{"id":10778,"date":"2015-02-19T12:08:42","date_gmt":"2015-02-19T17:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=10778"},"modified":"2015-02-19T12:08:42","modified_gmt":"2015-02-19T17:08:42","slug":"mp3-nightcrawler-2014","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=10778","title":{"rendered":"MP3: Nightcrawler (2014)"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\"Nightcrawler2014_MP3\"<\/a>Score<\/strong>: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label<\/strong>: Lakeshore Records<\/a><\/p>\n

Released:<\/strong> \u00a0October 28, 2014<\/span><\/p>\n

Tracks \/ Album Length:<\/strong>\u00a0 28 tracks \/ (51:04)<\/p>\n

Composer:<\/strong> James Newton Howard<\/p>\n

Special Notes:<\/strong>\u00a0 n\/a<\/span><\/p>\n

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Review:<\/strong><\/p>\n

James Newton Howard\u2019s approach to the story of a cameraman racing to gory accidents and bloody suburban violence is very subtle but quite clever, with some great sonic homages to his classic use of electronic pulses.<\/p>\n

The score\u2019s first sounds \u2013 a group of thin arching tones \u2013 evokes the image of bright morning sunlight piercing in small, wavering slivers through a heavily curtained apartment (lead character Lou Bloom), but the main theme is a three-note pattern (presumably) designed to evoke the call tones of a news station (like NBC), from which Howard frequently draws to comment on Bloom\u2019s gradual ascension from wannabe news shooter to a competitive cameraman that even veterans begin to mistrust, and perhaps fear.<\/p>\n

In \u201cThe First Accident,\u201d the main theme is rearranged into a pattern that reformulates itself as Bloom quickly absorbs the plum opportunity of being the first at an accident scene and rearranges an injured man. Howard then brings in an otherwise absent orchestra to enhance Bloom\u2019s hyper-focusing as he scans news reports for signs of his sold footage, and begins to rapidly catalogue its usage on his laptop, creating a database of Bloom\u2019s Top Hits. Howard also makes use of chimes, synthetic distortion, reverb, and assorted processing which are key elements of the score\u2019s sonic palette.<\/p>\n

Fat bass guitar and keyboards characterize the pulse-pounding tension as Bloom and Rick race to an accident scene in \u201cThe Wrong Way,\u201d with electric guitar riffing the main theme as organic percussion thickens the cue\u2019s momentum. Processed sounds also dominate \u201cChinatown Express\u201d with chimes, distant rhythms on cymbals, flanging tones, and some human exhalations.<\/p>\n

There\u2019s also a very sparse use of woodwinds that accent Bloom\u2019s social awkwardness, his loner status, and his awkward interaction with station manager Nina with whom he has an affair. \u201cThe Shootout\u201d transforms from grim tones to a slow rising elegy, with sampled, blurry chorals, and it form the first signal that Nightcrawler<\/strong> is really a black comedy about a sociopath with an unwavering drive to become a master manipulator and purveyor of timely, grisly news footage. Howard brings in strings, clarinet, and metal scraping, the latter leading into the film\u2019s end credit music, \u201cIf It Bleeds, It Leads,\u201d which starts off with an electric guitar solo before a full rock band rendition \u2013 a radical departure from the score\u2019s overall somber tone.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2015 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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Additional Links:<\/strong>
\nEditor’s Blog<\/a> — Composer on IMDB<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0Composer Filmography<\/a> —\u00a0 Soundtrack Album<\/a> \u00a0— \u00a0DVD Review<\/a>
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Select Merchants:<\/strong>
\nAmazon.ca<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.com<\/a>\"\" —<\/span> Amazon.co.uk<\/a>\"\" —\u00a0BSX<\/a> —\u00a0Intrada<\/a> —\u00a0Screen Archives Entertainment<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

James Newton Howard\u2019s approach to the story of a cameraman racing to gory accidents and bloody suburban violence is very subtle but quite clever, with some great sonic homages to his classic use of electronic pulses…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false},"categories":[20],"tags":[3377],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-2NQ","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10778"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=10778"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10778\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10796,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/10778\/revisions\/10796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=10778"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=10778"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=10778"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}

Howard\u2019s approach does reflect the film\u2019s weird tonal inconsistencies \u2013 it\u2019s part drama, suspense film, crime thriller, and black comedy \u2013 but it offers an interesting combination of sounds that evoke the composer\u2019s more rhythmic urban scores (Grand Canyon<\/a><\/strong>, especially) and some contemporary ingredients and production design.<\/p>\n