”) inspired this line? Leave a
comment if you think so. Also leave a comment if you have any feedback on this
type of article.
Saturday, 25 June 2016
Tuesday, 19 April 2016
Monday, 28 March 2016
BATMAN V SUPERMAN: DAWN OF JUSTICE Score Review
Check it out... if you're a fan of the style that composer Hans Zimmer cultivated for the highly controversial Man of Steel
Skip it... if what Zimmer concocted for Man of Steel disagreed with you, for both he and Junkie XL double down here on what made that score so contentious
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Tuesday, 22 March 2016
Friday, 18 March 2016
Wednesday, 16 March 2016
10 CLOVERFIELD LANE Score Review
Check it out... if you are intrigued by the promise of a horror score that successfully interpolates elements of Herrmann's old-school, acclaimed style, into an album laced with modern instrumentation and production
Skip it... if 63 minutes of tense, relentlessly atmospheric horror music sounds like too much for your palette
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Sunday, 28 February 2016
THE LIFE OF PABLO Album Review
Check it out... if you seek a well-produced, entertaining, laid-back hip-hop record from one of the most consistently impressive artists of the 21st century
Skip it... if you cannot stand tonal inconsistency over the course of an album, Kanye West's The Life of Pablo a myriad of ideas and sounds that sometimes doesn't gel as well as it should
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Monday, 15 February 2016
DEADPOOL Score Review
Check it out... if you
adored the film and want a souvenir containing various songs needle-dropped
into the film.
Skip it... if you
have a greater interest in Tom Holkenborg’s original score than you do in the
pop and rap classics, as it’s a basically functional score that fails to offer
any highlights, display narrative cohesion, or even elicit rage over its 45
minutes on album.
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Saturday, 16 January 2016
Tuesday, 5 January 2016
CREED Score Review
Check it out... if you can appreciate loud, bombastic, orchestral melodrama, as Creed wears its heart on its sleeve unabashedly
Skip it... if you demand subtlety from your scores, as Goransson's approach here features direct emotions that do not attempt to subdue their audacity
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Wednesday, 23 December 2015
BRIDGE OF SPIES Score Review
Check it out... if you appreciate Thomas Newman when he's more melodic with his methodology, as Bridge of Spies finds him moving away from anonymity of Spectre and The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel
Skip it... if you're allergic to the kind of sentimentality Spielberg scores are naturally inclined to include
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Wednesday, 16 December 2015
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 2 Score Review
Check it out... if you appreciate well-furnished musical narratives, that offer intelligent exploration of their thematic elements, whilst retaining compositional variation, nuance, and beauty
Skip it... if you demand a predictably triumphant resolution to James Newton Howard's The Hunger Games franchise, for the composer swiftly avoids this by integrating a darker atmosphere, and subtly hinting towards hidden motives for both sides of the film and score's war
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Monday, 14 December 2015
STAR WARS: THE RETURN OF THE JEDI Score Review
Check it out... if you
wish to hear John Williams conclude the original Star Wars trilogy with the same mastery of his craft that he
applied to the first two entries
Skip it... if you
are a stickler for sound quality, or if you expect a homogenous tone throughout
the score, for this final entry in the trilogy suffers from poorer sound
quality and contains sharp changes between settings
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