{"id":2461,"date":"2011-03-07T13:06:43","date_gmt":"2011-03-07T18:06:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/mondomark.com\/wordpress\/?p=1733"},"modified":"2011-03-07T13:06:43","modified_gmt":"2011-03-07T18:06:43","slug":"soundtrack-news-reviews-2","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=2461","title":{"rendered":"Soundtrack News & Reviews"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Just uploaded are three new soundtrack reviews, although I before I get to the links, Soundtrackcollector.com recently reported composer Mark Isham has established his own soundtrack label<\/a>, and is releasing the score to The Mechanic<\/strong> in three formats: EP versions of cues from the score, the complete original score, and a 2-disc edition with both soundtrack versions.<\/p>\n

What\u2019s intriguing is that years ago, when Isham recorded an audio commentary track for the Blade<\/strong> (1998) DVD, he mentioned the eventual release of the electronic music in EP \/ dance club versions. Now, that edition never happened, but it is interesting that The Mechanic<\/strong> seems to be a fulfillment of that concept of creating two versions of a soundtrack: film score, and a version that\u2019s unfettered by the time constraints of a specific scene, with room for improv and development.<\/p>\n

Isham\u2019s background includes electronics, orchestral writing, and jazz \u2013 he\u2019s recorded non-film, jazz fusion albums in the past, not to mention composed jazz cues for Little Man Tate<\/strong> (1991), Cool World<\/strong> (1992), and Quiz Show<\/strong> (1994) \u2013 and it\u2019s not unusual for composers to reinterpret film works as standalone concept albums.<\/p>\n

One could argue the edited album versions of scores conceived by Jerry Goldsmith for The Boys from Brazil<\/a><\/strong> (1978) or Poltergeist<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>] (1982), for example, qualify, if not re-recorded albums with different cue arrangements, like John Williams\u2019 Jaws<\/strong> (1974), but three distinct examples of genuine<\/em> concept albums come to mind:<\/p>\n

— Malcolm X<\/strong> (1992), where Terence Blanchard released a score and jazz improv couplet (each very different from the other).<\/p>\n

— El Topo<\/strong> (1970 ) \u2013 Alejandro Jodorowsky\u2019s score was released by Apple Records (and reissued by Anchor Bay in their Jodo boxed set), whereas jazz fusionist Martin Fierro crafted his own (and frankly awesome) theme extrapolations for the album Shades of Joy<\/a><\/strong>.<\/p>\n

— The Sweet Smell of Success<\/strong> (1957) \u2013 Elmer Bernstein\u2019s score (with heavy theme repetition) was released on its own, as was the full Chico Hamilton + Fred Katz jazz combos, although in the case of the latter, the B-side was one long improv collage of the pair\u2019s own themes.<\/p>\n

Note how these three all share jazz elements, which is perhaps why Isham felt it was not unusual to extrapolate material from existing themes.<\/p>\n

In any event, if a theme can go through various permutations and cover versions, there\u2019s no reason why a composer can\u2019t re-explore some work he felt might have been restricted by the limits of a film\u2019s edited and mixed soundtrack.<\/p>\n

Now then, just uploaded are reviews for a trio of scores from La-La Land Records: Dominic Frontiere\u2019s The Rat Patrol<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>], John Debney\u2019s The Young Riders<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>], and James Horner\u2019s Jade<\/a><\/strong> [M<\/a>].<\/p>\n

Of the three, Frontiere\u2019s is the most satisfying, and I\u2019m frankly stunned that so much care went into recording the series\u2019 music in stereo in Munich. The score elements sound pristine, and this is my favourite archival release of 2011 so far.<\/p>\n

Now if only La-La Land could release a multi-disc set of The Invaders<\/strong>, featuring Frontiere\u2019s original scores (about 2 or 3 of Season 1\u2019s episodes featured full scores) plus<\/em> those composed by newcomers for Season 2.<\/p>\n

If I say it three times, it will happen: The Invaders. The Invaders. The Invaders.<\/strong><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

.<\/span><\/p>\n

Mark R. Hasan<\/strong>, Editor
\nKQEK.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Composer Mark Isham launches his new label with The Mechanic, and reviews of 3 new La-La Land releases: Dominic Frontiere’s The Rat Patrol, John Debney’s The Young Riders, and James Horner’s Jade…<\/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":[1],"tags":[326,327,325,328,4212],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-DH","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461"}],"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=2461"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2461\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2461"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2461"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2461"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}