film scores and soundtracks

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bunnyben
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film scores and soundtracks

Post by bunnyben »

listening to thus spake zarathustra by mr strauss made me thing of 2001 and what it takes to make a great film soundtrack. i thought there was a thread about this but the search came up with nothing so to start

2001
pan's labyrnith
donnie darko
star wars


by great i mean the whole product not just a theme song (dr jones- temple of doom etc) but a whole complete piece
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
jadams501
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by jadams501 »

Soundtracks were the first form of music that really interested me, and I am still very fond of the form after all these years.

Raiders of the Lost Ark
Star Trek: The Motion Picture
Koyaanisqatsi
BzaInSpace
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by BzaInSpace »

Anything by the great Jack Nitzsche... Performance, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Next, The Excorcist....
O P 8
One Asian Under A Groove
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by One Asian Under A Groove »

The soundtrack/score to Duncan Jones' "Moon" by Clint Mansell is a personal favourite. Isaac Hayes' "Shaft" is wonderful too. In terms of soundtrack albums comprising a compilation of songs, I'd recommend "City Of God", "Trainspotting" and "Slumdog Millionaire". Also, Daft Punk's "Tron: Legacy" OST is great if you're not expecting a proper Daft Punk album, and "The Virgin Suicides" by Air is great as well.
spzretent
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by spzretent »

The soundtracks that stand out to me are:
Mahoney's Last Stand- Ronnie Lane & Ronnie Wood. Anyone into Beggars Era Stones and Early Faces may want to check this out. So many great tracks on this LP. Here is one.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MSVCfhCGF4M
Betty Blue
Alamo Bay- Ry Cooder
Magnolia- in particular Wise Up by Aimee Mann. Link is live but true to the original.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?annotation ... 3D7xplBYNY
Trainspotting
101 Reykjavik
The Beach- once again if nothing else for 8 Ball by Underworld
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VFT-aKf1qac
http://www.lilmoxie.com
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scratch
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by scratch »

I like my film music to be very romantic, melodramatic and love pathetic strings.. nothing too arty

basil poledouris - conan the barbarian
michael nyman - gattaca
trevor jones - the dark crystal
bernard herrmann - vertigo
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robotoilet
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by robotoilet »

BzaInSpace wrote:Anything by the great Jack Nitzsche... Performance, One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Next, The Excorcist....
totally agree with that!

my all-time favorites are
Last Tango In Paris by Gato Barbieri
Wonderland by Michael Nyman

and also
Lynch films(and TV drama) - Blue Velvet/Twin Peaks/Lost Highway
Tarantino films - Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction/Death Proof
The Coen Brothers films, produced by T-Bone Burnett - The Big Lebowski/O Brother, Where Art Thou?
A Clockwork Orange
Goodfellas
Trainspotting
24 7: Twenty Four Seven
Brothers Of The Head
Breakfast On Pluto
Dead Man

and i have never seen the film Simon Werner a Disparu but its OST album by Sonic Youth is quite good.
jadams501
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by jadams501 »

scratch wrote:basil poledouris - conan the barbarian

A classic! I like to work out to "The Riddle of Steel." :D
olan
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by olan »

I don't really have many soundtracks in my collection. The Pink Floyd soundtrack albums are obvious exceptions. I do play The Fountain by Clint Mansell (with Mogwai and The Kronos Quartet) and Mogwai's Zidane quite a lot. Off-hand I can't think of any other soundtrack albums I own.

Edit: I forgot the soundtrack to 24 Hour Party People, but I've never even opened the cellophane. It is more of a complitation anyway.....
nickh
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by nickh »

The Proposition
The Road
Ghosts of the Civil Dead
Nenette et Boni
Trouble Every Day
A Clockwork Orange
Bedazzled (original obviously)
Dawn of the Dead (ditto)
The Wicker Man (ditto)
Performance
Diva
Mister Lonely
The Warriors (wish I could find a copy of this soundtrack)
Faster Pussycat Kill Kill (Ditto)


8 Ball is one of the best things Underworld ever did and about the only good thing in that dreadful film. The Trainspotting soundtrack is an OK compilation but I can’t stand that film either. Morvern Callar is a great compilation soundtrack (dedicated to Holger Czukay) and a fantastic film.

One of my most prized possessions is a box set of all the films scores that Tindersticks have done for Clare Denis films. Got to see them play selections from this set at the RFH earlier this year with the relevant scene playing behind them.

Big mention too to Ennio Morricone for the Spaghetti westerns and Nino Rota for the Godfathers 1 & 2.
Last edited by nickh on Sat Aug 27, 2011 7:20 pm, edited 1 time in total.
bunnyben
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by bunnyben »

nickh wrote:
Big mention too to Ennio Morricone for the Spaghetti westerns and Nino Rota for the Godfathers 1 & 2.
yes! yes! and maybe Elmer Bernstein. o and korngold's film work :D
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
Broc
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by Broc »

[quote="robotoilet

my all-time favorites are
Last Tango In Paris by Gato Barbieri
Wonderland by Michael Nyman

and also
Lynch films(and TV drama) - Blue Velvet/Twin Peaks/Lost Highway
Tarantino films - Reservoir Dogs/Pulp Fiction/Death Proof
The Coen Brothers films, produced by T-Bone Burnett - The Big Lebowski/O Brother, Where Art Thou?
A Clockwork Orange
Goodfellas
Trainspotting
24 7: Twenty Four Seven
Brothers Of The Head
Breakfast On Pluto
Dead Man
and i have never seen the film Simon Werner a Disparu but its OST album by Sonic Youth is quite good.[/quote]


Yes yes yes, I'm a huge fan of Angelo Badalamenti's soundtracks for Lynch's films. I'd also recommend the score to The Straight Story, it's fantastic. Also Julee Cruise's Floating Into The Night is really super, not a soundtrack but contains a few of the gems that appeared in Twin Peaks. Badalamenti wrote the music and Lynch wrote the Lyrics. It also has Mysteries Of Love from Blue Velvet,

Dead Man is one of my favourite films, Neil Young's score for this is mesmerising. I have this on CD only, it was released on vinyl by Vapor Records ands sells for hundreds, very rare to see it on Ebay. I'd kill for a copy of it.
bunnyben
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by bunnyben »

Broc wrote:[quote="robotoilet

my all-time favorites are
Dead Man is one of my favourite films, Neil Young's score for this is mesmerising. I have this on CD only, it was released on vinyl by Vapor Records ands sells for hundreds, very rare to see it on Ebay. I'd kill for a copy of it.

390 dollars

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Man-Vinyl-Ne ... 719&sr=1-2
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
bunnyben
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by bunnyben »

bunnyben wrote:
Broc wrote:[quote="robotoilet

my all-time favorites are
Dead Man is one of my favourite films, Neil Young's score for this is mesmerising. I have this on CD only, it was released on vinyl by Vapor Records ands sells for hundreds, very rare to see it on Ebay. I'd kill for a copy of it.

390 dollars

http://www.amazon.com/Dead-Man-Vinyl-Ne ... 719&sr=1-2
250 dollars

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Neil-Young-De ... 1c1e4ba313
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
radioshack
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by radioshack »

I really love vide cor meum from Hannibal. What a beautiful piece of music!
bunnyben
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by bunnyben »

early polanski film, what a great score!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GbXBZ6DynM

:D :D :D :D
'raging and weeping are left on the early road
now each in his holy hill
the glittering and hurting days are alomst done
then let us compare mythologies
i have learned my elaborate lie
of soaring crosses and poisened thorns'
KingHarry
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by KingHarry »

re Broc and robotoilet

The scores for lynch films are always brilliant - Mullholland Drive is tremendous in every way, but The Straight Story is just brilliant stuff.

Lost in Translation is a great OST - not just for the Shields stuff. As is Moon, mentioned above.

But the documentaries by Adam Curtis and Jonatahn Meades always have mesmerising visuals and music. I've picked up loads of stuff from them.
Shaun
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by Shaun »

I have been trying to think of a really relevant response to this thread but the subject matter runs so deep I just keep on having brain freeze. Anyway, I will try an add to it. I'll write as it comes to mind so I might sound a bit fragmented.

I think the marriage between film and/or a piece of music or a song can be so overwhelming (not sure if that's the right word in this context) it's quite extraordinary. Tarantino seems to get this spot on more often than not. I love the Kill Bill soundtracks. Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs already mentioned both great and great fun too. Trainspotting as mentioned was brilliant at the time. The soundtrack blended perfectly with the film with some excellent film/song/music surreal moments.

A film with a close to perfect film score is Schindler's List. The music in that film goes perfectly with the film. It's just so right for that film. I watched it again two weeks ago and every time the closing scene, when the then surviving Jews are waiting in line to place a stone on Schindler's grave, gets me. 

From childhood to this day these two stand out. The Wizard of Oz. A superb original soundtrack which might be the best there's ever been. Also the Sound of Music. The soundtrack and film just simply go together so well. 

Then there's the moments in films where the music and/or song make the scene that powerful it's off the scale. And then there's the ones that help make the scene make perfect sense. And then there's the matches that make the suspense unbearable. I'm thinking along the lines of the closing scenes of Vanilla Sky. The part in Rocky when he's training and finishes off running up those steps. In Halloween, that couldn't of been more creepy. The final duel scene in A Fistful of Dollars, that builds tension upon tension. In Ghost during the clay making scene. And most recently, Black Swan. That is an amazing film. The music and acting combined draws you in deeper and deeper. 

A subject I could run with for ages, and probably will. 
What more can the heart of a man desire?
moop
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by moop »

if it hasnt already been mentioned...
withnail & I
bbbhenko
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Re: film scores and soundtracks

Post by bbbhenko »

my absolute favourite would have to be the soundtrack to Kundun by Philip Glass. extraordinary mix of majestic orchestral arrangements including tibetan choirs & instruments with his unmistakable (quite minimalistic) approach. it resembles his soundtrack to Koyaanisqatsi (which has already been mentioned) quite a lot, if you replace some of the intense arpeggios with some more dramatic yet very rhythmic percussion-work... i have listened to this more or less daily at work for the last few months :D
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