{"id":4112,"date":"2012-01-18T13:33:28","date_gmt":"2012-01-18T18:33:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4112"},"modified":"2012-01-18T13:33:28","modified_gmt":"2012-01-18T18:33:28","slug":"cd-scrooged-1988","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/?p=4112","title":{"rendered":"CD: Scrooged (1988)"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews<\/a> \/ <\/em>S<\/a><\/p>\n

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\"\"<\/a>Rating: Very Good<\/p>\n

Label:\u00a0La-La Land Records<\/a> \/ Released: November 29, 2011<\/p>\n

Tracks & Album Length: 34 tracks \/ (49:20)<\/p>\n

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Special Notes: 24-page colour booklet with liner notes by Jeff Bond \/ Limited to 3000 copies.<\/p>\n

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Composer: Danny Elfman<\/p>\n

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Review:<\/p>\n

Not quite a box office success when it emerged in 1988, Richard Donner\u2019s spin on the classic Christmas Carol tale has aged into a fascinating time capsule of period humour and pop culture of which a major ingredient is Danny Elfman\u2019s score. In 1988 Elfman scored 6 films, of which Beetlejuice<\/strong> is a major influence in terms of his iconoclastic \u201cLa-La La-La\u201d childrens\u2019 vocals, and a doom and gloom bass line that presages its heavier use in Batman<\/strong>, scored a year later.<\/p>\n

Scrooged<\/strong> is melodically tied to Tim Burton\u2019s films (Elfman scored all of Burton\u2019s prior features), but the cartoonish twists & turns are more reflective of Elfman\u2019s own comedic sensibilities, delving into mickey-mous; terrain in quirky cues such as \u201cMontage: Frank\u2019s Award and Eliot on the Street\u201d with its almost tormenting brass and skittering rhythms; or the rich dynamics in \u201cLew\u2019s Arrival,\u201d with pensive strings, sudden brass and tympani stabs, and rumbling bass clarine decorated with little side embellishments from pizzicato strings, cymbals, and piano.<\/p>\n

Before filmmakers engaged Elfman for his brash, comic book sound after Batman<\/strong>, the composer\u2019s prior work (mostly mordant and satirical) showed his knack for emotional nuances, and incredibly fluid transitions in montage; the mercurial nature of his writing is sometimes a direct result of matching dramatic shocks and stabs, but on CD his scores tend to work as crazily energetic comedy sketches.<\/p>\n

The biggest surprise for Elfman fans is how much score was written for the film, so La-La Land\u2019s CD offers a strong listening experience. Punctuating the score are alternate cues with varying levels of electronic elements and processing, and a series of source cues. Also surprising is how Scrooged<\/strong> doesn\u2019t sound so derivative, considering how many signature sounds are present in the score. The sharp, spiraling brass shocks are refreshing, and the childrens\u2019 voices \u2013 particularly in \u201cA Horror in Chez Jay \/ Highball \/ Water Ablaze\u201d \u2013 are effectively used to tease, enliven, and create unease in specific scenes. \u201cA Horror\u201d is based around a rotating triadic motif, and the vocal parts are echoplexed to add a strong eeriness before the cue quickly fades out, and gliding vocal chords drift in and out with slight electronic processing that\u2019s quite reminiscent of Jerry Goldsmith\u2019s vocal effects in Poltergeist<\/strong> (1982).<\/p>\n

Cue lengths vary from under a minute to around three minutes, but the score proper has a satisfying denouement before the final cue \u2013 blending keyboards and orchestra \u2013 closes the 32 mins. score.<\/p>\n

La-La Land\u2019s mastering is very nice, bringing out many subtleties in the richly orchestrated score, and the bass levels are punchy, ensuring Elfman\u2019s brass & percussion combos sustain their dynamism. The variety of material will please fans who\u2019ve had to settle for a short suite Elfman recorded way back in 1990 for his compilation CD Music for a Darkened Theatre: Vol. 1<\/strong>.<\/p>\n

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\u00a9 2012 Mark R. Hasan<\/p>\n

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External References:<\/p>\n

IMDB <\/a>— Soundtrack Album<\/a> — Composer Filmography<\/a><\/p>\n

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Return to<\/strong>:\u00a0Home <\/a>\/\u00a0Soundtrack Reviews<\/a> <\/em>\/\u00a0S<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Return to:\u00a0Home \/\u00a0Soundtrack \u00a0Reviews \/ S . Rating: Very Good Label:\u00a0La-La Land Records \/ Released: November 29, 2011 Tracks & Album Length: 34 tracks \/ (49:20) . Special Notes: 24-page colour booklet with liner notes by Jeff Bond \/ Limited to 3000 copies. . Composer: Danny Elfman . . Review: Not quite a box office […]<\/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":[126,711],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p8nuyW-14k","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4112"}],"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=4112"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4112\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4141,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4112\/revisions\/4141"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=4112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=4112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kqek.com\/mobile\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=4112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}